Giants BENCH Daniel Jones + Texans-Cowboys Recap

What makes a great pair of glasses?

At Warby Parker, it's all the invisible extras without the extra cost.

Their designer quality frames start at $95, including prescription lenses, plus scratch-resistant, smudge-resistant, and anti-reflective coatings, and UV protection, and free adjustments for life.

To find your next pair of glasses, sunglasses, or contact lenses, or to find the Warby Parker store nearest you, head over to WarbyParker.com.

That's WarbyParker.com.

HSS is ranked the number one in orthopedics for 16 years in a row, according to U.S.

News and World Report.

When you choose HSS, you're receiving the best orthopedic care you can get.

With locations across the tri-state area, HSS provides specialized care for the hips, knees, back, neck, and more to get patients moving again.

Most major insurance plans are accepted.

So, when it comes to orthopedics, I choose the best: HSS.

Choose Better, Move Better, appointments available at HSS.edu.

What's up, everyone?

It's your boy CJ Stroud here.

I'm just really grateful for this win, for all the fans coming out.

Thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, having this opportunity to come out here and play.

And, you know, got the dub.

So go, Texans, on to the next one.

CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans taking care of business.

As expected on Monday Night Football, 34-10 over the halfless, nay, moribund Dallas Cowboys who remain remain winless at home and beyond winless at home.

I believe I saw a stat that they like lost by 20, at least 20, or been down by at least 20 points in every single game this season.

And that's, you know, if you want to take it back a little further, one of the worst Cowboys home games in the history of the franchise back in January in the playoffs.

So this has been a doomed year for the Dallas Cowboys and especially at Jarrow World where the roof is literally falling in.

For the Texans, it's getting right and moving forward.

It's 7-4 and atop the AFC South.

Dan Hansis here with Mark Sessler heeding that call.

Justin Graver along as well.

And Mark, we'll get into the

absurd Dallas Cowboys season, which is

completely off the rails.

And it's really incredible how poorly they've played, especially at home.

but for the Texans a very important get-right game for them not a flawless performance by any means and a game that was actually closer than the final score indicates but at the same time they got the dub and they shake off some ugliness in recent weeks yeah just to quickly touch on that stat it's 20 plus points in six straight games That's never happened to a team in pro football.

And they have led for two minutes and 15 seconds total in the last six games.

So that's ugly.

And I think tonight, you know, you can pick this up in some of these contests where it's like, and it's unusual for a Cowboys contest, but this was a Texans crowd.

And it was a large contingent of Texans fans that showed up.

And

I think I felt in the middle of this some sort of

disappointment around CJ Stroud because I just had thought he would come out and electrify the league this year.

But what I thought was important tonight was that the rest of the Texans stepped up.

I thought Joe Mixon, who is reborn and having this season,

really his best season to date, and he is the fireball on this team and set the tone very early against a wanting,

scattered Texans rush defense right away.

And then it was guys like Derek Stingley.

You get Nico Collins back.

And Nico Collins to me kind of feels like in that Dallas stadium, like a Michael Irvin type figure.

He's 6'4 ⁇ .

He's 222.

He had a huge catch early in the game.

He had the one that was taken away, but then Joe Mixon scores on the big play.

And so they did enough.

And the score to me doesn't indicate where we are with the Texans, but I thought their defense really stepped up tonight.

And that's where they're really well coached.

I've got some issues with their offense, but Derek Stingley, Daniil Hunter, Derek Barnett, these guys came and put a hurt on the Cowboys.

The Cowboys season is long gone.

But to lose to the Houston Texans, if you're Jerry Jones, that is just an an ultra slap in the face.

Yeah, well, yes, absolutely.

But the dignity, and this is, you know, with the Cowboys, it's all gone.

Like, there's so, none of the, there's so many indignities that have piled up on the Cowboys throughout the season that getting beat by the Texans, at least the Texans are a good team.

I think Jerry probably has more of an issue that as I just did a cursory Google search.

Houston is 239 miles away from Dallas.

That's a three and a half hour car ride, which, by the way, is nothing for Texans.

Those people in Texas, my wife's from Texas, they drive to grandma's on a Sunday and they just hop in the car for three hours.

I did that drive with Gonzo during that incredible Super Bowl road trip article that four people read.

So, you know, there was that too.

So the fact that that building, which, yeah, quite literally, they planned to have the roof open and giant slabs of metal were falling down and raining down on the field and almost almost killing TV field producers.

It's like, what the f?

Like, the Cowboys are just an absolute disaster this year in all ways.

And it's almost on a comical level.

But what my point being is that Jared, on top of it all, now he's seeing all these Houston Texans fans filing into his mecca of football.

And it just tells you, like, even after the last Joe Mixon touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and he's just like wandering over with a big smile and like slapping hands with all the rich Houston Texans fans that were in those like silly suites that are on the field level where you can't even see the field.

But it does show that you're very rich.

So it also does have a purpose for a certain type of American.

But the point being,

yes,

it's become an absolute farce for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Texans, yeah, CJ Stroud, not since my

2018

fantasy ownership of Matt Ryan, have I been so disappointed in a player that I put so much investment in?

I thought Stroud, and I said it early before we started the season, Mark, when we talked about what did we predict for this year.

I thought the Texans were going to have the best offense in the league, potentially.

I thought Stroud could be a guy who could throw for like 40 touchdowns.

That's not who they are.

And obviously, the injury to Nico Collins is now back, as you said, which is huge.

And then what happened, obviously, with Stefan Diggs going out for the year with the knee injury, that set them back.

They just are not a dynamic passing offense, and that's why Joe Mixon

has been even more of a godsend to this team because I don't really know where the Texans would be this year if they didn't have Mixon to stabilize things.

He was

pretty much unstoppable in this game.

The Cowboys looked totally overmatched when he had the ball in his hands.

He scored three times in the game, well over 100 yards of total offense.

So he is the engine of this offense, even if we thought that was not going to be how it played out.

And that's okay.

I mean, as long as someone is stepping up,

if it's going to be Joe Mixon in a revitalized bounce back year,

so be it.

And the big play of the game obviously occurs

with 1231 to go in the fourth quarter, despite the domination mark of Houston in this game.

Still just 2010, and the Cowboys have the ball with a chance to cut it down to a one-score game.

And there was just a Derek Barnett scoops up a fumble after who had the hit was it Petrie that had the hit

it was a a play where Cooper Rush gets hit the ball pops out an offensive line for the Cowboys recovers it then he gets smoked ball pops out again Barnett scoop and score and all of a sudden it's 27 10 and the game is over at that point so that was the turning point in this game a game that should have been a blowout and then but actually wasn't until that moment.

Yeah, and it was Barnett who had the strip, and it was their first defensive touchdown of the year.

And, you know, they kept repeating over and over that Houston's offense cannot score in the second half.

They've been very slow.

And that's what's different.

Like, when I think about the Joe Mixon Super Bowl year with the Bengals, where what they did in a patented sort of trademark way in the second half of those games was hammer people with Joe Mixon.

And they're missing that right now.

And the Texans have it, but they do seem to me, and I don't want to label belabor the fact that they just put up 34 points but there were little tiny things that I think they could just be more complete like you get the Nico Collins touchdown called back why because the Texans are one of the most flagged teams on offense in the league like let's work on that you can you can create more opportunities like there's the backward pass to Rico Dowdle early that we texted about three of us and Justin like why don't you challenge that?

That seemed to me to be an obvious chance for turnover.

Right.

And like they just, they didn't, but they're a well-coached team, but it's like, why didn't you do that?

And there is a Kalen Bullock dropped interception, and he's been a turnover machine, but like there's these little moments where it's like they could have absolutely blown the doors off, and ultimately they did because they played a terrible team.

But it's like the Texans aren't going to play the Dallas Cowboys every week.

So I want to see these little tiny things change and grow.

They came off a loss to the Jets.

They were nipped by the Detroit Lions.

Like this was an important win no matter who the opponent was.

And, I mean, Mixon talked about that after the game, that it was a rugged, violent week of practice after losing to the Lions.

And I think it showed tonight that it was more of a complete game because the defense was involved in a very important way.

But I want to just see these little things change for the Texans because I don't know.

I'm just a little bit concerned about them, a little disappointed.

Yeah.

I mean, disappointed is strong.

I just think, like,

I thought they were like an AFC title team, and it's like, are you?

You're not at that level.

You're kind of like the next tier or tier down in the AFC.

I mean, in the defense of Stroud,

you know, he threw the one bad interception in this game in the first half.

But if that initial long touchdown to Collins doesn't get called back, his numbers look a lot better.

And ultimately, like, quarterback's job is to get their team in the end zone.

And Joe Mixon was getting the touchdowns, but that didn't mean that C.J.

Stroud didn't play a key role on the the touchdown drive.

So statistically, fantasy-wise, yes, he continues to be a disappointment.

But the Houston offense, I thought, was okay in this game.

Yes, still room for growth, but they are playing in a division where they're going to benefit from having

some room to play with.

You know, the Colts just barely got by

the Jets yesterday to get to 5-6.

So they had two games in the loss column as we are a week away from Thanksgiving.

So Texans are in a good spot right now.

And if Collins can stay healthy, I think the offense and Stroud, it's going to get better because it's been flatlined for so long.

He only has a couple touchdown passes in the last month.

It's just, that's very surprising.

The other kind of strategic thing, probably worth talking about here before we move on and hit some news in the NFL, Mark.

Cowboys are down 10 points in this game with 416 to play in the third quarter.

A drive stalls, but Brandon Aubrey is maybe the best kicker in the league now, certainly the most powerful in terms of combining power and accuracy at this stage.

They send him out to the field for a 64-yard field goal, which he pipes.

He kicks it, clears it probably about five yards or so.

That record, by the way, it's only a matter of time now.

The Justin Tucker 66-yard

field goal record that he set a couple years back, that is going to be eclipsed probably by the end of the season, would be my prediction.

Probably by Brandon Aubrey.

But anyway, he hits him from 64 yards, but then the flags come out, and it's a head-slap foul by Texans defensive lineman Derek Barnett.

And Mike McCarthy decides to take points off the board.

So it's back down.

Instead of a seven-point game, kicking it to the Texans late in the third quarter, it stays a 10-point game.

They take the points off the board.

And if this wasn't symbolic of the Cowboys season, it backfires.

They do get it inside the red zone, but then on fourth and two, things go sideways and they end up getting no points out of it.

So I saw some criticism of Mike McCarthy, and obviously he's a big target now, and I think he's coaching his final games with the Cowboys now.

But we're trying to win and we're trying to score touchdowns.

I didn't have a big issue with it, but taking points off the board and also taking a 64-yard field goal off the board.

That's a tough one.

Yeah, I wonder if you're inside the building when you are also, you know, collaborating and working with a special teams coach and you took that field goal, a 64-yard field goal off, like it's a little bit of a miss.

They had a fake punt that went awry.

They've got a bad Cooper rush interception.

I would have kept the points just based on what they're dealing with in general.

But like parsing the Cowboys destruction at this point is kind of like, you could point at anything.

And, you know, I'm at the point where it's like, it's tedious to almost like ponder their complete collapse.

And like watching Mike McCarthy on the sideline, these are long weeks, and it can't end soon enough this season.

And then at the end, to watch Zach Martin, their biggest warrior, down in the field

on one knee in a hand.

And like, I don't know.

It's one of the worst football seasons based on what the expectations were that you could cook up.

That was...

And yeah, by the way, speaking of fantasy owners, if you were about to bank six points or five points off that Brandon Aubrey field goal, or like our producer had one and a half field goals for Aubrey in this game to cash a bet on underdog, yeah,

you know, that sucks.

But yeah, McCarthy has that look now.

He's got the thousand-yard stare that all coaches have.

Doug Peterson has it as well, where it's no longer a question of if, it's when.

And

McCarthy probably makes it to the end of the year because what's the point?

There's really no saving the season, but he is absolutely cooked, and that's yet another very interesting job posting for Bill Belichick or

whoever else will be up for a gig.

Any other thoughts on this one, Mark, before we turn the page and I take a peek at the Houston Texans' upcoming schedule?

Not too many other than I like watching the Manning cast when the game is just sort of losing its footing.

And Belichick, they have on in the first half each of these weeks, and he's great.

And it's like

they've got to figure out what to do with actual broadcasts because you could just sit there and bathe in that.

But I did notice Belichick

complimenting like some of the Cowboys drafts and little Cowboys elements that I was like, hmm, okay, we'll see what are we doing here?

Like, I think you're trying to curry favor with a team that we all see as lost, but you're pointing out the positives.

So, yeah, you know, people say, oh, Bill would never go to Dallas with Jara there.

It's like, you know, Parcells went there.

And if Parcells went there,

Belichick would go there.

In fact,

Belichick and Parcells, whether they want to be or not, are always going to be tied together in history.

And Belichick has followed Parcells.

Let's see.

Let's go through it.

Let's see.

Parcells is the head coach of the Giants when Belichick was the D.C., when they won two Super Bowls.

Parcells eventually went to New England.

And then,

yeah, Belichick eventually went to New England.

Went back to New England after Cleveland.

Yeah, and then

Parcells

resigned from the Jets.

Bill Belichick resigned as HC of the NYGs.

That's where they seemed to maybe part ways a little bit.

Well,

you know, Parcells did walk away from the Jets as well.

And then Parcells ended his coaching career with the Dallas Cowboys taking a bag, a massive amount of money, and the promise from a desperate owner and Jared Jones to let's get back to the the Super Bowl.

Jerry's going to be in a desperate place again this offseason.

I see it as the Cowboys or the Giants for Belichick.

I just, that's just how it feels for me.

I'm with you.

I think the Giants, and it's like, it's, you know, it's not a great thing for Brian Dable, but the Giants have, I've always felt were the number one, but Dallas just looms.

They absolutely loom.

And like, I don't see like Bill Belichick going to, and we'll talk about it down the road, like a Jacksonville or something.

It's like he wants to be in the good old NFC East and be part of the biggest matchups on the biggest stage.

Because it's not eight more years of Bill Belichick.

It's a couple more.

All right, let's take a quick break and then we'll spin through the news.

Heed the call.

Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler is on Underdog.

So why not start playing on Underdog today?

It's not just the NFL.

The NBA is back.

You got the NHL.

You got college sports.

So many options.

So don't miss out.

Download and play on the Underdog app, sign up with the code HTC, and receive up to $1,000 in bonus cash.

Make the most of this NFL season by playing along on Underdog for our U.S.

audience only.

Ready to level up?

Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun.

It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

Enjoy hundreds of online social games like Blackjack, Slots, and Solitaire anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week.

Whether you're at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you.

Plus, get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus.

Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

Play Chumba Casino today.

No purchase necessary, VGW Group, Voidbore prohibited by Law 21 Plus.

TNCs apply.

Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company.

They're one of America's largest financial services companies.

Like how I'm more than just Peyton Manning.

I'm also motivating Manning.

When I say insurance, you say financial services.

Insurance.

Financial services.

Insurance.

Now, when I say nationwide, you say is both.

Nationwide.

Nationwide.

Your insurance and financial needs nationwide is on your side.

Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, Ember Finrick, Columbus, Ohio.

Welcome to a very special edition of Walking with Giants.

My auditory love letter to Pro Football's Great Tiffany franchise.

New York Giants.

I love this show.

Every week listening.

The time has come to say goodbye to Daniel Jones, Danny Dimes is no more.

cast to the dustbin of big blue history after Monday's announcement by the bald man,

maybe the bad man,

Brian

Dabo.

Everyone knows my feelings on the quarterback position of my beloved Giants.

I stand with Eli Manning

and Will forevermore.

Daniel Jones, he was nothing but an Elijah poser, an imposter, a pretender, a fraud, a walking hoax.

Danny Dimes, far too rich, Danny Nickel, still too generous, Jack,

Danny Pennies.

Now we're getting closer, since if you want a penny for my thoughts, the Italian boy from Livingston should have been starting behind center weeks ago.

No matter, the past is the past, and we move forward into a mysterious tomorrow.

That is the tomorrow I have always preferred.

Walking out.

Unbelievable.

That was a great app of Walking with Giants.

Yeah.

Good show.

And you get the idea, Mark, that

Christopher Walkin, the famous Oscar award-winning, iconic actor and huge diehard Giants fan,

was waiting a long time to drop that up, dancing on the grave of Daniel Jones, who was demoted to third string quarterback officially on Monday in a move that is for injury protection, so his contract does not become guaranteed, which means the Giants are cutting the cord.

No more guaranteed money.

Tommy DeVito, yes, that's the Italian boy from Livingston,

is the new starting quarterback.

And it is Drew Locke, who's the backup QB.

So dimes is done in Gotham.

Your thoughts, Mark Sessler.

Well, it's the most telling to me that you paid Drew Locke $5 million.

And, you know, we were in an off-season period where there were a lot of whispers that maybe they wanted just to use Drew Locke as their starter out of the gate

in this season.

And they didn't do that.

And now they're not playing him.

So it's a massive tank job for like the son of Deion Sanders or someone.

I mean, this is where it's going.

My question is, like, inside the building.

Or Bill Belichick.

Or Bill Belichick.

Right.

Because inside the building, like, if you're Brian Dayball or you're Joe Shane,

the GM absolutely ultra-annoyed the owner by moving on from Saquon Barkley, which is an in-the-face embarrassment for the Giants.

And going on rec, the Giants, who for years, it's ironic because someone who covered Hard Knox, the Giants for years were one of the teams like, we have no interest in doing a show like Hard Knox.

That's not how we operate.

We are a Tiffany franchise.

And then the one year they decide to do it, it happens to coincide with this

terrible, terrible decision that the organization made that's now forever preserved on celluloid, the decision that they made and the confidence slash arrogance and the thought that, hey, we got to let him walk because we kept the quarterback.

And now you fast forward three months, Mark, and they're both going to be gone.

They're both going to be gone.

And the second miscalculation or, you know, it wasn't a mission failed for Joe Shane was they tried.

And it's a tough team to do it with, but they tried to trade up with the Patriots for that third pick

that would have been Drake May, and that would have changed everything we're talking about right here.

And like, the one thing that I,

my one feeling when I watch Giants games, and I know I've been a little too, my glowing attitude towards them, and I think Christopher Walken has a little bit of hope inside of him still about the Giants and pride, but like I, that's all gone at this point for me, but I do think that Brian Dayll is

a quality coach that I do.

And now, if it's like this or Bill Belichick, I get it.

And like, Brian Dayball has been put put in a bit of a tough spot.

This roster has been banged up.

I think if you're Danny Dimes, you've been banged up.

The people around you have been banged up outside of the playoff season.

But I guess you move on from Brian Dayball.

I guess it's automatic.

But I really do think he's a pretty decent coach who's a good offensive coach.

That's my one little fly in the ointment is just simply that.

Other than that.

I know we keep saying that, but

it's been.

Well, I just feel that way.

I'm not seeing like.

It's pretty bad two years now.

And yeah, the the quarterback not being up to snuff plays a role in that.

But, you know, I guess like we both in there, Mark, with coaches or front office officials that, well, the results aren't there, but we like these guys.

I think he is the guy.

And then like the years and the sands are going through the hourglass and you like, you keep on staying invested in a guy that really has no proven track record as a as a head coach anyway.

So I think Dable's not cooked.

I don't think he's definitely out, but I think, yeah, if the Giants have the opportunity to make a splash, I think they're going to.

And obviously, Belichick is an example of that.

Let's listen to Dable on the decision to turn to Tommy DeVito now.

Yeah, I think, look, I'm excited to see what Tommy brings to the table.

That's why he's out there, Pat.

Again, we did a lot of, you know, we did a lot of, we had a lot of conversations, studied a lot of stuff.

And again, have confidence in.

in Tommy, and that's the reason why he's in there.

And I don't really need to hear any of that, Mark, because

to me, that's hot hot air.

Right.

Yeah, because Tommy DeVito, there's no, he has no future, long-term future of the Giants.

The Giants are now actively turning the page on both the era quarterback and on the season.

And he's just a guy that, let's be real, who I think was on the roster bubble in the summer and probably is not as good a quarterback as Drew Locke.

But if they're looking to get a top three pick, you put in Tommy DeVito.

And so the tank is on.

So these are tough times.

I mean, between the Jets and the Giants, my God, this is the worst year in the history of New York City football.

It is.

I was thinking about this because I would say New York gets the number one prize.

But

it's called the New Jersey football teams if people want to go down the road.

But the Jets and Giants are the ugliest combo of kind of

brother teams.

But then you'd have to look at the two Ohio teams and say, that's gotten ugly too.

So these teams that are from the same state, it's been a rough road.

But I'm with you.

I think it's inglorious that they even make Brian Dable comment on this.

And in fact, I don't know how this would entirely work, but

the NFLPA almost could get involved with something like this.

When you just take your starting quarterback, who is the clear best quarterback you have, and just move him to the third guy, and he's not injured.

And

you're tanking.

You're tanking.

And don't try to, I don't want to hear poetry and a bunch of nonsense.

But they're also protecting themselves financially.

And this is something that's...

I get that.

I get that.

Now it's happened, what happened with Derek Carr.

Who else did it happen with?

It was Carr last year

or the year before.

RG3, this happened to, I remember, when he had a lot of guaranteed money, injury, guaranteed money tied up.

And that was going south with the relationship.

But so you see it, and there's precedent for it.

It's just like,

don't try to tell me that's a business decision, you know, but don't try to tell me that the NFL doesn't do this because they do it clearly and behind closed doors in in all sorts of ways.

And we're at the point of the season where like stuff is getting very dark for some of these coaches.

Thousand-yard stare, like you said, and like Brian Dables in a very bad position.

This was, according to Mike Garifolo of NFL Media, our old buddy.

It protects the team from next year's $23 million injury guarantee.

What do they say about elections?

It's about the economy stupid.

Yeah, it's about the money and the decision that Jones no longer is worth the investment that they made in him.

So they are getting out.

So

big news out of the Giants.

I think we expected it the way things ended before they went into their bye week.

And now it is official.

Oh, the other one was Russell Wilson.

Yeah.

Russell Wilson last year, obviously, the Broncos,

as they look to eject themselves out of that situation.

And they even told him that, if you remember, that was even dirtier business.

It's when

they were playing winning football.

They're like, hey, Russ, by the way,

if you don't agree to some alteration, I think in the language of his contract or whatever it was, we're benching you week 12, no matter what's going on with the team.

So it's just the business side of it.

And Danny Dimes is caught up in it, and the Giants are moving forward.

Elsewhere,

yes, Justin.

Have you ever thought about combining Danny Dimes and Tommy DeVito?

Even

Danny DeVito.

That's pretty fun.

That's good.

That's a good one, bud.

I like that.

Thanks.

I know people want to go nuts about the Tommy DeVito thing.

Now he's back.

That was a nice little thing.

I know Giants fans, like the Giants fans that get it, actually hate Tommy DeVito.

Not personally, but like Tommy DeVito didn't win those three games in December last year.

Jaden Daniels is the quarterback of the Giants right now.

We're not talking about any of this.

So we don't need that again.

Like, now I'll speak for the Giants fans I know in my life.

Tommy DeVito, Tommy DeVito Mania, and that agent kissing kissing everybody on the face and doing the capiche thing or whatever.

Are we ready for more of that?

I'm kind of all set, but I understand.

Some people like it.

I think it works once.

It doesn't, the second, when you try to run it out again,

it's less effective.

It worked once.

Who was more excited?

Yeah, who was more excited?

The guy in the hat, the agent, or Tommy DeVito himself?

I venture that it was the agent.

It's like, wait, I get 15 more minutes of fame out of this?

Yeah, I think it's the agent.

Sean Stilato.

Heyo, Shawnee Stilato.

In other

news,

the Baltimore Ravens, this is, you're speaking of weird, I mean, this is strange.

I never thought we'd, Mark,

I know this is going to sound like heresy because he's a kicker, but in some ways, if you were to say, what is the best football player since we started doing a podcast?

And it wasn't about like what's the most important position, just who did their job the best.

Justin Tucker, kicker of the Baltimore Ravens, might be my pick for just the best player at what he does in the last decade plus of the NFL.

So now we're at that stage that all kickers go through it.

I just thought Tucker would always be immune.

He's, I don't know if it's the Yips, but he's definitely in a slump.

He has not been as sharp this year.

He wasn't even that great last year, but now he missed two big field goals and a huge division game, which never happened on Sunday.

And the Ravens, of course, lost that game narrowly to Pittsburgh.

And now John Harbaugh is asking questions about Justin Tucker and whether, I guess, his job is safe.

Here's what Harbaugh had to say.

The best option right now is to get Justin

back on point

because he's fully capable of doing it.

Certainly haven't lost any confidence in Justin Tucker.

You saw that on the 54-yarder that we sent him out for, and he drilled it.

So that's the Justin Tucker that he wants to see, that we all want to see on every kick.

And

he's definitely our best option, and he's going to make a lot of kicks.

I really believe that going forward.

But it's up to him.

Probably lost a little bit of confidence because

to go from where he was to where he is now, he's now mortal.

And the Ravens, they're trying to win a Super Bowl, and it's a Super Bowl bust season, Mark.

So they need Tucker to figure this out.

Well, if you're having to answer the question,

we're there, right?

I mean, because this question was never asked of Justin Tucker for 89%,

94% of his career.

And I saw that he complained about the field conditions as well.

But

the opposite kicker was like six for six.

And so that doesn't wash with me.

And I just think like to your point that you made on, I think, Sunday was like, look, when...

When a kicker with no real merit starts to go south, you just replace him.

But like with Justin Tucker, you're in a tougher spot because it's like, what do you do?

You have to see it through.

Like, you have to hope that this is a rough, like a batter, like a rough couple of weeks or a three or four weeks stretch where, but it has gone on to last season.

So I think deeper questions are being asked.

But kickers are the weirdest position to try to figure out what to do with because, as our friend Wes used to say, it's like, it's so neck up.

And like, I trust Justin Tucker from the neck up as much as any kicker I've ever watched.

And so this is an unusual territory.

Yeah, nobody had, to use a kid's term, nobody had more aura than Justin Tucker.

And I think that's what's missing now.

Like he had so he was overflowing with confidence.

And so that's certainly his shaken.

And now it's, does he get it back?

Can he get it back?

The Ravens, man, the Ravens Super Bowl hopes could ride on it.

It's that important.

He's that important to what they do and their success in the John Harbor era.

Let's check in with some injuries before we say goodbye.

Niners defensive end Nick Bosa has an oblique injury.

Those are tricky, Sess Dog.

And he is, it's possible he could miss time.

So the Niners, who we're still waiting for the Niners to go.

You take Nick Bosa off the field like he was

when Geno Smith went in for that game-winning touchdown in the final seconds on Sunday.

They're, again, a lesser team.

And the injuries, every team gets hit with injuries, but the Niners have been especially snake-bit this year.

Well,

you're so right about the Seahawks game because watching that yesterday, like the game changed when he wasn't on the field.

And, you know, they've just been so banged up.

Like,

that could be, we're talking about like Justin Tucker deciding like Baltimore's path through the playoffs.

Like, not having a Nick Bosa could be the difference.

And the Niners right now need to go win like four or five games in a row.

Like, it's like the engine at some point needs to start here.

And instead,

with each game, it's George Kittle yesterday at Snick Bosa, like their stars were watching them on the sideline watching the rest of the team play.

Like

not a great formula for winning the NFC West.

Yeah, wow.

Yeah, they really.

You know, they desperately need that monster CMC game just to carry them to a victory.

Now, let's mention an Italian-American who really does have a true role in the outcome of the NFL season this year.

It's Alex Anzalone, probably Italian.

There's a vowel at the end.

He broke his forearm

on Sunday in the Lions blowout win of the Jaguars.

The hope here is that he could return for the playoffs.

So he's on the slightly more expedited

scale than Aiden Hutchinson,

their superstar defensive end, who they hope maybe if they make it to the Super Bowl, he'll be back for that.

So they have to go now through the regular season with either of those men.

The Browns in a lost season now say goodbye to left tackle Dewan Jones.

He broke his ankle.

Rapsheet had that.

Jaguars, another team, long gone.

The Jaguars lose Gabe Davis, the wide receiver.

He has a meniscus hair in his knee.

He's done for the year.

Bengals quarterback DJ Turner, the second, who emerged as a starter this season and was really making a lot of plays.

The belief is that he suffered a fractured clavicle, according to sources, via Rapsheet.

He's getting a second opinion, but if that's the case, he's done for the season.

So a Cincinnati team that is reeling after another devastating loss

might be without one of the key players in their secondary.

And finally, we started by talking about the Cowboys.

Dak Prescott, you saw him upstairs at Jarrett World.

He is officially on IR.

His season is over.

He had surgery to repair that hamstring.

Tough one, Mark, with Dak.

I could totally empathize.

He's not down on the field.

He just had leg surgery, so it's not like he can help

talk to Cooper Rush or Trey Lance or whatever.

So he's up there, but he also has to pretend like he's paying attention.

There are multiple points, because he's Dak Prescott, where they would cut the camera shot down over to Dak and he'd like catch himself and he'd like sit up in his chair and then pick up a pencil and pretend like he was doing something.

Clearly not doing anything.

Yeah, you can't cause it.

Probably making underdog wagers.

No, you can't get caught sitting up there eating like

Do Cracker Jacks still exist?

I don't know if I've seen Cracker Jackson.

Cracker Jacks do exist, yes.

I mean, I I don't know the last time you ever had a lot of people.

They're not as good as they used to be, but they do exist.

I always found them.

There's a lot of almonds and good stuff in there, and now you basically just get the

popcorn with the caramel on it.

It's just the salty stuff on it.

Yeah, I mean, I always found them to be slightly overrated, and it was like a tough conversation with other people, but it's like,

but yeah, you can't get caught up there.

You know, I remember when Barry Switzer, when the Cowboys lost the NFC title game to the Niners back in 94, and so back then, now it's not, now it's all Fughese, but back then, like the losing coach of the AFC or NFC title game had to go coach the Pro Bowl, which is a terrible thing.

But they caught Barry Switzer in the middle of the Pro Bowl, just sitting there eating a hot dog on the sideline.

And he was already under fire for being a little bit of a silly figure.

And so, you know,

you're right.

When they cut to you on the camera, you've got to be aware and you've got to have your act together.

They got the great sanchise on that, too.

His rookie year against the Raiders playing a game in Oakland, and

they were blowing out the Raiders and they cut to the rookie on the sideline and he was literally hiding the hot dog in his hand like he was Tim Robinson and a I Think You Should Leave sketch.

He was even putting on the mustard and I remember

it was a very serious story that week that you know I'll learn from this and I know I must respect my opponent and the team.

It's like

dangerous, man.

Plus, you know, a stadium hot dog?

You really going to risk it all for a stadium hot dog?

You don't get any any of the fees.

No, steak camera ready.

That's what I tell them.

Fixins.

You need them fixins.

What would you put on a hot dog?

I know you're not a.

Well, you're just, you've dipped your toe back into

carnivore land, but I feel like the process nature of a hot dog is something you would stay away from.

I do.

But maybe if you load it up with some fixins.

Yeah, I do.

I did go to a Dodgers playoff game, not this season, but last year when they were waxed by the Diamondbacks, and I did have a Dodger dog, and

I recall putting ketchup on it.

I didn't go crazy.

I put a lot of ketchup on it.

I was like,

no, I think that was.

What about you?

If I'm at Dodger Stadium and I'm not sure what you're doing.

Well, I could say what's your go-to hot dog.

You could do that.

No, if I'm at Dodger Stadium.

Oh, go-to hot dog.

Yeah, you give me

dog, you give me spicy deli mustard, you put some sauerkraut on that,

and

then you just hammer it.

And now, you know, if you're feeling frisky and they got some chili available, I'll throw some chili on that.

Go down that road.

Yeah.

That's a good answer.

I'll put the feeks on.

Yeah, you will.

Feeksins.

By the way, that is week 11.

That's it.

Week 11's done.

Now it's week 12.

So make sure

to be there all week.

We're back on Wednesday with Connor Orr previewing Steelers Browns.

Jesus Christ.

What a nightmare.

No, you know what?

And I won't belabor this, but it's like

when you root for a terrible team, like all three of us do, and everyone's like, oh, you're talking about these, like, we're not trying to talk about these teams all the time, and it's like you have to still talk about them.

But then when you put them, when you shove them onto national television, and it just becomes like a heaped, like a stack of embarrassment pancakes just stacked on top of of oh yeah shoved in your head i was on one of the if you are you know a jets fan you you probably know the bad lands podcast great job uh connor and joe uh host that i was i was a guest on their show earlier today and um they asked me i think connor asked me so like what for you i was like how would you like the rest of the season to play out and i had to think about it because like I've done the thing where you

just root for your team to lose.

Like I've done the scam for Sam years ago over Sam Darnold,

and that's not fun.

Just like rooting for your team to tank is just brutal.

But also, you don't want to do the thing where you win a bunch of stupid games like Tommy DeVito did last year, and then you end up banging yourself on draft day.

So my answer was, okay, it'd be cool to like, because it's,

I'm going to be real, like the flagship show is a little more fun to do when your team wins.

It doesn't happen a lot for Mark and I or Justin anymore, but like, so give me like two.

I'll take one or two.

And then you can lose lose the rest, but just don't, stop embarrassing me.

Stop, stop being such a joke.

Stop humiliating the fan base.

So if we could just quietly suck the rest of the way and go five and 13 and then pick in the top five, that to me is success.

And I would imagine, Mark, you'd probably sign off to something similar, unless you are in tank mode, which I respect as well because that functionally, that makes a lot of sense to put yourself in the best position for whatever comes next.

But yeah, that's a kind of a, it's like the darkest place to be when you're in that position.

It is.

I want to see a sideline shot where like the entire Cleveland Browns roster and their coaching staff are eating hot dogs on the sideline at this point.

Like, let's just be real about who we are.

And like, that would be more entertaining.

But then the, yeah, but then it's like, again, you say that and it's, it's funny, but then you'll be super annoyed when everyone's just making fun of the Browns for an entire week about, you know, oh, they ate the hot dogs.

You know what I mean?

You're right.

I would rather them just like that.

This makes Jameis especially dangerous for you, by the way, because he's such a goon and he's just a silly man that he's going to keep popping up the rest of the season.

And I have a similar problem with Aaron Rodgers and

all his antics.

Like, can we just quietly get to January 8th?

Why are we, like, to your, like, that's the right word.

Like, we have quarterbacks that are operating with antics versus just

winning football games.

And Will.

And Will Levis is a meme factory.

Like, what's the deal with our teams and our quarterbacks and this podcast?

It's like, it's just a joke.

It's probably a joke.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We got all the Phexens of shame this year.

At least Captain Mayo, like, if he finishes strong,

the Titans can, you know, oh, we could, you know, that could be something we think about for, you know, next year, maybe as part of the future.

But when you got Jameis Winston and 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, that's not even a thing.

There's no, we're just running out the clock at this point.

True, but at least you're in a position to move on, whereas the Titans could be stuck in like giants Daniel Jones territory where you're like, is he the guy?

I don't know.

Let's give him another season.

He'll probably be neither quarterback next year, Daniel Jones.

I hope not.

Oh, God.

Anyway, so yes, we got that show coming up and everything else.

And

we appreciate you guys listening and following along.

And remember, what we're trying to do.

We're building up the YouTube subscription.

It's such an important part of the model now.

And quite frankly, it's almost the preferred method to enjoy the show at this point because of the production and the work that Justin puts in.

And

so check it out.

Youtube.com slash at heed the call pod.

Subscribe 48.4.

Bang it out.

Let's get that.

Let's get there slowly but surely.

And of course, over on patreon.com slash heed the call, new content going up every week.

All right, anything else?

I don't think so, because we'll be back soon.

All right, good.

I hope you guys miss us.

See you soon.

And remember: heat the call

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade In MyPlan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then-current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

That's the sound of the fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron and the quiet confidence of ultra-smooth handling.

The elevated interior reminds you this is more than an EV.

This is electric performance redefined.

For quality window treatments, trust Rebart's Blinds Shades and Shutters.

Specializing in Hunter-Douglas custom blinds and smart shades, Rebart's combines style, comfort, and automation to enhance any space.

The blinds and shades solution for your home is just a free consultation away.

Visit rebarts.com to schedule your free in-home consultation today.

Mention Spotify for 25% off.

That's 25% off mentioning Spotify at Rebarts.