NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Vikings-Rams TNF Recap with J.B. Long

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Rams play-by-play voice J.B. Long to recap the Vikings and Rams facing off on Thursday Night Football. The show starts with a recap of the final moments of the game, followed by a discussion about the Rams' new life with the return of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp (05:45) in a muddy NFC West (08:32), and Matthew Stafford's play (12:08). After the break, the guys talk Vikings (22:06), Sam Darnold's play and the state of the NFC North (27:45).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Can the Rams get a takeaway here? Play clock getting short. Darnold back to his end zone. Sets the laces. Pitches. Hit. Sacks.

Game over. Game over. Byron Young with a safety. Agent Zero calls game on Thursday night football. Welcome. to NFL Daily. That was the great J.B. Long of K.SPN in Los Angeles, not only on the call, but on the show, still at the stadium. I made it my way through traffic, got to the car very quickly, drove home, and he's still on a high after one of the most fun Thursday night football games of

the year. J.B. Long, the radio play-by-play man. of the Rams. Welcome to NFL Daily. Wow, I feel like I got to take a breath here on a night of offense. Yes, we finished there on the defense. Thanks, buddy, for joining me. I know it's a long day. Good to see you. A couple of things. One, I have commandeered someone's office just off the press box here at Sufi Stadium. Thankfully, there is not a lick of any kind of decoration on the wall. This is clearly not occupied, so I feel like it was designated for this purpose. Good on you for beating me home. And secondly, to all the Vikings listeners, yes I did clean up that call by saying blatant face mask they missed it the game should be continuing

I get it I feel your pain we talked with Byron Young after the game he actually you could see like he was in dismay his hands covering his face not celebrating that game winning sack but fearing the penalty marker that he figured must have been down in the end zone he actually thought it was a horse collar not a face mask but same difference tough break tough break for the now five and two Vikings yeah you know I was Up there in the 300 section, no clue there was a face mask. In fact, I had no idea until our great producer, Eric Roberts, who's putting together the show told me as I'm coming into the house, hey, I have sound on them talking about the face mask after the game. I was like, what face mask was that? We did not see that from up in the not so cheap seats, but the medium seats. Actually, let's listen to Kevin O'Connell. You know, if we're talking about it already, let's listen to him. after the game talking about the face mask?

You know, it looked like you got a pretty good amount of face masks there. Not going to get into, you know, the call or no call and all that stuff. It's just I told our team officiating and all that stuff for us to talk about that, for us to seek comfort and that is not how we're going to respond to this. It's just not going to happen. And I'm going to do the same thing right now. I really don't have a comment on whether it looked like you got a piece of the face mask, but they didn't think so, so they didn't throw the flag.

Yeah, so it feels unfortunate to almost start on this because, let's be real. They had the entire length of the field to go at that point, no timeouts, under it would have been a minute 40 on the clock, and they had not scored a touchdown since the first quarter. Two punts that disastrous end of half, a couple of plays where they lost their left half. tackle Christian Dar esau, a couple field goal drives to start the second half, and then a punt in a really crucial situation in the fourth quarter. So the way the Rams pass rush was getting after the Vikings, I was not particularly confident, J.B., at that point in the game, that they were

necessarily going to drive down the field and hit the two-point conversion. But I guess I can understand why Vikings fans would be a little salty. I think you rightly highlighted one of the major pivot points in that game, which was Dar esau going down at left tackle because the Rams have done all sorts of, you know, bad things this season in all three faces. The kicking game in particular has been shaky lately. The defense has been porous at times. The offense has been spinning its wheels. But the absolute one constant has been the pressure that the rants have been able to generate up front primarily with rookies and second year pass rushers, Byron Young being one of them, Jared Verse. I mean, he's leading all rookies in pressure rate. And I

I think that was apparent again today, and especially down the left tackle, Sam Darnold really felt that. Let me ask, were you surprised at the field goal on fourth down and plus territory at minus four to get to minus one? I saw a couple of algorithms had that as a good decision, like a slight lean to kicking it, which I was surprised. That felt like a go for it for me, and Ocama took the point. You know, I'm sitting in the crowd. Of course, my family is decked out in Rams gear. I'm not going to pretend totally unbiased in this situation. you're wearing literally Rams logo as we're doing this interview. Check us out on YouTube.

You can see J.B.'s, you know, handsome mug there. I think fans, and I think there's something to this, are always relieved when there's a field goal attempt there. So in that situation, the way their defense was playing, I thought they should go for the touchdown because I just assumed they're going to need a touchdown to win this game. One field goal is not going to be enough because the odds and my mind are, and I know this is a good Vikings defense, but the odds in my mind are that they're going to need a touchdown at some point because the Rams are going to get at least a field goal back. We know that they ended up going on a touchdown drive, which was maybe the Rams' best

touchdown drive of the season. And let's get off the end of that game because I feel it was a little beside the point. Let's talk about Cooper Cup returning to the field. Puka Nakua, surprisingly returning to the field, and this Rams offense kind of changing the feeling of this entire season in one night. And I want to take you back, actually, to a specific moment in the game. And it wasn't that touchdown drive. It wasn't any of the touchdown drives. It was about 336, I believe, left to go, third and nine. The Rams are trying to run out the clock. And you know what play I'm talking about, right? The deep pass. passed, 326 to go.

And in the stadium, being able to see the angle on that throw that Matthew Stafford made to Cooper Cup for 27 yards to force the Vikings to take their third time out, and then they got to kill more clock. When he let go of that ball, I'm thinking, that pass, that's not there. Like, he was fitting it between a couple different defenders in zone coverage. That was absolute total trust between two guys who have played in the big. biggest of moments. And even in that moment, because Cup had kind of an up and down game, I would say, obviously made some big plays. I'm worried. And then to see Cup make the right angle for the

ball, know what his quarterback is doing, come back for it, and all that trust that Stafford had. To me, that was such a big moment in the season, in the game for the Rams. And I know a lot happened after that, but that was absolutely telling on a night where the Rams kind of looked like the Rams that we've seen from the last couple of years again. I'm just shaking my head at all the incredible moments that the Rosenthal family has witnessed for the Los Angeles Rams here at SoFi Stadium, and many of them have centered around the great receivers Pooka and especially Cooper Cup. Am I wrong? No, you're not wrong. My daughter got to go to the Super Bowl. She was solo,

crazily enough, with our friend. And you're absolutely right. I don't want to, people are going to be annoyed how freaking biased we are or sounding on this. Because I am truly not a Rams fan, But that was, I love seeing great football, and that was a great moment. And a night full of them for Stafford and Cup had his moments too. But I just thought that was telling on a night where, yeah, Cup makes a mental mistake a couple of plays later by going out of bounds. But it really stuck with me as just an impressive play of trust and like something to build off. On a night that we went into, J.B., sorry to keep honking, but we went into people wondering,

like, is this Cooper Cup's last game as a ram? He catches that touchdown in the first half, and he makes that play. And I'm thinking, there's no way it's his last game. It's a L.A. Ram. Well, here's why I think it's significant. We're not here to, you know, throw too many flowers on the still sub 500 Los Angeles Rams, right? But what we are here, I think, to highlight is the fact that the NFC West has a bunch of teams piled together with three or the other three cases, four losses. And so that division is still wide open.

and if the Rams play like this coming off a night where they put up a season high point total, a season high yards per play, their most explosive touchdown of the season, which is still modest at only 25 yards. That changes the dynamic of the entire NFC playoff picture, whether you're talking about the wild card bubble or who's going to get a home playoff game coming out of the West. Now, we're not through the month of October yet, but that's part of why this is significant is yes, there were trade rumors swirling and we heard all of them. but the Rams get their key pieces back on offense. They all produce. It looks completely different. You pair it with an emerging defense that's now scored on that side of the football and put together a pretty good effort three games in a row.

It shapes not just the course of the RAM season, but the entire NFC. And guess where the Rams go next? After they put their feet up and watch Red Zone all day Sunday, right, while the Seahawks host the Bills, while the 49ers host the Cowboys coming off a by, while Arizona goes to Miami. The Rams get ready with this mini-bu. to go take their first swing against the Seattle Seahawks. And that's right before the trade deadline.

And if the Seahawks lose that game, their home underdogs to the bills, they would be tied in the loss column with the 49ers and the Rams and the Cardinals, depending on if the Cardinals can pull off that game Sunday. So we're just starting this NFC West race. But I do think it took a win tonight to feel like the Rams were in it

because they were a one-in-four team and even that one felt like a little bit of a mirror. and they were competitive, but they didn't play particularly well last week against the Raiders. And you see in this game, Puka Nakua comes out. They target him for the first couple plays of the game. He's absolutely explosive. He looks like the old Pukua. I know it was a very brief week one appearance from him, but the little that we saw.

That's right, Walker. Pukanakua that does rule tonight. Seven for 106 in this game. And you're like, oh, yeah, this team is totally different. with Puka as the one and Cup as the two, which also sets up to Marcus Robinson, who I got to see from my view, have single coverage on the outside all night long,

and then he's suddenly the third receiver. In fact, let's listen to a great call on Stafford's second touchdown to DeMarcus Robinson by one J.B. Long. You could try to do it live, J.B., but we're actually going to listen to the recorded copy. Ready for a shotgun snap with three. Here it is.

Vikings bring three. Stafford will protect it. He drills one, right side, end zone. Cots to Marcus Robinson with his second of the half. He flings it into the stands. And John Matthew Stafford has four tonight. Great call there, J.B. Figured that was the one we were going to lead the show with,

but then, you know, the safety happened. How are you doing energy-wise here? Because, you know, I drove home through traffic. you've already done the post game show, right, with Sean McVeigh? Yes. And you did heed the call. They called you up too. And so you did with a friend Mark and Dan.

And so you've got to be tapped out right now. No, I'm good. The adrenaline rush is still pretty sky high because I'm just so happy for these guys, right? Like Matthew Stafford came in with three total touchdown passes through six games. by far the lowest of his career. He was one of 12, I think, on throws to the end zone coming into this game. Like, it's just not been his year because of all the circumstances around him. But he's also that guy that's capable and we've seen him do it of elevating the circumstances of the other 10 in his huddle.

And tonight, for the first time, it felt right. It felt like the plan the Rams front office and coaching staff had drawn up for this season, which was to lead with the offense because that's where all the investment is, right? That's where all the accomplishment is. So to see him use his mobility on and off platform tonight, to see him throw from all arm angles, had the one bad interception, but to throw for four touchdowns. And here's the other thing,

to use all of his targets. Greg, you know from watching this team, at times they can become too locked in on Cooper Cup, almost spanning him with targets. What I loved about the Rams approach tonight is that they use all their eligibles. They platoon personnel packages. They use two and three tight end sets.

Even though Cup and the kids, Kua were back, they still used to Marcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson and 2-2 at well. I thought that was meaningful. And I think that's a big reason why Matthew Stafford was not sacked by the best defense in the National Football League, even though he's being peppered coming into this game at the second highest rate of his career. Like that is the most important takeaway from tonight is how well he clicked through his progressions and how well they protected him.

And I can't help but think that Kup and Nakua impact that, not just with their threats in the passing game, but because they're so productive in the running game. Like, Kyron goes for another touchdown and over 100 from scrimmage. You watch some of the blocks that Pooka Nakuwa throws in that game.

They've been dearly missing that for over a month now. Man, they really pulled a fast one on everyone because Pooka Nikoa was ready to go. No one thought he was playing this week. It just kind of came out of nowhere. Interesting. You know, they did a good job on that.

I'll just put, you're not saying that. I'm saying that. that, like, usually you have a clue that that's coming. The Vikings probably did not have a clue that that was coming. And he was a massive part of the game plan. And you're absolutely right. You could see him being a factor in the running game.

Kyrin Williams had a great day running for 97 yards on the ground. There was a particular play. It actually set up that touchdown that we just heard. I thought it was an interesting call. Second and 11. They'd run the ball a lot on that touchdown drive. It wasn't working quite as well. they lose a yard on first down, second and 11.

There's some groans up in the crowd here. And I'm like, they're going to run it again here. And they do. And Cooper Cup kind of gets, you know, does not have a great block. It gets absolutely knocked over on the play to the point where Kyron Williams has to use his incredible lateral agility to hop to the side of Cooper Cup to pick up seven yards. And it puts them in a really favorable down in distance, third and four.

So that was a little bit of everything. Kairn is such an underrated runner. Let's listen to McVeigh, actually, after the game, talking about the journey ahead and just getting these guys back from this game. I'm excited about this journey ahead. And, you know, we've learned a lot about people in these first seven weeks.

We've had to go through a lot of different things relative to new faces playing that maybe we didn't expect. And then it's great to be able to get some of the cavalry back. And I think we'll start to see that over the next couple weeks. And we've got to be able to hit the ground running and we got a great challenge, you know, next week. And while we're here, you had Sean McBay on, you know, your broadcast after the game. How was that?

Yeah, he was elated. I mean, he was happy for all the key individuals, some of which we've highlighted, and the fact that they finally put together a total team effort, offense, defense, and special teams mistake-free, that's the result that they've been hunting up in the fashion that they've been wanting to execute. Here's a little context, too, on his night. that's his 80th career win okay regular season postseason combined with it he goes past john robinson for sole possession of the rams wins record okay wow um he and john madden are the

only two men post merger to do that before their 40th birthday and speaking of birthdays today is his son's jordan's first birthday all right so for the rest of his life he's going to be the winning his coach in Rams history and he got the signature victory and a got to have it moment on Thursday night football prime time against the Vikings at home. With the Madden Cruiser out front, by the way,

I got some swag for my son on the way back. That's crazy because, you know, the Rams, it's not like, oh, he's the winningness coach since they moved back to L.A. or the version of L.A. if we're not counting St. Louis. The Rams have been around for like 70 years or something, that's, it's pretty amazing that, that he has that mark. And yeah, congrats to Sean McVeigh there. I thought he had a really good night. You, I'm glad you pointed out the

pass protection because I left the game thinking, so the Rams won, you know, everyone's going to talk about Cooper Cup and Pukua coming back with good reason. I just did. But they won in large part because they had great pass protection and they had really good run defense after the first quarter. Like the Vikings were held, I think, under three yards per carry. Aaron Jones was at 3.1 and, you know, darn old had a couple scrambles for less. So, they're under three yards per carry. That is not, those are the two things you thought were the worst about this Rams team. So I do think that's, it's just one game, but I do think excelling at the things you've struggled the most at against a quality competition, equality running games, certainly. And a quality,

you know, pass rush is, has to feel really good. And I think McVeigh has to feel. And I think McVeigh has to feel like, man, I played a big role in this. You know, I don't know, he probably doesn't want to think like that, but early on in this game, I thought they had those quick hitters to Puka, they were rolling in those first two drives running the ball and with Puka, and it really got Flores to back off all the crazy stuff that he does. And I thought they played kind of vanilla the rest of the game. Like, they blitzed a couple times.

Like they, you know, they certainly showed some interesting formations, but mostly Stafford wasn't worrying about it when they did and would get rid of the ball quickly, like that the the first Robinson touchdown was just like a quick, quick decision against pressure. And McVeigh and Stafford together kind of had all the right answers against a tough defense. Yeah, I'm going to take it back to the defense if I can because you highlight something there that I think is worth underscoring, which is the Rams did have one of their better nights. Like they give up two touchdowns on those first two drives, only six points the rest of the way. And they do it on a night where they put their green dot linebacker Troy Reader on injured reserve.

Like that was the corresponding move to activate Pooka and Akua. But now, here in Los Angeles, the off-ball linebacker play has, let's just say, not been the favorite portion of the program in the Rams season so far. Many fans have been clamoring for a change there. Omar Spate's an undrafted rookie linebacker steps into that fray. Jake Hummel, a backup step into that fray. But I think you really have to highlight the effort of Quentin Lake, who's a defensive captain, and it's just made outrageous, maybe potential game-saving tackles the last two games against the Raiders. and now the Vikings here tonight. Their improvement has been marked.

They've scored on defense three straight games now. But I think the most important thing to highlight is in the post-Aren Donald universe. They are getting more pressure on opposing pockets than they did in the last two years of the Goats' career. Like that cannot be overemphasized that the plan they laid in place to prepare for post-Aren Donald Rams,

whether it's drafting Kobe Turner and Byron Young. More recently, Jared Verne, and Braden Fisk, like all those first and second year guys are delivering, and that's not a bad place to hang your hat moving forward for an inexperienced defense that's going to have some roller coaster moments. And having Darius Williams back, healthy, you know, sets that secondary right. He's their best morning. It shows. They don't need to be a shutdown defense. They haven't been for many stretches during the McVeigh area. They just need to be good enough. And the

offensive line and the offense needs to take them home. And they have to, haven't been finishing plays. I've been creating a lot of pressure, but not necessarily finishing, getting enough stops. Tonight, they finish some of those plays, too. Jared Verst with the second half, getting a couple quarterback hits. Jared Verst is a really fun young player to watch. They really hit on one. He's so strong. And when Derisaw went out, I really felt for the Vikings because he's an all-pro caliber player. And they absolutely stonewalled the Rams in the first quarter. It definitely started changing the second quarter, so it wasn't all just Dar esau leaving, but the second he left, they were almost fighting over who got to go against

his backup, Quisenberry, and Byron Young had some good snaps, but Jared Verst especially was getting pressure after pressure, hit after hit, and just driving him back. And those are my kind of pass rushers, maybe not the fancy ones, but like the the Jadavian Clownie types when Clownie was at his who is just stronger than the guy, you know, across from him versus that guy, and he has such a motor. I was really keeping an eye on verse all night. And when he wasn't on the field, they just don't have as much juice. Like, he is that important for them. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see how the lights go off because J.B. hasn't moved, but I'm just going to keep talking, which is pretty normal here on NFL Daily. You fixed it. Good job, J.B.

Good save. Yeah, the motion didn't do it. I had to hop up and actually press the button again. We should be good for another 15 minutes or so. All right, let's take a quick break, and we'll be back in just a second. Let's talk a little Vikings. I'll circle back a little bit in a second, but they start out this game getting two touchdowns in the first two drives. Darnold has all the time in the world in the pocket.

I kept writing down in my notes, you know, just pick, he could just pick whoever he wanted to. There was like two or three guys open on every play, and you haven't seen the coverage bus out of the Rams the last couple weeks that you saw early, but there were open receivers because they weren't getting pressure and everything is rolling, and Justin Jefferson is starting out fast. He ends up with eight for 115. You know, what do you think it was that changed, I guess, for them? and what they've done so well for most of this season is keeping Darnold. Mostly calm.

I don't think he had a bad game tonight. It wasn't really on him. He didn't have the ball a ton either in the second half. That was part of it. No, I was super impressed with Kevin O'Connell's script or dirty dozen or whatever it was to open that game. Because they drove down the field twice, locked in and rightly so on Justin Jefferson, right? The Rams just played a Raiders team that traded away one of the best receivers in football, Devonti Adel, before they came to SoFi.

And then five days later, like literally the best receiver on the planet steps into your office. And you got to contend with that. And you felt that difference. You felt that mismatch. But then when they got in those tight red areas, they went to their secondary, right? They didn't throw the touchdown passes to Jefferson. They threw it to Josh Oliver and what Trent Sherfield, right? Like kind of the misdirection using the decoy of Jefferson.

It was a beautiful game plan. And Aaron Jones, you know, run and pass continues to have a great season. There's a lot, a lot of good there. I'm sure the Rams did make some adjustments in their secondary to try and take that first read away. But I think the subject that we just touched on, the pressure and the discomfort in the pocket, probably the biggest thing. By the way, just to circle back before that field goal conversation we talked about earlier, they should have had a touchdown. Like, Darnold does well to duck the initial Russ, attacks the line of scrimmage, hits, I think Jalen Naylor over the middle, he just drops it. Otherwise, that's a touchdown.

It's a completely different game. I think that was one of the pivot points, a missed opportunity there for the Vikings to get their third touchdown. See, that's one live. I should have watched the replay on the big JumboTron because I did not realize that was a drop. I thought that was like a good defensive player. It was just tight there.

See, this is why I need you back me out. I want to listen to more J.B. long calls, but I just feel like this is the ultimate, you know, radio play-by-play on radio play-by-play. rivalry matchup, maybe a revenge game for J.B. Long, I don't know, after he came in second last year on the calls of the year. Now, it wasn't to Paul Allen, but Paul Allen has probably won it before and is an annual contender. So let's listen to Paul Allen's call of Justin Jefferson's crazy catch down the sideline in the second half. Darnold 13 of 16, 146 and 2. He's out of the

shotgun on first down, puts Josh Oliver in motion to the right. Sam, back to pass. Fade, left, and about the 10, it's toppled, are you kidding me? Caught by Justin Jefferson. Are you kidding me? At the five-yard line, he's putting on a show right next to Hollywood. That was a good call. Put that on the calls of the year list. I like that a lot.

Paul Allen and Pete Bersich. Here's what you need to take you over the top. But you need MJD to start yelling out in the middle of the play. Oh, he's got it. You know, I can't believe that sort of stuff. We need that, you know. We need the more. homerism from from mdd poor mjd was so jet lag coming back from london on sunday i think he was only

half there he brought it with full force tonight and it was great um i love paul allen what's cool about that play is it was coming right to us right we're kind of situated back left pylon north end zone of so fight stadium and i was chatting with paul pregame and he was showing me the big monoculars that he uses to call the game um how on the balls in the air he'll kind of move the spot to find the target and i would love to know how that one looked from his vantage point because it was so close to him that he probably didn't even need the binoculars. But, man, what a joy he is to listen to. And I know he's thrilled with every moment he gets to have Justin Jefferson wearing purple.

Well, he's not thrilled tonight. This Vikings team, they were some of their fans. I mean, they were way more down on Darnold locally, like some of the fans after the last couple of weeks than you would have expected. Now, I did think he played pretty poorly two straight weeks, including the Jets game in London. But I thought he played well last night, I mean, tonight. and then I thought he played well last week. That loss against the Lions was not on him.

Although that makes me think of what Colleen was saying on our preview show on Tuesday talking about this game. The post-playing the Lions phenomenon is real. You play the Lions, you lose the following week every single week. And a lot of them are games where the team was favored. I maybe do think there is something to that it's such a physical team going up against the Lions, and it's a mental challenge, too, that there maybe is a little bit of a physical and mental letdown.

Of course, in this case, they're also going on the road on a Thursday night, which is... Yeah, on the road on a short week. Maybe the Lions are like the Service Academy of the National Football League. You know, in college football, when you have to play a triple option team and you pour into that, it's completely different than your normal game plan, and you can get over the hump great, but then it's often the team you play next that beats you because you're all banged up and exhausted, so... It's been the case with the 49ers in recent years, and I've thought there is something, too, that because they are the biggest, most physical team in the league. And so, yeah, the Vikings now

at 5 and 2 in the NFC North, which is the best division in football, it's crazy. And they have the win over the Packers, but the Packers will have the extra game on them. And it's like, yeah, they could be in fourth, third place by the end of the weekend, tied for last place, actually, if the Bears win this game. It is something, that division. It is such a different scenario. than the Rams where like if you're the Vikings and all these teams, you're going to be playing on the road in the playoffs unless you can somehow go ahead and find a way to win. And the Rams, you know, through nothing they've done at three and four

are almost in just as good a spot to try to win their division. Obviously tough division and they're just starting, just starting to play each other. I mean, you probably remember when all those, you know, records were being said, you know, all these teams with only one loss and the point differential is like, okay, but they've only played head-to-head once and they very well may be the best division in the football but now they're going to start to have to face each other but the sensitivity about the quarterback is real i get it it's a tough division to play and to compete in it's a tough division to be a quarterback game when you're looking

around to your peers and it's an ascending Caleb the number one pick jared golf playing at an MVP level and jordan love that's tough company now i'm not going to let darnell totally off the hook here because okay the sack you know probably should have been a facemass or should have been a face mass But he did hold the ball too long on that play. That's at a big spot. That wasn't that quick of pressure. And then the sack that he took that verse got the half sack. I forget who got the other half there who finished off the play,

where Sam Darnold holds the ball a long time on that play and then runs absolutely straight backwards. Again, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see J.B. Long holding up his detailed notes. What does it say for that time? This is my call sheet. And one of the notes that I had from, next gen was that Donald has stayed in the pocket for 3.07 seconds on average this season longer than any other quarterback.

And also a handful of fumbles where I think some opposing defenses, especially guard to guard, have been able to get pressure on him and tee off on him. And those turnovers, I guess, are piling up now. Yeah. And he's always taken too many sacks. And yeah, that was Michael Hoyt, who had the other half sack on that play. Those were two negative plays. There weren't a ton.

I do not think that was his. problem. And actually, Stafford and Darnold, because they're showing the next-gen stats at the stadium, we're getting rid of the ball quite quickly for most of the game. It was more towards the end that he held on to it. Can I, before I lose the thread, can I add one more thing? T.J. Hawkinson, being an active pregame, was almost as good a news as Pooka and Nakua being active for the Rams. Like, I think when Hawkinson gets back in there, that has the potential to do for the Vikings offensively what Cup and Nakua did for the Rams. Rams offensively tonight.

Like, he's just such a huge asset, and the Rams have had difficult times with opposing tight ends, including Brock Powers most recently. I don't think you can overstate just how big of a scratch that was for Hawkinson, not quite ready to rejoin the Vikings' offense. Yeah, that's a good call. And the expectation, because they are going to have to activate him by rule, I believe, on Friday, is that he will play next week, that he was close to playing this week. And maybe they're wondering, oh, maybe we.

We shouldn't have been safe, but I give them credit for, you know, it's a long season. We've seen with the Rams, for instance, like making sure that Puka is all the way back before getting him out there was absolutely huge. Speaking of Puka, let's actually listen to McVeigh talking Puka after the game. This guy's mindset, his mentality, he's a war daddy, he's a stud. I got, you know, I love his play energy and what he brings. He was ready to go tonight, and he made a big impact on the game. War Daddy, what does that mean? War Daddy. On the hierarchy of Sean McVeigh compliments, that's either one or one A, right next to he's a G. When Sean McVeigh says he's a G or he's a war daddy, that is the utmost praise.

What about 60% G? Is that, like, I guess that's not all the way there. Yeah, I would love to hear him call you that. I don't know that that's made his way into Sean's repertoire, but that is a great little inside nod to the two of us. No, I don't believe he's aware of me. Although he'd, did, he always did the, the trick where he would remember Dan Mark and I's name and Chris's name when we would interview him a couple times early on. So, so, still don't think he would be aware of me. All right, before, before we let you go, I'm going to make you feel uncomfortable and make you listen to one more of your calls at least. I really, maybe we'll bring in Eric here. We have the, the first Robinson touchdown, which was, I think, the throw of the night and the play of the night, really important. I think DeMarcus Robinson comes back for the long

touch down. We also have the Cooper Cup touchdown where Stafford ducks below the defender. They're both good but Eric. Oh, I got to tell you. Go for the cup one. If for no other reason then I know you're a tennis guy and Sean McVeigh and Matthew

Stafford both enjoy tennis, actually play tennis together in the offseason and McVeigh told me afterwards that Stafford looked like a Carlos Alcares dodging the rush there. Okay. Eric, I brought you in, but I guess J.B.'s made the choice for you. I like the Dodgers jersey you have on here,

of course, representing the hometown team, you know, heading into the World Series. I did think it was cool. The final minute of the game they just had on the huge, you know, Jumbotron over everyone. Good luck with Dodgers in the World Series. Al did butcher it a little bit, but we did get the obligatory Clayton Kershaw and Matthew Stafford. We're high school teams. I think he called him Curtis Clayshaw on the broadcast. So that's it. did get brought up on the game. But yeah, big sports week in LA. So here we go, close enough.

All right, here, let's listen. Stafford has a snap, four-man rush, pressure in his face, goes out the left side, ducks the rush, flips to the end zone. Cots! Cuts! Cooper Cup from Matthew Stafford! A prime time edition of Nine and Dime. Ah, that's good stuff.

Now your audience has definitely quit on us, Greg. What? They're on the rest of their day. listening you know actually i heard i've had some of the you know i had the the saints block party guys on i've heard from people it's like you should have more of just like of the the local people on after these thursday night games it's great really get the inside you get the emotion you get the the feeling and yeah there was some emotions when that when that touchdown happened that was the kids started going crazy at that point that was where i think they started to believe

ellis is alice always believes she she is a true believer she's thought they're she always thinks they're going to win the Super Bowl. But they are sometimes critical as Stafford, and they were like, oh, he finally didn't just, like, fall over, you know, when he's getting sacked. I'm like, look, he's 36 years old or 35 years old. He's pretty athletic getting out of the way. You know, they think he should evade, you know, more defenders.

But that was, they made Ellis proud there. He made him, made her proud. Well, good. I'm glad they can rest easy tonight, and the best of Matthew Stafford is surely still to come. Okay, I like that. Yeah, I think I never. I never bought the Stafford in-season trade rumors, which weren't even really rumors.

They were just like random people throwing stuff out there. There was no reporting behind that. Never really bought that. I think the Cup situation was different because, look, we've reported at NFL Network that they were listening, that they were open to it. Jordan Rodriguez, at The Athletic, who obviously does a great job on our show too,

reported it as well. So it wasn't just coming out of nowhere. I think a night like tonight really confuses that and not like he was out there looking insanely athletic but just that he has more value ultimately to the Rams I think than he's going to have to any other team and if you're trying to make the playoffs and go making a run you're going to want to do it

you're going to do it with nine and 10 like you're going to do it with both of them kind of be crazy not to. Am I wrong? It's an elite partnership and I'm not a big counting stats guy in this era of quarterbacking, but the fact that he goes past Marino for ninth on the all-time list for completions tonight is significant. That was called out by McVeigh, who actually gave Matthew the game ball in the post-game locker room, and Matthew turned around and gave it right back to the all-time winning his head coach of the Los Angeles. Oh, good, good nugget.

Love that before we go. And by the way, it is kind of crazy because Cup has a hold on this audience. Todd Gurley was there tonight. It kind of reminds me of Todd Gurley. Todd Gurley was just such a fan favorite. And, you know, when they had him on the Jumbotron, they, they show all the number 30s for Todd Gurley all around the stadium. And there's a ton of, ton of it. And you just see so many cups. Like, you see more cups than Staffords. Now, you know, he's been here longer. So in, and I get it. But it's just, he has that connection. So I think that that is part of it too. I'm going to make like the dumbest, smallest, totally not relevant to what we've been talking about point to end here

just because it annoys me. And I just am so sick of Sean McVeigh and Kevin O'Connell's attitude towards the kickoff. And the touchback rule is not working. I get it. Like, with some coaches, it's not working. It's worth it with coaches that actually want to compete and, like, want to try to improve their field position

because when you do kick it off and it doesn't go into the end zone, they're actually averaging like four yards better field position. So basically these coaches are deciding like we can't compete, we can't coach that up well enough, so we're going to give up those extra four yards. But I'm especially annoyed about it having been at the stadium because other stadiums do this too. But, you know, the Rams have their own version where it's the rampede. It's like get everyone super juiced up before the game starts. And there's, you know,

crazy Rams with like, you know, glowing eyes. And then there's, you know, the lady on the guitar who's going crazy, Rita, whatever it is, like ripping her good. and the whole stadium is screaming like crazy and then there's like a touchback and then we just like wait a minute and it's just like a bad product like this is an entertainment product and so it's just stupid the whole thing's stupid we should do it after the touchback actually we should do tell kevin demoff or whoever is making these decisions jb if you can talk to them do rampede after the touchback because sean mcmay has decided i'm giving up on that particular portion of football like I'm not going to compete at that.

That's my rant. You can step off the soapbox. That was well done. And listen, for anyone who's still with us, if you survived three of my in-game calls tonight and you were blessed to hear the brilliant future Hall of Famer Paul Allen, and you made it all the way to that pearl of wisdom

from great Rosenthal. Hit us up tomorrow morning. Let us know. I'll retweet you. I think you're going to get a lot of people. And I think people agree with me. It's stupid. Like this should be a great,

And there is something, I would love to ask, like, a poorly worded question to one of these coaches like that. Because to me, actually, there is a level of what they talk about, like, competing and getting better and this and that. And they're just like, there is something that strikes me. It's like, they've decided not to compete. Because these are two coaches that just decided, like, we're not even going to mess with that. We're just going to give up the field position. Okay, I'll stop. McVeigh's on the competition committee.

Maybe you'll have a say about it in the future, perhaps as soon as this offseason. That's a good call. I mean, they'll probably move it to the 35 coming out to just make the coaches do it. J.B. Long, we've kept you long enough a long night at SoFi Stadium. But the traffic is gone now. You can get out nice and smooth at this point. I mean, the automated lights haven't even gone off for the second time. So I feel like you were well within your allotted time, Greg. It was an absolute pleasure.

It was a fun day at the stadium. It was a fun day. I actually pre-taped our pick show. So you will hear that on Friday with Cynthia Freeland. I'll give all my week eight picks. And there was some drama. Someone from my family, maybe multiple members, were escorted out of the building. You're going to have to listen on Friday to find out who, how, and why.

And yeah, when the Rosenthals are getting kicked out of NFL media, you know football is back. This is an I-Heart podcast.