2025 NFL Week 8 Recap: Here's Your Buttocks

Speaker 1 Here's the issue, Mark. You and I are aging, and

Speaker 1 it's hard to stop that.

Speaker 2 Nope. It's problematic.

Speaker 1 So we can't do the things like we used to do, which is like, you know, stay up late at the bar, then go get a burrito, and then wake up four hours later, and everything's fine.

Speaker 1 We need something. How about this, Mark? How about what I've been using? Terra Origin? Because adulthood, it's hitting hard.
We're dealing with it. Middle-aged guys,

Speaker 1 my knees hurt. I hurt my wrist the other day.

Speaker 1 I punched a door. Shouldn't have done that.
And now my wrist hurts. This is stuff that wasn't happening when I was young.
So this is where Terra Origin comes in.

Speaker 1 Are you curious why I punched the door?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I was going to say that's

Speaker 2 a different conversation. But if you've got Terra Origin, I'm sure that you're going to be able to get your way out of that mess.

Speaker 1 Aaron Judge grounded into a double play. Anyway, Terra Origin makes science-backed, clean supplements designed to help men perform better, recover faster, and feel good every single day.

Speaker 1 They make smart no BS supplements that actually help you feel human again.

Speaker 1 And that's why

Speaker 1 this is the product that you need. The best part about Terra Origin, no fluff, no fads, just premium, transparent formulas you can trust.
It's like upgrading your daily routine from survive to thrive.

Speaker 1 So whether you're lifting, leading, grinding, or parenting, Terra Origin helps you show up at your best. Visit terraorigin.com and use the code PODCAST for 30% off your first order and free shipping.

Speaker 1 That's T-E-R-R-A-O-R-I-G-I-N.com. Terra Origin.
Feel better from the inside out.

Speaker 1 Lowe's knows that saving is always top of mind, especially this season. That's why we've picked some great deals for early Black Friday.

Speaker 1 Get free select DeWalt, Cobalt, or Craftsman tools when you buy a select battery or combo kit. More tools? Why not?

Speaker 1 Plus, we've got select pre-lit artificial Christmas trees starting at $59.98 because it's never too early to think Christmas. Get Black Friday prices without the crowds.
Lows, we help. You save.

Speaker 1 While supplies last, selection varies by location. You know, Mark, some people will look at the results of week eight in the NFL and say, oh man, look at all these blowouts.
What do I say?

Speaker 1 Look at all this fun.

Speaker 2 I'm with you. I think it separates the wheat from the chaff.
If that's how

Speaker 1 you say that, I was what I was thinking too. Wheat chaff flagship show starts now.

Speaker 1 Hey, welcome to Heath the Call and NFL podcast.

Speaker 1 The week eight flagship show Sunday night recapping every game that was played in our league. Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler, Connor Orr,

Speaker 1 Justin Graver on the ones and twos. The whole squad's here.
Cecily, I got a jet shirt out of mothballs. It's a different type of Sunday

Speaker 1 here at Heath the Call.

Speaker 2 You deserve to be wearing that mothball-ridden shirt at this point. You are one of the few people that can say that you saw intriguing, alluring, close football today, and I congratulate you.

Speaker 1 Very good call. Connor, that yes, we're going to get to Jets Bangles later, a one-point game that went down to the final minute, but not every game was that way.

Speaker 1 And we're going to get into all, but still a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 fun football angles and subplots. Even if the games weren't barn burners in week eight, still gonna give you a good hour and a half of football talk right now.

Speaker 3 And this might be a bad take, but I actually enjoyed this Sunday more than other ones because I think that sometimes in the absence of when you have those massive like 42, 41 point games, a lot of times it's just like one

Speaker 3 defensive breakdown after another and it's it's almost like delirious to the mind. Whereas this was just easier to, I guess, encapsulate in like a nice little podcast.

Speaker 2 This film pulled from like the 80s or 90s, where it was like, you know, not everyone's glom together. We're going to drop some hammers on some people that deserve to have hammers dropped on them.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Wow, this is all a nice tease, I think, for the theme of the week to come up in just a little bit.
But before we get to that, let's start with the last game that was played on Sunday.

Speaker 1 It was Sunday Night Football from Acroshore.

Speaker 1 Across.

Speaker 1 Change that name.

Speaker 1 It was the game that was supposed to be, at least if you were watching the coverage, the pregame coverage,

Speaker 1 a welcome home coming

Speaker 1 for Aaron Rodgers, even though it wasn't in Green Bay, but it was the Packers and it was Aaron Rodgers and the first time he was facing off the team where he became a legend.

Speaker 1 And it all went to script until Jordan Love said, and yeah, hey, don't forget about me.

Speaker 1 I'm the young gun, 26 years old, and he has 20 consecutive completions in this game at one point in the second half, all part of a huge 28-point explosion for Green Bay who go on the road and take it to the Steelers 35 to 25.

Speaker 1 Love finished 29 of 37 for 360, three touchdowns, no interceptions.

Speaker 1 Just under 10 yards per attempt. And Connor, while Aaron Rodgers certainly didn't play play poorly in this game, his stats look fine.

Speaker 1 The Packers were the team that ended up making the statement on the night that was supposed to be Rodgers.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And it's weird.
It's like, I think Aaron Rodgers is doing what he was advertised to be doing, right? Like, I think he's doing just about what they thought he was going to do.

Speaker 3 I think the surprise here has been just the kind of the breakdown of all the older, all of the other older players on Pittsburgh's roster.

Speaker 3 And if you look at the stats, I think they're 17th or something like that in second half scoring. They're 20th in second half points allowed.

Speaker 3 This is just a team that seems to slow down over the course of a game. They tried blitzing Jordan Love, which was hilariously ineffective.

Speaker 3 They just don't have guys that can get there from the secondary anymore. And I just see this pronounced lack of team speed or hustle or whatever it is.

Speaker 3 Maybe not hustle, but just like athleticism at this point. And I think that's really what's showing up more than anything Rogers related to me.

Speaker 2 What a total collapse by the Steelers.

Speaker 2 If you yank out two missed field goals by the Packers, this is an utter

Speaker 2 blowing down the house scenario. Like you give up three straight touchdown drives and two field goal drives to end the game.

Speaker 2 This is not, this Steelers team can't rely on what they've relied on for a very long time. And if you don't get something special out of the offense, to Connor, to your point, it's well said.

Speaker 2 They just don't seem like a four-quarter type team against better teams like this.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and, you know, I thought it was telling that, and I certainly have no issue with men that have some gray in their hair or in their beard, but they had a Cam Hayward interview before the game, and he's got like almost like a full white beard at this point.

Speaker 1 And you have TJ Watt, who a couple years ago, you would be watching the

Speaker 1 ISO cams on him showing what a game record he is. But now they're doing that with Micah Parsons on the other side.
Jalen Ramsey's obviously getting up there in years.

Speaker 1 They suffer a big hit in their secondary when Deshaun Elliott goes out. I thought, so the Steelers, you know, and they're 4-3 now.

Speaker 1 And just like we've been talking about, and we'll talk about the Ravens later, Cincinnati obviously had a pretty devastating setback today.

Speaker 1 So the AFC North remains wide open and Pittsburgh remains in first place. But, you know, this is not a team that's going to, you would imagine, coast

Speaker 1 to a division title. It might be anything but.
I thought the biggest play of this game,

Speaker 1 because yes, things started well for Pittsburgh,

Speaker 1 and they go into the half up 16 to 7. They have the ball to start the second half.
And then in the third quarter, they go three and out. Green Bay takes over, and they're facing a third and five.

Speaker 1 And this is when the game changes. And a shotgun, Jordan Love drops back,

Speaker 1 buys some time, hits Tyler Kraft, who had a huge, huge game.

Speaker 1 He pushes off, no flag. That's fine.
That's football. Catches it.
Goes 59 yards down the play. It's the same play Elliott gets hurt.

Speaker 1 That ends with a 59-yard game that puts them deep into Green Bay territory. They cash in, and they are off and running from that point.
So, you know, these games sometimes have an inflection point.

Speaker 1 It was that play where the quarterback love buys time and hits Kraft, who's become like a real dog,

Speaker 1 a Connor, in this offense. And it's an offense that we've talked about a lot.
Tucker Kraft, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 We've talked about how there's no like alpha dog here, but when Tucker Kraft can give you seven for 143 and two touchdowns in a game like this under the lights, it's an eye-opening performance.

Speaker 3 Not only 143, but 137, I think, after the catch.

Speaker 1 Like all of his yardage came after he received the ball, which is nuts.

Speaker 3 And this isn't to take away from Love, who I think that was a franchise record for consecutive completions. It was 20 in a row at one point.

Speaker 3 And NFL.com strung together all 20 completions, and it took almost five minutes of like film time to put together, which is mind-boggling. But two of them.

Speaker 3 One was that airball to Kraft where he was not even looking. And then a similar one to Christian Watson.
And so I'm not saying that luck is involved.

Speaker 3 I'm more saying that the depth of the talent, the receiving talent that's on this roster, I think is really starting to show its head.

Speaker 3 And if you spread teams up out enough, Kraft is just going to eat you alive. I mean, that was a kiddle-esque performance tonight.

Speaker 2 It was. And Dan, I love that you pointed out that moment in the game, those series, because then after that,

Speaker 2 with the Steelers on the ropes, DK Metcalf, who's been good with the Steelers, what does he do?

Speaker 2 Stick his finger in the helmet of Quay Walker and gets a personal foul that ends a critical drive for them and put them deep in third down territory and they melt away.

Speaker 2 And the game was essentially salted at that point. Like that was your last chance to kind of get back back into this.
And, you know, this is not a team that can make sloppy

Speaker 2 personal mistakes. It was a fight-ridden contest tonight, but you got to keep your cool.
Like, you can't do that if you're these Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker 1 Packers now 5-1-1, and they get the Panthers at home in week nine. And we'll see if Andy Dalton's the starter there or if Bryce Young comes back.

Speaker 1 And now the Steelers four and three, like I said, and now they get the Colts next week. So, yeah, the AFC North wide open, and that defense of Pittsburgh stinks.

Speaker 1 Our buddy Shil Capadia, Steelers' defense is now 27th in EPA per drive and 29th in success rate.

Speaker 1 I mean, they finally go out and get a quarterback for the first time since Ben Rothelsberger was still like an actual human football player, and now the defense completely falls off a cliff.

Speaker 1 It has to be very frustrating for Mike Tomlin. And I wonder if he saw it coming.

Speaker 1 But either way, you can't, as good as Rodgers has been relative to expectations, he's not good enough, and the offense isn't good enough to deal with what's happening on the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 1 And once again, this looks like a team that's nine and eight.

Speaker 2 Those are like my statistics as a podcaster, those EPA numbers that you just mentioned. It's very confusing.

Speaker 1 So, Mark,

Speaker 1 so self-deprecating, so humble.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 There we go. So that game,

Speaker 1 that was the start. Okay.
That was Sunday night football. Now we're going to take a quick break and we're going to get to all the other Sunday games.

Speaker 1 Stay right there. Let's have some fun.

Speaker 1 Man, Mark, I used to think paying too much for wireless was just part of life. You pick a provider, you sign a contract, and you cross your fingers every month, hoping your bill isn't outrageous.

Speaker 1 And then I found Mint Mobile. If you're still overpaying for wireless, it's time to say yes to saying no.
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 Mint says no to contracts, no to overages, no to hidden fees, no BS. And somehow I'm getting premium wireless for just $15 a month.

Speaker 2 Mint plans include high-speed data and unlimited talk and text on the nation's largest 5G networks.

Speaker 2 I've been using it, Dan, and honestly, the coverage has been every bit as strong as my old provider, just without the sticker shock when the bill arrives. And switching was easy.

Speaker 2 I kept my phone, my number, and all my contacts.

Speaker 1 You're telling me, Mark, in that concrete jungle of Hollywood with all the skyscrapers and the mountains and the earthquakes,

Speaker 1 perfect reception. Better.
Wow. Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch at mintmobile.com slash heed the call.
That's mintmobile.com slash heed the call.

Speaker 4 Upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time, new customer offer for first three months only.
Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan.

Speaker 4 Taxes and fees extra, see Mint Mobile for details.

Speaker 1 All right, we are back. Sunday night football in the rear view.
Now we dive into the rest of the week eight Sunday schedule.

Speaker 1 But before we do that, per tradition, Mark Zessler will give us the week eight theme of the week.

Speaker 2 And what a tradition it is. My theme of the week is, here's your butt ox, here's my foot.
To repeat, here's your butt ox, here's my foot.

Speaker 1 This might might be my favorite one of the season.

Speaker 1 Easy to understand and really

Speaker 1 buttocks in general is just a wonderful word that doesn't get used enough. Connor, what does this one mean for the people that maybe did not put it together?

Speaker 3 My first inclination is to say this is a weekend of blowouts. I believe only one of the games in our slate ended in a single score in the early and afternoon games.

Speaker 2 But with Mark, the possibility that there is something deeply sexual and sinister also exists so i'm i'm leaving all options open until he explains it yeah it's almost like the first since it's repeated twice perhaps the first one's about the nfl week eight sunday the second one is just hyper personal like from the weekend in hollywood okay okay well i would i'll um i'll veer towards the former like i don't know if i recall a weekend like this and goodell in like roger goodell's nfl is two slab 10 commandment like 10 commandment ruling that every game must end in the final two minutes like we got a bunch of ass kickings and if you're gonna kick someone's ass you're putting their foot in their buttocks and it happened all over the place today yeah but connor's point stands yes connor I was just saying, always nice to do that, like right after the FBI investigates the other major American sports league, just to be like, you know,

Speaker 1 thank you. We talked about that on Thursday night.
Like all of a sudden Thursday night turned into a blowout and then all these games are the way they are.

Speaker 1 We're not saying anything, but we kind of are. All right.
So, with that said,

Speaker 1 nice little transition to a blowout at Mile High that

Speaker 1 I guess you could see coming. If you've been watching the Cowboys defensively all season, yes, this was always a possibility.
Let's go to Invesco Field, something like that.

Speaker 1 Well, it it started promising for the Cowboys. They picked off Bo Nix

Speaker 1 on the first possession of the game for Denver on a pass that was thrown behind his intended receiver. But that was really the last mistake Nicks made.

Speaker 1 From that point on, he was dominant, throwing four touchdowns. He got, in addition to his production, J.K.
Dobbins went over 100

Speaker 1 and he went for 111 yards and 15 carries. Rookie R.J.
Harvey finally punching the ticket for all those preseason film watchers who drafted him in their leagues leagues by scoring three times.

Speaker 1 And the Denver Broncos roll to a 44-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The Broncos now 6-2

Speaker 1 and undefeated in four games in Denver. The Cowboys fall to 3-4

Speaker 1 and 1.

Speaker 1 Connor, yes, this is a game we all talked about heading into the weekend. Ooh, this could be a fun shootout.
We all saw it as a close game,

Speaker 1 but this was was the version of the Cowboys that is hard to take seriously.

Speaker 1 When the defense cannot make a stop and the offense isn't perfect, it leads to bad things for, quote unquote, America's team.

Speaker 3 So this is now one of the three worst defenses through eight games in Dallas Cowboys' history. It was 1960, 2020, and now in terms of the worst eight-game point totals allowed in Cowboys' history.

Speaker 3 And I think what really, I don't know, solidified for me was the fact that this is so backbreaking for the offense.

Speaker 3 And if you look at the offense in the third quarter, when you're like, okay, it's a two-score game. They can get back into this quickly.

Speaker 3 The things that would be there, the effort plays, right? Like, is your running back blocking in the backfield and protecting your quarterback when he's about to get crushed by a defensive end?

Speaker 3 And the answer is no.

Speaker 3 And I think that at this point, to me, it solidifies the fact that, like, you know, some of these guys on offense are like, if the defense isn't going to do anything, why are we just continuing to come here and and to toil

Speaker 2 it feels like there's a couple teams around the league that are defense heavy um and very frustrated with their own offensive attacks and and for good reason um

Speaker 2 to me it's like i i don't think this is the game that makes me um think that the cowboy or that the broncos are

Speaker 2 like it's it's not the prove it game for them but to go out and put 426 yards on this team and play the way they did on offense like i'm looking at the broncos a little bit differently, but this was a shattered Cowboys secondary as well.

Speaker 2 But to Denver's credit, they took complete control of it, of that situation, and turned it into a torture chamber.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think Dallas was down three of their starting defensive backs in this game by the time you got to the second half.

Speaker 1 And it, you know, for a team that already didn't have a high level of talent at that position, now to lose it through attrition and injuries, yeah, you're very vulnerable.

Speaker 1 And yeah, Nick's just had his way. And I'll say this about the Broncos.
We've talked about this.

Speaker 1 They've been, despite a six and two record, which is tremendous, one of the best in football, they have been,

Speaker 1 depending on how you view them, a little bit of a paper tiger at times. Or is this a team that can be trusted?

Speaker 1 This is the type of game where it's like, okay, I could kind of see it a little bit more now.

Speaker 1 And they have an identity. They have the ability to light you up on offense.
And the defense, even they lost Patrick Sertan in this game. Let's keep an eye on that.
It was like an arm-shoulder issue.

Speaker 1 Also, turned his ankle at one point. So he got beat up in this game.
Obviously, you need him to solidify everything on the defensive end. But, Connor,

Speaker 1 I'll just pound the table again for Bo Nix. The touchdown pass they threw to Pat Bryant late in the second quarter

Speaker 1 is a

Speaker 1 touch pass that not many quarterbacks deliver. And I just think that

Speaker 1 he is the true wild card in the AFC because if he levels up his game and their defense continues to do what it's doing with the coaching staff that they have, the Broncos really are a title contender to me.

Speaker 1 And I just think he's better than he gets credit for. I really think that.
I think people are looking to like that.

Speaker 1 He's like one of those guys that people like to try to poke holes in his game, but let's appreciate what he's been able to do in these money situations and especially the last five quarters.

Speaker 3 Yeah, so a couple of thoughts. By the way, I think 77 points over the last five quarters of football for the Broncos, which is absolutely ridiculous.
But

Speaker 3 you're pounding the table for Knicks in particular. I'm pounding the table for the Broncos rookie class, which is really what got me fired up about this game because it's not just Harvey.

Speaker 3 When Pat Sertan goes down, I think we're seeing how good Jade Baron can actually be, their first-round pick. 50% completion rate allowed going into this game.
Justin, I knew you were going to do that.

Speaker 3 Steve Sarkesian is going to leave Texas in a couple of months and take an NFL job.

Speaker 1 Let him go.

Speaker 3 But Jade Baron has been kind of creeping onto my radar. A couple weeks ago when they beat the Eagles, he absolutely just blew up a screen pass and you looked over and you're like, who the F was that?

Speaker 3 It wasn't Patrick Suttan. And so, and then Pat Bryan, another rookie with the touchdown catch.
And so to me, Bo Nix evolves as a lot of these other guys do. And RJ Harvey's a perfect example.

Speaker 3 Not a lot in terms of touches, but when you saw the way he was used, you start looking at the Alvin Kamara comps, which are very obvious.

Speaker 3 but the fact that if bonix is now in a rough patch and he has one of those games where he's not hitting it rj harvey is instant offense and he could be a 15 20 25 touch christian mccaffrey guy and i think we saw kind of the underpinnings of that based on how he was used today That's that's perfectly said.

Speaker 2 And I think that Peyton wants to create the offenses that have worked for him in the past. So it's okay to make a comp to who could become like the Alvin Kamara in this offense and stuff.

Speaker 2 And And there's another throw that Nick's made, Dan, to your point, like it was a 25-yard touchdown to Troy Franklin that was just beautiful.

Speaker 2 And it's like, look at he was just a flat out rookie a year ago and he's growing up game by game. And we're seeing that in this offense and this team is changing.
And this is a conference of

Speaker 2 good but not great teams. So why not, Denver? It's early, but why not?

Speaker 3 You know what he did too that I loved? As soon as he threw the touchdown to Pat Bryant, he sprints down the field and he's screaming at the official: Give me the ball. I need the ball.

Speaker 3 And then he runs over and he shoves it in Pat Bryant's tummy and hugs him. I'm like, I love this guy.
That's great. That's what's on.
That's what he's thinking about.

Speaker 1 Leadership.

Speaker 1 I love that.

Speaker 1 Man, nice, a good day for the team of HTC. Am I right?

Speaker 1 Allegedly.

Speaker 2 You're getting there.

Speaker 1 All right, let's move to Baltimore, where the Ravens were.

Speaker 1 Team of HTC.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 Where the Ravens were in virtual must-win territory

Speaker 1 is weird.

Speaker 2 Go for it, do your best.

Speaker 1 America's counting on you.

Speaker 1 Stars and stripes are here to stay.

Speaker 1 Evil is on the run.

Speaker 1 Evil is on the run.

Speaker 1 My dad, I was on the phone with my dad. It was his birthday last week.
And happy birthday, Keith Hansis. The Jets gave you a gift.

Speaker 1 And he's like, Danny, you were singing a song on the show the other day. I was like, I don't remember that.
Like, yeah, he was singing a song.

Speaker 1 And the other guys, they were just kind of looking up in the air. It was...

Speaker 1 I don't know if they liked it. I was like, I don't know.
Maybe they didn't, Dad. I don't really remember any of this.
Yeah, I noticed it was funny. I was like, thanks, Dad.

Speaker 2 Well, hold on a minute here. Like, and I'm just reporting.

Speaker 2 But your dad is one of my favorite people in America, but like, it's a great idea.

Speaker 3 I just got backdooring a complaint in there.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Right, exactly.

Speaker 1 Like, you complain.

Speaker 2 You threw him into a scenario where we have to think about him, not you.

Speaker 1 Just the conversation. That's true.
He just made me think of it. How did you want us to respond?

Speaker 2 What could we have done to have been more

Speaker 2 like

Speaker 1 a nod? Here, pump up this song. Pump Pump the song up.

Speaker 2 Well, you got little Justin bobbing his head up there. Like, is that not enough? Little Justin.

Speaker 1 All right. Yes, the Ravens needed a win, and they got it.

Speaker 1 Good for them. Good for the Ravens because shenanigans, Tom Foolery afoot with the injury report for the Ravens who list Lamar Jackson as a full participant in practice on Friday.

Speaker 1 And then by Sunday, he's downgraded to out. So it's Snoop Huntley on the field.
And to Snoop Huntley's credit, he made big plays in this game and ran the offense efficiently.

Speaker 1 Derrick Henry added two touchdowns, and yes, the Ravens get the win they desperately need: 30 to 16 over the Bears, who are whatever, by the way.

Speaker 1 They might be missing me with the Bears hype because I know there's a lot of that coming out of the Midwest. They were trying to throw coal into that

Speaker 1 steam train. Is it Nanon? Coal train? I don't know.
Well, but it's just like, let's play better. Sure.
It's not just about the wins.

Speaker 1 Anyway, yeah, so this was a game that was very tight in the fourth quarter. And as I'm watching it, because

Speaker 1 the Ravens played from ahead

Speaker 1 from the time they score a touchdown midway through the second quarter, a Henry touchdown, they're playing from ahead.

Speaker 1 And then the Bears score a touchdown. They cut it to 16-13.

Speaker 1 And then the Ravens answer back. They score a touchdown again.
And then the Bears kick a field goal to get it to 23-16.

Speaker 1 And I'm thinking to myself, man, this is it. This is the season for the Ravens.
They have to find a way to close out this game. And to their credit, they did.
They go on a nine-place, 66-yard drive.

Speaker 1 It takes a little under three minutes. It ends with another Henry touchdown with 209 to play, and they get it done.
So

Speaker 1 credit two things on this.

Speaker 1 You got to credit the Baltimore defense, which has been fairly maligned for their struggles this season.

Speaker 1 And you got to credit Snoop Huntley because what this team has really lacked, in addition, they've lacked a lot this year, obviously, including healthy players.

Speaker 1 But a quarterback that can just proficiently run the offense. And I like this little clip from John Harbaugh at the end of his media gathering.

Speaker 1 Tyler Huntley was waiting to go up on the dais himself, and Harbaugh kind of motioned to his quarterback. Check this out.

Speaker 5 I don't think you play any better than that. That was one of those all-time great performances, man.
I'm so proud of you. We'll talk about the phone call sometime.
But he did it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I don't know if I'd call it an all-time great performance, guys, but for John Harbaugh, it must have felt that way because he knew, just as I knew and many other people knew going into this game and as you watch this game, that their season was on the line.

Speaker 1 And now, as the schedule softens up, you could start to see it, especially if Lamar gets back for Thursday.

Speaker 2 It was great to see also

Speaker 2 Nate Wiggins make a huge play in this game. Like someone from this defense, they got Roquan Smith back.
Like you can start to feel it and see it. Like had they lost this today,

Speaker 2 I am singing a different song and floating their boat out into the deep seas.

Speaker 2 into death. But now it's like you're still hanging around.
You made this work. And yeah, like they know Tyler Huntley really well.
Like he traveled beyond them and came back to the team.

Speaker 2 And like he did exactly what you'd want an NFL backup quarterback to do today. And it was like they could run their offense to some degree.
Derrick Henry was effective.

Speaker 2 And your season is alive, where I am left with more questions about the Bears, actually, about how they handled the end of this game.

Speaker 2 I feel like the Bears a little bit under Ben Johnson, that they are, and this happens to a lot of teams, but it's like the early scripted session of their offense looks really, really good.

Speaker 2 And maybe that's what they can be. But then they seem to float away a little bit at times.
And this was one where it's like, you're just in the middle of the pack, Chicago, and I'm okay with that.

Speaker 2 You're not. I am.

Speaker 3 Very similar to the Jaguars to me, where if they can run the ball and they can absolutely tilt the scales with turnovers, they're going to be really hard to beat.

Speaker 3 And I think they're probably a little bit more talented front-to-back than Jacksonville is too.

Speaker 3 But the fact that they don't get that on a weekly basis and that no team gets that on a weekly basis means that every few weeks you're going to have these losses to the Ravens, especially when, I mean, you brought up a great point with Wiggins, and it's just every little guy that they get back unlocks Kyle Hamilton just a little bit more.

Speaker 3 We talked about that on Thursday. He had an unbelievable rush in this game.
Like, guy's a monster, and I think he can take over the back half of this season.

Speaker 1 Yeah, the Bears will rue how they handled the first quarter of this game because they dominated play.

Speaker 1 The Ravens had just one drive, a three and out, and Baltimore, Chicago goes into the red zone twice on a 13-play drive, an 11-play drive.

Speaker 1 They both stall in the red zone, and they have to settle for field goals. And yeah, and then, you know, as this game was

Speaker 1 late in the game, just a lack of urgency in a general sense, like you don't want to put it all on Caleb Williams.

Speaker 1 But I feel like the last two weeks, again, were like, it's one of those one step forward, two steps back with him. And while I still think that there is reason to be optimistic about this offense

Speaker 1 because of the play caller and because of the personnel, one of the major subplots, I think, to watch in the NFC the rest of the way is like, where does Williams go from here?

Speaker 1 Does he trend upward? Does he truly regress?

Speaker 1 Or are we starting to get a clear idea of who he is, which is he's just kind of this guy that kind of stays in the middle, which is not what the Chicago Bears thought they were getting with the first overall pick.

Speaker 1 So not sounding any alarm bells. I thought this was a very, even though, I don't know if they were favored or not.
I can't remember. I think Baltimore was.

Speaker 1 But I knew this was going to be a tough game for Chicago, even with the Ravens being in a bad way because Baltimore needed it that badly.

Speaker 1 But they just didn't play clean football. And too often that's been the case for them this season, even though they have a winner.

Speaker 2 The Ravens were favored because Vegas cannot see anything but a team that's apparently going to the AFC championship. So apparently they see what I don't see.
But

Speaker 1 I'll push back on that because I know you've been trying to throw dirt on them for weeks and weeks. I'm not saying they're a Super Bowl team, but they are favored the next seven weeks.
I just read.

Speaker 1 Like the schedule is very soft now. Lamar should be back.

Speaker 1 Roquan Smith's back where the defense is coming, rounding into form. Talking to Kyle Hamilton, getting back to to himself.

Speaker 1 You don't have to squint in that division, your AFC Northmark, to see the Ravens going on a run.

Speaker 2 I'll tell you what, it's just, it's such a predictable, like, latter part of the season thing that they win like six in a row, and we've got to verbalize it and talk about it non-stop.

Speaker 2 I'll leave it there.

Speaker 2 It's an annoyance. It's all the time.

Speaker 2 Every year, it's the same thing.

Speaker 1 Hey, man, that's what we do.

Speaker 3 It's hard to bet against a team that can manipulate the injury report to their advantage and just seemingly get away with it. We'll see what happens there.

Speaker 1 Florio reported on that Sunday night football pregame show, Maron,

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 they could face suspensions, fines, and even the loss of draft picks. And I'm like, whoa.
I think everyone's a little freaked out with this gambling scandal right now.

Speaker 1 And there's just a general vibe that everybody be on their P's and Q's, and

Speaker 1 we don't want

Speaker 1 Patel on our ass, you know?

Speaker 3 Well, it was great because Harbaugh after the game was like, it was an honest mistake, but also I'm not involved in it whatsoever.

Speaker 1 Don't look over here. Hands washed, everything fine.

Speaker 2 Well, what will happen is the Ravens will get five compensatory picks out of it as they do every year. Something pro-Ravens will occur.

Speaker 1 The Ravens will get five compensatory picks out of the game, out of this injury

Speaker 1 thing.

Speaker 2 Somehow.

Speaker 1 Why are you so triggered by the Ravens right now? You're fine, buddy. Everything's fine.

Speaker 2 Right now, now, how about since they were like my team?

Speaker 1 Everything's fine. Only two and five.
You have plenty of time to get out of here. I know what's coming.

Speaker 2 I know what's going to happen. They're going to win seven games in a row, and we're going to have to be like, you know, waving our flags all around town.

Speaker 1 Okay. Hang in there, Mark.

Speaker 1 Let's move to Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 Waving our flags. I have it in my closet.
My Baltimore Ravens flag.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 1 Kakal!

Speaker 1 Saquon Barkley.

Speaker 1 Hey, if you were paying attention to the recap last week, I said it. I said, watch Barkley.
Watch him in this game.

Speaker 1 There are three or four runs last week where it's like, he's just missing that big one. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming.
His first carry against the New York Giants on Sunday.

Speaker 1 He bust-free 65 yards to the house. He ended up going over 100 yards for the first time this season.
Also leaves with a groin injury. Keep an eye on it.

Speaker 1 but with Barkley leading the way the Eagles overwhelm the New York Giants 38 to 20

Speaker 1 Mark Sessler

Speaker 1 your thoughts

Speaker 2 well considering they just played each other two weeks ago

Speaker 2 it was a very impressive performance for me from the Eagles

Speaker 2 It changed definitively when Cam Scatabo like had a terrible, a a visually terrible ankle injury where the foot is not pointing the way that our feet point.

Speaker 2 And I think it, like, I mean, I really mean that because we see that and we don't, then they don't replay it.

Speaker 2 Right, Connor's laughing at it. I don't think like us

Speaker 2 entirely. But like, I think it, I think it really affected Jackson Dart.
It affected the entire Giants team. It affected what we like.

Speaker 2 This whole Giants experience was built on the quarterback and running back. But the Eagles were pretty irrepressible irrepressible in this game, like 428 yards of offense.

Speaker 2 Before Saquon goes out, you got the Saquon-Barkley game, 150 yards, 10.7 yards per carry. That basically was like, this is last year's Eagles right now with no A.J.
Brown.

Speaker 2 This is last year's Eagles, and they're dominant. And even after Saquon went out, Tank Bigsby comes in and rushes for 104 yards also at 11 plus yards per carry.

Speaker 2 They just kind of played that script where they caught a lead and a team, they broke the will of the opponent and dominated on the ground.

Speaker 2 And it was another clean game from Jalen Hurts, four touchdowns, zero interceptions.

Speaker 2 It's like, you know, some of these teams, like, you know, from week to week, I don't know what we're getting, but like this Eagles team looking like this is so different than where we were 14.

Speaker 2 My mind's exploding because it's like, what happened that night versus this night? But they looked really pure, really clean, and they were dominant.

Speaker 1 And, you know, and I agree with you. You saw it with the the Scataboo injury, which is terrible.
And he's having surgery tonight in Philadelphia on the dislocated ankle. Obviously, his season is over.

Speaker 1 You saw the reaction,

Speaker 1 Jackson Dart, you know, shouting angrily, down on his knees. The player is kind of like in disbelief because, yeah, it's a bummer of the way this season for the Giants has played out.

Speaker 1 It's been just a roller coaster ride

Speaker 1 where things got very exciting when Dart and Scataboo hit the scene together. Malik Neighbors blows out his knee.

Speaker 1 You have the obviously crusher of all crushers in Denver last week. And now Camp Scatabu suffers a serious lower body injury.
So now you lose him.

Speaker 1 And you just wonder, like, okay, the Giants are still going to be fun to watch. We'll see.
We're going to watch it.

Speaker 1 But the one thing we know, and I think some of this has been a little bit obscured by the excitement around the Giants, is that they're not a good team. They're a bad team.

Speaker 1 And like defensively, for instance, they entered this game 31st in the league, averaging more than five yards per carry.

Speaker 1 And then they give up 277 yards in this game so it doesn't surprise me that tank bigsby or anybody else could continue to run the football well this is a team that despite some big names and some big talk about what they could be uh struggle on a week-to-week basis in many areas The best part about the Scatabo thing, though, is did you see him on the ground and he's like, someone helped me up.

Speaker 3 He wanted to walk off the field and everyone's like, Jesus, man, your foot's

Speaker 1 lunatic.

Speaker 1 God bless him.

Speaker 1 Get well soon. Hopefully he comes back stronger than ever.
Do you want to talk about the latest tush-push situation, Mark?

Speaker 2 This pushes me into your camp, is what it does.

Speaker 1 It tush-pushes you?

Speaker 2 It tush-pushes me into your camp because there was, this was kind of, but

Speaker 2 I guess, does it open the door on showing how hard it is to officiate this? But there was a play where the Eagles, of course, attempt the tush-push, and Kayvon Thibodeau, our friend. Our friend.

Speaker 1 That's pushing it, but go ahead.

Speaker 2 Hurts fumbled the ball, and he picked it up. And the whistle

Speaker 2 by the announcer's ears and by everyone's like, it came after. And they called it that he was forward progress, and they nullified the turnover.
It's like, it was to me a clear.

Speaker 1 And that's the game's 7-7 from that mistaken mark at that point. It turns into seven points for the Eagles, a lead they never relinquish,

Speaker 1 I believe. And

Speaker 1 the reason why it doesn't get overturned is when they call the same thing happened in the Denver game, and it cost me a

Speaker 1 damn fantasy touchdown for J.K. Dobbins as R.J.

Speaker 1 Harvey just scooped them all up on me, where he went into the end zone, but the referee blowed the whistle right before he crossed the go-line, blew the whistle and said his forward momentum had stopped or whatever.

Speaker 1 And then that's not reviewable. So this is another thing that's not reviewable.
And Kayvon Thibodeau, I thought, fairly called out why this doesn't seem to be

Speaker 1 necessarily something that should be in the game when it's this difficult to officiate.

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 6 That's some bullshit, man. Honestly, when it comes to that play and what happened, I feel like, you know, the refs, they got a kind of a hard job because they don't know when to stop it.

Speaker 6 You know, and I think it's tough on defense, obviously, because it's like you stop the first surge, the refs don't blow the whistle.

Speaker 6 You get the ball out and you take it, now all of a sudden it's, you know,

Speaker 1 whatever you said, the forward progress.

Speaker 6 At the end of the day, you just got to keep playing, man. Shit happens.
Try to keep giving it your best and live with the results.

Speaker 1 They should be able to correct it, though, right?

Speaker 2 Like,

Speaker 2 it's just overtly, visually wrong to us. And it's like, that's what the NFL should find a way to eradicate.
We don't need these situations.

Speaker 3 Just don't get bodied by Jordan Milata on that long Saquon Barkley touchdown. Then you don't have to worry about being put in those situations.

Speaker 1 That's what I say. Fair.
Yeah. I mean, yeah,

Speaker 1 it's poked out clearly. I mean, it's just like.

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 1 How is that not reviewable?

Speaker 1 Maybe if you don't want to get rid of the tush push because it's a bad optical look, because there's one team that can do it and they're the team that won the championship last year, then maybe we need to make some alterations to make it more fairly legislated.

Speaker 1 Whether it's like calling a false start after, you know, a booth check from upstairs. Oh, that was a false start.
Or actually, no, the progress hadn't stopped yet when the ball got knocked away.

Speaker 1 Right now, it just seems unofficiable.

Speaker 1 I don't know if that's a word, but close enough.

Speaker 3 I totally agree with you. Like, if you were to go to a Sky Judge scenario and you were to hammer the Eagles on false start penalties, or you were to delay the ability to blow the play,

Speaker 3 you would allow it to extend it to the point where it would be,

Speaker 3 you know, they wouldn't want to do it because they're going to lose the football at a greater rate, right?

Speaker 3 I think that's the way that you get it out of the game because the other way, legislating against it just leads to mutations of the tush push that don't involve pushing or that just continue to skirt around the rules, make them not want to do it in other ways.

Speaker 1 okay there you go so um just getting started here we're going to take a quick break and when we get back we're going to dive into uh

Speaker 1 the dominant day from the afc east yeah you heard me stay right there

Speaker 1 Today's episode is brought to you by Fabletics. If you live in activewear like I do, you know how fast it adds up.

Speaker 1 One pair of leggings can cost as much as a whole outfit, unless you shop at Fabletics. Their stuff feels super high-end, performs like the expensive brands, but costs way less.

Speaker 1 When I joined as a Fabletics VIP, that's right, VIP, baby, I got 80% off of everything, which felt wild. And after that, it's about $60 a month unless I skip.

Speaker 1 That fee gives me a credit I can use toward a full outfit or bundle worth up to $100. Every month they send me an email.
I decide if I want to use my credit or skip.

Speaker 1 I've even used mine to grab something for my wife. The quality is next level.
The no-roll waistband leggings and hoodie are soft, breathable, and actually keep their shape.

Speaker 1 And I love that Fabletics is carbon neutral and uses recycled fabrics for more than half of their materials.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I think that's very nice that you gift your wife.

Speaker 2 Honestly, once you try Fabletics, you're going to get it. Okay.
The quality, the comfort, the value. Treat yourself to gear that looks good, feels good, and doesn't break the bank with Fabletics.

Speaker 2 Go to fabletics.com slash HTC and sign up as a VIP and get 80%

Speaker 2 off everything. That's fabletics.com slash HTC to sign up as a VIP and get 80%

Speaker 2 off everything.

Speaker 2 That's fabletics.com slash HTC. You know, I bought a lot of glasses over the years and I used to think you had to choose between style, comfort, or price.
Turns out, you don't.

Speaker 2 Warby Parker changed all that. They make every frame with premium materials so everything feels sturdy and looks sharp.

Speaker 2 Their in-house designs come in tons of colors, tons, and fits, which means there's a pair that actually flatters you. And with over 300 stores across the U.S.

Speaker 2 and Canada, you can get styled by their friendly advisors or shop online from home, Dan.

Speaker 1 Oh, I love that. I don't like leaving the house.
And Warby Parker glasses started just $95, including prescription lenses with anti-reflective scratch-resistant coatings.

Speaker 1 Eye exams started $85, and you could save 15% when you grab two or more pairs. Free shipping, free 30-day returns.
It's basically risk-free.

Speaker 1 I picked up a pair of the Elio sunglasses, and I'll tell you what, and I'm very particular about my sunglasses because I don't want to, wrong pair of sunglasses on my face, I just look terrible.

Speaker 1 I just look like a monster. It's got to be the right fit.
And Warby Parker, they nail it with all the options they give you.

Speaker 2 Those Elios look good on you. Warby Parker has over 300-plus locations.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 To help you find your next pair of glasses, you can also head over to warbyparker.com slash HTC right now to try on any pair virtually.

Speaker 2 That's warbyparker.com slash htc warbyparker dot com slash htc thanks mark i appreciate that compliment you're welcome

Speaker 1 all right we are back let us uh continue on week eight the flagship show

Speaker 1 um yeah i mentioned the afc east now i don't know if there's ever going to be a a week where our teams all win on the same week that would be uh quite a trifecta hit jets browns titans um i didn't think we would see the all of of the AFC East win anytime, but they all won plus 75-point differentials.

Speaker 1 So let's roll through the results from that division.

Speaker 1 Three blowouts, and yes, the closest game of the week. And before we get to that

Speaker 1 New York Jets-Bengals game, just want to mention quickly, and Connor, you wrote about it beautifully over at SI, so please check it out. Nick Mangold passed away, and this is crazy news.

Speaker 1 The former star center for the Jets died at 41

Speaker 1 after dealing with kidney disease.

Speaker 1 And I can only imagine how scary that must have been because it was just like 10 or 12 days ago when he sent out a public appeal, you know, because he needed a kidney and to essentially know that the clock was ticking against you and then to end the way it is.

Speaker 1 So, really sad, sad story, really sad backdrop to today in general. Like,

Speaker 1 Connor, I know you covered the Jets during Mengold's time there, where he was, you know, the really the key to their offensive line in the middle.

Speaker 1 I remember I got a chance to meet him in London a few years ago when the Jets were playing the Falcons, and we went to this Jets bar.

Speaker 1 They were doing something like the day before the game, and he was there, and I was introduced to him. And like, I was geeking out a little bit because he's always one of my favorite Jets of that era.

Speaker 1 And I remember being like charmed by the guy because he was kind of seemed uncomfortable being the subject of attention with all these Jets fans.

Speaker 1 And like, he was a very like like his sensibilities were very Ohio and like blue collar and he played that way too. So just a really sad, sad story losing Nick Mangold at 41.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I'll just always remember like that locker room. I started in 2010.
So they were coming off the AFC title game and he was a big deal.

Speaker 3 And at that point, when you're like the backup Jets reporter, you're kind of like 31st on the roster.

Speaker 3 I remember like just lingering around one day and I had a question about like some weird defense that the Packers were running and I knew that he'd face something similar in college and you're just kind of like poking around and looking around on the outskirts and then he's just like I see a straggling over there come on come on over here you know and just calls me over

Speaker 3 and you and you sit down next to him and you know he he breaks it all down for you and he's just so smart and you know those are just things that you know those those little instances of human kindness that I think probably when strung together really

Speaker 3 really built the fabric of an incredible life for him and so, you know, it's, it's very sad that we, uh, we lost someone like that today.

Speaker 2 And it's like when someone goes, well, the age of it, his age, and we've, you know, I feel like we deal with this almost monthly with NFL players.

Speaker 2 But you find out what people really felt about that person.

Speaker 2 And honestly, like having, you know, we've all met Rex Ryan too here and there, but having hung out with him a little bit, like he just wears his heart on his sleeve.

Speaker 2 And the way he spoke about Nick Mangle this morning on ESPN, it was like,

Speaker 2 he loved this person. This was a keystone

Speaker 2 like an absolute core piece of his football journey. And to it just too soon.
I mean, there's nothing really you can say that feels right, but like it's like, damn.

Speaker 2 And to have to go out there online and ask, you know,

Speaker 2 that they couldn't find a way to get the situation fixed out. But like, he was, he was a special person for the Jets, and there aren't that many for the Jets.

Speaker 1 No, he was part of their last winning

Speaker 1 team

Speaker 1 straight up and now he's gone and the Jets played with heavy hearts in Cincinnati which made the results of the game feel a little bit more special. Let's get to Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 Yes, the Jets entered Sunday

Speaker 1 as the

Speaker 1 lone winless team in football, and it certainly looked like that was going to be the case at least one more week as the Bengals jumped out to a 17-3 lead.

Speaker 1 And then they were up by, I believe, 14 points late in the third quarter.

Speaker 1 And then the Jets just do something we haven't seen all season long. I don't know what it was.

Speaker 1 It was probably a lot of things. And maybe Nick Mangle played a role as well.

Speaker 1 But they go from down 31-16 with 234 to go in the third quarter to putting up 23 points in the fourth quarter, converting two two-point conversions, and then getting a stop on Joe Flacco on the final possession for Cincinnati, sealing a 39-38 win, a game that was as important for the Jets organizationally and Aaron Glenn

Speaker 1 as it was crushing for the Cincinnati Bengals, who,

Speaker 1 I mean, Connor, like...

Speaker 1 Where do we want to start here? Let's talk a little Cincinnati here because

Speaker 1 you have the emotions of going toe-to-toe with the rival Steelers on Thursday night football and Joe Flacco out duels Aaron Rodgers and then to have a big lead at home against the Jets when, you know, knowing that the division is still there and Joe Burrow is getting better and to blow this game.

Speaker 1 This is one of the worst losses by any team all season.

Speaker 3 I totally agree.

Speaker 3 And even down to the last minute, Joe Flacco looked injured, went into the tunnel. Jake Browning put his helmet on.

Speaker 3 Then Flacco like heroically comes back onto the field for that final field goal, attempted field goal drive when it was 39, 38.

Speaker 3 And you're thinking to yourself, okay, it's so easy now with the new kickoff to basically get yourself into field goal range. This isn't going to be a problem.
And it was the one time.

Speaker 3 this year that I felt like Flacco couldn't get what he wanted from a defense. He couldn't manipulate it in a way to get one of his two guys in single coverage or just to get an easy, quick pass.

Speaker 3 And credit to the Jets defense. I mean, they did not lock anybody down all game.
They were porous on, especially on the run, and for some reason, just kind of solidified there.

Speaker 3 And, God, that is just, it's brutal. That, that, it just shouldn't happen, especially when, you know, and you mentioned it, but like how well Cincinnati was running the football.

Speaker 3 I mean, they were Samaji Pirine was a steamroller in this game. And yeah, yeah, they're going to

Speaker 1 be listening. The, the Jets, who have been, you know, rightly mocked for their offensive performance in recent weeks, this is is the same Jets team that had, what was it, minus 10 passing yards

Speaker 1 a couple weeks ago for an entire game. They roll up 502 yards on the Cincinnati Bengals defense.

Speaker 1 And that is that you cannot take a team seriously. And I know the Jets have some pieces.

Speaker 1 But by the way, The Bengals also lost this game at home with this big lead against the winless Jets team up big late in the third quarter. The Jets weren't even playing their two best players.

Speaker 1 Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner, both inactive with injuries.

Speaker 1 Just like a crazy, crazy loss and a really nice win for the Jets, Mark, who I'm going to give Aaron Glenn some credit.

Speaker 1 I've been on Aaron Glenn like so many other Jets fans have been, and it's been a tough start, and sometimes he's looked out of place. They were getting lit up in the first two quarters on offense.

Speaker 1 They made adjustments defensively that slowed down Cincinnati, and he did a very nice job of understanding the game flow. He went for two when they were down.

Speaker 1 He went for two twice.

Speaker 1 As I said, yeah, let me just make sure I have this right.

Speaker 1 When they were down 31.16, they score early in the fourth quarter. They go for two, make it, get to seven.
And then after Cincinnati kicks a field goal, the Jets score again.

Speaker 1 They go for two, again, they make it. So when they they finally score that last touchdown, they kick an extra point.
They win by a point.

Speaker 1 So it's like Aaron Glenn just pulled all flipped all the right levers and got the team to a place it needed to be. And in general,

Speaker 1 it doesn't mean the Jets are now going to go on some magical run, but they just, they just needed this and they got it.

Speaker 2 They

Speaker 2 really did. And we can watch some sound in a second here from Glenn.
But like

Speaker 2 Justin Fields went through it this week.

Speaker 2 No matter what he says he knew or whatever he heard or didn't hear, like to go out and play the way he did, he's not the future of the team, not long-term, but to go out and play the way he did and for them to run the ball the way they did.

Speaker 2 Like,

Speaker 2 they write, like, you know, they were in a place close to crisis, in crisis, and they got their way out of it. And like, if we want to watch this Glenn Lockerum sound, like, yeah, well, just to

Speaker 1 the point about Fields, he said in his press conference, he's like, you know, I'm going to be a little vulnerable here, but I was actually lying in my closet crying earlier this week.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 then

Speaker 1 he's a guy that's big on faith, and he said that it was, you know, it's obviously been a trying time and he's had to lean on his faith and his trust in God.

Speaker 1 And he's just, but that, that's the snapshot of when you're the quarterback of an 0-7 team, the pressure of the NFL and that scrutiny on you and what happened with Woody.

Speaker 1 And by the way, the law of Woody

Speaker 1 is anytime he says something, within a week, something will happen to prove everything he said stupid and dumb.

Speaker 2 Well, critique them weekly in the you know exactly the microphone, please. How about that?

Speaker 1 And so, like, he will, it will be rendered uh meaningless and silly within seven days. And sure enough, Justin Fields ends up going into this game because Tyrod Taylor can't play and plays well.

Speaker 1 Here's Aaron Glenn in the locker room after the first Jets win of the season. I don't have all the numbers and all that right now, but man,

Speaker 1 defense when it counted, you stepped your up and you made

Speaker 1 it. We had to thank my finger.

Speaker 1 Offense, 500.

Speaker 1 254 rushing yards.

Speaker 1 Man, I love this group.

Speaker 1 And man, from here on out,

Speaker 1 grit.

Speaker 1 Grit. Because I told you during the offseason, man, we have to create an event.
We f it.

Speaker 1 But to show all the grit in the world to win this game.

Speaker 1 Let's have a good flight home.

Speaker 1 I love this good man.

Speaker 1 I'm happy for Aaron Glenn.

Speaker 1 I'm happy for Justin Fields. I'm happy for my dad.
I'm happy for myself. I'm happy for my sons

Speaker 1 who my son got a Sauce Gardner shirt before the season started, hasn't worn it once to school because he's embarrassed. He's like, I'm wearing this shirt tomorrow.
I'm like, that's what it's about.

Speaker 1 And you know who it made me think of, Connor? The boy. I hate that.
The boy was very happy. He'll go to sleep tonight and actually feel good when he wakes up in the morning.
And that matters, Connor.

Speaker 2 He's probably flying home on a private jet with his parents, right, Connor?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I don't know if they get the games in Qatar or Saudi, you know, wherever they were vacationing this weekend.

Speaker 1 Digging in on this, huh? Yeah. All right, good.

Speaker 1 All right, let's move on to Charlotte.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. Bills Panthers.

Speaker 1 I try to like, you know, I drafted this game, try to talk myself into it, never could. I was like, this is going to be a bloodbath.
And sure enough, it was.

Speaker 1 The Bills, and to Sean McDermott's credit, always kick ass coming out of the bye, and they did just that

Speaker 1 on Sunday. James Cook, an absolute menace, runs for a career high, 216 yards and two touchdowns, basically in three quarters of action.
Josh Allen chipped in with three touchdowns because why not?

Speaker 1 And the Bills roll over the Panthers with an overmatched Andy Dalton at the helm, 40-9.

Speaker 1 Josh Allen improves to 8-0 following a bye week.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 yeah, the James Cook, I think, you know, we were talking about,

Speaker 1 we'll talk about,

Speaker 1 well, we were talking before the show, Mark, about the trade. You made an insane fantasy trade late last night

Speaker 1 where you shipped Saquon Barkley off your roster for a bunch of spare parts

Speaker 1 to change the vibes of of your team? Is that what was that?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I needed to shake up the locker room. I've got a large front office of people that I staff.
And

Speaker 2 I've thought about fire. I'm going to fire most of them at this point.
I moved Saquon Barkley and George Kittle for Rico Dowdle and a couple other pieces of garbage and

Speaker 2 paid the price. And I'm the laughing stock of my high school friends.

Speaker 1 You know, it's a bad trade, because Mark already told us this. You know, it's a bad trade when there's conversation with the league, should we allow this trade?

Speaker 1 Like, if you're the one that made the trade where they don't even know if it's fair to the league, it's like, oh, maybe, maybe it's, maybe we could take that one back.

Speaker 2 Well, all Saturday you're waiting for like 12 friends that you've known since like 1985 to say yes or no. And,

Speaker 2 you know, I also hurt one of my friends who suddenly faced a lineup with this stocked stockade that I sent to my other friends. Yeah.
You know,

Speaker 2 he's like, thanks, that was really helpful to me.

Speaker 1 You're a real chaos agent over there, Sess Dog.

Speaker 1 But anyway, I was thinking about James Cook, too, and how many people in the fantasy community, as an example, were down on James Cook and this idea that

Speaker 1 it wasn't sustainable for whatever reason.

Speaker 1 I never really understood exactly what the case was being made, but it certainly hasn't been the case because he has been one of the best players in football this season. And

Speaker 1 this was

Speaker 1 the easiest 200-yard game I've ever seen,

Speaker 1 which I don't want to take away from Cook,

Speaker 1 who scored on runs of 64 and 21 yards in this game. But like he was just like untouched through just open prairie fields.
So like the Panthers coming off a three-game winning streak.

Speaker 1 Yes, Dalton, the offense was worse with Dalton at the controls. Okay.
And I'm starting to think maybe this is the end for Andy Dalton at our level here.

Speaker 1 But the defense also was not nearly up to the task of the Bills, and it just wasn't a reminder of the Bills' might, that it's in them.

Speaker 1 And at five and two, without even playing their best football this season, they're going to be okay.

Speaker 3 Although, are you worried about this Ed Oliver thing? Biceps, like, immediately ruled out. Like, that is like a holy shit mode thing for me.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.
So Ed Oliver left this game, I believe in the first half or early in the second half with what was labeled a biceps injury, and he was immediately ruled out. And you have to,

Speaker 1 with those injuries, same thing with like triceps too. You just hope it's not ruptured because then it's over.

Speaker 1 And if you take him out of that rotation or take him out of that defense, off that defensive front, yes, that is a major issue um but we'll wait and see what happens there here was uh uh some josh allen sound on his great running back his underrated running back i mean when you got james cook just let him cook bang how about that oh god let james cook cook that might have been ai i'm not even sure that was real but look at it

Speaker 1 the bills defense sacked andy dalton seven times forced the veteran into three turnovers it was 43 by the third quarter nobody even finished this game. Slaughter.

Speaker 1 Any other questions on this game? I'm here if you need them. If I'm asking questions, I'll ask you all questions.

Speaker 2 Are the Bills a great team?

Speaker 2 Are they 2022?

Speaker 1 There's nothing I can tell you about the Bills' actual ceiling from this game.

Speaker 1 All I know is they absolutely slaughtered a team on the road that was missing their starting quarterback,

Speaker 1 but it is impressive for it to be this grotesque, a blowout.

Speaker 1 Especially if Oliver misses time or is done.

Speaker 1 I'm not there to say they're ready to roll, but we'll see.

Speaker 1 We'll see.

Speaker 1 All right, let's move on.

Speaker 1 AFC East, man. That's 2-0 for the AFC East.
How about.

Speaker 4 What?

Speaker 4 I told myself I wouldn't do this again, and here we are. I'm one game behind, but before we move on,

Speaker 1 I'm about to move on.

Speaker 1 How could you be so great at producing, Justin, but always get the lock?

Speaker 1 What is that?

Speaker 1 How can we help you?

Speaker 4 I need some sort of...

Speaker 4 Here's what I'm going to start doing. I'm going to get Post-it notes, and I'm going to put them right in front of my camera so that I can't miss it, and then I will know not to miss it.

Speaker 4 But anyway, Dan, you locked the Bengals by

Speaker 4 not just by six, but by 12 because

Speaker 1 of our rules. And you know what's weird? At the end of the third quarter, I was like, I got this in the bag.
You were kind of rolling at the end of the third quarter, sure. In fact, I have

Speaker 1 one of those dopey win probability stats for you. Per next-gen stats, the Jets' win probability was 2.9%

Speaker 1 with 8.41 left in the game. How about that? Down 38.24.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 that's one of those locks where, okay, I'll take the L

Speaker 1 because my team won a football game. And sometimes you just want to watch your team win a football game.

Speaker 2 Well, you've been backed into a human corner where, like, the only way you can

Speaker 2 watch your team win is for you to suffer in some other sort of parlor game scenario.

Speaker 1 Like, locked up. That is, yeah.
That's life, though. You know, life likes to throw in those little daggers on you.

Speaker 1 Oh, one more thing.

Speaker 1 Two more things on this Carolina side. First of all, I said it on Thursday, and I stand by it even more.

Speaker 1 I don't understand how Rico Dowdle, especially after Mark traded for him, can be as amazing as he was for those two games.

Speaker 1 And then you just put him at a timeshare and neither guy is doing anything right now. Chupa Hubbard got 60% of the touches, 12 for 34, 2.8 yards per carry at negative 15 yards overexpected.

Speaker 1 Rico eight for 54, plus 16 yards overexpected. Do you think maybe, Mr.
Canales, you should let Rico Dowdle play football more? Just think about it for next week.

Speaker 2 Why did I trade for a timeshare? This isn't my parents going to Palm Springs.

Speaker 2 It's a disastrous trade.

Speaker 1 It was a very bad trade by you, Mark, but we're going to move forward. Also, here's a this.
I think you guys, especially Mark and Connor after Thursday's show with the boy, you might like this.

Speaker 1 Here's the mascot for the Savannah Bananas absolutely trucking a child in the goal line.

Speaker 1 Boom! You like that, don't you?

Speaker 1 Describe for our audio listeners, like boom, he throws an absolute forearm shiver, the mascot, to this seven-year-old boy. And Connor's like, oh, but look how expensive his uniform is.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 He's in terrible tackling.

Speaker 3 He's in terrible tackling position, though. So that's what happens.

Speaker 1 I mean, nobody's telling these brother.

Speaker 3 No one's telling these kids about life. So this is life, no, that is a person child

Speaker 1 getting a bad position. That's actually like,

Speaker 1 a punch. That's not even

Speaker 1 a shit forearm shiver or a stiff arm.

Speaker 2 There was also a woman in street clothing tracking them from behind. I don't know what kind of contest that was.
We don't know.

Speaker 1 Yeah, not probably. Yeah.
Not a serious one. An exhibition.
This is supposed to be an exhibition. All right.
The Patriots now. Can they keep the undefeated vibes going in the AFC's?

Speaker 1 Let's check in in Foxborough.

Speaker 1 I like this one.

Speaker 1 Kind of of like a little Stevie Nicks solo. Sure.

Speaker 1 Vibe to it.

Speaker 2 Stand back, stand back.

Speaker 1 The Patriots keep rolling.

Speaker 1 They let the Browns hang around in the first half. They took a two-point lead into the tunnel, and then they just go off, scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter.
And they coast to a 32-13 win.

Speaker 1 That is five straight wins for the Patriots who keep pace in the AFC East. This could, you know, the Patriots have a very favorable schedule

Speaker 1 and they're playing very well on both sides of the ball. And it is certainly now coming into focus that this could be,

Speaker 1 this could be, and this could play to the Bills' advantage.

Speaker 1 Like, I think a lot of us thought that the Bills were going to just coast through another regular season and then, let's see what happens in January.

Speaker 1 Like, no, if they want that division title, if they want the, if they want the home game, if they want a bye week potentially, the Patriots are not going to just hand it to them.

Speaker 1 So, Drake May, again, studly in this game. He threw three second half touchdown passes.

Speaker 1 And they are beating teams handily, week after week

Speaker 1 now. And Mark, they did it despite Miles Garrett finishing with five sacks in this game.

Speaker 1 And Miles Garrett having five sacks in a game in which the Browns lost by three touchdowns, if that doesn't paint the picture of like modern Cleveland football in Miles Garrett,

Speaker 1 I don't know what does. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Well, they're wasting his career. And

Speaker 2 at the end of this game,

Speaker 2 rightfully so, he was visibly agitated with the current state of affairs, whipped his helmet down.

Speaker 2 This is not a good football team. And here we see it if you're watching on YouTube.
He's just super. Miles Garrett has had enough.
Now,

Speaker 2 you might have needed to go further to get off this team in the offseason. We can save that for another day.
But like, this was not a good setup.

Speaker 2 And I think we saw that from the start, that this is an offense that is one of the worst NFL offenses I've ever watched.

Speaker 2 And it's not just Dylan Gabriel's fault, but Dylan Gabriel is, we can see it with our eyes.

Speaker 2 And on, if you're watching on YouTube, they're putting out these memes where he looks like he's, is that a doll? What is that?

Speaker 2 They're basically saying he's about a foot tall. And like he plays short.

Speaker 2 He's not someone that inspires. And they don't have a lot of parts around him if they can't run the ball.

Speaker 2 Carson Schlesinger, the only great hope that they have, had a high ankle sprain and is out for four to six weeks. Like, look, it's falling apart.

Speaker 2 And I don't know what the argument is for the coaching staff beyond we told you.

Speaker 2 that you're no matter what, we'll keep you.

Speaker 2 Because Mike Vrabel was on the Browns coaching staff a year ago and saw how they they operate, had some pretty choice words for how the Browns offense is to deal with.

Speaker 1 Here we go. We've got to take care of the ball better and continue to find opportunities.
They hadn't turned it over.

Speaker 1 And then when their gimmick plays ran out, I thought we played pretty good defense.

Speaker 1 Gimmick plays. Interesting, right? Like, what do you take on that, Connor? Like, a coach

Speaker 1 kind of chooses, they always choose their words carefully. Was that like sending some type of messaging to Stefanski about his offense or, you know, any type of heat that's between them potentially?

Speaker 3 I don't know if it's heat, and I'd be curious to go back and re-watch them intricately to see if there was maybe some sort of a way where they were disagreeably blocked.

Speaker 3 Was there something where he felt like his guys are being put in danger, like a crackback or something like that, where he felt like that was out of bounds and it was the only way that they were moving the ball, or the fact that he might just not have any respect for it?

Speaker 3 Because it's weird. I mean, everything about his time in Cleveland, when you talk to people there, they loved Vrabel.
He was just this like force of energy and goodwill.

Speaker 3 And, you know, I wouldn't imagine him having any animus against them, but we'll see. But to everybody's point here, I mean, I just think everybody, it's a year late.

Speaker 3 I mean, I remember us talking about this last year. If I was Kevin Stefanski, I wanted to be traded because I wanted to get out and I wanted to get into this last coaching cycle.
The only

Speaker 3 silver lining for the Browns, and this is insane for this to come out of my mouth in particular, is I want to see Deshaun Watson for seven seven games.

Speaker 3 I know that's crazy, but that is the one thing that this team could be like, I mean, is there anything left? Like this guy played a little bit better before he got hurt, but that's how bleak it is.

Speaker 3 But I'm just saying, I'm being real. Like this is the only thing left.
Like, could he play well with this core of young players?

Speaker 3 Could Harold Fannin and Judkins, who got hurt in this game, I know, but like, could you put them together and maybe form the basis for something? But that's how bleak it's gotten.

Speaker 2 And what we can do to that point real quick, like, like, it's a Patriots' story, not a Browns one. Right.
Like, they had a number of years they needed to reinvent who they were.

Speaker 2 Look at where they are compared to where the Browns are. I mean, they had one year.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Two.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And we'll talk about it over the next week or whatever. But yeah, Shador Sanders was inactive in this game.

Speaker 1 He's the other guy that you would want to get a look at, I would think, unless there's more to that story.

Speaker 1 And something tells me there might be more cooking around Shador Sanders and the Cleveland Browns. But stay tuned there.
Yeah, Drake May, just last thought on him.

Speaker 1 He is as impressive as everyone says he is. And this game I thought was especially telling, even though the Browns stink and you should win this game at home, and they did.

Speaker 1 But when you take a beating like he did, he got sacked six times, five by Garrett, of course.

Speaker 1 He doesn't blink.

Speaker 1 He was stepping into his throws. He had

Speaker 1 multiple downfield strikes in this game.

Speaker 1 So even with the offensive line not able to contain Garrett, he finished with 171 passing yards on throws of 15-plus area yards, three touchdowns, and 50 yards on seven carries. So,

Speaker 1 he's the real deal. The Patriots are a team to watch, and the AFC East is going to be a potential dogfight at the top.
All right, let's move

Speaker 1 to the final AFC East-related game: the Dolphins at Atlanta. Atlanta.

Speaker 1 Hey, man.

Speaker 1 Nothing is promised in this world.

Speaker 1 Mike McDaniel knows that. A lot of us thought he would have been fired by now.
But no, he's still the head coach of the Dolphins. I don't give a shit about what I feel.

Speaker 1 And the Dolphins, as long as he's the head coach and two is the quarterback and they have guys like Devon Achan and Jalen Waddle, they could have good days.

Speaker 1 And they had another one on Sunday rolling up,

Speaker 1 let's see, rolling up 338 yards in a 34-10 win on the road. Sessler,

Speaker 1 we'll get to the Dolphins and the positives around that. But this game, again, is another one of those like,

Speaker 1 all right, NFC South, all right, Atlanta Falcons.

Speaker 1 Why is this still happening to you guys? And how do you get run out of your own building by what we believe to be one of the worst teams in football?

Speaker 2 Well, I think it snuffed out

Speaker 2 any concept that anyone, and I don't really think anyone would anyways, trade for Kirk Cousins at this point. Like, he looked like the worst version of Kirk Cousins.
Drake London, not in the lineup.

Speaker 2 I think that matters too. So you're right away taking out the Pennex Drake London chemistry that had been there.

Speaker 2 But they ran for 45 yards with Bijan Bijan Robinson against the Dolphins defense that has been leaky to terrible. You could pick either of those terms.
They'd be true for most of the season.

Speaker 2 It left me thinking that the Atlanta Falcons, who I have at times petted like a little pet team, are gutless and

Speaker 2 they are in the wrong way unpredictable. And you don't know what you're going to get from week to week.

Speaker 2 This was a disastrous loss to a team that we thought was going to fire their coaching staff and trade half of their stars. It was a disastrous showing.

Speaker 2 And it leaves you thinking, I don't need to believe in you. Prove me wrong, but I do not believe in you and I will not.

Speaker 1 Here's Raheem Morris after the game. I mean, they went out and smashed us today.
They had a beat on what we're doing defensively, had a beat on what we're doing on special teams.

Speaker 1 They did a nice job today. We did not.

Speaker 1 That's kind of an indictment of yourself and your staff there to

Speaker 1 Connor say that they had a beat on us. Like, it sounds like one team came in more prepared.

Speaker 3 Well, and it's a weird one, too, because Raheem Morris was the defensive expert, and a lot of people believed was

Speaker 3 part of the reason why that Rams team was so good with Sean McVay. And then he came and his first defensive coordinator was so bad that necessitated the hire of Jeff Ulbrick.

Speaker 3 And now you're saying that that defense is, they have a beat on them. And I don't know.
I just think that's, that's, that's a foul move as a coach. I don't think you do that necessarily.

Speaker 3 And, uh, but, and, and to me, it's like, I think that that's why there's a lot of heat circulating this team.

Speaker 3 Like, a lot of people are wondering, like, is this a job that's going to open in the offseason? Because I think that's starting to probably become a conversation.

Speaker 1 Here's a stat, Mark, that kind of sums up the Falcons' performance.

Speaker 1 This from ESPN's Mark Raimondi, another mark with a C, Mark.

Speaker 1 With 1120 left in the third quarter, the Falcons had just two first downs and had almost as many penalty yards accrued against them, 55, as yards of total offense, 65.

Speaker 2 It looked like a mess.

Speaker 2 I mean, again, though, because it's like we can't learn that much about them because my thing is like, who is Michael Pennix and who are the Falcons with Michael Pennix? And he's not in the lineup.

Speaker 2 But Kirk Cousins did not do his job today.

Speaker 2 You know, it's like the Dolphins' defense has been an open barn door. week after week and you've had your way with them and it just looked like the opposite.

Speaker 2 And then you got it, you know, Tua came in with a puffed up eye and some sort of an eye issue. And like, they didn't know what was going to go on with that.

Speaker 2 But then he comes out and plays what I think was the best offensive performance by the Dolphins this season easily. And he was a big part of it.

Speaker 3 Did you see the zoomed-in clips of his eye? It legitimately looked like

Speaker 3 it was like at the end of knocked up when the roommate gets pink eye.

Speaker 1 Like his, his eye was legitimately. We've all been there.
The one eye was swollen shut, and he's just, he's absolutely gassing up the Falcons team. Pretty good.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's even more of an indictment of Atlanta. Yeah, it's not like Pennex has been any great shakes either, though.
Like,

Speaker 1 there's been a lot of reason to doubt how seriously you could take them, but it's just funny because, what, two weeks ago, yesterday or tomorrow, they beat the Bills on Monday night football, and it was just like, all right.

Speaker 1 And they beat the Commanders the week before that.

Speaker 1 But before that, they got beat 30-0 against the Panthers. And now they've been beaten combined 54 to 20 by the Niners and Dolphins.

Speaker 2 Well, we've all dated someone like this where the mood rises and falls, you know, based on the hour. And that's how I feel about the Falcons.
Just unpredictable.

Speaker 1 I feel like we might be edging into Mark is stranded in Arizona for a year. Are we heading toward that?

Speaker 1 Should we just throw it to break and then you tell us that story once more?

Speaker 2 Throw it to break.

Speaker 1 Okay. All right.
Stay right there. Mark's going to tell us Arizona last year story, and then we'll be back and continue to roll through week eight.

Speaker 7 What's good, y'all? It's Von Miller, Super Bowl MVP, SAG Master, and now your host of Free Range. This is where NFL meets real talk.

Speaker 7 Every week, I'm bringing you inside the game from locker room stories to league-wide headlines. You want football IQ, locker room insight, and real conversations with the people shaping the league?

Speaker 7 Welcome to Free Range with Von Miller, where nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday.

Speaker 7 Listen and follow Free Range with me, Von Miller, wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 8 Don't let the holidays derail your fitness. Stay on track with Hydro.
20 minutes rowing on a hydro targets 86% of your muscles as Olympians guide you from incredible locations worldwide.

Speaker 8 Running can't compete. That's why 90% stick with hydro a year later.
GQ named the hydro arc the best rower of 2025. And every hydro comes with free shipping, a 30-day trial, and warranty.

Speaker 8 Go to hydro.com code fit and save up to 600 bucks on your next hydro. Hydro.com code fit.

Speaker 1 Oh, man. I forgot about that one wrinkle to the story, Mark, in Arizona.

Speaker 1 Enjoy

Speaker 1 living in the van.

Speaker 2 Deeper facts. With the woman.

Speaker 1 And the relationship was kind of snuffed out, and yet you were trapped in a van in a desert. Seemed

Speaker 1 a tough sitch, as the kids might say. To say the least.
Classic. Tough sitch.
Speaking of tough sitch, the San Francisco 49ers have to play with like half their roster out every week.

Speaker 1 It seemed like it was catching up to them today in Houston.

Speaker 1 And I don't like to do that. You know, I don't love doing that, Mark, because everybody has injuries.

Speaker 1 But some of these teams, you give a little bit more grace than others, and I'm ready to give the Niners a little grace for throwing out a stinker in week eight.

Speaker 1 CJ Stroud.

Speaker 1 Looking like the old CJ Stroud, the one that everybody fell in love with. He threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns.

Speaker 1 The offense actually puts up some points, including a 13 spot in the second quarter, and they do it without Nico Collins, who is out with the concussion.

Speaker 1 So progress for Houston offensively in a 26-15 win over the Niners. Houston improves to 3-4.

Speaker 1 San Francisco still in good shape at 5-3.

Speaker 1 You know, with San Francisco, it just feels like every game is a battle for them just to survive and hopefully win. Justin, the Texans are a team that you are so down on that you locked

Speaker 1 against them in this game. So I'll help you out with this one.
Can't miss that.

Speaker 1 But I guess they surprised you here.

Speaker 4 They did. And to be honest, coming out of this game, I wasn't overly impressed with Houston.

Speaker 4 San Francisco looked like a team that was really banged up, that had to travel halfway across the country, play in an earlier time slot than they're used to.

Speaker 4 And for their time zone, they were really sluggish coming out of this game. First quarter, Houston, 23 plays, San Francisco, four.

Speaker 4 At 58 seconds to go in the first half, Houston, 297 yards, San Francisco, 30. And then San Francisco woke up a little bit.
They put a drive together right before halftime.

Speaker 4 They went and George Kittle got a touchdown on national,

Speaker 4 and it felt like okay.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 Justin, we were so close. What? We don't talk about that.
We were so close. We don't talk about that.
Observe

Speaker 1 on this show. That's a rule.

Speaker 4 But he did. He scored a touchdown.

Speaker 1 He scored a touchdown. Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's

Speaker 1 going to bleep. Everything else is being bleeped.
The reference is that.

Speaker 4 I don't know what you guys heard. That's all I said.
George Kittle scores a touchdown right before halftime. Yes.

Speaker 1 And then we'll handle it and edit, and we move forward as a show. Okay, go ahead, buddy.

Speaker 4 And then the last play of the half, the 49ers end their 14-game streak without getting an interception by picking off CJ Stroud. And it was like, okay, 49ers have some momentum going into halftime.

Speaker 4 They were a little sluggish. They just needed to wake up.
But they continued losing. Guys, Jordan Elliott and Sam Okwanu on the defensive line go down.
D Winters at linebacker goes down.

Speaker 4 And it's like the Texans had a couple, maybe a handful of explosive plays in this game.

Speaker 4 But for the most part, they were able to just possess the ball, dink and dunk, take advantage of all these injuries, guys who aren't used to playing, guys who aren't used to playing together, throw the underneath stuff, pick up a few yards after catch, get the first down.

Speaker 4 And it just felt like San Francisco was one stop away from really making this a game, and they never could get that stop at the right time and answer with a score. And it, it was a really ugly watch.

Speaker 4 I was very bored watching, but holding out hope the entire time that the Niners would come

Speaker 4 for my lock, and they didn't. So, credit to Houston.
Uh, again, CJ Stroud goes over 300 yards. It was like totally underneath stuff, and he's still missing out routes high that he needs to be hitting.

Speaker 4 But their defense, the Houston defense is more than for real. They are going to give every offense trouble.
They gave this offense a lot of trouble, and that's going to keep them in games.

Speaker 4 So, as long as their offense can do enough, which they did more than enough today,

Speaker 3 I think, though, that Stroud,

Speaker 3 there wasn't a lot of pressures, Justin. Like, I think it was whatever it was, like three of his first 20 drop backs, right?

Speaker 1 There were pressures on.

Speaker 3 But, yeah, but I think the couple of those times that Sala sent those six-man pressures, I thought were some of the times that Stroud actually made his best throws, which if you go back to the week before against Seattle, when you just look completely directionless, I thought that was one thing that I put in my pocket is like, all right, maybe we can kind of get something going here a little bit.

Speaker 2 I would say one other thing quickly, like to possess the ball for 41 minutes,

Speaker 2 if you're the Texans and they had a drive that I think probably drove Shanahan nuts, a 16-play, 67-yard, nine-plus-minute field goal march that felt very Shanahan-esque to me.

Speaker 2 And just in terms of like how much like of the clock we're going to take away, like to do that at all for the Texans matters a little bit because they've just been so non-functional.

Speaker 2 Like they're a more functional Browns team where your offense can do that and your defense is, I think, like a top three defense, top two defense in the league right now.

Speaker 2 The Texans and like Will Anderson was a beast in this game too. Like they've got things, but can you get functional before it really matters?

Speaker 4 And Will Anderson came up with a huge pressure at the end of the game that led to a Mac Jones interception in the end zone that basically sealed the deal.

Speaker 4 So he stepped up when it really mattered most.

Speaker 1 They kicked our ass, Kyle Shanahan said. And you could see like the gray grizzle building in his beard as he as the season marches on.
We've got to take it like men. You like this, Mark.

Speaker 1 You like this like take it like a man stuff here. We've got to take it like men and come back, hopefully a little pissed off and go to work and play better next week than we did this week.

Speaker 1 Take it like a man. The Mark Sessler story.

Speaker 2 I do like it, but I also, I'm a little concerned for Shanahan from like an aesthetic, like from an aesthetic standpoint, that he is aging pretty quickly over the last two years, right?

Speaker 1 He He just looks

Speaker 4 aged. Like a U.S.
president.

Speaker 1 Let's take a look at him here.

Speaker 1 Let's play the sound that we have.

Speaker 9 Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 9 I mean, there's not much of sugarcoat there. And I was real disappointed in how he looked for all four quarters.
First half was unacceptable, and second half didn't get much better. So

Speaker 9 not much to say about it. Accept that.
We'll look it on the plane and figure out all the things that we know we can correct and that we did mess up.

Speaker 9 But I expect the guys to come in tomorrow with a chip on their shoulder, ready to get back to work.

Speaker 1 All right, I'm going to counterpoint this whole argument. Actually, I think he's doing some skin care.
Yeah. He looks really

Speaker 1 high.

Speaker 2 Like that, my body. Well, he's shaving, too.

Speaker 1 Yeah. So the beard, which grew in gray last year and made him look very old, right now he's clean shaven.
So

Speaker 1 he's doing the upkeep necessary to not show the truth that he's falling apart on the inside.

Speaker 2 If I were to build an argument, that's not the visual I would have used. But like, I didn't know what we were going to see there, but fair enough.

Speaker 1 So, you know, eggs on our face. Okay.

Speaker 1 All right. Let's move to New Orleans.
Oh, God, the Saints, man. I can't.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, I try to watch the Saints, and it's just like.

Speaker 1 I'm a Jets fan.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, man, these Saints suck.

Speaker 1 Anyway, Tampa Bay.

Speaker 1 They were the latest team to stomp the Superdome Crusaders.

Speaker 1 Getting an Anthony Nelson interception and then stiff arm of Spencer Rattler, who was benched by halftime in this game.

Speaker 1 It was kind of the play that defined a ho-hum, business-like 23-3 win for the Bucs over the Saints. The Bucs are 6-2, I believe, for the first time in franchise history, or something close to it.

Speaker 1 They are

Speaker 1 buried at 1-7 in the NFC South.

Speaker 1 Mark, yeah,

Speaker 1 that was my takeaway. The pick six from that point on, were just kind of in cruise control.
What did you take out of this? Well, you're right.

Speaker 2 And you texted the group at one point

Speaker 2 that you were not, it wasn't pleasant for you to watch the Saints. And I think that your argument grew as the game

Speaker 2 advanced.

Speaker 1 I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's the lighting in the Superdome or just the general malaise that continues to hang over this organization in the post-Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Glory Run.

Speaker 1 Like, there's just kind of something

Speaker 1 like a cloud, which is ironic because they play in a dome.

Speaker 1 And I think part of it for me anyway is just like an outsider watching the Saints.

Speaker 1 It's like they've still never really rebooted the machine and invested in like a Gloryboy young quarterback and really started over. And it's like, you guys got to start over.

Speaker 1 And I'm watching Rattler struggle in this game. And then they put Shuck in.
It's just like, God, these guys are boring too.

Speaker 1 Can we properly suck and reboot the machine? Maybe they'll actually do it this year.

Speaker 2 The problem for them now is that

Speaker 2 when I felt like more promising about watching Spencer Rattler, and I think he really did, he took them to the end of games where they had a chance to win like four times this season.

Speaker 2 But now they're turning the ball over, and he's turning the ball over, and he's been benched. I don't even think it was right to bench him, to be honest, like with what they've got around him.

Speaker 2 But the Bucs had four takeaways today. You mentioned one of them.
They're lucky.

Speaker 2 Antoine Winfield, who is, I think, one of the greatest defenders in the league, like should have had a touchdown on what was a punched out fumble.

Speaker 2 And it's another whistle scenario where he should have had a touchdown if we want to look at these plays correctly.

Speaker 1 And there's another play.

Speaker 1 I'm so sick of it.

Speaker 2 Well, there's another play with Chris Olave where the same, a similar thing happened. He should have had a touchdown then, too.
That would have been six takeaways and three defensive touchdowns.

Speaker 2 So, while the game score doesn't look marvelous for the Bucs, and they're very compromised, they're missing so many people. But, like,

Speaker 2 they look like my one problem, my one concern because the real thing is, what's up with the Bucs at 6-2? Like,

Speaker 2 they cannot win real games with this many people missing.

Speaker 2 Like, I would be very concerned about real games they have to play, as the sound bite correctly mentioned.

Speaker 1 Me, coach, big boo.

Speaker 1 Both players,

Speaker 3 How much does it suck, though, if you're Tyler Shuck and like on your third NFL pass, Antoine Winfield just like squeezes the ball in between his inner thighs and just takes it away in the most improbable interception of the season?

Speaker 3 You're just like, all right, not our day today.

Speaker 2 Not low. Tough.

Speaker 1 Toughy sitch. Anything else from this game, Mark?

Speaker 2 Not really. It was Baker's worst game of the year.

Speaker 2 But again, it's like the, you know, it's one of these six teams that are missing like so many people that I don't,

Speaker 2 I'm going to mulligan.

Speaker 1 I'll give them a mulligan on it because it's just like this was a mess it's a messy divisional game but their defense stood up can I want to give somebody pop actually I'm gonna welcome into into the kicker club tonight Chase McLaughlin did a good job hey listen we're halfway through the season just about the regular season and that man has been perfect from 50 plus this year I think he's up to nine for nine

Speaker 1 And that's a weapon. That's a real weapon.
He kicked three second half field goals from 52 or more yards.

Speaker 1 So in a day like you said, Mark, where the offense wasn't doing a good job putting the game away, McLaughlin kept it from getting very interesting.

Speaker 1 And now the Bucs get a bye, Cesi, before they get the Patriots in a very fun game on November 9th.

Speaker 1 And the Saints have to go on the road here in L.A. to get stomped by the Rams next.
You know what? Suck with Grace. You got your win.

Speaker 1 And let's get one of these young quarterbacks, Saints, and let's just start over. Let's just do this thing the right way.

Speaker 1 Ellen Moore. And you know who else wants that?

Speaker 4 Ellen Moore.

Speaker 1 That's who he wants, too. He's like, I don't want to just be kind of caught in this Twilight Zone here.
This bad lighting in the Superdome and like all these boring ass games.

Speaker 1 Like, let me be part of building something for real. All right.
I have nothing else to say. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 Connor, anything else to add on that?

Speaker 3 Just a tough day for like the Superdome operational staff.

Speaker 1 It's just like, what the man? I thought we provided a nice KP experience.

Speaker 2 Let's have the electricity go out during the Super Bowl for 12 minutes and see how that, you know, the stink on that still sits around.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's the color of the turf, or that's like there's a couple stadiums that are like that for me.
I think Atlanta is similar to it. It's a beautiful building.

Speaker 1 We've been there for the Super Bowl, and like, but on television, it just doesn't have a great look. The turf lighting combination.

Speaker 1 I don't know. Anyway, sound off in the comments if you don't like the lighting at the Superdome.

Speaker 1 Let's move to Lucas Oil Stadium. Lucas Oil Field.
I don't know. Colts Titans.

Speaker 1 Ooh.

Speaker 1 Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 Congo line? Shit. Are we at sandals?

Speaker 1 Is that a steel drum, Justin?

Speaker 4 Might be. This is one of our new.
We got four new tracks in the rotation today.

Speaker 1 Woo! Nice, bro. Way to keep it fresh.
Jonathan Taylor. My God, Jonathan Taylor.
There has not been an MVP at running back since Adrian Peterson in 2012.

Speaker 1 Taylor might be the dude to end that dry spell at that position. He scored three more touchdowns,

Speaker 1 had just 12 carries to get to 153 yards. Daniel Jones says, whatever, bro.
I'm like secretly awesome now. I'll throw three more touchdown passes and then I'll check out of the game.

Speaker 1 Colts cruise 38-14 over the woe-be-gone Tennessee Titans. Justin,

Speaker 1 yeah, this one played out. Another one of these games that played out kind of to script.

Speaker 1 And the Colts, I didn't even think the Colts were necessarily playing very well in this game, and the lead just kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

Speaker 4 Well, the Titans were missing Jeffrey Simmons, and they're also missing like NFL caliber players across the roster. So that'll

Speaker 1 be the mission too.

Speaker 4 They're missing a head coach.

Speaker 4 They don't have an offensive line coach anymore because Bill Callahan left with his son, so they just promoted two assistants and said, you guys combine and do the job now.

Speaker 4 So yeah, the Titans are like a joke of a team. They're not like a real professional team.
They're just like a team playing out the string with a rookie person.

Speaker 1 There's like that snarky, like Janine Garofilo type vibe to the takedown from Justin this week. Go on, I'm enjoying it.

Speaker 1 It's like a Daria type vibe.

Speaker 4 Has a a team ever fired an interim head coach?

Speaker 1 I don't know, man.

Speaker 4 Mike McCoy had one of the most cowardly punts of the season today from the Colts' 42-yard line on fourth and three and a half, down by 10 in the third quarter.

Speaker 4 Decides to punt the ball. They net 22 yards of field position out of that.
And the next play is a Jonathan Taylor 80-yard touchdown run, which basically iced the game.

Speaker 4 Not that the Titans had a chance to do it.

Speaker 1 Don't get mad about the small stuff like that.

Speaker 1 When you're in this, I've been here, Jeff Ulbrick last year. Once the wheels are off with an interim coach, try not to get lost in the minutiae of how bad you are.
Just like grind through the day.

Speaker 4 Just 100%.

Speaker 1 Grick your teeth.

Speaker 4 You know what I mean? When your rookie quarterback, number one overall pick, after the team decides to punt there, is caught on camera walking to the sidelines saying, the f ⁇ are we doing, Mike?

Speaker 4 Go for it.

Speaker 4 Then it becomes a little bit of a bigger story.

Speaker 1 Well, maybe if he was a true leader, he'd stay on the field and defy his head coach. like varsity blues style.
Bud Kilmer, Mike McCoy. You know, McCoy doesn't have any actual juice.
Nope. Kilmer is.

Speaker 4 Mike McCoy said after the game that, because Paul Kuharski, credit Kuharski for always bringing the tough questions, asked him why he isn't the first one to speak in the locker room to the team after a game.

Speaker 4 And Mike McCoy said, well, like the players like to talk first or something. And then he basically said that he's just taking, he's just following orders.

Speaker 4 It's like, are you an interim head coach or are you just a like a cut cut out cardboard human person that stands on the sidelines in a headset? Are you actually doing any? I don't know.

Speaker 4 I mean, the Colts are a real Super Bowl contender. They improved to seven and one, the best record in the league.
Jonathan Taylor is the best running back in football.

Speaker 4 Their defense with Lou Anarumo is cooking, and it's going to be tough to stop them.

Speaker 1 They're really good.

Speaker 1 I would ask a rhetorical question: like,

Speaker 2 will our power rankings

Speaker 2 honestly reveal what they really are this week versus, you know, we're cutely sitting them down at like

Speaker 1 after they stop the Tennessee Titans, I have to rethink everything.

Speaker 1 Well, but they've not even stopped at all.

Speaker 2 Like, they've just not been stopped.

Speaker 1 It's not even a real team.

Speaker 4 We have them at three.

Speaker 1 Yeah, where do you want them?

Speaker 1 Then put them at one if you want them at one. Go ahead.
Well, I might. Have a ball.
I might.

Speaker 2 I might because

Speaker 1 Mark.

Speaker 2 Well,

Speaker 2 I see mediocrities scattered and dotted around the league, and they're like kind of trying to tell us that something could be a little more special, but we'll see what we do.

Speaker 1 That's tomorrow. Let's see.
Their last

Speaker 1 five wins at Titans, Home Raiders, Cardinals, at Chargers, home Titans.

Speaker 1 But to the credit, now we're going to get a little more fun next week at Pittsburgh. That's a good test.

Speaker 1 That's a good test, Mark.

Speaker 4 And to their credit, they've destroyed all these teams that you just listed.

Speaker 1 They're taking care of business. Well, the Cardinals, no, but everyone else, yeah.

Speaker 2 I agree. It's a soft schedule schedule thus far.

Speaker 4 Do you guys want to check in on Carly Ursa Gordon from the sidelines this week? Always.

Speaker 1 Always.

Speaker 4 I thought she was looking pretty cool in this little sequin sparkly.

Speaker 1 Striking woman.

Speaker 4 Looking jacket thing.

Speaker 1 Very cool. I love that outfit.
That's awesome. Yes.

Speaker 1 For those that are listening, it is a USA-themed jacket with sequins for the various red, white, and blue. And she is taking notes.

Speaker 1 She's left-handed, which tells you she is a cerebral type individual. And

Speaker 1 yes, she's on top of everything. That is, that's what she is.
She's on top of it all. Carlson.

Speaker 2 Am I wrong? Is that just flat out a latex outfit?

Speaker 1 Latex?

Speaker 2 It's a shiny. It's like a shiny type.

Speaker 2 It's a shiny top.

Speaker 1 Like the material they use for

Speaker 1 prophylactics?

Speaker 2 Well, a version of it, like a more sturdy version.

Speaker 1 No, she's not wearing a figure.

Speaker 2 I don't need to go deeper into the commentary there.

Speaker 1 No, that's a sequined outfit. There's sequins.
I don't know. That's shimmering.
Beautiful. Beautiful look from Carly Ursa Gordon.
All right.

Speaker 1 That's it.

Speaker 1 What a slate.

Speaker 1 But it was still fun. I had fun with you boys, as always.
I would kind of want to give the final word on this wonderful Sunday night, week eight, to Terry Bradshaw. Okay.

Speaker 1 Who is,

Speaker 1 you know, he's just picture him in the safari, and he's a lion.

Speaker 1 And he's

Speaker 1 very white around

Speaker 1 the face. And he's just a lion in autumn or winter.

Speaker 1 In winter.

Speaker 1 Lion in winter. Terry Bratcho, take it away.

Speaker 10 But the thing that I would worry about more so in Washington is the other day I text Andy Reid and I got a text back and I thought it was Andy Reid, but it's some guy selling pigs.

Speaker 10 But I found it good. I shouldn't have told y'all that so y'all would have thought I actually talked to Andy Reid, but I didn't.

Speaker 1 It's like a guy you like see like outside Yankee Stadium on the corner.

Speaker 2 What's actually happening there?

Speaker 1 I was just like giving him a dollar, you know? Go ahead.

Speaker 1 God bless you, man. Terry Bracho, ladies and gentlemen, multiple Super Bowl champion.

Speaker 1 All right. We'll be back on Monday.
How many Monday night games tomorrow?

Speaker 1 Oh, one, baby.

Speaker 1 There we go. We are normalcy is returning to the NFL schedule.
So we'll have that. We'll unveil our power rankings.
You already know where Mark's going to put the Indianapolis Colts, apparently.

Speaker 1 But yes, we'll also have a recap of Commander's Chiefs. And by the way, Mark, Chiefs, Colts in a few weeks.

Speaker 1 So that's for you, buddy.

Speaker 1 Chiefs number one in a city.

Speaker 2 I believe in what I'm going to do with the power rankings firmly.

Speaker 1 Very good. That's very important.
You have to have that feeling. All right.

Speaker 1 Connor, you have a great night.

Speaker 3 Hey, thanks. You too, guys.
All right.

Speaker 1 Everybody, thank you for your support. See you Monday.
And until then, do what you must. Heed the call.

Speaker 11 Deborah had to have surgery.

Speaker 12 I had hip surgery in November of 2024.

Speaker 13 Her United Healthcare nurse, Crystal, checked on her.

Speaker 14 We do a routine call after surgery, and I could tell that she was struggling.

Speaker 11 Deborah needed help.

Speaker 12 My infection markers were through the roof.

Speaker 13 And Crystal knew what to do.

Speaker 14 I called the hospital and said she's coming in and got Deborah the help she needed.

Speaker 12 Crystal and United Healthcare saved my life.

Speaker 13 Hear more stories like Deborah's at UHC.com. Benefits, features, and or devices vary by plan area.
Limitation and exclusions apply.

Speaker 15 250 years ago, a promise was made to connect families and friends near and far.

Speaker 16 And during the holidays, that promise is more important than ever.

Speaker 16 That's why USPS is building a better network to meet your needs with timely deliveries, easy and affordable ways to ship, and everything you need to make your season full of holiday cheer.

Speaker 16 Their purpose is delivering your peace of mind, knowing your love will arrive, bringing joy to all.

Speaker 15 The United States Postal Service.

Speaker 16 Learn more at usps.com/slash holidays.