The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Week 10 Recap: Texans stun Bengals, Browns beat Ravens, Lions-Chargers fireworks, jam-packed AFC playoff race, and more

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Who had the best win in Week 10...the Texans, Browns or Lions? There may not be a definitive answer, and that's part of what made this such a great Sunday in the NFL. Robert Mays and Nate Tice are here to break it down on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTubeThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Find your bright spot this season, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp dot com slash MAYS today to get 10% off your first month.Right now, you can try LinkedIn Sales Navigator and get a sixty-day free trial at LinkedIn dot com slash MAYS23. That is LinkedIn dot com slash MAYS23 for a 60-day free trial. Let LinkedIn Sales Navigator help you sell like a superstar today! Just go to LinkedIn dot com slash MAYS23 and get started. New to Etsy? Use the code HOLIDAY10 for ten percent off your first purchase. That’s code HOLIDAY10. Maximum discount value of fifty dollars. Expires December 31st, 2023. See terms at Etsy dot com slash terms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. Welcome to the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me tonight. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. How you doing, buddy? Doing very well. That was a nice Sunday game that's a little different than maybe some that we've gotten

recently, so we're meaning that I can have it on mute for most of it. I was wondering where you were going with that. And that's right. That's correct. I want a little swerve there. A little swerve there. Just a little bait and switch there. But a very fun day overall.

all week 10 did not disappoint and yeah it's just the NFL is just so fascinating. I just love it honestly the not for long line is just so perfect how you feel about teams and sometimes you just have to weather the storm and just like no it's okay. It's actually going to be okay. So I feel like this show, especially this recap show, is definitely going to be a weather the storm or is there a storm that we can't weather type of situation for some teams. When people say not for long, I think they're typically referring to career lengths or your time at the top. But this year, year it feels like it applies to the way we feel about teams. Yeah, I feel like this team is the best team in the conference, one of the best teams in

the league are definitely a playoff team. Not for long. Just wait until next week because you're going to change your mind. And there was a lot of that today. Maybe not how teams kind of exist in our minds, but playoff positioning, hierarchy. There was some shifting today. And we're going to get into a lot of that. But it was an exciting day.

I mean, it was one of the most exciting Sundays that we've had so far this NFL season. Let's start with, I think, the most exciting game of the entire. a day, and that was the Lions winning a 41 to 38 thriller over the Chargers in Los Angeles. And as so many teams maybe took a slight step back in how we see them or kind of got pulled down back into the muck this week, the Lions set themselves apart a little bit, I think, specifically with the way that they played on offense. And to me, at least, reminded us, this is what we can do when we're clicking. This is what we can do when we're humming.

And I think they made a little bit of a statement, even against a bad Chargers defense, that a lot of other wannabe contenders couldn't make it today. It was kind of a vintage Lions performance, what you expect out of this offense, some great situational calls, whether it's a late play action, shot play on the short yard situation, some third down stuff, some fourth down stuff. I thought, I mean, love always how aggressive Dan Campbell is on fourth down, but the fact that it just keeps maintaining as they are a good team, as opposed to a frisky team that has nothing to lose as sometimes some of these coaches kind of lose that kind of aggressiveness as they become

better. But this Lions team just attacking over the middle with Amon Ross St. Brown, the run game, Jamir Gibbs, and David Montgomery. So everybody was happy, no matter what your fantasy ownership was. Everybody was thrilled with today's performances from the Lions office. Sam La Pena had a bad day relatively. Okay. It was one of the first times. It was one of the first times. I think he was the number one tight end in all the fantasy rankings and he had his second catch deep into the fourth quarter. Let's just say if you drafted Sam LaPorter this year, you're playing with house money for the rest of the season. So no complaints on your end. Positive rookie tight-ed.

It's just incredible. But, I mean, the kind of the epitome of all this was the fourth and five run play call, which was just. I know you love that. I know you absolutely love that. And then they get the next third down is third and six. And they run another run. And then they get to fourth, I think fourth and short. And then they handed off to Amon Raus St. Brown.

He goes for a first down. But right, right, the second push was so awesome. And really that run and the David Montgomery 75-yard touchdown, it was a long day for Patrick Queen. Not Patrick Queen, I'm sorry. It was like Kenneth Murray. And it was a long day for the Chargers' safeties. Holy crap. They were just getting dug out by Amon and Rossi Brown.

They were not filling in the run. The David Montgomery touchdown. I pointed out it was the safety was 30 yards deep. Yeah. When he's finally coming onto the screen, it's like, what are you doing? I mean, it's just like a first drive-starting run play. But also the versatility I'm on a Ross St. Brown. I already mentioned the slots up, as we all know, but digging out the safety, making those

extra blocks. He was a key point blocker on at least three or four big runs as a runner several times. And like I said, just doing it over the middle. And that versatility, they're able to use it because like they could do nakeds with them. He's almost like a second tight end almost. He's just a very unique player. But like in his uniqueness, he's very good at what he does.

It's really cool how they use him too. but great performance. And adding a casual 156 yards receiving in this game. Just nothing. Not too bad. Not too bad. When they're looking for him, it's, yeah, yeah, just nothing. My favorite part about watching the Lions today is it felt like everything was coming together for one of the first times all year.

The design is always going to be there. The situational awareness, the situational aggressiveness. I said last week when we did our midseason award show, Dan Campbell was my coach of the year. And it's not just because of the team results. It's because of the process that he showed. showing in a lot of these moments. And you saw that on the four downs today. So we know all that stuff has kind of been salted away.

We know that Ben Johnson's going to be on his shit all the time. You saw it from the first drive today. They have that, they pin down the play side quarter safety. They have St. Brown coming back against it with that big crosser for a huge chunk gain. Think about the, was it a fourth down,

was a fourth down. Yeah. It was a fourth and a fourth of one. Yeah. It was after the fourth and six one or fourth of five one. Same drive. They do that consistently. They've used him in those sorts of moments

A lot situationally. We know that stuff's going to be there. The question I had about the Lions coming into the season was about juice. It was do they have enough playmakers? And now that we're starting to get a heavier dose of Jamir Gibbs and even the James' touchdown that got called back, just getting the ball in his hands, all of the boxes are starting to get ticked for me now,

where the design is there, the offensive line continues to play great. There's some really good moments that Jonah Jackson block on that, Montgomery touchdown run. The Jemir Gibbs finish off inside the five. Penny Sewell is just clearing out an entire side of the offensive line. Eric Decker out in space on the Amon Ross St. Brown's screen touchdown. So now I have no complaints. I have nothing else that I'm seeking out from the Lions offense because everything now is in line

when you're adding that explosive playmaking element that they're finding with Jamir Gibbs. This team leads the NFL in EPA per rush over the last three weeks. Like that element where they have these whole. home runs. I mean, I know David Montgomery hit one today, which is a little bit funny, but they have all of these different elements now falling in line at the same exact time. And that, to me, is very exciting. This team is going, and I think we were already there. They are so far beyond kind of quirky oddity. Oh, man, look at these guys. Like, they are established

now as truly one of the best teams in the league. And I think today was another example of that. Yeah, I would say for last four or five weeks, whenever I kind of did that power rankings tweet in the middle of a shower. I've thought of the lines as a top five-ish team, top five, six, however you want to put it. But I consider them a very, you know, the defense got after, they got their linebackers, spy their defense kind of exposed today as well. So we can maybe get into that. But I would say the offense for me in just the designs, like I said, again, the red zone,

the third down, that's week after week. That's every week. It's one of the highlights of the league as far as play calling a play design. That's actually what made what the Ravens did a little bit even more impressive of what they kind of pants them on those situations. But Goff, when he's on, when he's not, when they can keep him clean, and this is a very good offense line. So unless you have an elite pass rush, an elite plan against this offensive line and get pressure

on golf consistently, it's tough. They're going to find ways to run the ball and they're going to be efficient at the very least throwing the ball. And then it's like, can you hold off anytime they get in the strike zone? It's like, here comes a shot play. Can you hold off their four or five haymakers they throw? If you can, great. But not a lot of teams have.

Every team gets punched by these guys from shot plays and just like they just take their chances and they hit them consistently. It's just a well-designed, well-executed offense in a league where there's some very sloppy offenses. Watching the Lions offense is very like, ah, this is nice. Just a warm, cozy blanket of good offense. The pass protection was fantastic today. I think that's a really good thing to mention because golf turns into a different player when he's got time to operate back there. And we saw the best version of him today. It was a play in the third quarter.

It was like five minutes left. It was a third and two. and the Chargers brought a slot blitz and the alliance picked it up perfectly. Decker went out to it and he hits on Ross and Brown for a huge chunk behind it. It's just like they're just firing on all cylinders. Every single thing is working for them today.

They average 8.3 yards per play. One of six games this year where a team has averaged over eight yards per play. They had a 50% success rate, which was the second best mark in the league this week behind only the Dallas Cowboys who absolutely dominated the Giants, which we will get to.

So just a phenomenal performance overall. And the Chargers kind of, kind of went toe to toll with them, though. Justin Herbert, it has not been the best year for Justin Herbert. The last few weeks or so, we have not seen the best version of Justin Herbert. And even for the first kind of quarter and a half today, their offense was struggling a little bit. They couldn't get much going. And then he was fantastic over the last two quarters.

And then the second half, him and Keenan Allen and what they were putting together. They were able to go kind of punch per punch with what this lion's offense would do. And that was incredibly impressive. But ultimately in the end, again, I think Detroit just has a little bit too much right now. Yeah, I mean, he made two hero throws, one of those touchdowns, the double post, yeah. But also, the Lions linebackers were highlighted a lot today. Anzolone and Jack Campbell, I felt like there's so many crossing routes happening. When I was writing these notes, it kind of was the same thing.

It was like, how did they score these points? How did they move the ball? And both teams was like, they attacked the linebackers. That's what both of these teams did for entire four quarters. and Herbert was just having so much fun doing it. But yeah, he had some nice creation moments too in the end. And the end, like so it was, yeah. The one to Quinn Johnson down inside the 15 rolling out to his right was beautiful.

He had a couple incredible throws to Quinn Johnson that didn't end up counting because he dropped both of them. Thankfully, there was past interference on both plays. But I loved all the motion stuff with Keenan Allen too. Yeah. Sending him right to left, having to dig back behind it. A little jerk route over the middle after motioned from right to left and left to right in the slot. I mean, just so many different aspects where they're trying to put him in positions where he can make plays. Because really, right now, it's all they got.

Yeah, I know. They don't have much else in the passing game. So many angle routes and crossers and just the same thing over and over. It's great. I also, this is what's nice when you have two teams that go for and forked down a bunch and they hit them and they connect. Then you get games like this. That's right. That's right.

It was just that, da, da, did, that's the plus side of these types of games. So especially when it's not an island game, when everyone just goes nuts about that one that they didn't get. It's nice. They went seven for eight, but also we've talked about this. But I think everyone knows this, the teams that are comfortable going for it on fourth down is part of their identity, like the lions especially, they have a third and 14. They get a 12-year-game on the out route, and this is to ice the game, and then they go for it on fourth and two to ice the game. But how they operate on third and 14 is not, hey, let's get all the way past the sticks. It's like, we just get a nice chunk gain and, you know, set up a fourth and two.

I just, that kind of confidence, like you said, is just they have an understanding of whatever the situation is. I think golf has been a good trigger man for it, but the whole offense does. It just seems like a smart team right now. Reflects the head coach. I mean, honestly. It absolutely does. And again, I think that's why he had a really strong argument to me for coach of the year because I think it's permeated everything that they have been able to do this season.

This is a conversation for another day. It'll be fascinating to see what happens in a post-Benz Johnson world because he's going to get whatever he wants this offseason. If you look at the pool of head coaching candidates, there aren't that many obvious offensive-minded head coaching candidates in this cycle. A lot of the guys that we've been consistently discussing are defensive coaches. So if you're trying to go that route, which a lot of organizations in the NFL are right now, he's going to be at the top of virtually every single list. So he's going to be able to look at all the jobs that come open and say, that's the one I want.

It's going to be that me just walking through, picking out whatever you want to buy, the Michael Jackson one. So that's kind of where we are right now with Ben Johnson. All right. Lions, I think, establishing themselves as the team that right there at the top of the NFC. Another team that did that today is the San Francisco 49ers, who absolutely dismantled the Jags. Two, three weeks of Niners' consternation and Niners panic and what's going to happen?

Steve Wilkes moving back to the sideline. Is this team in trouble? And then they come out and do that against the Jacks today. Yeah, this is the 49ers team. It's, what's the game plan? Is there a way to beat this 49ers team? Like, well, how do you get after it? Well, you have to have a good game script and you got to hope Purdy's like three chaotic moments, you punish them.

Because if you don't, like that first touchdown and don't. Don't take advantage of the opportunity to pick off the ball in the red zone or anything like that. They're just going to run all over you, throw huge haymaker play action shots on you. And then the defense is just hard to matriculate the ball on. Like they, oh man, they were that, that defense, when you can win up front and the other team literally just can't block you when you're getting like almost a half dozen sacks on Trevor Lawrence and stuff, they can't even get off the ground. And I think that's again, it's like, oh, yeah, this 40-N-Irish team has this. And it's nice seeing Devo Samuel and all the stuff, the controlling stuff that he brings, where he aligns can unlock other aspects of this offense. So as a nice reminder, it's like, oh, yeah, this team, you know, this team that even when Purdy actually did decently the first three quarters until some brutal fourth quarter turnovers, it's like this team can be a juggernaut.

They looked like one today. It's fun to see the practical benefits of Debo Samuel and Trent Williams coming back. You saw it was early in the game. They had Debo in the backfield and they ran a beautiful, it was a. play action out of the gun, and they had McCaffrey on a crosser coming back the other way for a nice chunk gain. And then another play where Debo was in the backfield, and they got the ball to McCaffrey, I think, kind of in the slot. And then so many different plays on the perimeter today with Trent Williams out in space. And one of them was a Debo Samuel touchdown.

So it's just, it's not, you don't have to use your imagination to understand what sort of impact those guys have on the offense. And it was funny. We talked about what the Jags answer was going to be against that 21. personnel because they play base to 21 more than any other team in the league. So what they did was they played big nickel against those 21 looks. They had 24 plays with Andre Sisko, Andrew Wingard, and Rayshon Jenkins on the field at the same time. It was the first time they had done that all season, and they did it 24 times in this game. On those plays, Brock Purdy was 10 of 12 for 180 yards and three touchdowns.

The Niners had 12 carries for 60. yards with a 55.6% rushing success rate. So the answer that the Jags had for what the Niners' offense is, it turned out to not be an answer at all. That you mentioned, Chris McAfree had the crossing route out of the play action. Debo was in the backfield. That was Big Nickel, and they were in man coverage. And that was the classic, like, you're going to be a man coverage?

All right, we'll put Debo in the backfield and we're going to put Christian McAfee as a receiver. What are you going to do against that? Okay. All right, now you got your corner Tyson Campbell's in the box. and now you got a safety running with a running back across the formation with no help. Like it's, and again, these are just simple things. Play action, crossing ground. Like, it's literally a guy running as fast as he can away from somebody else.

It's as simple as football can get. And we're going to fake one play and do a different one. And they did that. You mentioned that the outside runs, the screens, the end of rounds, outside run game. Like you said, pinpole. Devo Samuel also had a play where he's like blocking Devin Lloyd to pop CMC. but a lot of it was a classic attack, and this is going to be a theme of this show,

because several teams did this, attacking linebackers. Oh, oh boy, those Jaguars linebackers had a rough day. Oh, boy. This was, yeah, they've been playing much better this year, the pairing, Devin Lloyd and Foy, but yeah, they had a rough one today. They were getting attacked.

They had the microscope bomb, the spotlight, whatever you want to say. So that was really what the 49ers exposed, but also on the other side, that Fortiners defense, I already mentioned the sack stuff, but when you're affecting the old line like that, The Jaguars, like just, they have to run all that quick game stuff by design because they have to get rid of the ball.

Anytime that Trevor had to hitch up to progress, he either had to scramble or look like to scramble or he's getting hit. You have to be perfect scheme-wise if you do that. So or if you're going to go man coverage like the four-in-eyers do, somebody has to win. So if they don't win right away and he has to progress or look to to create, it turns into five stacks. So it was tough. That's how it felt. There was nothing there immediately. They had like one rub route to Christian Kirk out of the slot that they managed to hit, like where he got rid of the ball really quickly and was able to push it.

That was the only one that I can remember. For the most part, there was nothing there all day. And some of the stuff where people were concerned about the Niners, I think two specific areas. The run defense coming into this game and their ability to actually get sacks, turn pressures into sacks. Run defense. The Jags had three successful running back runs today on 15 running back carries. three. That's it. And then obviously we saw that the pressure turned into sacks today for the first time. That was always coming. The sacks were going to come when you're consistently affecting the quarterback that much. Like physics. The run defense, that's not necessarily the case. That being said, it helps to play this Jags team when your run defense wants to get back on track because they are consistently having a hard time running the ball against anybody right now. It's the at you physical run teams that are going to give them issues, which

I don't know if you've looked at the Eagles, the Cowboys, or the Lions. They kind of feature that a little bit. So that might be an issue. But this Jaguars team is finesse-based, just past game and run game. They're based on misdirection in the run game, smoking mirrors. We talked about this. It was like their boomer bust to the max. A lot of bust.

A lot of bust. And if the past game, again, isn't making these consistent stretches, are you taking a sack? A sack is a true drive killer against up for this team. Trevor usually does such a good job getting rid of the ball. and moving in the pocket. But when he gets hit today or he can literally not progress, this is what's going to look like.

So it's tough. It's tough. But that's what the best teams can do. Also, there's a third 10. Trevor did take a sack on this third and 10. Jamal Agnew doesn't run a screen. I can tell.

One of the weirdest plays of the day. They have three guys to that side and none of the receivers to that side ran a screen. It's clearly supposed to be Agnew. Yes. There's Agna. Enough enough. Enough of the clown. Enough of the clown.

Enough of Chomal Agnew. I cannot believe I'm like pining for. Zay Jones back in this offense. Yeah, that play definitely stood out. It was one of those like, I can't believe that just happened. Well, they checked into it. Yeah. So clearly he didn't hear the call or somebody didn't hear the call.

He signals. He signals like he got the check. He gives the little, I think they go like this or like goggles or something like that. Yeah, just, yeah, ah, come on. I like, there was a couple, two more completions I want to point out because I do think that there are more examples of how this Niners team can hurt you. They try to play man against kill. when they bring a pressure, probably just throws it up.

And then Kittle wins and takes it, what, 60 yards for a touchdown? And then I think my favorite play they ran all day. It's third and eight with like three-ish left in the third quarter. The Jags do one of their funky cover two looks where I think it was Trey Hernden tries to go into the deep half. And then they have IU fake like he's running one of those big in breakers and then cut back outside against cover two. And it's a chunk game. So just again, it's like, all right, a reminder that this team can just find these explosives in the passing game consistently, and then when their defense puts it together like they did,

that's when it gets really scary. I know both teams are coming off a bi-week. I would hate to face Kyle Shanhan after a bi-week. Oh, it sounds awful. It's awful. Sorry we'd cut you off, but that was just like all I was thinking about today, I was like, he's had two weeks, man. This is, of course he's going to put something together.

If the Niners are scary, and we can admit that, are we worried about the Jags offense right now? Because they have been middling to say the least over the last. last several weeks. It's been a really frustrating experience. And today was another example of just the turnovers crushing them, but it was more than that. I mean, they could not move the ball consistently. I looked it up. So far this season, the Jaguars, I think, have lost 57 expected points on turnovers in opposing territory. That is the most in the league. The league average is 24. There are only two other teams with more than 30. They lost 16 today. Again, was it the first?

Falcons and Ravens. No, Falcons and... Falcons are definitely in that conversation. I don't know exactly. And I think the Vikings too, the Vikings had a ton early in the season. But the Jags are number one in the league. So that continues to happen.

Again, today they have multiple on the other side of the 50, but it goes beyond the turnovers for me today. This was kind of systemic issues that I was looking at. I know the Niners defense is good. Are you worried down in and down out about what this Jags offense looks like right now beyond turning the ball over? Yeah, because I'm worried about what. the cap is on this offense without an offensive line.

They're already doing everything they get. Movement throws, quick game, run game, like their screens. They're doing everything you usually do to help out the offense align. So it's going to be, I do worry about them against the better defenses or the ones that at least have a good pass rush. I do think Trevor does help. And again, I do think the offense does help. They are still good.

Like, I still think of them as a good team and a good offense, but it is Madding inconsistent, especially when they get that scoring range. But this is the same weakness I kind of, we kind of thought that might show up, and again, they face a top tier pass rush and it showed up. And that's kind of, kind of stinks. But that's kind of like limits the cap sometimes on this team because you can't get into that deeper dropback game, or at least consistently so. Or if you're playing against like the Steelers and you do get a couple of those,

remember we talked about Trevor getting sought off in half or, you know, another frustrating turnover. So you just kind of like, I think he's just a. appreciate, not appreciate, but just, you just, this is part of the offense. It's like a feature, I guess, is this madding inconsistency because of this offensive line, I think. Yeah, it's, it's frustrating to watch right now. And I think that Trevor Lawrence, the ball security thing is just something to mention. Right now it's his biggest issue. But I also think it's really important to take into context how he has played over the first like nine to 10 weeks of the season. He has been very good. He has been very, very good. People are going to very quickly forget what he did like in the Bill's game or an other moment. And, he has been very good. He has been very, very good. People are going to very quickly forget what he did like in the Bill's game or in other moment. And, this year because of the day they had today. The whole time I'm talking about them. All I think about is that Bill's game. It's not that different. I mean, I've seen them put together some strong performances. He has had a nice season. Whatever. However, you want to place him in the hierarchy of quarterbacks, that that's something you can waste your time doing. I'm not talking, the proverbial

you, but he has been very good this season. Today is just a really bad day for that offense. I am concerned about their ability to just find consistent outwits. When you can't run the ball consistently and when you are worried about your past protection, you're trying to get rid of the ball immediately all the time. It's just an issue. And when they try to push the ball downfield, he's immediately having to get off his spot. I mean, that was how it worked all day today. So it's going to be a really frustrating watch. And if their defense can't carry them like they have for most of this year, we saw it today, they are going to be let down when they start trying to play these real teams in the AFC as we get down the stretch. When you have to live so horizontal

like that, you're relying on your playmate, well, first off, your quarterback getting rid of the ball, but also your playmakers, they have to make it, someone has to make someone miss. They have to make a tackle or miss to create these plays. Otherwise, it's going to be three, four yard gains. And again, take one second, your drives wiped out. So when you play a good defense, I can wipe you out as soon as you catch the

ball, this is kind of what it feels like throughout the whole day. I kind of would like to see them use just a little bit more motion before the snap. Guys in motion, like what we saw the chargers do today. We're just trying to get guys on the move to be able to create a little bit of instant separation to get the ball out of his hands. So it could be a little bit more aggressive and a little bit more down the field without having to hang on to it. Because that's the problem is that it's all so horizontal and it's all so underneath that

feels like guys are just squatting on it and just nothing is open consistently. So it just feels like it's starting to cascade in the wrong direction. Yeah. But I'm saying they can't. The whole line limits like if you only can do five, seven step dropbacks like three, four times a game. That's what's going to feel like. That's why Quick game has a cap.

Yeah, you're right. Gentlemen, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Houston Texans, you have our attention. A huge win over the Bengals today. And now we're not talking about the Texans as a feel good story or as a team that might do some stuff. And it's mostly rooted in how excited we are about C.J. Stroud. The Texans at 5 and 4 now with this win over the Bengals are legitimately involved in the AFC wildcard race. And guess what?

They belong there. They belong in that conversation with the way that they are playing right now. When we looked at, you know, serious on serious playoff teams, it was one of the things I liked about the Texans was, you know, Straout's playing well, I kind of like their team. Their feisty, well coach. Easy schedule. That was one of the big things I really liked. This was supposed to be their big hurdle.

Yeah. And they came out, had a great game. Oh, man. Stroud, what's really, I mean, everyone, it's so fun to watch and play football. But what's really cool is watching. Watching him handle what kind of can really make a quarterback fall apart or especially bad or young quarterbacks fall apart, which is pressure or drop eight. And it shreds both. And that is like, that is one of the biggest good signs about CJ Stroud that that doesn't fade him at all.

He did have the pick at the end. But these, the him against the blitz, he acts like a pro. Like he just shreds you. He is gash or be gash. He is going to push it down to your throat over and over. And if you drop eight, he's going to go over the top of you. He's not going to get lulled into sleep like a lot of guys if you drop eight. Louana Rimo tried.

He threw a whole bunch of stuff at this team. The Texas had 17 explosive plays today, which is the tie for fourth most since 2000 in a game. They were just all over the place today. It's so funny. And it's not surprising because for the most part during his college career, he didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic in the pocket. He did later in that season. You've talked about that Northwestern game a bunch. When we talked about him before the draft, we talked about the Michigan game, even before getting to that Georgia game.

There were flashes that I believed he would be able to translate some of this stuff when the game got a little bit dirtier. But the fact that now that's one of his biggest strengths is the way that he deals with muddy pockets. That's insane. It's supposed to be a huge question mark. And it's become one of the things he does best. And it's some of its pocket movement, which he's fine with. But the thing that's most impressive to me is his ability to get throws off as that space closes in. And it's twofold.

I was trying to articulate this when we were talking about him before. a lot of guys drop arm angles to get the ball off in kind of tight spaces. His release point goes up. He throws the ball over people consistently. And his ability to understand how to do that is incredible. And then he doesn't step into throws. There's so many throws that he doesn't have to step into. And the fact that he can get some of this shit off is insane.

There was a third and 14 halfway through the second quarter. And he no steps a throw to Schultz on a corner route. And I'm just sitting there like, what is this? It is crazy placement and velocity without having to step into that ball. And he's doing it a couple times every single game. Yep. No, the no steps are a weekly thing now.

Like that's a thing. It's like a trademark of his already, which is so cool. Him, I think he only had four conversions on third down. They were all bangers. Oh, man. The third and 14 one that you mentioned, he had a third and 13 that he uses his eyes to tie down the flat defender and it pushes it to Noah Brown. on like a deep curl or like a copperout, which is a corner, corner curl.

But he, man, on that one, I almost, I want to get the all 22 of it because it might been a quasi no look. And I didn't want to like say that without known to all 22. So I'm waiting to watch that one. But then he had a field out route, the tank down on third and ten that was just short. That thing was just unbelievable placement. And then third and six to Robert Woods, a bender. And then he had the Dalton Schultz third and six on the two minute drive, another bender.

he hits like the little seam bender. And it's just, I mean, those are the big boy throws. Thrown over the middle of the field on third down. That's what they're, they're packing the paint to stop you from doing that. And he's just doing it over and over and finding the right answer. I'm glad he brought it up because his, he is ruthlessly on time. Like he is, he gets moved. Trevor does a good job of this as well.

But Stroud is like, he is always going to get that ball out perfectly on time or with anticipation. So it negates a lot of coverage and it negates a lot of pass rush because he can just do that over and over. How quickly he gets from one to two to three. He gets off stuff so fast. That's one of my favorite parts about watching him is he's going to one. If that's dead, he's gone.

He is not going to sit on that for a single half second longer than he has to. And for somebody at this stage of his career, it's so encouraging to watch. And on that third and 13 that you're talking about, the Bengals bring five with two D.Bs and the Texans pick it up. And that's one of the other things that's been so encouraging about watching them this season is that their past protection, even as they've dealt with all these injuries along the offensive line, has been so much better than it has any right to be. Some of that is picking up blitzes like that and just being well coached, but they do such a good job again today.

Heavy personnel moving the pocket. Heavy personnel moving the pocket where they're just having him on these half rolls and just giving him all this time and space to throw. He was phenomenal on play action today. Nine of 14, 169, eight first downs. And that ability to give that guy space and just let him go to work on what should be aggressive throws down the field. It is a winning recipe with his skill set right now. Yeah. There's so much where they were forcing the Bengals DBs to communicate. Although, like you said, those play action concepts.

It was great on one of them. They showed like one of the, not Spider-Camp view, but they showed kind of just the receiver stuff. And you could see the Bengals as soon as the overrout started. I think it was probably Noah Brown. I'm going to assume it was Noah Brown because he caught everything today. And it was, but you could see the Bengals Corner gun like, you know, like, you know, carry, carry, whatever. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was.

It was. Yeah, but that was all day. They just were attacking that all day. And like you said, moving the pocket. That builds confidence too because it gets a quarterback in a rhythm. Totally. Like an outfielder doing a little crow hop before they throw. Kind of gets you, like, look at Purdy.

It gets so much more in rhythm when you can do those throws. Every quarterback does. It makes you feel athletic, even if you're not. But these guys are, though, so I'm not saying that. But I think you tweeted it. The double move that they hit the Noah Brown as well in the red zone. It was to METCHI. It was a double move to METI from the slot.

He backshouldered a double move down the left sideline, like while drifting out of the pocket. I love that route. I know it as a squirrel route. And I love that one, especially where they called it because all these teams do high lows over and over. High low, inside hitch, inside hitch. It's the double move off the inside hitch. It was great. Seth Roberts was a fantastic scroll route runner.

He had one, that was his route, the flat routes and scroll routes. Those are like the two things that Seth Roberts can do. But he, those, like, I don't know, man. I just can't get over how awesome he is. Like, I hate that. Like, every time we talk about it, but it's just gushing because he does so much right. Like, it's just fun. It's a pleasure to watch a quarterback.

A top 10 quarterback in the league with the way he's playing right now. Already. Oh, yeah. And I don't, I try to like pump the brakes on this stuff. because I've said a lot of stupid shit over the last 10 years because this league is so weak to week and it's when you're wired like me, it's so easy to get over excited about people, but he just keeps proving it over and over and over again. And I know that if he throws that pick and if Tyler Boy catches that ball, then the Bengals potentially win this game. But just down in and down out, just watch and play. Just watch the process and what it looks like.

It's absolutely fantastic. The no brown completion that you're talking about on that big crosser, I wanted to talk about that because. I think that, obviously, he's playing so well that it's so easy to get caught up in the excitement about him. The offense is clearly so well coached. It is clearly so well coached. Noah Brown on that play bends his route outside just enough to kind of create a little bit of space and then brings it all the way back across. And I think that screws with the timing of the DBs passing that off because the safety who's supposed to take that,

when he sees him bending it outside, he doesn't move at all. So it just creates a little bit of hesitation. Like those are the details when you watch a Shanahan offense or when you watch the Dolphins offense and you just think they're clearly just every single detail about how you're supposed to run this route, the depth, the speed, everything about the construction of the play is clearly being articulated to these guys in a really good way. And that's why you see the Noah Browns and the Dalton Schultz's and guys that maybe are surprising us a little bit have this sort of production. The fact that they did this without Nico Collins today is just wild. but I'm not surprised anymore. Like, that's what this team is. No Brown was supposed to be the dirty work guy.

He was like that like, oh, look at that block on duo. I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy for you that Noah Brown had this day today. He went, stop. Like, it was just like kept going. I was like, I had to play him in fantasy in one league and the deep dynasty leg. I was like, stop. I was a good for you, but stop.

And I'm pulling it out. But that detail you're talking about, though, like you talked about the protections. And that's such a great point. And that's what can hinder a team, especially on passing down. is when you don't get everybody out. There's so many of those blitzes where the runnerback was either in protection, going to the right guy, or releasing against the blitz. So they're still getting five guys out while going against five pass rushers.

There's a lot of teams right now that are struggling with that. And that is such a, the Ravens take full advantage of that. We don't have to worry about you guys coming because we're going to confuse your running back and tight end and your offensive line. And we can just drop everyone to the sticks. We don't have to worry about checkdowns. I'll get to one where actually. the Browns got them on one of those because of that.

But that is what defenses are doing. So many, because of some of these young backs there are in it because of injuries and stuff like that, that they just take advantage of them to not get out in the round, provide a checkdown. So it's a throwaway on third and long. So again, shout to the Texans and everything was that, that again, the attention to the details at all the positions. So we've complimented the quarterback, obviously, the offensive line, the running backs, and the receivers on details. It's a well-coached unit right there.

That's all you need to know. And Chris Strasser is their offensive line. coach, he was with the Colts for several years. And obviously the Colts offensive line cratered last year. But as we step back, this is always funny, but this is always how it works. As you get more information about the context of certain things, you look at things in a different light. What's happening with the Panthers right now? And what happened with the Colts last season, there's a chance that very few guys are in a position to succeed with that sort of construction on offense. And the Colts offensive line that we had seen before that,

was a strength of that team. So for him to come in and do the work that he has with that group that's been banged up all season, they deserve a ton of credit. The offense, I think, is where a lot of the enthusiasm deservedly lies right now. But the defense showed me enough today where I can start to get behind this. The back seven is going to be a work in progress, right? So Stingling was hurt. Now he's back in.

Shack Griffin's playing over Stephen Nelson now. Jimmy Ward didn't play today. So you got a backup safety in there. That's been a rotating cast of characters, and they've had some ups and downs. The front can affect games, and they're continuing to do that. We know about Will Anderson, but Jonathan Greener is like a pretty good player. When he affects games that he's in. Sheldon Rankin's had some really nice moments today.

They're 12th in pressure rate coming into this game. They were 12th. So if you can combine a front floor and get after people with an offense that really can kind of go toe to toe with anybody right now in terms of putting up points, that's a recipe for a team that can compete as we get down the stretch here. And I think that they're starting to show us that they're that sort of team. Other than the interception, because Stroud doesn't act like a rookie. So it's like that's what makes you feel so, so well because he's so good about him because he's so calm as well. But this defense is, they're doing some, um, D'Amico Rides.

I remember, too. It's like on third down. It's like he can be funky. And he did, he did a double look on Chase a couple times where it's almost like a spags coverage, like a covered zero double look and I was like, ooh, that, okay, all right, throwing that in there. That was nice. I think the bangles on one, you've got a first down anyways, but I'm glad you're bringing up the pass rush stuff because how many times it felt like Burrow, it felt like, it felt like,

felt like the Bengals offense from two years ago where Burroughs like creation, bailing to the right, bailing to the right, bailing to the right, bailing to the right. He was uncomfortable all day. He was uncomfortable all day. Every single play had felt like he was looking down because the pocket was closing in around him consistently. The first interception, it was a classic domino effect of a lot of things happening. Tight end bends it just a little too much.

Burrow doesn't step into it all the way, so it sails on him just a little too much, but that compounds errors. And so that's what pass rush can do when you don't feel like you can step up into every throw because you're worried about your leg and take it out, that can hinder that. And if you're not thrown to your ace T. Higgins on the seam, you're thrown to your tight end. And we know how tight ends are using the Bengals offense, kind of lower on the tracking order. So that, but again, that's with the compounded issues. And then the second reception was again, him bailing to the right, trying to make a play. And then again,

throwing into coverage near the end zone. So that pass rush was affecting him the entire game, which is so encouraging to see from the Texans, especially Will Anderson being the ace that we think he could be. I want to see tight ends in the Bengals offense get used because they're wide open for a reason. We're talking about like stick routes where no one covers them because the coverage you shifted the other way. I don't want to see drawn up one-on-one matchup plays for Tanner Hudson on like fades outside the numbers. I'm good without that within the Bengals offense. That's me personally. But I'm all set without that. I agree. I agree. We just focus on the good ones. Yeah. I know we want T. Higgins back too. But it was good to actually see Jemar Chasen there. Like the like, because I thought the back stuff, it was like, how is he was making it sound? It was like, is this guy going to play again? And he's playing this week.

It was five days ago. He was making it sound like, yeah, I don't know, guys. It's going to be rough. So he baited me. He got me at least with that. But I do think this is what gets scary is when this Bangle's defense is only creating, you know, down to down. They've got their teeth kicked in for a few weeks now. And they just have some, they create the turnovers in the red zone.

That's a scary way to live that you're relying on, not only just turnovers, but, you know, really good moments of turnovers. if your offense can just have those ups and downs and their turn the ball over as well, it's like, ooh, that create a little bit more scariness with this Bengals team than maybe anticipated maybe a couple weeks ago. And I think you saw Sam Hubbard not playing today. I think you could feel that. They just don't have that many bodies rush in the passer right now. They do not have that many plus guys when he's out.

I think you can feel something like that, and that was evident today. But we're going to talk a little bit more about the Bengals because our next one here, the AFC playoff race, you now have my attention. after today because there was a lot of shifting going on. If the wild cards, if the playoffs started today, today, the Houston Texans would have the seven seed in the AFC after their win over the Bengals. The Bengals are five and four. The bills are five and four.

The Texans are five and four. I figured the Browns would lose today, maybe drop a game in the AFC wildcard race. Nope. Not the case. The Browns knock off the Ravens. They are now six and three. The Steelers are six and three. three. So this thing is jam-packed. We are living in a world right now where the bills and the

Bengals would not make the playoffs. And that seems wild. And as you look a little bit further and you try to project it two months out, it's like, they'll figure it out. They'll get in. And now, I don't know. Like, I don't know how this thing is going to shake out. If you were, I don't know how even get into this. If you're trying to like, if you're looking at these here. Okay. Yeah. So like, if you're looking at these teams, Steelers, Browns, Texans, Bengals, Bills. Stewards Browns, Texans, okay. Who do you feel the best about?

Oh, man. I would, the Texans actually. Wow. That's crazy. I don't know if I'm willing to go that far still. Texans or I would say the best, the unit I feel the best about would be like either Brown's defense or Bill's offense. Like, you know, like, it's just.

So then how is your answer to the Texans? Because they are both sides of the ball. It's all about both sides of the ball this year. That's what people are missing out on. That's why the Chiefs of Ravens are the class of this conference right now. I'm still not there with the Texans defense yet. I'm still not there with the Texas defense yet. I think they're doing some interesting stuff, but I don't.

But you got Bengals and Bills who might be two of the five worst defenses right now. And then you got the Dolphins. You really think that? The Bengals' defenses had some nice moments over the last couple weeks if they didn't play well today. Turnovers from the Red Zone and then have given up several 49ers game included, several really bad games. Like as far as success rate, explosive plays, everything.

Run the ball, pass the ball. The Bill's game was more encouraging than this game they played against the Texans today and the game they had against the Niners. But you're right. I mean, two of the last three weeks. One in the red zone after they got the ball moved on them, on a Dalton Kincaid trying to do a handstand. And then one Josh Allen,

not listening to his feet moment, but it's like, I don't know, this defense has been kind of spotty, a little bit more than I think people are realizing right now. Yeah, I think spotty. the numbers don't like the bill's defense is bad according to the numbers right now they're like a bottom quarter quarter quarter unit fire kandorsi the bangles defense that is not the case they're actually creeping up and up and up over the last few weeks but i understand what you're saying

that some of it might be a little bit smoke and mirrors you don't feel great about it yeah i i don't know what my answer would be i i still think i still think that even even after today even after the weight that things have gone recently. I still feel better about the Bengals and the Bills than I do about Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or the Texans. I still, I still think that, but it's much shakier than it was. It is. It's way shakier. And we haven't even mentioned the Browns who won today. So let's talk about that game specifically. Okay. Because there are elements of that game that game that make me feel better about the Browns. Deshaun Watson was 14 of 14 in the second half in that game today against the Ravens defense. I think you could make a real argument

that he played some of the best football or maybe the best football that he has played as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns in that second half against Baltimore today. He made some plays that they needed to have for them to win that game. That being said, they're down two starting tackles. Their offense hasn't been very good or very consistent before this game. Now Denzo Ward has hurt on the other side. One Thorne Hill was hurt, so they're dealing with some pretty important injuries. So I don't know. Maybe I feel good about them because,

way their defense played, but is their defense going to be banged up now? I don't know what to make of the Steelers. Their offense, which we'll talk about a little bit later, they're finding a little bit more consistency. Their third at offensive success rate over the last two weeks, it's a very, very small sample, obviously, but any sort of signs of life from the Steelers' offense are encouraging when you can pair it with what they can do on defense. And then we just spent 18 minutes, Bellers reminding me, talking about the Texans, because of the excitement that I think is just a talking about them right now. So it's hard for me to kind of pull this apart in this moment. Maybe I'm too close to it from today, but this feels as naughty as those standings look right now.

It does because it's more as just as I start to feel good about certain teams, like how the bangles are like a perfect example. I'm like, okay, offense is coming together. Okay, sometimes out of those opening script, okay, they can get a little walkie, but the figure out of answers, okay, this would be a good test for them without Higgins. And it's just, again, how that defense has been playing. It's that's in my head. And it's like, okay, the Browns. I'm more worried about the offensive line than the defense. Personal. Because so for Cincinnati.

Yeah. But then I watched the Browns today. And my first note of this entire game is Deshawn Watson is barely playable. That was my first note I took of this entire game. Obviously, it changed in the second half. But that's how I fell in the first game. I thought he was benching himself at one point. And I know he got banged up.

He's gotten hit and all that. But I watched that offense. for a half look just completely destroyed it. I mean, the Ravens were dominating this whole game. It felt like. I couldn't believe that the Browns even stayed in it. It was remarkable, actually. But it required a deflection off of a helmet and a pick six for them, ultimately to win.

And a blocked field goal, Justin Tucker, sadly, is about, you know, dropped off some percentage points from being the greatest kicker of all the time. But actually, the biggest weakness with this Ravens team right now is special teams. They're not below average special teams right now. Great offense. defense. Well, every special teams.

Hey, all three phases. Yeah. You got to keep track of all. I will say that if we say that the deflection off my helmet and pick six for them to stay in this game. If James Prochet doesn't muff that punt, it might be a little bit closer before we get to that moment.

So I still think the Brown's defense, I mean, the Ravens really struggle to move the ball, especially in the second half today. And the Brown's defense can put the clamps down on anybody right now. So if their offense can, again, this is crazy thing to say. It's kind of feel about Pittsburgh. Like the Browns defense is much better than the Steelers defense, but for me, it's like anything. Just show a heartbeat and I'll start to feel better about you. And the Browns kind of did that today.

For the first time, it's like, all right, even without two starting tackles, you were able to really kind of develop some offense today and show us some stuff that you haven't. And so you throw that into the mix with everything else that we're talking about and it just becomes a fucking mess. It's a mess. It's a mess. This game was a mess. This was just like, I can never look away. Like as soon as I was like feel good about it, try to focus on another game. It's like, oh, wow, it's a one score game again.

Well, okay, all right. Well, there it is. The Ravens are moving the ball. And it was like, oh, then an interception for the half or anything. I will say real quick about the Raven stuff. Do like that, all that man coverage beating stuff, having all those receivers running slant routes everywhere. A lot of fun. I was enjoying that a lot today.

But this Brown's team is just, I'm kind of leaning more to what I've seen. with Watson, even when he's somewhat healthy or quasi-healthy. And it's been more disjointed than not than consistent. And that kind of has many issues. It definitely is. And there's a lot of plays out of structure that he's making. It's not necessarily down on and down-out, something you can rely on. I still trust the defense.

And I know you said there's some injuries and stuff, but I still have the front. They still can take over games, which is always the biggest ace in the hole you can have, as you especially getting the crunch time. But, yeah, there's just the offense has this entire. year has not felt consistent. And whether because of quarterback injuries or not, it's just is. That's just how I feel about them. And the offensive line injuries, of course, are going to be an issue when you're playing

against all these top teams that have two good units, a good defense and a good offense. The nice part about this is it's going to sort itself out. These teams will play each other enough where we're going to be able to have some crystal clear answers. The Bengals still have to play the Steelers twice. So that one's going to sort itself out just fine. And that can flip immediately, right? The Bengals are five and four right now.

they win both of those games and they go even against everybody else. The Bengals jump the Steelers. And then you look at the Bengals schedule or the Bill's schedule. The Broncos tomorrow night. They get the Jets. But then they, oh, man, Philly, Kansas City, Dallas, the Chargers. And then they end the year with the Dolphins. So there's a real chance that the bills get edged out of this thing.

There's a real chance. It's like all AFC games too. Man, those are some tough ones. That is a brutal schedule down the stretch. The Texans... At least now those guys have good offenses, right? So the Texans, Cardinals, Jags, Broncos, Jets, Titans twice, Colts to end the season. Hey, Colts are frisky.

This might be real. This might be very real. And I think that based on how we feel right now about their offense and the way that Z.J. Stroud is playing. I don't think it's too crazy to imagine them getting all the way there. But it was a- I just think what's fun is that- I just love is that there's so many good units on these teams,

and that's what makes it fun. It's like, at least it's not like where it's like, okay, this team's like 22nd on defense, 24th on offense. Like they suck, but they just keep scrapping together wins. It's like at least there's a lot, like there's an elite or at least very good units and players. So that makes it fun in this grouping.

I don't know, seven-team grouping, 16-team grouping we could talk about the AFC. There's so many good teams in the AFC, the fact that the bills and the Bengals might not make the playoffs. That is not the case on the other side of this thing. We're going to get into that right now. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. I'm just disappointed that the NFC playoff race sucks.

Every team that we were, we had glimpses of excitement about over the first month of the season or so. We're like, oh, man, you know, maybe they could sneak in as the seven or eight. seed. Maybe they could make some noise as we get down the stretch. The Rams in their offense, a team like that. We saw some moments from the Packers earlier in the year. It's like, oh, okay. You know, like maybe this team is young. They'll find themselves. Matt Lofluor is a good coach. They're out of here now. Every team in the NFC South. I know that they're not going to be involved in the wild card race, but it's hard to get, it's hard to care very much about who's going to win the NFC South right now based on the way that some of these teams are playing.

So all of these teams that could have maybe been in the NFC playoff picture have fallen off so much that it's hard to drum up much excitement about any of them where on the other side of this thing, the bills might not make the playoffs and they have a guy who is playing like the MVP of the league right now. I know. This is, FC South just makes me like upset. It's good to see James out there a little bit. I like watching the more with James. I wish he was the Saints quarterback. I saw an AT Perry touchdown, just dunking on guys like he was at Wake Forest again.

Chris Olave came alive as soon as James went in. That was the coincidence. The moment he was in the game. Just got fed. He was like, I know where my bread is buttered. And again, like the bucks have like fun players and everything, but they're just so disjointed. And that defense keeps getting gashed. Like, I know not so much today, but I've seen it against other teams the last few weeks.

And then the Falcons, oh, God, I don't even want to talk about them. They need that by week so bad. And it's Ritter. It's Ritter. It's no more Hineke. It's Ritter. Like that is the quarterback. If it is not the quarterback after this biweek, I am like, they are no fly zone.

I am not. I watch that team get into the two halves. And as soon as Ritter went in, all of some, they started chucking it. And I was like, yeah, there you go, because you don't trust your other quarterback. We're in a place where you're going to yank a guy. And then two weeks later, you're probably going to put the other guy back in or potentially put the other guy back in. We are trending toward unsurious territory when that's the type of stuff that we're dealing with. Yep.

And they might win the division. They still have a silly. They might win the division. They might win the division. They would host the Seahawks right now. If I was saying, they got to the four seed, yeah. So the reason that this is, it lacks intrigue, is that so much of it is chalky in the way that we expected it to be. Right?

Coming into the year, I think both of us picked the Eagles, the Lions, the Niners, the Seahawks and the Cowboys to make the playoffs in some capacity. Yep. So, and then you have to have an NFC South winner, and then the seventh seed was up for grabs. the race for the seven seed is not that interesting. The current owner of the seven seed who now has a two-game lead. We'll see what happens with the Bucks. The Bucks have only played nine games. So they have a one-and-a-half game lead on every other team in the NFC wild card picture right now for the seven-seed is the Minnesota Vikings.

They are a fantastic story in what they're doing right now, but there's no one else that I'm excited about in this entire list of teams. I know. There's so much glimpses. We try to make the Saints defense. We're like, hey, guys, they're doing some cool. Remember the first month of season? I do. I do remember. And yeah, enough about the Falcons. No flies on.

Like I said, two weeks without them. It's going to be great, great break. But the Vikings, though, are just entertaining. They are just an entertaining team. And I'm glad they're winning games. And I'm glad to see Dobbs, who was playing well for the Cardinals earlier in the year, kind of getting rewarded. Like, hey, you just had to do what you had to do for a month or so.

You know, getting your ass kicked and having to create all these plays. Like, now you're going to do it, and you're winning. And now you might get Justin Jefferson back soon. And you get to throw to Addison and Hockison. But I love what the defense is doing, too. Brian Forreys is doing like min-maxing, which is awesome. Just cover zero, drop eight. Cover zero, drop eight.

Cover zero, drop eight. It's awesome. At least they have an identity. And they're like, just do it. They try stuff. And they're like, they mess with bad old lines and bad quarterbacks, which they're a lot of right now. So they're going to give them a chance and got some Thai Chandler today. got some juice.

I don't know. I really like this Vikings team, so I'm kind of excited that they're feisty and could be a valid playoff team. They look like they're going to be. That's exactly how I felt watching them today. They have a third one keeper for Dobbs. On the same drive, he like escapes pressure and finds Hawkinson, throws just a fuck you ball in that crosser to Addison that he never should have

thrown that goes for a chunk gain. He does those beautiful other crosser to Hawkinson. He finishes off the drive with a scramble. for a touchdown. The ball he threw to Hawkinson for the touchdown and the two-minute drill. It's just, this guy, he's playing,

like, someone truly with, like, very little to lose. Because he has very little to lose. I do think that he is playing for, we've talked about this, on the show earlier this season.

He's playing for a spot in one of those, like, true elite kind of premium backup roles, where you get paid several million dollars a year, which has never happened for him before. The teddy. So he had, yes. Yes.

the Teddy, the Jacobi, the Jacoby Preset, those sorts of contracts. And that's a potentially life-changing amount of money. But it almost feels like he's gotten there already. Like he has established himself as one of those players. So he really doesn't have much to lose and to play with kind of not reckless abandon, but with a freedom that we're seeing from him right now within an offense that is well-constructed and is about to get Justin Jefferson back. I mentioned Kevin O'Connell as somebody you have to discuss in the coach of the year conversation

when we did our mid-season award show, if this team makes the playoffs at 10 and 7 with Josh Dobbs at quarterback and missing Justin Jefferson for a month and a half, he should win it. It's no longer like an obligatory mention. He should get it. I mean, do you hear how the crowd reacted

to some Adopses plays? Like, it was just a Minnesota fans were like, this is fun. Like, what is this? We're used to be in the team that everyone else does this too. Like, actually that's the Falcons type. title. But he, I thought what in this kind of, or the kind of narrative going around to Hobbs,

this is why I keep saying, like, he was playing well for the Cardinals this year, guys. It was, that game against the Falcons, which Kyler also took advantage of today, was, wasn't just like him, oh, calling the plays, doing all the, okay, throwing the ball. It was all the creation he did. The scrambling was exceptional. Like, we joked about it. It was like some of the best plays in the league. And then seeing it today again. And I didn't realize he had that, by the way. I didn't realize he had that. before I started like really watching him play this year. Yeah.

Because really how much have we gotten of him? We got the Tennessee game last year. Titans game last year. Yeah, a few games last year. He was doing, he actually did okay. Yeah, no, but he's, God,

would have sliding doors moment. He was with the Steelers originally too. God, it's just all this stuff. Like now he's bouncing around. But I would say that him understand the offense and what his role in it is is perfect, but he can provide that creation that Kirk can.

He's not going to operate and throw some of the balls that Kirk can. Of course not. Not a lot of guys can, but at least he can get like, 70% they're throwing, do a little bit creation, and they have a good team. I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm rooting for this team because I just enjoy it. It's good ball on both sides. They're unique. Like, they at least have their own identity, it feels like, which I think is always fun when you watch a team and watch a unit. And yeah, Dobbs just provides some excitement. I just think the crowd reacting was hilarious. He had one in the red zone. I once they hit Hawkinson on it. And he, like, ran around a little bit and he throws it to him. The Minnesota fans, you would think they've never seen like an extended play before. They're like, oh, ho! Oh! They have in that in that building they haven't Kirk cousins not

The quarterback the entire time they played in that stadium They're cold pepper in the Metro Dome though But that's that's a long time ago now That's 20 years ago now They I wanted two pads for them One we play hard Just yeah

Season from hell You know it's five five and 12 You put yourself in position KOC gets his quarterback You hit the reset or this path where they just have clearly shown we are extremely well coached, we've got a decent amount of good players, we've made the right decisions in the offseason, and you get some of these breaks where you get to be a competitive team.

And I think that they knew they were closer to that than the other side of it, even after cousins got hurt. And so I think that there's real value in being a place where there's a certain mindset, there's a certain attitude, like this is what we do here. And I know it comes with downsides and there comes with drawbacks. and finding the quarterback after Kirk Cousins, it makes that more difficult. That being said, watching what the Giants are going through right now, that sucks. It is hard to be in that spot.

So the fact that the Vikings understood that and they said, we're going to try to salvage this season. We're going to trade nothing for this guy who has shown some flashes because we think he can at least give us something the rest of the way for us to be competitive. If that's what they were trying to accomplish this year, they did a fantastic job doing it Because he is going to keep the train on the tracks for them, and they are going to be irrelevant team for the rest of the season, even if they clearly have a limited ceiling and a cap ceiling with him at quarterback. But at least you have that feeling in the building. At least you have that feeling in the stadium where it's like, all right.

Like we feel good about where this organization is headed for X, Y, and Z reason. I think that's justified. You can't just turn on a switch and say, all right, we're competing now. Like, you know, like that's what, like even the lines were losing games, at least they competed their asses off. with Kyle Shane here, first got with the 40-9ers. Remember how hard those teams played? Like that, there's something to that even when you're losing, we know we're not going to be a great team. Not that we didn't think. We knew that Vikings had talent. We just weren't sure kind of which path they would lean on, I think would be a good way to put it. There's so many questions about what the defense would be. They have no talent defense.

They had more choose-year adventures than most teams, like a lot of teams combined, like as far as like what this season could unfold and what could happen with this season. So it's like, it's nice to see a positive timeline, especially with this defense is. I mentioned with C.J. Stroud earlier about how he operates against Blitz and how he operates against drop eight and how like that, that just makes quarterbacks make quick decisions and the correct decisions over and over and it tests their aggressiveness. The fact that Flores is just no matter who they play, they trust what they're throwing out there, shows that they have faith in their game planning, which shows that they have faith in their work. And so, yeah, if you're just going to keep competing and maybe the ball does bounce our way once or twice in the right way, but if they beat the Chargers earlier this year and they that kind of back and forth game, that was awesome. And the ball got tipped, remember that ends up with the interception for Kirk Cousins? They kind of reverse the mojo. Like, you know, it's like, no, no, if we keep working, maybe the ball will start bouncing our weight. It kind of has.

And it's fun. It's cool to see because they're trying stuff and they get rewarded for it. The defense was supposed to be, can we find one or two guys? One or two of these young guys that we can build around moving forward. And the fact that they've done that, like Cam Bynum has been a real player for them. Josh Mattelis has been really nice for them, and they've given those guys opportunities. It's not just that. You don't have to find consolation prizes.

They're like a top half of the league unit on that side of the ball because of the way the Flores is calling it. Yes. It's not funky just to be funky. It's actually like good. It's actually like good stuff and it's really mess. It's again, like the story of this year is the defenses and some of the offensive woes with O line, especially young quarterbacks. This defense more than most punishes the crap out of that. Like that's what's all.

It takes it to them. watch how the Falcons play Joshua Dobbs or even or Hall before that. And then watch what this defense does to whatever quarterback that's going against. Derek Carr was making him just feel consternated the whole game. So it's kind of cool to just see teams doing that. If you don't have talent, be weird. It's why I supported the hire when it happened. It's like you might as well just go get someone who is going to do something completely different.

And it's such an interesting contrast when you look at what they tried to do before this. where they went out and sought out the Fangio model because it had worked for the Rams when Kevin O'Connell was there and it had become the new meta within the league. And I think they realized you can't just copy paste. So if we're not going to have talent, let's go do something that's radically different where we're not betting on a system of any kind. We're more betting on a guy who has consistently made it hard for the teams he plays against. you're begging a bet on a play caller, not on any sort of defensive model. And I think that bet has gone as well as they possibly could have hoped so far. Yeah.

It's good to zag sometimes. When you have faith in zagging and you do it, it's nice. It's nice when you can do that because I bet you every offense that goes against, I was like, oh, no. It's like, oh, no, what's our protection plan? Oh, okay. Who's our running back? I mean, it's like preparing for the Ravens a couple years ago,

where it seems like an absolute nightmare. And that's what the Vikings have made themselves into, and it's very smart. Putting a bow on this, there's a reason that we just spend being five minutes being very excited about the Minnesota Vikings, because they're the only team in this conversation right now that warrants our excitement. That's how it feels with the NFC playoff picture at this very moment. Stinks. There's so much hope. There's so much hope.

Extinguished or partially extinguished. So at least the Vikings have provided light in all this area. Let's get to the Sunday notebook. We like to end these shows with a few quick hitters just from the stuff that we watch today. I'm going to jump ahead in our outline here because I think this actually makes more sense as part of this conversation. Let's go from the shitty NFC playoff picture to an even worse slate of teams because after today, it's time for a tankathon check. One of my favorite things about what the back half of this season is going to look like is just how much of a dog fight it is going to be in the race to the body. So let's go through this right now.

As of today, this very moment, the Chicago Bears would have the number one pick in the draft because of the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are in a bad, bad way. We're talking like, is this staff going to be around next season bad way because of how they look on offense? You can go read what Diana wrote on the athletic this weekend about kind of the issues, concerns with what's going on in Carolina. That's bad. So I truly believe with the way the Panthers and their offense are playing right now, they are going to be right in it here, right in it till the end. They are going to be tough to knock off the perch. I'm so excited.

But we keep going through the rest of these teams. If the season ended right now, the New York Giants would have the second pick in the draft. And the Panthers are going to bring it here over the next couple months. The Panthers are bringing it on accident. The Giants are starting to bring it on purpose where this field. feels like we're getting to full on tear down mode with Tommy DeVito back there. So if you want the number one pick in this year's draft, I don't think you can win more than like three games.

Yeah, the Oppenheimer sequel is taking place in the Meadowlands. It's a, it's, it's bad. Dude, there's one, they're down like four scores already, five, you know, but might have been five scores at the time. And I think the giant's offense messed up. And all of a sudden they showed Daibol and he's yelling at wink. And I was just like, man, this tank. The tank is odd.

You guys are down five scores and you're yelling at the defense right now. It's like, I don't think that's going to really help with how this team is going right now. But they're going to full steam ahead. Full steam ahead in New York right now, looking at that top of the rate, top of the draft board. If Tyrod doesn't come back, I don't know how they win another game. No, they can't with that, that quarterback. I don't know how they win another game.

And if they don't, that might be the best case scenario. You hit your reset. All that's holding you back from the transition you should have made is the $47 million. cap it your quarterback has next year. But you can live with that for a year because you're paying Caleb Williams or Drake made $20 in his rookie season. So they can offset that if it ends up happening that way. So I feel pretty damn good about the Giants getting one of those two picks if things

keep going on this current trajectory. I think the Panthers are going to be in it too. But guess what? The New England Patriots, you're going to hear from them as part of this by the end of it. You are going to hear from them because it really does feel like that bent, that Mac Jones had today was real. This isn't an injury thing. This isn't him coming out at the end of a blowout loss to the Cowboys.

They were in that thing before the two-minute drill. He gets yanked and Bailey Zappy comes in. So it does feel like we might get Bailey Zappy for at least a good chunk of the second half of the season here with New England. And based on the way that they're playing and based on the way that their offense looks, I wouldn't rule them out of this either. There was some great memes about how not different the Mac Jones to Bailey Zappie switch is.

As far as I kind of popcorn armed, accurate on-time guy. Like, that's kind of, there was a lot of good ones, but it really is a six and one half dozen the other, it feels like. But that is, I don't know, no matter what, I would say this for Patriots fans, I was saying is that if you don't get a quarterback, there's some great consolation prizes for a team that really needs a lot of offense, either offensive line or wide receiver or even Brock Bowers at a tight end, which I would be hilarious at the end of a Patriots. Some plus player on offense.

juice at least at some of those spots at the elite spots that you need or the premium spots that should say on offense, which they need so badly. So it does, to me right now, those feel like the three teams to contend with there at the top because after watching that game today and the way that they've played for stretches of this season, I'm a little bit worried that Kyler with the Cardinals might make them too good for this discussion. I absolutely think they're too good because they're well coached. I love watching the Cardinals.

Like they're well coached. Again, funky. They'll try to be funky on both sides of the ball. But Kyler, Kyle looked like, Kyler. He had some runaround moments. That's a couple nice throws.

I would say he had maybe two misthrows from what I saw today. But I mean, Kyle looked pretty good today. That is very interesting with an actual adult coaching staff that he has now in that offense the side of the ball. And that's actually really excited to see because I've liked what they've done so far with Joshua Dobbs. Maybe not with Clayton Tune because that game should never even count.

It shouldn't even count as an NFL game. That should have been a worldly game as far as I'm concerned of what happened that day. But I would say with Kyler, I'm very excited to see what this coach except will do with him. The Cardinals conversation and the Panthers and the Patriots conversation. Obviously, like the Panthers is the worst case scenario. Like if you give away the first overall pick and you look the way that you do right now, it's truly the worst case scenario. But with the Cardinals and the Patriots, at least it kind of feels like there are questions to be asked about the future, twofold.

With the Cardinals, it's, should you do this? Like, should you have, the discussion between a player who's healthy and wants to play and your own future as a franchise, that has to be very sticky. So I don't, you can absolutely make an argument that the Cardinals' long-term future as a team would have been better off if Kyler just didn't play this year. Like, that's not a hard argument to make, but at a certain point, what are you going to do? Right, right. So what conversations you say with them?

Like, hey, no, no, no, stay, stay. So I'd be fascinated to know what those discussions have looked like between him and the team. I think they've been pretty tight-lipped about that on both sides, both his camp and the organization. Understandably so. So maybe is his value? It really seems to me that they're like, when they play out. Like they're kind of like, hey, let's just see how it lies. Which I get scary.

But it's like, yeah, I get it too. I get it from both sides because you can see, all right, this is a huge contract. How much are we going to get for this contract? If we move him, he is a good quarterback. We can win with him potentially. So you see what he is within the system and you potentially draw up his trade value a little bit. But it's dangerous because you might win too many games as you kind of feel out that process. With the Patriots, the big question is who's going to oversee this?

I don't think there's much to be said more. There's much else to be said about the Mac Jones era. That seems done, right? The Mac Jones era seems like it's done in New England. Now the question becomes, is Bill Belichick the one that oversees whatever this next step looks like, whether you're looking for a quarterback, whether you're picking in the top five. So those are like very real questions about the future, but we can talk about those as we get closer to that. And I think that's going to be a really interesting conversation to have.

I of all the things, because again, not for long in the NFL, unless you're Bill Belichick, I guess. But it's a thing about the NFL is anything can happen. It is a multiverse every season. It's just so much, like so many plot lines you didn't even think of. There is none of my brain, zero part of my brain. that thought I would have to have like these thoughts about what the Patriots are right now and about what it means for Belichick. I thought that was maybe next year or two years maybe.

Like next year though? Like that's kind of okay. I thought that they would be mediocre. I thought the defense would be very good and I thought the offense would at least be competent with Bill O'Brien. None of those two things have happened. Exactly. And like they're not, yeah.

It's when I just watched them, it's just, I don't know. I just can't accept it. I guess it's kind of like a weird thing. Like even though I just keep seeing it happen. I keep seeing these scores. I'm like, they'll turn it around. It's bell check. You know, they got a good defense.

They'll turn around. Bill O'Brien. I trust Bill O'Brien. He's not great, but I trust them. It's just, yeah, they just can't get over the hump. Remember last year, the Bucks, it's not the exact same situation, but remember the Bucs offense how many times we talked about it's Tom Brady. They'll come around.

But you'll come. And it just never did. And I think sometimes it's just really hard when you have to accept. It's like, no, this is just what their situation is right now. It's really weird, but it's the truth. So watching how those teams navigate the back half of the season and then, into the offseason. It's going to be one of the biggest stories there is.

The Cardinals, the Patriots, both of them. And again, I think the Panthers and the Giants are pretty firmly entrenched in those two spots. So, well, or at least in the top three, they're going to be a part of this conversation moving forward. And we'll see what happens with teams like the Bears, the Packers, the Rams who are kind in this discussion, but maybe on the outskirts a little bit. The Rams have gone from like, oh, they're a playoff team to, oh, look,

their seventh overall right now. That team has been so up and down. When you're starting quarterback gets hurt, it's pretty easy to talk to yourself into the other side of it. So if he's out for a while, I think it becomes a little bit easier. The Carson's a week's experience might be putting them in this discussion. A couple more things here before we get out.

Cowboys' offense has a monstrous day, and Brandon Cooks finally has a big role in that. Easily his biggest game of the season, his biggest game as a cowboy. And each week now, we're starting to stack up. I know it's against the Giants, but some flashes about why this dad Dallas offense, at least by the end of the year, might be a different sort of proposition

than the team we saw kind of crap out in the playoffs over the last couple seasons. Once they got smacked by the 49ers a few weeks ago, they've been just on a tear. And how they use CD is one thing and making him the true focal point, a lot of their passing attack, which is great. But then everybody else falling in line. They've really felt like a showcase of everybody, Brandon Cook's being the one A of that. But I felt like this is like they were showcasing each member. Gallup has some moments today.

That's what? Gallup, Rico, what's his face of the backup runnerback? He had some moments. Yeah, thank you. Donald. Jake Ferguson, of course, is the steady eddy. And he had some nice moments.

Him and DAC got great chemistry. It's just like Dak loves those tight ends, but corner route to him as well. But the Red Zone touchdown of Brannick's was a beautiful design, using him as the point man in bunch and then like the seam route. But keeping him on the move, kind of overrout, seam route, corner routes where he's running gets to use that he's just a very good functional athlete. I know you wrote about. Remember Oregon State those jet sweeps and those quick inbreakers?

It's like, just get him on the move and just get them move. Let them just use it. That's a throwback jam. I wrote that was a pre-draft story like a decade ago. 2014. It was almost 10 years ago. Yeah. Yeah.

But it's, oh, I love that offense because Oregon State, Mike Riley, Paul Krister, same DNA. So I always love watching it. But, but Mike Riley, all time good football conversation. Mike Raily. Oh, I bad. Football guy conversation, Mike Rowley. All the time. He's actually a genius.

He's like, it's one of those. Yeah. He thinks about, sorry, I don't want to get in a Mike Rowley conversation, but he kind of underappreciated about how he thinks about the game. One of those guys that really like pokes at things. Why do we call it that? Let's call it this. Because this.

Let's call it this. Let's try this. But I don't know. Mike Rowley is actually a pretty, pretty innovative guy. But the Cowboys out gained the giant save by 468 yards. Outgained him by 4168 yards. The largest total yardage difference in an NFL game in 44 years. Andrew Siciliano found that up.

But that is a, yeah, Brandon Cooks was, I wanted to see more of this. I felt like they were kind of pigeonholing them into maybe a role that wasn't really fitting his skill set. They did have some static routes, but he still was good on him. But him going inside and out was C.D., who had another monster game, really cool to see these layers that this offense has added since their by week and really since that really bad. I lost against 49ers. We talked about C. last week, potentially kind of injecting his name to the offensive player of the year conversation.

He absolutely is with the way that he's playing right now. The other guy in this offense that is putting himself into some awards conversations right now and some awards talk is Dak Prescott. We talked about how close and kind of bunched up this is. There's no clear cut MVP right now. Like there has been in some other years because I think a lot of the just offenses in the NFL are depressed. Right now, DAC has been, he has created more EPA over the last month than any other player in the NFL.

Okay. 48.4 total EPA for Dak Prescott. Jalen Hertz is next at 28. That is how Dak is playing. Post-Niner's game, he has been playing about as well as any other quarterback in the league. So if we keep going with this trajectory in Dak Prescott, there's a very real case to be made that he, will deserve to be the MVP or at least be firmly in the discussion. And I think that he's putting himself there right now.

Absolutely. MVP race is truly week to week. And again, like you said, it's wide open. There's a half dozen guys. It's like, yeah, keep an eye on him. Keep an eye on him. And he was another name we mentioned that maybe, or we should have mentioned on our word show is like the second half of the year, what he can look like.

Even just overall, he's top five and all the metrics that we, the alphabet soup of metrics that we always throw in here. but I feel like this is the most complete he's ever been as far as physically. He's playing the best football I think I've ever seen him play over the last month. Because now we're getting the movement stuff because he's kind of been banged up the last few years. So he wasn't truly getting there. So now we got the movement stuff. We got the mental stuff that he's always great on third and fourth down.

But then also it's just like having these weapons that he truly, all five options are available to him. So you get to see his decision making over and over. And I think that's why CED he's getting peppered because he's getting better opportunities. and Dak is knowing when to go to him. So, yeah, since that 40-9ers game, he's been absolutely on fire. You brought it up. Just as normal passer ratings are over 125 right now.

It's like, which is just absurd since that 40-9ers game. So, yeah, he is playing the best football I've seen him play, at least maybe since that, was it maybe the 2019 or 2020 season? He already had that first month before he got hurt. And, like, yeah, that was probably this and that were the two best I've ever seen to play, but he absolutely should be at least on the short list for the MVP talk. And we'll see what happens, right?

You know, they played the Chargers defense. They beat up the Rams. So the Eagles defense has been up and down this year. We're just talking about how the Giants are probably going to have the number one or number two picks. But right now, he looks about as good as he's looked in a while. And again, you look at, we talked about maybe Joe Burrow kind of inserting himself in that conversation.

We're at a place now where the Bengals might not even make the playoffs. Unreal. Okay. Lamar Jackson has a mediocre middling game today in a loss. you know, we'll see what happens with Josh Allen tomorrow night. But I think because this thing is so bunched up, I think Dak absolutely deserves mention. I think C.J. Stroud is a little further on the outside looking in. But I think that, you know, if Dak, I think is really, really in it, C.J. Stroud is like, eh, they're going to keep doing a bunch of games.

Maybe you mentioned C.J. Stroud's name. Dak has a very real case right now, I think, if this keeps going the way that it's going. But the fact that Stroud's getting, like, mentions just speaks to how well he's playing. I'm not, it's like one of those where I'm like, oh, that's ridiculous. But actually, no, I get it. I get that, I get, sometimes people take stuff a little too far, but it's also like one of those where it's like, I don't know, he's, he is pretty awesome. So I kind of get it.

I kind of get where that's coming from. Last thing here, just I wanted to mention this really quickly. The Steelers, we mentioned this, their, their offense kind of showing some signs of life. And I think a lot of it is rooted in the run game. What they've been able to do in the run game over the last couple weeks, they are third in offensive success rate over the last. couple weeks. They have the best rushing success rate of any team that has played two games. They're

second in EPA per rush behind the alliance. They've had 66 carries for 371 yards. That might not seem super notable, but like I alluded to earlier, all I want is just some signs of life that they can be a functional offense paired with that defense. And we get to a place where, okay, maybe serious, maybe serious, maybe in the serious, unsurious conversation, the Steelers kind of put themselves over that line. And if they can find something to rely on offensively, it makes it easier to talk yourself into it. And it does feel like the run game is kind of the cleanest path to that version of the Steelers team.

I don't feel as dirty when I say that they're a playoff team. Like, I don't feel like it's like, I know. It's like, I know. I am saying this. Yes, I did say serious. But yes, I do think they're a playoff team because the defense, yes, is the defense. And hopefully, I don't know what's going on with McAfest Patrick. But then the offense is like, yes, the past game is still.

wildly inconsistent, picket still inconsistent, but they have something they can hang their hat on. And when you're playing with good defense and you can at least control the game at somewhat, shout up, by the way, to Alan Robinson power slot. I did not picture this evolution in his career. He's basically a tight end right now. So Brock Wright for the Lions, who had the touchdown, Kyle Eusecheck and Alan Robinson got used the same way today in the run game. like that there's that

Zoro run it's an outside zone run yeah and it's like yeah Alan Robinson got used on it like four times today it's basically he's helping out the tight end to kick out the D end him and like Brock right those are the two guys I saw get used on that the most today Alan Robinson and Brock right

but sure enough they've been great running out of lighter personnel it's been a thing I looked up since their by week the last four weeks and so since week seven their fourth best in rushing success rate and they have 10 explosive runs which is the big thing for this offense. It's just finding those explosive plays that aren't go balls up the sideline.

That back shoulder fades to pickings. Like at least something, someone else has created 10, 15 yards. So yeah, also shout out to quarterback draws on second or not quarterback draws. Just running back draws on second and long. Old school running back draws. Everybody's running again right now. They're working really well because everyone's passing more on second and long. So I can name you three or four examples.

I don't know if it was a second and long. Keaton, the Keat Mitchell touchdown today was on a draw. There was a huge, huge Jerome Ford gain on a draw today. I'm with you. There have been a lot of draws. Cowboys love doing them. They're great too. Yeah.

So I know. Running back draws are back because they're, yeah, like that second and long situation that's so heavy skews so heavy pass. It's a great way to kind of reverse play action. Yeah. I still don't feel super great about the Steelers offense and their passing game in general. But I think this gives them a path at least if they can find something in the running game. Tomorrow. That's so dirty.

Kiefer in the Beats. Deck is back from Germany. We got Matt Barrows talking about the Niners, Matt Schneiderman on the Packers, Zach Jackson talking about the Browns. So please come back and check that out. Last thing I wanted to mention before we get out of here, congratulations to the Barrington Broncos for their huge win this weekend against Maine South. I was there.

It was a 42 to 40 win. It was a thrilling game. Our quarterback, Nick Piper, played unbelievable in the second half. They were down two scores at halftime. They came back and won. My high school coach has been there for 22 years, like I mentioned on Friday. He's been to the quarterfinal seven times. First time they have made it to the state semifinals.

So super exciting. It was very thrilled for them. I was there with a bunch of my old teammates. That's awesome. We were there. My quarterback was there. I'm very good friends with a couple other guys I played with. A lot of guys who were a year older than me.

There are probably a dozen of us in the stands. My wife came with me. And we were watching the game. And she's like, I've never seen you like this before. Because when I watch NFL games, I'm just like very quiet. dude. And so it's because it's scientific. It's work. You know, it's like I'm not going to get overly emotional about it. And then I'm watching the game yesterday. And I'm just going crazy every time there's a big play. She's like, she's like, and she's telling our friends about it. She's like,

I've never seen him like this before. I've never seen him like this before. So very, very excited for my old coaches and a huge congrats to them. So I wanted to mention it. Funny you say that. My high school is also in the semis. You died of high school in Minnesota. The first time in forever. That was that they were not a football school. We are definitely a hockey school and like a women's tennis school. So, yeah, shout out to you, Dina. Yeah, make it to the semis as well. Way to go athletic football show high schools.

It's great. Make those great. Well, I'm proud. Not so much the Badgers. It was very fun going to a high school football game and sit in the stands and be a little bit chilly and just, it was a really cool moment. So that is all we got today. Sincerely appreciate you guys all listening.

We will be back all week with our typical programming on the athletic football show. Until then, appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.