NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - WILD Bills-Falcons & Bears-Commanders Doubleheader Caps Off Week 6!

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

How about a pair of upsets to close out Week 6!? Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook handle recap duties for the Falcons' incredibly dominant win over the Buffalo Bills, as well as an ugly-but-effective victory for the Chicago Bears in Washington against the Commanders. Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson begin a new era of Bears football 3-2, with Williams earning an away win against his draft class rival, Jayden Daniels. Plus — Bijan Robinson and Drake London ran wild against a porous Bills defense, while the Falcons new-look D-line is finally paying dividends. NFL 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.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

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. Kicker, awaiting the snap. Scott Daly sends it back, spot down, kick up Jake Modi from 38. It is good. Time expires. and the Bears win their third in a row

for the first time in five seasons off of Jake Moody we haven't even met Jake Moody yet that is Jeff Jodiac a WMVP and yes that is Jake Moody finishing off a Bears upset victory on a wild

Monday night football double header 25 for the Bears 24 for the Washington commanders on a night that featured some great running back performances. Who would have thought it was the D'Andre Swift game? Just like that Falcons game was the Bajon Robinson game. We are going to get to both of the great double-header games on this Monday night. All games, no news with Nick shook when Jaden Daniels had the ball in the fourth quarter,

commanders driving up to what percentage of? did you give for the Bears to pull this one out after blowing a 13 to nothing lead? I think it was probably like below 20%. In fact, Next Gen stats had it at 15% when he scrambled for eight yards with 314 left. And then when he fumbled and gave the ball back to the Bears, it jumped up to 42%. So we're within the ballpark. It all, it all, you know, adds up math-wise. And on the night where, you know, I was ready.

to talk about all the things that the Washington commanders overcame. And yes, they lost the turnover battle three to nothing tonight. Jaden Daniels, a bad interception early. And then a great game until late in the rain affected a couple of plays. The ball slips out of his hands. He never even gets it to Bill, aka Jacori Kroski Merritt. The Bears pick it up. But the game's not over at that point. No. The Washington commanders could make a stop, and their defense had played well for most of the night.

But if the Bears had lost this game, I was going to point out all the positives. And the number one positive, Nick shook, is that they went into the buy, and they came out, and they figured out their run game. DeAndre Swift finishes with 108 yards on the ground. He also, by the way, leads the team in receiving because he had that 55-yard touchdown catch

of a broken tackle to end up with 67 yards through the air. They did look like a different team up front, and I know that makes Nick Shook happy. Yeah, it does, because that's been their Achilles Hill going back to the Justin Fields era, really, is that we didn't have an offensive line that was good enough to protect our quarterback. We didn't have an offensive line

that was good enough to create running lanes for whoever we had back there, whether it was David Montgomery or now it's DeAndre Swift. And I've always thought that DeAndre Swift is an underrated running back, even from his days in Detroit, who could never just quite put it all together. Not saying that he has put it all together,

but tonight was probably one of his best performances of his career when it comes to versatility and being a valuable player on all three downs, and especially in this inclement weather. As it's raining hard in Landover, Maryland, he's coming through with big runs in the fourth quarter with that big catch and run. He breaks a tackle,

one of the worst tackle attempts I've seen in a long time, by the way, and takes it to the house for a crucial touchdown. And then they iced the game, kind of going in reverse here, but they iced the game with runs of 4, 10, 15 yards for DeAndre Swift to move them into field goal range to set up Jake Moody for the game winner. That is what the bear's identity should be. If you're going to turn around a team, let's go back to the Lions and what they did with Ben Johnson. It started on the ground. It's got to start on the ground for the Bears to help Caleb Williams develop, and we saw all of it come together tonight.

Yeah, don't you just see the imprint of the Ben Johnson off. Oh, yeah. Like easy buttons there. Caleb Williams ended up with great numbers, 252 yards in a touchdown on 29 attempts, 17 for 20. On a night that I thought he made a lot of mistakes, but I think that shows you what a strong team around him, I thought the pass protection for the most part was good.

The running game obviously supported him. And then, yeah, you have enough plays where you're throwing it to your backs in the flat. You might hit a big one. Let's listen to that DeAndre Swift. Touchdown, catch down the sideline. Football at the 45-yard line, Bears territory, snap back. Sugar rush, and a throw to the left is caught by Swift.

Sidelines, and he gets away from a tackle away at the 30. Angles, middle 15, 10, goodbye. DeAndre Swift, the touchdown. Catch and run, 55 big ones. And the Bears are two-pointer away from tying it up. 24, 22, Washington. Yeah, it's easy to forget. that, yeah, the commanders came back in this game.

You know what? The Bears did too. That was a touchdown. They're down 24 to 16 after Washington. And, you know, has a great drive finished off with a touchdown by Zach Ertz. And they get that quick drive. That was just the third play of the drive to Swift. And that's the drive, you know, that sets up ultimately the game-winning field goal drive.

Now, they did do some bearsy things right before that. They get the ball right near the goal line. They have a legal, you know, I think it was a pre-snap penalty right on the goal line. They get stuffed on the goal line. They have a drop on a throw from Caleb Williams that could have gone for a big play to Zekees. And you think, oh, man, it's going to be so close. And Bears fans probably don't want to hear it, but they should just be so happy. Like, sometimes programs turn around and teams start to believe in themselves a little bit.

And the ball starts going in the right direction with a little bit of luck. And I think they made their own luck by running the ball well early in this game and getting enough stops on Washington. And they got a little bit of luck there with a drop from Jaden Daniels and they took advantage of it. Yeah. You know, that's the thing that has been probably the most, like the most standout attribute for this team over the last few weeks has been that they're going to battle. Like bad teams get that opportunity. For example, the Cleveland Browns, just throwing a team out there, but they're not the only one, get that opportunity. and don't cash that in.

Either don't get in field goal range or don't make the field goal. The Bears did it. And they did it like with a measured drive, like with confidence. Like we know high pressure situation, but we're going to slowly move down into field goal range.

We already like where we are field position wise. We're going to trust our kicker in a rainy night. And they got it done. They got it done in Vegas two weeks ago in the fourth quarter. Caleb Williams leading a big drive. Those two games showed me that's the first clue as they start to try to turn a corner under Ben Johnson

that his impact is starting to show with this team because they are battling. They believe they're playing through all 60 minutes. And even when it looks unlikely that they're going to come away with a win, they take advantage of those opportunities that pop up out of nowhere and they cash them in. And that's what makes me so excited for them because it's not pretty all the time. Over four quarters, it's not pretty. Like you said, Caleb made some mistakes.

He also made some great throws. He had that touchdown pass to Romo Dunsey that was wiped out by offensive pass interference. I mean, I'm just very excited about what we're starting to see. It's baby steps, but it's turning into wins, which is the, the way you get fans on board with this i hated that call on adunzee i'm glad you pointed that out that was a huge play in this game they called an offensive pass interference and that's just a call you just don't see much i don't know what's with the opi's this week and the patriots had a at a couple of bad ones called on them i i get why they saw it but i think they were calling that

a little too close and that was a great throw by williams he also had some plays where he was late like The two-point conversion, he has an open receiver. He just doesn't throw it. There's a fourth down play earlier in the game where I thought if he let go of the ball quicker, he gets it, but he hesitates just a little bit and ends up getting deflected, turnover on downs. There were enough bad things that happened in this game

that you thought, man, this is going to be a typical Bears type of loss. One of those things was on special teams. And I think we just kind of skip past the fact that Jake Moody is the kicker for the Bears. Jake Moody hit four. Four kicks. When they flash that up, you know, career long for Jake Moody line on the last drive. I'm like, it is raining. It is Jake Moody. You want to get so far past that line. And you know what? They did it. And he went, uh, did he go four for four on field goals? Well, he had one blocked. Yes, the ones that he actually got over the line. Um, you know, he made it. There was one that didn't go over the line. We haven't heard, uh, Brian Weinstein in this show. So let's just, uh, take a listen to the field goal block call. here's the snap holds down

he's blocked it got blocked Washington special team block the kick to maintain the lead Logan you talking about you think we're going to block a kick because Moody Abbe kicking them pretty low I mean look at that though

Blatch look at us almost like knowing what we're talking about I have a theory Greg yes we've talked about the juice K balls and how they're like helping kickers you know reach new distances that we've never seen before and like the field goal record is going to get broken at some point this year, right?

But we've also seen some really weird movement on these kicks. And I think that also is related to the K ball because that one off the foot. First, he kicks it right into a wall of defenders. Yes, it was a low angled kick. Yes, it was ripe to get blocked. But I'm not certain that that kick's going to end up between the uprights anyway because of the angle that it came out unless it does a little bit of the dance back toward the center between the goalposts.

Who knows? Maybe he's put a little bit of a fade on it or a draw. I can't remember which one's which. But he might have missed that one. Either way, it gets blocked, game continues, and the Bears overcome that, which is crucial to this. Yeah, and I mean, it's a big job overcoming the loss of Tulane great Cairo Santos, but they managed to do it with the most surprising kicker possible. Jake Moody.

Shout out to the everyone in the chat right now, by the way. Love the comment. I love football. I hate fantasy football, but I love NFL Daily. My poor son almost interrupted the YouTube tonight to walk in right before we were starting to tape literally crying which which sucks to see he saw jaden daniels lead his team to a great comeback uh against one of his best friends and then jaden daniels is fumbled at the last second gives you the negative too you aren't really a fantasy football owner so you have a game

uh exactly like that and i'm sure jane daniels is feeling heartbroken too because he really did play well tonight you know i know look the ball slips out of his hand hands, that's unfortunate. The interception at the beginning, that's not like him. But between that, you know, I thought he played really well. The first touchdown throw was absolutely fantastic. Let's listen to that one while we're here. Second to 10 at the 22. Snap to Daniels. Here comes another blitz from Chicago. He's got time. Loading up, wants it all for Chris Moore. Then we've got a test. He did both feet down. He did. Touchdown. Touchdown Washington. Incredible test by Chris Moore. That's it right there.

The Bears out to go, man to man across the board. And this is just what you want. Beautiful pass by Chris Moore on a slop phase. Jake just props it in the bucket for a touchdown. Ooh, great catch. And that's London Fletcher on the call with our friend, Bram. And it's really noticeable that they're getting these huge plays from Jalen Lane, a rookie who had a really nice double move on a touchdown.

From Zach Ertz, who I thought was done a couple years ago and is still playing well. from Chris Moore, who I don't think 99% of the audience is familiar with. And this was like a quiet Debo Samuel night, no Terry McLaurin. So it's such a surprising group around him. And I thought whenever he needed to make a play tonight, he did, especially with his legs when the bears did get pressure, which was not enough for the bears tonight. Yeah, I think it's essential that you bring that up when discussing this game.

Because for the first time, since maybe like week one, Jaden looked like himself. like he looked like the quarterback who didn't have any issue he was agile again he was dynamic you know he was mobile he was picking up yards on the ground with his legs and key spots like you mentioned you know 10 carries for 52 yards he goes 19 to 26 for 2 11 and 3 touchdowns like that is jaden daniels who we know from last year and until this point we hadn't really seen 24 offensive rookie of the year jaden daniels we'd seen like a smaller reduced version of him so that should be a really promising takeaway from this game for the commanders yes the loss will but your quarterback looks like

who he's supposed to be and that can get you so much further especially without the receivers that usually depend on either out there or contributing in a big way that's all really important for you as you go forward. So the one loss is going to hurt

but you're going to flush that move on and be very happy that it looks like your quarterback's back to who he is and you can continue to build around it. Yeah, the most surprising thing to me in this game was Bears' design success rate 56%, which is sky high and Commander's 34.8%.

So you've got to give the Bears defense credit, and I was really surprised the way Washington's run game has been going. I thought Cliff Kingsbury was going to dice up this bearer's defense, and they came out looking a little better after the buy. Got a comment here that Zach Ertz is the unc of the night, and hell, let's watch that touchdown catch, too, because that was the moment where I just figured this game was over. Great throw, great throw, great catch by Ertz. Bill in the back, Bill of Jane, he's going to throw for it, looking surveying, throws back

to the end of the end. So there's talk of diving, Zeckertz. Touchdown, touchdown, Washington. This is stealing, baby. Like taking candy from a baby. Jamie Daniel's nose. I got Zachers one-on-one, and nobody has been able to check in the day. What a perfect pass.

Bears fans are probably wondering, why do we have so many commanders' highlights at a night they lost? Well, it was back and forth. And we just love hearing Weinstein in London. Can we nominate that booth for like most electric pairing in the NFL? Like that should be an award we give out. Most electric booth in the NFL because they have so much energy. It's always good when they're doing well.

Yeah, they are. And look, it is a lot of commanders talk for now. But I think it's more about what this game is, what it means. These two teams are trying to make it to the playoffs. I think the commanders for the most part this season has shown me it's more sustainable from last year than I expected because a lot's gone against them. You've had injuries, Jane Daniels. I thought the offensive line was going to be a mess.

I think the defense is better overall. And I know they're three and three, but you look at where the Eagles are at, and I feel like they're in a good spot. Then you look at the Bears and you think, okay, your season ended on a total heartbreak at this point in the season, roughly last year, against this commander's team. Bears fans are sick of hearing that the commanders got the right quarterback. Now they're sick of hearing that the Patriots might have gotten a better quarterback. And to get a win like this, to pull it out at the last second to me is massive for them.

And it's a tough division. But I really do now look at them as a team that, okay, like, keep showing me. But I kind of expect they're going to be playing meaningful games all season long. Maybe they'll make the playoffs. Maybe they won't. It's a deep NFC. but like they're going to be playing for it late in the year. And wins like this are just absolutely huge.

I hate to be like the NFL guy, but like it's just great to see these two quarterbacks kind of going at it like this. And like give me this game in prime time every year. This is now like a little mini rivalry in the NFL. Yeah, well, first off, they get the revenge for their heartbreaking loss last year by giving it back to the commanders

in the same place that they lost in a Hail Mary. Tyreek Stevenson is vindicated or whatever. But I actually think it's a really good case study in the psyche of a fan base and how it can change for the better or the worst year by year. Because last year, the last year of Bad Eber Flutes' tenure ultimately, but there's a lot of optimism going into the season. They have Caleb Williams.

They finally have their quarterback. They've made additions in the offseason. And it flopped. And the optimism was probably too much going into the season. And most of us knew that, right? Then that same kind of optimism, but it's more cautious bubbles up going into this year because Ben Johnson's there. The results are not going to happen overnight.

But if you can get results that are tangible that you've seen in the Raiders, game that you've seen tonight. If you can get that over the course of the season, season before you get to week eight, you are ahead of schedule. Like, you should be very excited about where the rest of the season could take you. There are going to be bumps in the road, but I personally am now excited to watch Bears games. Last year, it was misery. It is not that anymore. So feel good, Bears fans, not only about the swim, but about where your team's headed. The one little fly in the ointment is just a little bit of the eye test with Caleb. And I think the things that helped them out tonight can

sustained that was a much improved offensive line performance overall pass protection and run blocking that that's a really good sign the defense looks like it's rounding into okay and they're getting healthier on the back end like kiler gordon is out there and everything like that that's really important for them that's that's stabilizing it didn't shock me when i checked late in the game and the you know pff as the in game you know live grades and that Caleb was under 50 for this game and jaden's around 80 you know Caleb had a very low mark, and I think that's because of some misthrow, some potential turnovers that were there, and that's fine. I'm all about, like, being able to try to improve as you're winning, because I think

you heard it from Troy Aikman. Like, he's been all over Caleb in these games, and I kind of get where Troy is coming from, but I think it's going to be easier for Caleb to, like, keep improving without the weight of the world than everyone getting on them for losing games like this. Yeah, and it helps when you get a good day like he did from from Dandre Swift. And it helps when you have not only Romo Dunezay and DJ Moore, but also Luther Burden out there making plays. Like he has weapons.

It all starts, though, with the offensive line. And that is why you should feel better. I don't know if it's going to carry over week by week. It's been only one game in which we've seen these improvements. And I don't know if I view the commander's defense as highly as you do just because they're old. But they do have a pretty strong defensive front. So if you take all of that into account at this point in the season, you should still feel

good. They have built this offense into what should be a competitive bunch. And as long as Caleb can continue to progress slowly and not make crushing mistakes, which he made mistakes tonight, but they weren't disastrous. He missed some throws. He made a poor decision to keep the ball when he should have thrown away and took a tough hit for Frankie Louvo. That's fine. These are lessons that you're going to learn at this point in the season. If you can keep it all together, gradually improve, you're going to be in a much better place. Nice game by Louvo. But to your point about not really having as much faith in the commander's defense they've kind of been every other week they only had four quick pressures tonight which is not a big number they blitzed over 30% of the time didn't get much and the

four quick pressures are from frankie louvo you know blitzing linebacker bobby wagner a blitzing linebacker and darnal savage a blitzing free safety so their down four was really not getting it done they got pushed around up front ultimately that is great news for the bears long term okay that game was really interesting. It was fascinating. And yet, I do not think it was the most fascinating or best game of the night. I know ESPN had their quote-unquote B team on Bill's Falcons, but this one I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I loved it. Let's go down to Atlanta. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart 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. What's up, everybody?

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and 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. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down. the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level,

we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Buffalo adds another man to the front.

They're going to hand a Robinson right side through the first wall around the corner. Here goes Bajon Robinson, keeps his feet. 30, 25, 20, 10, 5. Touchdown, Atlanta. Oh, my goodness. The math. on this one is easy. 81 to the house.

Oh, that is West Durham calling an 81-yard touchdown by recent NFL daily guest, Bajon Robinson. Okay, he did a lot of podcasts last week. No, a friend of the show. But he's getting, he's getting the bump. I don't think Bajon Robinson needed, like, a breakout game or a, hey, like, I'm, like, one of the best players in the NFL game. Like, he shouldn't have needed that.

But, I mean, 238 yards from scrimmage at home on Monday night football, their first home Monday night football game, actually, in the Bajon-Robinson era to beat Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Yeah, like, I think that qualifies. He also had six catches for 68 yards in that mix of 238 yards. and I thought the way that they used him, Chuck was awesome tonight. He got to show off all of his skills.

Yeah, he did. I mean, I think that he needed one of these breakout games in the prime time stage in order to bring the attention of the larger NFL fan base both domestically and internationally to the Atlanta.

Because he plays in Atlanta, the Falcons who blew a tire last year and missed the playoffs, right? But, like, you know, it would surprise a lot of people to learn that he had a ton of scrimmage yards last year, too. It should not surprise, you. We're all talking about Baker Mayfield being in the MVP conversation. You should put

Bijan in there too. I know running backs don't win it often. Wait, I banned MVP conversation. We're not allowed to use the words of MVP conversation. Offensive player of the year, Bejohn Robinson. There's your loophole because he's having a hell of a start. Like, consider this real quick, okay? Two guys in NFL history after tonight have had 450 plus rushing yards and 300 plus receiving yards in their first five games of a season. Thurman Thomas and Bejohn Robinson. Like, he's off to an incredible start. And he was the reason they won this game tonight with the numbers that you just described with the highlight that we just played.

He is one of the best, if not the best running back in the NFL. He's looked like it since he was at the combine. He just moves differently. He's dynamic. He can do everything. And when they focus on getting him the football, they are a much better team. And tonight it came down to three guys, Michael Pennix, plus Bejohn Robinson, Drake London, and a little bit of Kyle Pitts. was enough to win the game.

Ooh, I'll throw in one other guy, have a Jeff Obrick, defensive court. There we go. Or Rahim Morris. I mean, their defensive plan against Josh Allen was amazing. And we will get to that. But I think let's just to close the circle on Bajan on this 24 to 14 victory, by the way. I mean, they held the bills to 14 points. And most of the damage was in the first half.

But you think about that first drive, for instance, and it just looked so easy. and he's lined up all over the field and the attention that he is drawing as a receiver, as a runner is opening up holes for Drake London and then sometimes they're even telegraphing when they're going to run, when they're going to pass out of the pistol, and yet it really doesn't matter. And I was wondering, like, watching this game,

man, I know he plays outside sometimes and I know he plays in the slot sometimes, but this seemed a little extra. And so I checked. He had 15 snaps in the slot tonight, six out wide. That adds up to 21 snaps essentially at wide receiver. That almost matches the snaps that he took at running back. That is a high for this season by a good amount.

I didn't go back to check. I'm guessing it is the high for his career. And it's one of those offseason stories that's kind of cliche. Oh, they're going to use him as a receiver. Oh, they're going to have two running backs on the field and stuff. It's like, yeah, but you're running back as a. receiver is actually helping the defense out because he's not as good as normal receivers. Right.

Except for one guy usually, and that's Christian McCaffrey. And now I think we can make it two guys. Christian McCaffrey and Bijon Robinson, who all respect the CMC, is not at the same level. Bison Robinson was the number one fantasy drafting, and he's been delivering week after week. Just an awesome performance by the coaching staff and Robinson. Yeah, and the only thing that I think was missing tonight, at least from a writing perspective, was I was really hoping they would lean on him to close the game. And then he was absent.

I think he was gas. And they went to Tyler Alger, which makes sense. He's a hard running physical back that you want to get out there to turn up those yards late in the game, get the first downs, close the game out. Because it would have been the perfect Sequin arc, which is he starts fast. He closes games because that's what the story of Sequin was last year. But that's fine because he's still fantastic. And I'm glad you mentioned the defense too because, wow, what a difference a year can make for a team. A Falcons defense that was largely toothless last year.

has completely transformed, had the perfect plan for Josh Allen, made him look human, made him look uncomfortable for a variety of reasons that we'll get into. But that was the other key to this game, limiting the bill's output, forcing more three-outs than they've had in a long time, and just shutting down this offense and allowing their offense to control the game when they had the football. Okay, that's a good idea to make it time for who's delivered by Uber eat it's got to be the falcons defense i mean that's to me who delivered all night and i could pick a few different plays but why don't we start at the back and and work our our way forward let's go to the final bill's offensive play of the entire game we'll see how many come

here here's allen up in the pocket atlanta trying to shadow him he'll move to his left he's going to throw he got intercepted and that ball is downed on the play, and that's DeAngelo Malone after Zach Harrison deflected it. Zach Harrison on the deflection there. And look, they're down 10 there. They're just in hurry up mode trying to make it happen. But I think it was typical of a day where just Alan always had someone in his face. Yeah. And look, you can call me a hater as much as you want. I'll take that. But there's nothing other than good offensive line play that warms my heart more than watching a defense send guys at mobile quarterbacks from all angles to where when they try

to break the pocket. Oh, no, I can't go there. I'm going to go the other way. Oh, no, there's a defender there. Oh, my God, what am I going to do? And it just results in chaos. Oh, I love that. Because there needs to be a counter to the modern quarterback, the dynamic mobile quarterback. And when a defense can pull that off, it's an example of great collaboration and also fantastic coaching and game planning. And I think that's exactly what the Falcons did tonight by caging Josh Allen, by sending pressure at him. I think it was two plays prior. They got a free rusher at him.

And Allen gets the ball out for a completion. But I think that's still stuck in his head in that sequence where it's just like, oh my God, I'm not going to have time to throw all night. I'm supposed to have a good offensive line. They can't stop this rush right now. I don't know what to do. He looked frazzled for most of the night. Yeah.

We've got a great comment in the chat from your co-host, Katie Caldwell, who said some of the bill's play calling was outrageous in Eliza Moore end around on third and one. This is the time for you to give the plus. for your other podcast. Katie knows ball. Check us out on the gridiron podcast. Iron in brackets.

We cover NFL and Formula One. Katie's one of my co-host, Sean Barry, who works for Fox 13 down in Tampa as the other. Come check us out because Katie knows ball. She absolutely does. And she's right that, like plays like that drive you crazy. What I would say is, it's a play out of desperation because their normal stuff

just wasn't working. And that, you know, that didn't work either. You can second guess so much. but two plays really stand out to me as the ones that were indicative of what happened tonight. They go for a fourth down late in the game in the fourth quarter when it still very much feels like, oh, the bills are going to come back in this, aren't they? The Falcons are going to falcon. And on fourth down, they send the heat, flush out Josh Allen to his left,

and he tries to flip the ball forward instead of just making a normal pass, which it seemed like he had enough time and room to do so, but he just tried to like make a great play by flipping it forward. And that reminded me so much shook of a third down play in the first half where they had been blitzing like crazy. And they wound up blitzing 56% of the time tonight. And it reminded me so much of a play in the first half, a drive killer on a third down where, yes, the pressure was coming,

but usually Josh Allen extends that play. And he just kind of threw the ball at the feet, the foot of a receiver. I forget which receiver it was. They lost Josh Palmer early in this game. And so they were going deeper onto the bench. And I was just like, wow, Josh Allen just looks a little shook. I'm going to give a ton of credit to the defense. But it's also like the defense was making Josh Allen not play very well.

And those were two plays where he did not stay calm and composed like he has been for most of the last two seasons. And outside of their first drive in which they went down the field and scored a touchdown to match Atlanta, I think that that was pretty evident early on. So much that it motivated Sean McDermott to make one of those gutless punt decisions in the first half, like in the second quarter where it's like fourth and three, they're near midfield and they're down and touchdown.

Good car. And I'm like, dude, gutless punt. Like Greg's going to hate this because why are you punting here? It's fourth and three. I sincerely believe they didn't think that they could get the fourth down conversion because of how much they were struggling all offensively, because of results like that. Well, the numbers would indicate you were right.

And man, you think of this game. And I just kept thinking, wow, the Falcons, that first half performance was incredible on defense. They can't, they need their offense to keep scoring, which they really did in the second half. They need to keep going or else like they can't count on winning this game. And the defense just kept getting stop after, stop after stop. They finished the bills with six punts, one turnover on downs, which we just talked about.

And then the interception, even before the late interception, he ended up with two interceptions, right? So, like, that is an incredible performance by a defense that wasn't really winning a lot, like, one-on-one up front. If you look at their pressure numbers, it's really spread out. Like, I don't even know who to single out from their pass rushers. Who I would single out is their linebackers, Devine, Diablo, and Cade and Ellis. To me, they were kind of the key for this game, not just in terms of the pressure, but just the entire defense.

Like I said, 58% blitz, 44% pressure rate, and you compare the numbers to the bills who are 20% blitz rate, and a lot of those were late, and only 25% pressure rate. So they're not as aggressive, and they're not getting home

or to the quarterback nearly as much. How about that? The Atlanta Falcons have a different smaking defense in the year of 2025. I know. It's a beautiful thing. You talk about spread. There was four guys with three pressures,

There's four guys with two pressures, three guys with one pressure. And even the four sacks they racked up, each one was by a different player. David on Yamada, Rookororo, D. Alford, and Sam Roberts. Like, three defensive linemen and a DB. Like, they brought it from all these different angles. And I think that that really complicated the picture for Josh Allen on a night in which he was never comfortable. And if you look at the Falcons defense statistically,

they were like first in the NFL in a number of different categories. They were tied for sixth for sack percentage. So this is not an aberration. not a one-off on a prime time stage. This is who they've been all year. And that's what makes it really exciting to track them because you can kind of flush that whole 30 to nothing loss to the Panthers as just chalk it up to, we had a bad day, we're going to burn the tape.

Otherwise, they've been competitive in pretty much every game. And frankly, if the Buccaneers don't hit that field goal or if Young Haiku doesn't miss that field goal at the end of that week one game, they might have another win in their, in their tally. Like, they're a fun team to watch. Yeah, they had not given up 300 yards in a game until, tonight and I don't believe did no they finished the 291 yeah the bills were just under that for tonight so they you know yardage DVOA they're number one they're already have more sacks right now

than they've ever had for as a falcons franchise through this point in the season and i've been kind of disappointed by their first two draft picks jalen walker and james pierce which is you know Jalen Walker had a big play on special teams tonight. They've each, you know, popped up with a hurry here or there, but they're not playing that much their first two picks. Yeah. And they gave up a first round pick, you know, for Pierce to the Rams, the 2026 pick.

And the one thing to the credit, you know, of this front office. And shout out to, you know, Patrick Claibon, who put Terry Fontno in the top 10 GMs and never heard the end of it from me and from our listeners in the offsees. and well, Patrick Claibon's laughing at you right now because all the moves that he's made, it's getting them to a pretty fun place. Anyways, my larger point was these two rookies,

if nothing else, what they've done and the way they've built the defense and the rookies are helping here, they have so much depth, so many different types of players, so many players that they can play, that it really does support this crazy pressure package and all the different things

that Ulbrick and Rahim Morris want to cook up. Like, they have enough dudes, with different skill sets to do that that are versatile. So they are supporting them in that way and they're playing really good team defense. Yeah, it's not a star-laden defense. Their most notable players exist in their secondary, which, by the way, shout out to AJ Terrell,

who basically erased Keon Coleman tonight because he wouldn't stop following him around the field. That hurt the bill's offense as well. And I think that when you are a sum of parts defense and the sum ends up being greater than your parts because of the versatility that it offers you, that will travel and that will give you a shot against some of the perceived top-tier teams in the NFL, which I don't know if Buffalo is.

If you look at their resume right now, I'm going to say everything that's beaten so far didn't win this last week. Most of them are some of the worst teams in the NFL, and the last two teams that they've played, the Patriots and the Falcons have brought the fight to them, and they've backed down in both of those games. Another thing that a common thread between those two games, and I know I'm harping on two losses and I'm sounding like a hater, and that's fine. Josh Allen officially has a problem with throwing picks over the middle of the field because the pick you through tonight looked a lot like the pick Marcus Jones got on him against New England and Buffalo in prime time as well. So I don't know if it's take him off a prime time or if it's figure

out your offense. It's the latter. It's not the former. Okay. Well, they did beat the Ravens in week one and I know the Ravens haven't, you know, looked so great since, but that was an incredible quarter out of the bill's offense. But I think the cracks were showing for their defense already. And the defense was driving all the Bill's fans crazy in the first half of this game. They just looked like a sieve. They gave up 154 yards on mistackles. And a lot of that was on the John Robinson run because Cole Bishop had a chance to get him down with about 40 yards to go. But there was about another 110 yards of mistackle yardage there as well.

So look, they have really struggled defensively. Josh Allen doesn't look the same. And you're right, when you look at the teams that they beat other than the Ravens, it was the Jets, it was the Dolphins, it was the Saints, it was the Saints. And we kind of gave like the Dolphins and Saints pats on the back. Oh, you competed with the Bills. You covered. I mean, you know, good teams win, great teams cover. I mean, when was the last time Bill's covered in a game?

I guess just that Jets game because, you know, everyone keeps either beating them or becoming closer. By the way, we should point out because we're done talking about the Falcons defense. It said that was who's delivered by Uber Eats. So when football makes you hungry, get game day meals on Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL order now. I mean, look, Uber Eats got their monies worth there, too. That was, that was meaty. I mean, yeah.

And you know what? Look, sometimes it shows up later, doesn't show up at all. But that's when you go to their competitor, not Uber Eats. They're always reliable. There you go. I, for no reason other than I want to see it. And we really appreciate everyone who is making these Monday nights really fun in the comments and watching. And obviously, everyone listening to us on the podcast.

But when you watch it on YouTube, you get to look at the highlights. We have the rights to the highlights. And it's a beautiful thing. And I know it's crazy, Shuck. And I thought this game was going to go much differently when I suggested that Josh Allen's incompletion against a blitz in the first quarter, I'm actually going to throw it up there for throw of the year nominee. because they get a blitzer clean on him. Dine.

He is falling backwards, and he drops an absolute dime in the bucket to Khalil Shakir, who's not even that open over D. Alford, who has had a good night tonight. And, you know, the review shows Khalil Shakir is out of bounds. But my God, that was an incredible throw. So even on a bad night, Josh Allen can do things that just make you say, wow. Yeah, I mean, he's still a superhero.

He just looked rather mortal over the last two weeks against defenses that have the right plan for him. I don't know if the blueprints necessarily out. I think it's more about the bills kind of looking in the mirror, circling the wagons like the Buffalo Bills do, and figuring out what they need to do, which, by the way, stop going away from James Cook in the fourth quarter. I know it wasn't working in the third quarter, but my God, you're in a one-score game. Keep giving one of your best players the football. It will work eventually for God's sake.

It's been a point of frustration for me for the last two games for the bills. I hope it doesn't continue. Yeah, I think that. is an awesome point, Shook, because, look, you saw with that play, like, what they needed to do to complete passes against the Blitz. It was a humbly night, I think, for Allen as the guy who's now, I think, thought of and known as one of the sharpest quarterbacks in the league. I watched every game of Tom Brady's career, by the way, you know, once or twice a year, no matter how old he got, like, a defense confused him. A defense got him. Like, that's football.

Like, they would dominate and surprise Tom Brady. Like, it does happen. But on a night where that seemed obvious, their success rate running the ball on design runs was 60%. Cook was doing great all night. Josh Allen was scrambling pretty well, but Cook goes 17 for 87. So I think that's... With one carry in the fourth quarter. Oh, my God. You know, last week, I can defend it.

The way the gameplay was going and the way they were stuffing Cook for the most part, like, I could defend it. I can't defend it here. So I mentioned the injuries in this game. There were quite a few. Joshua Palmer leaves early with a knee. injury. And that led to a lot of time for Tyrell Shavers. That was the man who was targeted on that fourth down. I was trying to think of her third down in the first half. So a lot of Shavers, a lot of Khalil Shakir, but that's an injury to watch. And then Terrell Bernard, their linebacker,

was out for most of the second half of this game. And I do not think ever returned to the field. And then for the Falcons, they lost their left tackle, Jake Matthew. So let's wrap up actually giving a little bit of love to the Falcons. You know, the Michael Penn, experience is consistently inconsistent. And he ends up, he had a very similar night, I think, to Caleb Williams, where you look at the numbers, 250 yards, got the touchdown, got the win. They did well enough. He did well enough to win.

There were a couple near interceptions late. There are a couple curious decisions. There were some dimes, too. If you watch him, this is kind of who he's settling in to be this season. evaluate for me the experience with keeping in mind that the points scored in the first half are worth just as much as the you know lack of points i guess in the second half yeah well i mean he had a touchdown pass he raced by drake london's foot going out of bounds on the one yard line his time expired the first half so we could have added that to his ledger but yeah there were

times where he would overthrow guys if you're watching on youtube you're seeing that completion of drake london where he's outrunning taylor rep to the goal line and it looked like he got in it first on first look and then the replay shows his right foot steps out at almost exactly the one as he's reaching for the pylon which took away like big excitement in that moment because it was like the bills deserve that because they had a turnover which gave the falcons just enough time to try that and it was an aggressive attempt by drake london it was like oh this is like karma football karma paying off right now for the bills but overall the drake london experience is exactly how you describe which is that it is consistently inconsistent but

it's not negative it's not discouraging it's just you got to find more consistency i hate see that because it sounds overly reductive. But he has a live arm. He overthrows guys sometimes. He did tonight. He also leans on, he has a favorite in Drake London and he's always looking at him. And essentially, from what I've seen so far, it's, is Drake London open? No, is Kyle Pitts open? No. Check down to Bejohn. Like, that's kind of the process that he's going through right now. And I understand that's, that's his top three guys, right? He will get better over the course of a season. I think that his processing is better than some young quarterbacks that we've seen. It's still better than Justin Fields. And that is all a positive. It's just that

he's not going to be a star overnight. If you think of Josh Allen's career, it took him multiple years and changing his throwing, you know, form, his technique and everything else before he became who he was. Just give it time. He'll be fine. Yeah. He had another decision where he kind of locked in to Casey Washington on a third down when he's well covered by Theron Johnson. And he didn't face much pressure on that play. He didn't face a ton of pressure overall on the night, but it was like he just made that decision when there were more open receivers with better matchups elsewhere on the field. I thought there were a couple moments like that. He also on the last Falcons Drive when they ended up kicking the field goal to go up 10, the only thing that they could possibly do to

lose the game then was turn the ball over and he threw it right over the middle to awaiting Shaq Thompson who played well tonight, I thought, you know, now. played well for most of the year. Yeah, like it ageless, Shaq Thompson. And Shaq Thompson, you know, just couldn't pull in the interception after anticipating the play. And we would be talking about Pennix's night, you know, quite a bit different if that happened. But I also don't want to forget the dime. So let's actually go back to the first half and let's see the touchdown throw that did stand up to Drake London.

There's London moving out on the wide side. They take the snap. Here's Pennix. Michael Lush, rips it. London, stretches the ball across. That's a touchdown for him. Atlanta. My goodness. What a play by London. What a catch. And then the presence of mine to reach that choker right over the white line for the score. It's unbelievable. So this play is like a he's a quarter

beat late on that throw, but he's got such a strong arm that he can still fit it in there. He put it in the right spot. It was great play design where he had a receiver kind of take away the defender inside. They're basically playing like, I think it was covered two on the goal line and just making a picket fence. And he just, it's kind of a spacing concept where he just sits down right there. you put on the inside with the defender and outside leverage, boom, touchdown. And you could do that because you have the arm talent, which is why we obsess with arm talent on quarterbacks who come out of the draft because it matters in tight windows in the NFL.

And there's a ton of them in the NFL. Yeah, and he showed it off tonight. And like, that was one of those plays where when he reaches that out, like you can just imagine it getting knocked out. And that would be such a Falcons play. And you mentioned the end of half sequence when they did not get that touchdown. Even though it was a little bit of found money, it was such a unique play where you're thinking at first like get out of bounds drake london so you can

so you can kick you know for the three points and then you realize oh it's all or nothing he's gonna score a touchdown or you're getting zero points and it was so surprising because you mentioned the turnover that was the the clunker of a josh allen interception just trying to do too much and then he comes up short and the you know the bills go into halftime down 217 and they get a quick touchdown coming out of the break and you're like, oh man, that seven points they didn't get. That's going to haunt them all night, but the defense just didn't let it happen. Pretty awesome. An awesome performance by another team. Look, this NFL is really heavy in terms of the upper middle. There's a lot of teams, and I still consider the bills one of those teams. They're four and two. Falcons are three and two

where it's just like, all right, you're in position. Like, you got a pretty good chance to make the playoffs. I have no idea how to separate about 10 to 12 of those teams. This bill's team still has Josh Allen. They've shown that they can figure things out as the season goes along. I've seen some bad Sean McDermott defenses where everyone thinks he's going to get fired by the end of the year. And somehow he turns it around. Even after, you know, Tyler Dunn writes a big feature about how he used 9-11 as a motivational factor. I was wondering if you're going to bring that up. They're missing. They're missing personnel. They don't have math. Melano they have three healthy defensive tackles tonight and Oliver just came back from injury they got to

get guys back but and I don't want to discount that because that does matter but yeah they always have they always have laws and in the falcons defense they were playing mike jurel at left tackle and eliza wilkinson at right tackle by in the second half of this game and they really need jake matthews to come back i mean that is as troubling a tackle combination and pass protection as you'll ever see. And that's, I think, part of the reason why the offense slowed down so much in the second half. Like, Bejan had, I believe, near 151 yards at halftime yards from scrimid. So most of them were in the first half. Jake London had 147 yards at half time. Like, fantasy games were one in the first half. And then he only added, you know, 11 more yards. But he does end up with 10 for 158

and a touchdown. Last thing on the Falcons before we go. I love that we had John Robinson and just to kind of close the circle on him on a night where he announced himself yes

as an award potential candidate. My whole thing with the MVP conversation is just like you know what is this conversation just why are we talking

about a conversation just have it just say it well I mean it's a flawed award anyway it's week it's week six yeah here's a clue

none of this is going to really matter in the MVP talk like stats that they're cumulative and they will still count. But ultimately, it's basically what you do from week 11 and 12 onwards that matters. And yeah, we're going to winnow out a lot of players. But there's going to be a lot of players in the mix going into week 10 or 11.

And then that's when you really figured. And is your team good? Like, that's the other criteria. Your team has to be good. There's no, there's no Jerry West losing the NBA finals and winning NBA final's MVP that doesn't happen in the NFL. Your team has to be good too. So that helps us kind of sort it out as well.

It's fun fodder for now. You've got to fill it some time somewhere. Something about the phrase. Oh, why didn't he should be in the MVP conversation. It's, well, I think week six is the first time we can really do. Like, I would have him top five for MVP. Like, put, say something specific is what I'm saying. Yeah, he's in there.

You can only vote for three guys. You can, you know, five guys. Tracking. Someone's asking if he's in the offensive player of the month conversation. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. You know what he is.

He's in the NFL daily guest of, uh, the week conversation. Maybe of all time. conversation. I thought it was really interesting the question that Jordan Rodrigue asked about the way that he gets extra vision lining up in the pistol. Let's actually listen to him talking last week on the show. For me, it's just, you know, using my vision and just anticipating what's coming before it even happened for the play even starts. And for me, like, you know, it's very important to use my eyes at a very high level and to manipulate linebackers, safeties, de-linement, just every one of them.

Because when I do that, and when I'm controlling the pace of the game, then everything else is taking care of itself. That's a good brand deal, by the way. Colgate Total. He is the Total back. There you go. Vision, power, speed. I love the question from Jordan.

She loves the pistol offense. I think tonight was a great sign that even if on this particular falcons seem like the pass and the run aren't always married up, there are a lot of big time advantages. And Bejan talked about it there and his vision to me is second to none right now in the league. Statement win. Season-changing win. Are the bills going to be one of those teams that just like every time they lose, everyone's like, oh, the Patriots have arrived. Oh, now the Falcons have arrived.

there are like there are tennis players to use an example that probably most of our listeners don't care about that like it's like oh that's the biggest win of his career that there it's people that just are always handing out those wins stepho you know stephano sits apas back in the day a top five guy you know Alex very oh it's the biggest win of their career he beats number four it's like well it's not the biggest winner of your season if the bills are just kind of an average team yeah and that's why we play the games parody is maybe at an all time high right now or at least it feels like it. It is like in the upper middle,

and yet we still have like eight teams, I feel like we can cross off, including the Tennessee Titans. Brian Callahan was fired on Monday. It's no longer even Monday where Shook is taping. Because these games were so good, and we love serving this double header as much attention as it can get,

we're going to talk about the Callahan firing, all the other news that has come down on our Tuesday show in the studio with George. Rodrigue. So stay tuned for that one. And yeah, this was an absolute pleasure, Nick Shook. Yeah. Doubleheaders, they're good and they're bad, but when the games are good, they're more good than bad. That is beautifully said from an NFL.com writer who still has some writing to do. Sorry about that tonight. I want to point out to everyone, that's the last simultaneous double header in NFL history. Roger Goodell doesn't like it

They're off the schedule indefinitely starting next year They're not part of the TV package Like that's it We have one more doubleheaders So if you love the double headers We got one more for you next week We'll be live then But they're separated

No more simultaneous We'll see you that Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to 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. It's everything you need to understand.

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