NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Week 7 MNF Doubleheader and Big Injury News

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to recap the Week 7 Monday Night Football doubleheader between the Ravens and Buccaneers and the Chargers and Cardinals. The show starts off with the Ravens beating the Bucs and a break down of Lamar Jackson's elite play, followed by a look at the state of the Buccaneers after injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (11:30), and Baker Mayfield's play (20:30). After the break, the show shifts to the Chargers coming up short against the Cardinals despite a great game from Justin Herbert (29:30) and then a talk about James Connor and Kyler Murray putting the team on their back (34:30). Finally, the guys get you caught up on news from around the NFL including Jameson Williams' suspension (43:16), injury updates for Brandon Aiyuk, Jayden Daniels, Tua Tagovailoa, and DK Metcalf (45:36). NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily where every one of these Monday Night doubleheaders gets a little crazy. That's right. I'm here in my garage.

Nick Shook is in Ohio and his fingers are tired after writing up these games, Ravens, Bucks, a lot going on. on in that game. Early, late, a lot of points. And then the Chargers and the Cardinals have a tastefully quick game, but a weird ending and a lot to talk about there. Welcome, Shook. A long day for you. Yeah, you know, Greg, this is how I know you're a writer at heart, because I didn't even mention that to you,

but that's the first thought I had as I was preparing to jump on this show was, wow, my hands are tired after running all that up. So thank you for noticing that. I appreciate that. Yes. You know, Shook's a big guy, but I can tell when he's playing her. Let's not mess around. Let's start with the main event. That was down in Tampa. We'll get to the undercard Chargers and Cardinals a little later. On second and 17, Lamar to throw. Going deep. Near side. He's got Bateman open at the five. Touchdown with Sean Bateman. And the Ravens strike again. 49 yards from the Lamar and Jackson. That was Jerry Sandusky and Rod Woodson on W-B-A-L.

I missed the great celebration by Bateman the first time. I was too busy celebrating that touchdown for my son who started Bateman in fantasy. The chart, the Ravens get it done. 41 to 31. What a wild game. Lamar Jackson throws five touchdowns matching his five incompletions.

Oh, by the way, he ran for 52 yards. More on that in a second. But that was just a beautiful throw on a night full of them, full of good decisions, full of open receivers, full of Lamar and his offensive coordinator, Todd Monkin, just reading those Todd Bulls, blitzes before they even got to him. What a performance there by the Ravens' offense. Nick, after they fell down 10-0 early. yeah you know all that was missing from that call was the hay is in the barn it was because it was too early but i'll tell you what when i saw that touchdown pass i said good night buccaneers because the ravens were not about to be stopped on monday night year two the todd munkin offense is in full force in a game like this consider their first possession in that game they had to punt they got blitz twice they didn't have an answer for it after that the ravens went touchdown touchdown touchdown field goal field goal touchdown touchdown they scored 34 unanswered points they were an absolute machine, and most of that didn't even involve Derek Henry. It was the Lamar Jackson show. They were making it work in the passing game. He was taken off running. They could not be stopped. And folks, if you had any questions about the Ravens, I know we can sound hyperbolic when it comes to this team because they can be so impressive on nights like this. But I'm telling

you right now, you have a leader for MVP, and his name is Lamar Jackson. Oh, yeah. There's no question. He's gone to another level. It's crazy because he's won two MVP's, but The way that he won his first MVP was so unique and was incredible to watch. Nothing quite like it in NFL history. And yet even when it was happening, you knew you can't probably like live like this your whole career. And it was why Greg Roman, who was not lost on me, is part of this night's adventures too while coaching up the Chargers and they're kind of stillborn offense in Arizona.

and meanwhile, Lamar Jackson is in a much better offense for him. So that was the first MVP. Then last year, playing outstanding on the best team in the league, and it just was a year where, let's be real, there wasn't like perfect MVP candidates, and he was the best one because he was probably the best quarterback in the league in a year where there just wasn't anyone standing out, and they were the best team.

But right now, I think mentally, physically, he's certainly running the ball better, and I think he's making better decisions and there just aren't as many inaccurate throws from Lamar Jackson and when he plays a defense that has some holes in it like this Tampa Bay Buccaneer secondary does when they blitz and they don't get home.

I mean, he just trashes them. It's kind of amazing to think the old book against Lamar Jackson was, oh, well, he can't really handle the blitz. Like, go cover zero against Lamar Jackson. He went 11 for 15 for 166 yards and three touchdowns against the Blitz. He is second in the NFL this season in success rate against the Blitz behind only Patrick

Mahomes, who's also pretty good and probably will be heard from in this MVP race. Yeah, you know, in my notes about Lamar last week, it was, you know, he's really taken his passing game to the next level. Like he's become a very accurate passer. That was like the knock. Oh, he can't throw the football. Well, he could throw the football. And last year, you know, you compare MVP seasons if this is going to be an MVP season for him

as well, it was about the Zayflower show when it came to the passing game. they lost Mark Andrews, and Zay Flowers really stepped in. Well, tonight, Zay gets one catch for 11 yards and then disappears because he gets a little banged up, and it becomes the Rashad Bateman Show. Four catches for 121 yards. Mark Andrews gets four catches for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Him and Bateman combined for three touchdowns overall. It doesn't matter who's running routes or who's open.

Lamar's going to get it to him on target, and that's not even accounting for his running game, and that's why they've taken this entire offense, and Lamar has elevated himself to a whole new level and what makes them so scary to play against because you can't just. just blitz him anymore. There is no simple blueprint to stop this offense. I mean, they, they are just an absolute wagon. We're going to get to the really heartbreaking ending to this game, which included Chris Godwin's injury in a minute. But I kind of want to set up what led to that point because you mentioned, yeah, the game fell over after that Bateman touchdown. But after that was Derek Henry's crazy long run down the field, which I just assumed was got to be a touchdown because

you didn't see a defender. I think it was Zion McCollin on the screen the whole time. He flies in because he had the angle. But yes, it was an 81-yard run. Let's actually listen to that one. Derek Henry is the deep back and the offset eye. Ricard in front of him. Lamar under center.

Give us to Henry. Left side breaks through the line. Cross the 15. He's gone. Leg right down the side. Midfield. The train is rolling. He's in 30.

20, 15, and he's taken off his feet at the 10. Derek Henry flips the 5. Peel with one run. Yes, 81 yards. And Rod Woodson, yeah, I don't blame him. I assume that Derek Henry was gone too. And let's fly up that tweet that you had, Eric Roberts, if you're watching on YouTube.

And really, check us out on YouTube. Subscribe, like. We really appreciate that we've been growing the audience there. And we obviously love the audio audience. The most, you guys are our people, but it's cool either way. And you can see how Derek Henry reach a top speed of 21.72 miles per hour. That was the third fastest of his entire career. And the fifth fastest by a ball carrier this season.

Yeah, McCollum was even faster. Often called the most athletic guy on that Bucks team, which is saying something. So that's the type of effort it would take to catch up with him. But that set up Mark Andrews' second touchdown, which, by the way, was part of him becoming the all-time receiving touchdowns leader in Ravens history. So much was happening in this game.

That was just like an afterthought they mentioned as a little lower third. That's pretty cool. He passed Todd Heap as the leader in Ravens history. And yeah, at that point, it's 34 to 10. Right after that, actually, Shook, was Lamar Jackson kind of losing his mind and throwing backwards pass with just an inaccurate pass that turns out to be a fumble that we thought was returned by McCollum, but eventually was just ruled a fumble and that he was down. years get a touchdown. And then they score another touchdown. So when you were going through all your

touchdown, touch that touchdown, touch that, touch out, touchdown, you had to stop because there was that fumble in the mix. But then there was another touchdown drive, which was led by even more Derek Henry. This one-two punch, it's just crazy. It's just like it's, I've never seen anything quite like it. Like, it's just awesome. As a football fan, it's like you know you're watching a moment in time, kind of like that first Lamar Jackson MVP season. This can't go forever. These two at this level, but right now it's just ridiculous, and there is every reason to believe it can continue all season. Yeah, and what's scary about that is Derek Henry was having a quiet night. At one point, a graphic flash on the screen that showed he had five carries for, I think,

like 22 yards or something like that, and they were still putting up points. He ends with 15 carries for 169. This can jump up and get you at any point in the game. It can be the closer, the knockout punch, even when you least expected. That's how dangerous this duo is. Yeah, and that second touchdown that he scored Derek Henry, not that he set up, rather, that made it 41 to 14. I actually think that's an important moment in the game because that was the moment

that it was over. It was 41 to 18. The only reason the Bucks had even gotten those eight points there after 34 straight by the Ravens, what was Lamar set them up on a short field. There's under nine minutes to go. And I thought at that point,

Todd Bowles might just pull his starters. Because, you know, that's, what, a 23-point lead with nine minutes to go? It was a very physical night. There were a lot of injuries. Mike Evans had already left this game with a hamstring injury. He actually dropped a potential touchdown pass after he got his 100th career touchdown to start the scoring. Also a footnote.

Right. Like his 100th career receiving touchdown. It's a little confusing because he had his 100th total touchdown a couple weeks ago on a primetime game. But this was his 100th receiving. Second drive, the Bucks are trying to go up 14-0 after a couple good defensive series. And he drops a pass and he hurts his hamstring. He came into the game with the injury. You could tell he was limping around even on the sideline.

Some questions maybe should they have let him keep playing in that game. But a lot of injuries. Tyke Smith had a concussion. Marlon Humphrey had a knee injury. and just people were hitting, it's hot there. I just was like, maybe they're going to pull their guys. They don't pull their guys. Baker Mayfield starts that next drive,

and we'll get to Mayfield's night by throwing a ball right at one of the Ravens' defenders. I think it was Ardarius Washington. It goes right through Ardarius Washington's hand and Cade Otten catches it on his shoulder somehow. It was a truly remarkable catch. And they end up scoring a touchdown on that drive. Like I said, it was 41 to 18.

I thought they'd just pull their starters. Okay, they score there. Maybe you pull it then. No, let's go for an onside kick. They get the onside kick. It's perfectly executed. And I bring all that up, Nick, because they scored another touchdown.

And it all led to this sequence where it's 41 to 31 with a minute to go. And it's over. They have the whole field to go. And Chris Godwin dislocates his ankle. and it was like a sickening moment and they didn't show the replay because it looked so bad but if you rewound your television

which I did enough to just see like it was a dislocated ankle the team announced after the game that tells you all you need to know I just started going through all the moments that led to that point that Todd Bull should not have had his starters out there necessarily

but also just all the bad luck that it took for them to even be playing in that moment and it It sucks, man, because Chris Godwin's one of my favorite players. He's a lot of people's favorite players on that Bucks team, certainly. And it looked like a season-ending injury for a guy who is really having a career season. Yeah, you know, a guy who caught a 55-yard pass for a touchdown last week, primarily because he caught it and ran 55 yards for a touchdown.

Like, he's a game-breaking player. And him and Evans together make for one of the best, you know, one-two punches at receiver in the NFL. Once they lost Evans, that offense, you know, entered a rut. as we've learned tonight, if you didn't already know, Baker Mayfield relies heavily on Mike Evans, so then he's going to rely on Chris Godwin, who's going to attract all the defensive attention. But all this comes back to the point that in a rare moment,

getting the onside kick actually worked out poorly for the team that got the onside kick because it gave them the hope or the opportunity to keep pushing forward and leaving those guys on the field with the benefit of hindsight, we know that they shouldn't have been out there. We didn't know he was going to get hurt, but you don't get that onside kick.

They're not out there, and it doesn't matter. But because they got it, they kept pushing forward and trying to win a game that they obviously weren't going to win, and now the worst possible result has come from it. Right. Let's listen to Todd Bowles answering a lot of pointed questions after the game about Godwin's injury.

He's a player. We're trying to win the ball game. I mean, we were still down 10. We were trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick. It just happened. It might go on down. We didn't have that many receivers left as it was,

so we play what we got. Bulls kept going around in circles on that, and I understand what he was saying. I think there are shades of gray here. Ryan Clark was on after the game on SVP on ESPN, explaining that this is how football works. You play to the end. You're trying to win.

You were down 34 to 10. You don't want to sound like you're giving up on your players. They want to be out there. They want to win. I do think you can protect your players. Like I said, I was thinking about it with six and a half minutes left. This drives me crazy each and every week. that these teams who do all these things in the preseason

and during the regular season to prevent injuries than just have players out there in hopeless situations late. When he got hurt, there was one minute to go. They were down two scores. I think they were out of timeouts. They might have one. And they had 90 yards to go. Like, there's no chance to win that game in that point.

John Harbaugh had already put in Josh Johnson. I think it's worth mentioning. He had kind of raised the, you know, white flag saying, hey, you just want to end this thing? Because, you know, they got the ball around midfield after another field on side kick. And they were up 10. The Bucks had their timeouts.

They decided to use them. But Josh Johnson came in to just hand the ball off because John Harbaugh wasn't messing around. I disagree with Todd Bowles. I think you get the ball in that situation, a minute 30 left. You don't have a chance. to win, especially after the first couple of plays.

And it takes a lot, and it's bad luck, certainly, and its football players getting hurt playing football. But I think he could have called off the dogs a couple series before. Yeah, and again, we're operating with the benefit of hindsight now. But to use a cross-sport comparison, I think it was the late Eriton Senna, who once said, as soon as you see a gap as a racer and you don't go for it, you're no longer a racer. And that just speaks to the competitor in everybody.

And especially in football, which you need to be the ultimate competitor to not only win, but survive. It's just that you got the worst possible outcome from this and one that could absolutely, you know, derail your season, especially after you lost Mike Evans to a hamstring injury. It's going to hurt for them. Like, it's going to hurt for them beyond the fact that they saw what happened on the field and they all realized in that moment, oh man, why do we even risk this? It's going to hurt for them long term. And it is unfortunate, but again, it still is football. Yeah. I just, I'm such a fan of Godwin since he first came into the league when he was playing with James he's the type of receiver I like you meant we were talking before the show you mentioned

anquan bolden we were like who has the ravens receiving touchdown record no he wasn't there long enough and godwin almost reminded me of like a smaller anquan bolden but but so tough in the way that he plays and injuries affect players differently and he took so long to really become the player that he was after he i believe it was a torn ACL right that he was coming back from a couple years ago, and you thought, oh, you're never going to see that Chris Godwin again, that's too bad. And then here he was. Coming into this week, leading the NFL in receptions, leading the NFL in yak, third in receiving yards. He, he wasn't, it's weird to call him the one and Mike Evans the two because of the roles that they play. But in terms of production, like,

he was the number one receiver on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's also in a contract year. And just all that combined, I think that's part of the anger that people had about Todd Bowles. And maybe some of that, even from me, I tweeted something is a little unfair. I think the overall point about garbage time playing is something that, like, teams, I think, will get better at overtime. They really haven't, but I do think that's something that, like, is dumb that so many teams do. But it's also just disappointing, it's also disappointing for this Bucks team who plays the Falcons next week, almost certainly going to be with that. Mike Evans and Chris God when you would think Evans is going to be a week-to-week type of injury. They have Trey Palmer.

They have Jalen McMillan was back for this game. They have Sterling Shepard. That's their wide receiver crew. So good luck. Yeah, that takes a lot of the punch out of this offense, which was liable to blow up at any time for a huge number of points. Just ask the Saints how that went last week. Because they learned very quickly that this offense can put up a ton of points.

And now you take that out of there. We knew the running game, which has been up and down, has gotten better in recent weeks, but was a big point of emphasis going into the season. That's why they invested in Bucky Irving. Sean Tucker had a breakout game last week. The balance was coming, but the threat was always the passing game. Started with Baker Mayfield, but it really relied on those two guys. You take those two guys out of the equation.

Suddenly, that ceiling is so much lower. And suddenly, the NFC South race gets very interesting because the Buccaneers no longer look like the best team in the division if they can't put up points at that rate without these guys. That's why gambling's crazy. We're not allowed to gamble. Yeah. You know, as NFL employees, and that's saved us a lot of heartache.

I don't know how people do it. tension over the years but I am thinking about like they're over I pick them to win the division I like this Bucks team and I really like their overrun or two

and when this game started I think it was a very typical Bucks game for this season like when they look good they look good they came out and Baker's 11 for 13 to starting the game and they ran the ball well all night

like if they could have kept the lead they could have run the ball I think more consistently but they just got in a game script where they had to stop. But for the most part, they've kind of figured out their running game. The defense is another matter, and they have injuries there, and they're playing the Ravens, and they probably always were going to lose this game. But this is a team that I think could win the division because they're pretty balanced,

but mostly because they're a good offense. And I think Liam Cohen has done a really nice job this year overall, accentuating Baker's strengths and getting a lot out of, out of the weapons that they have, and they do have weapons. You saw Kate Otten went for 100 yards tonight. And now, like, maybe Evans gets back 100% in a couple weeks, and they'll still be fighting. It's not like their season is over.

But if Evans and Godwin are out, you know, if Godwin's out for the season, Evans is out for three weeks, it's like that might be enough that that capsizes your season. Forget your overrunners, forget your division, forget your team. That's more important. Yeah, it's going to be a real test at Baker Mayfield as a quarterback, too,

because we know he had that great season last year. He got paid for it and everything else. Everything's turning up for him, right? But you take away his top two targets. It's going to get harder for any quarterback. Just ask Matthew Stafford how it's been with the Rams. But this is going to be a real test of how he can make do with it. Because as soon as Evans left the field and they were in that goal-to-go situation,

he threw that interception in the end zone. I realized for the first time, Baker doesn't know what to do when all else fails. Before, it was throw it up to Mike Evans. Well, now he doesn't have that guy out there. Throw the ball away, bro. He turned right to Marlon Humphrey. I'm glad we got to this point because, Patrick Claibon's MVP candidate, Baker Mayfield, was bad in this game.

Bad. He was straight up bad. And it's funny because he had a monster fantasy night in the end because of those third quarter, those fourth quarter touchdowns. He ends up with three touchdowns and 370 yards along with two interceptions. But after that fast start, and it's almost emblematic of Baker's career, he was like kind of collapsing in on himself for a couple quarters. Like, he was sacking himself.

The two interceptions were just total panic plays where he didn't know what to do on that end zone interception. And then the second one, it was such a bad interception that Marlon Humphrey got hurt on it. Because two Ravens were fighting over the ball because they both were going to get it. And he could have been intercepted a couple more times. And he just, he hit a play early where he improvised and he made something happen while just running around. I was like, oh, that's almost dangerous when he hits one of those early. Because then he just started doing it and he was kind of running in circles. And it was the bad baker. And you see these pop up and he's mostly kept this down in Tampa. But you see it

pop up for a couple quarters at a time. And it was kind of a rough watch there for a couple quarters. And it makes me a little worried about what's going to happen without these receivers. And I'm telling you, a lot of that has to do with the fact that Evans isn't on the field because the first half of last season, it was chuck and prey. And usually it worked out for them. And it got them on track when nothing else is working, that would work for them. The game script in the situation also affected them. The fact that they had to suddenly dig out of this deficit, they couldn't lean on the running game and he takes away his best receiver, where is he going to go now? And that's just what I fear could be the outcome for them in the next couple

weeks. He was creating it though. He was holding the ball. It was driving me a little crazy. Yeah, yeah. It's that weakness and it's him getting beat by underneath zone. Like robber cover one robber has always been his Achilles heel for his entire career. It's those two things that have held him back. Right. So, yeah, I mentioned the two interceptions. Yeah, there could have been two more, and they were both on basically what you're talking about, him not seeing the underneath defender.

I know we've gone a long time on this game, but I find it, found it very interesting. Just a couple more points I want to get to before we leave it. I mentioned Marlon Humphrey. He had that injury, knee injury. That's important for the Ravens who, you know, their defense is a little up and down, but certainly finished off this game well. I think the defensive line is really good. Yeah, they had a, they had a, they had a,

nice bounce back because early in this game it looked like oh man here they go they're they struggle to communicate they're caught out of alignment on the touchdown pass to mike evans buccaneers are going up tempo they're catching them by surprise but they were able to bounce back probably for the first time this entire season i saw this raven's defense legitimately picked themselves up off the mat and turn into performance that makes me think oh the potential is there they're lacking some pieces some guys have gotten hurt zach oars the first year defensive coordinator but for the first time this season i was like oh this raven's defense can't actually get the job done because those stops they got in the middle of this game were a big part of why

the Ravens could put up so many points. The Buccaneers' offense wasn't on the field, plain and simple. I think their front is good. I mean, they stopped the run, and Madabike and Addafei always stepped up. Kyle Van Nuys doing his thing. There's obviously Roque on there. I think they're a little deeper up front than people expected, and they're good up front on both lines. Like, their offensive line is really improved. Like, we're talking about Derek Henry. getting these big lanes to run through. It's cohesive when they have the option plays and Lamar chooses to run.

It's just like the easiest eight yards. And that's been true of his whole career, but that does take some cohesion that wasn't there the first couple weeks of the season. And then Ronnie Stanley, I wanted to point out, didn't give up a pressure in this entire game despite all those blitzes. That's amazing.

Zero pressures. He has given up zero sacks all season. Next-Jand stats says he's the only guy with 50. like pass sets to do that. And he's like a couple hundred or whatever at this point. So he's playing out of his mind. I believe he's in a contract year too. So some guys are getting paid there. This is the best team in football right now. I don't think there's any question. I know that Chiefs fans would disagree, but I just think right now, neutral field, who are you taking? It doesn't make a difference. Ravens fans know that. That crown is meaningless. But right now,

they're the best team in football. Yeah, at least visually speaking, the Chiefs offense is slow and methodical, and the Ravens can put up points and bunches. Yeah, absolutely. But it's really going to come down to the trenches. Being able to do it all, Lamar is doing it all. He's got the coach to match. And yeah, that was a fun night. Even though it was one-sided by the end, it was a lot of fun, at least until that late injury. So prayers for Chris Godwin. We'll be thinking of him. We're also thinking of the Cardinals and the Chargers. We haven't even gotten to the other game tonight. We'll do that after the break.

In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. So you can push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors. For the next era of gaming, upgrade to smooth, high-quality streaming with Intel Wi-Fi 6E, and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking.

Win the tech search. Power up at Lenovo.com. It's 5.23 p.m. One of your kids is asking for a snack. Another is building a fort out of your clean laundry. And you're staring at a half-empty fridge and thinking, what are we even going to eat tonight? Or you could just hello-fresh it. With over 80 recipes to choose from every week, including kid-friendly ones,

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Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you in. Inside the game, from scouting reports and player development, to team-building philosophies, coaching trends in how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

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Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. First down to the 44 of L.A. Good response by the Cardinals. Murray under center trying to pay off this drive of the touchdown. Back to throw off play action. Deep in the pocket, stepping up, moving left, taking off, running Farside 45, 40.

Gets past the defender at the 30. Far side 20. He will walk in, 10, 5 touchdown. Piler Murray, a 44-yard touchdown run. And as soon as he got past the defender on the far side of about the 30, that was all she wrote. K-MVP, Dave Pass on the call. I was waiting to hear Ron Wolfley's voice coming there with a little excitement.

Dave Pass wasn't kidding. He wasn't the only one that knew it was all she wrote. Kyler Murray did it again. He lifted up his arm at about the 40-yard line. That's three touchdowns this year. He's called in the middle of the play, like 30 yards out. I love this man. I mean, he's having a weird season.

It's not even that good, Kind of like this game. Not that good, but good enough for the Cardinals. They win it. 17 to 15. On a night, the Chargers didn't get a touchdown. And yes, the Cardinals did get a game-winning field goal from our old friend, Chad Ryland. And yet our producer, Eric Roberts, really making a stamp on this show.

He's killing it this season with his baby. His Dodgers are in the World Series. He says, hey, there's no rule you have to put the game-winning field goal as the radio call. It wasn't that exciting. It wasn't that special. It was a chip shot. I'm putting my stamp on this show. I'm making it the Kyler-Murie touchdown call.

I agree. That's more memorable. What do you think, Nick? That's artistic integrity right there. I mean, who else would come through and say, you know what? The best play was the Kyler. This game didn't have a lot of great plays, Greg. And look, we have the Wittotes, right?

Worst throws of the year. How about a nominee here for worst pursuit angle of the year? Those of you watching on YouTube just saw it. Chargers linebacker, Jr. Colson, he's a rookie from Michigan. Terrible pursuing Engel got roasted on the broadcast. He was the last line of defense on that touchdown run. Made it too easy for Kyler. Okay. I was texting with Mina tonight about that Junior Colson is unplayable. Mina Kimes, and she was like, you're way too invested in this Chargers defense. And I am. I had this friendly gentleman's, you know, wager that they would finish at least

in the top 20 of the DVOA defensively this year with Mina. And look, they're going to do that easily. They're in the top five right now. But I've been watching Junior Colson week after week and, like, they can't play them. Dayon Henley's pretty good. And Junior Colson is killing me week after week. Let's actually bring in Eric. Eric, you can put yourself on the camera here because, you know, first of all, you wanted

this highlight in. It's a big moment for you. And then you said you hated this game. And this game was annoying you. What's with the hate? I think it was just maybe because I had the Bucks and the Ravens. I think it was maybe the result. It was the only game going on at that time.

You know, it's okay. It's football. Got to love it. But I think every time, and you know what really bugged me was the ticker in the top corner of the Buccaneers' Ravens game. I'd look up and it's like 30, 30, 6.9. That's just, I think the comparison is what got me today. There was just so much. A bunch of dumb scores.

And I'm with you. I'm, you know, I believe in you, Eric, and I'm going to listen to your guidance. And if you say that call, it wasn't worth it. I mean, how can a Dodger fan who's used to all these home runs be happy with field goals? I totally get it. Here's where I will push back. I think this was a good game. I mean, it was memorable in that, yes, it was so perfect that it was like the ESPN Plus undercard game.

and it's like the ultimate Justin Herbert game. This was Justin Herbert's career game because he absolutely bawled out in this game. For anyone that didn't watch the first two and a half, three quarters closely,

if you put this on your game pass or on your NFL pro, and I kind of want to rewatch it almost because I did start going back through every single play yet and I'm like, my God, Justin Herbert playing like one of the best games I've seen anyone play all year.

He threw for over 350 yards. He had dime after dime after dime. His receivers were dropping so many passes. And so you think that Justin Herbert, okay, Justin Herbert's playing the best he certainly played all year. Yeah, 349 yards, 27 for 39, despite all those drops. And yet they don't even score a freaking touchdown. Yeah.

They're on ESPN Plus. and they lose on a last second field goal where there's like controversial non-calls and controversial penalties. Like, this was Justin Herbert's career in a nutshell. And oh, by the way, he has like Greg Roman as an ankle weight as his offensive coordinator. That's it. It's Justin Herbert's career.

Greg Roman, who is known for scheming up a good running game and their leading rusher tonight finishes with 40 yards on 14 carries. The entire onus was on the shoulders of Justin Herbert. and like you said, he balled out. And then it was Ladmikonki dropping passes and it was Semi Fouhko dropping passes and anybody with the ball within the catch radius dropping passes.

It was so frustrating I wrote in the what we learned, it was mind-numbing. Like I'm just sitting here shouting at the screen, somebody make a freaking play. The one guy who made a play early in this game, Jalen Rager catches a beautiful deep ball from Justin Herbert and immediately fumbles it into the end zone. That's the Chargers' offense in a nutshell this season.

It drives me insane. Here's the thing. So I... thought after last week's game, oh, Justin Herbert's about to go on one, not to pat myself on the back, but... Oh, well, you know. I've been known to do that.

Here you go. Here's a pat. And I really thought he came out of the by looking like Justin Herbert from 20, 21, 22, you know, most of 23, like when he's healthy. And he just wasn't that guy for most of this year because he was playing through injuries and it's a new offense and they're playing very conservative. I was like, oh, he's planting on the back foot.

He's throwing some passes downfield. He's moving better. He's looking like Justin Herbert. And so I think you saw that tonight. So I think Chargers fans should be very frustrated with this loss. And yet, I do think there is some hope that, that, yeah, there's not a lot of good receivers around him. Maybe they'll trade for Mike Williams or trade for someone else that can help. It's not a great sign that Will Disley goes eight for 81.

He's their leading receiver with 11, 11 targets. And, like, McConkey's banged up, and he's playing through it, and Josh Palmer's banged up. playing through it, and they're just not explosive. But I do think this is the best Herbert's played easily back-to-back weeks now, and this was a really good game because it wasn't just that they were dropping these easy short passes. He was making some nice, like, opposite hash field throws to the sideline that make you believe, like, okay, this offense is coming along. They've got to keep improving because if they do improve and the running game can be better

than tonight, and it was terrible tonight, shock, like, shocking. terrible, then they might have something because they have a pretty good defense. Yeah, and I'll get the Cardinals defense some credit, too, because they made a few nice past breakups and contests on catches that could have been catches and ended up being incompletions because it drops or breakups, whatever. But when you look at them from an offense as a whole standpoint, this is still just reminds me way too much of where they've been for most of this year, which is a low ceiling when it comes to scoring. I mean, five field goals accounts for your 15 points. They're in a third and short situation late in the game, in field goal range,

and they opt for a low percentage jump ball to the end zone and the receiver never even runs the full route so much that Jim Harbaugh is complaining about pass interference they picked up the flag because the ball was uncatchable because he wasn't within range. Why are you not treating that like two downs or at least draining some more clock if you're going to kick the go-ahead field goal

in the final two minutes of a game? It's an approach issue for the chargers in my opinion, especially when the running game doesn't work, this offense struggles. Justin Herbert plays well and they still struggle and they still lose. But my biggest concern with them, Greg, this defense, which is supposed to be tough, which you just talked about,

it's going to finish up in the top 20 or maybe top 10 in DVOA, they crumble down the stretch. They didn't lose in time of possession. They weren't gasped. Okay, okay. They let a Cardinals offense go right down the field

and kick the game-winning field goal. I mean, they gave up 17 points. But in the clutch. They weren't there in the clutch. That was my... James Connor catches a pass for 33 yards to set up the game-winning field goal. That's unacceptable.

Fair. That was a mistackled by the guy I just gave some flowers to a day on Henley. it was a tough play. Kyler Murray makes a good play, makes something out of nothing buying a little extra time. It was kind of like some plays that Lamar Jackson was making tonight

to me where he just changes the angle and changes the geometry where that extra second he holds the ball just changes the angles. And it's tough. James Connor is freaking awesome. Everyone should apologize if they got on Jordan Rodriguez,

the athletic, for putting him on our all-pro team before the season because, man, I just, I just love watching this guy play and Connor was the key tonight and him breaking that tackle, what was a 33 yard game. He had another 18-yard catch. So he was, their leading receiver, despite all having only two catches. And he had 101 yards and they were hard-earned yards. And they didn't have a ton of offense, but they had enough offense. Like the scheme seems a little off compared to what we expected, you know, but it, but they Kyler Murray and James Connor made enough good individual plays.

Yeah, there are some simple truths of this Cardinal's offense. If James Connor is cooking, they have a shot to win a game. If James Connor is not cooking, third down is going to be a miserable viewing experience for everybody, because that's usually what it is for them. It's third and long, and it's Kyler just being asked to be a hero. Luckily, they avoided

that after some early stretches of that tonight because Connor got going. They got to halftime, and I think their combined yardage total was a little bit over 100. him and Murray end up with over 250 by the end of the game because they really came on strong in the second half and in a game like this, that was the difference. Again, not aesthetically pleasing in terms of points scored,

but for those of you who appreciate throwbacks like James Connor and tough football, you'll enjoy watching this game. And a running quarterback like Kyler Murray who can just rip off a 44-yarder and had another key scramble. And they pointed out is accurate in their red zone and they were saying how confident Kyler is that he gets so, locked in in the red zone. I love Kyler's confidence.

He's just, he's so freaking confident. And like, if, if you're his height and you're going to be one of the best, like, yeah, let's say 10 to 12 in the world at,

at what he does, like you better be confident. And he's had like an okay season. I wouldn't even say it's been up and down because it's been mostly just at a simmering level of like okayness. He had that one great game against the Rams. And otherwise it's just been like, okay, like he's not playing poorly.

I think he's a little more under control than he used to be. Him and Marvin Harrison, though, can't get on the same page. I don't know if it's Harrison or what. The broadcast crew was really getting on the Cardinals for not feeding him more. And then they were showing him have really poor effort on some of his routes. And they were like, yeah, look at this poor effort. See, you got to feed him more so he doesn't have this poor effort. And I'm thinking, like, hey, how about not have the poor effort?

Like, how about run your routes? That's fair, but I also think that Harrison comes from a place at Ohio State where he was the guy, and he had a quarterback in Kyle McCord, who was basically told, throw to Marvin, no matter what, he could be doubled, throw to Marvin. He's in the NFL now where he's not getting the same attention. So it's not that feed him throughout the game. It's get him going early, get him into a rhythm. I mean, he finished this tonight with six targets.

He's got three catches for 21 yards. He drops a ball, throwing in between double coverage on that final drive in which they did go down and kick the game winning field goal. He just wasn't a part of the offense. And this offense is limited enough, especially when the running game's not. going that you got to get him going if you're going to beat a team that's better than the chargers defensively. So I can understand the concern. I would love to see him ball out because I know he's got the talent for it, but I think he got to get him going early. I agree, but he's a rookie receiver that for whatever reason, like, it's not all there yet. It's not Malik neighbors.

Yeah. I don't think it's Brian Thomas yet. And you can say, like, let's feed him. I mean, they have been. They've thrown the ball to him 37 times in six games before tonight. Yeah, that's, that's over, you know, what is that? Over six per game. I guess that's not crazy. But he's only caught 17 of those throws. Now, some of that is on Kyler, but it just hasn't been an inefficient play for them.

And sometimes they have just been forcing it to him. I don't get his usage, though. Like, they're just using him as if he's Ted Gin. And that's not really who he is. No, it's not who he is at all. It's just like there was a stat of like who's furthest down the field within a couple seconds of the play start. and Harrison is among the lead leasers.

So that means like his average route is just going deep, deep, deep. Another player in this game was also in the top five of this stat. I would give you 10 guesses and I don't think you would get it, but I'm going to give you a guess after. Which team is he on? Is he on the Cardinals or Charters? I mean, I don't want to, I said another receiver in this game and you can't guess it is in the top five of this stat.

And the stat, if we haven't lost all of our listeners and viewers, is like how far you are down the field after I think two seconds or three seconds, something like that. Come on. Is he Greg Dorch? No, but it's decent case. Don't, do not tell me it's Jalen Rager.

It's, it's Simi Fahoko. Oh, yeah, which Herbert loves to throw to him whether he's in one-on-one or not. He is a burner. But basically all that says is like, you're just running like nine routes. You're just running, you're just running down the field. That still doesn't make a lot of sense.

It doesn't make a lot of sense for Marvin Harrison, and they got to get that going. mentioned the call that they didn't make for the chargers and you also mentioned the call that that went against the chargers on that hit to the head of harrison which it was a it was a tough call tough couple calls went against the chargers it was close i would need to see it again but a big win for the chargers they're three and four and they're only one game out in the nfc west it's just one of those important wins that kind of like keeps them connected you like this is a team where I think things could go pretty wrong if they fall too far out.

But in this division, they feel like, okay, like, we're in it. We're still a relevant team. And there's a lot of irrelevant teams right now in the NFL. They're mostly in the AFC, but like there's more bad teams than usual. I didn't want the Cardinals to be one of those teams this year. And I'm kind of glad they're sticking around 500. Yeah. The Chargers have kind of played like a 500 team so far.

So they deserve to be at three and three. I'm happy with both these teams' records. Put it that way. This felt more like a finish and a, addition to the record that matched who the Chargers are than the Cardinals necessarily. Like the Chargers coming into this game, what were they, three and two? They felt like they were not the best three and two team. Three and three seems better, and we'll see where they go from here, but they're not quite

that good yet. I thought they were going to build on last week what they did against Denver, and they just didn't, they didn't tonight. They should have had a better offensive game. This Cardinals defense is tricky, though. We've talked about it on the show before. It's what Michael Lombardi used to call on the Simmons. podcast of battleship defense that if they like put the if they hit the right like components in

the right week like R3 and L6 or whatever like it hits and this was a good defensive game plan where they really managed to stop the run and they don't have a lot of talent but it seemed to work I did just want to give one quick shout out to Will Disley not just for all those receptions but for sending Buda Baker underground with one of the stiff arms of my lifetime. I really think so. That was one of the best stiff arms I've ever seen. I mean, he basically, he like picked, it was almost like he picked up the man's face and then threw it onto the ground. He like dunked him. You can't really do better on a stiff arm than that. I really do think that's one of the best stiff arms ever. The only way you can do better is

what Derek Henry did to Josh Norman, which is pick up a guy by his face and throw him in the air. That's pretty much what it reminded me of. It's not, it wasn't that level. And I think there's something similar here where it's a defensive back was a little lighter and just flies and has no regard for their body. And that's what Buda Baker was here. It's almost like they're not trying to stop themselves from getting posterized and you almost respect that out of them. But yes, that was that was what happened to poor Buda Baker tonight. Yeah, this is a good week for that, Greg. We also had the Patrick Mahomes trucking of Malik Mustafa on the goal line. That was good too. Show up a few defensive backs, you know. A lot of good.

it's for the Scepter on Good Morning Football with Kyle Brand. That's it for this game, at least. Although I did want to just introduce one of my medium takes before we leave. And it's just a question I've been writing down in my notebook for the last few weeks, which is, is the Chargers Offensive line any good? I'm leaning towards no. Like, it's got all these big-time names, and I heard it was going to be good, and Greg Roman's the coach.

but what I see is not good. Okay, that's fair. I don't care how many first round picks and all, like, Joe Al and Rayshan Slater and all this, it's like, it doesn't look good. It was supposed to be better this year and they did lose both of them for a stretch early in the season, so the sample size is small.

But consider this from next gen stats. Justin Herbert averaged 3.08 seconds to throw on Monday night. Longest time to throw in a game this season, he completed 22 of 31 over 2.5 seconds for 302 yards. So he is getting time to throw. Okay.

Which is better than what we could have said about him earlier this season. Maybe he's making time to throw. But yeah, maybe I got to watch the game again. I felt like I saw them losing, certainly in the running game. But that's a fair retort. And that's why you make the big bucks. Nick Shuck. All right, let's do some news.

Eric, you're still there? News. Yeah, we got a sneaky amount of news today. We'll roll through it pretty quick. Surprising report came out on Monday night. ESPN's Adam Schaefter had at first. Damison Williams is reportedly going to be suspended for two games for a PED suspension. Yeah, this is after he was suspended already for Violin League's gambling policy.

It's early in his career, and folks have said that he has matured. But a second suspension for a different thing suggests that maybe he doesn't make the best decisions. So we'll see about the details. ever come out about what happened, but kind of a bummer. Luckily, it's only two games from the Lions. Yeah, James confirmed it. He says he has no choice but to take it on the chin.

I'm in good spirits. I'm just ready to be back with my brother's ASAP. And, yeah, just wanted to make sure I credited the right person here. Eric Woodyard with ESPN. That was Schaefter passing it along. good reporting there that he got the quotes from Jameson Williams before it was even officially announced so that is going to happen

and yeah that's a big loss for them but it is going to be a short term loss a little more Tim Patrick in our life been a nice story Tim Patrick yeah yeah I like the way he's fit into that offense so far he's made some nice plays not he's not going to replace Jameson Williams but you can get Khalif Raymond to just do a little bit of a Jameson William's impression for a couple weeks and they'll be fine

but disappointing obviously for the team and for Williams, and especially in a season where he'd been doing so many good things. We got the confirmation of the bad news we expected Nick on Sunday. We found out Monday, Brandon Ayuk is indeed going to miss the season with a torn ACL. We also learned that Christian McCaffrey will not return this week. They have a Sunday night game against the Cowboys. Then they have a buy. Kyle Shanahan had some optimism about McCaffrey returning after the buy.

Brandon Ayyuk will not be returning at all this season. We'll see if, you know, when CMC is back on the field, if there's another receiver maybe brought into the fold by the 49ers. Maybe we'll talk a little 49ers, trade candidates on our trade deadline preview spectacular that's coming up on Wednesday show. Yeah, the idea of sending Mike Williams back to the Chargers made me laugh just because of the pairing, but, I mean, why not kick the tires there if they need somebody? Luckily, Ricky Purcell made his debut this weekend, but this is a team that really needs

of the bi-week with all these injuries, including Jordan Mason, who played over the weekend, but we know he's dealing with the shoulder issue. Yeah, and John Jennings was out of that game, and Debo Samuel is in the hospital. I should have mentioned that up top with pneumonia. He had fluid in his lungs, so there actually is no timetable of him getting out of the hospital. That sounds scary. And, you know, you hope the best for him. Sometimes that's a situation that, it's not a long-term situation and it can be very serious he would not be in the hospital if it wasn't so yeah just a lot going on in san francisco and what will get more news on debo throughout the week but yeah devastating for iuk you're happy for him that that he got his contract but

this this season of that just it's like bad vibes in the off season for for the 49ers and partly for iuk and you hate to see that it's kind of continuing here with that injury really unfortunate. Jaden Daniels does not have an injury that serious. The Washington commanders are calling him week to week. We didn't really get details on the rib injury, but Dan Quinn says he's hopeful that he'll play against the Bears. Sounds like a comfort thing, which is usually the case with rib injuries, especially for quarterbacks. I know most of them wear flat jackets, rib protectors. Nothing that you really want to rush, though. If you can find a way to make it work with Marcus Marriota for a week, you do that and exercise caution. And it's still good news

regardless. You didn't want anything that was going to keep him out for a long time. Yeah. You want to see that game against Caleb Williams. Yeah. But Mariotta showed enough that you believe we could win a game with Mariotta. And either way, the only thing that really matters is Chaiton Daniels' health for this season. So they're not going to tell us necessarily if it's bruised ribs or one smaller fracture or whether it's four fractures. you know, we're probably not going to get that report

and there's just like no way we're going to know unless someone has a good source inside the commander. So get working. Like everyone's all buddy buddies with Cliff and that staff. Like, let's see that reporting come out. Let's find out. Tell them to take those sunglasses off and look you in the eye and say, look, tell me the truth.

What's going on? Yeah, so we'll see. That'll probably be something. Look, if I had Jane Daniels on my team and you're not sure if he's going to start or not, yeah, you probably leave that. up in the air until the last second just to make the bears prepare for both scenarios. Looks like we'll be in a similar situation with Tuotunga by Loa this week,

finding out if he's officially out of the concussion protocol, he will be returning to practice officially on Wednesday, so he has to practice to get out of the protocol. So there are still steps to happen, but it does sound like the team is confident he's going to be ready to go. He spoke on Monday, said he had been symptom-free for weeks and had no problem with the dolphins putting him on injured reserve because that's what the expert said was most safe for his health,

but also said it wasn't something that was bothering him as early as 24 hours after the concussion. Let's listen to Tutanko Vaila a little defiant in his conversations today. Well, how much risk did we take when we get up in the morning to go drive, drive to work? I'm getting to a car crash money. I don't know. Everything, I think, takes risk.

So to answer that question, every time we all suit up, we're all taking a risk that we could potentially get hurt, whether it's a concussion, a broken bone, anything. You get up off of the bed the wrong way. Potentially could risk you spraining your ankle. There's just risk in any and everything. And I'm willing to play the odds.

He had me until the getting out of the bed thing. Now, you really did. I want to be serious because that was just like a clumsy analogy. But what do you think of what he said? I mean, it kind of sounds like somebody who's getting on a plane and trying to tell their friend that they're safer on a plane than they are in traffic. I'm that guy, though. Like, he actually, he actually did, you know, make a fair point about the car stuff. I think about that. Like, that is, there is a lot of risk in that and we're willing to accept it. Like, I at least think it's worth, like, listening to him. on it and considering his vantage point on it. Well, I think if he's the one who's willing to lay it on the line, then you kind of can't get in the way, especially if the doctor say he's clear to play. I know this team certainly needs him.

I just watch back that Colts Dolphins ugly game that took place on Sunday in which Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle played, and I know they need to a vac, but again, it comes down to what he wants. And if that's what he wants, then you can't stop him. If he knows the wrist, you can't stop him. I think he is frustrated. There were some other quotes during that press conference. maybe with the tone of it that people are treating him so differently than other players.

And he said, do I want to be known for this? Like, no, I don't. Those are the cards I've been dealt. I hate that it happened. You know, we don't look at boxers the same way. We don't look at hockey players. And it is interesting because, like, Crystal Lave is out with a concussion still from a couple weeks ago now. And he's had a number of them.

That was a brutal hit. yeah and he had a pretty serious concussion a couple years ago too and he's he's had one every season that he's had like derrick cars had had a smattering of concussions late last season that he like quickly returned from and i think what two might be getting at too or might be frustrated with is like there's so much attention on tuatunga vailoa and there's a reason for that when he's suffered him it's looked really serious in the fencing position it's been everyone watching, and they have been really serious. So I just think there's nuance to it, but he was, it was a different toa today.

He said he did not consider retirement, and he respected everyone's question, but I think he kind of stood his ground and was just very clear in where he was at. And I think actually it was good to hear from him. And when I heard those quotes like that we just played, it made me think a little bit differently about the situation. Yeah. What it really speaks to is also the, the locker room environment, because you don't want to be the one player on your team that's being

treated with kid gloves and being treated especially as opposed to all of your teammates, no matter whether you're in high school and college and the NFL. You don't. You want to be considered to be right alongside the rest of your guys ready to go to war. And I know it sounds crazy, but that's the football playing mindset. So he doesn't want to be treated like that. He wants to go out there and play football and everybody stopped worrying about his health, and he'll handle that. So I understand. Right. And I also would understand and respect if he didn't want to play football anymore right yeah we all would be in that we'd all be in that position where we say look we we totally respect that of course it's this guy's decision for what to do so on the flip side

maybe i was thinking that it's a little hypocritical not to give him the agency to take all the information he's a serious smart guy and make the decision that a lot of players make he's he is not the only one and and respect that too and obviously hope for the best so other injury news around the league. D.K. Metcalf is week to week with a knee injury. They have a game against the bills, which I'm really intrigued by this week, and they'd really miss D.K. Metcalfe. He obviously changes their entire offense. We'll see if he can get back on the field. But usually week to week means you're out, which is why when they said week to week for Jaden Daniels, I thought, oh, he's out. But then Dan Quinn sounded so hopeful that he'll play that it made me think,

well, week to week doesn't necessarily mean anything in particular. But I would expect D.K. Metcalf to miss this week's game just because they used that phrasing. I wanted to listen to a little Dave Canales sound. We haven't heard a ton this season from the Panthers. Coach, he was asked on Monday if the team would consider trading Bryce Young and whether they felt like they would need to play Bryce Young to see what they have before possibly trading him. Right now, we're focused on the Broncos. Andy's playing this week, and that's really where our focus is at. You know, and all those other conversations or all hypothetical conversations that, you know, definitely Dan, Brent, you know, that we have to have. But right now we're focused on playing the Broncos

and, you know, focused on getting Andy to take another step in terms of getting us back to good football. Okay. So I could have played more of his press conference, which had similar quotes. People were asking him pretty directly. Like, is Bryce Young going to be traded? Like, could Bryce Young, you know, be on the trade block? And he won't even answer those questions. That just makes me think, yeah, they're going to trade Bryce Young. That's just my instinct. Because I think it just makes sense. I think the timing makes sense.

Well, I mean, obviously he's got to defer to the front office because they make those moves ultimately. But yeah, you don't want to tank the value of your quarterback either in trade talks. That makes sense, too. But what makes them the most sense is getting him out of there. The fact that they didn't play him in that blowout loss until the last three minutes of the game

kind of told you everything you needed to know, which is that we're not worried about his development. We're potentially worried about preserving his trade value. Right, because if you're going to get trade value for him and it's going to be very low. It's going to be better right now than it likely will be... The less you see of him,

the better on the trade market, to be honest. First of all, like, he'll probably play again and that won't go well because nothing's going to go well on this Panthers team until proven otherwise. And I've just seen, like, too many quarterbacks

that absolutely, like, struggled. I mean, he's at a pretty crazy level, but Josh Rosen got a late second. That was crazy thinking about. it now. But from Miami, I mean, that was, that was maybe ownership getting involved if I had to guess at the time because they were just looking for like quarterback solutions. Yeah, because that was the year after they got Jake Hutler, right? And that didn't work. Yeah, they were, they were really grasped at cross. I've seen, like these quarterbacks that struggle in their first spot, they always

get something. With Bryce, it might only be like a conditional fifth to a fourth or something like that. It's a Baker guy. It still would be better than it'll be later. So I just got an instinct that they're going to trade him. I thought it was interesting today on the McAfee show that Bill Belichick said he was kind of hurt that Gerard Mayo said the Patriots defense was soft and then listed how good the Patriots were in terms of their run defense last year. And it's all the same players for the most part. And actually, they're a little healthier this year in some Although he was leaving out other key players that weren't there, Judon, Christian Barmore, Joanne Bentley.

But that was kind of self-serving. But I thought it was interesting that he just said, none of these guys are soft. These are tough, hard-nosed players. And, you know, he's putting Mayo in a tough spot. And he's almost telling Mayo through Pat McAfee, like, you're blowing it, dude. Don't say this stuff. I think not having Christian Barmore is a bigger loss than people realize. I mean, especially just the trench play.

He's a wrecker in there. Like, he causes problems and not having him. They're hurting without him. But I just think it's really refreshing to see Belichick, like, unfiltered. Like, not just on to Cincinnati Belichick. Like, at one point he made a comment about the Jets saying, like, the Jets of the Jets and Woody is Woody and how they handle the Robert Sala thing. Like, it's just, it's really, really refreshing to see Belichick open up,

kind of like it was when Tom Brady went to Tampa back in the day. Okay. Good comp. I will make, like, a point of clarification, I would see. I don't not think he's unfiltered. I think he's extremely filtered and calculated. Like, he has certain things that he, yes, he has certain points that he's happy to hit. One of them is Drodmeo, which is why I thought this was interesting enough to bring up of, like,

he's not afraid to be critical of the Patriots right now in Drodmeo and how Drodmeo is handling things. And I don't blame him, frankly. You know, Drodmeo, like, that's a risky thing to call your team soft. and his players that Belichick knows well, like they might not like that, and that's his way of saying that. But he has his angles that he's willing to take, like maybe people that have wronged him in the past.

Yes, there it is. It's vindictive. And he's taking shots. Whereas where I see him do a lot of good game analysis and stuff, it's pretty vanilla, and it's almost like he's protecting himself versus future employers or versus things being brought up next year when he's on the sideline.

That's just my take. I mean, the way that he left New England, I mean, they parted amicably, supposedly, but like, you think you really wanted to lose that job? I don't think so. There's a little bit of vindictiveness in this. Hey, you know what? Grass ain't always greener. You know, I found more success with those guys last year.

You better figure it out. Gerard Patriots, if you thought he was a better coach than me or a better choice than me, better figure it out. Yeah, and look, he's prompted by McAfee with the question, but it's a little bit of a victory lap. And I wouldn't say I don't blame him, but he's not wrong. Their defense has collapsed without him. They aren't as well, coached.

That was, I think, a misstep probably by Drodmeo, and now he's going to have to deal with another day of conversation about it because someone's going to ask Drodmeo about what Bill Belichick said. And delicious in New England. Finally, in the news, they flexed the Colts Vikings game into Sunday night football week night. I love a good Sunday night flex. Feel like we haven't really had many

the last couple of years. Jags Eagles, Doug Peterson's revenge game, is out. So thank you for getting the Jaguars out of prime time. Good job. There is nothing better than talking about a flex and then just flexing. Yeah. There it is.

I mean, that's worth the price of admission for the YouTube subscribers right there seeing Nick's guns. Remember when they didn't have flex? We would just be watching the Jaguars in prime time. I mean, hopefully Anthony Richardson plays. better than did last week, though. I'm going to need that for that game.

You know what? I like some different teams in prime time. The Colts are like never in prime time. They're never on Sunday night football. The Vikings are a good watch. I'm into that game. Let's have some Sunday night diversity. Kind of on another flex.

Just note, I noticed they took Bengals, Eagles out of the 425 national game this week and put in Commander's Bears. How's that? If you had told me that before the start, of the season. And it's not like the Bengals and Eagles have fallen off a cliff. But that's interesting. The Bengals and Eagles, no, you're not good enough for our spot. Your old news, Joe Burrow and Jalen Hertz. We're going with the new stuff. Marcus Marriota and

Caleb Williams. No, no, I hope it's Jayden. It's the year of the commanders. As long as Jane Daniels is involved, fingers crossed, network executives that Jane Daniels plays. All right, we wrap up every Monday night football recap. And thank you for tuning in. one tonight. We're enjoying this one. It's time for our Captain Morgan Players of the Week. Captain's Corner presented by Captain Morgan. Why don't you get us going, Nick Shook? All right, Captain's Corner,

we've talked about him a lot indirectly, even though they didn't play today. They played yesterday. Marcus Marriota, you are the man for my captain's corner this week. 18 for 23, 205 yards, two touchdowns in relief of Jayden Daniels. That offense didn't miss a beat without their rookie sensation quarterback. You handled the job

well, like the aggressive, experienced veteran that you are. Good job, Marcus. yes i love that choice he really did look good not i was i was shocked i know it was against carolina but they were throws down the field they were accurate uh i couldn't help but think of our friend chris wesseling uh you know who we lost a few years ago to cancer and his um unflagging belief that marcus mariotta could uh have some joe montana like traits to to his game his accuracy his footwork He loved a young Marcus Marriota. I wouldn't say unflagging because I think he did, you know, kind of give up somewhat eventually.

But that was the Marcus Marriota of our dreams, of Wes's dreams. And what a performance by him. I'm going to go with Sequin Barclay. Obvious, you know, he pops off three huge explosive runs. You know, he runs the ball only seven times and 17 times and almost gets a career high. He does it in MetLife Stadium. Like, it's just perfect. It's awesome.

But he gets it because of the audio that the eagle. Eagles released on Monday of Nick Siriani going over to him on the bench and repeatedly asking Sequin if he wanted to break his career rushing record. And I think he only needed, well, 11 more yards or something like that. It was under 20. Yeah. Yeah, something like that. Like, hey, I want to help you get this if you want to get it.

And Sequin putting him off. And it was that thing where you bring something up to a friend and you're not sure if they're just putting you off just to say that. So you go back to them again the second time to give them another chance to say yes. And, like, Sacon was like, no, let the young kids play. Like, the game's over. I want the young kids to eat. And that was really cool by Sequin Barclay.

Everything you hear and see and know about Sequin Barclay is that he's not just a great player, but an awesome leader, a teammate, and just a cool dude. So he is my Captain Morgan captain of the week. I'll tell you what, listening to Siriani double back and saying, by the way, just to be clear, I want you to get this. And then Sequin saying, no, let the young kids eat. First off, demonstration of humility and also a demonstration of not being greedy and taking chances and risks in the game you don't need to take.

So good on Sequin, smart man. Brought it back around. Good job by you, Shook. That was the captain's corner presented by Captain Morgan. It's delicious and crisp. Perfect for Game Day with friends. Spice it up. visit captain morgan.com to find a captain near you

please drink responsibly that's all we will be back as i mentioned on wednesday play the music uh we're going to be with colling wolf jordan rodrigue let me a little trade deadline preview excited for this one we'll make up some fake trades that we want to see in the meantime for eric roberts for nick shook look uh when justid herber

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Win the tech search. Power up at Lenovo.com. Lenovo, Lenovo. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front opposites construct winning rosters.

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