The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Week 11 Recap: Bills get back on track, Browns score a huge win, NFC's best takes care of business, and more

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

The big news of Week 11 took place toward the bottom of the AFC playoff picture, where the Bills and Browns picked up huge wins. That's where Robert Mays and Nate Tice begin the Week 11 recap episode of The Athletic Football Show. The guys also discuss the Jaguars offense getting back on track, the NFC's upper crust taking care of business, C.J. Stroud doing C.J. Stroud things, and more.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTubeNew 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. Nate, how you doing, buddy? Doing very well right before, like, as we do that little two-minute countdown before we start the show for people that watch on YouTube,

I was closing Twitter. And the only, like, you know, the trending to the right, the only thing I saw right as I'm closing it, it's just all caps and says, Russ Cook. and I mean, kind of like, kind of like smirking to myself for like the last like 30 seconds before it went, before that went off. But no, I'm doing very well. Recovering a little bit from a late night at F1. And my son got his first cold and he gave it to me.

And so that was just terrible timing for two late nights going to F1 and then doing this. But no, I'm doing awesome right now. We're going to power through. We're going to ride what was an energetic fun day of football until the end of this. A lot of stuff to get to. But let's start with the game that we just watched. Mostly just because I think it has pretty real playoff implications potentially. Right now, with that loss, the Vikings are only one game ahead in the loss column ahead of a bunch of teams now.

The Rams, the Packers, every team in the NFC South. It's not the Carolina Panthers. So that potentially could cause some shifting down the back half of the year because it felt like this was a game the Vikings might be able to win and even improve the positioning that they had already kind of established. And on the other side of this, this is all for you, buddy. You pick in the Broncos to win that eight seed or the last scene in the at an FC playoffs before the season looks like a ridiculous thing to say about five weeks in. Now it is very much alive. Very much alive.

They have found a style of football that works for them. Their defense is legitimately playing like an above average level, like if not better. And the offense just makes sense. It's the 2010 Wisconsin Badgers, 2011. Wisconsin Badgers. It's a ton of tight ends, a lot of heavy, heavy, heavy personnel, grind you with a three running back look and then just throw some heavy play action and have Corwin Sutton duck on a couple times. Yeah, it's even, he's playing Big Ten basketball too. That's the nice part. He's just posting up and getting the ball down low. So it all works. This is a great throwback to Wisconsin,

Russ. It does feel like it took a while to get there, but this is kind of the Broncos team I expected to see coming into the year where you're just running the ball a bunch, play solid. defense, if not spectacular. Just don't turn the ball over. That's it. And they haven't turned the ball over very much. They think they're bottom 10 in the NFL and the amount of EPA they've lost on turnovers this season. They've avoided those big mistakes and they've won the turnover battle in a bunch of these games.

It is what it allowed them to kind of stay afloat. We'll see what happens down the stretch. But they are very much alive as part of this muddled AFC wildcard race now that has gotten a lot more complicated after the Joe Burrow injury, etc. Yeah, et cetera. I'm curious to see what I'm going to be. looking enough this week for the Broncos, but on both sides. But their offense feels like they are definitely a second half team. I think Champagne always does good opening script stuff.

And I think he's really good this year as well. But I think that I feel like they adjust better. And it really just that style when you can play good defense and play kind of balanced ball, it can really truly just grind you down because it really just seems like as the game goes along, those runs become just a little bit more efficient. The pass is popped just once or twice. And I think just champagne gets a better feel for it. But I like how the style they're playing.

Maybe it's just because I just like, it's better than giving up 70 points and trying to and having some ugly turnovers against Washington. But it's, no, they're playing really good football right now. I mean, they can hang with a lot of teams right now. It reminds me a little bit. I hesitate to make this comparison because I don't think they're in the same tier of teams, but reminds me a little bit of what happened with the Lions last year where the first seven weeks of the season their defense couldn't stop anybody. It was historically bad. And then you move from that to simply competent and it gives you a much better chance to stay in games. obviously the Lions were a top five offense last year down the back half of the season.

So it's not a perfect comparison. But when I see them just hanging in games, that's kind of what it feels like to me. You almost write off the first two months of the year because they feel like an entirely different team. Yeah. I totally agree. And I think that also just helps with just having, you know, I think good coaches. You know, Sean Payne's a very good coach. And I think they put it together.

Also, you know, kind of the Vikings run of that fake punt with Ty Chandler. It's like, I don't know, you kind of had like a millennial. annual version of Sean Peyton. You know, maybe the personalities are not one to one. But I'm just saying football-wise with KOC and Sean Payton. Like, you know, like just the aggressive style kind of offensive stuff, really good red zone stuff on both sides. You know, I really like this matchup tonight. It was actually a very entertaining game, obviously.

Just to put a bow on it, I think the coaching on both sides is a good thing to mention. The Viking side of this, we've talked all season about why you're, if you're a Vikings fan, you should be happy with the brain trust that's there and their ability to kind of keep this thing on the tracks. except I don't think tonight takes that away at all. On the Bronco side of this, I would have been terrified if I were a fan of this team and they gave up what they gave up for Sean Payton. And he was supposed to be the guy to come in and be a stabilizing force for the organization. And the first five, six games of the year like they did. Now, at least even if you're going to be a middling team, you're a serious team now.

You're a competent team. You're not embarrassing. And that was the page that we were hoping the Broncos were going to turn. So small victories, but a notable victory when you. consider what the early season Broncos looked like. It was a one point win, so small victory is a great way to put it. That's the, that's the Broncos season, small victories, but they're adding up right now. All right.

Let's get into the meet here of week 11. And let's start with a team that featured plenty of discourse on the football internet this week. And that is the Buffalo Bills getting back on track, blowing out the New York Jets. And I know that this is going to be all about the offensive coordinator shift and Joe Brady taking over. But all I could think of when I watched a good chunk of this game was just the always has been meme with the two astronauts. We're like, the Bill's offense is just good. It's always has been. Like, it just nothing's really changed.

And we can get into some of the nuances and some of the things that are different and why this game felt different. But this was a huge response from a Bill's team that felt like they were kind of fluttering here over the last week or so. They opened up with a statement. The Bill's kickoff team was great. Speaking of special teams, Jet Special teams, who also ran a face. Pond doing really good stuff this year. So I was sorry, before we get to the, I want to get, Brant Boyer. Want to give a shout to Brant Boyer. Oh my God. He's got some great fakes. We're going to Jet Special Teams Coach consolation prize territory.

Okay. But having said that, the what was nice to see, I think, from the Bill's defense, other, Rochoole Douglas was a very nice addition and gave a little life, obviously with the turnovers. But they made Zach Wilson feel like Zach Wilson. They didn't let it hang. They didn't let the jet's hang around. And they actually just dominate. So that offense was the exact same. It was actually like all the underlying stats we look at. It was one of the worst games actually that they've had this year as far as like success rate and all that.

But there's some huge plays that happened. But it was all the same stuff. Nice designs on fourth and one and also in the red zone. But this is this team when they just don't turn the ball over and they play smart. And I think it's nice to see some Khalil Shakir in our lives. I think that's kind of nice little like symbolism for what this office. offense has gone through is Khalil Shakir, actually. Yeah, the run the ball, run the play more where they fumble the opening kickoff and you score 85 yard touchdowns. I don't think is about a coaching

change. But I do think, and this goes back to a conversation we had in the middle of the week, are there some intangible aspects of the change that maybe would be important for this team? Josh Allen in his press conference, after the firing happened, came out and said, I can't get bored with the underneath stuff. I can't get bored with the easy stuff. And it seems like that was potentially a talking point. And I don't think that was necessarily the biggest problem with the offense, but the fact that he said that immediately. And then in the locker room after the game today, I guess multiple guys were talking about that. It feels like that sort of mindset shift, even if it's subtle, does benefit this offense. And I think some of the stuff that they did

leans into that a little bit. They ran the ball a little bit more in the first half than they have in other games this year. They threw the ball to the running backs a little bit more than they have in other games this year. So even if it's just a small push towards stuff like we were talking about in the preseason that slows that heartbeat down that keeps the offense a little bit steadier, I do think that that stuff is positive. I think you probably could have gotten to that no matter who was calling the plays. But the fact that even a small reset seems to have lent well to this team kind of being the version of them we want to see, I think is a positive sign. Yeah. It's like Ken Dorsey died for their sins kind of thing. Like that's how it's going to play out. But

But you just watch Josh Allen. That touchdown to Cleo Shakir is one of the best throws I've ever seen. Wow, really? Yeah. I mean, it was a missile. That's high praise, though. Flatfooted with Soss Garner bearing down because it was cover three, it's four verse cover three. He looks off the over and then flat footed throws that.

That's what's most impressive. It's not the usually when someone throws that seam, it's the Brett Farr of Crow Hop, you know, like the over and then, and then they rip right into it. his is flat foot and throws a sidearm and it beats because they're in cover three sauce gardener overlaps so it's like on a all pro corner overlapping yeah just phenomenal throw that's why roma was just gushing because there's just oh uh but also that was drop a too so i thought that was interesting josh i don't play great today i mean this is but when they don't turn the ball over this is what it looks like they can pivot they're they pivoted today they had understand a run game they had the play action stuff they did all the same stuff it just happened that they had their best

best game in terms of field position this entire season. They start at their own 38 yard line, which is like one of the highest of anyone that had this whole season. So I do think Ed Oliver is playing fantastic football and he's really, really helping this defense kind of punch back and not just kind of playing the Ben, but don't break, but actually create explosive plays for the defense. So I want to give him a shout out as well. And the hope is if Rousseau Douglas can come in and kind of stabilize one of those cornerback spots, if the front can play a little bit better, Rousseau's been banged up this year, right? Like, Von Miller still ramping up. Can the defense be better

than it's been over the last month? And can you get this sort of play from the offense? If the defense rises to, let's say, an average unit down the back half of the season. And the offense plays like this. This team is a real contender. They're a real force potentially in the AFC. And it's not like their playoff

hopes are dashed. They're six and five, right? The Steelers are sitting in the seven seeded at six and four. This team is much better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is very much insight. This is very much insight. This is very much a realistic possibility for them to get in and seriously scare up on people if they do. Yeah. If the defense improves and plays, I mean, makes everyone feel like Zach Wilson, that would work.

It just schedules tough. But I do think that some of the defense improvement is real just when I rewatch the Broncos game as well. Like, okay, just some of this stuff is coming together. And then we know the offense can go supernova at any time. So again, it's, of course, you want the best units on both sides. But if you don't have that, you want the elite. lead of the elite. And that's what this bill's offense could be. They are the lead of the elite. And so that's what you want when you get into the dance for in playoff time. They're going to play better

offenses than Zach Wilson. And I think that's important to acknowledge. Zach Wilson benched at some point during this game. Going to be an interesting week for Robert Sala at the podium as they try to figure out how to navigate this next stage of the Zach Wilson saga, drama, however you want to put it in New York. It reminds me of the done with the clown. Like enough with the clown. And enough with this. But they don't they don't. They don't. They don't. have another option. They don't have anywhere to turn. The Tim Boyle solution doesn't seem like it's a market improvement or an improvement at all. So it just feels like this is what we're going to see from the Jets offense here for the rest of the year. Man, is it fucking ugly. Like,

I just can't get over it. Oh, I mean, Romo was just like, he was going nuts about all the stats. Like, he was just like, they have a completely like, they have a convert a third down on how many? How many? How many does that one count? Oh, it doesn't even count. Like, it's just every set that, I haven't scored a touchdown an X amount of minutes, you know, like a hundred. and something minutes. It was just, yeah, all the stats they listed off. It was just rough. But I also wanted to give a shout out to Quentin Morris back from injury.

Can't only put a couple snaps last week. But this is, I really, like, I think they played how many snaps? 14 snaps today. Him being in line. This might be the cough medicine in me right now. But him, him being in line, like that helps so much with the looks. That's the twist. I think he's a better fit for Donn Kincaid than Dawson Knox.

So that was my question. That's what I wanted to end this with. When Knox gets back, what do we think happens? Because right now, it feels like Khalil Shakir is their second best receiver outside of Stefan Dix. So if they're going to go back to that 12 personnel world with Dawson Knox, does Shakir get pushed off the field? Is it Knox and Kincaid? What does that do to some of the run game stuff that they can lean into? So I think there are still some looming questions about what their offensive personnel can and should be here over the back half of the season as they continue to figure this stuff out.

Yeah, it's going to be real interesting. This is one of, I feel like for the last year, this has kind of been one of the things we, you know, focus on the bills is how they configure these guys. So I think it's going, yeah, it's going to be really interesting how they get knocks back. But it's nice to see Morris. And like how they're using KK2 is like exactly what we pictured, all this stuff over the middle. And so that's kind of become a safety blanket in this offense. And again, that's keeping up. Just replacing blitzes today, giving him options, just getting rid of the ball quickly.

And then you like to see that. It gets a lot easier for the bills next week going to Philadelphia. So it's just, the gauntlet has been thrown at Philly, uh, by at chiefs, home against the Cowboys, at Chargers,

home against the Patriots, at Dolphins. So great, great stuff. Great, great stuff. But they're going to be good games. It's,

it's going to be fun. Another huge game in the AFC playoff picture today that we wanted to do up here at the top. The Browns grind it out, beating the Steelers. And this is a game we talked about on Thursday. And it's a huge win. If we're looking at the playoffs,

the Browns go to seven and three now. It really does feel, Like even with all the questions of quarterback, even with the Deshawn Watson injury, the Browns are probably moving toward making the playoffs. And this formula that they showed off today, as ugly as it might be, it seems like it's going to be enough to at least keep them in these games over the last two months of the year. They're going to be must watch television because they have one of the most dominant defenses in recent memory. Just because anything is on the table? Is that the reason? Anything.

And then they got the ultimate McGiver offense. just truly gum and tooth picks. This is even what's less than that. I don't even know, but that's exactly what this offense is. Screens play action, so much play action, so many bootlegs, so many QB runs. They ran the same, like, they just kept running the same stuff. It was so funny. Like, if I've ever curious about what are the plays that the Browns install on the first day of training camp,

I just have to watch this game. It's just all slant flat, stick. I'm sorry to use terms, guys, but it was just such an elementary offense. but the defense rocks. And this defense has the second best, yes, here it is, second best defense in terms of success rate since 2000, since 2000, they were the first 11 of weeks, and third best in EPA per play. They basically turn every offense into the Jets offense. So, yes, some matchups do help, but this guy, they did go against the Steelers offense that

had been doing some nice things. So this defense is ridiculous. The Steelers could not move the ball in this game. No. The only thing the Steelers could do is. hand the ball to Jalen Warren and pray. Very rarely do I want to make a reductionist point like this where it's, this guy, he was the entire offense.

It was him versus everybody else. That's what it was to know. Jalen Warren was the entire offense for the Steelers. He had 129 rushing yards. The Steelers, other than Jalen Warren, had 120 yards in the game. And their successor was like 28%. They could not move the ball. It was one of those games where the Browns clearly had absolutely no respect for

their offense. it was just were like the big brother like stop hitting yourself the pressures that they were bringing over and over and over again absolutely no respect for this dealer's ability to deal with it they've been using this the pressure consistently all year where they'll bring an off ball linebacker through the A gap and then drop both defense events and it's just a nightmare scenario and every single time they ran it today this deal was just had absolutely no answer the rams were doing that against them too and Warren who's who's coaches dream I love james he's Awesome in pass protection.

I love watching him just stick dudes. So in the Rams game, he had a, they kept, because the Steelers pass protection rules were just broken. They just, they just, the Rams game to up the entire game. But Jaylon Warren just kept having to pick up Michael Hoyt. He's like 310 pounds. He's like trying. He's like trying to get in there and trying to help. But he's, Jalen Warren's just a good player.

Like the long touchdown was incredible. I thought that third and extra long screen that he converted. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. It was so, so good. I know. So it just sucks that it's like it really does feel like a battle. And I mean, just the Browns, I mean, outside, I mean, there's Miles Garrett, but just everybody just takes turns. It's just that they felt dominant today.

And this is a Steelers team that's, again, has been doing some decent things. So the offensive line had no shot past. No shot. He just had absolutely no shot. A bunch of the DBs made really nice plays. Denzo Ward had a stick in the flat on a play that should have been a first down. I mean, that defense, again, continues to play with a ton of energy. To me, the blueprint feels like this.

So on the second possession, okay, Miles Garrett gets a sack at the goal line. It's second 20 or whatever. Steelers punt. Browns get the ball back at midfield. First play, or one of the first plays of the drive, Boutu and Joku for a chunk game. Yep.

Next play, slant flat for like five yards. Yep. Next play after that, Jerome Ford with a fullback, just a lead run. Right. Face mask sets them up like inside the 15 and they score a touchdown. That's it. As long as you win the field position battle with the defense,

you can get one to maybe two chunk plays on a drive with smoke and mirrors, set yourself up to get at least three on those drives. You're going to give yourself a shot. And they didn't run a ton of boots in this game. And I think it's probably because they're afraid to boot against the Steelers. I think that we're going to see more of that against other teams. Because think about just anecdotally how many plays TJ Wat has exploded. when teams try to do that against them.

So even in this game, I didn't think we're going to see all the nonsense and bullshit that you're going to see against other teams throughout the rest of the season. That's why I'm going to have to watch this every week because I just want to see what they pull out of their ass every week because that's what it is. They're just going to be trying to game it up.

It's all about, I love that you brought up the field position stuff because that's what it is. They're going to have to just throw haymakers. It's like, all right, we got three chances. We got one or two of them. And then also. One chunk play a drive somehow, right? Can we, that's explosive.

One live is a lot. Can we get one explosive every other drive? Yes. Maybe. I mean, like, that has to be what they're seeking out. That's it. You brought up that sack, though. Horrendous spot by the official.

Kenny Pickett was turned into the end zone when he was on contact because he turned away from Miles Garrett. So it goes where the ball is. So he's on the line. There was no, I had a lot on you. Oh, my God. I couldn't believe it. And it's perfect because in the video, I just, a screenshot on Twitter, but you can see the guy leaning forward to like make the call.

And then he runs up and he's like, he is so adamant. One yard line. One yard line. I was like, oh, you were so wrong. I just, yeah, I had to mention that. So I'm glad he brought up that sack. Yeah, but it was, I couldn't wait to talk about the rest. That's, uh, that's always a highlight for me.

I know that they didn't ask him to do a lot. What did you think of the way the DTR played in the game? He did. Oh, he could. I mean, it's slam flat and stick. And like, he's just, those are just, those are just, like what everyone runs those from high school on on upwards and then the QB run game. I think he did okay in that role, but it's still just like it's so day one. It's a very elementary role. Yes. And but he did well in that role. And like so, but it wasn't much. They didn't ask him to do much. He took one sack for negative two yards. That's it. Avoid mistakes. Through one interception that was on a tipped ball. He should have gotten picked off in another point in the game. But for the most part, he took decent care of the ball and didn't take any sacks. That is a good start. And that is a good start. And that is a good start. And he. And he's. That is a good. for the formula we're talking about with the Browns.

They signed Joe Flacco to the practice squad today. Do you think that there is a timeline where Joe Flacco is potentially a better option for this recipe that we're talking about for the Browns down the back half of the season? I think so if they think that they want to get, like we said, it really truly becomes a weapon. I think if they get into the heavy play action world just because Al Flacco plays. And I think he just as a game management, just, you know, you're counting on reps and starts that he can just handle these moments a little better. It seems DTR, like most young players, just goes way up and way down as the game goes along. So I think maybe Flacco could stay his ship,

which I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth. But yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if I saw him on the field, just because what he's needed to do in that role. The numbers looked worse for DTR, and Joku had several, several, a couple bad drops in this game. The one in the end zone, there's a lot of contact, but that ball could have been completed on the back shoulder. But he had, I think two more drops in the game. Even after the game, he said it was unacceptable the way that I played. So that helps the stat line a little bit. The last thing I wanted to mention, the slant to Amari Cooper on the last drive that

says to him up for the field goal, it's a beautiful route. It's like a beautiful route. He sells it up field, comes back across. Like he has had some really nice moments this season. And they still have a decent amount of players on offense to kind of patch this thing together, even with an injured offensive line. So we'll see what that recipe, what that blueprint looks like here in the second half for the season. But this team is on its way to playing in the playoffs with this recipe.

So now that I already answered, but now I started thinking and some of my kind of moments came flashing back. So DTR actually had a couple moments, had some rough, real rough moments. I'm really thinking about it. But, uh, so I do think that as flat goes could actually come up quicker than we expect because there was one throw. He almost got picked. It was a sail route in the third quarter on third eight. He throws it. And so it's an out. It's an outbreaker. He throws it like three hitches late and he's going from all the way from one sideline to the other. And it was just like a great example again of like what NFL windows and timing is. It's like not only if you're two hitches late, but three hitches late.

Yeah, but that was one. But then there's another where, uh, Cedric Tillman, you were talking about just how they have other playmakers now, which is kind of nice. I think he's, I want to watch him a little bit more, but he's running out of course play the end around to Cedric Tillman today. He's running one more example. Yeah. Oh my God, all the end rounds.

You're going to see so many of those. There's going to be, oh, flea, flick. I'm sure double passes. But Tillman's running on a crosser. It's like 3rd and 10. And he's open like at the hash and you can see him look. And then he keeps running and he's at the next hash. He looks still waiting.

It goes until like in the seam area looks. And then he's like finally just waves like this. And then DTR's like, oh, throws it to him. He just gets sawed off. And I was like, oh man, that stinks. So he brought the, everyone saw him kind of waving in the air. So there's some lows today now that I'm thinking about it. Their quarterback situation, I think,

something to keep an eye on. Gentlemen, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Each week, there's a ton of stuff coming at you. On NFL Sunday, we like to pick out a performance or two that really grabbed us. And we were going to start with the Jacksonville Jaguars offense, getting on track against the Tennessee Titans today, a fantastic game from the Jags offense. Kind of an extension of the conversation we had on our Thursday preview show. We did our Under the Hood segment kind of looking at what was going wrong with

the Jags offense, the state of it up to this point. And they really answer today with not only the performance overall, but I think some schematic details and some changes and tweaks that really spoke to some of the issues that we had seen up to this point. Yeah, I thought the use of play action today was like what was the most down. It stood out to me. Yeah. They had five first downs on play action, four explosive plays.

They had one to Christian Kirk. That was really nice. You were just talking about schematic details. It was really attacking the overhang, the slot player for the other side. But how they just got to it, that was Calvin Ridley's touchdown came on the play action, his second one. And he also had like another one earlier on that drive. And they both came out of 12, just a classic play action.

Look, 12 personnel. You'll see the Broncos do this as well because that's who I pictured doing this is Sean Payton. But it's two tight ends next to each other. Then like a stack alignment by the two receivers on the opposite side. And then just big downplay, down the field place. And yeah, they hit them over and over. And I was like, that's one thing I wanted to see, not get to that in the second half when we're down three scores. We actually get to it when it's a neutral game script.

So a lot of good stuff. And they had six explosive passes today. And I think over 50% passing success rate, Calvin Ridley got involved. It was just really nice to see because this is kind of what I was picturing how to patch up this old line and get these explosive for this offense. That touchdown to Calvin Ridley, that same drive, that explosive that they hit to Kirkoff play action, that was a new concept they had. run before. So again, just something they're introducing. They're looking for answers. And them pushing the ball down field was just so encouraging. 9.5 area yards per attempt for Trevor Lawrence today. Highest mark of the season. Third highest mark in a single game of the

Doug Peterson era in Jacksonville. And one of the ways we wanted to see them do that was with play action. And they did it so consciously, 17 area yards per attempt off play action today for the Jacks. Right. You can't live that way, but it's all about giving credence to push the ball downfield and making defenses respond to that sort of approach. And that was so nice to see. And the other thing that I really wanted to see them do was just move Ridley around a little bit. Like don't force him to play outside the numbers run and hitches and goes the entire game. Even the go ball that he hit was he was in a condensed split to the left side. And it was an inside release that he took outside. He had so much space to work with. His touchdown comes on a corner route when he was lined up in like a stack on the left. left side. The second touchdown he had, he's playing in the slot on the right side. So just all the different ways they tried to create some opportunities for him specifically in this game, I thought was really encouraging. So just to see them be a little bit more thoughtful and creative about this is the ways that we can create shots, create space within the defense and get the ball in the hands of

our best playmaker, I thought was a really encouraging set of signs. Yeah. The first touchdown was great to Calvin Ridley. And you can tell that play was designed for him. And that's what we talked about last week. I was just like, I want to see him as he's the one in all these designs that we do. And when it's third down the red zone, you can see who they kind of expect to get the ball or most likely to. That's all plays are designed. And they knew they could get the switch release with Christian Kirk. You brought it up already, but nice attacking player leverage. So more Deioners Johnson as well. He's kind of getting the number. Another thing we asked for on Thursday. Yeah. So I know. I mean, their gameplay was already in by the time we did our show. So, but the tight,

I don't think they stole it from us. But again, Yeah, stuff that we wanted to see. It was great. I know. I have no complaints. Luke Farrell had 28 snaps today. I wanted to see a little bit more blocking Tide-end. We mentioned that on our show.

So some good stuff. Yeah, Titans already ran 38 plays today. That's a hard to get it done with 38 plays. The quality control coaches for the next team are going to love that because you don't have to break down 30 plays. That's great. Zay Jones was in the game today. I think that also kind of frees up readily to do some stuff.

I think, again, in that 12 personnel, in those 12 personnel looks, though, there's no reason that Calvin Ridley has to be like an isolated receiver outside the numbers in those looks. Like you can do some of those, this is a throwback. We ever use this term in the show in a while. Those Y, Y, Y, wing looks where you have those two tight ends on the same side, you stack the receivers to the right. Like, there are ways to use him where you're not just asking him to be an isolated receiver

and running those true X routes where even if he can win on those every once in a while, just making the game a little bit easier on this guy, you can see what he can do in a game like this, and I just love to watch it happen. Yeah. And what's nice, too, it's like, he can move around. And then when he does get a man coverage situation, you can just run a go right with him and he can win. It's like, nice. It's like he could, that's what good receivers could do. We could just ask you to do this and you're going to do it well. And, and that's why I was kind of some games I understood why he wasn't getting targeted. But that was the problem was that the trickle down effect of everybody else. And like, especially when Zay Jones

was out. So it really felt like this is the offense and how I pictured how this offense would be without that offensive line being a strength on this team. Like this is how they have to live. It's cool they can get to the yak world. That's more horizontal, but they need to have games where they can throw haymakers. And they connected. They connect on a lot of them today.

The other thing that I thought was noticeable is that Trevor was moving around really well. Yeah. And I don't know how he never missed a game after that injury right before the Saints game. And I don't know how right he was over the last month or so. He looked more mobile today than he has in other games, just being able to extend plays, just using his legs down in the red zone. So that was also nice to see combined with everything else. But this approach where they're being a little bit more aggressive, but it's not just being more aggressive.

It's being conservative while being aggressive. And what I mean by that is heavy personnel, some more like max protection looks to kind of take some of these shots. So you're protecting yourself, but also that allows you to create some space and some air in the defense. I just really like seeing that from that. Well, it made sense too. It was like, remember, all that quick game, it condenses scramble opportunities and creation. So you do play action down the field and everyone's got air to attack. And yeah, it gets two rushing touchdowns.

It was nice. It was like, it was nice to see actually like some box score to how sometimes this Jaguar's offense could feel. It's like, oh, there it is. There's some like actual substance to all this. And you combine that with the way that their defense continues to play. And you remember, this team has a real shot to be a contender in the AFC and to potentially make some noise. They are going to be a playoff team and they are going to be something to contend with

as we move through the back after this season. All right, that's it. Not a lot of other standout things today. We're going to get some of them in the notebook. So spread out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's time for a couple performances that left us a little disappointed today. I'm not mad.

I'm just disappointed. I don't know what to say about the Los Angeles Chargers at this point. This is, this feels like a low point. And I think that when you see the reaction from Brandon Staley after the game, it kind of does feel like this is trending into bad direction. I don't know if people watch the press conference that he had, but he was frustrated, short, clearly, you know, a little snippy with some of the questions. And I understand

some of his thoughts in that press conference when he said in kind of response to questions about the state of the defense and the quality of the defense that, you know, he's happy, he's confident in him calling it, he's confident with the game plan. The defense isn't the reason we lost today was kind of a consistent theme. Sort of. Yeah. Right? Like sort of. If you watch that game and you're trying to tell yourself a story about it, you can say, well, Keenan Allen drops two potential touchdowns. Austin Eckler fumbles inside the 10. If Quentin Johnson catches that ball on the last drive, we potentially win that game. At the same time, the Packers had six completions of 20 plus yards today, which was tied for the most of any

team in the league this week. They had 26 all year coming into this game, which was 20. in the NFL. Over the past two years, the Chargers are tied for the highest explosive play rate allowed in the league with the defensive-minded head coach that they have spent a ton of resources on that defense. And Jordan Love today at the fourth highest EPA per dropback of any quarterback in the NFL. So yeah, if Austin Echo doesn't fumble that ball, maybe you win.

If Keenan-Awan doesn't drop both those potential touchdowns, maybe you win. If Quinn Johnson catches that ball, maybe you win. But at the same time, it's not like the defense played great. against the Packers' offense that has had its struggle so far this year. And also all the guys you're mentioning, too, it's like, all right, Keenan Allen, we all love. But it's one of their big name players, Quinn Johnson, their first round pick, dropping the ball. Like, it's these guys that they heavily invested in, Assante Samuel with the third, the DPI and third 20.

It's like these players that they expect to be the needle movers, and they're the ones kind of causing the negatives. Keenan Allen's been phenomenal this year. So it's just like this is just one of those games where it just feels like it's just, ah. And then it gets a lawn at the end. So, I mean, you know how it's going, even without the Brandon Staley press conferences at Justin Herbert's spiking the football in his center. Oh, man. That was, when he's pissed off, you know things are bad. But that drive, he went berserker.

Oh, man. He went berserker for most of this game. Yeah, he was awesome. He was awesome in this game. It's like a top tier actor in a bad movie. I don't want to keep doing this where we do the like, Justin Herbert is great and the coaching and the defense are bad. But this was another one of those games where Justin Herbert was great, and he was let down by a lot of things happening around him. I know.

Drops to, I mean, it's just right there. The center's not snapping the ball. Like, uh, I mean, oh, even the touchdown to dobs for the Packers to take the lead after Herbert went berserker on the drive before to take the lead. Their charges defenders are scrambling to get lined up. It's at that moment, it's like, come on, guys. I think the Packers went quick out of the huddle, but still, like, you know, get a lied. Like this is a big moment. I mean, that just doesn't help.

Poor tackling from the Chargers. So much poor tackling. So much poor tackling. The end around Reed, there's a terrible angle by Asante Samuel. The linebackers were lost. There was a huge connection to Don Tavian Wicks where I think it was Michael Davis missed the tackle. The Tucker Kraft played on the right sideline.

It's just an embarrassing effort by Kenneth Maria on that play. Again, consistent issues. And a ton more, I think three or four are third and long conversions again in this game. Musgrave on a third and 11 they had a third and 20 pass interference by Assata Saniel. He's beating Derwin James one on one. Beating Durwin James one on one.

Exactly. I mean, just those are the sorts of things where your star is not playing like stars, being undisciplined in huge moments and just giving up chunk play after chunk play. And you can say, and I understand how Brandon Staley gets to this moment where, oh, you know, down to down,

we actually played pretty well on defense today. It's like, well, yeah, but if you give up five explosive plays that lose you the game, who gives a shit? Right. You got to stop them in two minute. Like that's part of the game too.

Oh man. The, the, the, all that Jane Reed, like the end of rounds, I know, it felt like a lot of the run game, they were just abusing the linebackers. Yeah. Like, it's funny in my notes. I wrote Vikings linebackers because I think of Kendrix. I think my, it was a slip. It was slip there. But it was just, they just, that's what they're doing.

They're just attacking them. Getting them running each way, wrong ways, hesitating, attacking downhill when it should be going horizontal. It's, it's just, oh, it's just not good ball. and like Herbert's thrown to something named Stone Smart. He's one of their best players today in offense. I know. Actually, he was decent. His background's really interesting.

Can't wait to ask Dane about him. It's my favorite game to play on Prospects of Pros. Hey, Dana, what about this guy? But actually, the Packers offense has shown a lot more consistency and love is and loves really whipping that ball in there and having, stepping up in big moments. So I'm feeling okay about them.

And it's just funny how these teams feel and how much I can flip in just a few weeks about how I feel about each of these teams like drastically. It was unfortunate to watch Jaden Reed in this game and see what he's providing the Packers offense and just the amount of juice that he has and contrast that with what the Quentin Johnson experience has been so far this year. I mean, you look at where he was drafted and even the guys drafted immediately after him. We've had this conversation. Jay Flowers, Jordan Addison, you know, what Tank Dell did in this game, did this week and

has done this season. just so many different guys who could give more to the charters than Quentin Johnston has. And some of this is just him being a little bit miscast on what they're asking him to do right now. It's a perfect example. There was a stretch in the, I believe it was in the third quarter. Packers throw a little smoke to Jaden Reed, makes the guy missing space, gains like 10 to 12 yards. It's a nice play. Later in that quarter, Chargers do the same thing to Quinn Johnson, does the same thing.

That should be how they use him. They should use him like the Packers use Jaden Reed. Unfortunately, after losing Mike Williams, they've had to put him in this role that does not suit him. He is not a downfield receiver. But at the same time, if you're going to draft a guy in the 20s that you can only use as a gadgety yak guy, that's a concern. Like in this day and age with the amount of receivers and the types of receivers who are available and what they can give you, Jordan Addison and Zayflowers today are usable full-time receivers in an NFL offense. Jaden Reed has done more than Quentin Johnson has so far.

And you combine that with the Kenneth Murray experience that we've all been going through. And it's just such a reminder that on top of whatever shortcomings they've had in constructing the defense or defensive game plans, whatever you want to say, right? Like whatever the reasons for the defense falling short have been, there have been some real failings with high level moves in the draft by this front office in recent years. And those consistently are showing up when this team falls short. Draft and free agency. I mean, but I mean, J.C. Jackson. It's just, it's like they don't understand the system they have. I mean, just like the JC Jackson one's the huge one, but just, what is this year three,

Most Daly? And you know what defense he's in. Okay. You know this is his preferred scheme, even if he does, like, change some things week to week. The personnel, there has to be some, like, understanding of what guys you need to get, you know, what's ingredients the coach needs to work with and cook with. And I think that's what I've, it's been very frustrating with kind of like, that's kind of been kind of pushed aside. at times. It's like, you brought up just the draft picks, but it's just a misunderstanding of what

they are. And that's, but that's on the personnel side. I think that's a very frustrating part about this Chargers team because it feels like, you know, this has been our show, like as we've, you know, done this by year four. It's like this is kind of Chargers, like new era of Chargers with Staley and Herbert and all this. And it's like, we know what this defense is. We know it. And it's like, how do you guys in the building not go, hey, we need a nose? Hey, we need, you know, a decent linebacker because they're going to be put in conflict all the time. Hey, we You need those things. How are you not investing that?

You're signing J.C. Jackson, who's just a manned corner in a Patriot system, which is like always the scariest ask or signing. It's like all these alarm bells, they just push through and ignored. You know, it's Chernobyl. Like, that's what it feels like. They just, yeah, whatever, fail safe. Don't care. Don't care. We're just going to push through it.

And the entire point of this defensive system is to prevent explosive plays. And again, they've given up explosive plays at the second highest rate in the league over the last two years. Exactly. What are you doing? And that kind of feels like the moment we've arrived at with this regime. This was a chance when you think about the borough injury, the schedule that the bills are going to face down the back half of the season. They had a very real shot coming into this game to reestablish themselves in the AFC playoff picture, despite how frustrating this season has been. And then they go on the road and do that against the three-win Packers team that has really struggled for long stretches of this season.

you're running out of reasons for why this group should be in charge. And I know that probably sounds harsh. I never like to say that people should lose jobs, but there were expectations for this team coming into this season. Those expectations were real. Those expectations have not been met. And now I think we have to have some pretty harsh discussions about what the future looks like because of that. Just so many of these players just feel like bummers.

Like I mentioned Derwin James. The season's kind of been like that the whole year. The vibes are awful. Awful. Just the tackling in the last couple minutes of the game. It was just like, you could just like, eh, it was optional. Like, I don't really want to lay out for that. Like, really, you can see it and feel it.

But just all these guys just feel like they just have just, you know, degraded each year. They feel 90% of the last year and then 90% the next year. Like, just each 80% of that. Like, it just, James is one of them. I mean, Kalil Mack, of course, Joey Bosa keeps getting hurt. Just all these guys. because I feel like all these guys are just have, oh,

Austin Eckler today. It's like, oh, man, that was just felt, gets caught from behind. That got mean. I know. That should have been a touchdown.

It's just, yeah. But that's, that like run was kind of like, that's the Chargers. It's like, oh, there's some excitement and it just kind of falls apart.

And that was the driver. And that was hit in the face with the ball. And they don't score a touchdown. The aristocrats. Like that, but, oh, man, it was the,

it was a bummer. Like, those kind of plays are just bummers to watch, especially when you have a quarterback playing like that. They get the Ravens next week on Sunday night football, so things get a lot better, a lot faster. I don't think that this isn't a team that does a lot of drastic things in season. I'd be very surprised at that ended up happening, but it really does feel like we're trending toward an ending that a lot of people can probably predict. And I don't know what it looks like.

This team went all in this year. Some teams, you know, the idea that the Browns went all in, I think some people were saying that last week after the Sean Watson injury. That's not true. The Browns haven't shifted a ton of money around for a lot of contracts. They restructured to Sean Watson's contract. but for the most part, the Browns are financially somewhat healthy moving forward. The Chargers are not. The Chargers moved a lot of money into next year.

They maxed out for this year, and this is the product that you're getting at the end result of that, and that is truly disappointing. Yeah. No, it's bad ball. Speaking of truly disappointing, the Bears game today, I just don't even know what to do with this. I just don't even know what to do with this. This was, I was looking at it this morning. Tremaine Edmonds was active. It was kind of the last question they had health-wise coming into the year.

If you looked at both sides of the ball for the Bears today, it's the healthiest they have been truly all season because Tavent Jenkins started the year on IR. So this is the team pretty much that you wanted coming into the season plus month has sweat. So this is a very good chance with this setup to just acknowledge and kind of evaluate where you are, where Justin Fields is, where this coaching staff is. And I think for a good portion of this game, the Justin Fields part went pretty damn well.

He played well today. He did a lot of good stuff today. I love the plan that they had on offense, using him as a runner, getting him on the move, tons of play action. It was a fun style brand of offense to watch with him at quarterback. This idea that at any point, the offense was better with Tyson-Bajent

or more watchable with Tyson-Bajent is the funniest thing in the world. But this guy, even whatever his shortcomings have been, over the last couple of years, he's thrilling. He is a very exciting player with a real skill set. And seeing all of that in practice with the offensive line they put in a place, Lucas Patrick got banged up, but you know what I'm saying. It was fun to watch. The missile shot at E.J. Moore.

It's like, okay, here we go. We'll see what happens at the end of the road, but at least it's nice to be able to evaluate him properly and get a read on what he is and what the offense can be. The same can be said for the coaching staff. the defense is now in place. This isn't last year when you were selling off pieces at the end of the year and, you know, if you play hard and you lose, that's okay.

This is all about draft pick and draft positioning. That's over. That is no longer what this team is trying to accomplish. They spent money in free agency this off season. They just traded a second round pick and gave that extension to Montes sweat. The defense is healthy. These are the guys you wanted. These are the guys you drafted in the first two rounds.

This is when you have to show what you want to be and, why you deserve to be in charge of this team moving forward. The defense had the worst success rate in the league today down to down against the Lions. The Lions turned the ball over four times and still won the game, in part because of the decisions made at the end of the game. You can't play not to lose when you are no longer in the trajectory of your franchise where winning games has started to matter.

And that's where the Bears are right now. And to run the ball twice and then throw it on third down on the first chance they had in the final two minutes and then do the same thing in the second chance that they had and not put the ball in the guy's hands who was playing a really good football or quarterback for you for most of the game. It's malpractice. It is the definition of playing not to lose when you are supposed to be trying to win football games. And at a certain point, if this has happened last year, I would have been like, eh, you know, they lost. It's not a big deal. That's not what this is about. But at some point, winning and learning how to win becomes important. And I think that if you're one of the

people that has some looming kind of lingering confidence or optimism about this coaching staff, today was a huge blow to the argument that when we get to the end of the year and they have the number one or number two pick, that this staff should be in charge of whatever the next phase that this looks like. So it was an incredibly frustrating, disappointing game for a team that absolutely should have won when you look at the turnover battle in the way that the offense played. Yeah. I was so, this was, this next like seven weeks or six weeks, I guess, it was how.

how I wanted to evaluate fields because how I felt the situation. So everything you're laying out, how the offense and defense is like, hey, this is the healthiest you've been. This is the best. It's kind of the setting it's been. It's like, this is how I truly want to evaluate fields. And it's like, oh, wow, look at all this. He's creating as a passer, not just as a runner as well, changing arm angles.

It's like, this is winning football. Really beautiful throws outside of the pocket as a creator. Yep. And they found a formula for him because, you know, he has a longer throwing style. But he pushes the ball. Like that's what he prefers to do. So they give him his shots. Oh my God.

He had some beautiful moon balls today. And it's like him all the way, that last throw to Tower, Scott. Could he throw this one crosser that might get tackled short? Could he scramble maybe? No, I'm going to launch it. And he puts up, it would have been on the money. Scott just kind of- Scott doesn't slow down.

That's a touchdown or a game-winning completion. So he played how you want to see. This is like a first checkpoint, I would say, in the real Justin Fields experience, the real Justin Fields' evaluation, which matters so much because of where these picks might end up and how I look at this class in the QB class. So it's just a, okay, this is one more data point. It's really disappointing how the end of the game was. I mean, it just, that field goal at the end, when you have a quarterback scrambling and making

all these plays and dancing after getting first downs and you, the bears were grooving in the fourth quarter. Like they were really feeling it. And then you kick the field goal. That kind of felt like, ah, not. You take the field goal on purpose. You run the ball on third and seven to kick a field goal and go up 12 points against one of the best offenses in the league that's better than you.

Way better. They are better than you. At that point in the game, you have to do what you can to step on their throat when the game has gone the way that it did. And to watch them do that in that moment with the way that he played is maddening. It's absolutely maddening. I know. I was fine with everything until that.

That's what really disappointed me because I do think, and I, I've said this to you, and a couple times kind of like just one sentence, one liners, it's like, I do think there were signs of life with this defense. There absolutely was. They had the third best success rate in the league over the last five weeks. some of that is drummed up by beating the shit out of the panthers. But yes. But at the same time, they were playing competently on defense.

But to play this way today and really to only subsist on the turnovers and then have the coaching kind of mistakes mindset-wise and approach-wise at the end, it is not a good data point in the Maddivapal's experience. You have to understand what you are. And I think it's like, you know, just look at the team across from you, how Campbell was in his first two years. And he hasn't lost that aggression at all. But even done, he was always.

playing. He knew what he was. He knew what they were. Fakes, fourth down attempts all the time, just out of Wahu. So that was a little disappointing. I do want to say, are we going to talk about the lines right now or are we in one minute? We're talking about one minute. Okay, one minute. Okay. So staying on, staying on the bears, seeing this kind of like this formula with this offense, it was like, that was so much more encouraging because it was like, okay, with Tyson in there, it was kind of, okay, I could see the offensive line getting better. I could see the running backs getting worked in as they got healthier. Leo Herbert came back, but also Rochon Johnson and Form and all this. Okay, I'm seeing this form, but DJ Moore looks great. Commets playing well. It's like, okay, this formula works. All right, how's Fields looking at? Fields check the box today. Like, that's a big, huge sign for this team, but that's what sucks that they just can't pull off this win. It's like, this should feel good right now. The quarterback, you still have the high pick with the Panthers, no matter what. It just kind of stinks that this feeling can never leave because that's what just a lot of these games end up. They just find new ways to lose.

It's just like, oh, another one. And again, last year, when it wasn't about wins and losses and really was about positioning yourself for the future, I'm fine with taking an L on moments like this, as long as you're doing a lot of little things, right? That today is not one of those games. Like, at a certain point, I do think that you have to learn how to win. You have to learn how to win. Learn how to win.

You have to put yourself in position to win these sorts of games. The lions are a perfect example. They are. Right? Like what the Lions did last year, even if they weren't a contending team, when they really were kind of in step two of the process, they started to, you know, they started to learn how to win football games. They had a mindset conducive to that. And that is not what the Bears have with the way that they approach the end of that game today, despite how the

quarterback played. And I know that this is going to be a long process. They may get the number one or number two pick in the draft. There is a decision that is going to have to be made. And I don't know what the right decision is going to be, but at least is encouraging to see him play this way and hold up his end of the bargain. They put out, their in-report today wrote a story about how this is evaluation time for Justin Fields, the back half of this season. We're going to put him in some of these positions to win the game. And then they didn't allow him to try to win the game.

That is immensely frustrating. You're going to come out and say that and make it known that this is, it's time. Like we're getting a read on everybody. And then you're not going to give him that chance. No. That's just to watch it end like that after the way that he played, not having it.

And typically I don't get very worked up over the state of this football team anymore because so much of me has died today. It was easy to get worked up about it. especially when he's doing some of those runs, everything. It's just like, he played great today full time. It's like all the read game that they do with him. It's like that's the perfect like or a sneak with him. It's like, I don't know.

I felt like a sneak there. You get that first down. It's like, yeah, you know, everyone's fired up burning clock. You know, it just like put the game away. I don't know. There was a white flag when you had, you know, victory in your hands. All right. Let's get to the Sunday notebook and talk about some actually good stuff.

The Lions, on the other hand, did sort of take care of. business and won a game that they should have won despite turning the ball over that many times. And again, the offense down to down was very good in this game. So what is the alliance point that you wanted to make that I wouldn't let you make two minutes ago? Oh, well, two things. It was kind of a, it's good and bad, actually. But the Lions played like a, like, they're like a division winner type. Like, you know what I mean? They are a very good team. And that's what, that's what the bears are, you could see the class difference between these two teams. It's like, the bears have to get all these turnovers. The game script has to be perfect.

just to get this lead. And as soon as they stopped kind of playing that way or get those bounces also just falls apart because the lines are just inevitable. I mean, those like final drives in the last quarter were just methodical, like just methodical ass kicking. Like they, I'm sorry, but they were. God put them in the position to lose that game with some of the decisions that he made. Even though one, there was a collision on one interception, one was tipped. He should have thrown another one down inside the five. It was not his best game for the first three quarters.

He was really good on those last couple drives. He made a couple of plays off schedule. He was moving around in the pocket. You combine that with everything else. This offense is really good. This offense is scary. Now they get James and Williams. And they're making him do the hard stuff too.

He's getting rewarded with some other big plays. But they're making him be a real receiver, which is really cool. I haven't run some like routes over the middle and stuff. But okay, they're finding the balance with Gibbs and Montgomery. And you can see that chemistry really working now. And that's really gotten cool. But then even without Jonah Jackson today, they were still clicking. Obviously, you brought the success rate stuff, but they were doing all the diversity in the run game still with a backup in there.

And it was clicking. It was, I mean, they're really fun to watch on offense, especially because all their stuff week to week is they will attack your weakness. And when it clicks, it's just, it's beautiful, especially when St. Brown gets going to, just like every third and four, first down. Third and three, first down. Counter is the St. Brown. It's just, yeah. They just find out.

The inside handoff to St. Brown from empty when he was lined up in a slot. I mean, that sort of shit pops up every single week. it seems like at this point. Last thing about the Lions before we moved to another NFC team that really took care of business today. Any concerns about the defense? Yes, this is why I want to get to.

I wanted to get all the good stuff out because I am happy about the Lions. But defense, keeping an eye on this since weeks seven. Something to monitor. Yes, this is real. This is a thing right now. Yeah, I'm glad you noticed this too because it's a thing. If there are 30% success rates since week seven, their last, an EPA per play. And a lot of damage through the air.

So it's kind of a little worrisome. A lot of explosive plays. They're basically turning a lot of past attempts into like they're playing the dolphins. Like that's kind of how they've been playing defending the past. So it is something to monitor. It really is. Even if the offense is clicking, it's that defense has been kind of getting some holes poked in it.

All right. Let's talk about another NFC. I agree with you, by the way. I think this is just something to keep an eye on because they have to try out a little bit. Yeah. Fun Thursday game. Yeah. So we'll get to watch them on Thanksgiving.

So we'll, national spotlight, big game against the Packers, which we'll talk about here in a second. But another NFC team that really took care of business today. The San Francisco 49ers kind of reminded everybody what we're looking at when that offense is clicking. And today was a very good example. Every single one of Brock Purdy's completions today went to Brandon, I, Uke, George Kittle, Debo, Samuel, or Christian McCaffrey, all 21 of them. He was 21 of 25, by the way.

And that combination with all of those guys and all of those guys back and healthy, and him playing the way that he can play, it was just another really impressive outing from them. And the two guys that really stood out to me in this game, one Iyuk, just showing everything that he is. He's one of the most dynamic players in the league right now. Like his ability,

not only initially the release game has gotten so good, stacking people at the line of scrimmage, what he's doing at the top of routes now compared to what he could do. It was always physically talented and explosive, but the details, he had a throw by today on Carlton Davis that I was like, it like made me shudder. It was so good.

And then what he did on the go ball touchdown, he is such an explosive, excellent playmaker. And then you just combine that with everything else. And I thought Purdy was great today. Yeah. You know, like the Bucks defense has struggled at times this year. The past defense has given up a lot of explosive plays. But even when they were, had their little swoon at three game losing streak,

I thought he was playing pretty good football. And I continue to think that he's playing pretty good football. I thought he was really impressive today. He had some kind of second. rethrows or second reaction throws, I guess, that were really nice today. He's a good athlete. So he really has that quick twitch. I agree. I thought he played well. He's all between the numbers, too. Like his heat maps hilarious. But there's one target to Juan Jennings in the red zone. It went over. It was like, it looked like a bad pass by Purdy, but I think Jennings ran the wrong route on it.

And it's hilarious because that was one target. That was the only target that didn't go to the four guys that you mentioned. So it's kind of like, done. He's like, I love Jennings. A great player, great role player. everybody was like, done. Nope, going to the stars. That's it. Going to the Monstars. Devin White and Levanti David were in hell today. Oh, oh my God. The Philip Seymour Hoffman said in the great schlock film, Twister. They were in the suck zone. I'm sorry to you guys, I'm on some cough medicine right now. But all the, all the play. Every time I think about Twister, I just think of the like the Twister experience. You ever do like the Twister experience at Universal Studios? I have that. Yeah. I would, that's what I remember. I mean, I clearly remember. the movie. It's a great how it on a performance, but the Twister experience

at Universal Studios like sticks in my mind for some reason. We played a bowl game when I was at Wisconsin, the Champs Sports Bowl, and it was in Orlando. And he would get passes to Universal or whatever it was. And we go and we saw Twister. My friend couldn't stop laughing because it was Bill Paxson talks to you. And he just couldn't stop laughing. He just thought it was like the funniest things ever seen. Oh, so you did this as an adult. That's why it's fresh in your mind. I haven't done it like 30 years.

I was 20. We're just killing time. It's like you take the bus there. You know, that's a great experience of the bold stuff, you know, but it's great for the coaches and their kids. But all the play action, though, an eye candy, so much stuff happening in front of them, they had no shot. They really didn't. It was one of those. There was like, oh, yeah, everything was working. Also, just like the CMC touchdown was great. Like, that was someone else ran that design today.

Everyone wrote that play now. But really good stuff. Aggressive, the bootleg backed up. Like, in their own end zone, they're running a bootleg to Kittle. It's like, yeah, they're just, yeah, they're fine. on all cylinders right now. This is a really good team. It's scary to pass against them as well because that pass rush is getting home. They're figuring out they're doing some new tweaks with the fronts. It's like, yeah, so they're getting on to something right now. I'm excited to go back and watch the

defense and to study a little bit when they get some bigger opponents and we can really dig into some of their games in the back half of the year. I think that Chase Young had some really nice moments today against Tristan Wharf's, which is that's a game to see. That's when you're doing it against that guy, that really stands out. So I'll be excited to go back and actually study the defense. But they continue to roll at it. You know, the Cowboys, just took care of business today in the way that you want the Cowboys to take care of business against the Panthers. I will say, one thing about the Cowboys, Duran Bland, that play was insane. That is not a gimmee pick six. He makes the play. It's an incredible interception on its own.

He rolls forward, gets up, and then takes it to the house for a touchdown. So it's not super exciting to beat the hell out of the Giants and then do it to the Panthers. But we'll have a lot more time to talk about the Cowboys, but I think that play at least is worth pointing out. Oh, yeah. I felt bad for Bryce Young today. That defense was rolling. We got Micah Parsons on pre-workout energy supplements. It just geeked out of his mind to start the game. So I feel bad for whoever had to go against that.

Also, one last thing with the 49ers. With the fronts they're doing with Chase Young is pretty cool. They're doing double mug pressures with, it's not pressure. They don't know in Russia for it, but Bosa and Chase Young and the A-GAPs, which is just, they did against the Jags. And then they're doing five-man fronts. Like, remember the Washington a couple years ago? Yep, I noticed a lot of the five-man fronts against the jacks last week.

Yeah, they got the horses and they can't wait to stampede them out there. But no, but I thought today with the Cowboys, too, this is just like, yeah, this is their game. Okay, they can attack so many different ways. They're fishing passing the ball, and then defense is just good luck. Like, if you just don't have anything, they're just going to destroy you as the game goes along. Let's go from the Niners to another team in the NFC West. Weird game with the Seahawks and the Rams. Gino misses most of the second half with an apparent elbow injury, comes back in, comes back in after the Rams have some very strange clock management decisions in the final two minutes of that game.

Easily could have just ticked it down and potentially kicked a field goal in one. They choose not to do that. The Seahawks get the ball back. The Seahawks then probably have a chance to win the game, but run the ball for a reason that I still don't really understand to set up a 55-yard field goal that they miss. So a lot of stuff to dig into, mostly that the Seahawks schedule from here on out is absolutely brutal. Okay. They play the Niners on Thanksgiving. They play at Dallas.

They play at San Francisco again. And then they play against Philly. Those are their next four games. But it seems like Gino might be able to come back and not miss any time. And they have a pretty decent lead in the NFE wildcard race. So a lot of just mixed feelings about the way that that game ended for the Seahawks. and what it potentially means here moving forward. Yeah.

It was, I mean, it's impressive whenever you get a quarterback that, not only just gets hurt, but throwing shoulder. I knew that, but did not feel good. It was getting wet like that as he's trying to pass.

It was his elbow. It was like, it's like a tricep by step. Like bruise, they said. I don't know what the exact injury is, but Pete Carroll would not commit to him playing against the Niners on Thursday. Yeah.

And like you said, that schedule is so tough. And it's like, but just see him come back and how he performed on that last drive. and the throws. Like, I mean, just the one to D.K. Metcalfe before they ran the ball the next play, that was a third down. They put Metcalf in the slot.

And that was truly, that was why Gino, I love watching Gino. I think a lot of us enjoy watching Gino is that he's pushing the ball. He could have gone for the underneath route and got the first down. Okay, hurry, hurry, hurry. Nope, he's attacking and getting that chunk play. And it just kind of, I mean, him getting banged up. Kenneth Walker got banged up. They're about to go into a really tough schedule.

It's just like it's tough. Stop. I still like the Seahawks team because I think the defense is playing better. And I do still like the offense. But it's just if Gino's hurt, drop off the Drew lock is rough. So that I would not want to see that for the Seahawks team. So even with Gino healthy, let's talk about the NFC playoff picture here. Yeah.

Okay. Vikings now sitting here at six and five. Okay. They are the seventh seed. Seahawks are six and four with, you know, two game lead on everyone else in the NFC wild card race. with that six and four record. Everyone else is four and six. But now with that schedule that the Seahawks are facing,

with that Vikings lost today, there are some teams that have some real life in this discussion potentially. One is the Los Angeles Rams who beat the Seahawks today. So they have a little life breathed back into their season. The other, gracely enough, is the Packers. The Packers are four and six.

And now very much back in this thing after the Seahawks and Vikings both losing. So even if we don't, it's hard to get excited about some of these teams in the back half of the NFC wildcar picture. Because I don't think they're really candidates to make any noise that they get to the playoffs. Things got much more interesting today for some of those teams that they're trying to talk themselves into what they can do. Yeah. I mean, that Rams win was huge. That offense can, I mean, Cooper Cup got hurt as well. Everyone's just getting hurt.

But it's that offense, how Stafford's playing and how they can push the ball. Puka is still playing well. They do some stuff in the run game. defense is kind of a fun, funky bunch. But I don't know, the Packers, these young guys,

the young cheese heads, it's like, okay, they're a little risky. It was really nice to see them all do something today. Dobbs made a play today. Reed made a play today. Dontavian wicks made some place today.

Musgrave made some places. Dobbs snatched that ball. I watched that, and again, contrasting it bringing it back to the Quentin Johnson thing, watching him do that and watching all of Quentin Johnson's downfield targets is a very different sort of experience. So I still think when it's all said and done, even with that schedule, I feel better about the Seahawks to sneak in and get one of those spots.

And I still think the Vikings, basically the way that they're playing at both sides of the ball, Justin Jefferson coming back. I still would bet on them to do it. But it's definitely a little cloudier right now than it was at the start of today. That's for sure. It really is. And it feels like just everyone's beat up each other too, which also just makes the tiebreakers really fun. But I love it. I think this frisky NFC, I think you have my.

attention preseason takes. Packers as a playoff team. Not going to say division winner. Not going to say division winner, but as a playoff team. I had the Packers as my seven seed in the NFC. You had the Broncos as your seven seed in the AFC. This has been a we're so back sort of week for our playoff takes before the season. Get back to 500. It's huge.

It's huge. It's just like my gambling. I'm done in the Wins League, by the way. I'm just shot. It's over. I don't want to talk about it. Chargers lost today. the Bengals and Joe Burrow, it is over.

I am facing down my fate when I have to pay off that bet during Super Bowl week. I'm so not looking forward to it. And there's no coming back from it now. I think it was worse. It was a lot like the Bengals where it's like you just got the hope too, swelled with it. And I'm not going to stop talking. No, because as soon as I got confident of this, it all fell apart for me too.

I'm pretty sure you're like three or four games up now after this week. I mean, we'll see what happens with the Eagles and the Chiefs tomorrow. But I really don't think it matters. I'm pretty sure this thing is over. and I'm just going to have to dread it for months on end. All right, a couple more things here before we get out of here. Just your weekly C.J. Stroud update. The touchdown he threw to Tank Dell on the double move was one of my favorite plays of the day.

Just one of, truly one of my favorite plays of the day. He is good for a couple of those every single week. He had a ball that he threw to Nico Collins over the middle of the field that Nico went airborne for. That is just a throwaway play in the middle of a pretty tight game. And just a consistent reminder that every single week, this team makes five plays that just put me in a good mood. The vibes could not be better. He threw three picks in this game. So he just dropped through three picks in this game.

Asked afterward whether or not he was deterred by throwing those picks. His response was, Steph Curry don't ever stop shooting. I'm going to keep letting it ride. That's all you need to know about where this team is. On a day, he threw three interceptions and they barely squeaked by the Cardinals. His response to throwing those three interceptions was, ah, shoot or shoot. good. That's what I want. That is what I want from a guy in his position, by the way. Well, it's so funny. It's just going back like detractors maybe or some negative some of the

preseason takes or pre-draft takes were like, oh, he might not be aggressive enough. You know, I might be able to like actually push the ball. Actually, it's a complete opposite. He's, I mean, honestly, he's like top eight and everything, underlying metrics and everything. And just eye test now. He's, he's awesome. You brought up the touchdown. It's funny with looking out all the underlying metrics is that right next to him and everything is DAC. And my pre-draft comparison was that I think he could be DAC plus. So I was like, oh, that's nice. It's like that made me feel pretty good.

They're right next to each other and everything. And Dak's playing probably the best football of his career. Yeah, C.J. Stroud's doing it as a rookie, which is pretty exceptional as well. I watched the first half of these games with my parents or my whole family this morning and we're laying there, we're kind of sitting on the couch, late night, F1, on the couch watching all the games. And then Strout throws a ball. My mom just goes, he throws a beautiful spiral.

I was like, he does, mom. But the fact that she, that was the first thing she noticed because every ball just feels perfect coming out of his hands. But I love that you bring up the vibes thing because it felt like both sides of the ball just had some really. But Cardinals and Texas, it was a good game. It was a really fun game. I just enjoyed a lot of just these players and coaches and things that were happening on the field today. Go to and bad. 100%.

And I just think that the young course. of guys that the Texans are putting together right now with Stroud, Dell, Collins, even. It's really fun to watch, and it's really exciting. And guess what? We've got a big one next week. Big one. They host the Jags next week. The winner will lead the AFC South.

So that becomes, think about what you would have thought about that game on August 15th and what that game feels like now. I can't wait to watch it. I mean, it's going to be one of the highlights of week 12 now. That is what the Texans have done. They have inserted themselves. into those sorts of conversations, and that's fun as hell. Yeah.

They're guys, they're getting the most out of these players, too. And that's how you know. It's just good things are happening. Both, again, offense and defense, this pass rush, they're starting to create real heat. Will Anderson at a big day today. There is a lot of good stuff happening. I want to watch him to Paris Johnson battle. I think he got after him a little bit.

Johnson's been playing well. But yeah, over the last five weeks, their top ten in pressures, top 10 QB hits. This team's playing really, really good ball, of course, and Stroud and all the stuff, too. Last thing. the Giants beat the Washington football team. Tommy DeVito throws three touchdown passes. They had the most explosive plays of any team in the league this week. The New York Giants with Tommy DeVito.

I don't know what to make of this. This says two things to me. One, it's not great for the Giants. You'd be much better off just losing out here. And I know it's hard to do that. I know it's hard in the building. You're trying to do your best. But this is potentially a rough game for them if they want a top two pick.

So as exciting as this probably was, I think that's worth taking into account. On the other side of this, I think we were always trending this direction with what was going to happen with Ron Rivera and Washington with the new ownership. This type of game, this type of performance, I think just kind of lets us know where this is all headed. I don't know if it'll happen in season, but we're getting to the end of something in Washington. and it's games like this that really remind you of that. Yeah, they felt like a team that was a seller at the trade deadline that even if they got nine sacks on Tommy DeVito, who wasn't half bad besides the nine sacks, but he had nine sacks. And a game with the game with Sam Howell, he wasn't half bad besides the nine sacks. Besides the nine sacks.

In a game featuring Sam Hal, DeVito doubled Sam Hal's sacks, which is just, Hal is hilarious, by the way. Like, that dude has no care for his body. Like, I don't know. He's, he's on another level about his toughness and everything. But it's like, oh, my God, get down sometimes. I love the New York Sequons today. I thought he had the, the wheel route was amazing. It's a good ball, too.

It was a good ball. Yeah, it was. But this was the formula that worked from last year. Just give it to Sequin every way possible, design everything through him and have the quarterback be a passenger. But the passenger looked pretty good today. Oh, the commander's uniforms today. day.

Big time, like Star Ship Trooper vibes. Like, if you remember the football scene at the beginning of that, just like, yeah, big time. I don't know how I feel about them. With the new helmets, too. Yeah, that was another note. That was one of my first notes I wrote today. Getting to the end of this game feels like a lot of things about this franchise need to rebrand,

the name, the uniforms, all of that were taken into account. Because I'm, I'm all set with what's going out there. Yeah. All right. We have a bow on it. That's all we got. Fun day. Fun show.

A lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. You certainly can. Okay. B.J. Ojallari playing well. Again, they're getting really good stuff other young players.

I want to shout out Kaiser White because he is playing at like an all pro level right now, like a second team all pro like borderline or might get honorable mentioned when we do that show. But just wanted to give them a shout out. And then Dennis Gardick is having a breakout season at 29 years old. It's yeah. Again, that Texas Cardinals game.

Throw the vibes in. It was. This smile on my face right now is from that. that game. I just really enjoyed that. We'll get to watch more Texas football, more meaningful Texas Texas football here next week. That is all we got for today. Please come back and check out everything that we have on the athletic football show

feed this week. They'll have another in the pocket. Or excuse me, they'll have another wind the clock for you. Everything is coming your way this week. We have our Thanksgiving schedule, but you will not miss any of the shows that are coming your way. Kiefer in the Beats tomorrow.

Doug Heller, who covers Arizona sports for us, talking about those Cardinals that we were just discussing. Adam Johns coming on to talk about that Bears' loss and Joe Biscalia discussing the turnaround game from the Buffalo Bill. So make sure to check out that and everything else we have on the Athletic Football Show feed. For now, that is all we've got. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. Go, you, Diana.

This was the Athletic Football Show.