The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Chaos in Week 2, Aaron Donald’s Return & Puka facts (Feat. JB Long)

Episode Date: September 22, 2026

A cataclysmic Week 2 is in the books, and we’re breaking down all the fallout—from Ja'Marr Chase's mind-bending catch to why the Trinidad Chambliss "too old as a rookie" narrative at 25 makes zero sense. We update the season-long Picks battle before bringing on L.A. Rams play-by-play caller JB Long to break down Aaron Donald's return, whether Puka Nacua is the ultimate Jenga piece to this offense, and why L.A.'s Melbourne trip feels like ancient history. Plus, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are playing at their absolute peaks, but can either finally lift a Lombardi? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Now it's official. You can now earn Canadian Tire money at Tim's. Link your Triangle Rewards and Tim's Rewards accounts to earn twice with every Tim's run. Terms and conditions apply. Visit timhordens.com slash triangle for details. Oh, shit. Week two's almost in the books. We have a lot to get to, my fellow football Americans. Aaron Donald's back just in time to chase dart and scataboo around Los Angeles.

Caleb's hurt. I think. I know the Texans and Chargers can't win, but Carson Wentz and Kirk Cousins can't lose? Oh yeah, and the Chiefs are good again. So are Drew Locke's Seahawks. First, though, it's getting pretty chilly in here. Yes, presented by Yeagermeister, serve it cold or don't serve it at all, Yeagermeister.

Damn, that's cold. For more, visit Yagermeister.com, drink responsibly. Can I tell you something? I love hate. At least as it applies to sports. Sure, it's well-being any opponent, but it's obviously way sweeter when there's some genuine bitterness mixed in. Ole Miss knows what I'm talking about.

But what happens when the two sides are both your side? Guess it's not that hard to imagine, given the division in this country right now, or like when Iron Man and Captain America had their fight. Now, I don't know if I've mentioned it before. I root for a pro football team. And as it happens, that team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, is now at odds with the Pittsburgh Steelers. On one side, Steelers' cornerback, Joey Porter Jr.,

a legacy guy in the footsteps of his black and gold old man. On the other side, the Steelers' current exec wing. The stakes, the monetary value, said Corner has to the team. Now, as a Steelers fan, I obviously want their best cover corner in uniform as a human being, I think Porter's entitled to ask to be paid his value. And as a vain human being, I understand why Porter might be upset the team took care of other lesser players this offseason before turning to him. I mean, listen, all the rah-rah, what about being a loyal team guy shit is great for us? Of course, we want to feel like the players

care as much about the team's success as we do. But consider, this team believes it's a Super Bowl contender. Point is, this team definitely ain't winning those Super Bowl without a difference making corner, which means Porter's got the leverage. So yes, Steelers fans, you want loyalty in the form of him playing, but what would you do if you were risking your ass out there? Better yet, what if it were your kids? Speaking of, which side of this do you think Porter's on? You think he might have some thoughts on how the Steelers continue to dig in on their Byzantine, no contract talk during the season stance? Still, if you're Porter Jr., it's got to be

jarring. I'm sure he was getting backslaps anywhere and everywhere he went on the banks of the Three Rivers till now. But players need to understand. Fans are going to side with the team because like the team itself, they were there before the player and will be after that player is gone. On one hand, I get it. If you're a big time professional sports outfit, it may not be a good idea to establish the precedent of giving any guy withholding services what he wants. But on the other hand, and this part's important, even if it makes me a buzzkill, yeah, there's a price to be paid for being society's greatest empath. It's dangerous out there. hurt. And I don't mean my shin hurts because a Belgian guy kicked it. I mean injured. Elbow bones

poking out where they aren't supposed to, lacerated spleen, brain trauma, things of that nature. But again, those are merely human concerns. From a fan perspective, I get rooting for the team. If you're worried about this Steelers v. Steelers battle, though, you might want to look at the side that's delusional enough to think it's a contender, in part because they so believed in a pass catcher who can't catch passes, they gave them 60 million guaranteed U.S. dollars on purpose. Maybe the larger concern then isn't whether Porter Jr. will ever be a stealer again, but whether we'll ever see Porter senior stealers again. Football Americans, welcome to football America presented by Draft King Sports.

Now in all 50 states, we've got Rams P, play-by-play guy. Our pal J.B. Long coming up, Gino, buddy, and me. Caballo. Tony are ready to roll in Miami. We are live. Subscribe. Go tell your mom. You can see in the comments section there scrolling alongside if you're watching live. You can join the conversation. Gino, buddy, jump in with any comments that we must react to. In the meantime, it's number 84. Happy week two fellas. And let me know in honor of the episode number 84, which player wore that number best in NFL history? We got some heavy hitters here, Dave.

We got Randy Moss, Shannon Sharp, Antonio Brown, and Sterling Sharp as well. Those are just the top of the mountain. Anyone have another one they can think of? I'm thinking of one right now, which is not wearing the number very well, which is Colston Loveland, who has like two catches through two games so far, was so high on him in fantasy. He has one catch for three yards and two games. Yeah, not crazy about that as a guy who invested heavily in Colston Loveland

and the Bears offense, which I'm sure we'll talk. talk about later. Repping Caleb, I was worried about him. All of a sudden, you know, I was like going to wear his jersey in his honor today. And then it turns out he might even play next week, Daveo. Like Dan Lebitard compared him, Paul Pierce. We haven't seen anything like that. That's a tough comparison. Paul Pierce shit in his pants. Hey, Cabo. Quickly, we have a lot to talk about in the here and now. But Antonio Brown, number 84, you don't like to reside up on Mount Pius. So will he ever get a gold jacket? By the way, he once told me in response to the question, he is only one.

one of two guys who I ever asked this question to who in my mind got it wrong. I like to ask football players, would you rather have a Lombardi or a gold jacket? Guess what Antonio Brown chose? He chose the gold jacket. The other guy is Sean Watson. Anywho, will Antonio Brown ever get his gold jacket? No. Ooh. No, I don't think so. No. No. No. Interesting. A lot of great key keys. Listen, the numbers are inarguable. He had the greatest six season stretch of any pass catcher in the Super Bowl era, say possibly Calvin Johnson. But okay, update, like I say, in the here and now or the near future specifically. Super Bowl 61. I'm sticking with my Bengals and Cowboys, America's alleged team, meeting up there. I feel better about it after the

Cowboys looked as they did, as I predicted they would against the commies. But as a man of my word, I must now change my NFC South pick. I said of the Saints were so much as one in one. after starting the season at Detroit and at Baltimore, they would become my pick to win the division. I must do it now. And I like Tyler Shuck. What I don't like is all the jive. You know, take heed teams that might want to draft a quarterback next spring.

This thing about, well, he's 25, Trinidad Chambliss, you can't really look at him because he's so long in the tooth. What's the math on this? If he gives you 10 good years, is that not sad? satisfactory. Do you think the Saints are sorry that their QB is now 25 or 26? Tony, how say you? I'd love the Saints going in and when we were doing our picks for the playoffs and where they were going to be seated. I had the Saints winning the division. I just feel like we always hark on this. It's the harp on this. Excuse me. It's the coach quarterback combo. And I like

what Kellan Moore is doing and Shuck is doing just enough. They need to figure it out in the first half of games. Their issues are the first half of games. Second half of games, they go gangbusters. and I was looking at the stats, and Tyler Shuck has so many yards thrown. It's insane. I think he leads the NFL in yards thrown. So it's very exciting for that team. They don't have their best pass catchers also, like Oliva's in and out. Jordan Tyson return is very interesting.

I like Velae a lot, but like this team is very, very interesting. Yeah, you want to talk about Shuck being that he is the number one passer. That's correct. He's thrown for 662 yards so far. Do you want to know who two and three are? One of them is Bryce Young for sure. Correct. And the third is C.J. Stroud.

He is 0 and 2. So he's been throwing the ball all around the yard, and he didn't have Newco Collins this week. Still looked pretty good, in my opinion. But somehow they just could not put the ball in the end zone. And they end up losing to the Bengals. By the way, Dave, you're holding steady on your Super Bowl pick with the Bengals. I'm changing mine from the Texans to the Bengals. That game turned out to be.

That game turned out to be, winner becomes my AFC Super Bowl pick because this Bengals, we knew the offense would be great. And Jamar Chase, obviously, one of the greatest receivers we've ever seen, makes another incredible play yesterday. I don't think any of us could have seen how well this defense has played in the first couple weeks. I have to say this. No. What are you talking about? Do you know I amnesia or do you just not pay attention when I talk? Because I have quite clearly stated that the defense is not a definite.

I don't think it's great. I think it's middle of the pack at minimum. I told you Dexter Lawrence would make a big difference, but they have legit pass rushers and the rest of it. I like at least one of their cover corners. Hey, before we get to the update on our picks, picks, picks that we made here, I jump in with that one, but I do have to say the Jamar Chase catch is already a little underrated in my book. I think the Julian Edelman Super Bowl catch is the most unrepeatable catch in the history of people. I don't think you could ever go out there and say, let's try a million times and see if you could make that exact same

sequence of events happen. But, I mean, that Jabbar Chase, I mean, he almost falls down. How he picks himself up and has the, you know, what's the opposite of vertigo? Body control. Somehow that he can catch that ball, spin his body, and put both toes down. You know, I just want to say for the record, I cannot do that. Are you sure about that, Dave?

Should we go out and try that? All right. No, I don't want to because I know I can't. Let's save some time. Picks, Picks, Picks. Dave, this was your week, buddy. After I went 3 and O in week one, you followed it up by going 3 and O.

So we are now tied with four points. I'll get to mine in a second. You nailed the Chiefs. Wait, I'm sorry about that. You're 2 and 1. Oh, I did some bad math here. I did some very bad math here. Okay, sorry.

The Chiefs did not cover the 6 and a half. obviously because they kicked a field goal to win the game at the end there. The Panthers and Falcons stayed under 43.5. The Jets covered the three and a half for you, so you went two and one there. Gino nailed the Niners and Dolphins saying that 13 and a half was not nearly enough points. That was obviously the case. The Cowboys and Commanders went over 15 and a half, and the Steelers, whoof. Wolf.

Tony. I missed that one too. Tony didn't... I've talked enough about them already. Yeah, seriously.

That was an ugly one. The Eagles did not cover the seven. The Ravens and Saints, both of us missed that one going over 46 and a half, but you nailed the Vikings covering the four and a half in those terrible conditions

in Chicago. I picked the Packers minus three and a half against the Jets. They obviously did not cover. And I had the Saints plus eight and a half, which did cover.

They won outright. So after two weeks, I am in the lead with four points. Dave is next up with three points and Gino and Tony are tied with two. You guys should be a shame to yourself. I am. It's early.

At least I'm a little closer. Hey, before we get to J.B. Long, exciting times and so-fi, obviously for Rams fans and football fans, the goat is back against New York football giants. Very quickly, shout out to Matthew Barry, who on Friday's Lebitard show. I asked him, Jalen Waddle or D.K. Metcalfe. I know no one cares about my fantasy team, but I'm telling you. telling you about it anyway. He said Jalen Waddle. He was right. The cool cat spelled with two Ks appreciated and shout out to USC on their ugly win. They almost lost to Rutgers, but they did get

the win and to the 49ers. So my pal, Bald Brian Bishop's team went two and oh on the weekend. Bald Brian died on Friday, the great Adam Carolla, Soundman and beyond sidekick and hilarious author, filmmaker, the rest of it. 18 years after getting a diagnosis that he was, that was supposed to take him in six months. I can sincerely say, I'm more happy than I am sad right now by a sliver because of how much living, not just surviving he did after he got that terrible diagnosis. He was always a funny guy, super smart, like he went on who wants to be a millionaire and won $100,000 kind of smart.

He was a guest here in Football America so we could do our dumb actor redundancies. He loved doing them because he loved finding the lazy repeats in pop calls. You cannot do the same with Bald Brian because there was just not anyone like him. Another old bit of ours was the jerk list. He was the OG Trigger Man with the Han Solo Edition Blaster. So if you'll indulge me for Father Time or whoever is responsible for taking Bald Brian way too soon, you're a jerk. There we go.

Hard right turn. Now back to Football Matters. It was one thing that was banging around in my head watching the game. games. Is there a lamer recurring annual factoid than teams that start the season 0 and 2 only make the playoffs 16% of the time? Yeah, I have a theory why that is also. Maybe they're 0 and 2 because they suck, which then also helps explain why they don't go to the playoffs, right? Yeah. No, I agree, Dave. I just think the reason people pointed out is because it feels like two weeks in your season can't possibly be over, right? But you can learn a lot about a team in two weeks, right? Like I think

we've learned a lot about the Chargers in two weeks. I think we've learned a lot about the Seahawks in two weeks, right? By the way, the Chargers schedule from here on out. Oh my God. It might be 0 at 9. Yeah, their next seven games are absolutely brutal if I just can filibuster until I pull it up here. They have the bills, the Seahawks, the Broncos, Kansas City, the Rams, Houston, and Baltimore with a buy somewhere in there. Look, they're probably not going to go 0 and 9, but that's a legitimate possibility that schedule is brutal and they have looked rough i would like to talk about the bengals the two and oh teams they're one of them and um i looked into this those teams that are two and oh have a better chance of reaching the playoffs than the teams that are owing so make a note of that one

but where the bengals are concerned i said it yesterday i say it again to you fellas now superman only had to deal with the one thing which was kryptonite the borough air in cincis has had several poisoning factors. Burroughs Health, the O-line, the entire defense, and their inability to ever win games coming out of the gate at the start of the season. But now they are 2-0. They are in first place. And now they're on to Cincinnati, or Cincinnati is on to Pittsburgh, and they're favored to beat them there. I like this team. I like them to go to the Super Bowl. Let's start with you, buddy. I know you just wait in there a little bit, but you're feeling pretty good. Is there a team in the AFC that you like as much?

In the AFC, I mean, yeah, you have to point out what the bills have done so far. They've looked absolutely fantastic against two teams that I think are going to be really good. Obviously, Detroit has question marks on the defensive side of the ball, but we know Houston's going to be one of the best defensive teams in the league. They showed it yesterday, I thought, even in that loss. And Buffalo just torched them for 30 plus. So as much as I hate to admit it, like I love what the bills have done so far from a, a standpoint of looking like a Super Bowl contender.

Can we talk about what Patrick Mahomes has done? And I think something we all forgot about coming into this season is the return of Eric B. enemy. Their offense looks completely different with sleeping with B. B. B. B. B.

B. with your high and legs or something. He's just taking everybody. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. You can't have all, man. He took all. That's fine.

We only have a few minutes. Then if you want me to rank. Tony, you weigh in here. You can have. One team for the rest of the way. The Bengals, the Bills, or the Chiefs. I'll say you. I'm going to stick with the Chiefs. I'm going to stick with the Chiefs.

And, man, I love the Bills. I feel like Josh Allen right now is at the peak of his powers. He's got such a command of this offense that he can do no wrong. Even on plays that are busted, he finds Josh Palmer on a route that is supposed to be a decoy route for a touchdown. For that's 55 yards. He just knows exactly what he's doing. But on the other side, I think the Chiefs. Chiefs were a big question mark going into the season.

And we were looking at, all right, how is Kenneth Walker going to fit into this? How are they going to reshape the offense to allow Mahomes to not have to bear so much of the burden? And what they've done has been like, all right, Kenneth Walker, you're going to average about 170 yards all purpose. And Mahomes is going to go fill in after that. A throwback game from Travis Kelsey. Like, when was the last time that you saw? Because I was watching the game, obviously, you don't have the running stats in your head. But once the last time you look down at the stats on your phone, like, holy shit.

Patrick Mahomes has 360 yards. And three touchdowns? Since when? What year is it? Also, reports of Travis Kelsey's demise greatly exaggerated. He is nine, what was it? Nine for 101? Yeah.

He's found a new gear that he hasn't had in the later part of his career. It did feel like, and, you know, I'm sure Chief's diehards can point me in the direction that I'm wrong on this, but that felt like Kelsey's best performance. in two seasons. Yeah, watching that. And as a matter of fact, at some point in the second half, I know it wound up in overtime, and really the Colts could have won that game.

If, who was it again? The past catcher. Lequan Trembal. Oh, yeah, that's right. It was a lot of Lequan Treadwell. If he keeps his feet, you know, they win that game. Was that everybody's reaction to it being Lequan Treadwell? Sorry, Dave.

No, I know that he's now played for, if I'm not mistaken, 29 of the 32 teams. Who originally drafted him? I think LeCuan Trott was a Minnesota Viking. Yeah, yeah. That's right. That's correct. Look at these dudes.

But, yeah, I mean, at some point during that second half, I thought, what were you thinking, Dave? Why were you not all over this Chiefs team? They are fully back. You know who was, Dave? You know who said that California Holmes will come back. single team. You know who said he'll come back even stronger when I picked up to win the MVP. 350 yards, three touchdowns. Look this guy's. We're not a Caleb Williams jersey.

Got taken off and let he stepped on a landmine. You guy has a pie. You need to have, we need you to have a red flag in there to challenge his jive. I'm aware of you. I told you about that team. I told you. Yeah. If you say that every team is going to be good, then we can go back through the files at the end of the year and, and identify that buddy did in fact say something nice about that team so you can have some backslaps. I'm going to stick with the Bengals, even though I understand that they would present

as maybe the most flawed of that trio of teams. And I know we were skipping past the Ravens because they lost a tough one, but they lost a tough one in a game that really probably shouldn't have been so close in their first home outing there. I'm going to stick with the Bengals, but, you know, because it's long in the rearview mirror in relative terms,

but that performance from Josh Allen once again, EGAD, man. Do you think, Tony, that if he gets a Lombardi, is it hyperbolic to say that he then enters the conversation, just like we had a week ago about Derek Henry being a top five Super Bowl running back? Is Josh Allen planning himself in the top five Super Bowl-era quarterbacks? If he gets one If he gets one, I think so

Because we have the conversation about Aaron Rogers Pre, you know, all the things that have happened to him As one of the top five quarterbacks we've ever seen From a skill perspective, from a mastery of the game perspective From a cerebral perspective as the head guy in charge So yeah, I think right now if you were to line up Josh Allen Take the Lombardies out of it, put it in a vacuum You say, all right, and all the quarterbacks that have ever existed

look at this guy doing this thing. Is he the best? And I feel like I want to say yes. Right? Like better than Brady from a physical standpoint, better than Manning from a standpoint that he wasn't that athletic. Like you go down the line. I feel like I have Josh Allen ahead of almost everybody who played quarterback.

It's, I, again, yes, this sounds like Prisoner of the Moment kind of stuff. And obviously, we're assuming that he ever gets a Lombardi. and as a reminder, in the best case scenario, as people, you know, everybody loves to pretend that they're the world's greatest empath when, in fact, it's Dave Damashik, who is. So my heart goes out to both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, both right around 30 years old and at the very best, on Valentine's Day 2027, at best, one of those two cats is still without a Lombardi, and the likelihood is that they both are still without a Lombardy. So you can't really, as Dan Marino can tell you, you cannot really be on the list or you cannot really be a finalist for it without the all important Lombardi Trophy.

If he does get that, though, I think what you're saying, Tony, is not out of bounds. I always have said that Aaron Rogers, I said it in fact in October of 2010, that Aaron Rogers is the most gifted quarterback of all time and he'll go down as the greatest of all time. Just winning that one gets in the way of that being true. I think if Josh Allen's in there that at minimum, he is, like I say, a top five. And in terms of skill set, you might put him ahead of Aaron Rogers. And I think Patrick Mahomes is one of his great rivals in that category. I think it's Rogers, Patrick Mahomes. And now I think you kind of sort of have to put Josh Allen into that conversation as well.

Delivered by Little Caesars, the official pizza sponsor of the NFL. Right now, score two faves just for you with Detroit-style slices and sticks. It's the biggest duo since Monday nights in football, two pieces of Detroit-style deep-dish pepperoni pizza, and four pieces of Italian cheese bread and crazy sauce for just $4.99 only at Little Caesars. Make your game day delicious with Little Caesars. Officially delicious! Gino, let me know when we have, when we have J.B. Long ready to roll here. He's just popping right now.

He's a busy man. He's getting ready to call the game. We haven't a moment to spare here. He just popped in right now, Dave, and let's introduce him right here with his famous radio call from the epic moment when Aaron Donald won the Super Bowl for the Rams. All means. He throws it away. He flings it away on fourth down. Aaron Donald got there.

Donald takes his helmet off in celebration. He flips burrow to the turf and forces the incompletion on fourth and one. He signals to his ring finger on his left hand. and you can build that man's statue out SoFi Stadium right now, the greatest of all time on defense, does it in the biggest moment of Super Bowl 56. Good thing they didn't build that statue because it would be a little weird if he was walking by his own statue

on his way into play a game tonight. Either way, you just heard the voice of the Rams, as well as a guy who does great work calling college football and basketball play-by-play. he's J.B. Long, what's happening, Pally, how are you? She, great to be with you. I feel like you go with primetime football in Los Angeles, as memories serves the greatest Monday night football game in league history. You were there to witness at the Coliseum on the sideline.

Were you not? Gerald Everett kind of ran right past you. No, he stopped right next to me in celebration. In fact, I was at that game, and I was trying to take a picture because I knew it was an iconic game in a special event that was supposed to be in Mexico City and wound up in L.A. instead. And it was a shootout between two high-end offenses. And so I tried to capture the moment with a quick picture. And I stood in the corner of the end zone. And I saw over my shoulder a flash of gold running towards me. And I realized, oh, that's a ram. And he has the ball. And he's running for a touchdown. I better get out of his way. And so I did. And Everett landed right next to me. And I got

caught up in the moment. I'm an objective reporter, J.B., you know that, but in the moment, the emotions got the better of me. So I tried to high-five, Gerald Everett, and he left me hanging. It reminded me a lot of Berman at Candlestick for the catch, like those two things, side by side. All right. Well, first thing I want to ask you about, and listen, I know you, you share a house with them and everything, but is Maurice Jones Drew going to start today by burning some sage in there to get the stink of the charges out of that joint? You never know what MJD is going to come up with. You know, what's cool is we carpool together.

So I will pick him up on my way to SoFi Stadium. We get to kind of align our minds to be ready for this moment. And game days are my favorite because I get to hang with MJD. And the call back to Aaron Donald is, it's spine tingling. I mean, I'm serious. Like, we only get to do so many things that are unique and cool in this life. And for me, professionally, Seeing Aaron Donald in his prime, like calling his three NFL defensive player of the year seasons,

I'm not sure anything tops that. And to see him go out on top, I know that wasn't the last play of his career, but you very well know what I mean. Having accomplished everything there was to do in this sport and say, I'm full, and yet want to come back two years later because of the unique opportunity that the 26 Rams present, I know the question was about MJD, but I feel like every answer on my mind is going to end with Aaron Donald today, if that may. Oh, you're so classy, J.B. Long, I'm sure your adversary in the play-by-play booth. Matt Money-Smith is duly impressed by that. Yeah, listen, man, I hear you on the special and unique events in life that you've gotten to be a part of and getting to hang with Maurice is a great treat at any time. Now, I don't know if you heard, but there was a lot of stuff made

about the Rams first game this season over in Melbourne. Jet lag, your thoughts? I think John Harbaugh is trolling us. Did you see that he flew the Giants in on Saturday night? I'm not sure if it was to hang with his brother, have dinner, like go to the Chargers game. But it's like he was from afar saying, oh, the Rams are taking a lot of inbounds about their travel itineraries. What if I just kind of rub some salt in that wound by bringing my giants out and fully acclimating to the, the Pacific time zone 48 hours before Monday night football. I don't know if that's like him or not,

but I did have that on my mind. Like Melbourne is such a distant memory. It feels like a month ago. Part of that is just the mind warp that it takes to go to the other side of the world. Truly a great experience, by the way. I mean, I'm so glad that I got to spend three full days there before the game and have a lot of positive fond memories. I'm taking a lot of solace in week one line, check, and that was the thought ringing around my head as I watched a lot of week too. I thought Ben Johnson and the Bears were probably going to score 60 points per game and lead the league this season. Didn't get a touchdown yesterday.

And there's about six other examples that I could point to. The Giants are a very good one. They're rightly sitting on top of the world right now. They were very impressive in week one. And I hope that by the end of tonight, there's some regression and progression to the mean on both sides of the equation because that's the life we lead. I mean, I want a deep dive it with you. I appreciate you joining us.

I know this is a workday for you if you hear the honk of a horn and it's Maurice waiting for you out there. Don't worry. You can run out the door if need be. But, and, you know, I want to, you know, you kind of touch on the Giants and, you know, how they looked against America's alleged team a week ago and all that. I want to hear more, though, about, you know, being in the moment of Aaron Donald. it's funny, of course, as a Pittsburgher, he went to Pitt and Mario Lemieux and adopted Pittsburgh, you know, retired and then came back and is arguably the goat of his sport. Aaron Donald, perhaps the NFL's greatest defender of all time. What's it been like bouncing off of him in the last, say, six weeks or so in the run-up to this return? I think we were texting behind the scenes. You know, I ended up in the Pittsburgh airport a couple weeks back on my college travels.

And as you come through their beautiful new terminal, there's like this LED board that displays a bunch of advertisements. And one of them is for Pitt, for Pitt football and touting their professional football Hall of Famers. So I saw that come through. I was like, wait a second. I got to get my phone out and record it the next time it comes through, get a shot at Aaron Donald, which, you know, knucklehead me. Who knows where my mind was. He's not in it yet. But the second time that it came around, and I realized he's definitely not on that list yet.

His time has not yet arrived. I've just taken it as a foregone conclusion. it was a reminder that he's chosen involuntarily to reset his clock back to five years by playing tonight and coming out of retirement. And I think that's just such a cool deal. You know, is that, by the way, is that, have you ever asked him if, because also delayed is getting the statue that will someday, you assume, wind up in front of. Is the pose, obviously, him pointing at the ring? I don't think there's any, there's no greater image in my mind.

Well, him tackling a quarterback with the quarterback's teammate. He's done that on more than one occasion. That's true. It's either that or him being triple-teamed by like just an anonymous lineman. That would be pretty cool as well. But it was the summation of so much. As I go back in time, that team, that era was built around Aaron Donald's prime. You had a transcendent superstar.

And so the move for Matthew Stafford doesn't happen if you don't have Aaron Donald. That sense of urgency doesn't happen. doesn't happen without Aaron Donald. And similarly, he had accomplished everything there was individually. All that was left to cement his legacy was to win at all. And so that moment orbited around him and for him to point to his ring finger and literally say ring me, it was the culmination of so much. It was, this is what I've been waiting for.

This is what I've been straining for. He went to the mountaintop and met the Patriots just a few years prior. you know, a Super Bowl in which his team did not score a touchdown. And I know how frustrated he was by that. So to see him deliver, not just in that game, but in the NFC championship game with a play, that was very similar against Jimmy Garoppelo and the Niners. It wasn't all about him.

It cheapens the Matthew Stafford and the Cooper Cup and the Andrew Whitworth and there's so many other contributors. But that was his window. And now we're in Matthew Stafford's window, or what's left of it. And I think him coming back is a reminder of how similarly urgent you have to be. The trade for Trent McDuffie doesn't happen if Matthew Stafford is a New York giant, for instance. The trade for Miles Garrett doesn't happen if Matthew Stafford doesn't win the MVP last year. And just as one final reminder of how fast NFL life comes at you, the only two Rams position players who played snaps in that Super Bowl are Matthews.

Stafford and Aaron Donald. In a handful of years, essentially the entire 53-man roster has turned. By the way, you mentioned it, and I have to go back, Pitt has the greatest collection, arguably, of 22 players that you could field. If you had a time machine and could put all the collegians together at age 21-ish, I think Pitt would have a chance against the U, Alabama, USC, or anyone else you throw out there. But yeah, I have to tell you. And, If I didn't think it was a great call, I would have just said nothing, but I did text you later that night after they won the Super Bowl. That was a singular moment in Aaron Donald's.

Great, you know, perhaps the greatest defensive career in NFL history. You nailed that call. You'll never be in a bigger spot than calling the game-winning play of a Super Bowl. Well, I don't feel that way, and we can connect on that offline. But, yeah, that's neither here nor there. the moment was about Aaron and if I did anything right, I let my eyes be drawn to Aaron in it. And whereas I could have and probably should have made it more about the Rams having clinched the Super Bowl in that stroke, I couldn't resist the emotions that I felt seeing him accomplish an individual goal in the

biggest team context, right? Like that was so many other people's moments. So anyways, not the purpose of this show, not the purpose of this show. his day. But I have a bittersweet touch of scar tissue on that moment. And it will be a little bit healed today seeing him play again at SoFi Stadium. I'm not going to like it. I guess you get a redo. But if we still have the Han Solo Edition blaster, somebody throw a shot into J-Ball. There you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't come on here and denounce yourself. Yeah, but I'll ride with my opinion. And I thought it was a marvelous call. All right. I don't want to hold you up to.

too long. Like I say, I know Maurice is out there waiting for you. But very quickly, I think this is a potentially fascinating thing because I said that Puka Nakua is the Jenga piece of the NFL 2026 before the season kicked off, which is to say if you remove him, the whole thing implodes. Really, what do you anticipate from McVe? Obviously, he can cook up something if anybody can. But really, I feel like they're pretty deficient in terms of pass catchers without Puka. I've heard you say this before. And I think there's a lot of truth to it. And, there's a little bit of pushback that I would like to give you in your audience because if you were to rewind time, this time last year, the Rams had drafted essentially a first round tight end in Terrence Ferguson, technically a second round pick.

But they said that they would have taken him in the first round had they not traded back. And he was a healthy scratch last September. You know, it's been a little banged up in training camp. He wasn't up to speed in the offense. And it was like, what's going on here? Like they drafted this guy. there's like some Travis Kelsey overtones and whispers. Why is he not contributing yet?

Well, because the Rams only played one tight end at a time. They are notoriously an 11 personnel team. And then they go to play the Baltimore Ravens and Puka gets hurt. And they're staying on the East Coast to take the red eye to London and play that game. It becomes clear that Puka is not going to be a part of that offense. And lo and behold, the genesis of 13 personnel is born. And they go out and put five touchdowns on the Jaguars. Matthew Stafford has a day.

Devante Adams' best day as a ram, and there's no Puka there. And they take the league by storm. And here we are a year later. Everyone's acquiring, trading for, drafting tight ends, unlike an era we've seen in quite some time. And if Puka doesn't play tonight, I hope that it's part of the ongoing narrative that what the Rams have done best and now a decade of success under Sean McVeigh is solve problems.

Like, he pushes things to the endth degree. When he finds a Cooper Cup and can't keep him off the field, they live in 11 and they go fast and they run outside zone to Todd Gurley and they give the league hell. But that's not all he can do when outside zones no longer work and they can go to do it. They can get big in front of Matthew Staff or they can come downhill on you with a Kyron Williams and once again be a historically efficient running game to go from playing one tight end at a time to leading the league and three tight end personnel and again being the number one. scoring team in the national football league. It speaks to his ingenuity. I think it speaks to Matthew Stafford's flexibility. A guy who loves to play Madden style shotgun spread, full field read football is willing to go under center and adopt the Shanahan McVeigh system and have the best year of his career. I don't know what they're going to do tonight, but I've seen enough to

know that Sean's the greatest coach in Rams history, not because he's had the best rosters in the National Football League, though he's had some great ones. The Rams have been to now three NFC championship games under his leadership, not because they've had the most favorable paths. They've never been the one seed in now 10 years that he's been on the job. We know they travel more miles than any team in the National Football League. We know they have to go on silent count in their own stadium often, right? So it's not those things. It's not the best roster. It's not the best injury luck. It's just consistently iterating and doing the next right thing. Let's face it. Half the NFL now has a meaningful

contributor to the Rams success under Sean McVeigh. They know what goes on in that building. It doesn't mean they could emulate it. It's too much in my opinion, by the way. I'd be offended as a Rams guy. Like, you're taking all our stuff. It's like, well, because we learn from your head coach, right. Look, everyone wants to talk about the Rams should have left for Australia sooner.

You know what? It hurt the Rams. I mean, among a long list of things, Miles Garrett, not being healthy, one of them. The fact that Sean McVeigh's brothers in football are on the opposing sideline. Like, you don't think Kyle Chanahan and Rocky Polford? You don't think those guys literally know the thought process of Ashon McFay? Of course they do. It's backyard football when those teams get together.

All that to say, there's a very real chance the Rams go to O and 2 tonight. There's a very real chance the Rams are staring down the barrel of one and four before Miles Garrett gets back on the field or worse, right? Maybe this just isn't their year. Or maybe it's going to just take the slow, stubborn persistence to find a way back into the dance. And if they do get there in January with most, surely not all, but with most of this roster that they assembled the offseason, which I think the consensus was was the best in the NFL, they're going to be a tough out and nobody's going to want to see them coming. Yeah, well, a little adversity for the latest, greatest team of all time. By the way, I'm offended on Ray Malavese's behalf that you said that John McVeigh is the greatest coach in Rams history. But either way, listen, I wish for you with the season once again, winding up in SoFi,

reminder, only one team has ever played a home game and won a Super Bowl on their home field. Rams are kind of sort of set up to do exactly that once again in February, but a lot of time to go before then. J.B. Long, have a great time tonight. Get back on track. Give my best to Maurice, would you? I will. I'm sorry to be that guy, but that guy Tom Brady kind of did it the year before. I was going to say. Wait a second. Yeah, it happened. David, it had never happened, and then it happened two years in a row. We all memory hold it. Just because there was no one there. Doesn't mean it didn't. There is no one there. The COVID year in all sports only counts for half. So that's maybe a half. So it's like what happened one and a half times. That's the second time you've contradicted me long. That's one time too many. Be gone. Off to Sofi. Please. Great stuff. J.B. Long. Dynamite. Make sure you're checking them out on the radio. video. I texted, in fact, Maurice at half time while they were in Melbourne. I mean, the temerity. The guy's working and I'm sending them texts. But that's how good I thought J.B. and Marie sounded on

that call in the hour I had while I was matriculating myself up the 405 to go watch my boy play a special Thursday night, a high school football game. Oh, I was excited for football. But now I'm really, really excited because Yeagermeister is on board. Yeagermeister knows. being a football fan comes with some unwritten rules. Never admit your lactose intolerant in Green Bay. Never mention 28 to 3 in Atlanta. Never leave a folding table unattended in Buffalo. And the most important rule of all, always serve Yeagermeister ice cold on game day.

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to the people who give you the hardest time. Labat, brood for the roast. All right, fellas, great stuff there from Jay be long. I think it sets us up neatly to discuss this Monday night game. Before we do, though, very quickly, a real drag of a Thursday night game. And since we won't have a chance to properly discuss with our fellow football Americans between now and then, let's give that game a

quick pick. In fact, let's jump into the Delorean and go ahead to the near future so we can know with some detail how this game turned out. It was the Atlanta Falcons in Lambo to play the Green Bay Packers. The Packers somehow rallied to beat the four jets. The Packers were laying seven in this one. I was happy for Packers fans that they went out there on a Thursday night, and they came away with a 10-point victory.

Tony, what stood out to you? What stood out to me? Ah, geez. Jordan Love? I mean, I don't love him, right? I mean, that's too simplistic. I mean, come on. Analyze the game, man.

No, no, no. No. Tony's confused here. You threw Tony off. We're in the Dolorian now. We jumped ahead to Friday. Yes, yes. The Falcons have lost to the Packers. We're sitting in the chair. The Falcons have lost to the Packers. Yes. Yes, yes. I got you. I got it. Well, again, it stands. I didn't love Jordan Love. Like, there's moments where against bad competition, he plays really well. And that also translates to when he's playing good competition, he goes up in performance. But I don't know what the Packers are. Okay, they beat the Falcons.

Everybody beats the Falcons. We line up us five guys here. We could probably have a good chance to beat the Falcons. I might intercept Cooper Rush three times. Like, that's not the point. The point is, who are you when you don't have these bad teams on your schedule? How do you play against Minnesota, against the Bears, against the Lions, against the Jets? Right.

Like, there's no reason that game should have gone into overtime. Like you were dead in the water. You got lucky. There's no reason, though, as Dan said on Monday's Lebitard show, there's no reason the Packers were even allowed back into that game. Exactly. It was such a jetsy kind of a loss, and we would be having a very different conversation if they were a combined 0-4 on Thursday night football. I don't know about that old line.

Maybe they turn a corner defensively when Micah Parsons returns. Let's get into the Monday night game. We saw that one a few nights ago. before we jumped into the DeLorean. It was the New York Giants paying a visit to SoFi Stadium and the Los Angeles Rams. Giants obviously came off of a impressive win against America's alleged team. The Rams and this one were laying seven heading in, and they covered it narrowly, 28 to 20.

Buddy, what stood out to you? I disagree here, Dave. I think the way I saw it, the Giants covered that seven points, and the Rams still got. the victory, but the Giants covered that seven because the Rams offense without Puka Nakua was a tough watch. I mean, where do they turn to? I know they've got Devante Adams and he caught a touchdown tonight, you know, and as he did all of last season seemingly. But it just feels like they're missing that element with Puka and they just can't get off the ground. Aaron Donald, it was fun

to see him back. I can imagine he'll look even better when Miles Garrett is also operating on that defensive line with him. Boy, this is tough. It's really hard to do this now that I'm thinking about it. is a great ad for the Rams. But yeah, they just kind of can't get off the ground just yet. They'll get better as the season goes on. For them, it's not about what happens in September. It's about what happens in January. Tony, I said, you know, before the season that I thought that the, or before the game,

that the Rams were going to cover that. And so I look smart for that being the case. I also said last spring that the Pittsburgh Steelers should have taken Jackson Dart. he's looked pretty good to this point. By the way, so is Tyler Shuck, both better than Derek Harmon, the defensive tackle. Were you surprised to see Jackson Dart

against this defense, kind of returned to the mean a little bit after the boundless performance against the Cowboys in week one? Not really, right? This is kind of what we know about Jackson Dart. He has these super high peaks, but kind of low valleys in a sense where,

all right, am I going to try to force the rush here? Do I want to trust my offensive line? Do I want to trust the developing routes going down the field? Or do I want to break out of containment and try to get yards on my own? And that's where you have that dynamic push and pull of, all right, I'm a dynamic athlete. I can get myself out of trouble. But do I put myself in more trouble trying to get out of trouble than I do by just sitting there and doing what I'm supposed to do, which is letting routes develop.

So it's not something that I was completely shocked by. Like there's a mean where he rushes. I'd say the magic number for me is seven. If he has seven either design runs or breakout runs that he can get past the line of scrimmage on, I'm very happy. The moment it starts ticking up to 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, I start worrying because of the injury history, because of, man, you take some shots in the secondary via linebackers, via defensive linemen running back to the play via safeties and corners. Like, there's too much exposure there for Jackson Dart, and I think he needs to tame that down a little bit. Gino, the fantasy fountain, best wishes to Camp Scataboo. Obviously, you have to pick up Tyrone Tracy because not surprisingly,

Scataboo is going to be down for a little bit here now. I'm a little hazy, though. I don't know why. It was a few days ago now. Who stood out on Monday night football in fantasy terms? Well, I think it might be, let me see. It was. It was Devante Adams.

Yeah, he got all the targets. Caught a touchdown. Great. caught a touchdown. He's in his advanced stage. He's putting up numbers. We'll see how he does when Puka gets back. At advanced stage, man's 34 years old.

Come on, it's not that advanced. It's very young, actually. That's senior citizen. Incredibly young, actually. Dave, what do you think about that? I mean, we're talking football terms, right? Yeah, he's an old man. Hey, here's a question for you as we project forward over the course.

Let's get back to the here and now. Wait, Dave, can I take one more trip in the Dolorian? Do you mind? I suppose. If I take a trip in the Dolores in April of 2027, yeah, I know. We got to save it all up. But I jump to April 27. The Steelers just selected Trinidad Chambliss in the first round.

How do you feel about that? Because I like it. I like it a lot. I think he fits their timeline perfectly. What do you have to say, Dave? I mean, you know, you heard what I had to say at the very top of show. They're starting to feel to me. They're one too many failures in terms.

terms of team building that are troubling. And by the way, the offensive line, what they're trying to do. It's not the pieces in my estimation, Tony. I'm certainly not an O line expert and would defer to you on this. But I don't think it's great. I like the pedigree of the individual pieces for the most part on the Steelers offensive line. What I don't like is in the offseason, the new coaching staff coming in and basically saying, Vatanu, I know you were doing all right at right tackle last season. Now you're our left tackle. Nill and Cook swing over to the right side and pieces moving here and there in between. I think it's a mess. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to think of are they going to be able to. We can talk about moving the deck chairs around,

but this is increasingly starting to feel like a team that is lost at sea in terms of its overarching decision making. I would say even worse than lost at sea. We're rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Right. Like that's what it feels like when you have, what happened this past week to Aaron Rogers with all the blitz is the the lack of blitz pickup. I know Dotto was out for a little bit, but they weren't able to do anything from a, from a protection standpoint on, on Aaron Rogers. So it's like, yeah, you have somebody maybe more athletic back there like a Trinidad Chamblis, like a Jackson Dart, like a Tyler Shuck that could get away from some of that stuff.

Or a Malik Willis, maybe they should have chased him. Right? But like fundamentally, your issue is you're rearranging guys on that line to play different positions. And it's like, are we sure that this is the right move? Or are we just doing this to make everybody feel happy inside the front office? Last 60 seconds of the show. And I wanted to get you on this one, Tony. I heard you buzzing about the you for obvious reasons.

They survived at wait. Survive in advance. They won the game. No apologies there. Would you rather have the rest of the way? The U or the entire SEC? Whose near future do you prefer? Oh, the entire SEC?

That's tough. I mean, I... Because the U is a lot of. The only game they might lose is to Notre Dame and maybe Pitt, but probably only to Notre Dame is their one real, is their one test the rest of the way. Yeah, man, I'll probably stay with Miami. I'd probably stay with Miami even though, like, let's see what Georgia has. Old Miss I really like.

And then you got Old Miss and you got Texas. Big one for Old Miss this weekend coming into the swamp. I mean, they've had a coming up a win. On Friday, until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven. Extended cut. Oh, I was excited for football, but now I'm really, really excited because Yeagermeister is on board. Yeagermeister knows being a football fan comes with some unwritten rules.

Never admit your lactose intolerant in Green Bay. Never mention 28 to 3 in Atlanta, never leave a folding table unattended in Buffalo, and the most important rule of all, always serve Yeagermeister ice cold on game day. zero degrees Fahrenheit drinking cold or don't drink it at all Yeagermeister damn that's cold drink responsibly Yeagermeister liquor 35% alcohol by volume imported by masked Yeagermeister U.S. White Plains, New York.