NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 Week 11 Recap - Mailman Is Here!

Episode Date: November 23, 2020

A room FILLED with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling recap every game from Week 11 starting with the overtime matchup between the Ravens and Titans (4:41) and Taysom Hill's big statement game (11:45). The Colts pulled off an OT win (23:40) and Tua was benched for the Dolphins (38:23). Nick Shook joined the group to talk about the Bengals (1:03:26) with Wess and the Steelers undefeated season. (1:13:00)Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Hates Babs. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hedgesis. I come to you from a room filled with heroes. A virtual room, that is. Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and Chris Wessling.

What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. can't say it can't say that the ATN podcast hates baths when Wes is on the flagship so at that point it is no longer unanimous and i don't think it was even before that so an erroneous money drop west what's up buddy well it's um it's not so erroneous because i bats are on the outs oh wait a second last time we checked in on this west as you were going through your latest courageous bout against the big sea you've been dealing with a lot of pain and a lot of attempted management of said pain and the bath has been your sanctuary, your bastion, and you've spent hours in there and there's candles involved and jazz. What has happened?

Give us an update. There's been some drama in the meantime. Some bath drama. Let's hear it. First, fell asleep watching Game Pass woke up to an iPad that no longer worked. So

I went back to my I went back to my old iPad from like four years ago because it still works. This was not the one that was stolen at the 2016 Women's World. That's never been recovered. That one is whereabouts unknown. This one wasn't the one that was in your car that disappeared one day and was never seen again either. No. Those are in whereabouts unknown.

Who knows? But went back to my old iPad, started watching Game Pass in the bath. woke up and that one was waterlogged and no one we did it's fine Wes we're gonna we're gonna edit out the second mention and the NFL is gonna hook you up with a new one because it's been four or five years you're fighting cancer so that you can do do a job

you know as best as you can and accidents happen they owe you one every couple years we're gonna edit out the second mention they will they will buy you they will get you an iPad I think at this point if I take another iPad into the bathtub, Keisha's going to have some punishment waiting for me. I thought the whole, the gist here was that Keisha was going to at times, not maybe, you know, wire to wire, but sit in the bathroom with you and maybe there would be a doorway to, well, I don't know stuff that we wouldn't talk about on this podcast typically, but instead you're

alone and the iPads are falling into the top. Yeah, both of these incidents were more in like 2.30 in the morning range. Keisha may have been awake to feed the baby, but other than that, she would not have been awake and sitting on the edge of the top. Damn, Wes. That's crazy. All right. So, yeah. Baths, they've not quite so one man romantic without the iPad.

Yeah, I guess so. I guess that's what we've learned. I guess you could continue to take baths while not watching Game Pass, but also why mess with the process of the scientist? is to if that's how you consume your football, who am I to say maybe take the iPad out of the mix? I like that. You'd be my campaign manager. Good line of questioning, Dan,

because that led to what I would consider an explosive update. I mean, there was a lot of new information there. I mean, that was some breaking news. Wes has lost. Now that we've known, Wes, he's up to three downed iPads. And I hope this just continues to go on forever and ever, because it's kind of amusing. I believe that's factually correct.

I've gone through three and I'm now on my fourth. Incredible. Incredible stuff. All right. All right. So that's not great news. And I did like that you had your little moment or your little time to yourself in the bath. So I don't like that you've turned on baths.

But I love Wes that you are here with us to go through all of the action here on the flagship show, week 11. A lot to get through as we say. NFL, things change every week. A lot changes, and it happened again, and also one notable injury that's kind of, ugh, Wes. The west side of Cincinnati cries tonight. We're going to get to all that. Let's start, though, with the game of the week, I believe,

or if not the game of the week, right up there. Let's head to Baltimore. Henry gets the carry running left. Henry to the 25, Henry to the 20, to the 15, to the 10, to the fall. Yes! Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Touchdown! Titans!

As the Titans will run out of Baltimore with a shacker in OT. Oh! You know what the best thing about... And of course, that was Mike Keith and Dave McGinnis going nuts for WGFX. Best thing about the play is when you watch it on the teleprompter screen thing

or the telestrator. The run by Derek Henry's is in the shape of the letter L. He was giving the Ravens literally an L with that run in overtime. Henry picked up 96 of his 133 yards

after a halftime including that 29-yard TD Dash and OT to close out the Ravens. A huge 30-24 win for the Titans in Baltimore. or the Ravens actually started the ball and started the overtime with the ball.

And again, just this thing, boys, with the Ravens where something just doesn't seem right. You win the coin toss. You have the ball. You had driven down the field at the end of regulation to tie the game. It kind of made sense that now against the Tennessee defense that scares no one, that you're going to go win a ball game and take control and be at the top of this division. but instead how old Landry sacks Lamar Jackson sets up a third in 17 defense holds Tennessee's defense holds punt and then before you know it Henry and the Titans are celebrating

a huge win for the Titans after their ugly Thursday night loss in week 10 and the Ravens West just more questions about where they're at in 2020 yeah and I think by this point we should we should start pointing to the offensive line and why they haven't been the same and why this might just not be their year, they don't look like a serious contender to me anymore. And when you lose, you know, one of the best guards of his generation retires, Marshall Yonda, and then you lose left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who's one of the top two or three left tackles in football,

and you expect this offense to run on all cylinders like it did last year. That's just not going to happen. Right, and you're hurting two tackle spots, you know, by moving Brown from right tackle to left tackle, suddenly got a problem at right tackle. But they still move the ball enough in this game, and you watch it closer, Dan, so you can speak to it better. And when you get the ball at the 15-yard line

on a catch the Des Bryant of all people with about a minute to go, you think that's when the Ravens are going to cash in and score a touchdown. That's in regulation. And they went one for four in the red zone. There weren't many days like that in 2020. I mean, 2019, rather.

absolutely and they had a 10-point lead in this game at home against a huge conference rival just like against the Pittsburgh Steelers a few weeks back another game that they lost and after the game Lamar Jackson who's been somewhat outspoken about his frustrations with the team this year talked about against the rival and these teams do not like each other and there's some bad blood that we could get into but Jackson was very frank with talking about why the Ravens were not able to win this game. You know, that team, we looked like that team wanted them more than us. You know, they was playing physical.

When we went up, I feel like, you know, we just took off the gas, but we just got to keep it going for his teams. So Lamar said he thought the Titans wanted it more than us. This is a game that started with the Titans players all standing at midfield on the Ravens shield that led to not just Ravens players approaching them, but John Harbaugh and other Ravens coaches, which stunned some of the Titans players. to see them that aggressive. And then after the game,

Mike Vrable goes up to John Harbaugh to shake hands. And Harbaugh goes, nah, I'm all good. They don't, I love when coaches get catty. It's a little bit of, Mark, a bit of a catty business head coaches. And we saw that at the end of this game. Yeah, it's almost like some of these head coaches have pretty large egos.

But to me, like, it's something about the Ravens, has an effect on the Titans. And I'd point to that, A, what Derek Henry did in the playoffs last year. But the Ravens did their job and their downmen on the offensive line. 36 yards for Derek Henry on 13 carries at the half.

But then by the game then, Derek Henry became the guy that we think. And the A.J. Brown catch in the touchdown where four different Ravens had a chance at him. Over two catches that he had, he broke seven tackles. So the physicality of Tennessee mattered here.

I totally agree with U.S. about the offensive line. They also benched their center who had a series of gaffs in their last game. So you're just not, everything went right for Baltimore a year ago. Now they're facing a ton of adversity. They're facing injuries. And, you know, it seems like every week someone is dropping some sort of hot quote that

becomes a narrative and a story. And sometimes that kind of tells you where the team is mentally, not in a great place right now. Well, they lost two games they should have won at home against their AFC rivals, the Steelers and Titans. So this game is so big for the Titans who have to play the, Colts again next week, and they could have been in a tough spot here where they needed to win that Colts game or else they would have been on like a huge losing streak. And so it's massive

for the Titans. That Brown touchdown, and the way they ended it with Henry, it's sort of symbolic that they want to be the biggest, most physical, most athletic, strongest team in the league. And like, you said it. Like, if they just pull A.J. Brown down before fourth down, who knows, it's fourth down. And the game is basically on the line there. And AJ Brown like runs through them all. Did you know, Dan, by the way, I saw this from Garofalo. Garifolo. I know you're into the fighting after the game. That after the game, the Titans were all singing Seven Nation Army, which I didn't even realize as a Ravens thing. It feels like it's everyone's thing, but no one even, like, fought them on that one. That is interesting. I guess I'm a

little surprised they don't know the song, but I guess it's one of those songs. It's the White Stripe song that became a sensation. No, no, I know. I'm just saying every team plays seven nation armies. I know every team plays it, but it, but it, it, it's not. I guess it's a Ravens games in Baltimore. That is, they've kind of taken ownership in the NFL of that. So, yeah, there is definitely some heat there. I love heat. And the thing, I think Lamar Jackson, that quote about the other team wanting it more,

I think it's directly related to A.J. Brown getting into the end zone there. I think so. And also, if I'm the Ravens, I'm like, oh, geez, you're going to watch this tape and you're going to see that the Titans didn't even play that well for most of this game. And they still found a way to beat you. so this is probably crisis time in Baltimore. They're still okay, I mean, record-wise, but they're also on the outside looking in in the AFC, I believe,

as we head toward December. Let's move on. Hill takes the hand off, looking to throw, running out to his left, looking down field, he's going to tuck it and run at the 10 to 5. Touchdown. Taste them Hill. Woo-ee!

Zach Streep with the call, WWL. Sean Payton decided to go with Tase some Hill as Drew Breaz's replacement on Sunday, and it paid off. Hill accounted for two scores, and the Saints defense sacked Matt Ryan eight times and a 24-9 win at the Superdome. Greg, everyone's going to want to focus on the quarterback and how that decision played out. But it was the defense that really was the star of this game for the Saints. The defense absolutely destroyed Matt Ryan and the Falcons who came into this game playing

quite well. I mean, they had less yards in this game, the Falcons did, than they averaged in the first half of their games under Rahim Morris. That's how that's how much they just destroyed him. I've never seen Matt Ryan that at least in my memory look as frazzled as he was. You know, sometimes you hear the announcer to be like, you know, the look on his face. Like this was like a look on this face play. And not even maybe just on the sideline as much as when he had the ball, he was waiting for those hits to come and they were coming. At first it was with blitzes. and then later it was just the four-man front, really, Anyamata, Davenport a little bit,

but mostly Hendrickson and Jordan just doing work and making it happen. There is one little delicious Sean Payton nugget from this game. Roddy White, the former Falcons receiver, tweeted out, in quotes, Saints about to get whip trying us with Tase Some Hill at QB, we about to snack them. And Sean Payton, after the game, retweeted it, which is just like, you know, you like your little head coaches with a little bit of bluster and edge. A little bit of caddiness.

I enjoy it thoroughly. There was one of the things, because I was watching Kenny Albert and John Vilma announced the Cowboys Vikings game, and they had been with the Saints a few weeks ago, and they said that the reason, that they were, like, one of the few people that were not at all surprised that Taysam Hill got the start.

When I think most of us were like, we assumed it was Tason Hill. We had to, you know, re-tape something because of all that business. And then, you know, basically Sean Payton said at any point that Breeze got hurt in a game, he would put Winston in. But if he had a week to prepare, he would choose Hill every time. So I just added a little bit of context to how the decision was perhaps made.

Right. Little addendum to that. That was like a month ago where he said that. Right. I mean, it's, but they finally got that week to give him full starter, starter reps versus throwing him in in the third quarter or something. That's what I'm saying. To be clear.

This has been the plan for. weeks and months. And to be clear, I think that should be the story, Taysam Hill, because Drew Brie is on IR. That's happened since we last talked. And it's a testament to this organization, how strong it is, that they're 7 and 0 with their backup quarterbacks the last two years now. And this defense is bawling and the offensive line's great. And the run game's great. That's all great. Like, we know that about the Saints now. But Tassum Hill played really well today. You know, he had a slow start and his defense kept a minute during that. slow start. His deep ball, you know, got some, some laughter. It, you know, it hangs up there and

everything. But he made good decisions. And more importantly, I think he made about three or four throws as a true dropback guy when he was under pressure where he didn't see the pass rush. And he delivered some nice throws. And so his running, not unlike a lot of running quarterback, sets up advantageous matchups in the passing game. And that's what happened today. The Falcons tried to shut down him and Alvin Camara and he's going to get one-on-ones and he made him pay. I would say this. I don't, I don't like this set up. I don't like this set up long term. It doesn't feel like a Dan Hansis approved setup to begin. Well, it's not that long term. It's a couple of things at this point. I lived on Taysom Hill today. You know, I locked up the

Saints. I rolled with him. It got the win. It was a rare visit to Tason Hill, but you're right. First of all, he, I thought the deep ball was troubling. I thought that that tells you there is an element of their game that is just not involved when Tason Hill is your quarterback. I also found It's not involved with Drew Breeze's quarterback either. Okay, but there's a difference in what happens on the intermediate routes with Drew Breeze. They're very different quarterbacks that way, too. But like you had, so you're not going to have a deep ball presence with Tazam Hill. I thought it was odd that Alvin Kamara wasn't involved at all in the passing game either.

Maybe that's just an aberration. But it just seemed like this is not something that is going to work long term. Maybe I'll be wrong on this. but that's why I thought the defense played awesome in this game, and they set up the Saints well, and Hill did enough, and good for him in the red zone. He found a way to get in the end zone twice. But I still wonder if this is the right decision.

Well, he held the ball too long, and he was indecisive. I don't think he sees the field well at all for a quarterback. For an NFL starter, I think he'd be well below average in that area. But then again, for all the things you take off the table, you're putting things on the table, too. his ability to make plays late in the down one play where he hits Michael Thomas coming across the middle of the field late in the down

was really impressive his numbers would have looked better the Saints score would have looked better if not for a Michael Thomas drop in the red zone early in the game but I did think that was the kind of performance to me was not even that impressive

but still pointed out how ridiculous the anti-Tasem Hill people have been all along how low the bar is is for what they have found him to be laughable. It's funny that you say that, West, because it did cross my mind today that Twitter Middle School was all set

to go off on Hill today. This was supposed to be the culmination of all the years of teasing, and it was supposed to be Hill going down in flames and destroying the Saints today. It just, it did not, it didn't happen. It was kind of like Michael J. Fox at the end of Teen Wolf when he's not the Wolf anymore.

Michael J. Foxx, he's got to win it as just himself and the whole high school is ready to pounce on him, but Michael J. Fox prevails. Here's the thing, though, like he was, he started off a little nervous. Ian Rapport reported that he was a little shaky in practice early in the week, which had some people wondering because he kind of was feeling the enormity of what was going to happen, and maybe there's a little bit of that early in this game. The Falcons defense had been playing fairly well coming into this game. I don't think you just put it to the side that he runs 10 times for 51,

yards and two touchdowns like that's that's a game changer and and he goes you know he only has five in completions his numbers you know throwing the ball where you could say you know Thomas had that big drop but he also got a little lucky on one deep throw that was you know that Sanders made a play on but I look at Michael Thomas and I say Michael Thomas goes over a hundred yards and catches more on-time throws in this game than the three games combined he had with Drew Breeze I mean there's no question about that. And I don't know if that's just Michael Thomas getting healthier or what. But the reason why I wasn't as, I'm not as worried as you, Dan, is there were a lot of like on-schedgedle throws in this game. It didn't seem totally fluke. Yeah. Yeah. I guess here,

all let me put it this way. Okay. And we all know James Winston is at this point in his career, what we've seen, not a high-level quarterback. So I'm not making, I'm not making the point that this is a travesty that James Winston isn't playing right now. But when it happens, and it will. When the Saints go down 14 to 3 in a big spot at some point down the line, Taysam Hill feels like the last guy you're going to want in the game to try to get you back in the game. I would like to see how their offense looks when they get put behind the eight ball just a little bit. Yeah, I think that's, I think that's not totally different than where they were at with Breeze with these long, slow drives. And I think, look, if Winston had been

the quarterback, and I trust, obviously Sean Payton deserves the benefit. of the doubt, to put it mildly. And he knows Taysam Hill is the better option for them. That's who he wants. But if they had a week to prepare for James Winston, they'd probably make a pretty good plan there too because they're an awesome team with great coaches. You know, and that goes a long way.

That goes a long way. I would say also the way that they know the quarterbacks in their own division, what they did to Tom Brady and the Bucks a couple weeks ago, what they do to Matt Ryan today. And Greg, are you saying that perhaps Sean Payton should be trusted over you know, a bunch of talking heads on Twitter on who should start a quarterback? I'm not saying that contract, I mean, or that he's going to have a great career as a starting quarterback. Like, we'll see. But in this spot, how can you be worried about it?

I mean, they handled the Falcons and then some. And if they're, we talked for years, like, wouldn't it be great if Drew Breeze had a defense? Well, here we go. It's a different time right now. But here we go. They're one of the best teams in the NFL for the fourth straight year. It's pretty impressive. One of the possibilities here, you know, just to counter what Dan said,

what Dan said is a possibility that they'll eventually live to regret this. One of the possibilities is, how they get better every week. They get explosive. They find another gear they didn't even have with Drew Breeze, and they ride the wave into the playoffs. Breeze is eligible to come back week 15. He has 11 broken ribs, according to ESPN. Wow.

How many ribs do we have? 24. That was a big common question. I had it too. I was like, how many, how many more are there? I thought it was 12. I thought it was 12. I know nothing about my own body. 12 on each side. I thought I had 12 total, so. 12 on each side. Wes, what was the rib thing in the Old Testament? How God took the rib of Adam and, you know, created Eve? Yeah. There you go. Good times.

That was like a big thing with the ribs. You stick into that. Is that your school of thought? Dan on how the first career rib story ever created. Yeah. Mick Ribs. That was a thing. Remember the Rick Ribs? Very popular.

I like the smoker. A few racks of lit ribs. I guess I'm just, yeah, you do, us and you're quite capable at it. Is it tonight the night I'm going to, you know, take on the Bible? No. I won't do it, Mark. But I will say, perhaps in today's times in 2020, the idea of the man's rib being used to create a woman, is that going to hold up under scrutiny?

I'd say if you came out of nowhere with that concept tonight and just said, here's what I think happened. Like, you would be met with some resistance on social media, yes. All right. I think we should move on. Save it for the theology podcast. That's coming. A 39-yard field goal from Blankenship to give the Colts the win out of the hold of Sanchez.

Here's a snap, falls down. Pick is on the way, and it is, it's true, it's true. It went in. It went in, and the Colts win it. A walk-off winner for Rodrigo Blankenship. The Colts win, 34, 31 in overtime. Look at that. The number three and number four overall pick in the draft on Thursday, games one and two in the recap.

Zeus are nailed it, Mark. I told you it was a good draft. Credit where credit is due. Thank you, buddy. Rodrigo Blanketship's field goal was true, and the Colts had their biggest win of the year. 3431, over the Packers at Lucas Oil Stadium. That game winning kick was set up AI. Marquez, Valdez, Scantling Fumble on Green Base opening possession in overtime.

Matt Taylor there, WFNI with the call. Aaron Rogers is not going to forget that MVS Fumble Boys. It would be naive to assume that MVS is even alive as we record tonight because the nature of that turnover. And, Wes, the Packers have no one to blame but themselves. They had a two touchdown lead at halftime. They're putting the ball on the carpet over and over, four turnovers. They just let this game get away. No business losing this game once you take control.

But they found a way to blow it, and it's troubling. Yeah, it almost felt like they thought they had it in the bag and close up shop. We're done for the day. We have Aaron Rogers, even if the Colts tried him out of comeback. He can move the ball at any time. and it just didn't happen to see MVS go from Hero to Goat after that big 50-yard catch

setting up an opportunity where they were hoping to get their field goal and had a chance to go for the win and regulation that's heartbreaking I don't know about this narrative that Aaron Rogers is going to have them buried

underneath the Bay Bridge or whatever just don't put it past them it's surprising too though because Ryder said such a big part you know, in the collapse. Now, the only reason that they are ahead by that much is because Aaron Rogers, you know, absolutely filleted, you know,

the Colts defense in the first half. But when the Packers' offense goes three and out, three and out, they fumble the ball, and then the Colts stop them on fourth down. And at that point, you thought the game was over before that game tying field goal. Like, that's a pretty long stretch of failure by the Packers. And, like, I was shot on that fourth down play

where Rogers couldn't connect. I was shocked because it was one of the rare times this year where it's like, oh, maybe good defense can be good offense because this was that sort of game. Yeah, and the defense was up and down for Indy, but DeForest Buckner, a huge play, and they knew what they wanted when they went and traded for him. He's been an asset for them all along.

So, I mean, you look where the Colts were two weeks ago before they beat the Titans on Thursday night football. And then this game, and it's suddenly they're seven and three. Now, I'm not sure that they are a classic seven and three team. or that I see them that way, but my perception has changed a bit about who they are and what they can be. I still don't know if I trust this offense, though, good day today, but you are starting to get guys like Michael Pittman involved. I mean, some of these younger players are coming back. Jonathan Taylor's been a bit of a disappointment, but they might have a chance to be much more functional than they were for large chunks of the season.

I have a question for the crowd. Yes. All right. See, we're 10 games into their rookie year. One was traded up for in the second round. The other one was undrafted. Whose career would you rather have going forward, Jonathan Taylor, or Richardson in Jacksonville?

I mean, James Robinson in Jacksonville. I'd say Robinson, just because he looked like the better player. Although it sounds like Taylor had about his best day of his career today. But Robinson, to me, has been a top 10 running back in the league this year. Makes you wonder what James Robinson would look like behind this cult's offense? line. This calls offensive line, though, didn't they have about nine holding penalties in this game? The last couple minutes of this game, how it was managed was just insane in a million different ways. All those holds gave the Packers another chance. But one I just, one small thing

I want to point out that I feel like the analytics, or maybe this evolution will eventually get rid of, is unnecessary spikes. And there was an unnecessary, even when you got the smartest quarterback in the league taking an unnecessary spike at the end of that game and giving them one less throw to the end zone. It was a pretty massive deal to me. It's like at some point I think people are going to wise up and know when to spike it, when not to. With about 40 seconds left in the game,

he takes a spike, two throws, and then the game's over. Did you miss this? Didn't you miss Greg? Second guessing coaches on clock management? Well, it's funny because I had that thought a couple weeks ago, similarly, when somebody spiked it like way too many times and the

announcers were griping about and I said, it won't be long before analytics are tracking this and somebody's going to get in big truck. Some quarterback's going to be great at it and some people can be criticized for it and we had no idea it was even a thing. And here, Greg's already all over. We've been doing these shows for so long.

The minute I saw that, I was like, Greg will comment on that. He will comment on that in this show. So if you're a Packers fan, you're sick to your stomach. They had 28 points at halftime. Like I said, a two touchdown lead. And then they didn't score for 29 minutes and 57 seconds in the second half before the few.

goal right at the end of the fourth to force overtime. So that to me, on Thursday I talked about it. I don't know if I trust the Packers. And I kind of feel the same way about the cults, to be honest. Even these last two weeks, they have wins against the Titans and Packers. So that's definitely, that has raised my esteem, my viewing of them right now. But they're kind of mirror images, maybe not as teams, but they're both seven and three in their conferences, and I think the teams that are ahead of them in the conference are much

better, but they're a full step up ahead of the teams that are right below them. So it made sense that this went down to the wire, and just keep an eye on Philip Rivers. You know, just as we see, Drew Rees is up to what, like 27 broken ribs now. These old quarterbacks start to get hurt unless you're Tom Brady and you're unstoppable. Rivers had a foot slash ankle. Something happened at the end of this game. we'll track that because he's already a guy who can't move. And if that's a lingering injury, that is not going to be good for him.

One little kicker note, I do like this Rodrigo Blankenship. I think he'd be kind of a sneaky fun guy in the kicker club. I've not allowed in there myself, but I'm just sort of presupposing from the outside. Yeah, we haven't let him in with open arms. I want to say that it's going to be. I can imagine that. It's going to be a Christmas gift that I'm going to share with you, boys, something I stumbled upon just today, actually, about Blankenship, but I don't want to share it right now.

Wait, is it that he's actually 13 years old? He just doesn't look like an adult to me, but I... It's the Rex backs or whatever he's got going on. No, I have a gift for the podcast, but I want to save it for another time. Anyway, so good for the Colts O. That's a nice win and a great, great showdown again when they have a rematch against the Titans coming up in week 12. Let's move.

Takes the snap. Play action fake. back. He's going to get hit. It's up in the air. And it's picked off. Taki Taki's got it down the sideline, 25, 20, 50, 10. It's Gensel Warren on the tip and the picked by Taki Taki Tucky Tachey Tachown. That's just a fun name. Jim Donovan with the call for WKRK. What you doing, Carson? Sione Taki Taki Taki. Steps in front of a Carson once passed and took it 50 yards of the house. Cleveland's opening score in a 2217 win, Brown's latest conquest and miserable conditions at their home stadium. Mark, the Brown's lost Miles Garrett to the COVID-19 list this weekend,

but it did not really show against the three falling Eagles. Yeah, I think, you know, we've talked about Cleveland's defense as, you know, being subpart. And just they're living with it and they've learned to live with it. But they do have, you know, you got Miles Garrett, who's essentially, I think, helped win three or four games for them. Denzel Ward, wire-to-wire, has been absolutely one of the toughest looking quarterbacks to me, and he did it again today. They got pass rush from guys that have been relatively quiet this season. Adrian Claiborne had a sack and a half, and because of his arm issue, he can only line up on one side. So, like, you always know where he's going to be coming from.

I think that's one reason he doesn't get as many snaps. But Olivier Vernon had three takdowns today. One of them, a game-changing safety. So that was huge. I mean, they got help from guys on the Sunday they absolutely needed it. And it was really a defensive-oriented win. Cleveland's, this is the second week in a row where I've watched, last week it was the Texans, this week it was the Eagles, come into this game saying we're going to sell out to stop Cleveland's running game. Eight men in the box, time after time, I think it was 36 snaps against the Texans. And the Eagles had nine today at times. And it worked. They really, like Cleveland at halftime had about 15 yards rushing, and it was the Eagles that

had piled up, you know, 90-something. So they looked like opposite teams from what you're, what you'd expect. What Cleveland does pretty well, though, is that when you're using Chub and Hunt the way that they do, they have found ways just to wear teams down in the fourth quarter. And that broke free, the chub, one big Chubb 52-yard run or so, which, you know, he does a, he's patented stiff arm and sets up the Browns near the goal line. Then Kareem Hunt, had an unbelievably acrobatic sort of diving touchdown, and that was it. I mean, Cleveland's offense was rough, and the weather, you know, is certainly a factor. I come out of this with questions about their passing game. Baker Mayfield, I want two or three real money throws in

this game, but I just don't know if I trust them minus OBJ to be consistently productive. They were lucky that they were playing an Eagles team that has a broken down quarterback. And it's, In many ways, this game from the Eagle's side is just more of the same and what you'd expect. Wentz to me just is, there's just, it's almost like you can't diagnose everything that's happening to him. He just seems like a completely different person. Like he was body switched with like Eric Hippel. I don't know how to explain what's going on with this guy mentally. But Cleveland, we on our preview show, and I came to agree with you guys.

I think you talked about this being a potential like letdown game because they've had this sort of soft part of their scale. schedule. And I really thought all game long that's how it was going to go. But they played a team that I think just has way too many questions. And a team that people have assumed and just put into the crownship of the NFC East, I don't see it. I don't think they're winning this division, not the way they're playing right now. Carson Wentz is exhausting. He plays. Exactly. He's the only quarterback I've ever seen who plays a whole season in one game. It's like how many quarterback controversies can you have in one game? like seven times Eagles fans had to be like take him out no put him back in that was a good play that was a good play no no he's got how can you possibly keep playing this guy yeah it's you know it's like when it was early in the season and you thought it was a situation where he's having this walkie season where he has these ugly stretches and then he gets hot and then he maybe steals the win or gets the game close enough where you have something to build off it was man Carson once has been pretty hot or cold but now I feel like and you sense it from Eagles fans out there

there, Connie Fox and John Gonzalez amongst them, that there's just an exhaustion level that's been hit with his struggles this season. And you have to, I mean, it's fair to wonder at what point do you try to save the season if you want to look at it that way and bring in the guy you drafted Jalen Hertz in the second round and just see if it could spark the offense, which seems like, well, according to their own head coach, that's heresy. Let's hear what Doug Peterson said after the game. I think you're sending a wrong message to your football team that the season's over, and that's a bad message.

And, you know, we have to work through this. Times, you know, when times get tough, it's, you know, sometimes that might be the easy thing to do. No, it's the opposite of saying the season's over if you bench Carson Wentz. You're telling your players, Doug, I think we could still be something this year, but whatever we're doing right now isn't working. and I want to save this year. You're not putting up a white flag.

And I think his attitude speaks to a general malaise that's falling over this entire organization this season. Well, I would bet. I have about benching Doug Peterson. It's like I think that the pairing of whence. You should be a little annoyed, Doug Peterson. You went out and wrote this, you know,

autobiography after your Super Bowl win. This book has been on your radar for a while. I mean, it's a little much, but it's also very common, like, the winning coach just gets, like, a kind of tossed off. I needed that as much as I needed, like, the Tim Tebowography after one NFL season. Yeah, you didn't have to read it. Why are we talking about Doug Peterson's book again? I'm just saying, like, maybe, you know, like, there were other coaches on that Super Bowl staff

that maybe should have had the books written about them. You love Frank Reich. I know. It might be, you know, it might be a common or somewhat of a statement about how they think, you know, Jalen Hertz looks, which is part of it. And I'm not saying that they have the best feel, but this coaching staff hasn't given us much reason to think, and neither as Jalen Hertz's snaps, that they're going to be able to cook up an offense with most anyone. But you're right. He's sort of at the point now, whence, where you almost have to, you know, seriously think about taking him out, just because if you're turning the ball over this much every week, at some point, like, you've got to make a decision. They're still in first place, though.

still in first place. And the Browns are seven and three. Speaking of a seven and three team that might not feel like it, they're one and two against teams that have a winning record. But I give the Browns a ton of credit for their coaching staff, coaching them up well enough to take care of business in all these games. It's not their fault that they've had an easy schedule. It's actually kind of awesome that they haven't been picked off

week after week in all these games. Yeah, I mean, the last time they were seven and three was 1994. And I think if it weren't 2020, I'd feel like I'd be more plugged into the excitement around this. It's just obviously a weird year. But I think the thing I take away from it is that every week they seem outside of that Steelers and Ravens disaster zone games, they're well coached. And that's the weirder thing than the record is just the fact that they aren't a disaster on game days coaching-wise because that's been the case for 25 years. All right.

Let us move forward. Denver with a five-man rush, steps in the pocket, throws the ball with the end zone. Pass is going to be interstate. Intercepted. Intercepted by Justin Simmons in the end zone. Simmons is fourth interception of the season, his 15th of his career. None bigger than that one with 63 seconds left. Dave Logan with a call, K-O-A. Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced an ineffective to a Tunga by Lowe on Sunday,

but Justin Simmons's end zone I-N-T ensured there'd be no Fitzmagic at mile high in the Broncos, 20 to 13 win. Greg, the Dolphins had been the league's feel-good story for the past month. What did the Broncos do to snuff out all that good cheer? They got after Tua. They got some third and long plays from Drew Locke, and they got Justin Simmons to make one of the defensive players of the year. If you see on like the All-22 look how far away he was when that place started,

and whether it was through tape study or his feel or whatever. 43-inch vertical leap. Right, his knowledge of what Fitzpatrick was going to do. You can't even kill Fitzpatrick too much for throwing it because he saw Blackman is way off the screen. And the Broncos' defense deserved to win this game. Their whole team deserved to win because they dominated. The dolphins were extremely lucky, I would say, to be close late in this game.

They go to Fitzpatrick to give the team a spark because Tua Tua Tunga Viloa struggled. He did not push the ball down the field at all. I don't know if that was because of a foot injury that he came into the game with or what, but after an awkward sack, they take them out early in the fourth quarter. And Fitts comes in and immediately, within two plays, moves the ball more than Tua had in about two quarters. So I think the move made sense. And I think if you listen to the comments after the game by both players and the coach

that Tua is still the quarterback, I was impressed. and I think this is what you can do and what you should do when you have adults in the room and you don't treat the quarterback position like there's some like weak, egoed little like non-professionals. And Tua and Fitts totally reacted in the way that you'd want to, and it gave their team the best chance to win at the end of this game, and now you go back to Tua next week. It's like raising children.

If you treat your four-year-old like he's won, he's still going to act like he's won. Let him grow up. That's how you treat quarterbacks. I agree with you so much, Greg. All right. So devil's advocate here, two of struggles again in the first half next week. Do you put Ryan Fitzpatrick again? And if it happens to next week, do you do it again?

Because it wasn't the point of this to, all right, we know we're kind of on the fringe of the playoff race. This is a few weeks back. But we're going to go to this kid. We want to get a look at him. Maybe you could raise the ceiling for better or worse. We get a guy that gets valuable experience. Don't you start messing with that?

if you start yanking him in and out of the lineup. I mean, it was one quarter. The experience he was getting here was no longer useful. Now, the injury, even though Flores said it wasn't. The injury played a big part, didn't it? I mean, we don't know. Flores said it didn't, and they sort of don't want it to be a story, and Tua doesn't want it to be a story.

But the same foot he was on the injury report got rolled up on and stepped on the play before he left. But he made it clear, and this has happened in a couple games, his first start and now this one, that he wasn't moving. in this offense, you know? They, the offensive line wasn't protecting him. They couldn't run the ball. And the three times he tried to push it down the field, it wasn't close.

So it wasn't pretty, and the Broncos defense was dominating. They had 100 yards and eight drives. The only reason they got a touchdown early was because of a bad Drewlock interception. The only reason they got that touchdown is also because another Justin Simmons' beautiful interception of Tua was overturned by a questionable penalty. So I don't blame them. They're trying to win games. I think that's the goal, Dan, is to play Tua and to make the playoffs, to do both.

And they tried to thread that needle. I see the complete opposite situation to, like, Justin Herbert, where Justin Herbert is, you know, all the big names around him on defense and special teams are not propping him up at all. He's doing a lot on his own to remarkable extents. Tua has played a couple games where I have seen, you know, quarters go by at a time where I'm just not seeing it. I think he can do really, like, you see the awareness, the accuracy, the poise. A couple plays where you're just like, yes, he will be a productive, intriguing starter.

But he has been highly supported. To Dan's point from our Thursday show, you know, Andrew Van Ginkle can be linked to like two of their wins. They've had endless turnovers. Their defense has played as well as you could possibly ask it to. Special teams has been super impactful. So on a day like today when that didn't quite happen, and it was more just on Tua, you get caught. And I think it's fair to say we just talked about Carson Wentz not being benched.

I mean, why not treat Carson Wentz like an adult and sit him and see what you have as well? Not to go back down that alley, but I hear that, like, you know, I think the standards are different in different situations. I think, and it's also, yeah, I think you're a head coach. You get paid to kind of evaluate the situation that's in front of you. At that point, we're a couple minutes into the fourth quarter of a game that was all, you know, felt all but over. To me, it's a little different than going into a game like that. But I think it does point out one of the dolphins' biggest flaws.

They were always going to play with a small margin for error. But the number one flaw they have is they're one of the worst rush defenses in the league. Philip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon ran all over them almost for 200 yards on 30 carries. And they have gotten into these game scripts where they've been a head. head each and every week. They're the best first quarter team in the NFL, and it's really limited the other team from trying to run. I mean, the Broncos ran on a third and nine late in the game when they needed points because they didn't want Drew Locke to throw an interception. It didn't even work, but that just kind of showed you where their run game was today,

and that's going to be a problem for Miami. They are a team, I think, because of their defense, that really can play with the lead a lot better. All right. Speaking of Justin Herbert. Herbert Rolls to his left still Holding the ball goes to the end zone Caught touchdown Chargers

Keenan Allen Why not add a touchdown to all those catches in yards today A nice bow On a heck of an afternoon And the third touchdown Toss from Herbert Keenan Allen's had a lot of big games

In this league But this is going to end up Being the biggest When it's all said and done Thank you We got what we needed Matt Money Smith with the call KY

S.R. Justin Herbert threw three touchdowns in a game for the fifth time this season. That's a new NFL rookie record. And Kenan Allen, what else can he say? He piled up an amazing 16 catches in this game, including that 13-yard score. Final score, 3428, Chargers over the Jets at Hollywood Park. Herbert was great. My concerns about what his haircut could mean for his rookie season, unfounded. He threw for nearly 300 yards in the first half, picking on an underman Jets secondary that was starting three rookies. So you kind of saw it coming, and yet it was still impressive to watch. And Herbert is on a game-by-game basis, so impressive to watch. That said, if you're Chargers fans, it's still a little bit annoying watching this team. Even when they win, the game starts with a blocked punt that leads to a Jets touchdown, followed by a fumble at the one-yard line when they were going in for a score. then they get the game together.

They take control and then they almost give the game away. They give up three straight long scoring drives to the Jets. The Jets in the second half and then go three and out with a chance to salt the game away in the fourth quarter giving Joe Flacco the ball and an eight-point deficit,

which should have been six, but Sam Ficken missed two extra points. Credit to Los Angeles for making the stand at that point and getting the Jets to go turnover on downs, but even then, like, Jets were knocking out of the door. They were in, I believe, the 30-yard line of the Chargers with a minute or so to play before a fourth down in completion in the end zone to Denzel Mim.

So they close out the game, but at the same time, if you're Chargers fans, you're just a little bit exhausted by the trajectory of all these games in the Anthony Lynn era. But that's my general takeaway. There's that frustration, but man, Justin Herbert. What a stud. He's going to, like, smash the rookie touchdown record. He leads the league in 50-plus yard completions. I mean, he can do it all.

And, like, you know, we're watching, you know, four games at once. And I'm trying to keep track of my game. But all I can do is my eyes are just drawn to what Justin Herbert is doing. He's that watchable and that unique. So, I mean, I guess as a Jets fan, Dan, you kind of would like to think that a year from now, after this horrible autumn into winter, you'd have a quarterback like that. capturing people's attention the same way. Sure.

And Joe Flacko, again, not a star performance by any stretch. And in fact, he threw a grisly pick six, the play after that Chargers fumble in the first quarter where he just floated one into the flat and a Chargers defender stepped into it. I want to give him the love that he deserves. It was, oh, boy. Oh, boy. I blew it.

Tavon Campbell stepped in front of it. for the touchdown. Tavon Campbell. Wait, isn't that the former Lakers player? Yes, it is. Tony Campbell. I believe it is. So, but Flacco again showed he's,

the one thing he has left is a deep ball. And he kept on bombs away. Richard Perryman. We'll give him to the Saints, Stan. Well, maybe. Breschard Perryman had another long touchdown. Chris Herndon even had a touchdown in this game. And you saw some nice

things from Denzel Mims, who I really think is going to be a player if they could ever get an offense figured out. He's really flashed the last couple weeks since coming back from those hamstring injuries. So that's where the Jets are out there, 0 and 10 for the first time in franchise history and six losses away from guaranteeing themselves, Trevor Lawrence. I feel mistreated and lied to by the NFL Draft Industrial Complex about Justin Herbert. I understand why Tua fell a few spots coming off that major injury. But all the doubters for Justin Herbert, and look, I'm too lazy to watch the tape myself when it comes to college football. So I can't say much, but I can't believe this guy's arm and just the style in which he plays that he had so many doubters.

Well, I think it goes to, you know, you got to look at their coaching staff in college and the type of offense that they run, that people just never saw him in the position to make it. But yes, you would think that a guy with that armstring, you saw it show up today. Like on the Mike Williams touchdown, the fact that his arm is. so strong is why the defenders are out of position for Williams to go run after it. You know, our former guest, Nate Tice, pointed out this 60-yard bomb that he threw where, like, the ball never even left the screen because it was so hard. I mean, he is getting to the point where he is going to be in the mix of the best

rookie seasons by a quarterback ever. I mean, to me, he's a top 10 quarterback in the NFL right now. I've never seen a rookie quarterback play better than Justin Herb. I haven't, I haven't, like, been, right. You mean in terms of overall NFL I mean, if I, you could give me any quarterback in the league, I'm not saying moving forward. I'm even just saying for like a game tomorrow, you know, I'm just saying for like right now. Yeah, easy top 10.

He's been as productive as any quarterback in the league since he took over the starting lineup and we'll get to it a little bit later. Unfortunately, he also locked up offensive rookie of the year today with the injury to Joe Burrow, unfortunately. I mean, one quick thing to Wes's point. If you're the Oregon coaching staff, how do you feel like, hey, season ticket holders, we had what potentially was a Hall of Fame quarterback for four years and threw screen passes and ran run-play option. Buy tickets now.

I'm looking at his stats. He had 32 touchdown, six interceptions of 157. Passer rating, 3,500 yards, 67% completion percentage. He seemed to have good numbers in Oregon. There's a lot of RPO type of stuff. Look, I don't watch a second of college football. so I'm sure that was not coming from an educated place. But no, we had heard that,

that his college game had some flaws, which obviously there was some bad talking of him. But anyway, he's a stud. Good for Chargers fans. Let's move on. Walker to throw has time. Uncorks a long one end zone. Samuel, yes, sir.

Touchdown, Carolina. Oh, Mick Mixon with the call. Welcome back to the show, Mick Mickson. It's been a while. WBT, no Teddy Bridgewater, no Christian McCaffrey. No problem, no problem for the Carolina Panthers, who got a touchdown pass from XFL legend, PJ Walker, and a shutdown performance from their defense.

20 zip over the lions. Mark, did the lions forget to show up in this? What had happened exactly? Fireable offense. This is the game that I would point to for the reasons you just mentioned, who was not on the field for Carolina and just say, Matt Patricia, you got to be kidding me here.

You got to be kidding me. But here's the thing. PJ Walker, he had two interceptions in the end zone, so it was not a perfect game. But this guy can throw. And like he had a 52-yard strike to DJ Moore who blew up in this game. And it looked like they had been practicing together for weeks.

I mean, the first thing you'd look for is that they'd be out of sync. And there were moments like that. but Robbie Anderson was there for it. And Robbie Anderson and PJ Walker played at Temple together under Matt Rule. So again, it's like I think there was trust in PJ Walker and they didn't really change the offense that much for him. They kind of let him wing it. And, you know, Matthew Stafford had the hand thing. I didn't notice any effects from that. It's just that I think that we were told going into this game that that was not an issue at all. Well, it wasn't an issue. But the way they coached the game, it made me think that they were a little concerned about Stafford's ability to air it out again.

a defense that's allowed teams to do that to some degree. They ran the ball nonstop in the first half. They really looked to me like they were in tank mode. I mean, and I know they're not. I think they're just a confused organization. I mean, it was an embarrassing loss. You're dragging Lions fans through a lot. Because on top of it, I mean, they could not protect Matthew Stafford.

The Panthers had five sacks today, and that's not been there calling hard all year. So I just think they came in and got completely outplayed by a team that believes in itself more, no matter who's on the field. I mean, and we've seen the Panthers get close. And it's time to close out one of these games. And so that happened today. I'm not shocked that, you know, they got a win like this at some point. But I'm surprised it came with no Teddy. And Christian McCaffrey's loss is, you know, there's no replacing him.

But Mike Davis has been a pretty awesome feeling week to week. And so, you know, this to me, like I pointed to the lions and say, If you stick with this coaching staff, you have a lot of answers to give to your fan base, who should be as frustrated as any fan base in the league right now. Dealing with injuries is like the number one sign, I think, of good coaching staffs. So the Lions had massive injuries, too. When I saw that Amandola and Goladay and Swift were out, I mean, where is their offense? They were a tough offense to watch with those three guys.

You know, Amandola is kind of, you know, tertiary compared to those other two. But that is their art. Like swift and Goladay, that's it. So it doesn't surprise me their coaching staff couldn't scheme up much to do. But still to get shut out. No, no, I'm not expecting them to get shut out. I would not have, I know. Against that defense.

I'm saying it's inexcusable. But that's a sign, I think, when you compare these two coaching staffs with the difference between them. Yeah, and on the other side, got like Mike Davis, who two coaching staffs in Chicago and Carolina couldn't do anything with him last year. Yep. But Matt Rolstaff can, and PJ Walker, how many other guys are out there who are like, you know, just playing in other leagues or not in the NFL, come straight in and win a game like this? The only time the Lions showed life in this game, they got a flea flicker touchdown

from Stafford to Marvin Jones that was wiped away in the third quarter on a legal formation call on Marvin Jones. So that would have made it 14-7, and then maybe who knows what happens. I think that was the spiritual end of this game, because you just could tell that Detroit could do, they could get nothing done here. It's the watch is on. I don't think there's any more question because this Lions team is not going anywhere. We know that they're heading towards nine or ten losses,

and they will be one of the teams, it seems, destined to be searching for a coach come January. This was a big step toward that direction. Let's move on. Tough, tough sitch. I feel you, Lions fans. We're in this together. Play fake, looking in the middle of the engine to Schultz. Touchdown.

With a minute 37 left, Dalton to Schultz, and the Cowboys have regained the lead. Oh, yeah. Brad Sham, the sham God. K-R-L-D. Oh, Greggy. I'm talking about the Eagles still in first place. Well, guess what?

There's another team in the mix now in the NFC East. Four of them. Don't you ever, don't you ever count out the glowing ginger man? Andy Dalton threw three touchdowns. There's returned from a concussion and COVID-related absence, including that go-ahead strike to Dutton Shulls. This late in the fourth quarter, 31-28. Cowboys beat the Viking mark.

It's hard to fathom. But yes, the Cowboys are now in the mix legitimately again, in the NFC East, which says so much. They are. They play Washington on Thursday. So, you know, they have a chance to pick up another win and separate from Washington. It's just, it's kind of weird in like mid-November, late November, to watch like a two-win team come into Sunday with so much to play for. And they looked like, you know, having watched the Eagles, you know, minutes before,

this team brought much more life. I think their defense is improving a little bit. Guys like Leighton Vanderesh looked to me over the last. three or four weeks the way that I remember Leighton Vandreche from the past. The scheme, maybe, you know, people complain about the scheme being tough to deal with. Maybe it just took,

you know, they were their team that could have used a real preseason to go through some of this. But the story of the game was both quarterbacks and the offenses. I felt like it was tough to watch one of them lose because Kirk Cousins was lights out. And I mean, the wide receiver play in this game was unbelievable.

I'm sure you all saw the CD Lamb catch, which was, you know, I the Odo Beckham catch. There's one of these, like there's maybe two or three of these kind of plays a year or even every five years because that was something that was just remarkable to watch. Adam Thielen had a one-handed touchdown grab in this. He had a second one-handed grab as well. So the wide receiver and Justin Jefferson did more Justin Jefferson thing.

So that was the fun part of this. There were six lead changes, four of them in the fourth quarter. So it was just sort of a matter of who would have the ball last. And Dalvin Cook, Dallas did a nice job against him, He got real hot towards the end, and I saw Dallas's defense get worn down, and I thought a couple of times that the Vikings were going to kind of blow the lid off the thing and just walk away with it because their season is obviously on the line as well. But Andy Dalton, I give him credit.

I mean, this Dallas team, they have so many parts. They look like, you know, everyone's ditching all the parts, getting rid of them off your fantasy team. But guys like CD Lamb brought life today. Amari Cooper had a couple big catches. Ezekiel Elliott ran for his first 100-yard outing of the year. Tony Pollard, I think, is a nice compliment to him at a big, huge touchdown run himself. So Dallas has life. And they're more fun to watch than the Eagles.

So I would rather see Dallas, you know, make something out of this for John. This shouldn't be impossible. If Andy Dalton could just be basically Andy Dalton, he doesn't need to be special because he never really has been. But he's been proficient for large chunks of his career. They should be able to score 25 to 30 points a game with this team. Even if it's not the same offense, it used to be the offensive line isn't as good. There's still enough there, and Dalton is capable, West. Am I crazy?

I mean, is it crazy to think that the Dallas Cowboys, this should be not an aberration this week, but something we see more often going forward. Dalton getting more comfortable and the Cowboys becoming not embarrassing anymore on offense? I think you're right. And I think we've seen a team that's kind of transformed. They seem like a different team November 22nd than they were October 22nd. I think Mark mentioned their improved defense, and it's not just a little bit. I think they're much improved, and they did get worn down today.

You know, it's not good to be giving up 160 yards to Dalvin Cook and great games for Thielen and Jefferson, but I do think you're not going to roll into Dallas and just pile up yards and points on the Cowboys like he could earlier in the year. Well, they won the game too, right? I mean, they did win the game. They got Zach Martin back, and he played. played right tackle, actually, and played really well. So I think that, you know, the line health in Dallas,

and it seems to be a theme with all these teams. Like, they have, I think, more offensive line combinations than pretty much just about anyone. But getting him back today was a spark. Yeah, everyone was crushing, including me, Mike McCarthy. So we should give them credit. You know, their offensive line, not just, it's not just that they lost, like, future Hall of Famers and all this stuff.

It's just, it all happened at once where you had, like, four or five new starters at once. And so it's very encouraging, if you think back to the last, time Dalton played, which was against Washington, and this offense was inoperable, that they've gotten it together. And that does go to coaching. It goes to these young players. But part of it is, more of it is the defense to me. And I know they gave up a lot of points here. But when Kirk Cousins gets the ball, the way that they were rolling today, and they go four and out, when all they got to do is kick a field goal to get it to overtime. And Alden Smith, who's been

awesome, gets a quarterback hit. And Randy Gregory, who looks pretty good coming off a couple a couple years off because the suspensions looks pretty good. I mean, that's major. I mean, the touchdown pass to Schultz was absolutely out-schemed the Vikings and Mike Zimmer, and I don't know if it was a busted coverage or what, but the fact that Schultz didn't have anyone around him within about six or seven yards in the end zone with 137 to play on the go-ahead score. So, yeah, maybe it's, this is a night we'll give some credit to Mike McCarthy and

Kellan Moore, because certainly it's been T-Off all season long on these guys, and it's been deserving because they entered this game, 2 and 7, and quite frankly, we're not competitive after DAC went down initially, but you just, man, who's going to win the NFC East if the Cowboys start playing like this? You would think the Cowboys could do it. Someone's going to get a fourth win on Thanksgiving, and we'll have the most wins. I guess that puts them in first place, either in Washington. And it's a tough loss for the old team of Zucie L.

also stuck on four wins. It's a tough one, yeah, because this felt like a hiccup game. I talked about it on Thursday. I didn't think they were going to end up 10 and 6. They were going to shoot themselves on the foot at some point. But doing it at home against Alice, it's not a good look. I'm not writing them off. I still think they can get to nine wins and find their way into the playoffs,

but now they just made their path a lot more difficult. I will say that they have the Panthers and Jaguars coming up. So they can get back to six and six. by mid-December and be okay, but not good. Not good. All right. And before we move on, let's welcome in the great Nick Shook. He has been an invaluable bench player for the podcast this season.

And now he joins us along with, I love when there's the two bald guys on at the same time. What's up, Shook? Yeah, you've got the good bald duo right here right next to each other on the screen for those you watch on YouTube. I love that. chair for you. It looks like your trap muscles never stop. Yeah, see, this is like, this is the back. Yeah. So I should probably not wear black, but a lot of what I have

is black, because it's versatile. You look like you're right now in the hollowed out volcano in the middle of Pacific Ocean ready to blast some island off the face of the earth. I am very much not in that setting. I'm in the windy, cold blustery Cleveland. All right, let's check in

with the Cincinnati Bengals. A tough day in Cincinnati. Burrow now, running to the side, to get to the corner of the end zone. Oh, and Chase Young just tagged him, and the ball is out and recovered there. There's a flag down, which I think is going to be a hold against Cincinnati. But Young caused a big turnover crashing into Borough. It was recovered out of bounds.

That was violent by Chase going up against his fellow teammate from Ohio State. That's Bram Weinstein and Julia Donaldson for W-T-E-M. Number two pick, Chase Young reacquainted himself with number one. one-pick Joe Burrow at the goal line on Sunday, his crushing hit on fourth down. A huge play in Washington's 20 to 9 win over the Bengals. Sadly shook the big news out of this game, though, was a different hit on Burrow, one that ended his fantastic rookie season. Yeah, and it kind of swung the entire tone of the game.

The Bengals had a lead when that happened, and then pretty much just fell silent for the rest of the game. Outscored 13 to nothing for the remainder of the contest. And you can kind of feel the air sucked out of them when they saw Burrow leave on the heart. You saw a lot of players from both teams, a lot of former Ohio State players who were teammates with Joe Burrow for a couple of years going over to give him their best wishes. But, I mean, it kind of reminds me of, you know, you lose your alpha male, you're a leader because Burrow is a guy, although he's a rookie, he's a guy that this team has rallied around almost

from the beginning. He's a kind of guy, you know, somebody likes to talk to you about the game likes to say that he's the kind of guy where if you find yourself in a fight, he's coming over the top to throw a haymaker and get in the middle of it. He's not sitting on the side like some pretty boy would. And I think that's the type of guy that this team has rallied around and you take that away. And suddenly they're the Bengals of old, which is the Ryan Finley Bengals, which is the Bengals that don't stand much of a chance, even if they are improved in other areas. And that's kind of what you saw for the remainder of the game. It really kind of punctuates to me what has been a concern for a lot of people. And I know definitely myself this season, could they protect Joe Burrow long

enough to get through the season and keep his health in order because he is obviously the franchise guy. He's looked like the guy. He can be their guy for the next decade plus. If they can keep them upright and keep them on the field, unfortunately, the nightmares came true today, and we'll have to wait until next year to continue Joe Burroughs young and extremely promising still career. When I saw, the moment I saw the replay, I knew he's done for the year.

And just images, Cincinnati is such a heartbroken city when it comes to injuries. And to see, just flash through my mind, Carson Palmer, sacked by Kimo Von Olhofen, Kenyon Martin University of Cincinnati basketball player breaking his leg, Kajana Carter tearing his knee in his first preseason before he ever plays a game. I mean, Ken Griffey Jr.'s hamstring, it just goes on and on. Tim Crumrise's broken leg in the Super Bowl, just a heartbroken city.

And just to have to deal with this again, I had boots on the ground in Sincere, our boy, Spicerack said he texted me this. Every Bengals fan I know hoped for one thing this season. borough avoiding a devastating injury that's it no exaggeration yeah it's it's unbelievable that that certain organizations just can't shake terrible things like this happening to them because that was the big takeaway of the season was yes the bengals were not going to be a playoff team this year and who knew if they had the right leadership on the sideline at this point and they certainly need more players around, but they had this guy to build around. And they

still do. But now you throw in the complication of a reconstructive knee surgery and the timing of it, you would think, sets him up to be ready for week one. But then, of course, in the back of your mind, you're wondering if this affects him as an athlete going forward. We've been talking, everyone's just trying to figure out Carson Wentz. What's wrong with Carson Wentz? And one of the theories is that after he blew out his knee and then he suffered the back injury, that he lost some of that quick twitch ability. You just hope that with the advances and where we are, technology and medicine and rehab, that he'll come back and be the same guy. But we didn't even want to have to have this conversation, and yet here we are. Yeah, I had a conversation with another friend

today during that game before he got heard about how they just haven't been able to really protect him well. And a lot of that is due to injuries up front, but also personnel decisions. They've tried to invest in the offensive line last few years, Jonah Williams being one of them. He couldn't play his entire rookie year because of an injury. And he was able to come back and has been part of the mix. But, you know, you make decisions like going and re-signing a right tackle like Bobby Hart, who wasn't strong, who's been a little bit better since then. You've had a rotating cast or right guard for much of the season.

You never want to pin a devastating injury on decision makers. But at the same time, when you do spend your first overall pick on a franchise quarterback, and you send him out there behind an offensive line that's just not the best, you are setting yourself up for a risk for something like this. I mean, we could go back in the history of the league and think about a guy like Tim Couch, for example, put behind a terrible offensive line in Cleveland. I mean, this is not the first time that this has happened. It's just a terrible outcome that you never want to see

happen to anybody. And the fact that it has happened now, you know, you have to double down an offensive line protection going forward. But again, you worry does he lose something that he might never get back with an injury like that? Now, how does it affect next year? You know, how does it affect them? A lot of times,

you know, Sean Watson, you know, slightly different player and not quite the same in that first year back. It just makes the evaluation of Zach Taylor. Taylor harder. So we'll see. My sense because it's Mike Brown and the contract that Zach Taylor got in the history of the Bengals is they might not even really be thinking about firing Zach Taylor in the way that fans would. But it just, at this point, you're going to be playing out the string with Ryan Finley. And so you got to, you're basically almost making

your decision on Taylor right now. Is he the right guy to shepherd Joe Burrow for the next few years? Is he the right guy to coach up an offensive line? Because coaching is a huge part of the offensive line, and they've struggled to put it mild. I remember a show back in April when we, you know, unsolved mysteries, and one of the topics was, we have no idea who Zach Taylor is. I'm not a lot closer to knowing who he is now. And they're clearly going to, if you look at the way this game played out after Burrow went out, they're going to free fall.

So you're going to, you're going to, you're not going to learn much about Zach Taylor from here to the end of the season. I don't know. I mean, you know, I could see them. They're going to do one or two things, probably cling to him too long. Or bring back Marvin Lewis. It would be the other thing I can see. Well, just trying to.

They're going to be picking in the top five. And I guess you could learn from this. Invest in that offensive line. That feels like a no-doubt or a no-brainer for Cincinnati. Hopefully there's a prospect they hit on and do a better job protecting Joe Burrow in year two than they did in year one. And a shout out to Alex Smith. He won a game for the first time since November 11, 2018, one week before he broke.

his fibula and tibia in his right leg and nearly died from it. So his comeback story kind of now has come all the way there and good for him. And he's, you know, someone for avert to look up to. Yeah, exactly. Now he's going to be on the most watched game of the year. Traditionally is the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving. Alex Smith in a big spot trying to get into first place. They're a frisky team and they've been a better offense with Alex Smith behind center.

I just don't think it's that hard to say that. They've been better. He's an inspiration for me. Wes, go on. I want to hear your thoughts on that. I just wanted to say that. I've read where studies have been done on pro athletes, specifically NFL players, on IR,

and the depression connected to it. Because, first of all, you're, anybody who is taken out of society for a while in their job eventually comes to ask, what's my purpose, what am I doing? That's a big one. But second of all, and this is particularly pertinent for Alex Smith, is our relation to pain. And time spent by yourself is one thing. Time spent by yourself with pain is something entirely different.

So for him to go through all that, that gets my respect. Well put, of course, Wes. And we see the parallels to what you're dealing with. And you know you have our respect through the roof, buddy. And we love you. And every time you're on this show, it's a better show, and you've done it again. So thank you. Thanks, guys.

There we go. The legend. Chris Wessling goes out on, you know, do they have, what's the podcast awards? Is it webbies or whatever? Potty's. Whatever it is, that monologue alone. What is the one that got? Well, we got a Stitcher award.

Stolen. Oh, a Stitcher award. Well, we never got it. The actual award, the physical award is on someone's mantles, like on the East Coast somewhere at this point. We did. I think we also got best new podcast iTunes honorable mention or something. No, no, no.

We were like a candidate. Oh, no, that's right. They gave it to a, yeah, they gave it to like five or six and we're one. Yeah. Give it to us. All right to us. Let's move on, Chucky. He gets the snap, throws it long down the near sideline.

Chase Claypool with a diving grab for a touchdown for Claypool, the rookie out of Notre Dame. That is his seventh touchdown receiving. Make that number eight on the year. Bill Hillgrove, WDVE, WDVE, and there's that check music, and we're playing it every week because the Steelers win every week. They're now 10-0 after Ben Roblesberger threw two touchdown passes, including that 32-yard connection to Chase Claypool. Pittsburgh Cruises, as expected, to a 27-3 win over the Jaguars Claypool.

Would like you to think about him when you're evaluating the best rookie wideouts this season. He has 10 touchdowns in 10 games. Greg, this one won his play. Yeah, it did. And, you know, I know we're maybe like a little heavy to use an industry term on the show. We can save some time here. The two big takeaways I have from this game is that Ben Rathesberger's arm has looked better the last two weeks. I think he's made more impressive throws in the last two weeks than any part of the season. He had some plays today where just his anticipation and arm strength was awesome. Kind of the old Ben plays. That's what I was looking for early in the season. He was playing effective, but you weren't getting those Ben Rathesberger throws, and you got them today.

You got them last week. I love that. And then we talk about this group as like a bunch of like really great receivers, and they are for sure. But Deonti Johnson's the one. I mean, if you look at the targets, he gets it, he gets 15 targets a week. He gets 11 or 12 catches a week. This guy is a problem. Like, he is by far their number one receiver.

And he's doing it week after week, which is, it just makes it more impressive. It's really impressive, too, when you consider the consistent impact Chase Claypool's had, usually in scoring, not so much in yards, but definitely in scoring, that they can spread it around this well between him and Deonté Johnson to where, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but Juju Smith-Schuster is bordering on an afterthought at times, not on a weekly basis, but at times you forget that he's part of that receiving core as well because of the effectiveness of the other guys, and Eric Ebron also kind of doing his part, four catches for 36 yards in a touchdown today. He's been a nice little addition for that tight end, not quite as lucrative as people thought when he signed there. He's been great. He's been effective for sure. So, you know, it's a team that it's not necessarily that they rush super effectively, although James Conner was really good today, 6.8 yards per carry. You expected this against this team, but the fact that they're so balanced, and of course Ben Rothensberg are playing a big part of that.

It makes it really hard to ever pick against them or think that they might lose a game. I mean, obviously they're 10 or no, so they get to this point. But when I look at them on a week-by-week basis, I'm like, well, it might be close, but I still have them winning because they've won games by every, every fashion possible. It's been close. It's been comebacks. It's been blowouts. It's been everything in between. They have the mark of a winning team. And one, you know, Dan, for you as the president of the Lutonites, this is the kind of game, it's, you know, sometimes writing these newsletters is tough. You've got to dig deep. He had four

interceptions today. He does not appear to have the skills necessary for this career at this level. So, you know, I'm just going to encourage you because I've been on the wrong side with some of these fan bases that just you're going to have to take it to a new level, the coverage, the dedication. I think it's time for me to pull back the curtain a little bit on what this was always really about. Remember the bodyguard? Remember that movie? Sure. Kevin Costner.

A great song came from that. Houston. Yeah. Look at Jake Luton, Luton, as the maniac that was trying to off the pop star played by Whitney Houston. Look at me as the Kevin Costner type. And I was looking, which makes sense. and what I saw going into this Jake Lutonero was you were going to gravitate towards him and latch onto him

and I knew that you were just going to be hurt again. So what I did, I consterned this situation. I jumped in front of the bullet right in front of you. You're Whitney Houston. Congratulations. Took the bullet, took the gut shot so you wouldn't be hurt. And now, and now I'm injured and I'm hurt, but I know I did the right thing. I was doing my job, which was always to protect you, Whitney Houston.

And I will always love you. I mean, you live in a special fantasy world where that's the narrative. You're coming out with this. I appreciate if any of that were true, I would appreciate it. I mean, you should be Gardner Minch who's biggest fan right now, Dan. You should be, you know, starting up in the news letter. He was questionable on the injury report this week. I think he's coming back.

And this Jaguar team, I know it doesn't show with the score, but their defense is playing better. Mintu maybe can get you a win and get the Jets up to number one. I know they didn't show it. I didn't watch this game, but I know they didn't show anything here. They're going to win a game once they get Minchu back in there. He's going to have one of those games. But that doesn't happen until he's back in. Mark, I will always love you.

Let's move on. If I'm windy Houston, I don't like the future, but here we go. Shotgun. Here's the snap. Here's the bliss. Newton winds away from it. Steps up. He wants to run.

He's done. drag down, flings the ball forward, it's dead, and the Texans take over on downs, leading 27-20 with a minute 11 to go. Oh, Mark Vandemir, haven't heard from him a lot. K-I-L-T. Cam Newton could have found anyone. Scramble, it was forced into an incompletion, the game clinching fourth-down stop for the Texans. 27-20, they beat the Patriots. It marks Houston's first win of the year over a team that is not the Jacksonville, Jaguars, shook. This loss, it's a killer for the Patriots, no other way around that. Yeah, it's a killer because of the uphill climb that they face. But when I watched it, I kept coming back to the same point,

which is, you know, for as much as we've talked about how this offense has had to adjust to have a little bit of a different scheme with Cam Newton, and they run the ball with him and this and that. He aired it out a lot today. I mean, I know they lost the game, and it's going to be tough going forward, but if you want some encouraging signs, you get it out of Cam Newton, 26 to 40 for 365 yards and a touchdown. I mean, he found, his guy today was Demir Bird, converted a ton of third downs with them.

I think the third down percentage was over 50% thanks to the contributions of Demir Bird who had, I believe it was a career day. And it was encouraging, even if it doesn't end up meaning that much because of the fact that they're in a pretty deep hole at this point, that Cam Newton is not just a guy that you try to run a QB power with, but can also find open receivers from time to time. Well, their defense has been the story to me this season, the total collapse. you know, Gilmore, I know they had some moments against Baltimore and they're going to, you know, they'll probably have some moments during the season, but this, none of this season was going to make sense for the Patriots with the defense that's in the worst 10, I would say, of the NFL. And I think they are, they are comfortably there. This feels like a game where it was like two teams that's getting closer to a record that actually is where their level is. Because Houston's about as good at two in, two and seven team that I've ever seen with Watson having, you know, he's been a top five, top six quarterback this year.

They deserve to be three and seven. And the Patriots probably deserve to be four and six. That's about their level. And it short circuits, and he hopes they had for the playoffs. But the way the NFC is looking, I mean, seven and three is like, you need that right now to be in the playoffs. That's how the AFC is looking. Usually that stuff kind of levels out. But there is every once in a while happen to the Patriots actually years and years ago that 11 and 5 didn't get you in the playoffs.

But it is interesting to see how many teams are on pace for, you know, 11 and even 12 wins right now. It's funny because, like, we talk Justin Herbert, who's playing, like, amazing and changing everything we thought on a terrible team with a terrible record. That, for some reason, maybe just because he's young and I feel like there's hope around him, like this Deshaun Watson, this incredibly stellar season, lost on this directionless team, depresses me. And I think it's because I'm not certain that there's a very clear way out of this darkness for the Houston organization on a lot of different levels that we can talk about down the road. But it just feels like we're wasting and almost we'll have forgotten about Deshaun Watson's incredible work this year. He looks awesome. Well, they need to get, they got to get past this wreckage of the Bill O'Brien era as a GM. And that's going to mean getting past a couple drafts that have been compromised by win now moves he made that in high.

hindsight were not the right move. So yeah, that's, and the general kind of vibe around it with Easterby involved and the fact that they have the interim coach, there's just for sure, a different kind of picture around the Texans as compared to the Chargers, even when, to me, Deshaun Watson at this stage is a better quarterback than Justin Herbert, although maybe closer than anyone could have possibly thought. We should know, because we never, we never mentioned this on a show that Easterby, I think he did enough and got on enough. people's radars that they had to make a very clear statement. The team president did mid last week that he will not be the GM and then the owner came out and said over the weekend,

he will not be the GM. I think just to... That's fine. If he's choosing the GM, I don't care. It's meaningless to me. So that's the PR move that they're making and I get it. But I guess my point is if he's ultimately the most important person in setting up the GM coach structure, which at this point we have every reason to believe he will be, then all that stuff is bogus PR. But we don't need to talk Easterby all day again. I'm sorry. I will say that they do have some pieces in place. They have, you know, Justin Reed had a good game today.

He had a clutch sack late in the game that put the Patriots in a hole and ended up resulting them settling for a field goal when they had a promising drive going. They looked like they could end up tying the game. Obviously, you have Deshawn Watson. The biggest thing they have to do in the offseason, they've got to figure out how to fix this running game. Because, again, no semblance of a rushing attack whatsoever.

Deshawn Watson led them in rushing with six attempts for 36 yards. He had a touchdown run that basically punctuated. point about the defense when he ran right through Devin McCordy for a touchdown. I mean, and trucked him like he was a big running back. Not a quarterback who we expect to make that guy miss or outrun him instead of running through him. But there are still a lot of holes to fill. It's not a complete wreckage. This ship isn't entirely sunk with Bill O'Brien going down as the captain, but they're going to need more than some life preservers to keep it afloat or keep their people on board afloat. Well put Nick Shook, which takes us to Sunday night football.

Day night. Great protection again. Mahomes, to the end zone wide open. Touchdown. Kelsey. Patrick Mahomes, who extends plays like no other. Al Michaels, a little skipping his step in Las Vegas with the call. Patrick Mahomes to the great Travis Kelsey with 28 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

The deciding score in a 35 to 30. Chiefs victory over the very game, Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs move to 9 and 1. The Raiders fall to 6 and 4 and can only ask what could have been if they got one more stop. Greg, both teams have reasons to feel good about themselves. I know only one team could win. And you go all the way top to the quarterback position. This, to me, was the best quarterback game of the season.

Maybe Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray won, you can say. Russ Cam was pretty solid on Sunday night, but this one was better. I'm with you. Fine. You could talk about that one. But I thought Derek Carr and Patrick Mahomes put on an absolute show in this game, and it was a joy to watch, really. It was amazing.

I mean, I love watching this Chiefs team. I don't want to take it for granted. Just the small things that Patrick Mahomes does. but Carr matching him throw for throw and Carr being the one for much of the game that went down the field and when he really needed to was able to create is what made this game so surprising and delightful. The only thing that wasn't surprising was the last 150 that the Chiefs get the ball back after Jason Witten of all people give the Raiders the lead and they just march right down the field. I think Mahomes' brilliance, though, came out the drive before.

Like, the fourth and one play where the Blitz is timed perfectly, and he has to backpedal and time that thing. Like, that's where, like, a guy like Mahomes makes it look easy. Another play where he pump fakes and gets it to Kelsey on the scramble drill. It's like, those are the plays no one else can do. And so, yeah, the Raiders get a lollipop and they feel good. But it's a brutal loss because they're not going to win the division. They're six and four now.

And the Chiefs have lost one game in the last calendar year. silent pause on the other end of that. I mean, I, like, I see a Raiders team fueled, and I don't mean this negatively, I mean it almost positively, fueled by anger, anger towards the chiefs. And like from a bird's eye view, you know, Dan, you say that it's that both teams

have things they can take away. Mike Mayock and John Gruden together are building a formidable AFC contingent here. I look at guys like Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Abram, Max Crosby, Hunter Renfro, and it extends to everyone else. It's just that they, I think, you know, even looking at the box score, three quarters in,

they almost mirror the chiefs. I think they're not the chiefs. They don't have Patrick Mahomes. They can't be. But they won the first bout to go one and one. If you said you'd go one and one and be sitting here where you are with your record, the Raiders have to be thrilled.

I think they can hang with anyone in the AFC. They're well-coached. To me, I watch this team, and like, yeah, you fell tonight, but I have no problem with it. Like, I think the Raiders are just well-constructed, well-built, well-coached, and you can't give the ball back to Mahomes with, you know, 1-45 or whatever was going on there. I also would throw in a side comment that I don't think that Al Michaels respects Liam McHugh at all. He had to mention Liam McHugh's sort of post-game theatrical. at some point, and you could tell that. This was also one of the best, for all the negatives around Corona, the audible, the audible,

like, audio energy of this game, being able to listen to Derek Carr and others, like, do pre-snap and, you know, like, line, incredible stuff. Like, so, I don't know, it was a wonderful football game. The Raiders hung in there. To me, the Chiefs, this is what they do. Michelle will interview the Star of the Night in, and then Leah. and wraps up the week in football. Am I wrong about that?

I just sensed a potential lack of respect there. Al Michaels called a miracle on ice 40 years ago. Al Michaels has betting slips that are older than Liam McHugh. So it's just a matter of like what you, you know, maybe in time, Liam will earn the respect of Al Michaels, but we're not there yet, Shook. I think that anger is personified by Jonathan Abram, who it became clear to me two or three weeks ago when the Raiders were playing the Browns, that Jonathan Abram is a borderline psychopath on the football field.

In that game, he made a tackle on Kareem Hunt and ripped his own helmet off just to talk trash. He flies around the field like that every game. He took that type of anger into this game. And I think it becomes frustration for the Raiders going forward because you're right, they are kind of built in a similar fashion, but they don't have the X factor. Derek Carr is a good quarterback, but Patrick Mahomes is one of a kind. And when you take the field with, you know, a minute 20 or whatever it was left, you know,

less than two minutes. It's basically what Greg's tweet was, which was, oh, yeah, I'm sure that'll wrap this game up. You know, that's it. Good job, Raiders, congrats on the win. Yeah, that's not going to happen because you knew Mahomes was going to lead them down the field. They made it look so easy that it is really frustrating, but this would be such a fun matchup. If we got this

in the divisional round, let's say the chiefs are the one seat. Absolutely. And let's, you know, somehow they , I know the Steelers are defeated, or not undefeated, but they take the one seat and then they meet in the divisional round in Kansas City. I mean, it would make for a great postseason matchup because I don't think the Raiders that far off. And I know they still gave up 35 points, but this was one of the better

defensive showings against the Chiefs, I think, this season relatively speaking. They gave them problems. Until that final quarter, they definitely gave them problems. There was a moment there where I was like, are the Chiefs going to struggle to, well, there was a vote where I thought, I wanted to teach. They got two stops. I mean, they're choosing,

and it's the problem with playing the Chiefs, and the impressive thing is the Raiders can match them, but it's, do you want to lose fast or slow? And they chose to make them go in these long drives, but they weren't getting stops. Yeah, I know. And for the most part, you're right, especially in the fourth quarter. But there was a little bit of a period there in the second half where I was like, wow, they're actually standing up somewhat well, considering again, that this is the chiefs,

which most teams struggle to stop. So it would make for a really fun playoff matchup if we could get there. And until that, it's a fun rivalry in this division. And it's kind of a return to, you know, a rivalry that was strong decades ago. And it looks like it's going to be for the near future. All right. So it's Jason Witten that catches the go-ahead touchdown pass with 143 to play. We've really been all over the place. We're jumping around. We're trying to figure out how much time was left. I said about 150.

143 is the exact number when Witten scores. And how about that? Jason Winton almost had the game winning catch in a big primetime game in 2020. And this is what happened when the chiefs took over. It took them seven plays to go 75 yards in one minute, 15 seconds. Mahomes to Tyreek for 10. Mahomes incomplete. Mahomes to Tyreek for nine.

Mahomes to Hardman. for 16. Mahomes to Kelsey for 15. Mahomes to Darrys Williams for three. And then after a timeout by KC, Mahomes to Kelsey for 22. We shouldn't take it for granted what we're seeing here with the Chiefs and how they can make everyone look terrible. So amazing. And the Raiders, they fall to six and four. I just took a look at the AFC standings. It's It's still obviously a log jam. They have the tiebreaker, as Shook and Cessler know very well on the Browns, who there are one game behind.

And also now the Ravens have dropped down to this six and four territory. I think the Raiders are a playoff team. Maybe something changes from now. I think they're a better team than the Browns. Tennessee, I think they're a better team than the Titans. And the Ravens, as weird as it is to say, I think they could be better than the Ravens. So I expect the Raiders to bounce back from this. Well, more importantly, their schedule finally opens up.

It's been one of the toughest in the NFL all season, and the rest of it is not bad. The only thing I would caution against, and I think they could be a dangerous team in the playoffs, is like, now is their time. Okay, yeah, maybe they're building something. That's what they thought last time. That's what a million teams think.

And so it's when you're at this point, like, you've got to take advantage. I think they have an offense that can go deep in the playoffs right now, and their defense makes a couple points. plays, like, no team has given the chiefs as much trouble as the Raiders. So close. I don't know. They're not afraid of them. They're not afraid of the chiefs.

That's exactly it. I think that maybe it's a Gruden thing. And we don't know what's happening behind the scenes. But you can only imagine Gruden's speeches to this team. And, you know, he knows Andy Reid. You know, as Greg mentioned, Andy Reid is John Gruden's or grand. Godfather. Godfather.

The godfather of Andy Reid, apparently. But like, there will, I think. there was just no fear. We're going to go take it to the chiefs. And like, I'm with you, Dan. I think the Raiders came into Cleveland and outmuscled a Cleveland team that missed some of its key components. But that tiebreaker is killer. I could see a 10 and 6 team in the AFC watching the playoffs from home. I mean, I'm pretty sure we will get that. What was last time that happened, Mark? Huh? Well, Nick, you know it's happened. And it's going to happen probably to the same team twice. Over the course of a 10-year journey.

This is a nice little in-joke on the Browns and maybe save for the Browns podcast. I wouldn't call it a joke. It was not funny when it happened the first time. Shout out. The only thing more impressive than the quarterback play today was, as Mark alluded to NBC, Sunday Night Football, the best, best, best production in the game

from the booth to the highlight, to the different camera angles, to the sound. It's unbelievable what they can do. and it was like having Derek Carr in the living room all night and hearing all the... Which I don't know that I want, but I'll take it tonight. I don't need that seven nights a week, but... I liked Mamba, James Hardin, Pistol Pete, Chris Mullen, all NBA players that are named dropped in the cadence. Also, Sammy Davis got a name drop.

It was a lot of fun, and one other thing in the telecast, the weakest link. Ricky, now they're, you know, now they're selling it as in big block lettering, could this be the weakest team ever? So I know Patrick Claibon was optimistic that, oh, that's just kind of like the schick of the show that the host is going to get on everyone. But now we have ever more evidence that something happened on this show that maybe wasn't great, great. Yeah, I don't know. listening to this on Monday morning, you've got to check it out tonight. And if you're listening to it late night Sunday, got to check it out tomorrow. You know, I'm going to reverse that narrative. I expect a...

If you're listening to it Tuesday, I guess you're screwed. I guess you're going to have to listen to it yesterday. Nick has another theory. I expect a LeBron-like performance out of Ricky Hollywood on the weakest link. I do too. I do too. Sorry, from one week team to another. Real quick, a new segment that Eric and I cooked up, we should do a roundup at the the end of every Sunday show. Just where we are at with the lock of the week. Ricky, how are we

doing this? All right. So here is, oh, sounds nice. What's this? Oh, this is the club for the dub, the winners. So if you won your lock this week, you get VIP, bottle service, a separate table. This week, it's just Dan alone. Oh, naturally this segment occurs now. Mark, always thinking the worst of me. No, no, I'm just complete and utter reality. All right. Well, Mark, you're in the room with me, right? Obviously.

No, Greg and I, like, went into our, you know, our dolphins fetish. That's Dan alone. Oh, I'm alone. Where's the rest of the gang, Ricky? Ah. Oh, we're outside the club dub now. It's only you. We're stuck at the door.

Ricky, the conceit of this is to let people know what the locks were this week. Yes, absolutely. So Greg originally locked up the Chiefs, but switched it this morning to the Dolphins bad move. Mark also locked up the dolphins. Dan, as you alluded to earlier, you took the Saints, even with the Taysom Hill announcement. Wess has locked up, this is a big one, you guys, the Rams on Monday night football against Tom Brady. Very, very crazy. And what about you, Erica?

And I locked up the loser Patriots. It's like total non-factor. Ugh, so upset. You're so hanging there, Ricky. Will this segment occur next week if Greg and I were to win our locks and Dan, you were to go down in a house of fire? Can't hear you. It's too loud in here, Mark. Of course not.

Maybe next thing you can join me. All right. I'm sorry. Ricky, you could come on in. Come on in with us. All right. Here we go. It says like only third place loud inside.

Only coming in. Uh-oh. Somebody said... Your jokes, Neil, it will work. Why did you switch off the Chiefs, by the way? Because the line was seven and a half, and we had said it should be seven or under. Out of nobility. My whole point was with the whole thing is I don't like this game.

I'm going to try to... I'm still in first. And if there is a rule, if you win two years a row, which this would be, then you could kill it. But my whole point with my problems with the segment was you need to have rules. You know, if you're going to play rules, then... Right. What are you doing it? I'm saying if I win the two years in row, everyone knows that's the rule, then you can kill the

segment. The segment will never die. The segment will die when I'm off the show. When I won the picks two years in a row, then I got to kill that. And then when this happens. You can't be killing the idea of this, you know, part of our show, but also be writing picks for NFL.com. Isn't it cute that Greg think he thinks he killed the other picks? You can't have it all, you know, every way, you know, please.

We did. Is Greg Rosenhall the fun killer? We've known that for a long time. That mystery has been solved. All right, that's it. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm. The Mailman, yes. Nick Shook, the unshookable Nick Shook, working on it.

We'll figure out eventually the old boss in Ricky Hollywood. Behind the Velvet Ropes on the wrong side. Until Tuesday. Thank you. This is an I-Heart podcast.