NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Week 10 recap

Episode Date: November 16, 2015

A room filled with heroes - Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler, Dan Hanzus and Colleen Wolfe – break down all the action from Week 10 of the regular season, including the Patriots beating the Giants in dramatic fashion, and for the first time since 1991. Plus, the Team of ATL (Cardinals) holding off a late-game comeback from the Seahawks, and improving to 7-2.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Got a two-star Yelp review from Steve Smith, Sr. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Going on?

Very well directed with the hand motions there. Greg, jumping over Wes's old. old haydahan. Oh, yeah. So it's something Greg likes to do every couple of weeks just to announce himself with authority. Is that true? Is that what this is all done? It just means I wasn't paying any attention. Yeah. Well, welcome to, yes, this is the Sunday night edition. I like to call it Mark the flagship edition of the podcast during the regular season because really this is where we make our enormous salaries well into the seven figures, all of us. So you know you're going to get really high quality content. I think it's the flagship.

flagship production of the entire NFL. I mean, we're the leading podcast around. Yeah. So, you know. That's true. All that stuff should fall in line. There were some truths and some lies in anything that was just said. Well, the key is I think you're hitting on the point that the NFL media is building all their empire around podcasts.

So that's well. Without telling us that. So, yes, the reason why it's a flagship show, because this is the show where we go over all the games that happened on Sunday. And it was a very exciting Sunday of football in week 10, a lot of big. big plays, some major, I'll say, narratives being furthered. That's all I got. Is this the Damashik podcast? Yeah.

Dave does like narratives. Yes. So, yeah, a lot to get to. At the top of the show, and we're not going to waste any time because we're going to get into it in a couple of minutes. Giants, Patriots, Greg, a team that's been a thorn on your side for many a year, a big showdown at the Meadowlands. So we'll talk about that.

first game up, second, Peyton Manning. We're going to get to that little later in the show. One of the lowest moments of his majestic career occurred on Sunday in Denver. And, of course, the Sunday night football game between our team of around the NFL, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks. So we'll recap and give analysis of that game. All that's coming up on today's show. It's so full.

Not to mention Colleen Wolf coming in, which is always good. Connie Fox comes in. And we got to talk to Connie Fox about something once he gets here about a little get-together at Hansa's Manor on Saturday night and Connie had an issue. So we'll get to that. Yes. So all that coming up.

And before we get into anything, we just do want to, of course, call attention to what happened in Paris on Friday, the terrible terrorist attacks that went down there. And I know we have, TD alerted me to this before the start of the show. We have a big listenership in France. So obviously, all of France and Paris in our thoughts after a really terrible situation that went down there. So that's it. Let's get to the football.

Let's get to the football games. That's it. Let's move on. We will start with the game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots who faced their biggest test of the season. And not surprisingly, it came from the Giants. Steven Gostowski hit a game-winning field goal with one second to play. It was the difference in a 27-26 win for the Patriots to move them to 9-0. Greg, these two teams seem destined to play awesome games forever.

All five games they've played have been classics, really, great games. This might be the last one with Tom Brady. I know he says he's going to play till 50, but you don't see him every four years. I heard some Giants fan honking like this is like 2011. we'll get them back, or this is like 2007, we'll get them back in the suit goal. I don't think so with this Giants' defense, but the Giants looked like the better team today. This was the game of the year to me. It had a little bit of everything.

If you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing the longest catch of Rob Grunkowski's career. You saw the longest play given up in the Bill Belichick era. That was by Odell Beckham. You saw, I think, the best performance by a cornerback I've seen all year after that Beckham catch was Malcolm Butler today. He was the MVP, I think, for the Patriots, and it was fitting. he knocked the ball out of Beckham's hand when it looks like they scored a touchdown late in the game. You hear about what the Super Bowl champion

gets the best of every team week after week and with New England this year it has not seemed that way. I mean, teams have been lined up like bowling pins to get knocked over. This was the game though where New York seemed to want this as badly as any game they played all season and they were a different team for most of this game than we've seen in most of their others.

They were up 10 points in the third quarter. They were up two different times in the fourth quarter. Once the Patriots lost Julian Edelman at the end of the first quarter, they couldn't move the ball. I mean, that's why the field goal drive that Brady put together to ultimately win the game at the end of the game was by no means guaranteed because they were struggling to move the ball all day. And I think as great as this win was, it starts to show, okay, the Patriots are down their top two tackles. They're down Julian Edelman and Dionne Lewis. They're missing Jamie Collins today. He should be back.

But Julian Edelman has a broken bone in his foot. Who knows when he'll be back? these are significant losses. We're hearing, yeah, initial reports out there is that he could be sidelined into the postseason, which obviously changes a lot of what they do, and you're going to, I guess, ask a lot more, Danny Edelman. Danny Amandola?

Danny Amindola, excuse me. Wes's boy, by the way, has had a lot of big moments for the Patriots. Fourth and 10 at the 20-yard line here, needing a field goal. Who does Brady go to? He goes to Amandola. With needing yards to set up the Goscowski kick, who does he go to Amindola,

who makes a great cut to set up the field goal. He's made a lot of big plays for the Patriots. And I think he's not quite the athlete that Julian Edelman is. I think Edelman is one of the most underrated athletes in the league. But the drop-off from Julian Edelman to Danny Amendola is not nearly as severe. As a drop-off from Dionne Lewis to James White and Brandon Bowdoin. But now you're testing their depth. Yeah, but you take away what Amandola was great in his role as like the third receiver.

And now he has to step up one. And now you're looking at who, like Aaron Dobson or Scott? It makes it easier for defensive coordinators to game plan when you take away Edelman and Dionne Lewis. And Greg, you did have a good call on our previous show where you said, don't get excited fantasy owners to go get white and plug him into that backfield because there is no Dionne Lewis replacement coming. So, yeah, without Dionne Lewis or Edelman, this is going to be a real challenge.

And I think Brady's the guy that can overcome anything. But this is a big deal. I mean, Edelman is going to change a lot of what they do. But Dave, we've seen Brady win, even with the talent that remains, the healthy players, he's won Super Bowls with lesser teams on offense. That's why this win, it was exciting to watch as a fan, and it reminded me of those 0304 some of the wins that he would put together then because it wasn't his best game of the season.

He threw an interception on the goal line with just under five minutes to go that was after a penalty wiped out a Lagaree blunt play. He should have thrown an interception. On the game-winning field goal drive, on the first play of the drive, he threw a duck in the middle of the field, and the Giants lost it. On the throne of ease, by the way. Yeah, Greg's been through a tough stretch.

We've got to, let's acknowledge that. I'm just saying it wasn't his best game. But in the end, on the fourth down play, when he needed an absolute yards at the end, he somehow got it and he found a way to win a tough game against the game opponent. A gutty performance by the entire Patriots, nay, the entire New England region should be patted on the head for another.

sterling effort, nine and up. Much better performance than by the Giants fan, who shall rename, nameless here, who came over and started honking right when he thought the Giants had already won that game. That was unfortunate. They were sitting right on the goal line. And I give Tom Coughlin,

I don't blame him for going for it and throwing the ball. They didn't waste time. But that decision ended up costing them. Beckham could not hold on to the ball. The clock was stopped at 201. It ended up giving the Patriots an extra 40 seconds to stop them.

There was a catch, by the way. You thought it was a catch? Of course it was. I have no, I have no idea what a catch is, but he caught the ball. We're watching it. If you're on YouTube, you're watching the replay. And to me, it's the catch. That's when it's a catch, when you catch the ball.

If that's in the middle of the field, there's no way that's a catch. Why would that be a catch? Well, probably because he caught the ball. But he doesn't hit the ground at all. I don't think this one was. It's so stupid of a rule. You can see he catches the ball in turns. I mean, how is it different than Golden Tate?

Yeah, it's the same exact thing as Tate. No, Tate was. coming into the end zone. It is very, it's a confusing rule. How is that even different? Give me a break. Your explanation was that the ball was knocked out as just before the second foot was established.

Right. But, you know, so according to that, according to that, it's not a catch. I didn't think this was a controversy. I would have been stunned if they hadn't reversed it. It was weird that they called it that way on the field. I didn't think this would spark another controversy. Of course, nobody has any idea what a catch is.

Hear me out on this, great. Great play by Butler, though. make it plays like that all game. Okay, we got... Hold on to it, Beck of... If your boy held on to it with those strong myths, they win the game. He blamed himself afterwards.

He's a great young corner. Now, hear me out on this, Greg. That 9-0, you know, 7 away from going 16-0 for a second time, well, this party is like, maybe it would have been okay to lose. Get that loss out of the way. They'll lose one. Don't have so much pressure on them by January.

I agree. If I had to choose, I'd rather be 15-1-1. But they'll lose one. I don't think that's that big a concern. That's what happens. No, the injuries are far more of a concern. than some kind of undefeated season. Yeah.

Let us move on to another undefeated team. The Carolina Panthers, a former team of ATL, an efficient Cam Newton completed 21 of 26 passes, leading the Panthers to a 2710 win over the Tennessee Titans. The Panthers also 9-0, Chris Wessling. And you know what? One thing that I saw in your write-up, they can run on everybody every week.

is that the key and the secret to their success this season? Well, I think they have a formula, and it's the same formula they've had for the last two or three years, run the ball. They have gone 20 consecutive games with 100 yards rushing, which I believe the last team to do that is the 89-90 Chicago Bears. And for most of this game, the announcers were really worried the streak was going to end

because I think 40 of those yards probably came in the fourth quarter. They got to 119, but they were sitting on 60 for a while. But, yeah, I think this was a game where the top. Titans have a better defense than everybody thinks. They sack Newton five times, and the Panthers still won by 17 points. I've given Mike Shula a lot of grief over the years. We should give them some credit because their running game. People talk about the passing game hasn't necessarily taken strides,

and it has this season. But their running game is probably as complex and varied as any running game out there. Between Newton and Stewart, just the different looks that they give opponents week after week, a lot of the ender. I mean, just everything they do in the run. running game is very tough to prepare for. Mike Shula privately confided to me that he despises you. Well, I was on the couch today with Damashek and his circus of friends and MJD asked about

that Rosenthal guy. What's the name of the show? NFL Blitz. NFL Sunday Blitz. NFL Sunday Blitz. NFL Now Sunday Blitz. There you go. Every Sunday at 10 a.m. all day.

All right. Well, Greg, let's not get away from the point. MJD was coming after you about something you said about Shula way back when. Like 3. He has like four different buttons he pressed. presses one for each guy and that's his you know specific thing he says about that guy mjd that is that's my criticism nthl now sunday game day blitz is that it game day blitz game day blitz all right we got it we got it we got it now we thought the titans might be frisky

in this game and i guess they were it was a one score game for a while two and seven though mariotta and mariotta and newton both came out firing and both looked great in the first quarter first quarter and a half second half the defense has took over. But yeah, Mario to look pretty good. And then the second half, I believe they had an interception, which was more Doriel Green Beckham's fault, three punts, and then McCluster fumbled on their last drive. So they basically didn't score a point in the second half in the game. Mariotta was due some bad luck after last week. He should give back that player of the week award. I've never seen. And that was the luckiest thing I've ever seen. He didn't

do anything to score 17 points in that game? Brandon, behind the glass. Do we have a, Cam Newton got himself in a little more drama this week. Maybe we could just touch on that for a second because, of course, we had last week Bannergate, which I feel like has been swept under the rug collectively by society, which is bogus because Mike Dobbs deserved better. Army, man. You want us to keep talking about it? And now we move, flash forward one week. Now Cam getting his opponent's upset. If you're watching on YouTube, you can check this out. He scrambles into the end zone and then does what Wes would call a little bit of preening. He is the best preener in sports.

He's breaking it down. He's doing a little dance. No, hold on. He's not even done preening yet. I know. He's doing some dancing. Why does that make people mad? He just clinched the game. Well, after it is funny. Because he's a quarterback. Stop preening. After the game, he was asked about it, of course, says, like, if you don't want me to preen, that's not what his wording was, but don't let me get in the end zone, which I get

it. Listen, there's a lot of swagger in Carolina. And then they deserve to be, have swagger because they are 9-0-0. This is not 3-0 or 4-0 or 6-0. 9-0 is a significant portion of their schedule without a loss. They can do whatever they want. And a ton of people seem to not be taking them seriously still. Like we're talking about, oh, New England's 9-0. They're going to march into the Super Bowl and go undefeated.

Well, that's because they've done it before. But with Carolina, it's this new team, even though they're not new at all. They've been kicking people's butts for a couple of seasons now. It does feel, they feel different, though. Well, they are different. But it's just that to go 9 and 0 in the NFL, and they're two games up. Some good teams.

Two games up on the one seat. My favorite part of the Cam taunting was when, I think it was Avery Williamson, was it, who came over and got upset and started getting his face. And at that point, then Cam responded with an extra little celebration right back at him in his face. Like, that's, I'm going to shoot you with my celebration. This is not a major issue in sports,

but he's allowed to have fun and go out and do whatever he wants while having fun on the field. And I'm allowed to not like that. That's his idea, but... Right. That's very fair. Greg, can I see you do that dance again? Look to see you at camp?

Right back at you. Can you look into a camera in doing that? I'm not looking at anything. It's pretty good. It's not a bad cam dance. Yeah, anything else from this game, Wes? No, we covered it all. Let's move on to the Denver Broncos,

who were undefeated as well last week. They went down, and now they have the Kansas City Chiefs at home. Peyton Manning's going to set some records, and everybody's going to have a good old time. It didn't work out that way because on the same day that Manning did set the all-time passing yardage record, he did it on the worst day of his professional career in terms of statistics. Manning threw four interceptions and was benched in Denver's 29-13 lost to the rising Chiefs. Wes, just when we thought Manning was turning the season around, this happens.

What gives? Yeah, Peyton Manning's going to drive the story on this, but this was an absolute beat down from the Chiefs. That's to me just as big of the story that the chiefs were up 29 to nothing. And the Broncos got 13 points because it was garbage time whereas Connie Fox would say junk time. But this was the chiefs

just totally dismantling the Broncos. Five completions for Manning, four interceptions. He got benched for performance reasons for Brock Osweiler. It's like, I mean, that's an amazing thing that we're just accepting, okay, this somewhat fits in the arc of this season.

It's happening. That's a crazy thing that just happened. happened out there and then. Is the game not crazy, though, considering some of the lower-ed moments we've seen for Manning this season? It feels like this game was coming at some point. I totally agree with Mark. I know Greg's going to point to the injuries and say this game's way different than anything we've seen from Peyton Manning. It's just the bad throws we've seen from Peyton Manning extended over two and a half quarters instead of four or five throws in a row. What's surprising because he's coming off his two best games of the year in a row.

No, last week was not one of his best games. He made a couple unbelievable throws in that game. They put up a lot of yards. I think he had a bad game. That's how bad his season's been. That's the second best game for this game to come after that. I mean, there was an injury problem. He was on the injury report. Gary Kubiak said after the game, he was regretting. I'm sure the injuries were an issue. I think they were. But Peyton Manning has had this game in him. I think it was waiting to come out. After the game, Gary Kubiak had this to say, falling on the sword. Came out of practice Friday, Saturday, as y'all know, his ribs were bothering him a little bit. And I probably should have right there said, you know, no, he's not going to go this week, but I, you know, he's a competitor.

He wanted to play. Akeeb was out. DeMarcus was out. He wanted to go. He felt like he could go. But I'm disappointed myself because I probably should have made that decision yesterday and I didn't. So it's on me. You know, that's a coach sticking up for his player and trying to deflect the heat.

I guess that's part of what the coach is supposed to do. But that doesn't change the fact that Manning did not look competitive. And this is a major problem for this team. Yeah. I mean, also, again, like we've been saying, the throws that came today, we've seen evidence of this all season long. Whether he's healthy or not right now, separate issues. But we were the last time they played, we were all talking about how he was looking a lot better. And maybe he was turning the corner and they were going to be okay.

And they got Vernon Davis in the building. So for me, this was surprising to see him regress so completely and fall off the chart the way he did. If I'm the Broncos, I know that my season is in serious peril because there's no. no solution here. Manning afterwards said he blames his bad decisions more than any injury or anything like that. And a couple of the interceptions were thrown where he just didn't see a guy in zone coverage essentially. So I don't know how you can blame arm strength on that. And that's what he's done even earlier in the season. He was moving the ball fairly well, but he would make a Mark Sanchez like interceptions to kill good drive. It's also a credit to Kansas City's defense,

which is, you know, we kind of lost sight of Kansas City. for a stretch because they are four and five and this was their biggest win of the year. But what about the fact that a couple weeks ago I was touting Denver's

defense as the 85 Bears slash 2,000 Ravens? What's happened to them over three? I mean, losing, you know, the injuries have hurt them too. They were put in horrible field position all day to day. How can you, you got four interceptions

so they're getting the ball in their own territory and they stop the chiefs on third downs over and over again. They're without two of their best defensive players in the game. It's just, it's a tough spot.

If you look at the Chiefs now, they've won three in a row, four and five. You thought, you know, when they lost Jamal Charles, you'd think that, you know, they're done on top of the slow start to lose your best player. Greg, do you think they could actually be in the wild card picture by the end of the season? They're in the picture right now. They're one game back, and I think they are playing better than any of those teams in the wild card rate. I was really impressed with them. Not Pittsburgh. I think they are.

They absolutely slaughter. Pittsburgh. I mean, they'd dominate them. But they also moved the ball on offense against Pittsburgh and held the ball for about 38 minutes in that game. And I was really impressed with the Chief's offense in that game. Right now, I think they're as good or better than any of those wildcard teams. Not Pittsburgh with Big Ben in the field. Even if you take Big Ben out of the picture, let's say, let's concede Pittsburgh getting that fifth wild card spot or the number five spot. I agree totally. The Jets have progressed. The Raiders are up and down. The Chiefs are, you know, they're in that

grouping where you can't say those the bills are up and down they're in that group she's have a very good defense but they're a field goal offense and a touchdown lead that's that's a big problem come playoff time yeah they're built to go nine and seven at their ceiling and get whacked in the wild card game so let's not get too excited i i just wonder if bark osweiler is going to win you some sandwiches and start a game this season for performance reason because when kubiak said he regretted starting Peyton manning on one hand yeah that's falling on the sort. On the other hand, I'm sure he really wishes he did start Brock Osweiler, because Peyton Manning gave him no chance to win. Win who some sandwiches?

Win Mark some sandwiches because he said that Brock Osweiler will start a game this season due to performance reason. And that's got to be on the table. Well, Kubiak emphatically shut down the notion of a quarterback controversy, but I'm thinking you can shut down the talk in Denver this week. Right. There is going to be a controversy. Well, another game like this, you have to start thinking about what's best for the team. Mark, let's move forward. where were you in 1991? I was a junior in high school. Were those happy times in your life?

Excellent times, as far as I remember. I block out all the negativity. Oh, that's good. I like that because 1991 was the last time that the Lions had defeated the Packers in Green Bay until Sunday. That's ridiculous. They won in Green Bay.

Mason Crosby's 52-yard field goal attempt didn't have a chance. It was the final play in a Lions 18 to 16 win over the Green Bay Packers who have suddenly outrageously lost three in a row after a six and oh start. They're now in second place in their division. Everything is going to hell in Green Bay. And it's amazing watching this game today.

I know this has been going on for a few weeks now with Green Bay's offense, but you would think at home, okay, now this is going to be the game where they start to get healthy and put some points on the board and get, you know, relax and all that. that fun stuff. There's no reason to relax because this is a total systemic breakdown from the personnel without Jordy Nelson is not stepping up and filling the role. The play calling, Tom Clements, he was supposed to take over for Mike McCarthy and elevate his profile to get a head coaching job. That's not happening right now. Aaron Rogers, unless he has an injury that we don't

know about, he does not look like Aaron Rogers. He's missing throws, which you never see him miss. Randall Cobb had a big drop in this game, James Jones, who's dropped off the grid entirely in the last month, had a big drop in this game. They just, I don't even recognize this team anymore. This is now becoming one of the biggest surprises of the season today. There's a lot of things happening because, you know, go back to the preseason game against Pittsburgh when they lost Jordy Nelson and all this talk about Devante Adams and Ty Montgomery and the other weapons that they had groomed from in-house. and there was a lot of hopeful conversation about those guys stepping in and playing a bigger role, but it's just not that easy to replace

an all-pro-bowl type receiver like Jordy Nelson and the chemistry he has with Rogers too. Devante Adams has turned 21 targets into 79 yards. That is one of the least efficient games by wide receiver you ever hear. I think part of this... It's outrageous. Part of this to me also is... And I don't want to take anything away from Aaron Rogers

because obviously he's an all-time great, but there was a general belief that no matter what happened, he was so good that anybody that they plugged in, they were still going to be a 30-point-a-game offense because they had a quarterback playing at that high a level, and that's simply been exposed not to be the case. They're vulnerable, and having no running game doesn't help either. Well, the plays he was making at the beginning of the season

perhaps just weren't repeatable. They were out of structure, I guess you would call them plays, with outrageous throws. I mean, he made a couple of them last week in Kansas. Carolina, too. But just counting on doing that week after week, you can't really, you can't count on that. And you look at this offense, they were 25th and yards going into this game. That'll only go down. This wasn't just a loss. This is a loss to the worst team in the NFL. I mean, there's no doubt that the Lions were the worst team, a terrible defense, a terrible

offense to lose to Detroit at home. I mean, what did Martha Ford say to that Lions team? Give her the executive of the year. She's turned this ship around. It's like Major League three. She said nothing. But Detroit did every, wow, just like the third movie in the Major League franchise? Well, I'd say this is a new one. Martha Ford is taken over. Detroit did everything in its power to blow this game. It was actually kind of hilarious to watch because this is what bad teams do. It was almost like they're like the Jets on steroids.

Like they got a touchdown late in the game and all Matt Prater had to do is kick an extra point to make it a two-score game with two minutes to play, game over. He pushes it left. That was his second missed extra point of the game. So instead of it being a two-score game, it's 18-10, what happens? Aaron Rogers finally gets his team in the end zone. They can't convert the two-point conversion. There's 30 seconds left. 18-16, game over, right?

No, the Packers recover the onside kick. When the outside kick goes through Calvin Johnson's fingers, they get the ball into field goal range. And I don't know what happened with Crosby, who's a good kicker sometimes. And he, if you watch this game, the highlights, the ball was not blocked. It looks like it was blocked. He just mishit it so poorly. It never even stood a chance. I like what you put in your post where it's not R-E-L-A-X time for the Green Bay Packers this time.

Where Aaron Rogers sold that last year and he was correct. It's time to settle down and wait. This offense will get its feedback together. But this time around, it's late in the year. And you don't have Eddie Lacey guy he was last season. That was a big part of their offense, blowing people up with the run game in bad weather in Green Bay. I just, I wonder what's going to happen with this. team. It's not heading the right direction. Once his

groin is healthy, I would put him on a treadmill for like 14 straight days. Get him back to his playing weight last year and then give him the ball 25 times and hope that writing, because James Starks had his chance today, did not look good, average less than three yards of carry. I thought he left yards on the field. He did not look

like a job. Almost like he's a career backup. Yeah, he did not look dynamic. So there's not going to be a situation where Starks is going to run away with his job. Almost like their only chance of season is for Lacey to return to form, which is crazy to say. Physical trainer Dan. I like this. Maybe you're the man to go down there.

I never thought I would be a personal trainer. And I still don't think it will happen. But this is just my idea. Well, they have the Vikings next week, don't they? Yes. Vikings coming up, and that's a monster game. You lose there. You can go to back in the division.

Then again, if you suddenly can find a way to just win that game. I do think this team, if you look at their history, even when Rogers is healthy, they've had little dips in play for a month at a time, and I still believe they can get out of it. Yeah, you know, for all to talk about Jordy Nelson, last year, I think Damashek had Rogers, Jordy Nelson, and Lacey behind only the Steelers Trio for triplets. You don't have Nelson or Lacey on the field today,

and James Jones is no longer a part of the offense. How was it protected? Last week, I thought that was a huge part of the problem, was Rogers. Protection was fine. I mean, he was moving around because he's so good at that. It wasn't like he was clean all day, but it wasn't a situation where that was the reason why they lost because they could have protect them.

He's just, there's widespread problems in the office. It's wild. Jim Caldwell, by the way, said he was not dead during the bye week. I disagree. And he proved it. He's not dead. Did he prove it? He's alive.

They won a game. Hook him up to a machine. Let's see. He did something no Lions coach has done in 25 years. You're telling me that Jim Caldwell has a pulse. That is the biggest surprise of the season. All right. So if the worst loss of the day was Green Bay falling to the worst team in football at home,

the second worst loss would have to be what happened in Philadelphia today, because the Eagles blew a two touchdown lead at home. The end result, a 20 to 19 loss to the Dolphins. Greg, the Eagles lost their quarterback and a golden opportunity to create some distance to the NFC East. What a disaster. The Eagles hate the Around the NFL podcast.

Whenever we start crowning them like we did in the preseason naming them the number five team or this last week as the NFC East favorite, they got to put out a stinker on. there on the field. They got my hopes up, too. They look great in the first quarter, 16 to three. Touchdown drive, the first couple drives, and then they do nothing the rest of the game. Sam Bradford leaves with a shoulder injury. They lose because of special teams, really, a block punt and a missed field goal. I think were really the differences in this game. And for everyone that

wanted Mark Sanchez to come out on the field, this is what you got. They moved the ball, but they didn't finish drives. And he threw an absolutely killer interception. in the end zone with under five minutes to go when they only needed a field goal to take the lead and I think the defense would have finished out that game for him and just couldn't do it. You were talking downstairs about the last sequence of the game on offense.

You want to take us through that a little bit? Yeah, it was absolutely awful. If you're watching on YouTube, we should show it here. It's just as bad, it just was the Eagles offense really in a nutshell if you were watching this during the game. First, Miles Austin doesn't even look for a few. path that goes right to him. Then they throw it to DeMarco Murray. He drops the ball. The next snap

Sanchez is a little too high throwing at the Seleck. He can't make a tough catch. And then finally on fourth down, the protection breaks down. And Mark Sanchez throws it way short of the sticks on fourth and ten. And the game is over. They were in the great position to just get 20 yards, kick a field goal and win the game. They couldn't do it. None of those passes were more than seven yards in length and they got zero completions out of it. Total breakdown. It's it just feels like one of the most schizophrenic teams, what you get one week and you think you've built some momentum and you're going to get some traction with your running game or your quarterback play, and the next week it's completely different.

That was a great scientist to work there, Greg. Thank you, sir. Bradford, I mean, Bradford. Wes. Looks great in the first two drives. What, you want to shoot me down? No, Greg's much better at that. No, I'm saying, like, this is your chance now. Maybe next Sunday, you could bang Greg with a sequence.

All right. Ooh. I don't know. Top me in terms of sequence. Sounds disturbing. Yeah, maybe. Okay. I was just going to say, Bradford started the game.

I think he looked really good for most of the game. But they moved, I think he had 122 yards in the first two possessions, and then only 129 in the next seven. We should give the dolphins some credit. The defense played well, really, the last three quarters. The game in Indomac and Sue had one of, if not his best game, as a dolphin, and they really shut down to Marco Murray. They did what they wanted to do.

I'm going to do, as everyone knows, I once got a 39 on a state-mandated math test in New York, but I'm going to do some math on the overall record of the NFC East. 9, 13, 15, and 27. No, that's incorrect. Almost nailed it. 2015 and 22. That's not good. That is ugly.

That's pretty bad. Almost half the wins are just in-division games playing each other. We'll get to the Cowboys in a second, but I'm just going to throw it out there, Wes. Two and a half games out, they're not dead. Talking about a team with a seven-game losing streak. I'm just saying the division is that poor that. the season is not over if they ever could start winning games. Well, they know how to lose games.

And the Miami can convince themselves they're in the mix again. Four and five, they're right there. That's the Chief's record. They're one game. Yeah, they're one game back. They didn't impress today at all, I don't think, but they don't want. This week is really, in the AFC playoff picture, is telling you a real story. I mean, I think the Steelers are above those other teams in the mix, but the bills, the Raiders, the Jets.

If you want to throw the Chiefs in there, they want to throw the Dolphins, none of those teams are juggernais. So there's really no heavy favorite, I think, to take that sixth spot. I would just do what we normally do and line them up by strength of quarterback. I mean, that's why Pittsburgh's easily number one and I'll take my chances with the next. And why I'm not feeling good about Miami. I mean, Ryan Tannahill never sees the free blitzers coming at him. It's either the line or Tim. They kept getting to him today.

They tied a record third straight week where they took a safety. That's a tie-in- NFL record. I mean, how does that even happen? It's unbelievable. It was great on CBS because they were. right near the goal line. And so then they showed the sequence of the two safeties, which were just on bad snaps the last two weeks. And then

the next play, Tanna Hill just takes a sack and fumbles out the back of the end. The very next play. Depressing. So I brought up the Dallas Cowboys. Let's talk about them next. James Winston scored on a one yard. I call it a nude bootleg. A lot of people say naked bootleg.

I say nude. Just to put my own kind of stamp on it. That feels a little dirty. I like it. Yeah, thank you. With 54 seconds to play, the decisive point. and the Buccaneers 10-6 win over the flat-lining Dallas Cowboys, the Cowboys who were 2-0 when their quarterback got hurt, and all they needed to do was win a couple of games during the stretch with Romo, supposed to be back next week.

They could not win a single game. They have now lost seven straight. And watching this game, it was, it told you how important. We always know Romo is important. He's overlooked in that sense. They don't have anybody, they don't know how to close out any of these games. They've been in so many of these games. and they always find a way to lose.

And I found it interesting. And when you guys check out this game during the week, you'll see the same thing that they got Des Bryant back, and he was supposed to be a guy that kind of stopped the bleeding. Today, he contributed to their loss. They had a third and short with five minutes to play in the game with a chance to move the chains and run out the clock up, 6-3. Des Bryant drops the ball, a nicely thrown ball by Castle,

it was about a seven-yard pass, couldn't hold it in. And then on the last play of the game for the Cowboys, Again, Castle goes up with a deep ball. And instead of fighting for the ball, Des is calling for a penalty. The ball's intercepted. And Des Bryant doesn't make a play on a game on the line, deep ball and one-on-one coverage.

So, I mean, those are the type... Des has to make a play either or there, and, you know, preferably both. And he didn't. And that's how you lose games. Bad teams figure out ways to lose games, and the Cowboys are a bad team. I think teams led by Brandon Whedon and Matt Castle

also find ways to lose games. But Castle wasn't great today. Castle was very good last week. And it's not just on him. It's just like this team is just, they don't, I mean, I don't know. It's got at some point go back to coaching maybe a little bit. They do not know how to close out these games. They must be maddening to watch as a fan.

It's almost like they lack character or something. Right. That's where I was going on some point is that they have a loser's mentality right now. The Bucks did not enter the red zone until their game-winning touchdown with under a minute to go. So the defense, just looking at that stack, clearly played very well the whole game. And when they needed one more drive, that was the drive where they let the Buccaneers drive down the field and win it. And a perfect example of bad teams finding ways to lose. I think it was two plays before the game winning touchdown run for Winston.

Winston scrambles for the goal line, goes up in the air, loses the ball without getting hit, recovered by the Cowboys, game over. Only defensive holding on the Cowboys wipes the play out. So, I mean, it was a stomach punch loss for the Cowboys, one in many this season. I mean, you know, you have Des going nuts on the sideline, you have Greg Hardy getting into altercations on a weekly basis. And I get it from the standpoint that it's got to be super frustrating to be a member of the Dallas Cowboys because you get your heart ripped out week after week after week.

Greg Hardy, 0 in 5, I believe, by the way. Shocking. Shocking that that would happen there. It's another example of the lie where coaches say the hardest thing to do in sports is win an NFL game. The Buccaneers have won four games this year. Not taking anything away from them. They're fine, but they're not a great thing.

They're an improved team. They're an improved team. They're like a seven-win type of team, which is doubling, more than doubling one. So if the Cowboys go perfect the rest of the way, the best they can do is nine and seven. Sorry, Dan. I don't think that's a playoff team. Nine and seven.

No, that's into like wildly unlike. chance they do go perfect. Well, 9 and 7s could win that division. They don't even know how to win a game. If you told me they're going to go 9 and 7, I'd say they're winning the NFC East. But they're not going to go 9-7. They'll have just beaten the rest of the team. Because they did themselves in because they needed to steal a couple of these games.

You can't lose all 7. It's a total joke scenario. So I'm not going to get by the Cowboys at 2 and 7 at this point because what have they shown? Even when Romo gets back, a rusty Tony Romo is going to roll off seven wins in a row. I think God is very angry at this team. It would be great, though. It would be great for, like I said it last week, for the Romo narrative of it all.

He comes back in there, and then they just start winning game after game. I would love, I would, it would be the only thing that would make the re-game. Romo to me is likable, despite what the team attached to him, what you think about them. Wes, come on, Tony Romo, a little redemption leads him. I get a sense that Tony Romo is one of the nicest people in the NFL. I would love for him to win games if he was playing for a different organization. Fair enough. Darren McFadden, your boy, who was second in the league in rushing over the past three weeks,

came back down to Earth a little bit in this game, but you didn't get hurt, Wes. He'll be back next week. Your boy, he's okay. Yeah, I'm already come out on top on this. I'll have to delay my long-planned Mia Coppa about how well McFadden's playing. Now I get to – I believe that when I hear it. I could see Greg like checking the box or about a couple hours ago. A grin creeping out of his face.

I seriously did think that when I watched the Cowboys finally over the week, I was like, It's time for me to finally admit how well he's playing, but now he stinks again. Many victories for Greg today. That's one of just the more minor ones. Avalanche of victories. No Cowboy player had a longer run than seven yards in the game.

Moving on, there was a guy that had a lot of yards for the Minnesota Vikings today. He was Adrian Peterson, who ran for a season high, 203 yards, including a game icing 80 yards score late in the fourth quarter, leading the Vikings to a 30 to 14 victory over the Raiders. Mark, the Vikings are 7 and 2, and all alone atop the NFC North. Are you buying in?

I'm buying into their defense. I think they did a good job against Oakland today, and it's consecutive weeks in a row that their defense has started to show up and do the job. Their offense to me is very weird, because, yes, it's Adrian Peterson, and he got stronger as the game went on today and finally broke that game ceiling run.

But I just, the Teddy Bridgewater thing, I was watching him versus Derrick Carr, and it's just a personal preference, but everything about Derrick Carr I like better. I just like what Oakland has with their quarterback, and he's, Derek Carr is going to throw the ball deep over and over. He just has that arm, and Teddy Bridgewater seems more to me

like he's just managing the game with shorter passes. He is right now. It's 23 years old, too. Sure. It's not a final analysis. To me, a bad loss for the Raiders. You got to stack some wins at home if you're a team that's making the leap. And I guess maybe it's time, and I'll be the first to say that I haven't been all that impressed by the Vikings this season to this point.

And maybe the Raiders are still kind of a team figuring out and they're really a 500 team. But this is a really big win for the Vikings on the road against a team that's had some success against teams that are decent this year. Yeah, I mean, again, they shut down a good offense. And they won an ugly game. that Minnesota, they're now into the part of the schedule that we thought a couple weeks ago would destroy them and take them down. And they keep winning. And they've got Green Bay next week. You take care of business there and they seriously are in the driver seat. Yeah. Before this game was even over, my at mentions on Twitter were blowing up

with people wanting to some sort of apology about the Vikings. I guess I've been critical about the Vikings on the podcast that we're not giving it. Oh, how are you going to skip giving them some credit now? Are they finally a good team? Block them. Just because they're seven and two, this was an impressive performance. I mean, this, I think just looking at it would be their best game of the season to shut down an offense like that. Then again, you know, it's still a four and five team they beat. It doesn't change the fact that I think they've been lucky and that their record is not really reflective of how good they've been so far. But it doesn't matter because they're seven and two and they have an identity, which is good.

They have a great defense of line. Lindvald Joseph sounds like he had a good game again. And they have the running game. And they kind of know who they are, and that could be enough. It's not like they need to be great to win 10 or 11. I think with the Vikings, Zimmer came in and he's doing what he promised he would do on defense. What concerns me is Norv Turner's, whose year after year had a great passing game, no matter where he goes. There's no identity of this passing game right now.

Mike Wallace has vanished. Stiggs didn't really show up today. They shut him down in the first half completely. And that's against Oakland's secondary. Not a single receiver had more than 45 yards. Wallace is done in terms of being a deep threat. There's a stat that he was, I think, the number three guy in the NFL in recent seasons is that type of player that could take the top-off defense. He's not doing that anymore, and that was really what he was there for.

I think he also went to a team where the quarterback doesn't throw the deep ball that often. That's just not what their passing game is right now. And that's sort of what I meant where with Carr, it's sort of a, he's just a little more daring. He'll just put it downfield, and I like, think Oakland's more fun to watch for that reason. You like yourself a daring man. I like a daring individual. You are a daring, man. Sometimes.

Oakland's more fun to watch, but their defense is going to keep them out of the playoffs. They gave up to 500 yards to two guys last week, just two players, and then they give up the 200-yard game to Peterson today. This is not a good defense. Yeah, and holding, you know, we should give Vikings credit. I mean, holding the Raiders to 14 points at this point, we've seen other teams go into Oakland and they get wax. The Jets were a good defense.

They got wax. The Chargers are not good, but they got waxed. I mean, Oakland went into Pittsburgh, who had been playing pretty well, and they put up 35 points. For Minnesota to do this, I mean... They have a good deed. Linval Joseph looks like he ate somebody. I mean, he's massive.

Can we rule that out? He's been eating running back, so you. I don't know what he's there. I think that's illegal. And don't look now, by the way. First of all, Adrian Peterson is closing in a thousand yards after nine games, and he is on pace for about 1,800 yards this season. This is an all-time great that we are watching.

Just a reminder. Tied O.J. Simpson for him. most 200-yard performances. Hubba, hubba. What a weird season. And leads to the league in negative plays. Yeah. And plays over 10 yards.

We've covered it all. What else can be said? We have to move forward. And it is one of my favorite parts of the week is when I get to introduce the next individual to come through the doors here at Studio 66. She is one of the mainstays on Mark. Pay attention now. NFL now Game Day Blitz.

Yes, she is. She's the star of that vehicle. Yes, the white couch of truth, as Shek calls it. She is the great, the great Connie Fox. Jazz hands. Jazz hands. I went with jazz hands this week. It is never not awkward.

It's awful. On the ISO camp. I know. I'm really happy that we highlight it every week. We could have made it even more awkward if we showed a video of some of your dance moves on NFL now today, which was sent over the interwebs. Sometimes these things happen. I don't really know what to say about it.

It just continues to get more awkward. Look it up. And I hate that this almost seems like Colleen comes in here and we, you know, just, you know, instead of saying, hey, how you doing, Colleen? We got agendas with Colleen because I got something to say about what happened last night in Hansa's Manor. I'm still, no, my confidence is shattered. Can I bring it up?

Go ahead. I've been thinking about it all day. We played a little bit of the card game, Cards Against Humanity. Which, for those that are familiar with it, it's, I don't know. How would you even describe what that game is? It's like Balderdash meets something else. You might as well be speaking Greek right now. Yes.

But anyway. It's a card game. It's a card game where you try to like. Yeah, it's a disturbing game. You try to have the funniest line and then people pick it. Colleen was shut out. Okay. Shut up to not have any points.

That's the problem. Look, when you get a bad batch in cards against humanity, there's no way you can redeem yourself. It is like taking over like a Matt Millen team where you're just digging out from under it. Some GMs, if you have the right vision, you get out from underneath it. You did not.

She didn't do anything wrong. She just performed poorly in a game of skill. Well, it wasn't, yeah, it wasn't a great showing by coming. I had bad cards and found a way to get a few points. I think Wes won. I did. So there you go. Yeah, I started getting desperate at the end.

It was bad. It did. It was awkward. It was in your head. All right. So, Colleen, would you mind if we talk a little football? Let's do it. All right. Let's start with the Washington Redskins who, yeah, they remain in the mix in the NFC East after embarrassing the crumbling Saints, 47 to 14 at home on Sunday.

Kirk Cousins threw four touchdown passes, two of them to tight end Jordan Reed in the blowout. Colleen, honestly, what does Rob Ryan have to do to get fired? I have no idea because I was thinking the same exact thing. This has been an absolute meltdown. The defense looks so awful. Every week, the Titans did it last week. Kirk Cousins looked awesome. He looked like he was unstoppable.

He had 300 passing yards and three touchdowns at the half. I mean, he looked so good. But at this point, they just should have Dennis Allen take over because I have no idea how you even come back from such a terrible performance. like this. You hear over and over that players love Rob Ryan, that they get behind him and just think he's the greatest coach around. He has all this support. But the results are an epic disaster. One thing, I guess, in Rob Ryan's defense is how would you do as a defense coordinator if you had Brandon Browner getting significant snaps week after week who's hands down the worst

cornerback in football? If you're Bill Belichick, you win a Super Bowl. Oh, wow. Too sure. Well, I mean, it's very fair. That's not fair at all, actually. It's totally fair. He started. What happened? He was the starter of the Superback. You're right, because Dorel Rivas is on the Saints, too. So, no, I mean, they were able to hide him. He can't be hidden in this defense. They don't have great personnel.

That doesn't help matters. Teams a mess, a train wreck personnel-wise. Don't sign Brandon Browner if you're Rob Ryan making that push for that veteran cornerback. Well, this is a bi-week for the Saints, and I don't think anyone will be surprised. In fact, maybe we should just assign out the article now. Wes, you're in late on Mondays, so you're out of the mix. Dan, you've got the Rob Ryan loses his job post. Actually, this is getting too...

I'll take it. I'll take the Rob Ryan beat. It's mean, though. It's mean that we're planning is doomed. Now, I take this all out of the show. Leave it in to show Greg's true colors. That's good. Speaking of Greg's true colors,

I guess Kirk Cousins might go up to like 30th in your quarterback ranks. Oh, wow. Shocking. I would say Cousins' best game of the year, basically, was last weekend. Perfect pass a rating, yeah. So this is a couple good weeks in a row.

now for him. And yeah, and I feel horrible that we forked the Redskins because... No. What? Who's better than them in this division? That's fine but they're probably safe team. If we were getting mad at our, if we wanted to crow about every team that we shouldn't have forked, that's four and five, we would

have the dolphins, we would have the Bills, we would have the Raiders, we would have the Jaguars, we'd have that's fine. So that's fine, like there's a million of them. Dan asked me a couple weeks ago, can I picture Jay Gruden at that podium for the playoffs? Yes, I can. And I can picture you like that catching on throughout that final two months of the season as a big playoff push.

You like that. What we see from Washington, like in their ceiling games, is what we saw today, which is good play from Kirk Cousins for most of the game. Today it was the entire game. And they ran for 200 yards. Their offensive line when it's clicked has been a dominant run game. And that's when Washington can win this division because you're right. What's the other team that's going to jump up and take them? The Eagles?

That's fine. but then next week when they lose to Carolina and they're four and six and maybe the Eagles or the Giants get a win and then they're back to two games back then we'll be like, well, I guess it's okay we fork the things. You're right, that the top of the NFC East is all mediocre

and they'll probably stay in the mix but I don't think they'll win in it. Or seven and 19 wins this division. When they lose 31-6 at Carolina next week, no one's going to be biting their fingernails about the Washington Redskins. They're a bad team and a horrible division. That's all they are.

Yeah, but you keep back, and like the Cowboys are Friskey and they're two games behind the Redskins. Maybe you missed earlier, in the podcast where I said they can't be taken seriously. But I think the Giants and Eagles, even though what we saw today, still are a better team, two better teams than the Cowboys and the Redskins.

But with the Redskins, though, what I'd say is there is something being built because occasionally you see these performances popping through. Maybe it's not this season. When they're healthy. When they're healthy, they get Deshawn Jackson back, their offensive lines intact. They're a different team when they're healthy.

As an Eagles, Homer, let's be honest. Like which are the three teams? Awkward. Which of the three teams would you be most afraid of winning this division? Oh, wow. The Giants, Redskins, or the Cowboys? Probably the Giants. And when I watch the Eagles, I'm not confident in anything that I see.

I feel like there's nothing that says they are a good team when I watch them. But the Redskins, they play the Saints and they look great. But that's not consistent. Giants showed a little something on Sunday, even though they lost that game. They really should have won it. I mean, they, I thought, outplayed the Patriots, that's something. But you're right, there's no great teams. We do have, by the way, Brandon Behind the Glass told me we have this.

A little more, Wes was saying, you like this, or is it you like it? Whatever it is, catching on defensive end. You like that. You like that. Chris Baker after the game shouting at a local cameraman. The defense stood up. They did a great job. You like that.

You like that. I like that. You got it like that, right? Chris Baker, by the way, is having a great season. He did that in the... I know, that's not even the one that I saw. Yeah, exactly. Multiple times.

I saw him do that in the hallway after the game. It's becoming a thing. Chris Baker, hey. Trying too hard a little bit. I don't know. This team's got some special. Okay. But also, by the way, on the other side of things,

why do you still have Drew Breeze in the game at the end when they are down by like 30 points? What is why? Who knows what's going on in New Orleans? Just blow the whole. thing up and be done with it enough it's a mess playing so well too coming into this game like i thought he played unbelievable last week and they they made that little rally to four and four and now none of it matters let's just move on right jason meyers kicked a 53 yard field goal after jacksonville got

one last play thanks to a face mass penalty with no time on the clock in the end it met the jaguars ended their 13 game road losing streak sunday a 22 to 20 win over the the Baltimore Ravens, another team that knows how to lose and find ways to do it. West, the Jags don't get too many gifts from the football gods. They're going to take this. This one was a huge gift. I believe there are only four

plays in history where a team won after the time had run out because of a defensive penalty in the NFL, you cannot end the game on a defensive penalty. Elvis Dumerville face mask penalty on Blake Bortles as time expired set up this 53-yard

field goal. They would not have been in within distance to go for it. Bortals falls down on the play. And then there's the face mass penalty. It sets up the 53-yarders. That's unbelievable. Jason Myers redeemed himself after missing a easy 26-yard chip shot

early, late in the third quarter. Mark, isn't it in the illustrious history of Cleveland Brown's Part 2? Wasn't there a player who took his helmet off that extended a game? Wayne Rudd didn't extend a game and ended a game. That's one of them. No, that extended the game and then they kicked the field.

Yes, that's exactly right. And Kelly Holcomb threw for like 450 yards, and none of it matters. Hank Poteet was another one. I forget what the fourth one was. I liked your tweet when you said, if you're coming up with the five most painful losses this year, the Giants might have all of them. But the Cowboys would be in the mix. The Ravens have found crazy ways to lose week after me.

They've all been pretty close games, too, at the end. At least, like, within eight points or so. That is the NFL. All these games seem to be close because there's not a lot of difference, I guess, in the talent level for a lot of. lot of the league. But yeah, I mean, the Giants, they crack me up because, you know, I have these Giants fans and I have a text string that just, I have to silence it on my phone, so I'm working. But it's just, and I wish I could read it, but there's so many expletives involved,

just pure anger because every Giants fan thinks that they should be seven and two right now, but they're not. Those are the same Giants fans that you invited to the Super Bowl a couple years ago. I know. That's why I don't go back. They're hugging each other with the Super Bowl trophy in their arms. This was not an impressive game for Jacksonville. They had trouble moving the ball against the secondary. And Mark has been pointing out on a weekly basis. Everyone throws on the Ravens, but they had trouble moving the ball.

And then the Ravens' offense, Flacco's numbers look pretty good. And he played pretty well, but it's just telling that you're, Kumar Aiken is the only guy you're throwing to outside the numbers. And you've got three slow, tight ends that you throw to, and that's about it. Yeah, Flacco, he had two interceptions, lost that fumble, too, in the game. I mean, it was dicey for him. And they can get that fourth win on Thursday night football, Jacksonville. I mean, each one of these wins is so big to this coaching staff who is just trying to keep a job.

They can get a home win on Thursday night, four and six. I mean, at least they can keep their jobs and everyone just react. It's another team of a disastrous record that could win their division. Yeah, and Mark, it has been another dry season for the Browns, but you are enjoying the Ravens going out of flames this year. Actually, not as much as I enjoy seeing the Jaguars win, because being there in London and kind of being around that team

I think that this I hope they don't blow this thing up no matter what happens this season I want one more year from the coaching staff and the GM and all that business a way to spin it positively well I tried

I'd like to somehow scientifically test what's inside of your heart because I still feel like there's a lot of bile in there about Terrell Suggs and John Harbaugh and a lot of those ravens oh I can't stand the raven or the Ravens at all, but they've got enough of their own problem. You love this. You love that the Ravens are having a terrible season.

It's okay. I don't want to see them get a higher draft pick than the Browns. That would be the ultimate disaster. So we'd win some games, please. All right. Speaking of the Cleveland Browns, they played the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. They were supposed to play Landry Jones, but Landry Jones gets hurt early in the game. Who comes in?

Van Rathlisberger. He throws, you know, I don't even, I don't know, it throws for what? 740. 379 yards. Three touch. touchdowns, a 30 to 9 win over the Browns mark. Only the Browns could find a way to force Pittsburgh to beat them with Ben Roslisberg. It is the most Cleveland loss ever, and it's been 12 in a row losses in Pittsburgh.

The last time they won was 2003, and it looked like all the others. You just don't have enough to take care of Big Ben. And he, you know, I understand he's so-called, he's injured. Nonsense. He looked fine to me. He came in and just whipped the ball all over the place. And Cleveland's defense is an absolute disaster. There is no excuse for what is happening on this side of the ball.

It's good thing got Mike Petten in there to shore up the defense. Well, he has so money. And Jimmy Haslam after the game, because this was a week where people thought if they get waxed by Pittsburgh, which happened, that they could wipe this coaching staff out. And Haslam after the game, the owner said, no, no, no big changes. But he did tell them they need a soul search what's going on. Because, number one, they're talking about putting Josh McCown back in at course. quarterback and just floating through the rest of the season with not a single thing for the fans

to be excited about. Well, it must be the numbers. This must be the, 375 yards, but only nine points. It came out of nowhere because I was watching him and suddenly he had a ton of yards and he was making, he made a couple big throws. It was still not an overly impressive game by Mansell, frankly. I think he just does not, he just doesn't look in control or very comfortable out there and he's still learning. But he is, he finds a way four or five times a game. to escape what should be a disastrous play and make a throw. There's no other quarterback in Cleveland that can do that. So I would say ride with...

And I'll say this in Johnny Mansell's defense. We spend hours talking about how things are tough for Aaron Rogers because he doesn't have Jordy Nelson. What is Johnny Mansell have besides Gary Bonnage? You know what he has? Duke Johnson's an okay player. He's got no wide receivers. Travis Benjamin's having a really good game.

Benjamin is. This is not a great offense around it. And they promised all offseason that we're going to pound you with the run, play like a round. 14 carries for 15 yards. And in a ton of penalties. They had a total, yeah, of 12 negative yard, rushing yards. I mean, you want to paint a picture of a team that looked like it in practice last week.

This is it. This is what's going to happen, whoever the GM is. Let's just say it's Ray Farmer. Gary Barnage, knock at the door, right? Farmer opens it up. I'm Gary Barnage. You know who I am, mate. But you got to get some better playmakers around me, man.

Come on We gotta have an offense It's mega man This offense ain't mega You know it And keep Johnny football Gary Barnage out Sounds accurate

Wow You need Barnage to have a bigger voice In the front office Is what I like what he had to say Be a leader Be a leader Barnage By the way I know I'm going to get Just flooded with

Just bile from our British listeners Who do not like when I use my British accent They find I think almost offensive But that's the best I can do. It's remotely and closer to not accurate. Well, you were in London. I have never been there. You know, does that not sound anything like England?

Not really. Any region? I mean, there may be a neighborhood, a small neighborhood stretch where that's the dialect, but it's a small one. That's where Gary's from. I can take that. Go for it. What else? What else?

Big Ben throws for the most yards ever by a relief quarterback. Did Big Ben get this game, Mark? How does this happen? I don't know. How did the Browns figure out how to do this stuff? Shouldn't the coaching staff be questioned for why wasn't Ben Rossman? I think the same thing. Yes.

I guess the whole idea was probably we can beat the Browns with Landry Jones. And if it's not going well, we'll just put in Rathesburg. Because they wouldn't have sat there and lost with Landry Jones. With the buy next week, that's exactly what they were doing, which is such a slap in the face to Cleveland as a franchise. Total disrespect. But Big Ben did say, I mean, he got stepped on at one point. He was hobbling around.

And other than that, he looked like a complete, you know, destruction robots. By the way, the Browns have earned that disrespect. Yes, they have. By the way, I just want to throw something out there. Browns might be the worst team in the NFL. I hate to say it. Well, you just called the Lions that, but I think you're right. Well, the Power Poll says they just want to say, um,

one thing from this game, it's going to sound like a little bit of hyperbole. But I believe that the Antonio Brown touchdown, uh, somersault into the end zone, sticking the landing was the greatest touchdown celebration in NFL history. Wow. From a pure athleticism, just a beautiful.

He is a gorgeous athlete and sticking the landing. Think about how hard that must be and he's a superhero to me. He can retire now. He's been called a gorgeous athlete by Dan Hans. You couldn't even,

that's not even necessarily a celebration. It literally was just part of the touchdown. I mean, he did that. That was part of the game. He crossed the goal line like that. That's awesome. TD just told me in my ear.

that the Rock, he works out with Dwayne Johnson, which perhaps. Well, you can tell now. Yeah. I don't think the Rock's pulling that move off. I don't know. The Rock's pretty awesome. I saw that stupid Earth.

It's like 47 now, isn't he? I saw that stupid Earthquake movie he was in, San Andreas. Why? What a tremendous film. It was the best $5.99 I've ever spent. If you want to watch a brain-dead movie that keeps you invested for 94 straight minutes, check out San Andreas.

Cool. Put that on the Blu-ray. You've definitely not had many good appetizers in your life if that's the best $5.99 you'd ever say. Did you ever hear, like, I wouldn't even call it hate watching because it was just like, first of all, if you're living in California, it's kind of fun to see the entire region destroyed. It's terrifying. Yeah, knowing that that could actually happen. And then when Rock is flying around L.A. in a helicopter saving lives of attractive women, it's perfect. Airtight plot.

Don't knock until you try it. Relatable. Yeah. What else? Let's move on. so the brown stink you know Mark at least you know that the Jets have come back down to Earth 2

we are misery in arms still I don't see that being the case okay just trying to make you feel better moving on the St. Louis Rams is you know Greg loves the St. Louis Rams we all know that he has sandwiches riding on them finishing

in second place or better in the NFC West this year took a hit on Sunday Zach Miller of the Bears caught two touchdown passes and rookie Jeremy Langford who looks like a player had two more touchdowns. The Bears put it on the Rams. 37 to 13 win at the Edward James

Olmone. Good job covering up the concrete, by the way. Finally. St. Louis, a little too late, says Reggie Bush. Colleen, same old story with the Rams. You want to buy in, but they just won't let you. I thought going into this game that they would absolutely win this game and then that would put them in great position

in the division. But just like the Rams do, I mean, a bad team at home. Now, yes, the Bears have been. been playing better, but they just could do it. They got down early in this game, and then Todd Gurley was nowhere to be found. I mean, he, on that opening drive, had a nice catch on a screen pass, and that was when we saw the hurdle. I don't know if you guys saw it, but it was awesome.

After that, though, nothing. They couldn't run them at all, and then you put the ball in Nick Foles's hands. That's a mess. And another shot at, you know, Wes, you like to say that Jay Cullter is the worst quarterback ever, 19 and 24 against St. Louis's stout defense. That's in St. Louis, 19 of 24, 258, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a 151 passer rating, 90.2 QBR, if you're into that thing. That's a very nice game, statistical.

He also destroyed Greg Williams' blitz today. He was really effective against the blitz. I don't want to go wild when Zach Miller and Jeremy Langford did most of the work on those 80-yard touchdowns, but yeah, it's pretty good game for takeover. He's putting on some good tape right now if he's going to be somewhere else next year. He's having a good season. I mean, I think... You guys just get sucked in by him.

Well, I'm not going to get sucked for him. No, I'm not afraid for him, and it's a mess. He's not a franchise quarterback, but you can be a decent quarterback. He could be Ryan Fitzpatrick. You put him on the Rams, and they'd be making the playoffs. He'd probably detonate their offense, too. And get their staff fired. It's so hard to trust him.

I know. I don't know why people act like he's trustworthy. Maybe he is the perfect guy for the Rams then. The non-trustworthy quarterback on the non-trustworthy team. Put him together. Maybe two negatives create a positive. I mean, the Rams want to go 7 to 9, and they're on target, so I don't see what the problem is. That's their job. That's a good point.

This team, they're not really built to play from behind at all, but they're not really built to play offense when it's close. Or you're going to play offense. They're really not built to play offense. I don't know why they didn't go back to Gurley, though, at all. I mean, you know that you really don't have anything in the passing game. I think they're one of the worst, if not the worst, in the NFL passing game. And you have Todd Gurley there. Why not try and run him?

John Fox, I think, is then one of the best coaching jobs in the league, which pains me to say. I usually enjoy hammering him. They're a team that could be looking at the way some of these games have ended and really feel like they should be six and three. I mean, they have won some games pretty clearly, won some close ones at the end that they really shouldn't have. They've been in every game. Other than that Seahawks one with Jimmy Closson, they're playing pretty well. Your boy, Nick Fools? Nick Foles.

I say your boy, because last week you said he was like one of the best deep throwers in the league. I said he can throw it really far about as easily as anyone else. What Greg said was, Nick Falls has a giant hose, he said. It was weird. O for 12 on passes of 10 plus yards downfield. It went really far, though. Most attempts on such passes without a completion in the last 10 years. And to add insult to injury, Brandon behind the glass can help us out with this.

Martellus Bennett, one of the Bennett brothers, always they have interesting things to say. You're so zany. Martellis Bennett had this to say about the St. Louis Rams. I mean, it was good. I mean, I consider St. Louis, Seattle's little brothers. So this is a bunch of frontrunners. I mean, 97, he's a little . So, I mean, overall, I was just happy to go out there and kick their ass.

97 is Eugene Sims, a defensive end for St. Louis. How can you be somebody's little brother and also a frontrunner? I didn't get the connection then. Well, there was some sort of altercation, I guess, with Eugene Sims during the game. Yeah. front runners, they're the worst front runners ever because they're never in front. You're asking for a sensible comment from one of the

Bennett brothers. Yeah, no, that's a good point. I don't trust the Bennett brother. They're so funny and profound and zany, though. Yeah, so Greg, you are you, you're nervous about them being a team that's going to contend or get second place, sandwiches on the line.

Well, they could still get second place, but these two losses back-to-back were the types of games that bad teams lose. So, you're They're not looking very good. I'm not giving up on them. See how much it pains you to say that sentence. Yeah, they're not giving up on them.

Four and five, you're in the mix. That's big of you, Greg. You're saying, I'm not perfect. I'm not giving up on my beliefs, but I'm also, I know I'm in danger here. That's a very terrible view. I don't know where that's going. Would you start Case Keenham over Nick Fools? No.

Nick Foles completed 47% of his passes. Why not then, right? I was wondering why... Wes wants Case Keenum back in the area. I was wondering why Chris was sitting up a little straighter. He was like peacocked. I forgot about that. Case Keenum played today.

I forgot about the Case Keenum crutch of 2013. All right. So that's what Matt Schaub has wrought. My Case Keenum crook. Dangerous times. Connie Fox. Yes. You've said it all. You've

come and delivered generous insight. with a slice of mirth is what we look for. That's great. At all our guests. Happy to help. But I don't even view you as a guest. You're part of the team.

Thanks. I think that covers it. That's good. Well done. All right. Connie, join us again next week. I will do this again. All right.

Out goes. Do you do this again? Yeah. Look. It's not getting less awkward. Nope, it's not. And if you have not, if you're not watching these shows on Sunday on YouTube and NFL now, just for the awkward ISO cam, you need to be watching.

this because it's not getting easy. It's still up. It's still there. It's still happening. Each second passes. All right. All right. Colleen has left us, as has Mark Sessler, who had some family things to tend to.

I think we could take it away from here, from there though, guys, because we have a team to talk about a very special team that achieved a very special honor. Team of ATL. Oh yes, it is the Arizona Cardinals who are in the United. who are in the driver's seat in the NFC West after a 39-32 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at the clink. A huge win in prime time for Carson Palmer and Company. Palmer 3 for 363 yards, 3 touchdowns.

Arizona had a 19-0 lead in this game initially. 22-7 at the half. They gave it all the way back to the point where they were trailing 29, 25 early in the 4th after Bobby Wagner ran back in a fumble return. But this is when, yes. And Greg, as you know, I am the president of statement games. The statement committee, yes. This was a statement game by the Cardinals because with the clink going absolutely bonkers after Seattle took the lead,

what does Arizona do in its final two positions? Possessions. Bang, 80-yard touchdown March. Bang, another 80-yard touchdown March. Game over. Drew Stanton dancing. West beaming. Greg getting all excited.

And guess what? The team of ATL is surging. 7 and 2. Wes. What a game. This had a little bit of everything. The Cardinals are up 269 yards to 89 yards at halftime. Seahawks stormback back-to-back possessions dripsack Carson Palmer. It was like an avalanche. It was like an avalanche. It didn't look like Arizona's offensive line could block the Seattle Blitzers with the offensive line shuffling. And then Arizona comes back. They find their metal. They find their backbone. Fight back with two big drives. Antre Ellington's skirting the sideline and Drew Stanton going

crazy. I don't think Bruce Ariens would have it any other way. He told Chris Collins where this is kind of one of those hump games they need to get over for them to be the team that he believes they should be. They have to go to Seattle and win a game and to be put in a situation where they had that much adversity in the fourth quarter and then to come through. That's money in the bank that they should be able to cash in all year. Forget about the NFC West. I mean, the Seahawks have an uphill battle to make the playoffs right now. The NFC West is going to be the Cardinals unless something seriously goes wrong. And something seriously went wrong

last year with Carson Palmer blowing his ACL. But that's really, it seems to me, the only way that this team could be stopped now getting into the playoffs and being a high seat in the playoffs. And really, I mean, I know Seattle's been failing to close all season and they have not had a great

season in that right, but I thought this game was over. I mean, the title wave, just to hear the clink as loud as it was, that's why it was. It was a statement game to Arizona. This is really, despite it still only being 2925 at that point, you would have thought that the Seahawks were going to run away with it because it swung and yet the team of ATL.

I love that it was Geron Brown and Andre Ellington coming up with the big plays down the stretch because this really is a team and they've got their depth. We talk about Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown and Chris Johnson, but they go so deep at all those positions that you can have in Andre Ellington with a huge play. And Geron Brown made three big plays in the fourth quarter after Michael Floyd had a hamstring. And the best secondary in this game was the Arizona Cardinals secondary. And Russell Wilson did not have a very good game overall. You know, they moved the ball right after halftime, but for the first half they struggled.

And then at the fourth quarter, they didn't come up with the big plays either. And Tyron Matthew and just that entire secondaries playing well. So many things in this game were similar to other Cardinals games where they really could have had a bigger lead. They had a, I thought, a statement drive early in the game, a 15-play. drive, but Palmer throws a bad interception at the end of it. They could have put up more points in the first half than they really did. It looked like it was going to come back

to haunt them, didn't in the end. Let's give Carson Palmer some credit, because there is this ongoing narrative about Cam Newton deserves to be in the MVP race, and everyone's overlooking Cam Newton, and perhaps that's true, but nobody's talking about Carson Palmer as someone that should be in that discussion.

I know Tom Brady's... He'd be second on my list. The leader. He now has 23 touchdowns that's second in the NFL to Brady, just six picks. I mean, he's on pace to throw close to 5,000 yards. His pass rating is off the charts at 110. He is having a killer season at age 35. He'd be second on my list and all the silly people talking Charles Woodson and Akib Taleb for defensive player of the year.

They ought to be watching Tyron Matthew play football this year. Well, Palmer hasn't had a lot of those big national games where he's excelled, and now he has this one, and then next week he's got the Bengals on Sunday night football. again. So now it's time for them to start winning some of the... A lot of storylines in that game. A lot of narratives. Carson Palmer against the Bengals. Ooh, I like it. That was Wes, who as some of you might know, used to be a Bengals fan. Carson Palmer was the last quarterback that you enjoyed or struggled with in Cincinnati.

No, I didn't enjoy him. That was well past the time where I was done. He had given them up by then. I enjoy them. The top line's kind of fuzzy to me. I love that 2005 team. I loved... They were fun to watch. on Hard Knocks in general, and he wanted out. He didn't want to work for Mike Brown, and now here he is in a big game, not two teams that might be headed to a buy. The Bengals and the Cardinals.

Is that a Sunday night game next day? That is. They flexed that in. We have to rearrange that podcast around that game. Okay. What a great game that's going to be. You see, it's because Cincinnati's involved. It's in your blood.

The team of ATL is involved. Anybody have any other takeaways from this game? Anything with Seattle, Greg? Well, I just, Cliff Averill was amazing, but I think in the end, again, the defense collapsing in the fourth quarter, and again, the offensive line and the offense not really playing that well. I think their schedule isn't bad going down the stretch, but now we're at the point where you can't just be like,

okay, Seattle's going to fix everything, and they're going to coast into the playoffs. It's not going to be that easy. Well, they're not the same team they were last year. We saw Bill Barnwell tweeted a stat. The Cardinal scored as many points in this game as the Seahawks gave up, and the last six games combined last year. So, yes, the Seahawks are definitely in some danger now,

and the Cardinals flying high, making us proud. You know, anybody is tweeting at us halfway, you know, when the Seahawks were making their charge and saying, oh, you guys are cursing, the team of ATLs are curse. Cursed this. We got a lot more tweets, though, that were friendly tweets saying, what a fun team this is to watch. Dan is not fueled by the nice tweet, though.

He's fueled by the hatred coming at him. Thank you. Slytes, perceived, and otherwise. That's what drives me. That is it for another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. Thank you for listening and watching on YouTube and just know we have another three shows coming up this week. The next show is Tuesday. Maybe I teased it last week and then it didn't happen for a couple different reasons.

But one of our favorite segments. Oh, yeah, we'll do it this. We'll return on Tuesday. I think the listeners will enjoy it. so that's all say about that so make sure to check it out that's it for now this is dan hansis signing off for the quiet storm the mailman the boss brandon and tini behind the glass and connie fox of course till tuesday This is an IHeart podcast.