NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2018 Week 4 Recap

Episode Date: October 1, 2018

In a room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler & Chris Wesseling – react to a phenomenal Week 4 of NFL action, including – a Marcus Mariota led comeback against the Eagles (3:00), Houston earns their first win of the season in overtime (7:30), Cincinnati walks-off in Atlanta (17:20), Jon Gruden records his first win as the head coach of the Raiders (42:05), Alvin Kamara runs wild against New York (50:50) & the Ravens collide with AFC North rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers (1:01:10)!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. The Around the NFL podcast. All have side podcasts except for West. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I've joined in a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Happy Sunday night. Happy flagship show. Week four in the NFL, three more overtime games. I know we didn't like in this room how all of them turned out, Mr. Sizzler, but the greater point is that football is damn good right now in terms of how competitive the games are, how fun they've been to watch. And you're not seeing those think pieces, Greg, like you saw this time last year about how there's something wrong with the sport.

Well, it does go to show that point. I was thinking about that on Thursday night because we were talking about what a classic game that is and everyone that watched at home came out of that game feeling like the NFL is why it's our favorite store the Rams and Vikings and Vikings and it's because points ultimately people do like points but it's more complex than that there's been more entertainment

there's been more late game drama there's been a lot of on stage on big stage teams playing well absolutely but also there's been more points and we Mark you know Mark's leg is elevated right now is this for your health reasons I was carrying two, I guess... Or is it Browns reason?

Is it a cord of firewood? I was carrying two collections of firewood into Wes's house on one of these nights, Friday night, and collapsed to the driveway. Like totally crumbled in the driveway and landed on my left knee. And it's, I'm just sort of, I don't have ice, but it's the version of icing it. Just putting my knee up on the table to deal with the setback, Dan. It's a health issue. Okay.

I was going to say last year, we were giving it to the NFRA. This is not just us, you know, being pro. We're in the bag for the league. Last year there was a bad football, especially in prime time. We've been lucky this year. There was bad energy around a lot of NFL stuff a year ago. And I think right now, and it's crazy that that Thursday night game that we went to feels like a million years ago and a million great games ago at this point,

there's great energy around this season right now and what's happening. I think it says a lot when the piling on the quarterback rule is the biggest problem the NFL's had by Fards. We're jigsing it right. Like, that's not, you're right. Like tomorrow there's going to be a terrible story that ruins our lives. There are as many flags this year as last year, but last year it was a lot of flags and not much football action. This year, there's enough football action that people can put up with them.

It does help that, like, 18 NFL defensive coordinators are systematically drugged before each game so that they have no idea what's happening by the end of the first quarter. I am going to try to be a professional and get through this podcast, taking Mark seriously with the leg up. This is wild, what's happening. This is how I get through. I'm sustaining. And I, listen, I tried to be a good friend by bringing Firewood into Wes's house.

It did not go well. All right. We got a lot of games to get to. A lot of fun football to talk about. Week 4 Sunday. Let's start with one of those overtime thrillers. Mario da throws in the end zone. Man is there.

Touchdown Titans. Corey Davis, his first ever. Touchdown catch at Nizzo. stadium. That's why you pick him. That's why you want him. And that's why Marcus Marriota is the man. Oh, Mikey Keith, Jembe, WGFX, clip that off. That's in the running for call of the year. Marcus Mariotta connected with Corey Davis on a 10-yard touchdown pass just before the end of overtime. The Tennessee Titans beat the Philadelphia Eagles 26 to 23. What a game. for the defending champ Eagles who blew a 14-point second half lead and a three-point lead in

overtime. Greg, this Titans team does not give up. They don't. And the way that they did it has me thinking they have a chance to be special this year. It's one thing to win with Blaine Gabbert over the Texans with some crazy plays. Another, you win in Jacksonville 9-6. The fact that they won by being aggressive throwing the ball down the field from the very first quarter. And I know it was 17-3 midway through the third quarter, but there was actually a lot of action, a lot of interesting moments in this game. But from that point on, Mariotta completed, I believe, at least 14 straight passes after they were down 17-3.

They scored 17 unanswered. You see Corey Davis playing like a number one receiver. And you see Marcus Marriota throwing the ball down the field. And you start to see, okay, this is what Matt Lafleur, this, you know, acolyte of Sean McVey. You know, someone who learned from Sean McVeigh and, you know, Kyle Shannon, you started to see that offense take shape and you started to see Mario to throw well and move very well

and the fact that they overcame fourth and 15 in overtime fourth and four and then you had a moment at fourth and two where you were going to kick a field goal to tie the game in overtime and Vrable has kind of his come to Jesus I'm just going to go for it moment takes a time out decides

to go for it gets it to Dion Lewis they march down the field and win the game that changes the course of a season I think they're just going to be fired up. And that was a trend in week for coaches and big decisions, either changing their minds or making unorthodox decisions

there. It worked out for the Titans. Vrabel said after the game that he put that kick team on the field on purpose to stop any confusion that the offense was going to have because he knew he was going to take a time out regardless, which is a little bit different than what happened in the Colts game. We'll get to that.

But Vrabel seemed to keep his head about him there. It's amazing to me that Vrable prior to 2014 is someone with zero pro football coaching experience and along with Matt Negi looks like one of the best new hires right now and did not have a great track record as a defensive coordinator in the NFL but this Titans defense has been playing really well and they've been creative and they gave problems to the Eagles who I think overall they should not, Eagles fans should not be panicking

I think you saw a lot in this game actually to be excited about Carson Wentz looked much better you're getting something out of Jordan Matthews which I think just adding to the mix is nice. And Alson Jeffrey was back and made a huge difference. Eight for 105 and one for Jeffrey. Carson Wentz, 33, 50, 348, and two touchdowns. So, yeah, it wasn't like a dark day for the defending champs. It's just the Titans might be for real.

They deserve respect. And I personally would not call them the Titans anymore. A lot of two. That's a decision for you. Jarrell Casey playing as well as Fletcher Cox this year. He's been awesome. He made a game when he played today. Harold Landry.

is one of the impact rookies on defense, too. Dan, a lot of, there are a, I've received probably 20 to 25. Strongly worded tweets, directed essentially at us to corral you on this issue. Yes. Where are you with Titans versus Titans? This is how you generate heat and pop and buzz around your podcast. Titans win some games in December. It was a, you just beat the Super Bowl champs.

Nice job in September. They just beat the, the AFC, you know, the division leaders. The guys who made the coverage chat. They beat the defending Super Bowl Chit. And what I liked is they changed their plan. They couldn't run the ball and they just started to throw it like crazy because that was... Who cares what I call them? Enjoy your team, Tennessee.

I think some people do care, Dan. Tennessee region? I think they're going to be enjoying them this year. It's a fun squad. All right. Let's move on. Weeks with a snap. It's down.

Daniel with the whole Fairbearance kick is up. And it's good. And the Texans win in overtime. At the buzzer, Fairbeard drills it, and the Texans get their first of 2018. K-I-L-T, Mark Vandermere with a call. One of my favorite names in the game right now. Kaimi Fairbeard took advantage of a second chance at a game winner connecting on a 37-yarder as time expired in overtime to give the Houston Texans a 37-34 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Fairburn missed the first kick wide left, but the Colts had called timeout. He didn't miss when he counted Mark. That's how it ended, but this game will be remembered for an extremely gutsy or extremely dumb decision by Frank Reich. Absolutely. It's fourth and four with 27 seconds left in overtime. And the Colts are sitting at their own 43-yard line and they dial up a pass that falls incomplete

from Andrew Luck to Chester Rogers. And right away, Twitter lights up with people asking why on earth did Coach Frank Reich go for this this way? Why be this aggressive when there were other ways out of this game? He came out very strongly afterwards explaining why he did it. Do we want to get to that sound clip? You had to set up nicely. We're not playing a tie.

I mean, we're going for that 10 times out of 10. I mean, that's just the way it's got to roll. I don't normally push like Erica into sound clip world. So I was in a new territory. Honestly, like, you stuck the landing there. You just had to trust your instincts, that extra couple of words. Well, if I, you know, I do that maybe once a year on this show. So next year at this time, I'll do a better job.

Can I hear it one more time, though, because I wasn't listening. Yeah, I'll just address it now. I mean, we're not playing a tie. I mean, we're going for that 10 times out of 10. I mean, that's just the way it's got a roll. Wes, did you like it? Well, the philosophy is the same as Braebles, but the execution was faulty. And I think you can criticize Frank Reich for taking the time out the play before to try to get the defense to jump off sides, leaving himself with little wigeroom there.

And you can also fault him for not choosing on a fourth and four play, say your best two-point conversion type of run play, which would have left the other team with no time on the clock had they gotten the ball back. What do you mean? The clock stops the second you run the ball. But a running play will take more time than a passing play. But it still would have left you with about. 20 seconds, I think. I think less than that, right? I mean, there were 27 seconds at the point of the snap. It went down to 24 on the incomplete pass. It's going to change possession and the clock's going to stop. Maybe it's an extra three or four seconds. Maybe, but I like the idea

in general, the execution and the spot on the field and the way that game was flowing, I can understand the criticism. But maybe kind of like Mark, you know, not quite trusting the process there it was the right idea and the long in the long term i think it's going to help out and you're going to have some learning and that's what you got to do you know some learning the right idea on the other team's 43 yard line and not your own well that makes that that that's that i agree with i think the where it was on the field you're just they're asking potentially for disaster here's the thing though you can make a better throw you can also make a better play on defense you had to give up a lot of yards immediately on defense and that's exactly what they did to

lose the game so it's on players too the sean watson first play after this fourth day failure connects with DeAndre Hockman's 24 yards, they spiked the ball and kicked the field goal. So even after that went sideways on the Colts, if they just put up a little bit of a fight and get a stop, even an incompletion that affects the time situation, you probably survive, but they just didn't execute. And what should be lost in this game is how great Andrew Luck played. This week after a lot of hand-wringing and concerned about how luck has looked and how maybe that shoulder is permanently damaged to the point where he'll never be the same guy.

He made a lot of great throws in this game. He had some drives where, again, he's just an easy guy to root for him, where I felt like, yes, Andrew Luck, you still can do this thing. Yes, I think if you are a Colts fan or a Texans fan, there is something to be optimistic about both offenses, both passing games, I should say,

finding their way in this game as it went on and on to the point where you really knew the Texans were going to run. I look at this Colts ground attack, though, is absolutely a mega disaster. This is the most inbalanced team in the AFC. Their running backs aren't good. It is hard to watch how imbalanced they are. And for their efforts, they played 90 snaps today,

and they are on a short week to play against the Patriots. C.Y. Hilton has a hamstring injury, and Frank Reich does not expect to be able. And they're in a good luck with that. They're in a good division. I think the Titans and Jags are both playoff type of teams. They're at three and one. And maybe that's why you are.

Should be aggressive that you need wins, not ties. That ends a nine-game losing streak for the Texans that dates back to last year. And hats off to Adam Vinay-Terry. Now the all-time field goal leader after kicking, converting late in the first half. Let's move on. Crescott airs it out deep down the right side. The ball is caught at the 25-yard line in the ride by Ezekiel Elliott. A wheel round now we're right-side, and they're in field goal away.

With a minute tail of the clock running. Brad Sham, K-R-L-D with the call. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, like you just heard, connected a huge 34-yard reception late in the fourth quarter. Prescott put it right where it needed to be, and Elliott made the play. Brett Mar-Mare, Mayor, Mar-Mar, 38-yard field goal in the final seconds. Cowboys, 26-24 win over the Lions at Jerry World. It was a career day for Zeke who piled up 240 all-purpose yards on a touchdown, carrying in Dallas offense that needs him more than ever. Big win for Big D. Chris Wesleying.

Yeah, this game could have gone either way, and the Lions took the lead right before that play we just heard announced. Ezeki Oliott, over the shoulder grab against Gerard Davis in coverage, 35 yards down the field. Just a phenomenal play from a running back. And Zeke last week moved the chains, but had some critical errors that cost the Cowboys. This week, he moved the chains and kept making big play after big play. best player on the field in this game. You called this his best game yet as a Dallas Cowboy. Wow. Yeah, it's going out on a limb, but I do think it was when you watch the game, the impact that he had. And he's probably the best running back in the NFL. Either

him or Todd Gurley. Well, he's also so important to them because they just have so little else. He made up more than half of the team's total offense in what was their best day offensively of the season. He is easily half the team. It also shows you how the the bar is for Dallas, that this is their best offensive game of the season. Their leading receiver outside of Elliott was Cole Beasley with four catches for 53 yards. And this, but I thought this was also a positive game. This is no make no mistake. Zeke is the reason they won this game.

But Dak Prescott, who's been getting a lot of criticism lately, he actually was able to produce. He had gone eight straight games, I believe, without a 200-yard game. He threw for 255, didn't throw a pick, had two touchdowns. So a positive game for him as well. He was fine, not nearly impact that. Marcus Lawrence had. He had another three sacks. He's got 20 sacks in his last 20 games,

and he is headed for a contract showdown with the Cowboys in the offseason. Yeah, he's got to be rich because he's coming off of a franchise tag that already pays him $17 million, and you're making your top 10 MVP candidates. I don't know how many defensive players are going to get on that, but if any are, I feel like Lawrence, other than Khalil Mack, would be in that defensive player of the year. Because he's one of the few defensive players that shows up every single week.

You can expect something from him. I don't know if, like, a best defensive player on a two-and-two team is going to be in my MVP. Look at this game by Golden Tate, by the way, eight targets, eight catches, 132 yards, two scores. He was making mincemeat out of the Cowboys cornerbacks, just could not tackle him. He's so good after the catch, and their cornerbacks outside of Byron Jones just aren't that good. By the way, I don't know if you guys heard, but Jason Garrett said after the game that passed that we heard the play, Dak Prescott, Zeeke, that was officially a nut cut and throw. he said talk about a nut cut and throw that's just a visual that i don't i don't know what that

means but i think that's good i think well that i was just about to say west you watch this game a lot closer than i did i kind of just caught the end of it that throw from deck was a beautiful throw they need their quarterback to step up and make plays and that was a crucible moment in that game that was a nut cutter big old nut cutter he's on board he's lucky that the last play people remember was not the spin that he took to move his team out of field goal range on a third down. Something jarring when Garrett goes blue like in that all-and-nothing show. It's something strange. Also, Gerard Jones, who's known to feel himself after games like these,

always fun in the luxury box immediately after a crushing loss or a win. He fainted or he acted as if he had fainted right after the kick. And then I think Jane Slater on Instagram got a video of him walking through the tunnel making the comment were y'all worried about anything talking to the media who does a bad job and laughs at least some of them does

and it's like all right like go crazy boasting to get to two and two with a narrow home win over the lions I don't know yeah he's 48 hours from calling the Cowboys the Rams yeah right let's just

let's grasp reality again enjoy your wins and this is another frustrating loss for the lions who were unable to build on that Patriots win and this is another one where they got their heart It's ripped out at the end.

So the lion's back to square one. Let's move on. 12 seconds to go. Dalton back to throw. He's passed. Jay Grish. Touchdown! Bengals!

I love it. I love when the booth guys, the radio guys, they're homers at heart, and they just say, F it, we're pumped right now. That was Dan Horde and Dave Lapham of the Bengals Radio Network, WC-K-Y, with the call. Andy Dalton threw a 13-yard touchdown. pass to A.J. Green with seven seconds remaining, lifting the Cincinnati Bengals to a 37, 36 win over the Falcons. Dalton moved the Bengals 75 yards in just four minutes twice keeping the drive alive on fourth down with completions to Tyler Boyd. Mark, a huge road win for the Bengals and a crushing

setback for a Falcons team that knows this feeling all too well. Falcons team that's one and three and a Bengals team that's three and one that looks to me like a playoff team. 52 points to the point of everything we're saying about defense, or offense and defense in this league at this point, 52 points scored in the first two quarters, which is the most by any team this season in the first half. And here is what I thought said so much about this Bengals offense that we have been on board with since August. They lose Tyler Eifford, their tight end to a gruesome, lower, it's a fractured ankle, I believe he has, minutes, seconds into the third quarter. And it was such a terrible injury. And he was carted away, shedding tears.

that the entire Bengals' offense, I think, was emotionally affected by it. They completely went asleep. Seconds later, a blocked punt, then in the next possession punt, and then Andy Dalton threw a tipped pass that got picked, and you could feel this game floating away from Cincinnati on the road. And instead of crumbling, which we've seen Andy Dalton do, Andy Dalton, who threw four picks last week, typically if he's going to go down the dark Andy Dalton path,

he's going to account for another turnover that would hand this to an excellent Falcons offense. instead he dialed up a field goal and that final touchdown drive that you mentioned. This was one of the, I hate this word, but one of the gutsier Bengals victories that I've seen in years. It's a huge win. Ooh, it's not a lock-it-up, though. What happens to me in these football weeks is either everything goes right, which is rare, or everything goes wrong. And I locked up the Falcons, and I also got stuck writing this game, which took about 45,000 hours.

This game went on for two and a half years. You had both the overtime, or you had the Texans over the game. I had the Texans ones, too. It's like, please throw me into two darker corners at the same time. I have no idea what's happening. Hang in there, Mark. Last week, I think, Mark, you yourself had said maybe for the preview for this game, you don't want to put too much on Andy Dalton because he's not quite at that level as a quarterback.

This was, I think, one of his signature wins of his career and one of the signature throws. The Falcons deserved to take heat for not being able to close this out. But that play, that was a perfectly thrown ball to the perfect spot. The receiver ran a perfect. route. Cincinnati just outplayed the Falcons in the biggest point of the moment of the game. This was a defense free game and Dalton had his way, as did

Matt Ryan. How many teams have scored more points than the Cincinnati Bengals this year? More points? I'm going to say none the way you set it up. Two. Shaw McVease, Los Angeles Rams are the only team. The Chiefs will probably have more after Monday nights game, but the Bengals are a top five offense so far

this year. And the Falcons basically are two. I would say the last three weeks. They're fourth and points. And they lose two straight games at home like this to the Saints and to the Bengals. And I saw the stat that teams were 386 and one when you score 37 points with no turnovers before the Falcons lost last week. This year they score 36 points, one less with no turnovers. I mean, you usually at home that's that. And usually you win those games.

I mean, it's not like up for debate, but the NFL is a little different this year. This has been a, it's been kind of shielded by some other quarterbacks that have been playing out of their mind, but this has been a brilliant three-week stretch from Matt Ryan. So for them to come out of September, one and three, is bitterly disappointing. And you have to wonder losing their top defenders to season-ending injuries. This is just what the Falcons are going to be this year.

I mean, they're eight or nine wins, and their defense is just not going to let them close out games. This is what you expect to happen when you lose the backbone of your defense. They can, they're the best one-and-three team in the league off the top of my head. And then they're not a one-and-three team that I would rule out. It sucks to be the best one of three. Right, it does. It does.

Every week, though, they're right there with good teams and they find a way to lose. They're not dead yet. They can climb out of this. They're far from dead, but they've got some issues that aren't about to go away. Let's move on. Snap Trubisky. He's got Gabriel for the touchdown. Right front corner of the end zone.

Six. Touchdown throws today by second year quarterback Mitch Tribisky. Oohie. Jeff Johnjaniac. WBBM with the call Mitch Trebisky yeah that guy threw a career high six touchdown passes

just one shy of the NFL record what and the Chicago Bears the team of around the NFL destroyed the bucks 4810 Trubisky had never thrown more than two touchdowns in a game before Sunday's explosion maybe stole that Fitzmagic from

Ryan Fitzpatrick who was benched in this one Greg this is what you call breakout performance for young Mitch it was for him the entire offense for Matt Nagy calling up the right plays where guys are just streaking wide open. And in this game, Trubisky was decisive in hitting him. And he did have a few dimes. One to Tariq Cohen. I can think of one to Trey Burton, where he was wide open, but it was a perfect throw. And another to Taylor Gabriel. So he was making chunk plays down the field.

He was confident. He was their leading rusher. Trubisky can move. I mean, he is a great runner when he wants to be and they did call a run that was a key play in the first half and so I just think Matt Nagy has just so obviously made a difference and so obviously looks like the Chief's offense and the biggest difference today was he was playing the Bucks who are one of the worst defense in the league and are so predictable and Mike Smith's going to lose his mind and number two

Chubisky hit his shots he hit the throw. Let's hear what Dirk Cutter the head coach had to say about the effort by his defense and whether or not Maybe the defensive coordinator of Mike Smith could be in danger of losing his job. We should fire every person that was on that field today, starting with me. That was horrific. That would cause some chaos. Derek, let's not give anybody any ideas.

Right, the glazers, the ownership, they're really worried about man united who's having their own struggles right now. How about that for a little Premier League knowledge? That's a big bounceback after you wore that West Ham jersey and got killed for it in England. Also known as Greg's fashion apocalypse. Hey, I don't, I have no regrets West Ham with a big win over the meeting. Overman, you had. I don't know. Greg wore a West Ham kit, I think they call it, to our Saturday media tour when we were in England.

And I think he did it. He's like, oh, this is going to give me a lot of points with the locals. And he didn't realize in London, West Ham is a hated team. Well, it just depends where you are. It got killed for five straight hours. Every team is hated because there's only, you know. Yeah, got killed from five hours straight up back by it. Just to be clear from a visual angle, he wasn't wearing.

the shorts and the shin guards and the socks. Yes, he was. He fit better in an antagonist role anyway. Right. Oh, I liked, I liked, you know, at least people are given some sort of reaction. It's like the Bears. The Bears used to be a team. There was no reaction to.

Now I'm looking forward to watching them. Are you feeling yourself just a little bit because your accountable hot take from our Twitter show is looking, well, you've essentially probably already succeeded at it. That was that. That was after the second week. Yeah, I said that James Winston would be the starter after the buy. and this game was not Ryan Fitzpatrick's fault, but he had a fumble, he had an interception,

and they had five first downs and six drives. And they wanted to give James Winston some work because I think all along Der Kutter wanted to go back to him if he had any... I mean, there was a report that Der Kutter wanted to put Ryan Griffin in the Monday Night Football game. So this is always... He's been itching to do this, apparently,

and now he has his opportunity. I think, Greg, your prediction is going to come to fruition. Yeah, anytime you can replace, like, one of the league's most productive quarterbacks with the guy who led the NFL and fumbles the year before you have to do it. Well, Fitzpatrick, I think we've seen who he is and I think that's just what they're over the long term is.

And you refuse to acknowledge it. Winston's played three years. I am definitely willing to believe. Here we are again. I'm just sitting back. I'm definitely willing to believe that a 24-year-old has room to grow in his career and he's shown a lot of good things.

But this isn't the time for that. It's time to give a little props to Cleo Mac. Four straight games with a force fumble and a sack. It's just outrageous. and hit James Winston's arm on a play that turned into an interception. But he had two more turnover today, and they listened to Wes about Teree Cohen, gave him the ball all day, and he was the guy, not Jordan Howard.

Playoff team? Who? The Bears? The team of ATN? Not the Bucks. Who's better than the Bears? Come on. Definitely.

The Rams. The team of ATN. Maybe the Saints. In the NFC. Big turnaround. I want to see more from the offense on a consistent basis. The defense, I think, is a top five defense. defense, no doubt.

One of the only difference making defenses. I need to see more from the offense than one fire show against the bucks are dreadful. It reminds you of the Rex Grossman Bears right now. Do you, Mark, do you remember the sitcom in the 80s head of the class? Sure. Remember the cool kid that used to sit in the back with the computer with his leg up all the time? Yes.

That's you right now. I'm going to do every show this way and every video presentation this way. It changes your entire delivery system. It just everything seems flip and casual and you're a little detached. You are more, but you're more relaxed. I woke up feeling largely lost. I still feel that way. This feels appropriate the way I'm sitting.

It's the ID, what is it, IDF, IDAF? Oh, I don't give a. Yeah, that guy. You're that guy. Yeah, he's that guy. Don't tell the employer, but it's very true. Let's move on. Out of the shotgun.

He takes the handoff to Montgomery. Ducks it over to Jimmy Graham, left side of the pylon touchdown. In the north end zone, and Jimmy Graham enjoys a lambo leap. Wayne Larravee, WTMJ, Packers Radio Network. Aaron Rogers and Jimmy Grant connected on their first touchdown pass of the year. Green Bay Packers put together a really nice effort, defensively at least, a 22-Zip shutout win over the Buffalo Bills who come down to Earth after that excellent effort against the Vikings last Sunday,

so they can't carry it over in the NFC North. We talked about this last week. Aaron Rogers needs help. He needs his own, his teammates to kind of come in and help lift him when he's beat up and doing everything he can. He got that today. Aaron Jones, Wes, who you like a lot, his numbers aren't going to jump out at you, but he really ran the ball well, gave them a lift and a touchdown. The defense, though, and this has been a defense that Mike Petten was supposed to improve it,

and it hasn't really happened through three weeks. Yes, it's the Bills and Josh Allen, a rookie who looked lost in this game. but they get their first shutout since 2010 and made Josh Allen just look lost. Three turnovers, two interceptions, a fumble, 16 of 33 for 151 yards. And so the Packers do what they have to do. They take care of business.

They did what the Vikings should have done. But Aaron Rogers said it himself after the game. This was a really great effort by our defense. But our offense, this was a non-playoff caliber effort by our offense. and they still have work to do on that side of the ball. What percentage of outside of Green Bay football fans knew the name Kyler Fackerel before today who had three sacks? Who has been a whipping boy among Packers Backers who want that guy off the roster.

Right. When you say they need like Aaron Rogers needs more help, I think of the defense and the pass rush. Clay Matthews and Nick Perry have been disappointing this year up until this game. And Fackerel is usually their fourth edge rusher, I think, behind Reggie Gilbert too. So this is a game where you kind of expect Mike Patton to cook up something that's going to scramble a rookie's brains, and that's exactly what he did.

And Clay Matthews, yes, we don't have to play any sound from Clay. He did get, he was active and he had half a sack, but no penalties, and he was no fackerel, because there's only one fackerel, and that's Kyle. Just one. You're saying fat girl, not fat girl, right? Fat girl. No, no.

I'm not saying a fat girl. Okay. I'm not. I'm not saying Zaftig woman. Zoftig. Zoftig? I like Zaptig. Any other thoughts in this game?

I don't really know where to go after what just happened here. Again, casual, cool, detached. Next time I look over, you're going to be smoking a cigarette. It ain't going to be a cigarette. My only other thought on the Bill's side of the ball before we move on is LaShawn McCoy, who I know is banged up, but completely invisible to start this season. And he carried a mediocre bill's team on offense last year. I think he accounted for a third of their offense.

It has not been the same thing. So I don't know if it's him being getting older, banged up, off the field issues, but LaShawn McCoy is no longer a guy that's bailing out the bills on offense. I'd like to see that. Let's move on. It's an empty set for Brady. Blitzer's coming. Brady stands in Lodge and left for a wide-up in Cordial Patterson.

Back on and makes the catch. Turns outfield, makes it cut to 20, right to the 10, to the 5, to the end zone. Touchdown. Patriots. Welcome to New England. There's your first moment. Oh, I'm going to get this wrong. A Twitter user berated me for calling Bob Sochi,

by the, like, mispronouncing it for five straight years. You should know, Greg. Can he help me? Bob Soci? I thought you just got to write the first time. Anyway, Bob Sochi, Patriots Radio Network, WBZ. Imposey, you know? With the call.

No clue. Great. Tom Brady threw for 274 and three touchdowns. The Patriots handed Miami their first loss of their first loss of their season, 38-7 detonation. In Foxborough, Tom Brady improved a 15-1 in his career versus the Dolphins, who came crashing back down to Earth after that 3-0 start.

West, the paths have effectively restored order in the AFC East. I think they've restored order, but I'd stop shy of saying they fixed what was ailing them on offense. They came out and against a defensive end duo of Cam Wake and Robert Quinn that has about 160 career sacks. They decided to see if these pass rushers can stop the run, and Sony Michelle ran through big holes throughout the first half.

James White was really good as a runner and a receiver. I think the Patriots looked at the Dolphins said we can push them around, and we don't trust their linebackers, let's take advantage of them, and that's what they did. It was not some game where Brady and the passing game got healthy. Phil Dorset made a nice touchdown catch, but also dropped Tom Brady's best throw of the day downfield. Cordero Patterson's touchdown came on a pick play at the line of scrim. in which Zavian Howard got lost and basically busted coverage.

James White scored on a 22-yard TD one play after Tannahill botched a shotgun snap and Kyle Van Nuoy scrambled for the ball and got it. This was more to me like the Patriots got the brakes and imposed their will rather than, hey, the Patriots offense is back and you better watch out. But the defense showed up as a Patriots fan to see that the Dolphins didn't have a drive longer than five plays until garbage time. I've talked a lot in the podcast that they're going to have to win games

different types of ways because I don't think the offense is ever going to get to the levels it's been before and they had a game plan that just absolutely shut down Miami. I'm not sure exactly what the game plan was but there was no running game and they concentrated on Tanna Hill's legs

too. They did not want him breaking the pocket because I think they thought he's more dangerous as a runner than a passer. What was that, Erica? Oh right. Wes and Greg picked the Patriots. Oh yeah. I haven't seen bravery like that since the invasion of Normandy.

You're not going to, I'm not, I don't even worry about this. I don't get the three and a dolphin. This is why I don't get the locks things. Because didn't you pick the Rams at home against the Chargers? I don't mind. Anyone can take any locks, right? I have no problem looking in the mirror on this one against the three and oh dolphins. A team that Greg said have major issues for the Patriots, they were in worse shape that they were.

You're the culprit on this one, Wes, because you're saying you're trying to stick it to Greg because you never believed in the dolphins. So you're using Greg's explanations as you're using. your cover, and that doesn't translate. I have no issue looking in the mirror against the 3-0 team. Mark knows what I'm talking about. I have no issue with that. I will say that, you know, we look back on our grandfathers as courageous figures. I think that our grandchildren, this is the moment they can look at that.

I did. That's why I'm letting you off a hook on this. The reason I didn't pick them was I couldn't look in the mirror and pick the Patriots at home. Please. Give me a break. Give me a break. And I see what you're doing, West. You're playing it too safe.

I'm not playing it safe at all. You're worried that I'm 4 and O and kicking your ass in a game you invented. I'm telling you. you you need to man up because the karma that i'm running away with the title like the boston red socks and it's not going to work i looked in the mirror i saw a brave pick against the undefeated team and you can stick it where the sun don't shine i don't know about brain karma's coming i mean yeah Erica what were the dolphins today what were the dolphins when we get through this firestorm what were the dolphins well they definitely were m ia oh hey now yeah yeah

Dolphins fans, I'm not going to pile on here, but anybody that was coming after people in this room on Twitter, this was kind of the game a lot of people saw coming that the dolphins were maybe not for real and they really got sent back to the drawing. And a really positive game for Sony Michelle. And I know he was on your radar, Wes, as a guy who was struggling. I heard from one of our super listeners, a mensch to all of us, Mike Berkowitz, who thought you were too tough on him last week. He did have out of his 50 yards last week, 35 or after contact. Go rewatch Sony Michelle last week. The mistakes that he made? Yeah, mentally. What I'm saying is he's run hard. And today he had 50 yards after contact.

So far through two weeks, more than half his yards after contact. And that's what I like to see. At least he's running hard. He was not that impressive today. These were big holes he was running through. I counted maybe once or twice where he made a guy missed. This is not the Sony Michelle we saw at Georgia. Maybe he will be that guy, but he wasn't that guy today.

Let's move on. Dropping the throw is the blitz. Fires along the right sideline, that ball's caught by Dante Montcrieff. It's out the 20 to the 15 to the 10 to the five touchdown. Along the right sideline, Bortles to Montcrieff for the score. Frank Frangy, W.O.K.V. with the call. Blake Bortles threw two touchdown passes, including that 67-yarder to Dante Moncrief. And the Jacksonville Jaguars used a dominant defensive outing performance handling the New York Jets.

Jets easily, 31 to 12. The final, Bortles, career high, 388 yards passing. And for the Jaguars fans who were scratching their heads after last week's 9 and 6 loss to the Titans, 9 to 6 loss at home to the Titans, this was a welcome site. Watching the game, and you boys will see it as well, this would not be a game where I'm looking at what Blake Bortles did and I'm marveling at his ability to stick things into the, not the corn hole, the turkey hole. You've got to be careful here.

And, you know, looking off receivers and going through, or defenders or going through his progressions in some type of magnificent way, the Jets played a very soft defense coverage that I couldn't quite figure out and just portals at a nice job carving them up on just crossing patterns over and over again. 10 yards for attempt. Jaguar. Jaguars just kind of running these little crossing patterns, maybe seven yards over the field, and then heading upfield 12 to 15 yards gains, it felt like all day.

And this game wasn't even as close as the score indicates. The Jets, almost from the first series, were outclassed and, quite frankly, I think, out-coached, and they did not look good at all as a team. And the Jaguars defense, although they're not as turnover-minded as they were last year, they definitely stifled the Jets on offense. a Jets offense, I'll also add that I'm very concerned about Jeremy Bates, the offense coordinator and the scheme that he's cooking up and whether he's giving Darnold a chance to succeed here

because it's highly conservative. Why at this point? Why not just kind of let it? I would say he would probably say we need to be conservative, especially with a lot of stuff underneath because Darnold's not getting a lot of time. The offensive line was overwhelmed in this game. Tough match. It's a tough matchup.

But this is now three straight weeks. Jet fans were used to this type of stuff. But week one against the lines, they put up 31 points in the third quarter and a total wipeout on the road. And this Jets team has just been terrible for three straight weeks now. So they've come crashing down to Earth.

Jaguars take care of business. I imagine that my father would not be happy with today's efforts. So let's hear from him. His name is Keith. He's dad's dad. No doubt about it. He's a big Jets fan. What is he going to say about the game today?

What is he going to say about the game today? Today's performance by the Jets was pitiful. I don't know what kind of defense was being called by the coaches today, but it appeared to be some sort of a zone defense, which was so totally ridiculous because everybody was so wide open that it was almost, it was so easy for, Bortals, that it was ridiculous. Offensively, the Jets, I don't know where Donald is going, but he certainly, again,

for the third straight game, has played worse each week. This week, he really should have had three picks, and luckily three of them were dropped. But once again, a poor performance by Donald, poor performance by the Jets, defense, even though they had a chance to come back a little bit, I thought the coaching staff was also to be held accountable for not being prepared to play against the Jaguars. I don't want to let, thank you, Dad. I don't want to let Donald off the hook either. My dad's right.

He missed on throws in this game. He got away with some easy interceptions. Jalen Ramsey had a gimmie that he dropped. So he doesn't look good right now either. Everything seems to be going wrong for the Jets. and keep an eye on this now, Mark. You brought it up last on the preview show is Todd Bowles in trouble.

I really didn't think so after the Browns game, but when they get outclassed like this and you see it perform, this is the type of thing that can lead to WFAN callers staging a revolt against the coaching staff. Bowles has got to get this team turned around quickly. It's one thing if they all thought the offensive coordinator was this gem inside the coaching staff

that could maximize and make the most of your quarterback that you're centering the franchise around. If that's not the case, what is the selling point for this coaching step? Right. Running out of time. And it just makes you wonder why go, if you're going to have that short of hook, why bring it back in the first place? And it makes you think back to when they first hired Todd Bowles.

And I think that was on Doug Marone's mind as he called on a fourth or after their last touchdown, he called for a two-point conversion up 29 to 12 with 27. seconds left. And I think that was absolutely something that was inspired by how the Jets treated him when he was up for that job. And I thought for the first time, it might have been the first time in NFL history that a coach was running up the score on an opposing beat writer. That basically, you know, the New York Daily News and Manish Meta did everything they could to make sure Doug Morone didn't get that job. And he enjoyed where his team is at compared to the Jets right now.

That also feels very Jetsy that they're getting punished because the beat writer for the Daily News hated Doug Moore. Yeah, that does not feel fair to the fans. That's cool. All right. Mnich is not dealing well with the beat writer title. Well, team columnist. Back then it might have been. Mark, let's check in with the other sad team in the room.

Well, the win. Good. Ring the church bells. The writers are a winner. Just finished, baby. Not my church. That was Brent Musburger, guys. It was.

KGMZ with the call. I forgot that he does radio for the Raiders now. The Oakland Raiders got a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game late in regulation, then got that short field goal from Matt McCrane late in overtime, securing a wild 45-42 win over the Cleveland Browns, who have reasons to be ticked off, and we'll get to that later. But Mark, let's start with the Raiders and John Gruden, who persevered, finally got in the win column. How'd they do it? Well, they did it by doing what they've not done this season, which is getting back into a game that they looked out of early on and holding on to victory and holding on for the win by absolutely mauling Cleveland's defense down the stretch.

I mean, when this got into overtime and the way it got there, we can dig into in a minute, I struggled watching this because as much as Cleveland was doing itself to move the ball and there's reasons with this very young offense in Cleveland to be encouraged. They are defense, which has played well this season, had no answers at all for Jared Cook, for everything else that Oakland was doing through the passing game. This thing is about a 97-minute-long war epic on game pass. So please plan accordingly. That was, and let's get to it, the Browns got screwed. They should have won this game. They got as screwed as Clay Matthews and the Packers got screwed, in my opinion.

This was a game they were attempting to close out with an eight-point lead about midway through the fourth quarter, maybe later than that. They get a Carlos Hyde rush, and Carlos Hyde is running really well. Third down, he comes down his elbow with the ball down on the yellow first down line. Of course, that's not official. But they put the ball down, spot it, measures a first down by half of a nose of a football. The replay was inside two minutes. So the replay comes from upstairs, and they re-spot the ball and take the first down away.

And that was stunning because there was no evidence to indicate that he was. short of the line. That led to a punt and the subsequent game-tying score. So bad on the Brown's not getting the stop, but this game should have been over. Yeah, these things happen, but the one thing about this particular call on the spot

is that's one call that really, how many times a season is that kind of call overturned when the visual evidence is so strong. It was crazy. I don't, and you know what? You can choose to get super bitter about it, but it's just one of these turns of events where if you're Cleveland, I don't know what you say, because they also had a defensive.

There was one other play where they essentially mauled Derek Carr. He lost the ball, and the Browns picked it up and started to run in for a touchdown, and they whistled a dead saying that forward motion had not been stopped. And it's like the replay there also showed very clearly what should have been a Brown's defensive touchdown. So it was from an officiating standpoint a super odd game. There were so many moments where it felt like the Browns had won the game. I mean, that was one of them. Then again, in such an offensive game,

it's unfair to put much on Baker Mayfield or the offense, but they had a chance there to put the game away. They went three and out. They did get the ball with 30 seconds left, and they were just about on the edge of being in position to score. Mayfield forces one and gets picked off. And they did get the ball in overtime. So this wasn't just go down the field or anything.

They got the ball in overtime, and they went three and out there. So they just ran out of gas offensively. and Carr, who was maybe a little up and down in this game, he threw some dimes. I mean, there's very few guys who have the same touch on those over the top of the zone defense passes as David Carr. Yeah, Eric Carr. The Browns got the ball back after a 50-yard miss by the Raiders kicker

near midfield and they went three and out. So they definitely had their chance. They just needed the three. They couldn't get it done. And this was almost like an NBA game to me where NBA games are kind of defined by runs a lot by each side where it felt like one team took over, the other team fired back,

went back and forth. It's exactly how I'd say. The one thing I'd say looking at Cleveland's just their box score is this is an incredibly young team. Almost none of these players have really played together for more than a month or two. And it is a game that's so set aside from any other Brown's performance over the last five years that you can't come out of here feeling hopeless. You have to look at it and say there's something to build off of here.

Even with the mistakes Baker Mayfield made, there's an element of activity to this offense with him on the field that you just have not seen for a long time and competitive every week. This reminds me of Michael Embardi used to say how Greg Williams is the battleship type of coordinator in some weeks. The stuff he dials up just doesn't work. After the game, Gruden said he thought Rodney Hudson was the MVP of the game because he called out and recognized, who's the center for the Raiders, who called out and recognized every blitz that Williams was sending at them and they had them all protected up and it made life easy. That's encouraging. Brown's getting close. They could be four and oh. They're one, two, and one. But I think they're going to be in the mix.

Hey, at least they're scoring 40-something points in their heartbreaking losses now. Right. Let's move on. Here comes that pressure. Batherd hit. Ball is out. Ball is on the ground. Scooped up by the Chargers.

Isaac Rochelle has it. Turnover. Charger ball. Derwin James knocks it out. We know that, boys. Matt Money Smith. K-F-I with the call. Isaac Rochelle's interception was the ruling on that.

With less than three minutes to play was the decider. A turnover that helped secure a 29-9. 27 Chargers win over the 49ers playing their first game without Jimmy Garoppolo. Wes Rochelle made the big play, but another L.A. defender caught your eye in this one. Derwin James, there's no safety currently in the NFL who plays like him. You have to go back to Troy Palomalo to see a safety this disruptive at the line of scrimmage. And Derwin James might be even more disruptive at the line of scrimmage than Troy Palomalo. This guy is in the backfield constantly every single game the Chargers play.

I tuned in about the second quarter. immediately saw him hit the quarterback, bat a pass, sack the quarterback, and then late in this game, another hit on Bethard caused that interception by Rochelle. But Derwin James was the start of the game, and give a hand to these chargers, running backs. Melvin Gordon and Austin Echler are averaging 206.5 yards per game and 1.75 TDs per game. Ufa. Compare that to Ingram and Kamara had about 190 yards per game last year. in a touchdown and a half.

The Tavin Coleman, Devonta Freeman, backfield, the year before that, had about 155 yards per game in a touchdown and a half. So Gordon and Echler, the season is still young, but they are on a record pace right now. They're going against the NFL norm right now where the Titans don't have any running game and they're scoring 35 points.

The Colts, same with all these teams are doing it with almost no running game, and the charges are in old school. The charges are doing most of it through the air with Gordon and Echler. I mean, Gordon had a hundred yard game, but most of their damage this year has been through the air. And for the 49ers, I thought Bethard played all right.

The one note I have on him, and this goes back to last year, every time I watch this guy play, I admire his toughness and think there's no way he's lasted more than a month with all the unnecessary hits he takes. He will sit in the pocket and take your best shot before he releases the ball every time, but he just keeps getting hit over and over again. You don't want that kind of card.

You know what else I don't want? Caleb Sturgis on my team. Let's keep it real here. missed the field goal, missed two extra points. O for two on extra points. Robbie Aguayo, it's time to dig him up and get him on the field. They're at least bringing some kickers because, again, week after week after week, the chargers get undermined by their kicking game.

That's true, and you never want to see a kicker miss two extra points, but he did hit some field goals down the stretch. They were shorter field goals, but at least he hit them. Your point is well-takers. Special teams are still an issue with this team, and it's not just the kicker. I think the teams that passed on Derwin James that badly needed safeties, the Bucks come to mind.

I got to figure out. Ravens come to mind. The Bills come to mind. The Ravens. No, the Raiders, the Bucks, yeah, all those teams. And that was one of those on draft day where all the fans are like, why aren't you taking Derwin James in for once?

By the way, on NFL.com, about a month ago, someone in this room listed Durwin James is the rookie of the year candidate. It was not Greg Dan or Wes. It might have been Wes. It might have been Greg, but I know what person you did. Who was it? It wasn't Erica either.

Wait, did Wes just go third person? Was it Wes? No, it was Mark. He was right, number one on my defense. All right, well, that will be fine. We'll move on. Okay, let's move on. That did not go well.

Erica. Handoff inside. Al McMarrar, he's got a big hole. He's to the 35, to the 30, to the 20. It's a flip race to the goal line, to the five. Touchdown, Alvin Camara, 49 yards, and that'll do it from here in New York. jersey, but Zach Streif, WWL with the call. Alvin Kamara ran for three second-half touchdowns,

and that dormant Saints defense finally showed up. An oppressive 3318 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium. You know, G-man let me down, eating a big old L locks. Oh, this is why you're upset about me being four and O in the L. Because you took another L. No, it is all about your decision-making, Wes. My decision.

I sleep well. Christine knowing that I got behind a team that wasn't a heavy favorite, but I thought they had a chance. Should have stuck with my Texas. I slept well getting behind a winner. But, well, then pick the Patriots every week. Do that. I'll pick.

Take the trophy home. I'll pick the right matchup every week against an undefeated team. I know when you look in the mirror, you see ghosts. I see, I see 4-0, baby. Will Lutz hit four field goals for the Saints early. They were knocking on the door time and time again, and they were struggling in the red zone the Saints were. And you were thinking that would come back to haunt them

because the Giants would eventually start racking up yards because the Saints had been getting killed, especially on chunk plays. But something odd happened, or maybe not odd, maybe there is an explanation. And Tony Romo, who called the game or did the color for this game, pointed it out in the fourth quarter, that the way to beat the Saints defense early on the season

is attack them downfield and they don't have an answer. But the Giants' offensive line is in such a state that they can't even do that. So when they're down in this game 16 points early in the fourth quarter and they need a quick score to get this game under control and have a chance, they can't even attack with downfield passing because every time Eli takes a snap, he drops back and there's somebody in his face. So that's a major issue for the Giants still. Even they were a lot better last week, obviously, when they got things together and got their first win. But that is still something that's an issue. with this team. But give the Saints credit because they not only did find a way to slow down an

offense that looked really good last week, they were able to close this game out. And I know that they're getting your boy, Mark Ingram back, Mark Sessler, next week. But Alvin Kamara is fine all on his own because he is just an ass kicker and he put this game away. The biggest drive of the game, in fact, the Giants had cut the game to one score, eight points and the Saints took over 14 play 74 yard drive that covers almost 17 minutes chewing up almost half the fourth quarter took control and then the play you heard there kamara putting it away with a long run so a nice victory for the saints who needed it dan where are you you're sort of a closet giants fan i would say you're not really existing in that's overstating it okay okay well you are there's something

about you in the giants that is linked where are you with the pat shirmer experience at this point because some of these Giants games feel a lot like Pat Schumer's first coaching stint in Cleveland to me. I don't really have a strong opinion, to be honest with you, Mark. What I can say is that Pat Schumer took over a team that has a horrendous offensive line and an aging quarterback who doesn't move too well. And this is proving to be highly detrimental to their success in 2018. You can say that they can't protect against the Saints, and I get that that, but the Saints have a bad pass rush. And I looked in the fourth quarter of this game,

and the Giants didn't have a passing play over 11 yards. Like, you have to try. Like, you, I don't know. You have to take shots. You just have to give it. Well, I'd say check it out. They can't. Give it a try.

Like, for instance, they're pass blocking for whatever. It's worth rated out as like a plus today for pro football focus. I don't think they've been as bad in previous years. And either way, you have to give it a shot. I mean, C.J. Bathard's taking no shots. Eli Manning's not. Well, we'll see. It is interesting watching Odell,

Beckham, for most of this game was catching balls within about two yards of the line of scrimmage. It seems like a wasteful use of the game's most talented wide receiver. Saints might be the biggest climber up Mount Everett this week. I mean, Camara is an alien. Right, wait, wait, wait. He's an alien. We've got to get set up there. You plug the Twitter show.

Oh, yeah, that's right. Every Tuesday, 1.30 Pacific, 430 Eastern, our live Twitter video show, we do power rankings of sorts. called Mount Everett, and the Saints are making their move. Are we doing that every week? Not every week, but maybe this week we haven't had our pre-production meeting yet. We are constantly working through our issues on this show. 181 yards from scrimmage. He's up to 511.

He is an alien. On the week that... Who's he? Alvin Camara. And the week that, you know, the Carter 5 came out, I feel like he's the NFL equivalent to Little Wayne. There ain't... There's no one like him.

He's an alien. Oh, Greg squeeze that in there. And he... Greg likes rap. He does. He likes Alvin Kammer. Do you like the Carter 5? Oh, yeah.

Oh, you're in? I thought it was over. I thought it was over. No, this is, I mean, it's 23 songs, so you maybe have to make your own little 12-12-song version of it. But, oh, yeah. Did you have the colored flames out? Oh, we have magic flames out.

Oh, beautiful. We had some casualties passed out in the grass for a while. I heard there was the rare person passed out while the sun was still up. Oh, that's confirmed. She went down like to shop. I showed up and she had rallied and was back. back in the mix by the time I was there. She had a tremendously impressive second wind

after being out for three hours. Shot with a trinkling. I mean, how often do you find just a female passed out in your yard in the way in this fashion? It was disquieting. I take no responsibility. That all happened before her arrival. No, in fact, never, Greg.

That happened before her arrival at my house. I was busy cooking dinner while this was all going on. Did anybody make sure that her air passage was clear? Yes. I outfitted her with a blanket and checked on her several times. I thought West was very caring in his... Well, you knew she was breathing because you said she was snoring like a lumberjacking. I've got to get her on the show.

It was impressive. Let's move on. From 52, Michael Dixon puts it down. The kick has got legs. It is there. It is good. Sebastian Janikowski kicks it through. The Seahawks win on the last play of the game.

Love it. Steve Rable, K-I-R-O with the call. Sebastian Janakowski, who had missed two kicks earlier in this game, knocked through the 52-yarders time expired, giving the Seattle Seahawks a 20 to 17 win over the Cardinals. Josh Rosen was making his first start for the cards, could not get a W, but showed some signs. The Seahawks are now two and two, but the victory comes at a brutal cost, Greg. Yeah, Earl Thomas had a fracture.

in his lower leg late in the game. He was carted off the field. He was famously, as everyone listening to this, probably already knows by now, seen flash in a middle finger. No confirmation exactly. Lipp in the bird. Flip in the bird.

Towards the Seahawks, you know, sideline, but no one knows exactly who was at or what was going on. It did come after a long, emotional period where both teams kneeled around him. Everyone knew right away how serious this was. Pete Carroll came over and talked to him, and he was.

understandably distraught and this you know it was his worst nightmare i mean it came on a touchdown throw it was just it was just a bad moment and then 20 minutes later here are the seahawks two and two despite this ugly start that they've had they're kind of in fine shape i'm sorry i'm looking to see what the injury was last year was that the same injury it ended as last i think that was a nice dramatic pause that was the longest wreck the longest uh just silence we've had on this show in a while I was doing some work behind the scenes to keep the show moving, so I wasn't ready to jump in. Mark's got his leg up.

He checked out about 50 minutes. I thought that was definitely a toss to West type moment, so I was going to let Wes go there. Let me give a little more context for this game. Phil Dawson, I don't think you mentioned this. He missed a 45-yarder that would have given Arizona the lead with one minute, 50 seconds to play. They're now 0-1-4.

And Josh Rosen, Greg, who started very, slowly in this game did seem to show some things in the second half yeah he his best four throws were all in the fourth quarter he moved the ball on a couple drives they were down 17 to 10 he had he tied up the game with some dimes and then he set up what should have been the go ahead score but instead of being aggressive mike mccoy and oh no steve wilkes who are on my radar just call three straight runs including on third and six to set up a 45 year old a 45-yard field goal. And maybe that was a slip of the tongue

because Phil Dawson is about 45 years old. He had missed a kick earlier in the game. And I hate this kind of coaching. And I hate that Pete Carroll did the exact same thing a couple of minutes later. Carol got away with it. Seabasett would miss a couple kicks, nailed one and made him look better.

But this insanely conservative play calling of running and not trying to get closer for field goals, McCoy and Carol, they made me sick. It's 2018. Wake up. You're getting past. by all these offensive teams. Seabas in a Seahawks uniform is one of the most bizarre things about this season.

I was confused when that highlight came up because I was like, wait, what game is this? It's borderline Jerry Rice in a Broncos uniform. I thought, honestly, I forgot they signed him, and I thought an offensive lineman was coming into kick last week when I saw him. Well, he needs to go up a size, yeah. It's jarring. You think he's got to go? You think it's a little too tight?

It's a little tight. He's pushing three bills right now. It's like a sausage casing in there. Three bills. But I was encouraged by Rosen. I'm not encouraged by the Seahawks just seemed a little too happy whenever they would take a small lead in this game that the game was over.

Cardinals 0 and 4 for the first time since 1986. They are going to be picking in the top three. They're bad in April. And that takes us to Sunday night football. Blacko, Humphake. Down the right side, wide open is John Brown for the touchdown. Here we go. I don't know if we're getting a shootout or not,

but we are off to a fast start. We did not get a shootout, but Joe Flacco and John Brown got the Ravens off to a very hot start, a 14-0-0 lead in the first quarter. The Steelers came back, made a game of it. We went into the third quarter tied, but then Justin Tucker did his thing. And the Pittsburgh Steelers off and sputtered again for the second straight weeks shut out in the second half, a 26 to 14 win for the Ravens over the Steelers who dropped a one, two, and one. Mark Sessler, tough day for the Browns. But whenever you see Big Ben and the Steelers get beaten up, it's a good night, isn't it? I'm really, I'd be really concerned about the Steelers if I'm within a thousand miles of Pittsburgh right now.

47 yards or so in the second half, the team completely went to sleep. At least in the past, even when Pittsburgh's defense would be up and down and it's been a very sloppy affair all season so far. You could count on this offense, especially. in a Ravens game to find a way to make it tight at the end, and Baltimore dominated them over the final 30 minutes. It's another performance by the Ravens that I think just points to them as an overt favorite in the AFC, a playoff type team that could go as far as anyone could imagine. This game would have been an even bigger bow if Alex Collins hadn't fumbled the ball on the goal line. It's great when the team that's clearly better wins the game. And for the most

of this game, the Ravens look like the better team. And I don't know what they're doing exactly at halftime. On defense, you know, Wink Martindale deserves some credit. Their coordinator that they haven't given up a touchdown in four games because they just were lights out. And they're a defense where you're looking for individual players that are kind of standing out to talk about. And they're not really that defense. The sum is greater than the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Marlon Humphrey is one player at cornerback that's been standing out this year. But other than that, it's just a deep group that gets after. you.

Rookie linebacker Kenny Young has been really good. I think you look at the Jags, Bears, Redskins, Rams, and Ravens is the top five defenses in the NFL right now. And the Ravens have the best kicker in the NFL. They've got a quarterback who will be somewhere on the periphery or around the last, around the 9-10 area in my top 10 MVP candidate. Oh, mama mea. Joe Flacco is off to the best start since his 2012 Super Bowl season.

He looks good. John Brown looks good. smoke it this might be i don't think this is going on a limb this might be the most balanced well-rounded a fcc team right now joe flacco 28 to 42 363 two touchdowns that is the most yards he's ever thrown against the steelers and on the other side you know levi on bell now the report is that they're the steelers are actively trying to move him in a trade but they're they've been unable to find a suitor well i'm wondering and i'm sure sports talk radio um in pitts it's going to start getting louder the drumbeat

to get this guy in the building because they need help. And Ben Rothesberger has not been able to carry this team. And James Connor in this game, nine carries 19 yards. They seem to be missing something. Is it Levi-on-Bel? What can they do to get him in the building?

That would be my, I mean, I don't think they can. Does this lockerer want him in the building? I think they'd be happy to have them. But you're right, West. They're not giving him a contract extension. So there's, unless they totally change their stance on that, they're just waiting for him. And this is two out of the last three games. James Connor has been held under 20 yards rushing.

He's not the problem. He's catching passes. It's just the whole offense in general is disjointed. Antonio Brown's not quite been himself, certainly making it. Watch out for him in the locker room tonight. And we did ask, we asked the question going into the season, was Ben finished last season strong, but it was an up and down year? Was that a sign of some slippage?

And so far this year, he hasn't played as well. well as you would expect them to. So there you go. Problems. Some problems in Pittsburgh. Do they get it straight down? Right now they're tied with the Browns at the bottom of the AFC North. So the Baltimore Ravens 3 and 1 looking feisty.

The Steelers in trouble. There's one more game on the week four schedule. That is the Chiefs in the Broncos. It's indent. Very smooth, guys. Thank you. And you will hear us recap. cap that game the next time

we're all together in this room. That is our Tuesday ATN Twitter video show. So make sure you check that out on Twitter at 130 Pacific 430 Eastern Tuesday. We have a lot of fun. Connie Fox is involved. Reggie Bush. Oh,

it's a gay time. Had by all. That's that it is. Wonderful. And then the next time you'll hear this It's our new slogan. Yes. A gay time had by all. The around the NFL podcast. Then the next time you hear from us in a podcast form, of course, Wednesday. So thank you to everyone for listening.

That is it for the flagship show. Week 4, Dan Hansa, signing off for The Quiet Storm, the Mailman, the old boss, and the loose cannon, Ricky Hollywood, Erica Tamposi, behind the glass. Till Tuesday. This is an I-heart podcast.