NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2018 Week 2 Recap

Episode Date: September 17, 2018

In a room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling with guest heroes Nick Shook and Jeremy Bergman – recap an action-packed Week 2, including a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game (3:45), the NFL’s newest star, Patrick Mahomes, lights up the Steelers (10:50), FITZMagic continues (36:20), is it time to start Josh Rosen (52:00), Frank Reich earns his first win (59:50) and an NFC East clash on Sunday Night Football (1:13:30)!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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Visit Rangler.com and check out their selection of jeans, shirts, and outerwear for men and women, new styles, great fits, It's Wrangler, Real Comfortable jeans. Brett Farb approves. The Around the NFL podcast. Thinks Duck is the best type of meat out there. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hanses, and I'm joined in a room filled with some heroes.

Chris Wessling to my left and Greg Rosenthal to my right. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Hey. Mark Sessler, under the weather, not feeling himself this. morning so we soldier on as a trio of three amigos if you will what a day for football it was like we were i think the NFL held off last week while we were in london let's have a nice week one everyone's going to enjoy anyways let's save the good stuff for when these guys are just in

the studio and can watch i mean you say good as someone that is deeply plugged in to the kicking game in professional football this was a dark day this was a hashtag never forget this was maybe the most fun day I've had watching football in like four or five years. Wow. Football put on a sexy red gown and turned heads at the end of summer ball today. That sequence, and we talked about this when we got to Sky Sports. It feels like a personal shot at me. No, no, no, no.

You talked about this last week of Sky Sports. That 15 to 20 minute window at the end of the early games, and today you had Kirk Cousins with an impossible throw to Adam Thielen to force overtime. Saints Browns. You got Fitzpatrick at the podium looking like a, what, a pimp? I don't know. He was looking like the Sean Jackson because he just took the Sean Jackson's outfit. That was the story behind.

Saints Browns. You've got Vante Davis retiring at halftime and that news is coming out. You've got Houston driving, Pittsburgh driving, Carolina driving. There was about five games at the end, which all came down. It was beautiful. I grew up listening to Mike Francesa in New York. He had a term for the end of the games in that hour. It's called the witching hour.

Oh, it is. Dog, it's the witching hour. Something like that. Yeah. So what are we going to do? We're going to go through all of the games on Sunday. And yes, despite the woes in the kicker game. And a lot of kickers that are unemployed were on their couches jumping up and down with joy

because there's going to be workouts across the league. And we're going to get to that with each game. You know your boy, Kai was enjoying today. Oh, Guy's feeling good. You know why? Guaranteed. I put a sandwich on it, if anybody wants to take me on it. Kai Forbath is on a team, week three.

Who wants to take me on it? Kai's getting a job because Kai was good last year. Maybe not in Minnesota because we'll get to that. But I'll take you up on that. I would not take you up on Kai Get is one of the kickers in some tryout in a couple different cities. No, I agree with Dan. All right, let's do it. Sandwich.

I'll take the field. Wow, all of a sudden I'm super invested in Kai Forbath. I hope he had interviews well. All right, so let's get to the games and why don't we start with a rematch of the AFC championship. Dropping to throw is Blake. Looking.

Fires a little crossing route caught wide open. D.D. Westbrook, into Patriots territory, season bounds at a 40. D.D. Westbrook, inside the 30-yard line, along the left sideline, inside the 10, to the 5, into the end. Touchdown.

Portals to D.D. Westrook For the touchdown. Frank Frangy, W. W-O-K-V with the call. Blake Bortles. Blake Bordels threw for 377 and four touchdowns, including that game-clinching 58-yard hookup with D-D-D-Westbrook. And the Jacksonville Jaguars deliver an early, Greg, statement.

With a 31-20 win over the New England Patriots, as I said, a rematch of the AFC championship game. West, the Jags could not close the door on the Pats in January. This time they slammed it shut. Well, this was a beatdown from the beginning to the end. And there was a period middle of the fourth quarter It looks like the Patriots could get back into the game But things broke right

But they didn't break right And on fourth and inches from their own 19 yard line Down 11 points they decided to punt And to me that was a backbreaker Because the very next play Blake Bortles to D.D. Westbrook 61 yards Some poor tackling on that play Some poor angles were taken

And the game was over But this was Jaguars dominating up front on both sides of the ball and showing that they just have a much stronger roster. Well, you think of the Patriots as this established team, and they are an established franchise with the greatest quarterback of all time. But these two teams, as they stand now, the Jaguars are kind of who they are. They want to stay this team that they have in terms of their defense

and in terms of offensively, they know what they want to be for the most part. The Patriots are very much a work in progress. So even though the Jaguars, I don't know if they were an underdog, in this game or not. To me, they're the more established team, and they look like it. The Patriots are, I think, going to be fine, but they're going to be figuring some things out on both sides of the ball. They lost their best defensive player, Trey Flowers, to a concussion.

They lost Patrick Chung. And Blake Bortles was making throws that Bill Belichick was daring him to make. The first two drives of the game to me were the key for the Jaguars. He hit a lot of tight windows. It wasn't necessarily the Patriots defense playing poorly. It was Blake Bortles beating one-on-one matchup. And remember, this is the Jaguars without Leonard Fournett, who had the hamstring issue, inactive. So what do they do?

They don't pound on the ground. They, a lot of short passes. And then like you said, just when there was one play in particular, I think one of the early touchdowns, Patriots, we saw eight in the box, basically daring Blake Bortles to beat you downfield. And he did it. And I think it was such a big game for Blake Borels. It's a big game in the AFC. We talked about it before Greg Howe. It's kind of a bummer.

It was a week two. but it counts the same. So now if these two teams finish with the same record and there's a postseason buy on the line, it is the Jaguars that would get that buy. And I think, Wes, this is a huge day for Blake Bortles and his confidence as this season starts to get rolling.

They're 2 and 0 now. He was legitimately great today. As far as his confidence goes, I'm not buying into that narrative. I've seen this too often. The job of an NFL starting quarterback is to be consistent and reliable. And Bortles is the opposite of that.

Well, people forget, He's had incredible games. They're usually not this high profile, but he's thrown in three or four of these games, certainly in his second year and his third year, a couple of them last year. Like, he's had these games where you can see why he was taking number three overall in the draft. And I think one thing that Jags fans have to feel great about, though, is Keel and Cole is legit. I mean, he might have been undrafted, but he's plays like a number one receiver. I mean, he makes plays.

Corey Grant needs to be a big part of this offense, even when Leonard Fournett is back. And I don't think they're better without Fournette, but I do think they're more aggressive without Fournette and a little less predictable. And maybe that helps them in a game against the Patriots. That, Wes, you referred to the Patriots decision to punt. They were down 24-3 in this game. The Jaguars turning over near midfield.

New England turns that into a touchdown. They kick a field goal. They're back within striking distance. And it was a unique situation because they got the first down initially. and it was a challenge and it was a good challenge by Doug Marone because when it happened

I said oh I don't like that challenge because very rarely do spot challenges get overturned but in this case it did so now it's fourth and inches and I know it's deep in New England territory but Bill has done this before

were you guys surprised that he did opt to punt I was shocked and I think we were talking down there Greg seemed shocked and we were both yelling at Romo that he was wrong I was condescending to Romo

being like they're not going to punt here they're going to go for it of course they're going to go for it And you've got the best quarterback sneaker of all time. This wasn't one of those games, though. And I know Tamposi, who's behind the class, the loose cannon, who was really taking this hard. This isn't one of those as a Patriots fan where I'm worrying about those small details.

Just because the Jaguars were much better, like they just were way better. And yeah, they could have snuck back into the game. But I had no faith that the Patriots would ultimately get stops or make enough big plays on offense to get it done. To me, the most alarming fact for the Patriots is, What do you do? What do you have when a guy like Todd Walsh, the defensive coordinator, creatively takes out Rob Grunkowski. What else do you have on offense?

But you've got 14 weeks to figure that out. I think you're going to have a lot more. And you have Tom Brady, I guess. And if you follow the sport, you know the Patriots in September are very different than the Patriots in January. But Greg, I just have to check in with you. The pants. Sometimes, you know, moisture gets strapped.

Couldn't be more dry. Yeah. So where are we, let's say, 10? Oh, my goodness, I need to get home. I got my pants that soaked through. One, nothing at all. Total dryness. P scale.

Total dryness. This is the, they were out. You don't want to go back to Jacksonville in January, bro. I don't care what Patriots show up. It's a week two game. Almost any result is not going to be that worrisome. But the Jaguress played great. I mean, Tamposi's, her pants are wet right now.

Let's just put it out. I smelled it as soon as I walked in. She was freaking out. That's not true, but you're right, if it comes down to the buy, and also, this is not a game that we want to lose. You don't want to, because when we see them again, no, this was the game. I've been looking forward to this game more than a lot of the other ones coming up. I mean, this means something down the line. It doesn't matter that we played it like an extension of preseason.

Belichick was, oh, go on, just go ahead. What do you mean they played it? They just got outplayed it. It happened. I just want to mark it today, September 16th, 2018, that our producer made a formal, sincere denial that she had wet herself. Let's move on. By the way, the hottest game in history.

Super hot. Jaguar's history. Mahomes to try to get the right protection call. Mahomes swing left sideline. Passes caught Tyreek Hill. Touchdown. Kansas City on a streak pattern up the left side line. Mitch Holtus K-C-F-X with the call.

Patrick Mahones tied a franchise record. Touchdown passes. Can you believe this guy? And the Chiefs held off the Pittsburgh Steelers. A 42-37 win at Heinz Field. Back-to-back road games from Holmes goes absolutely nuts. Greg, there wasn't a lot of defense to be found in this one, but a mono-imano showdown between the Old Guard, Big Ben, and the new one, PM2. I made that out.

Yeah, we need a nickname for Patrick Mahomes in general and just watching him play. I mean, for right now, to me, he's just box office. They're the number one team on the game. should be his nickname. They're the number one team on the game pass rankings. They should be the number one team on CBS if they've got an option of who they can show nationally. Because when you can put up 21 points like that in the first half, 42, and Tyreek Hill barely touches the ball, Andy Reed and Eric B. N and me have to get almost as much credit as Mahomes,

whose timing and accuracy and kind of next level eye movement is really been good for a young player. But these guys are open. I mean, Tyree Kil gets behind the defense every play. Sammy Watkins was open all day. Travis Kelsey had a yard and a half of separation on a lot of these plays. It's looked too easy. It's looked familiar too for a Steelers defense that gave up, what, 44 last time they were in Pittsburgh? I'm trying to remember.

45? They got a break. Big week for the top 10 receiving core rankings. Everyone was saying that after this game. Oh, yeah. Sammy Watkins, who is maybe the fourth best position or skill position player on this team, would be the best on some teams. Yeah.

And he looked good today. And Kelsey, those two guys, Kelsey and Watkins, who didn't do a lot last week were kind of the dominant figures today. But I've watched this Steelers team enough. Tomlin's been their coach for a while. And these players on defense for the most part have been there a while. And I know they got out schemed and it's only week two. and it was really hot in Pittsburgh as well. But I never trust this defense to make any stops.

And at some point, you've got to wonder just not since Shazir went down. That's true. They were playing great last year midway through the season. And you just, this team needs to have some sort of defense. You mentioned the one-on-one matchup between Rathlisberger and Mahomes. To me, that was a draw. Big Ben made a number of incredible plays. Do you have a bad elbow?

What was that about? Right. Do you think he played that up a little bit, Wes? Come on. Is the Pope Catholic? Ben, did you play it up at all with the elbow? Be honest. That was my impression of the bed.

Be honest, Ben. Okay. He was. I mean, yeah. The difference partly was also just, this was like an arena league game where it just came down to who can make one or two stops. And Ryan Switzer and Ben Rathesberger were not on the same page on one third down where Rathesberger expected Switzer to keep going.

It was like a third and one. So many of the third in sevens and third and six just felt like layups. You just expected the offense on both sides to get 15 yards every play. And they made a mistake on that. And little plays like that were the difference. There wasn't too much separating. As a football fan, these are not my favorite types of games. That's why anybody that was saying Eagles, Patriots is one of the top Super Bowls.

I like a little defense. I like when it's a little even and there's some playmaking on both sides of the ball. Going up and down the field, I watch these two teams. And I'm thinking they can put up points and they'll probably be exciting for a lot of people. But are these contenders? If your defense is this bad, can you be taken seriously in the conference? I am already taking the chief seriously.

Yeah. Well, remember last September though? Right. I get it. I get it. I just think there. And maybe it's the early season, Andy Reid, is already ahead of everyone. He is ahead of everyone.

People are going to catch up to them thing? I don't know because people caught up to him last year. I think the defensive personnel, especially in Pittsburgh, but in Kansas City, too. Can there's good enough players there that I think they could improve throughout the course of the season. But I think for right now,

Mike Tom on's coaching the wrong team. And I think we saw this a little bit. Who should he be coaching? He should be coaching the team that he has, which is not a team with a defense you can trust. And I remember last week you said, you know, Hugh Jackson almost, Dan said that Hugh Jackson almost didn't seem ready

to win that game. It got a little tight. The whole team, I thought. But the Steelers were really the team in that game that did that as well. They sat on that lead. They were way too conservative against the Browns. And I saw the same thing today out of the Steelers.

In too many situations in this game where they could not get stops, they were punting on fourth down. And I know it's fourth and six, fourth and seven. They just had to start going for it when they needed to keep the ball. They punted, I think, at one point with eight minutes left. And the game was basically over at that point. You've got to play to your strengths in its offense. Do you think that we are, you've made comments that you see the Steelers as a team not in the playoffs.

and you even threw out some records that would be eye-opening if the Steelers finished with them. Do you think that we're just sleeping on them? Of course they're going to put it together. They have too much talent not to. I mean, they're only 0-1-1. So it's not a panic. I mean, they also, Jesse James looked good, Smith's shoes.

Come on. You want the Steelers to take the old dirt now. I do. I mean, let's root for the story. And we've seen the Steelers enough in the mix. Oh, yeah. We haven't seen the Pats enough, though, so let's root for them. Well, that's my team.

I think, don't you, they see them? Like a team with a few more else could just internally combust like just it goes a little haywire They never have though you know yeah under tomlin but I I see where you got nine and seven but yeah let's move on A 35-yard field goal try to kick the Vikings to two and out snap spot Carlson he missed it again and he missed it right and for the third time in the history of the border battle we have a tie Daniel car Carlson missed three field goals today. Paul Allen, K-F-A-N with the call. My goodness.

He's the best. Daniel Carlson. What was he, a fourth-round pick? Fifth round pick? I think fifth. Missed two field goals in overtime, including that 35-yarder, pushed it right as time expired. And the Minnesota Vikings stuck with a 29-29 tie with the Packers.

They wiped out a 13-point deficit in the scale. but ended up kissing their sister. That's a weird phrase that people will use. Shook, Nick Shook, he's back. He helped us out on Sunday night football last week, and now we lean on him again. He's in the studio with us. There's a lot to break down here, buddy.

Aaron Rogers delivered another great performance on one leg. Kirk Cousins played like a star, but both teams will come out of this time with regret, right? Yeah, absolutely. I was waiting for the Paul Allen called, no! No! Poor guy.

It was a bad day for kickers, and Daniel Carlson was one of the worst offenders. But this game was a tale of two halves because in the first half, Green Bay played great defense. They stuck with their base package, which they did not do in week one. And it kind of left Minnesota scrambling for an answer. And then the second half, Green Bay switch is what they're doing. Minnesota is left to pass because they're trying to erase a deficit. And they end up tying the game, you know, in regulation on what might be a controversial. call. We're probably going to hear about it more in the next 24 hours, which is Clay Matthews hit on Kirk Cousins, which nullified an interception. That was a disgrace. That would have ended the game. That made me furious. If I'm a Packers fan, I'm dying. But even as a football fan, he gets up under Kirk Cousins, but not in a flagrant way, not in a violent way. Just as Cousins releases the pass, he takes him down. They throw the flag. And Matthews, who got killed with a roughing the passer last week that he deserved, he got up. And he was absolutely stunned. Let's just, let's just, let's

hear from Clay Matthews, his thoughts on that. I mean, I don't even know where to start, to be completely honest with you. I mean, I have so many emotions kind of running through as far as... Is that Tim Riggins? It's just what a terrible call. He's very Tim Riggins like. Handsome, man. I don't know what else to do.

I mean, I don't know. You let me know. Tell me, did I put pressure on him? You know, I thought I hit him within, you know, his waist of chest. I got my head across, put my hands down. And to call it, you know, at that point in the game, game is just, I mean, it's unbelievable. No, I didn't get explanation whatsoever.

I had no idea. You know, I looked up, there was a flag there, and I honestly had no idea, you know. Because like I said, you know, I got my head across, hands were down, didn't dump him, hit him within the framework, you know, the proper tackling area. So I don't know, I, you know, I think it's, you know, much like you saw with lowering the helmet preseason,

I think they, hopefully the league, you know, gets to the refs and, you know, tells him to tone it down a little bit because it's, I mean, I don't know what else to do. So Tony Carrenti, the official, did speak with the media afterwards. He said it had nothing to do with any of the new rules that when Clay Matthews hit the quarterback, he lifted him and drove him into the ground. If you watch the replay, that's just clearly the wrong call. Cousins kind of jumped up in the air.

He didn't lift him or drive him to the ground. It was just a bad call that could swing the division. Now, Shook, on Twitter I saw that Eric Kendricks had a similar call against him. Is that true? Yeah, that is true. Okay. But this one was not in the same level as that, because this decided the game, essentially. I mean, obviously, it's on Green Bay to get a stop, and they didn't, but they got one on that

play. I mean, afterwards, you want to bounce back. You know, if you're really the better team, you get the stop, and they didn't, but that's a terrible call. Not to take away from the Vikings. They had two great performances from Adam Thielen and Stefan Diggs. And the quarterback. Yes, and Kirk Cousins, breaking 400 yards, four touchdowns, only one.

pick 35 of 48 and an incredible connection with Thielen to get them in the end zone late. And kept putting them in position to kick game winning field goals. And they couldn't do it. That was a ridiculous throw to tie. And then it was a pretty throw on the two-point conversion. Cousin's definitely put some dimes up. It was a perfect two-play illustration of how their passing game is because he goes to Thielen first on what according to next-gen stats was the toughest catch of the season

had a completion probability of 12.4%. That's a new metric. I believe it. How does it, what does that even, how do they compute that? It takes in a bunch of different factors, separation at time of release, that kind of thing. About like 2.4%. Right? And then the next play, they go to Diggs on a well-run route to tie the game.

And, you know, it's encouraging for Vikings fans going forward. And the Packers, to an extent, this is going to be a division battle that I can't wait to see them meet later. You know who this is discouraging for? Saints, Falcons, and Panthers. Yeah. A tie is maybe knock one of those teams out of the playoffs down the road. Daniel Carlson beat out Kai's Kai, four bath, drafted in the fifth round. So it puts you, I know our boy, Paul Allen said they might leave him at Lambo.

But you're in a tough spot as an organization because when you invest draft capital in a kicker, like we saw last year with Aguayo, the team is going to probably stick with you. So you wonder if, A, they do exactly that and give this guy more chances. And then you have to wonder, and this is where it's a tough game and a tough, gig if he's going to cost them another game just because they feel like they don't want to eat that draft investment and just admit a failure on it. So it's a tough situation for the Vikings who have been haunted and snake bitten at the kicker position for decades, as we know. And this is just another kind of unforgettable chapter in that world. Do you know we've made

some progress compared to last year. Last September, we were talking about the catch roll, the anthem drama, injuries taking out star play. There's too many flags, boring football games, sloppiness from the preseason hangover. And this year we're like, oh, the fun game ended in a tie. Yeah. I am also the tie guy, by the way. This was my assigned game this week, one of them. Two for two.

I had the Browns last week. Well, we've never had three ties in a season since they went to the overtime rule, which was over 30 years ago or 40 years ago. So we just assigned, just aside. And you're right. At this point last year, we were talking about, remember the scoring crisis of September in 2000? 17 people like, oh, the defense is just dominates too much.

O lines are non-existent anymore. Yeah. We'd be remiss if we didn't get a report on Aaron Rogers playing on one leg. He looked really good. He decided to wear an actual brace this week, which seemed to help him. You really couldn't tell. It wasn't like last week. It wasn't like where he was kind of floating around on one leg. There was one scramble to the sideline in the second half where he looked like a guy with a leg brace, but otherwise he was Aaron.

He also scrambled once and dove forward in and I got scared because I was like he's throwing his body right into the action. on Aaron be careful all right moving on this will be an attempt of 36 yards by brand mcmannis for the win snap placement macmanus has it up it is good Dave Logan K-O-A with the call brandon McManus in a day when no kicker seemed to have the onions to put their team over the top McManus did he got he snuck it inside the right upright 36-yard field goal attempt with seconds to play the decisive riding points for the Broncos and a 2019 win over the Oakland Raiders at mile high. Mr. Shook, it looked for a time that the Raiders were going to grind this one out,

but their offense stalled late in the fourth, and then Case Keenham made them pay. Yeah, Gruden's grinders couldn't finish this one off. It was kind of like last week and that, you know, they couldn't hang on to a lead, except they weren't playing the Rams. They were playing the Broncos. And there was a point there in the fourth quarter where they got a contested first down. And it looked like, you know what? this one's about to be over,

but they couldn't ride Marshawn Lynch enough to close that game out. And Case Keenum looked kind of like Case Keenum of Minnesota last year and moving the ball down the field down to a number of receivers and got down in a field goal range. And McManus drilled it through on a day when it's been bad for kickers. I was happy to see one actually go through the air. Barely made it too. The AFC playoff picture, West is wide open, especially in the back end.

These are the type of games that you can steal. That's a difference between 8 and 8, 9, 7, 10, and 6. and the Broncos who are in this mix, that's a big win for them. It's a huge win for them. And it salvaged the ATN lockup segment for the week. Thank God. Actually, Greg, you had a lock, didn't you? I locked the Steelers.

West, thank you for coming through. And this game, I want to hear from Shook about one of my favorite players to watch. Do not compare your favorite scatback to Philip Lindsay because he's better than whoever you're going to talk about. about your Austin Ecclers, your whoever. Philip Lindsay is better. He can run inside. How dare you bring up James White in the face of Philip? Well, Lindsay is a way more complete back, a better runner.

He's a better runner than Chris Thompson. How about that for a set-up show? No, he's absolutely right. He's the first player. Get this too. Just disagree with Wes. We want to see what happens. I can't on this one.

And say LeBron's better than Jordan, too. I dare you. No, I'm not going down that. And then squeeze him between your massive biceps. Philip Lindsay, guy who wasn't invited to the Combine, even though he's the second most, he had the second most rushing guards in the history of Colorado football, didn't get an invite to the Combine.

Seems like an oversight. Undrafted and became the first undrafted player to have 100 plus yards from scrimmage in his first two games in NFL history. Whoa. He did it today with 107 yards on 14 carries and looks, he's like a jumpy running back. You know, he's a guy who gets through the hole, he gets around a defender,

he actually sets up his block. he had a really nice run late in the game today there's nobody really built like him he's a little high cut for a running back yeah 165 pounds but he's but he's muscular but he can run inside spot is sick he's like if jarius norwood had muscles back in the day wow i like that's a deep grab there yeah john gruden's sick by the way yeah this is a game he looks so dejected after the monday night they were just outclassed in the second half and after all the negative publicity tied to the Khalil Mack trade. This was setting up well, a road win in your division,

and they just could not close it out. That one, that's what keeps you up at night. That's what drove them out of the league, to be honest with you, losses like that. I think there are two coaches in the league who really need a win or needed a win this week. One of them is Hugh Jackson, the other one's John Gruden. Oh, let's talk about it.

Do you want to stay on the show for one more game? Yeah, Chuck, you are filling in capably. Shout out to Derek Carr, 29 for 32 for 288. There are some good things here for the Raiders. They were up 197 with 20 minutes to go, a team that we mocked a week ago, and they blew it. I'm just saying, I'm just saying they had to feel some good things. I kind of want to stand up for Derek Carr because he took it on the shoulders on the nose last week. He got blamed for it and was really good today.

Derek Carr played like an MVP today. Bing! One more. Let's move on. 52-yard field goal attempt. He's missed two. He's made one, and he's missed an extra point. Point. 21 18, New Orleans. Snap is back. Ball is down. He's into it. End over end. The kick is no good. With three seconds to go.

Jim Donovan, WKRK with the call. Zane Gonzalez misses a 51-yard attempt, final seconds of the game. He missed a lot of kicks in this game. And Will Lutz for the Saints. delivered on a 44-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the game enough for the Saints to pull out a 21-18 win extends the Browns winless streak to 19 games he missed how many kicks today Gonzalez two field goals and two extra points oh my god my god so you added up that's eight points left on the field and your thoughts shook on this one this one had to hurt you know as someone who grew up and watched the Browns blow a lot of leads and listen to Jim Donovan, you know, narrate those over the years, you have to expect that they

will give up a lead even in this quote-unquote new era of Browns football. But this one, Ardland, this one ranks up there because their defense has played good for two weeks now. And their offense was doing enough to what looked like, you know, it set them up to have these field goal tries to extend the lead. You know, he makes two of those field goals and they've got 18 points. And, you know, prior to all this, the rest of that touchdown that ended up tying the game, It looked like a team that was capable of going down to New Orleans and beating a Saints team that has underachieve so far and also lacks options offensively, which we'll get to in a second. But they couldn't do it again.

And as much as you want to put it on the kicker, because obviously he misses two field goals and two extra points. At the same time, what about the offense, you know, chewing some clock? Because they had the opportunity to twice, went three and out one possession, and then Tyrod Taylor threw a pick and the next one. So it's a total team, well, two-thirds of the team failed in this afternoon. And the heartbreak is amplified by the fact that it comes just hours after we find out that the Browns are set to release or trade. Josh Gordon after he came down with a hamstring injury and away from the facility, I guess. Shooting some type of promotional shoot injured his leg.

Team had questions about, I don't know, about a sobriety or just that he wasn't in the right headspace. And I guess they finally ran out of patience in Josh Gordon. Greg, your thoughts on that is it was at the right time? For the Browns or had they written, I mean, my honest thought was unless there was a legitimate, like, relapse or something like that, and maybe there was, we don't know. According to the plain dealer, it seemed like they believe. The Browns are putting it out there that they believe that or that something wasn't right. Which is a little irresponsible, and there's a lot of Brown's side of things when this went down. I also can't kill them for giving up on this relationship after six years.

Like, they've seen them every day up close. It's just a shame. The weird part, I think, is all these other teams and the fans like, yeah, let's get Josh Gordon. Like, that's going to do it. And it's the guy who's barely played for five years. We talked about it in the preseason. Why is anyone counting on that a man's going to turn his life around when he's in a struggle

that he hasn't been able to overcome, and you just can't assume that? He has said in the past that he never played sober, that his issues with substance abuse go back to middle school. A guy with absolute problems. You hope that he gets his life on the right track, but the Browns decided they couldn't wait for him anymore. Getting back to this game, and this is, shook, this is the most brownsy thing possible.

And kind of like, this is long, for me anyway, and I think this room we're all on the same page. It's gone way past, you know, oh, the Brown stink. They're kind of the lovable losers. It's just at this point, a tired narrative. You want the franchise to exit this period, but they can't get. get out. I mean, the perfect example is

the Tyrod Taylor touchdown that tied the game. A beautiful rainbow to Antonio Calloway, a guy that's a part of their future as well. It's one of the prettiest throws I can remember. And Browns fans like you shook, you don't even get two minutes to enjoy that moment before the damn kicker blows

it. Yep. You know how when you watch and, you know, you guys have kids, when you watch a newborn learned to crawl and before they crawl, you got to lay them on their stomach and they kind of put their face in the ground. Yes. And they They make some weird noises, baby noises, and eventually they start to call it. Yeah, and they lift their head up and then eventually they start to crawl.

The Browns are in that state right now where they're just face down on the baby blanket. Yeah. And maybe they'll get that one arm up and maybe they'll start to move. But right now they just can't get them. Well, you hope, you hope that it doesn't, you know, it can get better or it can get worse. We don't really know. It's impressive that they went down there and held the Saints to 275 yards. We were so confident that the Saints were going to win this game that we said you're not even

allowed to lock this game up, but the reality is they outplayed the Saints for much of the game. They had their chances to win. They've done some really good things defensively. But at the end of the game, when you see that look in Hugh Jackson's face, like, he needs to get a better poker face. I don't know. I just feel bad for him. How can you? But he looks so dejected and so beaten down. It really reminds me of some of the moments in hard knocks. And I'm thinking like, he can't I don't know I don't want to see my head coach looking like the way he's looking late in that game but can you blame him I mean he's he's been no but it's not right you know yeah well let me just say one thing I've never seen before at the end of a football game Zane Gonzalez misses the last kick he's sitting on the bench the camera's trained on him the game's over he's just on the bench and the opposing kicker will Lutz runs across the field to offer him encouragement and consoles him and then runs off that was painful. In American team sports, there is nothing like

the psychological pressure on a kicker after a full day of, what, 50, 45 people on each side playing, everything comes down to one swing of your body, one motion. The whole day comes down to that, and

if you want to read the best article you can find on the psychology of kicking by Michael Lewis, the same guy who wrote the blind side, I tweeted it today. The kick is up and it's a career killer, name of the article from the New York Times 2007, it's a great read on kickers. It's funny, too, because, you know, he missed that extra point to the left, which is how he missed a field goal earlier, so that when he misses the long try at the end of the game, pushes it to

the right. Saints need to get it together, by the way. They really, I don't, I hate getting too deep into the psychological stuff, but they do seem like the team that just was a little too full of themselves, a little too confident. And they are lucky that they're one-in-one, though. In the end, it kind of hasn't mattered. They have the pieces to play better, but they have played two stinkers. defensively, they miss Mark Ingramman. It's pretty evident.

All right, Chuck. You deserve that win today. Mark Zessler deserved that win today, and maybe you will get one soon. But I hope not Thursday against the jet. I think that's the turning point. The Brown's soldier on. Shook, thank you for jumping in. You were awesome, as you always are. Thanks. Thanks for having me on.

Let's move on. Side formation now with a fullback slash H-back of the snap. Play-ax the fact of the field. It goes toward DeShada. Ice the catch of the 40 to the 30, till it's 25 to Sean. Jackson to the 20 15 10 5 321 first play on the game touchdowns Tampa Bay wow fire fire the candidates fire again oh it's going to be a big year for jean deckerhoff of wf us ryan fitzpatrick threw for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns for the second time in seven days leading the Tampa bay bucks 27 21 win over the eagles the defending champs on Sunday in Tampa West fits magic both on the field and that the postgame press conference podium is dripping that I use that teen slang correctly well I don't think you

want to turn to me as the authority for that I know that's why I thought it'd be funny to turn to you as the authority but he did own the moment after you after you get a game like that and go to the podium looking like Connor McGregor you're own in the moment and I think this team is in love with him. Ten seconds into the game, they're up seven to nothing on a 75-yard touchdown. Before halftime, he becomes the first quarterback in Tampa Bay history to throw two 75-yard touchdown plays. And then by the end of the game, he's the first quarterback in franchise history to have

two consecutive games of four touchdown passes. And the whole time I'm watching this game, I'm thinking the Super Bowl champions, as they're currently composed, with the injuries on their roster, have no prayer of keeping up with the firepower that. Fitzpatrick came right just like we all predicted right the the hardest statistical start to a season in NFL history in terms of opponent's winning percentage the bucks having to face the Saints Eagles and Steelers next week and they are two and no and Ryan Fitzpatrick has eight touchdowns and 13 incompletions in two weeks that's the crazy thing is wow

and he's throwing balls up for grab that's the difference is he is he's throwing 75 20-yarders. I was really impressed late in the game. The final score is only 27-21, but both teams were over 400 yards. This was another offense-heavy day. I was really impressed late. That's misleading.

Late in the game. The Eagles couldn't move the ball for a large section to this game. When the Bucks got the ball back, though, with three minutes to go, and those are kind of the key snaps of the game, Fitzpatrick is throwing a deep out to the entire opposite side of the field on third down. He's hitting a slant on third and seven.

So it wasn't just the long touchdowns. It was those clutch third down throws with the game on the line against a team that should be getting some pass rush on him. No, he was clean. Fletcher Cox, I think, got him once, but he was clean. I think he's only been sacked one time in two games. From his Jets years, that was one thing he was always good at. He gets rid of the ball quickly.

Even if you don't have a good offensive line, he's somebody that can bail you out and keep you from having a game where you get sacked six times. Sometimes he gets it out so quickly, just throws it to the other team. And you play Ryan Fitzpatrick long enough, that might end up happening. But you also, and with James Winston due to come back in two weeks now,

you also could be in a situation where Fitzpatrick gets hot for a couple months. And now it seems very possible and perhaps likely that Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to keep James Winston on the bench. It would probably would take. It would take like a meltdown next week, right? It's going to take a slump of more than one game, I think, for Fitzpatrick to come out of this lineup. I do not think that James Winston is going to be the starter, like as soon as he gets back from suspension.

I don't think there's any chance of that. I mean, they, Peyton Barber and Jekwiz Rogers had 21 rushes for 35 yards, and they still win this game. One thing in defense of the Eagles, they enter this game without their starting quarterback, without the number one receiver, and by the end of the first quarter, they lose Mike Wallace, their deep threat. They lose Jay Ajee, their starting running back. They lose Jason Peters, their left tackle, and then Jason Pierre Paul,

kick the crap out of Vaitai for a while there. So their injuries really were a factor in this game. They're lucky they stole the Eagles that is last week's game. Very lucky. Yes. Let's stay in the NFC South. Here's Ryan. Looks left. Matt

now dances out of the pocket to his left. Scott Hooper. Now he's going to talk and run and Matt Ryan scores. It's an Atlanta touchdown for number two. How about the effort to get in the end zone? West Durham, WZGC with the call. Matt Ryan threw two touchdowns.

He ran for two more. That's the first time he's ever done that. Leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 3124 win over the Panthers. Greg Rosenthal, that's more like it for the Falcons offense, who actually cashed in on numerous Red Zone opportunities. I love when Week 2 destroy some of the week one storylines. They were four for four in the Red Zone today. They were perfect.

We'll have to see over the course of the season, whether they stay perfect. But listening to that highlight reminded me how the secondary players really carry the day for the Falcons. I think that's a great sign long term. Austin Hooper had a big game, including that touchdown. Calvin Ridley had a big game, including a touchdown. Edo Smith looked really good and made me think

they're not resigning Tevin Coleman or they're going to have to move on from one of their running backs. Devante Freeman wasn't healthy for today's game. But Edo Smith looked like a guy. Who may be next year we're going to be hearing a lot more. Hey, loose cannon. Let's cannon blast some of those week one narratives, courtesy of week two. Sure.

Goodbye, week one narratives. Or most of them. Got a love 18th century technology. Oh, man. Destructive ammunition. Matt Ryan has a sneaky dominant history against the Panthers. Every time he plays him. He owns it?

He just lights right. What makes it sneaky as opposed to just like regular? Because no one really pays attention to the Panthers. I'm super plugged in on it. I mean, I didn't know about that, but he- I'm, like, obsessed with it. I don't think it's a good sign that Cam Newton's been there leading rush or two straight weeks.

He's 42 yards today, led the team. But I do have enough to be the Christian McCaffrey breakout season. I mean, he, Christian McCaffrey had 14 catches for 102 yards. Okay. He's, he's done between the tackles, bro. Can he run between the tackles, Greg Rosenthal? He hasn't been doing it too much. But I do have an update for you.

I thought you would be interested. Is it after two weeks of play, Cam Newton's completion percentage is? Oh, please say 66. Please say 69. Yeah, baby. Nice. Double great. Nice.

Nice. See, Wes, hey, it's time to write Amia Koppel, ATN post. Listen, Norv, I took Norv to task back in May, but he proved himself. No need to cannon blast that narrative. Well, as long as the first two weeks mean everything, Ryan Fitzpatrick's going to be the MVP this year and the Jaguars have found their franchise quarter. But yeah, the Falcons, that was a deeply frustrating week one loss. And from the narrative standpoint, like everything that people were upset and up in arms

about throughout the offseason, when the same thing happens in week one, it becomes a double-down scenario. So I would think Steve Sarkeesian, some people won't sleep well tonight. Sark will. Good for him. And the Falcons home crowd, I think, is getting in that stadium, getting to be a real advantage. They ran the ball really well. Tevin Coleman also ran well.

And I think they're going to be a tough out. They were a little unlucky not to be 2 and O, but they're going to be a very tough out in Atlanta. Let's hear from a sponsor. ADT. ADT can design and install a smart home just for you back by 24-7 protection? Explore the vast number of things you can do

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Ryan Suckup kicked a 31-yard field goal with one minute to play. And the Titans beat up as they are held off the Texans 2017. Mike Brable gets his first coach win in the NFL as a head coach coming at the expense of the team that he worked with for four years prior to getting the gig. Now we welcome Jeremy Bergman. I call them Bergo. What's up, buddy? The Titans were beat up and missing their starting quarterback. It's a bad sign that the Texans couldn't take care of business, isn't it?

It's a real missed opportunity for the Texans. Blaine Gabbard started instead of Mark's Mariotta, who still did not have feeling in his hands. We came into this game thinking that they were going to maybe split snaps today. That was the report yesterday, and that was totally bogus. We figured that out by the first drive. It was on that at the end of that first drive that the Titans tried that fake punt

touchdown Kevin Byer to Dane Crookshank 6661. One of the best names in the league by far. There is an artery on the west side of town in Cincinnati called Crookshank. One of the streets near where I grew up. You called Crook or Shank because either way is kind of a win. I don't know. Shank probably.

Okay, Shank. Long as he's not a kicker. But the stat of the day was that Crookshank ended up being the Titans leading receiver. one catch 66 yards in a touchdown. That was the case with the Titans on the day. The pass run breakdown was 23 to 34, and the running backs were not effective.

They had to resort to some trickery like that. They had Derek Henry and the Wildcat at points, but nobody was really effective. It was really the Texans missing an opportunity with Will Fuller back in the starting lineup, coming back from an injury last week. Fuller and Hopkins both went over 100. They both scored a touchdown, and yet the Titans found a way to win.

They're 0-2 now, the Texans. And I think we talked about this a lot during the summer that the Texans were a very, you know, high-ceiling, low-floor team. And getting off to an 0-2 start is not pointing in the right direction and frustration perhaps setting in as well. Let's hear what J.J. Watt had to say when he was asked, one of those kind of dumb questions that sometimes journalists ask after a game because you're just trying to set up the guy to talk.

and Mr. Justin James took exception. You've started O-2 before. I've come back to make a playhouse. Is it your mindset or? No, I was just going to give up. I mean, what kind of answer do you want there? I mean, yeah, obviously, we're going to go to work. We're going to learn from mistakes.

But, I mean, come on, that's a ridiculous question. I could see how frustrating that would be for J.J. Watt. He didn't really show up on the stat sheet for the second week in a row. Jadavian Clownie didn't play with the back. Little Bergeton, Wattie. There. Elbow injury. Coming after him.

He was in the backfield, but he didn't register a sack. I got Bergatron in that 101 battle, surprisingly. Lock it up. Yeah, exactly. My five, six frame going against that. Bergatron, the only man who might be as small as me that's ever been in the studio, wearing a beautiful sweatshirt, which says Hebrew orphan asylum. Can you just explain that for a second?

That's the guy that I got in the JJ Watt 101 battle. What does that even mean? I had to wrap my alma mater today, you know, Hebrew orphan asylum. It's actually like an old. baseball team from the 20s or something. Nice. There you go. But, yeah,

Deavian Clowny out with back and elbow injuries. It's a missed opportunity because the Titans were missing. They're starting two tackles. You would have thought that with Blaine Gabbard back there. And their third tackle, that is Kelly. Like, that's a lot of tackle. They've got to win this game, Houston. They had 150 more yards than a title.

John McClain, I wasn't following his Twitter handle. He must have had a condition. He was melting down on that fake punt in early in the game. My God. The offense, besides the offensive line, Deshawn Watson was sacked four times. and hit nine. It's still a problem. How did Watson look in general, did you think? Watson, like last week, he still held on to the ball a little long.

After suck-up kick the field goal at the end of the game, the Texans had a drive. They were going down the field. They were on their own 48-yard line with 17 seconds left. Watson dropped back and then rolled out to his right, and he spent the entire 17 seconds waiting for a play to develop and then threw it in the middle of the field to the D'Andre Hopkins. With no timeouts, time ran out. He said that his instincts took over

and if he had gone back, he would have done it differently. But it's a missed opportunity for Houston who play. They get their home opener against the Giants next week. Those are learning experiences for Watson. You can't expect him to treat the end of games like he's Tom Brady. Right. And it's just striking, I think, because he was so electric last year and watching them was so electric that these first two weeks

are just more reminiscent of his first two appearances last year, where it took them a little while to get going, and you hope that they end up getting going. this year and are more fun to watch because this game I feel like kind of barely existed on the NFL radar this was kind of no one was really paying attention you want to hear a crazy stat I just looked this up on pro football reference J.J. Watts last sack in the NFL it's like two and a half years ago oh my god it's uh September 18th 2016 so we're coming up on two years years so I remember it well five years five years five games last year he's been shut out so far this

year not a good start one more crazy stat Lamar miller who we haven't really been talking about through two games has four point nine yards per carry there's my boy i was waiting for him he burned me last year later cost me sandwiches and now he turns it on whatever lamar miller i give you no credit let's move on second down in one ball in the right hash at the arizona 11 goff gives to girl he bounces right side at the perimeter a skip on 10 girlie gets in touchdowns by girlie Touchdown, L.A. Oh, what a mess this game was. J.B. Long, K.S.P.N. with the call.

There you go. Todd Gurley rushed for just 42 yards, but he scored three touchdowns as the Rams rolled to a 34 to Zip win over the hapless Arizona Cardinals at the L.A. Coliseum. Burgotron, first basement of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum. The Cardinals have been outscored 586 and back-to-back losses to start the season. It has to be Josh Rosen time, no? I'm probably the bench coach, but we'll go with First Basin. It could be Josh Rosen time. I would say it's not all Sam Bradford's fault.

There's a lot going on on that Arizona offense. I get that. Come on. Nobody's playing. Well, I get it. They have one more home game, and then after that, I think you can maybe consider going to Josh Rosen. This thing was over from the second drive of the second quarter. The Rams started slowly again as they did against Oakland, but they scored 19 points in the second quarter.

Gurley was not getting it going, actually a pretty good rush defense with Corey Peters up front for the Cardinals, but Goff had a really good game, found Brandon Cook's Deep. He's clearly better than Sammy Watkins was at this point last year. Woods and Cup also had big games. And let me read you a little poem that I wrote out. Wow. Really taking Sessler's spot. I mean, I will say this wasn't really creative. It's the setup that's creative. Okay. It's called Cardinals drives. punt punt punt punt punt punt punt punt punt punt punt interception end of game that iambic pentameter that's beautiful that was beautiful thank you that was sexy i did see that they didn't cross midfield until the

second to last play of the game that is correct which you just don't see in the NFL they only have five first downs i'd like to find out when was the last time a team had five or less first downs in an entire game what because that's something five first downs Two of them came on the final drive. Right, into nowhere. You just don't see that. And the Rams now 34 to 13 last week, 34 to nothing. Five first down.

This week. They've got three receivers on pace to get about 1,300 yards. It's like this is a super team. This, they, it's Super Bowl or bust for an L.A. football team. Let's move on. Tana Hill takes the snap. Here comes an all-out blitz. Tana Hill, under pressure, dumps it left.

Caught by Gore. No one home for the jet. He's up the middle of the field. Inside the 35. Inside the 30, down to the jet, 25, first down. 20 yards on 3rd and 19, an absolute backbreaker for the Jets. Ooh, jaunty. W.E.P.N. Bob was choosing with a call.

That was a fitting play for the Jets on Sunday. Ryan Tannahill threw two touchdown passes. Frank Gore had that big third and forever reception that really kind of locked the game up for Miami. and the Miami Dolphins cruise to a 20 to 12 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Burgo, you and I are both LSJF, long-suffering Jets fans. Frustrating loss, but let's be honest, not overly shocking after that Glory Boy Fest in Detroit on Monday. This is just how it goes for our time.

No, I think everybody in New York got a little too high off of that win. There was a lot. That never happens. A lot of things went right in that wind that did not go right. here. Sam Darnold bounced back from that pick six last week with a couple great drives. This week he contributed to or took away 14 points on two interceptions. The first one led to one of Miami's first touchdowns. The second one could have brought the Jets within six, but on the first play of the drive through a post into the end zone, Terrell Pryor apparently didn't run toward the ball.

He apologized after the game. That was the biggest play of the game. It was at that point they had gotten to within what was it 20 to 6 20 to 6 we're talking about 12 minutes to play in the third quarter Miami turns it over first and 10 from the 12 and on the first play darnold jams it in there and gets picked off and the air went out of that stadium this is the biggest jet's home opener in a long time in terms of how exciting Monday night was all the build up with darnold so for them to fall behind the way they did and never really be able to make plays and continuously shoot themselves in the foot. This was a classic, classic Jets game.

And Darnold. Oh, that's not nice. Well, I locked this one up. So I'm now 0 and 2. The defending champ is struggling. But Darnold had, listen, he's 21. There's going to be games like this. That's why I'm not even that dejected,

because I know there will be Sundays like this throughout the season. You just want to see growth as the season progresses. But the interceptions were killer. And at the end of the half, again, another woulda, coulda, shoulda, they botched the time near the goal line at Miami. He throws short of the goal line and they get tackled at the one and they get no points out of it, more deflation. So a very frustrating loss.

And on the Dolphin side, that is a nice win by a team. I know that Dolphins aren't exciting and I'm not sold on Ryan Tanahill. Generally, even in a game like today where the stats look okay, he's meh. But I think that this team is going to hang around. They're now 2 and 0. They're all alone in first place in the AFC East, which doesn't mean anything. but I think the dolphins are going to be in the mix here whether we like it or not.

The dolphins have the Raiders next week at home and that is a possible win and then week four is Dolphins at Patriots for AFC East quarter pole supremacy, not quarter pole. The dolphins were out gained by 100 here but there is opportunity for the second place or even a first place team,

any team in this division. The easiest schedule in the league just by going into the season, we're all AFC East teams because they're playing each other and the out-of-division schedule isn't too challenging. Oh, get the bills. You're not going to win that many games

where you have 257 yards of offense, which the Dolphins did in New York today, or New Jersey. I think if you're a Jets fan, you can't be too. This was kind of a weird game. Is front-running Fireman Ed going to slink back into his hole after this? Fireman Ed's catching a ton of heat.

He should. You know, I have to say, I'm one of the Jets fans that don't kill Fireman, he still goes to every game. Does he? Yeah, he's a season ticket holder. He just moved his same. section and said he didn't want to be leading the chant anymore.

I take it all back. But no, what your viewpoint is, and it's kind of fake news, I guess is what it is what most people think is that he just stopped going to games and now he just popped up after Monday night football. I stand corrected. Yeah, I mean, that guy, what a pillar of the community. We'll see how quickly the Jets turn it around. They're playing the Brown.

The pillar of the community. They're playing the Browns on a short week on Thursday night. You guys already went over the Browns game. Maybe we see Baker Mayfield. On a short week, that's a tough. That's a tough ass. That would be nice. That would be nice.

But how about that Frank Gore play? Picking that up. It was a little grounder. And he picked it up like Alvaro Espinoza. There's a reference you can get. I don't know if you. Most people don't make that play. The fourth all-time leading rusher in NFL history.

Now he passed Curtis Martin in the house that Martin built. He didn't build that. I think that was mostly the Mera's and the Johnson family. And just know what a pro I am because I know you have this little man-boy crush on Frank Gore. I cut that just for you. I wanted you to enjoy that moment. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Dan. All right, hey. By the way, do you have any other negative comments about New York firefighters, the real heroes? Especially on this week. I mean,

the real fighter fighters don't look for attention. You know what I mean? They're humble. Burgo. Thank you, buddy. Adios. Thanks, boys. Let's move on.

Five wide into the pattern here for Andrew Luck. Those are the real heroes, Greg. What are you trying to peat me as? Touchdown. Eric Ebron. Ebron! With this. Second touchdown in as many games.

And the Colts strike first. You need a history lesson. 9.25 to go in the opening quarter. There it is. Andrew Luck. Oh, sorry, the call there by Matt Taylor. WFNI. Andrew Luck shook off two interceptions.

March down the field. Two touchdowns in the game. He helps the Colts beat the Washington Redskins, 21-9. That's the first one of the season for the Colts and Andrew Luck's first win in some time, as we know. West, all the world. worries about number 12's NFL future now feels safely in the rear view. He looks like Andrew Luck has always looked.

That's great. Came out on the opening drive. It was a beautiful opening drive. His ball placement was uncanny on that opening drive. And then for a while, the offense kind of went in the tank, as you would expect, without his left tackle, without much of a running game. And with basically only T.Y. Hilton to move the chains up and down the field, he likes Ebron in the red zone.

But he relies a lot on T.Y. Hilton. and he was undermanned in this game and outplayed Alex Smith. I would give a vote early on. It's just like the most impressive new coach to me to Frank Reich. Not that any of them won last week, but when you watch the Colts, they're just transformed. They're a totally different offense. You could see it in week one.

I bet you can see it. And defense. Matt Aberflus, or however we're pronouncing his name. Rob Ryan went Eberflus. He used to work with him. He has turned. Margus Hunt, the Eastern Block, formerly a hard-knock star, into a guy who is throwing offensive linemen around knocking running backs for losses, sacking quarterbacks, and Darius Leonard, their second round pick out of small school, South Carolina State, 18 tackles today. It's outrageous.

A sack, a forced fumble with a game on the line, and the Redskins driving. He forced a fumble on Jordan Reed. This defense came to play today. And, yeah, it sounds like the defense sort of dominated. Adrian Peterson held the 20 yards on 11 carries, so their running game didn't get anything going. And one of the reasons I think everyone seems to like Reich. Afterwards, he's dancing in the locker room.

Jim Mersey is dancing. And there was a lot of talk about the three-yard pass from Luck to Hilton that kind of put the game away. And that was a play. They practiced throughout the weekend, and they knew if they get into a spot where they absolutely need a touchdown, that's the play that they're going to call.

These are the types of stories that you can write when Frank Reich is your head coach. He breaks it out. The defense had no clue. It was a super creative play. Reminds me of something you would have seen with the Eagles last year. Game over.

Get done. Redskins a little frisky in week one. Now they take a step back. So we got to reassess where the skins are because we were, say, a little feisty NFC. I like the skins, though. One game is not going to kill me. But yeah, this was not a good deal.

The Jordan Reeve fumble was big. Paul Richardson had a big drop over the middle on a third down that was big. had a few errors and they didn't seem like they could handle this sounds so weird after the first week didn't seem like they could handle the colt's physical toughness in this game and where were the fans by the way colts are a different team yeah that the announced crowd was 50 less than 60 000 58000 which was almost 20,000 down from a year ago right there was everybody Washington seems a little out on the Redskins right now what's is surprising after what they did the first week but who knows

it's been a rough couple decades for Redskins fans let's move up You look, rolls right, in trouble, comes back left, sets and throws, got it to Theo in and out of his hands, it incomplete. Again, hit him in the hands, but he couldn't hang on it down to the 48-yard line of San Francisco, and this game's over. Dan Miller, WJR with the call. Theo Riddick, a nightmare final drive for Detroit, where two passes clanked off his hands when the lines are trying to get into field co-position. So they couldn't. They fall 30 to 27 to the San Francisco 49ers. at the big bell bottom.

This is a game. Jimmy Gropolo threw two touchdowns. Matt Breeder ran for 138. And the Niners, after that tough loss of the Vikings in week one, get a W. Wes? I have to be honest, I saw none of this game. So I'm going to lean on whoever in here.

Lean on me, Wes. All right. I'll take you through it all. That the 49ers looked, or the lines look dead and buried in this game at 33. 13. And to their credit and to Matt Patricia's credit, I have to say, because nobody had a worst week one than Matt Patricia. This team fell behind in a tough environment against a potentially good team. And they chipped away. They battled back. Got it to 30, 27, got the stop they needed

to get the ball back. And, uh, I mean, if Riddick doesn't drop those, he's one of the best receiving backs in the NFL. It went right through his hands. They would have had a field goal attempt at least. And that came, I believe the play before one, he had a, he had room to run in the middle of the field that would have put them right on the cusp of field goal range. It wasn't all on Theoretic. Matt Stafford statistically, let's see what he did. Statistically, 347 and 3.40 and 3 is just like it's easier than ever to do in the end. When you boys, and I know you are the scientists, when you fire this game up on Game Pass,

you are going to be surprised, nay, stunned by how many balls Matt Stafford missed downfield. He did not cash in on numerous big play opportunities. and even though the numbers were better and obviously he was better than he was against the Jets when maybe they were, the New York was stealing the signs, but he threw four picks

and just looked terrible. He was better in this game, but he's still not looking like the Matt Stafford that we saw with Jim Bob Cooter in the last two seasons. Here's what worries me about the 49ers. I went back and watched that week one game and their offensive line was atrocious.

Just all, absolutely dominated by the Vikings, which happens. It's the Vikings. But then in this game, the Lions sack Garoppolo, six times. Jimmy G. After the game, said a lot of those were his fault.

I don't know if that was just him being a leader and trying to take the blame because that sounds like the type of thing that he would do. He also had an interception on their last drive that was called back. It was a really a key play for them. You got bailed out on that. It's nice that the 49ers are winning games as they're kind of going through these learning current. I mean, this is still a team that should be fairly early in their development.

So that the fact that they can sneak a game out where a lot of things went wrong is good. Gropolo look good, not great. You have to be happy and excited if they lose Jarek McKinnon and then they go for 190 yards rushing in this game. So they've been able to at least for one week mitigate the loss of McKinnon. And that 66-yard touchdown run for Breda was, I believe, the longest for the Niners. They found something in the rookie linebacker, Fred Werner. I thought he was about it.

He had another active day. He was the most impressive defensive rookie of week one. I thought that I saw anyway. Oh my goodness, it's Jules Suvide, which makes it easy to cook an incredible dinner that everyone will love any night of the week, whether you're making chicken, seafood, veggies, eggs, practically anything.

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Can't pay for that. I mean, that was... No, you can't. I'm not for sale. true i can't be bought no you can't and now inside the red zone hey we know that guy from the 20 offset eye motion man is tyrell williams hand off to gordon he's got room left side outside the numbers 10 five touchdown chargers melvin gordon with a 20 yard run the voice of the around the NFL podcast matt money smith kf i with a call and some of the other guys started talking about that doesn't matter the chargers were the lucky team that drew

the bills in week two and they made the most of it a 31 20 win in orchard park melvin gordon matched a career high three touchdowns philip rivers threw for three scores posting a passer rating north of 140 the bolts have your heart again gregg or is it just you know bills my god i never they never lost my heart this is going to be a fun team to watch whenever philip rivers can get three touchdowns in the first 20 minutes i mean okay you know you got a tough team team with the chiefs coming in. Maybe you lose that game. But if you want a team to go on the road and beat a hapless also ran like the

Bills, the Chargers are your team. What a sell. So if you got a really bad team, we got a team for you to take care of that. Hey, two weeks into the season, I'm as excited about them offensively as I want. They put up 530 yards. I'm a little worried about the defense, but we'll have to see. Are you still trying to convince us that the bills aren't that bad? All I said was the NFL is a crazy place.

You made the same argument that the Browns had no chance to. Now, Greg's selling. The bills, the bills are even worse than the car. They almost covered in the end. It was 31 to 20. Josh Allen does seem like he's better. There you go again. They almost covered in the end.

They got blown out of the water. The most memorable thing about this game, though, will be that one of the players retired at halftime, Vante Davis, who's had a nice career in the NFL over, I believe, about eight or nine seasons, had bounced around in recent years. was with Buffalo, and at halftime, he decided he didn't want to play anymore. So he said his heart wasn't in it. And he quit football, not the game, not just the game or the team, the entire thing. He released a statement after the game explaining why he made that decision.

And the statement itself was kind of surreal in how well packaged it was on social media. Very strange situation. As you might imagine, the bills who are going through stuff right now, this is the last thing they want to have to be asked about after another humbling loss. Here's what Lorenzo Alexander had to say on the Vante Davis News. You've seen anything like that in your NFL career? You've never seen it ever. Pop Warner, high school, college, pros, never heard of it, never seen it.

And it's just completely disrespectful to his teammates. Did he say anything to you? Did he say anybody to anybody? They say nothing to nobody. He left? Yeah. You know as much as I know. I know I found out going in the second half of the game.

Coming out, they said he said he's not coming out. He retired. That's crazy Yep That's it So who said what? Sean said that Guys are in the silent

I mean All right that's good I think You brought up hard knocks And Margus Hunt before Avante Davis had one of the more memorable hard knocks moments Of the last five or so years

When he got called I think Jeff Ireland It was called him into His office and alerted him He was being traded to the cults And the first thing that Vante Davis said Is can I call my grandma which went viral.

That was a pretty big deal. So we're talking about a different type of cat here. And so although this is kind of unheard of, if I had to pick a guy, Vante Davis would be on my short list of players that would do something like this. What an ignominious moment for the Buffalo Bills of 2018. And football has very strong, strong points

and it's got some weak points. But one of its strengths is it fosters mental toughness. And this is the opposite of mental toughness. toughness. How bad was, what did Sean McDermott say in the half-time speech? Oh, my God. He's got Fonte Davis either. You do, you feel for Vanti Davis, who's.

I feel for Lorenzo Alexander. No, and you feel for the players. I'm just saying he's played through a lot of injuries. You have to have a level of toughness to do everything. Absolutely. Done throughout his career. And to be pushed to the, to the point where he clearly just was like, I'm done with this sport.

I shouldn't have played. He seemed to be on the fence of playing this year. And they're watching him in preseason, I would have thought that he would have quit before. He was a healthy scratch last week. He was given $5 million this season, $3.5 million. So many bad investments in Buffalo. Guaranteed. We're sleeping on that a little bit.

You're absolutely right. And his heart clearly wasn't in it. That's all I mean in terms of feeling for him. You just wish that he had made it to the end of the game and retired at the end of the game. He could have. I don't think people, right. I don't think people would have killed them if you retired after two weeks. It would have been a weird story.

but you just got to finish out the game. Yeah, I get what you're saying. It sucks for his mind to go into that thing. I'm saying you had to feel pretty low and feel pretty crazy. You're right, but you just finish the final two. Yeah, exactly. And in his statement, he said, you know, the stress and, you know, with the punishment you take as a player, and we get all that.

But just to do it in the middle of the game, that's such a strange move and an impulsive one that I imagine he may regret one day. It's a sport where your heart has to be in it. And that's why after the game, wouldn't have seemed that crazy. I was thinking, well, did he get just absolutely torched? The PFF had him as a negative 1.4 in run defense. Wait, he played?

Oh, yeah, he played 29 snaps. He started out. He started the game. Oh, no. He said he was on the field, and he's thinking himself, like, I don't want to do this anymore. He started the game. Because they were injured, they were pretty banged up, so they had to start him. That goes my mom.

I thought that, like, he was on the sideline, and they didn't put him in the game, so he quit. No, and they ended up having to use, you know, Raphael Bush and some. other players who aren't necessarily used to it played corner. He did he was like, I'm going to the bathroom and just snuck out the back door or something? I don't know. Which takes us to Sunday night football. Fake to Elliott and they go deep down field and getting open and making the catch at the 25-yard line and taking it all the way into the end zone is Tavon Austin.

Touchdown Cowboys. Dak Prescott played efficient football behind center. Zeke Elliott ran for a touchdown in 78 yards on the ground and the Dallas Cowboys defense. Stifle, Eli Manning, and the New York Giants, a 20 to 13 win in Gero World that gets Cowboys their first win of the season after that disappointing week one loss against the Panthers. The Giants, meanwhile, oh, and two. And probably asking some questions right now. Greg, where are they asking questions?

I'm asking a question of my... Oh, very underwent. And I'm playing the role of Mark Sessler. tonight, which I completely look forward to. I'm wondering why I was looking forward to any NFC East games in prime time. I thought they would be more exciting this year, and they're not. This was one of the worst Giants Cowboys games in recent memory, but they're all usually stinkers. At least if you're a Cowboys fan, though, I think you have to feel like you're showing some consistency over these two weeks,

which is that the defensive front is going to be a problem. So that gives you something to build off with Ezekiel Elliott. Yeah, when I said earlier this, or in the preview, podcast that the Cowboys offense is worse than the defense probably wasn't given enough credit to the defense which the front seven you're right does look much improved and it looks like one of the better front sevens in the NFC now i mean got to give the entire dallas unit really had a nice game because when you can shut down saquan barclay who went 11 for 28 two and a half yards per carry made eli make old look very old which i get it now it's starting to look like a lot of

defenses can do that but then on top of that odel beckham held to four catches for 51 yards on nine targets. So they were able to shut down Beckham, keep Barkley from breaking big plays. And Eli Manning, especially in the first half, and he did a couple things in the second half. But this is going to be the question now. And I spent much of the offseason whenever the Giants came up,

pounding the table that Eli had another year in him. I think every Eli supporter is fair to start wondering if you hitched yourself to the wrong wagon. They're on the ropes right now. They're on the ropes. I'm not going to bail. I will not bail after week two and say that Eli's shot

and the Giants made the biggest mistake in their recent history by passing on a quarterback. But through two games, it is not looking good. Yeah, I have a question. Dave Gettelman comes in. Pat Shermer comes in,

revamped offensive line, Sequin Bargley, their receivers are healthy, and what's changed? They look like the same inept offense as last year. Eli's face is just, he was making faces in this game.

I think people really identify with Eli because he makes faces as he's getting up from getting hit or as he's about to get hit. Or as he's getting hit. Right, that I imagine that I would make like if I was in an NFL game. So maybe it humanizes him, but he had some of the saddest kind of faces

getting up from some of those hits tonight that I've ever seen from Eli. This offensive line is not fixed. No. That was the narrative all offseason and they are not fixed in any way. And the Cowboys defense is different. Byron Jones is playing cornerback.

He was the one who was tracking O'Dell Beckham for much of this game. Ouse only started at the end of last year. He looks like a quality starter. Jalen Smith played pretty well in this game. Vandreche came on and ended up making some plays. Like, DeMarcus Lawrence is going from defensive player of the year candidate to backing that up now to start the second season. So they've got a lot going on if they can get like one or two big plays out of DAC,

which they got and good running from Zeke. I think the Cowboys deserve some credit for that Jalen Smith. pick that everyone i mean almost everyone knocked him knocked him for it and he looks like an actual nfl middle linebacker now it's one of those like great stories too because he was a prized prospect in his last college game and a bowl game for notre dame he suffers an injury that some people think he'll never recover from so now to see him putting together a nice NFL career that's a great story the giants by the way so everyone knew before the season that the schedule looked terrible after two weeks when you take another look of the schedules it's still a really bad schedule

Well, O and 2 is bad. So they're in a hole next week at Texans, another O and 2 disappointment. That's a nice matchup. That's a tough game. On the road against the team that's desperate as you are, home to Saints. And I don't know about the Saints.

We'll see about the Saints. At Panthers, home to Eagles, at Falcons. So it's a really tough, even with some of those teams not playing very well in the first two weeks, there are no gimmies. There are no Buffalo Bills on the schedule. And the Giants have put themselves on a hole for the second straight year. And while Tavon Austin isn't getting the dozen to two dozen

touches per game that Stephen Jones promised in the off season. I think he said a hundred touches a game. He did get three, including the 64-yard touchdown, so it's nice to see Tavon Austin making a play. What is it about him that makes coaches promise the unpromisable? I don't know. I think it's because he's awesome in

off-season practices when there's no tackling. Yeah, and he's just super fast. The little quick guys. And shout out to Evan Ingram for delivering me a fantasy win with a total worthless touchdown who said it's worthless, not to me. were pretty excited that it was living in up the studio here it was a long day i mean you know i was

happy that the patriots lost but don't really i only really get excited when that happens in the playoffs truly uh but you know the jets laid an egg and the yankees lost again your favorite player eli manning struggle he lies in the tank uh i really kind of needed to pick me up so a big comeback win on sunday night who said nobody cares about fantasy other people's fantasy teams like the whole country is going to be transfixed by my team this well this beats last year's matt ryan angst i have them on my team again nice performance that's a bad job by you all right there you go that's uh that's sunday football that's sunday of week two is one more uh game of course on monday night uh and a reminder to everyone the next time that you will hear slash see us is the premiere of our twitter show uh this is a big

deal for us it's going to be a totally different show than the pocket well not totally different but it will be a different show uh but it will still be the heroes so make sure you check that out a lot of choreography you know, outfit changes. It's going to be a variety show. It's going to be a lot. A lot of handwritten comedy bits. Sock puppets.

Sock puppets. All that stuff. And that will be, we're not sure. It's Tuesday in the one between the one and two hour. I think it's probably going to. About two. It's going to probably start around five Eastern, two Pacific in that zone. 10 London.

Keep an eye out for that. And we'll be back with our second podcast of the week on Wednesday. So make sure you check that out. Okay. This is Dan Hans. signing off. Get well soon, Mark Sessler. Dan Hans is signing off for The Mailman, the old boss. Thank you to

Burgo and Shook and the loose cannon behind the glass. Yeah. Till Tuesday. This is an I-heart podcast.