The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Week 10 recap: Steelers-Commanders lives up to the billing, Chiefs and Lions win ugly, and more

Episode Date: November 11, 2024

The Game of the Week lived up to the billing in Week 10, with the Steelers pulling out a 28-27 win over the Commanders. That's where Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen begin the Week 10 recap episode of The Athletic Football Show. The guys also marvel at the Chiefs voodoo magic, highlight the Cardinals' rise, raise an eyebrow in the 49ers' direction, and discuss the rest of the developments that grabbed them on Sunday.RundownSteelers remain atop AFC North with win over CommandersThe Chiefs black magic rolls onThe Cardinals are for realThe 49ers still feel off, even after a winLamenting the 2024 BuccaneersFalcons...WTF?!?Lions-Texans...WTF?!?Bad Sam Darnold showed up on SundayJustin Herbert is doing his thingTaron Johnson is coolBryce Young > Daniel Jones...at least in Week 10It's So Over for the BearsWhat Did We Learn Today?Host: Robert MaysCo-Host: Derrik KlassenExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. Brought to you by Thursday Night Football only on Prime Video. I'm Robert Mays. Week 10 is in the books. A bizarre day in the NFL, starting with a strange Munich game that the Panthers somehow win and ending with the Sunday night game where both teams decided they wanted to turn the ball over as much as possible. In the middle, we had a couple games that really lived up to the building. Washington and the Steelers was the game of the week for us in week 10.

Absolutely was that when you consider the rest of the slates. We talked about a big Steelers win. in chatted about a Cardinals performance that really grabbed our attention. Kyle Murray is playing at an extremely high level right now. The Chiefs stay undefeated. I don't know what sort of deal with the devil they made to make all of this possible, but we dug into what the Chiefs Black Magic has afforded them in a 9-0 start. Chat a little bit about a rough day for kickers and how that played into the Niners win

and the Falcons loss. Talked about that Sunday night game and what it means for a Lions team. team that somehow overcame five Jared Gough turnovers and then hit a few more things that really jumped out to us in week 10. So let's get to all of that with Derek right now. Derek, week 10 in the books, how you feeling? Fantastic after that game. You know, it was kind of a slow, kind of a slow Sunday all the way through up until that. And then we got one of the most bizarre games of the season from start to finish. We will hit on that game a little bit later in the show. We very conveniently have a

segment in which I think that game fits pretty nicely. Yeah, better than starting at the top. Yeah. Yeah, we're going to throw that in there a little bit later. But we will be touching on what was a bizarre Sunday night football game all around. I think everyone's collective response to that game was what is going on, like what is actually happening right now. So again, we've got a nice little bucket to drop that in.

But we're going to start this show with what might have been the game of the week during a slate that didn't have a ton of compelling games. It was kind of a disappointing day. overall, just if you were looking for close football games before this last one and then a couple of the other ones we got earlier. But this is one that we had as the game of the week on our preview show. And I think in a lot of ways lived up to it. And that is the Steelers knocking off Washington 28 to 27. Pittsburgh now 7 and 2 setting up a fantastic matchup with the Baltimore Ravens next week for I believe what will be first place in the AFC North. And I think the Steelers team,

you know, it wasn't a complete performance. The offense wasn't great down to down. But But that high variance place that we talked about the Steelers being offensively and then just that solid defense that you can rely on, I felt like this is the sort of performance that when you're thinking about what the Steelers can potentially do this year, this is a very good example of it. I think absolutely. They were one of the few teams, one of the few defenses that have been able to kind of to some degree frazzle Jaden Daniels. And he still made a number of throws in this game. Like obviously the deep ball he ends up throwing, I think later on in the game to Terry McLaren. where he, McLaren also makes an insane catch on that play.

I think it's certainly worth noting. But this was the defense where I thought specifically with regards to like getting pressure on Jaden Daniels, kind of condensing the pocket on him, really forcing him to make tight window throws. I thought they did a really good job. Like on the first third down of the game, you can see Jaden Daniels kind of fade away from pressure throwing like a little whip route to Alamede Sekees. Later on, I think it's their second third down. It's a third and three.

Pittsburgh brings five and you get Hayward. and Highsmith were able to go and beat him and get pressure and take him down. And then I think just over the course of the game, you saw them really closed the windows on Jaden Daniels over the middle of the field. Like in all their zone coverages, they were just clicking and driving on everything and really forcing him to be picture perfect. And there were a couple times he was, and then a couple of times where he was and where Pittsburgh was able to make the play. So I just thought defensively they did a great job. And then Russ just kept hitting the slot lever and the slot machine lever and trying to get the go balls to work. Eventually, eventually they did.

I really enjoyed some of the things that Pittsburgh trotted out on, like, third and second and longs, where they were doing some funky stuff where they would drop somebody down. There was the one play where Jaden Daniels tries to hit a throw over the middle of the field, and I want to say it was Cam Sutton was actually like a dime linebacker on that play. He bails to the deep post and Minka comes driving down hard on it. They did a lot of that. And we talked about this on the preview show. The Steelers don't do a ton of things that are really tricky or weird in a lot

of these situations, you kind of know what you're getting. And they did play a ton of single high in this game, but they also played a lot of man coverage. So there were a few changes that they threw over the course of this game. But I think the most important things to take away from what their defense was, is just what they can continue to do to you with their front. Pittsburgh's front won this game for them today, in my opinion. And when you think about what Cam Hayward was consistently doing, what Highsmith was

consistently doing. And I also think that their ability to keep Jaden Daniels in the pocket was a huge. part of this game. He was under pressure a decent amount today, but he didn't scramble. I'm pretty sure he had one scramble for one yard over the course of this game. And if you take that away from him, and you're making him either step up or maneuver in the pocket and try to find throws late in the down, instead of being able to take off when you pressure him, it's just a different Washington offense. And they completely took that away today. Yeah, that's such a great point. I mean, these two edge rushers are obviously, they're good for a number of reasons, but they're both just

very smart players and they're very good when you put them into space. So they're very good at playing that, all right, we're just going to kind of corral you type of game. And then even all their interior players, a lot of them are guys who are good at just kind of crushing the pocket and forcing things to get a little bit constricted on you. Obviously, Cam Hayward has been that kind of guy for a decade. Count new Benton can do that sort of stuff. So I think just from that perspective, they did do a really good job. And then like I said, I was just so impressed by the how quick they were to drive on everything, particularly over the middle of the field and really, really force him to make tight window throws from tight pockets over and over and over again.

And he still made a handful in this game. It's just that they made him be perfect. And it was very, very hard to be perfect against this kind of defense. You talked about how smart the defensive players for the Steelers aren't, but specifically the edge rushers. There were two snuffed out screens in this game that were like huge plays. There was that throwback screen that Washington tried to run at one point in the game. If you watch that play, Highsmith runs with Jaden Daniels because he knows what they're

trying to do. And then there was another one where Washington was driving. And I want to say they were kind of, you know, in the 35, 40-ish yard line. And they tried to throw a screen. Highsmith jumps in front of it and Jaden Daniels has to eat it for like a one-yard loss. So this is just one of those games, especially on defense, where you're just reminded over and over again, how well-coached the Steelers are, how they're consistently in the right spots. You know, they made their share of mistakes.

Like Joey Porter had some rough moments. They're two unnecessary penalties, little things like that. but I just think that their ability to make sure they were containing the quarterback, not letting him take off, and sniffing out some of those screenplays and some of those cheapies that Washington's really been able to rely on for a huge portion of this year. It just felt like we got a different version of the Washington offense because of that. I think that's a great kind of way to frame it because I think if you think about the Washington offense, obviously they've been good at a lot of things this year, but a lot of it has been like,

okay, we're going to be really good at the run game. We're going to be really good at hitting some of these perimeter screens. and then we're going to hit three vertical balls on you. And like that's for the most part, the offense. Well, they took away two out of the three. Like they still hit some of the vertical shots, but a lot of kind of like you said, some of their gimmies, some of their screen stuff was really taken away,

especially over on the perimeter. Their little trick play, like you mentioned, was taken away. And then Jaden Daniels and really the entire run game was taken away from that perspective. Jaden Daniels had three carries for five yards in this game. Like they just didn't allow them to do anything. And I think that that's such an impressive. kind of note on a Steelers team where I think for a couple of weeks now, we've been like, all right, how legit is this really?

To do it against the Washington offense that has been like definitively top seven at least to this point in the season, pretty good, pretty good sample of approval there for me. The last defensive player I wanted to shout out for Pittsburgh, Patrick Queen was awesome in this game. He was awesome in this game. I mean, he had three or four plays that you can throw out if you want to. 7.45, I think left in the first quarter, he flies in for a TFL from depth. he had another TFL on after a jet motion that tried to displace him on a play in the second quarter.

He has, he plays the quarterback keep on the opening drive of the third quarter and just plays it beautifully and it leads to essentially no gain. And then he drew a hold on Bates on the play right before Dean Daniels misses Luke McCaffrey on that crosser. And even on that play where he misses McCaffrey, Hayward has immediate pressure. So those are just like the little things. all right, Queen draws a hold. It's a little bit longer to go on second down. Hayward gets the pressure. And then on third down on that play where they were backed up,

Highsmith gets the pressure, Washington is punting. So just all these guys kind of chipping in in a little ways. And that's just why it felt like a collective win for this team today. I think all of what we just said about the defense and how it was so put together and how it was so they did so many versatile things and you have all these players doing different stuff. It's very funny, contrasted by the offense, which, didn't do a whole lot of anything well outside of like Russell Wilson repeatedly going to the go

ball button particularly down the left sideline and obviously he hits it wasn't a go ball but that corner route he throws to George Pickens where George Pickens goes high and over his back shoulder is one of the plays of the week like that is he consistently makes that caliber of catch and it's truly amazing I've I kind of said before I think maybe on Twitter or something but like he it kind of feels like to me he only has one trick but it is maybe the best trick in the league like his ability to go do that is truly special. And I think I think Russ saw that play and was like, oh, I'm just going to keep spamming the deep ball. And it didn't really work again into like the fourth quarter, which that's when they needed it.

So credit to him. I think that the corner route, which is, I like the fact that they're moving pickens around and they're trying to get him some matchups. Like he's in the slot on that play before he runs a corner round. It's a beautiful play to go get it. And then there was a huge play. I can't remember exactly one in the game, but it was like a second and 20 that they had. And that was that kind of inbreaker slant short post to pick-ins where he is just insane after he catches the ball. It's like a 34-yard game.

He jumps with the ball in his hands more than any other play. Have you noticed that? It's so funny. On that play where it's like that 35-yard game that he had, he's like galloping and jumping around unnecessarily. But I mean, he as weird as it sometimes looks, he really has turned into a dynamic player for them. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. but he is a necessary component to this offense playing the way that it wants to play. Yeah, I mean, he's at this point their only explosive outlet.

Like every now and then Jalen Warren will kind of pop one as a runner, but like Naji Harris, even though he's playing better, not an explosive player, Russell Wilson outside of these go balls, too particularly George Pickens, not really an explosive player. Even for as much as I love Darnell Washington, he might make the first guy, you know, he might put him in the ground, but he's only going to get two more yards after that, so not an explosive player. So you need Pickens to have these plays like this, absolutely. Yeah, Pickens and then obviously the one you talked about,

the second go ball down the left sideline, there's a chance that they go ahead on that drive. And then Joe and Warren fumbles inside the five-yard line. And then that sequence happens like we talked about, where Jane Daniels misses McCaffrey on that second and eight, High Smith gets to pressure, Steelers get the ball back, and on that final drive where they score the touchdown, one play that I think will probably go not remembered

because of the touchdown to Mike Williams. There's a second and 16 on that, drive before the goal ball touchdown to Mike Williams, where Russell Wilson buys time, moves around, finds Calvin Austin to make it like a third and three. And then later in the drive after they pick up the first down, he hits while retreating that ball to Mike Williams. And that is why the offense has so much higher of a ceiling because he's willing to make those throws down the field. I tweeted this out late in the game or after the game. Russell Wilson this season on throws of 20 plus yards is sixth in total EPA among quarterbacks. Not EPA per play. It's not a rate stat.

Total EPA. He is sixth in value gained on 20 plus yard throws this year. He's started three games. He's going to break the record at this point with, what will it be like 10 starts, 11 starts, something like that by the end of the season. Like he's going to break the volume record doing stuff like that. This game had a lot of weird stuff, by the way. We have not even, we've completely glossed over the fact that there were like multiple weird special teams things. Alamede Sechias dropped two punts in this game. One of which got picked up by the Steelers, the second one.

And then the Steelers had a fourth and 15, from their own red zone and tried to throw a pass to their gunner over on the left sideline. It's a good ball at the sticks. He could catch it and he drops it. Clearly they saw something coming into the game where they were going to have the opportunity to do that and he just drops it. That's why I didn't almost feel like it's not even worth mentioning

because each team had a special team's flub that gave a touchdown to the other team in this game. Yes. So they kind of wash each other out when it comes to the actual results. But when you think about just the Steelers team and the ceiling, does a game like this change the way that you feel about them? Or are you walking away from this kind of with the same opinions that you had about the Steelers coming into the week? I mean, probably the same, which is still like fairly high.

I honestly think outside of like the three or four. or maybe elite teams in the AFC, like they are as good as anybody else, you know, kind of outside of that tier. And I felt that way coming in and I feel that way coming out. I will say, I thought this defense would do well against the commanders. I know they ended up still scoring 27 points, but like when you just watched it down to down, this felt like the most constricted this offense has been the entire season. That I do think maybe moves the needle for me a smidgen.

I'm the exact same. I'm the exact same spot. Like this defense hadn't played a ton of great offenses this year. And they were a good defense, but not anything up near the top of the league. So facing this sort of test, what are you going to look like against a Washington offense that had moved the ball pretty much against everybody? Even if they weren't coming away with points early in the season, this is an offense that was consistently moving the ball all the time. And they had such a hard time today. Washington had nine plays of negative yardage today.

Only the Bears had more in week 10 than Washington did. They came into the league with 52 all season. And so you could just feel how much of a slog it was. And I think that that credit goes to the Steelers team. And I thought coming into the year that the front would be able to carry them. You know, guys like Tecantabot and taking a step forward, we know what Highsmith is. I hope he's okay. And that player where he turns his ankle late in the game, that looks pretty ugly.

If they lose him, it's obviously a huge blow. They don't have a ton of depth at edge. They went out and got Preston Smith, but we're talking about very different types of players when High Smith is at its best. but the way Hayward is still playing, it is mid-30s and his ability to consistently affect game like this and then what Highsmith can give you, that front really does have a chance to own games against really good teams. And I thought this was the best example that we've had so far this year. I think absolutely. I think that might even be the part of it that I underrated.

Like I thought the front would be good. I wasn't 100% sure they would be like take over games at will against the best offense is kind of good. and I think this is one where they are certainly in that tier. All right. Let's get to the things that grabbed our attention today. It's time for you at my attention. Gentlemen, you have my curiosity. Now you have my attention.

Let's start this off with a team that just continues to defy whatever expectations you might have given the current moment that they're in. What has my attention about the Kansas City Chiefs is the fact that whatever black magic they've been able to tap into so far this year based on some ritual, sacrifice they made over the summer or sometime before that we may not know about. That ability to just tap into that and channel it in every single important moment and somehow block field goals and games you could potentially lose. The Chief's ability to continue pulling this shit out over and over and over again,

that has my attention. It is a bad. If almost if any other team, like if you just gave me their raw resume of wins and asked me who it would be, it would have to be the Chiefs, right? Like I think like some of these wouldn't even make sense for like a peak Tom Brady season. Like some of these are just so absolutely ridiculous. And this game in particular, at the very end, Denver is driving. And I think it's to Cortland Sutton who makes the final catch that is like supposed to end the game where Denver can just run out the clock.

They can go kick the field goal. And as soon as Sutton caught that, I was like, I don't think the universe can let Bo Nix beat Patrick Mahomes. Like what if they block this field goal? And then the fact The fact that you thought that That shows how much smarter you are than I am Because as soon as they got down there As soon as they were taking knees,

I was like, okay, you know, the Broncos are a very good defense. They've been a very good defense all year. And they gave the Chiefs problems throughout this entire game. Nick Benito was an absolute banshee. They were really difficult to deal with and this is going to be the game that the Chiefs lose.

The Chiefs have lost to the Broncos in recent years when the Broncos weren't actively bad. football team. I no longer think the Broncos are an actively bad football team. So for them to lose a game like this, all right, you know, sometimes you lose these in division games. So the fact that I was in that mindset and you immediately went to, I wonder if they're going to block this field goal, shows how more in touch you are with where this current chief's team is than I am. I think maybe three weeks ago, I just fully accepted that like any possible way for the universe to let the chiefs have a win, I think the universe will find its way.

And I just kind of fully accepted it at this point. The biggest thing about this, and I think the number that really jumps out to me, we were talking about this a little bit earlier, you and I, Mahomes, the CBS put this stat out. Mahomes is 19 and 14 in games where he has trailed by double digits in his career. That's unfair. Like, that's, come on.

So that's, it's a 578 winning percentage. Okay. If you look in the modern era, Tom Brady is second and he has a 378 winning percentage. So not only is Mahomes the only quarterback who has a 500 record or better, he is just light years ahead of everybody else. So this is kind of where I'm at with this team is that in a lot of these situations where theoretically you shouldn't be able to do some of the things that they're doing and it should come back to bite you, all the close games that they're winning, the fact that they have to do

so much work on third down. For a lot of teams, you'd say, this can't, isn't sustainable. There's no way you can keep doing this. But I think the Mahomes part of this actually is enough of a rule breaker where it's reasonable to believe that they can get away with some of this stuff in ways that other teams cannot. It always requires a little bit of a break.

And today is no exception to that. But I do think a lot of the rules as we understand them don't apply to the chiefs in the same way. That's the point of like a player being a transcendent. talent, right? Is that the rules just don't apply to them. And I think that absolutely applies to Patrick Mahomes particularly. I think just their third down stuff this year, doesn't it feel like almost every year there's one or two teams that have just outrageous third down luck or, I mean, not luck, but like efficiency and they're constantly doing it. And you're like, this feels a little,

I don't know. Like you remember Carson Wentz when he was the MVP? Of course. That's like the best possible example. Yeah, it was like they were converting a ton of these third and eight, third and sevens. And it was like, okay, this is cool for now. But this just doesn't feel like a thing that you can just keep doing. And then you look at Patrick Mahomes and you watch the ways that he do it, the ways that he can get to some of these scrambles, the little flick that he has to Kelsey in this game where he's just like maneuvering around the pocket in just a weird way and flicks it back over his wrist. Like he just, there's just ways that he consistently finds a way to convert that nobody else is really doing. And it's not even all like some of the crazy stuff. Like you watch Josh Allen or

Lamar Jackson and they're just like, it's an unbelievable feat of athletic ability. And Patrick Mahomes is obviously a good athlete. But for him, it's more of just like, like a vision and creativity thing that just he's one of one man it's why he's he's the best the two third down plays that i think really jump out to me the most there was a third down completion he had to kelsey with like halfway through the third quarter it was like a third and five and the ball placement on that throw just absolutely insane and they get three on that possession and uh they i think that was when it went to 14 to 10 and then obviously the other one that was just ridiculous he gets out of that sack on third and 13 and somehow finds P. Ryan for a 35-yard gain. So some of this, again,

is just rooted in the fact that he is able to wiggle out of these situations on third down specifically that not a lot of other quarterbacks are. Yeah. I mean, he's again, he's just one of one in that way. Like there are other guys who are really good at that stuff, but it's just, I don't know, man, watching him operate in the pocket, finding little crevices where he can get out, understanding when is the best time to get out. Like, I don't know, man. He's just also. I don't think they converted or did anything on this play. But speaking of just wriggling out of stuff, did you see him like duck under Zach Allen in this game and get out of a missed sack?

And then I think it didn't really matter at the end of the play. But like his ability to do that is why he's the best. The thing about this Chief's team that makes them so scary is that he's able to make those three, four, five plays even in a game where the offense is struggling. And then the defense and the special teams obviously at the end is able to lift them. And Spags has obviously been ridiculous over the last. like 18 months, what he did last season and then what they're already doing on defense this year. And today, they had like three, four, five key pressures and huge moments that are just

like, oh, man, it just on one again. The first, I think it was early in the game. It was like halfway through the first quarter where the Broncos were in a condensed formation. He brings both corners off the edge. And Bo Nix is running backwards and takes a 17-yard loss. There were two sacks in this game work on combined on those plays. Bo Nix lost third. 33 yards on those two sacks because of how frantic he was on those pressure looks. And that's, it's, again, the ability for the defense to pick this team up when the offense is not able to carry them against a really good defense. That's why this version of the Chiefs just feels a little bit different than the ones we've seen. Even almost, last year, obviously the defense played great.

But over the last two years, this defense has just felt like a little bit of a different unit. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned the offense struggling and the defense being able to carry it for them. Offensively, this has been, I think the past game actually was kind of what it has been for a lot of the year where Patrick Holmes is just making a couple of special plays. They're relatively efficient, all that stuff. But the run game has usually been very efficient for them. And they were bad today. They had a 23 and a half percent success rate according to True Media. That is their worst of the season. Their only other game under 30 percent was the opener, which like, you can give that to them, right? Like Ravens have been a great run defense. First game of the year, whatever. Since then, until today, they were one of the more efficient run games in the league. And today, they were one of the more efficient run games in the league. And today, they just didn't have it. But then, like you said, defensively on the other side, obviously Spaggs brings all those sort of pressures, which he is, he wants to do anyway. Then you give him a rookie quarterback, and like he is especially going to go do that. I also thought they just played a ton of press coverage today.

And so pretty much any time the Broncos were out of like some of their RPO stuff, they were kind of just daring the Broncos receivers to beat them and daring Knicks to make some of the throws. And to his credit, he actually did. Like there was one play where he scrambles out to his left and finds Devon. valet on like a scramble drill. He obviously hits the go ball to Sutton where Sutton kind of just fries Trent McDuffie, which is not what I would have thought coming into the game. And so they certainly got them a couple of times, but it was one of those things

where between some of the pressures and then just playing a ton of press man coverage, they really, really dared Bo Nix to make a lot of aggressive, you know, high leverage throws to like the intermediate deep parts of the field. You made a couple, but just not enough to overcome in this style again. McDuffie gets cooked on that play, but he also had plenty of his own moments in this game. I mean, the play where it was a drive where Justin Reed comes unblocked on third and seven on that pressure, where they've punt it late in the game. And the play before that, FAU makes a really big TFL on like what was like a Bow Nix keeper, but McDuffie is the one who strings that play out, which he did multiple times in this game. And his ability to, just the physicality that the DBs play with overall, we've talked about this for years, but it consistently shows up.

So their ability to make enough plays on defense really stands out and they manage to sneak away with the win. I will say about this, though, I'm consistently impressed with the Broncos defense, like pretty much every time I watch them. And today was no exception. Like Nick Benito is a real force. And you combine that with what Jonathan Cooper can give them, Zach Allen in a couple moments. I think they also did a really good job of containing Mahomes as a scrambler in this game, similar to what we talked about with the Steelers. And then one of my favorite parts of this game was watching Patrick Sartan and D'Andre Hopkins go at it. there was a play where Hopkins makes a catch in the first half and he like stands over Sartan.

And then later in the game, they actually get like a scuffle near the sideline. I'm very open to this. If we want to have like a Sartan D'Andre Hopkins little thing, if Hopkins sticks in Kansas City, very, very okay with that because we need more of that in the NFL right now. Yes, like we need wide receivers and defensive backs in the division who hate each other. Like that is, that's the type of thing that makes football great. Like I think we all remember the court of finnigan, uh, Andre Johnson. and debacle.

I don't know if this will ever escalate to that, but we definitely need more stuff like that. But yeah, the Broncos defense, man, even though they end up losing this game, to hold the Chiefs to 16 points, like you said, to keep Mahomes contained as a scrambler for the most part, to make them look like the worst they've ever looked this season as a rushing offense, particularly a lot of their zone stuff, like they just did a really, really good job of, you know, eating some of the double teams and not conceding space on some of that stuff. Like, they just, they did a really, really good job. And then you mentioned Benito.

he might have been the best player on the field today. He was just, and I know I know the chiefs, you know, how to back up left tackle. They had to bring Kingsley-Sua-Mataia into the game because Juanie Morris gets hurt. But like, Bonito, dude, incredible game from him. He had six pressures. Mahomes was pressured on 50% of non-blitzes in this game. So when the Broncos were bringing four, they actually got more pressure than when they were blitzing. And I think you could see that over the course of the game.

And like you mentioned, I think the biggest thing to take away from what Denver was able to do to the chief's offense in this game, was their ability to take away the run game. Because the Chiefs has been one of the best, most efficient running teams in the league. On the year, their third in rushing success rate. It's like 47.5%. Today, 19% rushing success rate on running back runs. And the Broncos have been able to do that to teams consistently.

They did it again today. But again, the Chief's Black Magic is enough to steal another one for them. Let's get to our next one here. The Arizona Cardinals absolutely destroy the, the New York Jets in the desert and have probably the most impressive game they've had on offense, which is saying something,

considering the little run that they have been on. So Arizona, Kyle Murray, everything going on down there with Jonathan Gannon's team, you guys comfortably have my attention. I'm so bought it on this offense. I could not buy more stock of this offense

if I wanted to do it. I think what kind of makes this game special to me is obviously they, okay, so actually first of all, I want to start by bringing up like the drive log they only had seven possessions in this game because when the Jets did have the ball, they actually did a good job of like holding onto the ball. So this was kind of a game where teams didn't get that many possessions. On four of their first five possessions, they score a touchdown. On one of

the other ones, they kick a field goal. On their sixth possession, they drive to midfield and then have to punt on fourth and three. Mind you by this point, they're up by like three scores. So it doesn't even really matter. And then the last possession of the game, Clayton Tune is playing quarterback because the game is out of hand. Like that is what they did on offense today. To a defense that, look, the Jets defense hasn't been what we thought coming into this season. And certainly since firing Robert solid, they haven't been that good. But this is not a defense where you should have been able to go four for five on your first drives in terms of touchdown. So for them to do what they did today where did it ever feel like they got like lucky plays or like some weird thing happened.

Like to me it was just every single play, they got the eight yards that they wanted until they were in the end zone. This is exactly what the Cardinals offense should be at its best. And I think it's a combination of a few different things. It's a combination of design. Like, several times, we could talk about a few specific examples where they're just making plays happen simply because of what's drawn up X's and O's wise. And I think that we knew that potentially coming in because of what they did last year with lesser talent.

Like, this was going to be a team that based on the structure of the offense was going to be able to hurt you consistently and today was no exception. So you combine that with real skill at the playmaker positions now. Like what Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride are, like, that's one of the more exciting combinations in the NFL with those two guys. And again, we can talk about some of the specific examples. And then the third part of this is what Kyler Murray is now. Not what Kyler Murray has been for the majority of his career, but what Kyleor Murray is now. And that to me is what makes this thing feel a little bit different. And what makes this team so scary is that this is a quarterback that we know what he can do out of the time. side of structure. We know what he can do with his legs. His ability to make just absolutely ridiculous on-time, tight window throws in crumbling pockets today. That is a version of him that we have never seen, the guy that has shown up over the last two, three, four games as he's gotten more comfortable in this offense. And when you combine all of those factors

together, you get a performance like this, where they average 0.4 EPA per play, which is like double the best quarterback efficiency in the NFL and a 60% success rate. They did everything you wanted because they were hitting every aspect of what the Cardinals offense can be at its best. Dude, Kyler threw a stop route to McBride into like four people today. Yes. And he's made that like almost exact throw. It feels like every week now.

And it's not always to McBride. Sometimes it's like to Marvin Harrison. Sometimes we've seen it to Michael Wilson. But he makes that like 12 to 14 yard stop route just into a. keyhole into like three, four different defenders. So his ability, like you said, to start making those throws more consistently, I think it's super impressive. And then even on the broadcast, they actually did a really good job of talking about this,

whereas especially in the Cliff era, Kyler even kind of expressed the fact that when they won games, it was because Kyler Murray was a superhero. And, you know, he kind of said, it sounds like he said that. And they were making high variance plays. That's why they won games. He was just chucking it up to New Copkins, which like, not a bad way to win games.

But like that is a lot of what they were doing is just chucking it up. Kyler kind of running around scrambling, all that sort of stuff. But they really talked about with this new staff and with Kyler really trying to become a different quarterback, becoming a little bit older, more mature, he realized he doesn't have to win every game. Like he doesn't have to be the reason that they win every game. It can be, all right, let's let the offense do what it needs to do. Let the run game do it.

It needs to do screens. And then I just got to make these three, four throws. And then we're cooking. And that's what today felt like where he didn't have to do anything that insane. It was just play on time. make your throws trust your guys. And he did. A few things I wanted, a few specific moments I wanted to point out, the first drive of the game,

they run like a fake little, split back look with Greg Dorch. They fake the hand off to Dorch and like a little swing to the right. They throw a screen back to Connor on the left. It goes, they take it down inside the five yard line. Those are like the design things that we're talking about. And then on the touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr., even that play, Dorch is in the backfield. James Connor's line up as the number one receiver.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is in the slot, and he runs a slot fade for the score on that play. And the touchdown comes, I think, one play after he, Kyla rips that throw to McBride on like third and ten from a collapsing pocket. So you have him, he rips across her to Higgins, then two plays later, as he, right after he gets his head torn off, by the way, he hits McBride. Yeah. And then that drive finishes off with the slot fade to Marvin Harrison Jr. So that's, again, just like the combination of all of that stuff. And then the sequence to me that is like the most telling, that heave play on the leak completion to McBride. So Kyler knows that that's there.

He knows that all he needs to do is get that ball off and it's going to go for a chunk game. Again, that goes back to design. On the next play, they run a counter out of like an offset eye formation where Higgins is the lead blocker. It's beautifully blocked up. You can hear the block on the broadcast. It's like a chunk to James Connor for 10 yards. And then that drive is finished off with a Kyle or Murray keeper for a touchdown. This is it.

This is the vision for why this offense can be a really, really potent group. And I think after this game, they're probably going to be in the top 10 in offensive DVOA and some of those metrics, which shouldn't be surprising to anybody. After today, they are now fourth in the NFL in offensive success rate. like this group is coming into its own as the sort of, you know, we thought they could be in the optimistic circumstances coming into the year. They really are. I'm kind of glad Kyla kind of spiced up the heave down the left sideline throw because

usually in previous weeks it's been he finds that like deep outrout to Marvin Harrison Jr. where he throws it like a second before the break and he's done that every other week. Now he kind of mixed it up and through the one to McBride. I will say, I think the last thing I'll say about Murray and some of his development, he's really developed to me as like a red zone passer. I think there's always going to be struggles with him seeing some of the moving windows that was particularly over the middle of the field when it gets that condensed for him.

But I used to struggle with some of his like touch placement in the red zone. But I actually think this year and in this game in particular, like the throw you mentioned to Marvin Harrison Jr., he's actually kind of developed out a little bit and found ways to take off heat when he needs to, which again, the thing about being older and becoming a different quarterback is you just got to add more pitches. And he's definitely doing that this year. I think it's honestly one of the best things that he's doing right now is his ability to kind of feather those throws in, especially to the sideline in the red zone, to the front pile on, to the back corner, like his ability to layer some of those balls. Those are some of the best throws he's had the entire season.

And the last play worth mentioning just in terms of like what this offense can be, that third and seven play where McBride catches the throw on the cross around mesh, shakes off sauce trying to tackle him, and then hurdles a guy on the right side line. This is what we're talking about. Like these guys, that combination of him and Harrison, you have some real star power now, combined with a quarterback that is completely clicked in and an offense is going to consistently put these guys in their right spots. Their defense is still incomplete. We can talk about what that group feels like right now, even with some of the talent gaps that they have.

But that offense, I just think that they are coming together at the right moment for a team that I think has a legitimate chance to be competitive in the NFC West for the rest of the year. Yeah, I think when we got to like, you remember they had that one week, like a weird three week stretch in like weeks three to five or whatever it was. And it felt like, hmm, were the first two weeks the blip or is this the blip? I think what we've seen now over the past like three weeks and particularly this game, I think the handful of weird weeks where they just, they had the one week where the passing offense was really bad, one week where the run offense was really bad. But have otherwise been really great this season, I'm willing to discount those two games as the blips. on defense, they do a great job against the Jets offense that is struggling to find itself right now. What's jumped out to me about this Cardinals team is that this defense is banged up and didn't start with a lot of talent to begin with.

The guys making plays in this game for Arizona, Jesse Luchetta, Dadey and Taylor Demerson had a PBA in the end zone. Xavier Thomas had a sack. I mean, if you were not a Cardinals fan and you don't pretend like you know who any of these guys are. And the fact that they're able to do this with all of those anonymous guys on defense, I think speaks to what that team is building down there. And just the overall kind of feel that they have on both sides of the ball. The defense does a lot of crazy stuff. The results have not been great over the last couple years. But I just think that today and what they're getting out of anybody that they can happen to throw out there is just a sign that this is really trending in the right direction overall.

They play with the right kind of energy. Like when you're getting stuff out of a guy like Jesse Liketa at this stage in the season, like, yeah, you play with the right. It feels like I don't want to do one to one and put these kind of expectations on them. But like when the Lions defense was really bad during their rebuild, you still watch them and you could see from a certain handful of guys. It was like, okay, they're playing with the right energy. They just might not be talented enough to do the things that they really want to do. That is kind of how I feel about this Cardinals defense. Even a guy like, you know who had a great game today?

Garrett Williams. Like what a game. He actually played really, really well in coverage today. I thought he was really impressive. But again, that's one of those guys where coming into the season, that's just like a we hope he gives us something type of player. And for him to have the game that he did, obviously against just passing offense that is talented, maybe not necessarily put together.

But to still have that type of game, I think is pretty important. I think what they do defensively is so funny. They're like the only three safety defense team. Like some other teams do it personnel-wise, right? Where you just have like, you know, sometimes the Ravens will roll down Kyle Hamilton and he's their nickel. and so they technically have three safeties on the field, but they're not playing three deep. The Cardinals will play three deep, and Buda Baker is like living halfway between where the linebackers play and where the safeties play, and they'll spin him at the snap.

And they do some funny stuff, but sometimes that's, doing funny stuff and playing hard is sometimes the way to win football games. You would hope that over the next year or so, there's going to just be more talent on that defense, right? Like, they've been banged up. Their young pass rushers haven't really played. You know, they went and traded for Baron Browning this week. before the trade deadline. He played a little bit today. But that's when you're a team that's rebuilding, which they still kind of are.

They're still in like the middle stages, especially on defensive what this rebuild looks like. All you can hope for is things look structurally sound and structurally promising. We play with the right energy. When the talent gets there, we're going to be the team that we want to be. And I think that you have seen them get closer to that end game incrementally here over the last couple years. They're further along on offense because they started with Kyla Murray, and that's where they've spent a lot of their resources. But you would hope that the defense is going to eventually get there when they're able to spend next offseason adding a little bit more talent to it. Yeah, and like they have all the runway to go do it.

Like a lot of their pieces on offense are either young or like you've already locked them in. Like Kyler Murray is locked in. Obviously Marvin Harrison Jr. is locked in. Trey McBride. Michael Wilson is still a young player. Like a lot of your guys there are locked in. You've kind of got the resources and rain now to go fire some people. first round picks, second round picks of your defense and see what's going on.

Where are you at with the Jets right now? I was done with the Jets about a month and a half ago. That's kind of where I am too. I mean, we talked about this. I compared them to the NFC Saints and just the fact that that's the amount of attention that they deserve. At least the Saints got a dead cat bounce from firing their coach. The Jets, the Saints showed more collective energy today with their interim coach than the Jets

have showed at any point since Robert Sala got fired. So calling them the NFC version or the AFC version of the Saints might actually be insulting to the Saints. Yeah, it might be because the Saints got the cat bounce against a pretty good Falcons team. Like this Falcons team, even though they lose today, they'll probably so go on winning the division, whereas the Jets, they fired a defensive head coach and then the defense has only gotten worse, like that nothing about this team has gotten better. And then they, they like, they fire their head coach, went and out traded for Devante Adams.

And the offense isn't any better either. Like, they didn't get any balance. They didn't get anything. I was already worried about this thing. What was it? Five weeks ago maybe. And it's somehow only gotten worse than, like, fall in further down the rabbit hole for them.

Yeah. We'll have a lot of time to consider this. But we are fully in, like, what does the Jets financial situation look like if they cut Aaron Rogers mode? Like, that's the type of conversations that we're having. The answer is very not good. But we're at a place now where there's already, Jonathan Jones from CBS today, wrote a story about Woody Johnson taking a spot in the new presidential administration and the fact that

now they're going to have to figure out who's running the team. They're going to have to figure out who's running the team as they're firing the GM and the head coach. But Woody Johnson's brother is he ran the team when he was the ambassador to England. So he's going to be back doing it. The level of dysfunction here. Like they were any good. Yeah. I mean, listen, there's no good answers here. But the fact that there are all of these moving parts that they're now going to have to consider and like who's even in charge of the organization as they are likely going to fire the GM and have to start this whole thing over again, nothing about this inspires much confidence. Something about the presidential election shifting the Aaron Rogers team. And like that is,

there's something about that is very funny. It's very fitting at this point. Listen, I'm, I'm sure Rogers could have a job in some sort of FDA role in the new administration if he wants one. The Jets weren't the only team that left us wanting this week. We're going to get to what the a second. Before that, let's take a quick break. What the fuck? We're starting this with a group that actually has, you know, they've had some nice moments this year. They've had their moment in the sun, considering the success that most kickers have had in the NFL. But today was not a day where the kickers covered themselves in glory.

Ten missed field goals today. Two blocked field goals. And miss kicks played a huge role in the next two games that we're going to talk about. So just kickers in general. What the fuck today? That's the thing. This has been like the first season where it's like, geez, anybody can kick from 50 plus, right? Like it's one of those things where I think maybe 10 years ago when I first started doing this, it was like, all right, maybe five or six teams have a guy where you feel 50 plus you feel really good about.

Now it's like five or six don't. And the other guys, it's like, yeah, most of them can do it. And then to have a game like today where literally games were lost by missing multiple, games decided by one field goal were lost because of team. missed multiple field goals. Like, it's just not their day today. This team won, but I still feel like they deserve, if not criticism, then some skepticism about where they are right now.

And that is the San Francisco 49ers. Jake Moody misses three field goals, but the Niners still managed to beat the Bucks 23 to 20. You have a moment after the third miss where Debo Samuel is going after the kicker and having to be restrained by the long snapper, which I think kind of. tennis speaks to, I don't think that that's necessarily a sign that your season is going down the drain or that things are lost. I think that that's just something that happens when their emotions are high and your team that's been struggling relatively throughout the season and you're having another frustrating day. But I do think overall, this Niners team just feels unsettled to me. And this game was another example of that where, you know, they're moving the ball fairly consistently.

if you look at a lot of the advanced numbers, the success rates and just how efficient they are on offense, it all looks decent. It's all looked decent all year, but it just feels like there's something missing with this team right now, and they're just more erratic in high leverage moments than you want them to be. And even if they won today, I think you can say the exact same thing about this Niners performance.

I think where I've come down on with the 49ers is that in years past, their identity was so clear and honest. obvious. Like in the early parts of the Jimmy G offense, it was like, all right, under center, outside zone, we're running the piss out of the ball. We're going to play action over the middle of the field. It was so obvious what they were going to do. They just happened to be the best at it. Obviously, you get into the purdy offense. You bring in CMC. They're doing a lot more gun. They're throwing underneath a lot more. They're checking down more. Their screen game is like even better than before. And there was such a clear identity in why this thing was working.

And then defensively, you also had, you know, really up and this year, one of the best front fours consistently, what they were doing in coverage, they were super aggressive, you always had a safety who was trying to take your head off. It just doesn't feel like there's as much cohesion on that side of the ball either. And we talked about coming into the season, right? Like the stars are still there. Nick Bosa is still there, Fred Warner, Trevarius Ward, when he was like, you know, he's still there.

But the other guys around them, the glue guys, didn't as much feel as part of they were there. And I think that's why that side of the ball hasn't felt as cohesive this year. So it's just one of those things where I just don't feel like going into a game. I feel 100% about what their identity is, whereas in years past, I always did. Yeah. And we hoped that especially the Red Zone struggles that they've had this year, getting McCaffrey back, where they're going to be able to finish drives off with touchdowns. And that didn't happen today, in part because the Bucks run defense is much better than their past defense.

And the Bucks run defense was good again today. The Niners struggled to run the ball efficiently. But even outside of the running game, there are just moments when they get down near the end zone where things start to unravel a little bit for them. Today, I have to go back and look at the numbers because they're not easily accessible. And so you'd have to go back and watch the whole game to actually understand how often this was happening. But anecdotally, it felt like the Bucks had a really good handle for how to bring an unconventional four, waste an offensive alignment, and send the Reiner's offense into that sort of erratic mode that we've seen from them. The sack that Purdy takes down in the red zone, that's a perfect example where the Bucks are only bringing four, but be the way that they're blocking it, the back actually initially,

Brock's try and Shienka and then just lets him go because he's supposed to get out into a route and he finishes that off with a sack and they're forced to kick a field goal. So even the touchdown that they threw to Kittle, that's another moment where it's just an erratic out of structure play that they're having to make. So even when good things are happening with this team right now, it just feels like they're happening in such an unsettled way that I don't know what you can really rely on moving forward with how this offense currently plays and is currently constructed. that's honestly the biggest where I have out of this game is like when is when is christian mcalfre going to look like the player that we thought he was going to and like when is it going to fix the offense um and i'm not going to like say after one game that i'm super panicky and he he's never going to be that player for them again and the season's over anything like that but first of all the bucks run defense i think just did an incredible job today like i thought the niners for the most part

actually kind of went back to a lot of their simple stuff and did a lot of just basic outside zone and pretty much any time the bucks were tipped off to it they just absolutely flew downhill i mean lavante david i think today looked younger than he has in a long time um which is a testament to the game that he had today um but then like you said you get down into the red zone and particularly last year a lot of why they were good in the red zone was the space that christian mcrafrey afforded them and like if he was if they tried to go cover any of the other guys purdy just knew he could check it down to cmc and he was going to go make a play you didn't really get that today like you said the only time they score in the red zone.

And Purdy, who really was not good for a lot of today, went and made like a Superman play outside of the pocket and throw it to George Kittle. But like, you're the 49ers. You are supposed to be one of the most put together offenses in the league. You shouldn't be needing Brock Purdy to go make a special play in the red zone for that to be your only way to score. And he was a little scatter shot today in ways that he hasn't been even this year when the offenses felt a little bit unsettled.

And there are moments where, you know, they're having to play off schedule, but he was able to carry them in those stretches. And today, it just felt like accuracy issues, you know, decision making. It just felt like the variance was often on the other side on the wrong side today. And they're managed to escape because they're playing against a Bucks team that's without its two best players on offense already. And then loses its other best player on offense like halfway through this game. Yeah. Yeah.

Like you said, I had a lot of fun watching what Purdy had done for the first like seven weeks of the season. But this was a game where, again, I don't know. if it's because they were trying to do too many things now with CMC back in the lineup and they were like trying to find what the marriage was. But I think maybe between some of that and then what you mentioned with them just consistently being able to manipulate the pressure rules while only bringing four, I think it really got to Purdy. But I don't think it was only that. Like I think very early on in the game, you could see Purdy was just not accurate. Like there's a first and 10 in the first quarter where he has kiddle on the checkdown. He just doesn't want to get to it. He just hangs on the ball for two extra

hitches and eats a sack. Later to that drive, he throws high and behind Ricky Pearsall. He had a number of other outbreakers in this game that he just throws way too high. Kittle had one, he had one to Kittle, by the way, where he's throwing like a slant near the left hash to Kittle. And it's like three feet above Kittles' head. And he somehow like goes up, gets a fingertip on it and it drops back into his hand. And that's just like, only Kittle makes a funny look and play like that. And Joanne Jennings had a couple of those plays today. Even some positive plays for the Niners in this game. It felt like their guys had to be superhuman in order to make them happen. And I think that's just happening a little bit too often with this team right now.

Before we move on, I just want to lament the loss of this Bucks team in this NFL season because I just consistently have been impressed with them all year. And even the way that Baker Mayfield played today, obviously that fourth and seven play where he's armed barring Nick Bosa in order to do that. But he tries to throw a go ball after spinning around in the pocket because he knows that it's open. I've really enjoyed watching Baker play this year. And I think the offense overall has been a very well-designed, very put-together unit. The screen on the Rashad White touchdown today, the design of that is indicative of what this

offense has been for the most part all year. And I think we're going to get to the end of this season. And because of all the injuries and some of the bad breaks that they've gotten, this Bucks team is going to finish 7 and 10, 8, 9. And we're going to look back on it two, three years from now. It's going to be like, oh, you know, during this stretch, the Bucks were kind of like a middling team that struggle to break through. And I do think that that's not actually what this team was supposed to be if things had broken right for them. I think that the ceiling on

offense was considerably higher than it was last year. And this team would have had a much different feel to it. If Godwin hadn't gotten hurt, if Evans hadn't gotten hurt, and now we'll see what happens with Tristan Werps. I just think that I've consistently been so impressed with what Liam Cohen and this team have done. The fact that they've even been in the last two games against the team, that played in the Super Bowl last year, given how much they're missing, I think speaks to what this team is consistently putting on the field. And it is a real bummer that we have not gotten to see the best version of them, because I think the best version of them actually would have been a really cool entry into what the back half of this season was going to look like.

Yeah, they're going to end up being a footnote. And like you said, they didn't really deserve that. They could be exactly what the Falcons are right now, right? Like where they're a six and four, whatever team. They have a top 10 offense. The defense makes them score a lot of points, that type of team. They could be the exact team that the Falcons are. The difference is just the Falcons have been relatively healthy on offense and caught in a lot of decent breaks on that front. And the Bucks obviously haven't. And they're missing a lot of their best players. And I think it's particularly unfortunate because very early on in this season, their run game and their running back rotation actually wasn't very good. But now, Bucky Irving is truly one of my

favorite running backs to watch right now. His speed, his vision, the snappiness at which he does stuff, I am all in on this guy. I'm very bought in on what he can be for them. But again, for him to to be playing the way that he's playing, and now maybe it's just not going to matter with where this team is at schedule-wise and stuff, it's unfortunate. Yeah, he's another perfect example. Just like him, what Kate Otten has given them even after the wide receiver injuries. They've just been so good in like the positions they've been putting their offense in throughout this entire season. And now I just don't know if they have the requisite talent for it to matter.

And that's unfortunate. That's just the place I didn't want to see this team end up, but it feels like we might have gotten there, especially with Worf's potentially missing a few weeks here with what sounds like an MCL spray. Let's stick in the NFC South because I think a lot of the stuff that we talked about with the Niners and then missing field goals and how it affected their game apply to what happened to the Falcons today. The Falcons lose to a team that just fired its head coach 20 to 17.

Young Wayku misses two field goals, had a third one blocked. Atlanta Falcons, what the fuck? This is a particular Falcons, what the fuck? Because when I went back and watched this game, by the time I got to the end, I thought, wow, the Falcons were the considerably better team today. And they lost. I just thought they were so much better. They had the highest success rate as a rushing team today. Some of their misquies in the passing game were just like kind of unlucky stuff.

obviously some of these field goal misses, even what the Saints did as an offense. The Saints offense was bad for most of this game, except they hit two humongous deep throws of all people, Marquez Valdez Scantling, who somehow just pops up on some team and gives you like random explosive plays. And so for like, for that to be the way that the Falcons lose this game, just come on, dude. MVS, Kevin Austin Jr. caught multiple passes for the Saints today. and we got a Dante Pettis sighting. That was the state of what was going out with the Saints receiving court. And then you look at who was playing for them on the back end.

Hugo Amadi played, I think, every single snap for the Saints secondary in this game. Will Harris played every single snap. Shamar Jean Charles played almost every single snap for the Saints in this game. The Saints are in tatters when you think about what they were supposed to look like as a roster coming into the year and what they look like now. And they still managed to win this game today. they like you said they got the interim bounce baby like and that and a couple of this falcons still like it's so frustrating and when i watched this back i swear they were the considerably better team today like jean robinson had a number of incredible runs They moved the ball pretty efficiently. They just had several backbreaking mistakes.

Most of them by Caleb McGarry in some form. And he ended up on his back on two different sacks today because you got tripped. That was what this Falcons offense felt like today. And that's what this Falcons team felt like today. You're missing field goals. Your right tackle is tripping over people and landing on his back multiple times for sacks. It was that sort of day today for Atlanta. And then I will say the final drive.

actually capped this off in perfect like Kirk Cousins type fashion where I think they're like right at midfield and on first and 10 of their final series Chase Young just calls game and he gets a strip sack on on Kurt Cousins. Ball gets knocked out. The Falcons pick up the ball but they lose about 18 and that's one of those ones where it's like man if Kirk could have moved a little bit and it was like saw that just a half second later or earlier maybe he could have moved and gotten away from that and then on the I think fourth and four that ends it Kirk like panics and throws well short of the sticks in like certainly in bounds like there's just he did the thing that he did against the giants in the playoff game basically is what he did in this game like that they deserve for

seconds left i don't understand why that that was the thought going into it is that we're going to try to get the ball we're trying to complete that pass even if you thought you could get out of bounds i think is a losing formula like that i think has to either be a 60 yard field goal which i understand why you don't want to do that at that point yes the way that your kicking game is gone or a hell Mary. The fact that it was neither one of those things, I think, is probably a mistake, even if you're at a slim chance of winning the game in that moment, no matter what was going to happen. Yeah, just a almost a picture-esque ending to a stupid falcons loss on that one. Speaking of stupid games, this is where we're going to talk about the Sunday night game.

Everything about what just happened in Lions, Texans, what the fuck? Where do you want to start with this? Because I can't remember a game where I truly woke up at some point during over the course of the action and thought, what is actually happening right now based on how often and how reliably these teams were turning the ball over? There was a point in this game where, so I'm like, again, usually during Sunday nights,

I'm like trying to catch up on some of the other games that happening. So I have this on, I have the Sunday night game on one screen and I have another game on the other screen. And I've seen golf through all these picks, right? And I'm like trying to mentally track it. And then at a certain point, someone goes, man, he's throwing four picks. And I'm like, four, like, four picks.

And yeah, he did. And then he threw another one later in the game. Like, it's just... Even if you want to give them credit or leeway, because one was on a hill, Mary. We're still talking about four real interceptions in the course of play. Yes, exactly. And they won. That's the other thing.

They end up winning this game, which is why... I think previously I've made a lot of, like, Testaments to... to like, man, the lions just find ways to win every type of game. And that's really cool. This is not one of those. You deserve to lose this game. I'm more mad at the Texans for not having anything on offense to where you still end up losing a game like this,

where you're just gifted opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. And you can't finish it out into the end zone. The fumble to me is just like the craziest play of this entire game. I still don't understand exactly what Titus Howard was trying to do. that speaks to what this Texan season has felt like on offense. The fact that the other team can throw five interceptions, four kind of

because the fifth one doesn't really matter if half is going to end anyway. The other team can throw four interceptions that actually impact the game and somehow you can afford to lose it because you threw two picks in the second half and at some point your right tackle causes a fumble on a game swinging

play that gives the ball to the other team deep in your own territory. Is there any like actual big picture takeaways that you think you have from this? Or was this just one of the weirdest games that you can remember? It's probably not wise to take any sweeping conclusions from it. I do think this is a reminder that even though I think golf has done well under pressure for a lot of this season, when you get a team that can really get after it, especially when they

only need to bring four and they have guys who can really crush the pocket like a guy like DeNico Atrey, I'm still a little bit scared of what you. Jared Gough might look like when it really comes down to it at the end of the road in the NFC. Now, again, they might just luck out and not end up facing a pass rush of this caliber. Obviously, the Texans have been one of the best in the league, but I don't know, man. What if the Rams sneak into the playoffs and you've got to go play this front? You know what I mean? Like, it's just one of those things where you remember that golf against a truly elite pass rush

can be a little bit of a problem at times. Yeah, and obviously, like, the decision making is poor in this game. But like the one on the kind of the post to Leporta. He just lets that thing rip because he thinks the port is going to win inside and then it doesn't happen. It was just kind of one of those games. And the fact that they could win one of those games because of what the Texans offense did in the second half, is just all you need to know about this. And it's not even just the picks.

There were a number of throws in this game where golf starts to feel pressure and he's not 100% sure about the window he's throwing into. And he just like dirts the ball, four yards in front of his receiver. And that kind of comes back to like, okay, maybe in that moment if you don't trust the window and you feel like you're getting pressure, maybe the right thing is to just dirt it, but it kind of goes back to the fact that Gough doesn't have a second answer in these situations. Like he doesn't have the flip that Lamar Jackson can flip or Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen where you can just go make a play. He just doesn't have that.

So you end up in the spot where, oh, I feel pressure immediately. I don't love the window. I've got to just dirt it. And I think that was a big reason why they kind of struggled to move the ball consistently in this game. All right, before we move on and get to a few other things that jumped out to us today, let's take one more quick break. You see that?

Did you see that? Did you see that the Sam Darnold that you were talking about on the Friday preview show showed up in a big way today against the Jacks? He was there and bigger and scarier than I even imagined. I think I even said in that segment, it probably won't matter this week because it's the Jaguars, right? And the Jaguars have been one of the worst defenses of the league. Maybe that should have actually been a trigger to be more worried about it because this is the exact type of game where Sam Darnold is going to do the thing and throw these kinds of picks. I mean, he is just, he just continues to frustrate me, man. Like I said, I think the more we start to get pressure on him in the pocket,

and that was certainly a case in this game where actually they got more pressure than I think we've been used to from this Jacksonville Jaguars front. As of late, you just see him start to do the thing that he's not supposed to do. And look, you go into this game, the quarterback on the other side is Mack Jones. You have one of the best defenses in the league. You don't have to do anything. All you have to do is not do what you did. Yes, hit cruise control, throw to Justin Jefferson, and the ones that you want to be aggressive to Justin Jefferson, let your margin for error be, I might overthrow this out of bounds. Don't let the margin of error be.

I might throw this a little bit too low right at a safety in the red zone. You know what I mean? Like, that can't be your margin for error with this type of stuff. Just like go into cruise control, let Aaron Jones do his thing, let Justin Jefferson make one or two plays. Games done. Instead, he makes this, like the close. this game the Jaguars have played against a decent team all season. It's just, this is what I was worried about. Yeah, I think that's the takeaway here is like, this is what you were talking about.

This is exactly what you were referring to on the preview show when you were talking about how, even if there's a lot to like about this Vikings team and a lot to like about the design of this Vikings offense specifically, you're still worried when we get to the end of the season, when we get to the biggest moments in the biggest games of the year, this type of stuff and this type of decision making is still going to potentially be there. And I think that with each past week, we have more reason to believe that that might be true. Yeah, and like almost every interception this game was just baffling. Like the first one, by the way, he throws them all to Justin Jefferson, which I understand

you want to force them all to Justin Jefferson a lot, but it's at a certain point, it's ridiculous. The first one, Justin Jefferson is just running a slant from the left side. The corner is playing inside leverage and jams him at the snap and jams him throughout the entire route. And Sam Darnold is watching it all unfold and he's like, nah, I can still throw it. And he throws it, gets tipped up, linebacker catches it, it's intercepted. Second one, he holds onto the ball for like five seconds in the red zone, throws a dig route way late over the middle of the field, throws it low, picked off. That's a decision.

One, the ball is bad, but the decision is like, why are we even throwing that? And then the third pick he throws, he tries to throw a cover two whole shot, like late, and just Darnel Savage just like walks into it. Like, it just, every interception, I was like, dude, you can't make that mistake. Let's get to our next one here. Did you see the Justin Herbert just shaking people in the open field along with going 14 of 18 in this game? We talked about this a little bit. The only reason Justin Herbert probably wasn't in You Have My Attention or the Chargers weren't is because they were last week.

They probably deserve it, considering this team is six and three and cruising to the playoffs. But Justin Herbert continues to make like three or four ridiculous plays a game. And it's nice that it's for a winning team and that he's been able to lift. what is otherwise a talent-free offense here over the last few weeks. He is unbelievable. And in this game, his best throw was dropped, by the way. He has a ball that he throws to Will Disley to the left side of the end zone. What is for in completions?

Right, exactly. He's trailing back against a free rusher. So he's got to make this throw. Can't step into it. He's just like whipping it from his back foot, 35 yards on a dot to Will Disley. And it's like mildly contested by the defensive back. But it's very catchable. just drops it he doesn't end up getting it. And like that type of throw mixed with what you just

said where he's just like shaking guys in the open field. I know the MVP is a who is the really good quarterback on the number one seat in their conference. But if we were to like really boil it down to like who is doing the most for their football team, Justin Herbert like might win the award. He is like insane right now. Doing the most with the least too. Yeah, doing the most with the least. right, yeah. What he did as a runner in this game multiple different times, that play where he shakes the corner in the open field, I think that's all you need to know about what type of player we're talking about over the last few weeks. He's doing a little bit of everything. And you know what I really enjoyed about this version of Justin Herbert? And I think it probably says a lot about what the chargers are right now. Does it feel like Justin Herbert's playing with a little edge right now? Does it feel like we're getting that like kind of you from Justin Herbert that we've wanted for a while? There was a play. I think it was a interference that got called. And he's sitting there like clapping in like a defender's face after it happens. And I'm like, this is all I've ever wanted. And I guess we just needed Jim Harbaugh like shaking him, literally shaking him before games in order to get this personality to come out of

Justin Herbert. And I'm 100% for it. Well, and it's funny. I think you said something to that effect coming into this season where it's like Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman will get the the quarterback we want out of Justin Herbert. But that was more. related to like what the offense is doing and like forcing him to throw down more down the field. But in actuality, he probably wanted to do that stuff anyway and has always been talented enough to do it. It's just getting him to have that like, yeah, maybe I am just better than everybody else type of attitude again, which we've seen from him in the past, but not recently. We mentioned this with the Cardinals where it's like, okay, all you need to know or all you

want to see before you have talent is when the talent gets there, we're supposed to feel good about you. And I think that's exactly where we are with this version of the Chargers. and with this version of Justin Herbert. Obviously, the defense has been an objectively good unit for most of this season with a lot of position groups and pieced together and just the way that they went out and signed people and just the fact this is kind of a soft reset as a team. If we're going to see this version of Justin Herbert when this team does get a little bit more talent offensively when they ramp up the pass catchers, all of that stuff, it's easy to get

excited about what the Jim Harbaugh era is going to look like over the next couple years, no matter how the season ultimately plays out. And what did we say a couple weeks ago when we were talking about, you know, the Cowboys and their offensive rebuild? When you've got the quarterback, you're always closer than you think. It might not be that far away for this Chargers offense. Yeah, and I think we'd say the same thing about the Cardinals. We maybe didn't know that about Kyle or Murray, but, you know, there were people who thought that they might trade Kyler Murray as they were hitting the reset button. There are also people who thought the Chargers might trade Justin Herbert, which is insane. Like, it's financially, it would be impossible, but also it would be a terrible decision. like what are you going to go get?

You're going to go get four first round picks and hopefully eventually get Justin Herbert? It's ridiculous. But I think having that guy at the center of it where we have these highly paid talented quarterbacks in the middle of a rebuild that allows the rebuild to accelerate in ways it wouldn't without the quarterback. And I think that we've seen that in both of those places. And both of those teams are kind of these feisty, you know, right in the mix borderline playoff teams.

The Chargers are definitely heading that direction. And I think having the quarterback. as part of that equation coming into the rebuild is a huge part of that. Let's get through the next one here. Did you see Terran Johnson get a pick six and then a sack on a crazy, like, disguised coverage play for the Bills? Teran Johnson continues to be a very cool player for a Bills team that just keeps marching along and has set up a very, very fun matchup with the Chiefs next week.

He's what a nickel cornerback should be, man. Just smart, tough as shit, wants to beat the hell out of you, both run and pass. it can make all these insane plays. You can blitz him. You can do all this other stuff with him. You can run him in man coverage if you need to. He is just, when Taryn Johnson is on the field for them, they are a considerably different defense. Like, he is just, he's a dude.

He had a game today. Colts offense. I understand. My stance on this, and it goes back to our discussion about the Anthony Richardson part of this, is that I don't think this is just about Joe Flacco gives us the best chance to win now. I think this is about giving Anthony Richardson a little bit. bit of a pause to get things right before you're going to put him back in there. And so I think a lot of people are going to look at what Joe Flacco is doing, turning the

ball over the fact that the offense is really struggling right now and think, why is this worse that what Anthony Richardson could give you? And I don't think that's necessarily the set of considerations about who the quarterback is, but it's still hard to watch the Colts offense play like this and think why this needed to happen or why this needs to continue. But it seems like based on what Shane Stuyken said, we're not going to be seeing Anthony Richardson anytime soon. And I think that is just a reminder that this is about more than what the offense is going to look like game to game no matter who the quarterback is.

Yeah. I think the most frustrating part to me is. And if Anthony Richardson just wanting to sit him down for a month is like really all that's happening here and this isn't about what Joe Flacco gives them, totally understand. And I think it is. Yeah. And I think I could totally understand that, especially with as, you know, like we said, he started to look more frazzled the more he played. So I think sitting him down for maybe a month totally makes sense. With Flacco though, I think we were kind of sold a bill of goods by the coaching staff that like, or not the coaching staff, but like maybe some people in the media like he can fix some things.

I do think the pure dropback passing offense is like slightly more open with a guy like Flacco, but I think they actually lose as much or more than they gain from having a guy like flaco and particularly in the run game. Like I know Jonathan Taylor had two or three really explosive runs in this game. I think he had a 58 yarder. but down to down, like outside of those two or three explosive runs, they were terrible. They had like a 20-something percent success rate on the ground today. They were not good at all, whereas at least if you had Richardson back there, they got to be

scared of them. They only ran them like three, four times a game, but you have to be scared of it, and that changed the math of what they were trying to do. This next one, you might not have seen it because of what the time this game kicked off. Did you see that Bryce Young made more plays than Daniel Jones in the second half of that game and that this Panthers team beat the Giants? Did you see that? I'm so glad you said the second half because, yes, the second half I did catch.

First half, sorry, I'm not looking up at 630 to watch Daniel Jones. It's not happening. But the second half, and I think actually what's so funny about this game is that if you take away the turnovers, they kind of played the same game in terms of just like not very efficient, throwing a lot of stuff underneath, praying you get one or two really good yards that's to catch time of opportunities. It's just the difference is Daniel Jones had the boneheaded plays, whereas Bryce Young, didn't really have those. And then he made one really sweet play in the red zone where he finds

his guy in the back of the end zone for a touchdown after scrambling around for a little bit. Like that's, that's all it takes, I guess, to beat Daniel Jones. It's kind of crazy that I think you can make a reasonable argument that the Panthers, after everything they've been through over the last couple years, actually have more reasons for optimism moving forward than the Giants do. Right. I don't know who the Giants, who the Panthers quarterback is going to be next year. I'd be surprised if it were Bryce Young, considering everything that they've been through. But you look at the way that offensive line has been built up and the fact that they can run the ball a little bit. And I honestly think that you combine that with some of the young

past catchers and what they've been able to show in stretches and in moments with Canales, you could make a reasonable argument that there is better, there are more reasons to be excited about the 2025 Panthers and there are about the 2025 giants. And that is just a terrible place to be if you're the giants, but it kind of feels like they might be there. I think particularly on offense, absolutely, because like if you were to just jump into next year and say, okay, what's the best thing about either of these teams? Okay, Malik Neighbors is probably the best single player on either of these teams, but you can only get him the ball if your offensive line is going to do anything for you. And I think this Giants offensive line is still really, really bad. They have games where

they're okay in the run game. Like last week against Washington, they were okay. But for the most part, they haven't been very good there either. And then at least with the Carolina Panthers, they're like quietly a top 10 offensive line. Like they are actually. playing at a really, really high level, and it's the only reason it keeps this offense in games. So if you can throw, whether it's a decent rookie quarterback in there, some veteran you can go get who is playing at a decent level, add maybe one more piece at receiver. It's like, okay, you actually probably have a pretty functional unit here, whereas the giants are multiple, multiple steps and pieces away from that. Yeah, and it's just an unfortunate place to be when you're

three years in. Last one here. Do you see the Cooper Rush average of two yards per attempt today? unfortunately. Unfortunately, I did lay my eyes on that game. That was, I think the most baffling part of the Cooper Rush thing is that he's been there forever, right? They know that this is what he is. Like, I just, it's baffling to me. 12 of 13 of 23 for 45 yards is like hard to do in an NFL game. We don't have to spend much more time on that. I mean, the job. Yeah, that's all I have. The Cowboys are an absolute train wreck right now. But that that is just a fantastic stat line. All right, before we get to what we learned today, It's time for one more segment that it's about time we do this even though I don't want to. It's time for it's so over. It's over. So over. It's over for the Bears.

After today, it is, it's just, it's over. And Caleb Williams is a sacked, I believe, nine times in this game. And you could easily make an argument, oh, while the offensive line was banged up. You know, they're out, they're starting two tackles and even their swing tackles hurt. Then Temin Jenkins gets hurt in this game. So I got four new offensive linemen in there. You can say the exact same thing about the team that beat them up today. The Patriots offensive wine has been a disaster the entire year,

and they're starting guys that weren't on the roster or on the practice squad, and it still looked considerably better than the Bears' offense did today. And we're at a point now where I don't think you can make any reasonable argument that this coaching staff should be back, right, based on what the offense looks like right now and what they're doing to the quarterback. People are trying to, poor asking me about this today. they're saying, all right, so what is Caleb Williams' role in all of this? And I think the answer is he's contributing to the problems, right?

And it just creates a cascading effect with everything that's happening around him. He is not blameless here, but it's very hard to get an accurate representation of what the quarterback is able to do when you're talking about this sort of offensive design and this sort of offensive infrastructure, right? This needs to change in a huge way for us to actually understand what he is. The biggest thing about this, the thing that is the most tragic about all of this, is that this didn't need to happen. It didn't need to go through this season this way. And anybody who has paid attention to this team over the last 10, 15, 20 years has seen this movie a thousand times before.

Matt Iberfluse kept this job because of what the Bears' defense did in the back half of last year. So if you want to play that out, Deshawn Watson, Josh Dobbs, Bryce Young, The wins over those guys are the reason that Matt Iberflus kept that job. Wins over those quarterbacks are the reason that you're seeing this on offense right now. Instead of just starting over this offseason and saying, okay, we have the number one pick in the draft. Why would we go into another season with a first round quarterback in his rookie year with a lame duck coach, the same way we've done the last two times we drafted a quarterback when no one would have said a word if you fired him? nobody nobody if they had decided to move on from Iber Fluss after the year and they had tried to pair a young rookie quarterback with a new offensive head coach and said we want to clean slate we want to do everything we can to set this guy up for success with everything about the organization the receiving talent is good there's no denying that but this is about trying to do everything you can to set up the entire organization for a guy's success we've seen what it looks like when off when your offense is set up correctly and to go out and

shoot for the middle with your offensive coordinator with a defensive-minded head coach and not give yourself every chance for this to succeed when no one would have set a word if you had fired Iberfus after the year was a mistake in the moment and now we're 10 games into the year he's going to get fired at the end of this season and we're going to do this whole song and dance again and I just cannot believe that we've already gotten back here I think that's a great way to frame it if you had you have the prince who was promised coming to play quarterback for you nobody would have been mad if you said we want to scrap it and like try something new and try something creative and try something aggressive to build around that kind of guy.

And then I think what's funny is like so often with defensive head coaches, it seems like they fall into the trap of like playing not to win the game, but to just not lose the game. Like they're just trying to do things that limit. That kind of feels like what the Shane Waldron hire was in a way. It's exactly right. All right. It was always, the ceiling on it was so low. And if you're again, you're aiming for the middle. That's the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is what you're seeing right now. Yes. And like I think coming into this, a problem we could have foreseen for sure was that

Waldron doesn't have good answers when his offensive line is bad. Granted, not many offensive coordinators have very good answers when their offensive line is bad. It's like the hardest problem to fix. But I think he in particular has really, really struggled at that for a lot of the season, both with some of their past protection rules and then just I think their run game, outside of a couple of games where split zone was really working for them, haven't really found a whole lot.

and I think that's been a part of the problem. Another part of the problem is, you mentioned the receiving core is talented. It certainly is the ways that they're using these guys don't make any sense. Keenan Allen in particular, for him to be your point man on every screen and then to also be your most vertical receiver. Dude, it's Keenan Allen in 2024. Let him play over the middle as a slot receiver. Like it's just the deployment of who these players are is baffling. And like you said, Caleb Williams is not blameless.

There are certain throws in this game where he just misses. I think his pocket ability, certainly over the past two weeks, has, like, eroded. Like, I thought in that Washington game, it wasn't actually as bad as it looked. I think the past two weeks, it's been bad. And he's just holding onto the ball. And I actually think a stark difference in this game, or even if you watch Jane Daniels, or even to, like, a lesser extent, Bo Nix, those guys, they are just one, two, something happens. I'm going to go.

I'm going to make the throw. I'm going to go run if I have to. Caleb Williams is, like, so stuck to the pocket for some reason. And I don't understand why. You drafted him to be the outside the pocket guy, and it just feels like he's so anchored to it. And I don't know if that's a Waldron thing. I don't know if that's a him thing. But that to me is another problem with this.

So I feel like I kind of lost where I was going with that a little bit. But it's just that's kind of how this Bears team feels to me at the moment. What's crazy is when you watched him at USC and you saw this like dynamic, instinctive player. Yes. And what he looks like now and just how rigid he looks and how robotic he looks in the pocket. All those other guys, May and Daniel specifically, and I think Bo Nix has a little bit of this because he's a good athlete, there's a fluidity to the way that those guys are playing that just doesn't exist with Caleb Williams right now. He is so overloaded that you can just see the gears turning every single time he drops back. And that's on the coaching staff.

I mean, we talked about this a lot over the first few weeks of the season. There are halves and have-nots with play callers in the NFL. You either have an offensive architect and an offensive coach and an offensive coaching staff. that's going to make things consistently easier on the players or you don't. You can quibble about rankings and where you exist in the hierarchy. I think the binary is more important. Do you have one of those guys at the front of it or do you not? And when you definitively do not, you feel the gap between you and everybody else.

And that's where this team is. And the most frustrating part about this is you could have picked any offensive head coach to start this. You could have gone with anybody else. You could have gone and tried to find a staff that had Zach Robinson as its offensive coordinator or guy like Liam Cohen. You could have tried something that we hadn't seen before. Instead, they went with a guy who was the 18th best offense coordinator in the league or whatever he was in Seattle.

And you pair him with another lame duck head coach. And now once again, you were going to have a first round quarterback that is going to be starting over with a new offensive staff, a new offensive scheme in his second year for reasons that were completely avoidable. I'm done talking about this team. Seriously. I'm like, I'm done. Like, there's nothing else to say.

it's going to get worse before it gets better. After the Arizona game, after the Washington game, I was like, ah, you know, the Washington game is coin flip game. There's a lot of weirdness. Arizona, you know, they played like garbage, but that was the first time the offense was like truly, truly helpless over the course of a game.

If you can course correct from that, then, you know, maybe things get a little bit better. But now that it's been two weeks in row when you just did that against one of the worst teams in the league, this is it. Like, it's over. Like the name of the segment and the entire purpose of this, it is so over and there's really nothing else to say until they clean house and until they get to the next season.

Yeah. And actually the last thing I really want to add quickly that has frustrated me so much with this offense is that they had that they had a starting in week three. So Caleb against the Colts, not perfect, but you could see signs of life. And then the next three weeks, they win all their games. Like they're against really bad defenses. The Rams at the time were pretty bad. The Panthers, the Jaguars. But that should have been like, okay, we can start to find ourselves. we can start to find what we're good at.

Then they have their by week. That is like the perfect opportunity to be like, we can build. And then they have this three week stretch now where they just lose every game and they look hopeless. How does that happen? Like it just, yeah, I'm also done. It happens when it's over. It happens when it's over. And the fact that now they have to play all their division games and arguably the best division in the league, there's a chance it's an absolute train wreck.

Now you just hope that he doesn't get enough scar tissue over the course of the rest of the season that it actually caused lasting damage. That is truly the only thing worth paying. attention to anymore. Their easiest game left is probably week 17 against the Seattle team that might make the playoffs. That's their easiest game left. Yeah, Mike McDonald on the other side is the easiest game they have left. All right. Before we get out of here, let's talk about what we learned today. I think I've learned something today. What do you got for me? What is your big takeaway here from week 10 of the NFL season? The NFL grind, it is a slug. The season, there are going to be some dumb games, there are going to be some bad games, you're not always going to be your best.

You've got to take the wins where you can get them. For Kansas City to get away with what they got away with, for Detroit to get away with what they got away with. And then kind of like the flip side of that, for to me to, you know, kind of like we mentioned with the Falcons earlier, for them to play as well as they did and lose that game still, it's just like, however, like there's no moral victories in the NFL. Like, I think the Falcons probably played the best ball maybe of those three teams in certain ways, and they're the ones who lost, whereas Kansas City and Detroit get away with

a win. You just got to take them where you can get them. Yeah, the margins are extremely small. You know, your two Caleb McGarry trips away from losing the game to a Saints team that's throwing the ball to, I'm trying to look up his name again, Kevin Austin Jr. multiple times in this game, and that's exactly where the Saints were. Mine goes, pretty much encompasses the entire day because I started this thought when the Giants were playing earlier today. And I think it continues to the lions didn't have a great day today, but the lions are cruising toward the playoffs. They're going to be a contender near the end. And then Arizona, I think, has really shown us what this regime wanted to be, right? And now year 300, Jonathan Gannon.

Understanding where you are for real and how you need to get from there to point B to point C is one of the biggest things about being a general manager about running an NFL franchise. And I think the Giants signing Daniel Jones to the contract that they did after that 2020 season and accelerating what the build was there because of what they did to that Vikings defense in the playoffs. It's a huge mistake, right? And it sends you on a path that is not, there's nothing waiting for you down that path that you want. Daniel Jones is a $48 million cap it this year. And I know that's really the big move that they made that accelerated the timeline for them.

and they haven't really done other things to necessarily jeopardize or compromise their future. But think about the opportunity cost that goes along with $48 million for Daniel Jones this year. You can't go out and make the moves along the offensive line that the Panthers made. Last year, they traded a third round pick for Darren Waller to kind of give them an instant fix. Wouldn't the third round rookie contract and what that guy could potentially be for you, you know, on the interior of the defensive line where they need some help? One more piece along the offensive line where you wouldn't necessarily have to go out and spend in free agency. They did things that tried to make them a competitive team in 2023 when they had no business trying to be a competitive team.

And then on the flip side of that, you go to what these really considered rebuilds have looked like in Detroit and in Arizona. Or being in Arizona this summer and talking to people there about what they were trying to accomplish with all the stockpiling of picks that they had in this year's draft. And the thought process was, we had no rookie contract players on this team. None. you look at the last regime and how they drafted and all the draft picks they traded away for Rodney Hudson and DeAndre Hopkins and, you know, J.J. Watt comes in as a veteran. They just had so many pieces. They trade for Hollywood Brown. You know, all these guys were they just hemorrhaged draft picks and then missed on the ones that they did have. And you're left with a roster that has

absolutely no cost control talent on it. So the thought was, can we just add a bunch of those pieces to the roster and then just see how it goes? And that's exactly what they've done. You know, they really haven't blocked a lot of guys with free agent signings for the most part. They've given opportunities to all of those young pieces because they understood the timeline that they needed to exist on. You know, the Yelta Froholtz in the world that come in and it's like, well, what if this hits, right? We're paying him next to nothing as a free agent signing. And when you start stacking those up, you get to a place where you can feel pretty good

about the roster moving forward. The lions are the best possible example of this, where they didn't do anything to move faster than they needed to. And that is why they're in this position because they've allowed all of these guys every single opportunity to develop and to be contributors to who they are. So understanding who you are, where you want to go, and what your timeline should look like to get there, that is the game. That is the most important thing if you're trying to build a winner. And I think you feel the gap between the teams who have a good handle on that and the teams that have struggled to figure it out. Yeah, the game isn't find good players. Like if that was the end game, like anybody could do it,

you know what I mean? Like drafting is kind of a dart throw to begin with. And then signing good players, it's like, yeah, I could go out and look at the linebacker market and be like, okay, Patrick Queen is the best guy. I want him on my team. But it's more about like you said, understanding, do we need a Patrick Queen right now or that sort of thing and like understanding which types of players you need to bring in, whereas maybe it's better for you to take some of those low risk bets on some of these other free agents

where you just want to give them a shot and see what can happen. And then like you said with acquiring draft capital, I think, you know, in the Cardinals case, they were kind of afforded this opportunity because, like we've talked about, you already had the quarterback, so it gives you a little bit more flexibility to just mess around with this stuff. But like, they're almost their entire offense. It's like young guys and guys that they've drafted. I mean, think about Trey McBride. Obviously, Marvin Harrison, Jr. very recently. Paris Johnson. Paris Johnson. Michael, Michael Wilson is a young player for them. Elijah Higgins, who is like, you know, their second, third tight end, whatever. But he is a serious

contributor for them. And he's another guy. They just like threw a sixth round pick at or whatever. and he does something for them. Trey Benson at running back has given them some explosiveness. This is a team that just went out and said, all right, we are not going to be good, to throw a bunch of these darts. And they very quickly turned that around into one of the best offenses in league with not many guys who you would have thought were NFL superstars two years ago,

if that makes sense. Self-awareness and the ability to be honest with yourself about where you are and what your team looks like. That's a necessary component of all of this. And I think that the teams who are the best stories in the league this year are the ones that have been able to do that. And the teams that are still struggling to figure out what their path forward is are the teams that have not been able to quite hit on that idea. All right. That is all we've got for today.

We will be back a little bit later this week. We're doing midseason awards. Midseason-ish awards is what we're calling it because we had to hit the trade deadline last week. So we're going to be doing mid-season-ish awards in the middle of this week. It's going to be me, you, and our good buddy Bill Barnwell to figure out who deserves the hard. where after 10 weeks of the NFL season. Until then, sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon.