NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Seahawks-Lions and Titans-Dolphins MNF Recaps

Episode Date: October 1, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to recap the Monday Night Football doubleheader between the Seahawks and Lions and Titans and Dolphins. The show starts with the shootout between the Seahawks and Lions (03:45) and a rundown of the stellar play from Jared Goff and Geno Smith (09:12). The show then shifts to the Titans and Dolphins where Will Levis' play before being injured (22:14) and the state of the Dolphins is discussed (31:50). The guys get you caught up on news from around the NFL including injury updates to Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson (36:24), DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons (39:18) and Robert Saleh walking back his comments about Aaron Rodgers' cadence (45:21). Finally, Gregg and Nick give you their players of the week to wrap the show (48:48). 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. Second and goal for the Lions from the 7. Gough out of the gun, Montgomery to his right. Jared leans in. There's the snap. Jared on the end around, gives it to Amman Ra.

He's going to throw it to J. Jared, it's on the right to the end though. Jared golf, oh, baby, on the receiving end of a pass from Avon Rock St. Brown. Oh, Ben Johnson, I see you too. That is beautiful stuff. That is Monday Night Magic. It was Monday Night Magic, W-X-Y-T, Dan Miller, with one of the most fun plays of the year, one of the most fun calls of the year,

one of the most fun games of the year. 42 to 29, the Detroit Lions beat the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night football. It was a showcase of quarterbacks, but yes, Jared Goff also as a receiver, Himman Amon Ra, St. Brown, became only the eighth duo in NFL history to throw touchdown passes to each other in the same game. You've probably seen the stat out there by now. Jared Goff threw the most passing attempts without an incompletion in NFL history. But it wasn't 18 for 18. Nick shook with me on a Monday night. And yeah, we'll talk about

the Titans Dolphins game too coming up. It was actually 19 for 19 because Amman Ra laid that out there beautifully over a defender and golf with a little extra speed and some late hands for the touchdown. What a night. That made it 28 to 14. And these two teams were just getting warmed up then. The one thing I thought was as soon as he scored and threw the ball in the stands, I was like, isn't he going to want that ball? Like how often is he going to catch touchdown bad? It was that kind of night, though. I mean, that alone was an example of where Ben Johnson's been deep in his bag of tricks, pulled one out again Monday night.

Yeah, it was really an antidote to what we've been seeing this season, where we're hearing, like, the quarterback play is not great. And if you've watched Jared Goff over the first three weeks of the season, he even said it to the ESPN crew. It has not been up to my standard. When he's gotten pressure in his face, he's made bad decisions. And tonight, there wasn't a lot of pressure in his face. He only had to throw four passes under pressure.

I think he took a sack in this game. He did. Two sacks in this game, yeah. But the play calls were there when he had to go down the field. It was on point. He knew what the defense was going to do before it happened. It was a huge role reversal from the game that the Ravens defense, coached by Mike McDonald, played against him a year ago.

and in a big spot with the quarterback island taping looming just the day away, knowing he might get kicked off quarterback island. He just had a magical night with just perfect decision-making. I mean, what more can you do after the game, though? Dan Campbell and Jared Goff both didn't seem to know at first that Jared Goff did not have it in completion. Let's listen to Dan. Yeah, well, I just gave the game ball to somebody else, so I feel awful. right now.

Yeah. No, I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18. Oh, that is hilarious. Shook, what do you think about the Lions after a win like this, where, yes, their defense ended up giving up a lot of points in this game. The Seahawks kept cutting it to one score.

Lions bring it to two score back and forth throughout the second half. Yeah, I gave up over 500 yards, but I don't care about that, Greg, because for some reason, when the Seahawks and Lions meet in Detroit, a shootout just ensues, and we got it just like we did, I think it was week one of last season that would end up in overtime. We got another thriller, and for the first time, after watching Goff and the Lions struggle to put points on the board and finish drives against the Buccaneers two weeks ago, and even that win in Arizona last week really required some grittiness, needed golf to scramble on a third down to pick up a key first down. They needed none of that tonight because they couldn't be stopped. And really, it started with the running game, Greg. That was the beauty of it, was that, you know, they've had some issues offensively in the last couple weeks, and they just said, you know what, forget it. We're going to go back to week one in the drive that won us the game to start the season.

David Montgomery, carry us down the field, and he did. That set the tone, opened up the passing game, and golf was fantastic, no matter the pressure or not, he was sharp all night. Really great to see from the Lions, because if their offense really does produce at this level, that'll buy them time to figure out some of their defensive issues and help them come into form as we near the midway point of the season. Yeah, they're going into their bye week.

I thought this was a big game because I think they've been wanting to feel like the Lions again, and they haven't quite felt like the Lions. I actually think before this game, the defense had showed real improvement this year on balance. They're a good run defense, but they've been playing better against the past. They were without Brian Branch to the night.

Melfan was been out for a minute. minute. And I think they wanted to have a game like this. I think it's perfect. They get into the buy three and one. It's going to be a tough division race this year, clearly. And they can start working on things. And they felt like themselves. And you said it. They are first and foremost, a run first team. I mean, Goff only had to throw 18 passes. Jamir Gibbs goes 14 for 78, has a couple really important chunk plays. They were effective in the red zone. And they want to run to set up the pass that that is who they are you mentioned the seahawks lions rivalry i mean this is a thing we need it in the playoffs next year it wasn't just last year and it was week two 37 31

gino smith takes down the lions in detroit uh the year before week four also early in this season also at home 48 to 45 the seahawks get it done and put the lions at one in three Remember, they started 1 and 6 that year before they started rallying, and that was a big time Gino Smith coming out party. He had the Russell Wilson primetime game, but that was the game where you were like, oh my gosh, they could really be an offensive force. And even the year before when Russell Wilson was the coach, I mean, the quarterback for the Seahawks, they beat the line.

So Dan Campbell was very aware of that fact. That was a shootout, too, where they gave up 50 points. And there's something about Aaron Glenn facing the Seahawks that just doesn't work. and they got to go back to the lab. You can't leave Carlton Davis on an island for this whole game. But I'm not, I guess I'm not that worried, relatively, that they gave up 39 first downs in this game. That is a preposter. No, 38.

So 38 first downs, Nick, is the most first downs. And that was what the Seahawks did in any game by any team in 11 years. That was the 2013, that magical Peyton Manning season. I remember it well was our first around the NFL season with Chris Wessling and Dan and Mark and Chris especially enjoyed the hell out of that manning season. That was the last time a team had this many first downs. And yet the CX weren't really in this game,

at least in the last five minutes. They kept it interesting, but the Lions ultimately got the go-ahead score when they needed to it. I mean, that's what happens. We saw it in Washington against, or in Cincinnati against Washington last week on a Monday night. You know, if you find yourself in a shootout, you really can't afford to waste any possessions.

They had a turnover early on the D.K. Metcalf They had a missed field goal. They punted in between there. Meanwhile, the Lions go, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, punt, touchdown, touchdown. When the opposing offense is scoring at that rate, you have very little to no room for error. You must produce points.

And it was really that fumble that allowed the Lions then to go ahead by two scores and build out enough of a lead that they were able to ride it out to the end. If that doesn't happen, we're probably talking about a game that comes absolutely down to the wire, one of the classics. And it was already a great game, even if it didn't get that close at the end

because of the fireworks. And this is the modern NFL. This is what the fans want. This is what they want points. They want air attack. And the rumors of the demise of the passing game, very overblown, evidently based on this game Monday night. You're right.

And a key moment you went through all those touchdowns in a row for the Lions after their punt, or at least after their fourth quarter punt that I'm thinking about. I mean, there were so many different touchdowns streaks. You could have chosen different parts of the game. They had three straight touchdown, punt, two straight touchdowns, punt, and then another. touchdown. It's just insane. After their fourth quarter punt, Seahawks get the ball with a chance to maybe go take the lead to make it really interesting. And there was kind of a phantom, not a phantom call on Tyler Lockett. It could have been called. It could have not been called a pass

interference call on a fourth down play where the Seahawks picked up the fourth down to get into field goal range. They end up throwing the flag. It's fourth and 13 at that point at the 50 yard line. the Seahawks punt, and they never quite got close again. Look, I can't believe it's taking me this long to say that was a fantastic Gino-Smith performance. I think for most of the game, he actually was, I don't know if he was playing better than Jared Goff, but he was having to do more because he was under so much pressure, and he was playing really well.

I think he's been so locked in all year he ends up with 395 yards, a touchdown, And unfortunately, for his stat line, throws a pick in garbage time, basically, as they're down 13, just trying to find something in the last two minutes that doesn't work. They bogged down in the red zone a couple times right at the end of the game. But he played awesome. And it just gets me thinking, like, this was such a great game because if you just like individual plays, like you just like seeing athletes do awesome stuff, like this was a game for you. So forgive me, Nick, but I'm just going to list it.

a bunch of the plays, and I probably forgot some, but this game, this one game included all of these plays. The first throw of the entire game by Gino Smith was an absolute dime to the sideline, toe tap to D.K. Metcalfe in tight coverage against Carl to Davis. So it's absolutely incredible. The D.K. near touchdown in the second quarter where Gino Smith lobs it over and D.K. is almost diving for the touchdown. They rule it a touchdown at first. ends up being at the half yard line. Again, Gino Smith's box score against Rob. Like, that was a beautiful play. The force fumble, that was actually a great throw by Gino to D.K., who breaks a couple of tackles. It's almost trying to do too much. Jack Campbell

makes that great punch out for the force fumble. Aiden Hutchinson, by the way, 10 pressures in this game. Let's go for a few more plays. Gino Smith, 546 left in the third quarter. There were these back-to-back plays almost where he spins around under pressure. he's about to get hit and just throws a dart to lock it in the middle of the field to get a first down on a third and long. And then just a couple plays later, a similar type of dart under pressure to Bobo, I believe it was. Oh yeah. Bobo fell down too and got back up. It just absolutely insane. Kenneth Walker's 21-yard touchdown run, was it awesome run? Like they pitched it to him left. He goes, you know, he's going left. He goes all the way back around, runs around

couple defenders there. And now let's get to the lion side of thing. There was the toe tap by Amman Rae St. Brown with over five minutes left. Normally, that would have been the highlight. That was like the fourth biggest highlight of the game. If you're watching on YouTube, and it is a lot of fun. We have the highlights. You can see it there and the replay of it. What a fantastic catch by St. Brown, who had the best six for 45 in a touchdown I've ever seen. I'm not done yet. Shook, we've got two more. The David Montgomery. 40-yard catch-and-run was just one of the most Marshawn Lynch-type plays I've seen in a long time. Actually, let's listen to this one.

Here come the Lions now. Montgomery, the single back behind golf. First down from the 30. Golf play action fake sets in the pocket, drips left, look, looks, now throws back against the body. It's caught, bouncing off and tackling and getting across 35 is Montgomery. Still going to 37, going across the 40. Montgomery, unbelievable to the 50. Left sideline, high stepping across the 40, inside the 30. and run out of bounds down at the 32-yard line.

David Montgomery, are you kidding me? I'm telling you, all that was missing was, get off me, child's play, the old Marshall Lips run against the Saints. Like that, there's a thing on TikTok right now where guys will narrate their like Road to Glory player in college football 25, where they'll be like running through tackles

and making all the like sounds like that. I could have used that on that too. It was that amazing. That was awesome. I love, I did hear a play-by-play guy in the college football game doing the like on a telecast which was really cool

and you're like Montgomery was stone and then they came at his legs and he spun out I mean what what a runner what a player Montgomery has turned out to be man I was wrong about him with the Bears and then finally let's listen to one more play all of these plays happen in the exact

in the same game yeah let's let's listen to the 70 yarder to Jameson Williams golf up under center on first down golf turns takes to gifts they pick up the blitz golf throws It is caught. Go, baby, go. It is.

Jaymo, forget it. Gone. Nobody's going to catch him. You can't catch that man. Jamo to the house, 70 yards from Jared God. And he slams it over the gold post. That's going to draw a penalty. You can't do that.

But damage done. James up into the crowd for the celebration. And he made that look easy. We made that look so easy. You know why it looked so easy? shook because it hit him perfectly in stride, like over the second level defender. The safety was flat-footed. Like, that's an underrated throw. They had so many yards after the catch tonight. I think it was 219. And that's largely because Goff is, he's that West Coast quarterback. He's, he's the Joe

Montana where he puts it exactly where it needs to be. When he got drafted first, that was the vision. It was those pretty passes that hit you in stride. it was that play to Williams he was so hit so perfectly and so open I think it's the longest I've ever seen a receiver start to celebrate a touchdown like he started high stepping at like the 28 for those of you who are not watching on YouTube you can see it if you were watching on YouTube high stepping at the 28 to the point where I was like oh no oh no you're celebrating too early you're gonna get caught and then he didn't it was just a magnificent play on their part and it is really fun to see them get to Jameson more often because he has that big playability that we didn't

really see consistently over his first couple of years in the NFL. So now that he's getting to that point, you know, on nights like this where you need every score to win a game like this, it's a beautiful sight to see. It was almost like they kept scoring too fast. They ended up with 50 plays, which is normal. It's on the low side, certainly. The Seahawks ended up with 78. And again, a couple of those, you know, it's inflated a little by those last two relative garbage time drives, but that's 16 more plays, another like 80 yards they tacked on then. But even before that, they were going on longer drives. You know, DK goes seven for 104, lock it five for sixty one.

Smith and Jigba five for 51. They got the running game going in the second half after not even trying in the first half. They actually only ran the ball four times in 27 plays in the first half. So I think both teams leave feeling some positives, but to get Leporta involved, to get James and Williams involved, to have this offensive performance. And then I think it was a big deal, Nick, going into the buy to get a win without Frank Ragnow. They're on-off splits without Ragnow last year were miserable, and they played great up front.

Obviously, all the line protection, like the calls, they were ready for that moment tonight. And if they need Ragnow to sit out for a little while with the strained peck, then they showed they can survive it. Yeah, Jared Goff has only pressured seven times. I know they had a couple sacks, but for the most part, he had relatively clean pockets and he was able to operate. And that's the way you beat them is by getting pressure in his face and taking away the middle of the field, which the Seahawks did not do. And managing to prevent that from happening without one of your best offensive linemen, one of your most tenured offensive linemen outside of Taylor Decker, a guy that you can count on to set the protection and also block consistently in the interior. That's a big sign, a big positive sign for the lions. I'm not going to point to their defense, really.

I know they need to correct a lot of things and they need to get cleaner. They had like nine penalties. But, I mean, this is the momentum you want going into the biweek, especially now at three and one. yeah their defense terri anardo needs to stop you know just holding the receiver it's it's been a problem all season long and yes here comes the cold water on everything and the hawks fans in my mentions tonight you know when i mentioned like it's probably not a great sign that the gino smith is playing nearly perfect i thought he was perfect in the first half and they were down 21 to 7 like he i don't know if he had one negative play from his angle, like the entire first half, and they were down 21-7.

And everyone in my mentions, like, yeah, well, they're missing all their starters and stuff. It's like, you don't think I know that? I'm saying that, like, it's not a good sign for them winning tonight's game. That was all I'm saying that it's not a good sign. If he's having to play perfect, and they're still losing by a lot, they're probably not going to win tonight. And yes, that was a massive factor in this game. They did not have Leonard Williams, They did not have Boie Mafe, who was leading the NFL in pressures recently. They did not have Uchena Nuosa, who hasn't played all year but practiced this week, and there was some hope. They did not have their first round pick, Byron Murphy, who would really help in the run defense.

And they did not have Jerome Baker, their linebacker. So they were starting a fourth or fifth round linebacker who's been okay the last couple weeks. But Goff really won over the middle of the field. Then during the game, they lost Julian Love, who's been, to me, playing at like an all-pro, pro-ball type level with a thigh injury. So that's six starters on defense. So as much as I wanted this to be a litmus test of, all right, what Lions' offense shows up, what Seahawks defense shows up. That's why we need the rematch in the playoffs.

This is a great budding rivalry. And we want to see it with all their players because that was a big deal. Lions had their injuries too. Brian Branch is out. I know they're missing some guys. But that's a massive difference than basically every Seahawks defense that we've seen at least the first few weeks of the season before they had a couple more injuries. in the Dolphins game.

Yeah, you know, you could look at their schedule and say, well, it's been a little soft. You know, you played Denver and New England and then Miami without Tua, right? So three wins in a row. That's great. Who have you played that's serious? Well, this is a serious team. But with all those injuries accounted for, you kind of have to take it with a bit of a grain of salt and not hang your head too much about it because you still manage to compete with all

those, you know, guys missing on the defensive side of the ball. It's just that you couldn't quite keep up offensively. And, you know, look, all I really need to see from them right now this early in the season is that their offense can consistently score and that Gino is going to play well. He's playing fantastically. So look, man, I know you lost the game, but it's a game that you can pull a lot of positives out of. You figure out what you need to correct.

You keep moving forward because it does get a little tougher. New York's got, you know, the Giants they play next week has a strong defensive front. They've proven that through the first month of the season, and they will be able to cause some pressures. Then you get San Francisco, Atlanta, Buffalo, and the Rams. You're going to get tested. You're going to get tested. I actually thought the offensive line took a step forward tonight.

I think, and I actually thought against Miami, the edges were okay. I mean, Charles Cross has been good all year, and the edges were okay, it was all coming up the middle. I thought they were better tonight. Detroit's pass rush this year has, other than Hutchinson, has been quite thin. It's really Hutchinson-on-Wuzareke, and that's about it. Although Gino had that stretch where he was under pressure a lot, I thought it was like a normal amount of pressure considering he dropped back to past 56 times. It was 29%.

It wasn't that crazy tonight, and he does a great job. Part of that is Gino makes them look better. I mean, he was getting the ball out so fast early. He better get on to QB Island. I think this was a good final statement. And Jared Goff, who, if we had done the segment last week, I think you would have been booted off. It's going to be tough to move him. But that will come on Wednesday's show.

Steve Weish coming into the studio, along with Colleen, Wolf, and Jordan, our usual crew. Wow, that was fun. Do you have anything left to say? If not, we will take a break. because there was another game tonight, next show. Yeah, we did have another game. Not quite as exciting. I just want to say one thing.

Yes. Jared Goff goes a perfect day for 18 for 18. The odds of golf completing all 18 passes based in the completion probability of each attempt, according to the next gen stats, one in 145. Less than a 1% chance. Yeah.

Okay. That sounds about right. Like, if he played a game and had all of those passes, and he played a game every week for about 8%. years. I'm just doing the math very roughly. Yeah, that sounds about right. That is crazy. I don't know how they come up with that, but it is absolutely crazy. Not all those throws were easy, and yeah, Aman Ra saved him. And I think I know why Goff wasn't sure at the end of the game.

He was trying to think of it. You said, I think he threw one away that was called back by penalty, and that might have been what was in his head, where he had one throw away that got wiped out by penalty. I'm glad it did. 12 for 12, by the way, uh, in play action for 229 airs. I mean, you can just find a million crazy stats, but this to me was Jared Goff in a nutshell, play action over the middle of the field, hitting guys in stride. Nice night. Been so many nice nights for Jared Goff with the Detroit Lions. Both these teams are at three and one. I think we're going to see them both in the playoffs. We will take a quick break. We're going to talk about Titans and Dolphins after that.

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL

stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

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I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael F. Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Fourth and goal at the four. Give Pollard around right in, trying to score. Pollard dives. He's in there! Touchdown! Titan!

The 30-point streak is broken. And the Titans fans, who dominate the remainder of Hard Rock Stadium, celebrate. I've never been so happy with 30 points, and the Dolphins fans are booing. That is really boo-hoo. Mike Keith and former Titans, Interim head coach, Dave McGinnis? WGFX. Tony Pollard

scores in the most hilarious part of that call and put that on the call of the year list, Eric, behind the glass, is that it was to make the score 31 to 12 with under two minutes to go, with under 30 seconds to go. Shout out to Brian Callahan there for going for and probably changing a lot of fantasy

fortunes. He must have known that 30 point score thing. They had not top 30 in over a thousand days Nick shook and the Titans are winless no more one and three over the hapless Miami Dolphins. I'll tell you what,

he's lucky that Arthur Smith wasn't on the other sideline. He might have a bit of an altercation in midfield if that were the case. The cackling in that call was fantastic but I think that also kind of paints the picture of where the Titans have been so far through three weeks where they've been in games. They've had opportunities to win, and they just haven't closed the deal.

You can go back to week one and think about that with Will Levis and his pick six that lost them that game. The difference tonight, though, is they lose Will Levis after he throws a pick to Emmanuel Ogbaugh of all people, who makes one of the greatest catches in the history of thunder thighs, you know, ball falls out of his hands, right in between both those thick thighs, and he just squeezes them, and hangs on the football. It was not a good start for them. Levis goes out because of a shoulder injury.

Mason Rudolph comes in. He throws for 85 yards and somehow steadies the ship enough for the Titans to basically cruise to victory over a Dolphins team that is searching for answers on the offensive side of the football right now. Yeah, so that's the biggest story. We'll get to the Dolphins part of it in a minute, but Will Levis was hurt after an early third down where he dove for the first down marker, the most Will Levis play of all time, just trying to make something happen, passes up a throw to run, looks very athletic doing it. it, but comes up like half a yard short.

It didn't seem like a great spot, but he came up just a half a yard short. So it's like he tries so hard and he comes up short and he came up and you could read his lips saying, you know, something about his shoulder. Yeah, I think I hurt my shoulder. Yeah, I hurt my shoulder. He's very expressive. His lip reading was a major feature of this game because on that Emmanuel Agba interception, you could see him saying, I didn't see him at all.

And it's like, yep, we know Will Levis. So he goes out with that injury. He's in pain. They get it checked out. Rudolph comes in, and he has a field goal drive. Nothing crazy. It's like a moderately long field goal. But just a couple plays where he got to his second read

and made normal football plays, normal passes. and it was kind of like Brian Callahan saw that and was like, oh, I like that. Someone who's just doing what he's supposed to within the framework of the offense, hmm, I might want to see a little more of that if Will's not feeling 100%. I also think that given the situation that they stepped into on Monday night, oh and three, you know, desperate for a win, see some stability at quarterback, not a high ceiling. We know what Mason Rudolph is, but just some stability there to keep the offense going.

I think at that point he was just like, dude, we need to go get a win. Like, we desperately need to go get a win. Let's just ride this out for the rest of the night. We know that the dolphins probably aren't going to score a lot of points. Let's ride this out and ride the running game, which is what they did to perfection or near perfection. I mean, statistically, they did a fantastic job between, you know, Tije Spears and Tony Pollard. Pollard goes 22 for 88 and a touchdown. Spears 15 for 39, not a great average, but also scores a touchdown.

A bit of a boom or bust running game for them, but it did the job. And in a game where you can expect that your defense is going to play well enough to limit the opposing offense, that's really all you need, provided you don't turn the ball over. And with Rudolph in there, you can basically count on you're not going to turn the ball over. So it worked out for him. Big win, not in the fact that they won by so many points, but just a big win to get a win in the column at this point after a month. Oh, it's huge.

Callahan was thrilled after the game. He just got the game ball from his owner. It's such a heavy thing when you're winless. And now that they have won a game, the Jaguars are the only. winless team in the league. By the way, with the Seahawks losing that game, there are only two undefeated teams in the league. That's the Vikings and the Chiefs.

Let's actually listen to what Calhans said at halftime to ESPN when he was asked about the quarterback situation. Mason Rudolph came off the bench, gave this offense a spark. Who's your starting quarterback in the second half? We'll see. Will's got an injury he's dealing with, so we'll see how it comes out. Weren't sure how he was feeling, so we just let Mason finish the half and we'll figure out when we get in there.

Yeah, what will be the determining factor about who, should be your starting quarterback. It's just a matter of it. He can physically play. And then if he can play, he'll go. But Mason's done a really nice job for us. Yeah, you know, after the game, he said something similar, whereas if Will Levis is 100%, I mean, if Will Lovis is healthy,

he's 100% our quarterback. He also mentioned the upcoming by played into his thinking so that even though it was pretty clear Will Levis could have returned to the game, maybe wanted to return to the game. I think he understood the situation and they just didn't want to you know, rock the boat. And look, if Will Levis hadn't thrown that interception, he might have stayed in the game. But it's just been a rough start for Levis. I think as inconsistent as he was last year, I think he's been worse this year because it's just been more consistently bad. Like you

see stretches, you see big plays. He can throw the ball down the field, but they really struggle on the short and intermediate area with Levis. And to have that brain fart, right off the bat to start this game. I think Callahan was happy. And look, Rudolph didn't do great. He went nine for 17 for 85 yards. It really wasn't a great performance. They had four punts early in the third quarter. But after that, they started at least getting some field goal drives going. He made a really nice play right before halftime. Maybe that played into Callahan's thinking they actually got the ball back, shook with 22 seconds around their own 40 yard line. and he delivered a strike his best throw of the night to Boyd for 27 yard lines.

They run up, they spike it. And Nick Folk, who's on fire this year, hits a 47-yarder. He hit 3 50-yarders in this game. Nick Folk is absolutely ageless. And that was like the offensive highlight of the night until that late Pollard touchdown. Yeah, it was nice to see Nick Folk bang through a few of those field goals because I still remember when he was with the Patriots and couldn't hit a 50-yarder and just kept coming up short. Yeah, they wouldn't even let him try.

I don't know what happens. These kickers are getting better and better as they get older. They're kicking the ball further. Like Young Wayku used to not be able to kick that far. Now he's piping 58 yards. I don't know what's going on here. Yeah, the levest thing, though, like, it's hard because doing QBI every week, I just watch him and I think, yeah, there it is.

There's the potential. There's the potential. And there's the boneheaded mistake. And we saw the, what the F are you doing turnover in week two. We saw the turnovers that he made in week one. And it's just like, man, if you could eliminate that from your game, then you could actually, you know, take a hold of this job, potentially long term. It's just not there yet.

And again, in a situation like this where you desperately need to go get a win, you go with the guy with the lower ceiling who's steadier. And especially in a muggy night, did you see, by the way, those of you watched on YouTube saw, but those listening on podcast, it was hot in Miami on Monday night, so much that Brian Callahan sweat through most of his shirt

in the first half. So with these type of conditions, you don't want to let any variables get involved. So good on them. Yeah, you got to do the, the thing that tennis players do and have like a change and, yeah.

Francis Tiafa will change it like 20 times in one match or whatever, but just have like a second half t shirt if you're Callahan. Who did say that the injury was bothering what Levis significantly. I mean, this was an ugly game.

There's some crazy stats in this game. 61 first half plays between the two teams. 21 of those, this was according to ESPN stats and info. 21 of the 61 went for zero or negative yards. I mean, that's freaking insane. 21 negative or zero yard plays in a single half between the two teams. So that's why the Titans running game doesn't look as good on paper as you would expect, because their offensive line on the right side just gives up huge penetration. I mean, Spears had

like a negative four, a negative eight where he had no chance. Like it's been happening all year. The left side of the Titans offensive line, Skoronski and Latham, something to build off in their center. like they're getting something going there. The right side is a total disaster with Petit Freer. There was 18 penalties between these two teams. And yeah, let's get to the dolphins of it all. Tyler Huntley somehow didn't throw an interception in this game, but he also did not throw for 100 yards despite some garbage time yards.

96 yards on 22 attempts, missed open receivers. And more to the point just didn't seem like he knew what was going on in the playbook that well. Which makes sense. It's a very complicated playbook, and he's only been there for six weeks. Yeah, and he had some inaccuracy issues, which you come to expect from a guy making a first start when he hasn't been there very long. But they also can't do the small things very well. I mean, he found Jalen Waddle opened over the middle, and Waddle drops it.

Even the pass to Tyreek Hill that, you know, picks up a nice game in the second half that he might break for a touchdown. He gets cut down. They go for it on fourth down, and Tyreek goes around the end on a jet sweep, and he gets cut down short of the sticks. Like just small things. digs there. That was like one of the few real highlights. I guess their defense had plenty of highlights. I take that back. Yeah, but the small things are just not working for the dolphins right now,

which is why they struck. I mean, they had 84 yards of offense going into the fourth quarter. That's not the Miami Dolphins we expected to see the season, but that's what happens when you lose your quarterback and you'd throw two different guys in there in two weeks. Okay, that's true. And yet, on the other side of the ball, Mason Rudolph comes in and it was operable. You know, they go for 244. Actually, it wasn't that much better, to be fair. Malik Willis, he's still in this coaching, you were in this coaching tree. I mean, they had the number one ground game in the NFL when Malique Willis was the coach. I mean, was the quarterback in Green Bay.

And that's sort of one of his rivals there, LaFleur. I think some of this has to go down on McDaniel. Joe Flacco comes in and plays well. Who's another one? Like there's been a bunch of backup quarterbacks that have come in and been good enough, like Andy Dalton. I know that's a different type of situation. But you can say that they've lost their starting quarterback,

but it shouldn't all fall apart like this when that happens. But it falls apart when you don't have a trusted veteran option who's familiar with the offense, which is negligence. Right. So that's on them though, because Skyler Thompson has literally been there for three years. But he's been there for three years. That was their choice. So that's on McDane.

That's on them. Yeah. You can put it on Greer a little bit, I guess. it's hard, but when it comes to quarterbacks, I think it's on McDaniel. But I think Moore is on McDaniel. This Dolphins team was on my radar of not really being what we expected coming into the season

because of the offensive line. And the running game could be better. They had the seventh, this was from Austin Gale at the Ringer. They had the seventh best rushing offense in EPA in the last 10 years last year. That's how good the rushing offense is, was last year. They are 31st now.

They're 31st in the NFL now. And even when Tua was in for those six quarters, it was an up and down game against Jacksonville where they had to come back to win late against a team that right now has the 32nd ranked defense according to DVOA. So that game does not look good. And the two and a half quarters with two against Buffalo wasn't good either. So you can't collapse this bad. They're the worst team in the NFL. I don't even think there's a question. I mean, I guess the Jaguars could be because they're 0.4. But I would take the Jaguars right now against the Tyler Huntley Dolphins.

Yeah. I mean, if you want one defining moment of where the dolphins are offensively and how lost they are, just go back to last week when they played the Seahawks and they got a turnover inside the 10 and came away with a field goal. That's just not enough. That's not enough, but that's who they are right now. It's tough. 4.4 yards per attempt for Huntley. Jordan Brooks, I think he's been good, trying to think of some positives to say, Jalen Phillips. This is not a positive. Got hurt again tonight. He was frustrated. he was in and out of the game. He was kind of banged up last week, too. He was coming off that serious injury and got back for week one. You do wonder if you're going to hear another off-season article at some point of Philip saying, I rushed back too quickly off of such a serious injury, and he hasn't quite been right.

Like, they've gotten some good linebacker play, like sealers played well. But the defense has been bad, too. They were 30th in efficiency coming into tonight, according to the DVOA. That will improve after this performance. But their defense hasn't been good too. It's depressing. They're playing the Patriots next week. And actually, those might be the two worst teams in the league, I would say. Dolphins, Patriots. Get excited. All right. Let's get excited. Let's do some news. Nick Shook. That's enough on that game. Congrats to the Titans. It's Monday night. You know, we're going through a bunch of injuries. Jonathan Taylor had a high ankle sprain. That came out of nowhere in that game. against the Steelers. It happened, we believe, on the last play of the game.

So that's why you didn't really notice. I kind of hobbled over on the last carry that he had. Ian Rappaport believes it's not a bad high ankle sprain, whatever that means. I don't know how that works. And Anthony Richardson is day-to-day. So this Colts team will be, you know, waiting and seeing if they can play this week.

Yeah, Taylor did a good job of keeping that offensive float with Flacco in there. They leaned on him, especially in the second half, to keep some drives going outside. did that make a Fitzpatrick penalty. He kind of paced them and balanced it out. Losing him would be a blow because behind him is what, Trey Sermon, like it's not the best one-two punch. But if it's not bad, which I don't know how high ankle sprain's not bad, then that's still encouraging. We'll see. They're a little bit on the mend right now. I mean, I think there are different variations. There's the ones like, I'm thinking of a Ryan Tanahill injury at a couple years ago, which

he could barely move after being out a week or two. And then there's ones like, you know, Holmes played through it, but even then he, like, we're talking about a running back. There's no way he should be playing this week against the Jaguars. We'll see. I think Anthony Richardson will be ready to play. That is just my hunch. They called him day to day, but we'll have to track that. That's a chance there for the Jaguars to possibly get a win before they head over to London.

Come on, Jaguars. I'm covering you there. Let's do it. Christian Watson, the Packers receiver, has a high ankle sprain. He is out at least a week or so. a receiver group that can probably live without a receiver just because they're so deep. Yeah, Don Tavian Wicks had a nice start to the season and a nice game on Sunday. You have Romeo Dobbs there as well.

And as long as Jordan Love isn't throwing a bunch of interceptions as he did this past weekend, you'll find a way to keep it afloat. Thankfully, you have Josh Jacobs back there to lead the ground game, which has been, you know, now in terms of EPA or like, you know, success rate has not been high, which is kind of weird. I'm not, I still haven't unpacked that. But visually, it's a, it's a better running game. So, you know, I think they got the Rams. That's a very winnable game.

And look, Jaden Reed has turned into, he's not a traditional one. But the more he plays, the more I think about him like an Amman Rae, St. Brown. He's not like Amman Rae St. Brown. I don't know if he can be like that consistent. But what I mean is that you can build a chunk of the offense around this guy. And he's going to show up every week. So he is there one. even if he's not a traditional one.

And then, I mean, his numbers look like he's a traditional one. He's a really unique player. I really like Jane Reed. So I think they'll be able to survive without Watson for a bit. Hopefully it's not too long. We keep getting news about the Cowboys injuries that get worse and worse. Now it's DeMarcus Lawrence out four to seven weeks. And Micah Parsons likely to miss this week with a high ankle sprain.

Their by week is two weeks away, so they might be tempted to keep Micah out. for those two games. He says he's never missed the game at any level, which is a wild stat. High school or college. That's insane. It wasn't a good game for them defensively against the Giants. I know it was a low scoring affair, but in terms of pressure and Parsons making a difference

and everything, kind of a little bit concerning. And you saw what the Saints did to him a couple weeks prior. So losing both those guys at the same time is concerning to me, but it's more about Lawrence than it is Parsons if Parsons is able to come back quicker. I mean, it's absolutely brutal. Those are the two best players on their defense. I guess you'd throw Trevon Diggs in there.

Yeah, that's a killer. They're playing the Steelers. Steelers keep getting pretty good schedule luck, although I guess you could say they got bad luck that they had to face Joe Flacco on Sunday. Nick Chubb is set to practice on Thursday. So all these players that were put on short-term IR, there's the option to have them start practicing this week. Some players are.

Some players aren't, for instance, Kendrick Bourne, I believe, is ready to start practice. That opens the three-week window, and then they have to be activated within that three weeks if they're going to play this year. So Nick Chubb, getting closer to play, and they desperately need them. Shaq Thompson, the Panthers linebacker is going to miss the season with a torn Achilles. Steelers Guard James Daniels is going to miss the season with an injury. That's a big loss for them, a solid starter on a fairly shaky offensive line. Tank Dell expected to return on. Friday. You excited about your guy, Chubb, getting back on the field?

No, because they have offensive line issues, and I think that's going to prevent him from being able to really get out and get going. But it's still an upgrade over Jerome Ford. The Browns don't run the ball very much. They haven't through the first month. When they have, it's just been random chunk plays from Jerome Ford. Chub's more reliable to produce those, but they have so many problems up front that I'm concerned about it. If they can't run, they have nothing. They have nothing. They have to run the ball. I mean, maybe they'll get healthy on the offensive line by the time. plays. I think the earliest

Chubb, if he's just starting to practice this week, it's got to be next week or so. Yeah, it would be next week at the earliest, and we'll see because he's coming back, yeah, from that devastating injury he suffered on Monday night football. All right, let's get to some

comments that I wanted to talk about on Sunday night show, and it was a packed show, but I did love that Baker Mayfield had that baller game with Tom Brady up in the booth. And yeah, Tom Brady seemed to be in his feelings a little bit about some Baker Mayfield

comments. Let's listen to Tom Brady's response on the Fox broadcast. Baker Mayfield sizzling to start and took a little playful jab at our guy here, said, quote, they wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren't having as much fun. I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings. so there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day this wasn't daycare if I wanted to have fun I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids yeah spice mad man yeah

like he he came out ready to say that and look the comments from baker who was on a podcast look good things never happen if you go on a podcast and just start talking that he said everyone was pretty stressed out when when Brady was there the building was a little different It was a high-strung environment, and they wanted Baker to come in and just kind of be himself. And that was the response to with Brady, which Baker said after the game, he said, I think these were taken out of context. They can't be taken out of context. They were your, they were your quotes.

I think it's fair to say that, like, he wasn't saying that Brady was a bad guy. He was just, he was just saying, like, the building was a little stressed, and they want me to be me because they can't, you know, they can't, I can't be Tom, Brady and get everyone stressed out like that. Look, both guys can be right and both things can be true. This is, Tom Brady arriving in Tampa was exactly what you see in the NBA with LeBron James. It's the LeBron effect. You show up, you are instantly expected to contend with a veteran guy who doesn't have many

years left, and he expects to win titles. And that's all that happened with the Buccaneers. It's just that they got one, and then they didn't get there again over the next two years, and they fell short, you know, in somewhat dramatic fashion one year. So, like, you're dealing with that pressure constantly because you know that the clock is ticking on the greatest player to ever play the position who happens to be on your team, and you know you have to deliver before he's done. That's all it was.

And Baker's not wrong, but also, should we be surprised that Tom Brady responded that way? No. No, I mean, I just love that it truly bothered him a lot for him to say that. And there's just like an edge in his voice. And look, Brady sounds like he would stress you out. Of course he would stress you out.

It was like watching Aaron Rogers on Sunday with all the miscommunications, just the look of disgust at the false starts and everyone's trying to get to that level. it's difficult. It's not helping Tom Brady be a broadcaster. I mean, I think sometimes he's a little stressed out as a broadcaster, which is not the vibe you want to give off to the listener. Although, you know, I think it's getting better. He's maniacal about football and he's a perfectionist. And that's what it takes to usually win titles is you have to be a little bit crazy. In fact, there

was a Neil Brennan special where he mentioned, like, I want my athletes to be crazy because that's what leads them to win titles and be great. And that's Tom Brady in a nutshell. Yeah, I've definitely seen it in the broadcast. There's some pauses. He's getting better, but yeah. It was fun, though, that Baker had his best game of the season. And Brady gave him props. I think he was even on like a postgame show of where he was the player of the game or something like that. So they're all good. You know, two Tampa legends, Baker Mayfield and Tom Brady. Finally, I mentioned Rogers here, mini controversy, very New York controversy after the game where Aaron Rogers spoke about Robert Salas' comment that maybe after five false starts,

they have to look into, you know, changing up what he's doing with his cadence. The cadence specifically, Robert said that might be something you guys have to dial back a little bit. Is that something you think could potentially help the situation? It's one way to do it. The other way is hold them accountable. I mean, we haven't had an issue. We've had one false start. Morgan had one false start, I believe, until this. you know it's been a weapon we use it every day in practice we don't you know we rarely have a false start and to have i don't know five today it seemed like four or five yeah it's it seems like an outlier i don't know if we need to make mass changes based on you know kind

of an outlier game you know i agree with erin rogers there uh but i couldn't help but laugh you know when robert sala spoke at the podium monday and gave the most predictable answer when asked about it. Yesterday, I was mentioning Operation. We're always going to push the envelope with cadence, always. But with regards to operation, you know, getting in and out of the huddle, getting to the line of scrimmage, the communication that's being had, those are all things that we can continue to look at and clean up.

But from a cadence standpoint, that's part of what makes us who we are. And we're going to continue to always push the envelope on that. Nothing to see here, Shucky. I feel like Robert Sala has been under more pressure and scrutiny as a head coach in his time with the Jets than any coach in recent memory every year it's something

and this year it's this you want to talk about daycare Aaron Rogers is right we're not running a daycare here in Florin Park New Jersey and in the Meadowlands we're running an NFL football team level up guys

learn the cadence quit committing errors I think Rogers is completely right to be like no we don't need to change it they just need to be better because I'm great if it's a one game thing and they haven't had any problems and it's a weapon that they use.

But it was a real issue for them on Sunday. But it was so easy to see that Sala, like, he just got caught saying something he wishes he didn't say and he realizes what happened. And not on a podcast. Yeah, I know, I'm sure there was a conversation between Robert Sala and Aaron Rogers on Monday, and that led to that press government.

And that's fine. It's okay for Aaron Rogers to basically be calling the shots on that offense. People, I think, make almost too big of a deal about it when great quarterbacks have been doing that throughout the history of this league. People always say, like, why can't we go back to those days? We're, you know, Peyton Manning and certainly Brady and Breeze, but also, you know, Johnny Unitas and really going back

to it's like where they're calling the play is like, it's okay. Where Peyton Manning's calling a hot mic going, damn it, Donald! Because Donald Brown blew up the pass protection. The best part about that Rogers clip, him looking up at the lights in the ceiling in the room trying to like, all right, how do I get through this answer? Like, oh my God, it's like the Ben Affleck smoking meme. He's just like, oh, my God, I have to deal with this right now. Yeah, fun game in London this week between

the Jets and the Vikings. I'm looking forward to breaking that down later in the week on our preview show. But that's just a couple days away. Before that, it's time for the captain's corner presented by Captain Morgan's how we wrap up our Monday night recap our Monday night recaps the last couple of weeks I thought this was it for the year and then I looked it up shook we got two more Monday night double headers two more there's a week seven and then there I like it actually because I think it's good for this show and now I just mostly think about what's good for NFL daily it just makes it you know if if you get a stinker you're like both of these last two weeks are perfect examples. We've gotten one stinker and then a really fun game to talk about to save it.

If we only had that stinker, then it's kind of a, it's kind of a blast show that we really need to tap dance a little bit. So I like it. Yeah, I mean, you can watch me stare at the ceiling as I try to go through an answer in which I don't think about how it's not good for my fingers on the keyboard. But yeah, sure, totally. Yeah, you're writing on these nights and everyone should check out Shook's what we learned up on NFL.com. All right, give me your Captain Morgan Captain of the week. All right. So Chicago Bears had a rough go first few weeks of the season, but they finally broke through on Sunday with a close win over the Los Angeles Rams. And the hero from that day is not Caleb Williams. It's DeAndre Swift, who finally popped a couple of nice runs for this team.

That's what they expected when they got him. He finishes with 16 carries for 93 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown that gave him a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. Big day, he also chipped in seven catches for 72 yards. If they are going to grow as an offense, in a week in which I had to listen to Shane Waldron talk about communication over and over and over again and word salad his way through a press conference. This is how it gets done, take some pressure off the quarterback.

So a raise of a glass and a cheers to you, DeAndre Swift. First big performance with the Bears. Great choice there. DeAndre Swift getting done for the Bears at 2 and 2. I'm going with some big names. I'm going to guys. Neo Collins 12 for 151 and a touchdown. I'm not just box score reading here.

I went back and watched that game today. and I'm just so in love with this guy's playing style. He's so good. Like, I think he might be the best receiver in the league right now other than Justin Jefferson. Like, no one's going to make me put anyone ahead of Jefferson, but on a week-to-week basis, it is insane. I love that they can give him the ball to run for 10 yards of yak on third and 10,

and he'll go get it, but then the plays that he makes on the ball down the field are just awesome. And then I also want to give Chris Jones some love. I think in the era of Aeron Donald, we don't realize how rare it is to have a defensive tackle who's just the best player in the game. And that's what Chris Jones was again on Sunday. So many big plays. And then when you need a play on the goal line, who's the guy who gets the pressure? It's Chris Jones in a big spot always. He is rising the list of the best defensive tackles of the last 20 years and yeah he's not going to pass here and don't who cares like he he is getting to i mean

hall of fame level right like yeah he's getting pretty close yeah i i think so he was a little bit of a late bloomer but year after year stacking up these all pros and game changing moments in the playoffs i i actually think he's he's in like it's gonna happen for him and i don't want to take that for granted i think he's been among the best defensive players in the league would be on my short list for defensive player of the year through four weeks. That was the captain's corner presented by Captain Morgan. It's delicious and Chris, perfect for game day with your friends. Spice it up, visit Captain Morgan.com to find a captain near you.

Please drink responsibly. This is the time of night where I set you free into the Cleveland streets, Nick Shook. I think the bars are all closed by now. It's like 1 a.m. there. Yeah, I'm not a Monday night out of the town kind of guy because my Monday nights are spent watching football. Greg, why? Why? I don't know because you got to write TV in there.

I don't know. Oh, because football is back. I blew it. Roll the sound, Eric. We will be back on Wednesday. What a day this is going to be. QB Island. We've been pumping this thing up for six weeks.

We're only doing it four times a year during the season. Who stays on? Who goes? Gino Smith making it happen in primetime against the Lions, you know football is back. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies

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