NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2021 Week 5 Recap & Leaving London

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

A virtual hotel room in London filled with some heroes, and some virtual ones from back in the states sprinkled in, as well! We recap every game from Week 5 starting with the game of missed kicks between Green Bay and Cincinnati. The Jets lost in London, Trey Lance made his debut, and Nick Shook joins to talk about the game of the year so far with the Browns falling to the Chargers. Justin Graver and Shook handle the Sunday Night Football recap as the heroes in London get ready to return home. 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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast still can't get to sleep. From, that is true, from beautiful London, England. For the last time, it's the Around the NFL podcast. Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal, Ricky Hollywood.

It's not our last show. It's our last show in London for now. And it's the flagship program and it's not going to be just us handling the games. Nick Shook, as he always does, is going to help us out. But because of the late time here, we're taping around 1.30 a.m. Here, London time. Shook and Gravedigger will handle the great Sunday night football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.

and Greg, we're going to get to all the games like we always do. But your thoughts after what has been a real whirlwind here in England, what a time we've had. It's been insane. I mean, if it's our last show, we're going out on top. We're going out with a lot of energy. We're going to fake it until we make it. What a long day, but a rewarding day.

It started with us at the stadium at 9.30 local time. And as you mentioned, getting back. back after midnight, you know, talking with some of the fans there and we'll get to all of, all of the sights and scenes. But it was special. Chris Wessling, our friend, you know, being remembered on the big board. We'll talk about that. But that's what I'm going to remember for the rest of my life from this trip, more than anything that happened between the Jets and the Falcons. Yeah, Jets Falcons. We were at the game today, and we're going to get to that just a little bit from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Yeah, there was a tribute on the big screen for Chris Wessling, our friend that we lost in February. And we also got to talk about Wes with MJD and a on-field host whose name escapes me. Maybe it was Sam. I don't know. Sam Quack. And that was special and kind of surreal

with 65,000 people in that building. So, yeah, we're going to get to, we'll talk, we'll pepper in some. of our memories of this trip throughout the show. But yes, we know what the majority of you are here for, which is to get to the action of week five. And, yeah, the game of the day, the game that everyone will remember,

the game that will be on every top 10 list, was that showdown in Los Angeles between the Chargers and Browns. We're going to get to that when Shook joins us. But let's start with another weird and memorable game. This one took place in West's hometown of Cincinnati. 49-yard field goal attempt for Mason Crosby, who's missed three in a row in this game. Snap and placement.

Here's the kick. It is out. It is good. Mason Crosby got it done. Fourth time a charm. Fourth time a charm for Mason Crosby. And the Packers win in overtime. Wayne Larravey with Larry McCarran.

Exhaling as well, I believe. WTMJ. Mason Crosby missed three straight potential winning field goal attempts. That is not, I didn't misspeak there. Before hitting a 49-yard or an overtime to lift the Packers to a 25-22 win over the Bengals. Cincinnati's kicker had his own issues. Evan McPherson, the rookie who had won two of the first four games of the season for the Bengals, missed two field goals of his own late in the fourth quarter and overtime.

time. The last one sailed straight left, went straight, then hooked left hard and hit the flag on the wrong side of the upright. And Greg, before I throw it to you, this was a situation, five missed kicks in a period of about eight or nine game minutes. It was kind of unprecedented. I just want to hear from McPherson, who was celebrating winning the game on the field and had to be grabbed by his own team, and they were like, bro, you missed. Here's McPherson after the game. For me, what I saw is I struck it really well. and I saw it going right down the middle. So, I mean, I couldn't really tell you.

Maybe a big gust of win caught it right at the last second. But I struck it well. And honestly, I thought the rest were playing a game with us whenever I saw. I looked down there and they were doing the no good motion. Honestly, thought they were playing a game because I struck it really well and I was real confident. That would have been a really mean trick, Greg, if the revenues were just messing with them. But that is not the case. The Packers survived.

I would love it if officials just did that every once in a while. just kind of mess with players' minds just because they're bored. Maybe it makes sense that the wind took it wide because Mason Crosby talked to Peter King while we were on Sky Sports, so we heard that second hand that he thought there was a crosswind

that affected a lot of these kicks. And that McPherson one especially looked good and on a day where before we even got into the stadium, we were walking around doing these little events, and I saw a Bengals fan. probably like a sad man ultimately, but a hopeful man wearing an Evan McPherson jersey to the game. I could have sworn I saw two Evan McPherson jerseys at the game, but maybe I just saw the same guy. Well, the other guy was Evan McPherson.

He had just left his other cleats in the car and he had run back inside. It's a shame, but this game was so good from the first minute. Devante Adams is having one of those games, making everything look so easy, dimes from Aaron Rogers. But what always gets me fired up and you were sitting next to me during this stand was like have some stones, Zach Taylor. Have some stones, Matt LaFleur. You guys are both repeatedly playing to your kicker instead of playing to your quarterback. And maybe Joe Burrow hasn't totally earned that right. He did throw up a pretty ghastly interception that should have ended the game on the first possession of overtime. But on the other side, it's Aaron Rogers. One of those possessions, he literally didn't throw the ball. He handed it off twice for negative. to five yards before Crosby missed one of his kicks. So it's crazy that in this era of like ultra-analytics and like everyone is looking for these small edges that even the smartest young coaches, and I'd put Lafleur in that group, seemed to really blow it with this, you know, game management and still playing

so conservative in these moments playing to long kicks. Yeah, I thought, and it can happen to veteran coaches, rookie coaches, obviously, sometimes the moment a game gets weird it gets late in the game the stakes are high and you start coaching a little tight and then I thought that's what we saw

from both coaches in this game but especially what happened sending Crosby out there but I will say this sending them out there for the 49 yard around 4th and inches when your quarterback's Aaron Rogers we first guessed the move

and then of course he put it through still doesn't mean it was the right move but it does show that the Packers The five before that or four of them before that. So we were right on those. But like Mason Crosby is a guy, they love Mason Crosby. He's been there forever. I think he had hit 28 in a row before the first miss.

So things were very strange, obviously. And I do buy into the wind situation. You could see it on some of those kicks where the ball just went fooof, hook into the left on one side of the field. But, you know, I thought this was for the Packers again. They're four and one, which is where they expected to be through five games, right? that range. And the, but for Cincinnati, this one hurts a lot because I think it was an emotional,

exciting, uh, win on Thursday night, uh, 10 days ago, but it was against obviously the Jaguars. Uh, still there was a lot of excitement. If you found a way to win this game and they came so close, uh, they become one of the bigger stories in football. And I still think they can be because there's a lot of exciting players on this team. And they seem to be going in the right direction, but not being able to finish this could haunt them.

it hurts it was insane i mean the last two seasons crosbie's missed only two field goals and then he missed three consecutive today like that it's like worth betting on him but in this situation it was it was so wild and i think it's also important to well right i mean you know like having a hunch um i also think it's important to note that joe burrow went to the hospital with like a constricted throat that he played through most of the game with that they're saying now like that's insane L'O reported on Football Night in America that they think it's not going to be a major issue. So that is good to hear, although you never know. It's still early, but it sounds like he's not going to spend too much time there, and he'll be out.

And that's great. And it was the game. If you didn't hit this point already that, like, man, Jamar Chase is special and he attacks those balls. The catch he made in overtime would have been what we led the entire show with. I think if McPherson had just hit that kick because he is coming up with a special player too now every week in justifying that draft pick and then some. Yeah, he's been really special.

And what he wants to be is what Devante Adams is now, 206 yards on 11 catches. So Packers in a good spot. Bengals, very disappointing. Got some bad luck there. They will be okay, but they're not the story. Let's now move to the story here in England, the game that we were at.

here today. Going to hand the ball to Davis, and Mike Davis keeps driving toward the goal line and into the end zone. Mike Davis with 219 to play, gets his first rushing scores of Falcon. Westerm, WZGC, with the call. The Falcons fly high over Great Britain. Mike Davis plunged in with a clinching score late in the fourth quarter, lifting Atlanta, to a 27-20 win over the New York Jets

at a loud and festive Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium in London. Yes, we were at the game. And I, you know, credit to the Falcons, they played a much better game than the Jets on both sides of the ball. On offense, they played better. On defense, they played better. When the Jets got back into the game in the second half,

the Falcons answered with the scoring drive, ended with the Mike Davis. touchdown. So they just deserve the win. Frankly, 27 to 20 doesn't really tell the story of this game. The Jets were dominated in all phases. And, you know, I think the story of two quarterbacks, Matt Ryan, a guy who a lot of people see, including myself, and I think Greg, you would, you would feel the same way. He's not the same guy anymore. He's not the MVP level talent anymore. But this game was a nice reminder that he is a very effective veteran quarterback. And when he's having a good day like he was today. You could see how he's just in control of the action. And,

you know, on the opposite side of that spectrum is Zach Wilson, who the Jets believed took a big step forward. And he did against the Titans in week four. But then you're reminded, oh, man, when you're supporting a rookie quarterback, these things can happen. He struggled throughout the game, missing throws, looking a little bit spooked. And that was the story of the game to me. The Jets couldn't stop Matt Ryan. Zach Wilson could not get it going. I mean, he threw some groaners. He threw some groaners last week, to be fair. He had more turnover-worthy plays,

according to PFF, against Tennessee, than in any game this season. And he just hit the big place, and that's what he's going to have to do to survive this rookie season, because right now he's lost. I mean, he's mentally not there. I think Dean Peas cooked him up.

He's missing some pretty easy throws here and there, but I'm thinking of the biggest play that they had offensively was that pass interference, which was a negative-graded play by Zach Wilson. and he rolls out, he waits way too long on the throw and then he's a little underthrown on that throw and gets the PI, but that's to me indicative where he's just processing so slow

that the rest of the team can't make up for. Defense playing fine, special teams playing fine. The crowd's going crazy. I mean, the Falcons, they pretended like this is a home game for them. They get one less home game in Atlanta this year, but the Jets crowd had to have been three or four to one. And when the Jets hit that two-point conversion to cut it to seven late in the game.

It was rocking. It is really a Super Bowl atmosphere in London, which is so weird because it's Jets Falcons. Or it's any regular season game where it's at a neutral site. And it's really that loud, and it's kind of amazing. The difference is when the Falcons scored the touchdown coming back,

they cheer for that too because they just want some action. And like that's good. Yeah, I just like that stuff. And, you know, I thought as someone who is, been following football for 30 years and the Jets have not been to the Super Bowl in over 50 years so you can do the math there. This felt

like the closest I've ever been to the Jets in the big game. The vibe at the stadium was just so fun and you know you had all the big banners everywhere and there was giant photos of Quinn and Williams and James and Crowder and Zach Wilson of course on the walls and also

Falcons players with a huge billboard and poster outside of a stadium. Imagine that. And I think you know, I'll just say this, anybody who's ever thought, and I'm not part of the tourism board for England or on the payroll for the NFL. Actually, I am. But not for this particular reason. It is such a great vibe and a great environment to go to these games. So if I go the rest of my life without having seen the Jets win the Super Bowl or go to a Super Bowl, I at least kind of got a vibe of what it's kind of like to be at the center of attention. There's only one game in town. And that was just a really cool, cool thing to be a part of. So if your team is playing overseas and more teams will be in the coming years according to some changes and how they're going to do the scheduling, get here if you can because it really is a unique fun experience. It's like the Super Bowl if people just wear Matt Schaub, you know, jerseys or Tedgin jerseys or James Devlin

jerseys or like Brandon Cooks on the Saints jerseys. You just see so many Bortles. jerseys, literally three, at least four Bortles jerseys, like it just is, it's crazy, but it's also it's so pure. Everyone's in their seats like an hour before the game. Everyone's staying in their seats until the very end, even when it's kind of over

and staying in afterwards. It's awesome. We got to meet so many cool people today too, which was so awesome. Like the atmosphere of the game was just so much fun being all together and being all together to see like a sold-out stadium you know, honor Chris like that was just like moving to tears and there were like, you know, high moments and low moments where, you know, Zach Wilson hits his own player in the head with

the ball. And then there's another moment where Cordrell Patterson, like stiff arm punches someone so close to me and Greg that me and Greg start like fake punching each other in the air. And then I think Greg, you also chirped at like Young Wayku and he threw his helmet. I mean, I definitely did not chirp at Young Wayku. But yeah. Why did you do that, Greg? Stay out of the action. The Jets had a nice return, and I was just getting into the moment, and it was just like, like, I don't even know. Like, let's go or, like, yeah, or something.

And Yung Weakou is, like, storming past, and he threw his helmet. That was a bad way. Yeah, we were stationed right behind the Falcons bench, and we were doing live hits throughout the game on Sky Sports with Hannah Wilkes, who's a great woman. And we just, it was just great. experience it. But I just, I mean, come on. I mean, hey, Jets, how about this? How about you have a special setting here? You can't get it to the Super Bowl in 50 years. But how about we show up and get off the plane in this game? It's just, come on, why? When I get an entire week of people laughing and making Jets jokes about why are the Jets here, the Jets stink, you know, they're going to be so bad,

they're going to be boring to watch, how about you show up and he put together an effort that gets people excited and makes people think what you want people to think, which is we're different now because all you did today was reinforce what everybody thought they already knew, which is you stink and you're not getting better. Bad job by the Jets today. Very frustrating to be there and watch it, but didn't ruin my weekend. Almost did though. No, I feel like even like this whole podcast is almost like the games for us was almost a side side event to everything thing that happened at the stadium. Yeah, the game didn't matter.

Get off the plane jets. Like, you don't even have a first down. The Falcons have, I think, 15 first downs. Like, all you got to do is compete. Kyle Pitts is nasty, though. He is so fluid and he cannot be covered. And people that were waiting for him to break out, haven't watched

them play every week because those catches that he's made every week in the past. It's the Falcons. I mean, he is a great player, Kyle Pitts. And he was overdue for a breakout game. That was fun. Just compete. Don't embarrass the Jets fans there That just want to be happy

I'm so sick of it Let's move on Oh the Wesslings Locked up the Falcons Good job by you guys Oh yeah We will we will at the end of the show I think we'll talk about

What the rest of the day is like We want to hit all the games too And we'll talk about Chris And everything at length At the end if you want We got it Greg And I locked up the Packers So

On the Bengals So Eden Wessling Brothers Let's move on A lot of It was not secondary for me. A lot of lucky kicks have gotten your way. Snap to Kyler. He throws a big left side of the end zone.

And it is caught for a touchdown by D.Hop. D. Hopp caught it with Josh Norman draped all over him, trying to pull the ball away. They lift D'Andre Hopkins up in celebration after an incredible grab for a touchdown. There he is. Nuk had been a little quiet this year, at least since the week one. Not today. Late in the game. That was Dave Pasch.

K-T-A-R with the call. The Cardinals, they're 5-0 for the first time since 1974. A big-time defensive performance in a 17-10 win over the Niners. Hopkins 9-yard touchdown catch with 513 remaining. That was it. That gave him the win. That locked it up. And Greg, this was Trey Lance's debut as a starter.

Pretty up and down, maybe a little more down than up. And it's just, I guess, a reminder, again, and this isn't to, you know, get after Kyle Shanahan because he's in a tough situation, just like Robert Sala and Michael Ford and the Jets are. You have a rookie quarterback. There's going to be growing pains. But they're not, this offense is not just going to flip a switch, I guess, no matter who's quarterbacking. They have a lot of work to do. And who is quarterbacking, according to Kyle Shanahan is probably going to be Jimmy Garapolo. You know, I read one quote from Shanahan and thought, oh, maybe he will say.

stick with Lance after this because he said in this game, I thought Tray Lance played well enough to win and we didn't help him. And that's the type of thing you say about, you know, a guy that you want to keep going. But then he also said, Jimmy Garapolo's still going to be our starting quarterback when he's healthy and that he anticipated to be healthy coming out of their byweek. They're off next week. And so, I don't know. Kyle Shane, Ann, you never know what to trust out of him. But Tray Lance in the 49ers offense was kind of like the, the anti-chargers. took the Chargers attitude of always going for it on fourth down, they just never converted them. Four of their drives ended on downs, failed fourth down conversion. So they moved the ball

pretty well. It didn't look like two uneven teams, and it felt like the game came down to those fourth downs, especially that stop on the goal line. That was one of the better defensive plays we saw all day. Oh, that was a wonderful play, and it was the key play in the game. Lance rolls to his right, makes a B-line for the pylon, and he gets hit. It's like he hit a wall. two Arizona defenders, and he crumples just short of the goal line. And obviously, that played a major role in how this game turned out. Lance finished 15 of 29, 192 yards, one pick. He also led the team with 89 yards rushing.

And I guess, listen, if the decision here is that Trey Lance or Trey Lance, as he's known here in English, is just not ready. And Kyle doesn't feel like he could trust them even to run a basic game plan. or Kyle Shannon's like, I don't want to run my most basic game plan. I'd rather run it with Jimmy G. Even if Jimmy G isn't nearly as dynamic. I see that side of it,

but it's like you're trading one low ceiling for another. And if you at least play Lons and give them the chance to get some Ritz. They say Lanz. They say Lanz. We asked around, remember? No, it's Trey Lantz. Trey Lons. It's officially. If you at least give him a chance,

chance to get some reps maybe that ceiling can you give him a chance play lawns i thought he would help the rest of the running game what time is it bust out 140 yeah it's uh they ran for 50 yards other than his run he ran the ball 16 times i mean he is gonna that is a tough way to play quarterback and he ran it for 86 yards but the rest of the guys they didn't get the running game going all right we're going to take a break and after we do we're going to talk to nixie Hey, this is Matt Jones. And I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

You get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development

to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision-makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year.

Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Shotgun snap. Baker rolling under pressure, escapes, heaves downfield. There is a scrum of players, and it falls incomplete.

No flags. No flags. Oh, the bongos for. One of the games of the year. Chook, jump, chook, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe. Yes, it happens every once in a while. I remember it happened in Mexico City. A couple of years back, two offenses that are high-powered,

kind of start getting on a roll, and then the defense would just leave the building, and you just start going back and forth, and insanity ensues. And that's what happened. at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, a 47-42 win for the Chargers over the Browns in a game in which shook the go-ahead touchdown. What proved to be the game-winning touchdown was a touchdown that the Chargers didn't even want to score. Austin Eccler was pulled into the end zone by the Browns. Cleveland had one more chance, a little deliberate, I thought, overly deliberate on that last drive, and I thought it cost them.

Yeah, it cost them. And the drive prior cost them as well, you know, trying to hang on to a one-point. lead after Tristan Viscano missed the extra point. And playing not to lose, I think, you know, not really getting aggressive, handing it off on first down, you know, throwing on second down, ill-fated pass, and then just basically conceding it off on third down and punting the ball away. You know, there's a lot of consternation in Cleveland with their punter and how he's nicknamed the Scottish Hammer, but he doesn't boom punts like other punters do, and he didn't help

him there. But it was more than that. This is a high-flying game. This is a game, like you said, where the defense has left the building. The Browns, a lot of their defense left via injury, and they were left. with an undrafted free agent playing one corner. They had to move Troy Hill outside when he was signed to play slot corner. And Justin Herbert carved him up.

They had a couple blown coverages for long touchdowns to Mike Williams. And the fourth corner quarter was just an absolute explosion of points. You know, you couldn't look away because before you knew it, another team was in the end zone. In different methods, the Brown's not one to hit the big play through the air necessarily, but they hit one to David Nijoku. A crazy game. I think the leader for the game of the year so far. and one that tells you a lot, I think, about the Chargers

and the state of the franchise with Justin Herbert in his second year. And a disappointing one for Browns fans, but they should also feel somewhat good about the fact that their offense put up 42 points. Dude, the Chargers had 26 points in the fourth quarter. The Browns had 15 of their own. 26 plus 15, 26 plus 15, 46 plus 15, 41 points in one quarter. I mean, that does not happen very often. No, it doesn't.

It doesn't, in today's game, even though it's a past first league, you expect to see some more defense. It's funny because the Browns had allowed 20 points in the last 10 quarters going into this game, and they got to stop in the first possession, and then they couldn't really do much from there on out. I mean, Justin Herbert's awesome. We all know this. He's incredible. But, yeah, a lackluster performance from them on the defensive side of the ball. And when they had the ball, they trusted their running game.

They rushed for 222 yards between Nick Chub and Kareem Hunt. I mean, that's pretty solid, but it wasn't enough to win a game. Right. It's crazy to not win a game where they run for that much, where they put up that many points. And it's just... 300 yards from Baker, too. It's just Herbert stacking up his MVP case.

A little early for that, but he's certainly one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now. And it's just a reminder, like, I fall for it too. After watching that Brown's game on game pass, I thought against the Vikings, the defensive performance. I thought that was the best defensive performance they've seen all. season and maybe the next best was the last Browns game but great offense beats great defense and I think losing Clowny you know before the game but especially losing Denzel Ward because I think when

you watch those last couple Browns games to me Denzo Ward brings that secondary together he's a special cornerback who is playing at his best and him being out suddenly okay you're just a defense and you know what just the defense can give up 40 points to the Chargers and end up losing this game yeah at one At the point, they also lost Greedy Williams down the stretch. It was in the fourth quarter. They were already without Greg Newsom, who wasn't available to play because of injury. You know, these are guys, this was Shades of last year's Browns, with Andrewsend Dayhull giving up deep passes over the middle.

It's just the difference was they lacked corners instead of lacking safeties this time around. And Justin Herbert, you give him a ton of credit. I mean, he absolutely capitalized no matter who he was throwing to. But the biggest thing for me, and this is in watching the Chargers on Monday night last week. And today, they're a different beast offensively. and Echler's involved, and he was a key part of that offense today. So, you know, in the third quarter, I guess this would be early in the third quarter, the teams trade three punts in a row.

Brown's punt twice, Chargers sandwich, a punt in there. And then from that point onward, you had Chargers touchdown. Four place, 61 yards, 129 game clock. Brown's touchdown, two plays 78 yards, 42 seconds. Chargers touchdown, 11 place 75 yards, 3 minutes, 16 seconds. Brown's touchdown, 5 place 75 yards, 2 minutes, 39 seconds. Chargers touchdown, 6 place, 75 yards, 130. And that's when Viscayano missed the extra point and shook.

That is an excellent point you made to start. It's frustrating as it must be for you and our birthday boy, Mark Sessler. When Viscayano hooks that and he just gagged it, at 42, 41 hooks it left, I don't think there's any way the Browns play it that safe, obviously, if it's 42 all. But because they had the lead, and I think Stafansky in general has been brilliant for them, he had a 700 winning percentage entering this game as head coach in two years. But I think he kind of outsmarted himself, or again, in a big moment, sometimes this happens, a coach kind of gets a little tight.

You couldn't play it that way, given everything I just laid out in terms of the scoring. You can't give the charges the ball back, and what happens? five plays, 48 yards, another touchdown in 31 seconds by L.A. Yeah, absolutely. You know, the previous drive, which they capped off with the Kareem Hunt rushing touchdown, I thought when they got the ball in their own territory, I said, well, there's about seven minutes left. If this is the Browns who've closed out a lot of victories in the last year,

they're going to pound the run down the field, bleed clock, and give the ball back to the charges with two minutes or less and hope that the defense can hang on. And having that, you know, that was before the charges came down and tied it and then missed the extra point. and instead they go right down the field because the chargers can't stop the run. So the question is, first off, why is Nick Chubb not on the field? Because the first handoff was to Kareem Hunt.

And then the second one was a pass that Baker Mayfield, you know, it wasn't really an errant throw. It wasn't really an errant throw. It was just well defended. And then third down, they just basically conceded that they were going to punt on the next down by handing it off to Kareem Hunt. Why is Nick Chub not involved to try to, I mean, the guy finished with 87 rush yards over expectation. He's obviously breaking tackles and getting more out of a play than is expected. Why is he not on the field and involved?

That's one of the questions you have to ask him. But really, above all, you've got to be aggressive. In a game where your defense is not showing up, and especially because it's hurt, you have to be aggressive and try and get a couple first downs and take more of that clock off, and they just didn't. You've got to get a stop on fourth down. To me, the fourth down story of the Chargers is the story.

That's their four and one record. They're three for three on fourth downs in this game, including one deep in their own end zone. You know, deep in their end, like the 40-yard line late in the game. Another one was a fourth and seven. It's not like it was a short fourth down. They get the PI on one. They convert another,

and I still remember that OBJ drop on fourth down early in the game. And the Browns hit one too for a touchdown, but it's just uncanny how many extra possessions and extra points the charges are getting off fourth downs this year. Yeah, they got a lot of credit for being two very well-coached teams. A lot of people online after the Browns even pulled them into the end zone to let them score and try to get the ball back. These are very two well-coached teams,

two coaches that are on the first. forefront of thinking ahead analytically. Their Twitter popular teams for sure. Yes, exactly. But ultimately, that was the difference. One team that likes to go, both teams like to go for on fourth down, one team converted. The other one didn't. And that's what gave the Chargers extra opportunities that they converted into points. Now, Browns fans, of course, are going to make a big stink about the PI that you mentioned. And I think it could have gone either way. It was kind of even hand, you know, polling and everything else. If anything, it's a no call, that's fine. I hated that call. But guess what? Football games aren't won.

by one flag, especially a game like this. So that's not going to determine the outcome of the game. Right. By the end of the fourth quarter, as frustrating as that was, and it was a very important call, it was still all there for the Browns, and they got a little gun-shy. And, you know, so the Chargers, they're four-and-one,

and they are on both sides of the ball. You know, if they put it together, they're going to be hard to beat. And I feel the same way about the Brown-Chuky, even though the defense didn't show up again, these things happen sometimes, and they were all beat up with injuries. But we've seen,

even though they're three and two, and they got the undefeated Cardinals up next, which will be a big test. We've seen how good they could be on offense. We've seen how good they could be on defense. If they could just put it together, look out. So I think as frustrating as this loss is, still the Browns are a team to reckon with. Let's move on. Brady drops, pressure coming, gets the pass. Oh, he caught ball 50.

Out of foot race to the 40. It's at Antonio Brown to the 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchouts, Tampa Bay. Antonio Brown takes it to the north end zone. Fire the canons. Jane Deckerhoff. WFUS with the call. Tom Brady threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns.

He never did that before. Is that same impossible? He never did. 405. Like exactly 405? I mean, or how does that? 400 or more. Brady threw for 400 yards with five touchdowns in the same game for the first time in his 22-year career.

True story. Anyway, Antonio Brown continues to be a major playmaker, and the Super Bowl champs route the Dolphins, 45-17 shook. The Dolphins were hanging tight early in this game, but then gravity took hold. Yeah, hanging tight actually through the start of the fourth quarter and gave up a four-net touchdown run. And then from there, I kind of sat back and chuckled because as soon as the Buccaneers got the ball back, they were not taking their foot off the gas. It was to the point where I was like, they're just disrespectful with how they have no fear in an opposing team's ability to come back. You think they were showing up the Dolphins?

Is that what you said? No, no, not at all. I don't think it was that. I just think that they're a team that succeeds by throwing the ball and they were succeeding at a very high level, especially in the fourth quarter. You know, they had three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Two of them were touchdown passes to Mike Evans of 22 yards or more. It was 22 and 34. They couldn't be stopped through the air, so I couldn't blame them at all for continuing to air it out.

But it showed you their explosiveness. It started with Antonio Brown, like you mentioned. He looked as good today as he has since his Pittsburgh days. His first catch was a 62-year- or his first touchdown catch was a 62-yard touchdown reception where he basically caught it at the numbers, broke outside by two defenders, and just outran them to the end zone. I mean, it looked like there was a jetpack strapped to his back. He just burned everybody down the sideline.

And that kind of tells you who this offense is in terms of explosion. Because you know what you get in Tom Brady. You have somebody who is a master of pre-snap. reads and get the ball out on time to open guys. And when you leave them open, now this is a defense that has two good corners in Xavier and Howard and Byron Jones made them look like he was nothing. The second touchdown passed Antonio Brown was a hard slain out of a Trips bunch set where he just they basically ran Xavier and Howard through traffic. And all he had to do was hit Antonio Brown on the chest for a touchdown. And of course he's going to catch it. A complete performance

from them, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Brady looking as good as ever, even at his advanced age. And this is, you know, after two weeks of a little bit of concern about their offense, you know, they can't keep pace with the Rams. They struggle to put up points in the rain in Foxborough. What's going on with the Buccaneers? Nothing. They just needed some nice weather and an ability to run away with the game in the fourth quarter at home. I think they just got to be, you know, in a good situation. They were at home today. This was the most like 20, 20 bucks like game, of any of they've played. Because this is who they were last year. It was just kind of treadwater for much of the game and then bam you score 21 in the fourth or you score 17 in the second they just go avalanche when they go big and the dolphins are now sitting here at one and four and I know no one expected them to win this game but they are 31st in yards and points scored and yards gained and they're 30th in points you know allowed and 30th and yards allowed so they are objectively one of the worst teams in the NFL and and it's

really is a warning it's tough for these defensive coaches who are trying to build teams around their coverages and their in their defenses because when that starts to not work you got nothing left i know they get toa back next week they're coming over here to london but henry hodge and our buddy was worried that he was going to be in the same situation that dan was uh after a uh a difficult london defeat thinking like what where is this season going yeah you know i i give a lot like credit for Jacoby Brissette for playing through that injury, but this is basically who they're going to be. Even with Tua coming back, I don't really see them taking a big step forward when they have the football. Now, they were in this game, and you give them credit for that.

They were competitive until the fourth quarter, but ultimately, I haven't seen a performance from them that tells me that, you know, they had that close one against the Raiders, and that's great. But, like, I haven't seen a performance from them that tells me that they're a legit contender or that they're going to get anywhere near where they were last season. So you're right. It's It's tough to kind of, you know, you think that they don't get after the quarterback that much. Well, they actually, Tom Brady was under pressure a decent amount today, but he was just really good under pressure. And so, you know, there's not a lot to say other than that you hope that they turn around and start heading upward. But it's been a tough stretch for them.

I don't really hope. That's fine. The Dolphins don't get them to lose it, too. A misery enjoys company. All right. So the dolphins needed a win. They didn't get it. The Pittsburgh Steelers needed a win.

Did they against the Broncos? Let's check it out. Bridgewater Couch gets the shotgun snap. He's back on fourth down, throws it for the end zone. Intercepted! And that is J.P.R. And the Steelers intercept on fourth down. The play is an interception by the defense.

First down, Pittsburgh. And they've secured their victory, a much-awaited victory. Bill Hillgrove with the call WDVE, the Broncos. You know, they were down by 18 in the fourth quarter, but then Teddy Bridgewater and the offense got hot. But James Pierre stepped up with 11 seconds to play. End zone interception. Steelers fans, exhale.

Steelers, exhale. You are back of the wind column 27-19, three-game losing streak over and shook the good vibes around the Broncos start. Now starting to get some clouds above mile high. they are now three and two. It looked like in a little bit of the game that I saw here, Shook, that Ben Ralthusberger and the offense made some strides here. Yeah, they finally woke up.

I mean, the Broncos, which they had woken up before the fourth quarter, but the Steelers had some life for the first time offensively all season. You know, we talked about in the last four weeks that they haven't been able to score more than 17 points offensively in a game. They hit that at halftime today. It started with another long touchdown pass from Ben Rathesberger to Deonti Johnson. And it continued from there. And it's funny because as I was watching this game, I thought, man, he's really getting the ball out quickly.

You know, he's not really hanging on to it, not giving his offensive line a lot of time to screw up and get him sacked or, you know, force a turnover. Then he looked up the time to throw stats, next-gen stats. Ben Ruther's the fastest when it comes to time to throw in the entire league over the course of the season. So he's been getting the ball out quickly. It's just a matter of they haven't really got anywhere with it. Well, today they got somewhere with it. He had over 250 passing yards. Get it out quickly when you throw at two yards to Naji Harris every day.

Exactly. Naja Harris had a good game, by the way. His first, like, legitimately strong game, I think, in his career, 23-10-202. Him and Claypool. Yeah, well, and that's the difference, too, is Chase Claypool and Ben Rothesberger finally found their connection that they had that they rode to that hot start last year. I felt like I was back in week six of last season watching them today. He hit him on multiple attempts, long completions. He ended up with five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown over the middle was key because it almost looked like the dagger. And I guess, it ultimately did because the Broncos didn't finish off that comeback attempt. But it was just really encouraging from the Steelers point of view because this is an offense that's been very stuck in the mud and they weren't today. They looked a lot like they did last year and it gives you a little bit of hope that

if they can sustain this, they have a good enough defense to be in most games. If they can sustain this enough to just put up 27 points or so in a game, then they might end up winning more games than when we thought a week ago. It's just a matter of doing that consistently. And it also, you call on a question, question, you know, who do the Broncos play in the first three weeks of the season? I know that they were even aware of that. Von Miller even said, hey, you know, we know what the schedule is and now it turns into

playoffs and they're going into that Ravens game and ultimately they didn't play very well in that game. So it's like, well, our opinion of the Broncos on the defensive side of the ball, was it a little too inflated based on what we've seen from them in the last two weeks? That could be true. I know the Steelers capitalized on that today. So it's a little bit of, let's wait and see, but it's better for the Steelers now at two and three.

And it would have looked if they were one and four going into next week. Did your opinion of Denver change at all, shook, between where they're at now and where they were a couple weeks ago? A little bit, just because I wasn't really sure who the Broncos were. I mean, I know Greg, number one leader on the Teddy Bandwagon. I mean, they're not who they want to be. They're missing seven or eight started. They got to survive this dip and get people back or they're not, they're too ordinary. And they did.

They got some of their offensive line back. I mean, I didn't take much out of that Steelers thing. They're going to have some variance offensive days. They were also lucky. You said, like, Rathsburg got the ball out of his hands. He had one of the most ghastly fumbles I've had all season holding the ball too long. He also hand delivered a terrible interception in the red zone where they ended up getting a touchdown and the Broncos just dropped it.

You put it right in Alexander Johnson's arms. And if he catches that pass, and it's a different game. And in the last couple of weeks, they've been catching those Rathesberger passes. and this time they dropped it and they end up getting a touchdown a couple plays later after a penalty. Hey, Graver, can you jump in a second? I just notice now, Greg, that, you know,

we're having Grave Digger join the show to do the Sunday Night Football Recap with Shook, but they've never met before. So this is like one of those great experiments in chemistry and we just got to hope it all goes for the best if you guys want to exchange pleasantries right now. Ahead of the recap coming up later tonight, Greg, Eric and myself will get out of the way.

Hey, hey, Graver. I'm Nick. I'm the bald guy on the screen. And looking forward to doing Sunday night with you. Hopefully it goes as well as it did for the Steelers today. We'll see. Hey, Nick, big fan, longtime listener of this show. Yeah, maybe not the first time, but, you know, excited to do Sunday night with you.

You can't create that chemistry in a lot. Lab. That's just natural, baby. Get ready. Chief's Bill's coming up later. Shook, thank you, buddy, and we'll see you on the other side of the pond. All right, thanks. That was like a really bad Tinder date or something. I don't know what was going on. All right, let's move on. Prescott in the gun. They blitz him. Prescott throws it down the right side for Lamb. Caught it. 10, 5. Dancing in. Touchdown. They need to play.

There's a play. Brad Sham, the Sham God. With the call for KRLD, Dak Prescott threw for three touchdowns. One day before the anniversary of that ankle injury, in the same building against the same team, the Cowboys ride strong, and they ride on 4420 over the show.

I'm not talking about injuries. Listen, attrition is part of the NFL. It sucks, but it's true. Giants know all about it. Sequin Barclay steps on the foot of another player at the conclusion of a play when he's looking the other direction. And it blows up so incredibly quickly on the sideline that he's carded off. And I think there might be a Ricky. If you could check, I thought I saw maybe an update pop up, but I didn't get a good look at it. He's out of the game. Daniel Jones gets knocked out late in the first half, literally concussed on a scramble where he

got up woozy, really a scary moment. Kenny Galladay also leaves with a knee injury. So a game that was 10-10 after Mike Lennon comes in and hands off on fourth and inches at the goal line to tie the game. The Cowboys go right down the field

to pull ahead 1710. And then you kind of knew, Greg, what was going to happen after that with the Giants as decimated as they are and with the Cowboys as good as they are at Jarrow World, it turns into a blowout, 4420. Yeah, like the let Glennon Cook philosophy didn't really pay off.

They scored 10 points in the second half. What are you going to do? It's just so crazy how big of a difference there is between 1 and 4 and 2 and 3. The Steelers, like at 2 and 3, you're like, okay. You know, they could stay around with Patriots at 2 and 3. It's like, okay, like at least the Giants at 1 and 4, and because of these injuries, just feels like everything from last week is totally erased. And then some, Kadaria's Tony.

like the one guy who's popping off the screen and you see that burst with him today, he ends up getting kicked out of the game late because of fighting. And he gets hurt in the game and was seen on a cart afterwards too. So he's hurt too. Who knows? He might be suspended for next week's game. And it suddenly just feels not like the lights are out for Joe Judge or anything, but that if the Giants come back to be relevant this year, that would be a big surprise.

So here's the situation with the NFC East and how it's different from last year. Last year, even before DAC went out with that ankle injury, the Cowboys were kind of a mess. They couldn't get a stop on defense and they were in a tough spot. And you just knew that when it came down to it, seven or eight wins was going to win that division and everyone else was going to be below 500 and that would be it. And that's how it played out. Now we know that's not how the East is going to play out, barring another injury to the Cowboys. they are going to be a team that we it appears now I mean five games into the season this looks

like a 10 12 maybe even more the defense carried them for most of this game yes like Daniel Jones was one for eight like even before Daniel Jones left he finished five for 13 and they're getting pressure like they're they're a legitimately good defense a better than average defense and even if they're average Trayvon Diggs had another pick he's up to six in five games maybe seven and and he is a defensive player of the year candidate and like the the charge when things are clicking, like the Browns when things are clicking. The Cowboys are now out of nowhere in that category. Not that they don't have maybe the peak defensively.

The bills all throw in there as well as another team that has really big days on both sides of the ball. The Bucks, of course, as well. Like the Cowboys, maybe you say it's a little premature to say they're that team, but they are putting it up week after week, big performances on both sides of the ball. And, you know, I think that if you're. a Cowboys fan, you are feeling very good about this division. And if you're a Giants fan, because there's no path to the division title most likely, you're going to have to go on an

incredible winning streak at some point. And nothing tells you that this Giants team is going to do that. Every year, you know, I used to write the debrief, the Sunday night, sort of recapping the week. What happened to that? You see this. I think there's some version of it now, but I stopped doing it. I don't even know. Not using that name. But every year, it's like one one of the Sundays, the headline of it would be like, separation Sunday. You know, it's like, this is where the divisions were decided and separate, like today was separation Sunday. Like the NFC West is over.

It's separated three, you know, a couple game lead there. The, I mean, the NFC East. The NFC West, though, kind of had a separation Sunday, too. We talked about coming into the week where the Rams and Cardinals have really pulled ahead. Like, it totally matters what the teams in your division are doing. and the rest of the NFC has to feel pretty hopeless right now. You got that, Ricky? Just out, yeah, just out.

Barclay has a low ankle sprain, so he's likely out for next week. That just popped up. Against the Rams. So Daniel Jones, we'll see he's in the concussion protocol, all their receivers, all sorts of banged up, and Barclay is out. So this sounds, it's looking like a later because they couldn't run the ball from one yard out in the two plays before that. And so they had to use him running, and you got a little, you got a little too. aggressive on that.

Brutal. All right, let's take a break and then we will keep moving on. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hertz is back. He gives it, he keeps it, and he runs in. He fakes to Sanders, and he runs in for the touchdown, and the Eagles take their first lead of the game. Hey, feeling right now, Greg. Like I could be doing a better job probably Same

We're doing our best people It is 2 o'clock in the morning in London And we've been awake Ricky I think we've been awake on average About 18 hours a day For five straight days So we're doing the best we can We hope it's okay everybody

I lift up the pull back the curtain for a second I just heard them say like deep pass to Josh Gordon And I was like I must be hallucinating With the Sunday Nick football game on In the background I did and I miss it Shook being on because I ordered room service right before we started. It arrived while the show was on.

And with Shook here, I could hit mute and just kind of chop on that club sandwich. And you were bending over eating your sandwich below the desk. Yeah, I didn't want you guys to have to look at me, move my mouth. Greg missed being on because he fell asleep during that 24-minute part of the program. But now we're all awake again. Merrill Reese with the call, W-I-P. Jalen Hertz. Jailen Hurts. Oh, Jailen Hurts.

running he ran for ran for two second half touchdowns on Sunday the Eagles wipe out a 12 point deficit beating the Panthers 2118 so the Eagles snap a three game losing streak good for Connie you know we're not we're not the only ones

grinding Connie had to be in a makeup chair at 2 a.m. for Christ's sake this morning to do the pregame for the London game here what a woman but yeah so Greg in addition to So the two, three and old teams have to go home and, you know, relax. And when Galene relaxes.

Oh, she's relaxed right now. That's all that needs to be said. So the two teams, Greg, that we entered week four is like, Hey, don't talk about my podcast partner like that. Split ends podcast. Check it out. Okay. The two teams, the Panthers of the Broncos, three and oh, what's going on?

Those teams are both 0 and 4 now combined since 2118. That's a tough loss for the banthers, a bad beat, as they say. I like that, though. I like more two and three and three and two teams. I like don't want to cross teams out. I don't want teams that are kind of mediocre like Carolina to get two ahead of their skis and be four and one. So it feels like these two teams, you know, reaching the level that they should be at. It's kind of an interesting way to look at it, but I agree with you.

I see what you're saying. Yeah, I just kind of like keeping as many teams as interesting as possible. And one of the moments of the day for me is Jalen Hurts scoring that touchdown and doing the cam Superman in Carolina. And I'm sure he was a camp fan. I don't know that, but who couldn't, you know, I'm sure he was a camp fan. Who wouldn't be? And to do that there after, you know, a really rough day for Hertz where at one point I think he had thrown 20 passes for about 35 yards, but his defense, which, you know, looks a lot

better when you're not playing the Chiefs and the Cowboys, kept them in it all game, Hargrave and Fletcher Cox both had big days. And Carolina and Sam Darnel give the ball away three times three interceptions, and that Eagle's defense keeps it close. and eventually they hit some of their big plays that they're always trying. Yeah, this is a game that I think both Greg and I have to get close their eyes on. But Sam Darnold, 21 of 37. I've got it totally figured out.

I really nailed this game. There's like a glow to you actually. Like all the information is like coming out of your head. Sam Darnold 21 to 37, 177, touchdown three picks, averaging 4.8 yards per attempt. That's way below the Gabbard zone. Jailen Hurts not much better in terms of yards per attempt at 5.4. But, you know, this is how it is. This is how it's going to be with the Panthers.

And Christian McCaffrey, by that, I mean, don't ask Donald to carry you because that's not really who he ever was. And I don't think that's who he's going to be. But he could absolutely be effective. But he's going to need more help. Chuba Hubbard did a nice job. He went for 100 yards in relief of Christian McCaffrey, who you think is going to be back soon now because he practiced this weekly. into the game, but they need McCaffrey back because he is the center. Without it, it just doesn't

hold that offense. No. Their offensive line is giving up a lot of sacks. 11, I think, in the last three weeks. Darnold's down to six touchdowns, six interceptions on the season. He's fumbled the ball a lot. Like the warts are showing a little bit, and they need to play a little bit better up front. Speaking of the warts are showing, the Raiders. Fields rolling was right. Hit as he delivers into the end zone. Touchdown. Jesper Horstead.

Touchdown Bears. Horstead. What do you say desperate horses? Jester. Jesper Horstead. What a name. Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives on Netflix.

Justin Fields through his first career touchdown pass. Congratulations, young man. The Bears' defense falling out here. shut down the Raiders offense 20 to 9 the Bears with the dub uh Derek Carr he managed just 206 yards that's two straight losses for the Raiders the first time they've ever lost people in the fans uh people in the stands at allegiance stadium um so let's talk bears here Greg because um Justin Fields it couldn't have started any worse obviously um his first uh action, but now we're starting to see some incremental gains.

And meanwhile, Chicago's defense saying, hi, remember us. We might be able to keep this team in some games. And maybe we got something cooking here. How about that? They've been pretty good this season, this Bears defense. I think they've been underrated. They've been top 10 DVOA throughout. They held the Bengals down.

They kept the Browns in check for most of that game. And here they come. Sean Desai, you know, a trailblazer, the first coordinator of Indian descent to get this job of Fangio, Fongio, Disciple. And he's done a good job, and I think for the Raiders, you know, as good as the Bears defense is and as encouraged to have a day like this where you can't score touchdowns at all. That's just not who they need, who they're going to be.

They're just, they can't be a defensive team. The Raiders, like, it is a big problem after the week that John Gruden has had to put up a performance like this. then a bunch of the reporters, you know, get stuck in an elevator and can't even ask them questions after the game. It's just like suddenly all the good feelings from literally seven days ago are totally gone in Las Vegas. Yes, that was, and then at the bottom of the elevator, it was Mike Mayock with a giant scissor cutting the wires to the elevator. But some people did actually ask John Gruden about the controversial email that had some derogatory racist language connected to D.M. Morris Smith, the head of the Players Union, and Gruden, very uncomfortable answering the

questions. Here's a snippet of that presser. You know, I'm not going to answer all these questions today. I think I've addressed it already. I can't remember a lot of the things that transpired 10 or 12 years ago, but I stand here in front of everybody apologizing. I know I'm not, I don't have an ounce of racism in me. I'm a guy that takes pride in leading people together, and I'll continue to do that for the rest of my life. And again, I apologize to D. Smith and anybody out there. So Gruden now joins the head coach of the Jacksonville's Jaguars, Urban Meyer, with off-the-field controversies of their own making.

And Mike Floreo of Pro Football Talk reported on NBC Sunday night that the league will be, you know, doing a meeting of some kind on Monday to talk about. what happens next here with Gruden, but it probably won't end with a suspension. And then in that same telecast, Tony Dungey first, and then Mike Dorico, his former Monday Night Football partner, both went to bat for Gruden defending the man and his character. So, you know, it is a tough situation here.

And Gruden has no one to blame but himself, very stupid. Right. And I don't know. Hearing Toriko talk about it. it's disappointing i'm it it put if you're john gruden you've put people in a difficult spot and i'm not talking about tariko and in dungee or whatever but i think a lot of people who know how tariko work with are rolling their eyes at that you know you know what he said was demora smith has the lips the size of michelin tires and the the apology that he put up trying to explain it almost gaslighting people into thinking oh that he didn't say what he said when he

obviously said exactly what he said, and that really I don't think he's gone out of his way to own it. He's sort of like kind of apologizing, and he's using that line. I don't have an ounce of racism in me, which is always a red flag if you hear that. And he can think that that too much is being made out of it or he can not, but he's got to make sure that his players, his locker room full of majority black men, um, understand what he's saying in respect it and they're getting asked questions about it and they're giving no comments on it sometimes like you're not unique agokwe tonight so it's it's it's hard to know where that's going to go um but it's it's not as simple as the urban mire thing to me to me the urban mire thing is more of a

joke and this we'll see we'll see what kind of impact it has with gruden going forward yeah and it just where you see the raiders are now and where they were 10 days ago or whatever it was um it is night and day. They went from 3 and 0 on top of the world to now 3 and 2 with a very ugly situation involving the head coach and a lot of unanswered questions about what happens

next. Never a dull moment with the silver and black. Let's move on. Snap, spot, Joseph, excellent leg. Get up there! And yes! It is good! And the Minnesota Vikings

have defeated the Detroit Lions 1917. Greg Joseph, you're the man. I don't think Paul Allen who's been sleeping in his bed for about nine hours, I think, at this point. We're really pumping some life into the show here at 220 in the morning, KFAN,

with a beautiful call there. Yes, Greg Joseph. Only two Gs in that, Greg. Not enough. With three Gs. But a big victory for the two G. Gregs today, a 54-yard field goals, time expired. Vikings 1917 win, avoid catastrophe against the Lions, in their own building, a game in which the Vikings lost a 10-point lead with less than three minutes to play to the Lions.

I mean, the Vikings, sometimes this organization, and this comes from the fan of a ridiculous organization, sometimes the Vikings are just ridiculous, and that's what happened here. But to their credit, her cousins got the ball back with limited time, got them in field goal position. And Greg Joseph, the same Greg Joseph, he of him, Joseph, far and away, 1992. The same Greg Joseph, who missed the gimmee to cost them the game in week two against the Cardinals now saves their ass in a huge spot here. So even Stephen. And after the game, Greg, Dan Campbell, gosh, the lions.

I know the lions aren't going anywhere. We all know that, but they're trying to build something. And they've come so close now to a couple wins and getting their hearts ripped out. And Campbell, a hulking man, a colossus. He's like 64-260, all muscle and might reduce the tears at the podium after the game. Let's listen in. When you see your players give all that they have

and you lose that way, it's tough. You know, you don't want that for them. So, but we'll be better for it, you know. And there again, credit Minnesota, but, you know, we made the one mistake that cost us, you know. And so ultimately, you know, we didn't do enough to them in. But I was proud of them, and I love the first. fight they have in them.

Tone of support, Greg, for Campbell after the game. I mean, at which you love it. You love the passion. This is sports. That's what it's all about. But it's a bit of a high wire emotional act in Detroit for Dan Campbell. I hope he's doing okay. I hope it doesn't wear out the team eventually.

There's just a lot of emotions going on in Detroit. But yeah, that's a tough loss. You just think of the way they've lost games and you think of how much like Dan Campbell and that team has put in since OTAs, mini camp and now the course of the season and it's like if at the end of our day Dan here

however long it's been right at the end of our podcast someone just like comes over to us it's just like loser you're a big loser you get nothing out of everything you've done this week and deleted the whole show yeah right we didn't tape the whole show maybe that's the equivalent

But I'm going up this window, by the way, if anything got deleted here. There is no re-recording. The podcast is over at that moment. Never again. No show for the rest of time. It's crazy. I mean, my immediate reaction is like, what are you doing, Vikings? Like, to have a 10-point lead to only put up 19 points on this line's defense, the way

they've played in all the pieces that they're missing. And I go to look like, okay, what did Detroit actually do to make this comeback? And their second half possessions are like interception, one first down punt, three and out, two first downs punt, loss of downs on like a four and out, basically. And then they moved the ball 39 yards and 20 yards because Madison fumbled the ball to set up that thing. I mean, it's just ridiculous. And the Vikings, to Kirk Cousin's credit, really pulled it out of their ass because they had the ball at the 18-yard line with 39 seconds to go. That's less likely than what Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams did. against the 49ers a couple weeks ago.

That is a tough situation to even get a field goal attempt and they got it. So you got to give Kirk a little bit of credit. And let's give, I mean, you cut, Justin Tucker doesn't play till tomorrow night. And if you cut to the kicker club, he was in there and he was waiting for people to join him in the kicker club. And there's nobody there because the kickers stunk today. They miss 11 pats. They're missing field goals.

It's a whole disaster. That's, I guess that's what's playing. kicker club and Greg Joseph walks in and he says to Justin you're not alone I'm with you. Next-gen stats said that there was a 42.6 percentage. Erica, we're trying to close this show. We're trying to take this to the finish line, baby. Well, it was a very hard kick to make and I'm really excited that he made it.

It was really fun to watch. Joseph made four field goals including a career best 55 yarder. But what was the next? No, it's okay. I'm sorry. No, it's basically exactly what you just said. It's exactly what you just said. You just, you summed it up.

No, I was, that was rude. I'm a little, I have a club sandwich waiting for me. It's like the first real meal that I've had since the morning, waiting. They had this, listen, England is many things. But one thing it is not is a place that offers really good food in the media room. the duck wrap sandwich didn't quite hit the spot for the old zooser

so I've been subsisting on things we could find like under tables and in bags basically foraging like wild animals that club sandwich is calling my name and I'm starting to get a little... We only got three more games we've got it. I just want to again apologize for cutting you off your next gen stat

was essential and trenchant but daddy's hungry Daddy's tired Daddy's ready to get on the plane Well then Dan you're going to love that we're going to take another break Hey this is Matt Jones I'm Drew Franklin

And this is NFL cover zero We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different Did you see the Colts pretzel That was my other big takeaway from that game What was that? Oh my We think NFL coverage should be informative

and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and player development. To team-building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision-makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

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Takes the snap. Now he's going to run up the pocket, climbing. Now he's going to throw it deep into the end zone. It's going to be a jump ball. Mark Wes Callaway is there. I think he's got it. It looks like Mark Wes Calloway came down with it. Jump ball, New Orleans Callaway.

Touchdown. Michael Thomas, who? Mike Haas with the call. WWL, yes. Hail Mary is one of James Winston's. Yeah, Gregie. Four touchdown passes. He also had two kind of grim turnovers.

That's just what it's all about with James. Saints beat the football team 33, 23, 20. So they're able to, Greg, move on while the Giants are unable to build on what happened at the Superdome last week. Their big comeback win, the Saints now move away from that game in a positive way. They do. And yet I can't help but thinking, has any quarterback ever played worse in two games where he's combined for nine touchdowns than James Winston in, like, week one in here? Not that he played bad in week one. He played great.

He played fine. But like he didn't have to do too much. this game, and I'm going to watch it closer, had a lot of iffy, James moments, which again led to Sean Payton playing a little conservative, punting on fourth and two, playing to his defense. And you know what? When you have this defense against Taylor Heineke, making mistakes in the red zone. And when it gets constricted, Marshawn Latimore and the gang, like, they know how to cover. They know how to swap off wide receivers. Playing to your defense sounds pretty smart. They made, they got the takeaways they needed and they ended up walking away,

to AK-41. We saw a lot of Camara jerseys in the stadium today. And he ends up with over 140 and two touches. And that's their recipe. They just got to get a little better at it. On the other side of the running backs, tough stat line for Antonio Gibson, well, I shouldn't say that. He had two touchdowns, but 20 carries for 60 yards. You don't see that a lot. The old 20 for 60 in a big spot. And Taylor Heineke, he's going to need help because, you know, he's an up and down type player and yeah he completed less than half of his passes had the two picks um yeah i still you know this is nice i'll be you know looking closer more closely at this game as well gregg uh but they're in a good spot here now because they got watch they took care of business against washington here

who still can't seem to figure it out in a defense i guess they just have a bad defense um now they get to go to seattle to face gino smith greggie who um we did our thursday night recap and It was unclear at that time what was going on with Russell Wilson, but now we know that ruptured tendon that Wilson suffered and Thursday nights lost to the Rams required surgery, and he could be out anywhere from four to eight weeks, it sounds like, and maybe closer to six. So it's Gino time, baby.

A lot of sipping on Vino, and I know you're worried about it. Well, yes, we're going to be changing the name of this pod to the Gino pod. That's pretty much what we're going to be focused on. me, my journey with Gino primarily. He's got to play the Steelers defense. He's got to play the Saints defense. I mean, he drew two of the better groups

and he doesn't have a lot with them. But that's what the preview pods are going to be for in Gino. That sounds like when, I was going to say, it sounds like when the guys from InSink started splintering off, but not the Timberlake split off. They're like the J.C. Chazze solo

project where it's just the Gino pod. That might be cool, like a limited series where I just, we just really tackle the Gino-Smith in for Russell Wilson era and ends as soon as Russ is back. We might be on to something. I know I heart's just giving podcasts away at this point. So let's do it. Ouch, Greg. Wow, getting a dig in at 4.30 in the morning. Let's move on.

Third down and six from the 13. Shotgun snap to Jones with a four-man rush. throws it to the end zone open Henry sliding grab touchdown Patriots Bob Sochi with the call no Zolak guess he's asleep too Mac Jones quietly I like Mac Jones's rookie year so far for the pets it hasn't been all roses but he's certainly been more consistent than a lot of these rookies including mine anyway Jones led the pats to a touchdown drive to tie the game.

Nick Folk then booted a 21-yard field goal, 15 seconds to play. The pads survive against the Texans, 25, 22. And Ricky, I know you had eyes on this one because you are the resident diehard Patriots fan, let's face it. And you weren't feeling too good, but they really did put it together, it seemed, in the second half. Yeah, I mean, if I told you that, like, a quarterback was going to throw an 11-yard touchdown a 67-yard touchdown and a 37-yard touchdown?

Would you be like, oh, yeah, Davis-Mills? Like, the way that it- His pass-a-rating dwarfed like any other quarterbacks pass-erating against the Patriots this year, which is just like a go-figure-type situation. But I got to give... It had to have been the best box score any rookie quarterbacks had in a game this year.

Just pure box score. Go-figure. And, you know, to the Patriots credit, Ricky, they had four of their five offensive linemen were out of this game. And I know it's the exact opponent you want in that situation, but they were able to step up their reserves and take this one home and kind of stay in the playoff mix early here.

Yeah, I mean, the, you know, the momentum, sorry, Claibon shift, really happened when the Texans, like, set up this weird punt formation. Like, they were going to almost go for it, but then they didn't. And then he was, like, too close to his coverage. So he, you know, to like his, what am I trying to say? Protection, right? And he kicked the ball. and they, like, blocked their own punt, essentially.

And so then... That's not what you want. You never want to block your own funds. Yeah, I know. It was horrible. So, like, they're, like, the zero yards, like, punt. But the Pats went and scored on their next three possessions, and that's basically what won the game. And as far as that, like, it's a reason it's buried so low in this game.

The Pats, like, ended up winning it out. But I don't think it was from anything, like, super impressive. I mean, did this game even happen? It's, like, the Patriot... I couldn't tell you. Texans. They got, here's who's on the call today. Catalan and James Lofton.

I mean, it's really, it's really on my radar. What are you saying? What are you saying? What you have been saying, Dan, that they are just another team is being born out week after week with the broadcast. Who, Catalan and the other guy? I'm just saying they're getting picked. They're having announcers that haven't done a Patriots game in a long time. What if we all try to go to a.

go to sleep at the same time like right now like if you guys are one two three everybody closed their eyes let's see if we all fall asleep don't if i close my eyes and out it's game over he did score 16 straight points they needed some mojo this team had negative mojo i know it came against the texans but any fourth quarter come back where you score 10 points with your rookie quarterback is is a positive and anytime one of your you know two billion dollar tight ends can make a meaningful contribution yeah catch a touchdown uh that's good as well so good job uh by the pat sincerely i I mean, they're not special anymore. We all know that.

And when they're injured as much as they are, and now they don't even have Steph Gilmore on the team, they found a way. We're not handed out lollipops, but a loss there would have been pretty grim. And they got the job done. Let us move on. Give me that club sandwich.

Henry on the left side to the five, Henry to the goal line. Touchdown Titan, the Yuley Bulldozer. Now, 29 carries. for 130 yards and count them one, two, three scores. All right, Gregi, I know you're not ready to fire back at Silva, who, and he's one of the wisest football men, I know, especially in the fantasy sector, but he came after you a little soon on the Sam Darnold thing.

I saw him, hit you up on Twitter after three weeks. It was, it was important to him. Yeah, he was sticking it to you that you doubted Darnold and Darnold was now a star. Well, I got to say, the other thing about Silva, he said it's time to fade the big dog this year. Uh-uh. Don't fade the big dog. Never fade the big dog. Derek Henry ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns.

Might have to fade Silva after that take. The Titans beat the Jags, 3719. That is 20 straight losses for the Jaguars. And here we are again. We are more than a quarter of the way into the year now. And Derek Henry leads the league and rushing, 640 yards. five games, and the Titans bounce back after that grim loss to the Jets last week. The Jags defense has sort of been overlooked in its ineptitude because, you know, Urban Myers.

Ineptitude? Yeah, getting danced on in the Urban Meyer lounge or whatever. And they're in Trevor Lawrence. There's so much focus on that. At least he's had some moments. The defensive staff, I think, that Urban Meyer put together in just the performance, they just seem so basic week after week. And so that's what you end up losing,

you end up giving up 37 points to a team who's leading receivers, Marcus Johnson. You don't even really have a real A.J. Brown, and there's no Julio in this game. The Urban Meyer Lounge. I like that. But Chimmy is all night in the Urban Mire Lounge. No camera phones here.

Don't worry. It's the Urban Meyer Lounge, where you could be the man you've always wanted to. be at the Urban Meyer Lounge. Phil Wesleyan lives in Columbus and he's he's been to the Urban Myers bar many times. He says he wants to bring us there and now we can go. It's a historic site. It's officially a place that can never be taken down by a wrecking ball.

It is a must stop location in the history of our league. Titans, good bounce back there. The Jags, yeah, 20 straight losses and we keep on hearing these stats. Peter King heard it from him during the Sky Sports Telecast. He won four games. He lost four games his entire life. And now he has lost five games in 37 days in the NFL. I don't know where the Ws are coming, but a tough spot there for Mr. Number one overall pick. I don't even know what's anything. If Titans fan, you want a little more like in-depth coverage on your team's performance. Hey, how about don't lose to the Jets and then don't play a team like the Jaguars in a week

where we're in London and it's really hard to watch all the games at once. Right. You know, also, we know you tanked at the end of last year and we don't appreciate that either. Like there's something called having integrity and I just, you know, anyway, let's now throw it to the pipe and the, ooh, pipe and gravedigger in the morning. Oh. All right. Ricky, I want you to stay up till 5 a.m. cooking up a sound drop.

Pipe and grieve digger. Or it's green digger in the pipe. Pretty good, pretty good. All right. Throw it to him Sunday night football. Yes. Chief Spills. Oh, Sunday night.

Second down is six. Off to fake. Throws touchdown. Okay. He's the MVP. Yeah, right now. Emmanuel. Sanders with a second touchdown of the game.

Ooh, we got a surprise. The Red Hot Bills rolled into a rain-soaked arrowhead and stunned the Chiefs, forcing four turnovers and an upset win over the defending AFC champions. Gravedigger, a shocker in KC. Are the Bills, the new kings of the AFC? Until somebody knocks them off right now, I think you have to look at them that way. I mean, last week we thought the Cardinals were the best team in the league because they knocked off our previous best team, the Rams. Now we have the Cardinals struggled a little bit today.

They came out with the win, but the Bills did not struggle. They dominated against what we expect to be one of the top contenders in the AFC. So now, I mean, it's a week-to-week league, right? We reevaluate this stuff every week. But now I'm thinking, are the Bills the best team in the NFL? And it looks like maybe so. although you really look at the close details in this game and it's like if the chiefs just protect the ball who knows the whole final outcome could have been way different at four to zero is a huge turnover margin

yeah you know if they if they protect the ball if they don't have to wait over an hour during half time at that point the bills had a pretty sizable lead it was 24 to 10 but it felt like well it was 24 to 13 actually but it felt like they were starting to build a little bit of momentum but I think the most surprising thing about this is what has been the narrative for the chiefs the last few years. It's been they're going to hit the big play. They're going to be an explosive offense. You can't stop them.

You can only hope to contain them. You have to win with ball control. You have to win by keeping their offense off the field. And just you hope that they don't hit too many of those big time plays. Well, instead, the script was flipped. You had the bills. Josh Allen completes 15 passes. throws for 315 yards on those 15 completions.

It was the bills hitting the big play. It was the chiefs scratch. rambling to try to keep up, and then digging themselves deeper and deeper, trying too hard, making mistakes. Like you said, the turnovers, it was very wet there because of the rain. But there were so much more to this. It felt like it was opposite day, because instead of the chiefs being the ones who were ahead or pressing the other team and getting them out of their comfort zone, it was the

bill's, a dominant performance that I think is probably going to leave a lot of people stunned for many weeks to come. The only question now, at least what I have in my head, is we know what the narrative's going to be going into Monday and into this week. The bills are the toast of the town. They're going to be jumping through tables all week. They're all excited. They are the new kings of the conference, but it is only week five. Can they do it again if they were to meet in the playoffs?

That remains to be seen. They couldn't do it last year, but I'll tell you what, they got a huge injection of confidence with their performance tonight. and you know the playoffs are all about the teams that improve the most throughout the season if you just look at from where we came from week one when the bills lost to the Steelers and they had they had trouble moving the ball all game that that first week of the season they didn't have any trouble moving the ball tonight and they've already made huge strides in just you know five weeks we'll see you know you don't want to peak too soon i don't think that that's necessarily the case but what's crazy to me is just looking at the play disparity in

this game like you said the big plays for the bills 436 total year yards for the bills on just 54 plays. The Chief's 392 yards, which is a pretty productive game overall, on 79 plays. And they won the time of possession battle too, Kansas City did by almost five minutes. You look at those numbers and like you just said, you know, keeping Kansas City offense off the field clearly wasn't the recipe to beating them. But this is the story of the Chief's season so far to me. They keep losing these games because of turnovers.

They lost the turnover battle against the Chargers, 4 to 0. lost that game. They had the fumbling away the game against the Ravens, lost that game. You look, I mean, when the playoff seating comes out, or it starts to be more important towards the end of the year, and we really start talking about those things, we're going to look back on these Chiefs losses and think, what could have been if they just didn't turn the ball over it, sloppy play?

It's almost hard to evaluate the Chiefs as a team because they keep just beating them. We know how good they can be if they stop beating themselves. But at a certain point, if you don't stop beating yourself, How good are you, right? Yeah, right. I mean, well, I think the other interesting thing about this, too, is their issues aren't just that their defense isn't keeping up with them because right now they can't get out of their own

way with the football. It was very uncharacteristic for them tonight, I think, in the way that, yes, it was rainy, and that makes for a situation where you're going to have guys who drop passes, but they were making mistakes that you just don't typically see from them. Patrick Mahomes, on a few occasions, was trying to fit balls into certain spots where his receivers might not have ended up there and you could see him visibly frustrated by the middle of the third quarter that it just things weren't going according to plan it wasn't easy anymore and for these chiefs for the last few years it's been so easy it remarkably easy to the point where you're like

have we ever seen a team like this before that that has not been them this year when they've had the football for almost every game in fact the only game that i really think about where they really got it together was when they came back to beat the browns in week one and really got things rolling and you look those are the chiefs of old and and you know we know their defense is going to have issues as well but it i think that they don't look anything like they might not even win their division i know we're only into week five but you're now staring at a two game deficit against a red hot chargers team that doesn't look like it's slowing down got to you already lost to yeah exactly who you already lost to in a close game who has that mental mojo over you now they

went forward on fourth and nine converted scored a touchdown ends up holding a on to win that game they know they can beat you now the bills know they can beat you now you're in a little bit of a spot where you're going to have to dig yourself out of not only a hole in the standings but your own mental hole luckily it is the biggest season ever with that extra games they got a lot of time to figure things out and you're right the playoffs are all about the teams that correct the issues throughout the year and start to peak then you hope if you're a bills fan that they don't peak too early if this is not their peak then you better watch out the rest of the conference and perhaps the entire NFL if they were able to get over the hump.

And the thing is, is the team that was seen it in their way is the team that they just took control of tonight. Right. That's crazy. And you know, something insane about this game. Just looking at the box score, the leading rusher for both teams was the team's quarterback. Josh Allen leads the bills with 59 yards on 11 carries.

Patrick Mahomes leads the chiefs with 61 yards on eight carries. Clyde Edwards Allaire exited the game with a knee injury, was quickly ruled out. We'll have to see what his status is going forward, but I don't even know if it makes a difference for the Chief's offense. I mean, I don't think offense is their problem. I do think defense and penalties too. I mean, they had chances to get back in this game. I know it was really late in the game, but they did get an interception late that was turned over by a roughing the passer penalty. They just keep doing things to shoot themselves in the foot and ruining their chances but i don't know i do think the bills are are undoubtedly the team to beat right now and

as a titans fan i think it's noted on this show that i am looking ahead to next monday night that is scary titans play the bills uh monday net football next week and yeah josh allen looks like i mean through five weeks if i had to name an MVP i don't know it's either him or justin herbert probably one of those two guys yeah it's funny that you mentioned that we um last week i wrote a piece for the top 10 first-time MVP candidates, you know, players who have not won an MVP before. And Josh Allen was high up on my list, but when I dove into the numbers, I looked at it and I went, huh, I'm actually going to have a little bit of a hard time justifying this. You know, he's not in the top five in passing yards or in the top five in passer rating or that type of thing.

And yet when you watch this team every week, now tonight is different, of course. I mean, I know he only went 15 to 26, but those 315 yards, three touchdowns, that's going to stand out, of course. But when you watch them play football, he doesn't need to put up, you know, 350 passing yards a game for them to win. Maybe in games like this against a team like the Chiefs, but they're playing, they're a well-willed machine. The addition of Emmanuel Sanders, again, I can't say this enough. He just continues to be in the right place at the right time for them all the time. I mean, you go from John Brown, no offense to John Brown. I know we got a lot of fans of Smokey out there.

But he's been an upgrade. I mean, in so many ways, just because of his veteran presence and his ability to, always be right there when Josh Allen needs him. He was right there again tonight, caught two touchdown passes, including one that essentially sealed the game late. It's like the perfect tandem. It's the perfect compliment to Stefan Diggs. And it also allows them to not, you know, try to shoot for the big play all the time.

And then they end up just happening because Josh Allen, I think, has taken that next step. You know, last year was that first step out of some of the initial struggles of his younger years in the NFL with inaccuracy and everything else. Last year was the first time that he was able to really feel comfortable and like he could make the play. and change a game and not make a, you know, crushing mistake. This is like the next step in that progression where he doesn't have to go be the hero. They talked about that on the broadcast on Sunday Night Football that Patrick Mahomes, you know, Eric B. Enemy, it tells him you don't have to go be the hometown hero every week.

Well, Josh Allen is learning that he doesn't have to go be that guy. Just go play your game. And his game tonight was, what, close to 300, over 350 scrimmage yards. I think it was mental math, 374 just from Josh Allen alone in a rainy game. on a grass field where typically you don't expect that to happen. So, you know, it's, they're a scary team. And the other thing that really stood out to me, I think that we cannot afford to overlook is, you know,

we knock the chiefs for making mistakes and penalties and drop passes and everything else. This Buffalo defense is playing some pretty good football. They're flying all over the field. There wasn't much room to really run organically, not with Patrick Rahm's scrambling, of course. But when he came through the air, they were right there breaking up multiple passes, you know,

making plays. You had Micah Hyde with an interception returned for a touchdown off of a tip, off of a drop. Basically went right through the hands of Tyreek Hill. But in between, they're making all the plays. Greg Rousseau with a tipped pass in an interception. No matter who it is, which level the defense, they're coming together and they're playing more complete football.

And that's what makes them scary. It's not just Josh Allen. It's not just Stefan Diggs. It's the fact that they're a very complete football team. And suddenly, we can't look at their past games so much and say, well, they were just playing Houston. Who cares if they won 40 to another? They could have won that game 60 to nothing, really, if they had converted some of the red zone possessions early instead of settling for field goals.

Now they got a legit win on their schedule right now that they just recorded that they can put up on the bulletin board and say, listen here, rest of the league, we are for real, and you better watch out because we're coming for you. Yeah, and I love that they're breaking out the designed runs for Josh Allen. That was the first time we've really seen that this season. The QB sweep type plays, the read option that he scored a touchdown on early. It's great to see him being able to use. his legs. It almost feels like they were saving that on purpose for this opponent. Like they knew they needed to pull something out to keep their offense moving against Kansas City. And I want to go

back to Micah Hyde's pick six because even the Chiefs right now, I mean, I don't know how you were feeling during that moment in the game, but I wasn't thinking, oh wow, now this game's so out of reach. That's it for Kansas City. Like you never think that about the Chiefs. And then they turn it over again on the very next possession with the Gregory Rousseau tip. He's been amazing, by the way. I mean, a lot of people were skeptical of him coming out because he was so raw. He didn't play last year, but he's been on fire for them this year. And Miami, you know, the fact that they don't get the most other players typically in the last decade before they go to the NFL and start.

Yeah, you're right. Yeah, exactly. But then the Chiefs did get the ball back. The bills weren't able to do anything off that second interception. And then the chiefs go down and score. And it's like 31 to 20 and you're like, okay, here we go. The chiefs are about to make a game of this. And with 13 minutes left, almost 14 minutes left, the bills get the ball back.

They actually, Isaiah McKinsey muffs the kickoff. You're going, oh, here we go. Bills recover and then put together the drive that really gives you the confidence that they can continue to be this elite team. And yes, I mentioned this before, helped out by the roughing the passer penalty that kept the drive going, but Josh Allen had scrambled for a first down where it looked like he was going to get caught from behind, and somehow he didn't, comes back for a holding penalty. Very next play is the roughing the passer.

And from there, the bills drive down the field, take off almost six minutes a clock, and don't give the ball back to Kansas City until it's basically too late, after putting on another touchdown that really seals the game, like you said, Emmanuel Sanders' second touchdown. So I was just thoroughly impressed by the way the bills were able to close out this game. and not let Kansas City make it exciting late. Yeah, and that's the key. You know, you can point to a penalty and everything else, but first off, that wasn't a hold on the center on Morse.

Yeah, I agree. I don't know where they saw a hold, maybe a slight grab of a jersey, but it was not a hold. It came in really late, too, the flag. Yeah, very strange. So to get that roughing the passer, it was like, yeah, all right, this kind of evens out. But you're right, there were multiple situations

just on that drive alone where Josh Allen's extending the play, or he's scrambling, or it's a design runner, or he just takes off and gets the first down. That's probably what's most impressive is that's a situation where a lot of teams fold or a lot of teams start their meltdown and the chiefs pull another one out of, you know, who knows where and ends up coming back and winning a game, they closed the door, slammed it on them shut to complete that win. And, you know, if you look at their schedule, you mentioned the game coming up against the Titans. After that, I mean, it's pretty smooth sailing until about early December. We're about two weeks out from Christmas when they have a game where you're like, oh, here we go. This is a tough one.

and that's Tampa Bay all the way in week 14. We're in week five. We're closing week five with Monday night football. Well, when this comes down, it'll be today. It is today here. It's 1249 in the morning here in the East Coast. But, I mean, in between, they got Miami, Jacksonville, the Jets, the Colts, the Saints, the Patriots. I don't see them losing a single one of those games.

So, you know, you go back and say, man, it's too bad they didn't win that Steeler game. We'd have two teams undefeated in the NFL right now. And the bill is looking very strong, you know, into the next month and a half. And then on the chief side, you know, as they, you know, as they, kind of recover from this they got a few games they also play your type hey what a tough two-game stretch for your titans you get the Titans chiefs all three of those teams play each other in like this insane three-week cycle I don't know yeah exactly but then you know they have

they get Green Bay in a month you know so they're they're gonna be able to kind of figure things out to you know Washington Tennessee New York and then and then Green Bay so they get a little bit of a tougher slate so that's not all is lost but two and three this is certainly uncomfortable for the Chiefs if nothing more, not used to be in this position. Usually they get out of September undefeated. And this is not the case. So some hand-wringing definitely coming in Kansas City.

I will say long-term looking at the Chiefs, I'm not that concerned. Because, again, it's all about stop turning the ball. You can't win a football game if you lose a turnover battle four to zero. I mean, it's almost impossible. So I'm not worried. I'm not concerned about the Chiefs going forward. They just need to stop shooting themselves in the foot,

stop beating themselves, and they can easily become the team that we, expected them to be all season. Yeah, and they'll be a tough out no matter what, especially if they're not dealing with inclement weather. I'm not saying this is an aberration. I'm also not going to go as far as Chris Collinsworth said tonight, saying this is the night that everything changed

because it's a long season and a lot can happen, but it's definitely a statement win for the bills, and it's a good way to close out the podcast even without Dan and Greg. We subbed in here, get the job done, not quite as resoundingly as the bills did, But, you know, we got it done, right? We did. We did pretty well. So thanks to those two guys for giving us this chance to recap what was the biggest game of the week on the schedule, at least before today started.

And obviously, I have to thank Erica because she suggested me as the other fill-in to do this Sunday Net recap with you, which I very much enjoyed. So thanks to Erica for that. And obviously, it's very, very late over in London right now, but it's pretty late. I'm not trying to compare, but it's pretty late for you to. I would imagine they'll be waking up soon over there. Yeah, right. right when the pod comes out. They could have done this themselves, actually.

Yeah, almost, pretty much. They just have to catch the game on Game Pass. We caught it live and we wrapped it up. So, yeah, all right. All right, thanks. We'll send it back over to Dan, Greg, and Erica to wrap up the show. All right, thank you to the Grave Digger and the Pipe. They did a good job.

Well, maybe. I didn't hear you. Yeah, we don't know. Yeah, we're like clearly pre-taping it before that. Oh, my gosh. And the listeners can figure that out very easily. That was so good. I just think Justin is just amazing.

Nick always has a great job. No, but like we think that too. Obviously, that's why we asked them to handle the recap of one of the biggest games of the season. So like you telling little fibs just seems completely unnecessary. Well, you want to talk little fibs. You're like, oh, who's going to do it with Shuck? And we were in the car service this morning. And I was like, let's have Justin do it.

And you were like, that's a great idea. Well, I wasn't a lie. That was just you making a suggestion. and me showing that I am open to ideas from people including my producer. Yeah, I feel like we're talking about the same thing here. No, but like the words you're saying aren't meaning what you think that they say. I don't know what I'm speaking. I'm not even speaking, but I just thought they did such a good job.

All right. Hey, before we go, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. To all the people responsible for getting us. here to London because it wasn't easy. It was not easy to make it happen this year with everything going on at our company, with the global pandemic, all the challenges that we faced as a podcast and personally. And yet we still made it to London and had an amazing time as a group.

So I just want to thank Henry Hodgson for everything that he did. Sarah Parsons, my boss, one of my many bosses, Matt Schneider, Jason Kleinman I mean without those guys this isn't even a conversation Nick Pike Nick Pike at the NFL UK office for everything that he is done

Neil Reynolds for always being a mensch and taking care of us with Sky Sports and keeping us in the mix there Alex Mason his producer who else are we missing this is the time Greg Steve Manny putting together our pitch decks

and all that kind of stuff and Mark Brady for all the work that he did, you know, previously to get us. Setting the table, Mark Brady. So great. We love that man. And it was such a special week and it wasn't obviously the same without Mark Sessler, who we hope to be rejoining us once we get back to the States at some point.

And of course, without Chris Wessling, who was on our minds throughout this trip, just as he's been on our minds ever since we lost him in February. And, Greg, there was a really nice moment. We had our two live shows on Thursday, and we came out, and the place was packed, and it's been such an incredible, Greg and Ricky, it's been such an incredible five days to see how our audience has grown as the show has gone on. And the amount of people that we, you know, taking photos with us and coming up to us in the streets and at the state, stadium today. The show is bigger than ever here in the UK. How many people yell tugboat from the crowd? So I've ever wanted it in my life.

Dan was flying. Dan was flying from the upper deck. And, you know, the live shows which were sold out coming out there. And I had this photo that I keep behind me at my house of West, this great artwork of West, and held it up to the crowd. And Ricky, if you could play the reaction from the crowd as we held up this photo of Wes and just kind of soaked in the moment, West not being with us, but always being with us at the same time. It was a really special play at Ricky.

Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes, Wes. That was just, oh, man, that was, that was really, really special stuff, and I'll never forget it. that was just so unplanned too my heart was going to explode then like I couldn't handle it and I felt that and and more at the stadium today when you know when they when they said Chris's name in that stadium and they you know they and they introduced us when we were on the jumbo chanchu and it was a really you know it was a really nice ovation um in both cases but of course you know especially for Wes I don't know him him not being there hit hit so hard and it sucks because you just want him to be able to know the impact he had and I think he did and I think he I think he had this great way of appreciating these trips to London we all do but I think when came off the stage, Henry was talking to me about it, one of the first times he was here or just meeting people at one of our very first meetups. And he just couldn't get over the fact that

all these guys, all these people overseas, like got such a kick out of him. And he connected with so many of them on a one-to-one level. I started feeling today when they introduced, when they said his name, it's like that all these people cheering for West at a packed out, sold-out stadium. 65,000. 65,000 people of an NFL game in London, and I could hear his voice, cheering for just a kid from the west side of Cincinnati, you know, it was beautiful, and it was hard, too. I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie, it was hard to.

and it's a testament to you know that reaction is a testament to what we've been able to build with the show and and that we absolutely includes west because getting to this point and having these opportunities happen because the four of us got together and created something together and created this audience and a show that has been you know really important to us and important to a lot of people that listened to us and that was part of the what made this week so special too was talking to so many different fans whether it was them spotting us in the street and talking to us or at the stadium today or at the live show and them sharing what the show is meant to them in good times and bad and they it's just it works on a different levels because the the audience has been with us through good times and bad and we've shared good times and bad with them so we're kind of all in this together And we've all shared the grief of losing West. So, you know, grief is something you carry around with you

and it doesn't really ever go away. But I think when you're not doing it alone, that helps. And as long as we have this audience, we're not alone with it. So, yeah. I meant so much. Yeah, it just meant so much. And to meet so many people and to hear like what he specifically. meant to them it was like I don't think there was one person that was just like oh I love your guys show it was like I love your guys show and also like miss west every day like it was just so touching and I said it to you guys in private earlier tonight like just so proud to be even a small part of what you guys have built and to be able to be here with you guys and without you know Wes and and Mark it's a it's a different trip but just proud of proud of a proud of

you guys and just was so happy to get to experience this again we're so lucky yeah i wish he could know you know i wish i wish he could know like i wish i could travel back and and tell them in those last few weeks like you know we're going to be in london this year and they're going to they're going to say your name and the place is going to go crazy and they're going to show your picture in this full stadium this celebration of football like the sport you look at you're going to love, but I, I don't know. Somehow I think, like, he did know, you know, that he does know, and that, like, we're here, you know. That's, that's one thing I did really try to think about that. Like, we are here. He's not here, but we're here. And we can have gratitude for that

moment, because, like you said, Dan, you said it beautifully. Like, we are all part of that. And the fans are all part of that. And I felt that talking to everyone that came up to us this week. I just want to thank everyone that did come up to us and everyone that didn't, you know, everyone that yelled out because we feel it, we felt the love and it really means the world to us. And even the people that didn't come up to us because they don't like us. We like you guys too. That's fine.

Even the guy outside the stadium this morning that asked for a photo of Greg and then said hi to Ricky and then I offered you want me to take the photo. and he mentioned one of Greg's many podcasts. I didn't even know. I can't remember which one was. He made a J.RVP reference, just to, I don't know. No, you're not, I know we want to go to bed, but you have to do the stresses.

So he goes, oh, my God, Greg, Greg, can I get a photo? And then he's like, oh, my God, Ricky Hollywood, get in the photo. And Dan, like, looks at me and makes a funny face. No, he was more like, oh, hey, Ricky Hollywood. No, he wasn't. No, he wasn't. I was in the photo.

And then Dan looks at me and does one of his smug faces, like, lifts his eyebrows, and he looks at, so he looks at me first, like watch this because he thought the guy didn't see him then he goes to the guy and he goes I'm falling asleep

you want me to take the photo and the guy was like no I'm good because he didn't know Dan it was so funny Ricky was loving that walk Ricky was loving that walk

into the into the stadium oh you want me to you want me to get in the picture too you know it was a lot it was awesome I take back everything

and I just said nice to you guys well I When people were screaming from the rafters for the tugboat, wherever that guy was. I got the last laugh on him. Someone called you Daddy Rich, too. It is fun to just see there's just like some Just Hanses fans, some Just Richie fans. Oh, yeah, totally.

You know, it's great. I love it. Anyway, now we're prattling on. But, yes, it was an amazing week. The third time we've been here as a group, and we hope to do it again next year and the year after that and the year after that because there is a special connection here between our show in this part of the world. And we're just very fortunate to be able to celebrate that. Okay.

Now, we're getting on a plane. Yeah, we, yes, we will. But I just want to say, we're getting on a plane, God willing, we'll touch back down in America. later tomorrow, no show Tuesday, so don't get all upset. We're just recalibrating some clocks. We'll be back on Wednesday with another episode and then a full week of shows, just one day late. In addition to everything else going on at the live shows,

it happens to be Mr. Mark Sessler's 38th birthday or thereabouts this weekend, Sunday, in fact, and the listeners or the people in attendance at our live show wanted to share a message with Mark, so we will sign off with that. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday gives my song. Happy birthday to you. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it.

Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.