NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2025 NFL Week 8 Recap: Love vs. Rodgers, Blowout Sunday, and Teams that Stayed Alive

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Jourdan Rodrigue, Patrick Claybon, and Nick Shook to recap all of the Week 8 action from around the NFL starting with the Bears at the Ravens (01:53) followed by 49ers at Texans (11:20), Jets at Bengals (19:00), Giants at Eagles (30:13), Buccaneers at Saints (39:08), Cowboys at Broncos (47:25), Dolphins at Falcons (54:30), Titans at Colts (01:01:47), Bills at Panthers (01:09:20), Browns at Patriots (01:15:45), and Packers at Steelers (01:23:25).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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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 like a good blowout every now and then. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio. with my friends Patrick Claibon and Jordan Rod Rieg. We've got Nick Shook coming up a little later.

Patrick, your take on the blowout as an experience. I think the blowout, if everybody's healthy, it's a great opportunity, especially if you've lost a lot of close games where it's like, hey, you know what, they got us. You know, you get beat. When somebody, like, makes a one-hander and mosses you, that's tough. But, you know, you like, bite on a double move

and you can just wave to them and they celebrate. You know, it's fun everyone's. As a fan, it's almost easier to take. You don't have to, like, think about the different bad. Obviously, as a fan of the team that wins, I always defend, like, the Seahawks Broncos Super Bowl is one of the most entertaining, like, two quarters. You know, it gives you something.

This was a day of blowouts, Jordan. We have some stats for you. Ooh, I love stats. Going into Sunday night football. And yes, we'll wrap with the biggest game of the day, Rogers versus the Packers. The games were decided by 19 points per game. That's the most since 2,000.

And nine, if that keeps up. There were eight games of 18 points or more. Wow. And yet our show is going to be just as good as every. Every single one of these games is a beautiful creature in my mind. Thank you. So we've got a theme. This was a strange day with six teams on a buy and like I said, a lot of blowouts.

So we're actually going to lead the show thematically. And these are teams that I believe the most jeopardy in week eight is about teams that are just trying to keep their seasons alive, trying to turn them around. So it's not really the teams at the top, it's kind of at the teams in the lower middle. And that includes your Baltimore Ravens, who I believe had a monster game. Let's go to Baltimore. Ravens have it first in goal. 219 left to play. Offset eye. Give us to Henry, right side hit at the line, bounces to the outside. Derek Henry to the one touchdown, Ravens. And with 209 left to play, We've waited a month

but the Hayes Lamar! Awesome call there by Jerry Sandusky. Good to have him back on the show. WB.A.L. Yes. A game ceiling touchdown. 30 to 16. The Baltimore Ravens beat the Chicago Bears

without Lamar Jackson, who was downgraded to out on the injury report after we last talk, and it didn't matter. Snoop Huntley saved the season. season. I don't want to overstate things, Patrick. But when they make the America's game of the 2025 Baltimore Ravens after they win the Super Bowl this year, this is the pivot point. When Snoop Huntley comes in there, only five incompletions, the defense steps up. They're able to run

the ball and they avoid a disastrous one and six start. Yeah, people are going to see two rushing touchdowns by Derek Henry and negate things like that third and seven from Tyler Huntley to to DeAndre Hopkins that extended that drive to burn more time off the clock because, you know, the hay was in the barn, but the bears would teleport directly down the field and have a goal to go opportunity like seconds after the hay was in the barn where so you got those little snippets of ah, the Ravens are going to do this particular very common thing that they do again. But it's the timely completions, the timely runs from Tyler Huntley as well, where you start to believe just a little bit. It's what you want out of a Ravens win because it was a total.

team effort. I mean, Snoop, I thought, legitimately played really well, was calm, was protected well, which helped, but you mentioned the running. He had 53 yards on the ground. Keaton Mitchell had some big time runs, 43 yards on only four carries. And then Zay Flowers dominates in the first half. You mentioned the big new catch. Rashad Bateman had a couple big ones. And I thought it was an awesome game by Todd Monk and the offensive coordinator. They didn't have the ball at all in the first quarter. It looked like the bears might dominate them. They were up 100 yards in terms of the yards from scrimmage, but the defense kept them in the game by forcing field goals. And then the last three quarters, it was, it kind of looked like the Ravens team we've

been expecting all season, even without Lamar Jackson. Snoop Huntley, he started the game, 11 of 12 passing. He missed one throw in the first half, ended up completing 77% of his passes overall. And you mentioned it. Todd Munkin, there were multiple reports out of Baltimore, local media this week, of dissent in the ranks and displeasure with his play calling. and disgruntled people in that building about some of the predictability of the play calling and just some of the stagnation of the offense overall.

He had to have a big game today too. To do it with a backup quarterback and utilizing every single one of those skill guys and running effectively, I think, was important for. Yeah, and a lot of, you know, a lot of chatter. Patrick, I'm not sure what you think about it, about the way the Ravens handled the injury report throughout the week. The expectations from the national insiders were that Lamar Jackson were going to start. they were wrong. He's listed as full on the injury report on Friday. On Saturday, then they have to

downgrade him because they said they weren't aware of the rule that if you're on the scout team, you can't be listed as full. I don't know if it was chicanery. Some people think it's almost like they were trying to push Lamar Jackson into the starting lineup. Either way, there was a lot of confidence from people covering this game that Lamar would start on Thursday night, which they have a game in four days. And I have a feeling that ended up being a big factor. Let's wait a few more days, how do you feel just in terms of them kind of like stabilizing this season and everything that happened during this week? Yeah, the best case scenario is because if regardless of he's being pushed to play, obviously people would prefer Lamar Jackson be playing for

them. Right. They would prefer he's healthy. And if the game coming back in four days, the best case scenario is the Ravens get a win while Lamar can be on the sideline and cheer up Snoop Huntley and they have all this, this positive activity happened, especially on the defensive side of the you don't have to worry about it. I think, like, the, the bears having to think that they're preparing for Lamar Jackson, like, yeah, it's... The bears sounded annoyed. They talked to the Fox broadcasters, and they said they prepared specifically for

Lamar Jackson all week. And so, like, Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen seem generally annoyed by many. Yeah, so you prepare for the quarterback that has played the past couple of seasons at a level that has honestly never been seen before. Yeah. And preparing for him didn't have you prepared for, Snoop Huntley in this game. Was the offense really that different anyways?

Like Huntley was on the move a few times, not as fast as he once was. Although he's still pretty young. I always think Snoop Huntley is like an aged quarterback. And then he said after the game like, well, Lamar Jackson, he's a great mentor to me. I'm like, isn't he younger? They're not. They're about the same age. But they've been together.

And this is another kind of like the Jackson Dart move that I think points out actually a flaw in the Ravens off season. Like you paid Cooper rush all that money and they might be in a better spot. if they had just resigned Snoop Huntley all along and he'd been their backup. But I don't want to kill him for that. You mentioned the defensive improvement. Roquan Smith returns for this game.

Has a terrific overall game. Overall, they're healthier. Chadoby. Ouzi was back in the mix. You got Marlon Humphrey. Everyone's healthy again. And they did a good job kind of helping play complimentary football. Let's switch to a situation late in the game.

Bears get the ball. They were down two scores. They get the field goal. And then they have a long field to go. while down a touchdown. I texted Jordan at the time and I'm saying like, oh, this is a really interesting spot

for Caleb Williams. He hasn't been in this sort of spot. I'm curious what's going to happen. This is what happened. 9.15 left to play. The Ravens lead by three. Williams under set him. Drop the throw from the end zone.

Fires over the middle. Intercepted. Nate Wiggins with a pick. Brings it along the sideline inside the 10. And the Ravens with the first turnover of the day. And finally, this house is on fire! Amazing, Carl.

We waited a month. And yeah, I just thought, first of all, Nate Williams said it a really nice season and it was a really good overall Ravens defensive performance. He just looked like a normal defense again. Not like the best defense in the league, but just be a normal defense. It was another bad Caleb Williams performance and it was another game where the operation wasn't good. Ben Johnson said after the game, the penalty stuck out to him.

11 penalties throughout, including multiple false starts and intentional grounding penalties, just sloppy. And that happens every single week. At the end of the first half, Caleb Williams had an intentional grounding and then kept the ball in bounds on a couple of throws. And they kind of ran out of time. They had to rush and have Cairo Santos kick one at the end. He comes up short. And then at the end of the game, I know the game was probably over, but they have like four plays from the three yard line. Caleb took a sack at another point where they had a chance to score. and it's just their passing game is uneven. It's not pleasant to watch.

And we saw kind of the way things can roller coaster when you get the turnovers and you go on this four-game win streak and then versus where Baltimore is taking care of the ball. They're getting timely first downs and the explosives, especially because the bears have more explosive runs than anybody in the NFL. It's not even close. And while it wasn't like a lockdown performance,

they were able to keep DeAndre Swift and Kalmanungai from having those explosives that they've enjoyed. the past few weeks. And it's just like that combination leads to a frustrating game for the Bears. It's the same thing over and over and over again where you're seeing guys schemeed open, you're seeing the quarterback make

great decisions, and you're seeing just like the synchronicity happening on their scripted drives. And it's leading me to be suspicious that they're even extending the amount of scripted plays that they have installed into their playbook. And then after they go outside of the script and they start having to react

and do the different things and adjust, I believe that what we're seeing structurally, they are making adjustments. However, they're not on the same page as a complete unit over and over again. You see it from the offensive line and all the penalties and you see it with the quarterback. You see it with the run game. You see it with the receivers and everybody's not just on the same page. And that's just a problem. It showed up in most of their games this season.

Yeah, to your point, their first two drives both go over 10 plays, but they settle for field goals on both of them. And it wasn't like, there wasn't one thing that went wrong. It really hasn't been. There was a penalty in the mix in one of them. Caleb took a sack on the third down and the other, but they tried to run the ball inside the five. And that first drive, I don't blame them for doing that.

They look great, but they've been a really poor red zone team. They've been a sloppy team. Ben Johnson, he was frustrated after. I know the Bears were four and two last year. And then it all fell apart. I don't think that's going to happen this time. But I also don't think they were playing like a four and two team. They have an interesting game next week against a team.

that is also in our A block that's trying to save their season but not in this next game. We came into this season believing Ravens, they're going to be contenders, right? Okay, maybe they will be in the end. We also thought the Texans were heavy favorites to win their division.

Big game for them today against the 49ers. A good mo'ally in the backfield, CJ in the gun, bunch formation left on third and seven at the San Francisco 30. Here's pressure. CJ over the middle. Caught 15, 10, 5 in the end zone. Fuck and roll.

Touchdown, Houston. Who is it? What a play to Xavier Hutchinson. Who? Mike Jones. Marks the spot. Awesome call there by Mark Vandermere. And Andre Ware on K-I-L-T.

Good to hear the folks in Houston happy again. Texans win 26 to 15, Jordan. C.J. Stroud goes over 300 yards on a day, where they dominated and you can pick offense defense any way you want to go because it was a lot of good from these Texans today to get to three and four. It was the Iowa State Cyclones offense for CJ Stroud in a big spot with big plays from his receivers who are all alumnus, alumni of Iowa State. Jalen Noel, Jaden Higgins, and Xavier Hutchinson all showed up, had really big games.

Two of the three are rookies. Jaden and Jalen are both rookies. They drafted them together in hopes that they could start developing this chemistry with C.J. Stroud. This offense looked night and day different. When they wanted to play in rhythm and on time, they could. When C.J. Stroud wanted to get explosive pass plays, one on a catch-and-run, Woody Marks, another young player who contributed really, really well today, or he wanted to sling it through the air and get the explosive plays, they were there as well.

And because there was no pressure on C.J. Stroud, in part, was what helped this offense look like an attacking, functional, multiple, cohesive group. The 49ers only pressured C.J. Stroud on four of his 26 dropbacks in the first half. And they ended with seven pressures, and it was not good pressure. They only hit him two times. And even against pressure, this is how well things were clicking and how everyone was on the same page. And like I said, the timing plays and the explosives were there. He was six for seven on the dropbacks where he was pressured per next gen.

103 yards and a touchdown and 14.7 yards per attempt. This was a Texan's offense that was averaging five, five yards per attempt for passing attempt with or without pressure last week. It was a total turnaround for this group. Someone's got to buy me one of those black Roblo NFL hats because I want to put it on as part of a segment. Every time I just say, okay, here's another team that we're just going to keep in the mix at three and four.

I'm not, I didn't want to bury this team as a team that's just tough to watch. And I'm not saying one game solves it all, but it gives them a chance at three and four. Yeah, well, the game against the Seahawks, I was ready to do it, right? They looked nasty against the Seahawks, and their pass blocking stats were actually better today than they were against the absolute,

dreadful Ravens defensive game, where C.J. Straub looked like he was going to win like an NFL Heisman trophy against that Ravens defense. There was a play in that game where, like, he was running to the sideline, he stepped out of bounds, so they got a sack. There were no sacks. by the 49ers today

and he's like staring down the barrel on that touchdown to Xavier Hutchinson where it's just you wonder the Jacqueline Hyde was this like D'emico's prior knowledge of the Bob Sala and Shanahan's situation? Spicy. Does that play in? Because

I'm at a loss here. I will yield to two great football months to explain to me how the team that looked that bad in Seattle looked this good at home today. Well, the 49ers are really hurt first of all, and on defense, compounding injuries. They were rotating players a lot.

They rotated up to up and stout in and out of the game because he was banged up. De Winters, their lineback who's been playing well. He was banged up, came into the game, left the game. They're obviously missing a bunch of pass rushers. A couple of their guys are playing with clubs along the defensive line. So that's not really easy to like rip and shed blocking at that point. So this, but this game was really, when you, when you face a team like this that is as depleted, they're very well coached.

And Robert Salas group is and everybody knows that. knows these rules of this defense intrinsically, right? You get an opportunity to actually play complimentary football and not in a way where each side was producing, but in a way where the offense actually set up the strength of this team, which is the defense. The offense went, the Texans offense went on these long possession drives. The 49ers only had three possessions in the first half. Their first two possessions were three and outs.

They ran 14 place total in the first half. and the Texans were able to play keepaway and really set up kind of the way we used to see Kyle Shanahan run his suffocation ball offenses setting up this top-tier defense to absolutely smother Mac Jones and another depleted side of the ball in the 49ers offense.

I'm not saying that Bryce Huff was the Jenga piece for the 49ers. Shout out Dave Damish. I'm not saying, no, I'm not saying that at all. But I do think there's a point where injuries, especially at a certain position, and like it's just one too many. And you actually think about that game last week with Price Huff.

Like what would they have done without him in that game? They go from like a bad pass rush with him maybe to just nothing. And he should be back in a few weeks, but I do think you're seeing the effect of the injuries. It's just one week. They're five and three and they've been so resourceful that Mack Jones is not going to be the starter all season. You know, CMC is not going to be held to 25 yards on the ground very often.

Like they are due to have some stink bombs and the way that they've won games that they should. shouldn't, lets them have some stink bombs along the way as they get healthier, if they get healthier at all. But they're always going to be the third most likely team in this division to win it long term because of all those injuries. Part of the issue was they have very little receiving help. Even the guys they do have on the field, John Jennings has been playing through multiple injuries. And, you know, he, he almost helped lead a comeback with a massive explosive catch. he made down the field, especially right after a tough drop.

The 49ers started putting things a little bit together looking like maybe they were going to try for a comeback in the second half, but the Texans stalled it out. Mari Lasseter had a great interception to sort of ice the game out as well on the Texan side. But the 49ers are sneaky hurt in players that are also still playing. And part of that's along the offensive line. Matt Hennessy, another center is starting now for this team. Trent Williams came on and off the field looking like he was not feeling great, just looked banged up.

the broadcast pointed it out multiple times. And so as a result of that, you have to bring George Kittle, their superstar tight end, into the line a little bit more to help with some of the blocking, especially against this Texan's front that is so dynamic and ferocious. And you lose him as a receiver. So now you're trying to funnel everything through Christian McCaffrey and Joanne Jennings, a little to Marcus Robinson sprinkled in there. And that's just not enough.

That's just not enough. Christian McCaffrey is having such a high production year, high volume year. Part of it's not a necessity. And you just, you have to get Ricky Pierce all back. You have to get some of these guys back. But they're also playing through these like really quiet, I think, simmering under the surface injuries that could hurt them down the line too. It's brutal.

And you, you hope for the Texans sake, you know, on the other side that like maybe they feel like they figured out some things on the offensive line that that will help out. The running game wasn't consistent. Still gave up like a lot of negative runs. And yet they at least hit some explosives. And they're just, they're just in the mix. We want the teams. in the mix. And after

last Thursday night, we thought, okay, there's a path here for this Cincinnati Bengals team to stay in the mix. The Hollywood fairy tale story of Joe Flacco, but we forgot about the Bengals defense.

Jets hoping for their first win of the season. They could get it with a stop on this play. Flacco, shotgun, five-man rush, looks over the middle, throws, low, and it's incomplete. In and out of the hands, and you The Jets are going to win it. Jarvis Brannley there in coverage.

27 seconds to go. And for the Jets, it'll be victory formation. They'll finally get their first of the season. And it couldn't have been more dramatic in come from behind fashion. Oh, dramatic on what has been a difficult season for the New York Jets and their fans. to say the least. And yes, a very difficult day that they got to end on the field on a happy note. Great to see Aaron Glenn there hugging it out. Great to see Justin Fields. We'll hear from him later. Get a victory led by the offense. 39 to 38 in Cincinnati breaking the hearts of a lot of Bengals fans

in their long-term hopes. Tell us, Jordan, about the chaos that was the end of this Jets Bengals game. Yeah, let me set the scene here because the Jets were down 31 to 16 at the end of the third quarter. And then they make, I think, what can only be described as an admirable effort. You're running the ball well. Justin Fields was throwing the ball really well, making some great decisions. And the Bengals' defense started caving in, right? And so then you started to see, oh, is this possible? Could this actually happen?

Joe Flacco, he takes the first sack of the game. The Jets' first sack of the game came halfway through the fourth quarter right on time. if you're the Jets because they were right in the middle of attempting to mount this comeback. And after that sack by Will McDonald and a Bengals punt, Justin Fields had a couple of truly excellent throws to get the Jets into scoring position with the Bengals having a six point lead, excuse me.

And one of those was a third and two absolute laser to Mason Taylor for a first down, which also was a really situationally smart play by Justin Fields because it happened right outside the two-minute warning. and it gave them a fresh set of downs on the other side of the two-minute warning. And then it's Breece Hall's turn.

Rockert motions right. The lone setback, Breece Hall. Toss sweep to the right. Breeze Hall, he's going to throw the ball. Pump, Swans, throws back in the end zone. It's caught. Mason Taylor. The option pass right by Breeze Hall for a touchdown.

And the Jets are a point after away from the lead. As that play is developing, you're just assuming it's going to end in total catastrophe. You're saying incomplete, Patrick, you're just saying insane call. Yeah, I'm saying, what's going on? Justin Fields is having a great game. You got Breece Hall, who himself with the pump fake acknowledges, I probably shouldn't throw this.

Nah, I've never completed or attempted a pass in college or in the pros. I've got one chance. And Mason Taylor bails him out with an absolute ball saying. He should not have thrown that ball, though. The irony, too, and it struck me, there was a lot of cool poetry of this game. First of all, that play not only gave the Jets to the lead, but they crossed 500 offensive yards. Man.

They finished with 502 yards of offense. We're looking at you, Bengals. Against this Bengals defense. Al Golden. We are seeing. We are noticing. But also, early in the game, I thought that this game was going to go sideways and stay sideways after a fourth

and one play that Justin Fields checked into a toss play to Breece Hall. And it was a huge tackle for loss. the fowlid bengals turned in into a touchdown on the other side. This was going to stay sideways. And then Justin Fields just starts bawling. And so it's funny to me that Breece Hall is the one that gets a throw at the end of the game because he shouldn't have gotten the play at the start of the game. But then he gets it at the very end and they make hay out of it.

And I love seeing this for the Jets. Aaron Glenn's first win as a head coach. I love seeing this for Justin Fields, who had a really, really hard week some of the, not just the criticism he's getting for some really bad football he's played, but also some unnecessary criticism lobbed at him by the owner of the team.

Right. And after the game, you know, he was asked about it a lot and he kept saying that, you know, it was a tough week in terms of outside noise. It's just thinking like, I mean, just, you've repeatedly said outside noise, but it's like...

The call's coming from inside the house. Thank you. The perfect words for it. And he handled it beautifully. And I think any team that hasn't won a game in the NFL, it wears on you. And the focus that's been directly at Justin Fields, only amplified by ownership that made it even harder. So it was really fascinating to listen to Fields talk about it after the game. I'm going to get pretty boner right here.

But this week, I kind of, you know, I find myself in my closet crying on the ground. laying down. Um, not because of, not because of the hardships, not because of the troubles. Um, I felt like, you know, I was built to handle that and I was put in place to handle this situation. But so I was just praying over and over and over again, like, yo, like, just one, one win. Yeah. And he was saying how it was really just about the losing that, that was getting to him. And throughout the course of the week, it was unclear, of course, that if he was going to start or not sure seemed like the, you know, the Jets were planning to start Tyrod Taylor if he was healthy. He wound up not being healthy enough. Now, maybe Fields and Tyrod kind of knew all along.

That's, that's my suspicion that Tyrod really wasn't going to be healthy enough to go. But you just feel happy for everyone there, including Aaron Glenn, who was also really poised after the game. Let's, in terms of talking about the win and talking about everything that went on there. Before we wrap this, so let's let's at least get on the Bengals a little bit here, giving up 500 yards. 502. Man. Man. This is one of those games.

You look at the rest of their schedule and I know they have the Bears next week, which is a winnable game. And I think the Bengals offense with Flacco is showing that they can be competitive in most games. But I think it's all about managing the schedule and they've got some really tough games before Joe Burrow could come back at Pittsburgh, home for New England, at Baltimore. at Buffalo, home for Baltimore. Yeah. This was one they needed. And it just points out something we've been talking about, which is I would put this defense with the bottom three or four defenses in the NFL.

It's tough, too. The Bengals, they can't get any pressure. That's part of the problem. You know, I noticed some commentary from, they have a great group of beat reporters down there noting that, you know, Al Golden's going to have to like face the music and say, okay, I do need to blitz more because that's the only way that they could possibly get pressure.

the only way they really got pressure when they did get it all game. And Trey Hendrickson's dealing with the hip and some of the snaps, some of the pass rush snaps that he had, they sort of iso cammed it and oh my God, it looks like he's playing through a lot of people. He left in the end.

At the end, he never came back. And he left the game. He didn't come back in. And so his status for next week and beyond is in question. And it just looked, it looked difficult. It looked painful.

They could, teams can always run the ball in them this season, but especially, what was it, 254 yards of those 502 yards were rushing. And this is a running back in, in Brees Hall who had not had the best productivity over the last couple of weeks. Braylon Allen was actually poised to take over

before Braylon Allen got hurt early in the season. So this is a Bengals defense that is in serious, serious trouble. And yes, Joe Flacco can get them, you know, up and down the field. And he had some great, a couple of great sort of savvy veteran moves. the Jets were a clean operation. They only had one penalty. And it was in the fourth quarter,

excuse me, at the end of the first half, Joe Flacco on a hard count got Quinn Williams to jump off sides. It was their very first penalty of the entire game to that point. This has been a highly penalized team throughout, but they were playing pretty clean. And then Joe Flacco and the Bengals turned it into a touchdown on the other side. So I don't really worry about that side of the ball,

but this defense is a mess. Yeah, I don't worry about any side of the ball that gets Jamar Chase 19 target. yeah he's over 40 targets in the past in the past couple of weeks like you get the ball maybe i should it really wasn't that efficient 19 targets for 91 yards it's they score 38 points yes they did they did all they could and you know it wasn't just brees hall allen had a nice game yeah Alan Davis had a nice game on the ground and you know shout out to justin fields he trusted his eye um because because that's the thing you know he played great it's kind of he kind of seen

reluctant to put the ball in danger he hasn't thrown a pick all season and wow he trusted his even when, you know, to Al Golden's defense, against the Blitz, he had a pass a rating of 146 today. So the Blitz, nothing works. Think of who he's throwing to. They were without their number two receiver on top of missing Garrett Wilson. Josh Reynolds is in there. So it's Tyler Johnson is easily their best receiver who is a guy who hasn't been able to make, you know, consistent rosters. Who's like a fifth, sixth receiver type.

Then it's Isaiah Davis, you know, had a big game over 100 yards from scrimmage as a backup running back who had some big time catches. And it's a rookie tight end. And Mason Taylor looks very prime. But man, it's easily the least talented receiver group in league. So they made it happen. They ran for over 250 yards on the ground. And it was all on a day that, you know, that started with tragedy. And it's so sad to, to hear what happened with Nick Mangold, their long time center. And I know a lot of the people with the Jets organization, certainly Aaron Glenn talked about it first right afterwards, just sent their their thoughts to Nick Mangold and his family who died.

on Sunday at 41 years old. It was on Saturday night that it happened. And if you remember, Mangel, that sent a tweet out, actually, a couple of years ago. He was suffering with chronic kidney disease and he was on dialysis. He was seeking a transplant

and he was looking for help there. And it just breaks your heart. A man, a father, multiple time. First team, All-Pro, a really great player and someone that everyone that played with him at Ohio State and with the Jets just look to him like as a as a leader.

I remember on around the NFL we talked about with Dan like if like Mangold might be the jet of like the last 20 years because he he was a guy who always you know wasn't always easy being with the Jets but he was there during the best days and he was always there. So rest in peace to Nick Mangold dead at the age of 41. We'll be back on the other side. What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

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Hello. I know that guy. I remember him. Yes. Sequin Barclay, remember me? Merrill Reese does from WIP, a tone-setting, 65-yard touchdown run from Saquan Barkley. Okay, you can spend the A-Black talking about all these different teams that are just trying to keep their season life. How about some of the teams that are already atop their division?

And they're saying, yeah, we can get upset by the Giants a couple weeks ago. but we're going to restore order in the NFC East as of October 26. Get to 6 and 2 with the win, 38 to 20 over the giant Sequin ends up with 150 yards on the ground. Tank Bigsby adds another 100 yards on the ground in a game that, man, Eagles fans must have loved seeing because it looks so much like last year. Right off the bat, that's the second snap. First, you know, Jalen got a little wiggly on a pass attempt. through the ball to Devante Smith. Incomplete, it's like, oh, well, his office is going to be bad.

No, the second play, Sequin goes for that 65-yard touchdown run right up there on the left side where Maelada and Dickerson blocking for him just like 2024. And the Giants, though, come right back. Jackson Dart hits Cam Scataboo on a touchdown of his own. And then things got kind of wiggly on a weird officiating play. I won't say it's weird. It was just a downright jobbing. on the behalf of the stripes out there.

They run the brotherly shove. Jalen Hertz extends the ball. Kavon Tibido takes it away from him. Yep. Rolls on the ground. Then they blow the whistle. And the Giants are thinking they have the ball. But ultimately, they say that Ford Progress was stopped,

despite the fact that there was no whistle. So Brian Dayball for the first time on the sideline goes absolutely ballistic, tries to challenge it, the referee in explaining why they can't challenge it. It's like, I tried to explain to the coach. Like, this is all in the microphone. the referee is saying this but ultimately it's the Eagles ball Hertz hits Sequin for a touchdown

and then with about eight minutes ago awful awful play Scadaboo is running an angle route gets a target from Dart if you have a chance to not watch the play I think it's great because it's a dislocated ankle Mike Garofolo says he's going to have surgery in Philadelphia

tonight so it's hard to take away that's the big takeaway from this game Sequin goes on another long run later in the game he would leave tank bigsby comes in and plays great in his stead there's like a second in 26 after hertz takes a bad sack uh where tank bigsby comes up and gets that first down remember when the egos traded like a couple of draft picks for tank bigsby and it worked out that was weird for the last like six weeks where we didn't see him and um you know having jalen

carter and quinion mitchell play the whole game uh helps a little bit but there was another opportunity involving quinon mitchell that caused brian dable to fully uh blow lowest top where Darius Slayton on 4th and 11 has a long touchdown catch. They call it back for offensive pass interference and looking at the tape, it did not appear to be offensive. Oh, no.

And yeah, fun, you can watch that replay because Dayball, you can see heat waves coming off of his head. You hate to like put the game in those calls. Ultimately, the Eagles outgained the Giants, you know, 427 to 246. Yeah, it was a blow.

But you all Also, if you're a Giants fan, hate to see those calls come up so big, especially the Kvon one, who that's when the game is still in doubt. And he called a BS after the game. And then Brian Burns was listening to him nearby and said, hey, man, like, stop that. You'll get fined. And then Kvon was like, that was a great call, actually. So we'll see if the retroactive great call saves him.

But you're right. Scataboo, unfortunately, down, you know, of course, we don't, expect them back and I saw the report today that Malik neighbors is also getting his surgery this weekend and you just think about like what could have been with this giant season and unfortunately I have to take the Rob Loh hat off for this one and like we're crossing off the Giants now and it's a shame considering where we were forget two weeks ago. How about five quarters ago? You know? Like it really felt like this was going to be something fun to watch and now it's going to be different. It's going to be very challenging I think for Jackson Dart and

them to come up with an offense that works. And he recognized that he talked at the podium after the game about how upset he is. He hates losing. I think that's fair. For me, I appreciate when people, no matter their profession, like earnestly feel their feelings and aren't really shy about that, you could see this entire team how much that hurt having Scatibu, you know, be carted off. Every single one of those players came to, you know, wish him well and fist pound him. and Jackson, this one actually really did twinge at the old heartstring.

Jackson Dart came over and gave him a little head bump, their little head tap that they do to each other. He gave him one of those as he was on the cart. It's tough. It's tough. And for me, you know, I wasn't going to see a sweep of the Eagles. Like, I just didn't think that was happening. It was good to see Sequin Barkley show flashes of his old self. And I want to point out, like, the Eagles, they did look like the Eagles,

but a little bit different because eight, of Sequin Barclay's 14 carries were either with six offensive linemen, right? So heavier personnel or three tight ends or two tight ends. And so they were loading up and basically saying we are going to will this run game to happen where previously Saquine Barclay just was not getting the yardage, we're used to him to seeing from him. You saw a different personnel, in part maybe because AJ Brown is not on the field, but you do wonder if they're going to use that more later. AJ Brown was inactive for this game.

They're hoping, according to Ian Rapporteur, that he is back after the buy. And also, like, you don't want to take Dallas Goddard off the field. He's got seven. He's got two more touchdowns today. He's got seven on the season. To quote Jordan Milata, dude, he's fucking unreal. How many touchdowns does he have now?

And we almost didn't bring him back. Can you believe that shit? How funny is that? What a great quote by Jordan Milana. Feel your feelings, everybody. I feel like they lined up Dallas Goddard out wide as A.J. Brown, like role playing as A.J. Brown on one of those touchdowns where he gets matched up against the safety. And to be honest, the giant secondary already dealing with injuries. It was a tough move for them where, you know, late in the game, Eagles making plays. And they already were giving up a lot of deep passes. And so it's rough considering the injuries. And the defensive deployment, we saw 70%.

of Cooper DeGine lined up at slot corner. And I think that's the move for the remainder of the season. We're just not seeing DeGine at safety. It's going to be around making plays, being the star on the games. I love that. And I think Vic Fangio is going to be adaptable

and changing to what he sees in front of him. But why mess with what's working? And they just look more like themselves the last couple of weeks. And yeah, Cordell Flott, who has been the best cornerback for the Giants got hurt again in this game. So, So Jalen Hertz played great, only threw it 20 times, incredibly clean game for touchdowns, 179 yards, 141.5 passer rating.

His numbers for the last two weeks are insane for a guy who like threw a total of 45 passes, like half of them are for touchdown seemingly. So yeah, everything is good. It's happy for Philadelphia. And, uh, oh, what the heck. Let's, let's listen to how familiar it feels to Saquan Berkeley, uh, who didn't forget what happened in the Meadowlands. It's always great to win. It's always great to be a division, rival. You know, for sure, we definitely saw how they celebrated. And, you know, when they beat us last time, got the win, going to a buy. You know, it's good to get away from each other for a little bit also. Just to wrinkle that one in at the end.

You could actually hear Mike Garifolo, and that is courtesy of Mike Garifolo's Twitter account, laugh a little bit when Sequin said that. Oh, I'm sure they won't make too big a deal out of that quote. Eagles hate each other. We will see if, yeah, after the by A.G. Brown is back on the field. So the Eagles get the job done, some separation in the NFCE. Suddenly looking like pretty heavy favorites to repeat in that division. Would the same be true for the four-time defending NFC South champs?

Second down, a long one. They move right. Shotgun, look, hand the ball. Leaks will take rattlet throws a pass up field. It is bad. Interceptive. Interceptive. Picked off of the touch. down for the Buccaneers.

It's Anthony Nelson. So Anthony Nelson with a forced fumble and a pick six. Oh, yeah. It was the Anthony Nelson game. It was. Gene Deckerhoff, Dave Moore, WF, UFU,S.

Yes, they mentioned two of Anthony Nelson's bigger plays early in that game. You know what else he did? He had a couple sacks. Everyone on this Buccaneers defense. got to eat. But when Anthony Nelson is getting the post-game interview on the field, you know something special is happening. It's a bad sign there for the Saints offense in 2025 when that is happening. Man, Antoine Winfield was an absolute beast in this game.

Yaya Diabi actually had the most quick pressures, three of them for this defense. Vita Vea was making noise in this game. Jamel Dean continued a streak of like making a massive play every single week for seemingly the entire season. He had a force fumble in this game and on a day where they pulled the rip cord on the agenda, Spencer Rattler getting benched in the third quarter. The Buccaneers win 23 to 3 to move to 6 and 2

on the season. Sorry. I didn't want to have fun at the expense of Spencer Rattler. It's a tough day for us agenda folks, but let's talk positive. Let's talk bucks this there. Yeah, the Buccaneers make the play, especially Nelson who you think about the past couple of weeks where they all

go up to Detroit, hurt, have a great performance by the opposing team. Nelson is on the receiving end of a fourth down highlight play by Jemir Gibbs where he puts him in the dirt and goes on to score later on in that drive and to come back and get that tip intersection, the interception

in the sack that you mentioned as well where the Saints offense, Rattler Orshuck, really had no answer long term to the Bucks making plays. And I still believe at the punchout play, Antoine Winfield picked that ball up that Jamel Dean forced and scored a touchdown. I'm not sure how they ruled Jamel Dean had possession of the ball and was down. That could have been another defensive touchdown by the Bucks,

but a dominant performance going into the buy. And we always say well deserved and well timed. But for the Bucks in 2025, week nine is the perfect opportunity to not play football. This was a mature. like professional championship performance to just get there and get there comfortably on a day where their offense couldn't do much of anything. And that's why I say it's professional because like sometimes you just need one side of the ball, just carry the other side of the ball. And that happened today. Like Baker Mayfield and the Bucks had 212 yards of offense. The Saints defense kept

stopping them on the goal line, seven straight plays on the one yard line over two different possessions. One time it was, you know, four straight downs. It was all these runs where they kept stopping it and they almost did it again. And finally, Sean Tucker broke through and that made it 14 to 3 in the third court. But that was only, you know, that was like the one long drive the Buccaneers offense had all day. But that's all they needed to have because one side of the ball had them locked down. A lot of times when Greg and I are watching different games and I don't have full vision of whatever game Greg is watching, then I just listen for kind of what he says or some of the things he says out loud as he's watching. And he just kept going, oh my gosh. But it was both sides.

Baker Mayfield played another. It was like Chase Young beating Tristan Worf's over and over again too that I said it to as well to be fair. Yeah. And Baker Mayfield had another, I would say bad game. I would like to issue a request to all of the like talking heads in national media out there would really love it if everyone just stopped talking about Baker Mayfield in the MVP conversation because it clearly keeps on rolling baby. I mean look at the mirror. I've never said that that three letter word. I've never said it. That's a thing. he needs, he needs the chip on his shoulder.

You could hear him the past two weeks. He was manufacturing it for himself. He was coming up with reasons to be angry and pissed off and play his particular brand of football. He has not looked good the last two weeks. That man is happy for a bye week. I'm telling you. And then hopefully get some of his guys back after.

It was, and really considering the struggles and the quarterback change, kind of a wasted performance of a very good performance, not just from the Saints front. Chase Young had a strip sack where he got the ball and then, like, he's running, like, he's going to have an option pitch, and that was weird. Like, they were, didn't even know what to do with their success. Like, Alante Taylor had a couple great pass breakup on, you know, the rookie star where we've, we've seen, you know, Emeka Abuka do so much, didn't really get going today. Nine targets, three catches.

There was a moment where Baker Mayfield is looking directly at Kool-Aid McKinstree, and for some reason throws the ball directly at Kool-Aid McKinstree at the corner of the end zone, where that gets, they were really locking up the, the Bucks today, but the offense can't do anything. It's not really going to make it. And you mentioned like the Winfield nearly out of touch on. There was a point in this game where it felt like every other play, the Bucks almost scored a defensive touchdown. It was just getting crazy, which is why

I did not have a problem with the timing of the Spencer Rattler benching as much as I believe in him. Last week, I thought he had the turnovers, but he sort of bounced back. And most of his plays look like he's looked all year. Today,

even though the numbers look okay, 15 for 21, he had a couple more turnovers, that six turnovers in about six quarters. And I thought he wasn't a little bit of his head, and he was in a bad place where he was almost playing too safe, and he was making mistakes. And so it felt like a worthy time to give Chuck a spin. The problem is everyone else on the Saints offense is not playing well right now either.

The offensive line without Eric McCoy was cheeks today, like giving up a ton of pressure. Alvin Camara and the running game is really poor right now. Alvin Camara more or less is getting benched now on third downs because he's been such a problem as a pass protector. Chris Olavet, you know, had a play where he almost fumbled it. That was the one I think that got called back and he left a little banged up at one point.

Rashid Shahid had one fumble that stood, another one that could have stood. So they're not like winning these contested catches. And ultimately, Shuck comes in and somehow throws 30 passes. in four drives, they don't score any points on them. And it was like four yards per attempt. And he ends up with an interception on a ball that Shahid got ripped away from him. And it was just like, it's just all bad.

There's just like no real bright spot to point out of anything there. That doesn't leave you anywhere to go, Jordan. I apologize. But, well, all I could think of was, you know, the guy who was absolutely losing his mind in the stands when Tyler Shuck came in. I wonder what that guy's doing right now. I wonder what his reaction and takeaway was from the game. He clearly, and you could see there are a couple of...

Describe it for the people that didn't see it. Oh, my God. It was this guy who was wearing a Tyler Shuck jersey, I believe. And he, when Tyler Shuck finally came into the game, he lost it. He was waving his arms. He was yelling. I think I read his lips. It took too effing long.

He was absolutely... When you were saying all this stuff, I just started daydreaming a little, Greg. I was just wondering, what is that guy doing right now? I'm so glad that Mickey and Luminumman. will watch the game among the fans wearing his Tyler Shuck jersey. It shows that he's a man of the people. I mean, they made a change of quarterback.

My gut would say they'll stick with Shuck for the next Sane start. We'll see. But that's not the change they need to make. You just mentioned the man who, to me, I think they risk losing the most diehard fan base, one of them certainly in the league if they don't because they're getting to apathy,

point. And this is what it looks like. Everyone wanted the Saints to tank, and they tried as hard as they could not to tank, but this is what it looks like when you do tank. Let's go to Denver, where there's no tank in teams. There's a team that's just getting in gear. Harvey resets to the left of

Nix, three to the right. Harvey in the flat wide open. Harvey gathers it in, tiptoes into the end zone. Touchdown, Denver. Bo Nix's fourth touchdown pass of the game. And for R.J. Harvey, That is his third touchdown, first by pass, and with 714 left in this one, it is all but over in the Mile High City. It's Denver 43, Dallas 17.

Ooh, the fourth quarter of week seven rolled right on into week eight. A 40 burger for the Broncos against a defense that has served up some 40 burgers this season. it is it's the house specialty in Dallas they did it on the road today 44 to 24 and the six and two Broncos hasn't always been pretty this season but they got to feel great where they're at whereas the the Cowboys fall to three and four and just kind of in every other week type of team and the Broncos found a defense that they could just victimize just complete command by the Broncos offense against a Cowboys defense that I fear to say is back to its new normal for this season a pretty good week seven last week.

That was, as the broadcast announced, R.J. Harvey's third touchdown. He also had two rushing touchdowns to open the game, including one where he took a direct snap. And he's a former quarterback, so it shouldn't have surprised the Cowboys defense the way that it did. But it did because in part, they got to the line of scrimmage really, really fast before the defense could read and react to any, even the alignment, Bowenix was kicked out and declared as a receiver. And that was a moment that showed me how much command this.

Broncos offense had over this defense. At half time, the Broncos had 264 yards of offense and 9.1 yards per play. Almost an entire first down every time they touched the football in the first half. And this was such a lopsided game that Joe Milton himself was playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys midway through the fourth quarter. I do think sometimes the key sequences of games are right off the top. And when the Cowboys got to stop, you know, Bo Nix starts off like Bo Nix has been doing so often this season, scattershot and throws an interception to the Cowboys on the very first possession. And the Cowboys get down to the one yard line. And they have a second and goal from the one.

They also had a first and goal from the three. And they throw an incompletion. They have an offensive line penalty. And ultimately they don't score on another completion like that to me is is great complimentary football something we haven't always seen from the broncos this year but i think it was like a case of the defense kind of having the broncos back and then bow knicks you know became uh the best bo necks that we've seen else season and we had to see the broncos defense for the majority of the game because on that drive that you mentioned dac throws a ball to george pickens where that's a touchdown 99 times out of a hundred but pat sartan comes up knocks the ball away comes down has a lower leg injury leaves the game would come

back to the game, but then leaves with a shoulder injury and doesn't return. And so you're in this situation where Riley Moss, who's getting targeted more than almost every other cornerback in the NFL as having to deal with CD Lamb has multiple pass interference calls. But, you know, the defense holds up and they hold because the Milton to Tolbert touchdown was an absolute garbage time. Yeah. So the 24 points is fraudulent.

It was a great performance by Vance Joseph's defense without the defensive player of the year. Yeah. And here's the thing, with and without Pat. certain and hopefully he's okay. I was worried. I mentioned to Greg. I was worried watching him on the broadcast walk out, walk to the locker room because he was sort of pointing to and sort of feeling his like underneath his pectoral almost to the side of like closer to his armpit, which made me worried that's obviously that could be really serious. We hope he's okay. He's so

fun to watch. Great player. But I thought Vance Joseph had a great plan for every single one of Dak Prescott's preferred targets, generally speaking, in a season where mostly Dak Prescott is playing incredible football. They kept bracketing different receivers as a secondary, right? So they were sort of picky. They were playing matchup-based football that you really only usually will see from a team, especially a defense in the postseason or deep into the season. And they were playing that type of football.

They were pressuring, they were pressuring well or at least well enough, only a couple of sacks, but really well enough to really get Dak off his spot. you know, Ferguson only had one target in the entire first half and they just had good plans for coverage of everything despite the fact that they were dealing with the personnel issues. Jaday Barron played probably his best game

of the season, had a takeaway on Dak Prescott. Like it just, they are playing so confidently on both sides of the ball. And when their quarterback meets the moment like he did today, even after the initial error, they really have something. I think that's so well said.

And it just makes me think about how many different paths the Broncos have had to win games this season. They have so many different parts of their team, either line. You know, on a certain day like today, like Bo Nix gets it going. They've had days where Harvey and Dobbins pops up. Their defense hasn't been, like, elite every single week,

but sometimes it's a secondary. Whereas the Cowboys have such a narrow path to win every week. Like, they have one way to win, and if it's not Dax Day or it's a tough match, like no one's going to pick Dack up, unfortunately. You mentioned the pass rush for the, Broncos, Jordan, eight different players had quick pressures for that team, which you almost never see. And six different players had multiple pressures. And Benito and Jonathan Cooper had

five of those quick pressures between them. But we do want to, I do want to give Bo Nix some love before we move on from this game because there were some dots at the second half of this game. Oh my gosh. He made some, he made some throws. There was one throw that he made that actually Cortland Sutton dropped. It was a should be touchdown. And if this game was going to swing, that would have been the moment where the Dallas Cowboys could have tried to mount a comeback. But then Bo Nix hits Cortland Sutton a couple of times late in the game. One of them, a 39-yard pass, and it's just beautiful. It's just a thing of beauty.

And a whole shot, a whole shot, defender crashing in. It's ahead of him. It leads him well. Even with a defender crashing in, the timing of it is perfect because he is going to get absolutely smoked if that ball gets to him even a little bit later. Boenicks, I thought, played some really mature football today. And it helped that a supporting cast rose up right there with him. I just think that this was a fully, like the most complete game to a position we've seen from the Denver Broncos this season.

Yeah, they are rounding into form. And Cortland Sutton ends up with four for 67, which to me is like the ultimate Cortland Sutton line. He's just a four for 67 type of guy, still getting it done. He's on pace for a thousand yards again, still around like 15 yards per catch on the season. And there just aren't that many guys like him that consistent year after year. Let's go to a team that I know it's been annoying Jordan that you could describe as perhaps the least consistent team

in the NFL to Atlanta. Second down in eighth of the Falcon 43. Play action fakes. Slant to Wattle. Wollowell's got a 20-10. Five touchdown Miami. What a great fake. And he put it right on the money with Walsall.

It's tried going across the middle, and nobody, nobody was going to catch that man. Oh, Joe Rose, with a little help from Jimmy Sepolo on WBG, G, the Miami Dolphins needed a win in the worst way. And they got it, 34 to 10 in Atlanta over the Kirk Cousins led Atlanta Falcons. Yeah, there were a lot of surprising injury situations this week that we were unaware of when we did our preview show. No Michael Pennix in this game. No Drake London, but it was really the offense of the Miami Dolphins who put this game away. And it was a laffer to the point where Tua Tunga Vailoa is doing bits after he gets his touchdown.

Yeah, coming into the game with conjunctivitis, which I had no idea that this was an issue or that you could play an NFL game. Pink eye, right? Pink eye? Yeah. I was like, which one is that one? Yeah. Using the official terminology, Joe Burrow got me to look up the real name of Turf Toe,

which I've already forgotten. But so they get the first quarter touchdown from Tua, which hadn't happened in 13 games. Wow. Like where the dolphins are getting a touchdown pass to start off. They had a couple of explosive runs from Devon A. Chan, a couple of drops as well. We were thinking, oh, this is the 2025 dolphins.

But no, he gets A. Chan in the flat for six because there was no Darren Waller in this game. The quick three and out. The Falcons has another nice drive. Excuse me, the dolphins have another nice drive. Tua running to his left with the eye, which is basically almost swollen shut on that side, fires a seeing eyeball, oddly enough, to Malik Washington for his first career receiving touchdown 16 to 3. And so you saw, if you're watching us on YouTube, you saw the Jalen Waddle touchdown where he's pulling away from Falcons in the secondary. And I haven't mentioned the Kirk Cousins' Falcons offense because they had 58 yards in the first half.

Wow. A solid game from Tua and the offense, but there's been a couple of those. this is either the best Dolphins defensive performance of the year far and away or a wo is me situation where pending our conversation our lengthy conversation

we had on the preview show about the pistol I'm going into next year stats I'm like can I blame this bad Cousins performance on the pistol? No, they were bad under center the one time they were under center they were bad in the shotgun

it was nasty in the pistol there was one point where Darnell Mooney wins on a dig and Kurt Cousins literally toast the ball 12 feet over his head and starts bounding himself on the helmet. I don't really know what was going on. We got to look for that.

That'll be for Wednesday show as a potential worst throw of the year candidate. I also am going to submit the play where Tyler Shook hit a cheerleader with Rashid Jihad going wide open for a touchdown. He just nailed the team. Just wasn't great. But to answer your question in terms of like

best Dolphins offense or worst Falcons defense, like, you know, why not both? Why not everything? It can be bold. It definitely statistics. basically, I believe, was the Dolphins defense's best run defense of the game. They held Bajon Robinson to 2.6 yards and Tyler Auger, 2.6 yards per carry. They were the 29th ranked run defense entering the game.

This team irritates me. The Falcons irritate me. I think we kind of came into this game knowing that pretty much anything that was above rock bottom for Miami's defense would be good. and they showed up. And Miami's offense has not looked terrible for the past couple of weeks. Certainly since, you know,

even with the Tyreek Hill absence, like they haven't looked awful even without Darren Waller. You know, they made their plays. This offense, they have the best player in football right now, may perhaps, in Bejohn Robinson. And it's like one every five freaking games,

they have a game plan that funnels their entire offense through him legitimately as a mismatch, as a threat. They help him, help himself, which good scheme and good players do. And I'm just, I'm not seeing it. I don't know what this Falcons team is. I don't know what their identity is. Their defense was playing pretty great at the start of the season, much better than people expected. But they absolutely blew it today. This, what are you? Who are you? Well, even the parts that were successful, because that

Jalen Waddle touchdown came after Bajon had a fumble in the red zone in one of their better scoring opportunities of the day. And the offense was running through Kyle Pitts today. He had nine targets. He caught all of them. Unfortunately, it was only for 59 yards where it just looked clunky and I guess

the ideal situation to make to find a silver lining is well, you know, right before the deadline if Kirk Cousins comes in here and plays well and then we get Pinnix back and we can ship Kirk off, no, all that's gone because it just looked like a mess. And I think they have

such a unique defense that you cannot count on them to be a dominant defense every week. I know statistically they have been for the most part until this week, but it's so game plan specific. It's not based on having more talent that those types of defenses are going to pop off

six, eight, ten times a year at best. But if you're not talented enough, you're going to need your offense to carry you every once in a while. It's an offensive league. And they've been pretty consistent on the offense in terms of being disappointing. I know there's been like one or two games,

but for the most part, they've been a mediocre offense, and they now trail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by two and a half games in the NFC South. That is a significant margin that they need to make up. And they're ruining the reputation of a beloved pistol formation. Yes. God.

And I don't think they're going to fix it. So good on Mike McDaniel, because, you know, before I say goodbye to you guys, and we're going to welcome in Nick Shook, and you guys get to go home and say how to talk. Tucker, say how to your beautiful children, Patrick. You know, I'm going to put the Roblo hat back on.

Oh. And say, uh, yeah, I'm glad just we didn't, just it wouldn't be all misery on Thursday night football. The dolphins are coming in with a victory and so are the Ravens. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. One of those teams is so back.

Yeah. One of those teams is back. The other one, at least, we don't just have to hear about, you know, someone getting fired all. I know. I'm going to see if down, if down in, in wardrobe or in costume, if we have, have the Rob Loh hat. I feel like we probably do.

I need to get that for Greg. I can't wait. You know who would wear that hat? Who's all ball all the time? It's Nick Shuck. We'll be back on the other side to talk about the best offense in the NFL. Bye, guys. Great job.

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Stick. 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

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Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL covers. 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.

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We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on, 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. Under center Jones on first down, they give it to Taylor left side. He's at the 20, 25, 30, 35, down the sideline, 40, 50 yard line still going. Tighter up in the sideline.

He's got a chance. 10, 5, touchdown. Jonathan Taylor takes it 80 yards to the house. Tightrooping that left side line. No problem for the great running back going right now. It's the longest rush this season for the Colts and for Taylor. Oh, that's Matt Taylor. Talking about Jonathan Taylor, no relation.

WFNI, the Colts and the Titans were potentially the biggest mismatch you could create. If you just looked at the numbers this year in terms of the offense versus the defense, and that's exactly what happened. 38 to 14, the Colts run away with it. They take care of business every week as favorites. They pass all these tests. Many more are to come, Shook. But how impressed are you with this Colts offense right now?

I think I was one of the last people on the planet to get on board with the Colts just because I'm a skeptic. Oh, some people are still holding out. Nick Wright doesn't have them in their tie, his top 10 teams. That's preposterous. Give me a break. Over the last two weeks, I've seen everything I need to. Yes, they play the Titans. Yes, they were supposed to roll.

But it's the fashion in which they roll. Their offensive line blocks well. They have Daniel Jones throwing the ball over the yard. He's got all day to throw most times. And when he has to scramble, he makes plays. He threw a touchdown pass to Josh Downs on a scramble today. There was a perfect demonstration of quarterback and receiver rapport and understanding. And they have Johnson Taylor, who's having an incredible start to the season.

We're almost halfway through the season now. The guy's got four games of three or more touchdowns. If he gets two more games like that, the rest of the season, he'll tie Ladanie and Tomlinson. For the most in NFL history. LT won the MVP that season. It was 2006. They have everything in their favor right now. Even their defense is playing better than expected.

Of course, they won in a romp today. So 174 yards from scrimmage for Taylor. And I love that he did it on only 14 touches. And that's crazy. Like 12 runs for 153 and then has a couple catches. He's been complete. They get Josh Downs back today, which I think really rounds out their offense.

One of the best slot receivers in the league. and yeah, I think in terms of weapons one to five, they are better, deeper than any team in the league. And then in terms of their offensive line, I think they're top five. So I'm kind of, this is not, you know, talking to anyone in particular. What the hell? We'll talk to Nick Wright.

He listens to the show. Like, they are, to me, the second most likely team to make the Super Bowl in the AFC. We're not usually about takes here on Sundays, but I just don't think that's a crazy take at all. First of all, they're 7 and 1. and so they're going to have a good chance at not just winning the division

but possibly getting a one seat but second of all offense travels and I like I've seen enough that this offense is going to be one of the best offenses in the NFL full stop and other than the Chiefs there's just so many questions where are these great defenses in the AFC

that are going to stop the Colts I just don't see a team that's more likely than the Colts sorry Bill's fans than the then to make the Super Bowl other than you know the Kansas City Chiefs I will give them their flowers. Yeah, and I would agree with that. And this is not a take that I came to today.

This is not an agreement that I came to today because they roll the Titans. It's because of what they do week by week. And this was a performance in which it was 17 to 7 and half time. And they had the advantage, but they hadn't quite dominated. It felt like they were still a couple of plays away from completely running away, which they did, Taylor literally running away to an 80 yard touchdown. But it's the fact that they can do this week by week consistently. And they didn't fall victim to a divisional rivalry game and even let it get really close

in the second half. They put them away like they did it in their sleep, like they knew they were the superior team. They're just playing complete football. Oh, and also, by the way, they have, I don't know what it is about them to this point this season, but it seems like every game, there's just a stretch in which everything goes their way. And Michael Pittman makes an incredible catch in this game over the middle where the ball gets tipped up in the air and it's like the sea of hands. It's like the DeAndre Hopkins Hail Mary when he was with the Cardinals. There's just a ball in the air and he's surrounded by Titans and somehow as he's running, he tracks it, brings it down. And then a few plays later, Jones throws a seed

down the sideline to him and he's got a defender draped all over him, hanging all over him. He can't use his left arm because he's hanging all over him. And he just, Jones fits it right into his armpit and he just traps it with his other arm and makes one of the most incredible unlikely touchdown catches. You'll see this season. Everything goes in their favor, but

they set themselves up for success, which is why I'm a believer in them. Yeah, but that catch is just amazing athleticism and a dime from Mr. Jones. Let's listen to it. One of the plays of the year. Colts near the red zone now. Out of the pistol. Actually, We're going to move Jonathan Taylor to the right of Jones out of the gun now. Ball in the right hash.

Shot good snap for Jones. Looking left, he's going to take a shot and throws a laser towards the pylon. And that is a catch for Michael Pittman, Jr. There's a penalty on the play. But Pittman scores a touchdown as Pittman snared it in with one hand on a 21-yard absolute dark. Thrown by Daniel Jones to Michael Pittman Jr. This group, what a ridiculous catch by Pittman. He's having a great year.

He goes eight for 95. He's just so talented. And Daniel Jones is so much confidence. The play that I'll remember from this game is Jones for the second straight week, just throwing it as far as he can possibly throw it. Alec Pierce is down there somewhere, and he mossed the Titans for a 50-yard catch. So you're seeing these great individual plays.

And we're going to get to see the Colts tested again and again in the second half of this season. They have a game at Pittsburgh next week, but they have a game at the Chiefs. They have an at the Seattle. They still have two games. against the Texans and the 49ers. So I just love that they're just part of our lives.

And yes, if you're watching on YouTube in the break, shout out to Chris Pabona, shout out to Drew Christensen. They got me a Roblo hat. And I'm wearing it. And you look like you're in the replay center. I definitely would like to either be a replay center guy or maybe like an offensive assistant

that's just like grinding some numbers and telling the coach like when to go for it or not. Great game. by them. And there's not much to talk about with the Titans right now. I do like that Chimiri D.K. has been a way bigger factor. It looks like they found two rookie receivers on the Titans. So let's just give the Titans like a little lollipop here for for D.K. and I.m. Manor and D.K., both kind of settling into their roles. It's just that you can tell they're both rookies and they lack talent otherwise. Ridley was not out there again today.

And it became very evident to me in the third quarter when they were down, I think, 21 to seven or 31 to seven, uh, that they were essentially just dedicating the rest of the game to continuing Cam Ward's development. They knew they weren't going to get back in the game. They're not going to ask him to throw 60 passes. They're going to mix in the run. They're going to try and insulate him and see that development through,

which is fine with me. You've already fired your coach. Commit the rest of the season to developing your quarterback. He's the number one overall pick. I've had a correction. This is very important. It was not Drew Christensen.

It was Drew Lee in the back. That makes more sense because I was like, Drew is a wool knit guy. Yes, he does not wear hats. I got it. That's totally fair. And yeah, I mentioned D.K., He's a rookie mid-round pick who goes seven for 93 today.

So a little positivity. I think Cam Ward actually has looked a little better and steadier the last couple weeks since they made the head coaching change, but ultimately it doesn't help out. They're one and seven. Colts at seven and one. Let's go to Carolina where the bills were coming off their by week. Receiver to each side on this two tight end set. Pause in motion.

Hand off to Cook. through a hole and darts it to the open and he is G-O-N-E gone. 20, 10, 5 touchdown, James Cook as the Cook is in the kitchen for the first time in three games. Wow, I'm surprised it's been that long. It feels like James Cook has been running all over opponents all season, but Bill's fans will remind you the run game. It's been pretty absent the last couple weeks.

That was not the case today. James Cook ends up with 216 yards on the ground. That was one of his two touchdowns. Almost 80% of his runs went for at least five yards. And the old Carolina Panthers run defense showed up 40 to 9 for the Buffalo Bills coming through for me, who took them minus seven on our picks against the spread show. So thank you, Buffalo Bills there to five and two on the season. Carolina can't get it done with Andy Dallon at quarterback. but let's give the bills some love.

What did you see out of them coming out of their biweek, Nick? I mean, obviously a shift back to relying on James Cook. I mean, I'm the guy who has complained about this in their losses and their recent, you know, underwhelming performances. So you go to James Cook against a stingy run defense, at least statistically, and you just ride him to success, 19 for 2, 16, and two rushing touchdown. That long run there, that wasn't the only one. He's so smooth.

He's so fun to watch. He's got great vision. He's got great burst. And they should go lean on him a lot and take some of the pressure off of Josh Allen, especially with a passing game that's just not as explosive as it's been in previous years. So that's great. But also on the defensive side,

they finally showed up. They get Maxwell Hirsten finally. He makes his NFL debut. He has one tackle, but he's on the field. They lose that Oliver to an injury. And yet they still bottle up the Carolina rushing attack, which put together,

I think, 30 or 40 yards in the fourth quarter, which was garbage time. Otherwise, they shut that down. Andy Dalton's playing quarterback and the bills feasted on that. The Panthers turned the ball over three times that got after Dalton plenty. It looked more like a Bill's defense of old. Now, I'm not going to say that this is what we're going to see every week,

because you're playing the Panthers with Andy Dalton and quarterback, but it was really encouraging to see them play cohesively out of the by week, especially after the struggles they've had recently. And the pass rush looked good at this game, and it really hasn't all year. And the Panthers have played well on the offensive line this year. Now, they lose Brady Christensen.

It sounds like a season-ending injury to him. He's been playing. And then Taylor Moten, their right tackle, also left this game. So there were injuries, but there were some real changes. We were talking about, you know, what would be different for the bills coming out of the buy.

You mentioned Cook. You mentioned Harrison, gets in the mix, rotating in with Tredavius White. They bench Torell Bernard. That was a pretty clear change. So Shaq Thompson, I guess, is the guy who really takes his role. Bernard didn't have a single defensive snap, and he was healthy for this game.

Dorian Williams has been in there, too. And they also get Michael Hoyt back from a suspension, and he had a ton of pressures. He was on the field the most of all their edge rush guys. They also get Larry Ogunjobie back from suspension. So two of their big free agency, hiccups kind of quietly return from suspension. There were real differences.

We'll see if it keeps up, but a good get back to who they thought they would be game for the bills. And that includes at least one big play through the air. Yes, Josh Allen was in this game, 12 for 19 for 163 yards and one long touchdown. Allen going to work from the shotgun here. Two receivers to the right, one to the left, and now Shavers in motion right to left. Here's a snap, back to pass. Quick hitter to Shakir, spins away from the defender.

He's up to side. line, 35, 30, down to the 20, cuts it back 15, 10, 5. Touchdown, Khalil Shakir. Old Reliable, goes 54 yards to the end zone. Touchdown, Buffalo. Old Reliable, the guy's 25 years old, but in this receiver group, I get what he's saying.

He's kind of the safe guy saying, we don't need some explosive threat. I think they still do. They might pick one up before the trading deadline, but Shakir, they don't have to worry. about him. One other change I did want to mention Sean McDermott revealed after the game he was calling plays along

with Bobby Babbage on defense. So that's a little bit of a change too coming out of the buy. Him taking more control. Are you more thinking this is a reveal of the Panthers not really being contenders now at 4 and 4 or just that the bills are getting back to who they are? I think

it could be a little bit of both because I don't want to discount the way the bills dominated today. That touchdown there was the official point in which the tone of the broadcasters went from this is a game to this is a blowout let's get into the blowout material so i mean credit to them for really dropping the hammer on the panthers but i also think it was a check with reality that the panthers maybe aren't as good as they thought they were and it makes you go back in review who they've played they played a lot of poorest defenses which statistically this should have been a

tough or a great matchup for them on the ground and it wasn't so i think that it's a reminder that it is still difficult to turn the corner in the NFL when you're trying to you know revive a franchise like dave canals is with the panthers and probably a good reality check for them at this point in the season. But yeah, so if I had to answer that, it's probably more Panthers than bills, but it's still really good to see the bills get a win like this because they needed it. Yeah, I think some of those changes on defense. We'll see if they continue to bear fruit. And I do worry about Ed Oliver because they said it was a biceps injury, which always worries you. I did want to point out, by the way,

Shuck, why not here? That I was at a wedding in New Orleans this weekend. Shout out to Lloyd D'Souza for having a wedding. You know, it's pretty rare to go to a first wedding now in our mid-40s. So congratulations on making that happen. But I didn't know if I'd ever do a second line down the street, you know, down Bourbon street again for a wedding in New Orleans. So that was a lot of fun. But big takeaway for me, because I'm always thinking NFL Daily, big NFL daily, big NFL daily fan came up to me at the wedding, big time listener. And he just wanted to pass along that he is such a big Nick Shook fan. And that makes two straight trips I've been on where people I don't know,

have come up to me and say they're huge Nick Shook fans. So that's a pretty big deal. We need more Shook in our lives. I'm bad at taking compliments, but thank you very much. I appreciate it. No, when he said that, I was like, and it was not that long ago, I actually woke up in New Orleans this morning.

I feel like I was just at that wedding. It was not that long ago that I was like, I will get that to Nick Shook. So for all the Shook heads out there, we see you, we love you, we love Shucky too. Let's do one more game with him before Sunday night football. Let's go to Foxborough. Three rushing yards for Drake May.

Works from the left hash with the 39. He takes the shot and snap. He's back to throw. He loads up a line ball, lofted down field. Come down. Touchdown. Kishon Booty!

What a weapon. Number nine. What a pretty throw. Kisham Booty has played himself into one hell of a player for you. Really?

He really has. Drake May has two. 32 to 13. The Patriots. take care of business after an early deficit. They were down 7-3 in this game. It was only 9-7 Patriots at halftime, but a third-quarter explosion out of Drake May,

and that play is a reminder, shook, just based on efficiency, accuracy. The most effective play in the NFL this year is not the Josh Allen Scramble, as I've often said. It's the Drake May deep pass. The numbers are just outrageous, and he was two for three in this game and throws over 20 yards for 81 yards

and it's just been crazy when he goes deep, they get touchdowns. Yeah, and oftentimes those deep passes end up in the hands of Kashan Bouti, who like Scott Zolak said, has played himself into one hell of a player. I'm a little concerned about Zolak's mental state, like his health

over the course of the season because if Bouti continues to play like this, is he still going to be sane by the time we get to week 18. That's how well Bouti is playing with Drake May. And really, it's funny because this was a game that was a bit of a slog in the first half. The Brown's defense did a good job of limiting the Patriots.

But you felt like they were approaching an explosion. And then you get to the third quarter. And that play right there, that touchdown past the booty, was the straw that broke the camels back. It was the one that opened the floodgates, whatever cliche you want to use to describe how it became a blowout victory. And another example of Drake May, who, by the way, got sacked five times by Miles Garrett today,

is unflappable. He is unflappable. It doesn't matter how many times the pass versus getting after him because Miles Garrett wasn't the only player with the sack in this game. And yet, despite all of that pressure and all that harassment, he just stayed locked in and he ends up with another great line, 18 and 24 for 282, three touchdowns in an early pick that was probably the worst mistake he's made all year. And it didn't matter because the Patriots, they are a Mike Frable team. They will fight through adversity and they will see it all the way

to the end and run away with the victory like they did today. They almost double up the Browns in terms of total yardage, 422 to 2.13. These Patriots games are looking awfully similar every week, which is they feel it out in the first half. And they make adjustments, and the defense especially plays better in the second half. And I think Josh McDaniels in May have just been such a dynamite combination. You saw it in the first drive coming out a halftime. McDaniels knew exactly what to do. It was a run heavy drive with a lot of Treveon Henderson, breaking a couple big plays.

They also had a couple plays that if they didn't work, everyone would say, oh, why did you get so cute? You know, they had a running back pass back to Drake May, which ended up in the hands of Matt Collins, which worked out. McDaniels loves those sort of plays. You got a DeMario Douglas run that was an effective run. Like McDaniels has had a knack for calling the right play and making it easy on May to then set up the tougher stuff later.

And they've been really good in terms of dissecting what the defense is trying to do. And in the end, this stat was from Ben Solac at ESPN. The Patriots end up with a 54.5% drop-back success rate in this game, despite all those sacks. and that is the second worst mark of a Jim Schwartz-Brown's defense since he was back there as the coordinator. So they ended up having a very effective day

despite the five sacks for Miles Garrett. Like what a crazy tungsten O'Doyle type of game for Miles Garrett. You're right. I thought that that drive that ended in a rollout pass to Hunter Henry for a touchdown was perhaps Josh McDaniel's best game script of the entire season because he identified why the run game was struggling coming out of halftime. And it was all perimeter runs. It was tosses. It was

stretches. It was Trayvion Henderson getting to the edge, breaking tackles and ripping off big gains. But it was well balanced where it wasn't every single play, but it was well timed. He mixed in, you know, the running back pass back to the quarterback. Like you said, and then he finishes it off perfectly with the play action rollout to Hunter Henry, who was wide open. Like, it was one of those drives where you see it live and you're thinking this offensive coordinator has the defensive coordinator completely outfoxed. Like he has just a step ahead of him and this defense has no idea what to do. And that is an illustration of the potential of McDaniels and May. And while we give May all the credit in the world and he deserves it for his

physical ability and his and, you know, him completing deep passes and handling all the stresses of the job, he is perfectly paired with an offensive coordinator who knows exactly what to do with him. And now that they have enough talent to succeed, Kishon Booty developing, Stefan Diggs becoming a bigger part of this passing game over the last few weeks, going between Ramandre Stevenson and Trevion Henderson to balance out this rushing. attack. It's just a beautiful thing to see. It's all coming together. Even on a day in which Will Campbell's getting cooked by Miles Garrett, it doesn't end up mattering because that's how in sync they are. Yeah, this was a game that confirmed my priors, which is that the offensive

line for the Patriots really isn't very good. They got totally dominated. The pressure rate was so high in the first. And yet, May is overcoming it because they do have real strengths. And the defense, the run defense for the Patriots is one of the best in the league. And they sold out to stop Quinshaw Jenkins today and they did it. And then Judkins, unfortunately, gets hurt in this game. I thought it was such a telling sequence. They're showing the montage of the Miles Garrett sacks.

Five of them in one game. And then the CBS camera pans to Miles Garrett just because he was out at that point. And he is slamming. Must have broke the helmet. I mean, he's a man who knows how to slam a helmet. Slam the helmet on the ground. I'm not

sure why he was so mad. If I had to guess was maybe that they took him out of the game or maybe just that they're struggling, and I don't really know, but he is frustrated. You know who wasn't frustrated after the game? Mike Vrable, who is not above taking a shot, asked about his defense today. Taking advantage of the turnovers is huge. Certainly one on third down there with Spillane, and then the long one there that hawk had. So we've got to take care of the ball better and continue to find opportunities they hadn't turned it over.

And then when their gimmick plays ran out, I thought we played pretty good defense. yeah and gimmick plays are handing it off to malachi corley who is a receiver in case you don't know for a long gain on the first drive that that's the type of stuff the browns have to resort to doing because they know they're limited offensively especially when the run game's not working dylan gabriel throws a very ugly first interception that sets up a touchdown puts the patriots deep in brown's territory and then he throws another one on the next drive that's a fantastic play made by the defensive back so the browns are limited the patriots took care of business and the dark season continues for cleveland yeah Gabriel is a man who Kevin Stefansky believes in and made it pretty clear to me that they're going to stand by him

and say that you've got to ride the ups and the downs, but he has pretty clear limitations. And you know, yeah, it's not going to be your day when Robert Spillane steps into the passing lane for an interception, but even more, you referred to the other interception. It was like a one-handed catch by Jalen Hawkins, 50 yards down the field, which Gabriel probably shouldn't have thrown, but I think he just wanted to show everyone he could throw the ball

50 yards down the field and he did Christian Gonzalez also had a really nice game for the Patriots enough about this game I almost feel like this entire show has just been a little

preamble a little foreplay to the good stuff that's Aaron Rogers and the Packers to Sunday night here's the snap to love rush on throws the middle

Dallas Bear cutting left to the five to the end zone it is Tucker Pratt having a night wow Touchdown Green Bay. They beat Chuck Clark on a crosser.

24-yard touchdown reception. Oh, on a night where two great quarterbacks go up against the other. You want to see greatness. And we got greatness in Pittsburgh. 35 to 25. The Packers win it. That was Wayne Larravee on WR NW. And yes, Tucker Kraft was a huge part.

of the great night of Jordan Love with 143 yards and two touchdowns, seemingly all of it after the catch. But ultimately shook this game, this matchup. It was about the quarterbacks, and I just wanted to leave it with something memorable. And I'll admit I'm a little bit of a hater. I wanted it to be a memorable passing of the torch. And that's exactly what we got a second half for the ages by Jordan Love. He ends up with 360 yards and three touchdown. 20 straight completions at one point. And it's not like he's just thinking in Duncan. He had some great plays down the field.

The Packers dominate after halftime. They knew what the Steelers defense was going to do. And they crushed them. A really impressive night for Jordan Love. And a great case for halftime adjustments and just figuring out what you want to do against the defense in the second half because this Packers' offense was struggling mightily.

They just couldn't finish drives. Their kicker couldn't make field goals. And then they come out and look like a completely different. offense in the third quarter and dominate steamroll that Steelers defense. The much maligned Steelers defense back in the crosshairs this week after the second half they had because they had no answer for Jordan Love who was fantastic. Welcome back Christian Watson. He makes a big catch deep in the red zone to set up a score. And of course, like you said, Tucker Kraft. This is Packers offense near its peak potential. And it all starts with your quarterback who did a great job of

outdueling Aaron Rogers. Yeah. Ultimately, look, they did punt three times in the the first half. They were all three and out. Some of their third down play calling, I found frustrating. Like first drive of the game, you know, they throw it on third and one. They are struggling in short yardage. But ultimately, you know, they have a touchdown and it's a couple miss field goals before half time. After that, they go three straight touchdowns and two field goals. You mentioned the Watson catch. And that's what I'll remember about this second half. It was one of two things. Number one, it was what you said, the adjustments. Matt Lafleur and Jordan love having answers against the blitz.

After Kraft kills you all night, you got Chuck Clark on him one-on-one. Like, you're not a good man-coverage team. Stop putting your guys in man-coverage. They bench Darius Slay at one point when they were in the nickel and brought in Brandon Eccles because he can't cover one-on-one.

But when it wasn't the answer of the scheme, it was just Jordan Love doing things that only he can do. Maybe a young Aaron Rogers could do, but not anymore. Let's listen. Here's the snap. Rush on, blitz on, Love rolls out right,

lofted over the middle. Christian Watson's goals. Inside the 10, he's tackled at the 7-yard line of Pittsburgh by Brandon Eccles. Christian Watson, welcome back. Wow, that's one of those throws on the TV copy where we're like, oh, that's a terrible decision while it's in the air. And then it actually gets there and you see a little what Jordan Love was seen. And what a night, Watson, to me, can help change this offense off the torn A.C.

four catches for 85 yards. He looked as healthy as a guy in his first game coming off a torn ACL has ever looked, in my opinion. I feel like it's been so long since we've seen a fully healthy Christian Watson because he's just dealt with so many injuries over the last few years. So it was really exciting to see that happen,

but it was especially exciting to see them connect in such a big spot. That's third down. Jordan Love's under pressure. They're down 19 to 14. Their offense is still trying to figure things out. That is a game-changing completion that inspires the team injects confidence

into them that yes, we can go into Pittsburgh and beat this team. We have figured it out in the second half. It's a huge play and a huge win for them. I think a bit of a statement for the Packers. Yeah, five one and one for all the hemming and howing about how they haven't done this right. Defense hasn't been as dominant as we

would expect. They're the number one seed in the NFC. Like, full stop. Yeah. They were entering this week. They just won this and they have a lot of tough games coming up in the second half of the schedule. Both them and the Lions are right there. in the center of the NFL when they play each other

and then some other difficult matchups like the Packers have the Ravens coming up later in the season. There's an at Denver in there. It's going to be fun but they are such a tough out while we're just giving love his flowers. Let's go back

to earlier in the second half. They trail 16-7 at halftime. Ultimately the Steelers did a good job running the ball in the first half. I thought it was a key sequence coming at a half time. The Steelers go three and out. They did not run the ball one time in that sequence.

Packers get the ball back, and it took a little love magic to really turn this game around. Single receiver to the left, snap to love. Looking and waiting, and lofts it over the right side. Caught by Tucker Kraft to the 30. He's to the 40. He's to the 50 to the 45, 30.

And down he goes inside the 30 at the 25-yard line. Tucker Kraft on National Television. Ends Day. Another big play. Thorne Hill and Elliot made the hits. Fifty-nine-yard pass play to flip the field. Oh, wow. Did we make it the whole show without mentioning that holiday? If so, that was a good job by us. The fake holiday that was created by George Kittle on a win a couple years ago and now dominates one week every year. Yeah. Greg, have you ever have you ever played the game jackpot as a kid? No. 500 where you just throw the ball up. I'm talking of my nephew last week and he's like, yeah, one of the games we play with my friends is

Jackpot. And I'm like, oh, I remember Jackpot. It's where you just throw the ball up in the air. You call it like a value and it's just a jump ball game. Tucker Craft must have been the best jackpot player in the history of Jackpot because he made a great play there. And it was also a pivotal play in the sequence of this game because Deshaun Elliott gets hurt unfortunately on that play. And then they have to rely on other players. You mentioned like a Chuck Clark. And it creates a bit of a weakness of the Packers are then able to expose. Yeah, this method of how the Steelers play defense, and we just talked about it quite a bit on the Thursday night football loss to the Bengals. It's just too predictable when they're in single high. It took a little bit for the Packers

to get adjusted. And I thought the secondary played better for the Steelers tonight, but ultimately the mismatches were there. And they've played seven games this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers. In four of those games, they've given up more than 30 points. I mean, it's just, they're just not the defense they expected to be. Aaron Rogers was game. He looked old at points. He looked old at points. and he took a couple sacks that, you know, maybe when he was younger, he would escape out of. But ultimately, he was solid tonight. He moved the ball.

I know they got a late touchdown when it almost felt like garbage time, but they put 25 points up. I'm not going to kill him or Jalen Warren. I didn't love the play calling in the second half. It's more that they just went up against an offense that is more ready to win shootouts. And the Steelers are not. For instance, the Jordan Love completion there on third and long,

he's hitting 63% conversion rate on 3rd and 7 plus, according to Sam Schwartstein of Amazon Prime. I mean, that's ridiculous. That's more than double the league average. That kind of shows who they are as a team that you can get them in third and long situations, and they can still win. So just an impressive performance.

And the Steelers can't win this way, and their schedule now four and three, two straight losses is about to get a lot tougher. Yeah. Meanwhile, the Steelers are one for 10 on third down. They're constantly in third and long, especially in the second half. I think we should mention, though,

and we've talked about this many times, so maybe it feels a little ad nauseum. Michael Parsons, his role in this game was insane. Like in the second half, whether it was sacking Aaron Rogers while getting held by two guys simultaneously or lining up repeatedly in the A gap and just getting into the mind of Aaron Rogers,

a guy who was notoriously unflappable and forcing Aaron Rogers to get the ball out quickly or bail out of a pocket that's not collapsing on him, we cannot overlook or even overstate the impact of Michael Parsons. It might not be a four-quarter impact, but in the big spots over the last couple of weeks, he's really made a difference for them. Yeah, and there you have other players making great individual plays.

Carrington Valentine has stepped up as a good outside corner. I think he's taking that job from Nate Hobbs, who was the big free agency pickup. He made a number of good plays in this game. Edron Cooper was flying around was maybe their best defensive player, and he was for all four quarters being a problem. And I thought they rushed well as a team. Rashon, Gary, got two sacks,

but you kind of mentioned the impact that Parsons had on those plays. So they look like a complete team right now. The Steelers in trouble. And it just is one of those games. We kind of circled it at the very beginning of the season, shook, like Aaron Rogers against the Packers, you know, the hugs afterwards. It's just like one of those games we're going to remember.

And I, for one, feel like it delivered. But maybe only because I got the result that I wanted. Sorry, Steelers fans. I mean, yeah, it's fine. It does. If this is Rogers last year, which we all expect, it is, it felt appropriate. that he would, you know,

host the Packers in Pittsburgh and fall short. Not because I'm being a hater either. It just felt appropriate. Well, and he's playing well. He's really doing his job. He's more of a game manager at this point in his career, but he's been a pretty good one. The problem is Mike Tomlin

and the defensive talent where all the money is. He said that he thought this could be a historic defense. It is not so far. And that division looks open for the taking for the Baltimore Ravens who are... I know the schedule's easy and you got to just win one at a time,

but man, they're going to be heavily favored and a lot of games in a row the Steelers will not looking forward to tracking it and yes, yeah, we're just wanting to keep this season and as many teams as possible going. Even the Bengals were watching somewhere and thinking, okay, maybe it wasn't as embarrassing as we thought that we lost to the Jets.

Oh, yes, it was Bengals fans. We had 16 teams in the Super Bowl. Bowl running, right? What, a week ago? Yes. Still there? All options are open, baby. Yeah, there was only one game all week that was a one-score game, which is absolutely preposterous.

That's not the NFL that I want, the NFL that I love. Maybe we'll approve it, but I'm not so sure on Monday night. We're live every Monday night, and we're going to make it fun. We're going to add a spicy segment along with Chiefs and Commanders. That's a little bit of a tease. It's going to be me and the People's Chiefs. champion, Nick Shook, talking Chiefs, Commanders, right after it's done. Join us on YouTube.

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