2025 NFL Week 3 Recap: A Blotched Out Sun

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Mark Sessler, week three had it all in the NFL.

Division showdowns, upsets, gnarly blowouts, and a 330-pound man running 18 miles per hour.

Actually, that's kind of scary.

I think every single box was checked in.

Let's talk about it.

Let's talk about all of it coming up on the flagship program.

Heeding that call.

Ooh, heyo, welcome to Heed the Call, an NFL podcast.

On Sunday, the flagship show,

week three recap.

I only speak in clipped words and phrases now.

Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler, Connor Orr, Justin Graver.

We're the team that's going to cover every game that was played on this fair Sunday.

Are you man enough for that, Mark?

Well, it's my job, so I don't, and I've got a lot of responsibilities.

But I will say this was

an enjoyable Sunday.

A lot happened.

It's a job, but I have a lot of responsibility.

You kind of soft

node that?

I can't just like

ditch the responsibility of.

I would say you kind of soft-node that you were man enough to do a football podcast from like your spare bedroom.

I guess I did.

I guess I did.

All right.

Well, we're off to a commanding start.

Let's start actually with the last game of Sunday.

We're going to get to every game that was played, but let's start with Sunday night football.

Can the Chiefs get off the mat?

Yes, they can, because the New York Giants offense that showed up against the Dallas Cowboys and balled out was nowhere to be seen here.

And that probably has something to do with

Steve Spagnolo and Chris Jones and all the other talented players that dot the Kansas City defense

who shut down New York in a 22-9 win.

The Chiefs' offense doing just enough,

which might be kind of what they are until they get some reinforcements, but it was enough to take care of the Giants at the Meadowlands.

A very cranky Meadowlands crowd, I should say.

Mark Sessler.

Chiefs get their first win, one and two.

The Giants fall to 0-3.

It's

one of the more startling anti-developments for the Giants to have the offensive explosion that they did a week ago, where we thought, look, Russell Wilson is

safe and sound in this role for a long, long time when you consider their schedule and the fact that he looked explosive.

The whole team did.

Malik Neighbors looked like a future Hall of Famer.

And then you get to this game tonight and everything completely unspools.

Russell Wilson looks like he can't move.

And Steve Spagnolo, not everyone can do this.

They just found a way to take Malik Neighbors completely out of the game.

And when he finally makes an impact, he's injured and he's out of the game for good.

And if you can do that to the New York Giants, they're not the same team.

You're looking at a whole different bunch of players.

And it was sort of a masterpiece by a Chiefs' defense, even if their offense to me still feels like a little bit of a sketch job.

Listen, I don't want to...

Barry Horowitz this one with a pat on the back, but that's exactly what I said on the Thursday preview is that what Steve Spagnolo and the Chiefs got via the Giants' near win over the Cowboys was, oh, this is exactly what the Giants want to do in a best case scenario.

They want to bombs away, lean on neighbors, Wandell Robinson making plays.

But if we can negate their deep play, what else does this offense have?

And Connor, like they, Collinsworth talked about it on the telecast.

They were dropping those safeties, and then the Giants really needed maybe the running game to step up, and the running game wasn't there to do it.

And Russell Wilson wasn't able to find a different way to attack without having those big plays.

And you got what you had here, which was a day where Wilson throws for 160 yards, two interceptions, no touchdowns.

They managed

one touchdown and a field goal, and that's it.

Truly a New Jersey night to remember where the best player on the field looked like someone who failed the state troopers exam in Cam Scatabo.

And

this is just like an unseasoned grilled chicken breast of a game for a team that is just wholly out of ambition.

You're hurting right now.

You're hurting a little bit.

You were

the agitated one, Connor, as we were.

And listen, I'm not going to, I'll move out of the way, but it's funny.

Seven days ago, we were handing out trophies and crowns for predicting the greatness of the Packers and Russell Wilson and how much things can change in seven days in the league.

I might have said that too last week, but go ahead.

On with your point.

No, I think it's just whenever you adopt a pet project, and I know Mark feels feels the same way,

there grows an emotional attachment.

And then I'm with you on that too, brother.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

It's an unrewarding experience when it goes south, right?

And this is not just a nine-to-five thing when I'm on with you guys, because then I have to answer for this

off the program.

And you have Giants fans that are like, what do you see in this team that I don't?

And I'm like, well, I'm third down, you know, Abdul Carter.

And then it's just like, f ⁇ that.

Like nothing shows up.

And he throws the ball out of the back of the end end zone three times.

It was, it's just so,

it's so disappointing.

And I'll pop the hood on this because I'm never going to get to use this bit.

But I texted Justin about this three weeks ago.

I reached out to like Russ's people and I was like, how cool would it be to have him film like a video and be like, Dan, you didn't believe and Connor believed.

And they were like, oh, it's going to be awesome.

Let's do it.

And

I love him to pieces, but it's like, when the f ⁇ are we going to do it?

We're just not going to do it.

I was hoping he did record something on like saturday night and then we can play it back and start laughing no content scattered to the wind

yeah into the content graveyard ideas it goes bye-bye

yeah they they just could not get it going and and the chiefs you know this is a team that was desperate obviously um and

uh i thought it was telling you know taequon thorn makes a a really nice catch late in this game um on the to put him down at the goal line and then they punch it it in to put the game away.

The play or two plays before he lays out and can't make a catch.

And I'm like thinking to myself, God,

I'm not a Chiefs fan, but this is still driving me crazy how much this guy, this former washout of the Patriots, is the main engine of this attack right now.

Patrick Mahomes to Thornton, because Travis Kelsey, who had a little bit of a tiff with Andy Reid on the sideline, continues to be invisible as a playmaker in this offense.

I think that's just the way it is now.

Hollywood Brown is in, obviously, flashing.

So they're just not going to blow out teams.

So this, to me,

this is a Kansas City Chiefs blowout mark to me in 2025, where we stand right now, where the defense balls out, shuts down the opposition, and then the offense does enough.

And in this case, it was enough for, what, a 13-point win?

I think 22-9 is kind of the best they can do in terms of flexing right now, which is crazy because it's the Chiefs.

But this is not the Chiefs of a couple of years ago.

Let's be real.

And it's, no, and it's, you know, you're missing people and you're going to get Worthy back at some point.

That is, you know, Thornton is playing the role they wanted Worthy to play, but they're not the same.

They're not the same person or the same athlete.

I do like, though, that when Thornton dropped that deep shot or was ruled incomplete, that they went right back to the same spot.

Because earlier in that game, Mahomes had a misfire with Thornton where he kind of looked at him and said, watch where the ball is at.

Like, it just speaks to the frustration of like a disjointed passing game.

But to get any success as they did later on, um, and Thornton made plays tonight.

Like, just get us to the place where this team is healthier, and you get Worthy back, you get Rice back at some point, and then we'll find out who they really are.

But they are pretty weird because they also can't run the ball very well.

And it's not, you're not even like a ground and pound type operation.

You're just missing people right now.

Um, so survive, and they're one and two, so they're not really surviving.

Oh, they're okay, they're okay, but they're-I think they will be, but it's like

it's a weird place to be with the Chiefs right now, and they're also not fun to watch.

I'd throw that out there.

And we'll get, yeah,

that's fair.

But when we're going to get to it, because we're going to get to the

Broncos Chargers game later, there's some dogs in this division.

This is going to be a dog fight.

It really is.

Any other thoughts on this game, Connor?

Well, I thought, too, I mean, if we're talking about the things that they're not doing well, it is important to mention someone like Dexter Lawrence was completely swallowed up in this game.

And he's one of the best interior rushers in the league.

And it just speaks to the strength of like

the Chiefs do have some really bright spots on this offensive line.

And even if they're not running the ball well, they still have like a good interior core.

There's still a lot of really good pieces here, which is why I think like this team should be active when we're talking about trade deadline, when we're talking about waiver pickups, like all that kind of stuff throughout the remainder of the year.

Like they should be continuously active in churn because I still think that there's a really good team here.

Also, you know, whatever happened to Gary Cooper?

Whatever happened to Gary Cooper.

Whatever happened to,

to quote New Jersey's most famous fictional character, Tony Soprano, what happened to the real men?

He's right there on the field at the Meadowlands, Graham Ganneau, piping one from 27 with a bad groin, doubled over in pain.

Cats real that when he's doubled over, that's it.

Gary Cooper's hitting chippies with a busted up groin, okay?

So it's not all bad for the Giants because we still know there's men.

That was an American.

Cam Scataboo did a flip in the end zone.

That was pretty cool.

I like Cam Scataboo.

I bet you do.

Can you even imagine how many Cam Scataboo jerseys are selling in northern New Jersey right now?

Floods.

I mean,

one more just like...

So I always count whenever they do Sunday Night Football broadcasts.

He plays the game the right way.

There was a lot of that.

Yeah, there's a lot of that here.

i always count the number of references they make to new jersey as opposed to new york whenever they broadcast a sunday night football giants game and then all of a sudden at the end they hit us with like the one new jersey reference they're like taylor ham and they show us the most disgusting looking taylor ham sandwich from like a b spot in this state and it's like can you just can you do anything right today to just get me out of here with a smile on my face i know and i feel for you connor you know although maybe we needed to bring you down a touch uh after last week.

And Taylor Hamm didn't even get real pop.

It turned into like a labored, typical play-by-play color guy thing because the Bengals lost the Super Bowl once because John Taylor had a catch late in regulation from Joe Montana.

We couldn't even get like a real New Jersey

conversation in there without that.

Oh, don't remind me of that one, Mike.

I know you did that on purpose.

Like, all right, Chris.

Nothing went right this evening if you're actually

because guess what the blind locks came through and old Zeuser he had to double it up

I took the Chiefs they were minus six that meant they had to cover by 12 and guess what daddy covered by 13 and guess what Connor locked up the Zimon

too because when I did this I said okay,

let's try to be interesting instead of just locking one of the three great teams against one of the three dog shit teams.

Well, I'm done doing that, too.

I'm going to take great team over shit team.

I'm flying out of the gates of week three.

Great team over shit team every week.

When you go down Pet Project Avenue, it is riddled with issues by the time you find out that your pet project was not really worth your time or anyone else's.

If the Colts bought him out, this is going to be the worst year.

Mark,

we're going to get to more Jets' heartbreak today.

So, I kind of needed this Sunday night game.

So, just give me this, Connor.

And then we, and I don't want you to be in pain.

I think we need to hit a soft reset here.

We've got to get Connor back with us because we got a lot of games to get to.

So, why don't we take a quick break, throw some water on our face, and dive into the rest of week three?

Sound good?

It does.

Stay right there.

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All right, we are back.

All right, Sunday Night Football in the rear view.

Now we dive into the whole of week three, Sunday.

And Mark, as per new tradition, before we dig in, we'd like for you to offer up to us and the listeners the theme of the week for week three.

Here is my theme of the week for week three.

The acid hits hard mid-afternoon.

The sun is blotched out.

Only the pure can detect it.

Okay,

let's try to crack this one, Connor.

Can you keep it up so we can study it?

The acid hits hard mid-afternoon.

The sun is blotched out.

Only the pure can detect it.

I'm stumped.

What do you got, Or?

I think that only the people who truly love football for the right reasons can see the point of week three, see the beauty of week three.

All right.

Is that correct, Mark?

So there's a little wordplay here because blotched out, the sun, the hope is blotched out.

And this was an early slate in mid-afternoon Los Angeles where I can't think of a week ever before where blocked kicks happened like in a rash, like a disease across the league and changed everything we thought, at least in two of those three times it happened.

Unfortunately, not for the Jets, but the Browns and the Eagles, blocked kicks changed the atmosphere of week three for me entirely.

So blotched out, and only the pure can detect it.

That means I'm pure.

Okay.

Well, thank you very much for that.

Let's get into the first game of

the biggest game of the afternoon slate, the one that pitted the defending Super Bowl champions against the Los Angeles Rams, a team that many believe can challenge for the NFC title this year.

Let's hit it.

Yes, Jordan Davis.

Oh, baby.

Blocks a field goal attempt by the Rams.

Joshua Carty on the final play of the game.

Returns at 61 yards for a score.

It was the Eagles' second block kick to the fourth quarter.

And Philly pulls out an unbelievable 33-26

comeback win over the Rams.

Check this out.

On the touchdown return, Jordan reached 18.59

miles per hour, the fastest by a player over 330 pounds since at least 2017 per next-gen stats.

How would one track these?

How do you do it?

How do you even know that?

Well, believe them.

Connor, the Eagles are as battle-tested as any team in football.

You saw that again today.

Whoa.

Yeah, and it was really, it's like a really funny thing because for the last two weeks, all their fans, well, not all their fans.

I think the fans who just kind of come and boo and yell and stuff like that were saying, well, we need need to throw the ball downfield.

We need to throw the ball downfield.

And then in the second half of this game, they threw the ball downfield.

And for those people in particular, I think it would be like a personal victory.

But I don't think that's...

the right way to digest this game at all.

Like the Eagles know how to win, and that's why they threw the ball.

They didn't win because they started throwing the ball, if that makes sense.

Like this just set up perfectly to have a great Jalen Hurts second half.

We saw him push the ball downfield, but it's not like this is going to work every week.

It doesn't make sense to run this kind of game plan every week.

The Rams just allowed it in a very unique situation and allowed a tremendous comeback from Philly in the second half of this game.

I mean, this is a game that Philadelphia trailed 26-7 in the third quarter.

They have virtually no offense in the first half.

Then they come out and they get the ball, and there's a strip sack that leads to a Rams recovery and a quick touchdown.

And you see Twitter percolating about, you know, the Eagles melting down in this spot and what does it all mean?

They haven't been overwhelmingly impressive despite winning in the first two weeks and their ability to flip the switch.

And I think that starts, I think, Mark, with Jalen Hurts, who throws for 204 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

And for just when the narrative maybe was taking hold about why can't the Eagles pass the ball anymore, it's like, well, yeah, they can.

To what Connor's point is, like, you know, when it was time to throw the ball, they absolutely did, but they could be each in different ways.

That's for sure.

They're confident they can too, because it kind of needed everything to happen today.

But they were down, what, 222 yards to 36, I think, at halftime.

And, you know, we chat during these games, and I think there was like, is this team a little bit lost in space?

Like, because at one point last week, they ran seven of their tush pushes, which was 12% of their play calls.

And it's like, is there an issue with the passing game?

Because we've seen them all do it before.

So if anything, like, I'm with you, Connor, that they don't, it's not the only reason they won this game because

they're very complete and they find way, they get contributions from so many different people.

But it is like encouraging, I think, for the team itself to see A.J.

Brown have the second half that he did and to see Hurts get it going.

And like,

you're going to need that at multiple times during this season.

And then you get the special teams play, which changed everything.

The thing about the passing game to me is like the Eagles are never again this year going to get a situation where A.J.

Brown is on Emmanuel Forbes.

Do you guys remember Emmanuel Forbes?

He was a first-round pick of the Commanders and everybody crapped all over the pick because he was literally like 160 pounds.

And A.J.

Brown is built like an electric hummer.

And so when those two guys are matched up against one another, like, of course, you're going to give A.J.

Brown the ball.

And even...

Even the other Rams defensive back, whose name escapes me at this point, but a lot smaller than A.J.

Brown, and he was in single coverage.

And so that makes sense to throw the ball.

But in a lot of these other situations, the Eagles aren't getting these looks.

So it doesn't make sense to do it.

It's better to just keep handing the ball off to Barkley and hope he breaks it because it's safer.

It's just a safer play.

On the Rams side of things, Connor, was this a game where, listen, a great Eagles team, a tested champion, you know, you just kind of tip your cap to them, or did the Rams, you know, sow the seeds of their own doom with poor play down the stretch?

Like, how did you, what did you take out out of how the game was so Jekyll and Hyde for them?

I think that for the most part, this was a solid Rams performance and you chalk up like two block kicks to that being the equalizer in this game.

They had the Eagles backpedaling for a lot of this down to like they were knuckleballing all the kickoffs and Philly was dropping them.

There was all these little things that they had going on in the game plan.

Even with Devontae and Puka, like everything was kind of working for them.

The run game, they seemed to be getting the space that they needed.

They seemed to be making the plays and so i i don't know what it was but it just at some point the eagles found that extra gear especially in the second half and then when you get a beat on a kicker like they were able to get in this game that is an absolute game changer and i think that that was you know ultimately the thing that that sunk them it's a it's a it's a rough loss for the rams i think even going back to what happened last year but it was a different type of game i mean they scored on six straight possessions and it's confirmation that I think their offense is effective.

I love their ground game.

Like, Matthew Stafford looks great.

But then their final four possessions, punt downs, blocked field goal, blocked field goal.

Yeah.

And their first possession in the third quarter, as I noted, like that came off a turnover off the fumble.

So it was a short field and they cashed in.

And that was it.

They didn't score again.

So that's pretty rough for the offense to go cold in that kind of spot.

This one's Sarah Barshup at ESBN entering the game.

Teams trailing by 19 or more points in the past two seasons, including Pulaskir 2 and 193.

Yes, the Rams were up 26-7 early in the third quarter, never scored again.

So that is a tough loss because we all know how we all talk about this sport.

If the Rams would have finished this game off, everyone's talking them up as maybe the team to beat in the NFC potentially on a day where the Packers stumble and now the Eagles are lost at sea at home.

But the Eagles turn that on its ear.

And then some.

All right.

Just getting started.

Let's keep rolling now to another.

I loved, loved, loved watching this game right in our backyard of SoFi Stadium.

This is it.

This is division football at its finest.

Justin Herbert finds Keenan Allen for a tying touchdown with 244 to play

and then leads LA into position for a field goal.

In the final seconds, Cameron Dicker, as he often does.

Dicker the kicker pipes it from 43.

Chargers 23.

Broncos 20.

Man, that is two

really

back-breaking losses for the Broncos in consecutive Sundays.

That can take a toll, a mental toll on the team.

The Chargers are 3-0 for the first time since 2022, with all three victories coming against division rivals.

Gravy, this felt like a playoff game played in the warm September sunshine of Southern California.

Come on.

Come back home, buddy.

Come on, baby.

Yeah.

Miss the weather.

It's thunderstorming out right now here in Dallas.

Other than that, it's nice to be in Dallas.

I think Justin Herbert is the

through three weeks MVP.

I don't know if that's a real thing, but three week MVP.

Why not?

Go ahead.

Why not, right?

I mean, this Denver defense, which admittedly they struggled last week against the Colts, but they were good this week.

And Justin Herbert's mobility, I think, was really the difference in this game.

I also thought O'Marion Hampton started to come alive a bit for the first time this season.

He hasn't been super impressive through two weeks, but he was running physical and tough today, making catches out of the backfield.

And he had to step up because Najee Harris went down with what looks to be a bad Achilles injury.

We'll get more word on that.

It looks rumbling.

Sadly.

Yeah.

I think quarterback play is what separated the Chargers from the Broncos in this game because the Broncos offense, they really had two moments in this game.

It was the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half.

And other than that, the Chargers' defense pretty much stifled them.

And the Chargers were stifled a lot of this game, but Justin Herbert was just unstoppable.

He makes a play in this game, the Keenan Allen touchdown that we mentioned, where his ability to shake off the pass rush, find a throwing lane, and then as another defender is closing in and he's off bounds, able to have enough torque to not only put enough on the throw, like a 20-yard throw, it's a thereabouts.

I'm not sure exactly where it threw it from, but around there, and then put it exactly where it needs to be to Keenan Allen.

And that's someone who we've been talking about for a couple of weeks now in the show.

That guy looks like Keenan Allen of five years ago, and he has three touchdowns in three weeks, and he continues to be exactly what this team was missing a year ago.

The whole that play in particular, the fact that Herbert just looking like he's taking a step to another place as a passer and Keenan Allen being there as his security blanket, that was such a snapshot of this team so far this season.

It kind of goes to show you that, oh, wait, yeah, he was gone for a year and it didn't work out.

And we kind of all thought he might be at the end.

It could be the final chapter for a slower-looking Keenan Allen.

But he and Justin Herbert have practiced together for years.

Like they know each other so well that like these plays are happening right away.

This isn't a free agent.

These are two people that have done this thousands of times.

I think he's such a difference maker.

And then Quentin Johnston, I know there was the deep shot to Quentin Johnston that was overthrown, which would have probably really sealed this game in a different way.

But there was this one, I haven't seen Quentin Johnson do this yet, but there was an incredible shot to him early in the game where he wove through multiple defenders, saw the field really well, and just did, it added like an element to his game.

So suddenly you've got two functional, at least with Quentin Johnson and Winnemus, if you remove some of the mistakes, two functional weapons for Justin Herbert.

And he is playing as well as we've ever seen behind a monstrous offensive line.

So you kind of can understand why they're right here.

And I've never heard that stadium louder, by the way, for this team.

They're plugged in for once.

There's a lot of Broncos fans there.

Yes, there were.

They lost their backup right tackle in this game.

Joe Alt was their starting right tackle, moved to the left side when Rashawn Slater went down.

Trey Pipkins was their backup tackle.

He was playing a right tackle.

He went down in this game.

They're already down Rashawn Slater.

They're playing behind backups.

And Herbert, again, his mobility, and I don't necessarily mean like ability to gain yards with his legs, but his ability to evade defenders in the backfield changed this game.

And Mark, don't forget Ladd McConkey.

A lot of people, when Keenan Allen was brought back, were like, How are these two going to play together?

They're both inside guys.

Well, they're playing together just fine, I think.

Working out.

Yeah, well, also, Makai Beckton left this game with a concussion.

So they were also missing their guard.

And you saw it, like Denver's,

to your point, Denver's defense really, after a tough performance against the Colts, really played well, I thought, for large stretches of this game.

And I don't know, I just keep on going back to Connor,

that conversation with money in the summer.

Just like this team has a lot of talent.

And even with the injuries, which are mounting, we mentioned some, this Khalil Max sitting on the bench with his arm in like an elbow sling thing in this game, they find ways to get it done.

It just feels like a complete team that's run well.

And I think the Broncos are a good team.

They just, for the second week in a row,

could not find a way to close out a game.

Do you think that's the case?

Or are you ready to start wondering what's going on with Bonix?

Are you a little freaked out with that?

Because I'm like a little freaked out.

I'm getting there.

What do you think, Justin?

I thought, well, I thought...

They were very quiet for most of the first half.

I thought it was a brilliant play call by Sean Payton.

They were facing fourth and two, I believe, fourth and three near midfield.

Fourth Fourth and two, yeah.

And it's a fake run to the right side that gets everybody going the other direction, and then Cortland Sutton all by himself.

And that was one of those like a reminder.

Sometimes you see, oh, that's why Sean Payton is kind of seen as a legend in circles for his ability to dial up something that makes an easy layup of a 50-yard touchdown.

I don't know.

What did you think of Knicks' game?

I didn't have an issue with it.

Maybe he's not raising the team, but I didn't see him holding him back much either in this game.

I think he missed two deep shots to Marvin Mims, either one of which could have been very long touchdowns that they could have very much used.

But

we can't hold Bo Nicks to a standard of he's got to hit every single throw in a game or the Broncos lose.

Because you just mentioned Justin Herbert missed Quentin Johnston on a deep one early in this game.

Mark, you just said that.

So, like, if we're going to hold quarterbacks to that standard, then every quarterback is bad because every quarterback misses at least one downfield shot per game.

So he's got to hit those, but at the same time, like they just got to, they need to play better all around him.

I didn't think they got anything going in the run game really, except for that one drive coming out of halftime where J.K.

Dobbins broke off a couple of big runs.

But he, like, Bo Nicks needs more help, especially against a tough defense with Jesse Minter sending blitzers from every direction and free runners coming through the line of scrimmage on what felt like every other play.

Like, any quarterback's going to struggle in that environment.

But

he has kind of struggled three weeks in a row at the moment.

So he's going to have to sort of pick it up if the French want to be able to do that.

Let's hear from Jim Harbaugh because I feel like this is the type of win that Jim Harbaugh just lives for.

Let's see what he had to say.

I don't think I have the vocabulary to

really express how great I feel

with this win and

just admiration for our team and for our players

and coaches.

And just everybody.

It's just another game, three wins,

three games, and it's taken everybody

in all these games.

So

I mean gritty,

spectacular.

That's about the best word

I can come up with to describe it.

I'm just

great thrill of winning, wonderful, wonderful feeling of

victory, great thrill of victory.

That's about all I got.

Just turn the microphone on and turn that man loose.

He does the button to the top thing.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

He just keeps it.

Which I'll never do in my life, no matter what.

I will say that.

I think he looks better than he did when he was at the end of his Niners run.

I think he looks revived and healthier and alive.

I agree.

I agree.

He also got some surgeries in the offseason.

I was at a flag football event here in the South Bay that I think his grandson was involved.

And he was really struggling to walk on the field.

This was...

last January, I believe.

But I think he's, you know, he's an old quarterback.

So he's good.

But the fact that he looks as good as he does, you know, he's kind of a sneaky, good-looking guy.

We don't talk about Jim doesn't get enough credit for that.

No, we don't.

Well, it's like, you know, NFL quarterbacks of any age have a few things going for them that the average ham and egg or male does not.

So, you know, there's a basis there.

GC.

All right, Mark, this is the game you're waiting for.

Smith, how do you say it?

How do you even say this guy's name, the kicker?

Smit?

Smit?

Yeah, just spelled right.

Smith happens, baby.

Andre Zmit

kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired, and the Browns, they offer up the biggest upset of week three, rallying from a double-digit deficit in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to shock the previously undefeated Packers.

13-10.

Check this out.

The team of Mark rips the heart out of the team of Mark.

The universe collapsing in upon itself.

It's confusing, but let's focus on where the focus needs to be.

The Cleveland Browns and this Cleveland Browns defense is no pushover, especially in that building.

They are

arguably at home the best defense in the NFL.

And it's not the only season that's been true.

That was true probably two years ago.

It's pretty incredible that...

in a game like this

because i think i wrote you guys i can just see this defense floating away and infighting with the the offense, which looked completely and utterly inept.

But the defense, along with the special teams, this was game two, where a blocked field goal with 21 seconds left by Shelby Harris changes everything.

And it's when you block those field goals, how the ball rotates, bounces, and moves, because it went deep back towards Cleveland territory.

So they've got 21 seconds.

and no timeouts.

And I thought, this is over because you've got a field goal, a newbie field goal kicker

who lost the game against the Bengals by missing a field goal, missed an extra point.

You never know where the head is at with someone like this.

And the Browns do just enough.

And one thing that should come out of this, a couple Packers penalties, like a Micah Parsons penalty, helped the Browns move the ball forward.

There have been PI's penalties in this game that allowed the Browns life.

And you set yourself up for a 55-yard field goal.

And I'm looking at it.

It's like, I know how these Sundays go.

He ain't making this.

And all the efforts on defense and everything that everyone's done.

You got Jim Schwartz sitting on the sideline, like ready to throw a hissy fit if they lose this thing.

And he nails it.

And the place goes absolutely crazy.

And it's like, okay, guess what?

I get it because I've like my only joy and anything I've said this season, not only joy, but like I've found joy in the Packers.

And then I'm watching this team that has broken my heart a thousand times over beating the team that I looked like I was smart to hype up.

So it was like, okay, I'm not sure how to win this one from a psychological angle.

But it was a proof that like the most improbable thing, this had to be the most improbable outcome of the entire season involving some of the most improbable people on the Cleveland Browns, a team that I thought would maybe win two games.

Yeah.

And here we are.

Well, Sis is a mitt.

Smeet.

He hits a 35-yarder with 338 to go in the game, and it's like, oh, they avoided being shut out.

Nice effort by the Browns.

The defense is stepped up.

Now they got points on the board, so they get to win with some, lose with some pride.

And then they, what happens with the Jordan Love interception?

Take me through that because I saw that on the highlight, and I was like, where did that pass come from?

Who is this, Jordan Love?

Justin nailed it because right after it happened, he texted and he said he threw it right to him.

It was, it was the rare, it's the worst pass he's thrown all year.

It was just uncharacteristic of Jordan Love.

He threw it to no one and delt it, picked it off, got up on his feet and ran like right down to the

four-yard, the Green Bay four-yard line, I believe.

And

then Green Bay gets them into a spot and they get another PI.

Like their cornerbacks created some problems for themselves today.

And then Quinchon Judkins, a rookie, scores and they go, it's 10-10 with 304 left.

And the Packers are driving until the blocked field goal.

Like

I want to say one thing about Cleveland.

Like this team, at one point, there were like eight rookies that contributed major plays.

Like I think this is the best rookie class in the league as of this week.

That can all change, but they put a bunch of them out there.

And we're not talking about any of the quarterbacks.

It's everyone else.

And it's like they're making plays and the defense, I just think this lifts all votes because the defense saw the offense do something to help them out at the end.

What's wild too is that they're so young.

And if you go back and you watch them set up that game-winning field goal, it looks like you asked AI to do it.

They did it so fast and so efficiently.

And even Jeff Schwartz, I think, made this point.

The center put the ball down so precisely that the official didn't have to come and touch it and adjust it, which would have cost them another second.

Go back and look.

There's a couple people who have posted clips of it.

It's phenomenal.

I couldn't believe how uniform that looked.

It was two seconds left, and you see that not work all the time with better teams.

And I'm with you.

Like, that was one of the more surprising moments before the most surprising moment.

Hmm.

Interesting.

This is why I was before the season.

I was annoyed.

I don't think the Browns, do they have any primetime games this year?

No, they and the Titans

for this

the Browns are always compelling theater in primetime at home.

And this is just an example.

Like they can go toe-to-toe with anybody and they're a fun kind of underdog story.

I was just surprised that that didn't happen.

And just a reminder, if you go to Cleveland, you could run into them on a good day.

The offense is still an issue, obviously.

They don't score many points in this game.

But Quinshawn Judkins, also another guy promising rookie uh he's their main ball carrier now he has uh 18 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown so yeah i mean listen and we'll get to the jets a little bit later and the titans as well but like when you know your team's not going to be competing most likely for a playoff spot it's like okay how can we lay the groundwork and the foundation so if we you know continue to draft well and make a couple smart signings maybe next year you're looking back at it when you're 3-1 or something like yeah last year even even though there's a lot of losses, all these guys are developing and playing.

There's some good signs for the Browns, despite, you know, not having a ton of wins so far.

But they got one today.

Good job, Mark.

And you go to Detroit next week, so there's no let up in the schedule.

Well,

they've got the,

by this year's records, the worst opening six-game stretch of any team in the league.

So you take from it what you can.

This does not happen very often.

So, you know, we're often like the video from the Browns locker room probably feels like you just lost a battle on the European front.

Let's take a look at what happened again.

The European front.

That was a good team you just beat, okay?

And we beat him because we stuck together.

We stuck together like we always do.

I could give out, and I will give out a lot of game balls, but I'm going to give out a few right now, okay?

I'm going to start right here, okay?

There's so many things I love about football, okay?

What I love is when guys give you everything they got, everything.

Joel Batonio didn't have to play in this game, okay?

He could barely walk.

And he said, I will be there for my teammates.

Nice.

I love that.

It was a good football coach sky talk.

We stuck together.

We were there.

We stuck together.

We checked some boxes there.

We played hard.

We were hurt.

Awesome.

Hopefully Joel feels like this one's worth it when he's 45.

Yeah, I hope so.

All right, let's let him enjoy the glory now.

Okay, let's see.

Let's keep going.

Up next, we roll another great ending.

You know, some good games.

Despite all the quarterbacks that were missing and maybe there wasn't

great, you know, artistic football on display, we had some close, fun games.

Here's another division showdown.

This one in

Levi's, the Big Barrel Bottom.

Yes, the 49ers continue to find a way.

That, what was it,

6-11 of a year ago seems so far away.

And it's rarely been pretty, but that doesn't matter in our league.

Mac Jones filling in for an injured Brock Purdy once again, led San Francisco down the field in the final minutes, setting the stage for kicker Eddie Piñero at a 35-yarder on the final play.

The Niners sneak past the Cardinals, and sneak is the word.

16 to 15.

Connor, after that ill-timed safety

on a hold in the end zone when when Mac was trying to get out of danger.

It appeared that San Francisco had cooked itself, but the defense stepped up and then Mac and company got her done.

He's

he, there's something about him down the stretch, and this game was so weird because I think I described it to someone as a

button poop sandwich for about three and a half quarters.

And then all of a sudden, at the end, you just had like a grand finale of fireworks.

You had shot plays from both teams.

You had all these kind of moments where everyone just saved the best for last.

And Mac Jones is walking off the field, jersey torn

from his shoulder pads.

He looks like Mel Gibson and Braveheart.

And

this is awesome.

I mean,

he was...

holding back tears on the sideline with Brock Purdy.

Like, who doesn't love this right now?

The 49ers are 3-0.

Yeah.

You know what I think helps him, Connor?

because

he has confidence.

He believes in himself

and he carries himself that way.

And I used to think this a little bit about Baker, but then Baker continued to develop and get better and better and better as a quarterback.

So when there's a situation where Mac Jones has to go down the field in the final minutes, the one thing you don't know, you don't know if he's going to make the throw or make the right decision or be able to get out of the pocket and scramble in the face of a pass rush, but you know he's not going to be scared.

And like that was a guy that took the field and he was completely under control.

And he led that team into field goal range.

And they stole one from a Cardinals team that just to kind of juxtapose it against the opposite quarterback.

I can't, I mean, I can't, I feel for Zumwalt and all Cardinals fans.

I can't stand watching Kyler Murray, man.

I like they have the ball after that safety.

They're up two points late in the fourth quarter.

It's a free kick.

So the Cardinals are getting the ball back as per NFL rules.

God

damn, Kyler Murray, finish a game off.

Go out there, move the sticks.

You hear that sound effect of him running?

What happened to that Kyler Murray?

That guy never,

never makes plays with his feet anymore.

He's getting passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage.

He can't get into any type of flow again with Marvin Harrison.

And that drive stalls out.

The punter comes out, knocks it in the end zone.

And before you know it, they're walking off the field with their heads down.

It's like, man, can this guy make a play in a big spot?

And if you don't have a quarterback who can put a game away, seemingly ever, what do you have in our league?

I mean, the Cardinals have a conundrum with that guy.

They absolutely do.

Not to put everything on the quarterback, but I just something about that midfield moment, Connor, where I'm just thinking to myself, is this guy going to make a couple plays to win this game for his team?

And he can't do it.

Well, so coaches or scouts a lot of.

times will divide quarterbacks into two categories.

And the categories are quarterbacks who you can win with and then quarterbacks that you win because of.

And I think that Kyler is kind of slowly cementing himself into the category of quarterbacks you can win with, but not necessarily because.

And I agree with your point.

Whenever I see him move in these games now, I think the only way this offense can be consistently successful is if there is a threat of him leaving the pocket on every down, and it's almost like a vintage, like Lamar Ravens offense, where there's a run threat built into every play and it's tied to the pass and he has the option.

The only issue is he's not big enough and he's not going to be able to sustain those hits.

They've seen that movie before too.

And so it's a rock and a hard place scenario with him.

Because when they were a couple of years back, they were, do they open nine and two or something like that?

And you look at like QB rankings in terms of like just rating them and stuff.

Like Kyler Murray was

for months on end, a top three quarterback who was winning games, like with big plays and doing stuff with his feet that were special.

And he he does feel like someone that's regressed.

And the story around him is how is he going to botch this?

Because going up 15, 13 off of a holding call on Callias Campbell in the end zone is a gift from the football gods.

And

you're on the road and you try to wage through that.

Like your job isn't to go necessarily change the world, Kyler Murray.

It's to get this team to the end, to the finish line here.

And it's too often, whether it's the actual microcosm of an entire season where he can't do that or in these game situations.

And Dan, you said it like two good things.

Like Like, you said it, did he get smaller?

Like, he looks like he's devolving size-wise.

And we are here deep, you know, deep into the second season, deep enough into the second season of Marvin Harrison Jr.

And he had one of the worst drops on the planet today when he was wide open.

Yes.

These are the things that just feel attached to the Cardinals when you lose hope.

Right.

It is very important to mention that because I think that that was an absolute momentum killer in that game, too.

Can I even say it not to pile on Murray?

But even that play, and that's a terrible drop by a guy that's supposed to be a special wide receiver, and he still can be.

It's just been a tough start this season for sure.

But maybe if he's hitting Harrison in stride on that, Harrison has to come to a full stop, and then he makes the mistake of

going to run before he secures it.

But even that, that should have been a touchdown.

That should have been hit the guy in stride, and he's right down the sideline for a score.

So they just, they're not on the same page, and that's, that's a very frustrating part of it.

And we don't know if James Conner is coming back.

He suffered what looked like a potentially serious ankle injury.

I think he got carted, right?

I mean, it was one of those things.

We went to commercial break twice while he was down on the field.

So that's not a good thing.

But I just, I have a lot of, give a lot of credit to Shanahan and the Niners.

They're missing a ton of guys.

Nick Bosa goes out of this game early also, and they find a way, and they're 3-0.

And I feel like every time they start 3-0, they end up in the Super Bowl.

Let's see what happens this year.

And one quick thing, because Justin noted that Mac Jones, he told reporters that he re-aggravated a PCL sprain in this game.

So he also is banged up.

Yeah.

Go ahead, Connor.

Having Christian McCaffrey back, though, and healthy, I mean, 10 catches and you're averaging almost nine yards a catch.

And if you look at your first down total for a game, that this guy is basically responsible for, what, 50 or 60% of your first downs in a game, it is such a difference maker.

And I'm not saying that any quarterback can play this, but you at least have a fighting chance now because he's just automatic.

He's an automatic chain mover in this offense.

Interesting,

they haven't really gotten their running game going yet this year, but I think McCaffrey looks very good.

Yeah, he's looked very good.

They just haven't quite gotten that going.

Purdy might be back next week.

And yeah, the fact that they were able to get out of these three weeks all with wins when they were in a depressed state, it's a really good sign for that team.

All right, let's take a break.

And when we get back, we'll dig deeper into week three.

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all right we are back let's head to soldier field where the bears needed one hot damn did they need one

i said damn

me a walls hopefully

before sunday the 2025 bears represented the most disappointing thing to come out of Chicago since season two of the bear.

Ooh, prestige TV burn, says he.

On Sunday, Caleb Williams moved his team into more positive terrain.

Williams tied a career high with four touchdown passes, and Chicago got Ben Johnson his first win, stomping the Cowboys 31-14.

Sese, we have no idea if the Bears are going to figure it out and actually be a team of substance this year, but there have been signs of life throughout the three weeks at different points.

But today they put together their first complete effort.

Yes, this is what you were waiting for if you're a Bears fan.

Watching this game unfold, I thought three things happened that we were questioning a week ago.

One, Caleb Williams made money throws down the field.

His arm was a huge part of this game.

He saw the field really well.

We didn't get a bunch of, like, there were a couple little off-kilter throws, but for the most part, this was the advertised product.

Second, I was asking on Thursday for guys like Colston Loveland and Luther Burden to get involved, both big parts of this game.

Luther Burden, especially, I think that's like, we're going to say, we're going to feel differently about him in a month or two.

I mean, he had a,

he caught a 65-yard bomb.

And the third part of this is that he caught it on a play that was a Ben Johnson patented flea flicker.

There were a number of Ben Johnson type trick plays in this, and it kind of just all came together.

It all came together.

And there was something else that reminded me of like, wow, if this is what they're going to become, people are going to have a problem.

They had like a 19-play drive to open the second half that took up nine plus minutes and it turned run heavy before TJ Moore caught a touchdown.

And it was, you're eating up nearly 10 minutes of the clock and to open the second half.

And it looked, it was not Detroit Lions.

perfection, but it looked like what the Lions were able to do when they were pounding people on the ground.

I think they had nine straight runs on that drive at some point.

And so everything that a week ago were like, is this a disaster in the making?

They flipped it around.

So it was a huge win over a Cowboys team that like their defense, like we can say whatever we want about it's good to trade Michael Parsons or not, like they were wanting today.

They were wanting.

They did not give that offense a chance to win.

He is absolutely cooked as a coordinator.

And I went back and I looked at it after the 65-yard touchdown today.

So if you go back to the Hail Mary game when he was the head coach of the Chicago Bears, he's coordinated defenses on 14 different games between then and this week.

In half of those games, they have allowed a pass of 50 yards or more.

And in every single game this season, they have allowed a pass of 50 yards or more, a 50 yarder against Philly, two 50 plus yarders against the Giants, which is looking increasingly more difficult to do.

And then a 65 yarder in this game.

What's happening here?

Yeah, I mean, if you look at, you're saying 50, I'll go down to 25.

So the Cowboys, against the

Eagles, it was just one.

It was the play you're referring to that was over 25.

Past two games, they've given up 12 plays of 25 yards or more.

Seven last week, and now five against the Bears.

And, you know, we don't know if the Bears actually are a great offense.

This is the first time they really put it together.

Like I said, they showed signs of life in week two against the Lions.

The Giants, obviously, the jury's out whether that was an aberration or really a sign that that's a good offense.

It's possible that Dallas has one of the worst defenses in the league.

And if it does, we're right back into that territory where you're like putting so much pressure on Dak Prescott and also CeeDee Lamb to be CeeDee Lamb.

And he goes out of this game.

What happened to Lamb?

Yeah, Lamb got,

he got his left ankle rolled up.

The video did not look good.

On a running play, too, by the way.

Yeah, on a running play, too.

So

he

was limping around.

He tried to come back into the game for a play.

And then you saw him on the sideline with his shoe off and sock off, and it did not look good.

And so, I,

you know, George Pickens made a nice touchdown catch in this game, too, and it helps.

But beyond that, they seem really limited.

It's like, this is not a skill position

bountiful feast here.

You miss CeeDee Lamb, and I don't know what they're going to do.

And I think that caused, like, this was a game where, you know, Dak Prescott started making mistakes.

In two weeks in a row,

whoever played the Cowboys or the Bears, sorry, like, was offensive player of the week um this did not happen this time and terrell edmonds who had an incredible game picks off dak twice and i don't know do we want to take i love this locker room video can we take a look justin at this um what happened with the bears after remember it's matt eberflues was the defensive coordinator for the for the cowboys i cannot imagine what's going through his mind as he watched this unfold today

first home victory

Whoa, all right, I love that.

See, that bears are a perfect example.

I have no idea.

We don't know what's going to end up happening with the the Bears for the rest of the season, but

we can't get too ahead of ourselves after two weeks.

Maybe this is the beginning.

Maybe they're figuring it out.

Their journey remains one of great interest to me.

I just want to see how this comes together and develops.

Nice day for him.

Nice day for him.

Justin.

Justin.

Don't hide from it.

You have to own it.

I mean, we're in week three now, buddy.

You keep on like, you know, if you don't get the lock, you got to own up to it.

No, you're always.

Always let you do that.

Got to be better.

I will be better going forward.

We'll take this loss.

With your picks or the timing of your drops connecting and paying off the lock segment?

A little bit of both.

Yes, both is the answer.

I was referring to myself with the timing of the drops, and there's no excuse.

I just have to look at the film and be better.

All right.

Hey, listen, that's ownership.

And that's how you earn the respect in the locker room.

All right.

Let's move on to Tampa.

Another team looking to extend an undefeated start.

Did they do it?

Maybe.

Yes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to follow a script that is both dramatic

and stressful.

But ultimately successful.

They play their opponents closely for three, four quarters.

They dance perilously close to the edge of defeat.

And then they send out their buddy, Captain Riz, at quarterback, to rip the heart out of the opponent.

Yes, the Bucs cough up a 26-7 lead in the fourth quarter against the Jets.

But Baker Mayfield didn't blink.

And Chase McLaughlin...

Minutes after having a field goal blocked in return for a touchdown, a stunning play, he hits a 36-yarder.

His time expired.

The Bucs beat the Jets 29-27.

The Bucs are 3-0 for the first time in 20 years.

And

yeah, I mean,

for most of this game, I was on my various Jets

family and friend threads just trashing the team.

But I'll give them credit.

They really did.

What really upset me and the Jets fanbase about...

week two was how it looked like they kind of laid down once the bills jumped out ahead of them and they didn't play with any fire um at home when they should have been fighting in that game.

It's like, well, I thought Aaron Glenn was supposed to change the culture here.

What's up with the culture?

But in this case, they do fight back.

And with a backup quarterback on the road, they do get it within a score on an Alan Lazard touchdown of all people.

And then with the two minutes to play, the Bucs are looking to hit the icing field goal to

go up two scores.

And Will McDonald, who

I kind of saw this as a potential superstar coming out party, party.

This is a special guy, the former first-round pick who quietly had a double-digit sack season last year.

He's gotten out to a really good start as a pass rusher this year.

He does that move that only like, you know, the special athletes can do.

He jumps over the defensive line, gets his hands up, blocks the field goal, bounces, goes, cuts right between the kicker and the holder, scoops it up himself and takes it back 60 yards for a touchdown.

And I'm just, and all Jets fans and Bucs fans are like, what the hell just happened?

Because after the PAT, suddenly the Jets, are we going to win?

No.

Because

Baker takes the field

against a Jets secondary that's been bad this year, but is now also missing Sauce Gardner, who went out with a concussion.

It was as

kind of, there was no suspense to it.

It was, he misses a wide open, a streaking receiver on the first play from scrimmage.

It would have been a touchdown.

It would have been a 70-yard touchdown right there.

But he overthrows him.

But no matter, he, bing, bang, boom, he hits several wide open receivers.

He makes a great pass to Ibuka as well.

And the field goal is made.

So I give the Jets credit for coming back the way they did.

But having Baker, it's pretty incredible.

And we're going to listen to Baker now because he had some scores to settle after the game, he said.

But all three of their wins.

He goes out in the field and he takes them down the field for field goals or scores to they could be 0-3 with a different quarterback but they're not because they have baker Mayfield here he was after the game talking about some people that he wanted to get some paybacks on

I loved it and it's also their de coordinator was the one that cut me in Carolina so it was a lot of stuff was personal today Hassan Reddick former Jet a lot of people He was doing so well there.

I was going to give it.

I was going to give it to him, like the Steve Wilkes thing.

Like, listen, the Panthers, everybody forgets about the Baker with the Panthers era.

But yeah, Steve Wilkes was the head coach, and he did cut him and then put Sam Darnold on the field.

But let's not bring up Hassan Reddick, who torpedoed his career through poor business decisions, like as if the Jets, that was the Jets' fault.

He stanks that Reddick, but he did have a sack in this game.

That felt a little untoward.

I just, I think like one thing quickly about Baker Mayfield, it's game after game two, along with the last-minute game-winning drives, like his feet and what he's done on the ground.

Every game, there's like a game-changing play.

And he had one today where he was, you know, figurating and backed up.

And it wound up being a 10-yard scramble right through the defense.

But I want to know how many yards he actually ran on that thing.

And it's like, he just has this fearlessness to him and confidence.

And it kind of makes you, if you're the Bucks, think you could win any game because this game also happens.

And I couldn't imagine even being a fan here.

It was 120 degrees at one point during this game.

It's not fun to be the Jets in the dark jerseys there.

And Aaron Glenn in a ski vest, of all things.

But he

couldn't figure that one out.

Strange fashion choice.

He only has about another week to run off this.

But I will say this in the Jets' defense, too.

I think in the second quarter alone, they forced two QB fumbles that the Buccaneers recovered.

And then the Buccaneers forced a QB fumble on

Tyrod Taylor that the Buccaneers recovered.

And that's really the difference in some of these games that are so razor-thin.

It's just the bounce of a ball.

But Amika.

They haven't forced a turnover yet in three games, the Jets.

And Baker has like seven or eight turnover-worthy plays, including what should have been potentially four interceptions in the opener.

So that could change at some point here.

Yeah.

And again,

as a fan of a team that you're just trying to see progress and growth, that was nice.

That was a nice comeback.

I do wish, like, how about you missed the field goal?

How about you just shank the field goal?

How about just once?

How about just once we have this incredibly cool play and then they blow it or Baker gets a ball tipped and there's an interception?

Why?

Not just like once.

Can something good happen?

Just can we have something?

Just one week.

And then I have to hear Baker Mayfield, like for the second time in three weeks, the other team's quarterback saying, Oh, I had to stick it to the Jets.

Jets haven't been to the playoffs in 15 years.

Oh, well, you know, this one meant a lot because, you know, the Jets, I had to take it to the Jets to show them that I'm a man and they're not.

It's like, just

take your lucky victory and go to the next, go to your next week, okay?

But it's very frustrating.

It's very frustrating.

But also, at least they didn't quit.

And

Aaron Glenn also had this cool meme that he's going to have connected to him, this little dance move, which was awesome.

This is as

the McDonald touchdown was occurring off the block field.

Go, watch this.

Watch this.

This brother's got some style, man.

He's got some moves.

Oh!

Oh!

You You know what I was saying?

Yeah.

I was just saying, I was really hoping for them to win just so this would be like this moment forever.

But when you're racing down the sideline at that speed, how many people need to consciously get out of the way so you don't blow someone up?

Because he had a clear runway there.

That's what surprised me the most.

That's the through three weeks.

What's frustrating is that they came so close to beating Aaron Rodgers.

And I thought that would have really, as I was saying during the summer, that was such a big week one

situation there.

Because if they would have beaten Rodgers there, it would have sent the Glenn Arrow off in a good direction.

It didn't work out.

Whatever.

Bills stomp you.

That happens.

And then for this game now, you have potentially another, like, let's get this

Glenn Arrow off and running with a big special win.

He has the stance.

McDonald has the big play.

No, we can't.

We just can't do it.

We just can't get it going.

So that's okay, though.

That's okay.

My boys fought, and Baker and the Bucs are 3-0.

By the way, Mike Evans

went out with a hamstring injury.

Now, this is a guy that's had hamstring issues in the past.

Hamstring knocked him out for several weeks last year, and they showed a shot of him.

This happened in the fourth quarter, and he,

which, by the way, credit to Baker, too, because there's no Godwin.

Godwin might be back next week, but there's no Mike Evans on the field for that last drive.

There's no Godwin.

And also, like I said, with with Sauce out, the Jets secondary was just completely overmatched, even without the Bucs having their key guys on offense.

But

it looked like an injury.

He throws his helmet when he's in the tunnel in frustration.

I wonder if we're going to have one of those things again where he misses a month.

We'll see.

And timing's not good because the Eagles are up next on the Bucs schedule.

But now they have a nice little 3-0 start

to get going.

They could take a loss and still be okay.

All right.

Ooh.

Developing news.

What do we got?

Schefter has reported that James Connor will miss the rest of the season, is going to undergo surgery on his right ankle out for the year.

Bummer.

It seemed that way, right?

So that's Trey Benson's backfield now in Arizona.

And that, you know, Connor has been a rock for them.

That takes a little bit more stability out of that Cardinals offense.

Not good, not good.

All right.

Let's move to Foxborough.

Some not good stuff going on there as well for the home team.

Here's a weird one.

Aaron Rodgers, aforementioned Aaron Rodgers, threw a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 216 to play.

It was Rodgers' second scoring toss of the day, and it lifted the Steelers to a 21-14 win over the host Patriots.

A Patriots team that absolutely imploded in this one, boys, with five turnovers.

Five.

Including two in and around the opponent end zone.

A interception on a tip

by Drake May, who otherwise I thought played very well in this game, and Ramondre Stevenson going into the end zone.

He fumbled twice and lost them both in this game, and you just wonder where his role is.

So there we go.

The Steelers are 2-1.

The Patriots 1-2 with two bad losses at home.

And Rodgers throws for just 139 yards, but he does have those two touchdowns.

And

the Patriots got to

scratch in their heads because

I really thought they outplayed the Steelers for much of this game, but they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

And I can only imagine

what Vrabel is thinking to himself.

Because even on the last play of the game,

the last play, offensive play by the Patriots, it's fourth and short.

And

Drake May draws back to pass, and he targets, I think, was it Pop Douglas?

Right at the sticks.

Would have been close.

If he just falls forward, it's probably a first down.

But he does the move where he kind of does a juke back and then tries to get around a defender and instead gets dragged down a yard or two short of the sticks.

And that's how the game ends.

So a game that has five turnovers by the Patriots ends on that type of frustrating fourth and short completion that doesn't

get the job done.

So a very difficult loss for the Pats.

I do wonder, like, if you look at the career of Josh McDaniels as a play caller in the NFL and you remove Tom Brady, now I realize that's a much smaller sample size, but his offenses have not been average.

They've pretty much been horrible.

at different stops when you remove that one Hall of Fame quarterback.

And

I just wonder bringing him back in 2025, was that the most innovative thing you could have done with

this offense and this young quarterback?

I mean, that said, you can't close any game when you're a team like the Patriots with three fumbles and interception in the second half.

I don't know what kind of team's winning that

unless those turnovers don't lead to points for the other team at all.

They have an electric core of young players.

And I think that no matter what, whether you're a musician or a writer or an artist or a play caller, you always return to your baseline.

And I guess Josh had this Mike McCarthy-esque off-season or whatever it was, where you're seeing all these different things and learning all these different things about the evolving NFL.

And we've seen a lot of promise fall flat from a lot of play callers this early in the season.

I think that there's been sort of a defensive counterpunch to this season so far.

At least that seems to be the theme so far.

But I'm not seeing

whatever the vision was at this point, right?

It's not, it's not come into clear picture.

Yeah,

I didn't think that McDaniel, I like the McDaniels hire, and I think that Drake May, after a tough week one, I think he's looked good, I thought, the last two weeks.

But yeah, if you can't protect, if you can't secure the football, if you can't protect the football, and

they have a situation with Stevenson, who's a really good running back, but this is now two years where ball security has been an issue.

But after the second fumble, I thought, man, he's going to go in the doghouse and we're not going to see him.

But he was back on the field.

He continued to see.

I don't know what the final snap breakdown was.

I know there was a lot of summertime hype around Trevion Henderson being the guy, but they seem, at this point, not totally comfortable making him a main part of the offense.

In fact, they put in Antonio Gibson after

the...

second Stevenson fumble, and then Gibson fumbled the ball away.

So, I don't know, maybe by virtue of turnovers, eventually the rookie will become the feature guy in the backfield, but not yet.

It's important that like one of those that TJ Watt got back on the train of creating game-altering plays today.

I just would ask you just because the Trayvion Henderson thing, I think, is one of the bigger rookie surprises because touted as like an offensive rookie of the year candidate and like it's been very, very flat.

Is it usage or is he just not looking like the guy he looks like?

He looks fine to me.

I mean, he's when he gets a chance, he does seem to pop to me just like he was doing in the summer.

But I don't know, maybe there's more reasons why, whether it's pass protection or what, but they're just not ready for that.

And

yeah, the Steelers' offense, last thing on this,

maybe this is how they get to nine or 10 wins.

This is with great field goal kicking and opportunistic defense, but the offense is still not really popping right now.

I mean, there were a lot of coverage busts by the Jets in week one, but the last two weeks feels what I think is going to be much more closer to what the Steelers' offense is, which is like like maybe a little bit elevated with Rodgers over Fields and Russell Wilson last year.

But, you know, this is a team that had 31 yards in the second and third quarters of this game

and squandered three of their takeaways during that stretch.

So,

you know, give Rodgers time.

He could still hit guys.

He hit DK Metcalf for a touchdown, beautiful back shoulder throw to Calvin Austin to give them the game winner, but not an explosive offense.

And I don't imagine that it will be.

All right.

Let us

just vrabel on Stevenson real quick.

I'm curious,

just in terms of the Bill Belichick of it all, what kind of words he'll have after the game, after Stevenson fumbles it away twice.

You know, we got to get him back.

We need him.

We absolutely need him.

You see what he was able to do for us last week.

It's ability to make some plays.

Again, we'll just have to look at the technique.

We'll have to look at the ball security.

But we're going to need him.

And we need his ability, but we also need to take care of the football.

So it's a long answer to tell you that I'm not really sure 20 minutes after the game what we're going to do.

But we need him because

he helped us win the game last week.

Gotcha.

It was a different story today.

Great vest, though.

Good vest.

Nice.

I like Pat Patriot.

I always liked that better than the Brady-era uniforms.

But they're in a tough spot.

Brady-era uniforms, flying Elvis, all the glory.

Pat Patriot red uniforms, clearly nicer.

What do you do?

Ceci, what do you do?

I don't know.

I feel like Flying Elvis was not your core issue with the team so much as what they achieved in it largely against the division and your team.

But no, I mean, I baked that into what I said.

They've had tremendous success with Flying Elvis.

But do we really think that's a nice uniform?

No, what they wore today, these red, like their, those are glorious.

That's what the Patriots should do.

the fear of all these teams like tampa bay

went to the cream sickle today but don't go to it a lot because it it means something poor to them or less than and it's such a crazy thing because it's obviously the superior uniform and you need to embrace that i have a i have a bit of a uniform hot take i don't think the cream sickle uniforms are nice that's insane i think they're gross I said that's another team that affected your emotions today too, but that's like I know they're obviously insane.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Like, I'm supposed to go crazy about an orange uniform.

I mean, cool.

They're just very different than anything else.

It feels like eight teams got the same uniform at this point.

It's like almost 95% black with one other shade.

And like, those ones are a little out there and a little drug-induced, and I can appreciate that.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Fair enough.

Let's move on to Duval

Division.

Showdown.

All right.

Time to talk about the most AFC South game to ever AFC South, a game game that AFC South so hard that it went entirely around the earth and then returned right back where it started.

Fred Durst's Jacksonville.

Trevor Lawrence found slumping receiver Brian Thomas for a 46-yard gain, setting the stage for a Travis Atien touchdown, like one of those things where the defense clearly let the guy score strategically.

And the Jaguars held on to beat the Texans 17-10.

Houston's now 0-3.

I'm not going to say Houston, you have a problem, but they do

because they're 0-3.

And that's bad.

Connor, did this game feel like a swim in that Jags pool that has all the floating band-aids in it?

It included what I would call the worst or the most irresponsible play call of the year.

And the Houston Texans, there were 25 seconds left.

It's third and one.

You're driving.

And Josh Hines-Allen has absolutely kicked your ass all game.

And then you give your tackle zero help on him when you're taking a downfield shot toward the end zone to try to tie it.

And of course, he comes and tips the ball on Stroud, and there gets to be another interception.

That second pick was not on him.

That second pick was on whoever's not giving his offensive line any help.

Now, the first one was on him, but this entire

operation just looks lost right now.

And that's saying something because Jacksonville's looked lost for three and a half quarters, too.

So do we, we all love D'Amico Ryans, right?

Like, where does, does he get any of the blame for what's happened here?

Or do we kind of separate that because he's a defensive coach?

Sometimes I've been unsure about where you lay blame in these types of situations.

I think you just may not have.

Like you could name it after Stroud almost, where I think that there is not always a steady ascent, but also sometimes that first year is

the best that you can get.

But it's a bunch of factors of things, right?

None of their free agents that they brought in this offseason are playing.

They're trying,

none of them are having a valuable impact.

And then you're trying to stick them with rookie wide receivers to break in.

It's a bad situation from front to back.

And I think that he got a lot more on his plate in terms of play calling responsibilities and in terms of protections and all that kind of stuff.

But the talent didn't rise to meet him.

And so this looks like a jumbled mess because it kind of is.

It's kind of like what we mentioned on the Thursday show: that the Texans feel kind of just the same.

Like they added these players and they tried to put resources into their offensive line.

None of it has changed the way you feel about the team.

The offensive line is still a major liability.

And C.J.

Stroud has...

Regressed.

He's got 19 turnovers since the start of last season, which is tied for most in the NFL.

And your defense, you know, coaxed Trevor Lawrence into 20 incompletions today, and

you couldn't get it done as a team.

I mean, listen,

the line's struggling.

Stroud hasn't been the same.

But then you have things like Nico Collins.

I know he has the long touchdown in this game, but they're driving in the red zone with less than four minutes to play.

He fumbles the ball.

Right.

It's a wild fumble.

We got to make plays.

The Kyler Murray thing, if you're going to win these games, these division games, your guys who are your dogs have to step up and make plays.

And they're just not.

And we know that they don't really have a running game to speak of.

And I don't put it all on Stroud.

But like, who is making plays on this team?

At one point, the announcer,

I was watching, I think that it was Dalton Schultz was targeted.

And they're like, oh, the other star of this Texans attack.

I was like, what?

Star?

What?

This game was a masterclass in Angry Dad broadcasting from Adam Archuletta, who just had enough of being there.

And halfway through the game, he was like, they got to catch this damn ball.

And just very quickly on the Jacksonville side of it, too, because Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas were not on the same page at all again in this one.

And Travis Hunter really wasn't a factor.

And if you go into

one catch today where he ran through the distance.

I want to get into it.

I'm done.

I'm trying to make more nuanced points about the pick that they shouldn't have made.

But it's like Diami Brown and Parker Washington.

And when Trevor Lawrence has clutch third-down plays, clutch goal line plays.

There was

a shot that he took into the end zone where Brian Thomas was wide open and he threw it beyond him to another receiver.

There are chemistry issues or trust issues.

I don't know what it is, but the stars on this team are not doing a whole lot.

Yeah, I don't like either of these teams right now.

And the Jaguars are two and one, but

I'm not feeling, they are my division pick, but I don't know.

Like, Colts are clearly the best team in this division

right now.

Brian Thomas had three more drops in this game.

I don't know what's going on.

Every once in a while, like every season, there's one guy where it's just like, yo, what's up with this guy?

And right now, that's the wide receiver one of the Jags, but they survive.

Very, very, very, very quickly.

The Jaguars had eight takeaways all of last season.

They have seven already this season.

That defense

look really good.

They lead the league.

All right.

Now we're going to get into the blowout portion of

today's program.

Let's start in Nashville.

Whoo, the Colts punted.

Alert.

The Indianapolis Colts punted.

Still, it was another big day for the Ursae Girls and company who watched Jonathan Taylor go over the century mark.

Three touchdowns as well.

And a hellacious 41-20 beatdown of the utterly non-competitive Tennessee Kaharskis.

Justin, before you get into everything that pissed you off about your favorite team, and you know, I think we might have to out of respect for you, Justin, because I'm frustrated with my team.

But there's something else, a little dash of misery going on with Titans fans right now.

So we're going to give you a platform to vent about the sideline leader of your team in a moment.

But before that, tell us

about the Colts and how you came out of this game, now their third consecutive win to start the season, one of the biggest surprises in football.

They look really tough to beat.

Now, I think you said this on the preview show that it would be hard to really learn a lot about them if they beat down the Titans because the Titans don't look like a professional operation.

Next week they got the Rams.

I can't wait for that.

Yeah, and I do think that's going to tell us a whole lot more about them.

But the Colts came into this game with two sacks on the season, or sorry, with three sacks on the season, all on Tua in week one.

They didn't sack Bonix last week.

They sacked Cam Ward four times today.

So they show that the pass rush has still got some juice against, again, a non-professional, incompetent operation on the Titans side.

Jonathan Taylor, though, I mean, everyone's talking about how healthy he looks and how good he looks.

On his second touchdown run, he sprints through multiple tackles at the line of scrimmage, pops out the other side, outruns Legerius Need, who gave the most pathetic...

touchdown saving tackle attempt that i've ever seen on his third touchdown run he literally runs through five different guys um so you talked about adam archoletta having angry dad broadcaster energy so did ross tucker who's just like ross tucker was tearing brian callahan apart on this broadcast the whole game but at the same time praising jonathan taylor for just running through all these guys And they also talked a lot on the broadcast about how Shane Steichen is bootlegging the Titans to death.

And that's absolutely the case.

They are using Daniel Jones' mobility.

And, you know, Anthony Richardson is like praised for his athleticism and his mobility.

And we know Daniel Jones can run the ball as well.

I think his most famous play of his career is like that 70-yard run where he tripped at the end of it.

But they are using his legs.

I would say this is probably the same playbook they had for Anthony Richardson because both those guys can use their legs and get around in the pocket pocket or take the ball upfield.

And Jones was sharp in this game.

He's hitting guys downfield.

There's players running wide open.

So again, it's hard to take a, it's hard to learn a lot about the Colts, but they were a very impressive, I mean, you put up 41 points on a team.

They're a very impressive operation.

Whenever you can run the way that they're running, like it opens things up for a mobile quarterback, too.

We see that in Philadelphia.

But Jones on a third and seven.

had this one 17-yard run that just kind of was like, I can see why coaches were like, we want want this guy.

And like, he's just a perfect blend with the Colts.

And Jonathan Taylor is the best running back in the league.

Like, they secretly have all these weapons.

And

it's kind of like my favorite story of the season to see Daniel Jones thrive this way under good coaching.

And he was really good in the pocket.

The Titans did have him, you know, dead to rights like two or three times in this game where they should have sacked him.

And his ability to just make subtle movements and shift to the left or the right or step up was like, this is the same Daniel Jones that played for the the Giants.

Like, I don't even believe that

it is.

It is

a solar on the one, too.

It was like, but we don't want him doing that, right?

Because one of his issues has been durability as well.

Like, get a play smart too, right?

Because who's the backup quarterback?

Like, how quickly would this all changes if Daniel Jones exits the lineup and Anthony Richardson is back in?

But that, we don't want to talk about this.

Well, this game was such a beatdown.

Yeah.

Oh, did he get in today?

Anthony Richardson did get in.

He did get in the end of the fourth quarter.

Goodness, oh my goodness.

Here's a stat

that tells a lot.

They've been playing such clean football, the Colts so far.

They still don't have a turnover.

That's three games without a turnover.

They didn't have a punt, obviously, like I said,

until the first half today.

And Jonathan Taylor has

five

runs of 12 or more yards already this season, which is second most in the NFL.

So, I mean, it's clicking right now.

It's clicking.

Now, let's get out of the way.

Now, we're going to move to the side.

And we don't know

what Justin is going to say here, but we know that he's very angry about the head coach, Brian Callahan.

Go ahead.

Go off, King.

All right.

So, Brian Callahan, now after today's loss, this is his 20th game as an NFL head coach.

He is 3-17.

That is the worst winning percentage for an NFL head coach who has coached at least 20 games in the history of the NFL.

He had a brutal, brutal game situation mismanagement at the end of the first half.

For the second time in three games, he has, they, so the Titans get the ball back with just over three minutes to go from their own 41-yard line, and they proceed to hand it off six or seven times in a row.

Like, there's only, there's just over three minutes left.

You're down 19 to 6 or 17 17 to 6, 17 to 6 at this point in the game.

And you are non-aggressive.

You are willing to settle for a long field goal.

They get the ball across midfield,

just outside the 40-yard line, and they get stopped fourth and one.

After, again, just nothing but run plays, handing it off to Tony Pollard every time.

They come out with the offense on the field on fourth and one.

There's 40 seconds left in the half, thereabouts.

And the Colts call a timeout.

So like, oh, it looks like they're going to go for it.

We don't know if, are they going to try to draw us off sides?

Are they they going to go for it?

Colts call timeout.

Titans come back onto the field after the timeout with their offense on the field.

And Cam Ward's looking over at the sideline, wondering, is there a play call coming in?

What's going on?

Play clocks ticking down.

Titans have to call a timeout.

So Titans call a timeout after the Colts call a timeout.

Then they send the field goal unit out.

It takes them so long to decide whether they're going to go for it or kick the field goal that they get a delay of game penalty on a field goal attempt that was going to be 57 yards after the penalty.

After that timeout

in post.

Sure.

How in the world does that happen?

Russ Tucker again says, I don't think I've ever seen a field goal delay of game after two timeouts.

How do you not know what you're gonna do in this situation?

It turns it into a 62-yard field goal, which he still decides to attempt.

They miss the 62-yard field goal.

It gets tipped at the line, has no chance of going in.

The Colts get the ball back.

So instead of going into half, 17-9, maybe if you make a 62-yard field goal, the Colts two plays later are in field goal range.

They end the half with a field goal of their own.

They also get the ball after halftime because Brian Callahan elected to start the game with the ball after winning the toss instead of deferring.

Cam Ward throws a pick six on the third play of the game, so you're in a 7-0 hole from the very beginning.

This is meant to be 30 seconds.

Yeah, okay.

Yep.

All right, let's bring this in for Atlantic, Justin.

Yeah.

My last point to make is:

we talked about this on Thursday.

There were 10 0-2 teams coming into this week.

The 0-2 teams, the Texans were competitive with the Jags.

Yeah, some

unfortunate fumbling.

They're competitive.

They look like a competitive team, at least.

The Jets, competitive to the last moment, to the final whistle with the Bucs.

The Dolphins, competitive with one of the best teams in the league, with the Bills on Thursday night.

The Panthers, we'll get to them.

Blow out the Falcons.

The Bears, we just talked about blew out the Cowboys.

The Browns, one of the best teams in football.

The Packers, the Giants and Chiefs, both 0-2, play a competitive game on Sunday night football.

The Titans don't even show up for this game.

Them and the Saints are the only two 0-2 teams that didn't even show an ounce of fight.

And I looked this up.

It's the show within the show, Titan City Miracle podcast right here.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

Yes.

The Music City Audible.

Titans,

the earliest a head coach has ever been fired in NFL history is after week four.

It's happened twice.

And then last year, Robert Sala, after week five.

I would not be surprised if the Titans fire Brian Callahan before their next game.

They're about to go on a three-game road trip.

Amy Adam Strunk was at this game to induct Mike Keith

into the Titans Hall of Fame, and the Titans are booing him.

He was the play-by-play guy for 20 plus years.

Music City, Miracle, all the stuff.

They're booing at halftime.

Amy Adam Strunk is not going to take this.

I wouldn't be surprised if Callahan is out before.

They're booing Mike Keith?

Well, as soon as Mike Keith got up there, they stopped booing, but they booed Burke Niall, who's like a CEO guy of the team.

Niall?

Can you booing Imagine going on a blind date with Justin?

Oh my God.

Let Justin talk like 47 minutes later.

I'm sorry, that was so long, but

this is going to be the first head coach fired this season.

Mike McDaniel, everyone thought it would be him?

It's going to be Callahan.

I mean, I know you hope for it, but...

I don't think that's a good idea.

I think he pulled the trigger.

They're a weird team.

It's not something you want to do, Justin, when you have the number one overall pick is fire as head coach after week four or whatever.

Like, I don't know if that's...

But they will.

I don't know if that's the path, the functionality.

But anyway, do you have the Pittman sound?

Let's just end it here.

Yeah, I mean, I kind of seen it on the pregame intros.

They kind of looked a little sluggish.

They're kind of walking around.

Nobody was really bouncing.

And right then and there, we all sat there and we're like, they don't want to play today.

And I think that's how we found our edge uh today is just mentally we thought that we wanted to play more than they did so the vibes dark it's dark aren't good and if if that uh two by cam ward dock uh isn't out yet uh maybe they want to shelve that one at this point just just the thought I'd say one quick thing because I know we've been on this segment this game for about 14 years.

Yeah, there's no such thing as a quick thing with this game.

If you're going to fire someone in week three, you better have someone on the staff that you could hand the reins to.

What do you think?

And the answer would be, the answer would be Bill Callahan, but that's his father.

So

that's too problematic.

So

Bones Fossil has been an interim head coach, and Mike Callahan.

His cousin.

And Mike McCoy has been a head coach.

He's a senior offensive.

Local CBS.

They have two Kellen Moore.

Ellen.

All right.

Great.

Let's take a break and dig into the rest of the week three slate.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

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All right, we are back.

I think Justin was hyperventilating into a brown paper bag during the break, but he looks like he's recovered now.

I mean,

that go off king, Justin on the Titans, that segment, I don't know if it's safe to run that one back.

Let us know in the comments.

Click like that.

I need to dial my volume down by about 300%.

Not my vocal.

Listen, it was a good app of go off king.

I'm just saying

we might want to

review it.

Lord of the Rings-esque.

We want to make it a little more bite-sized for social.

You know what I mean?

Totally.

That's again, that's my second time owning up to a mistake on that.

That will be the only social clip that escapes this episode.

It will be the entirety of it.

I'm going to take a 14-minute.

All right, here we go.

I'm going to post the whole thing.

Who cares?

No, we know.

To Seattle.

Ooh, Jaunty.

Rookie Tori Horton returned to punt 95 yards to the house.

The longest punt return in Seahawks history.

He also caught one of Sam Darnold's two touchdown passes.

Sam Darnold's playing well.

Plug in.

And the Seahawks route

the rudderless Saints 44-13.

This one was freaking grizzly.

The type of body you just want to get in the ground.

No autopsy necessary.

Just put it all to bed and move on with your life.

You know what I mean, Mark?

Just dig a hole.

It's happened at times.

Toss the body in the hole.

Throw some dirt on it.

Throw some leaves and shit on it.

And let's just

get out of town.

Just get out of Dodge.

One team that was far superior snuffed the life out of a team that is likely to pick very high in next spring's draft.

I don't like to bring up Moribund this early in the year, but that's certainly how the Saints profile right now.

now.

Connor,

let me go from this angle, though, because we can all be bummed out about Saints fans and what they have to deal with.

But this is the type of butt whipping that does tell you something about certain NFL teams.

Can you explain that to the audience?

Something we've talked about recently.

For sure.

I mean, I think that it's just like when you're in college and you need to put up 75 points on Tuscan State in order to stay relevant in the BCS standings.

You do it and you come out and you look flawless.

And we said that about the Colts and the Titans this week and we said it about the Seahawks and the Saints this week.

And I was watching this game and I saw multiple times where Sam Darnold was dead to rights in the pocket.

And this is not a guy that's known for his escapability.

But in the offseason, he's almost gotten like, and please take this in the proper context when I say this, but like burrow-esque in terms of just his mobility.

So his ability to stay square in the pocket, not leave, not assume a running position, get up enough to make a throw and to make a good throw.

He did that a couple times in this game, and that really impressed me.

And that's the kind of thing that matters, right?

Because this is a guy that was spooked with pressure last year.

This was a guy that was affected by blitzing in the last two games of the season.

Didn't look that way against New Orleans today.

It's, I mean, if you think about it, it's someone who...

We know the first part of the career, but you've spent the last two years with Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O'Connell.

It's like going to Oxford for two years and

studying literature.

I mean, it's like you're, he's, and he's taken that teaching and he's grown.

And like, what a clean game.

But this to me was as much about like the Seahawks as a team.

And I know you played the Saints.

So even if you took 20 points off the final total, they are rounding into a bit of a beast to deal with.

And it has a lot to do with the defense, number one, which.

Spencer Rattler had two pretty good games for what we think he is coming into this, and they just completely unspooled them from the start.

And I'm starting to wonder what this defense can be in the NFC West because it is the vision of the head coach.

Yeah, I mean, this is a game that's 21-0 after the first quarter.

It was 38-6

at halftime.

And

they beat the pants off the Saints in all ways.

And special teams with the

touchdown, punt return.

They blocked a punt, leading to a touchdown.

They beat them through the air

with Darnold passing.

Kenneth Walker didn't have a big day yardage-wise, but he scores twice from in close.

And yeah, to the point I was setting up Connor with.

When you are a team that could just trounce bad teams and then you hold your own against the good teams, that's the path to 11 and 6.

That's the path to 12 and 5.

That's the path to winning your division and having home games in the playoffs.

And I think Seattle is the NFC team right now that I think is flying under the radar a little bit when we talk about who really matters.

And I think that there's a lot of oxygen that is taken up in the NFC West by the Rams and the Niners.

But yeah, I think the Seahawks are a team to reckon with.

And

not just because I'm the queen bee of the Darnold Hive, but this version of Darnold that we've seen this year is a step up from what Geno Smith was giving them last year.

So if they have someone at the controls that's a little more smart with the football and can protect and make plays without and staying within himself to go with this defense, to go with this running game, I think the Seahawks are going to be a lot to handle for teams this year.

And that's all I really got to say about this game.

I mean, I don't really, do you want me to cook up something about the Saints?

I really can't.

I don't have much to add.

I don't know if anybody.

Kelly Newah.

Trade Alvin Kamara.

That's what we should call him.

I think that's happening.

I did think about that.

I saw saw at one point, yeah, they had like a check down

to him, and it's like, I don't know, man, is this how his career is going to end?

Playing with Spencer Rattler?

You know what I mean?

A team that's averaging 10 penalties a game.

And I don't think this is Ellen Moore's fault,

but it's certainly a tough start.

It isn't his fault yet, but

that can turn

dark pretty quick.

Well, that really depends on Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Or the woman that said Ellen Moore.

Sorry.

Ellen Moore.

Well, yeah.

Yeah.

Ellen Moore.

It's kind of confusing now.

But here's the good news for the Saints.

This is the good news.

They go to Buffalo next week.

So, you know, there's always the good thing about football next week, you could wipe it all away.

And I'm sure that will go incredibly well.

Up next, we go to the nation's capital or close to it.

I love this song.

Da-da-da-dee-dee.

Dee-dee-dee.

Da-da-dee-dee-dee.

Ellen Moore.

The commanders showed off their depth on Sunday with quarterback Marcus Mariota starting in place of an ailing Jaden Daniels.

Open parenthetical, knee, close parenthetical.

And a bunch of running backs

in their arsenal behind an offensive line that looks a little different.

Doesn't matter.

They put up 174 yards on the ground in the first half,

making it easy for Mariota.

Washington beats up on the Raiders 41 to 24.

Justin, I know the Raiders aren't some world beaters, but I feel like this pretty impressive showing from the Commanders, which a game that, you know, considering the state of their roster, I thought was going to be closer and was not.

Yeah, I was really impressed with their pass rush.

And Von Miller had a sack.

You know, he's not dead yet.

I didn't think that the Washington defense was that great, you know, coming into the season or so far this season, but they were on fire today.

It felt like Geno Smith was flushed out of the pocket or under duress or sacked on most of his drop backs.

I would say that their two big drives, the Raiders had two big drives, were like the only two drives where Geno was kept clean.

Also, if you're a Raiders fan, Trey Tucker, holy cow, this guy had three touchdowns, 145 yards on both of their touchdowns.

Well, they had three T at three touchdowns, but they're two real long touchdown drives.

Like Trey Tucker was the first one.

He was like, he had, I think, three massive plays plays on this drive, and he was great.

But the Raiders are not going anywhere with this offensive line.

And not that we think the Raiders are going anywhere this season.

Their offensive line is terrible.

Gentie popped a couple of big runs.

I think he had an 18-yarder and a 16-yarder.

He had one where he like shed a couple tackles and then stiff armed a guy as he was getting taken down.

It's starting to come for him.

You know, he's a rookie.

Everyone's worried about him.

I think he's going to be okay.

But yeah, I mean, what more can you say about the commanders?

Marioto had six incompletions on 21 attempts.

He carried the ball.

He looked electric with his legs.

Another team that doesn't have to change their playbook when the backup comes in because Mariota can run, obviously.

But yeah, my number one takeaway was this Raiders' offensive line is going to just

hamstring them all season long.

I mean, you said it there.

Three of Genti's carries resulted in 45 yards.

So he finishes with 63 yards.

So

the other 14 carries resulted in someone else do the math, but probably an average of about one yard per tote

or thereabouts.

So

that has been like my takeaway from the running game.

And I guess I was saying leading into this game, can we maybe build out an offense or some formations and really drive it through Genti?

But if you're giving up a ton of points and the game script's not even there for a running attack,

just tough.

That's a tough one for the Raiders.

I'm interested to watch this game to see how it went so wrong, but they're now one and two and the commanders are two and one.

They have seven drives with less than 10 yards.

I mean,

that's a broken offense, but I would say flip side for Austin Eckler to go out because I think Washington has a number of interesting young running backs.

They finished with 200-plus yards on the ground.

I know Mariota is a part of that, but you had Jaden Daniels before, but, you know,

Likoski Merritt and

McNichols, these guys were big contributors today.

Like, that's a balanced offense.

200 and up one on the ground and 207 through the air.

There's hope.

Nichols ripped off a 60-yard touchdown that was really impressive, like bounced off three or four tacklers, you know, in the hole and then just raced to the end zone.

The other thing I'll say about the commanders' performance in this one was every time the Raiders did something big, Washington responded right away.

Like the Raiders make it 10-10.

Washington scores a touchdown on the next drive.

The Raiders cut it to 10 points with not much time left, but it's like, oh, are they going to do what the Jets did, what the Browns did?

Are they going to make this thing interesting here at the end?

No, the commanders go score the next time they have the ball.

It was like every time

it got even a little dicey for Washington, they responded with a big what happened to Dan Quinn.

Yeah, what was the

last time there?

Look cool.

Yeah, right before halftime, Mariota takes the, I think it was a scramble, maybe it was a designed run.

They had a few designed runs for him, but he's running the ball towards the sideline.

He has to get out of bounds because if he doesn't get out of bounds, the clock's going to run out and they're not going to get whatever their final field goal attempt before the half.

And he smacks right, smack dab into Dan Quinn.

He was wearing the headset.

The headset bashes bashes Quinn in the nose, and he's like

celebrating with a bloody nose.

He had this

massive cut on his nose.

He was doing sideline interviews and stuff, and it's just

huge.

And he's got the,

it wasn't.

Yeah.

You just look tough if that happens to you, and you get up.

That's good.

He's maybe a little bit on the edge to still be wearing the backwards hat at this age.

But beyond that, like, I got nothing to say.

I got nothing but respect for that man.

Just blood pouring down his face.

Check it out on YouTube.

Sound off in the comments about blood and football and how cool that is.

All right.

One more game, or two more games.

Let's go.

Let's roll through these.

All right.

So, Carson Wentz played quarterback for the Vikings.

And you're thinking to yourself, that sounds terrible.

The Vikings are going to be in trouble again.

Well, it wasn't terrible because the rest of the Vikings made it so easy on

the quarterback.

48-10.

Destruction.

A-bomb dropped on Cincinnati, another team that had five turnovers.

And we had game-changing plays from the defense.

Jordan Mason running for a buck 16 and two scores on just 16 carries.

You know, the kicking revolution.

I'm telling you, it's happening this year.

Someone's going to kick a 70-yarder.

Will Rikert made a 62-yard field goal, the longest in Vikings' history.

And then Wentz, yeah, with all the pressure off him, he throws two touchdowns in three quarters before giving way to the next quarterback on the depth chart, whose name is Mark.

I was doing something else.

Hold on, sorry.

Cool.

Rookie Maxmer.

Brosmer.

What up, bro?

Oh, yeah, that guy.

Yeah, so there you go.

Vikings kick the shit out of the Bengals.

Jake Browning picked off twice.

And Joe Burrow, nowhere to be seen.

This does not look good.

This is why at the beginning, Connor, the Thursday show, when I said of all the 2-0 teams, you could pick one team to miss the playoffs, I said, accepting the Bengals, the possibility that there are going to be games like this with Joe Burrow not there to lift all tides or all boats.

It was kind of surprising, though, right?

Because Jake Browning was like a 70% completion rate guy.

He was playing effective football the last time.

He was in a longer stint, and he just looked completely off his mark today.

And I guess you could credit Brian Flores for some of that, but that defense still hasn't been as effective without some of the guys.

Now, Harrison Smith is back.

Obviously, that was a big boost for them.

And I know that's that means a lot to what they're trying to do on the back end of that defense.

But he looked so the opposite of cautious in this game.

And it really threw me because I thought the Bengals had an advantage in this one.

It kind of, to me, is a okay, you've got two coaching staffs thrust to ask to thrust like a new quarterback into the lineup.

And if anything, the Bengals have far more experience practicing working with their quarterback.

And I know that I got a little annoyed by all the pro-Wentz

verbalization during the week.

It's like, have we not watched this guy play football?

But the Vikings as a team just seem to understand that it takes everyone.

And you got the Brian Flores element.

But from the two coaching staffs thing, it's like...

It's just heads and tails how much better the Vikings coaching staff is than most of them, but certainly in this game.

Like this is a this is a wipeout where I thought with you, Connor, I thought like Browning would have given them a chance with all the weapons around him, and it looked like a completely lost shit.

Is it that crazy to think?

I don't want to.

We have time to peek ahead what's coming up for the Vikings, but

could Wentz hold on to this job if he plays within himself and

stewards the offense in a way that McCarthy seemed incapable of in his brief start to the season?

I don't know.

You can't just do it with Darnold, though.

You can't do it yet.

You can't.

No, but

maybe, again, they slow play this ankle situation until he's 100%.

But a good start.

But again,

without, don't get it twisted.

This wasn't Carson Wentz balling out in a big spot.

This was a complete shutdown by Cincinnati competitively.

They lose the ball five times, three fumbles, two interceptions.

Two of the

turnovers were turned for touchdowns.

So the game script could not be better.

And one more note on the Bengals.

If you're going to have Jake Browning as a quarterback, you're going to have to get this running game going.

Chase Brown, minus 22 rushing yards over expectations per next-gen stats this season.

10 carries for three yards in this game.

So, what are we doing?

That's a no-show by Cincinnati.

One of the worst losses in franchise history.

It is.

And

the worst loss in.

franchise history.

And Bengals fans have every right to be nervous.

All right.

One more game.

Let's go to Charlotte.

Good Charlotte.

Good Charlotte.

Good game by the Panthers.

Good job, Charlotte.

Bryce Young ran for a touchdown.

Chow Smith Wade picked six.

Even rookie Ryan Fitzgerald got in the mix.

Kicked three field goals.

Panthers just dunk on the Atlanta Falcons.

30 to nil.

What?

What?

What?

Mark, what's all this?

I had to hear all off-season about the Falcons.

Ah, Michael Pennex.

This is what we're doing?

What are we doing?

We're getting shut out 30 to 0 by the Panthers?

Well, disgraceful.

It was

a surprisingly disgraceful performance.

Embarrassing.

It kind of, you're right, because I certainly have been one of those maybe more pro-Atlanta

people out there than some, and certainly thought Pennex, in a very small sample size, offered a lot even this season.

He was completely lost.

First of all, you know, Young Waku out the door, and you signed Parker Romo, the nephew of Tony Romo, probably not, but like he comes in on the first three drives, misses two field goals.

Burying like the psychological element of that right away.

And the Falcons from there just cannot get anything done.

And this was the game where I thought that Pennex just looked completely on Romo.

Well, he didn't help them.

Parker Romo, like, you know, you've got one job to do, and it was a bad day for kickers in general, for some of them.

And this was one of the more glaring examples.

But Pennix threw an aggressive pass to his left, and he's left-handed, so it should be easier than some.

But that's the one that Chow Smith Wade

jumps the route, picks six out of the gate, and it's suddenly 17-0 because Atlanta can't go anywhere.

And the second interception when they're down 20-0

to Mike Jackson on the Panthers was just another bad throw.

I don't know.

He just looked different to me today.

And that tells me that I'm surprised because the Carolina Panthers defense has been one you think you could kind of walk through and have a field day.

They got good pressure on them today, and they did their job.

I thought that they just simply showed up.

And then Bryce Young in the offense, it kind of looked like the end of last week where they scored three times to close the game.

It was closer to that.

So it kind of gives you confidence that maybe the first week of the season with Bryce Young, which was a disaster, is in the rear view and you can build off of this.

But if I'm a Falcons,

they benched Pennix.

I mean, they benched him for Kirk Cousins, and we can see what, you know, what came off of that.

But Raheem has a lot of things.

Let's hear what Raheem has to say about that.

Right.

The game was out of hand.

You know, you move on, keep him out of harm's way, keep our guys out of harm's way, take a couple guys out.

We have to take some of those wideouts out.

We have to get the young back in, get all those things going.

The game's out of hand.

They got us.

Will you give Kirk a chance to compete?

No.

Yeah, let's shut that down.

In fact, there was a report, I think, that came out Sunday morning from Rapsheet that no teams have inquired about Kirk Cousins.

So there certainly seems to be

a feeling out there within the football world, Connor, that maybe Cousins is just cooked.

And for the Falcons.

Raheem played that right because you really, you've got to find out if the first round pick is worth a damn and you can't get too worked up over one, admittedly terrible game, but just one game.

Yeah, I mean, I think that he has to learn his lesson because that pick six that he threw, he threw a pass like that at the beginning of the game where almost the same exact ball and he's just like double-hitching it and then sidearming it.

And nothing looks like it's in the flow of the offense right now.

So, I mean, I think just having it questioned might be effective enough for some guys to really unplug and reboot.

And hopefully he does.

Man, they just, they had a primetime game against the Vikings last week.

Play great, run the football down the throat of the Vikings, win that game, and then this, Raheem Morris called it an all-time low today.

I hope so.

I mean, it can't go much lower than this.

All right.

That's it.

That's it for another Sunday in the books, the flagship program.

So make sure you come back about 24 hours from now when we'll have a recap of Monday night football, a matchup between who, Mark?

Monday night football, the Ravens and the Lions.

I love that you keep pegging me with like open-ended questions as I'm attempting to

data farm and look at information on my screen.

You're a broadcaster.

I nailed that one.

That's keeping a broadcaster on his toes.

And I'm proud of you.

That's all I'm going to say.

I appreciate that.

All right, great.

Thank you to everybody.

Until Monday night, you know what you must do.

Heed the call.

I said, goddamn.

God damn.

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