NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - MNF Recap: Eagles-Vikings, Titans-Bills (with Arif Hasan)

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

Gregg Rosenthal recaps the Week 2 Monday night double-header, starting with the Eagles-Vikings game with help from Arif Hasan. Then, Gravedigger joins Gregg to cover Titans-Bills (17:35).NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Good protection again, launch downfield. Watkins, wide open, touchdown. Hertz keeps around the edge and bends it back down, fighting for the end zone. What a run. Touchdown, Philadelphia. Second of the night for Hertz. Blitz, Pousins to the end zone.

And intercepted. What a night. for Darius Slay. He's got his second, and the Eagles have their third of the night. Sometimes that highlight package captures the entire game so well, and that one did it. 24-7, the Eagles get it done on Monday night football, the nightcap of the double header. I am Greg Rosenthal. I'm alongside Arif Hassan of the Pro Football Network.

He's covered the Vikings for the athletic for a while now. And A Reef, welcome to the show. And I say that that highlight package captured the game so beautifully because it included a Kirk Cousin's Interception after not handling the Blitz. It included Jalen Hertz making an absolutely sensational running play. And if you listen like really hard, you could almost hear Troy Aikman disdainfully sighing in the background of the interception.

And to me, those were the big stories of tonight's game. It was really not that competitive. I was stunned by that. Were you stunned, especially by the Vikings' defenses inability in the first half to even put up a fight? Yeah, it was. I mean, you know, I figured that the Vikings defense was kind of overrepresenting themselves against the Packers first, because Packers Week 1, I think we're just going to make a thing of that now. But two, I think that, you know, going up against the team without its top receiver that was already depleted at receiver and without, you know, its two tackles, you know, that allowed the Vikings defense probably to get a better reputation than it deserved. We saw that against the Eagles who, you know, put out a really good offensive line, had a great receiver, and it just really all fell apart for the Vikings.

They didn't really have a way of dealing with that. Yeah, you look at the final score and it's only 24 to 7. And you think, okay, they didn't do that bad. But the Eagles definitely took their foot off the gas in the second half. They still ended up with 25 first downs and 486 yards. I mean, Jalen Hertz, I believe might have had more than 300 total yards in the first half alone. So I was getting flashbacks to the Michael Vick six touchdown game in Washington on Monday night football because that's what this offense reminds me of at its peak.

And we've only seen two weeks so far. But Jalen Hertz is a special runner, a reef. And he got it done throwing the ball tonight, 26 of 31 for 333. And a touchdown also had an interception. And we can get into that, but I do want to start with the running because I do think that's where their offense starts. And the run he had on the goal line where he puts his foot into the ground. Incredible. I mean, he runs like a running back.

And then he also gets around the. defender that's right in front of him, and then he runs over another. Then the other touchdown where any other quarterback in the league, I think, other than maybe Josh Allen or Prime Cam Newton goes out of bounds there. But those are the only guys that are considering going for the end zone there and actually get it and reach for it. Jaylon Hertz, like to me, he didn't need like a coming out party, but this felt a little bit like a coming out party. Yeah, actually, you brought Michael Vick and Cam Newton, and I wanted to bring that up because it's like, well, you know, if you're an Eagles fan, you've watched, you know,

some running quarterbacks. There's been a fair few in the most, you know, recent electrifying one is Michael Vick. But he reminds me more of Cam Newton, the way that he can just power through a lot of these runs. I mean, like, yeah, he's, you know, he's fast, right? You know, he's agile. You know, that's all good. But his ability to just kind of create, you know, seven, eight additional yards where there were none. That really reminds me of like 2015, 2014, Cam Newton. That was really incredible. And it's nice, you know, to have that in your arsenal. I think that a lot of people don't understand like, why would you go in shotgun at the goal line? Well, it's so you can run the read option with one of the best running quarterbacks in the NFL. Right. There are so

few quarterbacks I feel like that could actually play running back if they really had to. Almost none. My list would be two in today's current NFL. It'd be Josh Allen, if you had to, I think could do it. And I think Hertz would be even better. And I've thought he's somehow underrated as a rusher. I thought Lamar was like this going into his second year that the The advantage that Hertz brings you, because to me, he is a special runner because of the vision, because of the power, and that sets up the passing game. Yeah, Miles Sanders goes 17 for 80. He's been looking good this year, but it's set up a passing game tonight, a reef where Goddard goes 5 for 82, Devonty Smith, 7 for 80, A.J. Brown, 5 for 69. Quez Watkins has that big play and goes 2 for 69.

So four receivers go over 65 yards, and kind of what did you see? out of the Vikings and then what did you see out of the Eagles passing game that that really made it feel like it was kind of easy pickings and Hertz really could have whoever he wanted throughout the night. Yeah, I mean, I'll cop to this. I thought that, you know, before he transferred to Oklahoma, that Jalen Hertz's best position in the NFL was running back. I thought, you know, he should have just been a running back. But, you know, I guess Lincoln Riley did something correctly there and was able to turn. Guys get better. That's the thing. You know, it's like we really underrated a lot. Guys get pro coaching and they're doing it as their profession and the age, they get better.

Yeah, right. Absolutely. And one of the things that, you know, makes them, he was always good at this, both at Alabama and Oklahoma, was his ability, particularly to, you know, pick apart zones. And the thing is, when you're up against a running quarterback, a lot of teams like to play a little bit more zone than they're used to so they can always have their eyes on the quarterback and converge. And if you've got a quarterback that's really good at picking apart those zones and can throw the ball, which, you know, Hurd seems to be able to do through these two weeks. You know, that, that's tough. You know, the issue is that the Vikings. Um, you know, they, they typically play like a match zone, which allows them to play a little bit of man coverage. Uh, and, you know, I'll have to watch the tape back again, but it sounded like they, it looked like they were playing a little bit more of a standard, uh, landmark or drop back zone where they, where they go to their spots and they put their eyes and that gives you a lot less flexibility. It puts, you know, your players in positions where you can just find the seams in those zones and pick them apart. And that's exactly what the Eagles receivers were trained to do. That's exactly where Hertz put his eyes. Um, you know, he was probably not always going to his first read. He was going to his second. He was going to his second. in her third read, and, and he knew based off of, you know, the coverage that he was looking at where those zones might be. So the Vikings are very much a defense that relies on disguise. And if you, if you have fewer tools available to the dispatcher coverage, Choi,

Eickman was getting upset later in the game. Well, they normally are. What I'm saying here is that they did. And I think part of that was because they wanted to get all of their players to have their eyes in the quarterback. And so you don't have the ability to have these weird rules and math. match zone where, you know, somebody picks up somebody else, you know, you pick up the three while I pick up the two or something like that. You know, they were having the safeties play, you know, normal two deep. And they, and they varied the back end a little bit more than I think Troy Aikman was saying. But, you know, for the most part, it, it was pretty easy to identify the defense for a

modern NFL quarterback. Right. And Troy gets frustrated when the game starts getting bad. We'll get to his frustrations with with Kirk Cousins in a second. But I do want to just stick with the Eagles for just a little more. When they, are dropping back. And you mentioned, and how you explain that with the zone coverage, makes a lot of sense. When Jalen Hertz is getting rid of the ball to Devante Smith on a third and five, on those kind of easy outroutes where he has a very simple read, not that he can't go to his second read because he has so much time.

When he needs it, the offensive line was giving him time to go through his reads. But for the most part, on the third and short types of plays, it was easy pickings, and he didn't have to go to his second reads. because the easy stuff was right there. And that's what I'm talking about when it comes to the running game opening up the rest of their offense. All those changes, the Vikings' lack of disguise, is because of they're afraid of Jalen Hertz, the runner. And if he can hit those relatively simple, short area throws, and he's done it through two weeks, to me, this should be one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Yeah, it certainly has that capability. I mean, they've got a great cadre of running backs. They've got, you know, a top three, if not top one offensive line. They've got a quarterback that can really, that really knows how to, you know, do some damage. And, you know, those top two receivers are great. You know, it'd be nice to see Quez Watkins do this again and again and again throughout the weeks. We'll see if he's got that capability. They love him, by the way.

He is those typical guys. And I tell me who's the guy in the Vikings. Maybe it's KJ Osborne. Maybe it's someone playing a different position. But he's, Ques Watkins is the ultimate, like, oh, the guys in the building love him. They all think like he's going to have a much better career than everyone outside of the building loves him. That's what they seem to think. about Quez Watkins.

Actually, Osborne is a pretty good example of that. I mean, people won't stop talking about him and how, you know, how smart he is. He's like one of the smartest receivers in the room and how much he loves to block, how much he just like gets in there and, you know, all of the normal stuff that you say about a receiver that everybody loves, right? He's got basically checks every one of those boxes. So, yeah. That's great when that's your third or fourth option, which is what Watkins is in the passing

game, Watkins is, you know, their fourth option, really behind Goder and maybe even a running back that they get to. So, yeah, they were rolling offensively. It's going to get harder at some point. This game could have been much harder if the defense of the Eagles wasn't as dominant as it was. We saw Jonathan Gannon

who got a lot of grief for not blitzing and playing very vanilla a year ago blitz the hell out of Kirk Cousins. You know, he blitzed the lot last week, too, against Jared Gough, and it did not work that well for the most part. But he did it. Tonight, what did you see out of Kirk and are you excited because you're going off the Vikings beat,

you're going to the national beat. Are you excited to like not have to answer for Kirk Cousins' Monday Night Football performances anymore? Because it's not your fault, Arif. Yeah. I appreciate that you put that out there because sometimes it feels like it is. I know. I mean, I just know covering it.

They're just like, why are, why is he doing this to us again on Monday Night Football? Like it is kind of a bummer. I mean. Yeah. And here's the thing. it gets really tiring. Like I kind of wanted the Vikings to move on from Kirk, not just because it might be the best move for the franchise,

which, you know, probably, right? Because you're tired personally. I'm tired. Yeah, I've come with this guy forever and nothing changed. But no, I mean, again, and he sees somebody that I think had a lot to answer for because that the Eagles defense has been full of excellent players, and it feels like they've never been able to turn

all those excellent players into a good defense. right and last week against the lines we kind of saw that a little bit right you know and and they gave up what 35 points or something like that that that felt you know like you you could do a lot more given the pieces that you have available to you and then you end up asking questions that are not fair like is you know is darius like cooked is he done and it turns out no that's not the case five past deflections that's like a season for some players uh and along with his couple interceptions there yeah and and some of those past deflections could have been in it he had so many opportunities that he had like enough draw and no one's going to say he had a bad day or that's the one he should have got. If you're having a day where you drop like two picks and no one even remembers that. But what's the deal with Kurt? Because he started this game slow.

They went three and out, I think four of their first five drives. He kind of forced it to Irv Smith a couple times in that spot. But it didn't feel like a disaster. But you've watched them a lot. Like when it starts going bad, it does seem to snowball. And this was one of those games. games. Yeah, I mean, like you mentioned, Gannon blitzed a lot. I think Kirk Cousins was blitz 49% just under 50% of his dropbacks tonight. Like that is why. That's so, it might have been

more than anybody else in week two. Like, that's wild. That's disrespectful, frankly. It really is. We don't respect you. I can't think of an elite quarterback where you feel comfortable blitzing half of the. I mean, Lamar against the dolphins last year and that started a trend. But that's it. That that was a blip in his career. career. Yeah. This, I think he was two, at one point he was two for 10 for 10 yards against the Blitz with a couple of picks.

Yeah. That, yeah, I think that graphic showed up on the screen and I was like, that's probably I'm going to end up writing about tonight is Kirk Cousins against the Blitz. Oh, you still have to write tonight after this? Yeah. I've got one last piece lined up before I had up to National. I apologize then. Oh, don't worry.

I've got another podcast after this anyway. I've put myself through this. This is all on me. It is kind of torture being a Vikings fan. I can imagine at times it's a torture being a Vikings journalist or someone that covers the team. Cousins led this team in rushing with 20 yards. Jalen Rager was second with 17 yards.

With 17 on the one. By the way, Eagles fans, can we ease it on the Rager booing? Like, was that necessary? Did we need you booing Jalen Rager in Philadelphia? feel like what did this man do for you it felt like dunking on like you're winning the game you got rid of him you got a pick for him you should be happy about that he didn't draft himself over justin jefferson you drafted him over justin jefferson like that's an unnecessary booing i i kind like the first one when he caught like that that punt for like the one yard return like i get it it's like a welcome

back to philadelphia so but like the in the fourth quarter when the whole game this isn't this isn't Kyrie Irving returning to Boston or even Russell Wilson, who, you know, who's, you know, been a great player returning seat. This is Jalen Rager, who was like your fifth receiver. It just felt untoward. I would be fine with it if Eagles fans didn't complain forever that everyone brings up the Santa Claus battery throws. Like, this is why people bring it up. But then, yeah, yeah, then this. Well, it's just like after, and of course, I'm filtered through recovering the Vikings, but after like 38 and 7 at the NFC championship game,

They're throwing, like, beer cans at Vikings fans leaving the game. It's just like, I don't like, okay, the Santa thing was like 30 years ago, but that was yesterday. Like, just like, just relax. Right. But here's the thing. Like, I would understand it, right? Because Jalen Rager had a fairly combative relationship with fans. Like, I get that and that, you know, there might be some push and pull there.

But after the year that he's had, starting, I think, with his grandmother dying in January, and then his best friend dying in May, and then him having the camp of his life. life apparently. You know, he, he did excellently from, you know, I talked to multiple Eagles reporters about this because, you know, traded to the Vikings. I want to know. And he had an amazing camp and he was, uh, you know, a completely different person. He was respectful. He didn't want to engage with it. It's just like, you got to give people a chance to change. Right? Like, like, let the man lose. Eagles fans are coming at me being like, oh, he was combat. Yeah, something like that. That he came after the Eagles fans. We don't like that. That's

fine. And Eagles fans piped down. I was the only NFL media. list to pick the Eagles to win the Super Bowl this year. So I'm on with the Eagles. Just be happy. It's like when you're winning, just be happy. You don't need to boo everyone. That's another thing. When you're like a division favorite, you're winning.

People are like, did you see that hurts as odds towards MVP bump from like 14 to 1 to 8 to 1 at halftime? Like just you've got a lot going for you. Yeah, that might be even a little over the MVP odds skis, even for me. And I am truly expecting. Jalen Hertz to have one of the... You're the Jalen Hertz guy. So before I got onto this pod,

someone DM me, he's like, you got to be careful. Rosenthal is like this huge Jalen Hertz guy. You've got to watch out. And I was like, okay. I am. I spent this off season saying like, no matter what you think of Hertz,

like this season's going to look better than you think. He might have some warts to his game, but it's not going to totally show up this year. He is in the perfect situation. And I'm excited to watch this team all year. I'm excited to watch the Vikings too. I think they'll be better than this. Jefferson held to 48 yards on,

on 12 targets. Cousins had 11 pass deflections in this game, which is just outrageous how many times the Eagles touched his passes. I just think it was one of those nights, and it's week too. So everyone calmed down a little bit on both sides. A reef, you don't have to calm down. You need to rev it up.

You need to go do another podcast and then go write an article. And then you're starting where at the Pro Football Network next week? Yeah. You can't be taking a week off in the middle of the season, are you? Oh, no, I don't have that kind of time. I'm starting Wednesday. Okay, everyone check out Areef, really smart analysis in everything that he does. I love reading him, and he's got one of the fullest beards and the shiniest domes.

In terms of like full beard to shiny dome ratio, he might lead the NFL. He might be the MVP at the league. Doing my best. Just work every day on it. Rief, thank you. I'll let you go. And we are going to get to the Titans and the Bills game. I wish it was a better game, but it was worse.

Fourth down and one. Fink DeMoss. Alman wants to throw across his body. It's caught. Stefan Diggs for the touchdown. The easiest touchdown catch they'll ever make. Here's Alman on second 10. Stepping up into the logo and throw.

He's got Diggs wide open. It's caught. Touchdown. 46-yard strike. Josh Allen. to Stefan Diggs. Tana Hill empties the backfield on second and 13.

That's a pressure close. He's a intercepted. Matt Marano, pick six, Buffalo. And it's all bills tonight. All bills tonight. It's kind of might be all bills all season. We'll see.

But those were the highlights for about 41 to 7 beatdown of the Tennessee Titans Justin Graver. This was a game for most of the first half. It was 10 to 7 late in the second quarter. And then the roof just like collapsed on the Titans like a table being broken outside

at Bill's Stadium at Orchard Park. By the end, Malik Willis is playing. Everything that could go wrong, was going wrong. And it didn't feel like one of those 41-7s where the seven got a ton of bad luck. I know the turnovers were for nothing here. But it was a beat down on both lines,

very much like the Bills game against the Rams. They just seem to be in a different class right now than other NFL teams. Yeah, I think my initial overreaction to this game is the Bills are winning the Super Bowl. They look like the best team in football. But also the- That is an overreaction.

The first two weeks of the year ultimately don't matter that much. Yes, but the Titans, I mean, this game had, I felt like this game had a couple inflection points where if things had gone slightly differently, the entire course of the game flow is different. And one of them was the first play that we heard there, the fourth down, fourth and one from like, I think it was the two-yard line. The Bills have the ball, the fourth and one from the Tennessee four-yard line. If the Titans get a stop on that fourth down, they take over 10-7 with a minute to play in the first half, losing 10-7. I hear what you're saying, and I respect you, and I respect your points. But they already had stopped them on a fourth down play in that half. And what I mean by like it wasn't a cheap 41 to 7, it was 414 yards to 187.

And even at that point in the first half, they were doubling them up. And I think that's what has to be disconcerting for the Titans. And Bill's fans will get to how great the bills are in a second. It all ties together. But I think what has to be disconcerting for the Titans, Titans is you want to think of them as a really tough team. And you watch this game closer than I did. I was doing Channel 5 UK coverage once.

It was about mid to late second quarter of this game. Would you say that the Titans line play held up against Buffalo on both sides? Because if the Bills are managing to push around the Titans, that is a bad sign. I think the Bills did push around the Titans on both sides of the ball. Taylor LeWan went down with what looked like a pretty serious injury. They had to bring the cart out for him really early in the game on the first drive for the Titans. They did end up going down and scoring on that drive. That 75-yard drive, that was 75 of their 187 yards in the whole game, though.

So they made a good – like, that was it. From there, the offense was completely useless. They couldn't do any. They could not move the ball. Derek Henry finished this game with 13 carries for 25 yards. And he did get in the end zone early on the first. drive. But every time it felt like the Titans, like it's now or never Titans, you have to score on this drive to make a play or something they would stall out. At the end of the first

half, Ryan Tannehill got sacked with just under 40 seconds left at the Tennessee 29-yard line. And the Titans decided to just let the first half clock run out. They could have tried to move the ball and get points, but moving the ball was just not happening against this Bill's defense. And that's a joke, though. That's like, I hate that. I hate it too. opposite of what Dan Campbell did for the Lions on Sunday. It's the opposite of what Nick Siriani did tonight when he had the ball inside his own 10 and under 90 seconds to go and really played aggressively once they had the chance and they got point. And I know the Titans aren't there yet. They're like not ready for that, but that is telling to me. But they have to be. They have a

veteran quarterback. They have continuity across the staff and the offense. But they don't have continuity on the offensive line. They don't have continuity with their skill position players. Five of Tana Hills top six passcatchers. And we're going to talk about how dominant the bills are now because defensively, that's where I think you would expect the Titans to at least get some metaphorical punches in. And I suppose they did keeping it to 10-7 late into the second quarter. At that point, I was like, ooh, this is a Titans game.

It doesn't feel even, but they're keeping it close. So kind of tell me about how the Bill's offense overwhelm them and how I guess neutralized. the Titans defensive line. Well, it started with Stefan Diggs, and he was just unguardable, but the Titans were also trying to guard him with undrafted free agent rookie cornerback, Trey Avery, and a sixth round pick from a few years ago, Chris Jackson, who started this season on the practice squad and was elevated for today's game. Titans were without Christian Fulton, obviously Harold Landry tore his ACL, Bud Dupree went out in the first quarter and didn't return,

so the Titans could not get pressure on Josh Allen, almost at all, and the cornerbacks were left on an island against Sifon Diggs. Caleb Farley gave up a huge catch to Jake Kumero. The bills were just attacking all game long. It felt like, you know, a third and 14 turned into a third and nine because of a defensive offsides. Easy pitch and catch right over the middle. There's no resistance from the Titans defense.

It just felt from the very beginning of the game like the Titans were going to struggle to get stops and forcing the bills into multiple fourth and one situations was like the only time the defense was able to get off the field. until the middle of the third quarter. And by that point, the game was basically over. I mean, it was 24 to 7. So it wasn't over, especially with everything we saw on Sunday. It was over.

But this game is over. But then Kyle Phillips muffs a punt, and then it really was over from there. Tannehill comes back on the next possession, throws an interception. On the next possession, throws the pick six. And then it was 41-7 in the third quarter, and the Titan said, here comes Malik Willis. But Stefan Diggs and Josh Allen just have a chemistry that's unbelievable. And the bills were-

People are like, oh, why are you putting this guy on Stephen Diggs? Why are you doing that? Wait, that's not the plan. I mean, first of all, you only have so many guys. I mean, who's their number one cornerback right now? It's like Roger McCreary, a rookie. And they're playing Caleb Farley, who hasn't been healthy. If everyone was healthy on this defense,

probably wouldn't be playing more than 25 steps. There is no one special to put on him. Like, they've got Kevin Byard, and they don't have a roster of a team that was the number one seed a year ago. They've got a roster that needs to Patriot style figure itself out as they go along. The problem is they're O and 2, and they're in the right division for it, but they're going to have to stack some wins along the way while they're figuring things out. But the bills are, I mean, they were just an unstoppable machine on offense.

The Bills have beat the Rams, the Super Bowl. The Titans were the one seat, and they've beaten those two teams by a combined score. 72 to 17. So a lot of teams are going to feel bad after facing this Bill's team, even though they didn't even have, like, Gabe Davis in this game. And you mentioned the short-yard situations. Like, their traditional running game isn't still cooking. But did at least you let yourself enjoy watching Josh Allen just at some point

seemed like he was just kind of like showing off? Because he basically threw a pass at one point. I looked out of the corner of my eye where it appeared like he was doing like a submarine style. pass from the pocket like he was like a sidearm submarine pitcher he didn't even need to do it he wasn't on the run he just kind of threw it underhanded from the pocket like 17 yards down the field

like I've never seen such a thing oh we know he's having fun I mean they talked about how last week he was laughing while stiff-arming Rams defenders like literally laughing on the field during the play the Titans bottled up the rushing attack pretty well too Devin Singletary 6 for 19 Zach Moss 3 for 17 James Cook came in and ripped off a long one when it was long over.

Singletary did have a big run to start the game, a 16-yard run to start the game. His other five carries went for three yards. So it wasn't like they were running it, but Josh Allen is just magical. He's unstoppable the way he's playing football right now. It's crazy. I hate hyperbole. But if you kind of start with the playoffs last year, or even if you want to go back to the regular season game where he pitched the perfect game against the Patriots to win the division.

I just never seen a quarterback have a five or six games stretch any better. I think there's a certain point of transcendence that you reach that it's stupid to pick who's better. Like there have been other quarterbacks who have had streaks like this. You might even say many of them, but none have been, none could possibly play the position any better than he's played because I saw you tweeting about it at one point. or maybe it was you sent me a text. Like, yeah, they forced them to punt three times.

Like, that's more than anyone's done in the last few games. It's like, but that's the level that they're at, that if you can force three punts, you're feeling like you get a win. But that's not a win when you're playing against the team that also can turn you over and have an elite defense. Von Miller was unblockable again in this game, and their defensive line absolutely looks like a problem. Greg Russo had a good game.

Greg Russo destroyed Aaron Brewer on one play, just knocked him into the Tannenhill's lap. That's the whole thing. It's a combination. Oh, you can stop their running game. Great. Their defense is going to eat you up and they're going to throw the ball all over you. To really emphasize how dominant of a game this was, I will read you this stat that I also texted

you. The Bills had eight tackles for loss. The Titans scored seven points. They had more tackles for loss than the Titans scored points. That is just, I mean, it was a total beatdown on both sides of the ball from about the time that Stefan Diggs scored that touchdown. until the end of the game. And I will say any concerns about Ken Dorsey

taking over as play caller for Brian Dayball should be completely erased. This bill's offense looks amazing and their touchdown that they scored on that fourth and one from the four-yard line. It was, it looked like it was designed to be a little swing pass to the running back and the Titans pounced all over

at Josh Allen's rolling out to his left looking to hit the running back in the flat. But I think it was all a disguise intended to get the defense moving left, which worked perfectly, and Stefan Diggs leaks back out to the right and was wide open for the touchdown. So I think this Bill's team is going to be really tough to beat. And I also think...

They're going to have the best, better passing game. They're going to beat you up front. No, by the way, most of the time they'll out-coach you because they did just out-coach Sean McVeigh and they did just out-coach Mike Fravel. Badly, badly. I mean, the Titans didn't make any adjustments to try to take away Stefan Diggs. They just left their young, inexperienced cornerbacks. trying to guard him one-on-one, which I know you say that's not the plan,

but, like, you can rotate safe. You can try some kind of bracket coverage to stop him from going off for 12 catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns. I mean, geez. Yeah, shout out to Stefan Diggs. Like, their number two receiver tonight was Dawson Knox 4 for 41. Kumero was in there. The bills do have some injury concerns going into next week's game against the Dolphins.

They lost Jane Jackson. That was a brutal hit by Tremaine Edmonds just, like, crushed his head in the neck area. You know, his teammate, I believe it was Poir, said he got a text back from both Micah Hyde, who also left the game, her and Dane Jackson saying that they're all right. I mean, I don't know what all right means in this context, but at least Dane Jackson is able to be texting, and hopefully that's not too serious. They are missing a lot of players right now at Trudevius White, Dane Jackson, Micahide, Jordan Phillips got her in this game.

Ed Oliver missed it Gabe Davis was out. Tim Settle also out. It's a lot of good players, but. Bill's fans aren't worried about that tonight. Bill's fans are feeling no pain. And, you know, as a longtime Patriots fan, I would say, like, you might as well enjoy these early season romps. Like, yes, you know, in your heart, Super Bowls aren't won in September, but so what? You're in September.

Right. Like, we don't know what's going to happen. Another pandemic might hit us in like a month. Let's enjoy this while it's happening. I'm joking. Please. Don't pull a Mark Sessler on us. All I'm saying is like, this is the world we're living in now.

And while every other team is kind of like figuring it out and, oh, we're still in like preseason week two mode and like we're going to figure out our lineups, it's like, no, the bills are in divisional round of the playoffs last year still. They haven't stopped playing. They've actually found a more creative offensive coordinator somehow maybe. And they're just crushing people. So like it's salad days. Enjoy it. Why not? What's the worst that could happen?

And another crushing playoff loss, wait for that to happen before you worry about it. Let's enjoy a truly dominant football team. I think this Bill's offense has really, really evolved to a place that is so hard to defend. And what I mean by that is the Titans last year, when they played this team last year and beat them, were able to frustrate Josh Allen by forcing him to take the underneath options, taking away, don't let anything get over the top, the cover two shell. and they kind of tried that in this game. And so did the Rams.

And so did the Rams. And Alan was content to just hit Diggs on a nine-yard out, let him stiff-arm McCreary's face to, you know, wherever, oblivion, and pick up extra yards. And instead of having like a second in seven or a second in eight after like a short dump-off completion, the bills were able to turn those into second-in-ones and really stay ahead of the sticks that way.

And Alan was patient. I mean, he was perfect. He was perfect. They're almost unstoppable when he's making decisions like that. And look, some defense will figure it out or something might go wrong at some point. But for right now, he's at a level that if you love football, it's just hard not to enjoy watching. He's at a level, frankly, that I thought in my heart of hearts, maybe Cam Newton could get to someday. And that's the player he always reminded me of most because they run so similarly.

And like the NFL's changed, offenses change. but Josh Allen has changed too. And Kim Newton won an MVP and was unstoppable in that year. But I just think the way NFL offenses have evolved, this Josh Allen offense is at another level even than those Panthers' offenses were at. And Josh Allen is doing something similar, but doing it even better. And the way that he runs those arm angles.

And oh, by the way, yeah, he's stiff arming guys too. So that's it for Bill's Titans. It was 41 to 7. I'm going to wrap up with a quick top six list. I'm going to try to add this, and maybe we'll mix things up. And if you're listening this far, let me know if you like it or not. But just for a little fun, a little something different, at the end of each one of these Monday Night Football Recaps,

which will usually only be one team. I'm going to add just my final top six list of something that sparked from the game, or in this case, the games tonight. And right now, I'm just going to do the top six runners at quarterback in the NFL right now, inspired by Josh Allen and Jalen Hertz, who, spoiler alert, are both on this list. And since this show's gone long, I'm going to make it quick. Number six, because, again, I don't like round numbers, Justin.

You remember that, right? Yeah, I do. So it needed to be either four or six. And it's like, I can include more good players here if you go six. Right. I have a Zemwalt drop coming, eventually playing off this idea. Oh, I can't wait to hear it. Number six is Marioada.

And I wouldn't have expected that a few years back. I'm just talking about right now this season, what I see, explosive power, and they're actually using him, Marcus Mario is number six. It's a pretty big drop from five to six. Justin Fields is five. Look, we've got to get more than eight completions in a game that hasn't happened yet this season through two weeks. But he is a powerful runner with great speed, and I think they need to lean into that a little more than they have. Number four is Kyler Murray, who at points in his career, I've thought. had a chance to be maybe the best pure runner in terms of just making people miss

that I've ever seen at quarterback, like just in terms of making people miss. He's a little more hesitant to run now already than he was a couple years ago. You saw in his rushing totals a year ago, so he's number four. Number three is Josh Allen. Look, he only had to run one time tonight. That's the beauty of Josh Allen. Whenever he wants to run, he could be number one. Like I said, he's Cam Newton.

The two most efficient runners, Justin, in the NFL, last year at any position, running back or quarterback in terms of creating 10-yard plays per run where Josh Allen and Jalen Hertz. Jalen Hertz is my number two. We talked about it with a reef. When he puts his foot in the ground and the way he sees the field in front of him, that's why they have him in shotgun. He sees the field like a running back. Like he could play the position and it's gotten undersold because he's not just running guys over. Yeah, he's not Lamar Jackson, but he absolutely sets up defenders with the way he uses his leverage and gets past them. And when he puts his foot in the ground, he goes. Like, to me, he has a

chance here to have the greatest season any quarterback has ever had running the football. And he has power too. He can power through guys. I really think he has a chance to do something like, you know, 1,300, 1,310. No one's ever done that before. I think he could do it this year and be like the number one overall fantasy player. But number one, still got to be Lamar. I mean, he's the greatest to ever do it. And in case you forgot, on that play where he ran 71 yards against the dolphins on Sunday, that was a play that looked like it should have gone outside,

but he put his foot in the ground and he gets through that hole faster than like any running back I can think of, one of the most physically gifted and natural runners, whether quarterback or running back that I have ever seen. So just because of history and just because he deserves that respect, he gets number one. But I'm telling you, Hertz is coming up close, number two. And if Allen needed to, he could be there right there too. I have always loved running quarterback since I was a kid. Randall Cunningham was my favorite.

We are living in the golden age of running quarterbacks, and you saw it on Monday night football. It told me for a second. Malik Willis played the fourth quarter of this game. He only threw four passes, and he only completed one of them. But he did have four carries for 16 yards. And on a couple of them, he looked pretty electric as a runner. We'll see how he develops. Is this setting up the Zumwalt drop?

No. I mean, what? You just, I had everything wrapped up in a beautiful bow graver. I led it all from the running backs to what we saw tonight. And then you hit me with, oh, Malik Willis won for 60. I have had one tiny positive thing. I do got to say Malik Willis will be on this list just based on the preseason. Heck, I just put them on the list.

Sorry, Mariona. Based on the preseason. Just to pay off you jumping in there. Malik Willis, you are now on the list. Crossout Marriota. That preseason was still against professional players, and it was special. I loved watching the games tonight, even though if they were one-sided, they were the types of players that I love to watch.

I love all of you for listening in, and I would love it. If you check out the Tuesday night, or the Tuesday podcast, rather, with Colleen Wolf. I'll be there, too. We're going to talk about some cornered animals, a little teaser there. That's it. Till then. For Rie Fassan, for Justin Graver. For Kirk Cousins, for Troy Aikman's total disapproval of Kirk Cousins not throwing the ball.

I'm Greg Rosenthal. He's the call. This is an IHeart podcast.