PTI - Should We Be Convinced The Rams Are Back on Track After MNF Win?

Episode Date: September 22, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the Ram's and Matthew Stafford's performance vs. the Giants, dive deeper on Paul Skenes comments on his performance struggles, and debate how important the Padres-Dodgers series actually is! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calculating route to avoid seeing poverty. Turn left to bypass the unhoused youth sleeping on the street. Then keep right to skip by the lines of people waiting for food. Steer clear of the crowded shelter turning people away, then take the next exit. Let's stop looking away and get in the way of rising poverty. Your donations help the United Way fight poverty in thousands of ways, like providing food, shelter, and crisis prevention. Donate today at United WayGT.org.

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon, is National Dear Diary Day, Tony. You keep a diary? Dear diary. Wilbon doesn't even know that I write about him every day. If he really cared about me like he says he does, he'd notice these things. Yes, I keep a diary. I do. Do you not keep a diary?

You don't keep a diary. I do keep a diary. And you never kept a diary. I do keep a diary. No. You don't keep diaries from what we were of a certain age? teenage girls, sophomore year, they kept a diary of 15 and 16. What did I used to do for a living? I wrote. What did you used to do?

I keep one now. I have kept one for 20 years. Get out. I keep one now. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, Paul Schemes has a theory. The Padres and Dodgers start a series. And this Saturday joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Rams reestablishing themselves as contenders in the United States after their disaster in Australia. dominating the Giants, 28 to 6 on Monday night football in L.A. The Rams got four touchdown passes out of incumbent MVP, Matthew Stafford, and the Giants lost their quarterback, Jackson Dart,

in the first series of the game with a knee injury, and they never got started. Aaron Donald made his return to the NFL. He got three tackles. Will Bon, did the Rams convince you they are back on track? No. The Rams didn't convince me of, oh, wait, I was going to use that Tom Brady word,

but I'm not going to use that. Don't use that. I won't use that. No. We're not going to make any declarations on this show. Maybe you will. I'm not. No. The Rams beat the team does not need good. The Giants aren't any good. I know the Giants beat the Cowboys. The Cowboys aren't any good despite what you may hear elsewhere on this network. The Giants, they got a couple of players that are flashy that you want to watch, except maybe you don't get to watch them because they get injured so quickly in each season. Scatiboo last year. Jackson Dart could be out a long time. I mean, and that's too bad because they are exciting. Whatever they bring some excitement. And the Giants have a lot of talented young players, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But are the Giants any good, despite the reputation of their coach who earned his status? No.

So the Rams haven't done anything. If they beat the Seattle team that's in their division or if they beat the 49ers who clocked them 10 days ago, then I'm ready to declare something about them. Okay. So I sat here for the last 10 days with you as you destroyed. every single person from a morning show on this particular network who said anything...

Well, not now. Not now. Who said anything good about the Rams. I was there when you stressed that they all said the Rams would be undefeated and unscored upon. Unscored upon.

I know you were thrilled when the 49ers clocked in Australia. You were gleeful about that. I wanted to preach... And I love McVeigh. I do. This is just about him.

I wanted to preach caution, but I could not get a word in. I will just say this about the Rams. They got four touchdown passes from their quarterback who'll still be 38 years old this week. See, if the peas are raining with the three. Oh, no, no. You said you weren't sure he'd be any good this year because of his age.

Still early. Guy comes back out of retirement and has three tackles. And you said, I don't know that he can come back out of retirement. What I am saying to you is that the Rams looked to me like they were getting over their travel issues. And Sean McVeigh, after the game, as a good coach should, said the travel issue is on me. Give me 20 seconds on the job.

Giants. And Garrett will come back and Puka will come back. Let me give 20 seconds on the Giants because it looks like James Winston is going to be the man for a while. James Winston, when he got on the field yesterday, acted like he had never seen any of those Giants' teammates and never seen any of the plays that were called for him to make. He was terrible. Now, he's fun because he is Mr. Chuck and Duck. He is 40 touchdown passes and 50 interception. Where is that going to get that team?

He's going deep. I got a great staff. It's a great stat. And I like James Winston. Fun to watch. Exasperating, but fun. 114 interceptions and 109 games. Aaron Rogers, by contrast, 124 interceptions and 266 games.

The Giants are you good? Are they any good? No. They're not any good. No. So how do I know what I'm watching from the Rams? No. When the Rams play a real team and they got some coming up,

then we can make some declarations. Let's move to Paul Skeens pointing at the World Baseball Classic. for his struggles this season. Skeins' his ERA is up, his velocity's down. He tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the WBC force tends to ramp up more quickly this spring, adding, quote, I don't want to put everything on that,

but I feel like that was kind of the root of it a little bit, close quote. Tone, reasonable conclusion, and do you see this affecting anyone's future participation in the WBC? I got to go to the numbers with this, because I have numbers on this. This is a story because for Paul Skeins' first two years in the major leagues, he was Bob Gibson. He was rookie of the year in his first year, 11 and 3 in a 196 ERA. He won the sigh last year.

The record wasn't great, 10 and 10, 10 and 10, 197 ERA. This year, 10 and 11, 391 ERA, that's two runs a game, two runs a game higher. Of course, he wants to play in the World Baseball Classic because he's 24 and it's fun. It looks like it's fun. Everybody seems to like it. Now can he make a case? Can he make the case that he had to pitch too much early and not take the legially path of spring training where there's no pressure? Well, he's not pitched the ball over 100 miles an hour this year at all.

He had hundreds in his first two years. Your boy, the Miz goes over 150 times. 50 times. And why? He did not pitch in the World Baseball Classic. I'll give you the supporting evidence because it's the Giants. It's the giant starter, Logan Webb, 15 and 11 last year, 322 ERA and led the National League in strikeouts this year. and he pitched in it.

8 and 9, 431 ERA, and 90 less strikeouts and 37 fewer innings. On the other side, Christopher Sanchez having a great year. Christopher Sanchez. That's he pitched in it. Yamamoto having a great year and he pitched in it. It's a perfectly legitimate case for skeins to make about schemes. That's right. He didn't make the case about everybody.

He made the case about him. And I'm going to give him that. And just so don't do it. But there will be people, you know what competition used to mean before I can't play back-to-backs? It meant if you saw somebody from your neighborhood, from your street laying on the ground, you would step over him to get to the mound yourself. So there will be others. Let me ask you this question.

Do you think owners are going to want their pitchers in this thing? No. No, and they're paying the contracts. You know what, Tony, it's interesting because there'll be other, there'll be conflict there. There'll be people who want to play. Who want to pitch. That's right. Who won't feel as beholden.

That's right. Or maybe as diva like, but I'm not going to criticize skeins. Skeen should say no. By the way, the phrase ramp up should be retired. Only Wodge gets to say ramp up. And now everybody's adopted it and stolen. Let's stay with baseball, move to the pennant and wild card races in the National League. The Padres, your Padres, who have won 13 of 14 and are tied for the top wildcard spot in the National League.

They're in Los Angeles to open a three-game series against the Dodgers who've won four in a row and 14 of their last 17. Padres are trying to get the first wild card and the home playoff series it brings. Dodgers are trying to catch and pass. The Brewers get home field on every series. Wilbon, is this Padres Dodgers series a big deal, a little deal, or no deal? None of those.

Huge! This series, huge. First of all, these two playing don't like each other. And that's just the way it should be with division opponents who've eliminated each other in the postseason. The Padres eliminated the Dodgers

when they probably thought they were the favorites a couple of years ago. Tony, look, this whole thing. whole National League thing, and I just spent somebody writing it down, the Phillies are at home against the Brewers and then, you know, got Tampa. The Padres are at the Dodgers, then they're home against Arizona. The Cubs are at home against Florida, but then they're at Fenway. And you have all this going on, and the Padres are thinking, because they got eliminated by the

Cubs last year when they did not have home field, and the Cubs cleaned them right out. The Padres, they need to have this. They want to play their games at home in a spectacular home ballpark. it means everything to them to beat the big brother Dodgers and I think it means something to the Dodgers to keep the Padres away from them. Well, the Dodgers also, if they sweep this series and they can catch and pass Milwaukee,

then they get home field on every series. There you go. So I tried, I took a lot of notes on this and I tried to make sense of it and I was asking myself, well, what's the strategy for the Padres? If they lose, do they avoid the Dodgers in the next round or do they get the Dodgers in the next round? Can't tinker one.

No, it's too complicated. Can't manipulate. My feeling about this is what baseball players do is they say, I want home field. Whenever I can get home field, you get all three games if you're the top wild card. You get all three at home. And they would say to you and I, you guys worry about the math. Just give us home field.

We'll do what we can to get home field. We see this backfire more often than not. If you're seen it backfire in basketball, if somebody wants to play that team and that seed, manipulation homes, get rid of it. Go and play the game. And I just think that the teams like the Padres and the Dodgers, somebody in their hierarchy has learned that less than years ago, and they're not going to dabble in that, Tony.

I think those teams are going for it. I think the Phillies are going to be a team that goes for it. I think Atlanta is going for it. They're in the playoffs. That's why they're in the playoffs. That's everybody in this group this year. I don't think that's always the case. It's too complicated for me.

It is complicated. Many notes. Let's take a break when we come back. Who was to blame for Aaron Rogers getting absolutely creamed? We're going to ask Jeff Saturday. We'll also ask him about the Chargers sputtering new office. Can I ask him about Shane Steichen? Can I ask him about that?

Do you have some bee in your bonnet about Shane Steichen? About the Colts in general. Didn't you do this? They need Jeff Saturday's intellect because they don't have it. Didn't you do this when I wasn't here? Now do I have to listen to it a second time? Yes. Really why?

You bailed with Neville. You went to play golf. You know, you weren't here. Auculating route to avoid seeing poverty. Turn left to bypass the unhoused youth sleeping on the street. Then keep right to skip by the lines of people waiting for food. Steer clear of the crowded shelter turning people away, then take the next exit. Let's stop looking away and get in the way of rising poverty.

Your donations help the United Way fight poverty in thousands of ways, like providing food, shelter, and crisis prevention. Donate today at United WayGt.org. Meading! Made it! Part of the Beast is the must-see adventure of the year. It's just you and me, boy. One of the most extraordinary on-screen bond you'll ever see.

I'll get you home. Brad Pitt. Part of the Beast. September 25th. Get tickets now. Time to dig into the NFL trenches with our great friend ESPN NFL analyst, Jeff Saturday. You all should be here before we go on the air to listen to Jeff. It's fabulous.

But now we're doing the show. Let's start with this. Steelers coach Mike McCarthy says he is committed to Aaron Rogers. and he blamed Rogers' protection. Is that what you saw? Oh, man. This is, it's already started in week two. We got, we got, we got, we got, we're blaming people.

We got, we got, uh, Aaron talking about he's got to tell, he's got to take bigger responsibility and telling Mike what plays aren't going to work. And, you know, Mike's telling everybody that he saw this Wednesday or Thursday that didn't make the change. Now it's the O lines, not doing it good. I can tell you this. Aaron tried to change the protection. to help himself. So whoever's fault it was, I don't know whose fault it is, but he got smoked and, and, you know, at 40 plus years old, you ain't living long in the NFL. But I do agree,

Mike ain't going anywhere. He's not going away from Aaron. Like it's, you know, it's the swan song or whatever. He's already said he's going to roll out after this season. I think everybody's committed to making this thing work. But it ain't pretty. And it wasn't pretty against Atlanta. It definitely wasn't pretty. It better start getting prettier or this thing's going to get a lot more ugly in the media, not just on the field. Before we transition to the question I'm supposed to ask, let me say it. Since nobody else is going to stay on all these shows, Aaron Rogers can't damn play anymore. He's got a gold jacket.

He's one of the all-time greats. All-time great. Today, it's over. Whoever he blames now, when Aaron Rogers gets hit, like he got hit like Terry Bradshaw style the other day, if is your guy, Jeff, what are you? you say when you get to the huddle. Guy. Hey, real sorry.

Real sorry. That's my, you don't say my bad. Nobody wants to hear my bad. You're like, I really apologize. I know your spine is going to have to be readjusted two or three times next week because of this. That's all of me. But look, it happens to all of us at one point or another.

The problem is, is that when you have a guy like Aaron, who now has become much more of the pocket, you know, line up, throw it from where he's going to catch the snap, not going to do a whole lot of moving or moving the launch points kind of thing. Those hits, you know, whatever you do as an offensive line, eliminate those, whether you got to drop an inside technique to die for an outside, take any part of that hit off you can because those are, those are the ones that put you on the bench for good if you're not careful. We're going to stay with sophisticated offensive line issues for a second. Drew Dalman retired, as you know, during the offseason causing a problem for my bears.

Garrett Bradbury, he had five penalties and struggled in every way imaginable Sunday against Flores in that defense. Are these issues fixable from what you saw in that game Sunday, Jeff? Yeah, they are fixable, but Mike, you and I both know, right? Like Bradbury kind of is what he is, right? And he's a guy that can get you lined up in the right way, go in the right direction from a physicality standpoint, and he's not going to be a guy who's

going to win it at the point of attack. He's going to manage it best, right? And that, you brought him in knowing because you were in a situation. Right. They're going to need somebody to help get them in the right spots, do the right things. That's going to happen. The other part that I think kind of manifested itself over the weekend was when you get somebody like Flores who's going to bring the house and bring pressure and continue to do stuff, you're going to get a tough. You're going to You get a ton of zone blitzes, you know, a ton of different, you're not going to really know where it's coming from until it happens. Your techniques and fundamentals get exposed.

That's really what happens is you're kind of out of position so your body's not where it should be, so you're going to reach out and tug or you're going to do things outside of what you need to do. This happens at every position on the offensive line. When you're late, even a brief second. It's like a DB, right? Like we feel it in our body, right? All of a sudden, we're moving or doing it.

And all of a sudden, the guy's a head. of us, we're going to take that little tug of the jersey or trying to pull on the pads, do something and hope it doesn't get caught because you know ultimately you've been exposed. And it happens so fast, it's much more of a reaction because it happens so quickly. But yeah, when teams are moving and slanting and running games and doing all the things across your face, it ain't fun. And unfortunately, for Bradbury is a bad day. We will get you out of here on this.

The Chargers have looked terrible with new offensive coordinator, Mike. McDaniel. Some say the scheme seems too complicated. Does that resonate with you? All right, not really. I'm going to say this. I did a little breakdown today on the big day with Peter Schrager. And I'm just, it is complicated. But part of this can be broken down to simplicity. Like if you're zone blocking, you're blocking to an area, not necessarily a man, right? Like there's man scheme, zone scheme, and kind of something should take care of itself. When you see avoided zone, in a defense, the player is going to be there, y'all. Like, he gets paid to get back in that spot.

They ain't going to leave a blank space out there, all right? Like, at some point, a safety's going to fill it, or a linebacker's going to run to it. Somebody's going to get to that spot. So, man, go ahead and plan for it. As you're going to get into your calls, you know, what we used to call plus, like you'd plus over, we'd go one more guy over to go pick him up because we know the nickel's going to roll down in rotation. So we'll pick him up, and that means the backside of our offensive line is going to

is going to get to a zone concept to get up. All of those things should be handled on the field. Like, coaches get you in good plays. And in all fairness, I've watched a significant amount now of the Chargers run game take. They're in some pretty good positions, and they're just overrunning a guy or not getting to the correct guy. It's not all on Mike McGa.

Part of this is, you're freaking professional. Pick up your own game. And I would hope that they look at themselves. There's a lot of smart guys on that offensive line. somebody call it out, somebody figure this thing out to help a coach because it's not always going to be perfect, but you can't have free runners. And on run game nor pass game, and right now they're having way too many of those. Man, listen, they are literally one notch above the Atlanta Falcons and like drive sustainability.

You can't win the NFL like that. The flashy plays that Herbert gives you all the prettiness. That don't win football games. It's the ugly mundane that wins football games. They got to get back to doing that. The ugly mundane sounds like a good name for a rock and roll band, the ugly mundane. Thank you, Jeff. Jeff, you're the best.

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate y'all. Let's take one last break. Still to come, Peter Lonzo makes history with two more bombs. And Aaron Judge will miss more time than anybody hoped or thought. I'm not sure I understand all of what Jeff says. But it's great.

He's the only person I understand. Really? He simplifies it. I could play for him except I couldn't actually. Wait, block anybody. No, you could. But I feel like I know where I'm supposed to be. And if you went out on the field,

everybody who you've yelled at would try to take you out. Fine, decrees. I'm okay. I grew up on the South... Calculating route to avoid seeing poverty. Turn left to bypass the unhoused youth sleeping on the street.

Then keep right to skip by the lines of people waiting for food. Steer clear of the crowded shelter turning people away, then take the next exit. Let's stop looking away and get in the way of rising poverty.

Your donations help the United Way fight poverty in thousands of ways, like providing food, shelter, and crisis prevention. Donate today at United WayGT.org. For 50 years, Canadians have wondered what the names of IKEA furniture mean. Like Natopa, the guardrail for children's beds. Natopa means giving your favorite person room to grow.

It means their safety and your piece of... No. In Swedish, Natapa means night monkey. IKEA 50 years of Swedishness at home Look, he's wearing little pajamas. So cute. Happy time, people. Happy 71st birthday, Jeffrey Leonard.

The longtime left fielder was best known for his slow home run trot during his year with Giants, during which he kept his left arm straight down at his side, the one-flap-down celebration. It went national during the 1987 NLCS against the Cardinals,

in which Leonard had four homers an OPS of 1,417. Whoa! Winning the series MVP, even though the Giants lost in seven. Leonard was known to be a tough customer. He told the sporting news, if his grandmother baked him a cake he didn't like,

quote, I'm not going to bull bleep her and tell her it was great. Grandma, this cake sucks, unquote. Didn't players of his ilk seem so much physically tougher and ready to drop the gloves in October? This is where you are on every issue. Am I wrong? Tell me.

No, you're not wrong, because I'm older than you. anniversary to the Cubs and Cardinals brawl on this stage 52 years ago. The Cubs and Cards were tied in the ninth when Chicago's Bill Madlock stepped out of the batters box to protest the mad Hungarian Al Roboski's lengthy pre-pitch ritual. Umpires Shad Crawford warned Madlock, which drew Cubs manager Jim Marshall and teammate Jose Cardinal towards the plate. Crawford ordered Roboski to continue pitching to an empty box and called a strike. Madlock jumped back into the box, nearly got hit by the pitch, then took a punch from cards catcher Ted Simmons starting a melee. No one was seriously hurt.

Out of nowhere. Boom! And no one was suspended. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the 1970s. Wilbon's favor. My man, Don Kissinger was in that team. Bill Madlock, the dumbest trade in the history of baseball. He wins like two batting titles and the Cubs traded for Bobby Mercer.

Please stop. Heavy trails to two Toronto pitches off the bat of Peter Lonzo last night. The Oriole Slugger hit his 39th. 40th homers of the season last night to help Baltimore beat the Blue Jays. Alonzo is the only player in history to hit 40 homers in his first seasons in both the national and American leagues. Only. He had 53 as a rookie with the Mets in 2019.

Alonzo also currently leads the American League in RBI with 108, so he's on pace to become the first player in Major League history to win the RBI crown in both leagues. One fun note, Alonzo changes walk-up music to Earthwind and Fire September. Yes, sir. of his son's first birthday last night before he batted in the 8th and promptly hit a two-run homer. There's two dudes you can't mention historically. You're not allowed to mention Ruth or Wilt.

Yet, this dude has done stuff that Ruth didn't even do in terms of pace. In terms of early on, because Ruth was pitching, but still... Ruth wasn't in both leagues. I mean, he's winning the thing. No, he's one league. One league. He's winning the thing goes to both leagues. Let's go to the big finish.

Let's do it. The Yankees do not expect Aaron George back for the wildcard series. That's significant in it. Any yet bat that Aaron Judge misses in October is a big deal. Colt Star wide out, Alec Pierce, out for several weeks after aggravating a heel injury that he has served you for in the offseason. You're concerned. He's good.

He's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. Bards for catch, baby. Bairns, right?

He's in the concussion protocol. Your thoughts? I'm back into depression now. The Red Sox took the interim tag off manager Chad. Tracy gave him a three-year deal and picked up the two years of options for GM Craig Breslo. You surprised. They earned it. They were 14-500 in June. They're 12 over now. They earned it. Last one. Links at fever tonight in the first of a home-in-home. Are you intrigued? If Fee is playing, healthy, and ready to go, I'm taking Minnesota over everybody.

Really? That's the Wilbon prediction right now. They're the best team in the league. And I know Indiana's the best in the second-best in the east. That's not quite the same. We're out of time. We'll try to be better the next time. I'm Tony Cornhine. Yes, intrigued by those games. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time. Calculating route to avoid seeing poverty. Turn left to bypass the unhoused youth sleeping on the street. Then keep right to skip by the lines of people waiting for food. Steer clear of the crowded shelter turning people away, then take the next exit.

Let's stop looking away and get in the way of rising poverty. Your donations help the United Way fight poverty in thousands of ways, like providing food, shelter, and crisis prevention. Donate today at United States. United WayGt.org.