NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 Week 4 Recap

Episode Date: October 5, 2020

A virtual room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal recap every game from Week 4 starting historically with the Cleveland Browns (3:54)! Gregg actually hypes up Josh Allen (11:29) and Tom Brady is cooking with the Bucs (7:52). Philip Rivers shares some thoughts on anger and Nick Shook joins to recap Burrows first win and Teddy Bridgewater's athleticism (57:40) Stick around for the SNF showdown between the Eagles and 49ers (1:11:23).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 is anything but milk toast. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansus coming to you from a virtual room that is teeming with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wesleying, Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. You know what it is.

Flagship time. It's the flagship program Sunday night where we recap every game that went down in the NFL. And perhaps, boys, we should just celebrate that today even happened. And maybe we should start looking at every one of these weeks as a gift because I know, you know, things looked, we had one game moved totally off the schedule this week, Steelers Titans. we had Cam Newton testing positive for COVID-19 leading to a postponement of Chiefs Patriots. We had drama around the Saints because of a false positive test that led to Saints players being woken up in the middle of the night last night ahead of a game to be tested. Yeah, so this continues COVID to intrude the landscape in the NFL.

And it was, I mean, it spooked me this weekend and I'm sure you guys felt the same. Yeah, you have to worry what's the rest of the season going to be like. I mean, I know there's one person celebrating that's Mark Sessler because he won some sandwiches off of it. But yeah, you do worry about what's coming up. I actually lost sandwiches, Greg. My sandwich prop, which a lot of people, because maybe typically, typically I think in the past I would have gone towards the angle of cancellations and movements, but I tried to suggest a positive sandwich property. That's right. It was West that was moving for COVID.

Yeah, that's right. Because you, that's what it was, because you were putting us in the position to take the bet, and then we would essentially be rooting for a stoppage of some of cotton. And, Dan, you and Greg, you know, I could have put that energy out there. Well, you were, you, you took an unusually pure take on it all sort of just, I don't believe in that kind of same. I do, I texted you guys, I do think that it probably goes down, and I'm not proud of this. It's one of the more evil energy sandwich props around, because I don't want any of this. I'm with you. When the Saints news hit last night, something in me felt just total darkness.

And I'm glad that that situation worked out, but it's just a reminder that it's like, it's just a dice roll. It just felt like a dice roll going into this weekend. I fight hard against cynicism, and I don't think I'm cynical at all, but I thought if you can get out of this with only a few canceled football games or postponed games, like, as much as we've been facing in 2020, that's a problem. big win. I mean, unless we're talking about...

Wes, unless we're talking about the Cincinnati Reds offense, you are not a cynic. I agree with you. Well, I mean, I believe that that was realism. They hit their batting average was 212 this year. Give me a break. Can't do it. Can't have it. Won't have it.

All right. So that is... So that is the reality that this is not something that's going away. and we just have to hope it doesn't get worse than it got this weekend. But staying on the positive side of things, we got nearly a full slate of games to talk about on Sunday. So that's what we're going to do here going through each one. And Mark, I think we have history today.

And I want you to just soak this up and really enjoy it because you and I both root for career loser franchises. But the one you root for is on the upswing. And I think in all the years that we've done this podcast, we're about to do something that we've never done before, which is lead with the Cleveland Browns. So let's do it, Ricky. Three receivers tight off the line to the right.

Beckham to the left. Here's Mayfield. On a reverse, they're going to give it to Beckham. He's rolling to the right and running. He's up to the 50, to the 45, to the 40, 35, 30, there he goes to the 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchout! Oh, B.J! He's got a hat trick! What a gutsy call!

O'Dell Beckham Jr. 50 yards on the run. And really about a 70-yard run, because by the time he got it, he was 20 yards behind the line. He was 12 yards behind the line, but the point stands. Jim Donovan and Doug Deacon with a call for WKRK. Yes, O'Dell Beckham finished with his first three-score game in almost five years. Cap by that 50-yard run on a reverse after the Cowboys had cut a 41 to 14. deficit to three points with less than four minutes to play.

Beckham had five catches for 81 yards and two scores. In addition to that clinching run, final score 4938. Browns nearly put up a 50 burger in Jero World. Mark, that was the Odell the Browns thought

they were getting when they traded for him 19 months ago. Yeah. You know, it feels like it's taken so long to get that game obviously from Odo Beckham, and there's so much pressure around it happening that had happened at the ideal time. You know, his first touchdown was trickery too with Jarvis Landry unfurling a bullet downfield to Odell in the end zone.

And that kind of was the theme to me. And we've mentioned this during Cleveland start, that the better players on this roster have stepped up and performed, which is really unusual. They've had a couple named players throughout the years that have done the opposite. They come to Cleveland in their careers fizzle. But it's Jarvis Landry, it's Odell Beckham. You know, Miles Garrett, his third straight game with a strip sack.

I mean, the defense was a hot mess down the stretch, but Denzel Ward with the game-ending pick. And you've got Kareem Hunt coming in for an injured Nick Chubb in the running game, thriving with guys like Durness Johnson stepping in. You know, they had 300 yards on the ground. They had 200-something versus the Bengals a couple weeks ago. You're playing a messy defense in Dallas. No questions about it. But, I mean, you went out and hammered them. And, you know, you can point to, I would say this.

If you wanted to point to one way this game could have ended a little differently, Baker Mayfield missed a wide open Odell Beckham right in that same world where they needed to save the game. And he was third down, and O'Dowell was streaking down the field. And Baker just got, he had to get rid of the pass and he overthrew O'Dell. And maybe we would be thinking about Baker Mayfield a little differently in this game. But his numbers are low and they're just not leaning on him right now because they don't need to, but he didn't throw an interception. He didn't make a key mistake.

He's not the reason that they got decimated by the Dallas offense. And Wes, you pointed out this number. I just think this is incredible through four weeks that Dak Prescott is on pace right now. No passer has ever crossed 5,500 yards. He is on pace for 6,760 yards right now. These teams had nearly 600 yards of offense at halftime. And they're an onside kick away from 0 and 4,

for all those passing heads. That's the thing. It's getting wasted by a defense that I think definitely misses someone like Layton Van deresh. Jalen Smith is just not himself right now. And there are grumblings about this Mike Nolan defense saying that it's too complicated. It's not, whatever it is, it is not working. I mean, it's the fourth straight game in a row.

And you have to wonder how much longer if you're Mike McCarthy that you don't have, you know, I have to scapegoat Mike Nolan at some point also because he's just simply not. Four games in? I'm not saying right now. I'm saying at some point, but I mean, how much worse can it get? I do, I love the way that they called that Beckham reverse and score because I think it showed some guts on the part of Kevin Stefansky, who is the first offensive play caller outside of the one brief season with Kyle Shanahan and Cleveland that maximizes these players.

So, you know, you don't have to wonder if they're going to show up. I don't know if they can keep this up, keep this kind of thing going, but this was an impressive force your, force the way you want to play right on the Cowboys. and the Cowboys on defense did not have an answer. There's nobody walking through that door for the Cowboys. That's one reason why, even if Dak Prescott is not going to maintain this pace, he still has a very good chance to set the all-time record. Well, the Browns are plus eight in turnover margin the last two weeks.

So that's going to be tough to keep going. They turned it over three. But the running game and the offensive line being great, and I think that's possible to keep it going the rest of the year. When you play the Steelers twice, that'll be tested. But there's no question right now that they are run blocking.

When you can lose Chubb and you run for 300 yards, forget about it. And McCarthy, by the way, deserves all the blame for hiring Nolan. I mean, it's not like you can like separate that out. Nolan was his coach, you know, on the 05-9ers.

And that's like his main decision. And it's early, but they have way too much talent. I know they're not the most talented defense. had some concerns, but they still have some players on that side of the ball. And they are right now among the worst in the league. There was definitely like a 15-minute stretch where I was convinced Cleveland was going to lose. And it was right around a point where to do. I don't believe it. I never believe they were going to win until tweeting whenever things start going well for

the Browns. It's like the second they get ahead, it's like, okay, no more talking about this. Wait, you weren't sitting in your house today? Like as the Dallas Cowboys put up 24 unanswered points of the fourth quarter being like, oh, this is okay. they'll be fine. No, I never for a minute felt good about it. And I do like watching Mike McCarthy on the sideline, I do think some of these coaches must love having to wear a mask because you can only imagine what the expression is for guys like him

and Matt Patricia underneath the mask on what I'm watching. That it's like, thank God no one can see the look of complete beguilement on my face. That's why, that's what superstars do. And I've been as hard on Odell Beckham as anybody going back to his giant's days. because for all his talent, it really hasn't shown up as often in years now. And this was like a turn-back-the-clock performance where, because you knew his physical skills are all there. It's just a matter of, I guess, putting it together

and having the right setup to succeed. And he bailed out the entire team in this game. There was a shot after the Cowboys pulled it to 40, what was it, 41, 38. after the two-point conversion, the DAC Press got run. They cut to the sideline. I don't know who the Browns players were, but they had this look on their face like, oh, my God, we're going to lose.

That's it. This is a nightmare. We're going to be the laughing stock of the league. And you cut to the terrible pooch kick, whatever that was on the ensuing kickoff. And then the O'Dell play bailed the whole team out, including Baker, because that was a terrible miss down the left sideline. And exactly the type of plays that lead to collapses for teams,

where you're like, okay, would have been fine if he just hits a wide open guy and the quarterback takes the heat off Baker, he takes the heat off the defense. So O'Dell deserves a lot of credit for that. And Mark, the Browns are three and one. Three and one, Mark. Well, and I hope it's a legit three and one.

I think I would rather be a team that's, you know, running the ball the way they are than freaky finishes. All right, let's keep moving. Back to Josh Allen. He'll try to build on a seven-point lead. Allen's taking a shot. Up in the end, it is caught.

Ellen dropping a dime and Diggs with a stroke of genius. It's Beiro Detus with a call for CBS. You know, I'm not saying he's Randy Moss, because he's not. But I don't remember another wide receiver acquisition that has paid immediate dividends like Stefan Diggs to the bills.

Since Moss joined the Pats, the set records in 2007 with Tom Brady, you heard there at 49-yard catch coming off for turnover, sets up the clinching score for the Bill's 30-23 win over the Raiders at the Death Star, what they call it? The Raiders added a garbage time score here, but don't be fooled by the final tally. The two teams played competitively in the first half, but the bills dominated in the second half, and now they're 4-0 as a result, and Josh Allen puts the finishing touches on a stellar

first quarter of a season, three more touchdowns, two passing. This time, you know, he didn't have any of the head scratching mistakes mixed in. It was really solid effort. He came down awkwardly on his left shoulder that obviously led to some nervous moments for Bill's fans, but he came right back on the field at the end of the first half and finished the game. He's playing just incredibly well. So there's nothing about the Bill's 4-0 start that leaves me thinking, Hmm. Are they for real, though? I think the bills absolutely are for real. And like we said in the Thursday preview show, Wes, that Allen hasn't just taken one step. I feel like he's taking three steps. And you add him with Diggs, with this defense, with this coaching, and you have a Super Bowl contender.

It's one of the most incredible metamorphosis we've ever seen at that position. You mentioned the decision making. Look how many things he's changed from last year to this year. And he improved. from the previous year already, but the decision making, he had to improve touch. He's done that. He had to improve accuracy and ball placement. He's done that.

The degree of separation these receivers are getting sometimes is minuscule and he's putting it right on the money. These were all issues he had to solve and he's solving them in addition to what you say that having a guy like digs

on top of their other moves hitting too. Cool Beasley was a big hit. Smokey Brown was a big hit. I mean, everything is going right. and it's fun to see. Brown's catch in this game near the goal line was ridiculous. I mean, Diggs had a ridiculous catch. Every one of their receivers, really, you go down the list, like made an incredible play.

I thought this was Allen's best game because his accuracy was so good. I thought it was his best day just throwing the ball because you're right, West. I think in other weeks, they did have a lot of separation. In this one, they're actually, the receivers weren't that open, and he was completing tough passes. They're an arena league team right now. I mean, they're going to score 30, and if they can get a couple plays defensively, and today it came from Josh Norman, forced to fumble, and Ed Oliver got a fourth down stop, and Quentin Jefferson got a strip sack in the second half, then that's all they need. And the concern, though, Dan, is their defense is bad. I mean, there wasn't a stop in this game until five minutes left in the third quarter, and the Raiders were the first team to make a stop.

So the history tells you, McDermott will coach them up, but they're not playing well on defense. considering how many people were out for the Raiders. I actually thought, well, they were coaching it up pretty well, but they've just made a lot of mental errors the Raiders have in big spots. I wouldn't say they were dominant by any stretch on defense. No, but they literally didn't get a stop until almost the fourth quarter. All right, but it was 30 to 16 with a minute and a half to play. So they were okay.

It wasn't a, and if you look at their numbers, they've struggled in the second half this season. They're not getting to the quarterback a lot. I agree with your point overall. But I thought they were in total control of this game, by the midway through the third quarter. I wonder, like, Brandon Bean to me, I mean, he's the guy that, A, he goes and finds someone like Gabe Davis, who also at wide receiver.

You've got a whole other player that's starting to become a big part of the offense and made a great catch today. Brandon Bean's the guy that said, I'm going to roll the dice with Josh Allen. And that was a player that completely divided the scouting community and coaches and everyone else. And the same way that when you get Russell Wilson changes what we think about shorter play callers. I mean, Josh Allen stands out as a really unusual type of player, but maybe it leads to more Uber athletes like that that need more polished, getting a higher look in the draft because,

you know, it's not crazy to think that a player can grow between years two and three and three and four. And I mean, the jump is astounding, but I mean, it's the coaching around him. It's Josh Allen putting in the time. But, I mean, he fits so well. All these pieces fit so well together. And I just think Brandon Bean is like, is a big reason why some of this is happening. It's so satisfying to have, like, supported this guy, Josh Allen all along and then West lock him up today. Absolutely. And he just backs us us. It's just great to be part of the Bills Mafia and see this coming from a mile away.

I'm very connected and it's a very personal thing, the 2018 draft class for me because I root for Sam Darnold team. And it did get me thinking less on Thursday night during another depressing Jets Darnold game that what would happen if Josh Allen? was on the Jets. What if he went to the Jets? He would have ruined any one of them, I think. Right. And this is to take nothing away from Josh Allen, but more to make a greater point about like this is a big part of football and successes, landing in the right place, which these players have no control over.

Josh Allen was fortunate to land with the Bills team that was just on the rise, and he is, you know, reaping the benefits of that. All right. Let's move on. fake dropping Brady looks toward the end so. Brady throws toward O.J. Howard makes the catch. Touchdown Tampa Bay. Fire them cannons. O.J. on the run.

Steady Post. It's six for the bucks. We don't need to say O.J. on the run ever again. He just retire O.J. on the run. Talking about football players. Unfortunately, OJ. is not going to be running for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers anymore this season. He's

suffered an Achilles injury in this game. But not before he caught that 28-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady. That was, by the way, Gene Deckerhoff of WFUS. Brady threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns, each to a different receiver, helping the Bucks shake off a 17-point early deficit and beat the Chargers. 3831, that's three straight wins for the Bucks after their season opening loss against the Saints.

Mike Evans, Scotty Miller, Howard, Cameron Brate, Kishon Vaughn, all scored on Brady touchdown passes. Greg, I don't remember seeing this version of TB12 during his Patriot Swan Song in 2019. Yeah, how do you mean? Like a vertical game? Just like shredding, you know, filling up a box score and just going nuts statistically in the game. Not, not since like the 2018 AFC championship. You're right. He is on the perfect team because he can go through big slumps. I don't think the buck's offense has played well this season. I don't think their passing game has been really any better than it was a year ago. He struggled for the first half of this game. It had about 90 yards, I think, in his first 20 attempts. And they were trailing 24-7. And Joshua

Kelly, as they're just trying to run the ball out to end the half, the Bucks didn't have the timeouts to stop it. They're up 24-7. They're going into after him. He fumbles the ball right near his own goal line. And then after that, you're right. It was the Brady that you wanted to see in Tampa. I think after that it was TD, TD, TD, field goal, field goal, something like that, where they did not get a stop the rest of the entire game. And they were going bombs away. It was Bruce Ariens. And I don't even know if Tom Brady was the best quarterback in this game. That's how good Justin Herbert's been. But when you're three and one and you finally get a week where the offense is the one that picks up the team, which is absolutely the case in the second

half, that that's good for the buck. Because they're winning games and I feel like they can get a lot better than they actually have been so far. Well, I'll let Wes wax poetic on Justin Herbert, who I know I can tell he has Wes's attention, but it was Ariens who said after the game that he said, honestly, had this been last year, we would have gotten our butts beat, and butts was a different word that he used by 20 points. So I don't, like, maybe the offense was better last year in some ways, but they're going to grow. And I mean, they're in much better, they're in a much better hands with Tom Brady at the head of the thing than James Winston. Oh, we saw a jenga piece. get taken out in action today with Austin Echler.

Boy, the change in that offense with him in there in short-yarded situations, in two-minute drill situations, their ability to play situational football went out the door when Echler got hurt and that really hurt them. But Justin Herbert is so fun to watch. I don't go into these Sundays planning to watch the Chargers and then you catch a couple of plays here, a series there, and you find yourself being pulled in by Justin Herbert and his playing style. The way he beats Blitz is not by, you know, the hot read five yards away, but by going over the top for 40 yards and just not being afraid to attack defenses. He's the story. They've lost

three straight games and somehow he's the story. He was so incredible in this game. And he threw an interception with a chance to go tie it down seven late. Before that he had played almost perfect. The deep ball, the touch. His running backs went 16 for 20, 16 carries for 20 yards after Echler got hurt. He's playing without 11 starters right now in the Chargers. I mean, they are so banged up. Jalen Guyton, Tyler Johnson, Don Parham, Chicken Parham? I don't know what's going on.

Like guys that you just don't know are making big plays for them. And a lot of it is just, Herbert is so absolutely. athletic, but has been really accurate for the most part, too. And I'm with U.S. He has been so fun to watch. Their injuries, I think, have ruined their season. But Herbert at this point has given them so much hope for the future. What's better to see than the fact that he's making plays with these no-nameers versus, you know, like completely, you know, we have to wait a year to find out what he is. It kills them, though, because they wanted their defense to carry them. And it's just not going to happen now. They've just lost

too many players. And I don't know if Bozo was on the injury report. He was totally a race today. The Bucso Line played great today. Yeah, give Tristan Wirth some credit. He's turned out to be, if four games mean anything, that's a home run draft pick. And Justin Herbert was another guy like Josh Allen. I remember we were at the combine and someone that is very well respected in that game, that pre-draft game, was like, oh, yeah, I don't like Herbert. He's the only guy I don't like. He was very divisive. A lot of people I didn't like him, yeah. Sure enough, the guy comes out of the game.

like a mad bomber. He's been a lot of fun to watch. Looking forward to checking that out. They've lost every game by one score so far. Very chargers of them. All right, let's move up. Handoff goes inside to Latavius Murray, looking for a theme.

Touchdown, Latavius Murray. Saints get great push again. Always a good sign when you see your guard standing up in the end zone, and Latavius Murray puts his pads down and just drives a hole through that defense. And from six yards out, Latavius Murray with his second touchdown of the day. Zach Streif with a call, WWL.

Yeah, the Saints rode that COVID-19 roller coaster this weekend. Came out smiling on the other side. Latavius Murray's six-yard score was the final five consecutive touchdowns for the Saints, who wiped out an early two-touchdown deficit and a 35-29 win over the Lions. As I said, at the top of the show, Saints' fullback Michael Burr. Burton had a false positive test for the coronavirus on Saturday, leading to another round of test for players and staff overnight in Detroit. Burton said just a lot of emotions going on because you never want to be a distraction. They had to wake up other guys and test them.

Factoring in the background noise, the absence of multiple members in the secondary. Of course, Michael Thomas. That's a nice win for the Saints, wasn't it, Mr. Sessler? Yeah, I mean, they overcame a lot. You mentioned it. I think Sean Payton, all these coaches have to say, You know, this season, when it comes to COVID, we just have to nod and accept any scenarios. But, you know, there used to be the old thing where, you know, rowdy denizens of a town would go pull the fire alarm in the visiting team's hotel.

But this is a whole different deal when it's attached to something that could be grave or cancel the game in general. And they got down 14-0. And it was a very lion's-ish game on that front, too, because they get down 14-0. And at that point, in the second Lions touchdown came off a breeze picked or a, tipped pass that wound up as an interception. Then, though, New Orleans, minus many starters, got on a tear because they went on five straight touchdown drives, 35 unanswered points. They weren't quirky.

Either four of those drives went for more than 75 yards. And we all get where Drew Brees is at at this point, and he still, to me, has a little bit of a thousand-yard stare where I think he kind of gets where he's at, too. But he was more effective in this game. He looked different than he had in weeks past. He was deadly accurate on intermediate routes. I think next-gen stats had him at, let me find it here. Well, next-gen stats liked what he did on intermediate routes.

Really good. He was really good. I will also mention. Just splice that in, good at football. He was really good. But it's, you know what was good to see was like Emmanuel Sanders stepping up. Treyquan Smith, who looked like he was going to get knocked out of the game with an injury at one point, made some great catches in this. So they got enough from just the right people.

Calvin Kamara helped him out. This game also was a scoreagami, which is one of those unique NFL scores that have never occurred before. And that is the 1,057th scoring combination in the NFL. That kind of stuff I like. As for the Lions, they look the same to me on offense every week. Scoragami. It's like you're leaning on, I like, Adrian Peterson is still good, okay? But like this offense, no offense should be centered around Adrian Peterson right now.

and they get a few plays from Kenny Galladay, and they're trying to, you know, T.J. Hawkinson is becoming a little bit of a thing, but Matt Patricia, come on, dude. I mean, like, this is the same thing every week. You get up by double digits. You get, you let it all go. And, I mean, this was ripe for the picking.

Had they just, you know, hung on to it. And the Saints were a little, they were, they just had, to me, better coached. They lean on better depth. And they came up in a game where there would have been all the excuses to crumble here. You could have pointed to eight or nine. different things, and they come out with the win. I mean, they've lost, the lines have lost six straight leading by double digits.

Coaching. There's obviously, maybe this shouldn't be obvious, but there's never been an NFL team to do that. I mean, that, it's outrageous. They're heading into a bye week. I mentioned the Bucks scored four touchdowns in a row. You said it. The Saints did five in a row. I mean, I don't know.

It's a new Ford owning the team right now. You don't know if she's going to jump in and want to make a big splash. In week four, what's really the point? But it's ugly. I think Camara's back to being the number one running back in the league. And I don't even know if there's anybody close. He looks great. Well, you've embraced Mark Fantasy in a way that none of us could have expected this year.

So I'm sure you know that he is lap the field against other running backs in terms of fantasy scoring because he is, especially with Michael Thomas out of the lineup. And hopefully that won't be too much longer now. He seemed to be on track to play this week, and then over the weekend he was ruled out. But he has been a major part of the passing game. And I, you know, we'll see. We'll see where they are at the end of the season. But, Wes, I know you've been very big on Drew Reeves and the arm strength and all that.

But am I going to be stunned if they end up as a top 10 offense according to various metrics? I won't be. I think they'll end up top 10. To me, to me they'll be top 10, but then in big moments against a better defense, We know the quarterback's limited He has been for a couple of years This offense goes through Camara and Thomas Not the quarterback

I'd love to have a great regular season offense To root for them It's like last year they lost Breeze And Teddy came in and he was Teddy And they showed again that they're very resilient They can win with depth and backups But now they look kind of like the Teddy Bridgewater Offense with Drew Breeze

A quarterback to me Hmm Big win Let's move Rivers of field throws The Moe Alley Cops He barrels forward across the goal line. Touchdown, Moe Allie Cox.

Matt Taylor, WFNI with the call. Moellie Cox is having a breakout season with the big score. Julian Blackman's interception of Nick Foles. He's a killer for the Bears quarterback. We struggled to move the offense in his first start since replacing Mitch Trebisky. Final score 19 to 11 Colts

over the Bears at Soldier Field. Wes, Indy has been winning with their defense so far this season. More of the same on Sunday, it looks like. Well, I think they're, you know how the Cowboys struggle at all three levels of their defense? I think the Colts really do well at all three levels. DeForest Buckner had another dominant game. Darius Leonard got injured, but he's been there at linebacker, Justin Houston at linebacker.

And then this Julian Blackman, if they drafted in a third round, came in for Malik Hooker in week two. and has been an upgrade. This guy is a natural ball hawk. He and Xavier Rhodes both playing great in the secondary. And if a team like the Steelers is sort of like sharks with chum in the water, I think the Colts defense is more like a constrictor, like a python. They just suffocate you. They squeeze the life out of you.

And they did it again today. And if, you know, Fools said this week, Frank Reich's the guy who made him a player. It reminded me sort of like an old school dad saying, and I brought you into this world and I'll take you out too because Frank Reich's defense knew how to stop Nick Fools. Well, and on that front west, it was Blackman who said that Frank Reich prepared their defense so well for Foles. So, you know, it bit them too.

And it's just, you know, I think this game also squeezed the life out of some viewers according to Dan's reaction to what they watch. Yeah, I said on Twitter that one day I'll tell my grandchildren that this game was the most bored I ever was. I couldn't. I had it on my secondary screen, and apparently we're going to get to a game later that a lot of people were coming back with saying even worse.

But then it led to kind of a fun thread where people started sending me some box scores of other super boring games in recent NFL history. Going back years. Everybody has them. They stick to your mind when they're truly, wretchedly boring, for whatever reason, and this one was that way for me. Colts have been boring for three weeks, winning boring.

I guess that's fine. They're going to play some real offenses. These are two of the only teams in the league where I think you can look at and say, like, oh, they have defenses. Like, it feels like there's only like six or seven defenses at most, and these are two of them. But is there, Wes, you watch it. What's your level of panic with T.Y. Hilton? Because T.Y. Hilton's really something up for them.

So one basically said that he retired three weeks ago. I thought he actually played really well today. He had one 50-50 bowl he came down with. I think he brought another pass. penalty, but I thought he played well today, but I did identify the Colts fatal flaw this year. Ooh, what is it? It's the red zone offense.

And if you look at the pickle that Josh Allen puts defenses in in the red zone, the way he can take a quarterback draw, he can take a rollout, he can squeeze passes into tight windows, how many of those things can Philip Rivers do? He can't beat you with his legs and he can't squeeze passes into tight windows. So what does that leave you in the red zone? This is a struggling offense down there. Hey, Philip Rivers, what do you say to the red zone struggles that your team has faced? Does it bother you, though?

Aggra makes a stew out of me. Oh, yeah, I get it. I feel it, man. There was one play, Wes. I tweeted about it, and then you replied. And whenever Wes replies to something, I tweet from an analysis standpoint, and he agrees with me, I feel good about it. They were in the red zone. and, you know, the pocket collapse, no one's open, he goes to escape.

He's so slow. Oh, my God. I mean, he is, I would think that Brady might even be faster than him. Like, late period, Eli Manning's got him beat. He just moves in slow motion, so there is no adding extra, you know, stealing yards and turning, you know, Josh Allen type theatrics out on the Colts offense. They need to be more precise. We have a term for that, and I think Joe Flacco helped us get there, which is Stone Age Pony.

And, I mean, Rivers can still do some things well. but, you know, dancing around nimbly is not one of those things. He was one of the slowest quarterbacks, I think, the day he entered the league. And he's been playing in the – and at no point – I think he's maybe been the slowest quarterback in the league the whole time he's been in it. And now it's 16 years in. That's not going to be any faster. It's like David Ortiz trying to score from first on a double in 2017. At a certain point, it almost becomes a story when someone gets that slow.

But it's fun. It's fun. it makes us relate to the men. You know, sometimes West, you know, trying to score from first the shield, you know, we were popping hamstrings trying to get around the bases. Snapping like dry twigs. Golly. All right, let's move on.

Jackson will keep it on the read option. He's got a whole 40. Leg race 30. He's going to go. 10, 5. Turns out if you don't do a dead sprint for like four years and then you run to first base, sometimes your leg implodes. But you really wanted that fast.

All right, that was Jerry Sandusky with the call WBAL. Lamar Jackson ran for a 50-yard touchdown. His career long, which surprised me. I thought he might have had like a 99-yarder in there at some point since he was a rookie. And he threw for two scores as well in a bounce-back performance by the reigning NFL MVP and the Ravens as a whole. They take control early against the Washington football team and co-s to a 31-17 win. Coming off a humbling loss, obviously, to Kansas City on Monday night.

But this Baltimore team, this is the team that does massive damage during the regular season. You could see it. Like, you could see how their sphincters tightened up on Monday night. But when things go on the opposite way, they play so loose and they play so confidently that you understand why things go right for them. You know, like Sam Koch's 15-yard completion on 4th and 9 on a fake punt throw. I don't think John Harbaugh had the onions to pull that on Monday night. I thought that they were tight as a team.

But when you're playing Washington, this is when the Ravens look absolutely impossible to be. I will say that the defense, you would have thought they would absolutely have their way with Dwayne Haskins. But that wasn't quite the case. Haskins actually threw for a career high, 314 yards. But a lot of it was checkdowns and Antonio Gibson doing the hard. work for Haskins and a deep ball late in garbage time, West, to your boy, the star wide receiver whose name I'm forgetting for somebody's right now. Scary Terry McLaurin.

So don't put too much stock into the yardage by Washington. They weren't competitive. And there was one play in particular, a fourth and goal early in the fourth quarter. It's a two-score game where Haskins locks on a guy in the flat. and throws about nine yards short of the end zone and the guy gets pushed out of bounds because three guys were converging on him as he caught the ball

and they cut as CBS or as Fox goes to break or CBS it was you see Ron Rivera turn his back to the camera and just like stalk back to the bench and I don't know he could have been doing or saying any number of things but I'm wondering if what's going on in his head is like this guy doesn't even know

that he needs to throw to the end zone on this play The game's over after that play. There were reports before the game that they were, Ian Rappaport reported they were going to pull Haskins if he struggled. And he opened with a punt, a turnover, and a punt. So I wonder how close they came to yanking him before they missed a field goal and then scored. You know, then he picked it up a little bit. But yeah, the turnover wasn't on him.

The turnover was a forced fumble by Marlon Humphreys that led to a touchdown. But yeah, Haskins, it was like a C performance that probably will keep him in the lineup. But again, you know, keep an eye on that. that situation. It's tough for the Ravens because you compare them to last year. And I'm happy to hear you say, Dan, you thought it was dominant. Because I looked at this starting the game, and I just am comparing it to this team that was historic. And I think, wow, you come out against Washington, you punt two of the first three possessions, and then you need a fake punt to score on the next one. And Lamar's thrown an interception right before halftime. And the yardage

is pretty close, you know, throughout. And it's almost unfair because you're comparing them to that offense but like last year it feels like in this game they would they go 45 on you you know probably i mean it was dominant in the sense of like this game was never in doubt and they took care of business but this wasn't the type of raven's performance we became accustomed to last year that's fair any other questions about this game i don't know what's going to happen uh with the quarterback situation but that was a get right game for lamar jackson and uh i assume they will continue to um get right next week against Cincinnati. It's so weird that Washington's tied for, you know, pending the result of the Sunday night

game, we taped this a little earlier. It's like, Washington's, you know, right in the mix. I mean, that's, you know. One and three. Someone's going to win the division going five and 11. Maybe they'll still be in the mix, you know, in December. I'm just kidding. It's ugly.

By the way, the Ravens lead the NFL and points off turnovers this season with 38. So they do that. They still do a bunch of things well. I think it was a bump in the road on Monday night, and it's one that could cost them. talked about with playoff positioning but they'll continue to beat up all these teams that are beneath them the ravens are going to be okay let's move on first win review as a runner went to the ground the ball hit the ground and moved thank you it's an incomplete pass thank you it's first down Minnesota the five-yard line ball game 3123 bikes are in the win column

that's the best we could do on the for the call here I heard it that was it I mean that won the game. That was the type of ending that the Vikings got. I think we're going to have to enhance the vetting process starting in week five on these calls. I mean, this is what type of game it was. Paul Allen with a call for K-F-A-N. Mike Zimmer, struggling D, got the stop it needed, as you just heard, and Dalvin Cook ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings, who beat the Texans 31 to 23.

Greg, the roadkill game has produced the expect. result. One team lives to fight another day, and one team, the one coached by Bill O'Brien, is headed to the NFL's equivalent of the Pet Cemetery. They are in a division where the Colts are 3 and 1, the Titans are 3 and 0. The Texans are 0 and 4, and the dolphins have their first two picks next year. And I thought that call was perfect, Dan. I'm going to argue for it. Because neither team left this, I think, feeling so good. I mean, the call, the game ended on an overturned call of Will Fuller in the end zone. David Johnson was half a yard short of, of, you know, giving them the Texans a chance to go for a two-point conversion,

what would have been a big time collapsed by the Vikings defense. They have the ball half a yard short on second down. Then Johnson fumbles it on a pitch. And they eventually get it to Fuller, who you think maybe was going to, like, making a. amazing play and they overturn it on review and it's just like that reaction to me from the Vikings is almost perfect because it's like well we got a win you know that's that's it that's all we got west is giving me the thumbs down the whole sequence it's so bad spice it up you know it's your point Greg like there's a friend of my name Eric who is a long time listener to this show he listens

to every episode and he's a Vikings hardcore fan and he said here is my takeaway from the game that Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak should be in totally hot water despite the win that the team feels like it's floating well i mean you know we're looking at the season on whole but that this is this is a team headed in the wrong direction no matter what happened today against a lost texan's team well defensively they won today they're going in the right direction they won defensively it's absolutely true and i don't know if they're going to be able to fix it daniel hunter might be out half the season we'll see offensively i think they have a lot to be excited about the last two weeks their offense has played very well um the last two weeks especially

today. Today was even better. Kurt Cousins had a really good day. Justin Jefferson, they found something. I know it doesn't feel like the Stefan Diggs trade was a win-win, but you did get a bunch of picks, a lot of picks. And you drafted Justin Jefferson, and man, he looked awesome today. Dalvin Cook is running, you know, I know Alvin Camer has been the best running back, but the last two weeks, Dalvin Cook has broken a tackle almost every single run.

And that zone running scheme that Kubiak is, you know, brought to bring in, It's taken hold because they're running against eight-man boxes and it's the angles that they're running are beating those boxes. So I think their offense has some good things to feel good about, but the defense probably is not going to, like, allow them to make the playoffs. It's enough. I just want to check out this Viking upcoming schedule. I'll see what's going on here. At Seattle. On Sunday night next week.

Ooh. Tough spot. Home versus Falcons at Green Bay. Home versus Lions at Bears. Okay. I mean, they're probably going to have to figure out a way to go. You got to beat the Packers and Bears. You've got to beat the Packers and Bears or else you're in trouble.

That ending, though, it was unfortunate. Deshaun Watson cooked in the second half, but he really struggled in the first. But I just want to point out how bad this Texan's defense is. They don't have a turnover this year. and they're just like fatally they don't have a turnover still i don't know if jay wats hurt um he was on the injury report earlier this season but he wasn't this week uh he hasn't played every snap like he normally does and he certainly you know hasn't made big plays but they're so slow this is such a slow defense and and you have two inside linebackers playing every down zach cunningham can't cover

and bernarderick mckinney they're one of the worst rush defenses if not the worst in the league and they just are beating them to the outside. They're just so slow. And so it just feels like a fatal construction of this entire defense. Well, they're both locked up through their slow years. They're both locked up through their slow years. Well, they're going to cut. Yeah, they're going to cut McKinney, I think, after this year. But I don't see how this defense figures it out. It's just, it's ugly. Who's the other? Don't try to convince me to start believing in the Vikings this season. I'm just not going to do it. I'm wrong. I wasn't going there. I was just defending Kubiak because I think you can absolutely see.

some good things about their offense the last two weeks. That's all. But the team does not look great. T.Y. Hilton, J.J. Watt, A.J. Green. Superstar Club is going to have to make some painful decisions. You know, Watts started the season pretty good. So I'm leaving some room here. But the last two weeks have been tough.

All right. Let's move up. Jones has his Giants at the line, has the snap. Steps upright. At the 20, he fires to the five. it is intercepted Darius Williams a diving interception to clinchitz

with 52 seconds remaining He had the diving pick in Philadelphia in the end zone and here at SoFi Stadium he does it again There he is elite Minch There you go Greg J.B Long KSPN with the call

Big interception there of Danny Dimes And Jared Gough hit Cooper Cucer Cup earlier in the quarter on a 55-yard touchdown that allowed the ramps to grind it out, 17-9 over the Giants. And Mark, the only thing that people are ever going to remember about this game is the Jalen Ramsey, Golden Tate, brawl post game. It's the only thing anybody's going to talk about because it's highly salacious.

It's a family matter, and it's spilled out into the public forum on Sunday. Yeah, and it's, you can go look up what the family. matter is if you if you'd like um i'll tell you so uh well i'll tell you how about i'll tell you like i mean basically golden tate i can't even dignify bringing it up on our pond that's coming because we were told by email no we were told by email not to dig into it but like i'm sure no one's listened to this thing so basically like golden tate's sister was with jalen ramsie and when she was mark spilling tea right now well probably i won't be on the show anymore it's like because we you Now, we can't possibly follow the rules of NFL.com.

But there was an issue between these two because Jalen Ramsey basically walked away from Golden Tate's sister while she was pregnant to be with what they're describing as a Las Vegas dancer. I don't think that means like up on stage. Like a showgirl? Yeah, I think it's probably more in that world. But beyond that, they've had bad blood for,

it's been going on for a while. They have not encountered each other on the field. Today they did. And it's interesting that the play of the game, because, Dan, this is probably the game that many people were writing to you saying this was the most boring game people have witnessed. And I'm sure, you know, in the league offices,

they're thinking, how special that we finally get to have Los Angeles in New York, our two special markets clash in a four o'clock spot? And it was making people's eyes bleed. So, you know. Bill's fans are like, actually, it's New Jersey. Enough. We get it.

Western New York. You're the only New York team. Stop hitting me up on Twitter. We get it. The Rams were. in an absolute stupor, and it was 10 to 9 with about 10 minutes to go, and the Giants were basically, they were looking better on the ground than Los Angeles, and they were moving the ball, and that is when Jalen Ramsey slammed Golden Tate down

on a third down catch that basically gave Goff and the offense one more shot to kind of turn this thing around, and that's when the Cooper Cup catch happened, and, you know, then the Rams had another chance to come out, and they had a 3-0, so like they never really got it together, and I kind of look at, I don't even, it doesn't really change. what I think about the Rams that much because I think that good teams are going to have one of these games a year where it's like you just, they were

in a total funk the entire time. These teams were bickering the whole time though Aaron Donald got into a fight with someone that were stuff on the sideline then this thing erupted at the end. So I wonder if it just, it was a really ugly ugly game and one where if you're the Rams I'd want to see why that was

but I wouldn't take too much out of it other than the fact that I would always be suspicious when like on our show on Thursday, we all kind of like ticketed this as a Rams blowout. And then on Friday I was watching some shows and the predictions for the Rams blowouts were getting bigger and bigger. Like, they're just going to take New York out 38 to 7,

48 to 7, like, then we know it's not going to happen. And it didn't. And the Giants, like, their defense for the fact that I would imagine most people couldn't name three people on that defense, they were frisky in this game. And you can kind of see the makings of something happening on that side of the ball, but the offense lacks any direction right now.

they're just, it's, they're a messy team. I am, obviously, from New York, and many of my friends growing up are Giants fans. And there has been a sea change on text around Danny Dimes. Very quickly, they're starting to turn on the young passer and in general on the Giants and Dave Gettelman and they're getting psyched up about the idea of Trevor Lawrence and being in that hunt tank for Trevor. or it is, you know, if you take out that first half of week one on Monday night and you actually go all the way through and midway through the third quarter against the Steelers

where he had that 95-yard drive that ended with the interception. From that interception on, Jones has been kind of a mess. And that is, that's probably the final nail on the coffin of Dave Gellman finally. If this doesn't take, I mean, he's not well protected. And there were times when Jared Gough didn't look well today because he was. is not well protected. And so, you know, it's systemic. It's what's around them.

And you've lost Saquan Barclay, the heart and soul of your offense. And, you know, Jones creates a lot of his own problems. We know that. But there were certain plays where, like, everything was crumbling around him. And it's like young quarterbacks typically are not going to survive in that atmosphere to begin with. That's, I thought, Dan, that was a harsh assessment. And I think they. The offense has been crumbling around him the entire season.

The offensive line's been terrible, historically bad rushing attack. They only moved the ball the previous week on design quarterback runs. I mean, it was, he's got a lot on his plate. I do think it's been crumbling around him. But it's, it, it looked that way. I mean, they combine for less yards than, you know, the Cowboys had these two teams. I mean, the Rams had 240 yards. That's one of the most surprising things of the week.

but I'm with you, Mark. I think with these seasons, in general with the NFL, it's like, okay, one week, you just give them a mulligan. Two weeks is a trend, and then you see what's happening. They're three and one. These NFC West teams, and we're going to get to one that hasn't done a good job of it, they have favorable out-of-division schedule, so they have to take advantage when they're playing the cream puffs.

And, you know, they did it enough today. Let's check in with another undefeated team in our league. Rush, Russ looks right-side. Got a man in the end zone reaching up, making the catch David Moore. Is he in for the touchdown? He is David Moore. Man, David Moore is another guy they have. That's Steve Rabel, K-I-R-O with the call.

He had three catches for 95 yards, including that game-clinching touchdown for the Seahawks and a 31-23 win over the Dolphins. and this game was closer than the desert anticipated, but not for the reasons that I thought it would be a close game too. We talked about it on Thursday, but I thought it would be more of a high-scoring game with Seattle's defense continuing to struggle. But there was progress for Seattle's defense in this game.

They delivered a much better performance here. They actually kept Miami out of the end zone until the game's final minutes, which made the score look closer. was, I believe, a 17-15 or 17-16 Seattle lead in the fourth quarter before they pulled away. So the Seahawks will take anything positive around their defense right now because they're essentially just, like the Cowboys are a great offense with a horrific defense and they're one in three. Seahawks maybe aren't as bad on defense as Dallas has been. They've had some better moments, but they have a similar problem where they're fantastic on offense, can't get stops on defense.

but they were better today and they're 4-0 now for the second time ever in their season and Russell Wilson is matching Peyton Manning's touchdown record pace through the first four games of the season. What do you have to hold on to if you're a Dolphins fan you think right now? Not to go negative, but I like Flores, but I just don't know what it is this team. It just feels like a second straight transition year, I guess.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. after the game because especially when you talk about the quarterback position because Fitzpatrick has been good on balance again he's he's steady he's fun to watch uh he has his up moments he has his down to moments he's Ryan Fitzpatrick uh but you're one and three if if two is healthy wouldn't you at this start to begin thinking about the process of turning it over and beginning to evaluate him and and kind of officially start this next era of dolphins football I don't know maybe the hip injury that's suffered in college. I know he's cleared and all that,

and I think he was the backup quarterback on Sunday, which is a sign, again, they believe that he's healthy. You just wonder, even though Ryan Fitzpatrick has been Ryan Fitzpatrick, whether they're getting closer to that decision. Yeah, I wondered if they were waiting to see, let Ryan Fitzpatrick play to see how good the rest of the team was and whether it's worth rushing him in there behind, you know, probably the rawest offensive line there is.

but they've outperformed expectations, I think, up front. Yeah, the defense, they want to get, you know, they have a lot of young players in defense, a lot of free agent addition. So I think they're hoping that they improve as the season goes along, but they're not there yet. I mean, I just look at the Seahawks being 4-0 and you think of who's undefeated in the NFC,

and it's just like, wow, this NFC playoffs is going to be, I know it's a little early for this, but it's just kind of amazing to think that the playoffs could be Rogers, Russ, Brady, Breeze, you know, McVeigh maybe gets back in there or whatever. It's just like the quarterbacks, it's outrageous. I like the idea of like the top-heavy Seahawks, you know, getting a top seed. Yeah, I know we're not allowed to talk, MVP talk on the show, Greg. You've decided that.

A quarter poll, you can at least like do the MVP of the first quarter. How about that? Oh, okay. That's good. Well, I was going to talk about, you know, the all-pro call that I made with Aaron Rogers, which I feel good about. But then you look at, like, what else is going on? How many guys get all pro?

Two, right? Two. Okay, so you have what Dak Prescott's doing. You have what Russell Wilson's doing. You have what Josh Allen's doing. I mean, even a great season by Aaron Rogers, there's some truly badass quarterback seasons. That would be fourth right now, which is crazy. He would not.

I think that the other three would be splitting up the votes. Dack would be fourth out of that group. And I think. Right. He would be throws for 7,000 yards? Right. You didn't even say my homes. Or Mahomes, of course, Patrick Mahomes.

I'm just saying if you had to vote today. If they had to vote today, I think that's what would happen. I don't think that's a top four MVP guy. And good to see Chris Carson out there, by the way. He was a game time decision after he got his knee twisted. He actually scored twice, average five yards of carry. So that's also good news. And we'll see if Seahawks get Jamal Adams back next week and start to get healthier

and can turn this into a trend. friend that the defense is on the upswing. Good battle by the dolphins, but not good enough. All right. Are we bringing on our friend Nick Shook now? Is it that time of the show? It's time for the handoff. Two handsome bald whites.

Only one can stay on the show, though. One must arrive, then one must leave. Can't up to. Zero-sum game with our handsome bald whites. Yeah, Shuck's looking fresh. The beard is looking well-coffed. Nice. I like it. All right.

Bath time for me. We'll see. We'll see us. All right, Wes, enjoy. Later, Wes. He's going to light some candles, burn some incense, and take a bath. I never, I haven't taken a bath since I was a child because I find the idea of a bath repulsive. Like, it's, you're basically going there to cleanse yourself, but you're bathing in your own filth.

Well, you got to, you wash yourself first and then you fill up the bath. How many people do that, though? I would wash the bath first because it's all. also the other people's feet and, you know, people taking a lot of baths, Greg? I mean, that's what you do. You wash yourself first and then you fill it up. That's the move. Well, I like that. I can't even, I've gotten, it's gotten increasingly worse for me where I'm not really going in too many public pools either. I think about it too much. Maybe it's having kids and you realize just how gross younger humans are and then half the older humans, the hygiene is probably not where it needs to be. Shook, where are you on this before we get into the next. Yeah. I mean, I feel like that's just a waste of water and a long process. I mean, if you're out to really relax, I guess you do that. I will say my grandparents live out in rural Ohio and they built their house, I think like when I was an infant or whatever. And part of the house construction was this really nice bathtub with jets in it. And that is an experience. That is worth taking a bath. But if we're here strictly to efficiently clean yourself and you got other stuff to do, That's out of the equation.

Well, that, of course not. A bath is always a luxury. Right. I mean, I think Wes is doing it, for instance, not. He's not like, I must clean my body. He's doing it for the, for the sensation of being in warm water, which essentially takes us back to the womb. Greg's excuse for his daily bath.

I don't take any, actually, at my house, because it's too small. But I've taken, yeah, I'm just saying that's, that's the move. It West does it and watch his game pass, which is next level. He puts on, like, he's getting Justin Herbert out there, maybe a bottle of condition or not. nearby and he's going to town. And then the other thing is, I think. Don't get too excited. This is also, you know, factored in my thoughts on it when you have two young sons and they

share a bath together. And sometimes it's like, oh, Harry, did you, did you use the potty before you got it? And he's like, no, you know what happened. They don't care. These kids don't care. All right. Shook, thank you for joining us. We got you set up with a couple games here before Sunday night football. So let's dig in. Now Borough will line up in the shotgun, even though it's third and less than a yard. He'll hand it to Mixen, Nixon bursting from the middle to the 10, the 5. Touchdown! Shell Mixing and the Bengals is third of the day.

Dan. Dan, poor. Dan, Ford. Or is it, O'R? Joe Mixon, he spent part of his weekend in the hospital with mysterious chest pains. But he looked fine on Sunday. Rush for 151 yards of 25 carries of two touchdowns. Had another touchdown on a swing pass reception from Joe Burrough.

3325 win over the Jaguars shook. That was the first win of Burroughs career. but the story here is Joe Mixon. Breakout performance. So for the entire season up to this week, the Bengals had inexplicably gone away from Joe Mixing. And it didn't make any sense, especially with a rookie quarterback.

What are the two things you give a rookie quarterback to try to make him feel comfortable, especially when you don't have a good offensive line? One is a titan that he can rely on on two is a reliable running game so that he doesn't have to drop back 50 times a game, which is what the Bengals primarily did for the first three weeks. Then around halftime today,

it's like somebody went down to the sideline at Paul Brown Stadium, grab Zach Taylor by the shirt, social distancing totally violated, slap him around twice and said, hey, you got Joe Mixing on your roster, give him the football. So he did 25 times 151 carries two touchdowns. The first touchdown kind of serving as the score that broke through the wall for the Bengals, I think, through this season because far too often, and especially in the first half Sunday,

their offense just ran into these issues and they got down in the red zone. it just felt a little constrained. It's almost like they tried to do too much. And then they said, all right, well, let's hand the ball to Joe Mixon. Let's dump it off to him. Let's figure out ways to get him the football. He scores on the right side, takes a shot after he scores. And it was like, oh, we forgot we had this guy.

Look what he can do. And they wrote him the rest of the way to a victory. And what this game really looked like before that point was very much what last week's game that ended in a tie with the Eagles look like. Then they scored with Mixon. And it's like they just opened the floodgates or just opened their own expectations or understanding of reality that, hey, we can score the football. You know, we can score.

I hate score the football or score the basketball, by the way, even though I almost just said that. And we can win a game and they won a game. So, you know, good for them and finally realizing that they have a good running back on their team. I mean, Burrough is the – go ahead, Greg. No, you go. I was going to say Burroughs the first player in NFL history to open his career with three straight, like multiple 300-yard games like this.

And, I mean, he just seems like he looks the part. And it's been a terrible situation for him. He's been under duress nonstop, and I'm totally with you that they should have used mixing more than they have. But, I mean, it's like record aside, some of these teams, like, you know, if you're a Chargers fan with Justin Herbert, if you're Bengals fan with Joe Burrow, it's like the sun is still shining very brightly because of what you found under center. Yeah, of course. And he was impressive again. And he totally looks the part. He's the real deal. I mean, in all the games that I've watched him, he looks like a guy that you were right in spending the first, you know, the number one overall pick on, which oftentimes we've seen teams spend high picks

on quarterbacks who just don't look the part when they get to the NFL. Joe Burrow looks like he's been in the NFL for five years, and he did again Sunday. But the problem was is they were trying to rely way too much on him in weeks past and going away from Joe McSan and expecting Burrow to win the game single-handling. And with the offensive line that they have, he just hasn't been able to do that. He's gotten him close. He got him close against Cleveland. He got him close against Philly.

He even got him close in week one against Los Angeles. This time, they finally went away, not away from him, but they used somebody other than just Joe Burrow, and it put them over the top. Now, the Jaguars, I mean, they were exciting for the first two weeks. The last two weeks are the team that we expected to see. And I think the team that we're going to see for the majority of the season. It was a close game for a while we were in the tie zone, kind of. It was very much in play because they neither were really doing much and they were within a score before the Bengals kind of finally pulled away. There were a few times in the first half to in the red zone where Joe Burrell had a chance to put the ball in the end zone.

one time it was a really nice pick by Miles Jack who ripped the ball out of Drew Sample's hands. The other time they just couldn't get it in there and had to resort to a Randy Bullock field goal. So again, he's the guy. They have their quarterback. They just have to fix everything around him or at least use the weapons around him. And Joe Mixon is a big part of that.

Well, they're not going to play the Jaguars every week. That's a difference. Yeah. I mean, they did four plays over 20 yards in the first three weeks. For as much as Burrow has looked good, they were by far the least explosive offense in the league. I think they had eight or nine today. I watch this game by mistake thinking it was my assignment. Whoops.

But I'm glad I knocked it out. They're very similar teams to me. And the difference was the decision making by Burrow is pristine when he's protected. I mean, you can't fault his offensive line today. He was protected pretty well today and obviously got help with the running game. Whereas Minshu had a couple decisions when he chose to run on a third down that ended up in punts and they were bad decisions. and the interception he threw was a bad decision.

He played really well, I would say, overall. They just have a very small margin for error, this defense. And so if you make a couple and you have a coach who doesn't seem to realize what kind of team he has, you know, punting on fourth and short and kicking field goals on fourth and short. Maron sometimes, he's like he's playing to a defense that's not there. Gruden does that too. Poking around the box score here, Shook, I'm seeing, because we brought him up, earlier, so I'll bring him up again.

A.J. Green had one catch for three yards on five targets. They had 25 receptions overall the team for 300 yards. And Higgins looks good, right? Yeah, yeah. Is Green just not a part of the game plan anymore? Was he injured or what? He was a focus of Jacksonville's game plan for sure. Very often when he was targeted, there seemed to be

at least two defenders in the area. There was a couple times where he was completely blanketed and couldn't come down with the catch. But you're right. Like Greg said, T. Higgins was a big part. He looked good today. Tyler Boyd was a big part as well. They were the two guys who got the ball the most. Joe Burrow does a very good job, especially for a rookie, for not looking to AJ Green and not relying on that. He's surveying the field and he's finding his open men, which, I mean, this Bengals team, if they were just a little bit better, probably defensively, and could avoid, you know, becoming too reliant on Burrow.

They could win some football. They're competitive. They're competitive right now. They've been close in every game they've been in. Also fair to ask, you give Burrough credit for that, but it's possible that A.J. Green is washed, too, right? Right. Yeah. He's not getting open anymore because he doesn't have.

the ability he once had. I mean, also, John Ross is a healthy scratch weeks in a row. I mean, I feel like that guy's out the door. What is it? Hashtag gradual decline. I don't know if that's entirely true with AJ Green, but yeah, he has not been a big part of this offense for the majority. So you know what the Brown's messed up last year, Shook?

When you were a team employee, and we still need to get the full details of what led to your early exit there. But if they had you as the muscle, you're talking about somebody that needs to go down to the sideline and straighten out a head coach. it doesn't have his head on straight. If you were going down there and slapping around Freddie Kitchens, tell them to get the ball to Nick Chubmore and Cream Hunt and all this,

maybe the Browns would have been a playoff team last year. Well, I mean, Freddie and I had a pretty solid relationship, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was they had too many cooks in the kitchen there on the offensive side. You could take out multiple cooks. I mean, I think we all see where you're at physically. Like multiple cooks would not be an issue. Maybe they had one too many kitchens in that building as well.

Oh, there we go. Yeah, I would never be, I would never be an enforcer with Todd Munkin. Have you seen him? He's a skinny guy, he's a nice guy, you know? He's an offensive wizard at the college level now, so, you know, we're all good. I was going to get in there and cause problems. All right, let's move up. Bridgewater retreats, climbs the pocket, he's going to run with it.

Bridgewater cuts to the right at the 15 to 10. Bridgewater to the 5. Unbelievable. Teddy Bridgewater houses it from 21 yards away. Sneaky fast. Mick Mixin and Kurt Coleman with the call of WBT. Teddy Bridgewater, he's sneaky fast. The Panthers' QB scrambled and juked his way to an 18-yard scoring run.

Added two passing scores, 31-21 win over the Cardinals. The Panthers cool off the Cardinals. Actually, the Cardinals have cooled off precipitously after that 2-0 start. Shook, that was Teddy's first rushing TD since that devastating knee injury back in the summer of 16. he's an amazing story. Yeah, he certainly is, and he was very sharp today. You've got to give a lot of credit to the game plan put together by Joe Brady in the way he called the offense today.

I thought for every situation, he had an answer to whatever Arizona presented him with defensively. And this is one of those games where you're seeing two middling teams or below middling and the coaching comes out as a difference. And the Panthers look like the more prepared team from the sideline today. It's just they were one step ahead of the Cardinals for the majority of the game. The Cardinals scored a touchdown late to me. make it a little bit closer. But for a lot of today, it was a Panthers dominated game. And that started with Teddy. When he had that Russian touchdown, I said he did his best Sam Donald impression

because he escaped right up the middle for a touchdown. But I don't think he's sneaky fast. I think he's just fairly fast. I mean, we've known him to be an athlete for a while. He is sneaky. He's sneaky fast, though. Everyone went too hard the other way of like when a couple people were like, this guy can't scramble. I mean, this guy's a scrambler. He's athletic when he was coming out. And people are like, no, like you're just saying that because he's black. Actually, he's more. of a pocket guy, but sneaky fast seems right for me. And I think he's been better. The irony here, of course, is that usually sneaky fast is attributed to the white guys in the slot. He's the first, he's the first black quarterback to be called sneaky fast. I think it's

appropriate, and I think he's been getting faster. He's looked a little more athletic every year. And that was a big part of his game at Louisville, not so much scrambling to run, but evading pass rushers. I think he's done a good job. How about Matt Rule putting it on Old Cliff Kingsbury again from the Big 12? I mean, uh, this is something here. When you're getting, When you're getting Reggie Bonafin and Mike Davis to rush for 160 plus yards, I'm kind of in with you, Mark, this Matt Rule thing is, it's happening. Yeah, and people are like, oh, I mean, the thought was they would be, you know, progressing and, you know, causing problems late in the year.

And they're already showing that they can coach. Well, I have to ask you, though, Shook. I mean, when you look at the Cardinals, do you think that what's going on here? Are there, our teams maybe catching up to this scheme or is it, are they just simply not functioning? So I think. Mary, 4.3 yards per attempt today. It's two weeks in a row where they've not looked at all like they did early in the first two weeks. Well, you know why?

Because a lot of the Cardinals' offense is predicated on Kyler Murray improvising and patching all the holes that they have by just running and gaining first downs and adding that element of the unexpected. And, you know, when they ran the ball effectively last year with Kenyon Drake, it came out of the shotgun by spreading guys out. Well, that's not working this time. I mean, they were creating lanes by lessening defenders in the box. that's just that element of that is not in their game today. Kenny and Drake had 13 carries for 35 yards.

I mean, that's not going to get you anything when your quarterback is consistently outrushing everybody else. And you have to rely on that as a staple of your offense. Eventually, other defense is going to catch up to it because that should be something that's improvisation, not something that's built into the way you succeed on a week-to-week basis, and it really hurt them today. And it especially doesn't help them when they have to come from behind. Their defense did them no favors.

Like I said, I think they were out-schemed for the majority of this game. And I think that the Cardinals are going to have a tough path because those first games that they won early in the season, a lot of that, especially against San Francisco, for example, those first downs were converted by Kyler Murray with his legs. And I just don't think that's a sustainable way to win a game. 11 throws to non-deandre Hopkins wideouts for 26 yards. That's not the Gabbard zone. That's like the Cincinnati Reds batting average zone. That is rough. The Panthers, and this is why sports are funny, Panthers now, O and 2 with Christian McCaffrey,

two and oh without which takes us to sunday night football oh sunday night from the 25-yard line moment throws and all the way to the end zone touchdown Alex singleton so mullings makes a terrible throw singleton is right there and there they are celebrating in front of the big strain. Who, baby. Who, baby, indeed. Al Michaels with the call for NBC. Alex Singleton.

Right place, right time for the special teamer who steps in front of that. Nick Mone's pass, takes it to the house. Turned out to be the clinching score for the Philadelphia Eagles who hold on for a 25 to 20 win over the San Francisco 49ers at the big bell bottom.

A huge win. the Eagles, who, as the old saying goes, spent most of the game on offense, making it look like they were on a 120-yard field going uphill both ways. But Carson Wentz with a long touchdown pass to put them ahead, followed quickly by that pick six, and Nick shook, the Eagles are in first place as a result. It was ugly, but I don't think this Eagle team could win or hit their first. one of the year any other way than in ugly fashion against a team that was, you know,

I don't know if it was equally a shorthanded, probably more short-handed. The Eagles have had their own rash of injuries, of course. I mean, we saw who scored, you know, a touchdown tonight, a guy who has no statistics recorded prior to tonight in Travis Fulgum. So an interesting game, an exciting game at the end, sure, if you thought that Bethard could actually throw it to the end zone. But, hey, the Eagles are off the Schneid, right? He did throw it to the end zone.

Bethard got, I mean, it is crazy that after the Eagles kind of sat on the ball and didn't pick up a third and nine, Bethard, after replacing Nick Mullins, and we can, you know, get into Nick Mullins just having a nightmarish night from the first, from the jump. I mean, he missed his first two throws by a mile, including what could have been a monster one to use check. And Bethard put a Hail Mary up there from about the 35, 40, that, that, that, literally hit George Kittle and Debo Samuel in the hands. So it's like it was that close, but the Eagles almost felt like they deserved this one. I don't know.

The way the defense got after Nick Mullen's was pretty good. And it just felt like a miracle, the two long drives that they did have on offense, the touchdown drive in the first half and the field goal drive to start the second half, which took about eight minutes. It just felt like that was such an achievement for them that it was like, okay, enjoy your first place. You're one two and one, Eagles fans. I thought coming out of the half that the Niners,

they put together this drive, you know, that third quarter was one of those almost rare quarters where only two drives would have occupied in the entire period, but there was a little bit of a third one in there. But the Niners had a touchdown drive that covered 75 yards that I thought was sort of a Kyle Shanahan, an almost Nick Mullen special, where there was a bullet to Brandon Ayuk,

McKinnon got involved, There was a classic nod to Mike Shanahan with a shuffle pass that John Elway used to run with the Broncos back in the 90s. And then everything fell apart from there. It was followed by a punt, the fumble, the interception, the quarterback switch, and there you go. Niners could not get it done. I, you know, they go up 1814 when Wentz connects with Fulgum for 42 yards, then the pick six. and the game looks like it's effectively done at that point, 25-14. Bethard comes in and gives the Niners a spark.

And after on-side kick recovery, I just, you know, especially with Doug Peterson, a guy who helped bring the league along and being aggressive on fourth down, I didn't understand the way they played that. They ran the ball for a yard. They ran the ball for no gain. And then Wentz did that annoying little thing where the quarterback takes the snap and then scrambles and then slides down like Michael Strahan's chasing him for the sack

record, you know, not being aggressive, whereas just go get a first down. Just go get a first down and show some gumption. But I guess Doug Peterson is that's where he's at with his offense. Even coming off the touchdown pass on the drive before, there was three and a half quarters of evidence saying that Philadelphia is not an offense to be trusted right now. But, you know, they got away with it, but it was definitely a closer call than it should have been. But that shouldn't, that doesn't kind of mar the night for me, especially since they still won. I think it's commendable. Carson Wentz has gotten a ton of heat this year and he's deserved some of it because he hasn't played well. But yeah, he is really dealing, it's got a stack deck against him. And, you know,

the offensive line is beat up right now. His left tackle was in and out of the lineup, the wide receivers. So many pieces are missing and it just seems like such a challenge. Even against an injury depleted 49ers defense, it was very difficult to find receivers who were open. So you give one's credit for hanging in there and keeping this game close and then making the big strike to take control. One, he's got Adrian Killens in there. You've got Travis Fulgum. I would say if you're going to use Jailen Hertz, that's fine. But have those plays make sense. The offense to me, the Eagles offense, like pretty much post Frank Reich, but I'll just speak about this night like I don't think they kind of know what they want to be and maybe they can't

with the personnel in there but like Miles Sanders to me like I'm not nearly as impressed with this guy as some people around the country seem to be like they when they were dominant back when they went to the Super Bowl I think the thing that is forgotten because they'd never been that way since they had a pounding run game that would beat people up down the stretch they were the third best run game in the league and that's completely absent right now I mean I think that's kind of indicative of the fact that they've lost so much in the office line. I mean, not having Brandon Brooks is a big deal. Having to shift Jason Peters over is a big deal, having to figure out what they do with left guard. But they weren't last year either. Like, you know. They were right. Right. I mean, they weren't this banged up there. I mean, they, I think they think this is a, this is a freaking miracle that they just won a game without, you know, you mentioned Lane Johnson coming in and out. So four of their five offensive linemen were out. Their top receivers were Fulham. Greg Ward was kind of their number one. You got Richard.

Richard Rogers coming over from Green Bay. You got High Tower, your fifth round pick. Their defensive line is totally healthy and was deep. And to me, it was the difference in this game. You know, Brandon Graham was killing Mike McGlinchie. Those are two starters, actually. McGlinchie is the 49er starter. Josh Sweat made plays.

Like, up and down their bench, that was kind of the most dominant part of this game. But Mullins also kind of just didn't show up. Yeah, I think Mullins is the big takeaway for me here. I think they lost the game because of Nick Mullins. It stinks to put it on one player, but when it's the quarterback, that's the way sometimes things go in football. Because you look at this team, and if I'm a Niners fan, I'm bummed because I'm two and two now. But at the same time, you see the pieces are there. George Kittle came back and is absolutely just such a dominant player.

He's the toughest tackle in football. Debo Samuel is back in the lineup, and he made some plays. He just looks different, and he's big and he's fast. And then Brandi Diouc, you saw he thought. flash that special ability on the touchdown. Once Jimmy G. gets back in there, I think the Niners are going to be okay and continue to hang in the race, but it doesn't make this loss any easier to swell because you're at home against the injury ravaged Eagles team and you don't find a way to get it done.

Yeah, you know, going back to that Eagles offense point, it felt kind of like they, you know, Doug Peterson's just searching for something. Right. The whole Jalen Hurts insertion and everything they tried with him, they try to basically double pass and he turned to throw it and it was obviously covered because you had an idea of what they were going for with Hertz lined about what it just it just feels like they're searching and they're trying to find something that sticks they're throwing everything at the wall and they finally get a win so i mean it is it's it's a boost for them because going back to philly

03 and one would have been really difficult especially against a team that's quarterback by nick ballins and then later c j bethard so you get you obviously give them credit to the defense like you said but it's still going forward it's going to be tough and they have to play the ravens and the steelers coming up next everyone in the nmcc's counts a little extra, though. This was kind of a perfect example, though, part of what is 2020 football. I think it's been a little underreported almost, or just the level of injuries is outrageous. They're just, this isn't normal to have entire teams ravage. Like, we're kind of getting on the 49ers for not beating this injury banged up Eagles team.

But 49ers are missing nine or 10 starters, and so are the Eagles. Like, that is rare. And there's about six or seven teams that are like that. And even the teams that are kind of healthy, it's like, you know, the Browns lose Ogonjobie and Chubb today. Even during this game, the 49ers lose Zigianza sounds like to a biceps injury maybe for the season. It's like they got Dion Jordan. They're picking up lottery guys that were out of the league and just like putting them right in.

And it's kind of the story of the league right now. There are some teams that are just so wiped out. It's a little hard to even like make an evaluation of any of these teams. Right. But I think, Greg, I think we, like, people widely praised the Niners for being super injured and pounding two bad New York teams. They played a banged up team tonight and they lost. So it's like, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if the statistically there are more injuries or not. It seems like there are, but I feel like we have this conversation every year. There are in terms of like multiple, multiple guys. In terms of like half of a team of starters being out on like five teams, it's, that never happened. So I guess I'm just giving the 49ers fans.

They're going to get some people back, like Dan said. The cavalry is coming. They went two and two. If you can beat the dolphins next week, you're three and two. I mean, you've also picked the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl. So you've got both fan bases on the Greg Rosenthal side here. We know how this works. There's going to be a little campaign.

Greg does this with two or three teams a week. Tries to reach out to their fan base on Twitter. Dan knows what I just like football. What are you talking about? No, we all like football. I picked the 49ers to, uh, miss the playoffs i'm sorry you're here for this nick did did we get a mention of saints twitter yet exactly we got to start ringing a bell for that hey shook i want to thank you for doing the

show i know obviously this has been a tough time for you after uh the indians crapped the bet against the yankees in the playoffs or you know another year tough tough stitch for you but you're a good sport for coming on the show well you know dan if we could ever level the playing field in terms of salary uh spending uh for for rosters you know maybe a salary cap or or better revenue sharing or, oh, I don't know, something to compare the payrolls at all, well, then maybe we'd be on an even playing field and then we could talk seriously. But, you know, the idiots always undermanned in terms of finances, even if their owners turn a $30 million a year profit, give or take.

You've got to get an owner who spent some money. They're never going to spend money here. It's a deep conversation that we cannot do on this podcast. The last time they spent money was when I was a kid in the 90s with the Jacobs, and those guys are long gone. It's tough. Your Sy Young winner's got to do better than that, though, in that spot. Well, I would agree.

Go ahead or the latter. Yeah, just to let him allow, allow Nick to enjoy one of the rare Brown's victories of his lifetime versus bringing up stale Indians news. I am a Jets fan. You're a Yankees fan. Maybe this is my chance to have something nice in my life. Maybe it all balances out a little bit.

I mean, I feel like the Yankees are a pretty nice thing to have in your life in general as a Yeah, yeah, it must be nice, you know, to be able to look back on a few World Series in your lifetime, unlike I have to go back to my great-grandfather to find the Indians' last World Series. And you know what? One more thing. The Browns, like you said, Mark, the Browns, they're now three and one for the first time since 2001. They opened that season with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, 9 to 6 at Cleveland Brown Stadium. Ricky Waters was on that roster, among other people.

I opened 2001 by playing flag football on the field at Cleveland Brown Stadium. That's how long it's been since the Browns were in any shape of contention at this point in the regular season. I was in fourth grade. It's all changing, though. It's been a while. Lots changing. It's important. It's important to get yourself worth from whether your team succeeds or not.

So this is big. Like, this is what's going to make you rise. Imagine if we all had the clarity that Greg has on all things in life. Yeah. What a blessing it must be to be Greg. You know, you've got like 86 titles under your own. I didn't do anything. for them. They give me nothing.

We'll reach that level of stoicism after understanding what any success feels like at all. The guy's just on a higher plane living. It's vision over visibility with Greg. I'm just saying, don't let these losers control you when they're being losers. You're a winner, Shuck. All four of us are winners here.

Sometimes an organization is just a bunch of losers. And when they are, you recognize it. Our colleague, you have a nice Browns team, and you're nice. Our psychologist, Greg Rosenthal. That's very L.A. of you, Greg. All right. Let's go out of here. Shook, thank you again for being our tag team partner here on Sunday nights. You're a great value add to the show. And we'll be back on Tuesday with an action-packed around the NFL podcast breaking down, not one but two games, including Chiefs Patriots. The last word I'll give to Al Michaels, or I should say Chris Collinsworth, who said in response to, Al saying, our buddies, Jim Nance, and Tony Romo are still in Kansas City.

Collinsworth replies, so Romo is going to do Monday night after all, which just slayed Al. Because Al, of course, is involved in the Monday night courtship, supposedly, reportedly in the off season. All right, that's it. Dan Hansa, signing off for Quiet Storm. Nick Shook, the mailman, the old boss and Ricky Hollywood, behind the virtual glass. Until Tuesday. This is an I-heart podcast.