PTI - Danny Dimes Does it Again! + Eagles move to 3-0

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss Daniel Jones, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the NFC North. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's apparently national leg wear day, Tony. What's your legwear situation today?

I'm Tony Kornheiser. On natural. That's what you got. Oh, okay. I thought zipper compression was the way he was prescribed. I thought you were going in that direction with a lot of us. No? Yeah, that's on my right ankle, which is ridiculously swollen.

But I'm sitting at home. I don't have to wear pants. Come on. I just have to wear those socks. Now. Welcome to PTI Boars and Girls. In today's episode, Danny Dimes does it again. Clemson loses again, and Ben Johnson wins for the first time.

But we begin today with the most dramatic ending yesterday in a day of dramatic endings where five different games ended on the last play with no time left on the clock. But the Eagles blocked field goal and returned for a touchdown against the Rams was simply in same. Down 2726, the Rams were lined up for the winning field goal. And Eagles big man, Jordan Davis, blocked the kick, then scooped up the ball and carried it and his 336 pounds, 61 yards for 3326 victory in Philadelphia. Wilbon, what does this dramatic result say about each team? You know, it just says the same thing in relation to both teams. The Eagles, as I said last week, when I replaced the Packers with the Eagles

atop the Willbound Power rankings, ratings, the Eagles are the best team. They're the best team in the league. Any discussion of dethroning anybody and winning the Super Bowl, being the best team, being number one ranked, it runs through Philadelphia. It runs through the Eagles,

because they can beat you any way you need to be beaten. They can beat you down, running the ball and playing defense. God knows, Jane the Hertz, if he needs to, yesterday, but if he needed to, he can throw it and lead the Eagles that way. Special teams can get

them a win. They're champions, Tony. That's right. And they're big and bad and bold. They're well-coached. They believe in what they're doing, and everybody else is second right now. The Rams, they come close twice. They're not ready

yet. They're not. So that was the craziest ending of the day. And I want to deal with people who bet on the Rams because their heads exploded at that moment. The Rams were getting three and a half points. So Mike, when they line up for the field goal, they're down one. Even if the field goal doesn't go, they're still going to cover because they're only down one. In this case, they go down seven. They don't cover and they watch as a 336 pound man goes to the other side of the field.

that is horrific if you are gambling on the Rams, because the Rams at one point, I think we're up 26 to 7, something like that. So the entire game, you're counting your money. You're sure you're going to win in this thing. This is not. Scotty Van Pelt refers to a bad beat. There's not a bad beat.

This is the worst beat. And now I will agree with you completely on the Eagles. They're a terrific team, and they have been for a while. You know, they're down by like 20 points, and they come back at you, and they blocked two kicks. I've never seen so many blocks in a day. Who does it?

Who blocks two kicks? I mean, they stood up, and they were really, really good when they had to be really, really good. And for the first time in two years, Mike, we're not talking about the Eagles in the context of the tush push. We're now talking about the Eagles' hearts, not their tushes.

Best team. Tony, you know, we just signed an extension. I didn't know you were angling for ESPN bet job. What are you going to do that? You and Joe Fortinball? You and Joe Fortinball are going to do? You're going to nudge me out? I'm just saying.

I don't understand anything you said. I don't want it. I know the number. I know the number. I know it was when I was plus three and a half. And I know all of a sudden in the last play with zero zero zero at seven and you lose. I'm glad you know all that stuff. I pay no attention.

So we're going to set aside now the Eagles and the Bills who won Thursday and discuss the NFL's other unbeatens, the 49ers. top the Cardinals, the Bucks, edge the jets, the charges scraped by the Broncos, and the Coltson, Daniel Indiana Jones. I hate that nickname, but I sort of, I really do like it. I'm starting to grow up. I like it. Dominated the Titans. So which one stands out to you? Okay, so the perverse side of me wants to start with the Colts, because they are 3 and 0. They got no business being 3 and 0. Nobody thought they were going to be 3 and 0. At quarterback, they have Daniel Jones, so you will remember the Giants got rid of. The giants who are now 0 and 3, and if you watch last night,

they have no quarterback, and they can't score any touchdowns. So Jones has been terrific. The Colts have been terrific. They've scored 103 points in three games. None of Peyton Manning's teams at the Colts started the season with 103 points in three games, and they've only punted once all year. But that's the perverse side of me. I think in all fairness, you have to start with the chargers. The Chargers did to the Broncos what the Eagles did to the Rams. They came back late. They were down 17, 10 in the third. They were down 20 to 13 with about three minutes to go in the fourth, something like that. And, you know, Justin Herbert, he's really good, right? I mean, he really delivers the ball. The best quarterback, I'm going to make the case.

Through that late touchdown pass, then got him in position for the winning field goal. They're a formidable team, Mike. Tony is definitely the Chargers for me. And everybody else did fine work. By the way, how do the Giants feel about no Sequin Barkley and no Daniel Jones, who the two of them are

6 and 0? And then the Giants still looking at win the game. It's the Chargers, okay? Because the Chargers have Harbaugh and Herbert. I said this last week. I'm repeating myself just like I did with the Eagles. Listen, you can make the case. And I'm never going. I'm going to set Patrick

McCombs aside because he too just does whatever he has to do, including recovering a fumble on the ground to help his team win against. I'm going to set Patrick Mahomes and his Super Bowl rings aside. If you ask me who I'm going to take right now, the answer is Justin Herbert, man. And I will get to my man, Caleb, and in the future, you know, a couple of years from now. I mean, one him, Herbert's in that place. What is he in his fifth or sixth season? He's got a coach who is perfect for him, who pumps him up and makes him feel great. And he's got all the requisite skills and the arm you need. And now he's got a team.

And Jim, I'm sorry. Yeah, Jim, not John. Jim Harbaugh is not going to let him take a nap. He's not going to do that, Tony. The charge, and they've beaten three division opponents. Yeah, they've going through that schedule very well. And I don't want to give short trip to the 49ers or to Tampa Bay. The 49ers, they're pretty much running on fumes.

Bosa just went out. He's out for the rest of the season. They're on a second string quarterback. They don't have any offense. They average less than 20 points a game. Their entire total, 3 and 0, they are plus 10. And if you think that's low, Tampa Bay is plus 6. That's all they are.

Tampa Bay has won their first three games in the last minute of the game. The first team ever in the NFL to open. Baker Mayfield. wins last minute because Baker Mayfield is a stud this year and has been for a couple of years. Let's move. Let's move to your division, Mike, the NFC North. Let's look at the three results from yesterday. The Packers lost to the Browns in the last second. The Vikings without J.J. McCarthy destroyed Cincinnati, 48 to 10, and your bears got on the board beating Dallas Handley, 3114. So I will ask you, fearing your hometown answer, which was the biggest result of these three?

Well, the biggest result was probably the Packers going down in Cleveland to a great defense with a team that can't score. Jordan Love throwing that stupid interception late. That just warmed my heart nearly as much as watching Caleb Williams go for four touchdowns and no picks. And the first time he's played a game in the NFL without being sacked. That's pretty big news too. Now, do I believe the Bears are going to automatically go on some role based on that first game?

No. because our defense isn't any good. The Bears' defense is just, it's nearly as bad as Dallas's defense, which stinks. The Cowboys rushed for an average of six plus yards per rush in that game against the Bears yesterday, who got some turnovers who came up with some really nice plays defensively against that passing game in a strip fumble. The Bears were resourceful, and Caleb Williams was great. So they're both of a part.

But the Packers going down like they did, Tony, at Cleveland. That was a surprise. A lot of people thought the Bears would run up some points against the Cowboys, the Cowboys, and they did. I know that you went to the Bears game yesterday. I did. I know you sat with your boys, Richard Dent. Otis, my man, Otis, my man, Wilson.

Otis Wilson. I know you saw Caleb Williams' dad before the game. I know Caleb Williams had a great game. And as you point out, no sacks for the first time. but it warms my heart to hear you admit that the bigger deal was a Packers losing to the Browns. Okay, because two weeks ago, not last week, but two weeks ago, you had the Packers in the Super Bowl,

and nobody thinks the Browns were even going to win six games. Right, and the Browns aren't going to do it. The Browns defense, they have no offense, but the Browns defense was tremendous. They chased Jordan Love all over the field. They sacked him five times, so he looked like Caleb Williams used to look. They held that team to 2.6 yards per rush.

They held them to 10 points in the game and no points in the fourth quarter. And they too blocked the kick. Everybody blocked the kick yesterday. And they won late. And that was tremendously surprising. Neither of us can make a judgment on Minnesota. Because when both starting quarterbacks are out and you get a result, you don't know what it means. You honestly don't know what it means with Minnesota.

So it is the Packers. And that was a big deal. Let's take a break. Coming up, Indiana Smash. on Saturday, but there was a more intriguing result, or was there a more intriguing result from the college football weekend? And the Mariners sweep the stroll so which race in baseball now deserves our attention the most. Yeah, Tony, you watch it with Dent and Wilson. You know how much I feel I know today, guys who are great players calling out things before they happened.

It was like they had a direct line to the field when they were screaming at the Bears run the damn ball. They ran it 11 times in a row. Have you ever seen so many block field goals? Have you ever seen anything like this? No, no, because there's never been four like in one week or something. It was crazy. Wow. Cleveland kick.

Pardon the interruption is brought to you by the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN, all in one place. Your home for the most and best live sports. Time to find out what matters to the masses. I got the mailbox here. Mail. Put on my glasses and get the first one. what was the most intriguing result of the college football weekend?

Well, Tony, for me, there were two. I called you about one of them. I called you at halftime, and you didn't think Syracuse was going to hold on and beat Clemson. That was one of them. Did not. But then the main event came for me a few hours later. When Indiana beat Illinois 170 to two,

that was a stunter to me, because I thought those two teams were even, if you'd asked me, okay, going in, who's going to win this game? Indiana had some home field advantage. Illinois is slightly higher ranked. I thought it was going to be a tussle. It was no tussle.

What the hell happened to the Illini? I just cannot get over the result. And I know Stignetti, I realize the coach of Indiana is really good at what he does, even if he annoys the hell out of a lot of us in the Midwest. He's really, really good. They were in the playoff last year, lost in Notre Dame. They may get back there. They got some tough games coming up because the Big Ten is loaded.

But wow, Tony, that was the stunner to me. I will tell the people about the conversation we had about that game. Because I asked you, does the coach at Indiana have a problem with the coach at Illinois or with the University of Illinois? I know about it. Because 63 to 10 in a conference game 63, and I asked you, did he run it up? And that's an important game. As is the fact that Bill Belichick's team lost to Central Florida 34-9, which is bad. as is Miami suffocating Florida.

But there is no doubt in my mind that the biggest news is Clemson losing at home to Syracuse. Davo! 3421. That's unthinkable to me. Earlier this year, Syracuse gave up more points 24 to Colgate than they just gave up at Clemson.

To me, Mike, and to you too, this starts the clock on Davo Sweeney. I'm not saying that anyone's going to fire him, but I don't think we're going to hear another whiny press conference, and I think he's got to start thinking in his mind, where is the soft landing for me? Is there some other place I want to coach

than here? Gainesville. That's unbelievable to lose to Syracuse at home. It's unbelievable. It is. It is. It's shocking. What's next? Shocker. It's next. It's the final week of the baseball season. Which race are you most interested in? Well,

I'm still interested. I know that the Mariners just sort of put some distance between themselves and I get they went down to Houston and they want. I still care about the National League and I know the National League is not as interesting as the American League. So I'm going to take something that again, as a child of the Midwest, interests me specifically. And that's Cleveland and Detroit.

That is not a, that shouldn't have been a race. I mean, Detroit led by such a wide margin some weeks ago that I would just look at the standings and go, okay, I'll check back when we start doing the seatings, the first October. There was no way the Guardians could catch the tigers and now they can. And so it's that race head to head, Tony, head to head. I understand that. Detroit was up by 15 and a half games. They're now up by one and they got to go to Cleveland starting tomorrow night, I believe, for three games. But that collapse is not close to the Mets. I am looking at the wild card, the third wild card in the National League, where the Mets are now, even with Cincinnati, child of the Midwest, and one

ahead of Arizona. On August 1st, the Mets record was 62 and 47, and since then, they are 18 and 29, and Buster only told us last week, if they don't make the wild card, it's going to be the biggest collapse in history, in history. And I just want to say one thing about that game yesterday that they lost to the Nats. They lost two out of three to the Nats. Jacob Young made one of the greatest catches I have ever seen yesterday. He made two great catches. Yeah, but the first one, he takes the home run over the wall, brings it back, and then loses the ball. The ball is falling to the ground. He kicks it with his right foot, kicks it in the air.

Great catch. And makes the catch, and it's an out. And that is just a marvelous catch. Absolutely marvelous catch. It's enough email. Let's take one last break. Still to come, Bruce Pearl, makes a surprising career decision. What's the big takeaway from the Chiefs, beating the Giants?

The Cubs went in the tank, hadn't lost four games in a row all season, and just gave four to Cincinnati. Now, I understand resting people. I understand getting the playoffs. The Mets could miss the playoffs. After all this, after all the money they spent, and after having a good start. Happy time, people.

Happy 76th birthday Harold Carmichael. The Philadelphia Eagles great wide receiver was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020 by a Veterans Committee after waiting more than three decades for the honor. Carmichael who played for the Eagles from 1971 to 1983, is still the team's all-time leader in career receptions, 589 in yards, 8,978, and in receiving touchdown, 79. Carmichael, a seventh-round draft pick out of Southern, at his best season in 1973 when Roman Gabriel was the Eagles quarterback.

They combined for 67 receptions and 1,116 yards, best in the NFL. After Gabriel, Carmichael's quarterback was our great friend, Ron Juorski. Jaws to Carmichael resulted in 335 receptions over seven seasons. And Carmichael was the NFL's man of the year in 1980. And if you think Harold Carmichael in those clips looks a little bit bigger than the defensive acts trying to cover him, that's because he's 6-8, and they're not, but just a great receiver and a great dude. A not-so-happy anniversary Mario Cristobal. On this day seven years ago, the then Oregon coach opted not to kneel and run out the clock,

With his ducks up three at Stanford's 42 and under a minute left, Oregon fumbled, and Stanford drove down the length of the field for a tying field goal and ultimately a shocking victory. Cristobal did the same thing in 2003 coaching Miami and lost to Georgia Tech. But Christabal is sitting pretty in Coral Gables right now. His 4-0 Keynes beat in-state rival Florida on Saturday, and they beat Notre Dame in South Florida. And now number two, Miami will play number eight Florida State in two Saturdays for the

mythical championship of the Sunshine State. Tony seems like we're in a position where Miami could be national champion again. And I don't know that anybody started the year thinking or talking about them going that far, being that good. But look, it seems possible, doesn't it? Well, they're up to two already. So yeah, yeah, yeah, it does. Happy trails to coaching for Bruce Pearl. The Auburn coach is stepping down to become an ambassador for the athletic department. In his place, the school gave a five-year deal to his son, Stephen.

Pearl is 65. He has had terrific teams at Milwaukee, Tennessee, and Auburn, which made the final four last season and in 2019. His decision comes about a year after Tony Bennett did the same thing at UVA. Pearl said he will not run for the U.S. Senate, something that had been rumored. Tony, he'd become a divisive person,

it seems to me, intentionally, and I hope there was pressure to just get him out. Really? I've liked him. He was such a great guest. Yeah, we're on the other side on him. A melancholy trails to Bernie Perrant. The Hall of Fame goaltender has died at the age of 80. Perrant was in the net for the Flyers only two Stanley Cup championships during their Broad Street bullies era with Bobby Clark. Over a 13-year career, he made five All-Star teams. He won two Vezna trophies as the NHL's top goaltender and two Khan Smiths as playoff MVP. And we have now lost three legendary goalies just this month. Peront, Eddie Jens. Jockerman and Ken Dryden. From a time, Tony, where not everybody had a mask all the time at the beginning of their careers, sad to lose them. Some things don't need to come in threes, that's for sure.

One-O-mission rocket starting point guard Fred Van Vleet reportedly tore his right ACL, Mike. That could be team altering. That's a huge loss for the Rockets, Tone. Sad to hear that. Yeah. Let's go to the big finish if we could. Let's do it. The Texas, their 0-3 after losing.

to the Jaguars. There's cause for concern, right? Yeah, because they're wasting a great defense. They can't score at all. Yes, concerned if you're there. The Chiefs beat the Giants. Were you impressed with that win? Okay, the Chiefs had to win that game. The Giants aren't any good. You know, they've got a problem in quarterback. They're not any good. The fever beat the Aces in game one. Did that make sense to you? No. And the Aces after winning 17 in a row have now been off form three games. That's just a little weird. The Falcons replaced Michael Pennings, Jr.

in game with Kirk Cousins late yesterday. Your read on that? My read is that they're not going to bench Pennix, but it's a little too soon to anoint him as the greatest player in the world, and they got a guy they're paying millions to on the bench. You put them in the game. Doesn't mean they change.

Last one, Monday Night Football, Lions at Ravens. Who got tonight? All right, that's a great matchup. I got skin in that game from an emotional standpoint, so I'm rooting for the Ravens to take out the Lions. I want to see if the Lions were the team they were that lost to the Packers, the team up north in week one, or the team to beat the daylights out of my Bears in week two.

Ravens are a really good regular season team. I expect them to win. They're problems in the playoffs. We are out of time. We're trying to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser. And I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.