NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2021 Week 9 Recap - What is the AFC?

Episode Date: November 8, 2021

A room filled with some heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, and Gregg Rosenthal recap every single game from week 9 starting with the Packers meltdown over the Chiefs and Justin Tucker's leg keeping the Baltimore Ravens in the mix. Nick Shook joins to talk about the Cardinals and also gloat with Marc a little bit because the Browns won big against Cinci. The heroes recap the Rams-Titans SNF showdown. 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast explains their jokes to make sure you got them. It's important from the Chris Wesleying podcast studio. it's around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler, the flagship show. Did you notice that? Do you notice I just did there? It's around the NFL.

Because I didn't want to double dip on the podcast. Right. As we discussed last week and now I'm workshopping it, how did that sound? Good. It sounded very natural. Yeah, you're a skilled broadcaster who, you know, every couple of months, we just see you taking the next leap. and that was part of that process, I think. All right, well, let me know.

Actually, don't tell me. I don't care. I'm going to start saying it that way. And if there's a real uprising amongst the fan. I think it was an improvement. I'll send it back. Okay. The uprising with the fans, we can, you know, let's move on to new things at this point.

There's been a lot of that. Week 9 in the NFL, it existed to remind us this Sunday, again, and this is important that we don't know shit. and that's good. That's what makes our league so fun. There were multiple outcomes today that kind of turned the league on its ear a little bit and makes you think about both the AFC and the NFC differently. We're going to get into those games, Greg. I mean, I'm sure you were stunned. I can't, the way our seating arrangement is in the newsroom now, I can't really see you. I hear sounds emanating from your area, but I can't see your reactions as much as at the old place. Were you stunned by some of the outcomes today?

No, I expected Teddy Bridgewater to go into Dallas and lead them to a 30 to nothing lead with five minutes left, tripling them in yardage. That's what the team of THAL does. Oh, he's back. No, I mean, just kidding. It was shocking. And my morning games were delightful. I'm excited.

Do you think Von Miller, who, by the way, was inactive tonight for Sunday night football as he gets, recovers from that ankle issue, do you think he was a little annoyed when he saw that today? Even though he's like, I love Denver, the Broncos are part of me forever. Like, when they go to Dallas and go up 30 zilch and shock the football world, they think he's like, well, we didn't need to be bad. I think that we would like to think he's annoyed. But I mean, as people, you know, we've all been away at times when this show occurs.

Me, you know, recently for a stretch. And you don't want the show to be that much better without you. And then when you find out maybe that it is, it's like, I don't know if I like that dynamic. Interesting. Out, insight. What, you would disagree? They won two without Bond Miller. I don't think he's so much focused on that,

but I know, I think there's another guy in Green Bay that was, that was just fine watching their offense look like it was 1954. Yes, Aaron Rogers showed his whole ass last week, and because of it, he did not play on Sunday leaving Jordan Love at the controls. It did not go so well for the pack. Let's start. The Holmes, moving to his right, trying to keep the play alive, Still moving.

He fires it on the road. Toad, first down at the Greenberry 35-yard line. Tyreek Hill on a 13-yard reception. Mahomes able to move to his right at 90 degrees and finds Terry Hill, who leads the National Football League on third-down receptions for first downs. I wish he said Hour League. That would have been Mitch Holtus nailed that call, WDAF,

but I wanted an Hour League in a big spot. It was yet another slog on offense for the Chief. but when it mattered most, Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill showed they can still make some magic together. The QB and Wide Out connected on that 13-yard completion that clinched a 13 to 7 win over the Packer, over the Packers at Arrowhead. Greg, Green Bay's often struggled to find its way with Jordan Love at quarterback. But you know what? Kansas City has turned winning ugly into a necessity, let's face it. They're winning ugly in such a different way than when they were winning ugly at the tail end of the long.

last regular season when they kept winning close high scoring games. Now they're winning close low scoring games or the offenses, you know, turning the ball over. When they were turning the ball over, that like sounds like a light problem compared to what we've seen in the last couple of weeks. This is just an offense that isn't moving the ball. And yet I know Chiefs fans are annoyed with everyone talking about them that like they're like a one and eight team. They won this game with defense. They've played really good defense for 10 straight quarters. They got some fortune on special teams. I would say between a blocked field goal, they get a little credit for that, a missed field goal, and then a totally botched punt by the Packers.

The chief special teams basically scored nine points. And that, to me, was as big a difference in this game as anything. But you have to look at what Steve Spagnolo did on defense in terms of cooking up Jordan Love. Blitz. Love went six for 17 for 30 yards against the Blitz. So a part of the game plan was working and they kept hammered. Marine over and over and over basically until the fourth quarter when the Packers finally started moving the ball a little. It was for games that I think we get excited about the concept of

the worst game of the year in terms of what we were forced to watch to some degree. I mean, I left questioning a little bit if you are the people that have been, you know, in charge of developing Jordan Love, he's been in the building for 24 games and forget the COVID off-season, but let's say one full, real off-season and hundreds of practices. And he looked today like watching a high school game where someone is being thrown into quarterback for the first time. To me, it cloud. I said on our Friday network show that it was a good, maybe a blessing in disguise for Green Bay to see Jordan Love and what he could offer in a big spot like this. He offered not nothing, but less than nothing to some degree. And I think it leaves you a little cloudy with

what the future is if Aaron Rogers does want to bolt out of here. I see what you're saying. I guess I didn't come out of this game thinking that he's not any good or should have been better. I still think it was a tough situation to kind of come into on the road in that environment. I know Kansas City's defense isn't very good. But I didn't come out of feeling like, oh, man, this is a major issue. One thing I did get annoyed with was some of the online takes coming out of this game,

like that this was somehow Aaron. Rogers nailed this. And it's like, one tweet of a blank check, like Aaron Rogers smiling. It's like, whoa, Aaron Rogers cost his team this game because Aaron Rogers on the field, they win. I'm sorry, the way Kansas City is playing right now, the way they played once again. I'm just going to go through this. And Greg, you had mentioned it downstairs, or I guess it's on the same floor. We're on the same floor as the newsroom. They had the opening touchdown drive. And then real quick, this was like their yardage and the outcome of the drive. before they sealed the game on that Tyreek reception. Seven yards, loss of downs, 25 yards punt, nine yards punt, four yards field goal, 25 yards gain field goal, halftime, zero yards punt,

seven yards punt, 39 yards punt, negative one yards punt. That is what's happened to Kansas City's offense. And if you have Aaron Rogers in the game there, they're eight and one right now, and he wasn't, and they're not, and that's something to keep in mind. I think we should also point out,

Eric Stokes, the rookie first round pick, who's played well at cornerback, especially without Jaya Alexander, got hurt in pregame warmups, didn't play. Alexander, as I mentioned, didn't play. Kenny Clark, so good up front, got hurt early, didn't play the rest of the game after that. Zadaria Smith, of course, has been out all year. This was a totally banged-up Packers team that lost two key starters during the game, and that is the spot where you expect the Chief's offense just to roll. If it wasn't for the special teams blunders and the short fields,

I don't know how this game looks. But for Mark to go on about Jordan Love, kind of like Troy Aikman did, I think was warranted. I get all the defense of Jordan Love and the reasons why this was a difficult spot and everything. But he looked about as unready for a starting job as any quarterback that I've seen play a game this year. Like, if Davis Mills was out there and had this game, we'd all kill Davis Mills for his first start playing this game. Like, he wasn't ready to do two-minute hurry-up situations. He was really, they were struggling with the play clock. You can put this on the coaching staff, too, that, like, he wasn't ready.

But he was also just missing passes. I think his stat line is misleadingly decent. But I think if you watched the snaps, it's just one start, but it was a concerning start. It's like, maybe it looks like, listen, it's just one. I agree with you. It's a beginning, but it takes a lot for Troy Aikman to go as nuts as he was going. He was pulling his hair out. He was unpleased with it. But I mean, then, you know, his line was better than Mahomes from much of this game, which is equally stunning. And Mahomes has 36 incompletions over two weeks. And I guess I'm saying, criticize Jordan Love for playing poorly because he did.

He's a professional. But be mad at Aaron Rogers for putting his team in this situation. Totally fair. That is what. And before we move on to the next game, again, this is weird. And we're getting used to it now, but it doesn't change the fact how weird it is. The cheese finished with 237 yards of total offense at Arrowhead Field, a place where Arrowhead Stadium, a place where that would not be a, that's like a decent half-time total yardage for them in their heyday. They've done that in one quarter in the past, averaging less than four yards per play. That's where the Chiefs are halfway through this season. They're five and four. There's time, but there's a lot of trouble in Kansas City. Let's move on.

hero is coming on. We'll be a 36-yarder. Tucker hit from 37 in the first half. Game on the line. 20 seconds left in overtime. Nick Moore with the snap. Tucker's kick is up. And it is good.

The Ravens have won in overtime. The Hayes in the barn and the Ravens are six and two. Jerry Sandusky with the call. W-B-A-L-Nobody. climbed into the booth to try to get to the bar. Again, not enough was made the crazed military woman

climbing into the booth because there was booze in there. Where's the booze? There's a lot going on there. It's like, I'm re-watching Mad Men right now when they had all the booze in all the offices. No booze in our office. At least not that they know of.

But I mean, you said she was a crazed military woman. If that's accurate, she's probably going to see the world differently through a different lens than you might. Perhaps a drunken military woman. She was not having her best day. Anyway, Justin Kicker, Justin Tucker kicked a 36-yard field goal, 16 seconds left in overtime, pulling the Ravens ahead of the Vikings for good.

34-31 was the final, I think is the third overtime for both teams this year, which is a lot, and the AFC North Leading Ravens rallied from a 14-point third quarter deficit. uh in overtime anthony bar made a tremendous play leaping in the air on a lamar jackson attempt when they were moving into field goal range batting it up in the air coming down road for the interception and then kirk cousins and the viking's offense comes on the field and you want to talk about offenses that are in a little bit of trouble right now three and out bye kick it away never get the ball back um baltimore marches down the field kicks the field goal and the reason why that was such a crusher to go so quickly three and out after that potential game changing interception

and overtime was Baltimore was on the field, their offense all game. Minnesota's defense was cooked. The Vikings only ran 52 plays in an overtime game. The Ravens, that final kick was the 89th play of the game for the offense of the Ravens. So there are a lot of issues right now, Mark, with the Minnesota offense, which does this weird. thing where they get out of the gate super hot. And I reached out to L.A. research on this because it felt like they score a touchdown every week on their first drive and then go cold. That's a Dan Hansis shout out.

All right, Paul Rudd. The Vikings have now scored 41 points on their first possessions this season, five touchdowns, two field goals, one punt. And then they just go ice cold. And it happened again in this game and it cost them. And they are slipping out of the playoff picture as a result. It's who they are. I think we all know Vikings fans.

I kind of want to wish that I could knit a sweater for every Vikings fan out there because they're having a terrible. It's just their heartbroken at this point. This is how, like this is from on the flip side. This was Baltimore's. That's the nicest thing that you could do for them. Like you don't have any experience in that realm as a...

It also would take about 17,000 hours. But it's the thought. It's the thought. This though from next gen stats kind of told me a lot about both teams. It was Baltimore's four. win this season, where they had a win probability of 15% or lower at some point in the second half. They're up by 14

points twice in this game. But a lot of it has to do with, you're playing the Vikings, so you know it's going to go down to the end. You know they're going to be streaky. You're going to get your Kirk Cousins' moments. They've got so much talent on offense. And Dalvin Cook had a good game. Justin Jefferson. Like, I just, you know, it's like somehow they cannot find a way to seal

these contests. Davin Cook didn't really have a good game. Davin Cook had a 66-yard run that was beautiful in the first. half of this game. Well, I'll have to track that more closely. And did nothing else for the most part. And that was the thing. And this is what's weird about their offense, Greg. And

we're going to get to the winning team because that's more important. But that first drive, they're awesome. When their backs are against the wall. Next drive, they scored a touchdown, too, to go up 14-0, right? And then first two. Really cold. So they went, yeah. So they start off hot. And from that second score

till they got a kickoff return for a touchdown out of the half. And then they go ice cold all around that until they actually they absolutely have to score at the end of regulation and they get that touchdown too they're just some type of urgency issue with the team and Baltimore I will give them this they are not they are imperfect Greg remember you talking before the trade deadline this team needs to make some moves on the deadline they did they tried some reports have come out that they try to make some moves to make their roster better it's an imperfect roster but again they showed why they are a winning organization they hung around in this game kept kept on coming back and eventually broke Minnesota's will. We're just getting used to these Lamar Jackson games where they're down two touchdowns. It's funny to think how the M.O. on him was like, well, they can't, they can't fall behind in games. And he ends up with 120 yards rushing.

And then the 268 and the three touchdowns and two interceptions passing. Like this is just sort of what the Ravens are this year. But they did pile up 36 first downs. The fact that they were able to run the ball to me is a good sign moving forward because they really haven't. It wasn't just Lamar. It was Devonty Freeman. Even Levyon Bell, who I really thought would be cut by now.

But it hasn't happened. Had some yards. Yeah, no, he did some things in this game. And so, yeah, the Ravens are an imperfect machine. But as long as Lamar Jackson's healthy and upright, three touchdown passes, 120 yards rushing. He's just, he's so special. And he kind of carried them to this win.

The Vikings have not lost by more than one score all year. That's who they are. If you look at the, like, so they have one game. where they beat Seattle convincingly, every other game has come down to the end, essentially. And they've had some of the most heartbreaking losses of the year week after week. Even that week one Bengals game where it was like the fumble was overturned, then the Greg Joseph play, you lose to Cooper Rush last week, you lose this one after the big lead, like it's one after another. Mike Zimmer, hot seat. Welcome to it. Sit on it. All right, let us move on.

Hands off Benjamin off the left side of the 50. He trucks the DB and walks into the end zone for his first touchdown and maybe put this one out of reach. Oh, yeah, Dave passed with the call for K.T.A.R. No Kyler Murray. No New Hopkins. No problem for the Cardinals who roll up over 400 yards of offense behind dudes like Colt McCoy. Yeah, Marky. James Connor and Eno Benjamin, who put the exclamation point on a 3117 win by trucking Drake Kirkpatrick into middle. Earth. Let's now welcome Nick Shook, who will help tell you why Arizona had so much success in a division road game where everything was stacked

against them. Pipe? Everything was stacked against them except for Colt McCoy. Completed 22 and 26 passes and 20 of his completions were less than 10 air yards. You know what that means? I'm taking what the defense gives me. I'm dumping it off and I'm letting the rest of my guys

do the word. An underrated strategy, honestly, an underrated strategy that more quarterbacks would do well for themselves to follow. Take what the defense gives you. Yeah, it sounds so simple, right? It was simple on his screen pass to James Connor. It really kind of captured the state of the 49ers defense at this point, which is, let's make a tackle in the open field, guys.

I mean, it was strange because he caught that screen pass, ran across the field, and I'm waiting for another defender appear from off screen into the picture, and it just never happened. He just sprinted his way to the end zone for a touchdown. That was basically the entire day for the 49ers defensively. plenty of missed tackles didn't do their job very well let colt mccoy put up his best passer rating since his rookie season in the NFL when he was back with the browns i'm sure mark remembers so fondly and it was a the the cardinals essentially rolled to this victory the 49ers didn't put up much of a fight in fact it wasn't as close as the final score even indicated a depressing day another depressing day at levi stadium for the faithful yeah it's been terrible there you know dan mentioned you know in the office it doesn't feel like the niners have no home field advantage they keep getting Wipe there, they've lost 11 of 12 home games. The Cardinals, I think, have won six of seven against them in San Francisco.

It's not even in San Francisco. It's like 40 minutes away in a wind-swept terrain in a lesser version of Candlestick Park. And Cliff Kingsbury is out-coaching Kyle Shanahan. The Niners team, to me, looks as discombobulated as ever under Kyle Shanahan. And you cannot blame injuries. You cannot blame the lack of a starting quarterback. They've got two of them they think can be starters. They've given up the farm for their rookie,

and they look completely lost to me. I think it's one of the more depressing developments around. Well, it's not shocking to me that their defense forces a couple turnovers. The kiddle fumble and the IUC fumble helped change this game. The 49ers move the ball decently well. That doesn't shock me. Cardinals' defense has been frisky all year. It shocks me that the 49ers defense shook couldn't,

hold up better in a game without nuke. I mean, it's not just you're without Kyler Murray, you're without DeAndre Hopkins and you're without A.J. Green. And I think it does point out to Mark's point, like, Kingsbury's done a great job coaching. His entire coaching staff has done well. And that the supporting players, specifically James Connor and Christian Kirk, have showed up before this game. Now, this was the game they needed to really, you know, carry this offense.

But they've been good all year. And I've been so impressed that this offense, like the breadth of the town, that they have. It's not just Kyler Murray. Yeah, when they're fully healthy, you're amazed at the amount of talent that they have out there, but you're right. They were missing a lot today. So you thought maybe it'd be Ron Dale Moore's day to shine, right? Well, he only had five catches for 25 yards. He wasn't a huge factor in this game. It's the other guys. And that's really what points to what you have to be encouraged by when you look at a team is how do you weather the injuries? Because every team gets injuries, every team

loses guys. How can you weather the storm and come out there and still play complete football? And they prove today. And I know it's the 40-9ers. I don't know really even how what to think about the 49ers, but we can get to that in a second. It does prove to me, though, that this team is built for the long haul and bouncing back after a loss like they suffered on Thursday night against the Packers. I was extremely impressed with how well prepared they were, how they executed, and how they went on the road and made it look pretty easy. And Connor finished with 173 yards from scrimmage.

He leads the NFL and touchdowns with 11. If you got him into the mid to the late portion of your fantasy draft, congratulations on the money that's coming your way. He scored all those touchdowns in the past seven games. And yeah, I think it's like one of those things where you're on the road. It's a division game. San Francisco is coming off a big week where it looked like they might be ready to turn it around. I thought this was going to be a really good day for the 49ers.

And the Cardinals' ability to win while also giving Kyler Murray the opportunity to rest the bad ankle to let Nukes sit a full week now, get two weeks off with the hamstring. that could pay dividends. So you kind of, you get, what do they call? You have your cake and you eat it too. You got to rest the most important guess. Was that it? Yeah, that's the cake.

Yeah, that's what you do with the cake. I think it's like from medieval times. Like when, you know, yeah. So that's what they did, Shook. They got to rest their guys. That's going to help them in the long term. And they got the W. And they kind of killed the 49ers now.

Who, by the way, yeah, they're three and five. That's last place in the West tied with Seattle. Their own four at home. they kind of put a rival to bed potentially here. Yeah, they even got to lift the frosting off the knife afterwards. It was an experience where they just, they had a great time. Everything's kind of going right for them, even with these injuries, not playing in their favor. And it's encouraging, again, like every time you think about these games, you have to think about matchup,

and it's well, who do they play. And at this point in the season, typically there are still a lot of question marks, but I just don't see a lot of bright spots for these 49ers going forward, just the way that they, I know they've lost some guys, but the injury excuse does not hold up this year like it did last year, for example, or the previous years in the Jimmy Garoppolo era. The NFC is weird because that seven seed's going to be wide open for every mediocre team to be going after for a while.

So 49ers aren't giving up on their season because they've got five losses. Everyone in the NFC's got four or five losses, you know, looking for that spot. But you are, you know, five games behind the Cardinals. And you are in this lower region of the NFL. And you are getting more criticism if you're Kyle Shanahan than you ever have. I mean, he punted on a fourth down from the Cardinals 39 yard line while down three scores. The fans put down their wine and cheese to boo that. Right.

It was he also kicked a field goal down 17 inside the 10 yard line late. And Kyle Shane has always been conservative when it comes to decisions like that, surprisingly. But now you're going to notice it more because, you know, this is just a losing team. What a night for Colt McCoy. Your boy, your son. your son's namesake took out your wife's favorite team that's sort of a microcosm

of our household on some level so there you go if you guys have noticed so far the listeners shook and Sessler and great moods today Colt McCoy's stepping up and after this break you're going to really learn why these guys are floating but I just want to share something with the audience

here you can't have your cake and eat it too as a popular English idiomatic proverb or figure of speech proverb literally means you cannot simultaneously retain your cake and eat it. Once the cake is eaten, it is gone. It can be used to say

that one cannot have two incompatible things or that one should not try to have more than is reasonable. Well, guess what? The Cardinals got it all on Sunday. We'll be right back. 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 podcast, 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 in the 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Flaureo, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast.

Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. And turns, gives, jump runs, 30, 35, there he goes 40, 45, 50, there he goes 40. He's running to the river.

20, 50, 10, 5, touchdown, Nick Job! Is he in the river yet? He's in the river! He's in the river! Chin Donovan and Doug Deakin with a call, WKRKRK. Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes. Denzel Ward had a 99-yard pick six. And Nick Chubb, that guy,

iced the game with that long T-D run. The Browns cap a crazy week by beating up on the Bengals in CINC-Cincy, 41-16. Mark, I don't know if the season ends well for the Browns. If it ends with a deep playoff run, if it ends with the playoffs at all, who knows. But I know, I know they're not going to miss Odell Beckham. No.

And I think Browns fans, have to be extremely proud with this performance because I thought the, you know, after what happened this week, about as messiest situation as you could imagine in Kevin Stefansky's era, because it's been real smooth otherwise. He has been the same guy throughout Kevin Stefansky. This was a huge game for him. They've done an excellent job rebounding after tumultuous games. And this was another example coming off of a rough week where I thought the real stars of this team stepped up. And O'Dell Beckon was never a real star on this team. Nick Chubb, you mention it, but it was also a defense that's been real up or down this season. The best day they've had

by the secondary, you mentioned Denzel Ward. Troy Hill, three sacks, the most sacks by a defensive back in Brown's history in a game. Greg Newsom is becoming a star in that secondary. They did a great job on Jamar Chase, whether they were doubling them or having to take them out in one-on-one coverage at times. And they made life really difficult for Joe Burr. and the Bengals. And on offense, at one point, they had 30 plays and 34 yards in the fourth quarter. It wasn't a typical Browns game where maybe you have long drives where you're just working on getting the clock down in the fourth quarter. This was a big play offense today, along with the Denzel Ward, 99-yard pick six. They had a 60-yard touchdown. Donovan People Jones had two

big catches. And I thought the Baker stepped up and did what he needed to do. And after the game, he refused to say anything negative about Odell. He refused to say. Yeah, he said, we're moving on. They haven't spoken since, but he is moving on, and he also has this to say about the Brown's effort. We'll take wins any way we can get them. I came here to win. I've said it over and over again. That's why I was brought here to change the culture, to help change the culture, and continue to contribute towards that winning attitude. And, you know, our guys are bought in. They focused up and did their job,

and that needs to be a week-to-week thing. Shuki, I thought this is one of the biggest games in Baker's career because things had a chance to snowball after the O'Dell fiasco. And by delivering a big performance by the whole offense thriving, it kind of, at least for one week, puts that to bed and makes people think, okay, maybe the Browns, that was the whole thing about the O'Dell situation. And never felt like a sinking ship. This is a talented team with a lot of upside. And this game was a nice reminder. Yeah, you know, you could have said this is Berea burning down. to the foundation, again, as it has so many times in the history of the Browns since they

returned to the NFL, because it felt like that during the week, but it's a credit not only to Kevin Siffansky, but also to Andrew Barry for acting firmly in this whole situation in trying to keep the organization on a charted course forward, and then delivering on Sunday. What it really was was offensively, this was the Brown's offense, not quite at its peak, but in its purest form, which is executing the offense according to the way it's designed, Baker going through his progressions, targeting and throwing to the open man accurately for most of the game missed a couple passes, but operating within the offense instead of trying to feed the ball to one disgruntled receiver in Odell Beckham Jr. I look at their stats and I

think Jarvis Landry had the most catches and I didn't even really notice that he was out there because he didn't put up much statistically. But then if you look at the entire receiving court, nobody really did other than Donovan People's Jones long touchdown pass. And that's by design. That's when the Browns are at their strongest offensively is when they're balanced. They don't feed one guy. They don't rely on one guy, and then they give it to Nick Chubb to hammer at home. He ends up with over 130 yards, 70 that on one long touchdown run that kind of was the nail in the coffin of this game. It was a complete performance, their best performance this year, without a doubt, and just a stunning response to the week that was, because I can tell you being in Cleveland,

the feeling was, this is a disaster. We're coming toward a disaster. If they don't win, the wheels are going to completely fall off. It was, it was almost like a funeral because of the departure of Odell and the division that it created among the fan base and the people here. So for them to come out and win and not only just win, but win in dominant fashion, it says a lot about the organization who they once were and who they're still trying to become. Right. And win in Cincinnati where they thought they were going to be the fun rising like 2020 Browns type team. And they're sitting here looking at a 41 to 16 loss. And they're thinking, what can we do to get Jamar Chase unlocked? Jamar Chase and the targets thrown to him,

to me, have been one of the big reasons why they've been. lost these last two games. They talked after the Jets game about, you know, the way the Jets played them, you know, Jamar Chase last week really created a lot of problems. They basically sold out to stop Jemar Chase going deep. They've thrown it to him 22 times in the last two games for 64 years. And that can't be right. But not, for 49 yards this game in like 30 before, they've been extremely efficient and they haven't had the other guys step up enough. And the defense, which felt like it was like the getting by on grit and hustle and energy and cohesion for the first six, seven weeks of the season hasn't really come through. I think teams are like there's much more attention being put on Chase obviously, and that was the case today early.

In Cleveland Secondary, which has been, you know, quietly very banged up all season long, had a lot of guys back today. And you kind of saw what we talked about all offseason because John Johnson made big plays. Like, this is the defense that you thought you were getting. with seven minutes to go last Sunday, the Bengals were five and two and looking like they were going to stay on top of the AFC. Since the last seven minutes of last Sunday and then four quarters today, they've been outscored 55 to 16. So something's going wrong.

And the Zach Taylor celebration and the Captain Lou Albano celebration, well, they got to get something fixed real quick. Or this season is going to go down the drain. Let's move on to the Mettelands. He takes the snap. He's back. He's looking left the whole way. He throws it left and it's intercept.

by the Giants McKinney down the right sideline 2015 10-5 touchdown Giants Xavier McKinney with his first career pick sex Vasachi a bump more like Massachia banged

Bob Papa with a call for W-A-F-A-N Xavier McKinney you know because he was banged no I hear you it makes proceed you guys are an incredible audience proceed returned in interception 41 yards for a touchdown early in the

second half and picked off another errand throw by Derek Carr late as the Giants picked up a 23-16 win over the Raiders. Shuki, the Giants put together another strong defensive effort, and this time they're rewarded with a win. Yeah, you know, this is probably the third straight game, and even though they lost the Chiefs the prior week, that they really played well defensively. This time, though, they came through in the clutch, you know, whether it was the Xavier McKinney pick six, the Xavier McKinney pick late on a terrible path, both of them were terrible passes by Derek Carr, or just getting after Derek Carr, you know, capped off with a strip sack to basically end the game. I think it was Quincy Roche was the person who recorded the sack there to really just put

a capper on quite a performance for them. They didn't really need to do that much offensively. They're still kind of the same giants offensively, but because the defense kept them in the game and they converted their own field goal opportunities and Daniel Carlson missed a field goal, and most importantly, they stood tall in the red zone. The Raiders were one for six in red zone opportunities. And one for two and goal to go situations today. The Raiders did not convert.

You could say, hey, what's wrong with the Raiders and everything else? But you also got to give a ton of credit to the Giants and the way that they're playing defense. That front's starting to get after quarterbacks. The back end, not playing too shabby either. And they come away with a win that, I mean, MetLife was rocking today. I think they were stunned by the end. I can't believe we actually pulled this off. They were waiting for everything to come crashing down.

And it didn't. And it's a good one for Joe Judge's a bunch. That's after like a couple games at MetLife where you could audibly hear the crowd. They're hideous displeasure with this Giants team. I feel like, you know, going back to even last season, though, one of the better coordinator hires has been Patrick Graham. He's done a nice job. And like, this Giants defense last year, I think was ninth in points allowed. They've been up and down this year to some degree, but this was more of a signature win the way that you'd want a Giants win to be on defense. This is the first game. Oh, go ahead. Chuck. No, go ahead,

Dan. I was just going to say this is the first game for Vegas since the Henry Rugg's tragedy. where a woman's life was taken in a car crash in Vegas. And the Raiders, perhaps, you know, coming off that and in tune with the struggles to score points today, it was reported by Mike Garifolo that Deshaun Jackson is expected to sign with the team. He'll receive more than the veteran minimum in his contract. So they make a move to try to replace rugs on the roster and add a little juice to that offense. Yeah, it's going to help them a lot because they flat out missed that element today. I mean, they just did.

They couldn't push the ball down the field. I know Carr finished is close to 300 yards passing, but it was quite an exercise to get there. And it certainly showed when they needed it late. They just didn't have the same firepower that they've had in previous weeks. It kind of reminded me of that game they played against the Bears, where you just wondered, where are the Raiders? Did they forget to bring their ability to play football at home?

This is kind of what happened to them again today. So we'll see how quickly D-Jax fits into the offense and everything else, but the fact that you have a threat to take the top off, even at his age, should help them at least offensively more. more than they were today. And that and, you know, Josh Jacobs had a decent day statistically, but they just lacked a presence with the ball. And above all, they lacked the ability to execute when it mattered.

Right. If the car turns over the ball three times, they're going to lose. They outgain it by 150 yards. You know, Daniel Jones gets 110 yards passing and, you know, another loss fumble to the ledger. And they managed to get a win. It almost feels like karma coming back for the Giants because I feel like they've played well in a lot of losses.

And so you get an ugly win. And, you know, spoiler alert, you know, I know we haven't gotten to the entire AFC West, but they're, they're all flawed. They all have five wins. Like, it's, I don't think any of them should be that disappointed where they are in the season right now in terms of the Raiders being five and three. It's like these are all teams that are going to be competitive. They're going to get, you know, none of them are going to dominate the AFC and it's totally wide open. After everything that's happened with the Raiders and just half a season from Gruden and now Ruggs, you know, they're a hard team to get a beat. on, can you rule out them again, tumbling out of this race?

You can't, and you see them sticking around. Yes, you can, because Derek Carr has been so much better this year. But one thing they will always be sure of when you're trying to study what's going on with the Raiders, they will stink after the by week. They are now 3 and 16 after a week off over the last 19 years. I don't know what the, it doesn't matter, the coaches or the roster is the Raiders stink after a buy. And they have the Chiefs and Bengals up next. two other teams we're trying to figure out so good luck to you i would say two weeks ago we would

have said that's a brutal slog ahead uh now we say okay those are winnable games shook uh we win because of you good man thank you for joining us you hero and enjoy the nikes i know colt mccoy stepping up the brownies delivering a big performance it's going to be a party in the gym tonight two things uh colt mccoy has earned cleveland's respect forever for trying to gut out that Thursday night game in which James Harrison knocked his lights out, and then he re-entered the game. And he almost got hit like that again today. I was sitting there going, oh, God, he almost got his night. Lights knocked out again. And the other thing is, Dan, as crazy is that three and 16 stat in the last 19 years is, I got one stat that's worst of you off the top of my head.

Let's hear it. The Brown's home opener record. It's terrible. Oh, it's absurd. Or the Brown's Week 1 record. It's such a Brown's fan thing. Why are you bringing that up today? Right. Just enjoy the good week one nugget, though. Next week one, you should bring It's like Chris Rose, you know, who works here. That was a tough situation today. Comes by our desk, you know, on the way to hosting a show. He's a fellow Browns fan with Mark. He's like, hey, what do you think about the game?

He was like, oh, you wanted to commiserate, you know, talk some like, yeah, yeah, yeah, Brown. And narratives. Like, I don't think, I don't think. That's, no, that is not, again, match the enthusiasm at all. In fact, he threw a big wet blanket on it. Shook, you know that this is just simply a narrative. I was, I was, I was engaged in something else. You said, I don't think you're going anywhere.

I was engaged in something else, and I told him, I said, I don't know if I trust this team, but it's sort of what Dan just said. This was a signature win for Kevin Stefansky is what I said to him. Well, you said the team isn't very good also. And then Chris Rose's lights got turned. No, on top of it. Chris Rose and I, like, you know, we'll DM about the Browns here and there. So I know that we'll pick up the conversation.

I was engaged in something else that I needed to handle time-sensitive nature. He learned his lesson. There's one rule. There's one rule about Sessler and excitement. If you want to get excitement from Sessler in the office, he's got to come to you. Thank you. You understand me. You understand my nature.

Thank you, Shook. Let's move on. He's got to come to you. That's an interesting take. That's an excellent take is what it is, and I'm not surprised. Don't go to Mark. To the left, Bridgewater, deep drop, sets home run ball, left side. Patrick is there.

Makes the catch in Denver with another. Touchdown. 34 yards. Whoa, Dave Logan. K-O-A with the call Teddy Bridgewater threw for a touchdown. Had a QB sneak score as well. The Broncos, all right, this is

well, again, football's tough to figure out. Broncos shut down the NFL's top offense, a 3016 win, ending the Cowboys' six-game winning streak. And forget that final score. That was garbage time, uh, theatrics. Lipstick on the old hog.

because this game was 30 Zip in the second half. Greg, the NFL as a way of humbling us all when we think we know too much here was an example. Well, unless what you know is that Teddy Bridgewater is going to give it his all, you know, in a tough spot. That I know. No, I have back in now. I'm kidding.

I haven't been more surprised by a result this season. I'm totally joking. On defense... Wait until the next game. Right. Defensively especially. I've been on the corner. I think their offense has been efficient enough

and that Teddy's been good enough. He's been about as good as they could have hoped for. He's fine. Right. That's always been the conversation. Right. And I think their offense has been fine. I expected it to be a top five defense.

When they've been a bottom five or seven defense all year, I've been totally confused. And yet for the first, I think, six drives of this game, you know, the Cowboys had four first downs. At one point, it was 390 something in yardage to 120. Like, this was just a total domination, mostly by the Broncos office. In terms of the Cowboys offensively, it was a lot of mistakes. It was some drops on third downs. It was some curious play calling going for it on fourth down, but then throwing the ball. One time it got tipped, one time it was a strange play call,

and Dak just missed an open-seedy lamb down the field. Another time, it was a drop. So it was like everything that could go wrong for the Cowboys did go wrong. I know they didn't have their left tackle Tyron Smith, but I just didn't think that the Broncos had this kind of game in him. Yeah. There was no evidence of that. Right.

They have Jerry Judy back and he looked to me better than he did a week ago in his first game back from injury. And he makes a big difference. Teddy was absolutely on point and made some great throws. But they were missing a lot of people too. They were missing Garrett Bowles or left tackle. They were missing Noah Fan. Like they're not even healthy. Right.

They were missing their best pass rusher Malik Reid, not just Von Miller. And yet they came out here and they had Vic Von Gio feeling. like ultra confident. Ricky, they asked it was just a classic Vic Banjeo press conference answer after the game. Can't wait. It's going to be a treat. That I really, really enjoyed.

Your corners had to play some one-on coverage. What do you think of how they matched up with their receivers? For 56 minutes, it was a goose egg. You can answer that question. We got to keep Vangio in a big chair. We can't lose them. We can't lose them. I like Vic.

Some Broncos fans might disagree with you, but he was on the sideline celebrating, like he was loving this. His guys, Kyle Fuller, his cornerback, and he brought in had a great game. He gave him a game ball, like all the, secondary players. I really think the game plan worked well. And when they suggested that to Dak Prescott, that they kind of confused Dallas. He was like, I hope someone runs that game plan every week against us. He was very, he was defensive. Hey, you look at the Cowboys, on offense at least. It's all about, you know, those big names. And I look at the big names, DAC 19 to 39, to At 1.8 of 24 for 102.

And that was mid-fourth quarter. These two garbage time things changed. 75 yards in the first half. Yeah, even with the garbage time touchdowns to Malik Turner, by the way. So they didn't even help anybody's fantasy team. He still averaged less than six yards per attempt. Zeke, I guess, Greg, you could tell me, got game scripted out of this, 10 for 51. And then you look at C.D. Lamb, two for 23 on nine targets.

Cooper, two for 37 on five targets. Whatever Denver did. And this reminds me of a few weeks ago when the Chargers got shut down and you thought to yourself, hmm, is that give the rest of the league some tape to study? I mean, every team in the NFC is studying this game tape and seeing if they could do something to flummox the Cowboys, the way they got flummox tonight. Yeah, except here's what I'm going to do. Take nothing out of it.

While I think it's something that you could say, we've waited for this from Denver, where this is some of the games we thought we'd get, there's no evidence to suggest this. This is a team that found a way to unspool the Cowboys and it's going to happen week after week. Dallas will bounce back. Denver will revert to what they were before. Probably, but at the same time. I'm just saying I'm protecting myself from getting swept up

in like narrative tornadoes all week long. Denver's defense has played better for two weeks. So I think it's possible that Fongio's defense can at least settle down and be okay and another five-win AFC team. If Pittsburgh wins on Monday night, nine teams in the AFC will have five wins. I'm with, Mark, I'm with you on the Broncos. It doesn't change much about how I feel. I still see them as a 500 team around there.

The Cowboys, the only thing it does tell me is they are capable of a stinker to. And it's also coming off last Sunday night, Halloween night, when we all got super pumped up and excited, it's like, wow, even when Dak Prescott got out, they are such a well-built team that you could plug in a Cooper Rush and they're going to deliver a big performance on the road. So to lay a stinker like this, 30 zip. in the fourth quarter at home, makes you think, okay, the Cowboys maybe have not built a perfect machine. Maybe they're capable of disappointing and coming up small at some point. It's just a little, you know.

It is. I would say if you, Denver had 41 minutes of time of possession, which I think it was like 16 years since they've had that. I mean, so if you, if the next team has the ball for 41 minutes against Dallas, your fortunes will be nice. It was a bit of like a ball rolling down the hill type of game, where Denver's offense took such.

control early, putting up 17 points in the span of three drives, where Dallas was making mistakes that suddenly, it's like Dallas got totally out of their game plan and didn't know what. And Chris Rose, by the way, did predict that Javanta Williams will win Kyle Brands Angry Runs Award, and I think he's

right, watching a couple of... Is this your way of trying to make it up to Chris Rose? By the way... No, because you know what? I don't know why every... This is between the two of you, every episode, you try to get me into hot water with some other media figure inside the building. good story. And anyone, and anyone

here the behind the scenes. Anyone armed with logic knows that it is nonsense. You're asking us if you ice out Chris Rose right in front of us for us it was not an ice out. If anything, it's like we talk now, we'll talk a couple times other during the week. He's a friend and I am insulted by your

insinuations. Like an ice out as more of just like a disappointment for him. It was like, hey bro, it was like he went for a big high five. He was also far from our cubes. I'm not going to get into it. There's a like you have, if you were there, I think you would think maybe Mark has a point here. I am glad you brought up, Giovante Williams. Just that this was, I think Vic loved this game

so much because they finally ran the ball, 190 yards on the ground. I think Williams and Melvin Gordon are a very good tandem. There is a chance that this offense could be decent down the stretch. That's all. All right. That's all. Let's take a break and then get into even more shocking outcome. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, 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. We break down the, draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. With seven seconds left, there's the snap.

One step gets it off, nobody back for Buffalo. The ball is going to hit and bounce, and the clock's going to run, and the clock's going to run out, and Jacksonville has defeated the Buffalo Bills. Nine to six, the first actual home win for Urban Meyer, home win for Trevor Lawrence in this stadium. Jacksonville wins it.

Nine to six over perhaps the best team in the NFL, the Buffalo Bill. Calls for bongos. That calls for bongos. Frank Frangy, W-O-K-V. You know why it calls for bongos. You know what that was. What? Walked off pun, bids.

Josh Allen stepped up with a huge performance in the Bills game today. But it wasn't the Josh Allen you expected. The Jaguar star linebacker intercepted a pass, registered a sack, recovered a fumble, and the Jags get the big stop at the end of the game, a 9-6 upset of the Bills. of the AFC or so we've been led to believe, Mark, what happened here? It's more evidence of a totally bizarreo Sunday. This was one where I was covering this thinking, the bills are somehow going to score 38 points.

They're just getting off to a very slow start. They never warmed up. This was a game where the Jacksonville Jaguars on offense had a killer scenario where Matthew Wright, their field goal kicker, decided not to be a field goal kicker and missed two of them on one drive. Trevor Lawrence left the game with an ankle injury that looked pretty grisly, but then returned. Both teams had 132 yards at the half, and I think the bills banged up on the offensive line. Spencer Brown was out.

John Feliciano was out. They lost Zach Moss. And whether those were the reasons or whether Jacksonville's defense finally just shined, they put it on to the Josh Allen on the Buffalo side. And it was Jacksonville's Josh Allen, who, you know, it's not this game. He had 10 and a half sacks last year. He is a star, like you said. He totally showed up and dominated this game.

It was Dwayne Smoot as well. They just put Buffalo into a place. We've seen this when they played Pittsburgh, and you thought, well, it's the Steelers. This came out of left field, and I cannot find a way to explain this other than the fact that maybe the Jaguars are slightly growing. But I'm not going to do that either because we just said we're not doing that with the Broncos. They were terrible last week in Seattle. It's the NFL. The Seattle game especially, like it makes no sense.

sense looking at what happened today. You know, maybe these teams that we're putting up in the top three, four, five in the league, you just have to give them a mulligan. What's the AFC? Like, what is AFC right now? It is an LSD soup. Like, we don't know. Nothing makes sense. If Buffalo, the team that we've all pumped up as the

favorite in this conference is capable of a game like this. And, you know, closer inspection. And I know what DVOA says. And I know what this says and what that says. The bills are having a sneaky, a little bit of a weird season in some ways. And they, at five and three, all of a sudden, they have a one game lead in their division. The Patriots are hot and they're right on their heels. And Greg, again, same thing. Like with the Cowboys. If you can lose this game, you could get beat any week. They're kind of their armor takes a hit here. Oh, no doubt. I mean, to lose to the Jaguars is crazy. I think what you can say

about the bills that's more than just a reaction to one game is that their offense is not as explosive and not as effective as it was a year ago. Not even close. It's a good offense. It's, you know, like, if you look at DVOA or EPA or whatever, it's an above average offense, but it's not a top 10 offense. And that was what you expected. We've seen these stretches, even in the good Josh Allen games, like a week ago, where

they go cold for a while, where they go cold for a half at a time. You expected them to come out of it today because they're going against a defense that's basically last in every ranking, but they didn't. And I'm flummoxed. I'm sure you were. I am flummoxed. I picked this because I thought it was going to be an easy-to-watch blowout, and instead it's, you know what, it was this.

That tends to happen as well in our league. And I kind of joked about it entering the week of, you know, Stefan Diggs. Was there a more sure bet in fantasy circles entering this year? Go grab Stefan Diggs and never worry it again about that position as long as he stays healthy. And I think that's a big part of what. what's missing with this offense. It's not that simple, but every time they needed a big play last year,

Josh Allen to Stefan Diggs, they were always there for each other. And it's just been, and I know his numbers don't look terrible, six for 85, but I think some of that came late. Mark, you could maybe shine a light.

Oh, yeah, he's just not the same game-changing presence on an offense. Maybe there's an injury involved. Maybe it's defense is adjusting after an off-season of tape, but there's something off there. Well, and Beasley gets 11.

targets for 33 yards in this game. I mean, they have faced a lot of what the chiefs have faced in terms of the defensive scheme they're going against. I'm not like Brandon Staley here, like cracking down the X's and O's. But when you watch the bills and you watch the Chiefs, you know, generally teams are playing the bills kind of like the Chiefs, which is with the two safeties back and daring them to run. And similarly to the Chiefs, the quarterback is now having a lot of, you know, short

completions. Josh Allen's YPA is going way down. He's throwing a lot of passes that aren't getting a lot of yards. And they're still refusing to run. They ran nine times, their running backs ran nine times today for 22 yards. So that hasn't been able to get unlocked for them. And it's a fairly similar problem that that Buffalo and Kansas City. They also had 12 penalties. And I know that we kind of like penalties don't get discussed much, but they were just simply not disciplined today. And you know, Sean McDermott brought that up. He was like, we, we didn't have our act together on that front. And you just, they were killing themselves here and there. That said, Jackson Miller was two for 13 on third down. There's no excuses to lose this. I mean, I'm waiting for Mark to

finally start crowing about the whole Josh Allen on Josh Allen thing. You know, he got a lot of grief for that. Dan is very down on it saying I think something only uninteresting people are into this. Well, you know, I thought it took over the day a little bit because it wasn't just. He was ahead of the story at least. He was ahead of the story. It's a non-story. It's, it is a story because I think the, I think he was the much better Josh Allen today, which very few people would have thought that would have been the case. But that wasn't your analysis. He's a wonderful player.

You said that for this to come through, that he needs to make like a big time play, like a sack or a force fumble. Yeah, you said for it to really matter, Josh Allen actually has to sack him. Not only did he sack him, but he got an interception and he got a fumble recovery. He kept topping himself.

He literally never had an interception or a fumble recovery in his life and he had both of them, Josh Allen on Josh. They did ask him after the game, like, do you, some, you know, the typical reporter question, like, hey, when you, like, have grandkids, are you going to tell them, like, Josh Allen sacked Josh Allen? And will that be confusing to a grand kid? And, like, he's like, I honestly have not thought that far ahead on this story, which is a very fair response. I guess I, I guess I lost. I don't. You were disinterested. You're allowed to be, but, you know, you're coming a little hard. For the people that were obsessing with the idea that there could be two Josh Allen's on two different teams in the NFL, I say there's so much more in this world. Seek it out. Seek out one.

I know, but you tweeted at me, like, go seek wonderment. It's like, by the way, I'm pretty good at doing that in my own life. I replied to you, your tweet, you, listen, Mark, you're the king of the sub-tweet. We all know it. Of course. Josh Allen, Sacks Josh Allen, don't care if you like it or not. Now, who was that directed toward? Oh, that was not a, that was absolutely, put a name on it.

That was absolutely directed at you because you did not at me at this. And I'm going to find this before we, like, hold on here. So many tweets from you today, please, hold on. I've got to cycle down through 4,000 Sam Darnold tweets, but. I'm doing my job. That's how it works. I will, I will find it at some point. I can't even find it.

Oh, I, in, like, I don't know how Mark could have, how this could have gone any better, is what I'm seeing. This was literally the best game of Josh Allen's career. the Jaguar. Right. I agree. I'm not sure what it means. But I guess I lost. Mark put the heat on him and he came through.

It's like he showed up at the most perfect time to do everything. You're still scrolling. What you can't? What is it? What are you looking for? I don't know. Can we move out and when Mark finds it he can rejoin us? Ryan's going to hang it downfield for Patterson who makes the catch.

Cordero stays in bounds. 20. knocked out of bounds at the 15-yard line. Holy smokes. Matt Ryan looped one down the far side line and Cordero Patterson comes through again. What? Did you find it? Yeah.

What is it? You want to talk about a sub-tweet. First of all, like, this is someone else that just a nice person, Andy S. 3863, trying to get you engaged and have some fun with you about the Josh Allen scenario. and your response was in all capitals like an old school headline boring facts for uninteresting people which I was like you're calling me uninteresting because I've already brought this up as sub-tweet you yes you did I was replying to that guy well you are not you were on the tweet so actually

that it's still it is a it is a version of a sub-tweet so I don't need to like say hey Dan Hansis here's my thought on the matter you know what I'm coming at there are two Josh Allen's you win Matt Ryan hit court Earl Patterson for a 64-yard gain with just a minute to play, setting up the man, the machine. We saw him up close in London, Young Wayku, who drilled a 29-yarder as time expires. The Falcons beat the Saints 2725. This one hurt Rosenthal. Greg, in a game between two bitter rivals, the Falcons dealt New Orleans,

a painful setback in the first game of the post-Jamus era. If you're looking for a game pass watch, I recommend this one. I know it took a little while to warm up, but it was good, dumb, fourth quarter fun for the whole family. I mean, the Saints scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to make this interesting. The Falcons who have been outscored by 45 in the fourth quarter, like almost collapsed again. But when it came down to it, Matt Ryan looks over to his right. He sees Cordarelle Patterson. He sees him matched up on Paulson Adibo, a rookie corner.

And that's like basically a running back. And you would think like, okay, that's not a bad matchup for the Saints. Patterson kind of fakes inside a little, gets outside, and Ryan hit him with a perfect pass. And it was almost a mirror play of the first drive of the game where Ryan also saw one-on-one coverage of Patterson on the outside. That time he was on a linebacker, Kwan Alexander, hit him for a nice game that ended up setting up a field goal. And it's just like Corderole Patterson's season. If he's not running, which he didn't today very well, he's cast. match him six for 126. He really was the difference in that moment or the Falcons would have had

one of their ghastliest losses since 28 to 3. I feel I feel good for them that they avoided that. Yeah. And Cordell, I mean, this is the guy that people have been trying to unlock for years. So I think we've had some like good-natured conversations about where we're at on Arthur Smith and the state of the offense of the Falcons this season. I mean, the one thing that cannot be debated, being able to turn Patterson into a legitimate weapon, whether it's the past, because you said he's technically a running back, I still don't really see him that way.

His size and his build. He's like lining up as a running back probably more. He doesn't seem like he's out of place in that position. He's just a versatile, great player. And it's kind of amazing. It's taken this long for someone to figure him out and use him in this way. It also was a terrible defensive play by Adibo,

who, you know, our friends at the Saints Twitter podcast calls, don't vax me, bro. It was a bad week. for unvaccinated players because, you know, Adebo, where's the goat horns here? You know, ruining what was a truly ridiculous comeback by Trevor Simeon and the Saints. The score was 24 to 6 with 10 minutes to go.

And the Saints' offense had not shown a ton of life in this game. And they go touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, with their defense also complying and getting the ball back quickly. At a moment where you kind of thought they were going to go to Taysam Hill, for good because they they they Trevor simeon was struggling taste some hill came in made a couple plays and then Trevor simeon turned the ball over but john peyton actually stuck with simian and he led them all the way back and if it wasn't for a falcons injured player on a running play that ended up causing a time out i don't know if they would have had enough time because i don't

know if they were going to use that time out but it gave matt ryan enough time to get the game winner it i mean the falcons you're four and four you're one game behind the saints you just beaten them. This team looked awful early, early in the year. I do believe in their offense. I just think that it's not that it's all going to happen this season, but Matt Ryan has acclimated pretty well and

he had a great game. Right? He really played well today. But this was Greg's dream because this is his NFC South, you know. I tell you, it's the best rivalry in the NFL. I did want the Saints win. But Mark can tell you, I was enjoying. He's feeling himself. And even at the end of the game, it still was fun.

Yeah, that's a big win for the Falcons and the Saints. I guess it's a good if you're looking for, Greg, the plus side is that Trevor Simeon has that in him to go stack some points and get him back in the game. Because I don't think we'd even seen any evidence of that

until this point, really. But otherwise, that's a tough loss for the Saints at home. It's a tough. I mean, I just think it's hard to count on your defense to just shut teams down week after week. I know they've got a pretty good defense. But when you said,

like you believe in this Falcons offense. I do if they're playing a team that doesn't rush the passer naturally that well. And I'd have to throw the Saints in that category. Like, ultimately they've been a, they're good defense, but they're not good winning one-on-one matchups up front. And so that gave Matt Ryan enough time. That said,

I thought, you know, three days ago that we looked at the Panthers' game and we looked at the Saints defense and thought they're going to have a field day against Atlanta. And it just, there is nothing that seems predictable. I mean, well, their quarterback situation,

though. The Saints, it's hard to... But they put up 25, you put, I mean, it's like they, you know, they didn't put up 10 points. I'm just saying it, the idea that they were going to light up the Falcons. They need to prove that they can move the ball. I meant more of their defense shutting down the Falcons. And that, and that did not happen. And it tells me that

Arthur Smith, you know, that they hired him for this and you're starting to see it. Tricky, it's a tricky spot for the Saints here. They're five and three, and we'll get into it more later in the week, but they have two road games coming up next, Tennessee Eagles, then home against bills and Cowboys. So, yeah, Yeah, it's not going to be an easy path.

I still like their chances in that conference to get a playoff spot, but it's going to be tough. And if you want to watch the game pass, I mean, you could kind of skip the, you know, the 3-0 first 27 minutes. That's great. If you really want it. But honestly, there were some fun, there were some fun plays in there, too. All right. Let us now move on and check in on another NFC South team. This one at home, welcome in the hooded one.

Play fake to Hubbard. Get it. Bootleg to the near side for Donald. under pressure tosses the ball intercepted by j c jackson goodbye to the 40 to the 50 down the middle the field of the 40 to the 30 to the 20 he is end zone bound pick six touchdown patriots bob sochi with the call wb zolak in there as well that was the human gate rate you heard mac jones overcame two early turnovers he threw for a buck 39 and a touchdown but it didn't have to be about Mac Jones

because J.C. Jackson returned one of three Sam Donald interceptions for 88 yards and a score. Pats roll 24-6. Over the Panthers. It's four wins in five weeks. Five games for the Patriots. Let's start here with New England.

And there's a lot to break down on the other side. But we're seeing it again with the Patriots. This always felt this why I locked up the Patriots because it just felt like such a good spot for them. that Bill Belichick was going to have this defense ready for Sam Darnold. And that's exactly how it played out. Even with Christian McCaffrey back, the Panthers offense is completely broken. You don't have any, there's no semblance of a passing game anymore.

And you remember in September when they were going up and down the field and DJ Moore was involved and Robbie Anderson was making plays? And it just seemed like this was going to work. These guys aren't even on the field it feels like. The only time you saw Robbie Anderson in this game was he's screaming at Sam Donald after another interception. And Bill Belichick has

Donald's number, and that's how this game got ugly. Donald did not let the Panthers be competitive here. It's been too many games where he doesn't. And I know, I'm sure they did some things defensively, but, you know, I watched the interceptions and there's nothing confusing going on there.

It's just man coverage. No, he's skittish. Man coverage and kind of showing it before the snap and him making bad decisions and bad throws. Donald's skittish in the pocket. He's indecisive and his confidence is low. And I understand, and you're going to see it this week and there's going to be talk about it.

And Robbie Anderson said after the game, this is a brotherhood. And I was getting on him because, you know, he needed to tighten it up. I think that's what he said on the field when he was screaming at Donald. But sometimes that type of thing is not going to work when you could, Donald is dejected.

You could tell he's in a bad mental place. And I was a little surprised that PJ Walker wasn't in this game because you could tell Donald was in that headspace that we saw with the Jets a few times that we've seen earlier this season where you know it's just going to keep going downhill. And I just don't know what the Panthers are doing going forward. They're in a tough spot now because he's in a really bad place. Mentally, Donald,

he's not moving this offense. So you wonder if he's going to have to make a move, Matt rule, to keep this locker room. I could see that being a situation now. I think so. I mean, I thought this was a good spot for the Carolina Panthers who wanted to be, not unlike New England, a team that was going to dominate with the run and kind of keep Sam Darnold out of the mix. The opposite happened today. They were completely shut down and Rule was outclassed by Bill Belichick. And it shows you because the assessment was, we had Teddy Bridgewater, but if we, you know, they wanted other

quarterbacks, but you didn't draft Mack Jones, who Matt Ruhl spent all week saying, well, I knew Mac Jones was going to be really good in the pros. And you basically said, we'll take Sam Darnold over Teddy Bridgewater going into this season. And it's sort of an example and a picture of how sideways your campaign will go when the quarterback implodes. And Sam Darnold, at some point, will be benched here. It could even be this week. And he'll never be a starter again.

Whoa. Well, how would you, outside of a pinch spot, how would you justify starting him, right? I think you're right. I think his, if he wasn't drafted as high and there weren't enough that many people in the league that believed him in the first place, he probably wouldn't have gotten this long of a run the second time around. That said, I don't think they went to PJ Walker in this game possibly because the next time they go to Walker, it's going to be for an extended period. Maybe he just wasn't ready for that.

And maybe he will be on Tuesday. And based on his answers in the postgame press conference, he certainly wasn't committing to Darnold for next week. But I think the next time you see P.J. Walker, it's not going to just be for a quarter. It'll be for multiple. The body language on the sideline, it was all there. At one point, Darnold is off by himself on the bench. I think Robbie Anderson and maybe another skill player was sitting next to walk around the bench and they were commiserating. And it's just, it's actually, it's tough to see as a Jets fan who really wanted Donald to be a thing.

And you thought he had a fresh start here and things started so well in Carolina. This is the Nadir of his career. And I think it's fitting that it's Belichick who's behind it because he is now, I think he's been intercepted nine times and thrown one touchdown pass and four career games against Bill Bel. J.C. Jackson is making himself some money. It's like, I hear Patriots, people covering them or fans being like, oh, he's not Gilmore. Oh, who cares? I mean, Gilmore is a defensive player there.

This guy is playing at a Pro Bowl level. I don't know if they're going to pay him enough to keep him. He is going to be one of those free agents that just makes an insane. Gilmore had another good game, by the way. Right. He did. He had another thing. It would be nice to have Gilmore and J.C. Jackson.

Imagine that. That would have been very special. And a reminder, if it hasn't already been said, that, yes, the Panthers also picked up the 50-year rookie option on Sam Darnold. They've made some terrible mistakes in the last two years. Your Pats, though, improving every week. They are. They're my team. They're the team of Zeus T.L.

The Patriots. And they are making a push for January football. That's a big matchup. Let's take a break and then take it home. 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 NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 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. all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the 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. I'm Marcus Grant And I'm Michael Florio And together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast Your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet

We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Dustin Hopkins in just his second game with the Chargers. We'll attempt a 29-yard field goal with five seconds left for the lead at the uprights to our left.

Snap back, ball down, right-footed kick, clears the line. It is good. Two seconds on the clock. The Chargers take the lead. Isaac Lower Kron, K-Y-S-R, missing Matt Money-Smith. Justin Herbert threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and Dustin Hopkins kicked that 29-yard field goal with two seconds to play, leading the Chargers to a 27-24 win over the Eagles.

Mark is a big win for the Chargers on the road across the country with a big performance from their young quarterback who had been struggling. Yeah, it was two teams I thought that came in wanting to attack things completely differently. I mean, the Chargers had eight drives in this game, and so did the Eagles. Because the Eagles came out, not unlike what we saw against Detroit, when they basically metamorphosized into something completely different, ran the ball 39 times for 176 yards. Jalen Hertz had a couple big runs down the stretch in this.

This game got better and better and more exciting and more alluring. as it went on. I mean, it was a bit sleepy early and, you know, they held Justin Herbert to three drives in the first half. Herbert, on the flip side, they kind of said, here's what you're going to do. You're going to be obedient. We're going to let you show short passes and you'll just

you'll, as you say, Dan, you'll take what we give you. Mark's kind of game, like a quarterback being told to be obedient. He was, you know, well, he had 38 passes and only six incompletions, but they did, but he kind of said, I'm going to be disobedient and he did throw a couple deep strikes to Mike.

Williams and it worked. And Justin Herbert, I thought, played a really good game. It didn't, it didn't, you know, for me, Philadelphia, Greg, you've argued that they can get back into this. Three and six, they're in a tough spot. They needed to win this. They needed to win this. This was an ugly loss. But Jalen Hertz does show you something every game. And it wasn't just garbage time today. I think Darius Slay getting injured down the stretch for Philadelphia really hurt them a ton. I mean, that was when Los Angeles started to pick up a ton of steam. And early on, I'll just say one last thing, that the Chargers had a drive end on Philly's two-yard line, and then another stopped on fourth and two from Phillies 27 because of their go-forward on

fourth-down thing. And there was some squawking, and I think it's fair sometimes to say, if you're going to go for it on fourth down this much, come up with plays that work because they'd show that they were too. That's the hard part. I know that sounds simple, but it's like they were two for seven, and they're just leaving points on the board. Yet, what happened was they came back and went forward again on fourth and one in the fourth quarter. And then fourth and inches, Herbert had a sneak basically that kept, that sealed the game because they would have had to go for a field goal with a minute 45 left or something.

If they didn't get that, the Eagles probably win this. That's what I'm saying, the way that both teams were driving. So in the end, Staley's aggressiveness that he is relentless with, I give it a win because it's how they won this game. But early on, it's like when they were two and seven, it was like one of their plays was Josh Kelly on a run. it just looked like you could have designed something better here. And teams are now keeping the right personnel on the field to deal with fourth downs.

They're expecting this to happen. It's a little bit different than a month ago. I get it. But I think it's knowing what your team is and what your team is on defense is a team that can't get off the field even against Jalen Hertz. So I get it. They're going to get praised when it goes well and they're going to get, you know, criticism when it goes poorly.

And they started so well this year that it was almost destined to come down to earth. You can't critique it at all, though. It's like, everyone must do it all the time. And that's, you know, I'll stay on the way on that. And for a second, I thought they might kick that field goal late. And I was like, ooh, Staley's gotten spooked by all the fails. But then he actually did go for it yet again. I just, I think it also depends on who your personnel is.

And to me, this Chargers defense has shown no faith in trusting them. It's the same. Might as well go with the office. I was watching the Ravens today. The Ravens do not care. The Ravens could be inside their own 35 down two scores. And they're going for it on fourth and two because John Harba at some point or his analytics team made the point say we are better off risking it, risk the biscuit because we have Lamar and he's going to get those yards. And our defense isn't good enough.

We've got to win with our offense on the field. So I'm all for it, even if it, but you have to be imaginative to Mark's point as well. And it will be interesting to see where the Eagles go from here. As I understand it, Mark, and maybe you could shine a little more light on it. Jalen Hurts played pretty well in this game. but they have not won a home game yet this year. They're three and six. This is a famously fickle fan base

and an owner that's going to be plugged in to have the city and the region feels about the Eagles. They're three and six. So I think there's going to be, I don't think the Eagles are a playoff team. I think this is an evaluation period for two months now. And the evaluation is going to be on Jalen Hertz, of course. And I just wonder if the evaluation is on Nick Siriani as well,

where the Eagles are right now. I think the only thing, though, I mean, this was not a disastrous game on any level. I don't know, I don't think you, yes, you lost, but if Eagles fans are like up in arms about what they watched, it's like, yeah, you. One was, the one that threw Flowers at Nick Siriana as he went in the tunnel after the game,

and it wasn't like a beautiful job, Nick Flowers. Right. But that's still a, you know, if you're going to throw something from the stands at someone you're angry at, flowers is a bit of a mixed message. It was like a boot in the ear, and I'm like, what, like, why did you have that in the first place at the loop? They're like, right.

Just in case, we are really mad at, Siriani after the game. Let's bring flowers, because that'll, like, kind of throw people off. That's something you can. It's been, like, pinned to my sports coat. Like, it's a very strange batteries. And it's like, okay, we can get away with that. Oh, Eagles, oh, you always to bring up the battery stuff.

Hey, how about prevent a quarterback from throwing for 80% against you? I felt bad for Jalen Hertz in their running game. This is the fifth quarterback to complete over 80% of his passes. Like, most of the time that's happened in the league this year, it's come against the Eagles. And that's

That's Jonathan Gannon's defense, and Jonathan Gannon and Brandon Staley were childhood friends I learned during this game. So, a little bit of an extra. We didn't boo center. That's erroneous. That's an urban legend. Yeah, we had a jail underneath the old stadium, but so did your stadium. Oh. I love that thug using erroneous correctly there.

That was... College educated. You're going to get sick of me saying this year in the NFC, but it's like, to me, the Eagles are still fairly far from evaluation. When you're like one loss behind the fast... Alkins or Panthers for that spot. Like all these teams that, to Mark's point, are not going to win the Super Bowl. They're going to be in the mix in like week 50. From evaluation or from elimination?

I'm saying like there's. I guess we're all being evaluated at all time. Right. You're saying, you're saying like they're looking ahead to next year. But they don't think it. I can tell you that. I do. I don't, I don't, they just seem to be short of the bar if we're talking about teams that.

I'm not saying they're not worth tracking or they're believing in on any level. but this seems like a team that have worked. Or pull me back in. Seattle needs to step up and maybe one other team too or else, you know, right now we have some really

bad looking teams that are in the AFC play. Well, go make a seventh playoff game and then be surprised that you get some sort of trash heap playing in January. All right. Let's get to the game

we've all been waiting for. With 33 seconds left, back to throw, pressure again, gets it off. Touchdown! It's Matt Collins who makes a diving kids in the back of the end zone

and the Dolphins finally had their first touchdown in the second quarter this year. There you go, Matt Collins. Go down and get in the end zone, man. Feel the excitement. Jimmy Cephalo. Didn't sound like Jason Taylor, but maybe it was WQA.M. with the

call. In the NFL's most turnover-filled game in more than five years, the dolphins got a touchdown pass from their surprise starter Jacoby Rosset. And they beat the Texans 17 to 9 in a game between two one and seven teams two teams on seven game losing streaks it played out exactly how we all thought and mark here's a nice little fun

fact for you no players with matching names but it was Miami's first win while committing at least five turnovers since October 18th 1990 wow I'm stunned nine turn Where were you on October 18, 1990, Mark? Camp happiness. No, 1990, high school, sophomore year, I believe. Blast and in excess out the trunk. You'd really feel the energy in the room.

The Texan Dolphins for having like a surprise starting quarterback. Doesn't really happen in the year 2021. No one seemed to know that Tua was going to miss this game. The Tua situation is bad because, you know, we just finished talking about leading into. into this game. All right, at least the Deshaun thing gets tabled until after the season. Go take off to it. Take flight. Make a difficult decision. And maybe you end up in a better place next year, no matter what. Well, he's got to stay healthy. And it's an issue with him.

It was an issue in college with the hip injury. He was banged up last year. He's been banged up this year. And it's just going to make it harder for him to establish himself there if he's not playing. I mean, that's six games he's missed now. Nine turnovers is two more than in what many called the greatest game ever played, Colts Giants. I always think, like, they'd say, oh, it's the greatest game ever played. There were six fumbles in the first half of that game. Seven turnovers.

Like, football wasn't really, you know, I don't know. I've heard this before from Greg, and he's correct. I like to break it out once every while, once there's a huge turnover game. You think, you know, the Giants being on the winning end of that game, maybe plays into your hatred of it as well? No, they lost.

You know, Johnny, you going down the field. Oh, good me. Heard of the legend. Well, fuck me. overtime. And then professional football was born. Some nice black and white photos from that contest. I thought there was a goal line sneak.

It was Johnny who did it. No, that was the other greatest game of all time. I believe you're talking about the Packers, like the Ice Bowl. That's a different one. That's different. There's another one. Giants Colts was where Johnny U goes down in overtime and leads them to the winning thing. And everyone watched on TV and then people start watching TV.

All right. Ricky, can you do some digging on this? Sometimes I don't always trust Greg on the stuff. I brought up the box score to make sure. We have you on the Colts. What? What have you? You're on his side on this as well. I agree with the idea that the best game ever having like 200 turnovers, there's some, from a certain point of view, maybe that's not the best game ever.

And do you want to, do you have anything to add before we move on, Greg, on Tyrod Taylor? You were pretty hot in the pants about Ty God. Three picks, sack five times. Well, you see. he had six magical quarters now he's got four terrible quarters it's going to be tough to rank him on QB index six out of ten is pretty good though

I know what I put him I try to do it about like what's the average start that you've had and he's really been all over the place NFL's greatest game ever I mean I'm taking the hell on this I'm letting you know but I'm just trying to think is there a different it's a book I mean they had the book called like the greatest game ever played

and for whatever reason that's the way one they called. It was, yeah, Johnny you. But it was at the goal line, the touchdown that decided the game, right? In over time, I think they won it on a goal line. I don't know. I thought it was, you know, maybe Frank Gifford going over the pile there. It could be

time to rebrand. It was the greatest game. It was Alan Amici with a one-yard run in overtime. Oh, yeah. He blows out that hole. But it was set up by Johnny Yu, like a great two-minute drive to tie it, send it to some controversy on that final play as well as I recall. Maybe some. Very much

Well, I think it's split people's opinion. Erica, can you edit out the last four minutes since I brought up this turnover thing? It's my fault. All right. Let's never talk about that game again. Let's try to avoid talking about those two teams again. Oh. Let's take a break and move to Sunday night football.

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. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Lev Florio, and together we host.

the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Oh, Sunday night. And that's going to be picked off into 24 by Bayard for the touchdown. Man, oh, Matt. It's Keith's actually, it'll say, whoa, Millie. Yes, Al Michaels with a call for NBC. Matt Stafford threw two interceptions of the second quarter

a second run back, 24 yards to the house by Kevin Byard. That gave Tennessee a 14-3 lead after the PAT. They never look back. Final score. Tennessee Titans 28, Los Angeles Rams 16. Marron! In a day and now a night, Greg, of results that sometimes are hard to figure out. I mean, who thought that the Titans were going to go to L.A.

And dominate the Rams start to finish. Justin Graver did. Actually, he didn't even really feel like he. No, he thought that. Grave Digger, remember Grave Digger said they were going to lose 3830, I believe. Something like that. He didn't even have him covering. At least I had him covering.

I believed in you Titans Nation. That's what this is really about. Greg picking the Titans to cover. The truest words I thought said today on the broadcast were Al Michaels two Jeffrey Simmons in the elevator where he said, like, if you have a big game, like you're going to, you can make the Pro Bowl off of that. And that was it. Jeffrey Simmons made the Pro Bowl tonight.

I mean, he should have made it with his work over the last seven or eight games, but that first half was as dominant a performance by a defensive lineman in any game. He sort of took the game over. Denico Atre, you know, was kind of a nice robin to his Batman. But I don't know if defense matters in terms of like one defense can dominate week after week after week. But you certainly get defenses that can make enough plays and dominate in a certain matchup. and the Titans' defense won this matchup. They did it.

Yeah, I thought that this was like a Mike Vrable fever dream, the way that the first half played out. And, you know, the Rams, you know, they were uncharacteristic. You got the uncharacteristic back-to-back drives with the picks by Stafford. They didn't really get out of their own, out of their own way in the first half. I thought they adjusted well to get him to get Stafford out of the pocket in the second half. And they crawled back to life a little bit. but touchdown drives or would be touchdown drives were field goal drives.

And if someone told me going into this night that, you know, outside of a late touchdown, Adrian Peterson would largely flop. The run game wouldn't work. The Titans would have 194 total yards at 3.5 yards per play. I would have thought this is a RAM steam roll operation, but they found another part of their team, their defense to totally step up and they just completely dominated the Los Angeles front in the first 30 minutes and then hung on for the ride. It was a bury-of-the-ball game for the Rams.

I think it's, you know, some losses, like some of these Cincinnati losses as an example, the last two weeks, you start to go like, ooh, what's going on here? The Rams, it just feels like sometimes with teams, you know, even the good ones, the stars aren't aligned right, and you just don't play your best game. And that's not taking anything away from the Titans because I think they kind of put their will on the Rams, and that played a huge role in this. But the Rams also getting penalized 12 times for 115 yards. that's not the Rams.

Like you said, Stafford with those two killer interceptions that set up 14 points, that's not the Rams. And, you know, so Los Angeles will have better days. I think they'll bounce back from this. They'll get Bond Miller in the lineup as soon as next week. But the story here is the Titans. And, you know, Greg, you tweeted about it as the fourth quarter kind of took shape and we had a better idea of what was going on here over the last four weeks.

The Titans have beat the Bills, the Chiefs, the Colts, and now the Rams. And they did it tonight in prime time on the road with Derek Henry in a cast on his foot. So we're at the point now where they've checked every box. And you could say, well, it's just one game without Henry. It's going to catch up to him maybe. But they just seem to be playing so well and have so much confidence. And most importantly, they've found some figure out some things out on defense. That has been long been an issue for them, especially, you know, getting to the quarterback.

That has been a problem for them for years. The back end hurting them and a lot of that was because they couldn't get pressure through a natural pass rush. All that is changing now and it seems like it's a more well-balanced team. They have more sacks this year than they did all of last year. And Autry, Harold Landry, and Simmons are a great trio. They could get healthier in the secondary. I don't think they're going to be a dominant defense week after week. but the thing they do well is game plan for that particular week.

And when you think about like those four wins, they were all in such different ways. And they do remind me a little bit, you know, of other Titans teams but also of Patriots teams because Ravel's got that DNA in him that it's like they're different depending on what they need to be in a particular week, but they have the ability to be very complete. He has a winning percentage now of over 630 as a pro,

the pro head coach. Like Mike Vrable's figured out a way in weird ways to win a lot of games. I also think Kevin Byard, who doesn't get a lot of attention, it's like every week he seems to make game-changing plays. I mean, they just have, you know, stepped up as a defense. And I kind of like what Chris Collinsworth said about Vrable at the end of the game, that he's different than other coaches. He's not one of these, you know, newfangled finesse scheme guys that he just is who he is. And you can kind of see it on the sideline. He just has got a look on his face like, He's ready to counter. He's excited to counter Sean McVeigh with what he does.

And, I mean, the one thought that I do think that this game could have turned at one point. When Stafford, you know, he stumbled and he hurt his ankle. But there was a killer roughing the passer, back to back, roughing the passer calls. The second one was legit. The first one, give me a break. And it gave them new life. It happens. It happens too much in our league.

And I know it's all about protecting the quarterbacks. and the league is all about the quarterbacks, but especially when you throw that flag, and that was, they're off the field, the Rams, and they're still not in a good spot. They probably, I would say at that point, if you check those Fugazi websites, I would guess the Titans have like an 85% chance of winning at that point,

but there was still a chance. Yeah, they're down two touchdowns at that. They're down two touchdowns. I know, but it's still like, yeah. That's Donald and Collinsworth put it well. Like, that's, you know, 285 pounds of mass in a full sprint after the quarterback, and he's in the process of pushing his arms out as Tannahills falling through on the throw. So to ding him on that on a third down where they're getting off the field, that kills him.

But it was the equivalent of Stafford throwing that interception. I mean, that's the only thing I have a little, I push back a tiny bit. It was obviously a terrible call. There's been too many of these with roughing the passer. But like there's this weird expectation I feel now, especially just being on Twitter during games. It's like that refs are going to get everything right. It's like, of course they're not going to get everything right. I think it was seeing the game on the field, like, when we were in London.

Like, how do they get any calls right ever? Like, the very best in the world, Matthew Stafford, is going to totally freak out and have a handful of plays every night where he sucks. Like, that first interception was ridiculous. And then the second one, he's fooled. And, like, the officials are going to have some plays where they suck. Like, Sean McVeigh kicked a field goal down 12 points. Like, that sucks.

You know what I mean? You're saying bad day at the office. You're saying bad day at the office. I'm saying bad plays. Like they're going to have bad plays. It's just going to happen. It's not 1977 anymore. We have the tech.

They, in fact, have technology now where they can correct things on the field in seconds. We've seen it. It's really helped a product this year. That's a perfect thing where New York can buzz down and override a personal foul like that. And I think everyone would sign off on it because it just, you can't swing games like that. I don't want us to get bogged down on that because, again, the Titans were going to win this game either way. But it does, it's kind of an ugly thing when it's. happens one other name i want to throw out there uh and then you guys can share your final thoughts

and then we'll say goodbye um we talk about mike vrable a lot we talk about uh arthur smith a lot and then he got the job in atlanta and you've heard todd downing's name a lot you don't really hear uh shane bowen a lot and that's the titans defensive coordinator and he deserves a ton of credit uh as much as uh head coach does the players what a great scheme that was cooked up so the titans just have it working in all phases right now. They're going to be a top three power rankings team for me in a week where most of the top 10 teams lost in that futile exercise that I go through every week. The Titans are the one team in the AFC that you feel really good about right now.

My one reservation, they've earned it, and I'd have no problem with you putting them there. I look at what they did on offense and how they were limited on offense tonight to some degree against a good Rams defense, but they're going to meet other good defenses. I leave a little concerned with what they produced. You know, that said, like huge effort and nothing to take nothing away from Tennessee. But again, under 200 yards is concerning just with the way it unfolded to some degree. It's crazy. They won in L.A. easily on a night where A.J. Brown kind of killed them, killed two drives.

And they didn't have much of a running game, as you mentioned. I did think Julio, even though the numbers didn't pop off, there were two plays in this game where I thought, I was like, ooh, he looks like he looks healthier after having that time off the field that would vote very well had a killer a really helpful catch down the stretch too that sealed

all right so Collinsworth put it well at the end of the telecast this league is so weird isn't it it was a weird Sunday in the league just to like quickly recap the Packers lost with Aaron Rogers the Cowboys got spanked

when Dak returned the bills got beat by the Jaguars the Rams get beat at home by the Titans without Derek Henry the Saints go down to the Falcons I mean it is the Bengals get wiped by the Browns it's it's going to be an interesting

second half of the year because we don't have a lot of clarity on a lot of the teams in the league it will be fun but also maybe a little infuriating for fans of teams because just when you think you understand your team the whole thing can flip I like I'm not sure it's what I

want um the totally unpredictable nature where like you feel like a team is this. And it's like the most readable team to me is almost the Vikings because it's like every game of there seems to be insane to go down to the end. But like I don't know. I guess you just that's what makes you the best product in the country in terms of sports. But like if I'm just told that, I'll I'll accept it and I'll I'll share the same message. But I kind of feel like there's no dominant team.

And to watch like some of these powers, these heavies get waxed. the way they were today. It's a little destabilizing in terms of what we, like, confidently project going into the next week. But, you know what? We shouldn't have been confident about what we're projecting three years ago, so that's fine. We always say, like, we don't know anything.

And that's true. Well, Greg, I know you think that you know. I don't think that's your take on. No, I'm always saying, I don't, I think we know a lot about, like, the league and how it works and players and all this stuff. But at no point, whether it's somewhat unpredictable the year or another year, is anyone consistently good at projecting what happens moving forward at all? I don't mean like we are.

I mean like literally there's a record out there. Like no one is good at projecting what happens moving forward. Like that's just not going to happen if you watch the NFL. Let's get back to the serious matter at hand. So because it was a Rams home game, primetime game, we're in the new facility that shares, it's on the same grounds as the stadium. Mark and I took the opportunity to head back home and do this last game remotely. Greg, you opted to stay behind for matters concerning your setup at home,

and it was just better for you to stay there. Ricky. A little farther too, a little farther away. A little further away. Ricky also still at the facility. Now, usually we watch the second half of Sunday night football in the theater. Chris Rose is there. MJD is there.

Some producers are in the room after the incident. Mark and Chris Rose earlier today. Was there any type of residual heat connected to that situation? I don't know if it's heat so much as disappointment. You know, you would think after something like that would happen that just man-to-man, like, you know, confront him in the, like, say something to his face. You know, just like sort of repair that relationship, like be there. So it's a no-show after that, I think, was tough.

So your version of man-to-man confrontation is that you guys discussed it while I was at my house. No, not in a confrontation, but just like, hey, he did also say how much he missed us last week, remember? That's true. We were home for Halloween, and then you kind of jilted him at the altar again. Well, I hear you. But we had good male bonding, you know, I got to do that. So that was funny. I like when you have traditional male bonding, Greg, you know that.

And Mark, on an otherwise perfect Sunday, this was the lone blemish, but certainly doesn't sound like anything that can't be corrected with a real honest conversation. Well, it's a totally pre-cooked scenario that I'll play along with for your giggles and enjoyment. But I am confident that my relationship with Chris Rose, who I've, you know, had a good relationship with for years, is not going to be body rocked because I, you know, like, had a short Browns conversation with him that will precede other conversations. You were short with him during the Brown. No, that's a bad shirt joke. Again, that is your take. And, like, there are other takes beyond what the two of you say in terms of directing my life from A to B to C, nonstop. Very good.

All right. And not only the Browns, Mark, and not only Colt McCoy, and you got a big W. I concede, big W to you on the Josh Allen versus Josh Allen situation. Josh Allen had a good game against Josh Allen. Therefore, the two Josh Allen's having the same name is really cool. So I can see that as well. Hyper relevant today. All right.

You know what's coming next Tuesdays. The next time you will hear from the bozos. We'll have the great Cynthia Freeland joining us to take a look at what comes next. You know, this is actually very great timing, Greg, because we don't know what's going on. You can't project forward. Well, she has a machine. She keeps it. It's actually in her bedroom, which is interesting.

and she puts things into the machine and it pumps out this is how the NFL is going to play out in the second half. We're going to get some hard answers based on data, however you want to put it. I will note that the last time she was on our show, maybe it was, you know, the last time I was on this when she was, I asked her to send me a photo of said machine and set up and she promised to and never did. So I want to follow up on that and see where we are with that. sounds like another relationship like exactly like I'm not going to say a word actually this is this is stupid like I'm not going to have any associates by the end of this podcast please all right good stuff so we'll be back Tuesday make sure you check in and thank you to everybody for listening and that's it Dan Hansa signing off for

the old boss the quiet storm Ricky Hollywood until next time he's the call You know, Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to 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.

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