NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 Week 1 Recap

Episode Date: September 14, 2020

It's finally here! A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal recap every single game from Week 1 starting off with Tom Brady's debut as a Buc (3:47), Aaron Rodgers playing lights out (11:17), and Cam Newton's Patriots (24:15). Yeah, I said it! We take you through each game including the Sunday Night nail biter between the Rams and Cowboys.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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Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, coming to you from a virtual room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, Greg Rosethall, week one. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Yeah, yeah, football, yeah. Flagship program. This used to be Greg's favorite day of the year, right? Well, yeah, I always said the best Sunday of football of the year because you got the most Sundays in front of you.

And this year, it does feel like a celebration to get here. Although I don't know if it's going to be the best Sunday of the year. I feel like the quality will probably get better as they get a little back. Nothing but a celebration. I would agree with that. Yeah, you know, as the ashes fall from the sky outside of my window, celebration. Wildfires still raging here in Southern California and California throughout the state. And this is, for me, the first time that I wasn't at the NFL office in,

in 11 years. We're, of course, all working from home because of, you know. And so we had to find new ways to watch the games. And I hope everybody managed to do that and cover the games that were drafted on Thursday's show. And Wes was not part of the draft on Thursday, but is luckily and thankfully joining us here tonight. So we're going to go through every game that was played on Sunday, wrapping up with the Sunday night football game between the Cowboys and the Rams. And Greg, do you have any kind of broad takeaway from week one?

Not really. I mean, I kind of just gave it to you that I do want to give these teams a little bit of a wide berth. I'm going to overreact anyways and have fun with what happened today. But I think more than ever, the first two to three weeks of the season feels like, you know, let's warm up let's get ready and if you have teams you root for let's hope you pocket some dubs because they'll still count the same at the end of the season even if it's in these first easy early weeks all right so here we go it's time to do it are you mark you ready i'm ready you know what honestly i love this set up day for you and i and i in our favorite sports

clubs but i brushed that off pretty quick i think i went in with the same expectations we'll get into that, but I thought the working from home thing was pretty seamless. And so I'm lobbying to essentially never leave my home ever again. West, did you think in like midway through second quarter today, like, well, it's different not feeling the negative energy around us with the Jets and the Brown's getting rubbed by so much? It's such a tough life. That thought never entered my mind, but I get like, it, you never know what week one's going to be. bring and it can offer a surprise in so many different directions, but to have it be the same old like kick in the pants like Charlie Brown. It's just, I just feel for you guys because I know

the feeling in baseball. Yeah, I feel like I've gotten some type of like radiation poisoning being next to Mark all these years. So I do feel refreshed Sunday night. I don't know why. Maybe there's, there's a reason why. All right, let's do it. Let's get into every game that was played on Sunday. day, and let us start with the most famous quarterback, perhaps, in the history of football, starting anew. It didn't go too well. Chris Godwin in motion again to the right. Brady takes a gun snap, quick throw near side.

It's picked off Janores Jenkins 15, 10, 3, 2, 1. Touchdown. Janores Jenkins, pick six. That looked easy, deuce. It looked easy. The ball was behind you. Oh. Deuce, Callister, rubbing some salt in the wounds.

Zach Streep also with the call, WW, Janaris, Jack Rabbit, Jenkins picked off. Tom Brady and took it 36 yards to the house as the Saints post to a 3423 win over the bucks at an empty Superdome. Neither offense was working at a high level on this one, Greg. But New Orleans seemed to be a step ahead at the start of the season. Yeah, it reminded me of a lot of Saints wins from last year. where the score was a little misleading. It was a high-scoring game, but they won with defense, with special teams, with the other team, the bucks in this case,

you know, kind of shooting themselves in the foot and making a lot of mistakes. It was not a great showcase, you know, for quarterbacks after 40. They both looked older than 40. It wasn't great games, I wouldn't say, for either one of them. Brady made bigger mistakes. Brady also made a number of better throws, I would say, than Drew breezed it in this game, but it spells out to me, and it's early.

I'm not going to judge too much. But I just think the Saints have so much more margin for error than the Bucks do in this division because they can win games like this, because they can win six games with Teddy Bridgewater. And I think this secondary, especially with Janoris Jenkins and Wes's boy, C.J. Gardner Johnson, who had a monster game too. Those two guys make them so deep that they can do a lot of fun things up front. and they confused Brady a couple times. They made plays on their own.

And if their special teams is going to be good like it was today, it's just like it's going to be a hard time beating this team. And a couple of years ago, this offense changed from going as Drew Brees goes to going as Alvin Camara goes and Michael Thomas. And you saw Camara today had the explosiveness. Maybe his yardage numbers weren't there. But he looked like the old Alvin Camara on those two touchdowns,

making people miss and looking explosive. I mean, the Brady interceptions really to me illustrated a Bucks team that needs more time to get fluid on offense. There was a clear miscommunication with Mike Evans, I believe, on one of them. And, you know,

it's going to just take patience with all these teams. And as you mentioned at the top of the show, it's like, we can freak out about the Bucks not looking anything like they were hyped up to look. But let's talk in a couple weeks. I just seemed like for all the preparation, Brady was still syncing up with the rest of the team.

It's going to take time. Grant. Grant didn't do much in this game. And after the game, Bruce Ariens, the head coach, he actually was open about it and said on the interception that Brady threw that was intended for Mike Evans, that Mike Evans did the right thing, the thing he's taught to do, which was kind of sit down in the coverage, but Brady didn't do the right thing. So I don't know if that's Ariens sided with the guy that's been in the house longer or what, but it just. It shows you, like Mark said, this is going to take some time. It's the opposite.

He would always justify every James Winston interception. I mean, Brady's got to be thinking, what? Now you're starting to throw the quarterbacks under the bus? I mean, it just, they were kind of the opposite of what the Patriots were last year, which wasn't necessarily good either, but they were just sloppy. They had so many penalties. And that is something Ariens has got to work on. They led the league in penalties a year ago.

And I guess if you're a Bucks fan and you do want to be a little concerned about this game. One spot is Donovan Smith, which is their left tackle who struggled. Trey Hendrickson beat him clean a few times. That was a big problem in general. The Saints pass rush looked pretty good. And Donovan Smith is a guy who they drafted, who Jason Light gave a huge contract that made no sense at the time he gave him. At no point is Donovan Smith really played particularly well at left tackle. And that is Tom Brady's left tackle. And that to me is a little emblematic of the buccaneers who have had bad draft picks and have kept some of their bad draft picks. Did you get any clarity about their? I know that, you know,

Ronald Jones had by far the most carry. I think it was like 17, but you take away the 21-yard run he had and he ran for like two yards per rush and the whole team in general. I mean, both teams, the ground game seem a little flat, but the bucks, I feel like, you know, on a Tom Brady of 2020 team, a running game that's not operable is, would be a concern for me. I was surprised that both teams ran the ball so much because the Bucks were historically great stopping the run. So it wasn't a surprise to me the Saints couldn't run on them, but they kept trying. And the Bucks were one of the most pass-heavy teams in the first half of games, not even after James blew it, but they were pass-happy early in games last year, and they really weren't.

And it wasn't working, and the Saints are a really good rush defense. And I come back to maybe the coaches, West, who are usually so aggressive and so confident. The Saints especially, it strikes me when you're bringing in Taysam Hill on some really key third downs. And Breeze's numbers were ugly until late in this game. And he hit a big 46-yarder that ended up being the key play of the game. So credit to him for that. But they were like running and bringing in Hill for key third downs. And everything is so condensed.

And the buck's defense is so condensed. And I know that's something you think is going to be a problem for the Saints long term. And I think it's a fair concern. I it's oh who locked that one up oh that was that was Mark and I and by the way you people on Twitter honking about like that weren't that bold for locking this one up it was like a field goal game the bucks are a town

Dick I got with you I like I want to engage with people's takes but that was a horrible take and I just like you go to the desert it was completely right in the mirror world so I completely ignore those comments sorry Wes sorry Wes I had set you up before all that yeah I think that transition's been going on for a while now. I don't think this is new to this year. I think you're seeing

Drew Breeze's passing numbers, efficiency the last few years, propped up by the way Sean Peyton uses him, and it's to hide his arm. And I think you're seeing more and more of that where you're going to need Taysam Hill on more plays. To Breeze's credit, he did have that 40-yard pass that was a big play in this game, but I think the rest of the game you saw that his arm was an issue. The quietest game in years for Michael Thomas, who of course, course, risked everything to break the Marvin Harrison reception's record a year ago. He saw just five targets today, his low since week 11 of 2018. And he also sustained some type of ankle injury late in the game.

Mike Floreo reported that Thomas was walking fine in the locker room after the wind, but he hadn't let the trainers look at it. They were still trying to examine him, which is kind of a funny image of a little trainers, like five foot seven trainers chasing around Michael Thomas. Please let us examine your ankle. So I'm assuming that will happen at some point, but something to keep an eye on there. All right. So Tom Brady's new adventure starts with a loss.

Let's keep rolling through and talk about another legendary quarterback. Second of ten, snap, Arod, going deep down the right sidelines. NBES has it to the end zone for the test. Oh, what a play. He took it away from Cameron Dantzler, Marquez Valdez, Scandling, 45. Touchdown Reception Wayne Larravey,

WTMJ with the call. Marron, Aaron Rogers, went off against a young and not ready for primetime or daytime Vikings defense throwing four touchdown passes and Devante Adams tied a franchise record with 14 catches in the Packers 43 to 34 win

over the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium the Vikings defense it was a mess they gave up 522 yards their worst outings since giving up 556 yards to the Rams in their high flying stage in 2018 and they were just

the secondary was picked on by Rogers and Wes I can't wait to see where Aaron Rogers falls on the Chris Wesleying QB index this week because you had a higher than most people would have in that exercise going into week one.

And what he did today, an absolute clinic. And yes, I have a sandwich prop about him being an all pro this year. And who knows, it's just one game. But my God, did he look like Aaron Rogers? And you'll watch that game, he could have had even more yardage that could have been gaudier, if not for a drop by MVS that negated about a 60 yard gain. And Alan Lazzard fell, stumbled. Tumbled toward the end zone when he should have been a walk-in score.

So this could have even been more grisly for the Vikings defense and more glorious for Rogers, but that's not really the point. The point is not only did Rogers look great, his incompletions are almost always just throwaways, smart plays. It was almost functionally a perfect game. And if you're a Packers fan, my goodness, are you excited right now? I think even as we've watched this more slump-prone Aaron Rogers over the last few years, where the whole football community

tries to figure out what's wrong with him and now going into this year, everybody had soured on him quite a bit. The Packer soured on him. Sure. But at no point do I remember anybody ever saying physically he looks like he's in decline. Like nobody ever said

he can't get this pass done anymore. He can't escape trouble in the pocket anymore. I don't think it's ever been a physical thing. I think it's been falling into bad habits. And a lot of that comes from not trusting his receivers. If he can trust MVS this year, I think that's pretty big. I am always ready to just like with one game go right back into the tank for Rogers and just believe it's all possible.

Well, because it makes sense. Like the good games he has are as good as anyone. And he had a couple last year, but you're right, there were a lot of slumps. But it's also because I've seen Tom Brady have what I thought was his best two-year run of his entire career at 39 and 40. And I don't know if Rogers can stay as fit, but I know he's got it upstairs like Brady. And so it does make you think that Brady, who I thought I had a couple more down years, maybe in his mid-30s, cranked it back up in his late 30s like that it's at least possible with the right play collar.

And this is an amazing start to drop over 500 yards in week one against a defense that should have some idea what you're doing is pretty amazing. Yeah, I was going to say, these two teams know each other so well, and there's a lot of similar characters there from the past. And, you know, we talked all, you know, offseason long about a Viking secondary with a completely new cast of cornerbacks. And yeah, last years weren't great. So it's not like you've lost the Legion of Boom of the Midwest. But everyone's like, oh, you know, Mike Zimmer will coach them up. They'll be fine. But this has to be extremely concerning.

And I'd also ask, like, on the offensive side from Minnesota, I mean, I'm seeing like the numbers. here. And I just, outside of Adam Thielen, not a lot of juice. Was it just that they got down early and the whole thing fell apart? It was absurd. The defense couldn't get off the field. So by the time the first half

ended, Kirk Cousins had thrown five passes. And in fact, the defense was on the field for almost 23 minutes in the first half. And then the only reason this game is even remotely close in the final score is because a bunch of, like,

prodigious garbage time production from cousins to Adam Thielen. I mean, this was an embarrassing loss for the Vikings. They're lucky nobody was in that building because as, you know, humble and as sweet as Midwesterners are, they would have been getting booed because they did not show up on any level. In fact, DeNeil Hunter being out was something that we all said, oh, that could be an issue. It was way worse than anyone could imagine. Minnesota, this is according to ESPN, Minnesota pressured Rogers on just seven of 44 dropbacks, including 18 straight without registering a pressure. And then remember us all doing backflips about how brilliant Rick Spielman was for getting Yanuk and Gokwe?

Hey, he could still be an all pro this year for all we know. But he didn't have a single pressure in this game. So he's obviously, and he's a little banged up too. So like they were not getting a push up front. Nobody could cover in the back end. And they're frankly lucky this game wasn't 50 to 10. I mean, they were. bet they were you know they spent all offseason trying to erase the memory of the absolute beating they took in san francisco to close last year a game that i thought pegged minnesota as a team that just is sort of halfway there in that group of playoff teams you can't really believe in this is an ugly opening chapter well right they're in this division with the packers you get blown out last year in the biggest game of the year then you have to get past this team now they're going to have to do it in lamo maybe maybe that doesn't matter anymore uh with no fans we'll we'll we'll we'll

find out. I don't know if it does. But the fact that they set a record for the lowest time of possession, I think, in their franchise history today, it's not a good way to start the season. Yeah, we all, and that's the four of us and everyone else that's listening to the show. And Ricky, we have to keep perspective on week one, but it could not be any worse for the Vikings through one game. Let's move on. They hand off here to Peyton Barber with time. He got it. Yes. Touchdown. Touchdown Washington. Bram Weinstein And that was not DeAngelo Hall with the call

That was Julie Donaldson Julia Donaldson I know that That voice She's part of their crew How about that? Look at you, Rosenthal

The person Oh hell The Washington football team Peyton Barber ran for two touchdowns And Dwayne Haskins rallied Washington him from a 17-point deficit to beat the Eagles 27-17 and Ron Rivera's debut as head coach. Wes, this was supposed to be a manageable assignment for the Eagles.

What the hell happened? This was wild. If you would have told me at the two-minute warning of the first half that the Washington football team would win this game, I would have said you're not worth my time. You're talking crazy. You're paranoid. You're delusional. Just get away.

There's no way that happens. And then stop me if you've heard this before. An Ohio State pass rusher with difference-making talent joins a front seven loaded with former first-round draft picks, and they turn around and make life miserable for quarterbacks with waves and waves of pass-rushers. And that's what happened. Did the Eagles line look like a line that's missing, guys? it did there are two big problems here

I believe the right side of the Eagles line had never started a game before the entire right side they were a big issue and Carson Wentz needs to learn to get rid of the ball throw the ball away

if he has to you know pull the trigger once in a while but he held the ball too long so it was a mixture of both those things and then the Redskins defensive line like I said sending waves

of pass rushers at them I've seen that like Ertz and Goddard counted for half of their 270 passing yards, which reminds me a lot of last year. So, I mean, I know they're banged up, but do they look like anything new compared to where we were with the Eagles' offense a season ago? Well, I think Goddard is even more involved. I wrote that, you know, a few minutes into the game.

This guy has already emphasized a focal point of the passing game in a way he wasn't last year. So I expect this to be even more tight end-oriented. Jalen Rieger had one long pass, I think 55-yard bomb, and was targeted a couple more times deep. Deshaun Jackson, I think would have had a lot more production that had time to throw the ball in the second half. Right. They had a total of 500 yards or so of these two teams.

So Washington's offense didn't exactly light it up. I mean, they combined for less than the Packers didn't one day. But I'm going to do the thing where I swooped in and watched like two minutes of this game, but make a sweeping judgment from it, which was the game was still very much. There was two, double swoop. The game was very much in the Eagles hands,

or at least they were in the game late, when Wentz had Jackson on a timing play deep down the field and overthrew him, and Deshawn Jackson was not pleased about that. And then on fourth and three, they decided to go for it, and Ertz just drops a pass. So that's Carson Wentz, Sean Jackson, and Ertz, not making plays at the end. And those are kind of your core guys.

Well, at the point you've, picked that up, they had probably gone two and a half quarters without a single positive thing happening on offense. And I think they'd stopped believing that a single positive thing could happen on offense. He was sacked eight times, Carson Wentz. And so that was not, that's not sustainable. I know he was able to stay on the field for the entire regular season last year before that concussion against the Seahawks. But you are not going to keep him on the field if he can't protect him. What did you see from Haskins, Wes? He did just enough. And I mean, literally just enough. I believe his first two touchdowns came directly after Wentz's first two interceptions. And to his credit, he got the good field position and led them down to scores. But he looked a little sluggish to me, a little more slow moving than he did last year. But he got credit for giving a pretty good half-time speech when Ron Rivera physically couldn't do it. Haskins took over and the Redskins dominated the second half. You know, Wes, I thought of you when Ron Rivera has talked this.

this week about literally going through treatments for his illness right now. And like the idea that you've got to perform the duties of a head coach, you know, the week-long preparation, but then being on the sideline during what must be one of the most pressure-packed experiences you can have, man. That's a concerning element for that team. Just physically standing there all day. I mean, that's got to wear him out. I get that.

So like, you guys know halfway through today, I had to go lay down and give my back. arrest. It just it just wears you down. So I'm impressed that he's even out there in the first place. Right. He was getting an IV shot to give him energy to stand up on the sideline for the second half. It's remarkable. I know it's been a rough six months for this organization to come out with week one with a division win that's got to feel pretty sweet. And conversely, if you're the Eagles, and yeah, no Miles Sanders, but man, guys like Rosenthal have been published. up in this team up forever. The Eagles, they feel highly of themselves.

And then you go out and you go up 17 Zip against Washington and then you lose. You cannot. That can't happen. That's a really bad way to start your season. Mm-hmm. Talk to you, Greg. I mean, it's not my team. I mean, they have to start feeling like their snake bet.

I think they were missing seven started. I mean, there were starters, we didn't even mention. Lane Johnson, we didn't know was going to be out necessarily. Derek Barnett. Jvonne Hargrave, and you mentioned Sanders, and we know about the offensive linemen, it's a rough way to start, and then you also just, you know, play terribly to blow a lead like that. You still can't blow a lead like that, no matter how many guys are out. All right, let's talk about your actual favorite team, Greg.

Newton fakes to him, rolls to the right cams, going to run it to the 10, outside to the five. Newton to the pylon. Touchdown, Patriots. His second in his New England debut. That's a man right there, boy. I figure they just threw Zolak in the Boston Harbor once Tom Brady left. What used to you have at that point?

But I guess he's still employed. That's called murder, by the way. They've done it before. Scott Zolak with a call for WBZ, check under the mass pike. Cam Newton rushed 15 times for 75 yards and two scores, threw for 155 more, leading the Patriots to a 21, 11 win over the Dolphins in the first game with the post Tom Brady era in New England. Greg, I wondered on Thursday's preview show how much this version of Newton would be running in a Josh

McDaniels offense. I guess the answer is a bunch. Yeah, that is the offense. I don't know if that'll be the entire offense each week, but I think it's kind of going to be the base part of it. I mean, I think they want to be the Ravens. They look like they wanted to be the Raven. Not that, Newton's dynamic in the same way making long runs and breaking tackles, but that his running threat and the read option and the option plays are going to be kind of the centerpiece of their offense. And maybe that was partly because it was week one. And Belichick talked after the game that he thought conditioning was a huge factor. And you could see the Dolphins defense getting more tired and more tight. You can see the Patriots defense getting a little

tired at the end of this game too. But three drives after halftime, they were just dominant. I mean, they had 18 minutes in those three drives. They had at least six first downs in each of those drives. If Nikiel Harry hadn't fumbled the ball out of the end zone at the goal line, they would have scored touchdowns on all three of those drives. And they basically did the Sessler plan. They just ran the clock out.

I mean, they were done with this thing by like 340, and they were back in the locker room. I mean, this was a Mark Sessler dream game right here. I started getting all these tweets. about you're going to love this game on game pass, and then I found out why. I saw some cut-ups, too, and I kind of trust the Patriots in week one as much as anyone, just to be prepared.

And, like, they were throwing out some freaky looks and, like, heavy sets with, like, nine guys up on the line. And, like, you know, and that's how some of this worked. And the dolphins just looked a little faceless. And then you get this game where, you know, everyone's saying year two in a row for Ryan Fitzpatrick, he goes out and throws three picks. I mean, you have no shot.

Yeah, I kept thinking about this Patriots running game and what they wanted to do to kind of hide Tom Brady's decline the last year or so and to hide the lack of skill position talent at wide receiver. They wanted to have this running game. And I almost want to give them credit for having the guts to get rid of Tom Brady and bringing Cam Newton as if it was some grand plan. I don't think it was the grand plan to bring in Cam Newton, but what better guy to do it if that's what you wanted to do.

Right. Well, that's the thing. adapting and they're playing to the strengths of the guys that are there, they lucked out huge that no one signed Cam. And I think, you know, teams without quarterbacks are going to be regretting that because you look like Cam New and you can build a team around and we'll see if he stays healthy. But it is great. I mean, he threw the ball 19 times and he ran the ball 15 times. I mean, is that sustainable? We'll see. But I think they're playing to their strengths and they know what they are, which is the running game. I think they had five runners had five or

more carries. They have this undrafted kid, J.J. Taylor, who looked really good, who was a factor. And then their secondary is really good. Fitzpatrick had no one open the whole game. He did throw costly picks, but they were just saying he cannot find anyone open, which isn't a surprise. Devante Parker got hurt midway through, and this is a really good secondary, and it doesn't surprise me that the dolphins can't find guys open against him. Was there any Tula? No Tua. I thought we'd see a little, too, as little as the Dolphins' offense was doing early in this game, but no, he was never warming up nothing. I was just going to say to be gone about the Patriots don't have to worry about Cam Newton's

health long term because they have nothing invested in him. They can allow him to take a beating. No, they're going to try to win these games and they're going to see and they're going to hope some young guys, you know, step up. Chase Winnevich had a good game. They're using this guy, Joanne Williams, who was a second round pick to cover tight ends this year. He covered Gassiki a lot better than they did a year ago with Chung. It felt very twice. 2020, though. I mean, everything felt weird about this game, including after the game. It's like the Patriots tweet out Wakanda forever with, you know, Cam throwing up the X. And I'm like, the Patriots sending this out to me is just like, what is happening right now?

Well, I thought you were going to talk about the skirmish at the midfield after the game when the dolphins player appeared to attempt to rip off the chain of Cam Newton. So it got a little spicy after the game. Yeah, Cam, Cam got into it. bland this year. No, he had to be, you know, carried away by his teammates and then his coaches were stopping him. Apparently, yes, someone tried to move the chain, someone tried to do a keep to leave like chain snatch on him. I mean, was he training, Greg? Was he preening, as West would say? Ah, he was doing all the camp things. He had a huge smile. He was loving it. He was loving it. And as Romo pointed out, like a few times he did some advanced things where he changed the play and

that worked and a few times he didn't at all and they had these terrible place but man he was celebrating just like cam always does he had that big touchdown run where he took a big hit and i mean like you could see the huge smile on his face as he's diving for the pile on i mean that's that's just that's who he is good i hope you can sustain that level of abuse every week because that seems like a lot of workload for an old man 31 year old man you know he's actually in like a 47 year old body but you know, he's 31 biologically. I think it's fair to, you know, question whether this is a sustainable championship model, but I'm just looking for fun.

Give me, give me a team that's in the mix. All Cam is, Cam is a bridge. Cam's not the new Tom Brady. The new Tom Brady's going to come down the line when they leverage a first round pick that's high and they go and they get the next hope. But for now, Cam is the guy and it's going to be a little bit of like the quarterback version of DeMarco Murray his last year in Dallas. I would just say that sometimes it's

beautiful to drive over a nice bridge get a new view. I mean, a bridge is not always a bad thing. This will be a bridge to nowhere, but it's still nice to happen. I mean, so Dan files like casemistic patriots comment 806. Give me 10 or 11 wins a division title with a lot of fun on the way.

Forget about it. That's not nowhere. That's living. I think that's all in play. I agree. I agree. All right. Let's keep moving. At the 38-yard line, let's see if he does, in fact, go forward. Russell, fourth down and five. He is four-man rush. So quiet. He's going to lay it up over the top.

He's got a man down there. It's Metcalfe. He's got it. Touchdown. Seahawks on fourth down and five. Russ takes the snap, stands back down like a patient man and waits. And 14 gets open for six. A 38-yarder.

Holy smoke. You guys are covering D.K. Medcalf with one man. Forget about it. He beats him. You know, shout out to Steve Reibel there from K-I-R-O, because I did have a moment just now where it's completely deflated by the state of the world and everything that's been taken from us, including people being at these games to celebrate and be humans together.

But that call was so filled with joy and realness, and it came from such a sincere place, and I'm back. I just want to let you guys know that I was gone for nine seconds. And now I'm back. Bribal. Let Russ Cook, showing what he can do when given the chance to cook. Russell Wilson drew four touchdown passes leading the Seahawks to a 3825 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. Mark, you think Brian Schottinheimer has finally seen the light as a new kind of Seahawks attack arrived?

Well, you know, we've got a small sample size to draw a conclusion from. They ran the ball 20 times. I think that he has seen the light. And I think that there's probably internal pressure as well to, you know, turn Russell Wilson on from the start after the kind of money they're paying him. And he totally responded. It was a completely pristine effort by Russell Wilson. And, you know, the idea that he, you know, would be a step down from the MVP performance we saw last year.

Not right now. I mean, I think that this is a very effective offense. If I told you that the Falcons, that Matt Ryan would throw for 450 yards, multiple touchdowns with nine completions to three different receivers. I would think the Falcons would be in control of this game at some point. It just simply wasn't the case. They weren't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but Seattle to me moved away from the feed Chris Carson

and fill in the blank other running back 37 times and have Russell Wilson do special things for the last six and a half minutes of the game where you're forced to suddenly get frisky down the field. I mean, they attacked from the start. and I think if you're a Seahawks fan that's waited for this, you're going to get more of it. I think the Falcons are just going to get incrementally worse on defense for every year I'm alive.

Well, they're off to a good start. Dan Quinn will just stay there. Yeah, and Dan Quinn will have post-game press conferences where he said today, he's like, we're pissed, we're pissed. And it's almost like he's trying to convince everyone they're pissed. And I'm sure he's pissed. He's a defensive coach who's, you know, his team's not playing well. But it's almost like he knows that everyone thinks it's a groundhog day.

He's been feeling the groundhog day to these slow starts as seasons always has, but he doesn't have any great solution for it. Well, and I'd say you're losing to your friend. Who on that defense is supposed to turn it around? Like, who are there do you think it's going to be the guy who's going to turn it around? I thought Fowler was a nice signing, but, I mean, he's not going to do it by himself. I must note that Jamal Adams fits very well into Seattle's defense. He was all over the place.

That's okay. You can say that, Mark. No, because I mean, that was a wait-and-see, you know, I wanted to know how he'd fit. But Bobby Wagner, who, you know, this is not breaking news, was sensational. And Jamal Adams just right away provided pressure. He caused chaos in the pocket. He was all over the place, just the way that you'd expect him to be. And I think it took a little bit of the, you know, concern over how much they spent on them if you're going to get this player week after week.

I think it's like, I know it's week one, but I really do. If this approach, and in the first half, the Seahawks threw it 18 times, and they ran at five. And so that's a great indication because it's the first half. It's obviously close that they come out so pass happy. If this really means that they are going to be more pass happy this year, look, watch out. I think that's a huge unlocking of their potential. Our friend Billy Barnwell kind of pointed this out with Andy Reid going forward on fourth down in his own end last year. like Andy Reid's always one of the most conservative guys on fourth down and he had some luck with it in the Super Bowl last year.

And then now he's starting to go for fourth down. It's like watch out for the Chiefs if they're suddenly actually taking advantage of the fourth down like the Ravens used to or the Ravens. And watch out for the Seahawks. If they're a past first team and they're letting Russ, you know, cook to the fullest of his abilities, man, they're dangerous. You know, I'm rewatching Breaking Bad right now. So when people say let Russ cook, it's a little weird for me. also does anyone call bill barn roll bill barnwell because i just maybe that should be a thing other than greg probably maybe his grandmother type of uh you know it's like a christ malmworth

type uh call from the booth that type of vibe you know easy midwestern vibe billy barnwell i like that billy b i don't know if i've ever said it to his face right i'd like to find out how he feels about the be suddenly being called billy as at as a you know midstage adult you know The last guy that called Bill Barnwell, Billy, ended up underground. I have this on good authority. A lot of dead people. Pretty genial guy. Yeah.

Unless you call him Billy. Any other thoughts on this game? I thought the Todd Gurley, for all the, you know, Todd Gurley essentially put him out to put him out on a boat into the ocean talk. You know, I have one of the people saying that. Like a funeral fire? Kind of like just float them out over the waves. Yeah, one of those deals, you know.

but he's like guys don't shoot fire arrows at my boat i'm alive he gone he ran you know my expectations are just very low and it's like where are we going to be two months with with girly and his knees and stuff but um he ran he ran pretty well today and i mean other players on the team thought that he looked like the old todd girly i don't know if he looked exactly like the old todd girly i mean that wasn't like the most like that wasn't a huge sell by you there mark so you're basically like he didn't come out no because i'm not because i don't I'm not trying to, like, people are going to go watch this game and be like, Cessler thought Gurley looked awesome.

That's not what I'm saying. It's just that the variance of what we could have gotten from Todd Gurley could have been a lot worse. He looks fresh. Cessler starts every take playing defense against possible tweets. Well, you ever, try being me on this podcast. You got to start on defense. All right. Let's, uh, let's keep moving.

Under center is Minchew, Robinson the running back. Play fake. Vinciu looks. Fires. Corner the end zone wide open. Keel and Cole's going to walk into the end zone. Touchdown, Jacksonville, and the Jags have taken the lead with 5.56 to play in the ballgame. Frank Frangy with the call W-O-K-V.

Tank for Trether? Not so fast. Gardner Meanshoe threw three touchdown passes, including at 22-yarder, peeling cold in the fourth quarter. The Jags opened the season by beating the Colts. Rosenthal's Colts, 2720. Rosie has the Colts in the Super Bowl, winning it all. Couldn't beat the Jags in Week 1. I mean, stop hitting out because the Jets lost in the Patriots won.

Wes, you were sky high on the Colts as well entering week 1. What went wrong here? They were squandering sons of building blocks. I mean, they squandered the whole game. Squandered early, squandered late, and squandered the leadaway. They doubled the total yardage of the Jaguars. They didn't punt a single time in this game. But they gave it away.

Two Philip Rivers interceptions, Naim Hines stuffed inside the five-yard line on fourth down. Rodrigo Blankenship, the rookie field goal kicker, missed a kick. Jack Doyle had a crackback block that interrupted a drive late in the game. A lot of mistakes. And I was wondering, if I'm a Colts fan, how do I feel about this game? You lose to a team you should be. that's no good you lose marlin mac probably for the year with an achilles on the other hand naeem hines

you look at him and you couldn't ask for a quarterback more suited to bring out naeem hines skill set uh jonathan taylor undeniably looks electric with the ball in his hands and even though you don't have marlin mack jonathan taylor is a bigger big play threat you can already see that he's incredibly talented um philip rivers throws two interceptions on balls maybe they don't get intercepted early in his career when he's got more muscle on the ball. He's always going to give his receivers a chance to make plays in 50-50 situations. And he got burned a couple of times today on that. And he got burned because it looked like the Colts plan was to attack Jaguars' rookie first rounder,

C.J. Henderson, who was the player of the game, had an interception, three-pass breakups, a couple of big tackles right in front of the first down marker in key situations. Really big game from him. I want to this is one of the games I'm going to dial up pretty early on game pass just because it's so weird I mean minchu had one in completion as you mentioned I mean the jaggers only had what less than 300 yards in this game 241 yards in this game and they found a way to win it and then of all the young players you mentioned paris campbell I don't think he said his name too they were he was their leading receiver so it was like a lot of new colts it almost sounds like a chargers game though you know No, it looked like Rivers had been in that offense for 10 years. He was doing things. He caught the Jaguars' defense off guard a few times. He had tricks up his sleeve.

Like you said, he had total confidence in Paris Campbell was throwing him the ball a lot in key situations. I was really impressed with Philip Rivers. To me, if I'm a Colts fan, I think, okay, he made a couple of mistakes, and he's not quite what he used to be arm strength-wise, but he's got total command of this offense, and he's got enough talent here,

that to get 4.50 yards, like, it almost feels like you should do that every week. Wes, I'd ask, like, if you're a concerned cults fan and you, in your mind, if these two teams played each other the next nine weeks, what would Indies record be? And also, I mean, I'm looking at the Minshu Day, and I love it, but is there an element of fools gold there, or does it only strengthen what you were a Minshu guy? Does it strengthen what you feel about Minshu? Well, I would say the Colts would go 8 and 2 in that 10 game sample size. They thoroughly outplayed the Jaguars today.

The Jaguars capitalized, and that's where I give Minchu credit. He didn't ever go beyond himself. Jake Rudin called a really good game. It was pretty conservative, but he called it to the scoreboard, and Minchu played to the scoreboard. They didn't take any chances when the games were close, and he kept them in it, and Minchu short passes inaccurate, and James Robinson, the undrafted rookie,

The first undrafted rookie to start at running back in the NFL on opening day in 30 years. Look pretty good. Wow. So they do have some semblance of a running game and a ball control attack. I'm not going to, you're not going to look at this and think like Phil Sim's Super Bowl good. He's 19 to 20 because of situation and good decision making. Well, listen, Philip Rivers was famous for these losses and Chargers Land too. Let's be fan of these games where it's like narrow losses to a team

that you shouldn't end up with a couple with a couple turnovers involved. And listen, Wes watched a game. I still have to watch it. But how many times did we read about these games that involved rivers in San Diego or L.A. And now that that seemed to have followed them to Indianapolis. Well, I don't know if they'd like 10 in Jacksonville. It's fair to make that point. They have not one single game in Jacksonville since 2014.

The Jaguars own the Colts. Sneaky. Oh, come on. It's fair to make that point, Dan, but I'm just thinking as a Colts fan, if I'm, this is the first I've seen out of Rivers. And on the spectrum of where he could have been, like washed up is one possibility. And he did not look washed up in any way to me. So if I'm a Colts fan, I'm pretty excited that he can move this offense up and down the field almost at will.

Especially after watching 16 games of Jacoby Berset. And we like Jake Berskitt, but he is not the most fun quarterback to watch. Rivers at least slings it around. And he's got that. He's open so many possibilities. Yeah, he lets the coaching staff do more things. Yeah. All right.

Let's keep moving. Shotgun formation. Snap to Murray. In trouble, steps up and runs to his right of the 20. Cuts back to the left of the 10. Breaks a tackle to the five. Running right for the end zone. Touchdown.

If you're going to blitz the cue, if you're going to go after them, you better get up. Oh, my God. Ron Wolfey sounds like the incredible Hulk now What is going on? Is this his voice? Is there's no one in the stadium? It used to be Jesse the Body. He's graduated from Jesse the Body Ventura and he's now Hulk.

He just gets cooler every year. We love Ron Wolfie. K-C-A-R with the call. Kyler Murray threw for 230 yards in a touchdown. Ran for 90 yards in another score. fact, he was over 100 and then lost his 100-yard game because of QB kneel downs at the end. But anyway, the Cardinals 24 to 20 win over the defending NFC champion Niners at a smoky birdbell bottom.

Mark, Cliff Kingsbury's team wiped out two fourth quarter deficits, got a big stop at the end, a great start to the season for the card. Yeah, I mean, our friend Jason Zumwalt, a noted Cardinals fan, texted Danny, texted us, he was rather displeased and seeking other ways to feel good about his life at one point during the game. It was kind of faceless early on. And it was, you know, outside of a big catch-and-run touchdown by Rahim Moster, there just wasn't a lot happening. And then suddenly, I really think it was Kyla Murray's legs. And this is the threat that he brings, and they know how to use him that way, changed the game entirely.

And then, you know, there was a lot of hemming and hawing over DeAndre Hopkins and the fact that he didn't really work with. Kyler Murray in the offseason, much at all. Very little time together in camp. 14 catches, 151 yards, and he should have had a touchdown. Got to work in. Right, he did. And, like, he had a touchdown that they brought back to the one which created a Kenyan Drake touchdown.

So, you know, all washed out the same. He looked good. It was, there were plays where Hopkins and Murray were not on the same page early on, but he really caught fire late. And I just think this Cardinals' offense, and to, to, From a predictable nature, they ran a ton of 10 and 11 sets where you just got a ton of wide-outs. I think that spread, it kind of spreads out the defense and it spread out the Niners defense and probably made them a little bit uncomfortable. The bigger issue for the Niners, there was a scary looking injury to George Kittle.

And he said basically, Jimmy G. threw a pass high. Kittle leapt up into the air and got taken down on his knee and basically came back in the game. never was really the same. And it kind of just showed you that I think he'll be all right, but that when he's not in there, you really don't have a whole lot right now behind mustard. I mean, you've got really one or two guys that can contribute. And Jimmy G had a chance to go down and win this with a touchdown at the end.

And he, you know, the Cardinals have a few pieces on defense. This one guy, second year corner, Byron Murphy, made a great breakup on a pass that also Jimmy G. Through to Trent Taylor and threw behind him, little bit on a key fourth and five, Arizona's 16. I mean, the game came down to that. These guys are playing each other close. Jimmy G. made a few bad throws in this game. I mean, he threw 10 throws to his wide receivers. We've been talking about these wide receivers and figuring, okay, Shanahan can scheme it up, and I'm sure he will. But only 10 throws to

your wide receivers for only a total of 41 yards. And it's Kendrick-born and Trent Taylor. it's like, well, then Kiddle has to be dominating and your defense has to be dominating. And just off the stat sheet, to me, it's shocking. They had three QB hits mark, 40 throws for Kyler Murray. I know they throw it quick Arizona, but it's like that's not the 49ers defense we're used to see. No, it just didn't look like it didn't carry over for the Niners on either side of the ball.

I think a healthy version of the team will be fine. But, you know, I just would say you come away feeling exciting if you're a Cardinal. fan because the stuff that you were anticipating and hoping showed up by the end of the game. Feels like a little bit of reductive thinking going into the season too because we knew that these wide receiver issues were real for the Niners and there just seemed to be a vibe like, well, George Kittles amazing. So they'll just funnel him and he'll get 700 targets. Yeah, but guess what? The other team on the other side of the field knows what's coming. And that's a tough situation for Kittle. And you mentioned the Kittle lower body issue.

That's scary. It does make me think a little bit. it with him because he's known as a tremendous blocker in addition to being a great playmaker that that was gronk that was pique gronk and his body got beat up after a while uh repeatedly because he was physical in all ways i hope that's not george kittles future but he was banged up throughout last year and it sounds like it's happening again now yeah i think that's a fair comparison for playing style both relentless after the catch and that's where a lot of injuries happen too um but i don't think you're going to change the way George Kittle play. So you just have to live with him being an injury risk.

These division wins are big early. That's the thing. I know these games were not taking as much as he normally would, but it's still going to be the same division win that the fact that they got it done. Who knows, maybe there'll be a crowd in Arizona by the time they can actually play there again. I mean, Kingsbury loves it. If you can be outrushing Kyle Shanahan, I mean, these two offenses are so different, but they both want to run.

And Kyler Murray running for that much meant they ran for 100. 80 yards. I mean, that is a recipe to win in Arizona. Hey, Wes, you're ready to head to the corner of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue in the west side of Cincinnati? Oh, yeah. Main Street and Lincoln, huh?

Yeah, I just took a guess. Took a shot at it. No, I was going to say, Lincoln doesn't sound right. Not that part of town. All right, right near my house. From the right half. From the right half.

Pete Rose Way. And it's no good. He pushed it wide right. The Chargers are going to win on a missed field goal by Randy Bullock. Oh, Randy. Randy Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal try with two seconds to play. Spoiling Joe Burroughs' NFL debut and allowing the Chargers to escape with a 16-13 win at Paul Brown Stadium. That, of course, by the way, was our buddy Matt Money-Smith, the voice of God,

he ran the NFL podcast. Joe Burroughs debut. Listen, it wasn't RG3 back in 2012. It wasn't this incredible game that we'll never forget. But he showed things. He had a great touchdown scramble, 23 yards on a, it wasn't even scramble. I think it was a design draw.

And then he led the team down the field. He was up and down throughout the four quarters. But then when he needed to get them into field goal position or scoring position. He recovered from a bad interception. Melvin Ingram picked him off on a shovel pass. He's leading him down the field. He spots A.J. Green in the corner, front corner of the end zone,

hits him for the apparent game-winning touchdown. Flag comes out, offensive pass interference on A.J. Green. It was the right call. It wasn't maybe wasn't a no-brainer, but I understand why the flag was thrown. So they bring out Randy and, he pushes it right and immediately comes down with some type of lower body injury himself. I don't know. Sometimes you wonder

with kickers. This is a little bit convenient. Oh, the calf went out. Just missed the 31-yarder. You're not going to be welcoming the kicker club with that kind of derision. Yeah. Well, no, Randy's been trying to get in the kicker club for many years. This is not going to help him.

Anyway, so the Chargers get the win. Good for them. They lost a lot of games like this last year. So it's good to see them get this win, the Tyrod Taylor era. I wish Tyrod Taylor was just like, what's the thing from Star Wars, Mark, Hans Sol gets frozen in carbon, carbonite? Yeah, carbon freeze.

Is that the reference? Okay. So I wish that Tyrod Taylor was frozen in Carbonite, the perfect hard knocks quarterback, because once the guy starts playing, he just kind of puts me to sleep. And this offense wasn't doing much. But the Chargers get the win, and the bangle's going to bangle and bungle they did. I saw a kick, burrow, go ahead, Wes, I'll mention that. That kick never even came close.

No. Started out 20 feet right. I mean, that calf muscle, I don't want it to be, but that thing better be off the bone to be missing a 31-yarder. Yeah, I missed a kick and 24 kicks, I think. Oh, what a way to have your guy, your rookie quarterback looks like he's going to bring you back for the win. You lose the touchdown. At least you have the tie, and then your kicker just doinks it.

Oh, no. It gets worse. We had a lock of the week, and it was who? Chris Let'sling? remotely. Me and Ricky. Yeah, me and Wes. It was...

It's a little painful. Tell me the truth, West. It had to be a little painful. I mean, I felt the pain here just because, I don't know. I wanted Joe Burrow to have an exciting start here. But if you're picking them as a lock, the Bengals, something's a little different. Exactly. Oh, no.

It was just like a... me it was like a gauntlet who can you pick like every team you want to pick it's like oh no they're probably not going to pass the mirror test i got to go check gregg's test so i wanted the dealers but then i didn't feel right so i was like i got to take someone here and it felt fun to pick bro i don't think i was really competitive spirit wise it didn't really kill me to lose a lot in the first game yeah it was it's going to be a tough watch uh for the Bengals fan deep within Chris Wessling because Burrow, the touchdown run was fun

and the final drive showed some moxie, but he also overthrew John Ross for a touchdown. He overthrew A.J. Green through a touchdown. Oh, Ross should have caught that. Ross should catch a lot more balls than he does. Okay. Let's just get. Well, he definitely overthrew A.J. Green.

Well, I saw one pass. All right. He definitely over through A.J. Green, yes. I saw one pass where he, you know, was scrambling around behind. Let's remember a very bad offensive line. in my opinion. And he got hammered on a 14-yard sack directly as a result of like incredible pressure from the chargers. But there was a pass he threw to Mixon where he basically threw it

behind him to Mixon. And Mixon obviously didn't catch it and had to run around to scramble and jump on it to basically recover what was a fumble. But then he had that touchdown run after. And I guess like what more would you want from a guy who's never played an NFL snap than to make good plays after a few bad ones? I think it showed some resilience. And, you know, I mean, Burrow to me, is exciting. He plays a terrible Browns defense next on Thursday night. So he may not be too far from another good outing. The final drive was very composed. I mean, that was a plus. He was firing that ball in there. You know, the negative is you watch them and you see a little bit of Danny Dimes in there and that is that you don't feel like he's got a big arm. And so, you know, he's creative. But you got

it, you got to, that's where you need your mental stuff to catch up. And that's tough as a rookie in your first game that's like you you got to be if you don't have a big arm it's going to be his legs and it's going to be him creating some and they're right in this game i mean that's why i'm not i know i had him in the in the playoffs as one of my um one of my props here but this is why i love anthony lin the man but sometimes the game management decisions during the game is he plays him so close to the best and i think he invites games like this see you know kicking 55 yard field goals instead of going for it on fourth and two i hate that they miss it it, of course, it sets them up.

And it's just, it's not surprising that this team, like, grinds it out against a Bengals team that's maybe a little shorter on talent. You know, we are about 10 months away from next summer when we're being told that the game is slowing down for Joe Burrow. Right. And he sees the field so much better. It did. I'm not name your favorite quarterback expert, Tom House or Dan Orlovsky.

I'm not any of those guys. but it did seem like things were moving a little fast for the kid in the first game. And of course it should. No preseason games, no real offseason program. And now you're in the game, week one, it gets a very good Chargers pass rush. I would say all things considered. And he did leave throws on the field and all that. And he had a really bad turnover on the shovel pass to Ingram.

I'm still feeling very excited right now because he brings juice to the building. I think things were moving fast for him in large part because his tackles were getting beat. Right. but also because it took him a while to go through his progressions. And I thought he looked way more decisive as a runner than he did as a passer. He looked really good to me. Whenever he had to pull it down and run, he did it decisively and got where he wanted to get.

Right. And in college, like, you'll learn that shovel pass yet. I mean, that's the type of thing you don't see in college. A 270-pound Melvin Ingram able to be. However, you're running back and catch a pass. It's like, you don't expect that. All right. Let's move on.

Mark. I've decided to isolate these two games and with Halloween coming up around the corner enter the haunted mansion of the Around the NFL podcast. It's appropriate. Wow, you guys get your own section now. What a hell?

Yeah. Don't go in there. What a hell of a day. Come in if you dare. Jackson to throw on third down. And zone touchdown. Mark Andrews, his second of the day. That was a great.

great back-shoulder throw. Back-to-back touchdown drives for Lamar Jackson. Jerry Sandusky and Femi Ayambandahejo of WBAL with the call. Lamar Jackson threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns. And the Ravens roll to a 38 to 6 win, ruining the debut of Kevin Stefansky and his maiden voyage. was Cleveland head coach. Mark, it appears that the Browns weren't remotely close to ready for the defending division

chance. Yeah, I think I, like a lot of Browns fans, had concern about this particular matchup being your week one draw. And, you know, it's funny. I tweeted out this video on Saturday about their opening drive last year against the Titans, where Baker Mayfield and the offense just marched down the field. And you're thinking, this is it. This is what we've been hearing about all summer.

And all these pieces are, you know, playing. in concert. And then Austin Seibert botched the PAT and like the game went totally downhill from here. He missed his first PAT again today and it kind of just reawoken horrid memories from a year ago. I kind of think if you're a Browns fan, you got to blow it. You just got to throw it. Barry the ball, as they say. Get rid of it and hope things improve. They look completely out of sync and had a lot to do with who they were playing. The Ravens are, I think, one of the best teams in the league. When they target a free agent, he comes in and he contributes right away. Callias Campbell, right off the bat, tip to pass. He knocked another one down late in the game.

He had another tip that turned into an early Baker-Mayfield interception. The Browns never really got on track after that ever again. They have all these parts, and they don't look like they do. Where the Ravens, Lamar Jackson, you know, to me through the air, played one of the better games who's seen it. I think he was 20 for 25. They just looked like they didn't, they didn't, miss a beat. And I think if you're a Ravens fan, everyone's saying there's no way to get back to 14 and 2. Okay, but if you play like this, you're going to be real close. Or here's the better thing. You're going to be a better team than you were last year. I think they did a better job stopping the run. The Patrick Queen made plays. You know, you know, young Ravens guys

don't take, they don't take four years to develop. That happens quicker in Baltimore. And they just looked like they weren't missing any pieces. I also think they played a pretty bad team. Let's see how the Ravens look when they play the Texans next time around. Yeah, this doesn't look good. Just looking at the box score, Mark. It looks like Baker Mayfield struggled. He averaged less than five yards per attempt, the dreaded Gabbard zone. Looks like you did some damage on the ground.

But Odell Beckham, three for 22. With a couple bad drops, couple bad drops. On 10 targets. Yep. Miles Garrett, I love you, but, you know, very little production from Miles Garrett today. and I just I you've got these names but they don't they don't seem to make it happen here in these games those guys have to play like superstars not just decent starters they have to play like absolutely superstars and by the way I saw everybody getting on me on Twitter about locking up the Ravens but you know what

speaking of the haunted houses like everyone just wanted to make freddie kitchens the boogeyman I just wanted to go out there and say before week one, let's see if that guy was really the only thing that's the problem in that building in Borea on the haunted burial ground that the whole building's built on. And apparently it's not, you can't blame Freddie anymore because this team looked every bit as bad as it did with Freddie Kitchens as the head coach. Well, I mean, and I will, but I will allow. Let me say this, though, people that were getting on me for not looking in the mirror. I got to be honest, I didn't even look in the mirror.

I was, I didn't really have time. We were busy on Thursday. So for people who thought, yeah, for people who thought that maybe it's unfair to be locking up the Ravens in that situation, I will make it up to everyone that's a listener by locking up a team that really doesn't need to be locked up in week two. I'm just going to, that's what I do. That's what the old Zusser does. I'm even in the scales, if you really thought that I was at a line. But I'm taking this lot because there were a lot of people that thought the Browns were going to be better and they were this post-hyped sleeper. Yeah, me too.

I still do. I'm not going to give up on them because they got drug. by the Ravens, and I'll probably be proven wrong, but this is about as ugly as it gets. You managed to stop the Ravens on the ground. I mean, that's the thing that stands out to me just looking at it. This was the worst game that the Ravens have had rushing the ball, I think, since Lamar Jackson took over as quarterback, definitely worse than any game they had in all of 2019. So actually, it didn't quite, even though the score looks familiar, just the way that they got

there is different. I'm not saying. I would just say that, like, you don't. come away thinking deep concerns over Baltimore's ground game. I think that just the way the game played out a little bit, like Mark Andrews was on fire, Lamar Jackson was making great throws, and Cleveland's got a banged-up secondary, and they were victimized for it. It's probably taking what defenses are going to give them, which this year, I mean, look, they were trying to stop the Ravens last year, the running game, but I think defenses will sell out even more, and

Lamar has shown he can take advantage. Browns are playing again in four days, Mark, you excited? It's too soon. I don't like, can I be honest? I just like, you know, you're working, you're working through a lot of stuff on these Sundays. Like, you know, the days of me like, you know, pouting in the corner, it's over. You just got to move on. Like, wake me up when they, when they are entertained, just be entertaining. And they weren't. It's a bad football. And it's because you played a team that's been entertaining for 20 years and understands what being in the NFL means. I just say your football team wants to stand up and kick you in the butt. Stand in line, buddy wait around the corner for everything else kicking us in the butt right exactly it mattered

a lot less this time around well get a look at it uh all right i mark you're not the only fan getting kicked in the butt so too we're jets fans allan fires a quick one caught by john brown low makes the catch at the 10 at the 5 cruises into the end zone touchdown buffalo john brown a 17 yard touchdown catch from josh allen steve that was too easy man come on John Murphy rubbing salt in the wound up in WGR in western New York. Josh Allen threw for more than 300 yards for the first time in his career and tallied three scores through the air and on the ground. And a 27 to 17 win over the Jets in Orchard Park. Alan also lost two fumbles in Jets territory.

You missed John Brown on a give me touchdown toss. But overall, did his job for a Buffalo team that was superior to the Jets in every. imaginable way. I don't know, I don't even know, like, from a bill standpoint, how much I could take from this game. 27-17 was not really indicative of what was going on in this game. The bills kept on kicking themselves and tripping on their own feet. The Allen turnover, as I mentioned, they missed two short field goals, even though the first one was probably actually good, but the upright wasn't high enough.

Maybe we have to keep sending those things higher to the sky. I don't know. So the Jets were able to kind of hang around. James and Crowder caught a wide receiver screen and took it about 60 yards to deliver most of the Jets' offense. So this game could have easily been 20 or 35, 20 or 30 points separating it. So I guess it's a moral victory for the Jets. But for the Bills, you're better than the Jets.

That's all I know. You're much better than the Jets. But there was enough kind of negative stuff in this game, too, where I want to see them against a better opponent. and as for the Jets, it's just a mess. And I'll say that Sam Darnold, and we've heard it ad nauseum at this point, has a bad situation and potentially like the worst head coach in the league. But he's got to play better.

He did not play well in this game. And he didn't look comfortable. We read the fluff pieces during the summer about how he was in year two of Gase's system and he was processing things quicker and looking more comfortable. He didn't look more comfortable against the bills. Granted, it's a tough challenge in Buffalo, but he didn't look more comfortable. He missed guys that were open.

He made some boneheaded plays, the kind of stuff that now in year three needs to start to go away. So again, small sample size, week one, now is not the time to say, well, he'll never figure it out. But as a Jets fan, you're like, oh, come on, man. A couple of the plays that he made. It's like, this can't happen anymore. So Jets are a mess.

Jets are embarrassing. it might be the worst team in the league. Bills, good for you. You want to know. I think the bills can take away just the way you start that game. To come out and just, you know, exert your will on another NFL team, that feels good. And they're a little bit more of a favorite that they've been around. They're expected to win this game.

They were big favorites. Their defense did a great job against the Jets last year when they played. And you come out, and I saw one point it was 19 first downs to one. and it's just like, okay, maybe you let your foot off the gas a little bit, but that's all you can hope to accomplish, I think, in week one, and you're right, move on than to a tougher opponent in week two. I mean, Dan, can I ask you about, there's been all this hubbub about, you know, the Levi-on-Bell, Frank Gore.

I'm looking at them both with six carries. Levy on Bell, six carries for 14 yards, and I'm just what... Injured. Injured. I wasn't tracking that one. Levyon Bell, who came into camp in the best shape of his life, goes out wide, splits out wide, right, and pops his hamstring. And then Adam Gase and the coaching staff leave him in the game.

And it sounds like he furthered, injured the hamstring when he came back in. And Adam Gase, it's actually kind of ironic because over the summer, you'll remember Levyon Bell blasting Gase on social media for saying that he had a hamstring injury that he said didn't exist. Well, now the controversy this week will be that he actually did have a hamstring injury, but the coaches didn't recognize it. So that's a fun little bit of subplot for the beatwriters to sink their teeth into. So we'll see how long he's out if he misses next week.

But who knows, at this point, it doesn't matter. I mean, Levyon Bell is probably a progress stopper where the Jets are. I'd like to see Le Michael P. Ryan, who's their third round pick, get into action. But he, too, is injured with an ankle. So hopefully he'll get back in the game. But there isn't much to be excited about the only real good news that came out of this. And the only thing for the Jets, a summer storyline that actually made it from the summer to the game was Marcus May, the safety that the second round pick, the same year that Josh, or what's his name?

I forgot to say. Jamal Adams. Jamal Adams was in the same draft as the first round pick. He took Adams's role and had five tackles, two sacks, two pass breakups, and a fumble. So that's good. Everything else bad. All right. Let's get the hell out of this place.

It's haunted hell. It keeps getting darker. It's very 2020, but we started this show and, you know, light out. And it was slowly, you know, coming into the dark. I had to get up and turn on the lights at one point. Yeah, I want to say there's nowhere to go but up. But I don't know if I believe that. So let's see.

I snap back to Vibiski to wind up, throw down the right side from Miller. Over the shoulder catch. Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown bears. Almost like Thanksgiving Day near the two-yard line.

And over-the-shoulder throw on a beauty by Mitchell Chibisky. Anthony Miller about to get mobbed in the end zone. Did you hear the... It's almost like stunned amazement by Tom Thayer there. He caught it. And Jeff Janiak. WBBM with the call.

Mitchell Chubisky. Yeah, you heard that right. Mitch threw a perfect 26. seven-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Anthony Miller with 154 to play, and then Lions rookie DeAndre Swift dropped the would-be game-winning touchdown in the final seconds in the Bears' 27-23 win at Ford Field. Mark, it's only dawned on me now, today in fact, that you're the Browns fan who decided to make the Lions your secondary team. Why do you do this to yourself? Just exploring new territories of total darkness. Yeah, I think a lot of

Lions fans. There's a group of us that have glommed on to the Lions and a lot of Lions fans, their immediate reaction was, no, don't do this. Number one, we don't want to hear your little national reporter hype train business because we don't buy into it. And secondly, like, trust me, this won't

go well for you. And I mean, it was a very Matt Patricia era Lions loss. Like, there was just no excuse to lose the game the way they did. It's the fact that you can point to one team that Mitch Tribesky has consistently be deviled over and over. It's the Lions. That's not a great resume builder for Patricia either.

And, you know, it was a tale of two halves to be the one team. Right, they are. I mean, deviled by Trubisky. Right, because I don't know what, from a bear's angle, like, I think that if you, if you pause the game at halftime, you'd be thinking everyone is they're going to clean house at some point because it was a tale of two halves. Trabiski was pretty ineffective in the first half. And, you know, it's a committee of running backs. It's Taria Cohen. It's Cordero Patterson. It's David Montgomery. None of them really dominant. What happened in the second half was, you know, first of all, Detroit is banged up at cornerback. And they were dealing with injuries, and it showed. And Trubisky sort of caught fire down the stretch, made some big

throws. The Anthony Miller throw was beautiful. I give him credit. Like, if you look at what he did in the fourth quarter, I believe he was seven for nine with two touchdowns and a raise to 23 to 6 deficits. So I think it's a week-to-week proposition with Mr. Biskie had a lot of people tweeting at me after a couple of Bears' comments like, do you bring in Foles at halftime? Do you just, is it going to, are we going to see them that quickly? You kept that conversation quiet for another week. I don't love this Bears team. I think the defense is maybe a little overrated too, but they made some plays down the stretch. And if you're a Lions fan, it's just another one of these games where you do not, it just did not add up. And Stafford

looked pretty good. I mean, they had that killer drop by DeAndre Swift in the end zone. Hey, Ricky, do we have that? The Lions call that because that is one of the worst drops I can remember. That is the game. Five seconds. That's it. Let's listen. That's it. Lions from the Bear's 16, down

four, 11 seconds to go. Matthew's going to work out of the gun. Bears have three men back on that goal line. Stafford's got it. Three man rush for Chicago. Stafford loads and gross. He just caught, no, he dropped it on you, no. David said that.

DeAndre Swift dropped it. It was a touchdown in his hands. Oh, my gosh. Oh, no. Oh, no. Kevin Patcher, buddy, you deserve better. There's nothing like it. It was perfect, it was a perfect throw.

Stafford spotted his running back with his back to the pylon. He was going to catch it, fall in for the touchdown. game over. It would have been four seconds to play. They're in the lead. Celebration. Tragedy averted. Instead, it is the worst stomach punch you could really imagine in a week one game. There is nothing like it in our major team sports or really any sport because there's no other regular season that means so much. That that drop is like it's 116th of your season. That could be the difference between getting fired or not. That could be a difference between playoffs or not. It's certainly the difference of having a miserable week or feeling great that you escaped with a comeback victory, you know, put another game winning comeback on Matthew Stafford's, you know, stat sheet, but no, like instead it's like all doom and gloom.

And you can look at the fact that, oh, by the way, we lost Justin Coleman, their slot corner during the game. They lost Desmond Truffant during the game. Jamie Collins is being a knucklehead again and gets kicked out of the game, you know, during it. And it's just like, lion's got a lion. I guess it's so meaningful, that one drop. It's just crazy. There's no other sport quite like that. How do you sleep if you're a rookie like DeAndre Swift?

How do you sleep tonight? I don't know if it's possible. You have to wipe this away. But one of these teams has a better chance to be relevant, like on Thanksgiving. I think the Lions. Well, they play on Thanksgiving, but yeah, the Lions. So, like, you know, especially on Thanksgiving. I still think the Lions, like, I don't know, maybe I'm just a blind idiot at this point.

but I just feel like they have something, but it's concerning. Didn't that validate today to? Well, yeah, here's the problem because DeAndre Swift has been hurt for weeks. And, you know, you can't trust Kerry on Johnson. It was Adrian Peterson had like 93 yards and ran pretty well. And it's like suddenly you're the team featuring Adrian Peterson at running back, which is not a bad thing, but it was not their plan. I also, I saw a tweet some questionable Matt Patricia decisions.

down the stretch that that haunt them and that's all these guys come back and things can get better but patricia as your coach oh it's just this feels like i mean no one was complaining when he was like you know guy with pencil behind his year winning patriot's super bowl rings but um you know there's a whole different deal here and the lions just don't seem to have changed or grown that much right there's a little bit of complaining one year when they came in 31st and yards allowed and they still made it to the super bowl um because i'm a miserable bastard and my team's terrible. I want more sadness. I meant to hear the Randy Bullock's sad call out of Cincinnati. Let's hear that too, Ricky. Wow. Now ask us. The snap is good. The kick is

wide. Right. He missed it. And the Chargers hold on to the lead with two seconds to go. And Bullock is hurt. If I can't be happy, no one can. Bullock is hurt. I don't mean to laugh. By the way, He had cramps. Wes, Bullock had cramps. Like before the kick? This never happened to him before. He said it never happened. Right when the kick was about to happen,

Randy Bullock got cramps. Well, cramps are quite often, you know, nerve-related, like you're nervous and you can get cramps. It can absolutely be something that's mental. So that doesn't make you feel better as a Bengals fan. Jeez. All right. Let's keep moving.

Here's the fullback, and the Raiders hit him. I'm not sure he got it. I don't think he got it. Raiders were ready. Alex Armagh. What the hell? You know, Brent Musburger with the call there, KRLV. Joe Brady's the new offense coordinator in Carolina.

He calls a handoff to fullback Alex Armagh. On fourth and inches at midfield, he stopped at the line with 111 to play. It's the play of the game. And the Raiders hold on for a 3430 win over the Panthers in Charlotte. Greg, who the hell is Alex Armagh? And why the hell is it Christian McCaffrey getting the ball in that spot? The game on the line. It was a tough one, too, because you just felt like neither one of these defenses could stop the other.

I kind of felt whoever's going to get the ball last is going to win. The Panthers just got the ball back after Derek Carr brought the Raiders up the field to take the lead back. I mean, this was a fun, offensive game. You didn't know what was going to happen. I think it's a fun one to fire up on game pass. There were not a lot of stops. I think there were 12 scoring drives, six stops. Both teams looked very well coached on offense.

And I just didn't expect a defensive player to make the play of the game. In this case, it was Cleveland Farrell. And the way McCaffrey was playing, the way Teddy especially was playing, just in terms of his movement, man, you put him on the move, and it just gives a lot of problems, I think, for the Raiders defense. Teddy, it wasn't a perfect game, but I think his arm looked pretty good, and he moved well, and he made some plays creatively, so that the play call was, it was wild, and it was such a, it's just kind of like a wet fart ending to what was otherwise, a really exciting game. I think both teams have some good things to feel, feel after this one. A wet fart.

Yeah. It's just like. That's not what you're dreaming for in week one, specifically. Forever. No. You're not. I mean, the Raiders, you know, lost Trent Brown early. So that's a big, big problem for them. Their left tackle. And then they lost Sam Young, who replaced them right after that. So they're on a third stringer. And they still went up and down the field, like kind of just steamrolling. I think the Panthers with their size. Josh Jacobs looked so good. He just dominated the ball. And their offense looked like a good when it did whatever.

it was really singing last year, and they did enough to win, but it very easily could have been a bad if the Raiders defense is this bad all year, it's not going to matter. They're going to have a similar year to the year they had a year ago. I mean, John Gruden compared Josh Jacobs to Walter Peyton for his performance today, and the fact that he simply refused to come off the field and wanted the whole game put on his back. So, I mean, that you have these pieces that give you a lot of hope in Las Vegas. And I will say that Joe Brady, I mean, is one of the more, are respected coaches around. And I know he's new to the NFL,

but he did incredible stuff in LSU and got, well, I know, but it's going to be tagged to this one play. But I think, like, Carolina coming out and doing what they did on offense. It's got to be one of the better surprises of the day.

Yeah. The thing I kept writing was, the thing I know, but don't we can't just shift into talking head thing. We're like, we write off this very talented play call. We had a good day. No, Mark, his career is over.

I'm sorry. Well, I didn't realize you decide that, but I will get out of the way. Alex Armour. By the way, Alex Armour probably would beat you in half of one instant in like an arm wrestling match and your arm would become off with it. Well, he's definitely strong. He's a fullback. You just don't want to get on arm wrestling. You're right.

Mark, to your point to give your boy Matt Rule and his boy Joe Brady some love. That was my takeaway throughout the game was, wow, this team. looks like it's been together for a while. It's not like, hey, we need a while to warm up. They looked like a very professional offense. They exposed some bad secondary play for the Raiders, but everything looked like it was on time. They used Moore and Samuel and Robbie Anderson.

Like it looked like a frisky fun offense. Like we kind of hoped it would. Don't give up on Teddy there, Wes, you know. Maybe Brady can get a job in Europe. Maybe one of those development leagues. Could have been the Jets O, C. Go ahead, Wes. Give us a salient football point

before we move on to Sunday night football. All right. Fair enough. It's a Sunday night football. Prescott. Going deep, and it's going to be caught. Michael Gallup beats Ramsey, but he flag is down.

Pass interference, offense, number 13, 10-yard penalty, repeat, third down. Oh, we're back. Never too late. Wake up. Come, come, come, come, come, come, come. Oh! Michael Gallop. Almost the hero.

No, he's not a zero. but he did get an offensive pass interference call with Jalen Ramsey in coverage and it basically buried the Cowboys in their Sunday night football opener allowing the Rams to escape with a 20 to 17 win in the opening of SoFi

Stadium or Park wow great start for the Rams Greg Rosenthal who really played a solid strong fundamentally with it game

right out of the gate got to be feeling very good if you're a Rams fan right about now. Yeah, my daughter, Ellis,

going to be excited when she wakes up and finds out this final score because they look like the old Rams in the sense that their coaches,

I think we're giving them a big time advantage. Like a lot of the plays that worked for them in the first half were screens,

were quick throws by Jared Gough were plays where they basically were putting the receiver on a platter for golf and the defensive changes with Brandon Staley who didn't get a lot of attention this offseason taken over for Wade Phillips seemed to make a pretty big difference too down the stretch the fact that they let their defense go try to win the game instead of going

for it on fourth down thought that was questionable but that call bailed them out I don't know I come out of this game I remember it was about a year ago at the end of September when And Kellyn Moore was shot to the leaderboard position for assistant coach of the year type roles. And I don't know what's going on with Kellan Moore right now. But there is a sequence in the fourth quarter. It's 20 to 17. It is third and six at the LA 14. They run Zeke up the middle for three yards.

Okay, it's fourth and three from the LA 11. Cidey Lamb catches that pass. He's tackled short of the sticks. Drive over. Do you not kick the field goal there? I appreciate the... You got to kick the field goal there. You have to.

I think that they never really recovered from that. In some games, the pace of the game, the way that it was forming itself, you'd say, no, we're going to be aggressive, we're going to go for it. Not this game. I have a big problem with that. If it's 34-31 in that spot, sure, go for it. But that game, that was a tight, closely fought game. And I'm not that worried about Dallas, because I'm not that worried about Dallas, because

I really do think the Rams played excellent football on both sides. And they were in their building and all that. But yeah, I was really surprised they went for it. That is kind of the new age of football now that the odds say going for it on fourth down is something that's going to pay off more than it's not. But in that spot, when you had a chance to tie it up at 20, that really surprised me. And it was just really a tough, tough night for the Dallas offense. They had three points on six drives in the second half. And that comes, I think we kind of predicted this back on the preview show, like just wait and watch after all this breathless hype about the Cowboys offense that they go and lay an egg.

I think I said 13 points. They score 17. That's not good enough. I liked the way Zeke Elliott ran the ball. I still think they have awesome weapons. Jalen Ramsey and the Rams defense played excellent. And I think they'll recover. But this is kind of a bitter way to start the season.

And Greg, to the point that you've made a lot, it's like. here we go again with the Cowboys, all the hype, and then a big, another wet fart. I am worried about, I mean, I don't know what team had a worst week one. They just lost their tight end, Blake Jarwin, who they loved for the season with a torn ace. Mark and I could give you two teams. There's a couple to pick them. All right, but they're, that's fair, but they didn't lose two key starters to massive injuries. Leighton Vanderilch also broke his collarbone.

So there's a lot of stuff where you talk about, you know, okay, it's only week one. Well, that's not just only week one. I don't know when, Layton Vayner-ish now is going on a few years where he has these neck injuries, collarbone's a little different. We don't know how long that's going to be. Jarwin is a huge loss. And you're only as good sometimes as your worst starter. And they had an undrafted rookie Terrence Steele playing right tackle.

He's scheduled to start the next few weeks, too, because they're missing Lyle Collins at right tackle. And at the end of the game, that's who the Rams were targeting. And, yeah, the Cowboys are talented enough to, like, get over it. But when you're coming in with all these things to be excited about, that is a pretty big letdown of a week one. And those injuries are something you can't really get back. I mean, I think Dallas lost to a playoff team. So, you know, I don't want to hit the panic button there.

But it's just disappointing. And I will say one positive. I think Alden Smith, who I was looking back, I wrote an ATN tape study, ATM film room. I don't even remember this being a series. In 2012, talking about how, you know, right?

That he just looked like this next version of like Charles Haley or something. And he's barely played for the past half decade. And he comes in tonight. And I thought there were a couple moments where you thought this feels like, I know it's going to go to Alex Smith, but Alden Smith looks like a comeback player of the year type guy to me in his own right. Yeah. He was great.

You said the Cowboys lost to a playoff team. You know, that's new. If that's how people are going to out be calling and treating the Rams. I had a win in the division going into this year. Well, they just have a good. You're looking good right now. It seems better than last year for the Rams. They seem to have found some freshness.

Before tonight, before tonight, that was not the general vibe. And I think that this game really does quickly change the narrative around them. because they looked refreshed, they looked re-energized. I know Wes had been made a point this summer to talk about how he was interested to see how Sean McVeigh operated an offense, not shackled with a over-the-hill, Todd Gurley. And they were different on offense. And Chris Collinsworth made note of it repeatedly on the NBC telecast, how quickly they were getting the ball out of Jared Goff's hands.

That was a issue for them last year, protecting Jared Goff with an older offensive line that was beat up. Now the line is in better condition. Rob Havestine's back. Everybody seems to be on their game right now. And on top of it, McVeigh, because he's a smart coach, is now saying, okay, we know what Jared Goff's weaknesses are. Let's try to get away from those weaknesses as much as we can with the bootlegs and out of his hands quick with the outs and the screens and the types of passes

that weren't really a part of their attack a few years ago when they were bombing down the field with Brandon Cook's and company. So it was a different-looking Rams' offense, but it looked good, including the running backs they thought played very well in this game. Yeah, and they didn't need Todd Gurley. No, like, don't you think that, you know, Les Sneed when he came on our show in June or something, and we quizzed them about, come on, which one of these guys is going to be the lead dog? Well, I think it's week to week, and they seem very married to the idea of a committee. There's also a sequence where Jared Gough throws an interception.

Got hit in the face of the play. And that's why I'm not too worried about the Ramsey call, being a questionable call? Because, like, that was a turnover where the refs completely missed the call. And so those are two massive calls that both, you know, kind of evened each other out. Alden Smith, the aforementioned Alden Smith, clobbered Goff in the face, which is a 10-yard penalty and should have been a first down. Right.

But I'm saying that Goff nearly threw a second pick on the following sequence, which we'd be saying, we'd be a little singing a little bit of a different tune for the Rams. But I'm with you. I think, like, you wanted to see something. The Rams got stale last year. I don't know how else to put it. They just seemed to run out of gas. And I don't have that feeling about them right now.

So, yeah, maybe I didn't see them. I didn't pick them as a playoff team. But I think we all, we didn't think they were going to go six and ten. They seemed like in the mix. And a very high-quality start. It was one of the cleaner games on the Los Angeles side. Of all the football I watched today, they didn't seem to have some of the issues others teams did.

Both teams look pretty good. I mean, offensively that the Cowboys just couldn't finish. At least in the first half, they looked good enough. I mean, Collins were said it. was stunned at the quality of the teams. And I found that to be true on balance today. The quality of play was better. There weren't as many crazy catastrophic injuries.

It felt like a normal day of injuries. You're going to have some. I'm not saying you don't need a preseason, but you don't like need me to preseason. You don't like need need it. They need the money and the young players need it. You wrestle with this more than any person in the entire world, Greg. It's all you think about, whether we need. preseason or not it'll be it'll be um an easier august for us i'm just uh yes i'm just uh self-saint

i and while there people will say this sky is falling for the cowboys and i could already picture the hot yakers tomorrow gross uh saying the end is near for dallas and yes gregg you made a good point that the injuries it's a bad situation late in van derrash oh man he's one of those guys he just cannot stay healthy but i will say this i wish i could lock it up but I already predicted earlier that I need to go a little more oniony for my week two lock. Atlanta Falcons have something nasty coming their way when they come to Dallas in week two. I just put it on the board. That's 35 points plus for the Cowboys.

I still feel they're going to be okay. You're probably right. It is ironic, though, that they wanted to get rid of Jason Garrett. I mean, I wanted to get rid of Jason Garrett. And you're placing with McCarthy, who did the whole, you know, PR campaign, as Mark likes to point out, how he's into the analytics now and the fourth down go for it is what got them a little bit here i don't blame it though i don't blame them though either i think they knew they were going for it that was it was a two-place sequence and i think you also while you can question him going for it put it

somewhat on the players there's five or six guys in the box you're zeke elliott and you're the cowboys and you're their offensive line you get three yards on a draw that was probably not a bad of play call and then you throw a you know you throw it two yards when he's three so i don't know just the players didn't do their jobs either. Yeah, but, you know, this, I know this podcast very well, and Mike McCarthy was in a no-win situation. If the offense is great, Kellynne Moore gets the credit. If the offense stinks, Mike McCarthy gets the blame.

That's how this works. Well, I would say this, though. I give Mike McCarthy in general, I would have been ready to jump all over him. He handed the offense over to Kellyn Moore when everyone expected him not to do anything close to that, maybe not even retain Kellyn Moore. So I'm not here to kill McCarthy.

I just thought that sequence just to me felt diabolical. You got to get out of there, tie in the game. Come on. I'm with you on that. I'm with you on that. All right. That is the end of the first of many flagship programs for the around the NFL podcast in the 2020 season. Week 1 Sunday is in the books.

A reminder that you could check out this show if you want on YouTube, where Ricky Hollywood is going to do her thing and put that. and we will be back with our next podcast episode on Tuesday where we will recap the two Monday night football games and then do a little look back at week one and look ahead to week two. The wheel goes round and round. We're spinning. We're spinning.

All right. This is Dan Hansa signing off for The Mailman. Who, by the way, he went to bed. He was fine. It deserves to do. Yeah. The old boss. The Sizzler, and Ricky Hollywood from West Hollywood.

Till Tuesday. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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