NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2024 Week 12 Recap: Saquon Sizzles and Teams in Trouble

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook to recap all of the Week 12 action from around the NFL. The show starts with the wild finish between the Cowboys and Commanders (01:30) followed by Titans at Texans (11:45), 49ers at Packers (21:00), Cardinals at Seahawks (28:35), Vikings at Bears (38:06), Lions at Colts (47:52), Buccaneers at Giants (55:45), Chiefs at Panthers (01:03:30), Patriots at Dolphins (01:13:13), Broncos at Raiders (01:20:36), and Eagles at Rams (01:27:40). Note: time codes approximate.  NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we love saying John Carlin. If you get that one, you're one of us. I'm Greg Rosenthal in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio alongside my friend Patrick Claibon, joined by Nick Shook in Cleveland and never fails, Patrick. When they say, oh, it's a bad slate this weekend, not a great like 10 a.m.

Slate, then you get crazy endings. Crazy is an understatement. It's bananas. We're talking about what game I want. And it's like, oh, Greg, I'll take this Dallas game because I'm going to laugh at the Cowboy. but it was not me who was laughing, nor the commanders. No, that was very smart

to take that Cowboys game. And Shuki, it's really the theme of the whole week. You actually went to the game in the snow in Cleveland that set the tone. People thinking that's 2 and 8 versus 8 and 2. That wasn't going to be good.

But you were there having the time of your life and just like living in the snow for your browns. Was that better than a playoff? Almost better than a playoff win. Who needs playoff wins when you can have a night like that No, sorry.

No, but it was probably a top three football experience, I'll tell you. There is. That's what I was kind of getting at that, like, each Sunday or Thursday night, you never know, like, exactly what that game is going to give you. And it's been a tough season for Browns fans and certainly Cowboys fans. But today, you got a great experience. I'm sure there were some Cowboys fans in the crowd. We're going to start with that game.

And yes, a two-play sequence that Commanders fans will be remembering in January if they do not make the playoffs. Here's the snap. Dallas just brings three. He's able to step up. Lobb's one over. The chairman of corner is open. 45.50. 40 by 40. turns on the jets. He's gone.

Touchdown. Touchdown. Watch again. They've done it again. Another miracle and land over. Oh, I didn't know that one. Do you believe in miracles? Oh, no. Oh, no.

Shane and Daniels does it again. Wow. Unbelievable. 86-yard touchdown pass to Jerry McLauran. Oh. Wow. I don't know what he's announcing, and I don't care. There's 21 seconds left.

We got an extra point. The game is not tied. Austin Seiberd has to make this. He's already missed an extra point. Moments before disaster. Oh, foreshadowing. It's berserk. Snap.

Trustway gets it down. Oh. Bad, freaking. Snap! Bad snap! A bad snap! They got the hold down at Cyber. Missed it left.

Oh, Bram Weinstein. Man. K-WB-B-I-G. London Fletcher. The ups, the downs. Listening to the excitement. Yes, when Terry McLaurin catches an 86-yard touchdown pass.

on a one-play drive with under 30 seconds to go in the game. I was like listening to a horror movie where you know the monster with the killers right around the corner. And yes, it was that bad snap and bad kick by Austin Cyber. We missed a few kicks on this day. So maybe it wasn't just the bad snap. Giving me memories of John Carney. Do you know what game I'm referring to here?

Back in, who knows, the early 2000s, When the Saints had the River City, really, whatever it was, the crazy game against the Panthers, where they got the touchdown at the end of the game, one of the best finishes in NFL history. But then John Carney missed the extra point. That's what it reminded me of. Early similar. And perhaps I think Devery Henderson kind of fades into existence. Terry McLaren will be remembered a lot better than in this play where this moment is going to stand for a very, very long time as the new,

the kicker missed the extra point after an incredible touchdown that would have tied the game. where this was a game in the first half, where the commanders could really do nothing, and it's shades of late-season cliff that we'll have to discuss in the coming weeks and try to figure things out of and trying to mine resources to get theories on what's wrong with the commander's offense

in every offense that Cliff Kingsbury calls late in seasons, but they were disjointed early. The Cowboys get Doran Blandback, and he's over there on that side of the field. Actually, Terry McLaren scores that touchdown on the right side, something that he's done a couple times this season in very limited opportunities

going from the right. But there's a Bobby Wagner strip sack. This starts with a Kwan Martin block kicked as well. And we're celebrating commander special teams like, oh, they can do no wrong before the game absolutely falls apart, including that they score a touchdown with Zach Ertz. Then Jaden

Daniels runs in the two-point conversion, and it's 20 to 17, and you're thinking, all things great, but they have to kick to the best kick return in the NFL, and hilarity ensues. Yeah, so to back it up. Before that, Kavante Turpin, kickoff return that you're referring to. It's 10-9 in the fourth quarter, which is funny.

It's that touchdown, that schoonmaker scores to go up 20 to 9. It's only with five minutes left in the game. At that point, nothing's happening. After that, you mentioned the arts and the two-point conversion. That's with three minutes left in the game. The response there is the Turpon 99-yard kickoff return, which to me was one of the best plays of the entire season, because that spin move that he put on the commanders after initially fumbling the ball

and it got by him was just unreal athleticism, just an electric play. And I'm like, that's the highlight. That's one of the best plays of the NFL season. But we were just getting started at this point. Cyber hits a 51-yard field goal on a one-minute drive to respond. They stop the Cowboys. And I didn't mind the Cowboys strategy there after they didn't get the onside kick because they were going to pin Washington deep.

They got it down to about 21 seconds left, and Washington has to go the entire length of the field. I don't mind them being conservative there. That's when they hit the McLaurin. And then, yes, just for a little fun on top, we actually got a second kickoff return touchdown in the final three minutes by a man named Juanier Thomas. Here we go.

Onside kick. Recovery, you win. cyber booms it to the left it is covered and thomas running it back one yay thomas with the cowboy's second kickoff before for a touchdown in the game this game is drunk that was our friend brad sham have not heard enough from brad sham this season from k r l d and yeah like i know the game was probably over at that point but nick when you have a play that's stupid to end one of the craziest finishing sequence in NFL history, really, the last three minutes of this game. You just got to play it on the show. It was just a drunk Sunday for all football teams, but especially this game. Also, kick return touchdowns are not all created equally.

As you can see right there, as he returns an onside kick for a touchdown. And the whole time he's going to the end zone, I'm shouting at the screen, get down. Don't score. Don't score. He scored anyway. It didn't matter. Right. It's believed to be the first time two kickoff returns in the fourth quarter in NFL history. I think the first games in 30-something years to even have two kickoff returns at the same game.

It's nuts. The camera pans over after Juan Yee Thomas is celebrating in the end zone to Mike McCarthy, and he's got his arms out. Like, why did you score that touchdown? Because Jane Daniels comes in. He already has one Hail Mary. That's true. On his ledger in 2024.

That's true. Actually, it comes close to game. A ball gets picked off late, but, you know, anything you can do to win the game. Have fun. I think it was worth it just for the sham. God's call and Mike McCarthy, if you want to be critical, like what? You've really coached up your player to, to slide at the one in that situation. I doubt it.

I mean, he's never had the ball in his life. You want to criticize McCarthy, go for two there to try to finish the game. That was actually the move and he didn't. He chickened out, but that's fine. This was the first game also in NFL history to have two, I mean, this is a weird collection of plays, but two missed extra points, two kickoff return touchdowns, and a block punt. That is no surprise. I do have a takeaway just on the Washington side that, like, I kind of was penciling in a second wild card out of this division.

And now they're seven and five. They're on a skid. The offense, as Patrick mentioned, was in Kingsbury shutdown mode in the second half of the season for most of this game. Now you start to think like, could two NFC West teams get in? Could a second place team in the NFC West get it? Could the Bucks get in as a wild card if the Falcons actually would? some games. I think it's going to have a lot of repercussions, Nick, because I just

was penciling this one in and some of these Washington games in as a win, and they might not be mature enough right now to beat the bad teams on their schedule. Yeah, that's what I was concerned about when they had this great start to, you know, early in the season was, wow, they're way overachieving right now, and Cliff Kingsbury's offense is rolling, but we know what happens to a Cliff Kingsbury

offense once it basically daylight savings arrives, and we get to fall backward. His offense falls backward as well, and they blow a tire like the Cardinals have. I mean, granted, he put 26 points, in the board, but like you said, it was 10 to 9 in the fourth quarter. Any concerns about Daniels? Patrick, sorry, Nick.

No, I don't have them based necessarily on this game. I mean, we have a whole lot of late-seasoned Cliff Kingsbury, and again, the discussion is whether or not it's in-game adjustments, whether or not its adjustments over the course of the season, with the similarities

being so particular, and teams having time to figure out exactly how this set of players is operating under Cliff. But, I mean, we saw more running from Jane Daniels in this game, including a lot of third down scrambles, but it was just, there were so many opportunities where guys were running into coverage. It seems like Dallas was exceedingly prepared for the particular play structure. And Jayden's always having to throw guys into traffic.

Nobody's getting wide open where earlier in the season, that was not the case. That is a concern. And yeah, I know people are concerned about Daniels as he playing through the rib injury. I think that's hard. Let's just leave that alone because when he's making these great plays and he may, had a couple great games, actually, after that injury initially. Maybe it is affecting him, but it's great that he ran for 74 yards. That throw to McLaurin was awesome. So he's doing a lot of good things. Let's listen quickly to Dan Quinn and Mike McCarthy before we go on to the next

game. What I told the team after the game was that this is the most challenge we've been in our time together. And I remind him it, it's not enough to learn the lessons, but we have to apply them. It was just a game since situational extravaganza. I mean, it's just we, we, I mean, you know, it's like Yotsie. You know, everything was in there. If you get McCarthy saying extravaganza and Yatsi in a 10-second sound clip, I want to put it in the show. Great job.

They're behind the scenes. So I've got a theme at the top of this show. And the theme is, we're here in week 12. We had some teams that we think for most of this season are pretty solid playoff teams. But as we're kind of hitting Thanksgiving, there's some real concern about how they are going to make it to the finish line. So the commanders are number one I'm putting in that category. The Houston Texans are number two.

Let's go to Houston. From the end zone, Stroud, in trouble. He stepped down in the end zone. Sack! Safety! Game over! Landry, with his sixth sack of the year, it's two for Tennessee. and guess who's come to H-town and going to get a win. Oh, man.

Mike Keith on W.G.F.X. Yeah, C.J. Stroud doing his Orlovsky. I feel for C.J. Stroud. I feel for Orlovsky that every time someone runs out the back of the end zone for the rest of time, his name gets mentioned. On a day where, yeah, Stroud didn't seem like he was playing in a car. comfortable way. He gives Titans fans something to cheer about. We haven't heard enough from Mike Keith on this season. And the Titans go into Houston and win 32 to 27 on a pretty wild

game shook where there was a lot of long touchdowns. There's actually a lot of good defense by the Titans and they get out of there with the victory. Yeah, a game that was filled with big chunk plays or as Mike Keith says, big yards. And there were negative yards at the end of that game as well with C.J. Stroud stepping out of the back of the end. He was pressured there, of course. But oh my God, guys, shot plays left and right. The Texans start the game with a long kick return. I think it was Darya Gumba Wallet or maybe, no, it wasn't. It was, it was, Damien Pierce. Yes, he took it almost all the way back. They get in position. Next play, touchdown pass to Cade Stover. It's 7, nothing just like that. I'm chuckling

at the screen because I was like, that's just too easy. This is going to be a romp for them. Nope. Will Levis and the Titans come right back. They take a 17 to 7 lead. He's hitting big shots and Nick Westbrook Aquina and Calvin Ridley and they're going down the field and it's back and forth, but it was very much an up and down game for both teams. There were rises, there were falls. There were ugly turnovers by CJ Stroud, who threw a pick early,

by Will Levis, who had a narrow lead and threw a pick six, and suddenly the Texans were back in the lead. That was one of the games where I was like, hammered this weekend football is, just very drunk because this game couldn't decide which way they wanted to go. Neither team seemed to want to win the game. Levis ends up having a good day,

save for the pick six, but he also gets sacked eight times. Four of them were probably his fault because he wasn't navigating the pocket well. The other four, his offensive line wasn't protecting him well. Stroud doesn't get sacked till the end of the game and gets forced out on that safety there, yet he struggles as well ends up with two picks including a bit of

a miscommunication to John Mechie who settled down instead of continuing his route. That set up an opportunity for the Titans to kick a field goal before halftime. It was a wild game between two rivals that are supposed to be headed in opposite directions. And like we talked about on Monday night, Greg, a fresh batch of reasons to be concerned about the Texans' trajectory as we head toward December.

That's right. We were worried about this game on Monday night for them. I was worried about this game on Friday. If you listen to the pic show, this was my number one pick of the week, was Titans covering this game, not necessarily winning, just because the Texans, they just don't have it offensively right now. And I thought this matchup was tough because they wouldn't be able to run the ball against the Titans, and they didn't. 14 for 22. So if Joe Mixon isn't ripping those long plays, and he's been very good, but he's kind of a boomer bust running back this year because of his offensive line. So if you're not getting any of those booms, you're just relying on C.J. Stroud,

and he's just not playing with the confidence or the good decision-making that he did earlier in his career. Yeah, the only thing they got from Joe Mixon was five receptions. He had a nice reception down the sideline where he was able to make some moves, get some yards after that. There was also, like, there's several just key plays that didn't go the Texans way. I think there was a third in 19. in the fourth quarter where Tankdale goes up. The Titans defender is able to just punch the ball out right before he comes down.

High leverage miss there was a miss by Kaimi Fairburn where they're right there well within his extensive field goal range. He has a miss. That was to tie the game, a 27-yarder from a guy who today set the all-time record of 50-plus field goals. Sorry to cut you off there. No, you're not cutting. Because it's a great step.

and we're just things that you expect to go right for the Houston, Texas. And admittedly, we've been talking about problems on this offensive line for the entire season. That held through today. But it just takes a coalition of mistakes and errors to have eight sacks. DeNeil Hunter has three sacks. You score 27 points and lose. One of the wildest stats in this game was that Will Levis became only the second quarterback in NFL history to take seven sacks and a half. twice in a season.

The other one was Randall Cunningham, so he has great company. But just like totally bizarre. My big takeaway, though, is like, okay, Nico Collins shows up, has a 56-yarder. But the touchdown that was taken away from him was endemic,

I think, points out what's happening with C.J. Stroud right now, which he's in his own head. There was a third down where he actually was protected pretty well and then just kind of ran forward and went down like he sacked himself

and that's a warning sign because that was the last thing I expect out of C.J. Stroud kind of sacking yourself like that and then he said after the game and I'm going to trust that he's being honest here that that touchdown that was taken back for Nico Collins

which would have really changed this game was because of an illegal shift because he called for two shifts before the play and he had essentially like a brain fart there and he signaled to Joe Mixen and Tank Dell the shift and they both did, but he was only supposed to call for one. And are you concerned about Stroud, about this offense?

I don't know if they can lose the division. They're seven and five, and the Colts aren't great, but they're just not a good football team. Yeah, that's the thing is that they're going to win this division because this division's not good. But they are also not a team that I take seriously in the playoffs because of these exact issues. That illegal shift, I mean, completely turned the momentum of this game.

And you add in the fair bear and field goal miss, they still, you know, at that point, they're backed up against the wall and have to, figure out a way to get down the field in this crazy back and forth affair against a team that you should not be in such a game with. I don't care that it's a divisional opponent and you're familiar with each other and everything else. You're supposed to be the superior team when compared against Tennessee and they did not play like it and they haven't played like it in so many games this year. I was encouraged by the big plays early, hitting Nico Collins,

hitting Tank Dell. Like, oh, the offense is back. Here we go. But it just didn't carry over. And that is what make, when I look at them and evaluate the entire AFC and I think, all right, these are the heavy hitters. These are the teams that I expect to make deep playoff runs. The Texans just aren't there right now, and I'm really not sure they're ever going to get there. Well, they're definitely not. I don't think they're, I shouldn't say definitely. The NFL always makes us look stupid when we assume anything. But I also, on that note, Nick says, I wouldn't assume they're making the playoffs. I don't have much faith in the Colts and the Texans are lucky. They don't have a Colts game coming up. They got that sweep early. But if you can lose to the Titans,

you can lose any game. And they do have some tough games down the stretch. So like, they could be an eight or nine win team. They could, they could really fall apart. I don't want to believe that. But But in a game where they had 13 drives, they had 12 first downs and 11 penalties. That's bad, bro. That's bad. And some of those penalties were wiping off some of the first down. Right. They had the mistakes, the drops, the miss kicks.

I just think watching Nico Collins out on the field with C.J. Straub, seeing the plays Joe Mixen has made. Will Anderson and DeNeil Hunter, it's, I think they get in the playoffs. I think they get somebody problems in the playoffs. They have their problems, yes. but they're at least experiencing them now. I'm not close to the door. You got to get a win in Jacksonville next week. That's huge before they're by.

Then they come back with a really tough three pack of games, Miami at Kansas City and Baltimore. Before moving on, though, I want to hear from Mike Keith again. Like I said, you just can't get enough, Mike. Levis in the gun with Pollard on his right hill. Playfake, Levis, firing downfield. Complete. Acockwell, 40, 50, a cockwell 40, 30,

20. That's a fast man. Five end zone. Touchdown. Tight. Shaggy Kankwo, his first touch goes for 70 and a big six. That's Dave McGuinness there. Jumping in.

You know what he did there? He was like Kurt Cobain on Smells Like Teen Spirit. He knew that was a touchdown run by what an athletic tight end. Chigga Conquo. He knew that was going to be a touchdown. so he kept it real low and quiet. So he just felt the impact of the touchdown tightens. Let's go to Green Bay, where the Packers are not the team

that could be falling apart down the stretch. The team they played, I don't know. Under center, Packers leading by 14. Love looks it over, and here it is. Handoff, Jacobs, burrowing left side, hands off. Touchdown, and there is your dagger. 30 to 10. That is right.

Wayne Larravee, W.R.N.W. The dagger might have been even earlier, but Wayne has respect for the 49ers. He doesn't expect a beat down like this. The game finishes 38 to 10. It's the biggest loss in the history of this rivalry, which is crazy. It's also the biggest loss. in terms of the deficit that Kyle Shanahan's had, Shanahan has had since 2018.

Different times now for the 49ers, who did not have Brock Purdy in this game. They did not have Nick Fossa in this game. And so on one hand, you give him a pass. Nick, on the other hand, I do think the way they lost that it's not competitive also speaks to kind of where this team is at at 5 and 6. Yeah, you know, Green Bay dominated this game.

from the first quarter onward. Yeah, I got down to a 10-point game and then a 14-point game, but it was never really all that close because the Niners only mounted one drive of significance all day. And it was the one that ended into the three-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle, which is a great catch. You know, Brandon Allen threw some nice passes. He had some excellent completions. He also had some misses. And it just felt like the punch out of these Niners had been taken from them. You know, they didn't struggle in pressuring Jordan Love that much. Love was getting out of the pocket a lot, though, to extend plays as a result of that pressure, even without Nick Bosa.

They just, they didn't stack up against the Packers on both sides of the ball. They also committed a ton of penalties in every phase of the game. Debo Samuel had an 87-yard kick return to open up the second half. You're like, oh, there's the spark they need, called back by a penalty. Like they were constantly behind the sticks. They asked Alan way too much, you know, to do way too much with his arm. He finished his 17 and 29 for 199 a touchdown on a pick by who, Xavier McKinney. Of course, who else would have be intercepting opposing quarterbacks than Xavier McKinney?

The Packers just dominated. They were better in every phase of the game. And it is, it's one of those games where you look at the Niners and you think, oh, I don't know. Because Christian McCaffrey, not effective. Still doesn't look all that explosive. He only had 11 carries, but he finished with 31 yards. This offense was very lopsided.

And they just never stood much of a chance. They gave away the ball three times. The Packers defense had a banner day. They were playing with their hair on fire flying around the field. It just looked like a team that was contending for a Super Bowl versus a team that's like, yeah, we're middling, you know, at 500 or worse. Yeah, the Packers kind of, I wouldn't say they needed a game like this, but I think it's going to feel good for them to get to 8,

and three and have a game where they did everything they needed to do. You can't even put it on the 49ers offense. Brandon Allen and the 49ers had run six plays. And at that point, the 49ers defense had already given up 17 points. So Brandon Allen apparently had a broken finger, according to the sideline on Fox and had never been on the injury report. He's the starter of this game. Kyle Shanahan, as Cynthia Freeland likes to call him, the lying liar who lies.

I mean, they got to find him for that. He's a starting quarterback, and they never mentioned a broken finger. Brock Purdy, meanwhile, not just miss this game. I'm concerned about where this is going because they said it, they reported he had a second MRI on his shoulder before missing this game. And a starting quarterback doesn't miss a game with a right shoulder injury unless it's serious. And you get two MRIs hoping to maybe see something different before we just kind of wrap up the 49ers portion of this. just, they just feel like a team that had, didn't have it all already. And now maybe it's,

it's just like one injury too many. Obviously, if Purdy misses another game or two, like, it's done. Yeah, just three wins, uh, without Trent Williams in the, in the, in the Trent Williams didn't play in this game. Thank you. No, it's, it's, it's been a rough injury season in Santa Clara. And now, like, when I initially saw the reports, because we, we talked to Tom Pellasero on Tuesday about, you know, Brock Party leave in practice with shoulder soreness, the 49ers, the statements again coming out of, you know, Cynthia tells us about Kyle Shanahan, nothing to be concerned about. Then he goes in the MRI machine and nobody's getting in there for fun.

Right. Much less do it twice. So they're looking for something that is really, really a problem. Bus is expensive. Like, I don't know if they have the same health care as us, but an MRI, forget about it. Yeah, it better be better than ours. Because otherwise, Brock Purdy is going to be getting a call from a collector here in three years. Aside from that, just an ineffective game, trouble protecting.

Alan E. had a fumble forced by Lucas Van Ness's helmet. Again, if he only has nine fingers to hold onto the ball, that's a real issue. You start to wonder with dime sitting at home looking for a team, perhaps this is the spike. That's a good call. thought Minnesota when Darnold looked like he sprained his ankle, but he came right back into the game. And you're absolutely right. It could be a spot for Danny Times. Let's talk about the Packers. You're going to be playing on Thanksgiving. Definitely the best game on Thanksgiving is Packers Dolphins. Although Caleb Williams playing so well. We'll get to

him. Spices up that Bears Lions game. Tell me about your your takeaways shook on the Packers, especially on offense in this game where it took them, at least the passing game, little while to get going. Yeah, the passing game wasn't, it was there, but it was a lot of missed shots, actually. There was a ball that Jordan Love put on Christian Watson that was perfect. I'm watching it travel to the air and I'm like, they have enough juice to get there. And as it's descending, I'm like, oh, it's right on him. Right there and he drops it.

There was like a few of those in this game where Love's total would have been 50, 75, 100 yards more and maybe another touchdown. It didn't look as bad as the numbers looked, you know, when you're comparing the two. But really, this is all about Josh Jacobs. Josh Jacobs paces this offense in this game, 26 carries, 106 yards, three rushing touchdown and a career high, 15 forced miss tackles. Wow. That's the most, by any ball carrier in a single game this season, according to next gen stats.

That was a rate of 57.7 percent, his highest of the season. Okay, he's having a great year, as we know, with the Packers. That fits been tremendous. And this was the peak for him so far. And they kind of needed it because Love wasn't piling up those numbers. But the crazy thing is, is when you look at the stats after the game, I'm surprised. that they didn't break 400 yards of offense just because it was that one-sided.

And it was because they got short fields from their defense. They capitalized over and over and over again. They were a pretty efficient offense. They averaged a little bit under five yards per play, but it looked very good. Tucker Kraft got involved. He had a touchdown catchy, another setup, another touchdown. It was just an offense that could attack you

from a number of different ways and a strong performance for the whole unit. Yeah, the run game is going to be so important for them. It's what's made them special this year. I know the Malik Willis games juice it up a little bit, but they are, they truly are one of the best running teams in the league. Jacobs is having one of those seasons. It's every other year for Jacobs.

And Emmanuel Wilson is the one actually that shows me, man, this team and the play calling, they're all really in sync. Because when Emmanuel Wilson comes in for those seven, eight carries a game, he's getting it done as well. So really looking forward to seeing them on Thanksgiving night. And yeah, it is getting late early for the 49ers who play Eric's bills next week. And they're going to need a health.

quarterback, or they could be at five and seven, and in big, big trouble, because there are good teams in the NFC West. Let's go to Seattle. ...pringage on fourth and one at the 40. Murray under the center this time. Play fake. Murray's going to try to get it. He's going to run far side.

He's going to dump it over the top. Interceptive. Kobe Bryant. Far sideline. He's got the blockers. 30, 25, 20, 20, 10, 5. Touchdown. Seahawks.

No flag Kobe Bryant Oh Kobe Bryant He hit him with the Marshawn Lynch H-M-D Yeah, celebration Good job by Patrick Claibon Giving me the assist

Didn't know how to handle that moment But it wasn't too big for Patrick Steve Rable of K-R K-I-R-O Man That play really changed the entire game I thought Kyler Murray had a chance to get to the

edge. But Devin Witherspoon did a fantastic job after diving on the inside, made Kyler Murray hesitate for just a second. And by then it was too late. He didn't have the angle on the run. He forces a pass that just sails Kobe Bryant takes it to the house. 16 to 6. The Seahawks get it done. And I wanted to start with that play because it really was all about this defense. And it's now a thing. We talked about it coming into this game. The Seahawks defense in the last three games against the Rams, the 49ers, and now the Cardinals, have given up a total of 36 points in regulation. Rams hit him for that overtime touchdown too, but I'm talking regulation.

36 total points. That's 12 points a game. And they came out today with one thing distressed above all. And that was to stop this Cardinals rushing attack. You've been talking about it, Nick, all year, that they kind of go as James Conner goes. Well, he had 12 carries today. He had a 0% success rate on those 12 carries.

And only 14 runs as a whole because they were so unsuccessful running the ball. It made the Cardinals one-dimensional. Kyler could have made a couple plays. Like, they had some penalties go against them. There is a different world where they, are closer at the end of this game, but ultimately Seattle's defense dictated, and I would say that's been true,

three straight division games. Mike McDonald, a little bit like Baltimore a year ago, has figured things out in the middle of the season, and they're really streaking. Leonard Williams especially was outrageous today. Yeah, I think we know that when you stop this rushing attack, that it makes the entire Cardinals offense run into a rut, right?

So that should be approach number one, but you're right. It absolutely speaks to Seattle coming on. as of late. I mean, the funny thing is, is that Mike McDonald and John Schneider are not afraid to just jettison guys that suddenly don't work for them anymore in an effort to get better. Like Tyrell Dotson, gone, get out of here. Oh, by the way, we've allowed 10 points or 12 points per game over the last three games. Like, that's super impressive, especially for a regime with Mike McDonald as the head coach, of course. That was a little bit questionable because

his reputation coming in was, I'm going to fix this defense. This defense was our weakness last year and for a lot of the early games the season. And even up until, I don't know, at start of this past month or so. They weren't delivering. They weren't delivering. And too much was on Gino Smith. And you saw the risks that are associated with that. Yes, you get the thrills, but you also get the risks.

Then they come in and they hold an offense that's quarterbacked by Kylie Murray to just six points. And you're able to win with just 16 points offensively. That is a team coming together at the right time in a very winnable division. And you don't need Gino to throw for 350 and maybe risk three interceptions or something to get there. It's a beautiful thing when a team starts to come together like that. Well, hell, they only scored nine. points offensively, right? Because they got the pick six. And I think the Seahawks offense was better than that number would show. But Gino had a very similar interception to what happened on the

Kyler Murray play where after what I thought was the Seahawks maybe best drive of the whole season, like if they had finished it off, Gino has a rushing lane to get a first down and he throws an interception that was not necessary and keeps the Cardinals in it for a little while long. But they did get the ball back in a situation close to their own goal line and he hit two of the toughest third down conversions that you'll ever see end up having their longest drive of the season. It's a field goal drive, but it was good situational football and felt to me like a game winning drive. I mean, it's not the same as you're trailing and you need a touchdown, but essentially was a fourth quarter game winning drive. Yeah, wiped most of the fourth quarter off the clock. And Gino ultimately on that interception in the red zone, ball caught in the end zone, didn't see.

see the defender until he's looking up at the replay after the play and then he was dejected for the entire there was a sideline shot of Gino Smith not looking at anybody just staring off in the distance really frustrated with himself comes back there's a third and I believe 14 where Gino just had a turnover in the red zone

fires a dangerous ball to DK that he fits in there like not affected by the mistake at all Gino comes right back they go down the field burning clock while throwing the ball Kenny Walker has a couple plays on that drive as well Jackson Smith and Jigba has a catch where the game

this drive starts way before five minutes to go and the clock's not stopping on incomplete passes and it gets into that time frame where the Cardinals are thinking about taking timeouts towards the end of it. I'm glad you mentioned that. That play

to DK was one of the plays of the game by Gino but there was also a third in eight to start out that drive where the pressure got there right away. And for Gino fans, today was weird because he really wasn't under that much pressure. He actually had a lot of time to throw. And early in the game, I almost felt like it was freaking them out. Like, we don't know what to do. Like, he just started spitting around a little bit. And they did not move the ball. They punted it the first four times. And in Arizona really

wasn't getting that much pressure. They were doing a really good job in coverage. And it was a game in the second half of very few possessions. They had an 11-play drive, which ended with his interception. and then that eight-minute drive that Patrick just referred to. But yes, on the first third down where he is essentially backing up to his own goal line just about pressure gets there immediately and he throws a ball that has to have perfect anticipation that he throws before the receiver comes out of his break. And that's what you love about, Gino, is that he will give you one.

At this point, we got to accept it. Like, he'll give you a chance at one and some great quarterbacks do, but he will always keep firing. and I actually thought if you took that one play away, and that's a big if, this would have been like either his best game of the year or one of them because other than that one play, he was outstanding, Nick.

Yeah, you take the good with the bad with him, right? Like you get the electric moments and you also get the moments where you're like, oh, no, why'd you throw that? Oh, D.K. caught it. All right, cool. First down. Speaking of which, seven to 14 on third down, I want to know how many of those were on that one specific drive

that Patrick mentioned because like for the rest of the offensive output, but it doesn't seem to quite line up. But, I mean, a march like that, you've got to convert a number of third downs to keep the drive going. Kind of a strange day for them, considering, like, their identity offensively, and especially in previous games, but you'll take them, you know, a win's a win. I will answer your question, three first downs on that drive. There you go.

So three and seven. Almost half. Yeah. And that first one was to Smith and Jigba, who I really think has improved and is a big part of their story. But the other third down was on a third and four draw. and I almost screamed. I can't remember the last time

the Seahawks have had a successful run on a third down in like four. I mean, it's outrageous. Their running game was pretty poor throughout this game. If they can get their regular running game going occasionally other than plays where Ken Walker runs into a wall

and then spins around and gets 17 yards, they could be really good. And maybe work the play action passing game a little bit more? Is Gino throwing play action on 15% I think of past attempts, one of the lowest rates in the league. And another tendency breaker today where we think of Gino taking shots down field all the time, like that ball to D.K. Metcalfe, 20 of 24, a passes under 10 air yards today for 270 yards

and that one touchdown where there's, there's something about the search bar over there. This Cardinal's defense is bugging everybody, can't figure out why, but they're able to consistently do it. They got it done again, ultimately. I mean, they held the Seahawks under five. yards per play. They held them to nine points on offense. Both teams were under 300 yards. So yes, there are good defenses here in the NFC West. This division race is just getting started. Seahawks needed this win. They already had two division losses. The Cardinals didn't have any. They would have gone to three and O. These two teams play each other in two weeks. And ultimately, that game is going to be even bigger. But the Seahawks set up themselves tied atop the NFC West after 11 weeks at

Six and five. Good stuff by the Seahawks in this entire division. Let's take a break and get to some other craziness in the NFC North. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

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

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies.

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Jake McQuade, the long snapper, Ryan Wright holds. This is a 29-yard field goal between the hash marks to win. It's snap spot. Romo!

Yes! And the Minnesota Vikings have won five consecutive games at Soldier Field. The final score, 30 to 27. That was our friend Paul Allen on K-F-A-N. they had to work for it. The Minnesota Vikings winning over time after giving up an 11-point lead in the final two minutes of this game.

Great game in the NFC North. Caleb Williams played outstanding. Throws for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Like I said, led the Bears to a last second drive and then a last second field goal after they recover an onside kick with under 20 seconds to go. a fantastic game.

Jordan Addison goes for 8 for 162. I think this is the perfect situation, Patrick, for Bears fans. Why is that? I mean, I know you'd like to win, and this hurts. But Caleb Williams has played his two best games as a pro, I believe,

in a row. Okay. He looked, you're seeing everything you want out of your number one overall draft pick. Uh, but ownership is also seen everything they want to fire Matt Eber Fluse at the end of this year. team's not going to the playoffs anyway. So what you want is Caleb development, but maybe some

losses, a good draft pick and a new head coach next year. I can see the case for that. Okay. You get, you get everything that you want. You find your quarterback. Finally, um, 3.42 touchdowns where he also led the game in rushing for the Chicago Bears as well, beating out. It's going to be tough to run against his floor as defense, but it's not going to be tough to throw for 340 yards and is able to do that. And yes, the most of the. Bears people that I talk to, the fans, the people who want the best for the team, probably would. And, you know, shout out to Matt Eberflus and all the success he's had, would prefer a different head coach. So I agree that maybe this is the best case.

Although, you know, now I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth, if you had just won this game, first of all, would have felt good to end that losing streak. You'd only be at six losses, which now in the NFC would only be one loss back. So you could have some copium convincing of yourself. But part of the reason why I don't think the Bears, are going to win a ton of games down the stretches. Yeah, Caleb is suddenly playing well now, but the defense isn't getting enough stops shook when it really matters. The Vikings go for 452 yards.

I was really impressed, actually, with the drive that they had to set up a Romo field goal with 156 left. Felt like that ended the game at 27 to 16, where Nick Mullins had a third and long because he came in for a play, and Aaron Jones gets a big conversion. and then Sam Darnold, who has really played well the last couple of weeks, especially, has a big third down conversion,

and they're bleeding the clock. So the bear is not getting enough stops really to be the type of team that Iber Fluse wants them to be. And I think for the Vikings getting to nine and two with a win like this, I don't care about the style points. I think that's impressive that they stuck with it and you ultimately get it done in the end. Yeah, I mean, style points can be overrated from time to time,

especially in a divisional game. I mean, on that bear's defensive note, though, There were like multiple third downs in the overtime period where I was like, oh, this defense is crumbling. Like this is not the defense that it was even six weeks ago. There were multiple third downs where Donald drops back. He's been sacked. They're behind schedule and he finds T.J. Hawkinson open.

He finds Jordan Addison open down the sideline beyond the sticks where it's soft coverage. Why are you allowing that to happen? Because your defense is not as good as it used to be. On a day in which you allow three different guys to break 100 yards. Aaron Jones, 22 for 106. Jordan Addison, 8 for 162. Hockington, 7 for 114. Like you said,

452 yards of offense for the Vikings. That is not the Bears defense that we thought it was. Not to quote the late great Denny Green, but yeah. But so, yeah, I agree. And the Vikings get the job done. Like, that's what's most important here is that they got the job done. Sam played a clean game. He threw for 3.30.

Everything's fine. It was a little weird at the end. You screwed up on some details, but you came away with the win. You were able to overcome that adversity when you were basically collapsing on the road in the windy city. But I do want to pivot back to Caleb because there was one throw. made early in the game where he ran down the sideline he was he escaped pressure he's looking

downfield and i'm like oh this is a video game throw because as he's looking he's doing the josh allen he's approaching the sideline and d'andre swift wisely turns up field and he just lofts it over the defender to swift for a gain of 30 and at that moment i wrote down the note where i was just like that's the play extension that we've seen from him for weeks that usually results in incompletions or he has to throw it away or maybe he gets sack late which did happen to him later but he was able to make it work and that was kind of a point about this whole bear's offense since they replaced Shane Waldron with Thomas Brown where I'm like, hey, you know what?

Yeah, they lost the game. But they still put up 398 yards of offense. They still had a fighting chance. They still competed in Caleb is able to make things like that happen. He's way better than I thought he would be coming out of USC. I have the generational tag on him, but after watching everything that he's dealt with because we've spent so many weeks,

the talking heads have spent so many weeks, not us specifically because I think we know better, where it's like, is Caleb the problem? Do they need a quarterback again? They don't need a quarterback again. again, they need to be better around him, and that starts with the coaching staff. This is the guy.

He is a special quarterback. Bears fans enjoy it. Hope that everything around him gets a little bit better because he's going to be your guy for a long time. It's a really fascinating comment, but it makes sense if you weren't as big as him coming out of college. I was never worried long-term about him. He had shown more than enough throughout this season,

and it was so early. But the way this season was going, how can you not be a little surprise how quickly the change to Thomas Brown has turned things around? I really think his game last week, was underrated and he played outstanding and he had that throw to Swift. But earlier on that drive, he also ripped one into Keenan Allen. They were down 11 points, like I said. And it felt like it was maybe garbage time. And I'm tracking this game because one of my picks with Cynthia was

Vikings, you know, minus three and a half. I'm like, oh, they're going to get the cover. And they actually have a fourth down play where Roma Dunzei catches it like a great individual played by a dunzee, but a great throw also by Caleb to trust him on a fourth down. Like they would have lost by 11 if they don't make that play, but they get the touchdown, they get the two-point conversion, and then they get the onside kick after it bounces off a Viking. And I think one of the best throws he made all game was 21 seconds left. He has to thread it over the top of the linebacker, but with velocity to DJ Moore, that was a sick throw. You run up and you spike it. That's legendary stuff. And I know the overtime when Sowery took a bad sack, he's a rookie, and it wasn't all going to be

perfect about my god he he was like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL today yeah and even when things don't go right right because that completion to Romo Dunsay on fourth down it came after a third down attempt where Caleb sales won over Rome's head right he's throwing his hands on his helmet because he can't believe he made

a miss like that but then he comes right back and so even the decisions and that's the one thing that I always want to with a rookie quarterback whether or not the ball is complete the throw is catchable how was the decision how was the process and the process has been very good for Caleb again, other than when he holds on the ball for entirely too long like he did in overtime.

But the question, as Shook points out, is the team around it, right? And you mentioned that Nick Mullen's completion. That was actually a very high leverage play. It's huge. It's 21 to 16 at that point. Sam Darnard was out. Nick Mollins comes in for one play. That one play is third and 12.

Right. It's third and 12. And he throws, he throws an easy pass to Aaron Jones where there's no one there. There's no Bears defenders there in the middle of the field. He runs for a first down. Nick Mullins could take his helmet off and go chill for the rest of the game because Sam Darnold comes back in. They go down the field and hit a field goal,

which winds up being ultimately the difference in the game. Right. Aaron Jones fumbled on the goal line early in the game. He ends up with 100 yards on the ground, also had that huge reception. When Aaron Jones is playing well, they're playing well. He talked to our friend Stacey Dales after the game. So good to see you get in the end zone.

After that fumble in the first drive, how, I mean, we saw the emotions on the sideline. I tried to keep it together on the sideline, but it's hard, you know, because I want to get in the end zone so bad. And you lose the ball. Those are things that get you fired, you know. And I can't do that. I got to be better than that. But I'm glad I got a chance to make up for it. And I told coach, thank you for sticking with me. And it means the world to me. Ain't nobody firing you, my friend. That is absolutely true. Although Jones has had, that's a couple big time fumbles now in big situations near the goal line,

but he ends up helping them get to a win with some big plays late. And yeah, when Addison's one of the best second receivers in the league, it's nice to see him go off for eight for 162. Justin Jefferson had a long touchdown called back by an offensive pass interference. But if you can win and be dominant offensively on a day where he only had 27 yards and Hawkinson is going crazy, shows you're doing something right. They have the right coach. Kevin O'Connell has the most one-score wins in the entire NFL since he was hired in 2020.

You know who has the worst record in one-score games since 2022? It's right there for you guys. It's right there for you guys. It's part of this game. It all connects. Mattieber Flues. That's why you got to get a new coach. Let's go.

It's time for the Sunday Drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry. Yeah, let's go to Indianapolis where one of the best coaches in the league was visiting. Jared leans in.

There's the snap. Jared hands it to Gibbs over the right side, trying to get to the edge. He will. Touchdown Detroit Lions. Felt the contact just kept going outside

until he found an opening. And he did. Second touchdown of the day for Jemir Gibbs. Some days, it's a David Montgomery day. Some days, it's a Jemir Gibbs day. Usually it's both. This was the ninth game where they both scored a touchdown, which is absolutely outrageous.

But the fact that Jemir Gibbs is one of the best players on the field at any time that he is on the field made a huge difference in a 24 to 6 Lions victory over the Colts. That was Dan Miller from WXYT, Lomas Brown, in the booth as well. and this was a game, guys, that didn't have to be as one-sided as it was when you watched it. It didn't seem like they were that uneven. But the crazy difference, I think, if you just wanted to pick one, was how the lions are so good at running the ball

that they can run the ball on third and long. Three different times in this game, they did so. The first time, it was part of a drive with Jemir Gibbs where he hits a third and long, I think it was third and eight on that one, and he gets the first down, and they just ride them all the way to the end zone. Five straight, Jemir Gibbs plays, he scores a touchdown.

Second quarter, this is a Montgomery play, third and six. You give it to Montgomery. He just knocks people off him. And yeah, maybe they're running to set up the fourth down, but they didn't even need it. He converts, they give him the ball two plays later for the touchdown, reward him.

And then late in the game, that touchdown call we heard was actually a third and five from the 14 and the gate from the six rather and the game was still up in the air was 14 to 6 it was a one score game and they're scoring touchdowns and they're converting third and long shook by handing the ball off they have so many different ways to win but literally no other team in the NFL is winning like that well it starts with their offensive line which we have known is one of the best units in the NFL we've known that since last year they protect jared goffwell they open rushing lanes and they have two phenomenal backs to take advantage of that.

And like you said, sometimes this is Jemir Gibbs Day and sometimes it's David, but David Montgomery did. Today was Jemir Gibbs Day. But the fact that you have that at your disposal frees you up to be unpredictable. On a passing down for most teams,

it could be a running down for you. This is also very much just a classic Lions win. The score might not indicate it because they only won by 18, you know, air quotes, but at the same time, they go for almost 400 yards of offense. They convert 9 to 15 third downs

and they dominate time of possession by 14 minutes. Like, that's what you can do when you run the ball well. Oh, and by the way, Jared Gough, master of finding guys open over the middle of the field. He goes 15 to 16 for 185 when targeting the middle third of the field with a boost of percentage over expected of plus 16. Like, if there's one thing you take away from the Lions,

it's the middle third of the field, they didn't do it. They didn't stop the run. Of course, the Lions are going to win this way. It's just that they had a possession end on downs on the Indianapolis 14 that could have produced a touchdown or at least a field goal. That's why the score comes so close. You know, even an 18 point difference still feels kind of close for this Lions team

because of how badly they've blown teams out. This is who they are. They're 10-1. They're a great football team, and they're a buzzsaw. In other terms, they're a wagon, right? This is a team that is going to give everybody problems, including the Indianapolis Colts. I think the Colts defense played well.

I think they even played well enough to win a different sort of game if the offense had gone on some longer drives. You mentioned how they stopped the lions on a fourth down in the red zone, which you just don't see too much. But yeah, it was kind of like they were so worried about the middle of the field. you have the linebackers playing back on third down. And it still didn't help. And the lines kept looking at that.

And they're like, if you're not going to play big up front against us defensively, we're going to run in these situations all the time. And we're good enough. We're going to hit it. It works out for them. The Colts, by the way, have three players on their team with over 100 tackles now in this game, which is not here at week 12, where they got a great play from Laiatu. Latu was a scary play for the line.

because not only did Jerigoff fumble, but Taylor Decker gets rolled up. I think within 10 plays, also the cornerback, Carlton Davis, leaves the game with a needer. He was on the bike. He said afterwards he's able to stand and walk on it, but you have to watch out for those guys for the game coming up on Thanksgiving with a quick turnaround dealing with injuries in this one. But a solid game by a Colts defense, and the offense has been what it's been kind of all year,

whether it's Anthony Richardson or Joe Flacko, boom or busts, a lot of shots downfield, A lot of plays call back due to penalty as well. Josh Downs had a huge completion. They got wiped away. Richardson just missed Pierce for what could have been a touchdown earlier in the game. It's just a very, just a high variance situation with Indy at all times on offense where they're limited possession-wise here. And the possessions they do have, they make mistakes in them. It's so funny.

Like each week looking at his, Anthony Richardson's average up the target. It was over 13 in this game. and he only completed 11 passes out of 28, but he did it for 172 yards. This was a better version of the game that got him bench, where I said, if you watch the tape, he looked much better than that. Because I actually thought Richardson played well enough today as well.

Here's what happened to them. Three plays called back from penalty. Ogletree dropped a sure touchdown, which really changed the game. And they had another drop in a big spot, and then there was another. Ashton Doolin catch where it was a nice throw to the sideline and he does the Xavier Worthy thing where he doesn't get his feet coordinated and so the passing game I think could have been

a lot better. Josh Downs left with an injury at one point but was able to come back. Same thing with Michael Pittman who finishes six for 96. That guy is just so tough. But they're just not going to go anywhere if they can't get Jonathan Taylor going and Taylor was 11 for 35 today. They used Richardson in the running game pretty effectively when when they needed to early. but if Jonathan Taylor in that part of the running game isn't working and it's hard against the Lions, then they're just not going to be good enough. One of the reasons it's not working, the Lions are starting three rookie offensive linemen now, partly because of injuries. It was a third rounder, a fourth rounder, and I believe an undrafted free agent.

That's tough. Richardson was under a lot of pressure today. Aleem McNeil absolutely dominated his matchup against, oh man, I wrote it down. I felt bad for this young man. Maybe I won't even say his name because it was just sad how bad he was. It was Dalton Tucker, who is a real person for the Colts. I just threw it out there. Sorry, Dalton, wherever you are. And you mentioned the injuries.

David Montgomery left with a shoulder injury, but said he'll be fine for next week. You mentioned Carlton Davis. Taylor Decker returns at the game. Khalif Raymond, who's an important player for them, had a foot injury. And I think it might be something that keeps him out a little while, certainly out for Thanksgiving. But an outstanding performance there by the Dolph, the lion, they're at 10 and 1,

the best Lions team in history through 11 games, and the Colts are at 5 and 7, not out of it in the AFC South, if the Texans keep blowing it. That was the Sunday Drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry. Whatever your vibe, it's a Camry vibe. Learn more at Toyota.com slash Camry.

Let's go to MetLife Stadium. Certainly, Tommy DeVito would help the vibes, wouldn't he? Here's the snap, second down and goal. Bucks have two timeouts, running the ball. He fakes the pass. Crunch to his left. 10-0-1, touchdown.

Baker Mayfield, put in a cape and flew into the end zone. How about that touchdown number three rushing for Baker Mayfield this season? Look at him cheering on the Bucks fans. That was Gene Deckerhoff on WFUS. That was doing, Gene. You know, Gene couldn't have known that Baker was doing the Tommy Cutlets celebration. but that is what he was doing

after a very Tommy DeVito run there Baker Mayfield doing it all 30 to 7 bucks come off their by week and do exactly what they would want. Total domination

about as one-sided a first half as they could have possibly had and then they just cruise to a victory where Tommy DeVito ends up with 189 yards almost all in deep garbage time. The first half of this game shook

290 yards to 64. Baker completions 19. Giants plays 17. Bucky Irving had more receiving yards, I believe, at the time than the Giants had total yards at half time. So it just

did, it looked like a non-conference game. It was a bigger like one, like you, I watched a little Georgia UMass. just for, because I'm a sicko, and this was way more one-sided than Georgia UMass. Yeah, that wasn't a surprisingly competitive game between Georgia and UMass, by the way. Yeah, Baker, 8 for 10 on passes of 10 plus air yards for 172, okay? Like, very lopsided.

If people think that the Buccaneers are what their record says they are, they're wrong. This is a much better team than 4 and 6 are now 5 and 6. They've just been banged up like crazy, and they're starting to get healthy at the right time, and they played a team that basically they kicked while they were down. Like Tommy DeVito comes in and it's been a weird week for the Giants with the whole Daniel Jones playing safety on scout team, then reading the statement, then being gone the next day.

Tommy DeVito is the next best option in the mind of Brian Dable. And this is what you get. An unproductive offense, a lopsided loss with a Buccaneers team that needs a launch pad. They need a little bit of good feeling going as they get into the stretch run in late in the season as they try to reach the playoffs. This is the team to play to get back on track. and get the momentum going in your right direction.

And of course, it starts with Baker Mayfield, who, you know, as much as people like to hate on him, he's still having a phenomenal year. In fact, I believe he's on pace to best his career number. Who is this straw man? Who are the people hating on him? The hater in chief is sitting next to me. Is it me?

Because if it is me, I don't need you to be saying people like, do it. I'm sitting right here, bro. I will jump through this screen right now. Now, I got to give him credit. He's playing. There it is. I actually think he's. been playing better, Patrick, since Mike Evans and Chris Godwin got hurt. And now you get Mike Evans

back. And he made a difference in this game five for 68. A couple of nice chunk plays. And they're humming. No, definitely. And this Giants team, as you mentioned, is completely dead in the water. There's, I mean, we'll, we'll get to that discussion with, because I know we have Malik neighbors sound very frustrated Malik neighbors who wound up eventually getting non-targets. But You know, we'll hear from Malik on when those targets came. I mean, you're a host. You can just throw out of it, baby. Yeah, let's do it.

Let's hear Malik neighbors after the game answering questions about his participation as well as his frustration. I'm tired of going out there and losing. Like, it's just sad. I mean, I don't know, bro. Go out there for the second quarter. Don't get the ball. Start getting targets at the end. I mean, can't do nothing.

Start getting the ball winning 30 to zero. What's what you do? Why in the first half are they not looking at you? I don't know. Talk to Dave's about that. Hmm. It's the gum smacking that really does it. Yeah, that gum is getting chewed hard.

Eight pieces of double bubble in his mouth. And again, we got the full context there because I think the overall reaction is going to be. Malik neighbors firing shots at Brian Dayball. It's a legitimate response. Like, you're going to ask me why the ball's coming to me when the quarterback is getting released. Now we've got a second year guy and Tommy DeVito. coming in, throwing me the ball? Why are you asking me this question?

There's other people you should be directing these questions towards. Yeah, and he made it fairly clear because he said, well, you can see the quarterback isn't the issue here because we look the same today as we did with Daniel Jones, to which I would say not that bad. Yes, but the position is the issue, Malik. Like neither quarter, both quarterbacks are the issue. You're right, it didn't get better with Tommy DeVito. I would argue it got a little worse.

But he's biased though He's biased because they just got rid of the quarterback who leaned disproportionately on him For the first half of the season Of course he's mad he's not getting targets He got a ton with Daniel Jones That's true But in the first half of these games

He wasn't as much And it didn't matter The Giants defense was just getting dog walked Down the field I love Bucky Irving He ends up with 156 yards from scrimmage He's doing some Great blocking

In uncertain past plays Which is supposed to be the thing that he couldn't do it all, but I at least saw one great rep today. Rashad White is one of the best pass blockers in the league, and he ends up with a touchdown today and active, but man, Irving just makes guys

miss. I got to go check out the PFF's elusive rate after this, because I just have to imagine he is up there near the top with Josh Jacobs in terms of forcing miss tackles. He's electric, and to give you guys your Baker Mayfield Flowers. He was so good in this

game. I don't even want to point out any of the plays in the first half where they were as dominant a team as I've seen all season on both sides of the ball. I'm actually going to point out a couple of plays in the second half. There was a third and eight early where he's dropping back into the end zone and his past protection is holding up great.

And that's part of the reason why he's having such a good season. But he is just so calm back there looking through his reads. They're not there. and then he scrambles, and that's where he gets that nice block, just like a great run. Then 3rd and 11 later on that drive, just a few plays letter. The type of situation we're saying that maybe Baker's not built for that. I'm saying that sometimes he's not built for that.

Third and 11, straight drop back. They actually don't protect him well. He hits a dart right over the middle to a man named Ryan Miller while he's getting absolutely clobbered by Dexter Lawrence. That's play number two. and then play number three is the 56-yard run by Bucky Irving, where Baker Mayfield is out as his lead blocker out running Bucky Irving and making a pretty nice block where he peels back on the play. I mean, this dude, he's getting it done.

He's not an MVP candidate, but he's pretty awesome. That last play was so good. And that's what Baker does. He's been doing that for years. He'll run with the play and sometimes get involved in the blocking. But he's so far ahead of Bucky that he's going, come on, come on, let's go. It was really good and been saying it for a while here

the Bucks really have an opportunity to go win the NFC South. And now with that Washington loss, it just puts it in my mind more. That second wild card might be up for grabs too. So even if Atlanta is winning games, the Bucks, they are in this mix, they have a good schedule coming

up. They stay in the division next week in Carolina. But wait, maybe going to Carolina isn't so easy anymore. Well, Carolina line of call timeout. Placement is down. Schrader's kick is up.

Schrader's kick is good. Good! Good! Spencer Schrader! On a 31-yard field goal, and the Chiefs walk it off with the field goal winning 30 to 27

to get their 10th victory of the 2024 campaign. Mitch Holtes. W-D-A-F. If it's Sunday, It's a Mitch Holter's call on the last play of the game, and the Chiefs are winning. At this point, they're so bored that they're just coming up with new players

that can come up with game-winning plays. Spencer Stader! Like, that's a guy we definitely had heard of three weeks ago. Sure. 30 to 27, Chiefs get it done. Bryce Young plays well. All those TikToks you were telling me, I'm an old man, Patrick, about that we're saying Bryce Young

and the Panthers, they were going to be the team that ends the Chiefs, you know, winning streak. Of course, the streak ends last week, but they almost got this W. They almost did, and the Chiefs give up 27 points to the Panthers after giving up their first 30-point regular season game to the Buffalo Bills where there's some concerns there. But things started off because you said, Greg, coming into this game, you wanted the Chiefs to go over there, go down the field and score. And that's how they started. There's a Somaget-P-Rond kickoff return, 56 yards. And then the Panthers blow a coverage three plays later on a Noah Gray touchdown. Noah Gray has another touchdown later than this game's got four scores in the last two games.

And then the Panthers have drives that both kind of fizzle out. They end with field goals. But then finally, the Panthers defense, after really not making plays in the game, 756 to go in the first half, Jadavian Clowney wins off the line of scrimmage, retraces to get Mahomes on a sack. They're forced to take a Schrader field goal there. the Panthers defense got some key stops as the game goes on and Bryce heats up. He hits David Moore on a long play, then converts to David Moore on the touchdown.

They're down eight late, get the touchdown and a two-point conversion after Mahomes, who thankfully they lose Jatian standards in this game was a tough one. He lands on his head. They get charged to time out there. He was going out of bounds. I'm not quite sure what happened because the play was out of bounds. they forced a runoff on the Panthers towards the end of the first half

but that being side of the point they do get Adam Thielen back that was the thankful part that I'm mentioning and that Sanders is okay he was brought to a hospital with a neck andry but they said he's out of the hospital has movement and that's great to hear and good for him but again an underman team led by Bryce Young

who was very very good against Spags today a lot of fade away passes in the face of the blitz they got the two point conversion as Chuba Hubbard goes in after he forces a second try on that because Bryce keeps the play alive, throws a pass that gets called for pass interference, then they come back and give it to Chuba there. But a minute, 56 seconds with number 15 on the other side, the Panther secondary goes back

to not making a play. And the second team just allows Patrick Mahomes to go on a 30-plus yard run down the sideline late in the game for some reason. Yeah, let's hear that. Patrick's setting us up perfectly once again. He's a host. The Holmes, first in ten, steps up into the pocket, being chased. But now he's going to scramble to the near side.

50. Cutts inside, 45, 40, 35. The Holmes at the sideline out of bounds with one of the longest runs in his career, down to the Carolina 22-yard line. That was awesome. Five runs for 60 yards in this game. He's had more rushing value this season than any season of his career because they've needed it. And that was a big spot.

That was the fastest I've seen him. in a while, like, I do want to ask you, Patrick, because you watch this game the closest, I was begging. I even sent out a social clip about it. Can you give me a blowout? That didn't happen. But can you give me some fun? Can you give me some offensive fireworks? Now, on one hand, you look, they only had eight possessions, and they scored 30 points. It's tough for me to say they didn't deliver there, but they also didn't have many big plays. It's like all these long, slow drives. It's 27 first downs, but only 39, you know, 3991 yards. Did they deliver on what I asked? Did they come through? There was the big blown coverage to Noah Gray. There was,

there was a nice ball to, to New Hopkins that he was able to force a pass interference call on. But, but ultimately, a lot of what you saw throughout the game from the Carolina Panthers defense and the Chiefs offense was defenders dropping back into deep zones and watching Patrick Mahomes, and then late in the game, Patrick Mahomes just decides, yeah, I'm going to run here because you guys are just standing back there looking at me. Why are we dropping into deep zones?

It's not 2019. This is the Boa Constrictor Chiefs. They don't go deep. They go deep once a game, maybe twice, and Xavier Worthy either doesn't catch it, Mahomes messes him or he catches it, and he steps out of bounds before he gets both feet in. What are you doing, Carolina?

This is a winnable game. Bryce is playing well. Why are you taking that defensive approach? Come on. Shame on you. I don't think they have the dudes. I don't think they feel comfortable with the dudes that they have back there to be more aggressive. The most surprising thing of the day is that the Panthers had eight quarterback hits and five sacks on Patrick Mahomes. Yeah.

If I wanted to be a Chiefs Hater and I would compare them a little bit to a team during the Patriots dynasty, and this is a little extra, I don't think it's quite this bad. It's not going to be this bad, but it'd be the 2019 Patriots, which never were really an eight in a, team. They never, a lot of that team, they ended up taking on water down the stretch. I don't think the chiefs are going to do that. But I do think they have an increasing amount of problems for this team that do not look like a 10-1 team.

The offensive line, now it's a couple weeks of the defense. We'll see if that sticks and the lack of explosion on offense. Just, you know, it just might not be their year, but maybe they'll just crank it up at the end. I actually think they're getting a little tired of it. Like the weight of it all is getting to them. Let's listen to Patrick Mahomes after the game. You want to have some blowouts.

You want to be a little calmer in the fourth quarter. But I've always said it can be a good thing as you get to the playoffs and later in the season. Just knowing that you've been in those moments before and knowing how to kind of attack it, but play by play, not making it too big of a moment. But, no, I mean, I would say this morning, but I would love to win a game, not by the very last play. He's gotten used to it. and they are so good at doing that.

They have won 13 straight one-score games that is one away from the all-time NFL record before moving on. Let's show that next-gen spray chart of Bryce Young and let's hear about his day against a really good defense. I love seeing that he's pushing the ball and completing passes all over the field.

It's not all right near the line of scrimmage. It's a lot of plus 10 intermediate. It throws a few down the field against the blitz. His numbers against the blitz, Patrick, were fantastic. No, and they were. And then we talk about the injuries, right? So that's with David Moore getting 10 of those targets. Adam Thielen gets four.

Xavier Leggett has six of them, including one where Xavier Leggett did the Xavier Worthy thing, did the receiver that we were mentioned earlier for the... Ashton Doolin thing, where he doesn't make the play along the sideline, but has the space to do so where you turn the clock back a few weeks and this is, Bryce Young is completely

non-viable, right? This is not a quarterback that's ever going to amount to anything in the NFL. And then we see moments like this, which are kind of reminiscent to late season last year, where Bryce had solid starts, including that game against Green Bay late where he throws for

300 yards. Here it's 263 and not to stand or to cape for the guy, but just to watch and consider the way that we evaluate young quarterbacks in the league to perhaps pick different criteria to before we make

declarative statements about the long-term viability of any quarterback this performance by Bryce Young again in a loss right but a loss in which he got he tied the game in the final moments over against one of the best quarterbacks we've ever

yeah I said the key for him right now is just being able to do it consistently that his games before the buy showed he can do it because they have absolutely changed this offense around. I give Canales credit, but I give Bryce Young the most credit, and he is changing his career now because if he can continue this type of play down the stretch, he will be their starter next year, and they will really have something to build off.

It is 11 for 14 for 135 yards and a touchdown against the Blitz and hit nine throws over 10 air yards today. I mean, not saying he's Anthony Richardson quite yet, but he was pushing the ball. down the field. You know who isn't doing that? Too much lately is to a tongue of Iloa. But my God, is he playing quarterback? Well, after the break, we are going to hear from a man in Miami. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel. That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

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

Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. Michael F. Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager

or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. motive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Second and eight for Miami's offense from the 23 following the turnover. Right. Running back to him, get it to Waddle. Waddle! Touchdown, Miami.

What a run by Wattle. That's what you do when somebody turns the ball over. You go down and you score. Dolphins did a lot of that on Sunday. Jimmy Cephalo and Joe Rose for WBGG. Jalen Waddle's 23-yard touchdown, part of a 34 to 15 victory for the Dolphins. One thing I really respect about this Dolphins team lately, Nick, is they're not messing around. It's one-sided.

They're winning the game early. They're keeping it going, and they're letting no doubt who's the better team here. Yeah, and the final score of 34 to 15, it wasn't even that close, guys. It was 31 to nothing, late third. It was 24 to nothing just before halftime. The Patriots had one drive of relevance, and then the dolphins just took them behind the woodshed. I mean, just pass after pass. Jalen Waddle, hooking up with Tua Tua, they're racking up 144 yards.

The offense looked, the closest it's looked, to the previous versions of the Dolphins. Okay, okay. In 2003, 2022, that it has all year, and I know it's the Patriots. I know it's not a great measuring stick or a litmus test, but it was the first time after They're seeing them take everything underneath in the week, you know, the week prior. Now they're opening it up, and two is dropping back and dropping dimes, intermediate level. He's looking deep a couple times. He's got easy touchdown passes to Devon A-chan.

Everything worked for them. Don't look at it as a measuring stick again because it's the Patriots, but it is a very encouraging sign for a team that at 5 and 6 needs to become this type of offense. First time I've seen it all year. Great day for them. Okay. I didn't want to go too crazy because I had checked out like the A dot for this game and it was still only 5.6 yards. for Tua, but it's good to hear that he did have a few more throws down the field. And he's getting rid of the ball so quickly. 2.34 average time to throw. And some of those do go down

the field. They're just tough to deal with. Waddle, according to Mike McDaniel, has made a lot of progress this year, even though he hasn't been getting as many targets. So it's nice to see that rewarded eight for 144 in a touchdown. John Hsu Smith has another big day. John Hussmith revenge game. And he is a big part of their offense because they use so much. 12 personnel, which is with two tight ends on the field. And he's really turned into their third down, middle of the field, third receiver that they used to try to get out of a wide receiver, but he's really turned into that player for them. Yeah, he absolutely has.

It's really what it's been is run after catch and situational playmaking. Like, in the red zone, they love to go to him in a number of different ways, whether it could be a little dump off screen or it's something where it's a quick pass. Like, he's a weapon. And he can be a weapon beyond that. He had that long touchdown catch last week where he caught the ball. nobody was there and he ran off to the end zone for a touchdown. This is kind of been who he's been.

This is who he was supposed to be when he signed with the Patriots. After he left Tennessee and he never really became that guy. And he's really filling that void that they needed at tight end since they basically let Mike Kosicki walk and he never quite filled that void anyway for them. So this is he's kind of like a Gerald Everett comp, I think, but more productive, obviously than Everett's been in his last couple stops. And it's really helped the rest of their offense flourish because to a, like you said, the A dot is not super deep, right?

But at the same time, you have so many different opposites. options beyond the receivers. Like, we're not seeing them hit Tyreek for 50-yard bombs right now, right? But because you have the tight end involved, you can then survey the entire field. They have many different options, and it's just, it's worked out better for them. And again, it's only the Patriots, but if they're going to get on a run, they have to use now. The Patriots have been competitive the last few weeks. This is the best anyone's handled the Patriots in a while.

Yeah, and it wasn't even close, as you guys mentioned. And I think that the overall the big difference other than Tua being there and then being allowed to run this offense that we've seen for the past few years is it's always putting defenders in conflict and the interesting conflict that I saw today was Christian Gonzalez being in his own and leaving Tyree Kill to go to Jonu Smith. And ultimately the ball gets to Tyree Kill and I'm like, this is the world we're in in 2024 where Tyree Kill is having coverage drawn away from him by John who Smith. It's just the kind of bind that this offense can be. And when everybody's making plays, when A-chan's out, why Jalen Waddle has his best game all season long, that comes today

where I was wondering what the injury concerns were. I'm going and looking at Jalen Waddle's next-gen stats performance to see the speed drops off. No real difference in that capacity today, just having the production to go with it, with A. Chan and Jono Smith and Waddle, all operating around the line of scrimmage very well. There's just too much to deal with

if you can't get pressure onto it. We don't have a quarterback island meeting until a week from Tuesday. Because of the Thanksgiving week, the schedule is a little different, just in case you guys were curious, but I'll just put it out there now. I mean, Tua needs to be on that island unless something crazy changes. He is playing quarterback at an extremely high level. McDaniel thinks he's taking a big step too since coming off that injury.

I agree. I think that he's playing the best football of his entire career, and now the defense. You know, we had Anthony Weaver on the show, and we talked about, like, that front that they have. They're getting done, not just with Seeler and Cleas Campbell. Chop Robinson has been killed. in it in terms of their pass rush win rate. He had one and a half sacks today, a bunch of quarterback hits, and I know that the offensive line for the

Patriots isn't great, but the game slowing down for the quarterback and the defense coming along. This is a dangerous team, even at 5 and 6. I'd feel better about them in the NFC, but they have a really interesting Thanksgiving game shook, and if you can get the defense married up to the offense, I think they can beat anyone, including

the Packers. Yeah, and Chop, I think it's going to be a huge part of it. He's got three and a half sacks over his last four games. It seems like, like you said, the game is slowing down for him. He had eight pressures today on 26 past rushes. He had the fifth highest pressure rate by any player in a game this season. That is the opposite of hitting the rookie wall. That is somebody

finally settling in and coming through in a big spot because, you know, remember, they lost Jalen Phillips to injury again. He's got to be in there and make a difference. Him, Seeler, and even Emmanuel Agba on the opposite side, you got Clayas Campbell as well. That's kind of a sneaky, interesting front. And if they can tie that together, then again, they can go on that run.

Any concerns about Drake May in this performance? I was hearing some buzz he played well in the second half, but in general, team sounded like they were a mess. It was garbage time stuff for him. The first drive was good. Like, he looked like he has for the last month. He's going to be the guy.

Like, he's fine. He's playing on an island. Speaking of quarterback island, he's playing on an island. Like, he's just not being supported. He had no time to throw for much of this game. It was just a really rough go for the entire offense, not just him. They didn't run the ball well until the second half. They didn't do anything well until the second half when the game was already out of

hand. Not concerned about him. Just a bummer that you don't get to see him make some highlight plays like we have in recent weeks. Yeah, and I want to see Drod Mayo. show some consistency out of his defense as a coach. I think they've underperformed more on defense than on offense this year, which I would not have expected coming into the season. I know there's been a lot of injuries,

but a lot of sloppy play, giving up a lot of big plays. They are at three and nine. The dolphins have won three straight. It's almost more annoying how unprepared Mike McDaniel had his team for the backup quarterback situation. This is absolutely a playoff team when Tua is on the field. And they might get there. But it's going to be tougher because those Broncos, they're not going away.

Let's go to Vegas. First in goal, Denver, at the two. They bring Mims in motion. Nick's design roll to the right, throws back in the end zone. Pass caught. Cortland Sutton, touchdown Denver. Beaked to Camryon Richardson. Sutton, his second touchdown reception of the game, his fifth of the season.

And with 530 left in the fourth, it's now Denver. 25, Las Vegas 16. Cortland Sutton is an outstanding football player. A receiver. A catcher of the football. This man is excellent at his craft. Our friend Chris Wesleyan recognized it right away that this Cortland Sutton is going to be one of the best receivers in the league.

And he was, he had that injury, and it's so great to see him have this second life a little bit with Russ. And now it's happening for him with Bo Nix, 29 to 19. That was Dave Logan, K-O-A. Broncos fall behind early, Patrick, but they did what good teams do. They just kept climbing back, and they end up winning somewhat comfortably. Yes, comfortably and erasing the Raiders really in the second half, where they go into the break down. They only have those four possessions. The Raiders had long, slow, drawn-out possessions.

They limit the Broncos to field goals. But then in the second half, that Broncos defense really kicks things in. Gardner Minchu has hit going to be out for the remainder of the season where he goes down on his non-throwing shoulder. It's a broken collarbone, tough to see. That happened for Gardner Minchew

who played well in spots in this game. Desmond Ritter comes in, immediately turns the ball over. There was, but over on the other side. Max Crosby played well, had some tackles for losses. He got a sack of Bow Nix, but really just a rookie quarterback

and a coach and a play caller who trusts him. They didn't stray from the game plan at all. Not a lot of rushing to speak of. Neil McLaughlin led the team with 44 yards, but Sean Payton trusts Bo Nix to make plays and make them he did with the aforementioned Cortland Sutton. Those two touchdowns, including the one that we heard there at the start, just a good division win, pulling away from a team that they're better than.

No, he just hates fantasy owners. Although I guess it wasn't his fault that Javante Williams went negative two yards on 8. eight carries. That's a rough one. Two catches for six yards. Estime goes for 15 yards. Yeah, like nothing on the ground and that they find a way to win. And that throw to Knicks, that from Knicks to Sutton, he's really trusting his receivers. He doesn't look as good when he's under pressure what rookie quarterbacks do. But Sutton 8 for 97 and those two touchdowns.

And Devon Valet's turning into a real two. Sean Payton, man, he, I don't know if, when people say, well, he should be in the mix for coaches. the year. Sometimes I don't know what that means because coach of the year you can only vote for one guy. So I don't think he's in the mix to be one guy. But if you were putting voting three guys, he's in the mix to be one of the three guys maybe. It's really impressive, Nick, what, what they're doing. And he said something very smart, I think, after the game. Not that I need to tell him he's smart. He said even the elite teams, they probably only really have it like 13, 14 times a year. And what can, what he was saying there is that they maybe didn't totally have it today.

But that the elite teams, the good teams, they find ways to maybe win on the days where they don't really have it. And maybe to his eye, they didn't totally have it for a chunk of this game. And then they got themselves together. And they got a really important win. They're all going to be big now. They're seven and five. Yeah, they take care of business against a divisional opponent. I mean, that's, that's a big thing. There's many times in many games. We just saw it twice this week where the last place team in division beats the first place team in a division in a game that they shouldn't win.

Tennessee beating Houston and Cleveland beating Baltimore. And yet Denver doesn't fall victim to that and that speaks to the job that Sean Payton has done, but especially with he's done with Bo Nix. And I sound like a broken record at this point, but watching the way that they use him just, it invigorates me because it gives me faith that coaches can

coach to the strengths of their personnel instead of trying to fit the personnel into their scheme. And that's exactly what he's done with all of these young guys. Like Troy Franklin's been up and down, but he's still part of the offense. Devon Valet is really coming on strong, and of course, you have Cortland Sutton. The running game hasn't been there kind of for weeks, really, if you think about it, especially Giovante Williams.

And yet they're still winning football games. They have a defense that's very good. We already know that. I'm very impressed. I would definitely put him in my top. We should vote for, like, nominees, like the Heisman. Give us, like, finalists instead of one of them. They do bring three coaches there, but they just do it based on who had the most votes.

And it's always a little weird because sometimes it's like a guy who didn't have any vote. So they should make it like MVP where you put a ballot of three guys for every position because it's just more exciting and more people get a little pop. And if Bo Nix is now going like three for five on throws over 20 yards, air yards, like he

gets the credit and Sean Payton gets a little credit. This team's not going away, Patrick. And that's why we had them as our survivor pick. How about that? Yes, and we do. Just that, survive on a late push, trying to figure things out, trying to hold through the task

given to us by the listeners of this esteemed show as well as the viewers over on you. We haven't missed one since week two or whatever. And that's following every rule, not picking the same team multiple times. We're going to accomplish the task ahead of us. Although I will say the team you really wanted to pick as a survivor was the Bucks. And they sweated it even less. But either way, they got the W just like the Broncos. Before we move on to a Sunday night football, we say goodbye to a man.

man who has put more time in on the desk than just about anyone and who is going to be celebrating his birthday by the time anyone is listening to this podcast. So happy birthday, Patrick Clayvon. Thank you, Greg. Thanks for the musicer. Happy birthday. Somebody's known you for almost 10 years. I didn't know tomorrow is your birthday. And that's on me. Happy birthday. It's on me not to have given you anything other than just like a 30 second little happy birthday. day, which is kind of the standard industry gift on shows, but I give it to you, and I hope you have a nice day. Anything planned for other than taping Fantasy Live? Anything outside of work?

No, we were not able to corral our sitter who is out of town. No, it's fine. I want to watch the game. I hope the Ravens win on Monday. And yeah, my birthday present is the people that got his place in my life. That includes all of you guys. I'm spoiled Rodden, so thank you for the birthday wishes. This is great. said the host who can do it all the birthday man Lamar Jackson

I didn't get Patrick a birthday present you better give him a birthday present let's go to Sofi it is third down and five Barkley back in

Hertz in the pistol with Barclay behind him he gives it to Barclay he gives it to Barclay who cuts outside he's at the 40

the 50 the 40 he's going to go again he's going to go again he's going to go again Touchdown, Sequin Borkley, his all-time record, 72 yards. How good is that guy? How good is this guy? His total now, 255 yards rushing on the night.

That is an all-time April's record. Ooh, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick on WIP in Philadelphia, doing a lot of my work for me, telling me what the records are on the night. Also, broke a record 302 yards from scrimmage, Saquan, Barclay. Man, it's like which 70-yard rushing touchdown in the second half are we going to choose as our highlight? We had a couple options. The first play of the third quarter and then the one that sealed it, 37 to 20. Eagles get it done.

Another week, Nick, where they just leaned on the opponent and leaned on the opponent. and leaned on the opponent, they were actually trailing with under two minutes to go in the first half, seven to six. And by the end of the game, it just felt like, why did I think the Rams could even compete in this one?

All these teams end up looking soft by the end of 60 minutes against these bruisers in Saquan Barclay. You know, I don't... Actually, yes, I do, Revellyn being able to say this, even if I've said it many times. It starts in the trenches, baby, and that is exactly where the even

Eagles won on both sides of the ball. I mean, we saw how often Matthew Stafford was under duress. Milton Williams having a couple of really nice snaps there in the second half. You know what Jalen Carter brings at the table. But really, it's the offensive line of the Eagles that blocks it up so well that Saquan Barkley has a hole wide enough for two Mack trucks to run through. I mean, that was perfection when it comes to blocking. And they just, they won the battle up front. They were able to put away the Rams with ease. This offense is humming. This defense is playing really well together. I hate to say it because I feel like I'm sounding hyperbolic, but I'm going to say it. The Eagles are one of the best teams in football, and they're going

to be right there in Super Bowl contention. Yeah, they're in the NFC, so nine and two, seven in game winning streak is not enough for the one seat. I guess it wouldn't be in the AFC either. The difference is after Washington's loss on Sunday, they're up three in the loss column, and the division feels very much in their pocket. And they know they're going to almost certainly be the one or the two seed. In some ways, you'd almost rather be the Eagles than the Lions because the Lions have one team just one game back. You've got another team, a couple games back, and the Packers.

And so they really have more work to do to keep and to get that one seed. But that's talking down the road. Right now, what they are doing consistently and get. getting better each and every week is so impressive. I'm glad you mentioned the line play on both sides because going into this game, I thought, what a big test for this Rams defensive line, which has been great all year.

But they've mostly been great getting to the passer. And they had a couple decent pressures. Fiske had a big sack early in the first half, but the pressure rate on Hertz was not that high on his 22 passes. The key number to me is just 22. He's just not needing to throw the ball that much. He scrambled a few times, ended up rushing the ball 12 times, if you count the kneel downs at the end.

And in the running game, the Rams just held on for a while. If you actually look at the success rate and the run stuff, the Eagles actually had a decent amount of negative runs in this game. They're pretty close between the two teams, but the difference is Kyron Williams never pops a big one. And at the end of the first half, you kind of felt like Seiquot, oh man, he almost like broke that for 30, but he got seven.

Oh, Sequin like almost got a big one, but he got 13. And then literally the first play of the second half, he hits that long one. And after that, there's just no margin for error. The Rams offense would have needed to be perfect tonight. It was really the Eagles offense that was only stopped one time. I mean, there was a punt early. And other than that, it was the weird sequence at the end of the first half, which I guess they get stopped on downs.

But other than that, like, that was it. You have to play almost perfect right now against this Eagles rushing attack. Yeah, and to take it back to the line play, because I think, well, Sequan's having a career year and everything else, they are hand-in-hand. Like, one does not happen without the other. And if you look at this starting five,

I have to tip my cap again to Howie Rosen because let's go left to right, Jordan Milata, they get him to the international player program. You got Landon Dickerson, that's a former draft investment, who was a top guard coming out of his class. Cam Juergens, who they drafted two, three years ago to replace Jason Kelsey.

He's been killing it. Who they had Jason Kelsey tell them to draft, who's been killing it. Then you go to the right guard. You got Mackay Beckton. We all know what Lane Johnson is. I'm not going to spend any time on him. Mackay Beckton, the guy that we all said,

oh, look at the athleticism at the draft. Look at his 40 time. That's incredible for somebody that size to move like that. He plays tackle. He gets hurt multiple times. His career in New York never works. They move him to guard. He might be one of the biggest guards outside of

Daniel Fala Lele in NFL history, and he's moving, baby. They can pull him. They pulled him on that play for Saquan on that last touchdown run. This is one of the best starting fives in the NFL. They can do everything that you ask them to do. Every blocking scheme and an approach is available to them. You have a home run hitter at running back in Saquan Barkley. You have an experienced quarterback who is a dynamic threat in Jalen Hertz.

And oh, by the way, you also have AJ Brown and Devante Smith when he's available in that receiving core as well. It's one of the more complete offenses in the NFL. But again, it starts up front. And that's why I think every team, like I just was sitting back dreaming of like Lions, Eagles, NFC championship game. Oh, let's go.

Yes. That would be an awesome game. We have a long time until we get there. I'm glad you mentioned AJ Brown. I keep saying that he's the most valuable wide receiver, I believe, to his team in the entire NFL. I think tonight's matchup between him and Puka, they're very similar.

AJ Brown goes six for 109. And the Rams didn't really have, much of an answer for him late in the first half. And now he's healthy enough where he's getting a lot of yards after the catch. So he was bodying some of the smaller Rams defensive backs, but then also picking up an extra 10 to 15. He goes six for 109 and their next leading receiver other than Sequin, who is becoming a bigger part of the passing game too.

Their next leading receiver was Goddard four for 19. I mean, they don't really have secondary receivers when DeVante Smith is out like tonight. and maybe that could be a bit of an issue. God, it's fine. They didn't need him tonight, but it just shows what a dominant player, A.J. Brown is very similar on the other side. Pookanakua goes nine for 117, and I don't even think he's 100% healthy. And until they found Cup for a garbage time touchdown with about a minute left,

the numbers were very similar where there was no other Rams receiver anywhere over 30 yards. And that's where I stand with the Rams, which is they're a feisty, fun defense. but they're going to get pushed around against, like, the best teams, like an Eagles or a Lions. They're just not in that class. Maybe they're average, slightly above average overall. Offensively, they're good, but they're not great like they have been sometimes in the Stafford era. They're good. And they played a really tough Eagles defense, but the injury at right tackle where they haven't

gotten Rob Havenstein back, there was a lot of pressure on the right side. Brandon Graham is playing like a man 10 years younger all season. So he's creating a lot of pressure. And then Milton Williams, who you mentioned, and Jalen Carter on the inside, you know, matching up against Limer and these younger and were just not great guards for the Rams. There were too many holes for Matthew Stafford to fill there. And Kyron Williams fumbles twice in the game once loses it in the red zone.

You have to almost be perfect against this Eagles team. And just like a few too many flaws, I don't think the Rams are done by any means in this NFC West at 5 and 6, but I also do think when I heard Chris Collins were say at the end of the game, you know, Sean McVe might not be that surprised by what's going on here. I'm like, hmm, wow, did he have a very realistic sit down with McVe before the game that look, where you maybe don't match up, we're going to have to play our perfect game to beat this team.

He kind of knows they are not at a true contention level, and it would be foolish to think otherwise. And you know who agrees with them? all the Eagles fans at SoFi tonight. That was next level, man. Oh, my God. I mean, we know, we know how LA games can be. Even the Rams, they fill out their stadium more than Chargers fans do. But there are a lot of Eagles fans in L.A.

I'll tell you that. If you look at the remaining schedule for the Rams, though, like, I agree. They're not at that true contention status, but they can definitely, I mean, they're obviously still in this NFC West race. And like, they play at the Saints. They come home against the Bills, at Niners, at Jets, home against Cardinals, the Seahawks. So you get two division games in your last two and three in your last four.

It's still a pretty workable schedule. Like, I could see them figuring it out. And even if they split those, they finished like eight and nine, nine and eight, you might have an outside shot. They got a chance, but when you have a game like the bills for it, you're going to have to have one that people don't see coming, an upset win. And they just got smoked by a true real deal contender. Can they really beat the bills?

If you can't, then you're up to seven losses. And the Seahawks, the Cardinals, we'll see. It's going to come down to the end. But I think we just showed the separation there. And yeah, Jordan Rodriguez, who was there, said she hasn't heard the crowd quite like that maybe for a road team. They actually were doing an in-game segment down 2714 where they show misplaced fans. And I've seen this one where they show the jerseys of like random fans in the crowd

of not the teams that are at the game or whatever. And it's just kind of funny. And sometimes they were showing Rams. You know, they showed like a Rams person. and the entire Eagles crowd is booing the hell out of Rams fan. So that's a tough spot for the Rams on Sunday night, just ultimately not good enough on either line. And the Eagles are getting it done.

Seven straight victories. Shooki, it was a pleasure. We will be back on Monday night. Fun game. I think the Chargers have a better chance, at least, to pull the upset as an L.A. underd dog on Monday night. What do you think? Yeah, I would agree. And speaking of most valuable receivers, most valuable podcast host, Greg Rosenthal. I mean, I don't know where you're

getting that. Most effective and efficient runner, Josh Allen. Definitely not efficient. Frequent podcast host for sure. We will be back again to recap that Ravens Charges game. Really looking forward to that. Man, when Saquan Barkley is breaking records, he already has his all-time mark for rushing yards. in a season. You know football is back. We'll see you Monday night. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a

perspective you won't find anywhere else. everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategy. whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet.

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