NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2023 Week 6 Recap

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

In a London conference room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler, recap Week 6 of the 2023 Season. The heroes open the show with dramatic underdog wins by the Jets against the Eagles (03:50) and Browns against the 49ers (14:07) before a look at the Lions at the Bucs (22:22). After the break, the heroes recap the Ravens and Titans matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (34:06), the Seahawks at the Bengals (48:04), the Cardinals at the Rams (56:57), and Saints at the Texans (01:03:31).  After the heroes sign off from London, Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook take the reigns to recap Panthers at Dolphins (01:12:38), Patriots at Raiders (01:17:42), Colts at Jaguars (01:23:43), Vikings at Bears (01:27:50), Commanders at Falcons (01:31:26) and Giants at Bills (01:35:35).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast, Sean Payton's official fan club. From Sky Sports headquarters in London, England, it's around the NFL. I am Dan Hansis, and I am in a conference room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. there are no more undefeated teams in the National Football League. And Mark Sessler, the reason both the undefeated teams no longer are undefeated is because of the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets.

What world do we live in? This season needed this. I really feel like it did. And it's not because I have roots as a Browns fan. And it's not because of your Jets fandom. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. I mean...

Also, the roots are also a full-grown tree that you're still perfectly living. Today, I sat under the shade of that beautiful tree and felt something. You are the tree. Walker made me feel something. We'll get into it. But this is the unlikely, unpredictable nature of this league. And it's like we're still learning about these teams. And I would say even more from the Jets angle, there is just this renewed sense of possibility.

Wow. I think it's from every angle. I mean, let's say what it is. This is one of the most memorable days in the history of the around the NFL podcast. It's almost 1 a.m. We're at Sky Sports Studios. Our day started over at the hot toddy more than 12 hours ago, well more than that. And your teams just took out the two best teams in the NFL who hadn't had a loss today.

And we got professional footballers yelling on us from the stands. Inside jokes from the game. That was. It's all happening. We were walking and again, and we're going to get to the game, the Titans Ravens game that we were in attendance and we did a lot of great stuff on the field. So many great interactions and fun interactions

with listeners of this show. It's almost overwhelming, quite frankly, and really cool. But one of those interactions and one of those shoutouts when we were down at the field came from. Rob Holding. Crystal Palace is Rob Holding, formerly of Arsenal and you know we're plugged in

on other sports to some degree to not some degree because Nick Pike from NFL UK when we walk past him Rob Holding shouted down hey heroes and he's like he's like here we are at the hot toddy it's like that's awesome another great British listener and he's like by the way

Nick said that is a professional Premier League player that is Rob Holding it was like about 715,000 followers on Instagram I just followed him we'll see if he follows back my son called My son, Colton, is a huge soccer fan, so I just immediately text and said, like, do you know anything about this guy? And, like, I mean, he knows everyone. So his mind is going to be blown.

Wow. That's who that's who's listening to this show. And that was, he's going to be listening to this right now, hopefully. And it's a day that, yes, that so many crazy things have happened. And the fact that it's 1 a.m. here, we should be tired. But when those most certain outcomes of today's games and the way they do, we are filled with energy and life. And we will not be alone. We're going to do the first half of the show.

today. And then for the first time ever, we are going to hand the show off for the back half of games, including Sunday night football, Bill's Giants to the great Nick Shook and the great Patrick Claibon, very capable hands to take us home. So we're going to, we're going to go through what, seven or eight games here? We're going through seven. They got six. All right. So let's do that. And I think there's no reason to delay any further. Let's get into how these undefeated teams were knocked off. And yes, let's start at an electric medal ends. Here we go. In motion goes Akias. Shotguns set for Jalen Hurts. Gainwell to his left. Play clock at three. Takes the snap, drops the throw on fourth and eight. Well, protected, looks left. Heaves a bomb.

Down the middle of the field and has broken off by Jordan and a whitehead. The Jets are going to win it. The jet defense needed to come up big one last time and come up big they did. What a day. for the jet defense what a day indeed oh the new york city and london oh my goodness what a day for robert salla's defense which after giving up 14 points in the first half including the opening philly drive but that covered nine minutes of game time and went 19 plays on a very iffy touchdown over turn by the officials completely locked down

the Eagles in the second half of this game and create huge plays. They've been creating turnovers this year which their defense did not do last year and boys missing their top three cornerbacks including Sauce Gardner. They shut out the mighty Eagles in the second half

and steal the game on an interception, Breeze Hall touchdown run and then that fourth four and out stop to close the game 2014, Jets 3 and 3 at the bye, Eagles fall to 5 and 1. It is a season-changing win because Dan and I, we were having this conversation during the game as they were playing tough. And I'm comparing, I'm like, you know, Zach Wilson is almost turning into like the new Drew Locke. Like he's developed into maybe a capable backup level, which is a step forward.

And maybe they could survive. And if only they had the schedule that they had in 2022, I think this team actually could maybe win 9, 10 games. This schedule's been so brutal. But you know what? You just got through the worst part of the schedule and you finally stole a win for the second time against one of the best teams in the entire NFL. And you escape this early part of the season at three and three. And you look at the rest of the back half. And I don't suddenly think Zach Wilson is going to change, but I don't think this defense is going to change either.

I think it's going to be one of the best defenses in the league. And I just think they have something building in terms of who they are and that they're just going to be around. At two and four, I don't know if I would have felt that, but at three and three with a win over the Eagles and the bills, I just think they're going to be around. They're going to be part of this season. And, you know, circling back to week one in everything that happened there, I think that's all you can ask.

They refuse to go away. I mean, if there was a time to collapse and disappear, it would have been five minutes into the season. They beat the Buffalo Bills, widely considered, like a top two team in the AFC. You barely, you nearly beat the Chiefs, and you should have. That call at the end of that game changes everything there. and you think maybe the Jets are just absolutely snake bit, you've just beaten the Eagles.

If you knew before the season, you'd have those three wins. Of course Aaron Rogers is guiding this team. Instead, it's like, it's, Zach Wilson is sort of changing and evolving in a little ways. He didn't make terrible mistakes today. He's still what he is, but this is a great coaching job by Robert Sala, and it's a great team development and team building. Here's the deal.

Yes, Wilson has been better the last three weeks than he was previously. but Wilson did not make throws in many situations he took a lot he took sacks in this game he didn't turn the ball over but they really had no business winning this game because the defense continued to get stop after stop and give Zach Wilson and the offense the ball back and for the most part they couldn't do anything and that's why if you're an Eagles fan we just watched last week one of the what I thought was the worst loss of the year which was the Ravens blowing that game against the Steelers. I'm not going to say it's at that level, but it's not far off for the Eagles. The Eagles are going to watch this film and be sick to their stomachs because they knew

there is no way. After all the frustrations of the game, there is no way. Zach Wilson is going to take the jets down the field to win this game. All Jalen Hertz has to do is not make the wrong decision, but he does. He throws the interception. Who had the pick? The interception was by get this right um they got uh Adams at the interception took it all the way back to the Philly eight and that gave the Jets the only chance they were going to get a touchdown there and then there was a big decision to be made uh by Robert Sala and the Jets uh if the Eagles let you score do you do you let it happen or do you kind of kneel down at the one the Jets go in and it was thought at the time that that was a bad decision because the Eagles got the ball back with 146 and two

timeouts on the clock and yet and yet the Jets defense stood tall one more time so even though you could you could quibble or even say Sola made a big mistake there this defense that had stood up all throughout that half did it one more time and it it really is yes a landscape changing win for the Jets it you know the Eagles had a ton of injuries we'll get to that too because I think that was a big takeaway from this game and important for them moving forward but ultimately there's more on defense and offense and they had their best players out there other than lane johnson on offense and so for the jet's defense to turn them away over and over again and the quarterbacks that they faced are impressive we got robert salla giving us some good quotes you know through these first six weeks we've

played a gauntlet of quarterbacks and um i know we haven't gotten all wins but we've embarrassed all of them it's not wrong you know what i think after what sala's been through and this team and this fan base been through it's okay to puff out your chest here a little bit and i'll i'll take the l because as recently is the first half last week against denver i'm thinking to myself man this robert sala i don't know if this is the right guy in place this team seems like they're going down the tubes and and what what i need to give him credit for and a little mea culpa is this defense which he leads he's a defensive coach has this ability although they never they don't typically start strong they they start to build up they're like a steam train where it takes a while for them to

warm up but once they do they start to just build off each possession and they make big plays and one thing that defense that was rated very well last year didn't do is turn the ball over they turn the ball over a ton this year and which is huge because this offense and we could say he's a drew lock type figure at this point Zach Wilson they're not going to score a lot of points the defense is going to have to give them short fields and it's going to have to do game changing plays and they did both of that. Yeah, the Jets 4.1 yards per play. You know, 244 total yards.

You look at that before the game and think, well, the Jets did not get this thing done. It was a couple of years ago that we were at Hot Tadi watching the Robert Sala game where he's pumping his fists up and down the sideline. And it's like that was when it started to bubble up that Robert Sala, the Niners defense coordinator was like this head coaching material. And with that Niners team, they had a lot of injuries on defense. It seemed all the time. I mean, he would still coach up guys behind them to play just as well, and they were so resilient.

And you were missing all sorts of quarterbacks tonight, the New York Jets. And it's like you found a way to do it and turn the Eagles into complete absolute normal humans. Like, they didn't look like they normally do. I mean, this is Jalen Hertz. This was a meltdown by Jalen Hertz. We have not seen that. Hertz was actually pretty good for most of this game. He was let down by some big drops by his receivers.

He kept plays alive throughout this game. and was almost impossible for the Jets to bring down despite an active pass rush. But, you know, he still turned the ball over three times three interceptions. And the last throw, again, that is in the running for one of the worst throws. Probably the worst throw of his career when you factor in. The way he made the decision, which was a poor decision, the back through off his back foot, knowing the situation that you didn't need to get a first stand.

You don't have to force that. That's a very, very difficult loss for him. Well, and to go four and out on the ensuing possession in which they had a plenty of time to try to go down the field in the first down included, you know, his best receiver, A.J. Brown, who went for another 131. He does it every week, yelling at him. So it was about as big of a meltdown as Jalen Hertz has had in a game since that playoff loss to the bucks. I don't come out of this game overly concerned about the Eagles long term. Like they've had some wobbly games. It's a long season. but they do have a ton of injuries.

Lane Johnson is one of the most important players on their team. We'll see if that's a long-term injury. X-ray is negative, but we don't know how serious it is. Jalen Carter, Darius Slay, both didn't suit up for the game. Reed Blankenship got hurt during the game. So did Justin Brown, Sidney Brown, and Eli Ricks. Those are all in the secondary. So when all of the injuries happen in one position, that's a concern for the Eagles in the upcoming weeks.

Your three and three, the Jets, you go into your by week, and they've been through a gauntlet. It's been a rough, rough slate. And I think even with Aaron Rogers, you could have looked at this opening six games and say three and three, I might take that. And so after that, you have the Giants, the Chargers, and the Raiders. The Jets suddenly are in a different place in a different time right now. And it's like, I think Jets fans who have been through hell deep into Hades, you're coming back up to Terra Firma and you can breathe. And this is very rarely happened.

I rarely thought this, but the Jets fans have been awesome in that building now. that it was a great vibe in week one great vibe in there it's feeling a little bit like a home field advantage because the fans like this team and they're a fun team to root for and they have that underdog mentality with rogers out very exciting times i'm thrilled maybe he won't be out for long he's out there on the field without any crush it with all the cameras on i mean i know what you're doing i know you're getting paid millions from mackafee i mean i would take the millions too if you could do that for millions of dollars mark do you want to talk about the Browns? I would like to. Let's talk about the Browns. Oh, what a Sunday show. Between the hashers. 41 yards for Jake Moody.

Wishnowski kneels at the 31 to give the Niners the lead. Snap is down. The kick is up. The kick is no good. It's no good. And the Browns will beat the 49ers 19 to 17. 17. He pushed it wide to the right.

Oh, we know that, boys. Bring on the bongos. Kong, Kong, Kong, Cleveland, defense, Schwartz, Schwartz. Oh, the rookie kicker of the 49ers. Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal, six seconds. seconds to play and the Cleveland Browns another inspired defensive effort 1917 the win and that was of course Andrew Siciliano with the call our friend friend of the show colleague in NFL media Browns fan and filling in of course for the great Jim Donovan Jim Donovan and doing a great job at it and you can hear in Siciliano's voice because we know Andrew he's born and he loves the Browns and that excitement. mark it was shared by cleveland fans the world over including the man with the roots i mean i've talked with andrew so many mornings in our in our newsroom through these up and down brown seasons and i

honestly to hear him to hear his voice right there like since he was a young boy he's been rooting for this team and he's professional about it obviously now but like that's got to be a moment he'll never forget and i has to go down as one of the bigger brown's regular season wins um of the of this century who's the quarterback today it's p j walker and you know what i said like the one i think i told you guys like early in the game it was like p j walker looks good in this browns uniform i just kind of like i can root for this guy and like he's an imperfect creation um he threw a couple picks in this game that's a football player he kept fighting though yeah i agree with his mom mrs walker actually pj is a perfect creation all right well you know i don't

need perfect, but I need someone I can root for. And there's, also like the Jets, at times they're playing around their offense, because they're really affected by not having Nick Chubb. Yet they're running backs. Jerome Ford and company stepped up today. Kareem Hunt stepped up today. There was big plays by Amari Cooper. I love the fact that PJ Walker, who really had, you know, these are a preseason with this team. There was no training camp. It comes out of the street, and he ran the offense competently. They trusted him to make big throws. And it just actually like Last year, Amari Cooper is stepping up in a big way, but this story of this game is the defense. And on Thursday, we asked, I asked, like, can someone make Brock Purdy look uncomfortable?

Can it be this defense? Is Cleveland going to do what it did? No, they're in a bad position against Baltimore with what was happening in quarterback that week. But they also gave up some big gash plays on the ground, this couple big plays through the air, and they didn't look like themselves. Today, I mean, from wire to wire, Jim Schwartz, who was marching up. and down the sideline with a real smile on his face from the beginning. I think they just knew they could make life uncomfortable for Brock Pretty.

They gave up 215 yards, which is the lowest in the Shanahan era. And down the stretch, when Brock Purdy had a chance to change this game late, and you didn't know Debo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey went out of this game. You could factor all that in. But even before that happened, the Niners, the way we've seen them, when they have so many weapons that you can't contain them, they were contained from top to bottom. And I had to say this Cleveland defense is a difference maker.

Right. I mean, look, if Jake Moody makes that kick, I'm talking about how Brandon Ayuk made a couple big time plays on that drive, made the Browns miss. But the only reason he got the chance is because the 49ers defense kept getting the ball back. The 49ers had seven drives in the second half. It is extremely rare to get a seventh chance, a seventh bite at the apple like Purdy did.

on those six drives before that happened, the 49ers offense had a total of 21 yards. I mean, that is outrageous. And this game, to me, was different than the Jets game because the Jets game, as Dan said, like the Eagles should not have lost that game ultimately. Look, the Browns outgained the 49ers by 120 yards. Their defense was the most dominant part of this game.

It really wasn't about the Brown's offense, but they were able to run the ball in ways that they haven't since Nick Chubb was gone. Like, they legitimately looked like the better team against them. the 49ers and and you said you know the jets might be a bigger story moving forward in terms of lasting i don't know i look at this browns team and i think wow like this team if watson can come back healthy like is it very dangerous team with that defense yeah even even even without nick chub because you look at this division and it's like if you're the browns with that defense who scares you i mean even you was a good day for the afc north i got to say they

all looked a little scarier now than they did 24 hours ago. But like the Bengals, they don't know how to beat this Browns team. They, so they're in their heads by this point. And this defense is currently constituted is going to eat up all the other teams in that division, including in my mind, the Ravens. I think they're, I think they're just really well set up, uh, to be a team that is relevant and potentially a playoff team. I picked them as a playoff team.

Obviously I, when you lose Nick Chub, you think, oh, that, that's a death. Now, but what you're saying is right, Mark. Like this is a difference making defense. and you're going to see it continue to give them wins. Yeah, they have losses against Pittsburgh, which was that was a frustrating Monday night loss. You know, Baltimore game, there was a lot happening on Cleveland's offensive side

that put them in a disadvantage, but they got gashed by Baltimore. I don't know. I feel like there's no way. I thought that the San Francisco matchup would reveal Cleveland to be somewhat of a fraud. That was just my feeling. And it's like, I have to give Kevin Stefanski,

I think it's sort of been under a lot of fire. and, of course, Jim Schwartz, the whole coaching staff. You know, Stefansky said basically this week that he felt that Jim Schwartz and the defense all week long, like you could tell something was going on. He said on Wednesday, if you measure a practice on Wednesday's practice by how it sounds, we had our best practice of the season. I'm like, in this modern times where you're not even hitting,

I don't know what that translates to, but it's like there is an attitude and a belief in Cleveland's defense that they can go and do anything, and you see it week after week. Well, they've given up the fewest yards through five. games of any team, I think ever, which is a pretty crazy stat. And the schedule eases up. The Deshawn Watson news coming into the week was he might miss multiple more weeks.

It's still a very strange situation that bears watching. I feel like we're not getting like we're not, we have done of the full story on the shoulder engine. Well, it's very rare to hear a guy is medically cleared from the coach and then he's out for two and a half straight week. We'll see. One of the parrots that work for. Watson essentially in the media will leak his side of the story sooner we've pretty much been getting

that like you know he's feeling I don't I don't this is really doubt that I just feel like there's there's more going on injuries were a massive part of this story though for the 49ers the best team in the league coming into today to lose Christian McCaffrey to a hip and oblique obliques are a tricky injury and then Debo Samuel not to survive the game that is a potentially not season changing but it could be something where it makes them struggle a little bit through this middle stuff after the game Shanahan he wasn't he was unsure he was unsure about the extent of both and said we don't know yet. So yeah, it is, you know, that Debo is now going through another

what looks to be an injury plague season. McCaffrey has really stayed healthy for the most part since coming to San Francisco. So now we're going to start getting tested here as all teams do and now it's 49ers turn. There's another one too because Trent Williams on a play that looked, he got rolled up on and it looked really ugly and he came back into the game and finished it but left the stadium in a walking boot on his right foot. So, I mean, that's another jenga piece right there. Should have never gotten rid of Robbie Gould.

You called it, Danny. Hey, you got to when you have a kicker, you can count on to depend on. Keep in the building. And I know you could, if you're a Niners fan, you could quibble with the, with the decision there to get very conservative and settle for the 41-yard field goal rather than try to get closer. They didn't want to risk getting knocked back on some running plays that had no chance. And you could say, okay, that was that was Shanahan being a little cute.

But you know what? your kicker's got to hit a 41-yard. I know, but that's like how, and I... Greg, that's not a 46-yard or that's not a 48-yard. Like, 41 in our league in 2023, should be money in the bank. Number one, he hasn't looked great since he was drafted. So that's on Shanahan a little bit. You got to know your kicker.

Number two, like, I always just feel like coaches hide behind that. Like, okay, then it's the kicker's fault. You have 45 seconds. You've got a time out over. Like, you've got a great offensive team. Like, oh, we don't want to get backed up. running the ball. Yeah, you could also score a touchdown. You could also get down to the 10-year-line.

Like, why do you stop trying with 45 seconds off? I hate it when Marty Schottenheimer did it as the Jets coach. I heard. I hate it when Herm Edwards did it. It's no better now when Kyle Sanahan does it for all the praise he gets and deserves it. Like, there is, he's a little more conservative than other coaches. Why not? Just keep playing football. I disagree with this one because don't live in your fears.

What did you just say? Cleveland has potentially by yardage, the best defense ever through six. You also mentioned how they have done nothing all day. Maybe he was a little spoof, but you know what? Jordan Mason was five for 27. It wasn't like he was getting stoned. Come on. Make the kick.

And if he makes the kick, as he should, as what, a second or third round pick, then it's a very frustrating day for Cleveland, which outplayed this Goliath. And yet he misses the kick. And you know what? Good, because Cleveland was the better team in this game. Let us move on. to Tampa, where the Lions were looking to say, hey, San Francisco, we're coming up in your rearview.

Gough out of the gun. There's the shotgun snap. Gough back, looking, looking, throwing. Deep down field, wants Jameson. Inside the 10. Jameson makes the catch. Touchdown Detroit Lions. That's what I'm talking about.

That's what I'm talking about number nine. Had to rearrange, turn around, grab the football, and that's exactly what he did with Ryan Neal, draped all over him. And that's what we've been waiting on. I see you number nine. Oh, my God. That's what you're capable of luck, dumb man, changing the game.

Remember last year when Paul Allen, Vikings Radio, was getting all those great calls and it was going viral a little bit. And everybody loved Paul Al. We had him on the show. And that, it's Dan Miller's here. Dan Miller is going to continue to make these really fun calls. And I think we're going to have to have them on the show. Lions Radio. Jared Goff through two touchdown passes.

And the Detroit Lions take care of business, mostly on the back of their defense in a 20 to 6 win over Baker, Mayfield, and the Bucks. On the road, the Lions are now 5 and 1, Greg, including 3 and 0 on the road. And these are the type of wins. Like I like to see when I'm trying to discern who were like the big boys. in the league, kind of going on the road and not even playing your best game,

but one side of the ball says, all right, we're going to take care of business. And this game, it was Detroit's defense. Right. I'm a little sick of saying, like, oh, are they the third team? Are they the fourth? They're one of the best teams in the NFL. They have been, I didn't need to see this game to see it. They were third in DVOA going into this week.

They are five and one. They have won their last four games by a combined 60 points. All four of those wins have been by at least two touchdowns. They beat the defending champions on opening night. They've just beat a three-and-one Bucks team on the road. They're in the top five in DVOA going into this week, not even with this game, in offense and defense. They're a complete team with a great coaching staff.

They have good line play. They've got it all, and they play like their hairs on fire, and they don't make excuses. They've been as injured as any team in the league. So it's just six weeks, and if you're telling me, like, do I think they're the NFC? favorite? No, because of how good the 49ers and Eagles rosters are. So they're like the third. No, but like it doesn't

matter. The point is like it doesn't matter what I think and they are one of the best teams in the NFL. They're on a relatively short list of realistic teams that can win the Super Bowl this year. Maybe that's a seven team list but they are absolutely on it and they are playing right now as well as I think. Well, Gregie, like I I didn't need to see this game go their way to feel like I believe in the lines. But I'm saying like we're now getting to the point where six games is a pretty good sample size. And you go 16.

They're 13 and 3 in their last 60. Right. So like now we have a six game sample size of many of these teams. And the Lions mark have really now showed themselves to be well coached, a team with chemistry, a team that blocks very well that has a quarterback that can shred when given time. and a defense that has, from where they were a year ago at this time to where they are now, that is the big difference here, that they now can win games with a defense when at this time last year they were losing games. Yeah, defense was a total liability a year ago.

And if you go into Lions games in general and say after they've been so dominant on the ground, you have a game where they ran for 40 yards. You lose David Montgomery. Gibbs is not there. Like they're, they could be exposed. They find other ways to win. Amon Ross, St. Brown goes off. Williams finally.

And he's sort of like, if you're going to do anything, he's going to have a big play. That's sort of what he does. He has five career catches. Two of those catches are 40-yard touchdowns. And as you said, if that continues, Sky Sports, you said he's just simply going to be shoved into Canton. I mean, that's obviously, you know, tongue-and-cheek. But what they can do with it, what they can do, it was, Greg was delightful on Sky Sports. He was delightful.

But I think of team, they kind of fall into this category for me of teams that just like their personality kind of drives. them too and I'm not comparing them to this team but like the 85 bears were like personality heavy and like didn't give an F about what anyone else thought like some of those like the 2000 Ravens feel like that way to me I can think of the early Pete Carroll Legion of Boom teams where it's like it's us against the world and it's like Dan Campbell's kind of imbued it with them and sometimes those you can try to do that and we can all see that it's not true it's phony it's not real it is completely real with them and in this game it's another example where like they were kind of going I wouldn't say neck and neck but

The Buccaneers were hanging around, and the Lions were working. It wasn't a great game, but they were working, too, but then they just gained power as the game goes on. And I know last year I was slow to the draw with the Lions. The way that they play right now is like the kind of way I'd want to draw up a football team and how they dominate people down the stretch. And this is why, you know, Hard Knocks has always been one of my favorite programs because you start to learn about the personality of the team from watching them,

and that goes way back to last summer now. And I can tell you from watching that show and following. this team closely now for a year and almost a year and a half since that that block that Craig Reynolds used on Carlton Davis sending him into the next hemisphere that sprung him on St. Brown on that big touchdown that kind of put the lines in the driver's seat. That's what Dan Campbell's going to be losing his mind over. That's right. When he says biting kneecaps, that block is biting that. That's it. People didn't know what that meant. And it was easy to kind of, oh, this guy's a little, he's like a caveman. He's not a up. He's not sued.

for this job but that's what he was referring to this team that will do anything for each other even though if you don't show up in the stat box you're going to take out the other team and punish and that's exactly what they did that play is so emblematic of detroit lines football now it could be a big moment in jameson williams season they they kind of need that you mentioned how they didn't have the running game today so they they really put it on jared goff's shoulders and he was just on the money he this is the best season of his career to this point similar to his first half of the season in, what was that, 2018 when he was on fire for the Rams,

but more controlled because they were having these long drives where he was just completely on point. So even though they'd only put up 20 points, like the offense dominated the ball because they just didn't give it up in the second half. They've been so resilient, though, they'll have their, at some point they'll hit a dip in the season, but the way they've withstood injuries,

and a lot of the players are coming back. Some of them aren't, and they had more going. out even today the way they've been missing six to seven starters all year and they're this good that tells me like i expect them to be there at the end and uh on the on the buck side of things and first of all i know some people like them or whatever i think you like a mark but like who the Tampa bay buccaneers need to lose the creamsicle uniforms because it is a loser's mentality when you put that uniform on with that color and the old buccaneer guy on the side all i think of is the pre tony dungy like 1988 to

1996 bucks that were impossible to watch. I think it goes into their bloodstream and they become unwatchable. So lose them. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. All right, what? Well, all I'd say, I mean, just from a lose them, Sessler. And we were in the Sky Studio like Hannah Wilkes agreed

with you. I think the one thing is like on television. Hannah Wilkes agree with me. That means it's a win. Okay, fair. But they have Hannah Wilkes in a big spot. They create terrible match uniform combinations with other teams. That's what I don't like about it. And it's hard to read like their names on the back of the tree. But I don't think players that were born in like 1992 or 1995, like give a hoos about the old uniforms.

And then they'll sit to drop them. You got to drop them. My other point is I will I will relinquish this argument. It doesn't matter. Tell the bucks to get rid of them. And then my other buck's point. And if you guys have another one thrown in, then we're going to take a break and continue on. but I said it on Thursday.

I have dense messaging about their defensive line after you. Yes. Devin Topkins' first rushing attempt for five yards. You got to get more. Baker Mayfield has had a nice start to the season. I saw these three games is a big like, is it real or not? Detroit, Atlanta, Buffalo, the next three today in the next three weeks. He was not effective in this game.

He kind of looked like old Baker. We'll see what he does against the Falcons next week. But this against the big time defense, I thought he looked flat and was missing. throws. The only other thing hanging out there. Yeah, I mean, he, at the end of the game is his non-throwing arm was, it was hanging off his body. And, like, he took a shot either to the head or the shoulder.

I think it was like it looked like it could be, we'll find out of what. But we meant that there's a chance Baker Mayfield is out of our lives for a little bit. We'll see. Bucko Bruce is the name. A winking pirate with a dagger clenched between his teeth. First of all, like send him into the Tampa Bay, baby. There were no, there were no. He's gone too.

Yeah, oh, you lose them. He's a loser. There were no pirates named Bruce. So there's a disconnect to begin with. Bruce is a loser. Put him in one of those cannons. Get him out. I don't think the name Bruce even existed during pirate times.

I know there's still pirates out on the seas and part of our world. I get that. It's not over. I saw the Tom Hanks film. What is it? I'm the captain now. Was that what it was? Now I'm the captain.

And it's like two in the morning. You're a cinephile. What was it? You're a captain now. I'm the captain now. All right. Let's take a break. and then we'll talk London and more.

I'm the captain now. All right. We are back and now, yes, we are here in London. It's been another great week for around the NFL, beautiful live show on Thursday. Everybody here has been so nice to us. But the reason we were here was to cover and watch and enjoy a football game to the Hot Tottie.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ravens Titans. On second and seven from the Tennessee, 10. Lamar up the play fake drifting to his left under pressure extending the play throws complete Zay Flowers touchdown Ravens Lamar extended and Zay Flowers delivered first NFL touchdown for Zay Flowers congratulations young man calm down Rod Woodson Jerry Sandesky with the call speaking at first that was the first time the Jets ever beat the Eagles like ever that's pretty wild like ever ever ever all right back to hot toddy yes lamar jackson

and the raven's offense could not get at a second gear for most of this game at least in the red zone but the one time they did it was jackson to zay flowers his first touchdown in the NFL first of many he's a good player and the ravens also leaned on the leg of the great justin tucker who came to the land of soccer and went six of six uh almost all of them chippies and the ravens take care of the titans 24 to 16 so the ravens after the horrific loss against pittsburgh they get to four and two and the titans are searching for it at two and four mark this game uh on the title let's start with the the the raven side of it um and then we could do a little bit of talk about what it was like at the game um dominated for the most part uh

by the Ravens. Let's see what the, I'm sure the total yardage was absurd. 360 total yards of the Ravens, which is meh, 233 for the Titans. They put a little bit of lipstick on the pig late. And other than a third period swing and momentum for Tennessee where they scored 10 points,

this was the Ravens game all the way and they took care of business in the end. Yeah. You know, the first four drives were field goal, field goal, field goal touchdown. They handled their business. I think Lamar Jackson continues to have a really interesting season.

And I think it's, you know, like, it goes kind of unnoticed or untalked about a little bit that he's in year one of a new offense. And when Matthew Stafford came to the Rams, it was around like week 10 or 11 or 12 when they worked their way through some problems and he started to heat up and be the best he could be. And it's, I think Lamar Jackson's handled this challenge really well. I'm not sure that's been true of the inconsistencies and the drops and the other stuff. stuff around. I do, I think it's hopeful that that catacalismic Steelers loss, which included so many gaffes and drops and like, just come on, guys. You could have won that game. You should

have won it, as Greg said, like 30-something to something. And the drops dried up today. Zay Flowers played a good game. That said, I come out of it. I mean, you played an inept offense. We'll get to that. The Titans sort of just handed. The Titans could do nothing. They were an eye sort of. The point where I'm like, I think they need to be giving more to this this London crowd. So they really, really, like, made it easy for Baltimore to kind of chip away, chip away six field goals for Justin Tucker, a career high. You know, I guess I come out of it saying four and two Ravens, good job.

I have questions. I don't, I don't, I know Greg, how you feel about the Ravens. I can't shove them into that group of Super Bowl contenders right now because I simply don't feel like I can trust them right now. I would put them there, certainly not if they're playing like this, but I just think they have a- I know, but how you play in the middle of October, to me, is not really a great indicator of what's going to happen. But based on what we've seen through six games, you're projecting that what they can be rather than what we've seen so far.

But based on that, I think they have a lot of baseline attributes that can win the Super Bowl. Number one, their defense has been fantastic. I mean, you just have to win the game one certain way one week and you can win it a different way the next week. This week, it was destroying the Tennessee Titans anything. time they dropped back to pass. They went, they dropped back to pass 27 times. They ended up with 104 yards. And that was mostly Taj Spears breaking a little, you know, swing pass from Malik Willis late in the game for 48 yards. Otherwise, they're getting two to three yards for dropback, and their defense has had dominant stretches. Guys are getting open on offense. The Red Zone

offense was a disaster today, and it was bad last week, but it was the best in the league for the first four weeks. Like Lamar looks comfortable in this offense. I'm, I'm, I'm, not thrilled with how they're playing, but they've also been literally the most injured team in the league in terms of using the most starters. And it happened again today. Marcus Williams left in this game. Kyle Hamilton got kicked out of the game with a vicious hit that we saw right in front of us.

And so they're always dealing with something. And there is a sloppiness to them that has to go away. If that doesn't, they're going to be bad. But today they played an inferior team. They look like the better team. They've looked like the better team for six straight weeks. And they lost two of them. But like if you can look like the better team for six straight weeks,

I feel like you got something there. Yeah, there's definitely potential here. Absolutely. I, my questions are about the offense. My questions are after all the talk. And we weren't really, to our podcast credit, like totally on board with this idea that their wide receivers, it was a fixed situation because.

You were on top of this. Zay Flowers. I was hopeful. Flowers has actually been better than I expected because they haven't had great track record with. hitting on wide receivers and they have i think flowers is a big future mark andrews is a very steady tight end who's been a little bit quiet this year but steady agalar is an issue odell beckler is their second best wide receiver he's having well that's part

of the issue that is an issue odell beckham junior has been not productive and has not been an asset for this team rashad bateman is just never going to hit that level that i think they need him to and then there's the one other part that and we're going to i don't want to get too down the the ravens but the only reason i'm saying this gregg is because You're pretty strong. You've set it on Sky today. You set it at the field that you see them as a Super Bowl contender. I don't know if Lamar is the same guy anymore in terms of his ability to be a special playmaker.

You see him kind of getting taken down on plays that maybe old Lamar a few years back is busting for touchdowns. And when he got his, when he got taken down by essentially his ankle, would that have happened a couple years ago? For that big play in the red zone on that big third down or when they're near the goal line, I'm not seeing that as much from him. Again, small sample size, but it's just something to keep an eye on.

Is Lamar going to be the explosive guy that turns defenses on their heads? I think that's right, but I also think that means he's gone as a running threat from the greatest running quarterback, I believe, of all time to one of the five or six best running quarterbacks in the league that adds a lot to their running game still. But I think that's a good point

that not a lot of people have thrown out there and I think there's something to it. And, like, we're talking about, like, him functioning well in a new offense. Like, watching O'Dell, and I think O'Dell is just sort of, he's not been that guy for a while now. But I think today there were a number of occurrences where he just seemed to be in his own world a little bit. Well, the interception seemed like a bad throw, but also seemed like it was a mis-like a confusion where they're not on the same page. Like, is he not, like, is O'Dell in another, he's again in a new offense? Like, is he, you've had enough time.

It's not, he's just a veteran player, but he just seemed out of sync with Lamar. Let's go to the Tennessee side of things here. and Tannehill, we actually were at the, we're at the stadium. We're going back and forth. They're doing the sky hits. We did a in-stadium on the Jumbotron hit with our colleague and friend, MJ Acosta, who by the way helped us out with the Q&A on our live show on Thursday, and we love her.

We actually, as we're making our way across the field in the catacombs of the hot toddy, here comes Ryan Tannibal almost runs us over as he's getting carted off in the second half with an ankle injury that he looked very gimpy on an ankle before he got carded off and then you know so he leaves and doesn't do anything mark malik willis comes in and he looks very similar to them leek willis that was so bad at the end of last season that tennessee went and got josh jobs off the street so you put those things together i just don't see a future for this offense no they already were a lost in space concoction so it's like now arrow down on what was already a down aimed arrow whatever that means but i will say i mean

that's a really down hour. Yeah, because I mean, like, you know, there were these things. Oh, Willis, you know, he's, he did look good in the preseason or better at least than he was last year. I hear it. And they basically like, you know, Josh Dobbs, who's playing well in Arizona right now for the most part, like they'd, on the fly, the whole coaching staff came to a conclusion. We can't trust Malik Willis. We're going to go get someone off the street to take us into the critical. They drafted another quarterback.

They dropped someone. It's like, so me, Malik Willis won the job, but I think he's going to lose it again if he's stuck in there for a while if Tanheels out. I was saying one little thing about the tail. It wasn't like us and a thousand other reporters that saw Tanna Hill go by. It was a weird, like, it's something I'll remember about this. It was just us. It was just the three of us.

And also we had to, like, it was a small little hallway in this, like, Medusa's chambered underneath these stadiums. And it was like, we had to back up against the wall. And, like, we barely, like, made room for this cart. And you just look at the look on Tanna Hill's face. It's like, wow, you can see that he's so down. I didn't think you should have said, get well soon, QB1. I should not weird.

He's like, um, I guess the Tana scale. Oh, you're underneath it now, Bozo? And I was like, Mark, why would you do that? The fist bump was also not, which he did not accept, was not appropriate. I understand that now, but, you know, I'm growing. It is fun, though. We were on the sideline, like, and Mark and I are just saying, like, the basic bro comments when, like, on one play, Lamar ran right near us.

Like, five yards away from us. Like, on the sideline, we're just like, man, that guy's big. They're huge, though. This is what we say every time we go to games, by the way. It's like, my God, Nick Folk is quite a man. Nick Falk could walk into a bar and look like a giant and beat anyone up or beat everyone up. Yeah, he's a beast. Yeah, there was one, I just, the Titans are just a tough watch.

And I was watching Rable throughout the game. There was a moment when the Titans got back in the game and it's a third quarter and they have the ball in the red zone. And it's second down. And Tanahill, again, was not physically right. But he drops back and throws basically two prayers near the pylon to DeAndre Hopkins who had one. catch on five targets. Neither had a chance to the point where he was interfered with on one Hopkins throw, but it was so thrown, flung out of bounds that they picked up the flag. And that was after they also on a fourth and one early in the game. They settled for the field goal. And it was just like,

that's when I say I don't see a future for this offense. It just feels like it needs a harsh reboot. I know Henry had one big run in this game, uh, that gave them life, Greg on a direct snap. But he's a step slower now. And it's just like, I don't, I just don't see it happening for this team. So he had a 63-yarder. Spears had the 48-yarder. That was about half of their offensive production. And D-Hop, it is cool to be on the field that close to see those one-on-one matchups. And look, he's never been the guy who wins immediately in terms of his release off the line of scrimmage. But those were two plays where it was just like, man, he had no chance either.

There was nowhere to throw the ball. We also saw him, you know, again, where Calais. down in the end zone and he walked off like really holding his hand so we'll see i don't know i mean they can't afford to lose anyone else but they already it almost doesn't matter with what i saw today yeah the way and do they have their buy coming up the titans they do their next week he's had the way he was moving and he's had you know injuries the last few years to slow him that that looks like something where he's going to have to stay off it for a while i'm sure he was in a boot after this game man he like he took larry got i think some people if you were just sort of watching

and casually you'd think he got absolutely got destroyed on the play but he was hurt before that and hobbling around on the field and it's like this is the same thing that happened to him a year ago and they they crashed down the stretch yeah it was they were a tough team to watch and um at times this week like this has been a tough city to be in because when you're in london long enough you can look up and it's a nice day and then out of nowhere the sky's just open and then the rain comes down because the ravens took care of the This one big, and forget about leaving the EU. England is back in the green. What? Coins falling from the sky all over the UK. The rainmakers one and one on the season. I mean, he's not wrong this time. You know, it's been up and down journey.

I wish he would have, you know, he just went money line on it. I don't care. That's right. It doesn't matter. He was prancing around all day in a beautiful rainmaker sweatshirt. I don't know if that was made for him, apparently not, but it was probably. Henry and I make sure that he would be wearing it today. I love this.

Everyone should check it out. It's from Idris Elba's charity. So I don't know. It's being sold somewhere from the end. If you really want to support the rainmaker. I mean, it should go to the people who've lost, you know, props on your, on your rainmaking advice, probably,

but not you. We're doing fine. You know, it's been a tough, been a tough couple of years for the UK, but we're back. A little culture difference that Elva's charity, which is, or what it is, is very important. It's like knife,

violence awareness there have been a lot of issues on the on the sub on the subways here out in the streets and uh that's interesting our country deals with a different weapon that does a lot of damage knife awareness i also this is a separate issue but i'm wondering how dan's got to transition out of this one i've mentioned the child gangs be careful of those let me fire us into another game and we'll share some more england thoughts uh but uh let's let's let's head let's sensey there was no way out now i could have done it if greg going to call attention to it. Sorry. Right.

Yeah, but that's what Greg does. Congratulations, Greg. And Mark, congratulations on your lines lock. Fourth and seven from the eight, Gino Smith, back to throw. Finish. Yeah. The ball squirts forward, and the Bengals fall on it

at the eight-yard line. That is Coffin-Nails. Bam! Bam! Bam! You have Sam Hubbard and Hill. Hubbard and Hill. Two more age boys. You got Hendrickson. Hill, Hubbard, all the eight points, making plays, pressure in the quarterback.

Settle down. The whiskey is flowing. We must have an open bar there. Dan Horton and Dave Lapham, WC, K-Y. Well, it's good that Gregi got his glory there with the Ravens. You locked up the Ravens as well, right? Lock them up, yes. Climbing, we need some locks.

We need to hear that sound. That's what we live for. And Zeus are locked up this one With the West brothers As the Bengals, even though their offense Yeah, keep hitting those locks

We've got to do three in a row I mean Nick Wesleyan will be very That was mine Yeah, we need four in a row We got to catch up He's on a little streak We're going to hear about it One more

Nick, I mean, these texts that Wesleyan was sending Talk about an open bar I mean you guys are lucky That you pivoted out of that 49ers lock Can we get that music? Yeah, the I don't Listen, all you people on social media that think they know what a cowardly lock is, really?

I can give the Bengals their music back if you could, Mr. Klanman, because they deserve it. Their defense does, at least, getting multiple stops on Gino Smith and the Seahawks, deep in the red zone and stealing, really, a 1713 win. Greg, I know this is frustrating for you as a Gino fan as a Seahawks fan because they had their chances here to take a win after their own defense. That's such a great job against Burrow and that offense after the first couple of drives, but they couldn't make the big play. No, the Seahawks were inside the 15-yard line three separate times in this game

without scoring a single point once had a first and goal at the three where they got backed up by a penalty and Gino through an interception. they outgained the Bengals 381 to 214 they dominated but oh i try to look at this globally and i think the Bengals have become a winning organization a winning team and they've just found a way to get to their buy at three and three somehow if you think about all six of their games none of them have been complete none of them and yet they're three and three in arizona their defense was getting shredded but they're often stepped up with a big game last week in this one and then the monday night win against the Rams. The defense gave up a lot of yards, but saved them. And they just have found

a way they're healthy enough. Burrow moved in this game, even though the offense was essentially still born after the first quarter. And they escaped. And they made enough big plays in Trey Hendrickson and Hubbard and all the H boys that, as they said, made it happen. And they confused the hell out of Gino Smith. I can't remember Gino Smith ever holding the ball as long as he held it today. I'm willing to like just look beyond what happened after those first two really great touchdown drives just because you know your quarterback is healthy he looked healthy he's moving great you know that you just believe the borough will correct these things the offense will but here this were the net yards on the drives after those two touchdown marches 204 15 13 19 0 12 4 negative 1

I'm not saying it's concerning because it's like each... It is concerning. They've been a concerning team. They're lucky to be three and three. They could be a two and four, one and five of a team. But if we're going to, you know, if we're going to say Baltimore could be this, but they're this. Like the Bengals could be this, but they're this. But the Bengals have already shown that their AFC title material.

And I kind of want to trust them to get out of these, out of this groove. Yeah. And I think that if you talk to a Bengals fan and said, listen, Burrow is going to be on one leg for most of the first six weeks and you look at the schedule. I think you would take three and three. And even though the offense really, the offense,

it's disappointing how they were unable to get anything going here down the stretch, including multiple times where they could have closed out Seattle and kept on opening the door and Lou Anarumo's defense deserves a ton of credit. Still, you saw Burrow moving well in this game. He was flushed

out. Didn't seem to have any setback. So as long as he's still physically healthy they're going to continue i think to figure things out but at the same time gregg and you were saying it when we're in the car right over from hot toddy to sky studios when they score those two touchdowns in the first half it's like oh they're back and they're just going to roll so it's a little mystifying to see it dry up the way it did in this game right t higgins is having a nightmare free agent season yeah two catches for 20 yards some miscommunications today they weren't banged up the running game going i also think they played a really good seahawks team who is

figuring out how to put it all together and win, and they didn't today. But, you know, look, they're the one team that did beat Detroit. And they're starting to show signs on defense that they could be difficult to deal with. So I think it's going to be a really frustrating game because for the most part, despite the sacks and the hits, I actually think Gino was protected pretty well. He just didn't know what he was seeing and he just held it forever over and over and over again. It was one of those games where you don't want to be. on the TV cop because you're like, what are you doing, Gina?

You're just holding it forever and maybe sometimes the receivers aren't open, but you still got to get rid of the ball. And so that's a credit to the Bengals defense. But for the most part, like there's a lot of good things about the Seahawks team after five weeks. You talked about like him throwing with almost extreme confidence at times where he's like firing the ball into dangerous. I think he's like, I kind of like that.

He just simply believes. And he had some dimes tonight, too. He threw a couple insane throws. I just want to play the Bengals song for like one second. I want to tell you one thing I think about it. We just play it for a second. Nice. Well, so, like, I was listening to this.

It's like, I do truly believe this is a top three song for me in my entire life. It's just become that. Whoa. Because it's like, I think that I will put this on AirPods on the flight home. It's better than, like, Sullivan Street by Counting Crows. I never would have expected to think that it's, it's like, it is number three in all time. It's the number three songs. It's the endia's greatest work.

Enya's in a one or two spot, you know. I can shuffle between two-endos songs. This is number three, and it's like, I'm just going to sit on that airplane home with a drink on the table and just listen to it on repeat. How the West was won. It's got a little bit of that feel. And I think it fits the Spengals team.

You know, Wild West showdowns, everyone gets a little dirty. Filthy sometimes. Very filthy. Filthy dirty. Man, we had some good times with handsome Hank, Henry Hodgson, our buddy, one of our great buds that started here. England did a decade or so in L.A. And I was back in England running the show for the U.K.

We had conversations in the Wilton Arms, the pub near a hotel that we can never discuss. No, we can never discuss. And I think it's funny because, like, out on the town, and it happens only in London, but, like, out on the town sometimes, like, you know, like, a lot of people are here for the football game. Like, they'll come up to us and want to take a photo. And then Henry's, like, sometimes taking the photo.

It's like, do you realize? that Henry is essentially, like, Europe's Roger Goodell. And probably someday has a chance to be our Roger Goodell. And they're like, would you mind taking a photo of the boys and me? I would love it if you would take a photo. Henry is, like, tall and powerful and handsome and like literally, you know. That's not what I thought you were going to say. No, I mean, that was a pretty strong pivot away from a well, no.

Potentially dangerous territory of Dan's biological theories. We cannot discuss the other topic on any level. I thought what you were going to say. Mark was that we were, you know, fans coming up to ask for a photo and then you realize, oh, they were sitting at the table next to us during some of these conversations that could never be shared. No, they would want nothing to do with us if they, if they hadn't heard. All right.

Let's stay in the NFC West and see how the Rams did against the card. 10th play at this drive upcoming, number nine and Royal and Soul. It's all above the board. It's nothing. No. Humor. You're enjoying. Biologically.

You're like a rugby. Oh, I love that rugby. Touchdown. Cooper Cup. Touchdown away. 13 yards for his first touchdown this season. Nine and dime on the money on the first possession of the third quarter. That's our boy. J.B. Long. I call him J.B. Smooth. Of course.

Has that been taken? Now it is. because he's so so velvety on the mic and guess what the rams they just take care it's a take care of business week against the cardinals who hung in the first half as they seem to do most weeks but uh the rams pull away and yes it is cooper cup uh with his first of what if he remains healthy now many many touchdowns this season because he is as good as ever with matthew stafford flinging him perfect spirals 26 nine Rams roll, Mark. It's Cooper Cup and it's someone else. And I wonder if it signals a potential change for the Rams, TBD on that.

But they were, they were sat at around 65 yards in the first half until Stafford hit Cup for a 45-yard gain that set up a field goal that put them up 9 to 6. That said, they were 20 minutes in the game and close to halftime, too. They had six yards rushing. And they had been coming into this contest, and four out of five of them, they were held under 100 yards and it's just like they just they couldn't run the ball and it's like with all that else that's going on like on this team in general it's like you want to see them be able to be balanced and and they couldn't and it was it was put them out into rough pastures at times but then

I love what happened you come out of half time because like again this was a game where the cardinals it's like they're I don't they're sneaky frisky or I don't know what the term is but they were hanging around Josh Dobbs is doing his thing their defense looked really good they're feisty they're feisty first half feisty. Their first half feisty or sometimes it's second half, but it's like definitely first half. And the Rams came out and it's like we're going to do the thing that we can't do and just

keep doing it until we can. And Kyron Williams, who has been up and down, came out on this opening drive to take a bigger lead and he gashed the Cardinals for 17 yards. Next play, six yards, next play 14 yards, next play 10 yards. And it's like, this

is how you start to break a team like the Cardinals that knows they can hang around, but then at this point, their one in five starts to probably have internal suspicions when a team gets hot in them like this. Kiron Williams winds up with 158 yards in a touchdown at 7.9 yards per carry. To me, because shutting down the Cardinals' offense is never a huge story. To do this on the ground and to dominate the way they did down the stretch was a bit of a sea change, and I just wonder if teams change and if they can start to run the ball like

this in big spots or on big downs or in short yardage situations. If you can trust that, this Rams team that is three and three is in a different place. What's amazing to even think about that they could be a team that has a take care of business game, right? They're supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league. They were trailing at halftime, and they won the second half, 20 to nothing. And you think about their two wins, Colts and the Cardinals, their last two wins, they ran the ball very physically in both of these games.

It's a type of team that they want to be to be a couple of. closing team that wears you down. You don't think of the Rams that way. But they can do that because they have Stafford and Cup. Like, that's the thing that makes it happen. And out of the 10 best throws I saw today, I feel like four or five were Stafford. It's just like, I just love watching this dude play. And you can't really separate Cup from Stafford, but that doesn't matter.

Like, it's a wide receiver league. And there's, you just can't tell me there's any wide receiver. particularly better than Cooper Cup. I mean, Justin Jefferson is who he is. And if I'm, like, starting a team, I guess I would take him first, but you can't, he's not at another level. No one is a level above where Cooper Cup is 15 for 266 in his first two games back. Yeah.

And I guess the only thing that would stop you is that he's a little bit sneaky old. He's 30. You kind of, you kind of expect him to be 27. When he's on the field and healthy. And he's had, he had a knee injury that. cost him a season. But like his, yeah, his ability to get open and just really master like seems like every element of the game. And again, I think he was a third round pick back in the day. Yeah, 69th overall 2017. He's a brilliant player. And yeah, I know, I know Matthew Stafford's

probably not going to the Hall of Fame, but he is to me one of the greatest throwers of the football that I have ever seen. He is right there with Aaron Rogers, who many times gets that crown in terms of modern players just such a beautiful ball and he throws some of those things Gregory just it's like a you need kind of a canon to make some of the throws he makes but he puts him right on the right on the money uh with no margin for error and he doesn't quite often you protect him and keep him healthy this is a playoff team that one to too at well was like uh hello like that that was two two's only catch and now you know pukunaku is going to be less of the offense he had 26 yards today and two two only had that one catch like it's fine they don't need to be

superstars, but he's making their production with these roads. If they're just a fun team. I mean, uh, they're a fun team to watch. They're giving the Rams fans, you're going to some enjoyment. I'm going to lock them up. Oh, no way. Are you going to nominate them? Give them a lock sound.

Ooh, wow. The Rams for a team of eight. Uh, I don't know if, if the audience would be down with that. But I think that, uh, they are certainly fun to watch. And they are to me like one of the biggest surprises, definitely in the NFC West and in general in the NFC, because they are in a credit, a credit, credit to Sean McVeigh. One little other, I feel like, I don't know if we mentioned his name in ages,

but like Rahim Morris, who took, leads a defense that, you know, in August for like, Aaron Donald has no one else around him. He's done a, he's like, I'm always monitoring this like assistant coach of the year thing. Jim Schwartz is up there, but like, Rahim Morris is like, who like, who could dare come up against your beloved Jim Schwartz? That's what this is about. Well, but Jim, they also had like this wasn't my pick a couple weeks ago. Ram's probably also have like the 25th best

Stevens. Also shout out to Veronica Sean McBay's wife for holding that baby in just one more day so he could coach that win a veteran move by her. I'm sure she's listening. I'm going to control that. All right last game before we have fourth and ten at the Houston 24 car in the gun leg down here's the snap. Big ups the Veronica

can you control one of the left side of the end up against him and it's intercepted but out of bounds they're going to call it incomplete and the Saints turn it over on downs Houston has the rock 15 seconds to go. They can kill the clock.

Sharing that very private moment. That's public. That's public news. All right. There it is. What do you guys talk over the light? Shut up. Mark Vandemere with a call.

K-I-L-T. Texans, man. The Texans. What a fun start to the season. They are three and three, but they are a feisty. frisky. No, no, no, no. Forget Feisty. A frisky

three and three, 20 to 13 win over the New Orleans Saints. At home, CJ Stroud once again making Big Boy throws in his rookie season. He throws for nearly 200 yards. Two scores, and they get some good stops on defense.

A game here, boys, where Derrick Carr, you know, box scores can lie. He threw for 353 yards in that game. but they only produce like I said 13 points and they only allowed three points in the second half the Houston defense so Domeko Rines is starting to figure some things out on this side of things and you have what do you what's wrong I'll I'll I'll ask you a question in a minute go ahead well I know you're talking about the 13 points like yes you get to Houston's 34 miss field goal you get to Houston's 27 or sorry Houston's 11 miss field goal and then your final drive you get to Houston's 24 and you have an interception how frustrating is can that be for something? Saints fans. Yeah.

Furniture around the room. They consistently, they move the ball, but then when it was time to do the business of scoring, they failed to the point. They had 430 yards in this game to just 297 for the Texans. And yet they did not have that ability to punch it in and take this game. So credit Houston's defense is starting to figure some things out. I would be concerned for the Saints, but I'm so excited about this Texans team. They've matched their win total from last year.

That's... Well, for real. It's incredible. And they're going to, they're at least, hopefully, because I'm liking this team, going to keep Jacksonville honest in a division that the Jaguars could threaten to pull away with. The Titans don't look too good. You know, we heard some bad news about Richardson. You know, Patrick and Shook will get to those games later. But this Texans team is young.

they have the, like, makeup to get better as the season goes along because they're so young. Yes. Yes. What else about this game? Well, the Saints have lost third time in four games after opening a season at 2 and O. And yeah, I think it's a game about missed opportunities for this offense. And, you know, I think if you're someone who's, there's a couple things with this offense

that Derrick Carr is, he's very similar to the Raiders. car where he's going to give you a very professional effort, but he's not maybe a playmaker quarterback that you need. Alvin Kamara, he's really, they are, since he came back from the suspension, he is very, very active within this offense. They give him the ball a ton. 26 touches. But the difference between Alvin Kamara of this year and a couple of years back is he doesn't ever kind of get that crease and have that big play. He'll go get you seven yards now, but that's seven yards used to be 20 yards a couple of years back. So that's an issue.

And yeah, Chris Alave, they find a way to get him the ball. If you want to look for positives, one of the things that have been frustrating, I think for Saints fans, is Alave not being the focal point of the passing game. He led the team in targets had nearly 100 yards. But ultimately, when they needed to make the big play, Alave, Michael Thomas, kept out of the end zone,

as was Alvin Kumar. I like it when just like record justice happens. The Saints should not be a four and two team. They deserve to be, to be, knock down to three and three the Texans they've been an enjoyable team they deserve to get up to three and three so it's just like this was this was justice like in the boring offense rankings you know the patriots are beyond i mean sure if they're boring were the worst possible thing you could say they're the number one team but where are the saints it just feels like a that sounds like a

wednesday show conversation okay well especially because they're playing on Thursday night football oh perfect look you've you've done our work for saints jags i mean we have to watch this game though on tape and i i'll watch the tex i will watch it on the plane Interesting. Okay. Now, let's take care of some housekeeping before we hand off to Claibon and shook. First of all, rugby, shout out. Into rugby now. Was completely unaware of its existence almost. I knew that it was a thing. Actually watched it with Henry at a bar, Notting Hill, watched a great Wales Argentina match. Argentina, good job. Ireland gets taken out by New Zealand. feeling that one hurt but it was actually another fun match big thanks so yeah rugby did you guys discover any sports out here i mean i watched i watched the ireland game i was learning about the strategy i'm into it now too like watching the hits today on the field from up close was crazy but suddenly they didn't seem quite as vicious after watching i don't know half those rugby guys

survive one game i got i got to say climbing yes i was going to say england versus south africa now in the semis coming up oh look at that you got to you got to stick around and watch the right i don't know what time they're on and i watch that game and i i would like to declare uh the entire new zealand team is now in the concussion protocol just by my eyes and and uh yes uh irland for me is my team of a rugby t um and i hope they'll be back next year and sexting and company have one more crack at it big thanks to everybody here at sky um it could not have run smoother um everyone that we worked with including Phoebe who was a pleasure absolutely we got to get around the show yes and also of course

neil reynolds our buddy we met indomacan sue who introduced himself as sue he just said hi i'm sue that was interesting to me i think we formed i mean there was a friendship that formed there until maybe we began to do our on field hits and by the end of the game you might have thought oh my god these guys mark immediately mentioned uh the college him that he's brought up about 78 times on this show that he wrote about moms of the NFL. I interviewed Dama Kinsu's mom who, you know, went on a long, delightful tangent about Dama Kandu at a young age being sort of a genius with Legos. And I thought I really nice conversation. Icebreaker, they call that.

Yes. So thanks to everybody. And I continue to talk to him four or five more times and then the attraction level on his side. Yeah. Thanks to Zika, that Indian restaurant in London. That was a wonderful dinner we had last night. second year in a row, we've gone to Zika and killed it. Go if you're in London and you want to have.

Was it free? 10 out of 10. It was not free. Thank you too. You're helping them. And anyone that makes me that happy, they deserve it. Yeah. And thank you to everyone back at the NFL office who helped make this happen.

Matt Schneider, Meredith, Batten, like all the people that support our show behind the scenes and get us here because it takes work. And of course, Henry Hodgson, who's. has done amazing work, supporting us through the years, including once again this year. Anything else? I mean, stepping right in, too, with the live show right here on the ones and twos. We got DJ Jason Kleinman.

Hey, been a huge. Get a DJ horn in there in the post. He was like trial by fire. Yeah. DGAF. Killed it. He killed it. But no, it's all, like, this is,

all these trips, you just feel very grateful for where we're at and grateful that we got guys like Shook and Claibon to take the rest of this show home. So we don't have to plather on. anymore it's two in the morning we've talked for an hour and just and just uh with climbing not only did he do a great job producing and helping us out today of course what has been a 16 hour day we threw him into the the boiler of a live show yep and he really uh stepped up for us there too so jason thank you and eric back on the home front i was going to say big big shout out to

eric a lot of uh a lot of help back there um randy randy and the team so you can uh celebrate by enjoying like half a day off and then another podcast tomorrow and then another podcast on Wednesday and then Thursday. All right. Without further ado, we have some more games to get to, but we are going to sign off here as we are past 2 a.m. here in London. I can't wait to be back next year, but now

we throw it to Patrick Claibon to take us home. Claibon, momentum is real. And a big American hello to you guys. Appreciate that to the guys in London. We'll allow them to take a break. Patrick Claibon here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. Join digitally by Nick Shook. Nick,

we got it. We'll give the boys break and we'll finish up week six for him why not this is the magic of the internet we can do this from multiple different time zones right now you know from the west coast to the north coast to whatever they call around london we're doing it all everything if the people in london are listening we got a dude from northeast ohio and a dude from central albama ready to finish up this podcast so let's get things going it's time for the sunday drive presented by the first ever toyota grand highlander after a slow start it was the fins to the finish in miami third down and goal from the one most it in the backfields it's a moister touchdown his third of the afternoon

boy rahim moster just does it again it's getting chippy out there now too a lot of pushing and shoving what a game for rahim moster and the dolphins have now scored 34 consecutive points they were down 14 nothing at the end of the first quarter it's now 34 to 14 over the Panthers. Jimmy is the following Joe Rose, the WVGG telling the story there at Carolina Panthers team. They said it 14 to nothing shook, but then the Miami Dolphins happened. Rahim Moster had three touchdowns, excuse me, Tuitongavala had three touchdowns. Mostert had 115 yards on the ground.

Start fast against my, it doesn't matter. They're the dolphins. No, no, it doesn't matter at all. This is a team that I think maybe needed a slow first quarter to serve as their smelling salts, because once they woke up, they were off to the races. It's as if somebody just knocked them right in the jaw and said, hey, you have a football game to play. They're like, oh, you're right.

We are the Miami Dolphins. We do have Tyreek Hill. We do have two, a Tunga Vaila, and Rahim Mostert, even if we don't have Devani A chain. We'll be just fine. They were just fine. Got off to the races, had a phenomenal second and third quarter. Just put up a ton of points on the board. Everything seemed easy for them offensively.

They figured it out defensively. Bryce Young looked solid in the first quarter. He had two of his best drives of his young career. And then after that, only went back to being the Panthers and didn't score again offensively for the rest of the game. Miami is, they're almost a team that's just inevitable at this point. They're a team that's going to put points on the board. They've only really struggled offensively once, and that was in a win over the Patriots on Sunday night football. Since then, they've just been a machine, and they were a machine once again on Sunday.

They did it without their new speedy addition, Devon A. Chan, who's had a spectacular start to his career. Rahim Moster taking the line share, the carry is getting the most out of those. And then you come into the fact you get Jalen doing the waddle, the owners up in the booth, waddling as well. Tyreek Hill is doing a celebration that inevitably, for those of you didn't see, he scores that touchdown,

grabs somebody who was already recorded. This was previously discussed, clearly, because he's recording as Tyreek Hill scores. He takes the phone from the person who's recording, does a backflip while looking at the phone and gives it back to him. I'm sure we'll use that in promotions while Tyreek is being fined. Either way. He says he doesn't care about the money.

they're a point machine. There's an absolute point factory in South Florida. I think Mike McDaniel said after the game, I was told that it was a prop and I told him and he said, well, it wasn't my phone. So I don't see the problem with it. The other thing I have about this phone video, by the way, is I saw Joe Shad had tweeted it.

And it ended right when he grabbed the phone and looked down. I don't know if it was trimmed on purpose or if it really did just end there. If so, big missed opportunity on a highlight play. But yeah, I mean, Tyree Hill is so much fun to watch this team. He, you know, we speak hyperbolicly about a lot of players pretty often because this is a league full of elite talent. But he is just one of a kind in the way that he's catching runability can completely change a game and just given an entire defense nightmares. I mean, he ran a deep in.

I think it would have been for a gain of like 20 yards. He reversed course at midfield on the logo and picked up another 27 yards going down the right sideline. Nobody could catch him me to run out of bounds. It's just he's a phenomenal player and really keep. this offense going. Oh, and by the way, speaking of celebrations, they didn't remember the Titans celebration. I don't know if you remember that scene where they walked in. They do the, you know, who

you know, like, yeah, they did that one too. They're very creative there. They're going to run out of movies at a certain point. They're scoring so much this Dolphins team. Fun to watch. Fun to watch them celebrate in the end zone. They get the win 42 to 21 over those Carolina Panthers. As you said. Miami. Yes.

Bienvino. Ami. They get that win. That was the Sunday drive. Presented by Toyota. Let's Go Places. Learn more at Toyota.com slash Grand Highlander. So we'll get a chance to see Tyreek Hill in a revenge game in Frankfurt, Germany, against the Kansas City Chiefs. There were so many revenge game dynamics going on in Las Vegas today. Josh McDaniels, the former twice over, three times over, Padawan, taking on Bill Belichick, the Jedi Master in Las Vegas. How about we finish this off with his safety, shall we?

anything but a deep bowl four down territory obviously Jones standing in his own end zone to our right snap back to pass pressure again off the edge and he's sent for the safety Crosby and Nichols they met in the end zone

they squished into the turf and the Raiders defense has that safety Jason since you predicted it how about you give me the lottery numbers for next week. That's Lincoln Kennedy asking Jason Horowitz of KRLV. What happened there and what's going to happen is he predicted the safety? Max Crosby gets to Mack Jones and this Patriots team falls yet again, Shook.

They lose to the Raiders in Las Vegas. Just a brutal performance by an offense, 21 to 17. They did finally get back in the red zone, but they couldn't do a lot out of it. Yeah, first off, I know this is. kind of out of my realm of power and influence, but I'm just going to suggest this right now to you, producer, Eric, put that in the file folder for best calls the year. I mean, I'll often you get a lottery numbers call. That's got to be there because this was fantastic. A great way to end this game in an otherwise kind of an ugly game, Patrick, to be honest with you.

The Patriots got a little bit better offensively, a little bit, a little bit better. Still not very good. They did get to the rent zone, like you said, finally. But everything is so tough for this team. You know, not to start with the losers in this, in this show and in this game recap, but I mean, they needed 17 plays in nine and a half minutes to score a touchdown to make it a one possession game of the fourth quarter. They didn't leave themselves much time. Then Mac Jones throws his best pass to 2023 and Devante Parker drops it near midfield. I mean, that's just where these Patriots are offensively right now.

It's tough to watch. Meanwhile, on the Raiders side, pretty good team win, I think. Nothing super spectacular. You lose Jimmy Garoppolo before halftime, do a back injury. Brian Hoyer steps in, gets you to the red zone a few times, can't finish the job because he still remember, you know, he's Brian Hoyer and doesn't know how to throw it to Devante Adams where he can actually go up and make a play on the ball. But, you know, it was a strong performance I think as a team. Just the Raiders are a team that too often have melted down

and lost games like this. Last year, they did it a lot. And it was really refreshing to see them close this one out with, you know, both all three phases of the game. Yeah. And again, you said you hate to start with the losing team, but truly it feels as though this was another Patriots lost. Mack Jones rolling to his right is looking for Hunter Henry, who's open, got his hands up. He tries to throw on the run. He throws it seven or eight yards behind Hunter Henry and Trayvon Merrick picks that ball off, takes it back down the sideline. There were so many missed opportunities. You mentioned Devante Parker.

This was a team that had gone 27 consecutive drives without making an appearance into the red zone. They finally do. And it's kind of more of the same. And they have to play so well. They have to execute so well to make them. things work. And when they don't do that, it just looks bad. It's not really an idea. I actually picked them to win this game. And considering the fact that Jimmy Garoppolo leaves, you mentioned, he has to go to the hospital. They're checking on his back. Brian Hoyer comes in and ICE is a win.

I just don't know where to go with this New England Patriots team. Well, I mean, on the Raiders side, continuity really helped them out with the whole Hoyer coming in. His second pass of the game was like a 47-yard completion down the middle of the field. You were like, all right, this guy's done this before. But you're right. Where do you go with this Patriots group? Because you're right, they have to play almost perfectly to get anything done. You thought in this offseason that, all right, we bring Bill O'Brien in, and that fixes the whole offensive coordinator conundrum, whether or not they had titles who was actually calling the plays last year.

That's done. There should be better. Mack Jones still has potential, and he just hasn't. I blame a lot of it on the offensive line. It's been a revolving cast of characters so far. They can't get any continuity up there. Max Crosby getting that safety was a product of him feasting on the left tackle, Vedarian Lowe for most of the afternoon, especially in that big moment there.

They just need consistency. You know me. I'm somebody who will live and die by it starts in the trenches, and they are losing that battle every week on the offensive line. And you can't really do anything if your offensive line is good enough to win. Yeah, and we've seen some movie parts. They made some acquisitions. J.C. Jackson was out there on the field today covering Devante Adams. There's just only so many things that you can do, especially defensively,

when the offense is as inept as it was. And Max Crosby making that play. Max Crosby makes a lot of offensive lines I look bad. And I'll hop on the soapbox here real quick. because I'm on this flagship program, Nick. Max Prosby gets credited for his motor a lot, and he does try hard. He does play a lot of plays. He's an exceptionally gifted athlete.

Yes. He's not just out there trying hard. He's not just to try hard. His comparables athletically leading up to the draft was Javan Curse. We literally called him the freak. It's out of it. You know what this is? What is it?

This is a product of anti-Mac bias. As a mid-American conference guy myself, this is anti-Macbice. It came from Eastern Michigan. Everybody overlooked him, and now you just got to say he's a tryhard. No, I saw him destroy Mike Gassiki on, I think it was that last sack or maybe one other play, obliterate him as he tried to get a chip and then he just raced around the end. I mean, to the point where Gassi turned around him was like, oh, my God, I can't believe I just got hit like that. The guy is a unit.

You were stood next to him? He's massive. I'm not a small person. He's massive. He makes me look tiny, okay? Jackpot, baby. Yes, absolutely. Jackpot.

And maybe Brent would be one of those people that would say he's just out there trying hard. He's not. The man is chiseled out of granite. He's like a freaking as guardian. So that is a win by the Raiders. They get back on the board in the win column against, well, a whole lot of Raiders playing against their former team. Jacoby Myers also had a touchdown against the Patriots. More revenge themes here in week six as Gardner Minchew's revenge game really wasn't.

Ninth play of the drive here from the 10-yard line of the coach. You already laid this thing 24 to 6. Two left, two right, Biggsby the running back, stands to the left of Trevor Lawrence against the four-man front for the Colts. Dropping is Trevor. Looking, looking, still looking. Fires the right side. Wide open is Britain Strange into the end zone for a touchdown.

So that is the call Lawrence to Strange Frank Frangie and Jeff Lagerman of W. W.O.K.V. as the Jags win it in Duval, 37 to 20. We had that touchdown from the Jags. Trevor Lawrence, another solid performance. Travis E.T.N. gets in the end zone. On the other side, it was 55, 55 attempts for Gardner Minshu. And it just led to more Jaggs pressure.

This Jags defense kind of surprising everybody playing really well the past few weeks. You take, actually, if you take it look back to the second half of last season when the Jags officially started their turnaround, a lot of it was actually keyed by their defense, getting big time. plays intercepting opposing quarterbacks. They did it to Dak Prescott. They did it to Lamar Jackson and a couple of comeback wins down that stretch. This is how they played again on Sunday. This is

the Jags defense I've been waiting to see and whether it was still there. You know, a year ago, people didn't really like their secondary. Then by the end of the year, they were like, oh, it's pretty good. They played again, like it today, very much. Ray Sean Jenkins gets a pick. Darius Williams gets a pick. There was a total of three

interceptions on the defensive side of the ball and a recovered fumble. The other one being Andre Sisko was the third person to get a Josh Allen force is a fumble. Gardner Minshu had a no good, very bad, awful nightmares day in the city he used to call home. He was bad, just flat out bad. He threw 55 passes because they were buried in a 25-point deficit at one point.

The only concern on the Jaguar side for me is the fact that they're not quite finishing drives like you want them to. He can't be perfect, of course. But for all the takeaways they had, they could have, you know, got another trip or two into the end zone. It didn't really end up mattering. It got a little hairy in the fourth quarter when the Colts cut it to, 11, but again, you're playing against Gardner Minshu, who has done enough to give the

Colts a chance to win in previous appearances this year. Did not do that. Did the opposite of that. Very much lost them in this game. It does not help when you cannot run the ball at all. They were a very one-dimensional team. They were talking about it repeatedly on the broadcast because it was just kind of sad to see that, well, we know they have to throw, not just because the deficit, but because

they can't run the ball anyway. It makes me, if you're trying to do not like a post-mortem, but just like a almost mid-season examination of where the Colts are right now, I've been very impressed by their play, but so much of it has relied on Anthony Richardson, and without him in there, they are just so less potent as an offense. They just cannot do the same things. Shane Steichen, to his credit, is doing his best. I think he's doing a really good job of scheming things up.

It's just that you are limited by a guy who was not a starter for a reason. Yeah, and it's even worse, right, when you look in and you kind of anoint this with the news of the fact that it may be even longer for Anthony Richardson could be up to the end of the season before this phenomenal rookie quarterback who was playing so well. part of an exciting offense. I mean, he's doing 360 touchdown, spikes. Everything is going spectacularly. And you can't, because I know there's that ability is availability conversation.

So he falls on his head, right? Everybody's got a brain. It's not, you know, a brain injury is, you know, Tua hasn't had one this year. He had so many last year, right? And then there's a fact that the shoulder is separated. Again, it's force, mass, acceleration. Like, you can protect yourself. but it's so many of these things are just plain dumb luck.

Like we saw Trent Williams almost get taken out on a guy sliding into him. Injuries can be luck related and it's, you know, you say luck related and we're thinking about a quarterback's shoulder. But hopefully Anthony Richardson was well done. Yeah, I hate it though because Andrew, I wish Andrew was still playing. I hope Anthony Richardson is able to come back. Michael Pittman Jr. got 14 targets in this game. That's how he goes over 100 yards because as you mentioned.

mention, Nick, they were just throwing the ball a whole lot. Chucking it. And not really getting a lot out of it. And so the Jags get another win there. And speaking of backup quarterbacks, two one and four teams went out in Chicago, one actually left with their starting quarterback intact. Play action out of the shotgun. Harrison Phillips trying to give him his first sack.

Josh Mattel is forced to fumble. It's bouncing about picked up by Jordan Hicks, 40, 30, and is loose. Touchdown! Jordan Hicks with the second touchdown of his career has run the Minnesota Vikings to an 186 lead. That was Jordan Hicks going to the end zone, told to you by the Paul Allen of KFAN. His scoop and score, ultimately the difference. The Vikings win it 19 to 13. Tyson, Bajent, the undrafted free agent rookie comes in after Justin Fields leaves the game.

They say it's a dislocated thumb on. his throwing hand. X-rays are negative, but they've got to get into the magnetic resonance machine to do some imaging there to see how bad that injury could be. But it's a game, Nick, that we thought was going to have so many points where defenses have struggled. It's a final score in 1913. Yeah, you know, the Vikings are a better team than their record indicates.

I'm not saying they're a great team. I'm not saying that they're the team that went 13 and 4 last year and wasn't as good as their record stated. But there's been some moments where I've looked at this roster and, and, you know, seeing them play and just thought, you know, they should be winning another game or two. I mean,

obviously it starts with Kirk Cousins, who has played better than the record has indicated. But I think about guys like Josh Mattelis. He's had a great year, in my opinion. Every time I watch them play, I'm like,

oh, there he is making another play. There's still enough playmakers on that side of the ball that they should be a little bit better than they were, and they were today. Losing Justin Fields, obviously, you know,

kind of sinks the potential of this game, but he wasn't really finding any success before he went out either. There was a very frustrating first half of the Bears before he got hurt. Again, this is a team that came in, with like one healthy running back.

Okay, everybody on their on their depth chart, you know, one through three was hurt, you know, Kalila Herbert on IR, a number of other guys also. Roshan Johnson, not available, you know, just keep going down the list until you get down to who had to be Deonti Foreman. It was a kind of a mass unit of a game. You know, we're going to play backups. We're going to put things together and see how it goes. You just didn't think it was going to affect their best player on offense, which is their

quarterback, kind of a disappointing outcome for them just because you felt like they were putting it together in the last two weeks. Did they only get one win to show for it? Yeah. And you felt like against a team like Minnesota, they should play better than they did. But this is a weird league. And sometimes you get outcomes like this where you sit back and you think, how did that game end 19 to 13? How did Kirk Cousins only throw for 18 yards?

They scored 19 points. And Alexander Madison was their leading rusher with 18 attempts for 44 yards. Like what's going on here? No Justin Jefferson, by the way. That takes away a lot of the power on their offense too. So credit to the Vikings, good win for you. Fun fact, though, today. I bet you we wouldn't have guessed this.

This was not on our bingo card entering the season. Tyson Badgin and PJ Walker, who were both on the Bears' preseason roster, both played in a game today. Think about that. It's a quarterback factory in Chicago. Nate Peterman leaves the team. He's ultimately going to be back.

We're going to have to wait and see just how lengthy this injury to Justin Fields is. Again, the thumb on your throwing hand. Definitely going to be crucial. It's the only thing that separates us from primates. having that opposable thumb. And so it's going to be tough. And I don't even know if that's ultimately true. It's been a long Sunday.

Who knows? You're better than me. I didn't do well in science. The Vikings, maybe bears. Yeah, it separates us from bears. Not the primates. The primates got all the digits. They got those, yeah.

The Vikings get that win. They are now two and four on the season. As we leave there and get to our next matchup, the Washington commanders taking a trip to Atlanta. 31 seconds to go fourth quarter here 24 to 16 third and one play for the falcons they just burn their final time out there at the 34 empty backfield for ridder gets the step Washington brings four steps up throws that one picked off by jama davis unbelievable jama davis jumped around third pick of the half and washington is going to win in Atlanta okay so those

of you who did not see the game this was the arthur smith reaction absolute festival three second half turnovers, interceptions by Desmond Ritter. That was called by Bram Weinstein and London Fletcher on WBIG as the commanders get a 24 to 16 win. It's 2416, Nick. The Falcons are on the commander's side of the field. They turn the ball over three consecutive times, one right before the two-minute warning, once right there, where it's the rookie phenom. Bejohn Robinson matched up against Jamon Davis.

He doesn't flatten to the line of scrimmage. He lets the linebacker cut underneath him. Turnover fest towards the end is the Falcons fall at home. There's a couple ways you can look at this because you could say, well, Deson Ritter, back to how he was in London, you know,

had one good game in between. Or you can say that Washington's defense figured it out again. Jamon Davis, what was his comp coming out of college? Shaq Leonard. Who did he play like on that play there? Shaq Leonard. Shout to Daniel Jeremiah for that comp.

That was his guy way back during that draft process. But the thing is, is the Falcons did not play well at home for, I think the first time this year. Desmond Ritter did not play well at home for the first time this year. Three picks. It's about as up and down as it gets. The one thing you could bank on was when he was at home,

he usually played better than he did on the road. And then, of course, we find out that that's no longer the case. It's no longer the rule with this team. It's an interesting kind of examination of this game. If you look back at this and think, well, they were up 24 to 10, you know, early third. They're up 24, 16, fourth, and then nobody on either side scores. Yet Sam Hal had three touchdown passes on the day. What happened here?

Well, these are two teams that I think are similarly mystifying because Patrick, the Falcons probably shouldn't be as good as three and three indicates. And the commanders could probably be a win better than their record indicates right now. It felt like two similar teams, but in very much different respects. I'm doing QB index all year, I've had Sam Howe way ahead of Desmond Ritter. I've wanted to move Ritter up. But every time I think he's about to take that step, he takes two steps back. So the quarterback comparison is not even.

But just kind of two teams that we're still trying to figure out who they are. Ron Rivera, defensive mastermind, right, of the past. They gave up a ton of points to the Bears, you know, like two weeks ago. There's just no consistency from either team right now. So it's perfect that this is how it ended. It's so confusing that because we have, I have to pick these games every single week. And it's, we come in and it's like, what do I do with the Atlanta Falcons? Well, yeah.

And if you told me coming into this game, hey, Patrick, considering the way Desmond Roar threw the ball 37 times, they get that win against the Houston. Texans, and it's like, okay, it'll take three Desmond Ritter interceptions on three consecutive second half drives on the commander's side of the field. I'll be like, okay, he's not going to play like that again. No, he did. And that's what's so confusing. Kyle Pitts scores, Drake London's getting nine catches at 125 yards. And it's like, yeah, Falcons, but they still find a way to lose.

It's very confusing. Brian Robinson gets 31 yards on the ground. He has a touchdown catch from Sam Howell. you know, he shows that he can be a powerful explosive runner. It kind of seems like the Antonio Gibson days are over. He only got three years. It seemed like that for like a year though.

We'll see. But anybody who was holding out that last hope, right? Like me with Jalen Rager, it's finally over. And we're going to continue to be confused by these teams until things keep going. And we've had one team

that has not had the success in prime time. So let's go to Orchard Park for some Sunday night football Giants and Bills. Be poetic justice if they scored in this end zone. Untime play. Giants down five.

First and all at the warrant. Taylor over center. Takes the stab. Back, lobs it. Back of the end zone. Off the hands of Waller and complete. And that is how the ball game ended

in New York. In upstate New York, the bill survived. And producer Eric can let out a sigh of relief as his Buffalo Bills hold off Tyrod Taylor and the New York Giants at the goal line final score, 14 to 9 in a game where Saquan Barkley finally got going in the second half, 3.9 yards per carry. But ultimately, Nick Shook, Josh Allen had an opportunity to make the play, and he made the play to a man who has not been targeted all season on an absolute. absolute laser beam to Quentin Morris. We talked about anti-Mac bias earlier in the show. Here's another Mac standout from Bowling Green. Quentin Morris makes the biggest catch of the game in the tightest window possible.

Josh Allen getting outside of the pocket, getting busy with it, you know, getting a little bit adventurous, if you will, outside of the pocket, extending plays as he did for much of the second half. And that time from the side angle, it looked like he was throwing a pick. And then we saw the sky cam, the end. zone angle and realize, no, it was just a very narrow window. It capped off a couple of long drives for the bills. You know, we talked earlier in the show about how things were difficult for the Patriots. Everything was hard for them offensively. Everything was hard for the bills offensively on

Sunday night, including their touchdown drives. But methodical was the way to go for them because it's what produced points for them and allowed them to take the lead in the game that we thought we'd probably see a lot of points out of the bills and we just didn't. You know, Josh Allen didn't look like himself in the first half, but luckily for them, they figured it out. They found it, and they were able to hang on for a narrow victory over a team that probably most everybody thought they would blow out. Yeah, and huge credit, kudos goes to wink Martindale squad. The defense really gave Buffalo all kinds of problems throughout the game. The lingering memory that so many people are going to have is the last 40 seconds of the first half where Buffalo is, they get a stop, there's a first down, and then inexplicably, like 12 seconds run off the clock before Brown.

Ryan Dayball calls what would be the final timeout. And then they get down to the one-yard line and Tyrod checks to a run play. They don't have enough time to get the ball snapped after Saquan gets tackled at the one. Brian Dayball is livid. So livid. In fact, he can't do the halftime. If it's the post-half-time interview, he's still too mad. And ultimately, you know, the points, they would have won the field goals, but you can't retroactively apply.

It's going to be a different game. There's different scenarios. but just a crucial time management mistake at the end of the first half that they almost got a chance to erase at the end, but no play. Yeah, I mean, Giants fans are going to be in my mention about this for the whole week about how, well, you know, if they would have put three on the board, they would have put three on the board here and they would have done this and that. They would have won the game. The same could go for the bills. Tyler Bass missed two field goals after coming in perfect on the year. So, you know, it goes both ways.

And I was actually, you know, you could look at the whole goal line situation in one of two ways, I think. you mentioned it. He let a lot of time run off before calling that last time out. It's almost like he was waiting for it to land at a perfect 30 seconds left in the clock, which I found strange in that moment and then came back to bite them on the goal line. Because if you're going to call two plays, you're going to have the ability to check to a run, you've got to do it with enough time. Otherwise, you don't make that a possibility. And yet they did. Tyrod did it. And then, of course, his coach is mad at him because it didn't work. If it does work, then they're praising him. So, you know, that's the, that's the perils of

playing quarterback in the NFL, I suppose, in that situation. But it would have been fitting. You're right. It would have been fitting if they would have scored in that exact same situation there and untimed down to end the game could have been P.I. on Taryn Johnson, wasn't, but could have been P.I. Got P.I. the play before. That was very clearly P.I. on

Terrell Bernard, but you're not going to get that flag twice, I think in that scenario. They're going to, you know, keep those in their pockets. So good on the officials, I guess. They're a thrilling game that we didn't think would be thrilling. Kind of an ugly game. But again, fun games don't always have to be the prettiest. Yeah. And ultimately, the lingering memory besides the

the goal line. And you have to wonder if Brian Dable had not lost his mind after that play, if Tyrod comes into that final play feeling a little more empowered to change things, then maybe he could have gotten into a different situation either way. Taryn Johnson had an entire fistful of Darren Baller's jersey. It was very clear on the replay. But no flag, no call. The Giants lose yet again on prime time. We get a little bit of a prime Tom Reprie from the Giants, but a feisty performance from them nonetheless. Yeah, you know, and I think this is going to opening, it's going to open an interesting can of worms, I think, regarding the Giants.

And this, of course, is directly tied to whether Daniel Jones can play in the next week. But because of the way they looked on offense tonight, now granted, they only put nine points in the board, but you have to admit they looked better on offense in this game than they have in the last three weeks. And that is undoubtedly going to come back to the quarterback. There are some people who are going to say, Tyrod's your better option.

That's obviously not going to be what they do. because Daniel Jones is making $40 million a year. But it is an interesting comparison. It's not apples to apples necessarily, but it is an interesting way to look at it and think, you know, is Daniel Jones like really capable of doing it with this team? Now, there were some changes in important factors around him, right?

Justin Pugh comes from, as you said, straight off the couch in the intros to Sunday night football, comes in and plays really well in the offensive line and kind of helped them shore things up a little bit. As you said, they were able to get the running game going in the second half. It was funny. They showed a stat. I think Saquan Barkley,

had 18 carries for 32 yards at one point, ended up tripling that total by the time the night was over. I have to go back to Brian Dable in the way that he kind of operated, you know, this offense in key moments because they were gashing them on the ground late in the game. And then all of a sudden, when they're on the doorstep of the end zone once again, he goes to like three straight passes and they end up settling for a field goal.

That touchdown could be a difference in such a tight game. I think they're going to look back on this. And number one, they're going to look at that last sequence right before half and want to change that. But there's some other areas where they're going to look back and say, you know, I wish I would have coached better here. I wish we would have done better here because there were some opportunities left out on the field. And they're one in five now.

I hate to say it because I don't think they're a very good team, but I do think that they're better than one in five. And it's kind of a bummer for them. Yeah, a struggle for them up next with the Buffalo Bills. They visit the New England Patriots. And as for the Giants, a little reprieve, a little time off to think about what all went wrong and maybe Brian DeBolk and calm down, have some herbal tea. Do an interview. Yeah, and finally talk as he's at postgame right now. We'll see how incensed coach is at the first half scenario.

The Giants fall, as Nick Shook said, and that wraps up a Sunday, a fun, upsetful Sunday that didn't finish with the upset as the Giants could not knock off the Buffalo Bills, but the Browns knock off the 49ers, the Jets, knock off the Eagles. Topsy turf. Every fan base thinks that their team is horrible. They're going to have to shell the entire roster and start over. Your lingering thoughts on this week six Sunday, Nick? A lot of upsets. As somebody who picked the Eagles to beat the Jets

and the Niners to beat the Browns, I was pleasantly surprised. It goes back to the one thing I came down to today after the Jets beat the Eagles was, God, we've got to be really close to finishing off that parody circle for the year. I'm pretty sure we're pretty close. Somebody get the graphics going. Start tracking

records let's get that thing done week six would be one of the earliest points in the year but that's the NFL man it's the beauty of it it's manufactured parody it's what keeps people coming back and it's what makes days like today as exciting as ever yeah the the transit of property and again if college football fans are new to to the NFL and they're used to college football discourse the NFC West is is terrible they've got losses to another division and and when you do the math This division is too weak. You know, the 49ers are bad now. Well, yeah, what are the BCS points looking like for the 49ers?

It's 2004 again. I need to figure out whether Jason White's worthy of the Heisman or not. Yes. Jason White, the answer is no. He was never worthy of the Heisman trophy. He still is it. We're humbled that you guys think we're worthy enough to listen to us on this flagship program. I want to shout out, of course, all the guys.

We're finishing things up. I'm at home, but no small thought to be able to at least have one part of hosting, one part of this show from the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. And the other part from where your scot rack is in your garage. Yeah, you know, we're in the garage. Look, I always get the heat for lifting weights, but let's direct some of this to you right now because you literally have one right behind you, you know? Just get that in there for you.

Well, the thing is. Oh, we got that. This, you know that? Yeah, I don't know. That was made for me. That guy's setting off all kinds of lunk alarms. No. No.

These are bad reps. No. What? Yeah. They got to get you a better weightless and drop than that. We're going to have to actually have you pounded some more. But the work's not done for Nick Shook because he's right back doing the Monday night episode of the Around the NFL podcast. Jane Slater stepping in, little Cowboys Chargers fired up for that one.

It's the Kellyn Moore. McCarthy revenge game, Nick. You feeling good about that? Yeah, I'm very excited about that because so far the Mike McCarthy play calling experience has been very up and down for the Cowboys. And meanwhile, the charges have been steady. They haven't been super explosive, but they've been steady. I love a little animosity. I can't wait for their midfield handshake, even though Kellan Moore is not a head coach and may not even be on the field and will be in the booth instead. Stay tuned to find out. I can't wait because, again, there can be only one good team. Every team at the end of this year, somebody's going to hoist a trophy and everybody else is bad and done a

horrible. Terrible. That's just the way things go. For Nick Shook, I'm Patrick Clayvon. Thanks for listening in to a globe-spanning flagship episode of the Around the NFL podcast. Nick and Jane Slater will see you guys on Monday. This is an I-heart podcast.