OverDrive - Saturday on McCarthy shining in his debut, Williams' tough start and the Lions' team concerns

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

ESPN NFL Analyst Jeff Saturday joined OverDrive to discuss Vikings' victory against the Bears on Monday Night Football, J.J. McCarthy's exciting first impressions, Caleb Williams' inconsistency, the Bills' showdown against the Ravens, the Lions' concerning start to the season, the Packers and Commanders' set to clash and more.

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Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, Internet, just got better. We're joined now by Super Bowl champ, longtime NFL or ESPN NFL analyst, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Here's Jeff Saturday. Jeff, when you look back on that game last night, which is a bigger story for you, the fact that the Vikings came back to win it

or the fact that the Bears found a way to lose it? Probably the Vikings winning it. I mean, you think about a rookie quarterback or, you know, first-year quarterback for all intents and purposes, as a rookie and, you know, his ability to, you know, he throws a pick six, and then his ability to kind of fight through it, kind of bowl his neck up and go, no, no, I'm not going to back down, you know, guys either, they usually either fade to the back or make, you know, make a stand, and he's one of those guys who made a stand.

And I thought some of the throws he made were excellent, some of the reeds. I thought as a team, you could tell they got more aggressive. They ran the ball well offensively, but their defense, I think they blitzed him 14. times in the second half as opposed to, I think, one time in the first half. So their whole mindset just changed. And so I was very impressed with them being able to come back. And again, some of the errors that the Bears made, they'll look back and, you know, hate themselves because we all do as players when we lose a lead like that. But it wasn't like they were clicking on all cylinders. They didn't run the ball well. And if you look at Ben Johnson, you know,

when he's had so much success in Detroit, a ton of it was predicated on. They could run the ball extremely well, and that opened up the play action and explosive plays. Well, if you're not running it well, it's going to be really hard to create those things. Now, there were some that Caleb missed, but I think they'll all go back from a coaching staff and players and go, man, we had opportunities to put the nail on the coffin and just unfortunately didn't do it. How rare is it for a quarterback like McCarthy to start out looking nervous

as Brian just said, it looked like the lights might be a little bit too bright, and then have that turnaround. Usually when it's going south, it just goes down the gutter, but he just completely turned it around, Jeff. You know, 100%. And to your point, not even just the players, but usually coaches, you know, they start to get conservative and go, oh, you know, we just, you know, we want to try to just, you know, get out of here

and not look bad. Let's figure ways out. And nobody did. I mean, the whole staff, the whole team, Like there was no back down, no blink. They just kept fighting, man. And you saw the momentum changed. And once the momentum changed, you know, Chicago just couldn't find their way back to it.

In terms of the Caleb Williams conversation, you know, that was a driving force going into the game. It's going to be a driving force coming out of it. You know, first overall pick. I saw, I believe, on ESPN today. I think you guys were talking about, you know, redrafting. Would it be Caleb or JJ if you could go back to the draft a couple of years ago? which I think says something about the way McCarthy played last night, but ultimately the way Caleb Williams played last year,

the stories that are coming out, you know, anonymous comments about his work ethic and working with him last year, and then the way he performed in the second half last year for last night, if you're a Bears fan, how concerned are you with where Caleb Williams currently stands? I'm actually encouraged after last night. Now, to your point, I don't know anything about anonymous, you know,

Like, it's always hard for me to listen. You know, if a guy will put his name on it, I'll listen. Oh, okay, this guy really does know. But when I hear all those things, the rumors about players, I tend to kind of not buy. But I will say this, remember, Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson had been together about five, six months, right? Let's be real. Like, they have not been together a very long time. J.J. McCarthy spent a year basically rehab,

grabbing his leg with no pressure, listening to Sam Darnold and Kevin, you know, KOC hash out game plans, go through progressions, figure out, hey, this is what I would do, this is what I wouldn't do. Caleb, this is what is fourth offensive coordinator in 18 games. You know, basically like learning four new languages, you know what I mean? So I think part of that's a bit unfair when you talk about, and I said this on air, when you talk about redraft, and I want to know who's coaching, right? if it was Ben Johnson at the beginning with Caleb Williams, maybe that looks totally different

now than what he was thrown into versus J.J. McCarthy going into KOC, who we all know has done a tremendous job with all those quarterbacks. And so it's always hard for me to go, oh, well, I would redo something or I would change something. There's some qualities that Caleb Williams have that are special. And, you know, you saw some of them last night, but there's some habits that he created over the past year, and even some when he was in college that has to be broken, not unlike many players that come in the NFL, I think Ben Johnson is the guy to do that. I mean, if there was anybody I was going to trust to get my quarterback right, I think the two

guys we saw coaching last night, you know, that can have some feathers in the cap of what they can do. So I'm not writing off Caleb Williams. I'm not writing off the Bears. I was actually encouraged by Ben Johnson. And I know, listen, it was his first rodeo as well. He didn't make all the right calls, right? Some of the things they did, some of the conservative things they did, I didn't love.

But it's hard, man. That's a different seat that he's never been in as well. And so they're kind of learning together. So after watching the night previous, how was last night's experience? I mean, what do you make of that Baltimore Buffalo game? I mean, the game of the year, and you're one week in. not even. Unbelievable, right?

Like, how lucky are we that, you know, that you get to see that. And I'll say this, I said this earlier today on air as well, it really reminds me of when I was with the Colts and the Patriots, right? We were the two top teams in the ASC and whoever won the game early, most likely we were going to have to play at their place for the playoffs. And so that's the same way I saw week one. Now, Buffalo obviously has a much better or much more favorable schedule than Baltimore. And Baltimore, and they shot themselves in the foot.

Like, no different really than the playoff game. And Buffalo took full advantage. And you cannot give Josh Allen, you can't give that offense that many touches. And as the game went on and, you know, they knew they were still in reach that you saw them, boy, they were making some plays. And so I think those were the two best teams in the. AFC, honestly. I said that today as well, and I do believe that. But Buffalo, the playoffs right now are going to run through Buffalo. I just, unless something catastrophic, I just don't see Buffalo

falling off and somebody else catching them because they're a good football team, and they got a lot they can get after this season. Well, I notice you, if you're saying Buffalo and Baltimore, the two best teams in the AFC, then that's not the Kansas City Chief. and they lost week one on the other side of the NFC, the top seed last year, and the NFC, the Detroit Lions, they lost in embarrassing fashion. Chiefs or Lions, who should be more scared of what they saw on Sunday? Or this past week? Lions?

Yeah, Lion. Yeah, I mean, you know, they lost three really good coaches, right? The two coordinators, and now, you know, they bring in John Morton and who's, you know, who's calling the plays. And they looked very stagnant. Their offensive line didn't look good. They couldn't run it. They couldn't get any explosive plays.

The score was not nearly what 2713 looked like. And so I would probably be more concerned that way if I'm Detroit. Because they have, you know, the only thing that changed was the OC, right, in D.C. Like players are pretty much, I don't mean you don't mean. You get attrition in the NFL no matter what. But the dudes, right? Like when we talk about dudes, their guys are there and they were not productive. And so Kansas City, they found so many different ways to win over the past four or five years.

It's hard for me to write them off. I'm scared for their receiver position. I just, I mean, Godly, like, how much can you ask of a guy? Mahomes is incredible. But, like, at some point, you got to surround them with something and these guys getting, you know, suspended and injured. It's just hard to, it's hard to do that. week in and week out in the NFL. If anybody can do it, they can, but I think it's going to be hard for them to match points because their defense didn't play nearly as well as I guess I

expected against the Chargers. But if I'm picking between those two of who would I be more concerned, it was Detroit. Line schedule also is fallacious. The road skit is really brutal. While the Chiefs have the Eagles in town this weekend, it just broke this hour, that Jalen Carter is just going to be fined. He will not be suspended for spitting on or spitting at Dak Prescott. Are you at all surprised that he's not suspended for that beyond the game they're kicked out of? No, I'm not. I thought because obviously he didn't play it down in week one.

So, you know, I'm sure the league is, you know, counting that basically as a suspension. And now they're going to hit him with cash. And I'm sure they, you know, they put the fear of God in them about if it happens again, and what would happen. So, because it escalates right under whatever the penalty is. But no, I didn't expect him to get any suspension beyond what, you know, beyond being kicked out of the game. I think it may have been different if it was, you know, into the fourth quarter,

or maybe even third quarter, maybe you have a different conversation. But, I mean, basically he already missed one game and they're going to find them. And now, you know, you move on and, you know, he gets back to play it. Absolutely. That what a game. That's going to be on Thursday night. We got Green Bay, Washington. I mean, you can't ask for much better than that, right?

Like, where do you... I love the way Green Bay looked. I love the way they looked the other day. You said what you said about Detroit, which maybe dampens what we saw to Green Bay a little bit, but do you think, you know, the Packers are in the driver's seat as of Thursday night with Washington coming to town?

I do. I like with that. Micah Parsons, their defense, good gracious. I mean, they flat out got after it. And, you know, I think Jordan Love, I think LaFleur is a great, a great play caller, and he's going to get the most of his guys offensively. So I like where they are.

I mean, you know, I think about the commanders, how Jaden Daniels, like that offensive line with Jaden Daniels against this Packers front, I couldn't be more fired up, right? Like I look at those kinds of things. I look at even, you know, Kansas City and the Eagle. Like, I want to see Chris Jones and that, you know, the Eagles O' line. Like, those are the things that fire me. Right, like the skill guys, okay, you know, we're all going to have fun, but we got some battles this week coming up.

Colts and Broncos that, you know, so there's a number of really good games, week two that I am, I am teed up for and excited to see. Can I not wait for it. Enjoy it, Jeff. Great catching up with you. Great talking to you guys. Have a great afternoon. You got it. Jeff Saturday of ESPN joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

Hey, this is Ruby Car, the host of the podcast, Encore. Weida's teenage dirtbag is one of the most relatable songs of all time, but thanks to its impossible falsetto, maybe not the easiest to sing. She said I'll got tickets to iron main and... Yes, that famous female vocal verse was recorded by vocalist Brendan Brown in 2000, and thanks to a tech mix-up again in 2020. Listen to Encore on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcast for the stories behind all the songs you love.