Transcript of 2024 Week 8 Recap

Welcome to NFL Daily, where we always know to knock the ball down at the goal line. Knock it down. On a Hale Mary. I'm rolling around here in the Chris Wesling podcast studio with Patrick Clavon. Nick Shook, joining us from Cleveland. And yes, this is one of those days that as the witching hour hit in the early window of games. Scott Hanson is going nuts. I'm going nuts. There were so many good games that I was like, I don't know what game we could possibly start the show with. And then a game in a moment just presents itself to us. Yeah.

And the thing is, there's so much that we can discuss just on the final play of the game. For those of you who are finding this out on the podcast.

Okay, let's listen to the call then right off the bat. Let's do it.

There's an eight deep form with the goal on. They bring three.

Daniel's backing up.

He's just going to let one fly. Goes to the right side, steps away from the defender, gives himself some time. Now steps up, fires, heads towards the end zone. It is... No! No! No! No! No Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You're talking about a boy, though. That's like his grand slam in this. That's the end of a World Series. Yes, go, budget.

Hell, Mary, Hell, Yes.

London, Fletcher.

London, Fletcher. Hell, Mary, Hell, Yes. That was Bram Weinstein. And yeah, London, Fletcher. W, B, B, B, We're talking about our Dodgers here in Los Angeles there. I think I could barely hear it over the screaming and yelling. Some pop. Yes. Jaden Daniels finds Noah Brown after a deflection. Off a few hands, but Tyreek Stevenson was jumping in there at the end for the bears, and it goes to Noah Brown and the Washington Commanders in what is turning out to be an absolutely magical year. When 18 to 15. When I saw this happen, my first thought was like, Ball, don't lie. There was not a bad call in this game, and yet they were the better team all day. I was like, Oh, the right team, one. It was also the right team because I picked them and Patrick Klavon did that. Yes.

Congratulations to Washington Commanders fans who will celebrate that play in that moment for the rest of your lives. It's because I picked the bears and stuck with them, which felt like a great picnic, considering the way that the game was going where the bears could do absolutely nothing. Caleb Williams had four completions late in the second half. But then DeAndre Swift goes on a 50 plus yard, TD run. They come out the next drive. They go nine plays, 84 yards. And then for some reason, unbeknownst to everybody on the planet, Except for him and a backup offensive lineman Shane Waldron calls a play and gives the ball to Doug Kramer on the one-yard line. He fumbles and the commanders recover. Somehow, the bears get back down there. Caleb Williams leads a drive. They take the lead, and then history happens. But just a very odd game with some odd decisions. Either team could have won, literally to the final seconds. But Washington gets the miracle that we'll remember for the rest of our lives.

Did you scream in Cleveland, nick Shuck, when that happened?

Yes, I did. I screamed almost at the top of my lungs while sitting here in my office at my house. Yes, I did. You're right, Greg. I think you hit the nail right on the head there. It felt like Washington was the better team. When Chicago scored, I was like, Oh, this is a It's due to loss for them because they've outplayed them for the majority of this game. Then Jalen drops back and throws the Hale Mary that sends the broadcasters into just shouting, just undecipherable shouting, pure euphoria in the form of football. That is the beauty of this game. How can you not love this sport in moments like that? And also it really caps an interesting week for Jalen. He gets hurt in the previous week, and we're talking about his rib injury all week and whether he'll play and he's questionable, and then he decides to play. And then even on the broadcast during the game, they're talking about how, well, that rib, I don't know if he's got it in him to make that throw. Let's get the ball near the 50-yard line, at least give us a chance. He ends up throwing it from the 35, and it manages to get there off of a sea of defenders.

That is Hale Mary textbook right there, offensively, defensively. You forgot to leave a guy behind there, Beers. And the commander's magical season continues.

Okay, I'm sick of these teams not sending extra rushers on these Hale Mary. I just think it's better. And Beers fans and people in my mention said, Well, we got the extra time because there was a hole. Like, Yeah, there was a hold towards the end of the play. It wasn't the worst hold I've ever seen. Calm down about that being the difference between winning and losing. He held onto the ball for almost 13 seconds. It was the first shutdown pass, according to NextGen stats that has been held for over 10 seconds, in their entire era of keeping track. And I give Jaden Daniels some credit, obviously, for this. Not just that it was a great throw because he got the arc on it, but all that time that he bought, got his receivers ready for and got him in a position where he could really run up and do it because there was a moment a little earlier in that play, probably after he held the ball about six or seven seconds, where he thought he was going to throw it, but he didn't. He decided to hold on, run around a little more.

That takes some supreme confidence. And yes, it takes a little bit of luck on a day where he just was so athletic. You said we could talk a lot about just that play alone. What do you want to talk about that play?

Well, ultimately, which film review is going to show a lot, before the play, Tye Rick Stevenson is over on the numbers talking to the commander's sideline and fans and being very demonstrative. And then the ball is snapped. He wheels around. He ultimately gets in front of Noah Brown. It's his tip that goes to Noah Brown seconds after taunting the sideline and the fans. But ultimately, because we saw on the Rogers's Hale Mary where the bills were rushing to, the decision to have a spy/pass rush where you don't necessarily know how this is going. It's just a calamity of errors for the bears, where in a game that they had won, despite their best efforts in the fumble on the goal line. The bears had this game won multiple times.

Right. It hurt so much because this game felt like it meant a lot to the bears, certainly to Caleb Williams, the two draft picks. I thought Caleb was a little scatter in the game. The offensive line for the bears did not play well past protecting. They had a couple of injuries, and by the end, it's just a mass unit out there. Caleb finishes 10 for 24 for 131, but they get the touch done on the end. On that final drive, he had some crucial passes. A great throw earlier in the quarter to DJ Moore, where DJ Moore got blasted. I guess that was the one they didn't end up scoring the touch-up. But the play to Keenan Allen that he improvises was a great play. Some important throws to Adunze, who ends up with three for 41. And when they hit that TD, Roshan Johnson, one-yard run with about 25 seconds left, I just thought, wow, what a big moment in their season. It's such a tough race in the NFC North, nick. The game almost meant more to them, but they left too much time on the clock for Jaden Daniels. And they even did the thing that I wanted teams to do.

They actually kicked it short of the goal line, and they wasted a couple of seconds on that, and they got better field position. Daniels' first pass of the drive was incomplete, but he did get one to Zackerts, and then McLaren for 11, then 13 yards to set up the countdown. So that was good situational football by Washington to eventually get the win. And it hurts because, man, the bears hadn't given up a countdown the whole day, which it was a great bed and Don't break performance by them, which is what Matt Ibraflus's defense is all about. They end up giving up 481 yards on the day, and yet they hadn't given up a countdown until that last play.

Yeah, pretty much everything had to fall in the right order. I mean, they had to have that one time out to stop the clock when they got the pass over the middle of the earth. He had to get the completion of the sideline near the 50-yard line to even set up that throw. But it all comes down to two rules that I would like to frame and add to my list that I'm sometimes in the future, I'm going to hang behind me, which is one, never rush three. We've talked about that before. And two, don't count your score before the ball is in the hole. Talk about Tyreek Stevenson taunting the sideline and then immediately getting football karma shoved right in his face as the ball glances off his hand for the Hale Mary. I mean, look, guys, how often do we get a Hale Mary? Unless it's Aaron Rodgers throwing it, it doesn't happen often. We really have to appreciate this, not only because of the context of the game, but just because it was an amazing Hale Mary.

Right. It's a win that puts the commanders at 6-2. They're in a good division race. The bears are going to need every last one of these wins, and it felt like they were going to steal one. Let's hear from Dan Quinn on that final play. Jaden did a fantastic job of buying time, buying time, over to the right side. I don't know how long the play was. Maybe you guys might, but it took a long-ass time. Thirteen seconds. Yeah, I felt every bit of them. Oh, my gosh. Patrick just showed me the vision from a fan's camera of Stevenson. I imagine it's well before the snap is happening. It's during the play. He is taunting them during the play, and then he whips around and he's like, Oh, my God, the play is happening right now, and he starts running over. That is absolutely amazing by him. I hate to make it about the quarterbacks versus each other, but I think it's fair to say Jaden Daniels is playing better than Caleb Williams this season. And Jaden Daniels' movement in this game early. I know they didn't have touch downs, but he ends up with 326 yards through the air, 52 on the ground.

And some of the first downs, Patrick, that he scramble for, it just took my breath away. The lateral movement and just the explosion that he has as a runner. He is just a special player. So Caleb's going to get there. He's been great, and he had some good runs today, and DeAndre Swift helps out and everything. But Jaden Daniels is at a level where he's on quarterback Island, for instance. He's maybe in the MVP That's the race. That's the level that he's playing at.

And the whole field is in play with Jaden Daniels. And you see late stage Russell Wilson ignoring the middle of the field. There's really nowhere where you can count on Jaden Daniels to not have an option, especially considering the way that Terry McLaren is playing. He caught him on the 60 plus yarder earlier in the game where, again, Tony Romo was concerned about his ribs, as Romo should be, as a guy who played with busted ribs multiple times through his career. But He hits McLaren there. Zackerts really involved in this game. He got 11 targets, 77 yards, but Terry had 125. But it's just the speed to the edge from Jaden Daniels, where the player doesn't exist, right? That's going to be in the middle of the field with Jaden Daniels watching, and then Jaden Daniels decides that he's going to take the sideline and get five yards. That player does not exist.

That's the part that reminds me the most of Lamar, because that's how I thought, too, his rookie years. When he goes to the edge, You're not going to stop him. Before we move on from this incredible game in moment, Randy Chávez, our great producer. I don't know how he heard that the Portuguese call was so great, but he's like, You got to hear this Portuguese call of the play. It's pretty great. I got to admit, it is pretty great. Jayden Daniels.

Ajito o corpo, se equilibra, busca Rio Mery, Lana. Tau. Tau. No Mariah Mery. N'un dos finais mais absurdos de todos os tempos. Jayden Daniels. Um calouro.

That day in Washington, one fan that's been there to every single game said, The explosion when that shutdown was caught, that was the loudest they have ever heard that stadium shaping up to be a special season. Let's go to Cleveland, where it's been a tough season, but they had a special day, too.

If you're the Cleveland Refs, one play to get a huge emotional win.

You got to defend 24 yards. Let's go.

Three seconds. This is it.

For the win, make some noise wherever you can hear the sounds of our voice right now. 24-yard line, shotgun. Brown's up 29, 24. Lamar Jackson has the football.

Brown's rushing for. Lamar flushed out.

Lamar chased by Zedaria. Lamar Jackson avoids Zedaria. He's got to throw it. Directing traffic. Pump fake. Now throwing. End zone, back corner. Phil God in complete. The Browns win. 29, 24.

You just knew You knew it. You felt it. So many things happened in this game that were unexplainable, and it all ended up to a Browns win. This one's for you, Jim Donovan.

What a call. One of the calls of the year. Put that on the list. Yes, that was Andrew Siciliano, W-K-R-K. Andrew and Nathan Zagura. An emotional moment. Yes, Jim Donovan, the late great play-by-play announcement of the Browns, lost his battle with cancer over the weekend, 68 years old. If you have a chance, watch the camera work of that play on Andrew and Nathan Zagura, and there's even more to it. It's emotional. It's what broadcasting is all about. I know for those two guys, they were playing hurt today because they were friends with Jim Donovan, and he meant a lot to that organization. Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefansky He actually went to the house of the Donovan's and gave the game ball to his wife and his daughter. But what a game they had in Cleveland, nick Shuck. The Browns win at 29 to 24. We had scores back and forth in the fourth quarter. In the final five minutes, Hopkins gets a field goal. The Ravens get a shutdown with two and a half minutes left. And then Jameis Winston leads a shutdown drive that is capped by a shutdown to Cedric Tillman for 38 yards, and the Browns win an improbable game against the team we thought was the best in the AFC outside of Kansas City.

Yeah, I still think they're the best, but this was a special day, like you said, for a team that's had a tough season. Jameis Winston breathed life into this offense that we have not seen all season because Deshawn Watson was playing quarterback. Patrick and I, I think, joked about this a few weeks ago when Jameis came in for a meaningless drive and moved the ball down the field and scored a countdown, where even in the few throws that he had, he looked like the best quarterback on the team. Well, they got that for four quarters today. Now, he took his typical Jamis risks for sure. A few interception-worthy passes that were not caught, including one that was dropped by Kyle Hamilton that probably would have sealed the game or at least made it a lot more difficult for the Browns to come back against the Ravens. And yet none of that stuff happens. They get every bounce to go their way. They get all their receivers involved. David Ajoku has a great day, makes a great shutdown catch, makes a great diving catch early in the game. Jerry Judy, who was very frustrated a week earlier, gets involved.

Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, catches two breakdown passes. Probably the first time, Browns fans have seen anything from Cedric Tillman. And that defense came to play like it has for most of the season. They limited Lamar to 23 or 38 passing. For 289, two touch downs is still a good line. But if you watched it visually, you would see that things were difficult for the Ravens. It was because of that Browns defense. So the first time they put together a total team win, it started with Jameis Winston. It was not just him. And absolutely an emotional day for Browns fans who lost a local legend who's been here for 30 plus years, and a perfect way to do it.

Let's listen to Jameis on the podium talking about those dropped interceptions, because, yeah, there was more than one. What went through your mind when you saw Kyle Hamilton dropped that interception?

Oh, I started praying instantly. I started praying instantly. It was only by the grace of God. I think when situations like that happen, you always sit back and you're like, Man, I still got the stuff to work on. Because it could have been a matter of whatever. Who knows how we would feel right now if that would have happened. But I'm so grateful that that was an if. And ifs and shoulds and what it could've don't nothing in this game.

While we're on, Jameis, let's just listen to all his postgame sound because he was in rare form. And yeah, I mentioned that Kyle Hamilton dropped that you also did, too, Shook. Yeah, that would have basically ended the game. But there There are a few in this game, and a few it was to Eddie Jackson, the Raven safety, who is playing in place of Marcus Williams, a big ticket free agent signing who just has not been playing well this year at all, did not play at all in this game. John Harbaugh said, We're working through some things there, and they expect Marcus Williams to play well by the end of the season. Made me wonder if something else happened when they told Marcus Williams that he was benched. Maybe it didn't go too well because he got zero snaps on a day where they were a little thin in the secondary. And maybe he wouldn't have been in position like Eddie Jackson. But I kept thinking, well, Marcus Williams, if nothing else has good hands, he probably would have caught those passes. Let's listen to Jameis, as I was saying, right after the game.

Man, it's a white boy Detroit that I really admire named M&M. He said, You only get one shot. Do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity to last once in a lifetime. I know I got a quote, M&M, he's from Detroit, he right off the road. But, man, I'm just grateful. I'm grateful that Deloitte provided me with this opportunity. I'm grateful for my teammates, my coaches, and these amazing fans. His soul is escaping through a hole that is gaping. It's tough, Greg. It's really tough. And congratulations on a great win to the Cleveland so far out. But you mentioned the dropped interception by Eddie Jackson. There was the dropped third and 17 completion to Rashaad Bateman. Zee flowers had drops as well. Drops were the story of the game for Baltimore, who once again has come into a game against a team with one of the worst records in the NFL after being one of the best teams in the NFL, clearly showing that they can beat anybody anywhere, but they can also lose to anybody anywhere in the most chaotic of fashions. You could pick any one of those plays, the Kyle Hamilton drop.

Lamar had misses as well. That could have been six today. It was a total team effort, including in the play calling where Derrick Henry disappeared for large swaths of this game. All credit to the Browns and the Schwartz defense, but that's a tough loss.

Yeah, I want to credit CBS for that postgame interview. And yes, M&M for a song that's still doing so well among the youth. I was at a fall festival inside of one of those video game trucks with my son on Friday night, school-sponsored video game truck, and Lose Yourself comes on. A whole bunch of sixth-graders are just singing the lyrics, knows every single one. It is passed down through generations, nick. Who knows? Maybe Jameis Winston will, too, as a Browns' quarterback, 334 and three touch downs. He's your future now.Yeah..

I mean, for the rest of this season, there's no question that he's the guy. I mean, he'll throw a pick. This is what you're going to get, but that's also what they got out of Joe Flacko. So Browns fans probably felt like it was deja vu to a degree because that's what Flacko did down the stretch last year. This team is not making the playoffs, but it's nice to see them actually form a competent offense for one week with a quarterback who can get the ball out on time and largely accurately. It's something that they definitely needed after what's been a rough year.

Yeah, competent, and considering the investment, much like the $41 million that went into making the film 8 Mile when it grossed $241 $1 million. Wow.

Yeah, a good bargain directed by my guy, Curtis Hansen there. He's coming off Wonder Boys. I mean, what a wild one, two punch that was for different types of movies. When you see Cedric Tillman go seven for 99, Elijah Moore, eight for 85, Judy, five for 79, and Joku, five for 61, you're like, Oh, yeah. It was always the quarterback. It was always the quarterback. It's crazy to me if Jameis Winston plays well enough to to possibly save Andrew Berry's job because if Andrew Berry's signing of Deshaun Watson was so bad because he got hurt. Deshaun Watson staying was the way for them to tank. I think there might be part of the people in the front office that want as high a draft pick as possible. Jameis Winston might help to ruin that, and it only happened because their guy, Deshaun Watson, got hurt. It's crazy. Let's end on a positive note, or at least a bittersweet note. We've had so many Jim Donovan calls over the years on the Around the NFL podcast, and now we're here as the NFL Daily podcast. I think about that great Browns victory, which is the second to last show that Chris ever did on the show.

That was very emotional for Mark on the show. We love seeing the Browns getting that win and so many different great calls over the year. Let's listen before we go to the next game to one other great Jim Donovan call. Mayfield under center, second down in 10, takes the snap, gives it. Chubb Chubb runs.

He's at a 10, 15. He's in a 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50. There goes Chubb. He's in the 30, 20, 10, 5. Touchdown. Chubba Lava hub. 92 yards.

Pretty unbelievable. He has a second gear. I just got hit more by you than I did in my 14 years in the NFL.

Oh, what a play. That was the longest run in Brown's history, called by the great Jim Donovan. Rest in peace.

When I joined the Browns in 2019, was there for about a year. It was a lot of new faces, a lot of people that I got to know very well, but nobody was kinder to me and more welcoming to me when I showed up than Jim Donovan. This is a guy I grew up listening to on Brown's radio since 1999. I remember when he called a hail Mary to Kevin Johnson for the Browns first win when they came back as an expansion team over the Saints and the Superdome. Meeting him was like a dream come true. Getting to know him, becoming friends with him is even better. We'd be in the locker room, he'd come up and just ask me about an upcoming opponent, getting my take. He loved the talk. He loved football. He loved people, and he loved Cleveland. And when I left to come back here, he was one of the first people to make an emphatic statement of congratulations and best of luck. And he took time when I worked on a feature about the city of Cleveland ahead of the draft. This is a massive loss for community. I know he stepped away this year, but he will not be forgotten anytime soon.

He was a fantastic individual, and it explains all the emotion, I'm feeling it right now, that people had in that stadium today. So rest in peace. He will be forever missed.

Well said, nick. Let's go to our next game. And, yeah, rest in peace. Jim Donovan.

Wheeling down on one knee, arm extended. Here's the step. Place been made.

The kick is up, and it is good.

For the second week in a row, Brandon McManis delivers the dagger. And the packers have defeated the Jaguars, 30 to 27.

Yes, it was a wild day. That was Wayne Laravie on W-R. N-w. Yeah, it's a game-winning dagger from Brandon McManus. Again, set up by Malik Willis. A 51-yard pass. Unfortunately, Jordan Love gets hurt again. He has a groin injury. More on that in a bit. But Patrick Malik Willis comes in, has a couple of runs that are important. And then, yes, an important throw to Jaden Reid to set up that game winner. They're finding ways to win no matter who's that quarterback.

Yeah, and the The tackers were down 13 to 10 when Malik Willis comes into that game. Jordan Love injured himself rolling to his right early on in the game. He's hobbling. Not, he was clearly limping, handing the ball off. They did have a couple of scoring drives. He had a good ball to Romeo Dobbs as well. But late, this was Malik Willis making plays, including a 51-yarder to Jaden Reid in the closing moments to set up that Brandon McManus field goal. And also a huge play by Devante Wyatt to get to a strip-sack of Trevor Lawrence late in the game that set the packers up deep in Jag's territory, where it was really... Because so many times it's like, Oh, you just wanted it more. And you say that, and it's like, Hey, this guy's out there trying hard. But This was really an explosive effort to beat the Jags to that ball and to get it back. But again, having a solid young backup quarterback that could come in on the road in these situations to get a win, it makes me think of an AFC South team that would probably wouldn't mind to have Malik Willis watching him again do it against another squad as he did against his former team, the Titans, earlier this year.

And it's coaching, too. If Malik Willis was in Tennessee, he wouldn't be having this success. If he was in Miami with So a Wunderkind coach, I don't think he'd be having this success because Mike McDaniel doesn't seem to be able to know how to make it translate. And yet they do here. Let's listen to Matt Lafleur talk about Jordan Love's injury, because obviously, that's a big takeaway from this game. No idea. But obviously high level of concern anytime a guy is in there. And he did it early in that first drive. And I think you guys, I think everybody could see him struggling to move around. And it got to a point where we didn't feel like... And he didn't feel like he could protect himself.

So went with Malik, and can't say enough great things about Malik Willis, the job that he's able to do to go in there.

The moment's never too big for him, and he made a lot of big-time plays in this game. Yeah, Josh Jacobs did, too. 127 yards on the ground, a couple of touch downs. Tucker Kraft gets it done with another long score in this game. A lot of the heroes that have been helping the packers get to 6-2, shook like Xavier McKinney with an interception, helps them get a win here. And this win feels even bigger because they have the lions next week, and we'll see about love. But in this division, you want to be banking those wins as much as possible, especially if you're not going to be having your quarterback out there. We'll see.

Yeah, absolutely. In a game where you gave up the lead late, you had to fight back to take the lead. Then it looked like you were going to run away with it or at least Coast to the finish line. And all of a sudden, it's a tie ball game because of a great drive by Trevor Lawrence, which we can get to in a second because he looked pretty good. But you make the point about coaching. I think this is the most impressive Malik Willis' appearance of the season because he had to do it in the middle of the game. They didn't have all week to build a game plan around his strengths, according to the team they were playing. He just had to come in and figure it out. He ends up going 4 for 5 for 56 yards in a shutdown pass, and he makes a phenomenal throw down the sideline to set up the end of the eventual game-winning field goal. I mean, he also took off with his legs to keep drives going. These are things that he's gaining confidence as he plays more and realizes, Look, these are my strengths, these are my weaknesses, and this is what I should do within the game.

And now he's not overwhelmed anymore. So I know he's still a backup quarterback, but I was just very impressed by how he was able to step in, and they didn't really miss a beat. They were able to fight back, take the lead, and end up winning the game. Really, really resounding, statistically short appearance, but resounding appearance from him on Sunday.

Yeah, and You mentioned that you guys both talked about that Xavier McKinney interception. Could have wound up being the difference in this game where Brian Thomas Jr is running a clear-out, Trev looks up and thinks that X is going to go with the speedy rookie, but McKinney has solicitates, comes back across his body, and picks off a pass intended for Christian Kirk. And the Jacks had to come back in this game without Christian Kirk because there was a deep ball down the middle of the field. They got punched out late. Christian Kirk lands directly on his shoulder, was on the ground, riving in pain. It was, as Shook points out, another solid Trev game where-Yeah, it was. Aside from that play in the strip-sack, this is what you want from Trevor Lawrence.

They've got a good offense. I think we could officially stamp it. There it is. They're a good offense.

For years. Yeah, well, especially when Tank Bigsby ends up carrying the load in the backfield and Brian Thomas is having a great rookie year and Christian Kirk makes an impact. But it all starts with Trevor. And a lot of it before was Trevor not being consistently accurate, just near misses here, near misses there, a bad pick or two in a game. He shook off a bad pick in this game because they picked off Jordan Love, and then he instantly gives the ball right back to them, right? He is able to come back from that. They didn't have a first down until inside six minutes left in the first half, and they wake up all of a sudden. He leads a breakdown drive. They lead a field goal drive. Suddenly, they're right back in the game. He picks up where he left off the second half, and then they need a touch down late, and he goes down the field again. It was frantic, but it was electric. I love seeing Trev Cook when they didn't have a lot of time and the pressure was on because in many situations, he's wilted in the past. Look, they're still two and six.

They have a long way to go and everything else. But for the first time in a while, I feel good about his outlook.

Yeah, offensively, sure. But he's having these good games. Not them. Yeah, then the other team scores 30, and it just feels like a long march. But you never know. Brian Thomas was a great first-round pick, ends up with 3 for 60 in a shutdown, some outstanding plays within there. Not a lot to feel good about. Offensively, we will see about Jordan Love, and hopefully, he can get healthy for that Lions game next week. We're just getting started here on NFL Daily. Good games to start with. Yeah, let's start rolling through that early window when Scott Hansen was just losing his mind. We'll hit those games after the break.

Cousins works in the pistol here. Five flaps, and he gets a snap. Going to rip it for Pitz. Caught, Kyle in stride. 25, 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchdown. The ball got knocked loose as Pitz broke the line. This is close. This is really close. They awarded him the countdown.

That That sigh of relief you heard from Tampa was from Kyle Pitz. It was from West Durham. It was from Dave Archer on WZGC. Yeah, that was a 49-yard countdown catch where Kyle Pitz looked about as fast as we've seen him against his rookie year, but he lets up a little bit at the end. And Antoine Winfield, he did it again. He's so good at that. He saved the Bucaneer season, I thought last year, with a play very similar to that against the Panthers, with about three weeks left of the season, got them into the playoffs. And I understand why they couldn't overturn it because there wasn't a totally clear view. But I bet Bucs fans and people that picked them to win this game like me believe he got that ball out before they got it over the goal line and just couldn't overturn it. The Falcons hang on for a 31 to 26 victory on a day. Shook where you can just plug it in before the game even starts. Baker Mayfield ends up with three touch downs and two interceptions, and somehow that's Super flattering to how he actually played. Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins, you might as well punch it in before the game starts, too, when he plays Todd Bowles, lights him up for four touch downs.

Kirkko is on fire against this Bucks team.

Yeah. You know what kills me, though, about the Falcons, not to put a damper on a win? Nothing is easy with this team. It's a shootout of sorts in the first half. They pull away. It looks like they're going to pull away, at least. They go up by a couple of scores, and then they let it get close late because Baker does the same thing he did a week ago. After throwing two picks, suddenly he leads a comeback charge, and they're in position to potentially tie the game or maybe win the game this time. They fall short, but it's just like, Youngway Kuhm, he misses a field goal. I'm just like, Falcons, come on for once, just make it a little bit easy. That doesn't cast any Paul over the day that Kirk Cousins had because he was excellent for the vast majority of it, hooking up with Darnell Mooney for a countdown. Kyle Pitz, B. John Robinson. This offense was humming. It's a good win for them in the division. But my God, guys, make it a little bit easier on me. I already lost my hair, but make it a little bit easier on me.

Why?

Just because you're writing it up or whatever and you want it to be simple. Don't you want good football games, Shook?

No, I want a good football team to finish strong.

Are they a good football team? I don't know.

We'll never know if it keeps being like this. Because I had the same experience nick did. We're doing all these different games, I look up, okay, I don't have to worry about the Falcons anymore. I can pay attention to the rest of the games. Then I look back up and there goes Bucky Irving on like... It's like, Where's the consistency? They needed a Jesse Bates incredible interception to keep this comeback from from even being more of a comeback.

Right. Kuh misses a kick, which he's done in big spots a handful of times this year. The safety was just a ridiculous play. Baker, I think, is costing this team, but I'm glad you mentioned Jesse Bates because I just think it has to be mentioned. Starts the game off with incredible peanut punch and then caps it late with a beautiful interception. Just aren't many safeties doing it like this. This team, I don't think they're a good team. They do have a lot They're really good players. Most of them are on offense. It's not a good defense. It's the worst pass rush in the entire NFL, statistically and by the eye test. But my God, Jesse Bates is worth a couple of wins alone. When it's Antoine Winfield and Jesse Bates going at it, it It's like the best safety on safety matchup in the NFL.

Yeah, it's the clash of the safeties. And Baker Mayfield had to pay for it a couple of times in this game. I do want to talk more about him because, please, let's face it, he's operating without his top two receivers. He's forced to play with the likes of Jalen McMillan, and he's throwing his runningbacks a lot, and he's throwing a Trey Palmer, and Kate Otton's going off because he's probably his best target. He had nine for 81 and two touchpoints today on national tight-end day, so shout out to you, Kate. But overall- You got to pay a fine for mentioning that. Oh, no. Well, that's $5.

I was ready to have a pre-show meeting and just say that rule, but I just figured everyone would understand. But thanks. Yeah, continue on.

Too late. I'm in jail. I'm out for the rest. Just silence me. No. But Baker also misses guys, and he doesn't have as much of a rapport with guys. He's energetic, aggressive Baker, and he's always going to pedal to the floor and get after it, and it's going to cost them. It's where he's been the last couple of weeks because you took Mike Evans out of the equation, and you took Chris Godman out of the equation, and he's operating with less than a full deck. So this is the outcome that I think Bucks fans are probably going to have to expect from this offense for at least the next few weeks, if not the rest of the season. And hopefully it doesn't produce close losses like this.

Yeah. They now have the tie break, obviously, over the Bucaneers and the lead in the division. It's a massive win for them. I mean, look, they can try to figure out their weaknesses as they march towards the playoffs because this is an awful division with two of the worst teams in the NFL in it, and you've already swept the other team that's in the division. I want to watch this game closer later, but one of my working theories lately is that Baker Mayfield is a problem for this team. Wow.

You live and die by him is what it is because he actually had a nice first half until the pick started piling up. You live and die by him.

But I think he's being set up for success in a really meaningful way. I think the scheme is getting guys open. They're protecting him well in the inconsistency. And that's just Baker. I guess, why would you expect it to be different? But don't sell me on that. It is different. It's right there on the Dalton scale line, except I'd rather have someone like Andy Dalton who you know what you're getting versus someone that's over for a quarter and then sinking you for a quarter. Patrick disagrees because he has them in the MVP race still.

No, it's just tough. It's tough to win those games where you're going out and we celebrate. Players making plays like Jaden Daniels did it today. We saw Josh Allen talk about him in a little bit. It's It's just like, Andy Dalton isn't doing that.

Not this, Andy Dalton.

Baker's two interceptions that came today on deep passes, the one that's going to Miller, it's a whole lot different if that's Mike Evans.

The miss to McMillon. It's just a little scattershot. It's a little crazy. Maybe just not my style. Kirk Cousins getting it done still, never moving the pocket, never having a problem in this division. He's just standing firm and he's making it happen. It really says something about his arm talent and his veteran savvy. He's seen a lot. He's seeing this Bulls defense, by the way. Bulls just driving Bucks fans a little crazy after the game when he's like, Hey, it's just the same stuff we're always running. It's not basically saying I'm not adding anything fancy that they can't execute. It's just our execution because we're running the same stuff that we usually do. Well, that's part of the problem. You're running the same stuff that you usually do, and it never works against this team. It's never really working this year in general, but it's definitely not working against the Falcons. Let's go to New England, where not many things were working consistently, but it was pretty fun.

Smith is in the backfield, lined up as a fullback. Stevenson, the jailback. Henry, he motions left, right. Prisent hands it to Ramondre. He runs it into the right side. He plows his way into the end zone.

And the lead.

Touchdown, Patriots. It's a big point drive by Jacobi for a sec. Aaron Rodgers is in a dismalink. The Jets have choked another game away.

Is he in this position? No lack. I want to put that on the potential cause of the air. Choked another game away. There was 22 seconds left in the game. There's plenty of time for Rodgers after they kick the touchback to make a couple of plays, but he He didn't. He was up and down all day. Jacobi Braset was mostly just up. That was a big boy drive. That was the drive of the Patriots season. 70 yards in twelve plays in under three minutes to stick a countdown on the Jets to win the game. They hit the two-point conversion as well. Yes, Braset was in the game for an injured, Drake May, who took a hard hit to the head and was ruled out with a concussion. I was happy for Jacobi Briceet as a Patriots fan and as a person because he just seems like one of the best dudes possible. Let's actually listen to Jacobi Briceet before we get the conversation started after the game on the podium.

I don't look at it as no redemption. I think this is a testament to me believing in myself and not you all.

And I'm very aware of that.

And I was very fortunate to have this opportunity to go out there and get a win with our guys.

It was sweet.

I mean, you can't put it into words, but I'm not trying to be arrogant or nothing, but I'm very proud of myself today.

It's so funny because he wasn't being remotely arrogant. He's such a humble, self-effacing guy that he's even saying, I'm not trying to be arrogant. We are giving you this one, Jacobi Brisset. This was Patriot's Super Bowl. If you could pick one game on the entire rest of the schedule to win, and it might be the only win on the entire rest of the schedule. This would be the game because you are dragging your rival Jets into the mire. Except it feels even worse if you're the Jets because the expectations are so much higher. They're both two and six. The difference is the Patriots feel good about their young quarterback. They're disappointed that he got hurt in this game. But for anyone that didn't watch this game closely, I wouldn't blame you. There was a lot of good games in the early one. If you look at Berzett's stat line, 25 or 15 for 24, 132. It's like, Oh, it's like Jacobi at the beginning of the year. No, zero running game help. Other than that, TD run, they just couldn't get it done. Their running backs went 25 for 56 in this game. The drops were absolutely insane.

I counted 6 to 7 drops. Almost all of them would have been for first downs. Most of them were on really good throws. There was a holding penalty that called back one of Brissette's best plays, which was 40 yards down the field. The drops started with Drake May, but they mostly We were with Jacobi Reset. Then the throw that Jacobi had to Keishaan Booty, who's their best receiver, which is hilarious, on the final drive, came on a blitz where he's taking a hit right in the leg as he's delivering it 34 yards downfield. It was a really good performance. He gave them mature quarterback play. I think Drake May would have done well, too. He started off the game well because they were getting protected. If you protect your quarterbacks, like these two quarterbacks shown they can do it, it's a bad sign for the Jets, that they offered so little resistance to this passing game, Patrick.

Yeah, the Jets also saw the best runner on the day, which was Drake May, who finished up as almost the leading rusher on how many?

Three for 46.

On 17 fewer carries than Ramondre Stevenson, three for 46 yards, and that breakdown that came on the opening drive, leading us to the question, Are the Jets soft now? Is Softgate effectively over? Did Gerard Mayo not make the players sad, and They were all mad and quit trying, or was that overwrought as Jacobi might have illuminated when he suggested that he wasn't listening to those guys?

You're saying we soft? We're soft in the media for making a big deal.

Particularly the people in the room that Jacobi Berset was talking to. Perhaps their reaction was a little bit overwrought about softness and the soft conversation. It really comes down to the Jets aren't a good football team, and the Patriots might not be either. But today, they were better than the Jets. They just were. If you look at Aaron Rodgers' numbers, a decent passing day, 17 to 28, 233, two touch downs. But it continues to be Aaron having to get rid of the ball, crazy early in plays, early on in the progression, the time to throw Aaron Rodgers today, 35% of his attempts under two and a half seconds.

It wasn't getting pressured much. He's been consistent to me in a weird way. He's the same guy every week, which is the throws are either amazing, like he spins it, like I've been talking about with Kirk Cousins. He had some great throws today. To Gareth Wilson goes five for 113. Wilson gets the benefit of not having Christian Gonzales on him, so he gets the better matchup against Marcus Jones. That shows you, okay, that's the Devante Adams trade helping them out. Or he looks old as hell and just not comfortable under pressure, which is not the Aaron Rodgers that we know. Certainly moving. He was one for four outside the pocket for no yards, and they're just poorly run. It was comical. They burned three timeouts in the first half because they couldn't get the play in on time. In the first quarter, they had another big one in the second half, which ended up losing large. They had two delay of games because they couldn't get the plays off, including on the two-point conversion, so they had to go further. That ended up being a big moment in this game, late in the game. So they just looked poorly run on offense.

Disjointed players, not plays, like decent players, but not good enough plays. And on defense, they're just a bad defense. I think it's been long enough to say that they're a below average defense. And Jeff O'Brick is 0-3, nick Shook.

Yeah, poorly run, which usually points to a coach who's about to get fired, except they already fired their coach and they demoted their offensive coordinator. You can't make any more changes on the staff that are going to affect you not being able to get plays in and getting operations penalties. That ship has sailed. And at the same time, this is Aaron Rodgers not trusting his offensive line, by the way, because I think that at this point he's accepted, I don't have time to throw. I'm not going to be able to sit back there except for maybe three or four times a game and actually scan the field, which then shortens your entire offense. He lost the trust in the offensive line because they didn't protect him well over the first six or seven weeks. His average time to throw is 0.2 seconds slower than it was the previous four seasons he played before he missed all of last season. That's according to next Gen stats. Looked that one up last week. And that's alarming because what was the strength of Aaron Rodgers when he was with the packers? He trusted his offensive line. He knew how to navigate the pocket, and he would be able to find guys open with receivers he trusted.

He got a receiver he trusted. He still doesn't get to go to him very often. This whole offense is limited and shortened by the fact that it starts with Rodgers, not because he's necessarily playing poorly, but because he knows he can't be his full self. And by the way, he's 40 years old and dealing with the pressure of a team that is now two and six and seems to be going nowhere, especially with a defense that can't get a stop against the freaking Patriots in the final three minutes of a football game. That is embarrassing. I don't care how you slice it. It's embarrassing. And you know what? One more tip of the cap here to Scott Zolak, who a few weeks ago was so desponded after their loss to the Dolphins that he said, There's going to be some changes that need to be made. And if you don't want to make those changes, it's going to be a dark year or whatever, something along those lines. He got that change at quarterback, and then he had to eat his words when the other quarterback came in and led him to victory today.

Okay, fair. I don't know if that's the changes that he was looking for. Part of it. You're right. And I was really upset about the failure of the spotter at the game and the failure of the officials, not only to call the late hit on a slide to the head of Drake May, that clearly concussed him. If you're watching the broadcast copy, you saw in a second, his teammates went over to celebrate, and he's woozy and not getting up, and he stays in for the next play to get sacked. It's just like... And I saw the Boston Herald, Karen Grujian, note that he only went to the spotter in the tent after having a long conversation. No But not with the medical professionals first, with Jacobi Perset. I think Jacobi was a dude in that situation. He was like, Someone's got to go talk to Drake May. He doesn't seem right right now. Gerard Mayo said after the game, he wanted to reenter the game. Well, thankfully, eventually, he did get into that 10. But I've seen this too often where pretty obvious concussions seem to be happening, and the plays just continue on. It's disappointing.

Let's actually listen to Rodgers. You mentioned the lack of confidence he has in the offensive. I think he's just playing like he's not confident in himself. He's not confident to hold the ball too long because the Patriest pass rush is terrible. And for the most part, they weren't getting pressures. But a couple of times they did get pressures today. He handled it very poorly. He panicked and he doesn't look like a confident player. He reacted after the game to Jeff Ulbrook saying, Yeah, this is a dark moment in this season. Yeah, I've been in the darkness. You got to go in there. Make peace with it.

Perfect. No better player to have that question ask you than Aaron Rock.

It almost seems like a bit with the shadow over his eyes if you're watching it on YouTube.

It's intentional.

It is. It is dark times right now in New York.

Those lights were literally too bright for Adam game once upon a time.

Two and six on a day where I thought they had a lot of good things. The running backs ran so hard. Quinn and Williams finally has the best game of his season. Let's go to Cincinnati, where we're going to find something about two teams who have just been fattening up on some soft opponents.

Shot goes. Hertz. Looks.

He is rolling. He's looking. He's pumping. He is going deep downfield, and it is caught. Devante Smith. Touchdown. Yes, it's time for the Sunday Drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry.

That was Merrill Reese, W-I-P, Devante Smith. Sometimes it's about the players, not just the play. And look, Jack Stoll got a nice block to help extend that play for Jalen Hertz, who just says, Hell, Devante's down there somewhere in an unbelievable catch. Jalen Hertz throws those pretty deep throws, and Devante made a great catch over the safety for a 45-yard countdown. The most exciting play in what I thought was Jalen Hertz's best game of the entire season, not just 16 to 20 through the air for 236 yards in that breakdown, but 10 for 37 on the in three touch downs, much better in the design run game. That 3.7 yards per carry has a lot to do with four push-pushes in this game, which were mostly effective. You see the touch downs, but they also called some important design runs at key moments where he picked up first downs or big chunks with his legs, mostly rushing up the middle straight ahead like he did in the 2022 season. Saquon Barkley finishes it out with 108 yards, but they really passed to take the lead, and then they ran to win. And that's the formula.

Even without some of their offensive linemen, Shook, I was really impressed with the way they physically held up in pass protection and in the running game. They were just tougher than the bangles today.

Yeah, and they started this trend, I think, when they beat the Giants. I think they found... They rediscovered themselves offensively when they got A. J. Brown and Devante Smith back. And then they've just been building on that since then. I think that whenever the Giants gave them a lot of confidence that they needed to unlock this offense that was recently described by Lane Johnson as being constipated. It's not constipated anymore. I don't care what brand name laxative you use, but that thing's flowing now. And just look at the score. The fact that you put 37 points on the board and three scores in the fourth quarter. I mean, this is an eagles offensive explosion that we haven't seen since, I don't know, the first half of last season, if not that, their Super Bowl run the year before. It's been a long time, and I think it goes a long way toward your quarterback being comfortable when he puts up a stat line like this, and then they're able to finish game on the ground running the football. I mean, that one possession they had to score their last countdown to make it 34-17, seven and a half minutes, 12 plays, 85 yards.

And if you look at their possession chart overall, they punted once. When was the last time we saw the Eagles be this productive as an offense? It's been a long time. So I'm feeling really good about the Eagles outlook after a game like this when they move to five and two. And let's not chalk up the NFC East being Washington so fast if they keep playing football like this.

Yeah, it reminded me a lot of 2022 because I think the defense that year, it was complementary football where the defense really wasn't that great when they played top-tier opponents. And look, this game started with a 10-minute drive by the Bengals. There are three drives in the first half. They either had touch downs or field goals, or they had a field goal miss. And then they had a long touch down drive to start the second half. So the defense was playing like cheeks, basically, through their first four or five possessions. But the offense was keeping up and eventually gave them the lead and a chance to settle down and at least make a couple of plays. Cooper Djean, Brandon Graham. I think they're a better team when they're playing with the lead because they're better past defense and past rush versus stopping the run.

We saw that skill in the secondary, especially both rookies, Quinian Mitchell making several plays down the field with Jamar Chase. Jamar Chase had nine catches, but they're able to keep it to 51 yards. There was that breakdown where Nolan Smith is covering Jamar Chase. That's never going to work.

It took a while to get there. I give him credit.

He had him for the first couple of seconds. In fact, I think it was Kevin Harland on the call is like, Jamar Chase is covered. And then Joe Burrow gives Jamar Chase to go that way. That's an edge rusher, and it's instantly a touch down there. But one of the big plays in the game, speaking to Jamar Chase, was the first guy almost never gets Jamar Chase. But Cooper Dajine on a fourth and 1, lined up Jamar Chase, was able to get a shot on his hip and knock him back, which I think could have been a turning point in this game, considering that it The Devante Smith shutdown, it just happened. There was no late push-pushed, touch downs for Jalen Hertz yet. That was a big play in the game, and the rookie stepped up.

Yeah, I think Zack Taylor showed something there. He said, I don't trust my defense. I don't blame him. I think he was feeling the flow of this game that they weren't getting stops. It's very out of character for Zack Taylor to go for a fourth and 1 on his own side of the field, and people kill that play call. I think it was a good play by Cooper Dujine. Cooper Dujine has played really well the last couple of weeks. There were some good things he did in coverage in this game and last week. The other big play defensively for the Eagles in this game was the interception by CeeD Gardner Johnson that was tipped by Isiah Rogers, who was replacing Darius Slate. That was a good one-on-one throw where Rodgers really made a perfect play, and it ends up getting intercepted. I know Bengals fans will look at the 17 points and the interception and say they need more out of the offense. I get it, but it's like I mentioned, their first Four drives. They had two touch downs, a field goal, and a miss field goal before that turnover on downs. That's not on the offense, man.

I know they didn't keep up in what needed to be a shootout, but that's a hard way to win. It just meant the way the defense was playing today, they weren't going to win against a real team. I think if you look at the pressures, it really tells a story. The Bengals had only five pressures the whole game, zero quick pressures, whereas the Bengals gave up 14 pressures, five quick pressures. For the first almost three quarters full, I thought Burrow was playing a perfect game. He was literally playing absolutely perfect. When that's not good enough, three quarters of perfect before things start going haywire, it means your defense in the surge that you had the last couple of weeks was really about playing some bad opponents and that your defense is a problem. At three and five this season right now, Shook is a problem.

Yeah, that's the story of their season, and especially the last month or so, is that you've... Well, actually, the whole season, you've been asking your to carry you. In the last three games, they've scored 17, 21, and 17 points. If you need your offense to carry you, that's not enough to win most football games if your defense isn't good enough. That's just who they are right now. I hate to say it because we know the potential of their offense, but we've seen enough of this defense now to think three and five is accurate. That is who this defense is, at least. That's probably who this team is going to be unless they can explode for points every week, which is just not a reliable way to win football games in the NFL.

This was their worst game of the year. They probably should be about four and four with all those tough endings that they have, but they are They are what they are. They were without Tee Higgins, I should have mentioned, had a late week practice injury and was not in this game. They're a star-driven team, and they need every star on the field, and they didn't have it. Good job by the Eagles's third straight victory. That was the Sunday Drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry. Whatever your vibe, it's a Camry vibe. Learn more at Toyota. Com/camry. And yes, let's go to Seattle, where like Bengals, Eagles, I thought this is going to be one of the games of the day between two good teams, and it wouldn't be one-sided, and I was wrong.

Two tight ends set along with Holland's on the left, Polman on the right.

Who's the snap? Handoff goes to Cooke.

Right up the gut and into the end zone for his second rushing breakdown of the game.

A seven-yard countdown run for James Cooke, and the Bills have turned it into a blowout. Chris Chris Brown on WGR. Wanted that play as the highlight because it just really showed how they were getting whatever they wanted. They just were taking the Seahawks defense lunch money. 31 to 10, the Bills win in Seattle, and you can point towards the self-inflicted mistakes the Seahawks have. Their center snaps one over Gino's head, and then he steps on Gino's foot on the next time they're on the goal line. But I don't think it would have mattered. At one point in this game, the yardage was 416 to 141. I mean, it finishes 445 to 233. The Seahawks couldn't get a running game going at all. 1.3 yards per carry for Kenneth Walker. Zack Charbonnet goes negative. Meanwhile, you got James Cooke running for 111. You got Ray Davis going for 5 yards per carry. This was going to be a one-sided Bill's victory, I think, no matter what happened. Patrick, I know it would have been closer. Obviously, if you get a couple-14 points is a lot of points. What I mean is that when Seattle had the ball, okay, there was some back and forth, right?

When Buffalo had the ball, there was no back and forth. It was just forth.Yeah.

There was no opposition.That's it.

Based on that, if that's the case for 60 minutes, it never stopped, then eventually that team will win. Maybe it would have been more entertaining, and it would have been 31 to 21 or something like that, but you're probably going to lose.

Yeah, you are. And there was Josh Job did get the first interception thrown by Josh Allen. Other than that, that might have been the highlight for the Seattle Seahawks on the day who really couldn't do anything. There was no D. K. Metcalf in this game to threaten that Bill's secondary. And it was something that I thought coming into the game where the Seahawks defense really got healthy, Shook, going up against a quarterback that couldn't move in Kirk Cousins. And this is not Kirek Cousins. This is not as far as a golf, athletically, from post-Achilles Kirek Cousins to Josh Allen in 2024 as you could possibly go. And the results were pretty obvious today.

Yeah. I mean, Greg has made the point many times on this show, which is that Josh Allen is the most valuable runner in the NFL, and he wasn't a valuable runner in most situations, or as a scrambler, as a guy who extends plays as a quarterback and finds guys open and throws a ball a yard away from the sideline. They didn't need any of that because they won the battle up front. That's the only way to explain how you outgain a team 4:45 to 2:33, and you win the time of possession battle by 16 minutes. You dominated them. They stuffed them in a locker. You want to talk about taking lunch money? They stuffed them in a locker in their place. Sure, it was 31 to 10. By the look of it, though, it could have been even more. Sure, the turnover has played a part in it. But the Bills just went on the road. They flew all the way across the country, and they made a statement with a win, which just speaks to how unpredictable this league is, because the Seahawks just came off of a resounding victory on the road in Atlanta.

They come back home, they're all geared up and ready to play the Bills, and then they come away just getting dominated at home.

Really tough for them. Right. The Seahawks defense has had so many terrible games this year, and they're coming off a game where they got healthy, literally. Their better players are on the field, and they perform well in Atlanta. But this is a big step back. There's going to be a lot of questions. They did not have a quarterback hit today. Then they had the rare stat line where they got a team sack, which I'm trying to remember that play, but Josh Allen must have just run out of bounds at some point, and they decided not to give anyone credit for that sack. That's just a day where, look, Gino Smith was facing pressure, usually up the middle. Like, Connor Williams had a bad day, but nothing really was working for this Seattle defense. They have the Rams next week. They're 4 and 4, the Seahawks. The Cardinals are 4 and 4. The Rams are at 3 and 4. This division is just getting started. It's a little bit of a mess, and I just would be hesitant because I follow a lot of Seahawks fans of like, just let it play out a little bit.

The season is not over. It is ugly. But one of these teams in the NFC West, I believe, will figure things out at some point as we get closer to Thanksgiving. In December, Seattle has a good basis to start with with their passing game, but everything else needs work. The running game is just counting on Ken Walker to make people miss, and the defense, we've been over their issues.

And again, the big mistakes were so big that it's tough to get a full evaluation of a lot of things, especially offensively. I know the Metcalf being missing is glaring, but they're... Like, Kenneth Walker will turn a negative run into a positive. He'll also sometimes go on little adventures as he did today on the bad snap where he's picking it up. I'm wondering if he's going to try to throw the ball away instead. It's a massive loss. They go from first in goal to second in goal from the 26. It was a very bad game from the Seahawks, but as you mentioned, they're not out of it in the division. If you are looking at who has what to be upset about and who has what to feel good about, you can make a case that Seattle could have more to feel good about than almost anyone, other than the Rams, getting everybody back and getting that win on Thursday.

I think the Rams are feeling excited. The Bills are feeling good about it because the rest of the AFC East is absolutely collapsing their six and two. Eric, my Super Bowl pick is looking good. You You got your Dodgers rolling. You got your Bills rolling. Shaq here goes 9 for 107. Tom braided was loving him, Khalil Shaq here. He was saying it. It reminded him of a young Danny Amandola or Julian Edelman. There it is. I'll say he's closer to Edelman than Amandola. What do you think? He's sprung. When he catches the ball, his feet are moving. No touch downs today, but I felt like every other play was going to him, and he has the ball.

He's not looking to go down. It's great.

I love that they were very targeted because the middle of the field of the Seahawks defense is absolutely the weakness. I know they just traded for Ernest Jones, but that's where they were targeting. Kean Coleman goes 5 for 70. Amari Cooper only has one catch for three yards on two targets. Who knows? But the other wide receivers are eating more now that Amari Cooper is in the building. The running game has been pretty good all year. And yeah, the defense also just... It's complete. It's healthier than it's been. The Bills are absolutely a Super Bowl contender. Let's take another break. And yeah, we'll start after the break with the favorites for the Super Bowl. I guess they're just always the favorites. Always.

Shout out to Khalil Shaq here for breaking the barrier. 5:03 left in the game. Raiders are at a timeout. Second and goal to go for the Chiefs at the nine. Sprint left, left action, wide open, left side, top worthy, left front pylon.

Touchdown.

Kansas City, Xavier worthy, back into the end zone for the third time on a reception, fifth time in his rookie year, and the Chiefs have blown it open by two touch downs.

That was Xavier worthy, nine-yard score. Wdaf, Mitch Holtes on the call. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Some of the game is a little ugly for the Chief's offense. They wind up with a big play late. They win by one score. We move on. Nick Shook, what was different about this Chief's victory over the Raiders?

Patrick Mahomes threw a couple of shutdown passes. That's the first thing that was different. So all of you who want to get in my Twitter mentions after the next QV index drops and says, How is Mahomes in the top two? He's had a terrible year. Watch this game much like every other game because the guy just created When things are breaking down, he extends plays, he keeps drives moving. And that's what he did again today. Couple that with a strong defense, and this is the performance you get. And this happened after Mahomes had his hand hit on a throw out of the end zone, and it was picked off. And the had the ball inside Kansas City is 10, and they got nothing out of it because of that Chief's defense, stood them up on the goal line on four downs and got the ball right back in Patrick Mahomes' hands, and they ended up coming away with a victory. That's 27 to 20 in the final, but the Raiders did score a countdown in the last two minutes before they couldn't get the ball back. You could talk about it as 27 to 13.

Chiefs are undefeated. It's not pretty, but they're a damn good football team.

A good football team that saw a solid Garner-Minschuh game, 24-30, two touch downs.

You know that's hard for Patrick to say. I mean, that's through his gritted teeth.

No, I say it with a smile on my heart for Garner-Minschuh because apparently, Jacobi Myers was the missing piece to this offense because Jacobi Myers comes back. He has seven targets, six catches, 52 yards, and a shutdown. They got Trey Tucker involved as well. Alexander Madison did nothing in the ground game. They got that opportunity, and Madison gets stopped, and the Raiders elect to go for it on fourth down. Could have cut it to a one-point game.

I think that's the move, though. At this point, you got to get touch downs, right? Yeah, you do. You don't have the players or necessarily the play calls, but what are you going to do? You got to try to win.

Are you going to ram Madison up into the goal line three times? Or you take a field goal, you're saying?

Yeah, or you could take a field goal. But ultimately, the rollout for Garner-Minschuh, the Chiefs were all over that. Drew Trinkel was submarining plays for most of the game until he left the game late in the fourth quarter with an injury. But there were so many opportunities opportunities, and you think that the Raiders team could have pulled this off, just like not necessarily the way that they did December of last year, which was a defensive festival, and Jack Jones is picking off Patrick Mahomes, and Aiden O'Neill is doing absolutely nothing. This was a It was a completely different game. They were still in it. They had an onside kick opportunity that almost bounced their way. It could have been a heel-mari situation for Garner-Minchu and company. But again, it's all hypothetical.

Somehow, I don't think it would have been quite as beautiful.

The arc of the ball It would not have been as majestic. Probably the celebration wouldn't have been as raqueous with maybe a 50/50 crowd in Las Vegas today. But the Chiefs, you said it, they're inevitable. And the best Chelsea game that he's had all season But 90 yards receiving in the countdown.

Yeah, 10 for 90 for Kelsey. That's awesome in a countdown, and it was moving well. It's crazy that the Raiders had 33 yards rushing, and seven of those is on a Trey Tucker end around. It just gets me to the point of the Chiefs have so many good players. They're just so deep for such a team with guys getting paid huge bucks. Ten different players had a quarterback pressure in this game on the Chief's defense. So they're just so deep defensively. And yeah, offensively, it's not as talented, but the offensive line is deep, and you have enough guys, including now DeAndre Hopkins, that can catch passes from a home. What was the offensive report from you, Shook, throughout this game?

Well, yeah, offensively, not as talented, but schemed by one of the masters of offense, Andy Reid. And that's the most important part with this team because it's being operated by an elite quarterback. Now, the rest of the pieces around him, sure, if they were great, they would be elevating the offense. They'd be putting up a ton of points like they did four or five years ago. But it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that they continue to move the chains. I mean, Kareem Hunt goes for 2.8 yards per carry, and he visually looked like he made a nice impact because he's running hard and he scored a shutdown. But it all starts with Mahomes. And as long as they have him and they protect him well enough to at least allow him to buy time and get out of the pocket. There were so many times where I would go from one game to the next, and it'd be third down, and Mahomes would just bounce out of the pocket. He'd be scrambling, and he'd find somebody six yards away for a first down, just over and over and over again. They're paper-cutting teams to death, and it's got to be miserable if you're a fan of the opposing defense to watch this every day.

But it's really a work of art when you watch it from Mahomes' perspective, because we know what he could be when he's putting up these gaudy numbers. Now he's not doing that, and they're still winning football games. A lot of it, almost all of it, has to do, at least offensively with him.

A lot of teams that I feel like he can stick a fork in him this year. I mean, the Raiders are certainly one of them at two and six. There are six teams in the AFC that have six losses. The Titans are one and six. The rest are two and six. A lot of teams just without a lot of hope. Before Halloween, we're going to talk about another one of them that traveled across the country to play across the sidewalk in Sofi Stadium. Second and 10 here. Herbert to throw and lobs it downfield for McConkey. Mcconkey, right sideline. Defender falls to the 20. Turn on the jet, Lad, to the 15, to the 10, upfield into the end zone. The lad.

Touchdown, Schergers. 15 is a magic number.

Lad McConkey makes it 15 to 5.

I love that Lad McConkey has got his own countdown call. Matt Money Smith, our friend on K-Y-S-R. Mcconkey added another TDL later in the game. He ends up 6 for 111 and 2 scores.

Wide receiver 1 this week.

Hope you picked him up in your fantasy league. I saw him out there on some waiver wires. 26 to 8. The chargers get it done in the most 2024 Jim Harbaugh charger way possible. Just grinding their opponent to a pulp. And yeah, the Saints fall to two and six in the most 2024 Saints Way possible. Not a lot of hope, not a lot of highlights. One of the worst teams in the NFL. But let's give some flowers, nick Shook, to what I really respect out of the Chargers this year is that they're just a professional outfit that wins games they should. When's the last time you could say that about a Chargers outfit? You're thinking about their losses.

I was thinking about last week because we were talking about how they wasted their grade.

I know, but to me, that's two even-ish teams. When they've been in a situation where it's just like, you should take care of business against a bad offense, it's like, they just take care of business and swat the other one away. There's going to be a coin flip of games. They're not like a Super Bowl champion team. Sorry.

No, I know. I know. I just was like, We just talked about that last week. No. Look, there's a reason that the verb chargering exists, and this is not that team. So hats off to you, Chargers fans. Congrats. You have a professional outfit as Greg just described. What you have is a quarterback who's got a swaggerher back in Justin Herbert. He threw a shutdown past Alad Mokaki in the fourth quarter of this game, and then he started doing a little head nod. I was like, I haven't seen that demonstrative version of Herbert in probably 2-3 years. He's feeling himself. And a big reason why is because he knows he's got at least one guy he can trust, and it's the rookie with the last name, McConkey, who, like we said, 6 for 111 and two touch downs. How about this? He, according to next Gen stats, caught all three of his targets out of the slot for 84 yards and two touch downs, and they can move him around. He can make a difference. He's a reliable guy, which is what they've been missing, especially since Keenan Allen and Mike Williams left in the offseason.

So another strong day from Herbert. He got busy on the ground. They got a little bit from J. K. Dobbins. It was just enough. And they played good defense, physical defense. That's the most important part. Physical defense against a Saints team that can't protect their quarterback. And they also don't have a quarterback who's really equipped to handle the speed or the responsibilities of being a starting NFL quarterback right now. They're in a bad spot offensively, no matter whether it's Jake Hayner who replaced Spencer Rattler, just pulled Rattler for Hayner. He didn't do much better. Statistically, they were almost even. They both get the ball out, and sometimes they don't know where it's going. And That's how you end up with eight points as an offense as the Saints did today.

Yeah, some high throws as well. Wasted a solid effort because Alvin Kamara made some plays today that were in a close game that could have ultimately been the difference, but the Saints couldn't get a lot of production on the offense. Good to have Chris Olave back. They almost lost him again. He had to go in to be evaluated for a concussion on a similar-looking play to the one that he got hurt, where he gets sent on a mission and blasted.

Rattler has thrown some... I like Rattler, but he's throwing hospital balls at a higher clip than any I've ever seen.

Thankfully, Chris Olave is able to come back into the game. I don't know who has high hopes for MVS coming in and replacing what Rasheed Shahida had to offer, but I guess I got news for them if they missed the last five or six years of professional football. But my big takeaway, because there was a play in this game where Justin Herbert had a throw late. Shepard for the Saints is twisting his leg low.

Oh, yeah.

Bradley Bozeman immediately, this isn't like a post twist reaction, immediately ponces on Sheppard. Flags are thrown. But it showed to me it symbolized what a healthy Herbo means to this team, and especially to this offensive line, because they're nothing without him. For him to... Then he goes off and has a huge run immediately after that. Justin Herbert average 12 yards a carry in this game. He's everything and really didn't even need to do it against a listless science offense that really had nothing to offer today.

I think he's been one of the best quarterbacks in the league since the buy. That's only three weeks. But if the QB index started in week 6, whatever it was, after the buy, we're just talking the last three weeks of the season, he's top five, top seven, whatever it is. He's playing at a very high level. His teammates didn't help him out last week, but you see the athleticism, you see the arm, and you start to believe in this lousy the AFC that they got a shot, certainly, to sneak into the playoffs.

Yeah, I mean, at four and three, they're in a situation where they could definitely... If they continue to pile these wins up, the thing is, the eye test, you're going to think, Oh, they don't look like an impressive team, but they're a physical team with a good quarterback who's got a lot of arm talent and is able to, when he's healthy, really handle the job very well. I think that goes a long way because if you can win at the point of attack, and if you can get your ground game going here and there, as long as you have that quarterback, you're going to be in most games. This is not a litmus test against these They're definitely not a measuring stick. But if you can... Those are your staples. Those are your calling cards. Physical defense, really good quarterback, receivers that are starting to come into their own. Jalen Rager made a nice catch down the sideline. Don't expect a lot from him, but he made a nice play. I was like, All right, you didn't fumble at this time. That's a good step forward. Then you're going to be in the mix. They're at least a team that I can respect and watch every week and not think like, Oh, they're going to blow it.

You have Shook's respect. Yes, Josh Palmer with a 45-yard or a 27-yard. They are playing that old-school, in theory, Harba type of football where it's the running game needs to be better for it really to make sense, but that the passing game does have shot plays. I think you need that to take advantage of who Herber is. It's a low moment for the Saints in a season full of them. Marshawn Latimor leaves with an injury. You wonder if that's his last snap as a Saint. Would not be a surprise if he's traded before the deadline. Depends how serious I suppose that the injury is. Kamara goes for 122 yards from scrimage, but there's not much pressure there. Joey Bosa came back for this game. Joe Alt, the right tackle for the chargers, had more pass sets without giving up a pressure than any rookie, I think, ever or in any game, according to next Gen stats. So he had a really strong game, but that also speaks to the lack of a pass rush that the Saints have. They don't really do anything well. They'll get Derek Carr back next week. I heard Mickey Loomis on Saints radio this week talk about the rest of the season and say, Yeah, we're not giving it.

We look at our schedule and we don't see a team on there that we can't beat. I guess. Fair? But there's also not a team on that schedule that you can't lose to. Let's go to the next one. Let's talk about some Broncos. Let's talk about some Panthers. Man, this NFC South is tough.

Van play outside of Mims in a slot left. Double tight in set with Atkins and Troutman in a wing-right. Shotgun snap. Nicks looks left, floats one of the ends on. He wants Troutman. One-handed catch. Touchdown, Denver. 19-yard strike, Bo Nicks to Adam Troutman, who snagged him with one hand.

Dave Logan on K-O-O-M. Hey, Broncos beating them down, covering that big spread, 28 to 14. Bryce Young comes back in, gives them a little spark at first. It doesn't last. Bo Nicks throws for three touch downs, 284 yards through the air, and the Broncos go to five and three. Are you believing, Patrick?

I'm believing that they have a good defense, that pass defense. Glad that they have Patrick Sertan back. They picked off Bryce Young twice. Bryce Young, those two shutdown passes, which is more than Andy Dalton had in the previous three games are combined. But it's...

One was with 18 seconds left. Yeah. Fair enough.

Garbage time. That still counts. Still counts, especially fantasy-wise. I don't know who's starting, Bryce.

Shout out to you. Or Jalen Kolker. Is that his name? It's J. Kolker. I think it's Jalen.

Well, because there was no Adam Thielen, of course. Xavier Laguette, who scores a breakdown in this game, leaves as well. That was the state of the Panthers receiving core because there was no Deontay Johnson coming into this game as well. But over on the other side, it was 28 to 14. You mentioned the spread being covered. It could have been worse because Sean Payton, when it was 28 to seven, had a fake field goal attempt. Courtland Sutton on fourth and 1 through a wide receiver pass when it was 28, 14, late in this game, Sean Payton, apparently, I was trying to mind Twitter for resources. What did the Panthers do to Sean Payton? I guess they didn't interview him, which is interesting because there was a plan for him to go to Miami anyway. Everything is very confusing.

That might be... That's a guess. I don't know. I just want to say as the host of NFL Daily, we are not fully attributing the reason for going for that trick play to the Panthers not giving Sean Payton an interview. It's a good theory. It's an interesting theory, but I do feel like there has to be something going on there, but I don't know what it is.

It could have been Dave Canales with a funny look at the coaching summit. I have no idea. But Sean Payton was doing everything he could to pour it on for some reason.

Maybe he just wants to feel alive on a Sunday afternoon. He just wants to have some fun. Life is short. It's fine. Go for trick plays up big scores. It doesn't matter. I think it's great.

I feel like he's been coaching this whole season just to prove a point. And week by week, as they start to stack wins with this good defense, he gets more invigorated and he's got more gusto to him. And he's just like, Yeah, you know what? This week, I'm trying a fake field goal because why not? We're up by three touch downs. No better time than now to test it out on a game against a team we know we're already going to beat. Let's do it now. But yeah, you're right, Patrick. I can't get a solid read on Bo Nicks because Bo Nicks himself doesn't have a consistent performance over four quarters, but this game, pretty solid. They also jumped out to a 28 to 7 lead, so you didn't really need to see him tested over four quarters. But I mean, anytime that you throw for 284 yards, three touch downs, and you beat the lowly Panthers. It's a good day. They're five and three. Because of that defense, we have to take them seriously, and we'll see how they go offensively.

Well, the first two drives, though, end with a fumble by little Jordan Humphrey and then a punt. You're down seven, nothing. That's a little bit of adversity going into the second quarter and then to get touch downs on three straight drives. I think it's a good step. I think Bo Nicks has shown progress. Now, he was starting at the very bottom, but he's shown progress, and we'll see. It's still at a level where if they're playing a quality defense, major questions. But there's only so many of those on the schedule. The Broncos have one of the few defenses in the entire NFL that you're like, That's a difference making week to week defense. There's a lot There's a lot of bad defenses out there, not any as bad as the Panthers necessarily. But if Bo Nicks can just be solid against bad defenses, they could win a decent amount of games. Yeah.

In 28 to 37, 284, three touch downs. My concern would be Javante only having 44 yards on 17 carries against this particular Panthers defense. So maybe a sign of concern for the run game where that may be the frustration not getting things done there, maybe results in Sean Payton taking shots late to try to make the scoreboard look like he feels it should look, considering the mismatch of the teams on the field.

Shout out to Courtland Sutton, didn't get a target last week. He almost knew he was going to go for a big game this week. 11 targets, 100 yards, 8 catches. And shout out to Adam Troutman, a man who, when they brought him to Denver, I said, Man, Sean Payton just will take any old ex-Saint. They traded for him. Saints fans were like, Really? And here he is with a big game, a great catch, 85 yards and a countdown. All right, we're going to say goodbye to Our good friend Patrick. I've enjoyed doing this program with you.

I've enjoyed it as well. I wish my football team would have won.

They did not, but I still think they're in charge of that AFC North. We'll see, Stealers on Monday night. I'm going to throw to the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins. Kam Wolf is going to join us. Get in here, Cam. From Miami. Then we're going to hear from Kevin Patra on the other side of the break. Shuck, you can Join me for the Sunday Night Football Recap. I'll see you then, Nikki.

Musical chairs, baby.

That's right. Now to Arizona and the Dolphins in South Beach.

One second left. Cardinals down to 34-yard try. Snap, ball down. The kick from Rylan is up, and the kick is good. And the Cardinals win it. The officials took a long time to signal. The kick is good from Rylan, and Arizona wins it at the buzzer again. 28, 27 in Miami.

That was Chad Rylan. 34-yard field goal. Dave Pash on KMVP. Cardinals get the upset win in Miami, 28 to 27. Chad Rylan goes from being one of the worst drafted kickers in memory in New England last year, helped end Bill Belichick's career to a guy who's kicking clutch kicks week after week, including, I think, a 57-yarder in this win And I am so excited for the first time here on NFL Daily to be welcoming in a man who was at this game in the locker rooms on the field, Kam Wolf. You watched it up close. Not the game we expected, was it?

No, not at all. The Cardinals had plans to ruin the feel good movie story, which it felt like it was setting up for two was returning after this concussion that everyone or a lot of people think he should retire from. And all his teams thinks it's going to galvanize them and save the team after a two and four start. And you forget the quarterback wasn't the only problem. Arizona came into play. Kyler had an amazing game. Marv Harrison and him Finally got connected. I know that was a question mark for a lot of people, and Trey McBride had an amazing day. But really, to me, the story is the Dolphins and just more disappointment. It was a team that had huge expectations, and now at two and five, we're wondering, has it already crumbled?

Yeah, two and five. It's not a death sentence, but it's a huge setback. And Cardinals fans, we'll give you some love. You're at four and four. You're in the mix. This NFC West race is going to take to the end. Look, hell, you're in first place right now. So Cardinals We'll get to you in a second. But the two of story, what was the story coming into the week? You followed this really closely. He comes out. He has 28 for 38, 234 yards in a countdown. Mike McDaniel said after the game, it looked more like the Dolphins' offense, and that's true. 377 yards. Overall, they go 11 for 15 on third down. What was their locker room and just this week like for you? Because it was a defiant Tua at the podium. And then after the game, what did you pick up in the locker room and after everything that happened in this game?

I'll say this. I was a little worried about something like this happening. You talk to a guy like Tyreek Hill during the week, and of course, he's predictably excited about his quarterback coming in. But the message that Mike Wiedengel tried to give the team is, Two is not our savior. And it seemed like that was a hollow message. Talking to guys around the team, talked to one guy in the locker room, and he was like, Maybe we got too relaxed. Maybe we assumed that Tua would save everything. And we watched them on Sunday. It very much looked like, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, a group that took a deep breath Okay, we're good now. We've been holding the offense up for three weeks when these other guys have been in here, but now Tua is here, and it's all good. And they got exposed by a Cardinal's team that was hungry and ready to fight. And honestly, a lot of the questions around the Dolphins has been their grit, what type of physicality and grit and ability to win tough games comes out to. In that second half, there's a lot of grit moments they lost.

And I think that's probably, to me, the story of this team, a lot of talent, not as much grit. And you look at this team, and like you said, two and five, it's not a death sentence, but they're going to Buffalo next week. Buffalo is up three and a half games in the division on them already. They could put four and a half on them with both tie breakers with the win in Buffalo next week. Sure, they'll be very heavy favorites And so the Dolphins are at a precarious spot. And it's weird because two have played well, the offense played a lot better, and they still lost. And so that leads you with the what's next for a team that's really been all in for the last two years.

Okay, so second half, They give up three straight scoring drives to end the game. Touchdown, touch down, field goal. Talk me through a little bit what you saw from the defense struggling. And yeah, that's part of the concern that I had coming in. They didn't look great when Tua was out there before he got hurt. The run blocking has maybe been up and down. It was good the last couple of weeks, but they had a big play from Achan today, but that's about it. Tell me what you saw in the fourth quarter as they were giving up what was a 20 to 10 lead and then a 27 to 18 lead in the fourth quarter.

Yeah, they really struggled to get Kyler Murray contained. He was very much the playmaker that a lot of us know him to be at his peak, where he extends plays, he runs around, whatever the agitive of a person you could describe him as. And he makes plays. He threw a great shutdown to Marvin Harrison over Jalen Ramsey that just came from him extending a play and getting it across his body. I talked to Emmanuel Agba, one of their pass rush after the game, and he was like, That's one of the better quarterback games I can remember seeing. And we just really couldn't didn't take him down. He was like, That was really it. We got him in our grasp. He kept breaking contained, and it broke everything within our defense. And so this is a team that they've struggled to get pass rush. I think that's really the core of what I've seen. I watched the game, and there was a lot of times they tried blitzes, and it seemed like everyone failed, and they got big plays out of it. So there's not really an immediate answer of how do you create conflict and pressure on the quarterback?

And I know Anthony Weaver is trying different stuff, but you lose a Jalen Phillips to a serious injury. Bradley Chubb is still not back from his torn ACL. And your first-round pick, Chopp Robinson, is just a little raw. He's pretty much a speed-only pass rusher right now. They just don't have that juice, and teams are exploiting that.

I mean, let's be real, Campbell. If Kyler is representing here, I know, compared to us, he's not a real short king, but as NFL players go, he's a short king, and he's representing well. I mean, when Kaleas Campbell, like volleyball, spiked one of his passes He was early in this game. I thought, Oh, man, it's going to be a long day for my guy, but he's running around here in 307 yards and two touch downs. Sometimes you see him on film not take open throws or not see him like he's trying to make the big plays. But the flip side is games like this where he's doing it and he's just magical. He's a different player than Tua. You mentioned the defense. Yeah, they only had one quarterback hit in this game, which is just brutal for an entire defense. And that wasn't even from the defensive line. That was from Jordan Hicks. So that's where the loss has to go. Tell me, I guess, a little bit about where you think this organization is, in the fans, too, because those fans will turn on this Dolphins team when they're bad. They'll get either disinterested or mad.

And I heard there were some fire Greer chants after the game, like outside and fire McDaniel and everything. Tell me where that's at and what it's like in the city right now.

Yeah, it's not great, Greg. I'll tell you that. This is a team that really sold itself as like, This is our year. We're all in. And you ask, Where do you go next? That's almost the more frustrating part. They've paid everyone. They paid Mike McDaniel. They paid to O'Tunga-Vyloah, Tyree Kill, Jalen Waddle, Jalen Ramsey. Everyone who is the core of your team, maybe you could argue the GM hasn't got an extension, but the core of your team is together, and you've paid them long term extensions, and they're in the midst of their worst season in probably six or seven years with the most talent they've had in six or seven years. I think that there's no immediate answer. I think they've got to look within. Really, I think a lot of this comes to, what is the culture of this team? I remember being on the road a lot last year and talking to defensive coaches and coordinators, and they were like, This is a video game team, but if we feel like we punch them in the mouth, if we get them in our type situations, they'll fold. The Dolphins were really upset by that narrative.

Mike McDaniel fought it all year. There They can't beat winning teams. They can't win in the cold. And this year, I think it's more evident than ever that I don't know if they have the toughness to be able to withstand the playoff race. And teams like this show it. Even the games without Tua, if you're a team that one quarterback can take down the whole ship, I think it says a lot about who you are as a team. And I'll just say this, look, they made a decision to go away from Brian a few years ago and go towards Mike McDaniel. A lot of times, teams do opposite coaching styles, right? And Mike McDaniel did a lot of great things for Tua, building his confidence up, bringing this offense to a level it never was. But I do wonder if some of the discipline, some of the physicality, some of the toughness was missing from this team that maybe was in previous teams. They're one of the worst teams in the league in penalties. The second straight year, they're towards the bottom of the league in penalties. Operation has been an issue. That's That's a discipline thing.

And you can't help but know you got a fun-loving group, got a fun-loving coach. That becomes your team. You just want to have fun. And fun is great until you start getting on a losing streak and you start losing games you shouldn't lose. And then it's not that much fun anymore. I start thinking, remember the Titans. Fun? Is football fun?

Today was not fun. I mean, they have a 20 to 10 lead. It's halfway through the second quarter or the third quarter, rather. And it's a bad snap that maybe... Tua said he could have maybe had, but it was a bad snap. It ends up being a safety. It's 20 to 12. From that point forward, here's what the defense did. They gave up a 75-yard, nine-play, breakdown drive, a 70-yard, eight-play, countdown drive to the Cardinals. And then here's the kicker. And the Dolphins' offense hardly collapsed. I know they punted once in there, but they also scored a breakdown in there. They only had seven drives in this game on offense. That is a light day of offense, eight drives rather, and they scored 27 points. But to finish the game, and this is where I want to give Cardinals their flowers, their fans their flowers. Drew Petsing has taken some slings and arrows this year. Their offensive coach, they're not that talented on defense. They get the ball back with five minutes left in the game. They go 13 plays, 83 yards. That includes a penalty in there, so 73 total before that game-winning field goal.

That is tough, smash-mouth type football. It was James, Connor, but it was more of the passing game. Mcbride, Harrison, Wilson, Connor, Murray, putting it on the Dolphins, and to your point, showing who's the tougher team. And that is a galvanizing win for a Cardinal team that's just looking to be relevant. I couldn't believe this stat camp. This is the first time they've won back-to-back games since 2021. That's wild. So they're a team now. That's a great stat. They're a real team. They're in this race in props and give them their flowers.

So that's a great stat because I actually talked to Marv Harrison Jr. Year after the game. We had a one-on-one for NFL Network, and I asked him about the meaning of this, and that's the first thing he mentioned. He was like, This is the first back-to-back win that most of the guys in the locker room have ever seen. He was like, I know it's my first year, but he's like, Most of the guys we talked about in the locker room, this is one of the first back-to-back wins they could remember seeing. And he's like, This is how you build a culture. I thought that was very interesting because I didn't know the 2021 stat. I just knew he said... I'm like, Oh, maybe all these guys have been in for one year. But that's three years since you've won back-to-back games. They started to have a little spurt at the end of last year. I remember that big win against Philly. I think they had one against Pittsburgh as well. But you just see sprinkles. And now you see more consistency in spurts winning against the Chargers last week, winning against Miami this week. And I thought that final drive told a lot about the team.

Miami is the team that has the most talent. They have a lot to play for. They're the expectations team. And every single play, the Cardinals seem like they just had a little extra. Kyler made somebody miss. Marv Harrison, who I keep repeating because he had a great game, kept making plays in the open field. Trey McBride had an amazing game as well. They kept putting themselves in situations where the Dolphins could have made a stop, and they didn't. I just think that it won't be this year. I don't know if they're a playoff team this year, but I just think that this team is headed in the right direction with Kyler at the mitts. I know there's often been the of, Hey, should they get a new quarterback? I saw everything I need to know in Kyler. He's not the issue. Got to get the rest of the talent of their roster ready.

Kam Wolf, NFL Network. Big time win for the Cardo. It's a big time win for us to get Kam on the show. We'll do it again down the road. Appreciate you, Kam.

Appreciate you, Greg.

All right, we are going to take a quick break, and we'll be back with the rest of the games.

Nixon took the Colts 14, Stroud under center. Hand off, Nixon starts right, cuts left, 10, 5. Nixon still going, takes out a defender, and takes the ball into the end zone. Jones couldn't bring him down. Nixon has six for Houston, and they can tie the game with the extra point. Nixon with a grown man run. Get off me. What a run by Joe Mixon. I am a fan.

K-i-l-t, Mark Vandermeer. Joe Mixon. Just an outrageous run. Outrageous runner this year when he gets the ball in space. That only tied a 10 to 10, but that was my favorite highlight, my favorite play in a game that was just a little weird. The Texans end up winning this, holding on 23 to 20. And yes, as I mentioned before the break, bringing in our friend Kevin Patra. Hey. What is your biggest takeaway? Because to me, it's like, okay, the Texans are in charge of this division. Lose Stefan Diggs to an injury in this game. I'm not sure what to feel about either one of these teams, but where do you want to start, Kevin?

Well, how I started in what we learned this week is defining it as the Texans survived. They survived a near collapse. They survived a really bad turnover on a pitch from C. J. Stroud. And C. J. Stroud survived behind an offensive line that continues to be really bad as a pass protecting unit. He He was under siege all day. I think it was like 57 % pressure rate, something ridiculous. And he just couldn't get anything going on offense. Mixin was like the stabilizing force. He had 102 yards and that touched on that we saw. And other than that, it was up and down all game. And then when Diggs went out, it was funnel everything through tank Dell. But as far as the Texans go, they really just meandered their way through this and let Anthony Richardson hand them the victory there.

Yeah, let's get to it. So, Richardson finishes 10 for 32.

Yeah. I don't even know where those 10 came from. Honestly, I say he did complete 10 passes. That's how bad it was.

He did have a couple of good throws that I thought could have been caught, one or two in there, the shutdown throw to... Who was that to? To Downs? Not the long-Touchdown. It was wide open. Not the long-Touchdown throw. I'm thinking of another one that wasn't caught to the pylon or whatever, to AD Mitchell. That was a beautiful throw. That's the one play where you look at it and you're like, See, that's what everyone wants to see him moving in the pocket, making a good decision and throwing an absolute dime. But where do you think he's at with plays? He reminds me- At the NFL level?

It's weird. He reminds me of somebody who would have played in the '70s or the '80s, just bombs away, but very poor accuracy on the intermediate routes, which is something we don't see nowadays. Quarterbacks are like 70, 5% completion rate. And his misses aren't close, really. I mean, he's putting in a guy's feet. Everything is behind it. Receiver's got to twist and contort their body just to make it close. And then he uncorks a bomb, and it gets One got completed today, but most of them was just off the marker, throwing it out of bounds. It's just very inconsistent. And I was really surprised that Shane Steigen kept putting the ball in his hands, especially with Jonathan Taylor back. And Taylor looked good when he carries for a buck 0.05. So they could have ran the ball more. And I think Colts fans would say that that's what they were thinking about. I thought this whole game was like, who's going to run the ball and who's going to make a play on the ground? Because the offensive lines could not to pass, protect at all. And what we haven't even gotten to is Daneel Hunter was ridiculous today, and so was Will Anderson.

And the two coming off the edge made life miserable for Anthony Richardson, and he couldn't escape from Well, that makes more sense.

Look, they are a defense with stars that has created issues for much better offenses than this. Now, Jonathan Taylor, I agree, looked fantastic in this play, but in this game. But yeah, when Richardson was holding the ball more than two and a half seconds, he goes five for 23. I mean, that is just outrageous. I know he was under pressure on some of those, and he had some rushing ability, but it is a tricky spot. He also He missed the play. It's going to become a big talking point that he said he was tired.

He got twisted down. So at the time, I was like, well, maybe he's a little banged up. It was third and long, and they just handed. They just were like, okay, let's give up play anyway. So I think the coaching staff would probably say it's not a big deal, but that mentality is that's going to be questioned moving forward.

I don't think that is that big of a deal. I think not being able to really run a consistent NFL passing game is a bigger deal. That Michael Pitman goes from so valuable to six targets, one catch. When Richardson goes in, you just lose the value of one of your best players. It's problematic. Tell me what I'm not seeing in Stroud's day, because, yeah, he was under a lot of pressure. He still ends up being able to complete 25 of 37 for 285. But without Diggs and without Nico Collins, man, it's just... It's a struggle. It's tough living.

You could tell the pressure was starting to... I would use the word annoy for more than make him... He can still complete passes, and he makes plays out of structure, like we saw last year, and he continues to do that. But his pass were just a tick off, a tick behind, not as bad as Anthony Richardson's, but just like something wasn't right. And he just seemed like he was getting annoyed with himself and with the lack of protection. At one point, they pulled left guard green and replaced him, and then his replacement got injured, so he was right back. They clearly were trying to bench him, and then they couldn't because his replacement got hurt, so he was back in there. They need to fortify to amplify the interior of that offensive line. It's really hard to trade for offensive line ever in the middle of the season. But if there was ever a team that really needed it, yeah.

It's coaching. They need to figure it out. To your point, and Now that I look at the next Gen numbers, it's absolutely crazy. I pointed out earlier in the show that the Bengals didn't have a single quick pressure on the day, which means under two and a half seconds. Dio Odingbo had five on his own. He was one of seven cults who not only had pressures, but quick pressures. So multiple quick pressure. So Lattu had three, Pei had two, Buckner had two, Brian had two, E. J. Speed, their linebacker had two. Those are the quick pressures. I could go into the just total pressure numbers, and they're absolutely outrageous. And yeah, the Texans had a ton, too. Hunter had 12, Will Anderson had seven. It was just a game of pressures. But if you look at the quick numbers, it was even more dramatic on the cold side. And then I think it's absolutely fair to compare the two. It's like one young quarterback, who's one of the best young quarterbacks I've ever seen, can make it work and make an NFL offense because he's so ahead of schedule. And the other quarterback absolutely can't because he's behind schedule.

And if the Colts are really trying to win games, that's the most important thing. I think they start Joe Flacko next week, but I don't think they're at that point. I don't think they should be I don't think. Honestly, I don't think they should be. It's not all about 2024.

I think it's fair to ask that question. Now they're two games behind in the division because they lost this game. But if the goal is to Anthony Richardson to be your franchise quarterback, yo-yoing him in out of the lineup is not going to It's not going to do anybody any good.

Wouldn't surprise me if at some point, he gets bench for a couple of games and then reinserted after a few. We will see. Let's go to Detroit, where, look, quarterback controversies. That's for bad teams. That is It was a long time ago that Detroit had quarterback controversies. Off out of the gun. Hands to Jameer Gibbs. There you go. There you go. 35 to 40.

There you go. It's a foot race down the left sideline.

There you go.

Give him 20, 15, 10, 5, and go.

Touchdown, Detroit Lions. Oh, baby.

70 yards.

Jameer Gibbs found the opening, and they couldn't find him. That is Dan Miller and Loemis Brown on WXYT. Remember that stat a couple of weeks ago, that Jameer Gibbs had somehow not popped a 20-yard run all season. And then the last couple of weeks, all it is is 20-yard runs, 70-yard runs. He finishes with 127 on the ground on only 11 carries. David Montgomery adds a rushing shutdown and a passing shutdown. The Lions dropped a 50 burger on the Titans.

At one point- Through three Right, through three quarters.

At one point in this game, they had 49 points and 26 net passing yards. Jared Goff finishes with only 85 yards through the air and three TDs. It's a laffer. This is what you can do when you're one of the best teams in the NFL. Kevin Patrick, how does it feel?

It's hilarious because I was thinking during the game, I'm like, Man, I remember these games being on the losing side so many times of just getting walloped and there's nothing you can do about it. I mean, it was crazy. The line started drives on the... Interception on the second drive started at Tennessee's 23. A big kickoff return started at Tennessee's 25. Another interception started at Tennessee's 12. Another punt return started at Tennessee's 22. Then a kickoff return for a countdown. The offense didn't have to do anything. This was a day off for Jared Goff. He didn't have to do anything at all. He took some sacks. He might have been a little banged up with his ankle. We'll find out more going forward because he did get rolled up on. But they didn't have to After the Gibbs shutdown blast off, it was more like they were practicing red zone offense all game, all they were doing.

And what's awesome about that is that the defense can create big plays. You get the huge 90-yard breakdown return by Kalief Raymond. Your special teams are making plays so that it doesn't all have to be about the offense and the offensive line. In a day where you're playing up against a pretty good pass rush and a pretty good run defense, you can still exert your will on the other team. Mason Rudolf starting the game, he ends up having a couple of interceptions. Tony Pollard, who's the only good part of this Titans team, has a nice day on the ground. It was funny because Calvin Ridley was the Squeaky Wheel this week saying, They don't get me the ball much in the first quarter. He had 100 yards in the first quarter. None of it mattered because none of it mattered. The Jets are... I mean, the lions are just that good. Laporta. Nice to see him finally make some big plays. I mean, what are you even worried about right now as a lion fan? Is it going too well?

I mean, the pass rush is going to be an issue. They need to make a move before the deadline. Maybe they could get Arden Key after they just played him, and he had two sacks today on Jared Goff. Maybe they can flip him since the Titans are in sell mode. But that was an issue early. Mason Rudolf was moving the ball up and down the field. That Jameer Gibbs scored, and then the Titans answer with another countdown. And then Detroit, it was just then the bottom fell out for Tennessee, and it was 38 straight points or whatever it was. So they were moving the ball, and I do still have questions about that pass rush because the secondary, Aaron Glenn deserves a ton of credit for getting these guys in the secondary to play well. But if you can't get pressure, better quarterbacks are going to pick you apart down the road.

I love this division. There's so many division games left. So to say that next week's Packers-Lions game is like, Oh, that's the biggest game. It's like, no, we got a lot of big games between all these teams left. We'll see if the bears can hang with the other three. We'll see if the Vikings can hang with the packers and the lions. We'll see if any of them can hang with the because the lines look that good lately. I loved what Dan Campbell said after the game on the podium and in the locker room after the game. This is him on the podium.

We did come out to fight, and that's what we expected. I felt that we were going to be ready. We were going to be ready. It's like I told them, that's what champions do. When you come out, you don't care what time of day it is, what the records are, what the surface is. You come out and handle your business.

That's absolutely right, Kevin Patra. That is what champions do.

No trap game there. No trap game. Right.

They're up for every game, and that's always a sign of a great team. Who can stomp on the bad teams? Because we know the lines are going to play the good teams tight or beat the good teams. We've established that. But who can stop and stay on their Ps and Qs? Dan Campbell is getting it done. What a coach you found. I'm happy for you. Kevin Patra, a coach to match that beautiful head of hair. We say goodbye to Kevin Patra, and we head to Sunday Night Football.

Here's Brock on your center. Garendo, the longback, the purdy punch.

He'll take it to the goal line as purdy in.

Right up against the goal line. Touchdown.

San Francisco.

The Brock Purdy plunge.

Brock Purdy takes it in from two yards out. That's Greg Papa on KNBR. I don't know if that was just an automatic play where Purdy saw what was in front of him, and he He decided to take the two yards that were there, but it was heads-up quarterbacking, which he did for most of the night, especially on the ground. Purdy ends up with 56 rushing yards. Isaac Garendo in for an injured. Jordan Mason gets 85 on the ground with a countdown. The 49ers explode in the third quarter, come back from 10 to 3 to make it 27 to 10. And then they hang on for dear life after almost doing what the 49ers do, which is blow a fourth quarter lead 30 to 24. Their defense gets Dak Prescott to go four and out at the end of the game. Nick Shook. It's like, depending on which section of the game you watched, you could think that any unit on either of these teams is terrible or awesome. Each offense or defense took turns not looking great or looking dominant. But the 49ers, I think, are the better team overall, and they got the win in the end.

Yeah. And if you really want an assessment of the Cowboys offense, don't watch that last possession they had because it was dreadful. Down six points, you burned all your timeouts, you need to go basically the length of the field, and you call up four of the worst plays possible and don't gain a yard and four and out. Otherwise, like you said, there was a period there, I know, right? I'm freezing for a second just because I'm like, wow, this game, the 49ers were like world beaters for a quarter, and then they looked like, well, they were going to blow another lead in the fourth quarter. At one point late in the third quarter, I just thought to myself, they're going to slaughter them. This game is going to be over with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and then the Cowboys mount a comeback, and neither offense could do much in the first half. And at the end of the night, we're like, what do we know about these teams? We know one thing. The 49ers got to win, and that's a lot for them because it's been a rough five weeks, and the Cowboys are still the Cowboys who are banged up defensively, got more banged up tonight, and in the end, came up short.

Right. They're three and four. Right now, what? They're two games back in the lost column to Washington in Philadelphia. There's just nothing consistent about this team. Dak Prescott is having the worst season of his career. Their offense is the worst that it's been in the Mike McCarthy era, really, or at least since 2021. If you look at their EPA per play numbers and their success rate, they've been top five in the McCarthy era, and this year, they're outside of the top 20. And it reminded me so much of the Ravens game where they fall way behind. They play their best football, CeeDee Lamb and Dak looking great in the fourth quarter, down by a handful of scores. I'm not going to say it's garbage time because you got the ball back, as you mentioned, with four minutes to go, your defense stepping up with a chance to win. Actually, I do think those four plays are the ones to watch, nick, because I think they're very telling about this season. First play on that drive, first and 10, Dak Prescott throws it into a 49ers team meeting. If Fred Warner doesn't break the ball up, Diamanour Lador is going to pick it off and the game's over.

Two or three 49ers, and I don't know what Dak was thinking. There's just been more of those plays than you would expect this year. Two interceptions in this game. One of them was a great defensive play, but still, that was another one. That's play number one. Then you try a deep shot to Kavante Turpin, which was a great throw. Could have been an absolutely great play, but just poor execution. Turpin can't come down with it. But then you think about it and it's like we're throwing perimeter shots to our 5, 7 receiver because we don't really have anyone else to throw to. Then third down, he's under a lot of pressure and he throws it in completion. Or that's the fourth down. And there was another where he was flushed out and had to throw it out the sideline. It's just like if it's not the offensive line, it's Dak. If it's not Dak, it's one of the receivers.

Yeah, you get no running game tonight, 10 for 34 from Ezequal Elliott. But actually, you're absolutely right. Those four players did describe the Cowboys in a nutshell because First off, situational football. Why are you calling those plays as if there's 45 seconds left with no timeouts? I mean, the shots of Turpen down the sideline was a perfectly placed ball by Dak Prescott, but it's Turpen. It's a small guy who's mainly a returner who's become a receiver out of necessity. You're not throwing it up to Seedy land. You're not throwing it up to anybody with any size, and he doesn't make the play. Why are you taking shots or at least putting Dak in a situation where it feels like he's got to make a 30-yard completion just to keep them alive when there's 10 yards to go and you're outside Side of the two-minute warning? That speaks to the Cowboys and their dysfunction offensively, which has plagued them for most of the year. The other thing is this, why did it take them falling behind 27 to 10 for them to wake up offensively? Not to take anything away from the 49ers. He played a great third quarter and deserve this win.

They're the better team. But why did it take you that long? Why did it take you that long against the Ravens to wake up and actually move the football? This is just indicative of what they've dealt with all year and why... I know you took a little bit of heat, but you also said the Cowboys were going to collapse this year. Frankly, after watching the game like tonight, I'm on board with you. I think you're right. I think they're going nowhere fast.

Yeah, that was our step on the tiny box. The tiny table. Tiny table, not the tiny box. Colleen, we would never step on her. We would not step on Colleen. It's not looking good. I mean, CeeD made some nasty catches in this game, 13 for 146 and two touch. A lot of that came late, but he also had an insane catch to start the game off on what ended up being a scoring drive. They made good plays. The 49ers, they just needed to get to their buy. You mentioned the injuries. Bosa, for most of the night, really made a difference in this game, flushing Dak Prescott out, having a big sack, getting a lot of pressure. Purdy made good decisions. Debo Samuel gets a rib injury, so he plays and makes a big play. Has a big gainer in the first half, 4 for 71 overall. Piersall gets involved, four catches, 38 yards, and had a big time run in the second half. Mason goes down and you get good rushing production out of Garendo. This was just a survive and advance game for them. Get to the buy, you get Tampa, who's been very erratic coming out of the buy, and hopefully, you get Christian McAfree back after the buy, and you have a chance.

We're in an NFC West where all four teams have four losses. The Rams are at three and four, the other three are at four and four, and it's probably not going to- None of them look like world beaters.

No. This division is totally for the taking. If there was ever a year for the 49ers to have their lumps and have all these injuries and still be in the hunt, it's this year. And winning a game like tonight puts them in a great spot.

Yeah, that's a good point. You could look at it two ways that the 49ers are ripe to be picked off. Or you could look at another way. Right now, we don't see a team like, let's say, the 2023 Rams, or certainly the 2021 Rams, where it's just a team that looks ready to take over this division. And the 49ers have gone about it the other way, being the world beaters, maybe they can figure out a way to be playing their best in December, which just feels like miles away right now. I did think it was important for Purdy to go out there and have a productive, efficient game against a very vulnerable defense. The Cowboys will get Micah Parsons back maybe next week to Marcus Lawrence at some point, but overall, they just didn't have enough answers. You had all the answers, though, today, Shook.

Yeah. You know, Greg, I have one question for you before we wrap. Where is Brock Purdy in your mind right now? Because he's had some stinkers this year. This was not one of those. He created and he did throw the ball well, but he's had some stinkers.

I'm glad you asked. They've been in the last month. We have quarterback Island returning. So if you're listening, let us know who you think deserves to be on, who doesn't deserve to be on quarterback Island. Maybe we'll take that into consideration before we tape. But Purdy will be an interesting discussion. He was an easy one. That's a tease. The first one around. This time, he won't be, I think, as much of a slam dunk, but I've got some opinions. I'll hold them for now. And yes, thank you for listening. If you made it this far, if you like these juicy shows, this was a no-buy week show, and yet we tried to get as much of the sound in as we can. Maybe this show is too long. I don't know. It's all in my head, Eric. It's two hours too long. Let's say goodbye before it gets any longer. Let us know. We love our listeners on NFL Daily, especially the ones who are asking, Is Walker out of NFL security prison? He is. He enjoyed the games at home today. For nick Shook, Kam Wolf, Patrick Claibon, everyone behind the glass, Randy Chávez, Eric Roberts.

When the Cowboys are blowing it in primetime, you know football is back.