The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Week 3 recap: Dolphins explode for 70 points, Cowboys and Jaguars fall flat, Myles Garrett goes off, and more

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Robert Mays and Nate Tice recap Week 3 across the NFL. They discuss the Dolphins going off for 70 points, disappointing games from the Cowboys and Jaguars, a great defensive effort from the Lions, Myles Garrett's big day, and a whole lot more.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTubeThis episode is sponsored by Miller Coors: Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door with Drizly or Instacart by going to coorslight.com/COOLIGANSThis episode is sponsored by Sleep Number®: Now, save $400 on the New Sleep Number® c4 smart bed. Plus, special financing for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number® stores or sleepnumber.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Football Show. The Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me tonight. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing very well. I'm on, I think,

gray sweatshirt three of the rotation of the season for our Sunday live show. I'm doing very well. Fall has officially started, like literally has started, but also it felt like at any given Sunday type day today. So it felt very much a, oh yeah, all this stuff can happen when we watch the NFL or college football or really anything with sports related.

It just felt like one of those types of days today. First two weeks were fun. A lot of notable stuff happened. This Sunday, as I was sitting there today, I was like, we're back. This was a feeling where it's like, we are back. And there's a lot for us to dig into. We had historically good days. We had historically bad days from some offenses,

some really brutal losses from teams we thought might be among the best in the entire league. Let's start, though, with the game we just watched and the ending that we just watched. I don't even know what to make of Josh McDaniels deciding to kick a field goal down eight with two and a half minutes left. It just in your mind play this out. I tweeted a joke about it, but think about what you're going to have to do, even if you get a stop.

There's a very good chance. You will likely have to go for something that is worse than a fourth and four from the opponent's eight yard line in the process of you getting the ball back and having to go down and score another touchdown. You still have to go down and score a touchdown. Nothing about that choice makes sense. To kick down eight on the other team's eight yard line on a fourth and four with two and a half minutes left in the game. I don't care how many timeouts you have.

I don't even care who the other team is. I don't even care what your defense is. You have to go for it in that situation. And even if there was still a pretty big uphill climb for them to win that game, it's just an awful, awful choice in prime time and non-national TV for everyone to see. Like you're saying, no matter what, you're going to be. have to get a stop. Like if you want to win that game. And if you get like say you don't get any yards on that fourth and fourth, the second time that Josh McDaniels on that drive in a four place sequence decided to kick a field goal rather than go for it with Devante Adams on your team as well.

And also like he was having a good day. And was who Josh Jacobs won rushing, a rushing title last year, total yards title. Your big free agent signing was Jacoby Myers. Your second round pick was the tight end. A Hunter Renfro is on a big contract. Throw the ball. Like, just get that first down. That is why you pay those guys for moments like that. It's like, come on. It's like, really you're going to trust your defense. And it's like, I don't care what has happened until that point. If it's a score, go for two. If you score, okay, going for two, succeed. Get a stop trying to win. Okay, it's a score. Go for two. Fail. You need to get a stop to try to win. If you kick a field goal, you need to get a stop. It's a need a touchdown to win. It's like, why not just have it in the best

circumstances. This is like what you want to do. You either pin them or you get the first down. And you have Devante Adams on your team. Just don't get it. Next gen stats said that the Raiders sacrificed over 5% win probability just by choosing to get that field goal. ESPN's bottom high right around that same number, which is fourth most costly decision of the season. You can't do that. I'm surprised it's fourth.

And that probably the only reason that it's fourth is because they had such a remote chance to win the game anyway. But a tough choice, a tough way to win that or to end that game for the Raiders. But also, If you're scared to go for two, if that's like your reasoning, you still have Devante Adams. You're built like, you're like one of the few teams to really run the old school 21 personnel. You can't like you don't trust yourself to pound the rock or run something off.

It just none of it makes sense. Not the identity, what they're going for here. Like, come on. I want to have some good feelings about your raiders and you just can't like you just can't get out of your own way. All right. Let's talk about some good stuff that happened today. Let's kick off the show by talking about the Miami Dolphins hanging 70 points on an NFL team today and doing it in a casual manner.

726 yards, the second most in NFL history, second most points in a regular season game in NFL history. And they made it look so ridiculously easy every single time they had the ball on offense. Where do you even want to start with this performance from the Dolphins today? I mean, all those historic performances, but how they're just playing so far this season, it's not just like they've had pretty good performances. This is three, two outstanding, excellent, all-time. type of performances. Remember week one, it was one of the highest explosive plays in recent memory.

Last week against the Patriots, it's turning out to be a very good Patriots defense. Like, we figured, but still, they are doing creative things and scoring points and just unleashing speed. It's a reminder that the dolphins have speed everywhere and that Mike McDaniel's creativity applies to both the run and the past games. And it's just, this was the most under center he's ever done since he's been with the dolphins. This is the most run plays they've had. Obviously, You can kind of pick whatever game script you want with that type of lead. But double their typical average of how many design runs they have. And honestly, some of it was like a Shanahan run game that dropped acid before.

Like that's kind of what it really felt like. It was a reminder that McDaniel was the run game coordinator. It's like, oh, yeah. If you notice all those touchdowns, there's more I can get into, but just the big theme of all of this is that all those touchdowns, all those big plays, the one common theme of all of them was that the receivers were blocking. None of them were RPO's. They are just running straight run plays with great designs with a lot of speed, and they're just doing excellent job of it.

And the perimeter run game, especially with that speed today, and all the ways that they're getting the ball on the perimeter. I mean, there are so many different elements where they're in splitback and they're motioning Alec Ingold out to be a lead blocker, and they're getting a mostered on, they get that ball in Moster's hands he can get on the edge. And then they're putting Moster. in jet motion to be a lead blocker on a pin pull play for down a chain's touchdown.

So many different ways, one, creating misdirection and confusion for the linebackers. The amount of times in this game that the Broncos linebackers either went the wrong direction or just stood in place and did absolutely nothing because of all of the eye candy was ridiculous. And against this team, like you said, if you're a step slow against this team with your new running back, both running backs that run sub four four 40s, it's over. because they're creating these designs that are getting these guys out in space and out the gate in so many different ways. And that was so impressive today is that it's not just that they ran the ball well. It's that they ran the ball well with a new back we've never seen and with like six or eight new designs we've never seen.

And it's getting to a place with this offense where I cannot wait every week to open this thing up and see what we're going to get because there's a little wrinkle and there's a little new bit of evolution in the run game and the past game weekly right now. And it is very compelling stuff happening in Miami. It's a great mystery box. It's the best. I mean, waddles out. Okay, oh, man, that's tough, right. Waddles out, you know, it's a big weapon. They have other weapons.

They find benefit in having the backup receivers in there. Let's have our backup receivers pin Dien's over and over and get out to the edge. Okay, we don't have waddle. We still have Tyra Kill and we still have these guys at running back. And, I mean, like you said, the designs, I love the one that you brought up on the touchdown where a Moser, is motioning out as the weed blocker was so great. And then the other one, there's the end around Taychain.

It's like an orbit motion lead blocking before he has the end around. It's like there's just, it's, again, it's just all these great designs off the classics that you just love. And then they just crank it up to 11. Isn't the Shanehan offense like the ones that the disciples of it, it's built off misdirection, finesse, speed, outangling everybody? Well, what's just, again, cranked that up to 12. And that's what this offense is doing. And we've seen it with the past and now we're just seeing this new run game creating explosive that way as well. It was a little bit of a wrinkle.

The one you're talking about with the end around orb motion. There was also a Devon H.A. an orb motion on the counter run that Mostard had for a touchdown. So it's all somewhat linked. Like it's all living in the same family and that's why it's so difficult to defend. And in the past game today, in the first game against the Chargers when they were using that quick out motion, it was quick out motion. Tyree Kill would be lined up either as an H-back or as the slot receiver. he would motion out to be the number one receiver,

change the number count, and he was typically taking it vertical. Today, they were using that same side of the formation motion, but instead of having it be out, it was in. So now you have Tyree Kill who was the number one receiver, is now the number one receiver with an ocean of leverage

on the outside corner, and he's running all these quick glance routes that are uncoverable. So it's not reinventing the wheel every single week. It's just a tiny spin on all of these pre-establish ideas that they already have, and it's consistently allowing them to stay one step ahead of every defense that they're playing against. It's motion speed, motion speed, timing motion speed. It's just like impossible to beat when it's going this fast. And even like a guy when Brax and Berrios is in there,

and this is something I always bring up. And this is just, you know, as a kind of my football ID and just what I know is, oh man, how are they going to block with the receivers when they have light bodies? You don't want Brax and Berrios blocking. You know, he's a real slot guy. Okay, let's just have him motion out and it just solves your blocking issue. Just having motion out just creates alignment and creates angles in the run game. And it's just him running seven steps to the right at full speed. And all of a sudden, the nickel has to bump out and now they can get an inside blocking leverage. And like, you don't have to worry about Barrio's blocking.

Now he's just kicking out to the end. So now you're just, you're just creating wrinkles for defenses with something that is so simple, but just cranked up. And it's just wonderful. Like you, like you said, it's exciting to see every new wrinkle that they add. every single week. And Mike McDaniel is just doing it at a level that, I mean, literally is the best EPA per play offense through three weeks since 2002. It's just, we're seeing a truly historic pace right now. And what they're doing is very, very cool. One of the things I thought was most ridiculous

about this game today. I don't know if these numbers are right because some of the pressure stats can be a little bit wonky the day of. According to true media, it says that Tua was pressured on seven percent of his dropbacks today. There were zero quarterback hits for the Bronch. In this game, zero. He finished with a time to throw of 2.16 seconds, and there were zero quarterback hits. A lot of that is the design of the offense. It's the speed. It's creating that instant leverage for all these really fast guys.

But I was also very encouraged by the performance from this version of the Dolphins' offensive line. They got Tehran Armstead back. Isaiah win. If you watch that first touchdown to Tyree Kill, he's holding up one-on-one-on-one-pass protection as the left guard extremely well. And then the right side of the offensive lines playing well. Haunt, Jackson, and Connor Williams got hurt in this game,

but that's starting five of Armstead, Wynn, Williams, Hunt, Jackson. If they can stay healthy, that's better, way better than what this team has been dealing with for most of the last two years and makes me feel much better about what this group could look like over the long haul because, one, you're holding up in pass protection. And two, that five has a chance to really grind people in a way that any combination they had last year could not. And they have athletes.

And they, so you can do all these pulling stuff to get them out in space. You can do the screen game with these guys. And like you said, this is the better, best version we've seen of them. Is it an elite unit? No. But it's more than workable, more than serviceable with a quarterback that is really navigating space in the pocket too, has always had really good pocket management. Sometimes you're like, ooh, it's almost too quick. But how we're seeing him right now is, yes, getting rid of the ball in two seconds.

But the times he's not, it's that play that I broke down and wind the clock to Berrios, where it's a double move that he's buying an extra half second. So he's mitigating when the offensive line doesn't work out for two, two and a half seconds. And on top of it, they're just scheming it perfectly. Like that ball is getting out so quick that, yes, most of the time when we see an offense fail or very high flying offense fail, it's like, ooh, the offense line didn't hold up. There it is. That's that common issue. they have ways to manage it, even if that baseline isn't as high, but that baseline's so high right now.

The A-chain thing is so funny because they draft him in the third round and you look at his skill set, his profile, and you think, all right, I understand how you would potentially use a guy like this in the offense and then right out of the gate, game one, it's exactly how you would want him to be used. And he flourishes. It's the exact perfect application of this dude the first time we actually get to see him for any length of time. Let's get him on end of rounds with line up a receiver and get him out in space. This A chain is like, I remember when this draft pick happened. I remember just being freaking out when we're in Kansas City because I'd even think this would be a possibility. It's like, but it makes so much sense. A chain is actually like, yes, he has Olympic track speed. He has good vision and everything. Like he has, he's like a good running back. He's just a buck 80. So that is

where you have to manage his touches. So again, they get these guys in space and just let them flourish, let them run over in an open field. Like we want to see these guys run. The Olympic track caliber athletes. Let's get them going. So that's why, it's like, thank you. As a football enjoyer, thank you, dolphins for letting us see the speed because speed is always fun. All right.

We're actually going to flip the script a little bit today because some of the worst performances of the day were the most notable. So it's time for I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Cool, man. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Did not expect the Cowboys to lose to the Cardinals today. That's not one that I had on my being.

go card. The Cowboys lose to an Arizona team that we all expected be the worst team in the league coming into the game. And their double digit favorites, understandably so after the way Dallas played over the first two weeks. And justifiably, people were talking about them as potentially the best team in the league. And they had a bunch of offensive linemen hurt. But the most disappointing part about this game is that the Dallas offense didn't play great, but they played fine. A Dallas defense that looked like a potentially like historic unit, like the most dominant. unit in the NFL got sliced and diced by the Arizona Cardinals offense in this game in a way that I never, ever could have anticipated. The Cardinals in the first half have been like really good this year, but that's how I thought this game would go. Opening script, okay, after 15-ish, 20-ish plays, they out talented as the game went along. And it started to kind of feel that way, but the Cardinals just kind of kept hanging around, like hanging and hanging around. And, credit, I mean, shout out to the Cardinals coaching staff. Like, just getting the guys in right spots every single week and just letting them flourish.

And nothing that's reinvented the wheel. Just doing it in nice ways. The Rondale Moore touchdown, I tweeted out, but that play was just a perfect example of this. Just using personnel, using Rondale Moore, who is a more gadgety type player, but very explosive. And he can take these handoffs. And it's a second and two. They just get into a funky personnel grouping, four wide receivers. this Cowboys defense was, okay, let's just, hey, let's get through this play.

It's second and short, or let's just get into cover two or cover four or whatever we went. Too high, nice and safe. Cardinals go, we know you're going to do that. We're going to hand it off to round more. Line scrimmage gets blocked, popped, touchdown. Just, I can't believe the Cowboys defense that we have been so high on just got kind of like taken two. They just got kept like page behind throughout the game. It wasn't just luck.

It was big plays on third down, but just a lot of other great designs by the Cardal Seft that just, the Cowboys just never had to answer to. or when they did, the Cardinals would have some counterputch and hit a huge play. The Cardinals did, I believe, at the second highest EPA per play of any team in the league after Miami. They were like right there with the Chargers. They were fantastic. They had a 51% rushing success rate. They averaged 7.4 yards per carry.

They average 4.23 yards before contact in this game. And that's some of the bigger runs that they hit. But the success rate tells you they were consistently effective in this game. And I love some of the ideas. they had a counterplay where they brought Michael Wilson back across the formation and Yelta Frohold at their center who we've kind of joked about the Cardinals personnel this season and like can you can name can you name a guy and so he came over from the Browns he was a backup offensive lineman for the Browns after Ethan Pochich got hurt last year he was thrust into action for Cleveland and so he's always been a backup he comes over to Arizona because he's available right he's been the guy that's bounced around a little bit but he knows the offense he knows offensive coordinator Drew Petsing who came from Cleveland. And he's just the guy that he had a really good day today. A lot of really nice plays in space on the Michael Wilson counterplay.

He does a little slingshot technique where he gets around the linebacker and doesn't hold, but does a great job of just getting a body on him. They used a ton of pin pull stuff to get the ball on the perimeter and they used him as a puller consistently and he did a really good job with it. I thought that him, Humphreys and Paris Johnson all had some really nice moments in this game for the Cardinals up front against what I think is inarguably. the best, scariest defensive front in all of football. And they deserve credit for that.

Like Trayvon Diggs got hurt, but no one on the defensive line, to my knowledge, is kind of banged up. So, yeah, that is taking the tube using, it's like a judo throw. Use their own, like terrorizing force against them. That's exactly what it was. They let Michael Parsons get up field in a lot of these designs. There was a second and 11 where the Cowboys were in their 5-0 front with Micah Parsons as the spinner over the center. And the Congress were like, all right, we're just going to run it. If you guys are going to do this, we're just going to run it.

And it was a chunk game. So they just had one half step ahead consistently with the ways that they wanted to attack the Stalas team. And what I was really impressed with is that the passing game made all the sense in the world. They were getting rid of the ball very quickly in the right ways. So on non-play action throws in this game, Josh Dobbs was 11 of 12 for 80 yards with a 2.36 average time to throw. So almost all of those throws are a little quick hitters to the flat. And the exceptions to that were when Marquis Brown was lined up against Duran Bland on the outside, they took like two or three semi-vertical shots on either comebacks or outs with Blan getting too much space.

So it's like, all right, here's a backup corner. These are going to be our three or four little shots that were taken. We're going to have one throwback to Michael Wilson, and then we're going to have a well-designed smart run game. That is our plan as the Arizona Cardinals. And today it was enough. It was very impressive. Gum and toothpicks. I love these types of offenses.

You can tell every design was meticulous. They're like, we're running this play because of this. If it's not that look, we're doing this. Like, just even the, the QB run game, like, they just sprinkled in there. The first one, first drive. They're like, let's get to it. Again, judo throw. Let's just use, okay, parts of, they, I mean, this Dallas Cowboys defense, this is their calling card.

They have their ears pinned back on every single play. All right, let's just let him get up field and run right by them. Like, we can't beat them. Let's just get them on the ground. And what's outwork them? I'm just so impressed. And then on top of it, it's, you know, the Cowboys' offense, like you said, they didn't have a terrible day. They had 26 first downs.

They were great on third down. Red zone woes. And this is, you know, something they got to answer. This is like, they got to figure out what their answer is in the red zone because you can't go one for five like this. If you can't just rely on your defense, just overwhelming the opponent, just be like, whatever, we'll kick field goals. Whatever, we'll just not get that fourth down. It's sometimes the other team has an answer. So you have to do your part, at least to punch it in.

Any real Dallas concern after this game? Do you feel like it kind of uncovers any hidden weaknesses? Maybe we weren't thinking about enough before. I mean, you have your backup left tackle in there. That kind of is like, you know, you're feeling a little dicey. Back up everything. Tyrant Smith didn't play in this game. Tyler Bionnish didn't play in this game.

And you saw it. And I think that was a real big part of their plan on offense. A deck average 5.2 air yards per attempt because they were trying to get rid of the ball so quickly. And there were a couple big penalties from the backup offensive linemen. 13 penalties today by the Cowboys. That's hard to win. It doesn't matter. It's hard to win when you're doing that. And it's

you're shooting yourself in the foot offensively. And the team that you're playing against is doing a lot of good stuff on the other side of the wall. The Cardinals deserve a lot of credit for the way they play today. I think that this is just one of those moments where you jump on a unit that's a lot better than you. I think that we will feel the Diggs injury, even if Duran

planned as a solid player. That's what happens when you lose a guy of his on the outside, but this game was a lot, a lot more than Trayvon Dix tearing his ACL in the middle of the week. That's exactly. It was a Cowboys team that thought they could still, they can kind of just like overwhelm this opponent again. And again, a credit to this Cardinal staff, both sides of the ball.

Like they have had good game plans. Last week, obviously they were, they went up a bad second half, but the first half against the Giants and the week before that against the commanders. They were fighting with them and they were doing some really good stuff on defense. So again, just both sides of the ball, this Cardinals team, like keep an eye. I'm like we plenty of jokes were made about this cardinals team even by me but it's like credit to them what they're doing so far with just not a lot of talent the one thing I'd say about Dallas a little worried about the linebackers in the depth there they got like marquise bell playing dime linebacker and I think that you can take advantage of them if you're smart in the way that you can run the football the game scripts is in your favor yep I think that there are certain moments where it's like okay if we can really lean into this and we keep the game within shouting distance and we aren't not forced to drop back and throw the ball. Is this a way that we can kind of chip away at this unit?

I'll say this just to end it, is that the, that sounds like what you're laying out. It's like, yes, it has to be a positive game script against the Cowboys. But yes, in most weeks, that's going to be enough. Like, the Cowboys will have too much talent are so good on both sides of the ball. But once it comes to the crunch time, once you get into the playoffs, that's what matters. Totally. You can't have this. So you have to have the ways to win and have all these ways to, like, yes, keep other

teams out of positive game scripts like this. Let's get to our next one here. Jacksonville Jaguars. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed that you lost by 20 to the Texans today. After we broke you down, too, under the hood and everything. It would be so easy after we did that under the hood segment about the Jags on our Friday preview show.

And we said, they'll probably be fine. You know, their offense is one, two, three, four small, small plays away. You think back to all of those slight missed opportunities against the chiefs in the red zone, etc. It's not like they're very far away. I still feel like that was the right thing to say after watching this game. What happened today against the Texans was such a maddening combination of self-inflicted mistakes and just poor play in very specific areas. I want to just talk you through a couple sequences here that to me kind of exemplify what the Jags were today. On the first drive of the game, they get Calvin Ridley in the slot against the linebacker one-on-one.

He drops a touchdown pass. The next play, Tim Jones can't get his feet in bounds on a third and nine dime from Trevor Lawrence. And then Brandon McManus misses a field goal. Yep. On the ensuing drive, it's second and nine, 1244 left in the second quarter, I believe. Calvin Ridley drops a ball over the middle of the field. The field goal on that drive is blocked. There's a fourth and two completion to Calvin Ridley at one point and a legal hands in the face penalty wipes that off.

Jamal Agney on a third and ten completion in Texas, Texans territory, fumbles late in the second quarter. Too much Agnew. That's, that's, we could absolutely say that. After cutting the lead to 17 to 10, the Jags pooch a kickoff. Unbelievable sequence here. Where McManus kind of misses it. Andrew Beck, who I believe is his name, is fielding the pun. He's a fullback tight end.

A fullback. That's all you need to know. He's a fullback tie day. For wearing a 40 number. He's wearing number 47. It's the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you. I think 47 or 46. Doesn't matter.

He bobbles the kickoff at the 10-yard line. His bobbling it sends the jags out of the rushlings on the kickoff. It has three or four guys slow down. He manages to corral it enough to then return the kickoff for a touchdown. They lose their. Do you remember the water story? I love this tirade. But do you remember the water boy when Mr.

Coach Klein is watching film? And he's watching a film and it's like when he first meets Bobby Boucher, he walks in. He's like, oh, you know, he has time to dust it off and all drops the ball again. He has enough time. And none of our guys have any idea what's going on. And he just walks in for a score. That's what that felt like. That's what the voiceover was needed for that play.

It was just, it was maddening. If I were a Jacks fan, I'd be losing my mind right now. So that and then you have another bad, you know, a couple more bad turnovers in this game. there are elements that were actually bad play. And I think the most frustrating part about this performance from a Jaguar's perspective was not the offense, was not their inability to score points. And people are like,

oh, the offense is a mess. What's wrong with the Jags' offense? Again, same old shit. They had four more drops in this game. They had a fumble while they were driving. It's not like the offense is some train wreck right now. Like, they're moving the ball consistently enough. They had like a 43% success rate today.

On defense, there were some things today that were really troubling. Their inability to get after CJ Strowd in this game after he was sacked 11 times over the first two weeks was absolutely brutal. The Texans had one-fifth of their preseason starting offensive line playing in this game. One-fifth. That was it. Shack Mason was the only one. It's 20%.

Back up left tackle, back up left guard, back up center, back up right tackle. In this game, the Jags managed four quarterback hits and zero sacks. Again, I would like to remind you that CJ Stroud was sacked 11 times. in the Texans first two games. It wasn't like just all quick game and screens too. It was like real big boy throws and deep stuff going on and they still can get any pressure. They did such a good job the Texans did. And we can talk about Strauss performance here in a second because he deserves it.

They were 10 of 13, Houston was, for 140 yards while the Jaguars were in base. When they were trotting out heavy personnel in this game, the Jags had absolutely no answer. And the pass rush was toothless no matter what sort of personnel package that they were in. Oh, man, that's exactly their issue last year. It's like once you got into those heavy bodies, they had nothing. They had no juice. They're basic. That was another thing, too, is you can make them very basic on defense and thus dissectable by a rookie quarterback in his third start.

You mentioned the fumbles. I just want to mention one more kind of offensive kind of detail that sometimes makes this Jaguar's offense so maddening at times, but so brilliant in other ways and so explosive. The third and seven interception with Trevor, by Trevor. The Texans bring a blitz on that play. So they bring five, but the offensive line actually sorts it out where the running back, De Ernest Johnson can get out. But because he takes so long to get out and he's not sure whether to block and he tries to chip help, even though they're running twist, he should be getting out of the route. Because he takes so long, the linebacker is not threatened by him underneath. So he just drifts, he just drifts back and gets under it.

So again, when you're playing a backup backup offense alignment, and I like Deerner's Johnson, I think we both do. but it's like that little lack of detail, just that little bit, just that little half second. Again, game of inches, any given Sunday. It's like that's the difference of, yes, Trevor Lawrence is pushing the ball. He should get to the underneath route. Yes, by rule. But he's getting heated up. He's getting pressured.

I don't have time to check it down. So it's just that little detail that leads to these, you know, monumentally game swinging plays. And that was right after the return by the full back. So it's just boom, boom, just those two plays. The disdain in your voice with the full back, the return by the full back. Oh, I thought it was a long snapper at first. I was like, what is this guy? It's like, I don't think, because I don't think he was a glove wear, where, when you have no sleeves, no gloves, that's a fullback.

That's the Hendrickson. So that's the long snapper, I should say. That's the Hendrickson. So, yeah. But, uh, but no, it was just like just that little lack of detail. Again, just the third down. I think they're trying to do too much sometimes in the red zone. And that that's just causing some miscues.

I think guys, heads are popping a little bit. Um, I don't know what's going on with the play calling either. Like Doug Peterson, like kind of was like hinting at stuff. in the second half, about the second half play calling. So we'll just see. But again, I think I kind of echo your statements is that down to down basis, I feel pretty good about this jacks off and still somehow. It's easier to feel good about them with the division.

If they were in a different division and they were already two games back of some really good team, then I think panic mode would be more than justified. Yeah. But them playing in the South and them still being the best offense in the South over the course of the season, most likely. I wouldn't be smashing the panic. and yet, but they are extremely frustrating. And this was just another entry into that.

I told it. I mean, those are like the four sequences that explain the game. That's all you need to know about what this team is enduring right now on offense. It's just not fun. And if I were a fan of this team, I'd be slamming my head against the wall. That being said, and one more thing, Anton Harrison, their right tackle left this game with an injury. They can't afford more injuries along the offensive line or any sort of deficiencies along the offensive line because they're already not playing that great.

all that being said about the Jags. The Texans deserve a lot of credit here, and we should talk about the way that C.J. Stroud is playing because he's been really productive over his first three games, and today was another really good performance from him against the Jaguar's defense that even if they have some deficiencies in some holes, the first two weeks of the season, they had been playing pretty darn good,

and now you have a really, really good day from C.J. against that team. It's one thing about C.J. Stroud, even in college. It's a so cool, calm and collected. And it's one thing to do it at Ohio State with all stars and all future all pros and first round picks everywhere, including Parrish Johnson, we just mentioned about up front. Both of his starting tackles are starting for NFL teams right now. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Well, yeah, and then the guard is probably going to be a day two guard. Yeah, all this. And then, of course, the receivers. But then seeing him with backup offense alignment, you know, and yes, they didn't get a lot of pressure today, but that's because of Stroud's ability to get rid of the ball to push the ball while getting rid of it quickly and also to have already advanced pocket movement. It's cool to see the flashes or the stuff that he showed on tape in college and he's already kind of doing it through

three weeks. I checked out the Colts game last week at the all 22 of that and he made at least a half dozen real, real, like encouraging throws, like real like this is like, oh, this guy has a lot to him throws. A lot of quick, he's really good at throwing in breakers. Today he had a beautiful comeback, like out comeback route to Robert Woods, one that he progressed on and it was in a tight pocket that he moved in. He's thrown, you know, like I said before, Inbreakers, deep digs. He's pushing the ball, plenty of arm strength. Just he is exactly, if you're a Texans fan or part of the Texans organization, you're like, this is exactly what we wanted. Yes.

Like, he's showing everything that you know is his baseline already and it's not just flashes. I think that's so, so encouraging so far. I love the mix of stuff too. They're getting him out of the pocket. It feels like the right amount of play action. He was really good on play action today. Five of eight for 95 yards. They were all productive plays.

I thought some of those boots designs and just getting him on the move was really useful and worked really well. And then there was a couple plays. I think it was back-to-back snaps in the, I want to say it was in the second quarter. The Jags brought cover zero blitzes. And so he hit Tank Dell on the first one. And then he hit Brevin Jordan on the touchdown. And they were both cover zero.

and him operating that quickly and getting the ball out in both of those situations. Again, so when teams are blitzing and he's actually having to play quarterback, a lot of encouraging stuff, and within the structure of this offense, which I've enjoyed watching, I think that Bobby Soick's actually done a pretty good job over these first few games, both versions of that type of, both versions of quarterback, he's looked good in. And I think that's really encouraging stuff. Totally agree. Everything seems very sustainable of what he's doing because it's all on time.

It's all with them, like you're saying, within the confines of the offense. And I mean, I know one of the concerns about him was like how would he create and everything. What he's shown so far off platform, I always thought he was a good thrower off platform, like on sprint outs and stuff. But what he's done so far and even flashes of near misses that he's thrown off platform, it's like, God, he's already getting to that and having confidence to kind of do some trick shots and everything. Like that that's where you're going to like you're going to see real growth is where you can see some more of those highlight throws outside just the box score that he put up today. And using his legs just enough, just enough. Yeah. That that threat is just enough. Scrambler. That's what he is. He's a smart mover.

They're getting him on the edge often enough where he's going to have the opportunity to do that when the opportunity presents itself. So it's been really fun to watch. Before we move on, I don't even know what to say about the Chicago Bears performance today and about everything associated with that game. We can spend 30 seconds on this, but I feel like I needed to address it. I can't remember being more embarrassed during a Bears game than I was during that one. The Taylor Swift element of it, the them at some point in the broadcast, Olson and Burkhart having to get deep into the Derek Jeter Patrick Mahomes relationship because the game had devolved that badly. It was a decade full

of horrifying Bears games. This was right up there near the top just because of all the ridiculous circus shit that was happening around it. It seriously was. I mean, they were completely outclassed in every single way. And I understand it's on the road against the Chiefs,

but for you to feel this far away from being a competitive NFL team. And I know that they were super banged up, whether it's on the offensive line or in the secondary, whatever. But it was a horrifying performance and a horrifying three hours. I almost didn't even want to engage in it. I felt like I was going back and rewatching the Dolphins game instead of watching the fourth quarter of that game because I couldn't deal with it anymore.

I mean, when there's only three games on the afternoon slate, too. So many eyeballs on it. It's tough. It was the commentary turned into like a baseball game when it's a blowout. That's what it felt like. It did. It was like a July 13th. Yep.

Pirates game where they're down by 20 runs. I don't know why I pick the pirates, but that's kind of what it felt like. I don't know why I picked the pirates. But it's, I mean, the Chiefs felt like it felt like a homecoming game in high school. Like where it's like, okay, let's just get, get, we're up 30 in the first half. We can take everybody out. It was like a Taylor Swift song. That's what it was.

Mahal's making sure to feed her boyfriend. Like, it was like just like. It was hilarious how much his eyeballs were just going to him. I mean, I know he does anyways, but it was like, I felt he was like having to make sure he gets one today. How embarrassing that is. When you're getting aesthetic touchdowns because the tight ends boyfriend is in the stands and in the box. In the NFL. In a real life NFL game.

Did she score 20 points to less than three minutes? That was. There's just nothing else to say about it. The bear is going up against the Broncos next week. anything is on the table in that game. And I know we said coming into this game that the Broncos in their timeline, it's like, yeah, whatever. Sean Payton's making $25 million a year.

He'll be here as long as he wants. They don't need to win this year. It can be better than this. Right. It can be better than it looked today. I would be at least a little bit worried if things keep devolving in this sort of direction, no matter what the ultimate timeline looks like for them. Man, so those two teams combined gave up more than 100 points.

another point against each other. It's great timing. Absolutely love it. It's awesome. I mean, there was two Harlem Globetrotters versus the Washington generals type games today. That's the exact energy that it had. It was an NFL game. The Cardinals beat the Cowboys today.

And the Bears felt like the Globetrotters playing against the Chiefs. That's all you need to know about how my afternoon went. Ten different chiefs recorded a first down today. That was like it was honestly, I'm sorry. It just, it was remarkable to go through because the game switched off locally. You know how hard it is to switch off when Taylor Swift is like a featured attraction? Patrick Mahomes. We have to go away from this.

Taylor Swift. And now I got, we're good actually. We're good. Travis Kelsey's in 40 commercials. We're like, yeah, no,

we're good. 31 first downs by the chief. 10 for 14 on third down. Sorry. I just have to list off everything. That's the game they switched to. They went from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift to Josh Dobbs and whoever,

and Yelta Froholtz and whoever else the Cardinals were trotten out there. The first round pick was an offensive line in. They have nothing. Oh, what a day. That was the Mountain Dew Camacho of games. I don't know. If this keeps going like this, I don't know what I'm going to do. It's just, I don't know if I can endure this every single week, but I don't have a choice.

I have to watch them. All right. That's enough for that. Let's get to you. You have my attention. Gentlemen, you have my curiosity. Now you have my attention. The Buffalo Bills.

You have my attention. Goodness gracious, gracious, did they beat the shit out of the Washington football team? today. We had so much to say about Washington. But that's exactly what it felt like. I mean, what else is there to say? Oh, next gen stats. Sam Hall was pressured on 69% of his dropbacks today, which is the highest rate in the

next gen era. He was sacked nine times. What else is there to sacks? I was looking up sack records like in the, in the first half. I was like, oh, I was looking at the pro football reference, like, s'm most sacks through three games. I was trying. Like, Josh McAllard was up there, so that kind of ruined it for me. And part of that was him holding out of the ball.

We talked about that even with our tepid excitement about Washington's offense that we discussed earlier in the week. He is one to hold onto the ball and eat some sacks. But that was not the only problem. The front for Buffalo got after them every single way you could imagine. And it was combined with just real veteran play on the back. Like that Micah Hyde interception, he triggers so fast on that route to the flat. Tredavius White doesn't take the cheese for a single moment on that out and up where he picks that ball off. It was a real complete performance from a Bill's defense that, you know, I think we're excited about,

but really did take it to a Washington offense that had been playing pretty well for the first couple weeks of the season. I was curious if the Bill's defense could hold the fort until reinforcements came, i.e. von Miller and wait until he comes around. I mean, this is, no, this was being more than holding the fort. This was being the attacker. This was, like you said, I loved how you just described it, that veteran kind of coverage play. That's what, even the Trey White play in the end zone felt like a veteran play. But that squeezing Anaconda Bill's coverage along with the defensive hockey rotations

going on on the defensive line. And they, I mean, they just got after him. 15 QB hits. 10 TFLs, five passes deflected. And it's just that it was what we know. It was like a classic like Bill's defensive performance. And really like almost a classic overall, the offense had some ups and downs. That commander's defense is legit.

And they had some ups and downs. And it's Josh Allen magic play sprinkled in throws and runs. And this was the classic bills formula. I love the formula on offense. So I totally, I'm classic Coke. The defense was fantastic in that exact way. You know what was encouraging is it was a classic Bill's defensive performance with splash moments from new faces. That's how you sustain.

stain being really good in the NFL. We know Mikeahide. We know Jordan Poyer. We know Trey White. We know Ed Oliver. We know Greg Rousseau. Even if they're on a little bit on the younger side. But for Torel Bernard to have as many splash plays as he did in this game.

And then Leonard Floyd. Leonard Floyd had back-to-back sacks. One was a coverage sack, but one was a nasty ghost rush that he got home on. So that's what's cool to see is that we know a lot of these guys, but some of the newcomers also contributed to this. And the formula on offense was awesome. It was such a great. It was such a great combination of everything you want the bills to be. Yep.

The run game is they didn't run the ball extremely efficiently in this game, but they could lean on it. They got enough out of it. A couple shot plays that touchdown throw to Gabe Davis is absolutely gorgeous. Tremendous. And those are the types of shots you want to see them take. Like when you're built like Josh Allen, you want to take those shots.

You just don't want it to be the entirety of the offense. And I thought the offensive line was awesome in this game. Josh Allen mitigates it, right? He does a very good job of getting out of pressure. But even when you take that into account, he was hit one time in this game against that Washington line. Was not sacked? Was hit one time in this game. That's ridiculous.

And that group, I thought that group played well even with him kind of erasing some of the smaller mistakes in those moments. This offense that we wanted to see from Buffalo where they can run the ball efficiently when they need to, they can hold up and pass protection. this was it against one of the top 10 defenses in the league, I think you can say pretty comfortably. Yep. And their additions on offense, too, like Osir's Torrance, it was like, he's already looked the part. He's exactly, okay, yes, it's a guard and everything, but they can just have a nice, yeah, really. They just have a nice, steadying presence on the offense. And, yeah, the run game that they showed, especially last week against the Raiders, which was,

it's just getting more expansive. If they're figuring out the when to use it, when to lean on it, When to let Josh go, went to rain him back in and like get more of that steady run presence. And even having just like, it's pretty funny. Like Latavius Murray and Damien Harris both had the exact same like attempts yards and like long. I think they were like three for 15. Both had a long of nine. Something funny like that.

That's exactly what the role is. That sounds right. Yeah. And like it's like that's what they are just the jabs. Just boom. But boom, boom, boom, boom. Okay. James Cook, you get the explosive plays.

Josh Allen, you get the explosive plays. When you're playing a top tier defense like this, top top top tier. is you need the explosives. You can't go toe to toe to toe with them. So you need to live off that way and just do enough to keep your baseline high. But they're always going to come. They're always going to come when he's your quarterback. And I think that's the best part about this is that trust that they're going to come.

You don't have to stretch yourself. You don't have to put yourself in bad spots as you hunt them. Over the course of the game, within the rhythm of the game, they are going to present themselves, whether it's that shot to Gabe Davis, the play on the first drive of the game. I think it's third down. They glove it up when he extends outside the pocket to the right. Diggs takes it vertical. He hits him for a huge chunk gain. Those are going to happen when this guy is your quarterback. Not getting too far ahead of yourself and stressing to make them happen. That's the version of this team I want to see. And that's the version we've seen over the last two weeks.

It's just that now they've won two in two different ways. Last week was a balance game. This was the classic formula. It's so nice. Because they have that kaiju a QB. So it's like, like you say, they always have that. So it's just what's, have the other baselines be high.

It's, it was awesome. I mean, honestly, it's like, this was felt very what you want to see a Bill's team do against an overwhelmed opponent. Guess who they get next week?

Oh, yeah, dolphins are right? Bill's Dolphins next week. Ha. That is going to be a point. Thursday. I am pumped about that one.

Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't keep it rolling here. Brian Branch and the Detroit Lions defense. You have my attention. what a performance from him and from that unit overall. I mean, that Falcon's run game was really grinding people down over the first couple weeks.

They do so much good stuff. It's well designed. Bejohn looks like an absolute superstar. And the Lions took it to them today. Oh, my goodness. It's a failure. I want to take ownership with this. This is a failure of my part.

We spent 16 freaking minutes on this game. And I test and stats showed that the Lions run defense was improved. It was more like middle of the pack, slightly above average. And in 16 minutes, I never even gave it a sentence. But I was like, that's on me. It was in the notes. You can't predict the way that they played today. You can't protect three TFLs from the nickel corner when you're talking about a team's run defense.

Brian Branch is sick. But the Falcons were only successful on three of 19 designed runs. This was the third worst run game by success rate under Arthur Smith since he's been with the Falcons. The other two were with Matt Ryan. So this was the worst post-mat Ryan, like rushing game. They can't win that way. So that's exactly what it felt like. This was the second best Lions run defense game that they've had since Dan Campbell's gotten there.

The best was against the Vikings last year. So they just kicked their ass. I absolutely just kicked their ass. Alam McNeil just looked amazing. A run and pass. They were hard hitting. They were on top of their stuff. They just squeezed and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.

And the Falcons can get anything going. Negative 0.75 yards, an average of negative. 0.75 yards before contact per rush. So on average, the Falcons, getting hit in the backfield every time they ran the ball. Against this run game, that that is remarkable. That is, that is, Pedro Martinez pitching in the late 90s steroid era. That's what that felt.

That's what that feels like, just like not only good against anybody, that's good against this team especially. Well, it was so cool with seeing everybody get involved. Branch obviously had five splash plays in this game. He had three TFLs. He had multiple past breakups. He was everywhere. That guy is very exciting.

And I cannot wait to continue watching him. But it wasn't just him. Alex Anzolone on the first drive plants Tyler Alger in the flat. Branch has a couple blow-up plays. MelophoneWu had a really nice play on a screen. There were back-to-back plays in the second half where Tracy Walker crashes hard on a play from like a quarter safety look. And on the next play, Melophon was kind of sitting in the hole. He makes a really nice play.

Jerry Jacobs had a couple really nice plays against the run out on the perimeter. This Falcons team wants to eat against your corners. They want to get those guys isolated And they want to take advantage of those matchups And the Lions throughout this entire game Did not let their DBs get taken advantage of in the run game And that says a lot about what that group is and how it's built And with backups in there

They got backup tight They got backup safeties, backup corners I mean it's a really impressive performance And just taking it to them I mean that is like it's a falcon scene that once Yes there's some smoking mirrors with the offense But they want to bully you They just want to wear you out

Give him McGarry's the right tackle That's all you need to know about how this Falcon team wants to win. And yes, this Lions team under Dan Campbell, they have that identity too. But it's just, it was really cool to see their defense have really just like just the entire game. They're like, yeah, they controlled it. And this is now three games that they've had some good performances or at least, I mean, the Seahawks game was a little up and down, maybe not good overall. But they're showing different looks like against the chiefs. They show different fronts.

So now they're showing kind of different schematic elements as well as playing hard, as well as playing aggressive. It's cool to see just some of these new faces for their team step up, and even when they had injuries and everything. A little bit worried about what the Falcons offense is going to look like when they're forced to play left-handed. This was a troubling entry into that conversation for Atlanta's offense moving forward, at least to me.

Oh, yeah. This is a, I wanted to do a segment called This is My Nightmare from My Love You Man, or he gets hit Matt Walsh gets hit. Or no, no, sorry, Jason Sego gets said, it goes, this is my nightmare, because that is exactly what this Falcons game is. Negative game script, having to drop back, throw the ball 40-something times or whatever is how many dropbacks it was. That is, they can't win this way.

Their run game has to be what we think it could be. And that's why it is, I'm excited about this Falcons offense and the defense is improved, but it's like seeing it like this and seeing all these misses and these guys are supposed to out excuse me. Ritter sprayed some throws today. The fourth down was brutal. You need it. You need to hit that.

Has to hit it. Has to hit it. He has the third. So it's pretty frustrating. The drive before he hits Jono Smith on one and I think Kyle Pitts on another. No, no, I'm sorry, Matt Collins on another. Both hits him in the hands, but then the lines do such a good job of blowing him up. So it's like he has two good throws.

And then the fourth down, he gets it. It's like, oh, there it is. Wide open curl route to Drake London. I could see it unfolding on the TV. Boom. Five yards over his head. It's like you can't do it. You can't do it.

If you're only going to throw to ball, you have really six big throws. You have to make in a game. you can't miss all six. You have to make all six, especially this offense. The talent that they have, they're very well coached on that side of the ball. And I think the defense is going to be pretty solid. I mean, the Lions had some fits and starts on that side of the ball today. And the Lions offense is pretty darn good.

So I still feel like the Falcons are going to be very relevant over the course of the entire season. But this was not a good data point for what this offense looks like when they're forced into an uncomfortable situation. We said they're a bad team beater, and the Lions were definitely not a bad team today. They executed very, very well. We only got one of these today, but let's get to WeCU. Typically, a lot of other entries into this we've already talked about or we'll talk about here in a second. The one guy I wanted to bring up and the unit that he plays for, Miles Garrett and the Cleveland Brown's defense. Just another ridiculous performance today.

He had three and a half sacks that does no justice for what sort of impact he had on the game. He also had a TFL early on in the game. He drew a holding penalty. He had a forced fumble on a negative seven-yard scoring drive by, the Titans that only happened because they gave the ball away. It was so the Browns had not faced a play in the red zone this year in the first two games. The first play they faced in the red zone. Is that true?

Yeah. They had not faced the play in the red zone in two games. The first play that they faced in the red zone, they only did because they turned the ball over and gave them the ball back. They only were in the red zone for one game or for one play because all the other plays went backwards. That's unbelievable. This defense. Isn't their success rate like almost 70%?

So we talked about it coming into the scene. Yeah. They were like 78%. It has not changed at all. Their success rate today was like 77%. They have led the league in success rate in each of the first three weeks. The best three games by success rate by defenses in the NFL this year are the three Browns games that we've seen.

So do we have a Dolphins Brown? matchout, Browns matchup this year? Oh, my goodness. Oh, man, that's like now I'm just being circled now. Oh, they look ridiculous on that side of the ball. Miles Garrett is a huge part of that that we don't, unfortunately. That's a real bummer. I really would have liked to have seen that game. Yeah. Miles Garrett looks ridiculous. We talked about this in our preseason prediction spot. We were doing awards. I picked Miles or Michael Parsons to win defensive player of the year. So did you. Michael Parsons is also playing at a crazy high level. But we both mentioned Miles Garrett because we thought this could be the year with more help with a new defensive coordinator that we kind of finally see what

Miles Garrett is. Yeah. We're seeing it. This is what is unfolding in front of us with the Brown's defense. It's the fourth down closure play against Joe Burrow and the bangles to just shut the door in the game. And then this game, you can see not only him just dominating Andre Dillard over and over and over, but it's, okay, you can create five one-on-one.

So we talk about five-os all the time and say, ooh, you got one-on-ones. You have to win. You have to have somebody that can actually win. And it helps if you have multiple guys that can win. Look at the Rams a couple of years ago. And they do, by the way. They do. And look at the, if you want to see a defense that doesn't win that tries to create five on and once, look at what happened to the Giants on Thursday night.

That's what happens. You just get absolutely shredded. And right here, so not only is Miles Garrett winning, this was his, the example I want to bring up. I believe it was his last sack, but it was the sack, but it was the fourth quarter. I'm sorry, third quarter. Garrett wins. Tannahill steps up, but Zadarius Smith also wins. So Tannanil has to slide back and because Garrett's already winning and keeps working, he gets the sack.

Back in the old Browns days of once Miles Garrett's been there, he would have won, quarterback would have stepped up, quarterback would have launched a ball first down. When someone else wins or at least creates pressure or blows the offense alignment back, on top of your ace, that is, it's terrorizing. You cannot perform as an offense. And another thing was this used to be, styles make fights. The Titans offense used to probably would have been a terrible mashup for these old

Browns defenses. They're just going to pound the rock to Derek Henry. He's going to run for two bills. And there's nothing you can do about it. Sorry, Miles Garrett. We're just going to run away from you 40 times in this game. They only had six first downs and they held him to 26 yards on 15 carries. He had two.

Derek Henry had two. It was two yards to carry. He had 11 carriers for 20 yards in this game. That's where the helps coming from. Miles Garrett is the ace. Base, we know this, one of the best players in the league at any position. But now you get all these good players in a good scheme and an aggressive scheme. Oh, it just looks like this.

This is just, it's an amazing unit to watch on all three downs. They are playing with such an absurd amount of confidence on the back end. It is something to be held. They have a dance for every single DB combination and every single moment in the game. And I am loving every second of it. That's awesome. That's great. Like a baseball team, whether it's just going through the line.

He's just got a different handbags for every guy. They really do. I mean, every single time that they make, there's a PBU on the back end, there is some sort of celebration, and it's been very cool to watch. So I'm really excited about what that group is going to look like over the course of the season. It's good. And like Mo Hearst is having some good moments. Scott, just like, it's they have so many.

Alex Wrights. I mean, Shelby Harris at another moment today. I mean, and even Greg Newsom didn't even play in this game today. So you get your arguably one of the best nickel corners in the league back at some point. and they could look even better. So another very impressive performance by what has now been the most impressive defense in the NFL

through the first three weeks. All right, let's get to a couple of the key coaching decisions from the NFL this week. He chose poorly. Yeah, I forgot about that drop. That's a good one. I think a lot of people would say

that the guy we're about to talk about did choose poorly in the choice that he made late in this game. Brandon Staley decides to go for it, on fourth and one from his own 24-yard line, while up four with 151 left in the game. Vikings were out of timeouts. Josh Kelly lined up as a fullback on this play,

gets a full-back handoff, gets stuffed for no yardage, and the Vikings get the ball back. Ultimately, the Chargers go on to win this game, but I feel like if they didn't, we'd be having a lot more discourse about that choice, and I still feel like there's going to be a lot of discussion about it here over the next 24 hours.

How did you feel in the moment about the choice and about some of the details surrounding it? Okay. So it was such a very chargers moment where it's two steps forward, three steps back. Like, so like the third and 11 right before that, they did kind of like one of those Steelers moving screens. You know, were two receivers run vertical. Keenan Allen runs a little slant underneath. Antonio Brown used to make a living on it. And they get so, I was like, great.

They know they're going for it on fourth down. We're either making a fourth imaginable or we almost get the first down. Okay. I understand. Okay. And they're being aggressive. Okay, Staley's, I mean, this is a loser leaves talent match. It certainly is. You're getting out to the top of the steel cage for this one. So I'm okay with this. So go for the flip, Jeff Hardy. Go like, do it. Let's go for it. Let's go for it. Now, getting to the play call, you have a six foot six, 240, 240, 230 poundish quarterback. Oh, and you have a- He weighs more than that. Okay. And interior offensive line that you've invested in that you hope would be a strength against, this Vikings defense line and you just, you do that and that's the call you go for it.

And they just, it's the Chargers galaxy brain. That is, that was that it in living color. But it's like, man, this game was just, do you expect this game to ever be normal? Like there's no chance.

Zero chance. The only thing I said when I was predicting this game or talking about this game previewing it last week is that it was going to be a close game that one of these teams lost in horrifying fashion. Boom. Boom. One of these teams lost in a horrifying fashion. That's exactly what happened.

If you look at... There's no way it would be normal. Pretty much every single model that you want to look at, NGS, ESPN, whatever, favored going for it in that situation. You're giving the ball back to a Vikings team that has a very good offense. Your defense has been really bad, even if you've had some decent moments in that game. The other team has Justin Jefferson and a quarterback who's been playing pretty well over the course of the year. The last thing you want to do is give them the ball back and lose any agency and how this game. game gets decided with the best player that you have.

The problem is I would have run anything else. Even if it was a long one and the sneak might have been off the table, it just feels like there are better options in that situation than a full back dive with the game on the line. Full back dive to your backup running back as opposed. I mean, and also the Vikings offense though, like the addition of Addison has just been great. And like even with offensive line woes, it's just like watching Kirk Cousins cook right now

has been really fun. Like he, I know the interception was brutal, but like this offense is, I'm not like, I don't know, I'm not like truly down on them. They've had like just,

but they have some cool moments on offense and this defense is just trying everything. This was, they blitzed the second highest. The second highest on record, but from next gen stats. And it's only because the first highest happened on Thursday. On Thursday.

Unbelievable stuff. Like Brian Flores was bringing it. And 40, 40 of 50 dropbacks. Just ridiculous. It was just a ridiculous. it was a day 2.26 time to throw for Justin Herbert, but he was just spinning it. He was insane today. He was absolutely insane.

Whatever play you want to talk about. The cover zero vertical shot down the left side line to Jordan Palmer where he backs up and buys himself just enough time to get that ball off 40 yards down the field. The little tear drop, he dropped into Keenan Allen down near the goal line on the right side on third down, which was an absolutely gorgeous throw. The pocket movement, the accuracy, everything about the way that he played today. I mean, the guy finished 40 of 47 for 405 yards. He was incredible in this game. And it was not a lot of play action. They were just straight dropping back and winging it. It was like an air rate offense. 80% run pass split. They were in shotgun nearly every single snap. So they was just truly

snap it back to him and go like make some plays and just he, oh, this was the stat that stopped to me because it was, I mean, this is how the charges should be built because what are the usual woes we talked about this offense other than just unfortunate injuries, no matter what, tight ends of runoffbacks, right? Especially when Eckler's down. Thirty-eight, eight of his 47 pass attempts went to a receiver today. Easily the highest he's ever just targeted receiver. This was the most passing first downs he's ever had in the game with 21. He was just just throwing receivers. I'm telling him it was like an error rate office. Just stepping up in the pocket on third down, moving around the pocket. scrambling at the right time. This was the best version of this guy. Yes, he got out of multiple plays where he should have been sacked. He just refuses to be sacked. That's what's remarkable. He got sacked one time in this game.

They blitz 80% of the time. He got sacked one time. If you want to know why I get into the draft process, why I make a QB size such a big deal outside of just the obvious is watch Ritter, Desmond Ritter today and watch Justin Herbert today. Ritter doesn't have bad pocket movement. He actually has decent feel. He's so small and skinny that one glibly. glazing blow on him, he gets stumbled and knocked down, while Herbert runs out of it and actually makes a positive play. That's the difference. That's why I always bring up QB's size. It's just those

types of examples. He's completing 74.4% of his passes this year. They are second in EPA per drive next to a historically good Miami Dolphins offense. He is second in EPA per dropback this season. Even if the sky is falling with the Chargers defense, and you can argue that it still kind of is. even though they were okay today. J.C. Jackson, who they gave an unbelievable amount of money in free agency two years ago, was a healthy scratch. Their two games, they were dead last in defensive DVOA, despite being number one by far in cap spending on defense.

They're spending 48% of their cap on defense this year. The next highest team is at 40%. There's a bigger gap between them and the team at number two than the team at number two and the team at 18. Aren't the Jags up there, too? Yeah, because the Jags are all free agents. But what they're spending on their defense and what they've gotten out over the first two games, you just can't win that way. People lose jobs because of that gap in resource allocation and performance. But he is so good.

And the offense has a chance to be so good that I think that their season could potentially stay afloat even if they can't stop anybody over the course of the year. I know. Every game's going to be so much fun. I can't wait because it's not only just like a passing offense. It's not dink and don't. It's just everything. And it's awesome. But pushing the ball.

It's just, I just, I just. just want to clap like a seal like every time I watch it. It's just yeah, there you go. Woo! There's another one. Like the two touchdown throws, the first two, like he changed his arm angle. Now he's thrown submarine. And then the second one, he actually like pinned it on the tight end, like, because he threw it so hard. It was the L.A. Cross kind of throw. It was like, he was like, he just like knocked him back. It was like the thick one. I thought I was going to get stuck in his face mask like a little giant. Like that's how hard he threw that ball. It was absolutely ridiculous. He threw it so hard. And just watch. Sorry guys, but it's just so cool.

Like he there's a the third and 17. He scrambles throwback to Keenan Allen. But then watching his arm strength and watching him work backwards in the pocket and still throw with like zip is remarkable. And like just he attacks all ears of the field. It was awesome. It was a great performance. I'm sorry. I could just gush about it all day.

Keenan Allen had 18 catches. Keenan Allen was also unbelievable in this game. There's 50 first downs in this game. Over 50 first downs. It was bonkers. Unfortunate news about Mike Williams potentially. He's going to have an MRI on Monday. but losing him and getting deprived of the best version or the fullest version of this Chargers offense with the way that they're playing would absolutely suck.

Turwin James got hurt in this game again. So even in a day where the Chargers potentially save their season and their quarterback looks like one of the best players in the league still appear in victory. That's how it works when you are the Los Angeles Chargers. Even the good things aren't always that good. And the Cosmic Ballet goes on. Real Cosmic Gumbo. That's what the Chargers are. one more coaching decision worth digging into right now.

Matt Lafleur deciding to go for it. Down 14. He goes for two. Packers are trailing 17 to 3. They score with 702 left. Matt LaFleur goes for the two point conversion. They get it. They get the ball back, drive down and score.

All they need is an extra point. 1817, Packers win. So an uneven day to say the least for Green Bay's offense, definitely missing. I mean, when you're no Christian Watson, no Aaron Jones, no left side of their offensive line against the team playing as well as any defense in football, especially as well as any defense in the NFC for sure over the first three weeks after that Cowboys game today. Oh, man.

Yeah, Saints defense just looks as advertised. I'm glad we broke them down because like now it was everything we have seen through the first two weeks and against that Packers offense that we think is at the very least decent. And I think it was really cool watching the past. hackers offense adjust throughout this game. They started getting into the empty and the Saints were blitzing it. And one benefit of empty and it's kind of a leaning into the punch moment or counterintuitive moment is that, yeah, you're only blocking with five, but you can really spread everybody

out and see where blitzes are coming from, especially when you're using your cadence really well, like you're in love with today. And Alante Taylor had some success early on the blitz that they kept doing against empty. So he was really showing it. Like he couldn't wait. And it's a classic like, okay, it's pretty obvious when the guy that's supposed to be filling your spot after you blitz is right behind you because you can, like neither of them could hide it because it's worked so well. So the Packers adjusted their protection out of that.

And they, so saints with blitz, they adjusted the protection to slide the other way. They picked up the blitz. They had gains of 30, 17, 11, and 30 in the second half. All those little inside fade routes that we saw in the second half, those were most of them were out of empty. And there's most of them where they're picking up a blitz. And so that was really cool to see a Packers' offense adjust and Jordan Love adjust and calm down and settled down a little bit. And also you just see his running ability too. So it's not going to be pretty.

A huge scramble on that final drive. Like a game changing scramble on that final drive. And then the throw to Jaden Reed was gorgeous. Really, really pretty throw and catch. And then Dobbs goes up and makes a play and they win the game. And just enough plays by the defense. Obviously it helps that Derrick Carr gets hurt. James is playing for a good chunk of this game.

But Rashon Gary had three sacks. Two of them came on third down. The third one came on that final drive where they needed to stop. I think it was first and 14 because of a penalty. He gets a sack. Second and long, long. They don't get it. Give the ball back.

Give yourself a chance. So without a good chunk of the most important players on this team, Jair Alexander included, the Packers somehow pull this out. And you'll take it. Even if it's a little ugly, even if it wasn't your best day on offense when you're playing a defense like that, however you can get it.

And Matt Will Flore did everything he could to squeeze everything. he could out of that opportunity by going for two. I know you're wrapping it up perfectly here, but I'm going to ruin it. So the NFC is going to have so many coin flip games between fighting for playoff spots. There's a lot of nine-win type teams in the NFC. The Packers went for it on Fort Down three times, and they went one for three when you just look at the box score. But it's that aggressiveness and going forward on two is like what leads to the positive

place. You have to create your chances. That's the difference between what the Raiders did tonight and what the Packers are doing. So the first fourth down play. It was a gadget play. A.J. Dillon misses the throw out of Jordan Love. It looks hilarious. So they don't get it.

They should have had it. Second one, the backup running back is not expecting the ball when he's wide open outside. And then the third one is the Jordan Love touchdown when he goes in on the zone read. And that's where you see the positives of Jordan Love being a good athlete and a big athlete. The Saints had the perfect defense for that. They did a scrape exchange where the defense then runs down and knocks out the running back. And then the linebacker, DeMario Davis is supposed to come over the top. Love beats him.

So, but again, they're creating their own positive. They're creating their own chances. So it's very encouraging to see a young Packers team already doing that when we see teams with vets all over the place going like, no, no, we're not going to do that. We're going to play scared. Even the two-pointer to Toure, he extends that play. He makes that play by extending it in the pocket. So his legs and his ability to do that with the athleticism has shown up pretty consistently over the first three weeks. So real big win for the Packers.

Three sacks for Rishon Gary, too. Yeah, three sacks, two of them on third down. I mean, they came out big on third down. The Saints were really bad on third down today, but I think the Saints were 414 on third down, but the Packers were making plays in those moments, including those two Rasham, Gary Sachs. All right, we're going to hit one sliding doors moment,

and then we're going to get out of here. The sliding glass door shattered. Late in the Ravens Colts game, fourth and three in overtime. pretty blatant missed pass interference on Zayflowers that if it were called, the Ravens would have won this game. And this game was full of those little sliding doors moments in the end of regulation and overtime. It felt like nobody wanted to win this game. But ultimately, Matt Gay, the hero Matt Gay kicking 4 50-yard field goals and the Indianapolis Colts pull this game out over the Ravens.

Yeah, the game looked like the weather. Like that's how this game really felt. It feels like Baltimore has so many of those games where it's just so dreary. And it's a Buffalo game last year. It was last year, right? Where it was in like a sideways rainstorm. The 49ers played there a couple years ago too. And that was a monsoon too.

But yeah, but it's just again with first off of just with the Ravens. It's like, again, positives seeing Lamar using his legs and being so like the upside of that still like, oh yeah, Lamar can do this. Like you counted for 15 or their 21st downs with his armor legs today. That's what I was ready to talk about. if they had ended up winning and this game had gone differently. It was them being able to win a game differently than they did last week. He won from the pocket last week. He was incredible. And today, he was winning with his legs consistently. That was the best thing that they had going for them offensively. Unfortunately, that's not the framing that you can bring to us anymore.

I can't. Then you remember Kenyon Drake is getting touches. And if you want to know why Kenyon Drake can never stick with the team, watch that big play where he fumbles on. That is exactly Keniard Drake's entire career. And it's like, that's the maddening Ravens when they have all these injury woes. And it's just that sense of just incompleteness that ends up with all these games, even when you do feel like they play pretty well on both sides of the ball. So many tiny little mistakes today. That Kenyon Drake fumble, Lamar fumbles deep in their own territory in the first half.

There's a third and five snap that goes through Lamar's legs. There's a drop by Isaiah likely at the end of the game that if he catches that ball, there's a chance to Ravens win. So all the credit to Colts defense that slowed down a Ravens offense that was playing excellent. They make just enough plays offensively. Michael Pitman catch at the end is a huge moment. But I'm not coming away from this game feeling overly concerned about what the outlook is for Baltimore. Nope. I think the Colts have been very feisty this year. Their defense has done some nice things. And like Samson Ebby Cam looks just like amazing. He looks fantastic. God, you got the,

you get that 40-9 bump. And you just, also it's just, you're good, man. But it's also the, the Ravens defense as well. It's like they, they were doing some nice. stuff with the Blitz over and over and over again. Kyle Hamilton finished with three sacks. Huge game for Kyle Hamilton. Oh, yeah. It's the same blitz. They just kept bringing this cover zero blitz over and over.

But then you got to see, you know, this is a good offensive play caller for the Colts. This is Mr. Occam's razor. I'm just going to run receiver screens. And so you saw Pittman get a couple of those and it was like, man, he's good. This guy's good. He's going to be a good one, guys. But on top of you got Zach Moss dunking on Patrick Queen. And it's when that opens, you're like, not really my day.

today, guys, but it's a long season. I'm positive about both teams, even with some kind of blemishes that they're shown so far. Colts are in first place, baby. As we all. First place, Indianapolis, Colts. This was always going to be a gravy year. Whatever happened was going to be a benefit. It was all about Richardson and finding out who your building blocks are.

But I think through three weeks, we can be very encouraged by what the Shane Stiking Colts look like. And when they get the guy back who has been fantastic every single time he's been on the field, I think that we're going to be really intrigued and encouraged by what this Colts team is. These AFC South quarterbacks are going to be a lot of fun. I'm very, very excited. Sorry, Gardner, not including you there. All right. That is all we've got.

Appreciate you guys for listening. We will be back all week Monday and Tuesday. If you have not checked out our new show, Zach Keefer talking to our beatwriters for three games that we did not hit. That's coming your way on Tuesday. three games. We got Zach Jackson, our Browns writer, our Browns writer, our Browns writer, and James Boyd, who covers the Colts for us. So be on the lookout for that.

Really have enjoyed those shows so far. Zach is doing a fantastic job. We'll have our normal programming coming to you throughout the rest of the week for now. That's all we've got. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.