The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - Chiefs THROTTLE Broncos, Mahomes RETURNS + NFL Week 1 REACTION | Nick Wright

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

Nick Wright recaps Week 1 of the NFL season, starting with Patrick Mahomes returning from his knee injury to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a win over Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. Then, Nick debates who had the most embarrassing loss of the week between the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Chargers. Later, Nick discusses who has the most impressive offense between the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, and Baltimore Ravens. Finally, Nick and Damonza go rapid fire around the NFL in Quick Hitters and answer your questions. #Volume 18+ Only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. See polymarket.com/tos for more information. The Polymarket US App serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC-regulated exchange and clearing organization.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome in! What's Right with Nick Wright, episode 502. This episode of What's Right, Nick Wright, is presented to you by Boost Mobile. everything is right in the world again. And listen, it doesn't mean the chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl. I mean, they probably will. But be honest, America. Last year felt weird. The chiefs aren't good.

The Ravens aren't good. The bills are good kind of but can't win their division. the AFC championship game is a 10-7 slog in the snow in Denver between Jared Stidham and Drake May. You missed us. You missed us. It's all better when Kansas City is still the standard. And even with a quarterback, nine months to the day of knee reconstruction, we're still the damn standard. The only reason the Chiefs didn't have the, like, oh my God, the Jags, they did look great against the Browns.

Oh, the Bears scored 59. The only reason the Chiefs didn't have the biggest blowout of the weekend is because we took knees instead of kicking that field goal. 24 would have been the high watermark. We took mercy on the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs had nine years atop the AFC West. Denver had nine months and now it's back how it's supposed to be. Straight to voice mail brought you by boost mobile. I don't care about any of these things.

Hi, DeMonzee. It's the dumb clipper stuff that I don't care about, a bad U.S. Open that I went to the semi-final of, but got stuck in traffic for two hours because of a wreck, and then the Uber driver went the wrong way, and I ended up having to get out and run. And I had literally front row center court for the U.S. US Open and I got their mid third set. Not great. But who cares?

Great to see you. If you're new to this program, Tuesday's in football, we do hit on every game from the weekend. Every single team will be mentioned. Every game will be discussed. And we don't always lead with Monday night football. But when it's the return of Patrick Mahomes

and the announcement of Kenneth Walker, and the Chiefs with a running game. Who to thunk it? Multiple Super Bowl MVPs on one team. That might be good. We are going to lead with Monday night football. I'll try to keep this to less than half the pod, but no promises. DeMonse, take it away.

Nine months after tearing his ACL, Patrick Mahomes makes his return. So there were some oopsies in there, but he came out, ran and got that touchdown. and the defense performed, your rookies performed, and Kenneth Walker, random inside the round. The floor is yours. You haven't been able to speak positively about the Chiefs in a minute. I know you're excited. Kenneth Walker is micro the big story.

The young defense is the secondary big story. But the biggest story is, of course, Patrick Mahomes, in record time from an ACL, no pun intended, with never a doubt in his mind, that he was going to be on that field for week one of the season. He tore his ACL de Monzae in the 14th game of the year.

So this is, I just want people to understand Mahomes' injury history. 2019, he dislocated his number. knee cat. He missed two games. They won the Super Bowl. 2022, he suffered a high ankle sprain in the playoffs. The exact injury that currently has AJ Brown out on the IR and out for six weeks. He missed one drive. And they won the Super Bowl. And in 2025, he tore his ACL and he missed three games. And now, Now he is back, and to announce he is back, and also to announce some of the chief's issues at wide receiver are still not fixed.

On the opening drive of the game, he ran it in for a touchdown. They got a holding penalty. So he ran that son of a bitch in again. It could have been no better for one of the defining athletes of the. of the 21st century, which he is, to show the world, he's not worried about that damn name, then against what is supposed to be an excellent defense with an undrafted rookie free agent protecting his blindside

against one of the Super Bowl favorites, the defending division champions, and a team that has more. more hope going into this year than they've had since Peyton Manning was their quarterback, that he reminds them, guys, it's the AFC West, I'm in my prime, I'm already healthy, and as has been the case, every year of my career, save one, the division still goes through me. and folks can argue and all they want about Josh and Lamar and Stafford and Joe and these other great quarterbacks. And they are great quarterbacks or Caleb or Drake or Trevor, who I believe are going to be and are turning into great quarterbacks.

or Justin Herbert, who in an alternate dimension is a great quarterback. But all those people arguing all that stuff know that deep down at their core, when the chips are down in the biggest spots, there's only one choice on who you'd want running your team. And it's 15 in Kansas City. And he reminded you of that last night when even in a game where he didn't have it, he starts the game to Monzae 2 of 12, 2 of 12. And everything looks off in the passing game.

And then he finishes 13 of 15 with one miss and one miscommunication that I thought the broadcast did a good job explaining Xavier Worthy didn't run the right route. fine, it's a pick, it goes on Patrick resume. A couple touchdown passes, that touchdown throw. And there has been a lot, a lot on Chief's Twitter

of Chiefs fans quenching and complaining about how this team went about their offseason. And there has been a lot of and I haven't really, I alluded to this once on the TV show, but I've never really discussed it.

A lot of folks who this offseason, I think the best way to put it is turned on me because they thought that I was couching my true feelings about how the chiefs approached this off season because of loyalty to either Brett Veach or,

the organization or some nebulous, you know, force. When in reality, the reason that I supported the way the chiefs built this team this offseason is because I fucking agreed with it. I believe if you have Patrick Mahomes as your starting quarterback, as frustrating as it can be, to not throw a ton of resources into wide receiver. What you've got to have is a defense that can get off the field on third down. They threw all their resources into that. With Patrick Mahomes coming off an injury,

what you've got to have is a running game that has to be respected. They threw their free agent money into that. And then see what magic Patrick can make. Now, we'll talk about the receivers in a bit. If that's how they're going to look this year, that's not good enough. They are going to have to address that during the season. But folks talking about this is a reset, this is a rebuild. No, it's not.

This Chief's team is going to start the year 4 and 0. They're at home Sunday night against the cults. Then they have brutal road trips. in Miami and Las Vegas, and then an early by week, home for the Chargers, and then some tough games ahead. But they instantly showed the world. You're going to have to respect our running game. Our defense, much like 2022, is very young, but with Spags pulling the trigger, is going to be, at least create splash plays. and Patrick's only going to get better.

So. You think he'll be at full power? By the end of the season, do you think you'll ever be able to get there? I mean, I think, but by the end of the season, there's no doubt. I would imagine Mahomes will be at 100% post the buy.

I think that they will slowly, you know, slowly, bleed him, you know, bleed him, but get him rolling. I also think, right, and I also think to Monzee that part of his shakingness early, a little bit was rust, but the other piece was, he was, and he said it after the game, last night he was mostly a one-reed quarterback because I don't know how much he trusted the protection. Yeah, well, I think it was, I mean, kind of. of about getting hit, but really the protection, like undrafted free agent at left tackle,

first game back from injury, that Broncos pass rush, I think he just wanted to get the ball out. He clearly was not afraid to get hit because he's running the ball. And Andy was not afraid to let him get hit. They called a speed option with the lead late in the game. Now, here's what I will say about Mahomes running, DeMonte, before we get to the major runner, or Kenneth Walker. When the chiefs have been rolling historically, Mahomes using his legs was one of the biggest reasons

he is such a playoff riser was because it was something he so rarely did in the regular season. He would use his legs to escape pressure, like to then throw the ball to roll out, but not as a scrambler, not to run down the field. Last year from game one, he was using his legs to get yards. And this year, game one, he's using his legs to get yards. I don't love that.

I'm consistent on that. I, the only quarterback in the league who is physically imposing enough to just have, you know, quarterback-driven runs be a huge part of their game regularly, and you don't worry about injury is Josh Allen, but even Josh Allen last year, evidently broke his foot or dealt with a foot injury at the end of the season from the residual wear and tear. So I don't love that piece of it.

But Patrick is a competitor, man, and he's not going to do any of this half speed, which is why him not having to and their ability to lean on Kenneth Walker is so critical. So let's talk about him. What does Kenneth Walker bring to the team that you guys didn't have before?

And do you think that this is the new identity and do you worry about putting too many miles on him? No, listen. No, I'm not worried about putting too many miles on Kenneth Walker. Like, he got a big contract. That's the, you know, he's a running back. he wants to be the bell cow. I liked the rookie backup running back.

Emmett Johnson, the kid out in Nebraska. Both of those guys, I mean, Emmett Johnson is dramatically better as a backup running back than any running back we've had on the roster the last two years. Yeah. And so the, here is the point

that I was making all offseason. and folks, I don't know why people thought I was overstating this. I was not arguing that Kenneth Walker was the best player that changed teams this offseason. That was obviously Miles Garrett and Trent McDuffie's a better player and he left the Chiefs. And Jalen Waddle's a hell of a player. DJ Moore is a good player. Like, Jalen Phillips is a good player.

What I was arguing is no team upgraded any single position more than the chiefs upgraded running back. Even Miles Garrett to the Rams, that was he was traded for Jared verse. And I am here to tell you as great as Miles Garrett even when he's healthy is The gap between Jared versus Miles Garrett is smaller than the gap between Isaiah Pacheco post broken leg and Kenneth Walker The chiefs have not had a running game that opposing teams Respect at all since Pacheco broke his leg and even with Pacheco they they they were weren't terrified of it.

He's a really good story. He's a seventh round pick and I like him and I feel sick that he, you know, it's now having back surgery in Detroit. Like his body is broken down on him and that's awful. But teams last year simply dared the chiefs to run and when the chiefs did run, they couldn't run. Even against light boxes, even against formations

that you should be able to run on, which allowed teams to drop extra people and coverage, which created muddier throwing windows for Patrick, which when you add it to the overwhelmingly disappointing receiver production last year, you had an offense that just died on the vine. And now you have a team that if you're, the Colts, next week, DeMonze, are the Colts spending most or this week, they're prep, figuring out how to stop the Chiefs pass or run. The fact that that's even a question, the fact that that's even a question makes it so much better for Patrick.

And so, and shout out to Andy Reid for not being conservative early. First drive of the game went for a fourth down. Second half, up just a touchdown on their own side of the field, fourth and fourth and one at the 39 went for it and Kenneth Walker pops for 61 yards it Patrick said it at the team luncheon it's going to look different but we want to dominate like the old chiefs you're damn right and they're one of two teams that has not had a thousand yard rusher in the last nine years. Patrick's never had a thousand-yard rusher.

He's never had what you would consider a plus-plus running back since the first 10 games of his career when young cream hunt was on the team before they cut him because of the domestic violence incident. And so he's been doing it with Damien Williams. God bless him. Darren Williams, Shady McCoy, old Shady McCoy. I mean, obviously, Pacheco, old Kareem Hunt, the best running back you could argue, the most impactful running back they've had in the last five years,

Jerich McKinnon as a pass catcher as a receiver out of the back field. And now you got Kenneth Walker who just ran it right down the Broncos throats all night. All right, let's talk about the defense for a minute, DeMaze. Yeah, you've been telling everybody about Delane, Woods, and Thomas. Chris Jones came out and said that this was his favorite group of rookies. How impressed for you with them in this game? I mean, Spags gets the primary credit. Delane played three snaps, got a pick and then hurt his shoulder.

That's a concern. He hurt that shoulder in training camp or in the offseason was held out for some of training camp. the fact that it is not the x-ray was clean is good MRI this morning if you guys see while we're on the air any news on the MRI uh you know let me know in here or let us know in the chat by the way reminder if you're here in the chat subscribe on youtube please uh subscribe on spotify on itunes let me see where we're at on youtube did we hit 250 000 yet this is a risky thing I'm doing right now. We are at 247,000 in change.

So subscribing on YouTube helps us a ton. iTunes, Spotify helps us a ton as well. And if you see any got producers, if you guys see, if there's news on Delaine's MRI, I'll take it. Peter Woods, a year before he was drafted, was projected by some to be a top five pick. he then had a terrible final year at Clemson. He went 29th.

R. Mason Thomas has legit burst off the edge and had impact last night. The Chiefs last year could not get off the field on third down. And I, people are like, oh, man, the defense wasn't that good last year. And you lose, Jalen Watson and Free Agency, you trade McDuffie. Let's talk about that for a moment. Jalen Watson was a seventh round pick. That was an amazing story for Kansas City. Played great, very happy.

He got that $17 million a year from the Rams. He gave up two touchdowns in their opening game, and we'll see how he looks outside of Spagg system. McDuffie came into the Chiefs, and instantly was the best slot corner in the NFL. He then, understandably, did not want, to play in the slot because slot corners don't get paid like outside corners. Played on the outside last year a lot.

Did not play as well as he did in the slot. Got traded to the Rams. They paid him like an outside corner. He's playing outside corner. That's not where he's at his best. I love the player. Love the player. He can be the best slot corner in football.

That's where the Rams should use him. But the Chiefs have a history with Spags of, getting the absolute most out of these secondary guys. And Noel Williams was someone they drafted. They believed in. They elevated him. Mansour Delane was the number one corner by a mile in this draft. Again, the three snaps, one pick.

Good start. Got to get healthy. And they got Ligerius Sneed back. Old vintage Belichick Patriots model of. we develop a player, someone else pays him a bunch of money, he is not good with them, they cut him,

he comes back, and he's excellent immediately again. I'm a Titans fan, I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Jerry Seedwell, he's with the Titans. All he had was knee surgery

and got questioned about an alleged drive-by shooting that he was in a car for. They got rid of him, and now he's back, and he's just talking shit to Cortland Sutton and locking people down.

I mean, it's just delightful. And if they have a pass rush, they're going to be fine. Because here's the other thing, DeMonsei. That was supposed to be the best offensive line in the NFL. Didn't look like it yesterday. And so in 2022, the Chiefs had the youngest defense in the NFL. And then in the Super Bowl, there's Trent McDuffie on the sidelines saying, we won the Super Bowl, we don't even know

that understand the defense yet. They needed, again, it's very early, but they needed a monster draft. I'm liking the early returns. Before we get to Denver, let me tell folks about one of our new sponsors,

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The Polymarket U.S. app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket U.S. and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC regulated exchange and clearing organization. There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance

with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. Hi, this is Kylie Brakeman. Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhane. Patrick McDonald. And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists Podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft.

Join us for a panel of wellness influencers. What I try to do is faux journal. I don't know. Have you guys heard of faux journaling? Yeah. It's reading. It's called reading. So we don't like to use that word anymore.

Okay. A panel of New Yorker cartoonists. Have you guys done Terry Gross's Peloton class? No! I've been dying too. I'm so sorry. I'm seeing a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Audra McDonald's at the Wonderland Bookstore on 14. That's crazy.

I went to the Wonderland Bookstore yesterday and I heard Nora Jones do a reading of Zero Dark 30. No way. You have to come to the last bookstore though. Kim Cottrell is reading the guitar tabs of yesterday. A panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He wink something.

Halloween. It's right up next to the microphone. I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 30 years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City. Who will you trust your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas?

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other. And what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough. We reached for a feeling that exists in this city. But we're not stopping, are we? I'm Ben Nathafafaf. And for my new series on revisionist history, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York City in the 1990s. And what it all has to do with the politics of resentment

that dominate America today. Listen to revisionist history, the Staten Island Problem, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Damante, let's talk Broncos. You said the Broncos are going to show everybody they were due for aggression.

Was this that, or was this just like a week one thing? If I'm a Broncos fan, I'm very nervous for a number of reasons. And again, I pick the Broncos to make the playoffs. Reason I'm nervous number one, DeMonse. Here's the Broncos opening couple months of football. Next week, home against the Jags. Then the Rams. Then at the Niners.

Then at the Chargers. Not that hard. Then home for the Seahawks on a short week. That's the first five games. Jags, Rams, Niners, Chargers, Seahawks. then theoretically a little respite in Arizona, even though they looked awesome. And then back at home against Kansas City.

Now, the end of their schedule, after that, it's smooth sailing mostly. Got a Bills and a Patriots game late. But this thing could get away from them quick. This was a very big game for them, and they didn't just lose. They got embarrassed. They couldn't tackle.

They couldn't exploit the understanding. drafted free agent at left tackle. They couldn't run the ball. Jalen Waddle, like, someone should tell them they traded for Jail and Waddle, maybe throw him the ball. And Bo Nix

looked flustered. Couldn't stop dropping the ball. One of them was not called a drop. It was called a forward pass. More on that when we talk about the Lions game. I don't know when this God Dog rule changed. These things that have been quarterback fumbles my whole life. They're like, no, actually, we, you know, we saw his intent in

the back of his mind he wanted to throw forward. So how can we call it a fumble? It's because his hand was like diagonal with his head. Like, does it need to be. Here's the thing. I know. Parallel. Screw it. We'll just talk about it now. I know that if you're going forward and get hit. You only have to be going forward a tiny bit. And if you get hit and the ball goes forward, it's an incomplete pass. I know that. But Bo Nix was going forward and didn't get hit. The ball got slapped out of his hand and went behind him. That's, I honestly feel like this is a Berenstein Bears situation. Like the, where everyone thinks it's the Berenstein Bears and we, like, no, it's a Baron Stainbears.

What's that called, guys? Put it in the dock. The Mandela effect. Yeah, when everyone's like, yeah, I remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison, they're like, no, he didn't actually. That's wrong. I feel like that's what's happening right now with fumbles in the NFL, where all of us collectively are like, that's a fucking fumble.

And then all, and then the refs and Mike Pereira and everyone's like, no, you roobes, like you roos. The rule has always been whatever. the intent in the quarterback's heart is, is how we rule it. I'm like, what the ball's behind? Like, what are you talking about? So I, I thought Bo Nix's was obviously fumble. His hand is going forward.

And then a chiefs player doesn't hit him. And even if they do hit him, the ball went behind him. But they hit the ball. They're like, no, that's an incomplete pass. What? And the Jared golf thing was even worse. Once again, I'm, I'm right about replay. Everyone will agree at some, every single person watching that game in real

time when the Jared golf thing happened, they're like, well, that's a fumble. And they're like, no, he had brought the, golf hadn't even brought the ball forward yet. And he threw it backwards. They're like, yeah, but in his hopes and dreams, he was going to throw a forward pass. So how can we not honor that? What? I'm just perplexed. And it's, and everyone's like, no, this is how, this is the rules.

I'm pretty good about knowing the. weird NFL rules. And like, ah, people think it's this, but it's that. Yeah, but I, that's not even my problem. My problem is I feel like this is a sciop that they're just like, that they just decided like, not only are we changing it. We're not going to tell anyone we changed it. And again, we're going to, everyone's going to agree.

Like, you know what? This is what. Hot take. I now know what being gaslit feels like. I feel like the NFL is gaslighting me about what a fumble is. I'm like, and they're just saying it's so matter of factly like I'm dumb. Like on the Jared golf plate, they're just like, no. Like we all know the rule is even if it's not moving forward,

if he just starts to bring it up and he intended to throw it forward, what? And there's like, yeah, that's the rule. And part of me, honestly, when I saw the Jared Gough thing, I was so unsettled by it, by how matter of fact they were about, yeah, of course, that's the rule, that I almost didn't want to talk about it because I was like, is that like embarrassing for me that I didn't know? But then I was like, no, I do know. And this is not how it's been called. Neither here or there.

Lighten the gas. I am, do you know, DeMonsei, what, where gas. The gas light the term comes from? It's from your car, right? It's like no. No, no, no. I'm sorry. You car actually has like 50 miles when the gaslight comes off?

No. Honestly, not a terrible guess. No, it is from a movie called gaslight. Or is it called on? Fact check me on that movie gas. Yeah, a 1944 movie where a man is basically executing psychological warfare on his wife. And one of the things he does is he leaves the gas burner on. And so she's like, do you smell that?

He's like, what are you talking about? Like, no, I don't smell that. How are evil. Exactly. But that's where the term comes from. Yeah. A 1944 movie. And then it was basically that term was kind of in hibernation for the better part of 80 years.

Yeah. And then, I'll just be honest. therapy speak brought it back. Now everything's gaslighting. Now you're in an argument with your girlfriend and you're like, I didn't do that. And she's like, you're gaslighting me. And you're like, no, but I literally didn't. Like, I'm not like, what do you mean?

You're like, you left the door open. It's like, no, I didn't. I didn't. I'm sick of the gaslighting. But it made a big comeback. Okay, let's get focused. We wanted a filter. Sorry.

Um, I was trying to talk about Jared Gough. No, I wasn't. I actually was not. I was trying to talk about Bo Nix. I was talking about Bo Nix and how shaky he looked. Back on topic. Because Bo Nix fumbled three times, and we're not even counting that fake one. That wasn't a fake one. Now, one of them was a bad snap.

He fumbled once on the sideline. That would have been scooped and scored, but Sneed barely stepped out of bounds. He dropped it once. He couldn't make a throw. He was 4.7 yards per attempt. He was awful. That's concerning. The only receiver, and this is, gosh darn it,

for the fifth straight year, the Chiefs just can't cover tight ends. Evan Ingram just killing us. Another one of my big off-season takes, DeMonte, and then we'll get to the other games. Jesus, a half hour on this game. The best defense last year is not always the best defense this year. In fact, it very often changes a lot.

Offense, very stable, relatively speaking, year to year, because it's so quarterback-based. So the best offenses are, you know, if you're a top-five offense last year, you got a good chance to be in top-five offense this year. Like, that's usually how that goes. Defense, there's so much randomness of, you know, are they sacks or pressure or just pressures? Do you win the turnover battle? What's the opposing quarterback schedule? All those things. and what was the three best defenses in the league last year by a lot?

Seattle. Well, they look pretty awesome again. Houston. Couldn't get any pressure on Josh Allen. The whole game allowed 36. Denver. They had a rookie left tackle undrafted. Nick Benito erased.

Allow 31 and they can't and they can't tackle anymore. Now again, I think Denver's defense will be better. but defense fluctuates a lot year to year. Go ahead. Extra. But yeah, I just with the Nick Benito. It sounded like there was something.

The way they were lining him up and letting him be able to work the way he usually does, is what I got from it. You know what, Nick Benito, you got a beat. The Chiefs, I, gosh darn it. This is embarrassing for him.

me. This is, you know what, it's more embarrassing for Nick Benito. I was about to say, you got to beat, and I was sick of McConnell undrafted free agent, so I was like, I should call him his name. But then I realized, I forgot his name. Khalil Benson. He got to beat Khalil Benson.

All right, there's one other Broncos thing that has to be discussed here. How long until you think Sean Payton takes back the reins on the play calling? Oh, boy. If I'm Davis Webb, I'm a little anxious. Keep in mind, here's the timeline of Davis Webb becoming the Broncos play caller.

Davis Webb had potential head coaching opportunities, including possibly the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen. Sean Payton did not want to lose him. So Sean Payton said, I will, for the first time in my career, give up, play calling and give it to you. So you stay here. So David Swabs like, okay, I will forego my head coaching opportunities potentially to stay here. At half time of week one, Sean Payton was asked about it and couldn't even lie. He was like, ask me after the game, but this sucks.

He didn't say this sucks part. It is an absolute non-zero chance that Sean Payton in short order, snatches that back from Davis Webb, which totally neuters his, you know, head coaching ascension. And the Davis Webb's

just like out of luck. In a tough situation. Tough spot. And it is something to watch. That is absolutely something to watch. Because Sean Payton was not enjoying that. Was not enjoying that. All right.

We've got 14 other games to get to. So let's try to do it as quickly as we can. Let's get to probably the best game of Sunday and probably the most important, Bill's Texans. You and America were very excited about this game, Houston Buffalo on Sunday. It was a light show, lived up to the hype, but it all came down to a drop pick at the end by Laster there.

Is Roller Coaster Josh Allendack? So here's the thing Probably yes, and I don't think that's bad. So Josh Allen was utterly sensational in this game for 58 and a half minutes. He's running all over Buffalo.

Well, one great run and then he sniped one touchdown from James Cook and I really encourage folks, really encourage folks. because the NFL tweeted it out because it was like Josh Allen's 80th or 81st or something rushing touchdown, an insane number.

Watch James Cook on the Josh Allen quarterback sneak from the one. He doesn't love it. And it's not like, and it's not like Chris Broussard. Like, I don't like it. I love it. It's really don't like it.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it. He's like, that could have been my touchdown. I'm getting sick of this shit. But Josh Allen was, again, You guys can say I'm being unfair. Watch it. You can see it.

They snap the ball. He just immediately starts walking off the field. He's like this hour range. But Josh Allen was great. He was great. His defense was not that good. C.J. Stroud looked like a real quarterback for the first time in a while. The bill's offensive line was great, holding up for him against that edge rush.

But Josh was great. and they were in position to win the game. And with a minute 48 left at the Houston 34, so in-field goal range, not chip shot, down one, on second and 11, for no reason whatsoever, he threw up not a 50-50 ball, a 90-10, the defense's way ball up to Josh Palmer,

and Kamari Lassiter let it hit him in his chest, and it fell harmlessly to the ground, and the very next play on 3rd and 11, Josh Allen threw an absolute laser beam to Josh Palmer for the game-winning touchdown. How different is the discussion of Lassiter, you know, catches the ball? Well, listen, if Laster catches it,

Josh is, by some folks, getting fairly, heavily criticized. And by, you know, the folks who are supposed to be smarter than the rest of us, they're like, well, actually, you know, he played so great, who cares he threw the game away? Like, because that's a bit, that's, about 30% of the people covering the NFL thing would be better if we didn't fucking keep score. be like, we can feel who deserved the win.

And so that is what happened. But here's what I will say about what happened. That angle surprised people. If I'm a Bill's fan, I'm totally fine with it. And that's actually the only way you're ever going to win a Super Bowl. Let full Yolo Josh Allen and just hope he catches a hot hand. end in January. You're like and I think Joe Brady is going to lean into that.

I think Joe Brady, you know, Joe Brady got the job in part because he's so tight with Josh Allen. I think Josh Allen wants to play this way. I think the bills are the scariest this way. Now, that is a recipe for potentially you losing in the playoffs to an inferior team with an inferior quarterback like you did. last year against Bo Nix. But it's also the only recipe for you guys beating,

I'll just be honest, Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs, if he's rolling or under any circumstances. You've got to let Josh be Josh, roller coaster be damned, and just hope that in the playoffs, they drop it. Because you're not going to be good enough. to win four consecutive playoff games. You don't have a dominant defense.

You don't have great receivers. You have a great running back and a great offensive line and one of the most talented quarterbacks in football. You just got to hope he gets hot and that the mistakes don't kill you. That's the scariest Bills team. The scariest version of the Bills is we're building the whole plane out of Josh Allen. Plus James Cook. And there's going to be a lot of variance.

But that's just what you got to do. So I'm not going to, listen, I thought Josh on the whole, he got away with it. And because he got away with it, that was just an awesome game. Like sometimes it just goes your way. And Bill's Chiefs Ravens, those are the teams that matter in the end. a fc. A weekend.

I don't care. Listen, maybe the Jags will delightfully surprise me. Maybe the Chargers more on them in a bit will surprise me. But it's those three teams. And the bills, I don't feel. I think the bill's best path to beating one or both of those teams in the playoffs is Josh just has a monster game and gets away with the craziness.

It's just who he is. It's who he wants to be. I know everybody kills me for this. His first playoff game ever tied in overtime. He threw a backwards lateral over the back of his head. There's no reason. He's just a wild stallion. Like you just got to let him be.

No, that's a compliment. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's just like... In his play style. Can't tame it. Can't tame it.

Like, Brew made this comp yesterday to Monzae. I think you'll like it. There is some prime. Again, prime apex. Russell Westbrook to him. It was just like, you live and die. You gotta take the bad with the goods. Yeah, you got to take the bad with the good.

And the good is great. And the good is great. Yeah. So I'm not going to kill him for that. Like, it just, they scored. 36 on Houston. And the last touchdown was a laser beam. Yeah, well, so listen,

I think Buffalo's offensive line's been underrated. I think Houston's Stevens will be fine. Domingo's too good. My guess is that's the most points they'll give up all year. If I'm a Texans fan, while the end of the game sucked and C.J's fumble sucked. CJ's throwing for 275, couple touchdowns. I'm like, okay, we can build on this.

Like, that is not a disappointing, yeah, it's not a disappointing loss. It is disappointing, but it's not a devastating loss. And you just assume the defense will be better. And if CJ can be anywhere close to that, you're in good shape. All right, next game. You were skeptical of the Giants all over the offseason and love the moves of Dallas made in the offseason. but it was the Giants who performed it came through. Harbaal is obviously first game with the new team.

What was the bigger story here? The Cowboys lost or the Giants went? So we'll get to the Giants in a minute. He did look good. Bigger story was the Cowboys' loss because there were two teams de Monzae this offseason that the general media sentiment about did not align at all, not at all, with the betting odds. And they were in opposite directions.

And those two teams were the chiefs and the Cowboys. The chiefs were discussed as an average team that was around a coin flip to make the playoffs. And Vegas had them with the fifth best odds to win the Super Bowl and the favorites to win their division. but that is not how they were discussed. I think in the whole national media, only me and Barnwell picked them to win the Super Bowl. The Cowboys were the opposite.

Vegas saw the Cowboys as a decidedly mediocre team. Around the 13th best Super Bowl odds, underdogs to win the division, slightly better than a coin flip to make the playoffs. And they were discussed. as a very trendy Super Bowl pick. And DAC was a very popular MVP pick. And week one, they were bad at everything.

Hickens no-showed. C.D. Lamb was fine. Javante Williams, one big play, was taunting on a touchdown, down 14, that cost them the ability to go for two if they wanted to, and then they missed the extra point. And the defense they brought all those resources into, nobody knew what they were doing. I thought Chris Collinsworth was going to have a connoption fit.

Chris Collinsworth's like, they can't cover the flat. He's wide open. And he was like they can't cover the right flight, not flight, but the, you know, midway down the field to the right side. They just kept hitting. It was, it was playing the Giants, Greg Roman and Matt Nagy were calling plays

like when you play your young cousin on Madden and he doesn't know how the coverage is working and you're like all right I guess we'll just do it again that guy's still open right you just all right I'm going four wide and you're in goal line he's going to be open

adjust and the Cowboys couldn't do it so I we've talked a lot about, listen, week one can be a liar, and we don't know why we're seeing what we're seeing in week one. If the giants are just stone excellent,

then the Cowboys shouldn't be that worried. If the Giants are who I think they are, which is going to, you know, struggle to get to 500, the Cowboys should be terrified. Now, on the Giants side, you like Jackson Dart. Danny likes Jackson Dart. He looked really good. I credit where it's due. It's first game of his second year. I'm still nervous with how often they run him and how he runs, but he was effective. He was careful with the ball. You know, he was responsible, so to speak. So you've got to, you know, I have to allow the games and the results,

particularly with young players to really matter. And one game in, nothing but high marks for Jackson Dart, who was efficient, accurate, and good. I still think the, I still feel like the media is a little higher on Cam Scataboo than his production demands. I understand he's a hard running white dude, and we love that. But I mean, he's fine.

Like, I don't, I don't totally, you know, I, there is a little, this is an old reference, but there's a little Peyton Hillis and how, you know, much people love him. Peyton Hillis de Manze was a hard running white running back for the brand. who was so irrationally popular that he won year when they were doing it via fan vote. You want MVP? One.

No. No. No. No. No. I'm not MVP. I mean, you would rather him get that than like an actual accolade. No, I understand that.

But again, like, when I tell you. he was on the cover of Madden and when I tell you it was because he had... I mean, he had 11... Listen, he had a really good season. He had 1100 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. I mean, the rest of his career, he had

11 or 1,200 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns. Like, it was such an absurd thing that happened. But, so I get that why this guy's a fan favorite. I think he's fine. I don't think he's one of the 15 best running backs in the NFL.

But the Giants looked really good. And we now see them against the Rams in, you know, a game that will tell us a lot about both of those teams. There's no shortcut for saving time. But saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman.

Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhane, Patrick McDonald. And we're the hosts of the artist. on artists on artists on artists podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of wellness

influencers. What I try to do is faux journal. I don't know. Have you guys heard of faux journaling? Yeah, it's reading. It's called reading. So we don't like to use that word anymore. A panel of New Yorker cartoonists. Have you guys done Terry Gross's Peloton class? No! I've been dying too.

I'm so sorry. I'm seeing a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Audra McDonald's at the Wonderland Bookstore on 14th. That's crazy. I went to the Wonderland Bookstore yesterday and I heard Nora Jones do a reading of Zero Dark 30. No way. You have to come to the last bookstore though.

Kim Cottrell is reading the guitar tabs of yesterday. A panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right up next to the microphone. I hear you get all the

Here the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists on artists on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 30 years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City.

Who will you trust your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas? This is a story about neighbors turning on each other. And what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough. We reached for a feeling that exists in this city. But we're not stopping, are we? I'm Ben Nathafafaf. And for my new series on revisionist history,

I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York City in the 1990s. And what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to revisionist history, the Staten Island problem, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's go on to the next game. In the highest scoring week one game ever, the Bears defeat the Panthers 59 to 37, and Ben Johnson loves it. Before the season, he announced that he wants Chicago to have the greatest offense ever. And then he doubled down post game, saying that that will always be the goal. We want to be the highest scoring.

We want to have the most wins. we want to win Super Bowls. But what about the defense? Yeah. So, well, let's talk about the good first. I mean, Caleb was utterly sensational. The Bears threw for 270 and ran for 290. You just can't have a better offensive day than they had.

And they did it, DeMonsie, with the guy that we all thought was going to be their number one receiving option, Colston Loveland, zero catches. Can you imagine if you're a, fantasy football player and the you have colston loveland spent a high draft pick on him the bear score 59 points and you get zero points out of you're like what happened it's like oh he got hurt nope he was out there the whole game um so one of the reasons i'm so bullish on caleb is because the things he needed to improve year one to year two he did he needed to improve the terrible sacrament and the pre-snap penalties.

They cleaned that up immediately with Ben. And this year he needs to improve, not dirtying easy passes. And he looked to have improved that. His best throws are still super elite. He rant, this was, I couldn't believe this. DeMonsie, in Caleb's first two years in the NFL, he only had three rushing touchdowns. That stunned me.

I couldn't believe it. And then week one, he had two. So, like, he is deadly with his legs, and he used them, like, those were dynamic runs. So the Bears' offense looks amazing. That defense looks awful. Now, it's possible that I'm going to have to eat crow on years of Bryce Young takes. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, like, listen.

I'm telling you, don't sleep with Carolina, man. Listen, Bryce threw for 360, had a one-tin rating, three touchdowns. Um, so maybe, maybe it finally all clicked for Bryce. My concern would be if I'm a Bears fan of, man, if it didn't all just click for Bryce, and he's the same guy he's been, our defense is a lot. Really bad. Like big trouble. Um, and so listen, I think the Bears are going to be really good.

Let me back that up. I think the Bears are going to be an awesome offense, awesome. But there's a chance they are the Bengals from two years ago, where they just can't, or the Cowboys from last year, where the defense undoes everything. Like, the Devens is so bad, it turns every offense they play into a top five offense. But if that devens can just be average, and maybe they are the team that trades for Max Crosby,

if the Raiders end up trading them, then they're a legit threat. I think this team with the average defense is a legit threat to make the Super Bowl. But I don't know if it's going to have an average defense. And listen, I'm skeptical of Carolina's entire operation. Obviously, their defense did not look good. But Bryce was great. Jalen Coker was awesome.

Tett McMillan was good. But, like, so that is, the Panthers don't feel great after being O in one, but that whole division's O in one. So, you know, it is what it is, so to speak. All right, I know you guys want to do Nick Wright Public Defender. So everybody with eyes could see that Caleb played amazingly. But you'll be back in the blind. It is time for the return for Nick Wright, public defender, counselor, defend PFF saying, saying 19 quarterbacks are better than Caleb Williams.

Yeah, I actually, you know what? I wrote a letter to the bar and I'm resigning my position as public defender on this one because I can't. But I do want to discuss it. That's why I wanted you to do it. But I'm not going to do that. If you're new to the pod, the public defender bit is where I prove to my sister and my father, both of whom have law degrees, that I also could have been an attorney, but I, you know, I'm doing the far more important work

of arguing about sports. And I defend an indefensible position. But I don't want to do that. I want to actually discuss the PFF thing, especially because I'm now been alerted. PFF wrote an article, why Caleb Williams week one PFF grade doesn't match his box score.

And they included my tweet in the article, I'm reading this for the first time. So I'm going to read from their article and we'll hear it together. At the center of it all was quarterback Caleb Williams, who finished with 334 total yards, four touchdowns. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards, two scores, no interceptions, a 124 pass rating while adding 65 yards and two scores on the ground. However, Williams earned just a 64 passing grade, 16th a month's

the 30 quarterbacks who threw at least 13 passes before Monday night. On the surface, those numbers seem almost impossible to reconcile. Four touchdowns, no interceptions, 59 points, yet only a middling PFF grade. It raises a question that gets asked annually. How can a quarterback produce at that level without grading accordingly? They then include my tweet. They then write, the answer lies in what PFF grades are designed to measure. PFF grades were built to be box score agnostic, and to capture

everything the box score misses. Every play is evaluated on what the player did with it, independent of what the stat line says happened afterwards, and that works in both directions. A quarterback can finish with an underwhelming stat line and still grade well, if the reads were right, the throws were placed well and on time, and whatever went wrong did so after the ball left his hand. Yeah, we all get that. Another quarterback can finish with a pristine stat line and grade more modestly if he was asked to make routine throws all afternoon and has received, receivers manufactured most of the production after the catch. Yes, we understand that as well.

What the grade measures is the part of the play that quarterback actually controls. The read, the decision, the throw. Not the result that lands in the box score. They then explain their grading system more thoroughly. And so now we'll get to the Caleb part. William drop back 40 times against Carolina. 11 of those dropbacks earn positive grades with eight earning a play grade of 0.5. and three earning 1.0.

He didn't grade higher than that on any play, though that's less a knock than it might sound. Before Monday night football, one quarterback could earn a grade better than 1.0 on any play. Okay. Another 23 dropbacks earned a zero grade. Those were the expected plays, routine plays. That leaves six negatively graded plays.

Five earned negative point five. Relatively minor mistakes. Okay, it keeps going. This is a more boring article than I expected. They're really explaining their grading system. Got it. Because PFF think they are, man. What are you guys?

That is the exact right point. I'm so glad you got down to me. Because first of all, Pro Football Focus, with respect, you don't know if it's the right read or not. You're guessing. It's fine. We all have to get it.

to a degree. That's fine. And I do understand and appreciate trying to have a statistical evaluation that is independent of the box score. I get wanting to say, hey, we just talked about Josh Allen's potential game losing interception. That's that bad of a decision, whether Lasseter comes down with it or not. We need to have a way to. to evaluate that I agree with that okay where some of these independent evaluators get a little high on their own supply is not recognizing that there needs to be on any of this because it is not it's not math and it's not an exact science and your formula that you're talking about is just a fucking guy given grades.

It's not a baseball player's war, which is just we're putting the numbers into a formula. The numbers are non-debated facts and then spitting it out. There is a lot of art to what you're calling science. And what I think they consistently fail to recognize is there needs to be a common sense factor to hold on a second guys I understand that our grader went through every play and charted every play and came away with this grade but does it make sense for us

to put out into the world is it accurate Is it actually what we're trying to say that in week one, Caleb Williams play garnered a 62.5 grade, while Sam Darnold, who threw three passes and then pulled his butt muscle, garnered a 62.3. We good with that? Hey, guys, we're giving Caleb a 62.5. and Jaden Daniels, who was objectively awful for three quarters,

we're giving him a 73.5. We want to run this through someone else's eyeballs for a second. Hey guys, Aaron Rogers just played football like he's a 42-year-old man who spent the days leading up to the game talking about his fiancee wanted to sleep with other people. we're throwing him in 80 do we think that accurately represents the the football that was played this weekend

well it's what our graders say it's just like what are you watching and the arrogance with which the arrogance with which they're like oh you guys you guys are looking at the box score

well a little I mean again I will now go to their exact grading of Caleb. They said that in this game, 12 of his 30 plays

were positively graded. I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Sorry. That, I don't want to misrepresent because he played William 1,30 plays. My apologies. Of the 30 quarterbacks this weekend,

Caleb had the 12th most positive plays. and the 13th most negative plays. What? That he and that he was seventh worst this weekend in accurate throws. He was ninth worst in perfectly placed throws. He was seventh worst in catchable but inaccurate. I, you're, hold on.

Let me let me just read this one last. last thing is the last paragraph. None of this is to say Williams played poorly, and his grade isn't saying that either. I don't know, bro. Then maybe you guys have a messaging issue. But there's 32,

there's, as of Sunday, 30 quarterbacks had played. You had him 20th. He produced two big time throws. Good for a 6.5% big time throw rate. How dare you folks? You need, Anderthals questioning our science.

You what are you flat earthers? Not believing that we have defined beyond a shadow of a doubt big time throw We've we've taken phrases that guys say to each other hammered on Heineken's at a bar on Sunday watching red zone as a big time throw and we've defined it beyond a shadow of a doubt Get the fuck out of here I mean Williams made high level plays largely kept the ball out of harm's way

helped lead one of the league's most productive offenses. He also missed on roughly a quarter of his throws and had one particularly costly mistake that never appeared in the interception column. A 64 passing grade reflects that entire body of work not simply the result. The box score tells you what happened. The grade is designed to tell you how it happened.

Well, you know what? Then consider that the grade unsuccessful. Because it didn't tell me how anything happened. Most weeks, these two stories will look familiar. When they don't, as was the case with Williams in week one, the play-by-play evaluation helps explain why. Or, listen, all makes a lot of sense. Occam's Razor.

The simplest solution is often the, correct one. Are you guys just wrong? Yeah. I mean, that's it. You know what? On the board as well. They're making stuff confusing. A hundred percent. All right. I said we'd get to every team. We've gotten to like eight. So we're going to really have to fire through these. But first, you ever notice how everything keeps going up, rents going up, streaming services going up, even your favorite radio spots. Suddenly thinks Solzer should cost extra. Not with Boost Mobile. With Boost Mobile, you and your phone, bullet off to play the will this go up soon game? Why? Because Boost Mobile is unlimited. Talk, Tex and data plan at a price that'll never go up.

In fact, same price you'll pay for life. So switch now. For unlimited wireless, pardon me, at a price that'll never go up only at Boost Mobile. After 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds as long as they remain active on the boost unlimited plan. All right, DeMonze, let's do this as quick as we can. Go ahead. Some embarrassing losses.

The Chargers lost to Arizona while being nearly double-digit favorites. and Jacoby Brissette, starting a quarterback. Green Bay allowed 29 unanswered points to Carson Wins, a double-digit lead, and the Rams, and their Australia travel fiasco. Who had the most embarrassing loss in week one? The most embarrassing loss is the Packers because of the way it happened. The most telling loss is the Chargers because of the issues they have.

And the most concerning big picture stuff is the Rams. So I'm going to do this as quick as we can because I do want to get to every game and Damazzi's got to get to work and I actually, De Manzi's got to go work on Cowherd Show. I have to go on Cowher's show. So like we're really,

we're up against it. Green Bay collapsing against Carson Wentz just can't happen. And Matt LaFleur's seat's got to feel a little warm. They keep blowing these double-digit leads. They can't win a game without Micah Parsons. It's, it's,

highly concerning and allowing 27 consecutive points to, was it 27? No, 29. They were up 22 to 10. 29 consecutive points in a divisional game that you had in hand and that you knocked Kyler Murray out of early disastrous. Arizona, listen, Jacoby, everyone, more than every once in a while, Jacoby Brissette's going to show up and be like, I'm a starting quarterback in this league. Now, every so often also he's going to show up and look like the sloth. lowest player in the entire NFL and just be throwing up picks. But Jacoby can look solid and he's confident and he's a pro.

Justin Herbert on the other hand, once that punt got blocked, first of all, you're trailing the Cardinals 1614 before the punk got blocked. No, it's not even his face. It's that these are how the three possessions ended on first in 10, a bomb to show off that beautiful cannon of his to a guy with two defenders around him who was five foot eight

who had two catches last year probably not the decision you want to make next possession on fourth down throws short of the sticks and the next possession on fourth down throws short of the sticks the chargers who play the Raiders next week

de Manzee who looked good fine, I guess. And then after that, De Manzay, here's the Chargers next seven weeks at Buffalo, at Seattle, home for Denver, at the Chiefs, at the Rams,

home for the Texans, at the Ravens. Good night, good luck, curious to see who the fall guy is this year. My guess is, we're going to blame Harbaugh for the guard rotation. We're going to say, oh, my God, that Tyler B. audish injury you just couldn't overcome, and then they're going to zero in on. Can Justin Herbert

get some wide receivers? Forget the fact that the only reason he didn't have Ladd McConkey in the second half of that game was because he threw Ladd McConkey the ultimate hospital ball and got the poor guy's chest caved in. Niners Rams, the Niners looked awesome. Purdy played great. They didn't even overuse McCaffrey. But Miles Garrett missed. a ton of camp. Everyone ignored it except for Greg Rosenthal. Shout out Greg Rosenthal and NFL Daily. Because they're like,

Stappard missed camp last year. Greg seemed concerned. Miles Garrett then had the single worst game of his career and is now having knee surgery. Jalen Watson, I talked about him earlier, one of their big off-season acquisitions got cooked. They're playing Trent McDuffie out of position and Matt Stappard looked old.

I'm not saying you panic with the ring. but the reason I said I thought they were a touch overvalued. Now all of a sudden they're like, oh, my God, we've got to have Aaron Donald. They didn't think they were even ever getting Aaron Donald a couple months ago, and they were the Super Bowl favorites. All right, let's go to the blowouts. Your Jags and my Ravens beat up on some bad teams this week, or we don't know if they're bad yet, I guess.

Trevor had four touchdowns, and Lamar and Derek Henry looked amazing. How much are you reading into these games? Listen, we We do know The Browns are bad And I want to read you Cheeky there Yeah, I want to read you a tweet

From quarterback coach And I believe Deshawn Watson Either confidant or coach Or whatever Quincy Avery Quincy Avery

who much like the folks at PFF just understand the game at a higher level than us Roobes tweets yesterday afternoon I do understand people not liking Deshawn, etc. I also don't think you guys watched the same tape. I also saw things he definitely needed to do better but the way you guys are talking about it makes it obvious

you didn't watch it with an honest perspective. You know what, Quincy? I'm going to be honest with you. We must not watch the same tape. Correct. If you came away from that game and you're like, you know what? Some good, some bad from Deshawn. The opening drive of their season, he throws a pick. He then tries to throw another one.

He fumbles the ball. And then made a few nice plays once they were down like 34 to nothing. Get out of here. What are we doing? It was just god-awful quarterback play while the game was in the balance. That's the tape I saw. again, maybe this is another Berenstein Bear's situation.

It's like the fumbles. Maybe he, maybe, maybe Quincy Avery has access to the tape, the good Deshawn Watson tape, and where a fumble's a fumble. I have access to awful Deshawn Watson tape and everything I thought was a fumble's not a fumble. What do I know? Trevor, on the other hand, looked great. And that touchdown pass to the back of the end zone

with four guys around him, oh my. Look from a Holmes Mountain today on first. things first. Trevor going to be up there. De Manza, your Ravens looked amazing. Yeah. Jesse Minter, I really like him. I liked him already. Lamar looks spry, willing

to run. Eric, defense wasn't rolling over. Derek Henry's just one of the best athletes of my lifetime. Period. Point blank. Like, the guy was one of those, maybe the most dominant high school running back ever. A great

college running back comes into the NFL and just crushes everyone and it's still going not like a conventional running back either like they're not normally built like he is it's more like from the 70s and 80s okay so it is he is kind of old school and like how giant he is um he's still taller than the guys from the 70s and age but they did you know he's so good man the rate listen i picked the ravens to be the one seed for a reason um lamar's got to prove it to me in the playoffs now's not the time to talk about that they look scary and really good and we've talked a lot about these teams that have brutal schedules ravens not one of them yeah ravens next five home for the saints in rio for the cowboys home for the titans at the falcons at the browns before

they have to go bills bangles jags so you know they've got five and one at worst probably six and oh written all over them um all right let's do the quick hitters all the go ahead Cincinnati defeats Tampa Bay 33 to 27. Listen, Bengals fans, you call me a hater all you want. I don't believe you're... I am not yet a believer that your defense is fixed. I thought Tampa Bay moved the ball, and Baker just had some of the most clownish fumbles I've ever seen.

It was maddening. Does this sound like a guy who had Tampa Bay plus three and a half? Detroit... I'm sorry, New Orleans plus seven and a half. Jags minus eight and a half and the Chiefs money line all tied together. It sure does. But I'm still very upset. Baker, not a great first game for Baker with the contract.

Bengals, though, they get off to a one and no start despite Burrow not playing great. I thought he might've lost it for him with the pick six. So it's a good win, but I'm still skeptical of the defense. We'll see four sacks, four force fumbles, really productive. We'll see if it's sustainable. Tampa they're going to kick themselves on that one Detroit, New Orleans

Demonse 8 Detroit is going to be until they get their safeties back Josh Allen might throw for 500 yards if he wants to. Tyler Shuck just threw for 410. Their past defense is going to be a problem. You know what? We already touched on this game

because the fumble rule thing and anybody arguing that the Saints should have kicked the extra point in overtime and just you can't kick an extra point with 90 seconds left in overtime and just accept a tie in week one. You have to go for it. All right, next game. Philly defeats Washington 24-22.

I was a little underwhelmed by Philly. I thought the way they were imposing their will defensively early, they'd be able to do it the whole game. Landon Dickerson to the IR, that's a big injury for them. But Sequin had the one big run, Jail into his credit made three huge plays and three big spots. Jaden started really, really poorly, like six of 18 or something crazy. Got, you know, hot late. They blew the two-point conversion.

That would have been a terrible loss for Philly. Instead, they escape with a win. It is what it is. It's kind of like a last couple of years, kind of an ugly, an ugly Eagles game, but they end up winning. Next. Pittsburgh, defeats Atlanta, 2013. Yeah, if I'm a Steelers fan, I'm not overwhelmed by that win. T.J. Watt had to save the game against Cooper Rush.

um being insane pick six like how he ended up where he was that that ended up a touchdown was crazy dude he's such a great player such a great great player um i could spend an hour talking about why aaron rogers would do that podcast the day before the season on his teammates podcast i just it just it seems like such a baffling decision that i can't i can't even wrap my mind around it You had to beat that Falcons team with the quarterback situation. The Falcons, I think, could be a live team. That defense looked better than we thought it would if they get panics back soon. Next.

Oh, we got the Jets defeating the Titans, 23 to 10. Remember when people were like, you know what? It's not fair to Cam Ward. He's the number one pick and no one talks about him. No one talked to him going into the draft. No one's talking about him. Hey, man. you know who's really, really happy that no one talks about Cam Ward right now, Cam Ward.

That he is, he is hurtling towards, like, some. Biggest bust, like number, like number one pig. I mean, I, it's early, so I don't want to say that, but that's what I was going to say. Like, he, to Marcus Russell's like, looking around. It's not great. And he's got it like that was that offense had no life whatsoever. Shout out to the Jets for getting the win. And then lastly,

the Raiders beat the Dolphins 2713. Good win for the Raiders. I will admit to the audience, I was not locked in to Jets Titans or Raiders Dolphins. I thought we did great. Thank you to Blue Duck. Thank you to volume. Thank you to DeMonsay.

Thank you to Polly Market. Thank you to Boost Mobile. Thank you to any future sponsors that want to join us. Thank you to everybody who's watching live. I'm late for work. Tomazade's late for work. We'll see you guys on Thursday. What's right?

30 years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City. Who will you trust your friends and neighbors? Or will you trust the people five miles overseas? This is a story about neighbors turning on each other. And what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough. But we're not stopping, are we? Listen to Revisionist History, the Staten Island Problem, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert Lamb.

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