NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Broncos-Bills MNF Recap

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus and Gregg Rosenthall recap the Week 10 Monday Night Football matchup between the Broncos and the Bills. The heroes start out by talking about the Broncos (01:48) followed by the play of the Bills (11:00). After the break, the heroes get you caught up on news from around the league including Matthew Stafford's chances at playing this weekend (26:12), CeeDee Lamb making a big-time claim (31:55), and another chapter in Frank Reich's tough time in Carolina (37:25). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. 12th play of the drive. Wilson gets rid of it for the touchdown to Javante Williams. What a job by Russell Wilson under heavy pressure from Tyrell Dodson and just got it over him for the three-yard touchdown. And they have a second in goal as Latavius Murray is in the backfield next to Allen they fake it to him looking for Kincaid Alan's going to take it touchdown Buffalo good snap good hold kick perfect and the Broncos have come to Buffalo and they're

going to leave with a win 24 22 to get to four and five luck via lutz tonight Will Lutz. He gets a do-over after he pushed one wide right from 41, seemingly giving the Buffalo Bills a narrow victory at home. But after the bills get called for 12 men on the field, Lutz gets that do-over and pipes it from 36. The difference in a 24-22 Broncos victory over a Bills team that cannot get out of its own way. Right now, I am Dan Hemp. Kansas joined by Greg Rosenthal from the Chris Wesleying podcast studio and some really almost nightclub like lighting behind you. Check this one out on YouTube. Greg, we're going to get to the bills because I think the bills are the bigger story in terms of their struggles and what was expected of them and what we've seen now for a couple of months. But let's start with the Broncos, a team that is now four and five. We talked about it on the Sunday flagship show, how there is a huge middle class in the AFC of teams that have four or five losses. And now

all of a sudden, and probably the Broncos left for dead at O and three after giving up a 70 burger, are one of those teams after a really, truly impressive and unlikely victory. I mean, insane would be another word. This was, I think, the craziest game of the year. Like, just the dumbest. Like, I think you had the second, the second time was right there, yeah. Yeah, you sent the word absurd in a text. Maybe that's the best one. I just think it, I can't think of a prime time game this year that was this insane.

We almost have to go through it all because I'm with you on the, the Broncos are back in it in a way and they've shown, they're not the Patriots. They're not one of the worst teams in the league. They're going to be in every game. If you give them a chance, their defense is just. just good enough to force four turnovers, but not good enough to stop the bills from going down the field a couple of times in the fourth quarter.

And their offense is just good enough to avoid mistakes and make a couple big drives late in the game, but not good enough to take advantage of incredible field position and all these opportunities they had to have a bigger lead. So they are that team in the middle. But I kind of want to start with the ending sequence because I've never seen anything quite like it. Sean Payton choosing on a third down with under 30 seconds to go, instead of like throwing an

incomplete pass, decides to kneel on the ball because he doesn't want to give the bills like 15 seconds. And look, I know AFC championship 15 seconds things can happen. But he could have just called for an incompletion from Russell. And you could have taken some time off the clock too, go back for a while, then throw a ball over someone's head on the sideline. Instead, He has so much confidence in the kicking crew to run out onto the field in that situation where the clock doesn't stop and go kick the game winning field goal. He decides to kneel and he feels that confidence because they did it at the end of the first half and they did a beautiful job of it. And he kneels the ball. They run out and he pushes the kick in all the insanity and they lose the game if the bills hadn't completely botched it and sent 12 men on the field.

Like the whole playoff race is different because the bill. bills sent 12 men on the field in that situation. Yeah, that was my thought that Sean Payton a little high on his own supply and how perfectly they executed it at the end of the second quarter. But in this case, and Lutz rushed it because it wasn't as if, you know, there were two, one second on the clock and he had to get the snap off. They had time for him to settle, but he rushed it clearly and pushed it right. And to get that second chance. And yet, As absurd as that is, and you saw Josh Allen's face on the sideline after it all played out, I didn't come out of that thinking, oh, man, did the bills get screwed here?

Like, what an unlucky way for a game to end? They really had no business winning that game, in my opinion. Denver gave them so many opportunities, the fact that they missed one extra point. They botched impossibly the hold on the score in the fourth quarter. that, of course, leaves the door open for Buffalo to take the lead. And then the bills, they just got to get a stop then. And this is the difference. And I think, and we're going to hear from our producer, Eric Roberts, a lifelong

bills fan in a bit, like the difference between this team and past years. And they are, you know, at 500 or lower for the first time since 2018 after tonight. It's just like, where's the killer instinct? where is that we are one we're a top team and we we kind of played with fire tonight but we stole one by getting that late touchdown and then we get the stop they can't get the stop they let the ball get to midfield and i thought it was you know the when they they bring the house there on second down near midfield uh it worked like gangbusters and they take down Wilson and they have to burn denverest to burn its last time out calling the same kind of general scheme or play

again there was to me needlessly risky at that point. And all Wilson had to do. And I shouldn't say all he had to do because that's a difficult play to get off with that amount of pressure is once he saw it was the same exact type of blitz coming his way, get the ball up. Basically throw an arm punt up there and you underthrow Jerry Judy and they call Toron Johnson with the DPI and it's pretty much good night nurse. So Buffalo just did not execute in the the game's most important moments there. And that's been a recurring theme all season. Right.

These two teams look like five and five teams and a four and five team because any time Russell Wilson would make a few plays, he had, you know, that touchdown throw to Cortland Sutton, which reminded me of the two point conversion from the NFC championship game back in 2015. And Sutton makes a great play. And Wilson's avoiding mistakes. And even on that last drive, it was just like a bunch of dump bath passes, but he made the right decisions he knew when to run like he was solid right when you think wow he's really turned in the

corner he took one of those old russell wilson sacks and that was that play troy akeman was so frustrated because that was a situation in the game where they were already in field goal range it was a second and four on the 39 for the bills all you have to do there is get a few more yards uh and not take a sack they show zero blitz before the snap i figured they're faking it they're not going to go Greg Williams on us and go cover zero, you know, at the very end of the game. And they do it. And it's so well executed that they all get in so quickly. And yet, Russell Wilson, unlike, you know, I think a lot of veteran quarterbacks would

have gotten rid of the ball there. And he didn't. He just, he takes a sack, which is brutal. And for them to run it again was like, man, this is not Leslie Frazier. Sean McDermott runs a much riskier defense. And it was, it was just dumb. And Russell Wilson, I'm sure would love to have that throwback. I know he is happy.

He got bailed out by Theron Johnson, but he threw that ball up in a windy night, and he underthrew him by 20 yards. That should have been a touchdown. All right. Take it easy, Greg. Can we, because I know you're always coming after Wilson. Can we-

I'm just saying that wasn't, they got the penalty because it was such a bad throw. But underthrown deep balls is what gets you a DPI. And that's kind of why no one runs those play calls anymore. And they get it. And there was more good than, bad from Russell Wilson, and it just goes to show that there was nothing in this Bill's team that was consistent tonight. Right when one part of the team, like James Cook or the running

game was getting going, they would do something bad, like fumble it. Once Josh Allen made a couple of nice throws, he would turn the ball over. The defense was completely dominant in the third quarter. The offense keeps pitting down their leg, and the Broncos keep getting the ball out across the 50, and the Bill's defense stopped them for eight yards and four drives and forced the turnover yet you said it when it came down to it in the fourth quarter when it when the bills actually get a lead they give up two straight long drives they can't stop giovante williams and then they couldn't stop that last drive either so it's like everything they don't know like they try to put their finger into one problem and another problem pops up and i know you're low to do this so i'm

going to do it i think russell wilson might not be a star quarterback uh in the way he was in Seattle, but he has had a far better season in year two in Denver with Sean Payton. And I think you saw that again today because he was not overly flashy, but I thought he played a very good game overall. And he made throws. He was under pressure a lot. He did he had some acrobatic kind of flips when he was about to get taken out to keep the chains moving. I thought in general that Wilson has been a real bright spot for them, especially you have to like the bigger picture of he was the most high profile quarterback in terms of a trade acquisition since Peyton Manning.

And he ends up having the bust of all bus seasons. So to come out of the ruins of last year and be a guy that now goes from that situation to a quarterback that's going to head into post Thanksgiving games with his team relevant, I thought he played well today. And I think that that play again, on the third and long near midfield, after he takes the sack, yeah, he under threw Judy, but it was like, he got that ball out of there and threw that big looping rainbow. And you're right, it is the, it is the slam dunk play of all slam dunk plays right now, it seems, is underthrow a receiver and you're going to get PI. And it was PI. So, man, I just, it's, it's crazy. And the, the,

the Buffalo side of this is this is the first time now where you can you're going to look at the bills and forget about are they a real AFC powerhouse like are they going to the playoffs and they are losers of three of four they're five and five as I said this is the first time they've been at 500 or below uh in five years and their upcoming schedule is home against the Jets on Sunday a Jets team that always gives them fits at Philly at KC versus versus Dallas at Chargers, lay up against New England, and then at Miami. And I mean, that I would have to say, if you ask me now that this is not a playoff team. And if this is not a playoff team, this could, there could be big changes in Buffalo.

So they are very much now at a crossroads moment. And I don't think anyone predicted that in mid-November, this would be a team that is on the brink of seeing their season fall apart. They are one of the biggest disappointments in football, bar none. No question. I think that's all well said. I agree with it all. You couldn't lose, that's why you couldn't lose this game in particular, partly because you haven't at Philly, you haven't at Kansas City, you have Dallas, you have an at Miami.

You've got to win a couple of those games there to possibly get to 10 and 7. And you can't have any more slip-ups in a game you're favored in. and hell like at at chargers they're barely favored in that at this point you still saw like why they're they're better than the broncos i mean i mean they are they're just not enough better to have josh allen just drop a ball at one point and he had he had one bad interception and people are going to remember this game as some sort of like catastrophic josh allen game and it wasn't it was him playing well but having just two like terrible moments and then his His team also having terrible moments. James Cook fumbling the very first play of the game. Gabe Davis dropping a pass that turns into an interception. So it's Josh Allen, but it's everything. You said Russell Wilson was under pressure.

Like at points in that little spot in the third quarter where I thought he ran into some sex and took some sex. But I don't know. I haven't seen enough out of this Bill's pass rush in general consistently. Like they're not a difference-making group really anywhere. it is shocking to me. It is really going to test their medal. I am not going to give up on them.

I'm always that guy in this podcast. Maybe it's because my favorite team of all time is the 2001 Patriots, and they were five and five after 10 games. And we've seen great teams that have great quarterbacks really look bad at certain points late in the season, like the Ravens when they lost two games in a row by 30 points in mid-December and then won the Super Bowl. Like it does happen. And if it was ever going to happen, like a team led by Josh Allen could.

do it, but they're not, I'm starting to feel like I'm going to take the out, because they are 10th in the AFC right now, Dan. I mean, they've got like teams to catch up on. Now, there's a bunch of teams that have four losses, a bunch of teams that have five losses. Almost the entire conference does, eight teams has four or five losses. So if they could start winning games, they'd be fine, but you look at that schedule. It's hard to. They're not going anywhere. This team's not good enough. And I, they're telling us, we've seen enough of a sample size where I really do think this is a yeah an average team like a nine win team maybe and maybe that's enough to get in maybe it's not and the difference and it's you know you know this like even i enjoyed i was living in

boston at the time and i enjoyed that 2001 patriots team and that crazy playoff run uh because they were an underdog team and nothing was expected of them i think this bill's team is crumbled under the weight of expectations and a a growing sense of pressure uh that they should have been over the hump already by now and then there was this idea that this is the year this is the year it's finally going to happen like Eric Roberts you had a good line before we started

you said there's not been a good watch all season with maybe the exception of the Dolphins game even the games they win it's always a struggle in fact the only game they've won in the past month was that Bucks game where they were looking like they had figured some things out and then all of a sudden needed a Chris Godwin not to see a Hail Mary falling right into his hands

to escape with that game. Yeah, every game feels it's pulling teeth. Like, nothing seems that the bolts aren't tied enough. I mean, even today, that first, you know, the handoff to cook, Josh kind of just dropped it out of his chest. You know, then Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, are like, hey, man, they won the coin toss. They want to set the tone like the Bengals did against them last week,

first play the game, James Cook, fumble. Like, it's just, there's something, man, there's just something. I don't know what it is. And Ken Dorsey might be the scapego. I don't know if Sean McDermott's going to be the guy because, you know, I don't know. It's pulling teeth with this team right now. Even the wins outside of maybe, like you said, the Dolphins game was good.

They kind of shall lack the Raiders back a couple weeks ago. But there's something's wrong, man. I don't know what it is. Stefan Diggs usually gets his today, maybe like three or four catches. And it's tough. It's a tough walk out. I have no confidence in my team. the Jets because of the offense,

but Sala has, he has a beat on that Bill's already vulnerable. That game, that game could be a real slog like this as well. Like I would not be surprised if that is a game they're struggling to take care of business. And like they are in a lot of trouble. Yeah. No, you mentioned the schedule coming up and we talked a little bit

before we started recording and you go into, you see the schedule. You're like, okay, you're looking it up. Like, hey, here comes a murderous row. Like you said, we got Philly, you got Casey, you got Dallas, you got the charles. you got the chargers i was going i'm going to that game hopefully it might be a bad night for me but it's like you're going in that stretch and yeah

you said the jets always given trouble i mean that first game the season weird little outlier they still lost but you're kind of hoping you're not five and five going into this kind of murderous row of your wake or your schedule where you got to maybe you're now you're trying to steal games where you meet you hoping you have like a little cushion you lose one here or you're on the road in philly or you're on the road in kc you're not trying to steal games against these teams it's i don't know man i don't like i don't like i don't like speaking in a hyperbole but yeah like i said i don't know playoffs something's not right man something's not right and i love josh allen i'm i'm definitely a josh allen apologist he does a lot for the team he tried he wins

games for us but dude something's tough man he's not having a great year he's been he's been this team four more turnovers today i mean this and you know a lot of these games are at home like it's just like they're a hard team to figure out and, you know, to swing back to Denver, Greg, like, you know, let's look at their schedule now because they're a team that have figured things out. And I'm giving credit to Russell Wilson. I'm going to let's give credit. You got to give some to Peyton too because he got this team off the mat where it could have been a total house fire there. But I will say this. I don't, I'm not in a place where I'm, I'm going to think Denver's about to make a run here. They have Sunday night football against

the Vikings. Then they're home against Cleveland at Houston, at Chargers at Detroit. I don't see more than two wins there. So I don't want to take anything away from what they did tonight, but I didn't see anything about like a team that's about to make noise in the conference either. You know, they had that Dolphins game, but basically they've been in every game this season, no matter who they play, good teams or bad teams. It's like come down to the end. They feel like that team. I think John Payton's a good game day coach. He's a good game play. He's a good game play. planner. Sometimes you see their first down offense. I think they're, I think they're playing on some level not to lose, which is not the worst way to play if you're good at doing that, like the 2001

Patriots very much played not to lose. And you look at Russell Wilson's stats tonight, and it's very typical of his season. He threw the ball 29 times for 193 yards. Two touchdowns, no interceptions. He didn't have anything that was even close to an interception. He had a couple bad throws, took a couple bad sacks. Most of his night was looking for his first read, sometimes hit it, had like one or two nice throws. For the most part, it was like find your checkdown, get six yards, his instincts have been better. He's in an offense that makes sense. And the running game is pretty good. You can win games that way if your defense is decent and creating turnovers like they are. They feel like they're going to win as many games as they lose and they'll

get to the end of the season and they'll be eight and nine or something like that. I don't feel much different about them than I did at one and five. I really don't. Other than the defense now is fine. Like you look at the, like tonight, they gave up 7.3 yards for play. Like when the bills got that ball back, did you have any doubt in your mind that they were going down to score a touchdown to go up one? Because I didn't.

And I was just thinking when they got inside the 10 so quickly, I almost thought, oh, they almost got here too quickly, you know, because now you can't. burn the clock anymore they were running the ball so well um i thought like i thought the bills the broncos defense was going to like stand up in that moment but i do give peyton credit there's something about him that's canny and um i i think he coaches up the right things get rid gets rid of the right players and they've got players off the street playing pretty well for them yeah this game i thought was i thought once they botched that extra point and they let the bills go right down the field I thought that was it, 2221.

So they deserve credit. They found away one more time down the field, and their season has a nice night for the fan base, and they're relevant for at least another week or two. I do want to hit one last thing on the bills because I think what you said about that Patriots team not having expectations versus this bill's team is so right. And it's what I believe our friend Damashik would have called

the curse is supposed to. And the worst place to be when you're supposed to be good is that you didn't actually win anything in the first place because you're getting you're getting banged on both ends. They got that close. They got 13 seconds away. I think they would have won the Super Bowl that year if they had won that game personally. I mean, who knows? So you have the pain of losing it that's not keeping you together and you have all these expectations.

And I do really think that that you see it across. the board. And this is going to test Allen and McDermott specifically in Diggs more, you know, in the rest of their leaders, more than any situation possibly could. I thought we would learn a lot about them in the second half of this game, even being down seven, uh, going into halftime. And maybe they are just kind of showing us who they are. That's too much. It's too much for them. I hate to be, I hate to be that guy. Yes. But I'm at the point where it's like, what the hell is wrong as a fan like something's up and I'm watching I mean the fans are tight the fans are like you can they start booing like the feel good story the bills are back is so over it's so

gone and it's like it's at the point where what the F is happening what's going on here you know and you know you got the Stefan Dick stuff every season and you know it's like Sean McDermott oh there's something up and then digs oh we're good Josh and oh we're good and he's saying you know what's oh you guys are making a story out of nothing and um um you're you guys are making a story out of nothing I've watched shows that have pointed out, like, a couple of these pre-game tunnel speeches from Josh Allen are like, leave it here, you know, don't, whatever's there, leave it here, nothing, you know, play for each other. And it's like, it's reading between lines because it's we're grasping at straws here as fans. It's like, what is wrong? And a lot of, like, somebody, the couple people point out, like, what are these pre-tunnel speeches with Josh Allen saying, whatever you got going on out there, leave it at the door, we're here for each other.

and it's just, I don't know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm really here as a friend, as a fan dude, like, I, what you said is very true, Greg, about the curse is supposed to be. And I know exactly where you are, uh, Eric and, and I apologize that sometimes I go back here, but it's, it's a sport that I understand and there are parallels that what the bill, where the bills are at right now is as a Yankee fan where I was five years ago when they were the baby bombers and Aaron judge came up and they need. nearly they took the Astros, the seven games. It was when the Astros cheated and the Astros win that World Series. And then this window was opened up and this idea like this is their window that's going to be the next big run. And then they fell short and then they fell short and then they fell short. And then quietly the roster was starting to have cracks and decay as well. And then by about five years into this quote unquote window, not only do you realize

you still haven't won anything yet. Wait, we're not as good as we were when this window first. opened up. And I think that's now this like cold reality. I'm a dog I'm a dog fan. I'm on both sides of that. Dan. I got both I got the football and the baseball. So they beat us when they beat you guys. Now I'm watching I'm watching Corey Seeger win MVP's for the Rangers. Well, there you go. At least you got you have you have your range. It's tough man. I can't win anywhere. Oh, you're a Dodgers fan. That's right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm a big loser. Hey, hang in there, buddy. You're still very

handsome and you got two thumbs mostly. All right, let's take a break and then we'll do some news. All right, we are back. It's a therapy session on a Monday night as Western New York and Eric Roberts's corner of Los Angeles is just under siege as the bills, the bills start to fade away. I don't know. I'm still kind of in shock that they did not find away in this game. But let's see what else is going on in the NFL right now.

start here in Los Angeles where Matthew Stafford is ready to return to action. He's expected to play in week 11 with the recently signed Carson Wentz likely backing him up. That's kind of just a funny tandem for some reason, Stafford and Wentz. Here is Rams head coach Sean McVeigh on the QB situation. No, Matthew should be ready to go. He was out there taking part of an individual today. He's making great progress. and so we're operating with the anticipation and expectation that he is going to be good to go.

It'll be pushing through, but we expect him to be able to start and play and do his thing and lead the way this week. What is that? I don't know. I got to get Jordan Rodriguez back on the horn. Now what do we have going on? There's a huge sign in Sean McVeigh's office in the colors and font of the Rams that reads in all caps, urgent enjoyment. What is that?

Can we get a screen grab of that? That's what led to him becoming a dad a week ago, a little urgent enjoyment. That's what I think of. Same. You know, I'm going to enjoy seeing Matthew Stafford back. I wanted to get this into the show. It is newsworthy because they're more or less out of the race

unless they can go on a surprising run. They got the Seahawks and the Cardinals the next two weeks. Two teams, they generally play well against, including week one when they trounce the Seahawks. So you never know. They're not a crazy team to go on a little run here. But we never hit Carson Wentz signing with this team. And it is something crazy that the two guys,

I was thinking of West because 2017, those were the two biggest stories in the NFL. If you go back to our podcast, the 2017 season, I bet we spent more time talking about Sean McVeigh in his first season as coach and the revolutionary way he was calling the plays into golf, you know, before the 15 seconds, kind of telling him what to do right before that. And Wes, we were fascinated by it. They were a fascinating team.

And also Carson Wentz in his second year, not coming out of nowhere, but having an MVP campaign run that no one really saw coming before that injury cut it short. And here we are six years later. And if they had just had Carson Wentz, you know, on their roster a few weeks ago and maybe an offseason to get them ready, I think they'd maybe beat the Packers had a much better chance. I don't know, man.

Wentz has been kind of trash for a couple of years. I'm just saying if they had any normal backup quarterback, they could have beat the Packers. But it's just crazy that they're all together. And I'm still glad that Carson Wentz is not playing this week that we're getting Maddie stuff. Yeah, but it does feel because Stafford is, you know, he battles the injury bug at the stage of his career. I do believe we should be in line for a couple of late December, perhaps early January. Carson Wentz starts here in Los Angeles. So plenty of tickets at SoFi Stadium.

Let's get in there and check him out and have some urgent enjoyment of our own. What is that? That must have been there all year. I would not, I don't want Carson Went. I want to go to that Thursday night game against the Saints, so I do not want Carson Wentz. But I'm telling you, like, these teams need to be criticized, like, a little bit more for how they've handled these backup quarterback situations.

The fact that the Rams just decided, you know, they got into the middle of the season and they sold the rest of their team down the river to start Brett Wreck. Greg, don't get me started on that situation. Just like, you totally could have just had a normal backup quarterback for like a million and it would have been fine. Like Carson Wentz would have been fine this whole time. Doesn't urgent enjoyment sound like a collective soul album that came out in 2017 and nobody even knew it existed?

Maybe Soul Asylum. Maybe that's weird. It's weird how you stress those words. Soul Asylum. Soul Asylum. Just saw Dave Perner on stage at the Liz Phair Exile and Guyville show. How about that? She brought out Perner?

Wow, that's interesting. Bob and I went to a Soul Asylum concert about seven years ago at the Trubidor, and I kept on looking around to see if maybe Winona Ryder would be there at Perner's X. How Dave Perner, the man literally looked and almost certainly smelled like a homeless person, was locking down 1992 Winona Ryder, an all-time Zeus are favorite. I'll never quite have a handle on that one. All right. In other news, the Saints are dealing with, quote, unquote, fairly significant injuries to both wide receiver Michael Thomas and cornerback Marshawn Latimore. These are this according to pro football talk. These are injuries that are not expected to end the seasons of the respective players, but it's going to cost them potentially multiple weeks.

A better news for Derek Carr. He avoided a serious right shoulder injury that was confirmed. by Dennis Allen on Monday. He said the shoulder checked out fine. They have a buy this week. So Carr is a tough son of a gun. I would imagine you're going to see him out there when they come back for their week 12 matchup with the Falcons. But don't expect to see Latimore and Thomas.

The Saints fans were enjoying the James experience more than I expected, considering it ended with two interceptions. And they seem about done with Carr. I don't necessarily think Carr's a problem. He's not necessarily the solution there either. But Dennis Allen did make it clear. Derek Carr is absolutely a starting quarterback. He will absolutely be starting.

And losing Latimore is big. This has been one of the healthiest teams in the league. It's one of the reasons why I think Dennis Allen has kind of avoided national attention for the poor job he's doing because they have the easiest schedule in the league. Literally the rest of the way, it's the 30-second hardest schedule. It is the easiest schedule the rest of the way. They've had a pretty easy schedule to begin with. I don't think they're a well coached team.

And there's just there's something there. They got to be careful or else things could get sideways. They also, by the way, added Jason Pierre Paul, the veteran pass rusher to their building. So we'll see if he gets any level of run in their defense. We've talked about what my words specifically meant for C.D. Lamb and his 2,023 Outlook. He was having a productive but not flashy season for the Cowboys, but in the last three weeks, he's been completely unstoppable. He's had three straight games of at least 150 yards, 11 for 150 and two touches in a wipe out of the Giants on Sunday.

And he is feeling himself right now. He told the Cowboys website in an article posted Monday that, quote, I'm the top receiver in this game. there's no question about it if there is i'll see you again next week and i don't know if i agree with that because i think justin jefferson is the best but i have always thought cd lamb had the potential to be this level of a game breaker and he's on my short list he would i would probably put him in my top three if not top five wide receivers um and he is certainly showing that right now and gregg for a guy that primarily as you pointed out a couple days ago plays the slot it's kind of unusual to have somebody that's like electric at this level playing the way he does.

Yeah, because he could do it all. He can make those tough contested catches. He can just cream people after the catch. And he can play outside and make, he can run all the routes. It's crazy. I wanted to throw this out there just because you're Mr. C.D. Lamb, but also because like, all right, let's at least think about this, like where he would stand. Justin Jefferson's hurt. If Justin Jefferson's health. Yes, but I'm going to say like right now this season. So Justin Jefferson's kind of taking himself out of the mix. So is Devante Adams because of the team he's on and who knows, maybe he's getting a little older.

So I, you know, do the math and it's kind of like Tyreek Hill, I think for this season would maybe have the belt. A.J. Brown would be right there. And C.D. Lamb would probably be next. And if I was starting a team just like for the next five years out of those three. I don't know, I might take C.D. Lamb, like, just because he feels a little more scheme independent that you could put him in any situation, A.J. Brown is an absolute dog. So for this season, I'm given, I'm giving C.D. Lamb, the bronze. But the fact that that's even true, I had to think about it. I was like, that's pretty impressive. I think DeVante is trapped in a terrible situation. I still think he's probably at the top or near the top of his powers. Jefferson is my number one. Yeah, I'd probably slot him in maybe right there at three. with Tyreek behind him.

And then I'd put either Jamar Chase or Stefan Diggs at five. That would be, those would be my top five. And you know what? Jeez, I mean, Cooper Cup. That's what I mean. I mean, that's, it's hard, but he's a little bit older. I think CD, you just watch him. I just think he hasn't been thought of as that talented because it's been a slow

build. And like he is that talented. He, you could make arguments for any of those guys, but he's right there in terms of his skill set. He's awesome. And if you want an idea of his skill set, set. Yeah, watch that. There's really no reason otherwise to watch that Cowboys Giants game because it was basically varsity v. JV. But he had two touchdowns, one on a design running play where he just

beat everybody at the edge and scored easily, had the touchdown. And just like with him lately on this run he's on, it's just a collection of 34-yard receptions like that just are setting up that team for success. The Patriots moving on do not have. have a wide receiver that we could add to that conversation and really have not since Randy Moss. You don't like Pop Douglas? I think he had like 75 yards. They took a chance on Jack Jones in the draft a couple of years ago, a high level impact

player for college that had in college who had some off the field issues. He's turned out to be, it appears a bit of a knucklehead as a professional as well and mix that with all the dysfunction and the Patriots these days. And this was not a marriage made to last. And he is indeed waived by the Patriots. He played just 10 snaps in their loss to the Colts. And his snaps had been declining week by week by week with various drama around him. And it's just yet another story of darkness in a fairly bleak season in New England. Yeah, he played so well to start last season. I'm trying to look at the PFF numbers. He looked like an absolute steal that they might be building their team around for a little while. He was ranked

according to PFF as a top 20 cornerback in their grades for people that had at least 400 snaps. He was 16. And I could buy that because he couldn't really tackle, but he covered so well. And it's just emblematic of what's going on with this season. J.C. Jackson was left home. Trent Brown mispractice last week. He was injured, but there was also a personal matter, which was also the way that they described why J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones were having issues. So considering Trent Brown's history, and he's a good player. He's one of the better left tackles in the league, I think, still when he's on the field.

That's got my attention. There's just like a lot going on here, like, of what happens to bad teams and bad organizations. And then now it's just the Patriots. That's that bad organization. It's crazy. Yeah. It really is. And finally, the Panthers, and I just feel for Frank Reich,

I mean, is there a guy that, you know, he just needs to be released from a very dark situation? And I think he'll be a happier person for it come January because it's all, it all seems to be coming to a head for the Panthers. A one and done? I don't know. I guess, yeah, I guess maybe you think he gets two years, but this has been bad.

But there's also, when you do things like give up play calling duty, to your offensive coordinator Thomas Brown I believe three weeks ago. And then, you know, after they got their win over the Texans, we played it on this show, the emotional speech you gave and gave the game ball to Brown. But the offense is cratered, has actually been worse with Brown calling plays.

And now there is open discussion and Reich acknowledged to the team's website that he's just really, quote, thinking the whole thing through about taking back play calling. This kind of, I'm sniffing this one out a little bit, Greg, that Brown is struggling with the job and there's some grumbles maybe in the locker room about the job he's doing and Reich is, it might be less about him deciding that he needs to step in for Brown and the team is unhappy with the direction. That's just a theory of mine. But him taking back over his play caller

just is another sign that they, they don't know what they're doing or what they're trying to do. And I would imagine ownership doesn't love the look either. It's all felt like meddling potentially from ownership because that's been consistent with this ownership group. And to put a better spin on it, it might be the idea that you need to make Bryce Young look better over the next eight games or, you know, that's it. And if I'm going to go down and I'm Frank Reich and this is my last bite at the apple, I'm going to go down doing it my way, calling my plays, doing whatever I can and not handing it off because I don't, I might not have much time here. When they're doing split screens, Dan, I saw this one in Carolina of Bryce Young's first

nine games and Jimmy Clausen's first nine games. And they're like, can you choose which one is which? Oh no, A-B test. They're basically the same. And it's like, okay, I've been the one saying Bryce Young's a little better than people have been given in credit for. In the last two games, he's taken big steps back. And that's worrisome. And that's why, look, a guy like Frank Reich wants to at least take some control. And it's, you know, and I've always kind of pushed back when you've, and this has typically been privately, but you've always been like, man, I miss that Jerry Richardson. And I'm always like, I, why would you say that, Greg? But I think what you're saying is, is that the new ownership, it just feels like things haven't gotten better and the meddling of an owner.

owner is never something that typically leads to success. So, yeah, I'm going to give you the W on that one. Not what I said. Never said that. You can go back and listen to our Jerry Richardson conversations. Actually, I have no idea what we said back then, what we were allowed to say. You've softened on the old man. Not a man that left in a blaze of glory, but did always have that bragging right that I believe he was.

and I guess still is the only former player ever to own an NFL team. So that's that's something. Also, I think the only former NFL player to turn into an owner and then have his statue melted down. That's right. They took down the statue and they had to. They had to turn his statue into liquid magma. It was a good job. It was a good job taking down that statue.

A lot of statues. Well, that's what you said initially, but, you know, now you're like, put the statue back up. He has a place in history. Believe me, there were there were like some, I believe, within a strange corner of Panthers Phantom, but we're really down a weird road here. That was like a kind of a crusade you've been on in general, like, put back all the statues into the south, put them all back. Like, Greg, calm down.

You've done it. You've made me feel uncomfortable with your untruths. How much further can I take this before Greg says, hey, can we take that out of the show? I think there's one more joke that, like the third, the rule of three is here that that Eric is scrubbing. But I don't want Eric to scrub because Eric is scrubbing the filth of the 20203 bills off himself right now. Man, I mean, it's tough.

We're tough on you, Eric, you know, in a way that we probably wouldn't with our own teams in such a... I got a pretty good lufa in the tub, so I can handle it. You know what, Eric, light some candles, get the bubble bath out and just sink into it because you deserve it and get a glass of Pino Grigio. I always kind of joke in these primetime games like Buffalo, Gunna Buffalo. Like, as a kid growing up, it's like they went all those years without a primetime game. And like one of my first like memories is the lateral pass in Tennessee was the, you know.

And then they had the Monday night game against. Tony Romo, he threw like five picks. They still lost. I was at the Nathan Peterman game where he threw five interceptions. It's just, you know, it comes down with those things. It's just like you get hard and you get a callus when it comes to bills and just watching them. But these primetime games, they just always kind of, they kind of fight away, right, dude. They need to get them out of prime time.

They've been living in prime time. They just did the tour. They did TNF, SNF, and Monday Night Football in a row. And they need a break. I think everyone needs a break from the bills. They need to break from themselves. They need to go play some quiet, you know, 1 p.m. window games and just get their season back on track. I think the next couple.

I think the next couple, because I watch most of them with my family before I come in and work and do the stuff for ATN, you know, the 10 a.m. Pacific time games. So I get a nice little, like, window, watch for my mom coming at work. I think the next couple are 1 p.m. Pacific time. No, they're all, yeah, they're all 425 national games. This is the curse of being good. You don't get to have a buried game until you play the Patriots. Randy's my neighbor. So he was over here watching with me.

And I kind of ran through like a QB a QB rundown. I remember the like the chat was a Chad tool, E.J. Manuel, J. Manuel, J. Lossman era. You know, it's just like. There were years where you were playing 16 1 p.m. Sunday windows. Yeah, man. You'd lose. You'd lose and nobody would know.

So today, when Josh through the interception, actually when James Cook had that weird fumble that bounced back into his hand somehow miraculously. He dribbled it down the floor. I mean, he ran incredibly except for the two times he fumbled. Yeah, no. And that's what else one thing is. Like, why were we throwing the ball? Like James Cook outside of, you know, the dumb fumble and the fumble he got back into

his belly somehow miraculously. He was actually doing pretty well. But, you know, it's like throughout the course of this game, I would look down on my phone, it's like 24 text messages, group messages, just ripping me apart. And it's like, guys, this is not new to me at all in any way, in any capacity. Like, this is Buffalo. Like, we find ways to, you know, my dad lived through the four Super Bowls. I was a wee lad at that time.

So thankfully, I didn't have to do that stuff. But I was talking to my mom tonight when we were watching this game right here on my couch. And like, she's like, yeah, we stopped doing super parties after the second one. It's just like, you know, it's just. going to happen. I don't know. It's being a cute though that Randy was over on the couch. I love Well, I was going to say, I think that might be the thing that, you know, is buried that listeners will be tickled by that, that Eric and Big Funk, they, they are neighbors in addition to close colleagues. He's probably like, I can see his front door from right where I'm sitting. And

he's probably about, you know, what is that? Like maybe 25, 25 yards from my window to his front door. So we're homies. This movie, this movie might be kind of before. four-year time, but I'm getting vibes of office space where Peter Gibbons had his neighbor, Lawrence, and they could just hear each other through the walls. Yeah. And, you know, there was a, there's just a connection that comes to, to you through that. Yeah. Well, we worked, we worked together in morning radio before the NFL.

Yeah, he actually moved to the NFL before me, kind of hooked me up in the NFL job interview section. So, yeah, we have a history. He's my friend. He's a good guy. He's a good guy. Good. That's nice. See, it's a family show around. Yeah, definitely. So even when things are going bad for our football teams, there's a lot to be thankful for. And thank you to everyone for listening to the Monday edition around the NFL. We'll be back. And by the way, we did our game rewatch on NFL plus the Texans' thrilling win, their latest thrilling win this time over the Bengals. So check that out. And then we'll be back with Connie Thurney. Fox and Mark Sessler on Wednesday.

heed the call.