NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Week 3 recap

Episode Date: September 28, 2015

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Colleen Wolfe – break down each game from week 3 of the regular season including the Ravens falling to 0-3 and the Seahawks getting their first win in 2015.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 has the famous. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansus, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethol. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. I don't know why I was talking so fast there.

Slow it down. That's a big show and you're ready. Old Zusser. I'm excited. It's our big Sunday, week three recap show. A lot to discuss right now. Week one, I mean, you know, you're getting warmed up. Week two, we're learning some things.

This winds up being the best show of the whole season. Then it starts going downhill. It seems that it's very Cincinnati Bengals like. What an early time to peak. Yes, we have a lot of games to get to because, you know, here at the Around the NFL podcast, we want to make sure we get to you on Sunday night, get all the games taken care of, go through them all, analyze them. Then he could tune in over on the NFL network on your dial

and check out the Around the NFL TV show with our good bud Andrew Siciliano and he's doing his thing. Basically around the NFL is a busy operation. When's the last time you saw a TV with a dial? Many a grandfather house. Yeah, septuagenarians, a plenty of them. There was a dial when I was growing up that you had to, you know,

we're old enough. Sure, in the 70s. We were at least alive during that era. Oh, we had to use, like, finger nail openers to open the TV. that's how that's how bad our TV was what was it like you have seven brothers including yourself correct what was it the TV situation there were there was a good three-year period in there where the only TV we owned was like a 10-inch black and white that would only

turn on with like fingernail or uh with like tweezers and then you had to have the aluminum boil of course and sometimes you use a hanger for the did you have a roof we had a roof oh that's good I can imagine a lot of fist fights breaking out over whether you're going to watch what you're going to watch at 830 on a Wednesday. No, you usually watch what mom wants to watch. That's bad. So, a lot to come out.

I love any peek behind the curtain of the Wesleying family tree. But right now, we're going to focus on the task at hand, and that is breaking down all the week three games. This is what we got coming up on today's show. Recap, every game. Greg, 32 teams. I break this down all the time as a reminder. No buys.

Games played Thursday and Monday at least 14 games to talk about today. You nailed it. And that means if you're reading our takeaways column, Our world famous takeaways column on the website. Three per game, 14 times three. What's that, Dan? 12. Close.

I once got a 39 on a state-mandated math test. So we got the week three recap coming up. We also have our good friend, and we love her. She's talented. She's wonderful. She's friendly. She's Colleen Wolfe. Very knowledgeable.

Did I mention that? Connie Fox. She is knowledgeable. Connie Fox. The great Connie Fox will join us. That is the call. She hears that in like a feral animal. She turns back from whatever she's doing

starts galloping towards the Culver City Studios at NFL Network. I don't know if she'd like that imagery. I don't know. But listen, I already went down that road. It's too late to back out. And finally, what? No, no. I'm just excited to hear what's next.

Well, you know what's next. We're doing this a long time now. The Sunday night football, big matchup at Ford Field, Peyton Manning in the Broncos against Matthew Stafford and the Lions. So we'll break down that big primetime game that you just watched Alan Chris with the call. A lot of good stuff coming up today.

So let's now get into the week three Sunday schedule and let's start Mark Sessler in Cincinnati where in Baltimore I should say were A.J. Green, you know, I just talked about the wide receivers but A.J. Green had the game of his career racking up 227 yards and two touchdowns as the undefeated Bengals outlasted the Ravens 2824. Ravens fall to 0 and 3.

The Bengals are now 3 and 0. Mark, let me ask you this question. Do you believe in the Bengals? I do. I mean, I feel like, you know, we've taken Andy Dalton the town over and over and for good reason in the past. And I think he's still going to have a couple of those stinker games, but he just looks completely comfortable in this offense in the second year with Hugh Jackson. I didn't see it to that degree last year. I think they've got so much talent around him that he just feels more confident that he can make plays. And that's what he did today against a bad secondary, frankly, in Baltimore when it came down to it and they needed him to drive the third. the length of the field, he did it without any issue. And yes, it was A.J. Green, but it was also Baltimore, I think, is a big issue.

Another big part of this game is their defense, the defense that we've grown up watching, dismantle the rest of that division and take out the other team. You and Wes are fully grown men when Baltimore came to. All right, the last decade. If anyone in this show is 20 years old listening to this, you don't know anything else. This is unusual to watch a team get beaten up the way they have. Last week, Derrick Carr career game. This week, Andy Dalton goes and does the same thing.

we don't think of these quarterbacks this way. It has something to do with Baltimore's defense. Well, this is a game the Ravens needed to win, and they didn't win it. Yeah. The past couple of January, you've been even more frustrated than I have been by Andy Dalton's play. It sounds like you're saying you believe he could go into January right now and you'd have total confidence that he would win a playoff game. It's not just him alone.

I mean, I think the team has evolved. The team that lost those back-to-back games against the Texans and those boring playoff games, this is a completely different Baltimore or completely different Bengals team. to Mark's point, like what we expect from Andy Dalton throughout his career. On Friday show, you mentioned how you thought that the Ravens would win because Dalton had a stinker in him because he had those in his career. Well, I just picked every home team and I paid the price for that. But your point made so much sense that on my fantasy team, I benched Andy Dalton with your

words echoing in my mind. This is why I jumped out of fantasy with Dan because everything that he does turns out being by the way, our team is, I lessened your stake in our team. I took you out of the decision-making process. We're 3-0. But I put in Colin Kaepernick in for Dalton. That didn't work out well. Well, that's your decision.

Why did that? I mean, it was an awful decision in retrospect. But the point being is like, maybe this is a different Andy Dalton, but it is September. Don't sit a quarterback against Baltimore secondary. That's what I wouldn't do. We've seen Andy Dalton have great three-game stretches. No doubt. We want to see it over the long haul.

Now, I do think he has looked better. And if you want to make the case, what's different with Andy Dalton now, it's what West was talking about in the off season. It's the best supporting cast maybe in the entire NFL. You have Jeremy Hill not even playing well, and G.O. Bernard can go in there and look like a top 10 running back. You have Marvin Jones catching long touchdowns. You have Tyler Eiffert resting away balls looking very physical,

looking like a high-quality tight end. I mean, he has got more talent around him, no matter how well he's playing than just about any quarterback in the league. You've also got one of the things that all of the best teams in the NFL have right now, and that's a good offensive line play. To me, that's the difference between the good teams and the bad teams through three weeks. And the Bengals, look, Andy Don't go a 14-0 in the regular season. And my opinion of him will not change.

He has to win big games. Win under the lights. Win in the playoffs. I don't care what you're doing on some random Sunday in September. Wes, let's talk stable boys for a moment. The man that resides in the suite, not for much longer. He'll be moving out at the end of the year. But Steve Smith putting up some historic numbers for a man his age.

Playing like a man possessed. I mean, he's such a great competitor. and the best two-game stretch by any wide receiver over 35 years old in NFL history. He's up there with Jerry Rice as far as old wide receivers go. One thing I'll say, though, speaking of being wowed in September, we were talking about him as a MVP candidate last time, last year this time. Let's see if he can keep it up. No, old players fade over the course of the season. I fully expect that.

He's one of the few players on that team showing any fire right now, to be honest. That's true. Old players. The office has been okay, though, right? I mean, they have, but yeah, their passing game. They have no foundational run game right now. Who's playing wellness offense besides Steve Smith and Crockett Gilmore? Wacko's been okay.

They don't have any speed. And you know, it's weird, though, their 0-and-3 and no O-N-3 team has made the playoffs since the Bills in 98. That was the Doug Flutie season. But would anybody here be surprised if they were 6-6 in November? Right. In the EFC, I think they can get back in the race, but it's going to have to start Thursday in Pittsburgh. They get a little lucky there with that matchup. A little.

But it wouldn't shock me. They're three plays away, really, from being in this game. And talking about Andy Dalton, I mean, he won in Baltimore last year with a big play to A.J. Green. I mean, these things have happened before. I would look at the more as about 25 plays away from being a good team, not just three plays away from being undefeated. They're not 0 and 3 bad, but the record says you're 0 in a division that's really tough, so that's a problem. Would a Bill Parcell say, Wes? You are what your record says you are.

Right. So you mentioned, Greg, that they get lucky next week the Ravens do. and that's because Ben Rothesberger won't be playing. The Steelers quarterback left Sunday's game with a knee injury in the third quarter. The Steelers still survived. Michael Vic came in. They won 12-6 in St. Louis against the Rams. Forget about the Rams.

They stink. Greg, as the one they called Big Ben changed his injury as it shifted the balance of power in the AFC. Absolutely. It gives a Bengals a chance to get ahead of the Steelers over how, you know, as we tape this Sunday night, we'll see the initial estimates are four weeks, but we don't really. know for sure what that's going to be, but that could be big. Bengals can get a couple game lead. Who knows if the Steelers were going to be in the mix for a buy that's going to make things

tougher on them. But I think it's really important that they won this game today, that you can't overlook the fact they were up nine to three when he left the game midway through the third quarter. Michael Vick did absolutely nothing. In fact, he fumbled the ball and he nearly threw an interception. And yet they still won the game without Ryan Shazir because of their defense. Now, they got a little lucky. The Rams gave them a couple of things.

But ultimately, it's a good sign to me that they won the game with Lavian Bell with a big run at the end and the defense playing pretty well. I mean, is it just ball? Pittsburgh's defense has been better at the last game. They're finally getting some pass rush. But you're the St. Louis Rams. You lose 12 to 6. They are who we thought they were.

It's ridiculous. Their offensive line is a joke, and they don't move the ball on offense. The score was strange because the Rams really let the Steelers throw the ball short. I think they were so determined not to have what happened to the 49ers, and it worked. Ben Rathesberger, when he got hurt, it was about to be a third and 21. They probably would have been punting there. The Rams were going to get to the fourth quarter holding Ben Rathesberger and this loaded offense to nine points. So the Rams defense played well. I think they did what they needed to do. If Lance Kendricks doesn't kill two drives with drops, including a play that would

have been a 45-yard touchdown, I think the Rams are ahead in this game. It's the same old story with the Rams. There's always something, and it's this offense. And, you know, listen, we all love Detective Frank Signetti. But you know what? Turn in your badge, bro. Too awful game. Turn in. Because your team's not moving anywhere. And I know Nick Foles is your quarterback, and Todd Gurley came back and played and made his debut, didn't do anything. You know, Tavon Austin, who we were starting to get excited about. He's pulling that thing again where he disappears for four to six weeks. It's the same old crap with the Rams. It is. And Foles really did nothing wrong for the first three.

quarters. It was really his teammates and just a wildly conservative offense and they only had three drives in the first half. But if you're going to have that type of game plan, then you need to have him play well when it matters in the fourth quarter. And when he got the ball back, only down three with three minutes ago, the first thing he does is throw into double coverage and an interception. So when the chips were down the last couple weeks, he played poor. And this can tear apart a team if you're the Rams because what do you think Greg Williams is telling his defensive players behind the scenes when your offense is putting up six points? You held the Steelers to 12 points. you did your job.

He's been known to tell his defensive players a few things behind us. Jeff Fisher almost said as much after the game when they were talking about how they lost the game. And he basically was like, well, we've only scored 16 points on offense the last two weeks. That's the only problem. That's why I'm right. I think if you're the Steelers, you have to go from the nadir of deflation this afternoon to kind of feeling buoyant right now.

If the reports are accurate, Ben might miss four to six weeks. Levyon Bell comes back in as a factor. Martavis Bryant is due back. They could win some games, and they're still in it. It's insane how good their offense is. Their first play of the game, they line up Labion Bell at wide receiver. It was almost like a sign. Hey, we're going to make him a wide receiver, throws it to him for 10 yards.

He looked good. He looked like Labion Bell, basically. I mean, if Big Ben's out for a month, it's the Ravens at home, the charges on the road, the Cardinals at home, and the chiefs away. It's not easy. Two and two, maybe. If you go two and two there, I mean, they've done it with Charlie Batch. And you're fine.

I'd be worried about Michael Vick, though, from what we saw last year. You know what else I'd be worried about? Yeah. your sandwich proposition that the Rams are finishing in second place. Oh, yeah. It's on life support.

Cardinals racing towards 14 and 2, and the Seahawks will win at least 11. You're bang! I think the Rams have a chance still to win 10 games. To go 7 and 9. They've got a great... They've got a great chance to go 7 and 9. What have you seen from them to think

they're going to go 10 to 6 now? They easily could have won this game. But Greg, this is terrible! Greg's whole thing is... They're terrible. You will sit there until a team. is buried, you'll tell us about every way in shape and form that they can avoid the coffin, but they are not a 10-win team right now. They're one and two. We will have seven different times

this year with all of these teams. Oh, the Bengals are done now. Like we'll have a play with the Bengals are done. Tell us the win six in a row. We might have to start sticking a fork in some teams. I'm not saying the Rams are that team, but. Fork them. Come on. Let's be serious. Let's move on. Let's check out a team in the AFC, a team that was desperate for a win. And Indianapolis Colts got it. They scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Came from behind to knock off the Tennessee Titans and a 37-35 thriller in Nashville, Chris Wesleying.

Did this comeback save Chas Pagano's job? I don't know. I'm not Jim Hersey. Let's just say you are. I think it could save their season. You could look back in January and they're in the playoffs and say that seven-minute span in the fourth quarter where they scored three touchdowns saved

their season because just a few minutes before that, if you were watching a game you're thinking, wow, Andrew Luck has severely regressed. in the pocket as a decision maker and in pocket presence he had clearly regressed Andre Johnson saw one target officially in this game he had a 37-yard play called back and in the offensive line they made some moves they put Joe Wrights in it right tackle moved Jack Muirt back inside the guard but but Lux still didn't seem to trust his line in

this game and they still had plays called back on holding penalties so I think you could say this the Colts might be a little bit back on track but they still have major tangible issues on offense. You aren't getting Jack Muirt heat in any other podcast. That's all I've got to say. Mr. and Mrs. Muirut if you're out there. They appreciate it. Just to the record, since I am hardcore journo, it was the 3533 final.

Thank you for clarifying. How'd your boy Marriota luck putting a lot of points on the board? He looked impressive. Two interceptions. The first one was a pick six. It was not his fault in any way. Delaney Walker had the ball knocked out of his hands after he caught it and popped up into Dwight,

Lowry's hands, 67 yards, but Marriota moved the ball, 367 yards, came back with a two-minute drill to tie, potentially tie the game, but they couldn't get the two-point conversion down. He looked pretty good. I was impressed with him again, and I think he, Jay Cutler, and Mark Ripon are the only quarterbacks in Edville history to have multiple touchdowns in their first three and NFL games. And that's happening with Tennessee, not running the ball at all, it looks like, and having a bizarre change of backfield every week.

It's happening with a team that starts Harry Douglas. and Antonio Andrews. Antonio Andrews is a running back who moves like a fullback. They benched Bishop Sanky. I don't know why, but they benched him. And this team, like, if Delaney Walker and Kendall Wright aren't making the play, who's making the play? It's way too early to get into award season talk.

But of all the major awards, Marcus Marriota is way out in front of anyone else in his category, which is offensive rookie of the year. Mari Cooper seems like he's coming on strong. All right, you can throw him in there, but Mariotto plays quarterback. back is going to get that award every time. This is what we talked about with the Colts and the soft landy in the AFC South last week, though. Even as they sort of, we laid out like the three games in a row, it's like, okay, maybe they'll struggle a little bit against the Titans in that

first one, and then they find a way to get a big win on the road, which is exactly what they did. I mean, that's the type of thing good teams do. And then next week, now you get the Jaguars, or I'm not sure what the order is, the Jaguars and the Texans, and then you get a little better each week, and suddenly you've won three games, you're feeling better about yourself, and no one in this, they're already back in first place. No one in this division's above 500. And then you get whacked in January if you keep playing the way the Colts have, but not a complete team. A tearful, emotional Chuck Vigano in the locker room, I saw the video on the Colts website, called this the biggest victory he's ever been a part of. Because he knows, like, I'm not

joking around. I think there was a chance that he could have gotten fired tomorrow morning. He was, as this did not turn around. He was an emotional as any coach up scene. He's an emotional guy. He's not coming back next year probably. But that's a really, like maybe that's true. And and I think he probably feels that. But they did win a playoff game against Peyton Manning last year to get to the AFC championship. I would think that game was pretty big.

Well, he was talking more about showing character. No logic. He was talking more about beyond football, teaching life lessons. He's pressing hard is what he's doing. Win some more games. All right, moving on.

Let's take out another undefeated team. The Atlanta Falcons who wrote, yes, a virtuoso performance from Julio Jones in a 3928 comeback win over the depleted Dallas Cowboys in Jero World. This is a game where the Falcons scored the final 25 points. And then Julio Jones, you know, as I alluded to at the top of the podcast, just took over 12 for 164 and two touchdowns.

They also had a great running game. No Tevin Coleman, but Devante Freeman, went 30 for 141 and three touchdowns. It's amazing to me how different the Falcons are this year compared to the Tevas wearing Mike Smith-era Falcons, which are just dead in the water. And I know we can talk about a team of ATL at some point, and we've got to pick a team soon,

and we don't like to pick teams of playing domes for some reason. It's unclear to me, but that's something that you guys, West and Mark have laid out in the past. We can clarify it for you. But the Falcons are an exciting team. I feel like they pass a lot of the test, the litmus test, for what we look for, because they are playing really well right now.

And the Cowboys put up a good fight, but the Falcons just overwhelmed them. How disappointing is this Cowboys defense that you get 28 points from Brandon Whedon, and I know it's stopped in the second half, but that's found money. They got that good of an offensive performance and jumped out to a huge lead in this game.

That's more than you could have expected out of Wheaton. Yeah, and Whedon was fine. He was accurate with his passing. He made one Brandon Whedon-like pass that was intercepted, but he did exactly what they needed from him. And what happened here with this game was strange because we talk about the, We vaunted offensive line of the Cowboys, and in the first half, they were dominant.

Not only was Whedon getting protection, Joseph Randall was going off. I think he had 90 yards about at the half and finished with three rushing touchdowns himself. But then everything disappeared for this team in the second half. They couldn't, I think they had negative five rushing yards of the third quarter, could not move the ball on the ground after that. And then Brandon Whedon, once you're in a position where it's Matt Ryan verse, Brandon Whedon, who's going to win, you know what's going to happen there. I mean, Whedon, 22 for 26.

We had a network hit last week where we basically all bear. the guy, and I'm not saying he blew the doors off, but you're right, Greg, you love Brandon Whedon, but 22 for 26. Now he loves it. I don't think a lot of people predicting that. I think, though, one thing with the Falcons, Kyle Shanahan has made a big difference for this offense because this team could not run the ball at all the last couple of years. Same characters, Devont de Freeman's in there, rushes for 141 yards. And here's the difference, because Kyle Shanahan did that in Cleveland with bad running backs. You take him out of the mix. Cleveland can't run the ball. It has to do with Shanahan, and he's always done well with his number one

receiver, so Julio Jones is having the kind of year you could expect. Julio Jones has 34 catches, as I said, through three games, and, you know, he's on pace for NFL record. No one's ever had that many catches in three games, and he's reached that stage, or he's just uncoverable. Well, I'm glad you made that point about Julio off the top, because it was something I wanted to talk about last week, which was that is Julio Jones, as great as he's been going to have a season that this is the season we remember him by. And he's off to that start. I mean, every game he's been over 130 yards. Every game he's absolutely dominated the game to the point where you can say he's basically the difference. Because he

wasn't the first two games. They won that game because of him in week one. They won that game because of them in week two. It's one of the few guys that signs a big money contract and actually is outplaying it potentially. I think on the other side of the ball too, last week when I watched the Giants game, Vic Beasley, their first round pick, might be the quickest edge rusher in the NFL already. I mean, he's fined. He's getting to Tyron Smith, who has the best feet of Many left tackle in the NFL had some problems with Big Peasley today. Look good in week one, too. Yep.

So the Falcons are 3 and O, as are the Arizona Cardinals who are on a role in creating some distance in the NFC South, following a 47-7 win over the 49ers. Yikes, that week one Monday night win for the 49ers feels like it was about three years ago now. Greg, are the Cardinals that good or are the 49ers that bad? No, I think you have to give the credit to the Cardinals' defense for jumping on some of Colin Kaepernick's passes. is two pick sixes in the first six minutes of that game that is the first time in NFL history it's ever happened that fast.

Well, they say since 1925. Technically, they don't know what happened before. They have no idea. It doesn't matter. I'm going to go out there and say it since they didn't throw the ball back in 1925. Probably not two pick sixes in the first six minutes. So that's why it's a little hard to evaluate this game

because after the two pick sixes, they stopped them again. And then the Cardinals go right down the field. They're up 21-0. I got some evaluation for you. What? Give the Cardinals some credit. They're just a much better team.

Of course they are. Last week, the 49ers, it was a little misleading, I think, the final score. They actually outgained Pittsburgh in that game. In this game, it was one-way traffic even after the start. I mean, they dominated on offense. They could have scored even more points. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald were talking about missed opportunities after the game, and the 49ers never got anything going offensively.

Can I make a request? You're raising your hand. Yeah, structurally for. our coverage, how we do things here at NFL.com? Sure. Can we just stop writing off-season stories? Why? Because how many posts did we write about Colin Kaepernick and working with different coaches

and improving his footwork? Oh, good. Look at his footwork on these sixes, by the line. That's why I pass up all those stories. I mean, it's it. Listen, somebody's got to do them. Wes, maybe you're a smarter man than I. But, I mean, we write the stories and you put the analysis in and maybe if he could do

this or do that. Trent Bielfer believes it. He can get back. to being that guy he was a couple years ago. But let's face it, Colin Kaepernick stinks now. I disagree. I think writing off off season stories, that makes sense. Writing him off Kaepernick for one bad game when he played two, I would say, good games.

Last week, I would say it was very good. It was one of the better played games by a quarterback all week. I know they trailed early, had nothing to do with him. He had a lot of impressive passes. I'm just saying... It's not go crazy about his week one game either. No, he was fine. No, yeah.

I'm just saying this game started off so poorly. It's almost like, what do you even? say after it's 21-0 in the first court. Yeah, it throws everyone off balance and it's a bad team to be Carlos tied on. They're not lost by 30 points last week too. Not that that's on Colin Cabernick, but... Can I make a request for you? Yes. Can the

Cardinals be team of ATL? Hmm. You were the only one holding them up, weren't you? Here's my hesitation. Oh, no. That they're too good. Well, we had them last week before they were three in them. Yeah, but we knew they were

going to kill the Niners, so that to me It wasn't like we were going to be ahead of the current. I don't think there should be anything about too good. I'm not going to block it. We can take a vote on it. But I know, I just kind of, when I think of like a fun, exciting team, should be a little under the radar, which I wouldn't call the Cardinals. I kind of like what's going on in Atlanta.

I'm with Dan, but I really don't think that this. The Carolina Panthers two years ago were not about specifically me. Last year was not about that either. You guys roll with what you want. Let's think it over and on Tuesday we'll make our decision. Wow. I thought I was going to get a vote tonight. We got a lot of stuff to get to, and I feel like that is a topic that needs a little bit.

We need some time to really figure it out. We don't want to make a mistake. All the puff pieces will be out by Tuesday. Even though they're good, I still think the key is that they're fun to watch, and we like them, and they have a spirit about them that we've liked since Brutier's a good. They have the coolest coach in the league, and he never takes his foot off the gas bill. I would like many teams, but John Brown, Larry Fitzgerald is playing. Like Fitzgerald's awesome.

134 yards today. He's running over people. This team is so good. Honey Manager feels like he's getting a blitz for a big play every week. Carson Palmer is the top five quarterback. The offensive line's good. This team is so good that they've made Chris Johnson a legit player again. 150 yards from scrimmage today. He's running decisively.

Any team that could bring back the old Chris Johnson, they're doing voodoo. You guys are going to thank me, by the way. When Honey Badger, Bruce Ariens, and Carson Palmer moved to South Korea on Monday. Well, you can thank me for not making Colin Kaepernick the team of ATL. Well, I'm glad that's why you don't do it too early. Well, we're never going to make a decision on this thing. Well, but I'll save it for Tuesday. Tuesday is the time to make the move.

I agree. ATL. Why would they move to South Korea? Why not? They have motives. They have reasons. Seems reasonable to me. Hopefully it doesn't, hopefully it falls through.

It's just now a matter of a ride. It's in the work already. It's done. They just need the ride to South Korea. So it's a long car ride, a truck ride, and a boat. Sure. Okay. The Carolina Panthers.

Let's talk more on defeated teams. It moved to 3 and O for the first time since 2003 and banished the Saints to 0 and 3 on the strength of a 300-yard passing day from Cam Newton and a 27-22 win. Nice job by the Panthers. But Greg, this feels like the Saints have slipped into the pro football abyss. Let's start there. That's true.

And yet they probably feel good about what happened today. That's never good, by the way. I mean, they don't feel great, but Luke McCown plays fine in the game. Defensively, basically, it happens what you expect to happen. The fact that they were competitive with Luke McCown at quarterback, I'm surprised. I thought it was going to be a blowout, and that's just where the Saints are. We talked about the Raven.

I think you can stick a fork in the Saints. Thank you. I thought you were about to tell me that it would be six and four, and we're not even three. You should actually do it just to get marked up. Like mojo? I mean, the Ravens have negative mojo. It's kind of like the Falcons, once you start winning those close games, you start believing in it. And right now, the Panthers are a team that are in close games, and they're used to winning at this point, dating back to the end of last season, they know how to win ugly games. It's sort of what they do.

Before we get to further talking about this game, I just want to check in something after the game that happened with Cam Newton and our boy, Ed Hockely. This is what Cam had to say about a personal foul call that wasn't. the response that i got was cam you're not old enough to get that calls i'm looking at him like what jesus i didn't think you had to have seniority to get a personal file or anything like that but cam he has a point there he puts the cam and camouflage he wore a camo a ridiculous suit two sizes too small a camo suit with a bowtide give me a break freaking schmoe cam newton well yes he is perhaps see Ed Hockley way that?

Cam Newton, best body in the NFL? What a bod. Makes Kevin Patcher's bod like an old sludgy man. However, that suits too small. Ed Hockley picked, did not throw a flag on a late hit. Was that what this was about? It wasn't even necessarily a bad call. He thought it was a late hit on a play where Cam Newton was outside the pocket.

And Cam Newton even admitted he's not sure if it was the right call or not, but he was really upset about the explanation. For what it's worth, a league source did tell around the NFL. Ed Hockely denies having said that. And the league also released the statement saying that it was basically the correct call that they didn't make. But that's not the point. So Cam Newton's making that up? Right.

I don't buy that. I believe Cam on this one. You're a babe in the woods if you think that this hasn't been going on in the NFL and the NBA for decades and decades. The established players get the calls. Oh, can you even imagine like what's his name? Camden's established. What's he got to do? Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless tomorrow.

They'll get two hours out of this. I think we all know where this is headed. I think Cam Newton deserves a little credit. I know it was against the Saints, but 315 yards, two touchdowns. Big factor in the running game, as always. I mean, he's got, doesn't have a lot of weapons getting done, 3-0. Their cornerback, Josh Norman, is headed toward a Pro Bowl season, instigated by a fight with Mark Seventh.

Oh, that's right. Wow, what an interception he had today. Good thing he's not on the Saints defense, which is one of the worst in the NFL right now. By the way, I do that NFL now, that couch show. with Dave Damashek and Ike Taylor and MJD they just sit there for eight hours straight and Ike took exception with you having issues with Mike Shula were you aware of this Greg MJD yes they keep they keep bringing this up yeah I'm not a big Mike Shula guy they also have issues with any criticism of Ryan Mallett because I think he's a great quarterback wait is Greg

wrong he's right no I'm just saying it was brought up specifically to me in kind of aprop of nothing it came up this is last Sunday one thing about the Panthers look who they the first four games Jacksonville Houston New Orleans and then next week they go to Tampa Bay you couldn't dream up yep an easier schedule the four games after that at Seattle Philadelphia Indianapolis Green Bay that's gonna be a little that's a whole different story but they we talked about this before the show they're playing their own division which you got some stink bombs in there and you're playing the AFC South stink bombs I like that

you're bringing that back people haven't been referencing the stink bomb well they now you have to with the way some of these with the way Saints played today. That's Stink Palm Central. Do the kids have stink bombs anymore, or is it all virtual? They would be watching someone light off stink bombs on it. It feels like an 80s, early 90s trope. Shoot a virtual stink bomb at you.

Click the old send button. Now they just rip on you on social media and make you feel bad. Yeah, they don't even know each other or play outside together anymore. There aren't moms calling kids into dinner. They're already inside, like on their laptop. This is post-society. And it's not kids. It's us.

All right. Moving on, the Houston Texans got back into the race in the AFC South, a 19 to 9 win at home over the lowly Tampa Bay Bucks. Mark, the Texans, they weren't carried by the legend of Ryan Mallet, but rather the unstoppable Alfred Blue. Tell us stories. Well, there's a lot of myth in what you just said. This was, I asked Greg, and I'm not complaining,

I said, I want to watch some bad games today so I can watch some better games on Game Pass. You requested this. I requested this, and I paid the price because this was an absolute disaster. for the eyes. It was bad. Ryan Mallet is not a good quarterback.

The Texans know that. You know, it's like John McLean tweeted out about three quarters in. They just stink. They had four, three drives in the first half. Well, John McClain's been saying that for like five straight years. He's absolutely accurate. They had three drives in the first half where they started inside the opponent's 40 and got no points out of them.

They just can't get it done. And you're playing a Tampa Bay defense that cover two, Lovie's cover two, which is about an ancient dinosaur. store at this point. They made them look good. Did my prediction of the first J.J. Watt offensive touchdown come true? It did not. They could have used him. Did they try anything with him? They did not. They could have tried a little bit more with that. They did not. They did not very creative on offense. You know, they need Aryan Foster back, but Alfred Blue did. Here's a tweet from J.J. Watt, simply win, period. Whatever, bro. That's not going to be tweeting that much.

Alfred Blue is confusing. He has two games over 130 yards in his career. and averages under three yards per carry on the other 17 games in his career. Well, one came against Tampa Bay today. The other, I believe, came against Cleveland's last ranked run defense. So he's good against bad teams. Exactly. I like Dan calling this, the AFC South race that they're back into. It's a real sprint to one.

Everyone's one win. I think I might have lifted that from Mark's copy. Well, I should have put quotes around that. I'm just saying they're not exactly running too fast here. Who's first the seven-wed team? Aaron Foster is going to be back. in a few weeks. I'm not going to get excited about this Texans team. We don't know what the problem is.

But I think it'd be around 500 when Foster gets back in a weak division. Maybe they can hang around. Sure. No chance. They have terrible quarterbacks. Who's the best team in the division? The cults? And the cults have problems.

I think last year's Texans are better than this year's Texans. Oh, absolutely. Brian Fitzpatrick's way better than Hoyer and Mallet, which is terrible to say. Depressing? Depressing? On many levels. How about James Winston? What do we see from him on?

Well, it's, the box score looks awfully. We had 19 incompletions on a, you know, on a relatively unaffective offense. But what I liked about him, there were more than a few times that he took shots downfield and he made good use of Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, Evans especially. There were a couple plays that got called back by flags where his numbers would have looked much better. There were, he also showed good, against the pass rush, he was, he showed some escapeability. I thought he got away from pass rushers and aggressively made throws downfield, to completing some of them. He looked better than he has in some of the other games.

And it's not a lost cause. He's in seven and a half yards per attempt for the season so far. I mean, he's not off to a bad start off. Well, we thought he was going to do that this year. We thought he was going to push it downfield and throw a lot of picks and that's probably what's going to happen. One other thing, speaking of offseason narratives that we get sucked into, Doug Martin, I'm looking 14 for 46, 3.3 yards of carry. How does he look to you? I mean, most of that came on. There was he had like a 17-yard run. He was bottled up. I mean, the Texans, the one thing they seem to do well is shut down the run. They're not the same way against the past.

But when you've got Watt, Clowny, and you got Vince Wolf Fork, they took care of him today. So I was wrong about J.J. Watt. Well, yes, it's not that you're wrong old season. You were wrong this week. This is what I was right about. The New England Patriots dropped a 50 burger, baby. Hit me, TD. Oh, no.

Wait, do we get our theme song? Young Monday. Dan's wild predictions. Julio Jones is good and the Patriots will score against the Jaguar. By the way. How come we don't get songs when our bold predictions go right? Well, you have to be iconic. What can I tell you?

I mean, what do you want from me? Listen, when you make a prediction of a 50 burger, there aren't too many during the season, I got it. Because the New England Patriots offense stayed hot on Sunday cruising to a 51-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ah, forget about the Jaguars. Wes, the Pats never punted in this game. How did they make it look so easy against the Jagoo?

Well, it's like, you know, the point Mark was making. This was easy to predict. Whatever, I'm the only one that did. And Connor, or not to bag on Connor, but predict this would be a one-score game. So totally to bag on Connor. Yeah, well, I can go through your bold predictions too. Well, Tom Brady's playing great.

Grunk is one of the best football players on the planet. Juliet Edelman's great. Dionne Lewis remains a great weapon. I don't know what else to tell you. They build a big lead, and then they turn it over to LaGarrett Blunt and have him smash people. It's amazing that Tom Brady now,

I believe this was his ninth game over 50 points for his career, which is more than 19 different NFL franchise. That's an amazing step. Woo! Well, they've had the 2007 offenses is one of the most iconic offenses in history. He's on pace for almost 1,200 more yards this year

than night than he had in that year. You're going to get a little bit more of that talk now. They play the Cowboys next week, I believe. Actually, I think they have a buy and then the Cowboys. So you're going to get them deep into the season with some nice little offensive numbers and people talking about 2007. I don't see this offense slowing down.

Scott Fagita, the old Saints linebacker, Brown's linebacker, said it's the most methodical, efficient offense he's seen since he's been playing against them and following them out of the Patriots. That was the other part of my bold prediction, which is bold, whether you guys give me credit or not, that this will be the week now where we start hearing this talk about is this Patriots offense up to snuff with all those other teams.

Oh, how great this is. We'll be lucky to hear that talk. Instead, you're going to hear, well, what about them running up to score? I don't know. On professional football players. I don't know who's saying that. I mean, I think, Dan, that is the part of your prediction that you were dead on about because... That was both I was dead on about.

Well, okay. I guess I'm a little less concerned about the first half of that because they're rolling up 40-something point. every week. But Greg, I mean, you kind of checked out from the Patriots after the Super Bowl win. They've sort of done everything they did. A lot of checking out going on around here. And you've got to realize, I mean, they've got to be looked at as the AFC favorite to go right back to the Super Bowl and do it again. I mean, where are you? I'm enjoying it. I didn't check it. It's on the throne of these. Why wouldn't I do? It's great. I do remember that the way they start season doesn't necessarily have much of a connection with the way they end season. So it's fun to see.

But in 2007, when they entered the playoffs, they weren't playing any better than six or seven Patriots team. They were 18 and 0 at one point. Right, I know. But by the time they got to December, they were not nearly as good a team. My point is, seen enough for these seasons. You know, oh, they're going to struggle with these games.

I don't have a narrative. I don't need to have a narrative. When they were 18 and 0, they weren't playing as well. They weren't playing great in December and into the playoffs that year, I think. I think anyone will watch it. A bizarre play away from going 19 and 0 and being one of the great. teams of the any sport anywhere absolutely my point is they've gone into the playoffs in 2010 and 2014 and 2012 like those are those are all good teams how do you keep track of all the playoff

teams i mean gregg we feel for you yeah i thought the use of dion lewis today was interesting too bill bellichick basically conceding that he's how valuable he is legerard blunt didn't see a snap in the first quarter nobody did except dion lewis while the game was in reach lewis was the every down back and then as soon as it gets to be a blowout belichick's like This guy's too valuable to risk injury. I'm going to put him blunt and kill the clock. When Wes sees Dionne Lewis on Tinder, swipe right. He's in the stable.

He's in the stable of boys. I'm just pointing out how good he's been. Coffee, Jay, John Lewis. A lot of undefeated teams with the Patriots might be the best, at least in the AFC. Now, this is the part of the show where we say hi to our friend. She's from NFL now. She has blonde hair. She has three syllables in her name, first and last.

She is very successful, and we like her. She is Colleen Wolfe. Oh, look at this. Colleen just putting her thumbs up behind the glass, like, how is this happening to me? TD in his mind wanted to have a scenario. I like it. I love the song.

Young Monday, check out his stuff at Young Monday. I think it's the only song he's ever released, but it's a killer. T.D. wanted Colleen to be dancing as well, but it just didn't happen. TD, what happened there? I don't know. Colleen, let me down.

It's all good, though. All right, Colleen, can you join us, and maybe we can work past this? There it is. And, you know, when you hear the howl, it can only be one thing. Colleen Wolf is in the studio, Studio 66. Welcome back to the around the NFL podcast, Colleen.

It's great to be back, guys. Good to have you. Yeah. I mean, listen, when Collin comes in, she brings in a ray of sunshine. And let's face it, the blood red moon tonight. It is. I'm excited about it. Are you? I'm finally, I'm happy I have someone to talk about the blood moon.

I did not realize, Dan, that you were, like, plugged into lunar cycles. What did you ever hear of worry about? I don't know, but it is exciting. It doesn't happen a lot. And Colleen referenced it before she came on, so now I feel energized. Blood moon. Blood moon stuff. Get behind it. Greg, your thoughts? I have no idea what you're talking.

I know. Let's just go. Let's talk. Let's get right into games, Colleen. You're going to help us out a little bit. We're going to talk some football with you. Feel free to jump in whatever. You know how it goes now. Great. All right, let's start with your native Philadelphia region. We'll start with that team. The Eagles who are in the win column. Chip Kelly's team took advantage of four Jets turnovers

and a 24-17 win at the Meadowlands. And listen, if you're a Jets fan, this cannot surprise you. This was the typical Jets performance. You win two games in a row. You get the fan base excited. You get a winless team coming into your building. And you lay an egg. That's what they did.

Four turnovers to the Eagles credit. They took advantage of the Jets sloppy play. And there you go. The Eagles 1 and 2 avoid a killer 0 and 3 start. Sam Bradford plays OK. Could have been better with some better hands by his running backs, who otherwise played very well. But the Eagles are in the wind column.

The Jets fall two and one. Colleen, what are your thoughts? Man, I did not expect this at all. I thought for sure just watching the Eagles the last two weeks and then seeing how the Jets defense was, that this was going to be a complete and total embarrassment. but somehow it was not and Ryan Matthews he did great

he I mean besides the fumble and that almost really he almost gave the game away he's lucky that that didn't happen but he was effective Sproles looked really good on that punt return then you had Ryan Fitzpatrick who threw for 58 times I mean he just keeps throwing the ball

plus Brandon Marshall the lateral to no one yeah Brennan Marshall this is why you never trust the box score because Brandon Marshall had over 100 yards again, had a touchdown for the third straight game, and yes, he gives the Jets a legitimate number one. But he contributed a big time to the loss.

He had, as you'll see him, blooper reels, his Jets initiation moment. 17-0 attempts a lateral after a long reception. They get recovered by the Eagles, and they go in and score to put the game away at the end of the second quarter. And then at the end of the game with the Jets trailing by two scores,

Marshall lets a pass go right through his fingers that results in a game. Ryan Fitzpatrick interception that basically seals the game late in the fourth quarter. And here's the problem, Greg. And I think all of us have talked about Ryan Fitzpatrick and a man that has limitations as a passer. They can't fall behind like this because he simply doesn't have the skills to bring a team back with his arm.

He cannot go downfield. Granted, there was no Eric Decker, which hurt. Chris Ivory didn't play. He was too beat up. And they couldn't run the ball, which didn't help matters. but when he has to go downfield and he has to put it in tight spaces, he simply can't, and that's poison for a team that falls behind a couple scores. Well, they didn't win the turn.

They didn't get five turnovers in a game for the first time. I mean, you can't win that way each week. Instead, this time, they were on the other side of it. They really haven't had a game all season where if you look at the yardage where there was much difference between them and the other team. I mean, the Eagles won because they had turnover. Sam Bradford had 4.2 yards per attempt. I don't know if anyone watching this game, like, do you feel bad?

better about Sam Bradford at all? A little bit. A little bit because Darren Sprouls dropped a perfectly placed pass that would have been an 80-yard touchdown and then his stats looked totally different. But and Bradford also, you know, he had moments

where he didn't look good at all. But this was an improvement from week two to week three which, granted, isn't saying a lot. But you're not going to hear anything about Mark Sanchez's. Plus the offensive line looked better too. I mean, they had 108 yards passing. That's not NFL level. So I think In Philadelphia, that's got to give them a talking point this week.

But they did run the ball finally. You know, that's the difference. Here's the thing. The Eagles have the defending offensive player of the year on their team, didn't play with a hamstring of June today, and they were better without him. This team with Darren Sparles and Ryan Matthews, that's a fine one-two punch, and that's really all they need. I'm not even sure.

I can imagine them being like, DeMarco, take it easy. Make sure you get all the way back because they're not hurting for DeMarco Murray. It's only three games, but the game film shows that DeMarco Murray. is a $40 million boondoggle. I mean, you're giving this guy the ball. They're terrible in the two games he played, and he looks like the slowest running back in the league. And then in the one game he doesn't play,

Ryan Matthews looks like he's a great fit for the offense against a good front seven. That's the name of the NFL film's end of the year book, you know that they do, the $40 million boondog. I don't know why it's all about DeMarco Murray. I find it funny that, like, Jets players were saying that they were part of a crowd that were saying that the Eagles, the way they run, It's relatively simple, and the teams have caught up, and you know when they line up a certain way, what they're going to do.

But then they are the ones that went up and gave up 123 yards. What I thought was the best run defense in the league. The Jax, actually, if you look game to game for the Jets defensively against the run, they haven't been great. Even on Monday night against the cults, they should have, they were having issues with Frank Gore, but Pep Hamilton didn't do a good job of this game plan at all, I thought. So I think that's something to keep an eye on with them. I mean, listen, this is the team that's not going to blow anybody out. And if they fall behind, if they fall behind, they're done.

I like that it didn't take long to ask whether Ryan Fitzpatrick is still their quarterback. And he is. Todd Bull said yes. For now. Jito, come on. Their formula is the same as the bills. You have to get up early, run the ball, and your quarterback should only throw it 25 or 30 times a game. Chip Kelly's got to be really relieved, too, because the city would have just imploded if they started 0.3.

Yeah, that's very true. All right, let's move on. This is not a drill. The Oakland Raiders have a winning record in late September. led by another strong performance from Derek Carr. The Raiders jumped out to a big lead. Held on late, a 2720 win over the Cleveland Browns. Colleen, the Raiders, they're not a total embarrassment.

They're two and one, and they're playing the Bears next week. So they're going to see a three and one, which is insane. Derek Carr, he looked pretty good. He had some nice throws, and he wasn't sacked at all, which the Browns the week before had sacked Marriota seven times, I think. So that was an improvement. And then Latavius Murray, he had his best game yet, yardage-wise, 134 yards.

And then you have the Oakland defense that sacked McCown five times. All I heard about afternoon was Amari Cooper. He must have looked phenomenal. Yeah, he was great too. I think he had about, oh, God, he had this catch. It was a 40-yard catch, one-on-one against Joe Hayden. It was beautiful. He beat him straight up.

He did not have a touchdown, but he did have 134 receiving yards. He had a big day. I might be eating some crow on Derek Carr in terms of how he's. playing so far this year obviously coming off a good game you know this is this was another one but part of it is you know he has guys people making plays for him cooper making plays for him michael crabtree could turn out to be one of the better free agent bargains of the year he didn't do a lot today um but he's a factor and i and i really would be in crow about bill musgrave because that was the part of the whole equation i didn't really get bill musgrave and changing the

offense uh you know when you change coaches he has almost no history of success as an offensive coordinator but they're dialing up some big plays last year it's all dink and dunk and this year they're getting some big plays mark as a vegetarian what is the equivalent of eating crow number one i mean it would be like a bird made out of like tomatoes and weeds weird and number two number two are you missing the cleveland browns so far well i've watched every one of their games and my problem with the browns and this is we talked about kyle shanahan and what he's good at and what his absence means for this team last year you had the maybe third fourth second third best fourth line in the game. You pounded people with your line. You ran the ball well with Isaiah

Crowell, and you beat teams up. And last week they went out, and they also played well on defense with sacks, and they were able to stop the run. Everything you say that you're going to be in this offseason, you know, we don't have a quarterback, but we're going to be tough on both lines, play like a brown, blah, blah, blah. Well, what I see is Joe Hayden can't cover Brandon Marshall and he can't cover Amari Cooper. All right? Is he the most overrated cornerback in NFL? For the way he is hoisted up, and when you put him in If it's not A.J. Green, he has a problem with a lot of receivers. They cannot run the ball.

They run the ball for 39 yards today. You get no sacks. You're at home against the Raiders and you blow the game. Not to mention, they were driving down the field to try and tie the game, and Josh McCown throws a pick. Charles Woodson, who's going to be 39 next week. He's had an interception in 18 straight seasons tying Daryl Green. You know, what's so funny?

That was a good stat. No, that was great. Awesome. I mean. Don't be defensive about your stat. What was wrong with that stat? It was amazing. I'm getting out of here.

You have a pivoted on that status. They're a humus delivery. We were just, you know, riding your way. Blake, can you play a theme song again? We need to be the team of the show. This will give me my energy back. But I had a really nice follow-up point about this game, but then when you guys all chuckled at my Charles Wants' fandom.

It wasn't actually, but since you brought it up, I will say that, you know, as the last fan standing at the around the NFL podcast, I'm sure. supportive of the Jets and a loss like this stinks. The Eagles, that was a terrible loss at home. And this is where the frustration comes from me a little bit, Mark, is that you get to skate by and not have to deal with this loss. I have to say this.

It's a weird way to look at things. I have to say this every podcast. It's not about you, Dan. And I still do feel it's frustrating. It bothers me. I don't like seeing them crumble this way. This was a chance for us to talk about them as the two-in-one team, but they can't get it done.

They're not the team that can get it done. We talked about our theory before the podcast. I mean, I think the anger or the frustration with the Browns, it's now just coming out in other areas. So, like, you're getting more angry about the Ravens. There's a lot of hot takes, very few of them are accurate. My theory is that, yeah, the anger has to go somewhere, and it's gone in the direction of the Ravens,

who you root heartily against every Sunday, more than ever before. And then Peyton Manning, who's an old man. He's basically in senior citizen abuse the way you go out to Peyton Manning now. It's not like it's a new thing that I don't like the Ravens. Manning is in a bit of decline, but you seem to really revel in it. You can just keep creating narratives that aren't even accurate. Go for it. Mark and I feel the same way. He's no longer a fun quarterback to watch. Why don't you go get a long chapter together?

Why does it have to be heresy to say that? No, no, of course he's Ethan. I mean, I find it fun just because it's different. It's like, I've seen exactly what Peyton Manning is for a while, and this is fun. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. It is insane. We should just give the Raiders a lot of credit, but 469 yards of offense. after the performance they had last week and thinking this was what the Browns were supposed to be

halfway decent at a home defense. To put up that many yards is crazy. It's humbling. I remembered what I was going to say now. You mentioned play like a brown. And this isn't really a shot at Mike Patton or anything, but like can we just put to bed all these teams, these disciples from other

coaching trees, then going somewhere like play like a Raven, play like a jet, play like a Bill, play like a Brown. That stuff is predicated on like some type of rich history. The Browns are literally have the least amount of history of any team in the league from 99 on, there's no play like a brown

right now. It should be don't play like a brown. Yeah, it should be literally the opposite. That's exactly right. Stop playing like every brown before you. Start playing like some like a brown means literally suck. Right. Play like a jet is also not literally. Not literally. Plus it's like, hey Mike,

we watched Hard Knocks. That was Rex's thing. We know that's all over the jet's building. Like just come up with a different forward slogan. We just do this. We know that. I went for it on fourth and goal today, guys. He did.

That's good. Some more you can say for John Fox. Progress. Let's move on to the Seattle Seahawks, a team that desperately needed a win, and they got it. Because, listen, when you get to play the Bears in 2015, it's as close to a gimmies that you can get a 26-to-nothing win at Wes. Clink? No. Well, yes.

That's what the locals call. Come on, Dan. Alex Treveck would give that to him. That's correct. Mark, nobody gave the Dakota Clauseen Bears a chance in Seattle, and everybody was right. Dakota Cawson, is that the quarterback? I thought it was Matt. Oh, Matt.

Yeah, the last name is Clawson. Jimmy, James? He was a zero factor. Threw for 63 yards in the game, 10 possessions, 10 punts. This game was over. I mean, it was over before it began. At 3-0, it was over. Yeah, there was not a moment where the bears threatened on any level,

and it was very frustrating to watch because, number one, you got nothing to lose if you're the Chicago. Chicago Bears. John Fox could not have rolled out, and Adam Gase, a more conservative game plan that was. It said once we're down 10-0, we're just going to sit on the ball. We're not going to win this game. We know it. And that's how they prepared on offense and looked the entire way. Not one thing happened on offense that suggested, we are going to try to change this, do something we didn't expect, get aggressive. They did literally zilch. It's an unpardonable sin. You're just going to punt a game in the NFL, not even try to win. When we saw John Fox punt, down 25 points or whatever it was, past midfield.

Get him out of here. Take his coaching job away. Get him out of here. That was in the Super Bowl. We know he's going to do it in week four. I mean, he's just counting them paychecks. Brilliant, though, also. They punted on 10 straight possessions.

They punted what? At midfield on fourth and one, down 20 points. Give me a break with that. Totally outclassed a bad job by John Fox, but also the best thing he can do. Bottom out, go 2 and 14, go 1 and 15. Ship Jay Cutler out of town. get the top quarterback in the draft in your building and see if you can make a start of it new, something fresh.

They need to reboot the machine. So do not win six games this year. Go in the time. They are in the way to get that quarterback. This wasn't even his worst coaching job against the Seahawks. Wes is pretty soon. Thomas Rawls. That's my boy.

Lou Rawls. You'll never find. First of all, that was an allusion to Super Bowl 48, which with John Fox's Nadir as a coach, that was not pretty. TD in my ear, telling me he wants me to point out a Sierra tweet. Oh, give me a brace. Why?

Who cares? The girlfriend of Russell Wilson. She's a pop star. Go, Mr. Number three, go at Seahawks. Hashtag go Hawks. We need more. More Thomas Rawls, less Sierra. Tini, why are you so fascinated by that relationship?

I'm not fascinated by it. I'm sorry that I'm trying to be you guys closest to the world today. I'm sorry. Talk about football all you want. Just talk about football. The only thing you're attached to culturally is soccer and Sierra's fake relationship with Russell Wilson is a human robot. You know I have

issues with that relationship. A lot of issues but I'm just keeping... What's going on with your relationship? Are you back with that girl? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Were you getting personal now? That's a personal question? I know. Well, if we're going to talk about a relationship... You're going to throw in Sierra tweets, you've got to get ready for it. TD had a girlfriend that was...

We lived like an hour away and I think broke it off and then I heard some rumors that they were back together. Where, yeah. All right, guys, let's move on. Let's look some Russell Wilson here. That's what you get for bringing up Sierra. This John Fox coach team, there's some sentiment out here that they've had some tough breaks and they've played guys close. O and 3 with a minus 49 point differential the most in the NFL.

So they're the worst team. Stop with this. They're not that bad stuff. Did you guys see the Bears fan that just took his jersey off and left the game? Wow, I love it. These afternoon games were so awful. At one point, the winners were outscoring their opponents, 105 to 4. Grim. It was right. I wonder the one takeaway now I have just kind of looking at this game is, is Marshawn Lynch not being ready for the game, which always happens, which is bizarre, and not being able to finish the game. And if you look at what he's done in the first couple weeks, like he has not looked quite like Marshawn Lynch. I know the offensive line's a problem too, but long term, they got to be able to talk about that. We thought that last September too, right? And then he played great. He spent half of September on an exercise bike last year. He was not healthy. He wasn't checked in.

I mean, he didn't play the second half, but worst rushing total since 2011. Not too impugn on the professionalism or integrity of Jay Cutler, but can't you totally see him like being like, ah, hamstring's still bothering me, coach. I'll take another month off. Well, if the coach is putting games, why does he care if the quarterback's going to punt a game?

That's true. All right, let's move on. The Minnesota Vikings harassed Philip Rivers into two turnovers and a 31-14 home win over the Chargers, Colleen. Adrian Peterson, AP, AD all day. I don't know what do you call, but... Let's just go with AP. Delivered a vintage performance, didn't he?

He did, and he actually didn't really get going until later in the game, but it was sort of the same thing with Teddy Bridgewater, too. They both kind of had these, like, sluggish starts, and then it was like they clicked at the same time. I feel like they need each other. And, well, definitely Teddy Bridgewater needs AP. But, I mean, he had this 43-yard touchdown, and he just ran straight over. Eric Weddle. I mean, and I feel like

I'm sensing a trend. Does he still have the top show? With Eric Weddell or with Peterson? Weddle. Yeah, I think he might be protecting himself a little. He wants on track. Business decisions? Making business decisions. Wow. That's a couple times a season that's happening. Does Adrian Peterson still have

the top shelf speed that he once had? Or is he doing it more? Combination of talent and a little bit of guile? He looks like the exact same to me except that long pass he had last week. He didn't have like that 50 but his explosiveness between like the 10 yard short shuttle burst he's got that definitely his big plays have been to the outside he had a couple where he gets that adrian peterson gallop going you know what i mean just starts going around the corner and i mean that's where his big plays have been so far are we a little disappointed collian by what we've seen from teddy bridgewater this year

i mean i kind of i had a little bit higher of expectations for him so far but i think a lot of us did but i think when apie is it's there and doing well he does. So as long as they're not calling passes right out of the gate, then they sort of need to adjust to that and see that and not force it with Teddy because you can tell that he needs to be a game manager and lean on the run. I'm surprised by that though because I thought late last year he had games where there was no Adrian Peterson and there wasn't always a run game and he played better than Derek Carr played better than a lot of the young quarterbacks and it's not a regression but it seems like the offense has obviously changed completely well it's two out of three games he's

struggled last week he was just about perfect but you know he had an interception early in this game he should have had a couple he was playing poorly and it didn't matter I'm more disappointed that Chargers didn't take advantage of the slow start by Minnesota and they ended up getting blasted this often I know we talk a lot about bad offensive lines but I think the Chargers offensive line is at a point where they're just like not operable as an offense and it's like holding

the whole team back yeah and I think with Teddy too Jason Verrett he left with an injury and then brand flowers he was already not playing so that also helped him to later in the game all right and uh let's move to what do we learn from the thursday on the podcast is it miami where's the where's the dolphin stadium it's uh it's like palm gardens miami gardens port lottery something like that the buffalo bills went down to miami got their doors blown off uh oh excuse me really struggling here with this game the buffalo bills went down to Miami and blew the doors off

the listless dolphins, jumping out to a 27-0-0 lead and coasting to a 41-14 win. West, the dolphins have all the makings of a pre-season darling turned regular season dud. Well, and this is another one that Dan Hans is called.

Oh, just to tell the truth here. Dan never had any faith in Joe Philbin. And if he listened to handsome Hank, Henry Hodgson, or D-O-P downstairs, he had a couple of tweets during the game that was just basically no leadership. They're getting nothing from their head coach. The offense isn't doing anything.

And Domican, Sue has paid a lot of money, but he's not showing any leadership. This team is listless. Their offensive line is a huge disaster, which when's the last time we talked about the Dolphins, and that wasn't the case? It seems like every year the offensive line is holding them back. There's no sustaining element to this offense whatsoever

because they can't establish a ground game, and Ryan Tannenhill still can't pass beyond 20 yards. Especially with Brandon Albert. down too. Right. That was a huge loss and I don't think it gets a lot lower than getting drubbed by 27 points at home and watching Ricky, Richie Incognito, laughing it up after the game on the field, talking to old friends and some old coaches and I just saw that shot and I thought if I'm a Dolphins fan watching that, you know, I'm not watching any more Dolphins. Who was named captain today by Rex, of course, naturally. Very rarely is there a decision

made in football that you're 100% sure and collectively. everyone agrees is a terrible decision. And what happened, I think it was week 17 last year when Stephen Ross announced that Joe Philbin was coming back. I think everybody was like, wait, what? Because three years without the playoffs, they brought them back, spent all this money. But it's the same

systemic problems because Joe Filvin is not a leader at this level as a head coach and it's clearly coming out. This team is, we talked about in the preseason that this could be a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense and they're not close in either realm. What's confusing is that they have the talent. They've got

like Rashard Matthews who has been buried on their bench for two years because Joe Philbin doesn't like him. And he's got back-to-back 113-yard games. Today he had two touchdowns. They've got Jarvis Landry who's good. Jordan Cameron's a very good tight-in. They've got great pieces and they can't put it all together. Well, this is the point last season Joe Philbin threatened essentially to bench Ryan Tannhill right before they went to London. They're going to London this week. He should pull that move again. Just threaten to bench him. He should yank himself. Doesn't some of this fall on, and I hate to say this, but Bill Laser,

I mean, it was four weeks ago that we were saying, why aren't 25 teams running the Eagles' offense because we're so enamored with it? And maybe we have our answer. This is Miami's version of it, and it's not working at all. I would put that at the feet of the offensive line. They just can't get anything going. It's crazy.

I mean, it's crazy they're giving up the way. We should give some credit to the bills here, and that's a big bounce-back performance. Tyrod Taylor, big game. and it's crazy that Carlos Williams has 110 yards on 12 carries in this game while the guy making $11 million and is not healthy had 16 yards on 11 carries. That only happens in football.

There's no NBA scenario where like the guy making $20 million a year doesn't do anything and the guy doing nothing. But he is not healthy. I mean, Rex is out on the field and he looked pretty good last week. By the way, more evidence of my narrative, as you say it, Mark, that your anger for the Browns is going elsewhere. You're really down on Rex Ryan. You don't like him at all.

Personally, had it hurt to see Rex out coaching Bill Laser, who's your boy. I thought Ryan, this is the kind of game where if he wants to show the Bill's fans, like, we are plugged in and we aren't just the team from last week. This is a perfect game. He did a great job of coaching this on the way, on the way turf. And like this is a big bounce game, bounce back game for Rex Ryan. I like that. Another narrative, just, Jan, you can keep floating me here, skip family.

That was. I didn't think that was. You know what? It's week three. We can reassess each week. Rex Ryan did a good job. That didn't sound genuine, those comments. I think the rage boils within.

Listen, Tyrod Taylor, we are going to get out of here without talking about what he did, 21 for 29. Who watched this thing closely? He did a good job. I watched it closely. He did a very good job. First quarter of the show is trying to defend against this attack from Dan all show long.

He's got the fire in his eyes. He's got the fire in his eyes. Nonsense. Tyraud Taylor, first Phil's quarterback since 1991, Jim Kelly, to start a season with seven touchdowns and a 70% completion rate. He played very well today, had a rough spot in the third quarter, but played really well for the most part. I like this AFC East, out of division schedule. That's why I had the bills in the playoffs before the season. And I think they're going to be the team. I know the Jets

have looked okay so far. But I think the whole AFC East has an opportunity because the out of division schedule is nice, especially for the non-Patriots teams, to ride 10 or 11 wins, even if they don't win the division. Well, Greg knows that the Patriots are going to keep dropping bombs on each one of these teams. None of it matters. These other AFCs teams could end up winning 11 games and feel good about themselves and they'll still finish four games behind the Patriots. The Bills have the longest playoff drought in professional sports. Is that right? Or just in the end of the end of the playoffs? Either way, it's a long time. So they'd be happy with the playoffs. Colleen, we have to say goodbye to you now. All right. We love having you on the show. Here's a, here's a plan. Come back again next week.

All right. It's not easy. That was fantastic. By the way, you can check out Colleen on NFL now. She's doing some great work over there. So the wolf will now scurry off to that end of the world, and she'll be back again next week. Thank you, Colleen. Yeah, thanks, guys.

Out goes Colleen, and now we talk about the final game of Sunday, Sunday night football, a matchup between the Broncos and the Lions and a game which you think the Lions need in their building that maybe they'll show up, get the job done. It doesn't work out that way because Peyton Manning, throws for 324 yards and two touchdowns. And the Broncos continue their stifling defense en route to a 2412 victory over the now O'N3 Lions.

And, you know, what we saw again today, Greg, was Gary Kubiak saying, okay, I know it doesn't work with 39-year-old Peyton Manning. Let's let Peyton do some Peyton things. And again, he's not 2013 Manning, but he's doing it up and the defense is doing the rest. Little pistol formation back in our lives, which is good, plus 324 yards. I mean, a much better statistical game.

And when I think of this game, I think these two teams have been as consistent as any two teams in the entire league so far this year. Basically, every Broncos game has been the same. The defense dominates, and the offense, which is slowly getting better, does enough to win. And every lion's game is the same, which is the offensive line plays terrible, and their defense isn't good enough anymore to make up for it, and they can't run the ball. And now they're row in three. Same team every week. Yeah, the Lions are disappointing.

We couldn't have known that they would be without DeAndre Levy, and we didn't know the offensive line was this problematic, but their inability to consistently move the ball is, I mean, Matthew Stafford, when's he going to show us that he's better than Andy Dalton? Well, I mean, DeAndre Levy is part of it, but the offense has a lot of parts and it's not working. It's ridiculous.

This is a terrible job of the Lions, without Levy, of course. But you need to man up in your building on Sunday night staring down 0 and 3 and deliver a performance and that's why I picked the lines. I don't even like this Lions team I hate the way they looked in the first two weeks but I thought if anything they'll show a little spine and get a win to stay alive this season

and now they fall to 0 and 3 and here's the scary thing now going back to the Broncos. Their defense I don't think anybody doubts this is a real deal defense, the best Broncos defense maybe ever potentially here and if Peyton Manning can just is figuring it out and

again he's not going to throw 50 touchdowns But if he's figuring out and this offense becomes proficient, they couldn't run the ball at all today. But if they could just figure it out enough and be a top 15 offense and a top three defense, this team is really good. Big props, though, to Kubiak, because there was, you know, comments that were shaded in the way of, I'm not going to change what I know and what works for me. But then that changed more as the game drew closer. I give them, you know, flexibility as a coach in today's NFL is so important for guys that came from other schemes. the league is changing.

You've got to put Manning in a place to succeed. If they didn't do that, Denver would have melted. I mean, this city would have gone crazy. You think Chip Kelly would be abandoning his offensive scheme after two weeks? I don't know. You know the Denver defense is special when David Bruton is making big plays week after week. I mean, the interception that he made in the fourth quarter was an incredible play and was at the point in the game where the outcome is certainly in doubt.

He's made big plays each week. Guys like Brandon Marshall's making big. plays each week. And then the stars are playing like stars, DeMarcus, where to this point, I would say, has been the best outside pass rusher in the NFL. He's not, like we talked about Steve Smith earlier and receivers. He's, I don't know, so far this year in terms of each game, and Houston's got to play his third game, where has been on fire three straight games? Talking about Peyton Manning figuring things out. I think one thing I noticed in this game that he did figure out. He had been missing downfield trying to hit Emmanuel Sanders and Demarius Thomas

in stride. This game he put. Put it up in the air and let them high point the ball and make contested catches. So he's not really trying to hit him in stride. He's trying to allow them a chance to make plays on the ball. And they both came through with huge plays. I mean, he made his first completion of 20 plus yards tonight. And in one thing, Denver's defense did all that and more. But Matthew Stafford was like one for eight against the pass rush.

Matthew Stafford has to learn to settle down and make plays. I don't have to learn. If he hasn't learned yet. And that's the problem. That's why it's hard to look at the lions. I don't care what pretty things are surrounding Matthew Stafford. It's just hard to buy into them as a long-term project. And with Peyton Manning, one play is at the end of the game,

where the game was hanging in the balance, 17, 12, third down. If the Lions can just force a field goal, it's a one-possession game with the lines having the ball. And Collinsworth did a great job diagramming, but he saw the way the defense was going to attack. He set up the offensive line one way. He rolled out the other way and dropped a perfect pass to put the game away. And it was just an example of Peyton Manning being so much smarter than everyone

on the field and how much that. second cover up his physical limitations. Well, I think the line of the night and really the summary of the lion season came from your boy, Al Michaels, that he said there weren't enough fans in the crowd to even have a cascade of booze. It was more like a light rain of booze. I mean, that's where the lions are at. They're not even hanging out to the end of the game, but the ones that are there are miserable.

Bringing cascade back into our lives of something more than a dishwash and detergent. And by the way, you know, everything changes, but nothing changes. Peyton Manning and the Broncos 3-0. Brady and the Patriots, three and oh. Crash course, baby. That's it. For another edition of the Around the NFL podcast, our week three recap edition. We will be back on Tuesday.

We'll talk about the Monday night game between the Chiefs and Packers. Is that correct? You nailed it. Home run. So we'll recap that and then we'll start again, Mark, it's the cycle. Only like 18, 19, 20 more weeks of this. Exactly. And then it's the combine and then it's the owner.

sound so miserable about it. No, I enjoy it. Mark has to be back at work in about 14 minutes. I'm not rolling in at 11 a.m. tomorrow, so let's have a nice time. Everyone got a good night's sleep. That's it. This is Dan Hansis.

Oh, before we go, behind the glass, we just got to say this is our last video show with the Irishman. There he is. He's behind the glass. He's Irish and he's proficient at his job and a gentleman. And funny. Absolutely.

Funny. A great job. Sneaky, funny. The funniest producer we've ever had on the mic. There he is. Gold standard is pretty funny, too. I'm just saying in terms of just dry humor. Notice how T-D won't even give Brandon the headphones, by the way.

Just say one thing. Brandon, you, as he puts them on now. Brandon, you are going to be producing on Tuesday, right? And Thursday. And Thursdays. Oh, so we got two more shows here. Nice long, goodbye. Excellent.

And, you know, just so you know, get ready. Might have something special for you. Whoa. For your last show. All right. Fair enough. And that's it. There he goes, the Irishman.

Another good one going away. But hopefully he comes back. That's it for Sunday's edition of the Around the NFL podcast. We'll be back Tuesday, as I said. So make sure you tune in and check us out on YouTube. This is Dan Hansen signing up for The Quiet Storm, The Melman, the boss, and everybody on the class. Until then.

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