NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Week 9 2017 Recap: The return of Beast Mode & Cam Newton trying to keep the Titanic afloat

Episode Date: November 6, 2017

A room filled with some heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler & Gregg Rosenthal recap all of the Week 9 action, including the Cowboys' victory over the Chiefs, which has people thinking Dallas can still win without Zeke (1:00); A comeback kernel for Washington AND Sessler (8:30); The Rams (The official Team of ATN) and their dominating win over the Giants, who have a coach with a hot-butt alert (15:00); Cam Newton had another interesting quote after leading the Panthers to a narrow victory over the Falcons (30:00); It's time to separate "the trash from the non-trash," and you can guess where the Bengals fall (51:00); Plus, much more.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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast knows when daddy is coming home. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by head and shoulder. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by Rootfield. Some heroes. Some heroes.

Mark Sassler and Greg Rosethal. What's up, boys? Some heroes that have spent roughly, you know, 12 straight hours together today. And, you know, we've really bonded. I feel like we've really become a tight-knit group. I feel the opposite, in fact. I feel that there's never been a greater distance. Were you guys hanging out at 6 a.m.?

What were you doing together that early? I don't know. It feels that long. It is. This is a long day these Sundays. But who's complaining? We're getting paid to watch football. Am that right, guys? Hey, life could be worse. Correct. All right.

This is the week nine recap episode. It is the flagship program of the Round the NFL podcast, often imitated. And when I say often, I mean often imitated. It ain't never duplicated. In a friendly fire sort of fashion duplicated by some people that, you know, would claim to be close to us and allies. Leave it open-ended. I like it, Mark, but also on the nose.

So many games to get to today in what was a, Greg, give me, I don't know, give me a letter grade for the Sunday that was. Do an A-plus, so people definitely keep listening. B. All right, solid B. See, B doesn't, you won't turn it off if he says B. You'll say, hmm, okay.

It seems like it. You always got to end with the bag. And really the late afternoon had two games that were quite intriguing. Well, and let's not forget this Sunday night football matchup, we'll get to you later. Yeah, well, very exciting slated games. We're going to get through all of them as we do each episode. And we also, a little bit later, we'll have our friend Nick Shook checking in. So very excited.

Of course, Lindsay Fulton behind the glass. Oh, good times, folks. Let's get into the games. And let's start with one of those late games. In fact, a little Tony Romo special. How special? Very special. It was Tony Romo Day at Jarrow World.

Romo got a little choked up. In fact, after a little Jason Whitten video display, and then they sent it to Jimmy Nance, and Tony was all choked up. Very nice scene. But then there was a football game to be played, and it was a good one. Smith and the gun.

Fourth down and eight. Snap is back, looking, standing, throwing middle. Interstate. Intercepted by Jeff Heath at the 40-yard line. The first interception, grown by Alex Smith all year long. Brad Sham, KRLD, the sham god. Jeff Heath had a key fourth quarter interception. Zeke Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown.

And the Cowboys continued their surge. A 28 to 17 win over the Chiefs at Jera World. Loud Jero World. Do you hear that? People having fun, Cowboys game. People like to knock that stadium. for not being loud, not true today. Yeah, nice facility over there.

Greg, Dallas is starting to resemble the team that ran rough shot over the NFL for the majority of last season. Today they took control in the second half against the very good Chiefs team. They just leaned on them. And this is a good Chiefs team, but it's not a good Chief's defense. And much like the Steelers leaned on the Chiefs and just warmed down, that's what the Cowboys did. I mean, the second half of this game was reminding me of the 2000 and, what was it,

15 Cowboys team with Tony Romo at quarterback, just holding the ball forever. 12-played drive for a touchdown when they had just fallen down in the game where it looked like the Chiefs had momentum. Then to start the fourth quarter, a 13-play touchdown drive, and the Chiefs really never recovered from that. They just pushed on them, and this Chief's defense, I'm not going to say it's soft, but it's light, and I think that's going to be a problem for them as they move forward. Yeah, I mean, only three Cowboys' possessions in the same.

second half. But as you said, elongated clock-chewing drives that really, you know, squeeze the life out of Kansas City. The Chiefs have now, somewhat quietly lost three of four after that 5-0 start. And yeah, I think you're right, Greg. You don't want to rip the Chiefs and say, oh, their defense stinks,

but the loss of Eric Barry in week one, I think that's week after week, it shows itself. And you wonder, with that offense, they're going to continue to score points, an incredible touchdown that Tyreek Hill scored right before the end of the where it was basically a checkdown to just try to get some yardage,

some fantasy points that turned into a touchdown. That was amazing. They're always going to score points with all those playmakers. But is this a championship defense? I don't think so. But they have to score 30 points. They have to be great. And they started this game out with a couple three-in-outs.

And this is just a team that kind of can't afford that. I agree with that. But then I was just looking at what remains for Kansas City. And they go into their buy week. After that, you have games against the Giants, Bills, Jets, Raiders, Chargers, Dolphins, and Broncos. Okay.

That's five or six of the weakest teams in the league right now. I'm not worried about them making the playoffs or even necessarily win that. Just doing what they, the stumbling block always comes when they get into the playoffs. I mean, this is already a different team though. Yes. Than those past Chiefs teams. But yeah, you get the, or maybe it isn't. Maybe that year, for instance, where they got knocked off by Andrew Luck,

where they did score a lot of points, but the defense killed them. They don't want that fate. They've got to win a couple of playoffs games. It's been a long time since they really went deep into the posy. The Cowboys have really looked like one of the NFL's better teams, though, the last few weeks. Because they have that offense and because they can make plays on defense, they are a little more balanced. David Irving with another big play today. DeMarcus Lawrence really played some complimentary football.

And that Tyreek Hill touchdown was insane and kind of took it away. But he made a couple plays on his own that gave the ball back to the Cowboys and set up a late first half touchdown drive. when it looked like for all the world that the chiefs were going into score. I mean, he's making play, Sean Lee's making plays on his own. Like, they have enough on defense. And Tony Romo made a very, I'm sure, a stoop point. Nothing I would know about how they've really changed their running scheme over the last three or four weeks doing a little more misdirection play, mixing it up, and it's really working.

I mean, DeMarcus Lawrence is right now a very solid candidate for defensive player of the year, which is not something you thought you would have gotten from this Cowboys defense in the offseason when everyone's calling it the Achilles heel that would drag them down and, you know, ship them out of the playoff picture. And we'll say, well, two points for me. One was, you know you're a good team when you do take a shot in the mouth like that

or the end of the second quarter, the first drive of the third quarter, where the chiefs, again, a very good team sees control of the game. And then you just wrestle right back. And then the other point is, here we go again. Now we're back into limbo with the Cowboys with Zeke Elliott. This could be his last game for six weeks,

although who knows at this point? When we last podcasted, We didn't even mention the fact that Ezekio Elliott might be able to play for this game. I was kicking myself on Friday for at least not mentioning that the fourth of their Hail Mary's that week where it's going up and maybe he could play. And it's hanging over this whole season, which feels a little cursed, because this Cowboys team is so much fun to watch in the NFC East race with those two teams, Eagles and Dallas playing, including on a Sunday night game in a couple weeks. Those would be the best games of the season. Got to find out. Got to find out of Judge Kathy F.

takes another vacation, then returns from a yet another vacation and drops her hammer again. She's not summering, falling at Mount Every Lodge in the Poconos. And before we move on, I do just want to ask Mark for his thoughts on the Kansas City Chief's touchdown celebration what they did the sock, you know, hop race. You know, I don't know if I believe. I don't know what to call it. Is it like a potato sack? Yeah, it was a potato sack.

I don't know if I believe in the concept of football gods. If they exist, as we mentioned, Dan and I have a lot of arguments with them. But I will say this, that I kind of think if there are football gods, they said, hey, little potato sack jumping chiefs players in Dallas, you're going down because I locked this game up, by the way. Mark was not amused when the sack race was going on. No, this was one of those great angry Sessler days. Very vengeful God.

I was not angry. Was I? Let's move on. I don't remember. Puzzle to the shotgun. Takes a snap, looking, going down the left sideline, looking for Doxon. Caught! It is caught.

Inside the five to the one-yard line. He might have rolled in. Wow. What a catch by Josh Doxon. He laid it all out that time. I don't know. I don't remember. You're like the Wolfman.

It's like a full moon. He's like, you wake up the next morning and you're close a corn and there's a dead body on the front lawn, and you're just like, what just happened? Look, I appeared at work today. I was tasked with a variety of items, and I handled them all with professionalism. Your total pro. Also a total pro. Larry Michael, W.T. EM with the call.

Josh Dodson's clutch diving catch set up a Rob Kelly one-yard touchdown plunge with less than a minute to play. The Washington Redskins rally to upset the Seattle Seahawks 17 to 14 at the clink. Marron, Mark, Seattle dominated this game in many ways, but Washington somehow ended up on top. How? It was a very wild game, and I think if you're one of the rare fans at this point that wants to see two defenses, knock out a pair of offenses, that's what happened for so much. This game was two nothing for a long period of time.

Seattle also was dominated for much of the game by Washington's defense. I think, forget the numbers. Washington played its best defensive outing of the season. Wow. I think they did. They gave up 437 yards. Here's the thing. Up until the end, and I'll tell you why, the first 10 drives for Seattle, generated zero points. And all that Seattle had was Russell Wilson running around. But you just can't, you have to find a way to get to him to really squelch this offense. And he was set free. He ran great today. He extended plays. And it was one of these games that looked like it was going to end up like, you know, 10 to 2 or something until both teams had these drives at the end of the game. And Washington's offense is the one that could not get on track at all against Seattle's defense until that final drive. They only had 135 yards until the last couple drives.

but then they got the ball moving when it mattered. And you know what the Seahawks have. You said, you know, what do they have? They have a team that's built to win close, low-scoring games. And when you have your kicker missed three field goals, that whole plan kind of goes out the window. So they're a defensive team in theory without a running game and now with a kicker who might have the yips.

I had a knot in my stomach throughout the end of that game because there were two separate portions of the game where it looked like Blair Walsh was going to be kicking. kicking for his career. First, when Seattle scored the go-ahead touchdown, and then when they got the ball back and got it inside the 40, where it looked like they would have a chance to tie the game, and then they take a bad sack on a play in which a rare,

it was a little sloppy Seattle's execution at the end of that game, both in terms of their clock management, and then the decision by Russell Wilson to try to get off another play instead of spiking the ball, which led to that sack, which basically ended any chance of a comeback for the Seahawks. And I know Seahawks fans get mad at me because I've been having some fun with them on Twitter because they're a little sensitive.

Sensitive thugs need hugs. They can be. About saying the Legion of Boom is kind of the heyday. I think they said they were literally dead last week. Which is a little hyperbolic in retrospect, but you still having fun. Even with Earl Thomas out of this game and he was hurt, hamstring injury,

the Legion of Boom should not be giving up four-play 70-yard drive with a game on the line in your building. You cannot let that happen. I don't care how good. It's the kind of loss that me. I really always, you cannot do anything but trust Pete Carroll in this group to find a way to get it back on its feet and get back to the playoffs. But it's a concerning loss for me because Washington has not been a team that has been a consistent, like you're going to go into Seattle and knock him out this way.

Well, missing three or four offensive linemen, missing Jameson Crowder, missing Jordan Reed. It was a great gutty performance by Kirk Cousins to make do with what he had, including the first throw on that. that game-winning drive when he got hit. Dwight Freeney's having a game for the Seahawks. How old is that guy? It's insane. He comes off the bed. And then the touchdown to Doxon, I mean, it's not the Legion of Boom anymore because

the whole idea of the Legion of Boom was all the pieces are strong. And like, they just have a guy, Shaq Griffin, out on the right corner right there. And they're playing bump and run at the end of the game, which the NBC, you know, guys pointed out. It's like, why do you have Shaq Griffin? Why are you trusting him one-on-one? that scenario. And Doxon, who's, we've been waiting for him to make plays like this. That was an incredible, it was a couple incredible plays by cousins and Doxon to bed.

We've seen a few hints of Dotson, and today it materialized. I will say, their two best performances in this game that I saw were Zach Brown for Washington and Bobby Wagner for Seattle. And fascinating performance by Bobby Wagner, lights out. If you love, yeah, if you like defensive football, they're, from minute one, these teams were really hitting each other. It was a fun game. It was a fun game. It was a fun game. The second one? The second minute? Like the first second of the game.

You said minute one. No, the first minute. Everyone's kind of feeling each other out for the first 59 seconds. Then the first minute clicked in. Craig is correct. This, I mean, if I would, you know, this might have been, you know, start of the show material of this game.

This was a sneaky fun game of the year. I was. I was going, first of all, Legion of Boom ended when Brandon Browner left the team, obviously. Okay. Number two, I was going to make this the lead game, but then I didn't want to hurt your feelings, Greg, because.

Bring it. It's all going down. Back into the cellar he goes. Well, it's been a great run. You know, this team of, I don't know, it doesn't really make sense that I'm a coach of a team of locks. But we're looking ahead to next season. We're rebuilding. Already.

Is this like when Kyle Shanahan ruled out the 2012 Reds? That was Mike Shanahan, but yes. This is so unlike you because when you look at actual football teams, they could be three and six right now. And you'd say, no, no, no, there's weeks to go. if not months to go, but you've already counted out your team. It's over. I mean, I want to see more resiliency from you.

Well, in real life, I know what you do in real life. Head to Las Vegas? Yeah, as soon as well, we don't say that around here, but he would go for a drive into the desert, and he'd say, I got to get this back. Hey. And that's when it gets dangerous. That was, by the way, nice comeback by Washington.

It wasn't it, Mark. Come back, Colonels with Mark. Sessler, come back, colonels with Mark Sessler, come back colonels with Mark Sessler, come back colonels with Mark Sessler, come back colonels with Mark Sessler, come back, let's move on. Third down 33, nine and a half to go, bubble screen left side, Robert Woods, charging ahead 45, breaks inside 40, 35, 30. Robert Wood, first down 20, 10, 5, touchdown, L.A! Dark days for the G-Men.

J.B. Long, KSPN with the call. Jared Gopped through for a career high, four touchdown passes, including that little miracle of an ineptitude to Robert Woods. And the Rams cruised to a shockingly easy, 5117 win over the. the Giants who appear headed toward a major off-season facelift. Let's now welcome the man, the myth, the legend. Guy gets a pump in it, whenever he can. That is a grotesque sound thing.

Whenever he can. Shook, he gets pumping at the gym. Sounds like he's working in the metal shop or something. That was ear poison. I don't grunt that. Yes, Nick Shook is here. What's up, Shook? The Rams have won five out of six and are off to their best eight game starts since 2001,

went to the Super Bowl that year. Why shouldn't we buy in on a team that could be this explosive on both sides of the ball? Wait, why shouldn't we buy it? Yeah, why not? Why shouldn't we? Yeah, I agree. I mean, a total buy-in. Yeah, I'm going all in.

I'm pushing all the chips in. I might be the last one on the table, and I might have the lowest percentage of winning and not know that yet, but I'm going all the way in. Because today- Look at you. Wow, okay. The Rams won in all three phases. Cardstock.

Little Cardstock with Nick Shook. All three phases of the game, the Rams dominated. And I know the Giants are the Giants, and it's a spooky year for them, as you kind of alluded to there. But the Rams took care of business in a game that, you know, very easily they could not have if they were the Rams team that we saw last year or a team that maybe was more of a pretender than a contender. But today, I mean, they simply dominated in every phase of the game.

And they've already outscored last year's Rams. team. By like 35 points, which is absolutely not. By 35 points, which is like a month worth of Jeff Fisher offensive ball. You know, you mentioned all the points for the Rams, all the great defensive plays. You know, one thing I didn't see today was in my Twitter mentions. None of those little chucklers saying, oh, the team of around the NFL curse. Oh, you guys are curred. Beat it, chucklers. This team had a one loss, you know, since we took them on, and then they're rallying. They haven't lost since. So back on.

I like that. Greg. Sorry, Nick. No, you're good. Stay on the soapbox, please. By all means, defend them. The weird thing about this game was the Rams had dominated in total yards, but a lot of the stats were really close.

Like, both teams were 50% on third down conversions. Time of possession, the Rams only won that by 30 seconds. But the big difference was the turnover battle, which is, you know, that's sunk the Giants for most of the year. Oh, we have a chuckler, by the way. Live via satellite. It's Johnny Chuckles. Hey, Gregi, you're right.

We should have never counted out the Rams. They are the true team of ADEO. Johnny Chuckles! Shoot him down. I want to see this. So glad we could have brought him in via satellite technology. Thank you, Johnny. It's amazing.

I mean, Jared Gough only threw 22 passes in this game. This is about a month straight of work for Jared Gough where he doesn't even need to throw because his defense is running game, everything else is doing so well. Do you recall that episode of Hard Knocks last year when they were in camp and Jeff Fisher, I think he was talking to Lesney.

It might have been somebody else about he was watching Jared Gough throw. And he saw this touchdown pass during practice and, oh, you know, that's a big time throw right there. His touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins was that, yeah, time throw that we really haven't seen from him until now. That's true. And the Giants, meanwhile, are a total mess, a game that was over by the half in the Meadow.

It's just a really bad look after the game. Ben McAdoo had to face the press, as coaches have to do. and he was asked what he told the team at halftime. Let's hear how McAdoo responded. Would you say them at halftime? What did you say to them at halftime? Um, followed by 10 seconds. So now let's isolate the sound, Lindsay, and listen again.

No, no. This guy's in trouble. This guy's in serious trouble. Greg, we had a conversation downstairs. that you think he'll be okay. I think Ben McAdoo is in deep, deep, deep, deep doo-doo here. And this is the type of loss that gets coaches fired. I think he'll make it to the end of the year.

But I would be really surprised if he's back after this season. This season has gone into a dark place. Well, first they have half the season to go, so that'll obviously play an impact how that half season plays out. I just think the Giants historically are very patient. He's coached for two years in one of those two years. he was a surprise playoff team. So just judging by their track record,

I would think they would give him another change. I mean, I think that also the finger has to be pointed towards the front office that has refused for seasons on end to fix an offensive line that has doomed their aging quarterback and the pieces around them. Yeah, I think the blame centers on Jerry Reese. I mean, as much as we can say McAdoo, you know,

maybe lost his team. Right. Or his guys have quit on him. And, you know, they've dealt with a lot of injuries. Right. And Janoris Jenkins is suspended and Olivia Vernon's been hurt. But the reality is you go look, you know, in the box score, you can look at the long catch everyone has. All right.

Robert Woods, 52. Sammy Watkins, 67. Cooper Cup, 35. Todd Gurley, 44. Gerald Everett, 44. That's five plays of 35 yards or more that this Giants defense, which was supposed to be the bedrock of the team. They've stunk this year. They've been bad defense.

Yeah, a flip side, the Rams have not given up more than 17 points. since October 1st, and they're coming off at 33 to nothing shut out of the Cardinals and look great again today. We could be talking Team of ATL in Minnesota. We got a chance at least. This is a Super Bowl contender. You mean in Week 11? No, I mean, they're a contender to make the Super Bowl.

They're one of the best teams in the NFL. I feel like we should be brought out for the Super Bowl, like, coin toss if that happens. I'm just saying, I'll just throw out of the Power's that big. Right, so the Giants go down. The Rams are now six and two. What was going on with the division leaders in the NFC East? Let's check in. First and ten.

Lance comes back to Ajai again. He's at the 40. He's at the 30. At the 20. At the 15. 10, 5. He dives. And he is in from a touchdown.

His first touchdown is an eagle of 46-yard explosion by Jay Ajai. The great Merrill Reese of WIP with the call. Jha Jai started his Eagles career with a bang, and the Eagles brought the Rocky Mountain avalanche to its knees, a 51-23 win mark. Carson went through for four more touchdowns. He now has an NFL best 23 for the season. He's got 17 in the last five games.

The MVP drumbeat is getting louder, and the Eagles look like the team to beat in the NFC. Well, the way that they're winning games right now is very reminiscent of dominant old NFC teams that were built to thrash, opponents down the stretch. And they have a deep and versatile backfield. But let's start with Carson Wentz because what we saw today was a continuation of the high moments we've seen this whole season where he's drawing a very good Broncos defense offsides multiple times in the first half with his cadence, his pre-snap reads. The guy can make every type of throw. He's aggressive.

He had a couple throws today where he threw it right into Denver secondary and he put it right in a window where only the receiver could get it, and there was just absolutely no let-up. And then so they were so dominant. By the time they get to halftime, you then are allowed to take Carson Wentz essentially out of the game plan to some degree. He's handing the ball off to Jay Ajai, to Corey Clement, to LaGarrett Blunt, and they are all hammering Denver's defense, which is tired out by the second half, and you get a 51 to 23. You scored 51 points on the Denver Broncos defense, and not a single item about that was. a mirage.

Sizzler loves this, Eagles. I do, because they, you know what, there's a lot of sloppy football and there's a lot of watered down teams. This is the opposite right now. Which is wild, because it was kind of unexpected from them. I mean, I think so.

I had them as my NFCEs champs. There's people saying that Doug. You want a bag on me for the real coach. Well, you picked up to win the NFCE for the past five years. You've probably got it right. Exactly. If you pick the Eagles and the Saints

every year, you're going to get it right. And this is that year. Big year for Greg. And the Pat's back in first place in the AFCE. Everything's coming up, Rosie. All right. It is unexpected, but we expected this defense to be good. The surprise is that the Broncos defense caved in so much.

You have to give credit to Wenz, and Dan, you've been pumping up the Wenz MVP bandwagon. And I think this is the week where now I'm taking it, I'm taking it more seriously. If you can cave in a Broncos defense, it really haven't all year. This was 250 yards in the first half against his defense, and you got a chance. Well, on the flip side, you had Brock Osweiler. And I guess for me, the question was, I can't believe it. There you go.

And like it's, I don't know. I know you needed to sit Trevor Simeon and really kind of reset him. But what did you expect to get with Brock Oswald? It was going to be something. I think they, I bet they kind of expected this maybe a little better. But I think very much either Trevor Simeon or whether it's Paxton Lynch next week or the week after, they just needed something. And they put Oswald, they're paying him.

So we need you in a spot here. And of course, he fell on his face because he's not a good quarterback. During the telecast, they mentioned that they had talked to people inside the building that didn't feel like Paxton Lynch health-wise was going to be back next week and they weren't sure when. But I think as soon as he's available, you get him in there because, and we did talk about Denver as a team where you could wind up seeing all these quarterbacks at some point, and that's exactly what's going to happen. I mean, it's shocking to me how much they've collapsed. When they were at four and one, or three-in-one was it, we were thinking to them as a potential. Super Bowl tape. It all changed on Sunday night football

when the Giants who had nothing, no O'Dell Beckham, no hope, came in that building and just blew the doors off him. And at the time, it just seemed weird. But now that turned out to be a team that was just about to fall off the cliff themselves. Let's move on.

First and 10 on the 11 of San Francisco. Shotgun snap. Stanton straight dropback. Looks right, throws right in the end zone. It is caught for a touchdown. Two touchdown passes in the first half for Drew Stanton. Yes, Drew Stanton through two touchdown passes. Adrian Peterson, a career high, 37 rushes for 159 yards.

And the Arizona Cardinals had a 20 to 10 win over the 49ers who have Jimmy Garoppolo on the sideline, but still do not possess a single win. Mark that race for number one between the Niners and Browns. Back-to-back years, it's coming down to the wire. It's going to be exciting. Well, and I think it will be an interesting moment for Browns fans. Giants might get in the mix here.

They might. Giants are going for it. When the 49ers have Garoppolo, and they also win the number one pick, and Kyle Shanahan refuses to do business with Cleveland if they try to trade up for some quarterback because Kyle Shanahan cannot stand the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, it's true. Shook, we all rode off the Cardinals after Carson Palmer went down, but they're four and four. How about that?

Yeah, but it's the Niners. I mean, I'm not a big. No, they're four and four. You were trying to support the Niners for a while there. Yeah, it was because their defense had played well. in a few weeks until they played the Cowboys and they've kind of fallen apart since then. They only allowed 20 points today, but this Cardinals team, there's a reason that they ran the ball 37 times with Adrian Peterson because they have Drew Stanton at quarterback.

And I'm sorry, but I wouldn't believe in Drew Stanton as far as I could throw him as with, you know, but that's very far. No, that's not that far. Oh. 37 carries, 159 yards for you math wizards at home. You're pretty good arm out there in the outfield. You know, you can throw up pretty far. Yeah, but this is not a baseball. this is a human man.

I do have a ring. Just throwing that out there, Greg. For you math wizards at home, that's 4.3 yards per carry, which I did not do the math for a workout that off NFL.com. Thank you. What an honest man. They do this because you don't want to throw the ball. I mean, they know that's going to turn in, it's going to result in turnovers.

It's going to put them out of the game. And right now, they're trying to figure out ways to win the game with the limited options that they have. And really, and this is the Niders I'm speaking about now, not the Cardinals. And really, they still have to learn how. to win games. So what you have right here in this game was two teams who know that they're both limited to an extent. The Cardinals with more talent on offense, but with a quarterback who's not good, who's a backup. And the Niners with an equally bad quarterback in C.J. Bethard, who,

surprise, surprise, for yet another day, was hit over 20 times, 21 times, exactly. And beat hard was beat hard. So if you want to sit back and ask, why, why aren't they playing Jimmy Garoppolo when they just traded for him? Well, perhaps it's because they don't want to see him get destroyed. I mean, that's watching this game, and I was keeping an eye on it because of the whole draft pick thing, but I mean, the beating that he took, I really do wonder if may,

I mean, it's like they're stuck because you have to put Jimmy G in there to see what you have. And maybe, you know, it's the difference. But maybe it's the difference between if he's this good between when you have Tom Savage in Houston and you have Deshaun Watson. Everything changes when Garoppolo gets in there. Why do you assume that the 49ers are trying to win?

aren't they in a full-scale rebuild? I'm sure they want I'll win. And that's my thing. What are you going to put that guy? What are you going to put Garablo in there for? You really want to win two games? You want to make that logic, though, you know, you're not playing any of your best players. Well, you need to see what you have.

If you're going to resign this guy at some point, yeah. I would expect him to start next week. I have no information. No one said anything. But to me, it would be weird if he's not starting in a week. If not this week, then next week. I can see him starting after the bye week, which isn't you here yet for them. Nick Shook

You have come in You've hit a home run Three run shot Right over the left Healders head And You just love having you This is a weird drop

This I mean It's too long There's too much grunting That little bit right there You're telling me I had to put it together today And I was sitting in here editing it

And everyone was looking at me Like there's something Severely wrong with me What is Lindsay listening to right now? I was like you guys This is weird You just created this? Lindsay has an email from HR tomorrow morning.

I love that Lindsay created that. She did it. That is the mind of Lindsay Fulton. All right. It was all Dan's idea. All right. Let's play him out. Let's play him out.

Nick Shook, thank you for stopping mine. Now you've got to get a pump in. It's Fies and Tries Day. We're going back to this sound effect. Oh, we're going to be listening to this one a lot because I've spent plenty of time on that. Thank you, Nick. Let's move on. Snap to Ryan.

Matt Pumps, throws, looking for Jones. He's wide open, and he dropped it. Hit him in the hands. He fell down. The ball bounds away. Incomplete. West Durham of WZG with the call, Julio Jones's wide open end zone drop was a perfect metaphor

for what's quickly becoming a lost season for the defending NFC champion Falcons who stumbled on offense yet again in a 2017 loss to the Panthers in Charlotte. Greg Jones's drop was an absolute killer, but it's not all on that one play. This is a continued issue with the Falcons that just don't score enough points. It's not on that play, but just even hearing the radio call makes it lose a little context.

It's fourth and seven right there. And they know the coverage that they're going to get. And they know that play is going to be open deep. And they decide, you know what? We're the Falcons. We got Matt Ryan. We got Julio Jones. Let's go for it.

The exact same play, literally, was wide open in the first quarter on the first drive of the game. And Matt Ryan overthrew him. So here it is, this is going to turn the game around, and Julio Jones drops it. So two times today, you can't blame Steve Sarkesian. You have the exact perfect play dialed up, and the two best players on your whole team, Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, botch it. So when you look at Atlanta's offense right now, do you, last year's Matt Ryan, is it that was just a one-year thing and that's not really who he is?

Because this is much more like the Matt Ryan of two years ago. and much more like Matt Ryan of other seasons that we've seen. Well, the frustrating thing if you were a Falcons fan is they look so close for so many big chunks of this game where they're moving the ball. They start with the game up 10-0. It's late in the second quarter. They're holding on to the ball.

And for the most part, you see good things, but then they just kind of make the plays that make you lose games. And at the very end of the game, they had just scored a touchdown to cut it to three. They get the ball back, and it feels like, okay, maybe for once, the Falcons are the ones. ones that are going to give a little heartbreakout. And what do they do? They go four and out.

They don't even get a first down. They give up a lot of pressure. That's, I mean, as sure a sign as any that something is no longer right with that offense. And maybe they'll never be as right as they were last year. But certainly something is off. I mean, look at it this way. Julio Jones, everyone was talking about it last week. And it was popping up. It even popped up in our NFL media research notes, how there had been all these other lesser

receivers and even running backs that had more targets than Julio Jones this season. he was targeted 12 times, which is a lot today. Six catches for 118. But that drop, I mean, that's the difference between winning and losing games. And sometimes the team just doesn't have the juice. And you wonder if this team is just not going to happen this year. I see their season completely on the brink because you come out of this and you have to deal next week with the Cowboys.

After that, the Seahawks, you stole the Vikings and the Saints twice on this schedule. And I just don't see them as a better team than any of those teams. I thought they could maybe help start to turn their season around. because I thought offensively overall they were pretty good in New Jersey last week and that if you could get a road win like this, it was going in that direction. You've got to give the Panthers a lot of credit who win ugly. I mean, the key sequence of the game was it's second and two in the second quarter. Falcons are just rolling and they stone the Falcons, three straight running plays.

And then after that, it was like the Falcons were afraid to run the ball. It's like they totally gave up. And the Panthers, meanwhile, they had their best running day, and I don't know how many years, over 200 yards rushing. They've given up on the whole, hey, let's not put Cam in harm's way. Cam running the ball is their main offense. And the running that came with McCaffrey

was mostly off of Cam faking them out or a read option or something like that. And maybe that's the best thing for the game because if you add it up, 24 carries for almost 150 yards or just over 150 yards between the two of them, Cam alone, nine for 86 and a touch. They finally had something of a running game. Maybe that's just what it is with this team.

They had the special season in 2015 where they were getting more help from other players. But Cam is always going to be the focal point of this team. Yeah, it feels, I see the 201 yards. It feels unsustainable. Yeah, exactly. And I still don't buy that as a reason to trade away Kelvin Benjamin. That's a trade that still, I think, is mysterious to the three of us.

Curtis Samuel led the team in snaps today, but he only had. But so fast. They're so fast now without Kevin Benjamin. By the way, Cam Newton was asked after the game, what it was like, you know, to not have his former number one wide receiver who's now in Buffalo, of course. Yeah, we just lost a great player, but nevertheless, you know, the Titanic still has to go. I mean, it was a- Oh, stupid is what stupid does. You know, it was a poor choice of words.

No, it was stupid. Maybe he didn't, maybe he only watched the first half of Titanic. It's kind of boring. That is not a poor choice of words. It's a joke. It's a joke. I didn't really think you turned the Titanic off. Everybody, everybody was always looking to give him a pass.

You better know what the Titanic. What happened on the Titanic? Come on, man. He cut out of that film when DiCaprio was painting Kate Winslet and thought everything's wonderful from here on out. Or there is the other way to look at it. Is that Cam Newton knows exactly what the Titanic's all about? He knows that it's the greatest seafaring tragedy of all time,

or of at least the 20th century. And he believes that the Panthers are a doomed ship. I like that you're hinting at much darker seafaring incidents from before our century. I don't want to get into them right now. This is a family podcast. But maybe he knows that the Panthers, even though they're six and three, they're not going anywhere. So he's just keeping it real. Very honest comment.

In which case, I take everything back. Next level. Yeah, I respect them. Yeah, okay. Luke Kekley, by the way, was insane and Thomas Davis was insane. And James Bradbury had a really good game overall. And it's like this defense, if they can figure some things out, I think they have enough ingredients where they could be a little more inspiring.

They're going to have like eight. They're going to have like five more games that finish 20 to 17. That's who this team is. Before they sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. That's correct. The Titanic Stewart has to go. Let's move on. It may be an opportunity for a return if it's a punt.

It hangs a little bit for Tid Ginn Jr. His longest punt return has a saint just 17 yards. Oh, and it's blocked it and taken it in for the touchdown. Coming through cleanly to do so. was Justin Hardy and the Saints are celebrating at the back of the end zone. Build that man a statue. Put it in front of the Superdome. Jim Henderson, WWL with the call.

The Saints had it all clicking at the Superdome. And it started with that punt return, punt block and recovery for a touchdown by Justin Hardy. A 30 to 10 win over the listless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's six straight wins for the Saints who delivered one of the most, one of the most balanced all-round efforts you'll see from any team. in a game this season. Greg, we did our Sky Sports hit, which I hope everyone's been tracking. We do one in the morning before the early kickoff, and then we do one after the late games conclude. And I set it there.

If you go and watch the game pass, you'll see the Saints are playing as well as a team can play special teams. You just heard that with Hardy, running the football. Both Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, they combine to average over five and a half yards per rush. Drew Breeze. Drew Breeze, he completed over 80% of his passes. And the defense completely shut down the bucks and knocked James Winston out of this game. So the Saints are on fire right now.

200 yards for the bucks. And Camara, I mean, I know we were talking Carson Wentz for MVP, but I don't know. When you put up 150 yards from scrimmage as a rookie and then after the game, after the game you wear a cash money records t-shirt, I think put Alvin Camerra in the MVP discussion. Rookie of the Year discussion.

Well, did you catch that part about the cash record? Yeah, it was really the T-shirt that put it over the top. That should change everything. Yeah, the Saints look, they look tremendous and should be definitely taken seriously in NFC. Six straight wins. They are for real. The Bucks, on the other hand, they are my pick for the most disappointing team in the league this year. And I feel like they're 2 and 6 now.

The season is essentially over. A basic no-show today. And what should have been their season on the line. And just like I was saying with Ben McAdo, I think Dirk Cutter is in serious danger. There was a part in this game where Winston had left. He had re-agravated the shoulder injury on a hit the first half. So Ryan Fitzpatrick finished the game.

And what happened was he, Winston on the sideline, and taps, I'm trying to think who was. It was Marshawn Lattimore. Yeah, it was Marshon Lattimore. He tapped him on the back of the helmet, came onto the field, even though he wasn't playing. Lattimore turns around, and then Mike Evans, at full speed, they had words on the sidelines that looked like.

And then at full speed, Mike Evans crashes into Lattimore and decks him leading to a fight. Somehow, I have no idea. Even the Fox cameras caught it. Like, Mike Evans couldn't believe he was only penalized for the play, but he'll get... Absolutely should have been ejected. Oh, yeah.

On a day where AJ Green was ejected for nothing more offensive. It was an equally crazy play. You got to knock this kind of game. He was, well, that's another game. We'll get to it. But, yeah, I thought that kind of typified how Cutters kind of lost this team. And then the thing that drives me crazy as a football fan of my teams, like when something's going on with your team and whether it's a discipline issue or just a no-show performance, like a minute later, they cut to Cutter on the sideline. And he's emotionless and just staring.

straight ahead and I'm sure there's a lot going through his mind at the time but hell I want my coach like down there getting in people's faces because you didn't show up in the game you're getting embarrassed I think it was 30 to 3 at the time and then your star players are both involved in a completely needless skirmish I mean this

was as bad a look as you could have for a team and this buck's season is just completely lost and if anyone would have said in August that it would have been Sean Payton in a game like this that would have come out looking at this point in the season like he's got his complete mojo back.

He's, he looks, his offense is as creative as any offense in the league right now. The way he's using his running backs, the way he's getting players that failed in other places to shine right now. The Saints are a legit threat in the NFC. And he has, what could be the best defense that he's had

since he's been there. I love what Marshawn Latimore said after the game, which is he was, he appreciated the fact that Mike Evans was not ejected because he later made a pass breakup on Mike Evans. Mike Evans was held to 13 yards on six targets, and he said, he said, he wanted Evans

to say, and he says, he said, that's how you retaliate to that on the field. We're not on the streets. Yeah, that's, shut him down. I like that. I like that. I love that quote. And I also think, and I, you know, Evans seemed like a nice enough fellow on hard knocks. But that kind of play and how strange and out of nowhere it was, it looked like a play like a

guy was done playing and wanted to go home. Like, he was ready to go to lock. and didn't want to compete anymore. It was like, I quit play, and he's like waiting and get tossed, and it didn't happen. You know what we're getting from Greg here. What? This feeling inside of Greg's heart that he could see a New England, New Orleans Super Bowl, his two teams that it's...

What a tough spot for Greg, though. There's a possibility that he could double down as a fan. That wouldn't be tough. It'd be great. Who'd you root for? Come on. I'm serious. What do you mean?

Who would I root for? I'm not that much of a same fan. It's all gravy at this point and all that stuff with the Patriots. If I saw the Saints against the Team of ATL, I don't know who I'd root for. Those are... Team of ATL. And one more note on this game. Scary moment in third quarter, Buck's defensive end, William Golston.

Strange play. He was in a pass rush and he kind of just collapsed to the turf and then was motionless on the turf and it was said to be a neck injury. He got immobilized stretcher it off. But the good news is that it doesn't appear. appear to be too serious, but it was at the moment very kind of upsetting clearly to both sides because of the nature of the injury, but good news

that it's not serious. What is serious is the situation in Tampa and you saints. They are a stud team, Greg. I'm all the way in. Let's move on. Mario daisy rolls right, looking back to the left. He fires, man is

wide open. Decker. Touchdown! Tight! Eric Decker in the red zone. Mike Keith, WGFX with the call. Marcus Marriota threw for 218 yards. Two scores, including that important fourth quarter strike to Eric Decker as... Touchdown! Tennessee Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens.

2320. That's three straight wins for the Titans. I had requested that Ms. Fulton cut that touchdown toss because I was giving a minute to Greg a little bit downstairs in the newsroom because Greg had famously, has Marcus Mariotto ranked as the number 10 quarterback this season. The country has been buzzing about it. Really the most important news to happen all week. And Baltimore scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to get this within three points,

even though Tennessee clearly was the superior team in this game. And then they put the ensuing kickoff into the end zone. So here come the Titans on the field with Marioota. And I said, hey, you got a top 10 quarterback, salt this game away. And what did the Titans do? They go straight down the field, score that touchdown. He heard you. He heard me. He literally heard me.

And that's why that happened. So that was not an all-inspiring effort from the Titans. In fact, they were outgained in the game, 341 to 257. I still have serious doubts about this offense. Derek Henry, excuse me, DeMarco Murray finally came off the injury report and then had a knee injury. so he's continuing to battle injury issues this year. You don't know how much he has left. But the Titans get it done against the Ravens

who have now lost three of four. They're four and five, no. Joe Flacco after the game said, you can't play too much worse than we've been playing. And I think that's true. I mean, they won 40 to nothing in their last game, but it was not particularly impressive on offense. I think he's saying offensively and as a passing game,

I think that's true. With a veteran group, which they most, have. It hasn't really been injuries on the offensive line. I guess they were before the season. Like, I don't think you can play much worse than they're playing. It's pretty wild to watch the Ravens as bad. And yet, I'm still waiting to be ultra-impressed by the Titans. They deviated from what made me enjoy them last year, which was just their power run game. You don't have a single back with over 26 yards in this game for Tennessee. Is that how it looked watching it, that they just simply couldn't move the ball?

It is not, when you go back on game pass, this is not going to be the game that sticks with you. There wasn't a lot of wow plays. I think they kind of just waited out the Ravens, and they got ahead. It's like, if you like Tennessee's 12-9 win over Cleveland, you'll love this game. Yeah, and, you know, the score even looks a little closer

than it ended up because the Ravens got a touchdown in the last minute, and then... Texan! Failed on an on-side kick, but, you know, I mean, sometimes a game, what am I going to say? I mean, the Titans, they did what they were supposed to do, but am I still going nuts about even though... You have appropriately sold it to me.

Mark and I were speaking before the podcast. I think this is a common theme. You don't like this big, soft, generic sort of middle of the NFL that exists right now. And I think this game, these teams are a prime example of what you're talking about. Yeah, I mean, it's just because, well, because, you know, it's our job to go, track and watch all of this, and some of this, I was sort of eyeing this from a distance and it just looked like rough football to observe. But if you're a Titans fan or you're a Jagg's fan, I know we're going to get to that. Suddenly it's a two-team race in a division that between those two

teams, they've won one division title since 2002. So this has been a division dominated by the other two. And so if you're a Titans fan, you know, hey, it's not pretty, Mark Sessler. We're fine. No, no, no. And to their credit, you get Corey Davis back this week. You'll see more of him next week. Maybe Mariotta's getting healthier and healthier. So, yeah, it's nice to have not just a one-team scenario in the South. All right, let's move on. Savage, waits for the snap.

He gets it. Looks, looks, looks. He's hit the balls free. Colts are going to win it. The Colts are going to win it. A strip sack, and the Colts win. 20 to 14. Savage on fourth down, who hit him?

So many questions. I'll tell you, I'm former Brown Jamal Sheard, what they hit. Had a nice season, Jabal Sheard. And I'll tell you what, Parkevius Mingo is involved as well. And I'll tell you one more thing. Every time I hear Bob Lamy of WLHK,

I'm waiting for another F-bomb. Colts are going to win it. The Colts are going to win it. Remember the F-bom from Lamey last year? I do, I do, yeah. Mark, do you remember last year? That was a big plot line in this podcast. A lot of empty spaces from last year.

Anyway. I can't believe you don't remember Leamy's F-bom. I'll think on it more. At this point, I do not. I'm like when you, yes, no. Javall Shear delivered the game to setting strips. I'm actually nervous of Tom Savage, wrapping up a 2014 road win for the Colts over a Houston Texans team

that looked very much lost at sea without Deshaun Watson, who of course tore his ACL in practice last week. Ty Wyatt Hilton had 175 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Colts, end of three games. Skid, Greg, someone had to win this one. Yeah, it doesn't mean much, but the Colts were so much better that I was really pleased at the end of the game. You want to talk about a soft middle.

Here's your soft middle. Well, these teams aren't in the middle. They're toward the highony. They're toward the bottom. It's like the buttocks of the NFL. That's where we're at now. I know what the buttocks is. That's a few other teams.

What is happening right now? Tom Savage started this game, and really threw out, but they moved the ball a little bit late. Even worse than I think you would have imagined that it could have gone. He was 9 for 27 to start the game. At one point he's 5 for 17, I think, at halftime. Jake Brisket, on the other hand, looked really good. I think he looked good against Cincinnati.

They deserve to win that game. They deserve to win this game. They're not a great team. What do you want to say? But he's doing pretty well in this spot, and they were significantly better coached and just defense. possibly everything, they were better today. Let's move up.

High snap to punt or Kevin Huber, left-footed punt, shot in the air. Down, a backpedaling Jadon. Mickens brings it into his 37. Makes two different Bengals miss. Now a third. Surges up over midfield, 45, 40. Angles near left, another Bengal, which 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 blockers, launching out of tumble, somersaults into the end zone for a touchdown.

Andrew Catalan from CBS with a call? Nice call, Andrew. Jayon Mickens, 63-yard punt return. that was like the Ivan Drago on Apollo Creed final blow. I watched Rocky 4 this morning with my son. My son, Jack, his first boxing match he ever saw was Apollo Creed being murdered in the ring by a Russian thug. I like that introduction to the sport.

Anyway, 63 yards to the house. The Jaguars a 23 to 7 win over the Bengals at the chlorine pit. That's what I'm calling the Jacksonville home stadiums. What do you think? I don't think that's the official name. That's the nickname? No, no, it's a nickname. Obviously, it's a nickname. It's a very new nickname. Very new, Brett.

12 or 13 seconds old. Mark, A.J. Green, got ejected for going full WWE on Jalen Ramsey. But that was the only fight since he showed against the superior Jacksonville team. Yeah. Hey, Bengals. See you later. You're waiting for this. Well, it's over. This feels good, though. You know what? It is time we are into November.

It is time to separate the trash from what I can only call the non-jointed. Trash. Oh, you know what? That makes a perfect timing for us to finally, at long last, wheel out the Stick a Fork in a podcast on Tuesday. Like that. We got a plenty of candidates for that. One of them definitely will be, spoiler alert, the Cincinnati Bengals who laid a massive egg. Well, we'll be up for a vote. We have to get together. I would like to meet the person that will vote for the Bengals to stick around. Chris Wesley calling in is going to stop his hometown team. No. You'll be on my side. He would be, go ahead, Mark. Jacksonville, 78 plays 400 yards to 148 yards and 37 plays for the offensive offense of the Bengals.

Eight first downs for the Bengals. They might be the worst running game or one of the worst running games in the league, despite having Joe Mixin and Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill. It's pretty wacky. Hill was not available today, but I don't think that would have made any difference. This defense dominated them. And I think Mixon, we spent a lot. lot of time talking about mixing in the off season, and for good reason, he looked like a special

running back and athlete, and we're not seeing it 2.4 yards per carry today. Every week it feels like that's got. I was going to say his stat line 13 for 31. He did have a touchdown, but I feel like 13 for 31. He's done that about five times this year. Well, and the thing was, when AJ Green, you get him ejected after he has a, you'll have to go watch this if you haven't seen it. Just a crazy takedown of Jalen Ramsey, who was John with him all day. I love Jalen Ramsey, but I understand why he annoys wide receivers. It's not the first guy that's gotten irritated at the Jaguars quarterback, but one catch for six yards for A.J. Green. There's no player in the league whose offense is more

reliant on so-and-so than the Bengals are on A.J. Green, and this was, you take him out the equation, they had no shot in the second. Well, and they were playing the best, right now probably the best, certainly the past defense in the league. They haven't been a great run defense, but now you had Marcel Darius, PFF, for what it's worth, thought he had a big impact in limited snaps. So you improve your run defense, too. You got Callais Campbell set in franchise record for sacks. You got Jalen Ramsey, maybe he's the best cornerback in the league.

And you have Blake Bordell. Now he's starting to stack up games where it's like, okay, let's let Blake Bordell's throw the ball 27 times in the first half because Leonard Fournett was deactivated, apparently, for being a knucklehead. And we're winning these games pretty comfortably. There was a weird incident at the end of the game. They showed out Bortles, literally after they won, coming off the field and jawing with coach Doug Marone.

It's almost, I don't know if it was just a moment of being competitive or kind of, I told you so, I can throw the ball 38 times and we can still win. But it was a weird moment. And Doug Maron, not a complete stranger to in-house controversies. No, and he's not. And I am happy that knucklehead is staying in the Lexington. Very, very, by a threat. Like, it's been on the, it's been hanging by a thread for 50 years, 80 years maybe, but it just stays there.

And you said knucklehead and I was like, in my head was like, oh, I might have said bonehead. But I like the knucklehead continues to pop up in society once every week or two weeks or so. I don't get what knucklehead actually means or what bonehead even means. Well, in this case, the reports were that he missed some team meetings or perhaps treatment. No, I get what you're saying. No, I know. I'm giving context for the list there and then saying, not making good life decisions. That I get. When we said, let's coin a phrase for an idiot, a knuckle head, like your head is shaped like knuckles or a bone head.

We all have a bone in our... I got a theory for knucklehead. Kind of like a crow magnum man, like where you're kind of, you have a bumpy type head. That would be kind of associated with not being intelligent. Okay. I mean, that's... Bone head? You got me.

I just don't know. Yeah. I'm at us root word linguist The Jaguars have won five games this year Not one of them was competitive It's pretty interesting I mean I know the Steelers game was competitive for a long time But all of their wins are by

20 points or more This was the closest or until this game They're wouldn't come like the Jags are This is something Yeah I kind of like that Well it's for real Think about it. The fact that they didn't have their rookie sensation at running back,

and they still got the job done easily, and Blake Bortles is making throws. If Blake Bortals is making throws, you know, the Titanic is going to keep sailing in Jacksonville because everything's going to be fine. I think about it. Like, if the quarterback is just okay,

that's all they need as long as Four Nett, his knucklehead act doesn't continue, and the defense stays healthy. This team could win some games in January. I can't even believe him saying that. They're managing him. well, they're scheming up some plays. Like, it's all coming up, Coughlin.

That's why he won the Around the NFL old guy of the first half. If you saw our, what was that, an NFL network hit? Yeah, I went with Santa Claus, who I still think has done more for the earth than Tom Coughlin. Oh, NFL Pickham, which, of course, everyone should watch every weekend. All right, let's move on. Oh, Sunday night. Carr going to throw a bomb. Deep for the post there for Johnny Holds in.

Codh! Touchdown! Raiders! That's our boy, Greg Poppa, of KGMZ. With the call, Derrick Carr threw one touchdown pass on Sunday night, and it was to the great Johnny Holton, who's 44-yard catch, put the Raiders well out in front, and they held on very 27 to 24 win over the Dolphins, who dropped to 500. this game played at Hard Rock Cafe Stadium.

Is there no Cafe? Is it just Hard Rock? Hard Rock Stadium. No cafe. Land Shark Stadium? I can't keep track. So many names. Mark's a big fan of Hard Rock Cafe.

No, it's questioned its relevance. Mark actually has, right now, he's wearing one of those jean jackets with a patch. It's like Hard Rock Cafe, Seoul, South Korea. That is accurate. All right. Anyway, so the Raiders get a win they needed, Greg Rosenthal. And the Dolphins, well, you know, they're. the Dolphins. Well, the Dolphins actually had a pulse on offense for the first time, seemingly all season. Jay Cutler completing his first 10 passes, going over 300 yards. They moved the ball up and down in the field. But then the defense didn't show up. And I like games like this where teams start to return to the levels that they should be. The Redskins Seahawks game, to me, was similar. And that the Redskins deserve to be 500 the way they play. The Dolphins deserve to have their record come back to the pack. And the Raiders, I think, have been a little better than a three.

and five team. So justice prevailed on Sunday night football. Justice. I mean, I still don't know what to make. I don't know what to make of the Raiders, though. I mean, I don't know what to make of the Raiders at this point. You're four and five. Well, you say that, and I get you.

I'm not knocking them. I just, I don't. I get it. What's there to get? They don't have a, their defense is so bad that they give up 300 yards to Jay Cutler and make them look good for the first time all season. That's what I get.

Sure, but I, you know, some of those Jay Cutler yards were padding at the end of the game. There's a reason, by the way, I lock this game up. I'll tell you what, that's six in a row of the old zooser. And Greg, you may be right. This hole is getting too deep for you. Oh, it's over. This is not a great one, but still, it's a road win in prime time against a not terrible Dolphins team.

And if you believe, and I sincerely do believe it, and we can talk about it when the four committee meets on Tuesday, but I think the Raiders have a run in them still. and even if they still don't have things figured out and as flawed as they've seen this year, I still think that the Raiders are going to be in the mix in December, so you have to go get a win like this, and that's what they did.

So it wasn't a thing of beauty, but it was a win they needed and they got. Well, it's one of the better games by Derrick Carr all season. He had the late interception, but other than that, he played really well. The Dolphins, though, I don't know what to take beating the Dolphins. They were the 31st team in the league, according to football outsiders.

They have the dolphins worse than the Browns, seems a little crazy, and the 49ers, for what it's worth. I don't know how they're, I think they're going to be able to not really put together many wins or figure out how to win games down the stretch. But at least the Raiders, a few of the last few weeks have been able to move the ball offensively and look a little bit like they did last year. I thought Kenyon Drake playing, obviously, in replace of Jay Ajai had some good moments. I just, I think this is an aberration for Jay Culler.

He's going to come screaming back to Earth. And I think on the Raiders side, Marshaun Lynch had an impact in this game, two touchdowns. He kind of looked like Marshaun Lynch at times of this game. Not overwhelming production from him, but I think it was a step in the right direction. He'd become kind of invisible of late. And then on the negative side, Amari Cooper again looked like the lost Amari Cooper. He did have four catches in this game, but he had at least two bad drops. And they really, if this offense is going to be consistent,

he is going to have to become consistent and be a true number one receiver. There's still a way to go on that front. Dan, I know that you were hoping this game would delve into overtime and it didn't happen for you. Are you doing okay? No, because I had the Raiders on lock. I didn't want this thing going on it. I also want to go home. So it's like, no, you definitely read that wrong.

I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the 2017 Raiders. It's not that it wasn't playing ball with the bit there, Mark, but it was just like, I can lie totally. I simply read it as poorly as possible. There you go. So the Raiders 4 and 5. Dolphins 4 and 4. And away we go. That is the Sunday week 9 recap.

The next time you do hear from us will be on Tuesday. So make sure you check that out. And thank you to everybody for listening. If you want to be involved with the Around the NFL podcast audience, hit up this subreddit at Around the NFL. a great group over there led by the Great Greby and also leave us ratings and reviews on iTunes

because that helps especially right now you've got some things cooking down the road and all the support it will matter and help us in the long run so we're calling on you guys to help us out with that I thought you're going to say if you're interested in perhaps joining the show maybe replacing me on the lock segment

could be a... The Titanic has to go. I'm trading draft picks. I'm looking ahead to next year, so that's a possibility. Yeah, that too, possibly. Mark will run that competition, actually. No, I don't have time for that. Okay.

I will not be involved at all. Any update on ATNCat before we go? A little concerned about ATNCat. Had to take an emergency trip to a vet of some sort today. I was at work, but I heard about this. Who's paying for this? Well, I mean, I think it's... We have a very helpful neighbor that has been...

She has been a rock during this raising of ATN. can cat. So it seems to be tweeted out a photo tonight from the home front where cat is gaining a little bit of weight, but it's, it's, you know, it's, I just don't want you dip, put it this way. I am an animal lover, but I don't want you, I can tell. I don't want you dipping into, like, the kid's college fund to keep this feral cat alive. That's all. I mean, if we had a college fund for our kids, that would be of a concern.

I'd be happy to help, you know, I rescue cats. I already have two black cats, by the way. You want three? Our producer's a cat lady, so we got a lot of things going on. Definitely a cat lady. Yeah, there we go. I mean, I love dogs, too. I have a dog as well, a old blind puggle, but...

I mean, we would keep A.T.N. cat, but Daddy is vastly allergic to cats. Well, yeah, you also said you don't like cats and you... I feel differently now. You know, we're still doing the podcast, by the way. I feel differently, no, this cat changed my... Well, personal experiences change your... That's great. I'm great.

I'm like... We got to take that cat. We've got to give it to a little bit. All right. This Stan has a sign-in-law. more on the cat on Tuesday. Sign up for a quiet storm. The old boss and Lindsay Fulton behind the glass.

Yes, till Tuesday. Lipcat. 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 offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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