The Fumblerooski Podcast - Flipping the Script -Ep 292 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

What can we learn from the week one primetime games? What are the top 3 performances from week one? What terrible performances made the bottom 3? Will Dak Prescott’s extension pay dividends for the Cowboys? Should we worry about Kirk Cousins? Chris Costich, CJ Medeiros, and Justin Tucker debate these topics and more!

the Philadelphia Eagles winning in Brazil and a tight one against the Packers. And unfortunately for Packers fans, they're going to be without Jordan love for multiple games due to a spring MCL or Ruski game of the week. Lions winning an OT against the Rams in another injury, as well as the Rams having to put Puka Nakua on. I are 49ers winning convincingly on Monday night football over the jets last night. as well as the Rams having to put Puka Nakua on IR. 49ers winning convincingly on Monday Night Football over the Jets last night in our Week 1 Top 3, Bottom 3,

along with the Cowboys extending Dak Prescott before their beatdown over the Browns. You are listening to the Bumble Rooski Podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides.

You're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast, powered by Secret Weapon Consulting and Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm not even reading the script right now. I don't even know if I got that one right. But week one of the NFL season has come to an end. And thank God football is officially back. And we had a lot of really good games to really talk about in this one. Chris Gostich, CJ Medeiros, and Isaiah Likely's biggest hater,

Justin Tucker. Why is he your biggest hater? Who put that? Who put that? I need to start reading these things. I need to start reading these things. Who fixed that? Oh, man.

That's pretty crazy. He had an amazing game besides his toe being on the line i don't hate him for that i wouldn't be in position without him that's crazy we got a good one lined up for you we'll start with friday night's game uh philadelphia eagles winning in brazil over the packers in a pretty tight contest throughout the game. And a very good one, winning 34-29. And this one was kind of a shaky start for the Eagles. As Jalen Hurts had two interceptions in the first half, along with a fumble. Or he actually had two fumbles total, one of them being lost.

And kind of a shaky start, but he was able to get back into rhythm again ended up going 20 for 34 two touchdowns 278 yards with the two interceptions but the real story though Saquon Barkley in his Philly debut 24 carries 109 yards two rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown. And if you're a Saquon fantasy owner on Friday night like myself, you were chomping at the bits. That's for sure. But we'll start with the Eagles side, fellas. What are we thinking on the Eagles side? There's definitely a great week one win. There's definitely a little bit of shaky stuff going on still, but in terms of going in the right direction, especially with how Philadelphia wanted Nick Sirianni's head on a stick,

it's definitely going in the right direction. Topp, we'll start with you. Yeah. After looking at the game, of course, there's some things that they need to work on more specifically the turnovers but overall they went through some adversity which is what you want to see and then coming out on top of it all shows you the type of teams that they have and overall this is the type of stuff that they were struggling with last year so now that they've gotten over this hump towards the rest of the season i think they're going to be pretty big contenders jalen hurts did look shaky but he was able to get it going late in the in the second half saquon

barkley looked like the new york giants saquon barkley of his rookie season oh i wish i got him in fantasy overall i I like this team. I think they're going to fix some of their issues, and I think they're going to be a playoff team. I think they will win the NFC East if they look better than what they did, if they continue to get better. CJ, what say you? The Eagles, I'm just – you got to marvel at the way they were able, as Tuck mentioned, to overcome adversity.

And in a lot of these games, it's not necessarily how you start. It's how you finish. And, yeah, there were some struggles early on. The Packers got theirs. But when the time came to put the clamps on, Billy was able to start locking things up in the fourth quarter. Jalen Hurts lost a fumble through two picks, but he also had 278 yards through the air and two touchdowns as well. And for me, it's the Eagles defense that made the difference, because I don't know if you saw, but there's one player that I'm particularly impressed with, Zach Bond, the linebacker. That man was everywhere last night, 11 tackles and two sacks,

you know, you had safety read Blankenship with a pick, and Quinion Mitchell, the rookie out of Toledo, locked up literally everybody he was on. Like, none of the Packers receivers, you know, could get any separation when he was there. So that, if you're an Eagles fan, is an incredibly good sign, showing that your personnel on defense wasn't the problem. It was your old defensive coordinator. And especially late in the game when they really clutched up, I could tell you that really made a world of difference.

And, of course, Saquon Barkley getting over a buck on the ground and receiving touchdowns as well, getting that three-touchdown hat trick. Oh, man, Oh, man. That is great for Philly, especially since you're going to be in a tough competition with the Dallas Cowboys for divisional supremacy this year. Yeah, they're definitely going to be in it with the Cowboys at this point, especially seeing the way that they played today.

And they got the Falcons on Monday night at home. So that's going to be another good one. Another good test as the Falcons have a pretty good defense. Their offense is a little shaky right now. So we'll see how the Eagles end up playing against the Falcons. Looking at the Packers side, though, they played a very good game. And, CJ, you mentioned it best. The Eagles were really swarming around the Green Bay receivers,

and that showed in Jordan Love's passing total. Ended up going 17 for 34 with the interception. Two touchdown passes as well. One to Jaden Reed and one to Christian Watson. Jaden Reed had a pretty good game four catches 138 yards and that one touchdown uh josh jacobs his green bay debut pretty solid day for him on the ground 16 carries 84 yards but the big thing here for the packers jordan love now being out uh not going to be placed on IR.

And it's seeming right now he will end up missing next week with the knee injury that he has. I'm pretty sure they were saying it was a sprained MCL, which was great to see, especially with the way he kind of got twisted up on the third-to-last play of the game, I should say, before Malik Willis came in to try to end up winning for the Packers, but couldn't even get the Hail Mary off. So we'll see how Malik Willis does next week. But I don't know, if you're Green Bay, are you panicking right now, especially when early in the season you got your star quarterback, Jordan Love, going down with an injury? If I'm Green Bay, I'm worried, but I'm concerned to a certain degree

because their next few games, they have Tennessee. First they have Indianapolis, then they have Tennessee, and then they have the Vikings. I could see them going 1- three, potentially two and two. If they go one and three, yes, it would be cause for concern because you don't want to start your quarterback off in a really bad spot in a hole. But if they're able to maintain, if they're able to overcome some of these other teams, like I'm not sure if Minnesota is what they've shown me. And I do think they can beat Tennessee and we'll just have to see about Indianapolis if they're able to maintain I don't see it as too much as a problem I think Green Bay is good enough to win these games but without

Jordan Love they're gonna have to rely more on Josh Jacobs and I'm not sure they can get away with that with some of these teams, especially when you look at Tennessee and the way they played the Bears, that's a very stifling defense to say the least. Minnesota, I mean, they play the Giants, so that could go either way in terms of how you see the running game and a divisional matchup too. And the Colts could also kind of go either way.

Colts do have a pretty solid defense in general, but to your point, Tuck, it's probably going to end up being 50-50 on how they end up playing with Malik Willis and if they can rely on Josh Jacobs, assuming that Jordan Love is out for the rest of the month of September. Because if he was on IR, he'd be out at least four weeks

and he did not get placed on IR. CJ, your thoughts? Yes, the Titans should be panicking. And look, I'm not going to lie to you. I mean, the Packers? Yeah, that's what I meant. And the only reason I said Titans is because Malik Willis, former Titan, and they're also talking to former Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill as well.

So, yeah, sorry for misspeaking, but the Packers should be panicking. They should be. Your backup quarterback is Will Levis. He's not even one of those backups that can start in a pinch. He should not be starting. He shouldn't. I mean, there's a reason that Green Bay is talking to Ryan Tannehill. And here's something, with all due respect, that you guys neglected to mention.

He has a sprained MCL, which is at minimum four weeks injury, possibly six. So forget the Colts, which that's going to be a game. Titans could go either way, especially with Levis. And, you know, you got Levis and Willis having a tickle fight. And then Vikings Packers, which on paper should be the Packers, but we all know how these divisional games go. So let's just say it's a bare minimum four. What comes after that Vikings game? The Rams. That does not inspire confidence. So I'm hearing a four-week minimum, but what if it's the max?

What if it's worst case scenario? If he's out six weeks, then you've got the Cardinals, who they're not terrifying, but they are when you have Malik Willis as your starting quarterback. And they took Buffalo down to the wire. And then what's game number six? Houston. So let's just say their worst nightmares realized. Nightmare scenario, and he's out for six weeks. There's a very real chance you only win one game.

Because with Malik Willis as their starting quarterback, I would outright favor Indy, I would outright favor LA, and I would outright favor Houston. The Titans, like I said, that's a toss-up because Will Levis is something. Vikings, I would lean towards the Packers, once again, divisional, and I might even be leaning toward the Cardinals too. But if it's four weeks, even still, they better sign Tannehill or someone else in free agency because if Malik Willis is suiting up to be your guy week one, you know, I don't even have a funny quip for that. You're just screwed. I wouldn't outright say the Rams beat the Packers more

because, which we'll get into later, Pook and Nakua's injured. So I wouldn't say they the Rams beat the Packers more because, which we'll get into later, Pukunuku is injured. So I wouldn't say they just outright smoke them. Okay, yeah. No, Pukunuku is injured. But you want to know who's injured? But do you want to know who's not injured? Matt Stafford, Kyron Williams, Cooper Cupp. You know, literally everybody else.

And you know who's injured for Green Bay? The starting quarterback. I rest my case. And furthermore, just for kicks and giggles, I went in and I looked at Malik Willis' career stats. Not good. He's never thrown a touchdown pass. I rest my case.

I will say, looking at the article ESPN put out from yesterday, according to Matt LaFleur, they're not, there is no plans to sign a veteran quarterback from the outside right now. So it looks like it's either going to be Malik Willis or Sean Clifford, who was the backup quarterback last year and currently on the practice squad. So they might end up pulling him up if need be, or they will end up pulling him up. But LaFleur also didn't technically rule Love out for this week.

Love definitely won't be ready to go so it sounds like that signs are saying that this brain mcl is more on the lower end it sounds like at least that's what matt lafleur is kind of intending for this to be right now so we might end up seeing j Love come in beginning of October for... I'm looking at the wrong schedule now. For the beginning of October against the... I lost it. Wow. The Rams?

Yeah, the Rams. Yeah, the Rams. So I think that if they can at least get through the rest of September, they should be fine. But I don't like CJ said, if anything, they come away with one win and I could see that one win being against the Vikings. Cause it's an NFC North rivalry. Anything can happen.

I can see them against the Titans. Titans didn't look that good on offense against the Bears. No. Any other thoughts? Sorry, Tuck. No, you're fine. Any other thoughts before we move on? No.

No. When we come back, we'll go through the Ruski game of the week. Lions and the Rams. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie.

Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast, sponsored by Power 88 Dean Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting, Chris Kostich, CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker. The Rooski Game of the Week, Lions and the Rams, and we picked a good one for Game of the Week, to say the least, compared to America's Game of the Week, which was the Cowboys and the Browns. We least, uh, compared to America's game of the week, which was the Cowboys and the Browns.

We said, Nope, that's not our game of the week. That's not ours. This is our game of the week. And this sucker went to OT lions beating the Rams and OT Rams losing Puka Nakua, as Tuck had mentioned in our prior,

uh, prior segment, when talking about the Packers and the Eagles. And this was a real back and forth, slug it out type of game between both sides. And boy, the Rams really took it to the lines in this one. And this was pretty much a very tight game the entire way. I think everyone knew this was going to be a in this one. And this was pretty much a very tight game the entire way. I think everyone knew this was going to be a really good one. David Montgomery stole the show, surprisingly, over Jameer Gibbs. 17 carries, 91 yards.

And the walk-off touchdown, Jared Goff, wasn't his greatest game. 18 for 28, touchdown, interception, 217 yards on that side. Jameson Williams, before the season, he said he wanted to lead the league in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. And so far, he's kind of on that track, 121 yards receiving with one touchdown and the lions and ot game plan run through a mother figure's face that's for sure that that was the whole game plan i don't think they threw the ball once in overtime and it worked and this kind of just we kind of figured that the lions were going to continue the momentum from last season, and so far, so far, so good. I think that one thing, though, is that the defense is still a little bit shaky at some points.

Tuck, what are your thoughts? I thought the game was very good. Jared Goff, not his best game, but not bad considering the rest of the NFL. I thought he played pretty average. Not bad, not good, just kind of in the middle. David Montgomery showed up to play, scored that game-winning touchdown in overtime. Overall, I like the Lions going forward. It sucks that Puka Nakua got injured for the Rams,

but I think the Lions are still a threat in the NFC overall. CJ? This was an interesting game. I mean, when you look at the team stats, you could say they were evenly matched. Rams, 387 total yards, Lions, 363. Not even a yard apart, separating them with yards per play. First downs, pretty close. Third downs, pretty close. Total plays, Rams had a few more. I mean, both had an equal

mass sacks allowed. Both teams threw a pick. But at the end of the day, this just came down to, I think, the better team won. And we all knew the better team was the Lions. In fact, I picked the Lions to win. Chris, did you? And did Adam? I picked the Rams to win, actually. Oh, believe me.

We forgive you. But for the Lions, there's a lot to like. So the committee with Montgomery and Gibbs is alive and well. And Jamison Williams finally bursting onto the scene. And even though Amon Rodden didn't have a good game, it's nice that, you know, Williams can take some of the burden off him. And Sam Laporta had four catches as well. And Gibbs had four catches out of the backfield. You love to see it. But for the Rams, losing Kuka's going to hurt. On the bright side, Cooper Cupp is still there.

Tyler Johnson looks solid. Colby Parkinson looks solid. Demarcus Robinson shipped in as well. So you can't hate it also by also jared verse looked good you know byron young picked up where he left off so losing puka sucks but not all is lost and you should be able to compete within the division i mean obviously the niners are clear favorites in the nC West. But for the Rams, I would just say you just got to take it week by week. I mean, I know, duh, but you got the Cardinals next. You should be favored in that, but, you know, it's not a gimme.

But we're going to find out what kind of team the Rams are in these next few games. Because after the Cardinals game, then they got the Niners, but then they get the Bears, and then the Packers, who may or may not have Jordan Love, and then the Raiders. So you should try to aim for at least three wins in the next five, and it's very doable. But like I said, we're going to find out in the coming weeks

what kind of team we're dealing with. Because if they can only scrape out one or two wins in the next five, then our opinion on them might change. No, I'd agree with that. And it's funny that we mentioned all these guys that ended up stepping up i texted my friends right after pookie got hurt and it was like the third quarter and cup already had like seven or eight receptions i was like at this rate cups gonna end up getting probably 15 catches because they're just trying to force feed him the ball and he

ended up having 21 targets 14 14 catches, 110 yards. And last night definitely was an indicator that this Rams team should be fine without Puka. And especially with guys like Tyler Johnson, Colby Parkinson, and Demarcus Robinson stepping up in the way that they did. All of them ended up with at least four catches and hauling in the majority of the targets that were thrown to them as well. So I think that they should be in a pretty good spot in the coming weeks. I think the problem is that how long can you go with just trying to hammer away at Cooper Cup before it kind of dies out? They might have to start really hammering down on the running game.

Maybe get Kyron Williams at least 20 carries a game. He ended up having 18 carries on Sunday night. But the run game wasn't as much there as you would probably hope it would be. Granted, they wasn't a big focus. They threw the ball 49 times but just kind of goes to show that maybe maybe need to kind of switch it up a little bit however they did end up taking the ramps to ot or lines to ot my problem is going to be their defense at this rate and how long they can go.

Cause you look at that overtime game, that defense was gassed and Sean McVay had to call timeout to kind of save his defense. And it didn't really help because he called the timeout when they were already on the one yard line. So I think that the problem with the Rams going forward is how well they can go deep into games. That's fair, but at the same time, it is the first week of the season,

and they did hold them to 20 points until it got into overtime. So it's not like they were just getting blown off the field. It was like they played good enough to win that game in my eyes. If you told me you held the Lions to 20 points, I'm like, that's a wonderful game. That is a very wonderful game. It's just that both teams got held to 20 and won until OT. And it just so happens, whatchamacallit, someone got a sack to put the game into OT. Why am I forgetting his name?

Are you thinking of, was it Vers or Young? It wasn't Young. Might have been Vers. I'm pretty sure the Lions were the one that sent it into overtime. No, the Rams tied it, I'm pretty sure. Tied it? Yeah. I know they tied it, but I thought the Rams had the, I'm pretty sure. Tied it? Yeah. I know they tied it, but I thought the Rams had the ball to try to score,

but then they got stuck. Oh, yeah, it was – yeah, no, you're right. The Rams scored a touchdown in the fourth, and then – They got the ball back in the second left. And then a couple possessions, a couple punts went by. Lions went down to score. So, yeah, you're right. It was –

Aiden Hutchinson made the sack to send the game into overtime. That's right. So, all in all, I think it was a very good game, even though it kind of just stalled out after 20 points, and then it took a Herculean effort on the line side to finally get the victory. But yeah, I'd be gassed too if I had to play the entire overtime setting and hold the team within 20. But it's week one. I think they're going to progress better. And if they start off like so, say if they start off two and four, I'm not too worried about the Rams because we have

seen them come back and still make the playoffs with that type of record like last year they didn't start off so hot but they got hot as the season progressed so I'm not too worried about the Rams I am concerned but I'm not too worried about them as far as like record wise because I can see them coming back and still being a threat to the NMC I talk I think you do make a good point, especially in that the end of the game because you look at, because the Lions had the ball late in the game. They go down. They tie it up with 17

seconds left, and then all of a sudden, the Lions are back on the field. So, you're essentially looking at 17 straight plays that the Rams defense had to be out on the field at the end of the game without. I mean, the only break they really got was the 17 seconds that the Rams offense was on the field, plus the five minutes in between the fourth quarter and overtime. And that's really it.

And then obviously the Lions just shoving the ball down their throat. Yeah. For the Rams, I remember I was talking to a friend and he said, you know, this is just food for thought, not my thoughts, but especially when the Lions are running the ball down your throat maybe having a certain aaron donald would have helped but yeah he's retired yes yes that that's kind of the point but the thing is you gotta wonder what the defense is gonna look like in the post aaron donald days i mean it looked good but then when it became a war of attrition,

they folded. And it's just something you've got to adjust for next week, and you better hope that someone like Braden Fisk develops sooner rather than later. Agreed. Any final thoughts on our Ruski game of the week? No.

It's more or less how we predicted, no. Yeah. Am I right? right well maybe not chris but yeah i did predict the rams i mean you never know sometimes we get that little revenge game staffer comes back to detroit after losing in detroit and gets the win and i was almost right you got to give me that credit i was almost right almost they had to leave yeah i mean yeah you were almost right and if uh isaiah likely was one shoe size i can't with you we're gonna get we're gonna get into our monday night game the 49ers and the jets niners with a pretty convincing win on Monday Night Football.

They beat the breaks off the Jets, to say the least. It wasn't that close of a game until the final score came out. 32-19 the final. Wasn't a big Brock Purdy game. The star of the show, Jordan Mason.

28 carries, 147 yards and a touchdown in a sub effort for Christian McCaffrey, who is a very, very late inactive. What, he got ruled inactive at like 5 o'clock last night. And that screwed over a lot of people in fantasy, to say the least. I had a buddy that I was with him right before the game, and he was like, yeah, you know, McCaffrey is going to have a good night, probably about 18 points.

I'll end up getting the win. Leave his place, gets my girlfriends, McCaffrey's out. Tough. That's the way life goes sometimes. But, hey, Jordan Mason stepped up, though. Brock Purdy didn't have to do too much. 19 for 29, 231 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. Wasn't a big game in the air.

No one exactly on the receiving end kind of stood out. Jawan Jennings, the Niners' number three guy, five catches, 64 yards, though. Pretty solid day for him. Debo with a rushing touchdown. But in terms of the Jets, this is kind of what we were expecting, that the 49ers were going to end up winning this game. But I didn't think it would be as dominating as the way that it made it seem. Looking back at the game when starting off in the first quarter, I thought, okay, this

could be a potential back and forth game. I saw that the first drive, the Packers were kind of driving and then Aaron Lazar dropped that pass. Then the 49ers get the ball. Then they score a field goal. Jets fumble. 49ers score again. And then the Jets scored a touchdown.

I'm like, okay, this could be something. Then the problem started on the defense. They couldn't stop the run. And if you can't stop the run, you're not going to be able to beat the 49ers. And I think that was the major difference between the games yesterday. The 49ers just could run the ball on the Jets, and the Jets could not stop it. Jordan Mason had a day yesterday running between those tackles, and for the life of them, the Jets could not stop it, which I found surprising considering how good that Jets defense was. So I don't know. 49ers still look like the 49ers. The Jets still have some work to do.

The offense, I feel, needs a little bit tweaking, but there's still some potential there. It's just that that defense needs to learn how to stop the run a bit more. And I thought Sauce Gardner was injured. Thankfully, he wasn't. Thankfully, C.J. Mosley obviously isn't either, but I need that defense to step up a little bit more. The Jets are going to make the playoffs. C.J.? First and foremost, I'd like to say you might be entitled to financial compensation if you got screwed over like I did with Christian McCaffrey.

Because, you know, in leagues, it's too late to pick anyone up and there's nothing left to do but sit there and take it. So that sucked. But for the Jets, first and foremost, what the hell happened to Sauce Gardner? No, seriously, what was that and tuck mentioned it's not a medical thing and that's all well and good but that does beg a serious question huh what what what happened they benched him essentially i mean he was there for like the final two plays. And according to Sauce, he said, and I quote, I had the wind knocked out of me. But it looks like he was benched. And I just, I don't understand.

I mean, do they win if he's in the game? Probably not. But still, I just, it was just very head-scratching you know what i mean and i just i i don't know i mean the jets didn't wow me for all the hype and hullabaloo that we were subjected to this offseason about aaron rogers coming back they opened with a thud you know breese hall averaging 3.4 yards a game, you know, touchdown. Alan Lazard being their best receiver, while Garrett Wilson was force-fed the ball and still only got 60 yards.

I just, I don't know. I was just very underwhelmed. And obviously I think they can change that. You know, the Niners are just obviously the better team. But on the flip side these are the teams you have to beat right because the jets fancy themselves contenders and the 49ers were just in the super bowl and they're looking to get back and you know for like i said for all the hype we were subjected to just feels like kind of a letdown. And the ironic thing is that when we put out our takes on our Instagram page,

some Jets fans voiced their discontent with the fact that we picked the 49ers to win. And to you Jets fans, I say, this is why. This is why I said I'm not particularly scared of them. Someone even asked if I was smoking crack. No, no, I am not smoking crack. But after benching Sauce Gardner, Robert Sala might be. We don't know why he did that. No, seriously, that is the million dollar question isn't it why like that's my big takeaway is just huh why'd you do that Robert an explanation would be nice but alas we we will not get any such explanation unfortunately not and sauce said that he got the wind knocked out of him, got back in the game for a little bit.

I think this game was a culmination of all the drama that was built around this team with Rodgers, Ahsan Reddick. I think the problem is that you have so much drama in one organization going into a season, and especially for a team that is not proven. And it showed. It showed here last night. And I think this is going to be kind of a theme throughout the season for the Jets

is just this ongoing drama that's going to be overshadowing the team all season long. I mean, if they can get the Hassan Redick stuff figured out, then maybe they'll be fine. But it even goes back with even last year with Aaron Rodgers. You know, the whole thing with him tearing his Achilles, he might be back. He might not be back. And then you come to this year he's missing otas robert solace saying it's not an excused absence and then this whole thing with the work with upper management not paying us on reddick and the broadcast last night was all over the son reddick

thing as well you could tell like they would have loved to have Ahsan Redick not let Jordan Mason run 147 yards on them last night. They gave up almost 200 yards rushing in total. I think this was kind of a theme for a lot of teams in the league on week one. And one of them is going to be in our bottom three. I can tell you that much. I think it's just a culmination of everything that this summer has brought us in terms of from the Jets' standpoint. And Monday night was showcased a lot,

and it's going to be showcased the rest of the year. Yeah, and they need to hurry up and pay Hassan Reddick showcased it a lot and it's going to be showcased the rest of the year. Yeah. And they need to hurry up and pay us on Reddit. Cause why would you pray for him and not pay him? Hey, you know what he's looking for and you know, he's on the last deal of his car, his last year of his contract.

Just pay the man and hurry this up. Cause you saw what happens if you don't pay him. Yep. Yep. Any final thoughts before we go to break no brian and naive needs to step it up but that's about it yeah that's that's about it when we come back week one top three bottom three you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast it may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns.

Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast, sponsored by Powerade Dean Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. Chris Kostich, Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros. It's time for the week one. Top three, bottom three.

We'll start with our top three. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a very, very nice win against the Washington Commanders. And Baker Mayfield, four touchdowns in the game. Chris Godwin with a receiving touchdown. Mike Evans with two receiving touchdowns. This was an all-around very good win for the Buccaneers. They were able to shut down Jaden Daniels, at least for the most part, through the air. They did allow two touchdowns to him but

other than that i think this was a good good win for the bucks a good building stone for them and it's what they need it's what they need especially building off of what what what was of last year losing to the lions in the divisional round and last year being a season where no one really thought they were going to make a big playoff run, and they kind of did, obviously not making the NFC Championship. And this is a good building stone to that. Number two. How about this?

Well, let's get everyone's thoughts, and then we'll move on to the next team. As far as the Buc bucks are concerned i expected them to win based upon what they did last year they should be able to win games like this because they were a playoff team and they did win in the playoffs against a fumbling eagles team but they still won regardless so these are the type of games i expect them to win going forward with baker as their quarterback. Agreed. Yeah, I agree with Justin.

So for those who don't know, their next game is the Lions. And obviously most people favor the Lions, and rightfully so. But if you can keep it within a score, maybe not win but lose respectably, they might be able to make some noise again in the postseason. But if it's a blowout, yeah, it might be a little concerning. Yeah, I'm kind of just hoping in terms of for the Bucs, my thing with the Bucs the rest of the season going is that their season last year was so up and down. Like they would blow the brakes off of one team and then just look dead in another, like the next week. So I'm kind of hoping that it's more consistent for the Bucs.

And I think the Detroit game is going to be a kind of a telltale sign of what to expect from the Bucs this year. Moving on to our next team in our top three, the Houston Texans. C.J. Stroud with two touchdowns, 234 yards, 24 for 32 passing, which is extremely good. But Joe Mixon, he's still good, folks. He is still good. 30 carries, 159 yards, one touchdown, five yards per carry. Nico Collins, six catches, 117 yards.

And if you can get a really good win against a divisional opponent especially against a colts team that's going to really be competitive this year and especially with the way with anthony richardson played making the throws he was making i think that the texans are going to be in a spot, and we all know that they're going to be in a good spot. Majority of people are going to have them in their AFC championship game. I know I do. And they got another tough game against the Chicago Bears next Sunday night. So that's going to be a fun game to watch right there. Our third –

Thoughts from the peanut gallery. I thought it was a great game from the Houston Texans considering that this is a divisional game and Colts came and played better than what I was expecting. And Anthony Richardson, if he continues to play like this, the Colts are a playoff team. I don't care what anybody was expecting. And Anthony Richardson, if he continues to play like this, the Colts are a playoff team. I don't care what anybody tells me. That's a playoff team if Anthony Richardson can keep it together.

So all in all, that was a great victory for them, and I want to see them continue this momentum going forward. Yeah. Now the thing with Houston is that, well, the scoreboard was close. You really have to commend how they conducted themselves. It was a tight game, a divisional game, but Houston still pulled it out. They had over 100 more total yards on the day, but they averaged less yards a play. They had the same third down efficiency as Indy did.

They allowed more sacks. They gave up more penalty yards. But what impressed me was just the precision and maturity. They dominated time of possession, and they were able to keep mistakes to a minimum. And if you can do that in a divisional game, that's, I could be the limit for him. Yeah. And I think the play of the game for the Texans going forward on fourth and goal from the Indianapolis two, and a lot of people would usually just kick the field goal, get yourself up by five and go from there, but they, they want to really give it to the Colts, and they got that touchdown to extend the lead to nine.

Very ballsy play from D'Amico Ryans, especially from a defensive head coach. And seeing that one other defensive head coach went the conservative route in a different game and ended up kicking him back in the face, I'd say that's a pretty damn stand-up job. Our final team in the top three, the Dallas Cowboys, an absolute whomping of the Cleveland Browns. And this is coming, 33-17 in the final score,

and this is coming off of a Dak Prescott contract extension, which we'll get to in a moment. And it wasn't even like Dak had the greatest game in the world. 19 for 32, 179 yards, a touchdown. It was the defense that really stepped up to the plate. Six sacks total for this Dallas defense, along with two interceptions on Deshaun Watson. And we can have a conversation about Deshaun Watson after this as well later on

when we go into our honorable mentions of the bottom three. But Cowboys stepped up, and we can talk a little bit about the extension. I think Cowboys extending Dak Prescott right before the game, and I think this is a fun little kind of jab at the Browns, too, at the same time because Cowboys extending their quarterback who isn't on rape charges, and obviously it's debatable if Dak Prescott is worthy of being one of the highest, of earning 60 mil a year. But looking at what the Browns are paying him, I think it's a pretty good, fair price to pay Dak Prescott.

And it's kind of just like shoving the knife right in the Browns, twisting a little bit, and then twisting it even more with this win. First and foremost, congratulations to the Dallas Cowboys. They showed up to play yesterday, especially on the defensive side of the ball. As it pertains to Dak Prescott and that contract being paid more than Deshaun Watson, I don't want to hear any more excuses about the weapons around you, about your team success. I don't want to hear it because when you're getting paid that type of money, you're that guy.

And if you believe Dak Prescott is that guy, then he needs to perform like that every Sunday. Because if you lose, they're not going to look at everyone else. They're going to look at that franchise-changing quarterback because he's making franchise-changing money. So when it pertains to that contract, I'm not going to say he's not deserving of it, but if you're going to get paid that money, you better deliver because they need a Super Bowl now.

There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Yeah. The Cowboys weren't lashy, but they still got it done. And correct me if I'm wrong, but Cleveland had one of the better defenses. I think the number one scoring defense last year. And the fact that even though Dak didn't wow anyone, but they still put up 33 points on the Browns, that's good. And this also says a lot about the Browns. They also fancy themselves contenders. You know, they got Jerry Judy. They, you know, they've been drafting pretty well as of late. You know, they gave a big contract to Diddy Watson but unfortunately you know you went 2 of 15 on third down you gave up six sacks and you threw two picks

I just once again you could make either case that Dallas won and that Cleveland lost but overall this is the type of game that you've got to win if you're Dallas and I think rightfully so all eyes are going to be on them as they are going to be in a tough divisional battle with the Eagles and up next they got the Saints and hopefully they won't be put on upset alert because we just saw what the Saints did to the Panthers but again that's the Panthers but more on that in a bit all right we'll move on to our bottom three uh segment here uh first team on the list the Giants and never mind the way that they ended up losing to the Vikings uh on Sunday but you also look at the way that Saquon performed um you also look at the way that Saquon performed. You also look at the way Saquon performed on Friday night,

and it makes you wonder why Daniel Jones was given all this money and they didn't give anything to Saquon. It's pretty insane. Daniel Jones with two interceptions and after the game getting ridiculed by fans outside the fans literally waiting outside the stadium hours after the game ended just to give it to Daniel

Jones. And on top of that, you also have the offseason hard knocks that came out right before training camp and the owner of the Giants saying if they lose Saquon he's going to lose sleep over it this and that it makes you wonder why the Giants even had the hard knocks to begin with during the offseason because everything's kind of just culminating

together and they look terrible they look bad they make Sam D donald look like a confident starter they make him look like a pro bowler in the way he was performing oh yeah that's that's bad the giants need to fix it because obviously they have a supreme wide receiver talent in the league neighbors who wasn't getting the ball as much as he should have but more on that that for another day. I think Danny Jones and Brian Dable need to fix this. Otherwise, this is just going to get worse, and I can't be completely reliant on the Giants' defense. That just can't happen in today's modern day. They just can't. Yeah.

Every day, Giants fans have to wake up and question why they paid Daniel Jones instead of Saquon Barkley. And I know how the market is. I know you don't pay running backs, but would you rather pay a running back or would

you rather pay Danny Derps there? No. Why would you do that? Now, and by the way, the name Danny Dimes is going into retirement effective immediately. Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That made us throw dimes. He throws ducks. Furthermore, I will give them credit for one thing. Malik neighbors look solid, you know, five catches, 66 yards.

But then again, Daniel Jones is literally a handicap to this team. And my favorite Daniel Jones stat is that since signing his extension, he has thrown more, as it sits right now, here on September 10th of 2024, he has thrown more touchdowns to the opposing team rather than his own. Just why? What are they thinking? Here's the thing. I think Brian D'Abel is a good coach.

I think they have some good pieces. Just Danny Ducks is just abysmal and but then again forget the good pieces on defense because sam darnold looked reasonable against you just i don't know what the answer is but i know where it starts and that is taking daniel jones and just chucking him by the seat of his pants out of MetLife. I'll never forget the Vikings to losing to Danny Dimes in the playoffs. I'll never forget that. That brings – also want to mention Vikings are our honorable mention for the top three for this week.

But another stat to throw out there, Daniel Jones sacked five times. So you could say it's not all on Daniel. Most, I would say 90% of it is on Daniel Jones. And obviously kind of the offensive line picking up where they left off from last year, allowing the most sacks in the league. And Daniel Jones, the only reason why the Giants aren't leading the league in sacks allowed through week one, they're actually number two behind Deshaun Watson and the Browns offensive line. And to the Browns offensive line, they were also missing two or three of their starters.

So that's whatever. Moving on to our next team on the bottom three, the Carolina Panthers. Two plays or three plays that I would point out that kind of sums up this game never mind them losing uh 47 to 10 against the saints um and making Derek Carr look like a pro bowler again uh Bryce Young throwing an interception on his first play or on the first pass uh also getting sacked by his own lineman uh he had he was 0 for 1 one interception, no yards, going into the second quarter. Third play that I would like to point out is Alvin Kamara's rush,

second and third quarter. I'm not going to try to guess it off the top of my head, but run to the outside, and three Carolina Panthers players tripped over their teammates' feet to try to tackle Kamara. It wasn't even like Kamara juked him out of their shoes. They tripped over their own feet trying to tackle him, and it was three Panthers players falling simultaneously

as Kamara kind of easily made his way to the goal line. That's all I really have there. Panthers don't look any better than than they might look worse than last year. Yep. Cause at least last year they gave the Packers a run for their money this year. I don't even think they would give the Browns a run for their money. I don't know what's up with them.

Bryce Young doesn't, doesn't look like he's progressed from what he did last year. And I'm not sure if it's him or the coaching that's surrounding him because he's not supposed to look this bad. They need to get him some help. And I thought Xavier Leggett was going to be that help, but they need to do more for him. They need to actually come up with a scheme to actually help him get some

easy rhythm passes to help him get out of some trouble. And it doesn't feel like they're doing that right now yeah i mean at least on offense on paper they got better i mean they drafted well you know they got an offensive minded head coach they you know i said they drafted xavier weggett they drafted sanders at texas i think they also drafted the other texas running back jonathan brooks and you know they grabbed and they trade for deontay johnson like on paper they got better it's just is it of jordan love i mean not why do i say that bryce young weird but yeah i don't know is it a is it a bryce young thing like what's it gonna? Like, what's it going to take?

No, literally, what's it going to take for the Panthers to turn it around? And let's just say there is an answer, right? Let's just say there's a clear-cut answer for the Panthers to turn it around. My question to you, the viewer, is even if there was, and there was an obvious answer that was staring us in the face, do you trust David Tepper to do it? No. No. Yeah. And at least like in my eyes, I would have expected Bryce Young to do better or at least look better because, I mean, the way that they were playing with him in the preseason, they were actually using him the way that he should be used.

But it seems that even if you try to work the play calling around Bryce Young's strengths, it's still not really enough. And it just seems like that they're going to have to go back to last year where you kind of hope that Bryce young flashes a little bit. I mean, he threw under 50%, like, holy hell.

And they're going to have to start just force feeding out of feeling like they did last year and just get them 15 targets and just hope for the best. That's all it is. Um, final team on the bottom three, the Bengals. Oh, man. The Bengals. The Bungles really bungled this one up, to say the least.

Jacoby Brissett on the Patriots side did enough to get his team to win. Trent Brown looked like a turnstile against keon white joe burrow threw the ball pretty well 21 for 29 didn't didn't go over 200 yards uh the run game wasn't necessarily there uh the run defense for cincy bled up 170 yards. Mondre, 25 carries, 120 yards. The run game for the Bengals was just non-existent. Jamar Chase ended up with six catches, 62 yards, but Christian Gonzalez just shut him down for the majority. And this is a team that also just could not hold on to the football.

Three fumbles, two lost. Joe Burrow fumbled the ball on the second play of the game. And you also have Jamar Chase. Contract hold in, even though he has two years left on his contract. Suck it up. Play this year and act like a bitch next year. He's not going to do that. He's not going to do that. He's not going to do that.

You know, and this whole week we thought that it was going to be T. Higgins that was going to play and not Jamar Chase, and then all of a sudden flip, flip the switch. T. Higgins is out and Jamar Chase is in. And this is kind of going back to what I was saying about the Jets.

Too much drama this entire offseason, this entire week, and it overshadows this week one game and a game that they should have won eight point eight and a half point favorites against the Patriots and they lose by six in a defensive slugfest. Not even to say that the Pats offense looked amazing or anything like that, but boy, they looked a hell of a lot better than what the Bengals looked like. That's just me.

I don't know what y'all talking about. They look fantastic to me. They look amazing to me. Hey, keep playing like that. Joey Burrow, keep throwing the ball like that. That's what I like to see. Jamar Chase, keep running those routes like that. Hey, Bengals defense, keep playing defense like that. That's what I like to see. Jamar Chase, keep running those routes like that. Hey, Bengals defense, keep playing defense like that. That run game, oh, please keep having that

run game. This is fantastic for me as a Ravens fan. I like it. They can keep playing like that all season, and you won't hear any complaints out of me. Let's go. That's fantastic right there, but on a serious note, on a serious serious note i don't know what's going on with jamar chasing joey joe burrow i thought he would get more more targets and more catches because he's the number one and he's looking to get paid so i expected more out of him but they just couldn't get anything going all again joe joe burrow surprisingly under 200 yards, shouldn't happen. But then again, he didn't have much of a running game. So it's kind of hard to get anything going without any running game.

That Bengals defense couldn't stop the Patriots running attack, couldn't stop it to save their lives. They were in that game throughout the entire game. They just couldn't stop the run to save their life. Ramondre Stevenson getting over 100 100 plus yards like that I was like there he is moving the ball at will against them and they can't stop him There were times when he was running to the right and people were there They just couldn't wrap him up and take him down and he just kept going forward and forward and kept getting first downs It's like they didn't they didn't come to play

And then before before our tuck way are you still going no you can go oh before cj has his take real quick uh kind of based off of what tuck was saying with the bangles just not being able to tackle of the rushing yards that Ramondre had. So he had 120 yards. 118 of them were after contact. 118. Goes to show this Bengals team could not tackle. They literally had Ramondre Stevenson in the backfield

for a loss of three, and he would turn it into a gain of three afterwards it was insane they left their arms in cincinnati i don't know what to tell you yeah it was a close game i'll give the bangles that any tuck mentioned how they were always in the game but for those of us who watched it i pose pose you a question. At any point, would you say that the Bengals were in control of the game? No. They weren't. And literally from the word go, they were playing ball New England's way.

New England literally twisted them into doing what they wanted. And Joe Burrow, you know, 21-29, that's good. But if you're a box score watcher, that's fine. However, if you watch the game, you'll notice something. New England starved the Bengals of explosive plays. Jamar Chase got locked up by Gonzalez. They could not take the top off the field the bangles were forced into dinks and dunks and as soon as they dumped off the ball like it happened on fourth

and two they got to andre joseph us and immediately tackled see new england actually you know knew how to tackle and for pat's defense no judah no problem Keon White with two and a half sacks and and it's just the Bengals what happened literally and I know they didn't have T Higgins but Chase still just did nothing and I think also another reason for that is he's a holdman. And I think there's a debate to be had. Is he in actual starting football shape? Like, obviously, he can go out and play. That's just God-given talent.

But is the conditioning there? Because, you know, he was on a snap count. And who could forget what happened to the tight end? Mike Kosicki forgot how to catch. Tanner Hudson, the other tight end, forgot how to hold onto the ball. And let's not pretend that New England was great. I mean, their offensive line had Brissette running around, but Brissette, you know, kept escaping.

And like I said, the Bengals just forgot how to tackle. Four for 11 on third downs as well. Let New England dominate time of possession. Losing two fumbles i don't know just like i said and i know the bangles are notorious for struggling early but you had the largest spread of week one and you lost yeah yeah I don't care what history shows. Alarm bells are ringing right now. For sure. For sure.

That's all I have on the Bengals. I do want to touch on our honorable mention for the bottom three, and that's going to be the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah. You lost to a team that didn't score a touchdown. Shame. I want to touch on one point about the way that this Falcons offense is being run as well.

Kirk Cousins did not look very good at all. He did not look very comfortable. And I saw a good take this morning, or maybe it was yesterday. I forget. But it was about Kirk Cousins' footwork. And it was very alarming. So 50% of the plays that were run by the Falcons were in the pistol. And the way that you run the pistol, you're more of an even aligning

to not give away where you're going to go with the football. So it's more of an even alignment, but that's one thing. It's the way that Kirk Cousins was driving off his back foot, the foot that he tore his Achilles on, kind of driving the football. You look at last season with the Vikings prior to the Achilles tear, not as very flat footed. He was very active with that back foot and he was able to get a lot of power off the back foot. Whereas on Sunday, this past week,

very much flat footed on the back foot. Wasn't getting a lot of power on that. Maybe the Achilles isn't as fully healed as one would, would think. Maybe he came back a little too soon. Maybe. It's possible. I mean, Achilles injuries are probably the toughest to come back from. It is.

And especially with Rodgers, he took the whole – usually they're a one-year recovery time. Obviously, it's debatable if Rodgers was even ready to go at the end of last season. But you look at guys in the NBA that tore their Achilles. Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant missed a whole year of basketball. Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles week six or something like that, or week five. So technically speaking, we probably shouldn't even be seeing kirk cousins till week five so there's the possibility that maybe it came back a little

too early i mean it's possible and would it even be a problem if they benched him i mean you drafted the quarterback in the first round for a reason. Yes. They just signed them to that contract. It would be a problem. Why did we sign? And it's also a problem if they, if they, you know,

put him in while he wasn't healthy. Yeah. Yep. And I feel like that we kind of have to talk about this as well uh the cleveland browns um tuck you mentioned it in our group chat uh the other day that we kind of need to have a conversation about this so let's have a conversation sean watson last four years or last few years that he's been on the browns very underwhelming he's basically stealing's been on the Browns. Very underwhelming. He's basically stealing $160 million from the Browns.

At this point, you're better off with Jameis Winston, which is crazy to say. I saw another take from – part of my take had a great clip that they came out with. It was, is Deshaun a now a better person than he is a quarterback and this is after that's that's insane and this is after the fact that another rape allegation just came out against him enough first off another one yeah yeah no first I think first things first i think i was being a little too

hard on deshaun watson at the time considering i don't know if this is true or not i think he just lost his father if that is the case i think i was being a little too harsh on it and you were right we have to give him a few more games before i'm ready to call him just a flat-out disappointment in cleveland i'm willing to give him a few more games before I'm ready to call him just a flat-out disappointment in Cleveland. I'm willing to give him a few more games in Cleveland to give him the benefit of the doubt. With that being said, if he continues to play like this, that's a problem. And we're going to look back at this contract like this is one of the worst contracts in NFL history because they gave up on Baker Mayfield, who then took the bucket nears to the playoffs in his first year there and is now in his second year, and he's looking better than ever,

and they gave up on him for Deshaun Watson. Yep. Oh, yeah, there's no bones about it. They did this to themselves. Yep. Oh yeah, there's no bones about it. They did this to themselves. So you gotta forgive me if I don't have any sympathy for them. Because you sold your soul for this guy. You moved heaven and earth to get him.

And now that you're saddled with Groper Cleveland there, who, by the way, has more assault allegations against him than total touchdowns thrown in a Cleveland Browns uniform. No, you do this to yourself and you just saw what Baker did. You think Deshaun's doing that? No, absolutely not. It is just awful what you did to Baker Mayfield. And frankly, Cleveland deserves it. That's really what it comes down to. And look, and I'll admit, his 2020 season in Houston was good. His stint in Houston was actually really, really impressive but but you know the allegations against him should be a major red flag allegations by the way so severe this might this it's the first time in recent memory if not ever that the nfl rescinded a punishment just to give a harsher one just cleveland i need you to look

at yourselves in the mirror you asked for for this. This is your fault. That's a good way to cap it right there. Any final thoughts before we end the show? No, I'm good. No. That'll do it for us tonight. Thanks for listening, of course. And we have a new episode coming out on Friday at 5.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcast, iHeartRadio, Google Podcast, and so much more. Be sure to follow our Instagram, Fumblerooski underscore podcast. Keep up with the pod and the latest coverage on the NFL, along with our TikTok, Fumblerooski pod. Otherwise, Chris Kostic, CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker, we will see you on Friday.

Over and out.