The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi's Week 5 Reactions | GM Street (Ep. 319)

Episode Date: October 9, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss a memorable night for Drew Brees and the Saints on 'Monday Night Football' and standouts from Week 5 before giving out their weekly awards. ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's episode of GM Street is brought to you by Navy Federal. Navy Federal has a mission to put members first by making their financial goals the priority. Receive a lifetime of membership benefits to help you and your family accomplish your life missions, like a full suite of financial products designed to fit your needs, 24-7 live support and access to over 300 branches on or near military bases. Visit NavyFederal.org for more information call 188-8442-63328 or download the Navy Federal Credit Union app today. message and data rates may apply. And we're also brought to you by the Yahoo Sports app, Show Me the Football.
Starting point is 00:00:35 Are you ready for live football on your phone? With the Yahoo Sports mobile app, you've got it. Watch local and primetime NFL games on your phone or tablet all season long. Never miss your local game. Never miss a big national matchup. All you need is the Yahoo Sports app. Get the Yahoo Sports mobile app today, and you are golden. And now, GM Street.
Starting point is 00:00:54 The GM Street part of the Rear Podcast Network. It is Tuesday. It is October 9th. And week five is in the books. And on the line, I am joined by Mr. Michael Lombardi, who was on the road somewhere in the middle of Tennessee, right? Lombardi, how are you doing? I am great. Yes, I'm great.
Starting point is 00:01:17 Billy and I are traveling across the country. I'm somewhere in the middle of Tennessee. I could be in the smoky mountain range. I have no idea. Bella's not happy. She's in the back seat. So if you hear her growling, it's probably because it's lunchtime for her. But we're doing great.
Starting point is 00:01:33 It's exciting. One more day, and I'm back in the great state of New Jersey. You're almost there. And this is not to pay homage to Peyton Manning, whose record was broken last night by Drew Breeze, of course. This is not why you were in Tennessee. You were driving to New Jersey to get back to the East Coast. But I'm sure Peyton Manning really appreciate you stopping by in his home state and letting him know about Rocky Top for the moment right now. But let's talk about the game last night, Monday night football, before we start this thing off. We got Drew Breeze and the Saints. And Mark Ingram comes back to that vaunted offense. We didn't see much of Camara. We didn't see much of Michael Thomas. But we saw a lot of Drew Bree. and the New Orleans Saints come out and pretty much smoke out the Redskins early and often in this one and Lombardi, what's really the main takeaway other than the fact that Drew Breeze is now in the upper echelon, as he has been
Starting point is 00:02:17 for quite some time, in the conversation for one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? I think that the main theme that I watched last night was how good the Saints' offensive line. Because the Redskins' defensive line is good. I mean, they can ball some people, they're physical up front, they're big, and they can take somebody on. And I just thought the Saints' offensive line
Starting point is 00:02:35 took the game over. Breeze was as magnificent as he always was. Sean Peyton was outstanding with his play selection and his diversity as he was just, you know, I mean, he's got everything always off rhythm. He never does things that you traditionally think he's going to do. And when Breeze operates like that and their receivers are so good, look, I think the Reds secondary, they finally benched Josh Norman, who hasn't played well. Seriously, this guy hasn't played well for a while.
Starting point is 00:03:02 He's always been a zone corner that they've tried to make a man to man. he played cover to, you know, they give him a lot of heat for Carolina letting them go, but Carolina decided we're going to pay all that money to recover to spices of man to man. So, you know, the Redskins were in a tough spot last night, the emotion of the stadium. I just thought, but I think that Saints' Offensive line is the difference between them and most of the NFL. And we did see. I mean, you talked about that Saints' Offensive line. There were some moments.
Starting point is 00:03:29 We had, Mark Hingham comes back in this game, and he gets the majority of the carries. We didn't see much of Camer, and it seemed like it was a conscious decision that was made by Peyton. to try to get him the ball and get him back into shape. I think he ends up getting 16 carries in this game, and Camarral only gets six. But we saw, you know, Payne, the rookie come, and he knocks a ball out, and at one point, Ingram fumbles. But as luck would, you know, put it for the Saints team last night,
Starting point is 00:03:51 it just seemed everything was falling their way. He gets back on top of the football, and there's no turnover there. And it just seemed like a night that the stage was set for Drew Brees to have this sort of night. And I was, you know, playing an interim-bred basketball game last night with a die-hard Washington fan. And, you know, he said early in the game,
Starting point is 00:04:06 there was some tough penalties against them, and he just thought that it was all set up. He believed in the conspiracy that the NFL wanted Drew Brees to have this main stage on Monday Night Football for all of this. But you can take that for what it is. But it did just seem like everything was going to go the right way for Drew Brees. And he even said before the game to Charlene, let's just go win the game. And that's exactly what they did. I mean, look, the Redskins in the last five years. I mean, I think since 2012 or 20 games below 500.
Starting point is 00:04:33 So they can blame the officials for a bad call here. I think the Redskins problems are deeper than just Nicholson had that stupid penalty, and then he has a horrendous non-tackle on the touchdown pass. I mean, the Redskins are a front-running team. They are, if things go good early for them, they'll play. If things don't go early for them, they won't play. They don't have any attention to detail in terms of what they do. And poor Alex Smith, you know, he's probably looking around, where's Andy Reid?
Starting point is 00:04:59 Like, where's Andy Reid? I look good playing for Andy Reid. I don't look so good playing in this offense. And, you know, seriously, how much more could they love Kirk Cuson's? I mean, they all hated Kirk Cousson, Washington. The general manager went over, you know, couldn't get that contract worked out, and they all hated them and sent him away. And everything was going to be better with Alex Smith. And now, last night it was.
Starting point is 00:05:18 So to me, the Redskins problems are deep. I think they really lack some things. And they're just such a front-runner team tape, Frasier, that the penalties wouldn't matter. I mean, you know, there's a saying in coaching, you're either coaching or allowing it to happen. When I saw Jake Bruton say to Nicholson after the penalty, now go out there and make a play, like, he's allowing it to happen. And of course the kid went out there and missed the tackle. They blow a coverage, and he had a chance to get the kid out of bounds that he couldn't do it. So, look, that all NFC least is like, really, at some point, I still think the Eagles win the division
Starting point is 00:05:50 because I'm not sure there's any good team in that division right now. And we're going to talk about one of the other teams that division a little bit later, one of our favorite characters here on GM Street, the Clapper, of course. You mentioned Alex Smith. Alex Smith goes 23 for 39, 275 yards, and interception. He had some nice third-down conversions early in the game, but as it wore on, it just, seemed like this team just could not put anything together and couldn't really get a drive going. And I thought one of the funnier storylines going into the game, Lombarding, you could correct me
Starting point is 00:06:16 if I'm wrong. But people kept bringing up the Adrian Peterson thing, the revenge game for Adrian Peterson to go up against his Saints team. They were obviously behind early, so he only gets, I think he ended up getting six yards on four carries at the end of this one. So just the fact that that was the headline going to the game, I thought was a little ridiculous when you have these two teams going up against each other. It's so bad, Kay Fraser. I mean, like, that's the headline. I mean, people are saying, well, Adrian Peterson has a loss thing?
Starting point is 00:06:40 Seriously, are you watching the same tape? I'm watching it? I mean, what the F? I mean, the guy's not the same player. He was a great player, but he's not the same player. And if you're going to buy into that rhetoric, it's crazy. I mean, look, let's face it. He had a great career. He belongs to the Hall of Fame. I'm not disputing that, but where he is right now,
Starting point is 00:06:57 but come on, he was on the street for a reason. And the saints let him go or traded him to Arizona last year for a reason. So I just think sometimes we get caught. up and the whole thing, Tate, Fraser, of this whole rhetoric that's going on on the, the whole storyline between Monday night and when they start talking about things. Like, for example, like the saints are so creative what they do offensively. So what they typically like to do is they like to send a motion across the field. Okay?
Starting point is 00:07:24 So they send a motion across the field and then that motion guy sit. And what Breeze does is calculate what happened on the motion. And once Breeze figures out what he's got, he then, checks to another play. Run past, pass run. Doesn't matter. And so they've been doing this for years, but nobody talks about it because, you know, they just see this motion come across. Like, Sean Payton's just bringing that motion across just because he feels like it. I mean, it's absurd. So anyway, you know, I just think there's something we miss it. We focus on storyline that are not even relevant. I mean, like, really? Are you serious? Like the Redskins play, like the Saints would
Starting point is 00:07:59 have said, play Adrian Peterson all you want. I mean, Fulgar McFarlane's talking about how they got a stop giving up. Look, the last two weeks, the Saints have changed defensively what they do philosophically. They've played way more zone than they did in the first two weeks. They stopped giving up big plays. They're keeping the ball in front of them. After they almost lost to Atlanta, Sean Payton went back to the drawing board and said, we're going to mix in some man. We're going to have five-man pressures, but we're going to get back to be basic football and try to get... And the rookie defensive end, Marcus Davenport showed signs last night that he can be a guy that can get them pressure up front. He recorded a sack and also
Starting point is 00:08:35 had a force fumble in this game. And you mentioned just a commentary that was going on during Monday night football last night. I have to bring up. One of your favorite lines that you use here on this program is the Cheesecake Factory menu. And we're talking about RIP. We're going to pull one out right now for Ben McAdoo. But Jason Witten, used that last night on the program. Are you proud or are we excited?
Starting point is 00:08:56 Are we happy to hear that Jason Witten is obviously listening to GM Street or that your verbiage had spread off? I'm happy. He listened. Yeah, I mean, sure. I love it. Thankfully, I wish he would have mentioned my. book that, you know, give me a book a little plug or something like that. Come on, Bugar, give us a plug. Yeah, get a plug of the book. But everybody knows it's like the clapper. I mean, everybody
Starting point is 00:09:16 used the clapper. It's good. I'm happy. And it's the foremost compliments when they do that. But, you know, let's go back to the Redskins for a second, pay for Asia. The Redskins, speaking of my book and a Redskins, the Redskins are, you remember the Seinfeld episode when George did the opposite of everything? Instead of eating a cune fish sandwich, he decided to order salmon and a cup of feet. Yes. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:41 Jim, producer Jim is nodding. I'm sure. Yeah, one of my favorite ones of all time. And, you know, George opposite would never go up to that good-looking girl, but he went up to her, oh, right. So anyway, the Redskins are the opposite. They do everything that's opposite in my book. Like, they're the opposite of my book.
Starting point is 00:09:55 Like, every behavior of the Redskins have signed Josh Norman, sign Albert Haynesworth. I mean, since the owner's owned a team, Daniel Snyder, he's 134 and 173, since his ownership of the team. The Redskins should never read my book because they do the opposite of everything that I wrote in that book. But the thing is, they still, in some respects, are the best-looking team in the NFC least, as you like to call them, right? I mean, there is still some promise there
Starting point is 00:10:23 just because that division just seems so up in the air at this point. Well, they look good, but, I mean, there's no attention to detail. I mean, I remember we practiced against it when I was at the Patriots. We practiced out of them in Richmond, And R.G.3 says, when we were running sprints after practice, he says, man, those guys look like a Catholic League team practiced it all the time. Yeah, like, no shit, RG3. Like, this is called the NFL, where you are and call the NFL.
Starting point is 00:10:48 You're just going through the motion. Like, this is what you have to do to be a championship level team. It's called conditioning. It's called getting in shape. It's not called just show up and see how it goes. You know, or go out there and make a play now. I mean, that's something somebody says in high school to a kid. Like, seriously.
Starting point is 00:11:03 You wonder why they lose? I mean, come on, man. We're seeing it now. Come on, man. You're letting them know. You speak about conditioning as far as like the physical aspect. Let's talk about the mental conditioning and the ability to adjust on the fly and then make a big time call. And that comes down to something that we saw. That was a theme of week five. I mean, there was a lot of decisions that were not made that, you know, owners like Jerry Jones wished that his coach would have made.
Starting point is 00:11:25 And he said it 15 minutes after the game. And then there was some other decisions that were made by the likes of Shaw McVeigh and the likes of Pete Carroll. And it all comes down to coaching decisions. being able to trust in your team and to be able to take a calculated risk to make sure that things play out. And I want to talk about the Shaw McVey and talk about this Rams and the Seahawks game. And I know you have some thoughts on just the general topic of what these coaches like McVeigh and Pete Carroll and these guys are willing to do to take these sorts of risk in these
Starting point is 00:11:52 games. And obviously it's paying off for a guy like Shaw McVeigh who has the Rams at 5 and 0 right now. You know, I didn't have, I mean, Pete Carroll called the timeout. Everybody's giving them a hard time. Why did you call a timeout to let Shaw McVe think? about it. Well, he was trying to save himself some time to get back in the game. I wasn't as upset with that, and I think
Starting point is 00:12:10 Sean McVay did exactly what you have to do. Look, nobody understands this anymore, but the reality of the NFL today, and it was when Bill Walsh was a coach, they put up the one-loss record's home and on the road the other day. Walsh's winning percentage on the road
Starting point is 00:12:26 was better than his home record. Why? Because Walsh controlled the offense, and the way you went on the road today in the NFL is through your offense. And Sean McBase proven that. Even though his defense is not playing very good so far, they're not stopping the run, nor rushing the pastures
Starting point is 00:12:42 to the level that we all think on paper they should, their offense wins on the road. And so when Sean went for it on fourth and one, he understood immediately that, look, if I give the ball back to them, the way my defense is playing, I have a chance to lose. If I convert this first down,
Starting point is 00:12:58 there's no chance I lose the game. And I think you did the right thing. Whatever your offense can win the game, I think you got to take advantage of it. And we got to the point in this game. So the Rams Seahawks game ends up being 33-31. We had six lead changes as a NFC West Thriller is back and forth. And what we're talking about, we were one yard short.
Starting point is 00:13:18 And on the day, I mean, Goff and the Rams struggled on third down. There were three of nine. The Seahawks, in comparison, were 7 to 12 on third down. But also, we lose Brandon Cooks in this game due to a concussion. Cooper Cup, we also goes down in this game with a concussion. But they have this fourth and one play. And it was an aggressive decision at the time when McVeigh decided to go for it. But, you know, like you were saying, I mean, who wants to kick the ball back to
Starting point is 00:13:40 Russell Wilson and give him a chance to make a play? Because we saw in the Panthers game when they did get the ball back, and then you do pun and you give them more time, there's a chance that a guy like Graham Canoe, you know, can kick a 63-yarder to win the game, and then you're screwed. No doubt, Tate Frazier. And nobody seems to pay attention to that how much time we give the guy back. How can we win the game? I mean, like Baltimore game, for example, is a perfect example of that.
Starting point is 00:14:03 Baltimore's got the ball first and 10 at the Cleveland Brown's 12-yard line. There's a minute and 14 to go in the half. Cleveland, I think, has two timeouts. What does Marty Morning Wigg and the Ravens do? They didn't watch Atlanta mismanaged the clock management last year. They throw three passes and give Cleveland a chance to move the ball back to win the game, to potentially win the game. Now, of course, Cleveland stopped their toe and didn't do it.
Starting point is 00:14:26 They eventually did it in overtime, but you have the ball first and go at the 12, and the clock is stopped, and you know your opponent is two times. You know right now, you know right now you're going to tie the game. You got Justin Tucker. The worst you're going to get is the tie, but you've got to eliminate some clock. So you run it on first down and now you put the pressure on Hugh Jackson's seat. Is he going to call timeout or is he going to let the clock go? If he calls timeout, no big deal. Run it again. He'll eat another timeout, then make the third down place so you can get the first down. Take away his timeouts. Take away his arsenal. You're trying to do both. But when you throw three passes, you're basically just
Starting point is 00:15:03 saying, okay, Cleveland, why don't you get the ball and drive back down the field with your two-timeout and beat us and beat us before we go to overtime? It's just ludicrous how dumb things are. It just doesn't make any sense. And it happens continuously in the NFL where you get to the point where you just say enough. And I think Sean McBey understands it.
Starting point is 00:15:20 I mean, at least he gets game management. Last week against Minnesota, he punted the ball. This week, he went for it. It's all about the situation, the percentage. And I think there tends to be a belief that there's always a set philosophy. with these guys and these coaches.
Starting point is 00:15:34 One of these guys is, you know, Riverboat Ron's going to be aggressive. He's going to go for it on fourth down or whatever it may be. But I think the thing that we've seen with McVeigh, and I think the thing that is, you know, both impressed you and me just watching him from the sidelines is the fact that it doesn't seem like he has a set agenda on what he's going to decide. In a very similar vein as Sean Peyton, you know, they are taking every single risk. And like, the analysis is happening in the moment.
Starting point is 00:15:59 It is not preconceived. It is not scripted. It is happening in the moment. and they are making decisions based on what is happening in front of them in the game itself. And they're not calling out and outsourcing the calls of India like we heard with Andy Reid a couple years ago. You know what I mean? They are doing it live and in person, and I think that's been very impressive to see early on in this season. I mean, here's the reality.
Starting point is 00:16:19 Look at the game and see how this game is flowing. If you're Jason to Clapper Garrett and you've got the ball fourth and one and you've got a really good offensive line and you've got a great running back, and you've got a quarterback who can move, and you've got a chance. to win the game right there. You've got to do it. Like, you're not playing field position. This is not the first quarter. Like, we're not coming back. You're lucky as hell to be in the game to begin with.
Starting point is 00:16:45 If Houston had any design on red zone, if Houston could run a quarterback's seat effectively. I mean, they tried to run a quarterback sneak in the second hand. And Deshawn Watson gave the two feet defensive tackles time to line up in the A gap. Like, really, DeShon? Like, if you'd have ghosted, you'd have gone for three yards. Right? Like, just get up there and go.
Starting point is 00:17:03 They got the ball six inches from the, from the from the end zone. And they don't even know how to run a guy. They're the lineup at shotgun. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? So, you know, and Garrett doesn't go for it. And then Garrett said, well, I was playing the percentages.
Starting point is 00:17:19 I thought our defense's playing good. Are you kidding me? You've got to win the game right here. You're lucky to be in the game. Like, you're lucky to be in the game. Take advantage of it. And yet, no, he's got big offensive line. He's got a quarterback that can run.
Starting point is 00:17:31 He's got one of the best running backs who is almost impossible to tackle for less than a yard, who they put the graphic up there, obviously the clapboard didn't see it, he makes three yards after contact. Now, why would you give him the ball? Exactly. And let's just talk about that game. So this is Sunday night football, obviously for people that, you know, are kept an eye on this. So the Texans are taking on the Cowboys. This was a defensive showdown. I mean, this was really good if you are a DeMarcus Lawrence fan or if you are a Giadavion Clowny fan and if you want the, you know,
Starting point is 00:18:01 you want them to get paid $20 million next year when they're free agents. This was the game for you to really buy in on. to see what was going on. And that's why, you know, Gare's not wrong to say that his defense was having a great game. They did a great job, you know, basically trying to contain Deshaun Watson. But they still, you know, the yardage battle is 462 to 292. The Texans, you know, vastly outplayed the Cowboys for the most part in this game. And Dallas just sort of seemed at odds and lost. And just getting down to that fourth down decision in overtime. We're tied at 16. Obviously, we've got to talk about the
Starting point is 00:18:31 DeAndre Hopkins, you know, the back-to-back spin moves when he hits the B button back-to-back, insanity. But just for Garrett to make that decision, obviously he's been there since 2010 and we've talked about the Clapper and how long that leash will be. And we get Jerry Jones right after the game saying that basically there was a time to make an aggressive call. It was a time to do
Starting point is 00:18:49 something, time to go for it, especially when like you said, you have Dezeko Elliott in the backfield. I mean, is this the moment in time that we probably point to to say that could have been, you know, that may have been finally it clicked in his head that Jerry Jones is thinking to himself, maybe he has
Starting point is 00:19:05 to move on from the Clapper and move on from the Garrett regime, or is it just more of the same at this point? Well, look, I mean, Jared's reminds is very similar to the RAM. Now, to me, if he's saying the 2015 Rams, then I think he's right. If he's saying the 2018 Rams that he should go to Pearl Vision right the fuck now and get himself a goddamn eye exam. Like, that's what he's got to do right now. Like, there's just no reason.
Starting point is 00:19:30 He's Mr. Magoo if he thinks that. Like, seriously, he's Mr. McGoo if he thinks that. He's got to go get an eye exam. So just, but let's just take. it if you believe what he said. Okay? Like, do you think Sean McBey wasn't going to go for it,
Starting point is 00:19:42 give the ball to Zique Elliott on fourth and one? I mean, like, if you put Sean, if you give Shaw McBay that offense in Dallas, you don't think they would move the ball? Like, of course they would.
Starting point is 00:19:51 Of course they would. Dak Prescott's taking all this peekout in Dallas, like he's some kind of, like he's the problem. No, he's the solution. The problem is that you don't do any motions. You don't do anything to create situations.
Starting point is 00:20:03 You run a screen for Zeke Elliott. Like, there's no way you do anything. to where you create mismatches on their opponent. You never play where you control the action. You're always reactionary, and people get a read on you. I mean, during that game, Romeo Cornell was going to attack on first down with outside pressures. He had a game plan, and by formation, he was blitzing them. And so while he was doing that, they couldn't get going.
Starting point is 00:20:26 And so there was the story of the game. So Jalen Smith made a couple great plays, but it really wasn't like, I didn't leave that game thinking he was the most dominant linebacker on the field. you know, and the play he caught Deshaun Watson on. I mean, everybody was going to catch him. The angle was up. The defender forced him back in. He couldn't turn the corner. So to me, I think if you're Jerry Jones, you've got to see this.
Starting point is 00:20:45 And if you think you're the Rams of 18 and your coach doesn't give it to you, then that's got to be a problem. And just talking about Dak, he's 18 for 29, 208 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions. One thing to point out about Dak, though. I mean, he had two very fortunate situations that could have been potential pick six as we had Jonathan Joseph dropped pick six early in the game. And then we had Karim Jackson drop pick six, latent regulation that would have pretty much sealed the game for Houston. So there were a couple times that were Dak was,
Starting point is 00:21:11 but then we had some amazing moments where, you know, Dak, you know, gets away from two potential sacks and is able to throw a 44-yard pass down to Tavon Austin. So he's running for his life, like you were saying. So it is strange how all fingers seem to be pointing towards Dack Prescott at this point with all the problems that are going on in Dallas. But it does seem to be a larger issue. Now, you brought up Shaw McVeigh being able to run that Dallas.
Starting point is 00:21:34 offense. I mean, I think Sean McVey would be able to get Deshaun Watson and be able to run a QB sneak if you can get Jared Gough to do one, right? There's no doubt. It's just to come under center. Look, if you got the Sean Watson, look, I think Deshawn Watson is really good out of shock down. I love that. But put him in a little bit of, put him under center a little bit. He's going to get the night on his sneak. He's 6'5. He's got long arms. I mean, Tom Brady gets the ball over the end zone every single time. I mean, people were sending me, like, all this information on what the quarterback's sneak value is in terms of how
Starting point is 00:22:02 many times you hit it. When you want to win road games, if you want to win tough mock games, you've got to win third and one. That's like the number one thing come playoff time is who wins third ones. Who can control third and two? When you can do that without having to get the shotgun and put all the pressure on making a throw, ball doesn't get batted down, and you could run it. And it doesn't matter if you have any tendencies. If they can't stop it, you know, when I was at the Raiders in 2002, we used to run 14 or 15 lead with Zach Crocket. And we never missed it one time. Zach would bang it up. in there. We'd get the yard and move on.
Starting point is 00:22:35 That's why we were a good team. Pittsburgh used to do the same thing with Jerome Bettis. They'd run that lead play for third and one and get it up in there. That's when you know you're a good team. The saints do it. They're good teams. The definition of a good team is clearly this. We can throw the ball when you know we're going to throw it. We can run the ball when you know we're
Starting point is 00:22:53 going to run it. When you can't do those two things, you're not a good team. Yeah. And one thing, we can't point out about the Cowboys and maybe the Ezekielie a decision not to, he did limp off the field sort of late in the game. He did return afterwards. I mean, he ends up getting 20 carries for 54 yards and then he had seven catches for
Starting point is 00:23:09 30 yards as well, but it just didn't seem like a night for Zique. I do want to point out before we move on from this game, DeAndre Hopkins and I brought up a little bit about the spin moves in overtime and obviously that huge play that he had, but he was going up against Byron Jones and Byron Jones, for people that don't know, he has
Starting point is 00:23:25 not had a pass interference flag thrown on him in his four-year career and DeAndre Hopkins, you know, finally got one thrown on him in this game. He ends up getting 13 targets for 151 yards, and basically winning the game for them. And you just talk about elite players. There's some guys that can just based off their own skill,
Starting point is 00:23:43 carry you to the next level. And Hopkins is just one of those guys on the outside. I mean, it really is unbelievable to see him in action. Because that didn't even seem like a real human being when he did those back-to-back spin moves. You know what I mean? He was like unconscious almost. It's unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:23:59 And his hands and wrists are so strong. But the ball hits his hands, the wrist, they stop immediately. I mean, receivers that don't strengthen their wrist and work on those are not going to be great receivers. You've got to be able to stop the ball. Your hands have got to be strong. And then the thing he's always able to do to me, he would be a great rebounder in basketball. He's always in balance when he's going to get the ball. He's never out of balance.
Starting point is 00:24:20 And so he's always can compete for the jump ball. You know, he doesn't have great speed. He doesn't separate all the time for people, but he runs great routes. He knows how to push off. He knows how to stick his elbow in and nudge. And he finds ways. And I think the last, since the opening. day. I think DeShall Watson has gotten much better as he's moving too many hits. But I think
Starting point is 00:24:43 they've got to find a way to get some kind of balance in their offense, especially with their run game, because it can't always just be on the Sean Watson. But you're right, Hopkins is especially. And we did see Deshaun Watson a little bit late in that game going over to the sideline, holding his side a little bit. Some people were concerned. But like you said, he's a tough kid. And Deshaun is one of those guys that if he can be out there, he will be out there. Let's get to a game that I know that I think everyone, this is probably the most anticipated game of the weekend heading into week five, a game that a lot of people thought, you know, could potentially be the AFC championship matchup.
Starting point is 00:25:13 People were excited to see what this Jaguars defense. Jalen Ramsey before the game was, you know, making backhanded compliments to Tyree Kill about him being a special team's player and all that stuff going into the game. So we get the Chiefs taking on the Jaguars. We get Mahomes versus defense. But for the benefit of us and for the benefit of entertainment, maybe not so much for, you know, the competitive entertainment in this game. But just for us as fans, we get to see the real Blakeboard.
Starting point is 00:25:37 And boy, did he show up in full forward in this game, Lombardi. Blake Bortles was slinging the ball over the place. He had one of the best pick sixes you'll ever see. Look like something out of the Harlem Globetrotters. I just threw it right directly to a guy for the touchdown. But just overall, I mean, this was Blake. On a screen, don't you love it? Yeah, on a screen, right to him.
Starting point is 00:25:56 You know, it's funny. You know, it's funny. When he has a good game, you know, everybody's right down there. Of course, look, he's the great equalizer. I've been saying it, he's the great equalizer. Nobody wants to admit it. You know, they think they can manage them. At some point, you know, we all talk about this is the quarterback league,
Starting point is 00:26:16 quarterbacks win games. And then in the same sentence, we talk about Blake Bordles. That ain't going to happen, bro. It's just not going to happen. It ain't, it's just no way. Look, two things to me impress me. Can't see his offensive line did a really good job against Jacksonville's front. I thought Jacksonville's past rush design was horrendous.
Starting point is 00:26:36 I think you've got to squeeze the pocket on the homes. Your ends can't play up the field. they've got to take the outside shoulder of the tackles and push them back in, and they've got to squeeze this kid to make him stay in there. Force him to beat you and get into the paint. And I thought Jacksonville could do it before the game they did. I didn't think Blake was going to throw this many interceptions. I didn't think it's going to be this bad.
Starting point is 00:26:57 I thought Jacksonville had a chance to win because I thought they could slow him down to run the ball. I thought not having for net was going to be a problem. Now they've lost Grant and all the burden falls on T. T.J. Eldon. So I don't know. but look, flight portals to me is the great equalizer. And he can play great against somebody, a bad defense. That's great.
Starting point is 00:27:16 But when you've got to win in the ASC, you're going to have to beat Kansas City. You've got to beat some good defense. He couldn't beat Tennessee's defense. And Josh Allen did. Yeah, and Josh Allen did. That's one thing we should point out. Blake goes 33 for 61 in this game for 430 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions. I mean, that almost isn't even true.
Starting point is 00:27:35 I mean, at halftime, he's 10 for 22 for 126 yards and two picks. a lot of that stuff, the game was pretty much over when he was stacking up some of those yards. You mentioned Corey Grant going down. It was a Liz Frank injury, I think, is what it was called. So he's out for the year, unfortunately. So it was a situation where, obviously, if Blake's throwing 61 times, that's never good. They were down, so he did have to throw the ball more. You mentioned Pat Mahomes and what he was going against. I mean, they did do a really good job, Jalen Ramsey, of trying to bottle up, you know, the explosiveness of Tyree Kill. Travis Kelsey still had a good game. Mahomes throws his first pick of the season, but he says, still eclips the 300-yard mark
Starting point is 00:28:10 on the day, and it did just seem that, you know, even when Mahomes took some shots or was able to, you know, get, you know, humbled a little bit by this Jaguars defense, for whatever reason they were able to easily bounce back, and he goes 22 for 38 for 313 yards and a rushing touchdown,
Starting point is 00:28:26 no passing touchdowns this week. And it proves the theory. You don't win. Defenses have a hard time winning on the road. It's hard in this league. Look, Jackson will play good defense at certain points in the game. You just can't play 30 minutes of defense. Jacksonville would have dominated more if their offense would have been able to convert some third down for the first half. Blake doesn't turn it over.
Starting point is 00:28:44 And at the end of the day, if their defense plays 26 minutes, they win the game. I mean, it's so classic. Nobody gets this. We don't talk about it. But the Eagles last year, whenever they had a play over 30 minutes, they weren't. They didn't win. I mean, Eli Manning, we'll get to this later. But Eli Manning's two best games last year were against the Eagles.
Starting point is 00:29:02 You know, he threw for a ton of yards. But the Eagles defense never placed for the 20. 27 minutes. That's why. This year they're playing more than 27 minutes. They're playing 30 and all of a sudden people are worried about them. Well, that's why you're playing too much. It's too many minutes because your offense isn't controlling the tempo. And that's why offenses on the road win, because if they can control the pace, it limits the amount. And right now, Jacksonville can't control the pace, and Bordals can't stay on the field on the road. He can't against the bad Pittsburgh defense. He could against a New England defense that isn't great, but he can't against the defense that
Starting point is 00:29:37 get after him like Kansas City did. So to me, it's going to be the problem all year. Yeah, and it's something to keep an eye on moving forward, especially with Blake, and we're going to see just how far he can take them. And as you said, he is the great equalizer. We'll keep an eye on that. And you mentioned Eli Manning. You said we're going to talk about it later.
Starting point is 00:29:50 Let's talk about it now. The Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants, obviously, it was an absolute back-and-forth game, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and obviously in an epic ending with Graham Ganoe hitting a long 63-yard field goal to get the win for the Panthers. We were going to talk about Ferris Bueller, one of our favorite characters. This is a big week for GM Street. We've got a lot of characters coming back into the fold in Week 5. OBJ sat down with Josina Anderson and Little Wayne.
Starting point is 00:30:14 Lombardy, you know Little Wayne is. What was Little Wayne doing there? Was he promoting the Genesis halftime show? Is that what he was doing? I think he was promoting his album, The Card of Five, and I think he was just trying to show support to, you know, to OBJ. He's like, look, just throw the ball to OBJ, he's open. You know, I've looked at the tape.
Starting point is 00:30:28 You know, Little Wayne's looked at the tape. He was a guest way back in the day with Stephen A. Smith, you know, he's been around the block on ESPN. So OBJ was looking for some support there from Little Wayne. But anyways, they came out and it caused a little bit of controversy, and he criticized Eli and a little bit of the offense, and he brought up the fact that, you know, they had been one and two before, been able to bounce back. But coming into this game, that was really the talking point. And, you know, he had a dropped pass on a fourth and three.
Starting point is 00:30:54 Then he muffed the punt that led to a Carolina touchdown, but he also had, you know, some big plays later in this game that we'll get to. But just talking about Ferris Bueller, that whole situation, it just, you know, we talked about in the offseason, and him trying to avoid the drama, him trying to get his contract, him trying to be the quote-unquote best receiver in football. And now we're at week five and all this sort of stuff is popping up again. I mean, is anybody surprised? I wrote about it in the athletic. We've talked about it on Gn Street.
Starting point is 00:31:21 Like, are the giants surprised? I mean, they created this monster. They're the reason. Look, here's what we know. Eli and Odell wanted Ben Maccas to be the head coach. They went and they made sure that that's what they wanted. And they got that. and now Ben wanted, I mean, now O'Dell wanted his contract.
Starting point is 00:31:39 He got that. Odell's used to get in what he won. So why not complain? I mean, why not? You know, it's like Bella. Her dinner time's at 4 o'clock, right? But Bella starts complaining at 2.30. So what happens, she starts getting fed at 3 o'clock every day.
Starting point is 00:31:53 Like, she's won. Like, she wins. Same thing with O'Dell. He's, bitches, he wins. It's no different. And Bella knows she's not going to get traded at this point, and the same way the OBJ knows. Well, Bell's got a lifetime contract.
Starting point is 00:32:06 There's no way she's getting traded. You don't think how much she's giving me shit at 3 at 2.30 to feed her. Like, she's going to eat, right? Yes. It's the same thing. And he doesn't, you think Odell's worried about him getting traded? He's sitting there talking about I rather play. I love Los Angeles, but I'm in New York.
Starting point is 00:32:21 I mean, come on. You know, never once in that whole interview, did he ever say, I take responsibility. I'm a good teammate. I'm going to get it. No. You know, he did it after. He took credit for almost winning the game. Can you imagine that?
Starting point is 00:32:32 why if my speech made us play better, I'm happy. Are you kidding me? Look, we all know the problems in New York. We all know the problems in New York. They refuse to admit the problems in New York. They buried their head and said, and this week, Thursday night, the two games Eli played against Philadelphia is the reason that the giant frontoff is deciding why they went back with Eli.
Starting point is 00:32:54 I think Shaquan Barkley is a great player. Don't get me wrong. They got a really good player. They need a quarterback. And I think what Odell said happens to be true. However, in the manner that he said it, and what he did to me, is really wrong. But the Giants have to know this. They knew this all along.
Starting point is 00:33:10 I don't see why it's surprised to anybody. I don't think it is necessarily a surprise. I do think that it is interesting because it seemed like for the first few weeks, at least, OBJ was sort of biding his time before he said anything. And then I think, you know, it's not just us that are, you know, GM Street here that are pointing out that, you know, Eli is struggling at the quarterback position. I think it has become a talking point. So as it has become more of, you know, sort of an understood general thing that Eli has really
Starting point is 00:33:36 struggled so far this season, I think that has empowered OBJ even more to say, hey, look, we got this rookie who we brought in to help us win right now. But we can't win right now because I'm wide open on plays and I can't get the ball. Sterling's wide open on plays. He can't get the ball. He can't get the ball. You know what I mean? So I think it had gotten to that point.
Starting point is 00:33:55 And granted, you know, when you lose, everything compounds. And Eli, let's be honest, Eli in this game, I mean, except for his first interception, did not have a terrible performance. He was 22 for 36, 3 to 26 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of picks. But it just, it seems like it's compounded to the point where obviously you have Sequin. You have the trick play. Beckham throws a 57-yard touchdown to Seekwan, which everyone was so excited about. And you have these explosive skill players, but you don't have the foundation that you need to be a true competitor because you can't really rely on Eli to get you there at this point.
Starting point is 00:34:29 And that's something that we knew going into the season. No doubt. I mean, that's the problem. The guy I feel sorry for Pat Shermer. And I think Pat Shermer really took it head on. He's trying to deal with it. But look, the hardest thing to do in sports is coach a once great player who's declining. I think Phil Jackson retired as the coach of the Chicago Bulls
Starting point is 00:34:52 because he didn't want to have to deal with Michael George in the waning years of his career. It's hard. Nobody wants to accept it. Nobody wants to move forward. There's an emotional base. Eli has been tremendous for the New York Giants. And I applaud them for being loyal to them. However, there has to be a voice of reason within their building that's watching the tape that says, you know, we're probably struggling because we don't have a good enough quarterback. And I think that's why I respect Shermer what he's doing, because Sherman knows. Now, he took the company line because he got the job because he was going to fall in the line with what John Marrow, the president wanted, what Dave Gettlement, the general manager, what all those guys wanted in terms of the giant front office. And so I think he's done a great job. He's tried to handle it. But he's got a huge issue in dealing with Ferris Bueller because Ferris isn't going to stop now. This isn't the last we've heard of Furr.
Starting point is 00:35:46 Like, he's coming back with more because he has an avenue. You think the SPN doesn't like it when Ferris speaks? Are you kidding me? They can't wait. Yeah. He'll be back. Little Wayne will be back as well, I'm sure. Maybe we'll get like a remix on that original interview at some point.
Starting point is 00:36:01 That's what we can hope for. I want to bring up a team, and you mentioned it earlier. So the Buffalo Bills go and beat the Tennessee Titans. Of course, the Tennessee Titans, a team that also beat the Jacksmow Jaguars. And this is sort of just how this NFL, the first five weeks have been. It's just been very strange in different parks. And, you know, the bills also beat the Vikings, and the Vikings just beat the defending champions.
Starting point is 00:36:21 And this whole thing is playing out. But we talked about Mike Vrable, you know, being a guy that was up for, potentially NFL coach of the year, just because this Titans team was able just to figure out ways to win. Obviously, you know, beating the Texans, being the Jaguars, being the Eagles. And the luck seemed to run out this week. The turnover has really got the best of the Titans. And I just want to ask you because you just look at this Bill's team, and we've talked about how much they have, you know, struggled at times this season. But somehow they've been able to win some surprising games, like I mentioned that Vikings game earlier.
Starting point is 00:36:51 But this game 13 to 12, Bill's get a win. It's all because of turnovers with the Titans. Vrable and these guys, the luck runs out for Tennessee. But just looking at this game, I mean, it was obviously, in the Bill Simmons term, it was the wonkiest game of the week, right? I mean, it was just very strange how it all played out. Yeah, I mean, look, here's the thing about Buffalo, and I don't mean this in any disrespect at all,
Starting point is 00:37:11 but Buffalo to win, the other team has to lose. That's what Buffalo has to do. Buffalo can't just go out and beat anybody. The other team has to lose, and that's what Tennessee was able to do. That's why they won three games. They avoided losing first and allow them to, win. And in the NFL, if you just avoid losing, if you just don't turn the ball over, don't make
Starting point is 00:37:31 penalties, and just don't give your opponent a chance, you've got a chance to win the game. It'll come down to a field goal. Even if you don't get any offense, the Arizona Cardinals, would be proof of that. There's another game. You know, they get 220 yards of offense, barely convert a third down, and yet they win. They turned the ball over, I think, five or more times, San Francisco. So teams like that, they have to have to, they're never winning the game. the opponent has to lose the game. And that's what happened why Buffalo was won two times in the row in Buffalo last year was similar.
Starting point is 00:38:04 They had a little better off over to win. And Tennessee, it's going to be like this every week for Tennessee. Tennessee's not a great team by any means. I mean, all these Eagle fans said about the Eagles defense that think there's something wrong with the Eagles defense of a given Jim Sports a hard time. Like if they would watch the Tennessee receivers get open on the Eagles' corners and then watch the Tennessee receivers not get open in Buffalo,
Starting point is 00:38:28 they would be like, well, wait a minute, something's going on here. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Your corners can't cover anybody in Philadelphia. They're making Tennessee receivers look great, which they never do any time of the week. And we should say, I mean, that's sort of the point. We've talked about that front seven with the Eagles. That is who they are. That is the identity.
Starting point is 00:38:47 And they have to get that pass rush because on the back end, they don't necessarily have the coverage. And it is a 26 to 33-minute game that they're trying to get on the 26-minute side of how long they're on the field. and this season they've been on the other side of that, which has been a little bit different. I want to get to one more game before we're going to take a break and then we're going to get to the awards for the week. But the last game we wanted to talk about from this week is that Bingoes Dolphins game.
Starting point is 00:39:10 This was a game that was another weird one. Andy Dalton kind of started off, you know, not Red Hot, far from Red Hot in this game. The Dolphins had a 17-0 lead at one point in this game. But the Bengals battled back and ended up winning this one, 27 to 17. Lombardi just looking at this game. I mean, just sort of, as they like to say, in Coach Spieg. It was a tale of two halves almost.
Starting point is 00:39:29 But my favorite moment of this game. So I'm in Waco, Texas. I'm sitting at this. Got all these TV is a great venue, right? I'm so watching the game, right? And so naturally, Millie knows my picks. And, you know, she can't wait. The bus told me if I'm wrong on a pick. So she looks at the TV and she sees Miami up 17 to nothing, right?
Starting point is 00:39:50 And she says, oh, they think you got that one wrong, huh? You know? And so it just couldn't wait to give it to me, right? And then they come back. I just love it. I was so happy on that. And I got it back. But the reality here is, Miami was never a three-and-o team.
Starting point is 00:40:05 The first three games of the season, they've avoided losing. And that's what they did. And so they did make costly mistakes. The jet games, they made a couple advantage of us. But the reality of it was, was they really aren't a three-and-o team. So they go into Cincinnati. They get off to a hot start. They make a cut return for a touchdown.
Starting point is 00:40:22 They turns the ball over. They're up 17 and nothing. But the longer the game goes. And Cincinnati's the defensive front starts to take over the game, and Ryan Tanahill has to play smart. the less effective Miami is. And so, look, Miami is, they can't make big plays. They don't run the ball effectively all the time.
Starting point is 00:40:38 And Tanna Hill, to me, is an athlete playing quarterback, and that they need a quarterback. I mean, they need a quarterback badly. And but by the people, you know, that they would be willing to trade Devante Parker. People are calling the Devonte Parker all that, right? And so naturally, I write it on the athletic on my Monday morning column and naturally, you know what happened?
Starting point is 00:41:02 Deny. The dolphin. They say I'm wrong. The dolphin denial. Complete law. Yes. They've done it again. It's Jarvis Landry all over again.
Starting point is 00:41:10 You know, they were going to, they fully intend to sign Jarvis Landry to a multi-year contract. You know that, don't you, right? Oh, he's in Cleveland. I forgot that. Oh, and they're not going to cut Adam and Kusu, are they? No, they're not going to cut him. He's on the ramps, right, okay. I mean, like, why can't Panembaum just come out and say, look, you know, there's a lot of rumors swirl around.
Starting point is 00:41:28 I'm not going to confirm or deny. Well, I'm just going to do everything to make the team better. Instead, they're kissing the players' ass. Oh, no, we're not going to trade to you. We're not going to trade to. You're going to trade him. Of course you're going to trade them. You're pissed off at them constantly.
Starting point is 00:41:39 Like the kid's never healthy. He's been a disappointment for you. Why wouldn't you trade him? You just cut Jordan Phillips. You're not going to cut him? I mean, give me a break. Is it one of those things where it's just value they think that by not saying the truth or trying to divert it in some way?
Starting point is 00:41:56 I think Adam Gase has a confrontation issue. I think Adam Gase is a really, but I don't think he ever wants to have a confrontation. I think he's the opposite of Parcells. When Parcells woke up at 5 o'clock every morning and his feet hit the ground, he was looking for a conversation. He couldn't wait to get one, right?
Starting point is 00:42:15 I think Adam Gage just does, I think he wants everybody happy. You know, he wants everybody happy. We're all going to play. We're all going to play. Everybody's going to play two innings. Everybody gets to the bat. You know, that thing.
Starting point is 00:42:25 Everybody's good. Like at some point, no, you've got to be a dictator. You got to come in and say, this shit ain't working. Yeah. You can cut Jordan Phillips, which is a step, but I think he hates confrontation. and so that's why they deny it.
Starting point is 00:42:37 Well, it's like YMCA football at this point. I think what he should do is go up to Tannahill and say, hey, remember when Kenny Stills is wide open for that 90-yard touchdown in the second quarter? Maybe he should have made that pass, you know? Maybe that's the first line of confrontation because there were open passes that were out there. And even Tannhill going into halftime was lucky that some of his balls weren't picked off in that first half as well. So it is one of those things to keep an eye on. And obviously, Miami, the record right now may not reflect necessarily what they have going on.
Starting point is 00:43:04 But yeah, I mean, I'm sorry for Millie. I'm sure she enjoyed that first half, though. That was funny. Oh, she would love to give it to me. Of course, I think I was four and five on the week. Thanks, Brian, for keep the track of it. Thank you, Brian. But I was, you know, there was other games I screwed up on.
Starting point is 00:43:19 Trust me, I went with Oakland like an idiot, you know. I'm done with Oakland, by the way. Oakland and Houston, I'm done with them. But, I mean, at least I won that one. I thought that was going to be a game that the Bengals should win. Absolutely, and they did get the win. We're going to take a quick break right now, and then we're going to come back,
Starting point is 00:43:33 and we're going to give out Lombardi's awards for week five. All right, guys, you've heard me talk about this for weeks, yet some of you are still watching football from the sidelines. Whether you're an expert or a rookie, you should be betting at MyBooky. If you're the kind of guy that likes to bet a little and win a lot, My Booky gives you the chance to create a big parlay. Shout out the Parlay kid.
Starting point is 00:43:54 You can pick three teams to win, and if you hit all three, you'll turn $100 into $600. There's so much to bet on two. There's playoff baseball, hockey, prime time fights, and more. My Bookie is the one bet I know you'll be held. happy with all year long. My Boogie has been in business for years. They've got great online reviews and their mobile site is easy to use.
Starting point is 00:44:11 If you're on the sidelines, now is the time to get in the game. MyBooky will still match your first deposit dollar for dollar, but you've got to join now because they'll be pulling that offer very soon. Log on to MyBooky right now and double your money. Use promo code Ringer NFL and they'll match your first deposit 100%. That's promo code Ringer NFL. You play, you win, you get paid. Back to GM Street.
Starting point is 00:44:32 All right, and we are back. We do this every single week. We obviously give out awards for the week And that's one of our favorite things here That we do on GM Street This is week five We just wrapped up week five And our first award that we give out
Starting point is 00:44:43 Is obviously time to go in the lamb We need someone to get out of town Get out of Dodge And Lombardi, you just mentioned this before the break But it does seem like the Oakland Raiders Are a team that need to go on the lamb at this point Hey no doubt, Dave Fraser And they are going on the lamb
Starting point is 00:44:55 They're headed to London and play Seattle this week It's a good time to take the feetbrush Blake Bordel's territory And kind of like Laylo I'm really disappointed Look, I know Oakland's had really bad drafts from 2015 to 2017. I just thought they were going to be better. I thought they were going to be better.
Starting point is 00:45:10 I'm really disappointed in Derek Carr. And if I was working for the waiters, I would be worried about Derek Carr. The kid has, because he's got, you can say a thousand things about John Brut. And some of them will be true. But the one thing you can't dispute is he can coach quarterback. He understands quarterbacks. He gets them to play better, even one without great talent. He's struggling to get Derek Carr to play better.
Starting point is 00:45:31 Derek Carr makes too many of the same mistakes. He can't get him to play. I really mis-evaluated that. I thought he would get Carr to play better, and they could overcome some of the deficiencies, but their defense is way too slow, way too slow. And I think if you just want to do a research project, look at their 15 to 17 drafts,
Starting point is 00:45:49 there's nobody on the field that makes place from those drafts. And so I think it's constant. They need to stay in London for a week. Yeah, just hang out in London. That'd be nice. Just go to Wembley Stadium. Just hang around and see what happens. We should say, Rich Gannon,
Starting point is 00:46:01 If he was the quarterback's coach, if he had stayed with his original commitment, who knows where he are? Maybe Rich Gannon could have saved their car. Maybe next year. Maybe they make that call. Maybe we bring him in. See what happens. No, I don't think Rich is going to leave the beach in Ocean City to go back too early.
Starting point is 00:46:14 I hope he does. Yeah, that's right. You guys got to have some nice dinners up there and talk through everything about what's going on with Gruden. That's right. Next up, we had the Fred Palermo Award of the week. Lombardi, who is that? Well, I think the team that had the cleanest game plan that did the best. Their menu was light.
Starting point is 00:46:29 I thought the New York Jets did really well. They ran some gap schemes for the run game. Sam Donald threw the ball down the field. You know, they just smoked this Denver team. I mean, they just smoked them. And this whole mythology about Denver being a great defense. I mean, Bob Miller was absent in the game. Couldn't find him.
Starting point is 00:46:44 I mean, Bansh Joseph is one for nine on the road. I mean, this Denver team is not good. You know, and we talked about John Lowe. I mean, he might stay in London, too, if he wants to. He's going to have to go on because he needs a quarterback. He needs a lot of things. Chase Keenham is not a starting quarterback. It's pretty clear.
Starting point is 00:47:01 NFL. It's going to be hard. But I thought the Jets did a great job. I thought the Jets game planned well. And I just like to say, you know, the word about Casey Rogers is the Jets coaches, had to have some treatment. I don't know any of the facts about it, but I wish him well because it's always, he's done a great job. The Jets defense, but they have time to prepare, always well prepared. And I hope Casey Rogers gets well soon. Yeah, we'll keep Casey in our thoughts and prayers as always. And I do want to point out just in this game, you talked about the Jaguars, the defense, not being able to travel on the road and not being able to win on the road.
Starting point is 00:47:33 The Broncos are sort of the same story and that's why we were both very hesitant early on in the season to give them the nod as a team to keep an eye on just because of the way they start the year out at home in the Mile High City. It's always tough to tell what you really have going on there. And it seems like Chad Kelly, the backup in Denver may have a chance to, or a shot at least to start a few games this year of Case Keenham continues to play like he is at the moment. Next up, we have, if you can't tell my courage from my desperation, and we have the Los Angeles Rams.
Starting point is 00:48:01 Yeah, I think the Rams defense. I'm not sure they're good. I really aren't. I mean, they're not good right now. People are running the ball on them like I'd never fall. Seattle hasn't, I didn't think Seattle could get to 30 points that they did. And so, you know, I mean, look, I think the Rams have got to tighten this thing down. They've got to figure out a solution on how they're going to play.
Starting point is 00:48:21 They travel into Denver this week. I mean, Denver's chopper their bit. They're maybe if we could run the ball and keep it away from Jared Gough, we'll have a chance to win. You know, Denver at home is a different team than Denver on the road. So, but I think the Rams have got to be concerned. concerned about their defense, and they've got to get it to a higher level. I mean, Aaron Donald, we know he's missed camp.
Starting point is 00:48:38 We know he's going to be a good player. Sue's got to play to a higher level on their edges, and I think they're lineback. We know the secondary is kind of beat up right now, so I think they've got to get some things fixed there. They are more even with other teams than anybody. And it does seem like they make – defensively. Yeah, defensively, it does seem like they've missed some of those guys that – the fringe guys that were stars, like a Robert Quinn or Ogletree, some of those guys, you know, that were also there on
Starting point is 00:49:03 that front line that they're missing some of that explosiveness a little bit with the Rams. But we know Wade Phillips is one of those guys that can get things together. I actually skipped one of our awards, the KGB Award, Lombardi, who do we have for that this week? Well, hey, look, the bills, I mean, let's face it, the bills win a game. They have to do nothing on offense. They scored 30. I mean, they've got to go into Houston this week, and they've got to hope that Deshaun Watson and the Fards to do what they typically Texans do, because they're not going to go out there and beat anybody just with their offense or the defense. They need mistakes. They need opportunities and they take advantage of them. This is a great win. I mean,
Starting point is 00:49:39 to go beat Tennessee after that, you know, people had Buffalo picking first in the draft. I'm not saying they will, but I think that they prove that they have a formula to win games. They've got to create turnovers to their defense than they did. And the final one of the week. If you don't know, now you know, Lombardi, what do we know? I think Denver screwed. I really do. I think Denver's in a lot of trouble. I think Denver is going to be looking for a new coach at the end of the year. I'm not trying to get anybody fired here, but Van Gogh, I think if you're John Lowe, somebody's going to have to hold responsibility for what's going on in Denver. They're nowhere near Kansas City in terms of the talent level.
Starting point is 00:50:11 You know, Oakland's a bad team. They're a bad team. The charges are, to me, they haven't had a signature win, but they're better than Denver. I just think Denver's in a bad spot. Talent-wise, the secondary isn't as good. People are going after them, get thrown, ball thrown over here. I think Denver's real deep trouble. And we'll see, you know, we've seen John L.A. before come out and make comments and make statements
Starting point is 00:50:34 and let people know how he really feels about things. So there could be a chance of things continue to go the way they go, especially after this past weekend with the Jets, where L.A gets out in front of this, and who knows? I mean, maybe they make some significant changes. I don't know if it will happen during the season, but potentially after. There was one more note before we got out here, and you brought this up to me off air.
Starting point is 00:50:54 But the 49ers are a team, right? They're looking like they are ripe to be a team that will pick first in the NFL draft at this point, right? I mean, I think the talent level on the 49ers roster is not very good. I think there's all these first round picks of the defensive line don't do anything. People move the ball on them. I mean, Arizona won that game. They had no business winning the game.
Starting point is 00:51:14 But CJ Bethard turns the ball over. They make mistakes. They have five turnovers, fumbles, interception. I mean, I think they're a real legitimate factor. We'll keep an eye on that as always. And, of course, you know, missing out on Jimmy G. And him going down was very tough for the Cowell-Shannahan. He was a great deodorant tape.
Starting point is 00:51:32 Fraser. I mean, obviously, he covered up a lot of the sins. I thought they were going to be better. But, of course, McKinnon losing the running back, losing him, now they lost another running back. I'm just really, to me, the 49ers roster. And you want to talk about bad draft? Go over the last five drafts with 49ers. Seriously. You wonder why they're in trouble? Yeah. Guys like Solomon Thomas, you know, at the time seemed like, you know, a good pick or something that can really help your team. Haven't quite... Well, they had no interest in a quarterback, right? So they, you know, Kyle's plan going to San Francisco is I'm going to at Kirk Cusons. And so they had no interest, and that's what happens. When you begin with
Starting point is 00:52:07 the end in mind, they had no interest in Patrick Mahomes. They had no interest in the Shaw Watson. So they take Solomon Thomas, who's not nearly as good a player as any of those guys. You know, when you get caught up in your guy, I'm just going to wait for my guy, you know, that's not smart. Like, could you imagine the Sean Watson and Kyle Shanahan's offense? He would have had to go out and trade for Jimmy G. You could have picked him or say Patrick Mahomes at his office. Let me think about it. I mean, seriously. Yeah. And so, you know, that's what happens. But their talent level is all around. And we'll see what sort of plays out with this whole situation.
Starting point is 00:52:40 Because Calshanahan, as we both have said on this program, plenty of times. I mean, we saw what he did in Atlanta with Matt Ryan and what sort of transpired since he left there. And obviously, he has been coordinated to be a guy to lead them to the promised land. But things are not going according to plan in these first two years. Obviously, injuries play a part. We've heard some teams like the Falcons say that injuries, we understand that's going to hurt our team.
Starting point is 00:53:04 or we're not going to make drastic changes because we understand what we're going through, but there could be a chance where the 49ers, you know, have to do a complete roster overhaul at some point to try to find some talent. And if you have obviously a pick at the top of the drafts, that's where you find elite talent. Yeah, no doubt.
Starting point is 00:53:21 They're going to have to do it. I mean, they're going to have to really improve that roster. I think they need to figure this out because, you know, this is going to be a huge year. I mean, both Bay Area teams are not very good. I think the Raiders knew they weren't going to be any good. I think the 49ers were surprised. I think their lives is different as you move forward.
Starting point is 00:53:39 Expectations versus reality, as always. This has been another edition of GM Street part of the Ringer podcast network. Lombardi will be officially, you will be in New Jersey on Friday when we record, right? Yeah, and I apologize for the sound. Everybody this week, we'll be back together. Friday, you'll hear us clearly, and everything will be good. I appreciate everybody's support on CM Street, and keep listening. Yes, thank you so much.
Starting point is 00:54:03 I appreciate everyone that's out there listening, and again, we'll be back on Friday. Lombardi will give his five locks of the week, and we're excited for week six. Thanks for listening. Thanks again to Navy Federal. Navy Federal has a mission to put members first by making their financial goals the priority. Yes, the priority. Receive a lifetime of membership benefits to help you and your family accomplish your life missions, like a full suite of financial products designed to fit your needs.
Starting point is 00:54:43 24-7 life support and access to over 300 branches' own or near military bases. Visit NavyFederal.org. For more information, call 1-8-8. 844-6328 or download the Navy Federal Credit Union app today. Message and data rates may apply. Again, thank you to Navy Federal.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.