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11:29Patrick Claybon:Yeah. Especially in terms of the blitz pickup, you would like to see Saquon get back. He's almost a full two yards on yards per carry behind where he was last year on outside runs. We talked about imagination. They literally ran the same run play within five plays. They just ran it to the other side last week. So all the celebration of Jalen hitting those deep balls to AJ and Devonta last week. The run game still kind of needs to get a little more diversity to the same extent that they had last year.

12:00Steve Wyche:It's weird. like I mean Seguin Barkley is not on pace for a thousand rushing yards this year there's no explosives

12:06Patrick Claybon:I mean every week we saw him hit one for a minimum 45 yards that just has not happened this season

12:10Steve Wyche:Landon Dickerson came back from an injury though and looked better we also should know the Giants cut their kicker Jude oh yeah McAtamney you know from Ireland you feel for that kid

12:21Patrick Claybon:at least they let him get back on the plane

12:22Steve Wyche:you feel for him a guy who kind of came from a non-traditional football background got his chance It did not go well. And we'll see. They could go with Young Waku, who lost a battle to him, supposedly in practice, or Graham Gano is coming off an injury and was activated. They were real quick to say

12:43Patrick Claybon:that Graham Gano has been activated.

12:45Steve Wyche:So that was real quick. It's on them, by the way. They went into that season with a 38-year-old kicker who hasn't been good and has been hurt two straight years. So Joe Shane, I'm watching you.

12:55Patrick Claybon:Well, when you're in a place where a couple folks need it to be somebody else's fault, it's a difficult place to kick footballs because it's hard to kick footballs in the NFL. To our next opportunity, the Chicago Bears, winners of two consecutive games. The ground game is going, and we get to ask Greg Rosenthal, as the Baltimore Ravens are at home, favored by six and a half points. After coming off, not being able to stop anybody, the over-under is 49 and a half. Ian Eagle and Justin James Watt on the call. What is the value, Greg, of a bye, and was it good enough for the Baltimore Ravens to fix things?

13:27Steve Wyche:Yes, if it means that Lamar Jackson's back on the field. Sometimes you wonder how much does Vegas know? Because this number was there before. They know us, Greg. Yeah, well, if he's not out there, obviously that's not the number. And he was out there on Wednesday practice, but they said he was taking reps behind Tyler Huntley and Cooper Rush. So that's obviously the biggest factor. Maybe there's a thought, Patrick, and they are healthier on defense. They're getting a lot of guys back, including Roquan Smith. It sounds like that defensive performance. They did show something in their last game before the bye.

14:06Steve Wyche:There were signs there that they made some improvements. The pass rush to me is still the biggest problem, but maybe against Caleb Williams, like this isn't that big of a week where you need the pass rush because he's going to hold the ball anyways and hasn't really been seeing things.

14:20Patrick Claybon:They've been running it. They've been running the ball well. I mean, DeAndre just had back-to-back good game. We talked about it before, the offensive line, especially some of the combinations they have on each side. It's performing really well in the run game. You see in the south side, well, this is an inside zone. Right here, the way they're blocking on the video, the folks watching on YouTube. And that's what's setting up the passing game. I do think Baltimore is going to be better. They have no choice, actually. I think if they come out and stumble right here, it's not over for them, but it's over for them.

14:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Chicago looks really one-dimensional right now. to you guys' point, it's good for them that it's in the run game. It's good for them that this is the foundation that's being set, especially post-buy. We talked about it on a previous show, especially their zone runs. Coming out of that bye week, it's like everybody finally got on the same page. And it's not just that Theo Benedetti has replaced the previous starter, but also this whole group is communicating really well. And DeAndre Swift is picking up more than what he's been blocked for. And prior to the bye, he was picking up less than what was being blocked open for him.

15:27Jourdan Rodrigue:So that's a huge swing and a huge change. And it's good because Caleb Williams is still having kind of these up and down games. This last game against the Saints, the Saints can't really rush the passer. The Saints can't really get pressure effectively. And he was holding the ball. And it's not like they were covering a crazy amount. He just wasn't like fully sure of what he was seeing. And when he was scrambling and when he was kind of moving out of structure, he was not picking his spots where he could run. Instead, he was throwing and then vice versa. He talked about it in the media and Ben Johnson did as well last week.

16:00Jourdan Rodrigue:It's like being a little bit more decisive, being a little more quick with his decision making. And Ben Johnson also put some of that on his own shoulders as a play caller as well, setting up a little bit more layers.

16:09Steve Wyche:He also had five false starts. That's pretty embarrassing for this deep into the season.

16:14Patrick Claybon:but you can at least with this staff because you know ben johnson had said he had lost sleep personally um over the the lack of success in the ground game where he said sometimes they were they were blocking it up properly and the holes weren't getting run through sometimes every hole they tried to run through it wasn't necessarily blocked up properly and i love the way that he has kind of vocalized the the accountability for for everybody without being mean-spirited or like undermining that doesn't happen in the nfl perhaps we'll get to some other team where where that's not necessarily the case.

16:45Patrick Claybon:And the bye had that value for them. And then you look over at the Baltimore Ravens, where the bye gave a lot of Ravens fans chances to look at what was going wrong. And even when eight was playing, the protection from Daniel Falele, it's been highlighted. And so you look at where they were successful. Lamar was completing 91 % of his passes on play action before the injury. And I really think that that was a virtue of, well you have a play that looks like a run block to start things off and then Lamar figures it out the rest of everything needs to be figured out in this one and I'm interested to see one if Valet is playing in this game and two what the play calling looks like if he's in there and if

17:29Steve Wyche:of course if eight's in there and they got some they got some outside zone working with Derek Henry at least early in that game against the Rams where they kind of look like themselves again your boy Nate Wiggins I don't know if it's your boy but he's on the Ravens he's been playing great

17:41Jourdan Rodrigue:but he's on the Ravens.

17:43Steve Wyche:I just assume like anyone on the Ravens. He's been great. So not everyone is struggling, but their rookie Malachi Starks has been in the middle of a lot of problems. And then Marlon Humphrey was not at practice Wednesday, which is surprising because he was there Monday. Jair Alexander still getting his knee drained. So people always think like, oh, the bye, that's going to solve all of our injury problems. But it's like, it's one week. It doesn't necessarily solve it.

18:04Patrick Claybon:Yeah. And you talk about Malachi Starks. I mean, we're the Ravens for two years in a row. Now I've gotten tagged this in the middle of the defense. You know, everyone thinks Kyle Hamilton can solve everything, but you can't just move into a certain position and think, okay, because he's back off the line of scrimmage, it's going to solve everything. Everything else has to work. They ask their interior linebackers to do a lot in the pass in the run game, and this is one right here where I think Chicago, with their tight ends, can do a little something and cause them some problems. The amount of a lot for everybody in that second and third level gets to be more when, as Greg pointed out, you can't get pressure on the quarterback.

18:37Patrick Claybon:and then you're asking guys who, let's be frank, with the injuries who could not run to cover people that they can't cover anyway. So it was a rough opportunity, but perhaps the bye, we'll have a chance.

18:51Steve Wyche:It feels like kind of a massive game. I agree. I know you're a Raven. I might have to take this game. I just feel like the Ravens got to win this game. And if the Bears actually can get this done, then it starts feeling like, okay, this is a real thing. All right, let's discuss another team

19:06Patrick Claybon:that just keeps winning despite all the obstacles going on the road where they are favored. It is Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers, one and a half point favorites against a rough look at Houston Texans offense that got the loss on Monday night in Seattle. As Jordan, the over-under is 41 and a half. Kevin Kugler and Moose Johnston on the call. What can Nick Caley's squad do against this 49ers defense, this resurgent youthful group that, despite the injuries, keeps getting stops.

19:37Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it's just a really masterful coaching job by Robert Sala and partnering with Kyle Shanahan again, kind of back in his happy place. I remember talking to him during training camp about just the level of competitiveness that, you know, Kyle Shanahan, I think, especially after Robert Sala was a head coach himself, really has leaned on him. And there's been, I think, a little bit more like pure collaboration versus pure competition. And several years ago when Robert Sala was there before, it was an all out battle schematically at practice, even trying to figure out different advantages in each other's defense.

20:15Jourdan Rodrigue:It famously led to Robert Sala's wide nine and all of these types of things trying to stop Kyle Shanahan's outside zone and all of his like hybrid freak players that he had. Well, now there's a lot of collaboration purely for the growth of the roster. And they really, I think in their scouting and their talent identification departments have found young players who are fully bought in and have this energy. And I know 49ers fans don't want to hear it, but it reminds me a lot of the 2023 Rams, where there is no expectations. That was self-inflicted by the Rams in terms of the roster overhaul. This is less so because there's so many injuries everywhere.

20:48Jourdan Rodrigue:But you've got Tatum Bethune coming out of nowhere, having just an absolutely electric game, filling in for Fred Warner, wearing his jersey to the stadium. You have guys like Upton Stout playing bigger than his size week after week. You've got Alfred Collins, who looks really good in the middle. Mikel Williams looks especially good, you know, against the run. And I just feel like this is a group they're playing without the weight of expectations. And like every single opportunity is one for them purely to grow. And then the results sort of are speaking for themselves. I think it's a fantastic job by that entire organization to come this far the way that they have.

21:26Patrick Claybon:I played a Falcons team that didn't challenge them.

21:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah.

21:28Patrick Claybon:I mean, they just ran some obvious, okay, let's run a screen. Let's throw everything outside and see if they can catch us. It was a terrible game plan by Atlanta. Houston doesn't have that opportunity. Their play calling was a mess against Seattle when they went for it. You know, the off-tackle run, two plays in a row on third and fourth down when your offensive line's getting reset. And the numbers weren't there. They weren't there. They ran it to the freaking weak side of the offense and got stood up twice. It's frustrating. People can come down on C.J. Stroud all they want, and he's not blameless in all of this, but we've seen it when he doesn't have any time and he doesn't trust what's in front of him.

22:10Patrick Claybon:It's a disaster, and most quarterbacks are like that. Now, we don't know if Nico Collins is going to be able to play in this game.

22:15Steve Wyche:It sounds like he won't. He's in the concussion protocol. He did suffer a concussion. He was not at practice Wednesday, and neither was Christian Kirk.

22:22Patrick Claybon:Well, then that's kind of it. If you're not a practice at all, because usually on Wednesdays, you're on the field in some way, shape, or form. Thursdays, you're going through it. That's kind of leading to the track. So, I mean, they just don't have a threat offensively. And that's an issue. Defensively, those dudes are playing their hearts out. I mean, so maybe they can get some takeaways. I mean, you never know what's going to happen with that. Maybe they can rattle Mac Jones because that defense is as legit as it comes. Yeah. Offensively, man, it is a nightmare. I didn't think it'd get worse than it did last year.

22:55Patrick Claybon:It is worse. It is worse.

22:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it looks certainly, the tape looks worse. Points per game is still about the same, but the tape looks worse. Because of that one game.

23:02Steve Wyche:Other than that, there's 16 points a game.

23:04Jourdan Rodrigue:That one game against the Ravens.

23:06Steve Wyche:Yeah, against the Ravens. That's it. Against the worst version of the Ravens defense.

23:10Jourdan Rodrigue:I would say this is going to be, I think, a game because you're looking at the practice reports this week, injury reports this week, and you potentially are without a couple of like still dependable guy and one very good player, Nico Collins. these young receivers, Jaden Higgins and Jalen Knoll, I see their potential. I see their upside. But they're making mistakes. They're not in the right spot sometimes. They're dropping passes sometimes. C.J. Stroud is not hitting them other times. This is a game where if you're Robert Sala, I just don't think that you trust that their receivers, or I just don't think you respect their receivers.

23:44Jourdan Rodrigue:I think you send everything you've got at C.J. Stroud, who I've got some pressure stats for him from last game. He was pressured on 31.5 % of his dropbacks. He only had 55 yards on those plays. Four for 14, one touchdown, one interception. So that's a 28.6 completion percentage when under pressure. But when he was not pressured, he's also not, because there's just ghosts or something is going on. That offensive line is what it is. And the scheme is not good either. When he was 174 yards, 19 to 35, no touchdowns, no completions or no interceptions, only throwing five yards per attempt on those when he's not pressured and just a 54 completion percentage and it's just it's all it none of it's looking good and and you're you're seeing sort of the um the bad habits could start could start to set in and the like we we joke about ghosts with sam darnold but like this line is not giving him anything to work with neither is the play calling neither is the run game because they look slow on the ground too they're just and think about

24:47Patrick Claybon:that strong got bailed out on that safety.

24:49Steve Wyche:Oh, he got, they got bailed out a couple of times. Should have been a defensive touch on. I mean, we, that's potentially against the best team, best defense in the NFL. Those numbers tell a story though, to me, because the fact that he was only pressured on 31 % of the passes and he's throwing so deep as like, he's, they're not even trying to let plays develop because when you talk about like the ghosts, it's just not having faith that the offense is going to work if you do throw the ball. And I do think we are seeing a different CJ Stroud, unfortunately, because of all the free rushers. And sometimes it's set early.

25:20Steve Wyche:Early in that game, I bet if we looked at the first two drives of the game, that pressure percentage was a lot higher because there were free rushers everywhere the first quarter. And then after that, he's just kind of getting rid of the ball and hoping. And it's hard to blame him, but man, it's depressing that they are an underdog against a team without Purdy, without Bosa, without Warner, without everyone. That's true. You do have CMC. You do have Mac Jones winning now 100. $100 ,000 every time he starts, Mac Jones. Actually, we don't know that Mac Jones is starting. It's Wednesday as we're taping this, and it could be Brock Purdy returning, but I don't think they're in a hurry, and Turf Toe is troubling, and he can do enough at least.

26:00Steve Wyche:Maybe? I don't know. This is bound to be ugly.

26:05Patrick Claybon:Or? Yeah. Ugly just for one team, considering where things have gone, but hey, maybe Will Anderson can get in there and make 17 plays and get his Texans. Maybe, you know, to go full circle, we could say maybe Houston looks like a team we saw a couple years ago. That would be good.

26:22Steve Wyche:And the 49ers did get the running game going for pretty much the first time all season last week against Atlanta, where it was consistent, success rate high. It is the Robert Sala versus D 'Amico Ryan bowl. I kind of like that. Like, which one took the recipe in San Francisco and did better with it?

26:39Jourdan Rodrigue:But D 'Amico's not calling the defense right now.

26:41Patrick Claybon:Well, it's his defense. They do have something in common during their tenure as a head coach. Both of them didn't get to make all the decisions they would have liked to have been in.

26:49Steve Wyche:There you go. There you go. Keep an eye. Derek Stingley, not having a good year. Sometimes he's had more penalties this year than the last two years combined. He's given up a lot of completions where he's in coverage, which you're just not used to seeing in this matchup, unless Pierce, I mean, I don't know who's going to really bother him, but it has been interesting to see him not having as good a season. Let's take a quick break, and we're going to be back for another organizational rivalry game.

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31:44Steve Wyche:Back on NFL Daily. And yeah, I mentioned a revenge game. I don't think Sean McDermott and Brandon Bean are looking for revenge because Carolina helped set them up back in the day for success.

31:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Imagine if they kept them both.

31:58Steve Wyche:Right. At various points over the last seven years, David Tepper should have been thinking, hmm, maybe I had the right guys in the building back then.

32:06Patrick Claybon:But there's a lot of guys who are the right guys for one organization, but they're another organization and they're not quite the right.

32:12Steve Wyche:Yeah, they would not be looking as good if they were with that team. You know who was looking better? Patrick on Wednesday, surprisingly. Bryce Young doing cardio without a boot on at practice. Maybe these reports that he was missing this week were premature. If nothing else, it doesn't seem like a long-term injury. Yeah, everybody's body's different. They're not machines.

32:32Patrick Claybon:We love all of them. Could mean one thing for one person and something else for someone.

32:38Steve Wyche:I've never seen something reported as a high ankle sprain and someone moving the way that they had cameras on Bryce Young, how he was moving on Wednesday. I've never seen that.

32:45Patrick Claybon:But we allude to it. He is light. A couple of franchises where you think back, a generationally talented, large, mechanized quarterback with perhaps some underperforming aspects around him spurning to long-term success. It's the Buffalo Bills and the Carolina Panthers in different eras as the... Maybe we look back. There were a lot of former Panthers when they both got there. Oh, yeah. Where things have fallen off since then. Those former Panthers have gone elsewhere.

33:15Steve Wyche:Shaq Thompson on this Bills team. Yeah. How about that?

33:18Jourdan Rodrigue:Shaq Thompson revenge game.

33:19Patrick Claybon:The Carolina Panthers looking at the Buffalo Bills, actually seven point favorites. Who better to be on this call than Adam Amin and G-Reg for this particular matchup where Steve, Bryce playing seems to be the main looming issue. but other than that can the Buffalo Bills find somebody they could separate do they need to make a trade and go get somebody oh well do they need to make a trade I mean they can find someone to help out the secondary I mean but every team needs you know secondary help right now and so I'm looking at Bryce Young doesn't play Andy Dalton they've got some running backs in Carolina who can do their thing so if they can run the ball and I think you run the ball on Buffalo a little bit I mean this is a way to play keep away the number's big I get it it's Buffalo but Carolina's playing better defensively I mean that defensive line is is starting to show some of the talent that's there Dan Morgan I don't know if some of that was there for Brandon Bean I don't think so I think so but Dan Morgan but they're starting to come together a little bit and so again I like Buffalo to win this game I don't know if I love the number but I don't know if it necessarily hinges on Bryce Young playing

34:25Steve Wyche:yeah there's two of the biggest mismatches of the entire weekend are in this game yeah according to DVOA, the Bills have the worst rush defense in the entire NFL. And the Panthers running game has been excellent. They're top six or seven on the season. And if you just looked at the last handful of weeks, it's even better than that. Then again, on the other side, Derek Brown's a great player and he can rush the passer a little bit. But this is one of the worst pass rushes in the entire NFL in Carolina. And it's going up against a great offensive line. Could it be because they got rid of all their pass rushers?

34:59Steve Wyche:Right. Like when Josh Allen, I know his receivers haven't been separated, but when Josh Allen drops back to pass, he should have all day. And that is a dangerous scenario for this Panthers defense.

35:11Jourdan Rodrigue:But their DBs are playing better in recent weeks too. They're taking the ball away a little bit more.

35:16Steve Wyche:Against terrible competition, it should be said.

35:19Jourdan Rodrigue:Sure, but Buffalo's receivers aren't separating.

35:21Steve Wyche:Right.

35:21Jourdan Rodrigue:And Josh Allen, it's kind of like we're seeing this a little bit but with a less great offensive line, but with still similar kind of stakes as Justin Herbert, where it's like, okay, all of this resides now on Josh Allen, go do something cool, right? And that's what kind of the story has been. Because yes, this Panthers two-headed running game, and not just their running game, but the way that they were deploying some of their screens, to me, you do that on purpose a little bit to get that tape into Buffalo's heads a little bit. Because Buffalo is not defending, not just the run game well, but also not defending second and third level stuff like those screen passes when they start to get rolling.

36:00Jourdan Rodrigue:And Chuba Hubbard was great on some of their screen design. Could have picked up 10 more yards on that long one. He pulled down the left sideline.

36:07Patrick Claybon:I understand not wanting to wait for the big guys to run. You shouldn't wait. Yeah, you should not wait for your blocking.

36:12Jourdan Rodrigue:However, your blocking probably needs to fast layer more inside faster. The thing that he could have touched on. The thing that's cool, though, is like, okay, from, you know, being in Carolina for as long as I was and then like, man, And the last several years, this fan base, who I think will really show up for this game because they've got hope and maybe more importantly than hope, they've got a freaking run game. For the first time in a while, this fan base has been dying for a run game since the prime days of Jonathan Stewart.

36:42Patrick Claybon:Jonathan Stewart and D 'Angelo Williams.

36:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Just rolling downhill on people. There you go. And this is just so fun to know that like, okay, if you can't have hope, you got something better. You got a good run game, you got a two-headed monster. and I know they want to know who the starter is. That's more fantasy football, whatever. But like, this is cool. This is potentially very, very cool and stabilizing if you're not really sure who your quarterback is going to be or what they're going to do.

37:04Patrick Claybon:Wow, the shadow of John Fox hovering.

37:07Jourdan Rodrigue:As he ever does.

37:09Patrick Claybon:Chuba was great in the past game. I understand his utilization, but getting Rico the ball against this Bills team, especially, I'm thinking about the way Xavier Leggett has been playing with him and Tadaroa out blocking. It's just a rough matchup for a Bill secondary that really gets like kind of exposed every single week, every week in terms of making plays on the ball carrier. I think Carolina should take it, whether it's Andy or Bryce, especially if it's Andy, getting the ball in five's hands and letting him do work.

37:39Steve Wyche:And Dalton, before that car accident last year, was playing solid football. One of these years, this happens with these backup quarterbacks that we just assume are the same forever. At some point, he will turn into a lesser version of Andy Dalton. But frankly, we haven't really seen that. Like, he was solid last year. I know you're talking about that. If you want to talk about seeing it,

38:01Patrick Claybon:I think we've got to see it finish against the Jets.

38:04Steve Wyche:Maybe that ball's not coming out as crisp, but basing it on his 2024 tape, like, he's now turned in, you know, we used to do the Dalton scale on the show, which if you have a guy above that. But now I would say it's kind of the Dalton scale for backups. If you don't have a backup better than Andy Dalton, you need a new backup. But he is a good backup until proven otherwise. And yeah, I'm curious. We mentioned a lot on the show how coaches show their work after the bye. Sean McDermott's been excellent at that over the years, diagnosing what's wrong with the team. So I am curious to see what personnel changes, schematic changes.

38:40Steve Wyche:Do they blitz more? Like what sort of changes he does on his defense? Leaning on, you know, Deion Walker, They're going to have to Daquan Jones, who's been solid for them. Another former Panther hurt his foot in practice on Monday. And it sounds like he's going to be out for a few weeks. And he is a big contributor for them.

38:55Patrick Claybon:You talked about the line and evaluating quarterbacks. What about having to play against the Cleveland Browns in 2025? They have been great on defense. The office, they are at the New England Patriots, the Patriots and Drake May, who is all that matters. Favored by seven points. The over under is 40 and a half. Chris Myers and Mark Slareth on the call. Hopefully with no audio issues for Chris Myers as he's been getting chased around by weird audio bugs for the past three weeks. It's something I've picked up. Wait, really? Yeah. He sounded like he was calling the game from a tin can in 1955 last week for like a quarter and a half.

39:29Patrick Claybon:Greg. Yes. How concerned are you about playing the Browns defense?

39:32Steve Wyche:I am excited to watch it. I'm not playing them. I think it's nice because I'm trying to I'm trying to tell the Patriots fans in my life like i get it and drake may is all that matters yeah so this season is beyond a huge success no matter how it ends as long as drake may continues to show that he's that guy and he has at a level that i don't think anyone could expect but you cannot overstate how easy this schedule has been like i do think as i get older i don't know what it is i do think schedule really explains like more than we want to talk about with the NFL. That's without a doubt. Okay. Right.

40:13Steve Wyche:It's, it really is on a week to week basis.

40:15Jourdan Rodrigue:As I get older,

40:16Steve Wyche:I just mean though, like no matter how much we think schedule matters, as my viewpoints mature,

40:23Patrick Claybon:you know, as I continue on this existence, on this rock, a little scheduling,

40:27Steve Wyche:a little scheduling serendipity. I just mean like so much like the commanders, for instance, it's like, yeah, their schedules harder that this is like, so like, A lot like the AFC West. Oh, they're coming back to the back. Like, it's like, yeah, the Chargers schedule is harder this year. Like so much is explained by that that I don't think we can overrate it enough. And then this is a week where you get to find out how good that offensive line is. I have my doubts about the left side. Like Gerard Wilson has been struggling a little bit. Who's their left guard? So when the Patriots have the ball, like it is as good a test as ever.

40:57Steve Wyche:And to my point, Aaron Schatz's numbers say the Patriots have the single easiest schedule in the NFL since 1979. Wow. And that's evaluating how the teams have looked through the first seven games as well.

41:09Patrick Claybon:I mean, think about that for all the years where the AFC East was just absolute dog stuff. And this is the easiest schedule. Wow. This is an intriguing game to me because this is where I think having Josh McDaniels, your OC, and the way he can change things up week to week with a different game plan, I think you're going to see a lot of quick passing game. And they're going to make guys chase. And we know that the Browns can chase, tackle in the open field, this and that. but some horizontal stuff to get them chasing early. Cause you know, see if they can get a little fatigued and then take some shots.

41:41I think we're going to see some of that action from the patients.

41:45Patrick Claybon:And that's where Drake may find if he doesn't turn the ball over, I don't see why they don't cover that seven. Cause Cleveland can't score.

41:51Steve Wyche:This receiver group has been better than anyone expected.

41:54Jourdan Rodrigue:Drake may is more, more than fine. I'm not talking to you, Greg, cause I know, you know, all of these numbers because I don't know, lay awake at night and scroll through next gen Drake may stats and, and tape. but Drake may has the best, the highest right now, the highest downfield passing passer rating in the NFL right now. And so, yes, to your point, Steve, move them side to side a little bit at first and then start taking shots, get some of the quick passing game going and then start just blowing the doors off of this defense or trying to, now he's going to have a challenge getting protection long enough for that, especially against miles Garrett, because on the left side, that's Will Campbell.

42:32Jourdan Rodrigue:So now you're back in the game here, Greg, Will Campbell side Miles Garrett is getting a lot of quick pressure Will Campbell is giving up the ninth most Quick pressure in the league among left tackles right now

42:42Patrick Claybon:Wow I did not realize that

42:45Jourdan Rodrigue:Her next gen stats

42:47Patrick Claybon:You know I'm doing Miles Garrett I'm screening to death Just go ahead and do some slip screen

42:52Jourdan Rodrigue:Throw it far to the right

42:55Steve Wyche:It'd be nice if that was Travion Henderson in it But something tells me it's actually going to be Ramondre and Terrell Jennings

43:00Patrick Claybon:Yeah, Brayville coming out just celebrating Terrell Jennings hoisting up the Terrell Jennings the preseason I guess just does not matter especially for those in the fantasy community it's time maybe we should be a little more skeptical of the hope for Travion

43:18Jourdan Rodrigue:I believe that guy is so special I believe

43:23Steve Wyche:on the other side it's a good test for the Patriots really built their defense around run defense and they really do look like a pretty good run defense And if you can stop Quinchot Jenkins, who, when he gets in the open field, forget about it.

43:36Patrick Claybon:I had no idea he had the type of burst he has. I mean, his balance and his strength is crazy.

43:42Steve Wyche:But look at this, acceleration. People making business decisions at points in the hole against Quinchot Jenkins, too. Because he is so aggressive.

43:50Jourdan Rodrigue:And he also, especially the Dolphins, delivers hits.

43:52Steve Wyche:But hell, like on that field in Dublin against the Vikings, I mean, I love him. And yet that was the highlight of Dylan Gabriel's three game career so far. Since then, my optimism about Dylan Gabriel has been dim. Now, last week was a little bit of a weather game, but they had like 150 yards against the Dolphins late in the midway through the fourth quarter. He needs to improve. I think Shadour is getting no starter prep this week.

44:22Jourdan Rodrigue:A very mature take from a very mature.

44:24Steve Wyche:He is very lucky not to have about eight interceptions. And I think he has none or one, but yeah.

44:28Patrick Claybon:Yeah, there's a couple of ways to take all the Wildcat snaps from Quinshawn Judkins. In one way, it's like, yay, Judkins, get the hands of the ball player. But also, like, maybe they're taking the hands out of another particular player. But when I see Quinshawn Judkins, all I see is offensive genius from Chip Kelly. Yeah, there it is. In terms of a football player.

44:48Steve Wyche:And shout out to, like, these guys on the defense that, like, Alex Wright and Grant Delpit. Like, they're obviously Carson Swessinger, who we've mentioned before. Like, man, he's playing McGuire on the front. Like they have guys who are just playing their hearts out. And that's not always easy with a bad offense like that.

45:06Patrick Claybon:Let's go over to another team that maybe has a chance to play their hearts out. It is the New York Jets going on the road to take on the now Joe Flacco led Cincinnati Bengals who are favored by six and a half points. The over under is 44 and a half as we get an opportunity, Jordan, to see what Joe Flacco can do for the second consecutive week.

45:31Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, I started writing these notes before last week, actually, knowing that some of the deck was going to be stacked against me in terms of just workload and schedule. So the first thing I forgot to delete it this week, the first thing I've written down in this game slot, depression. And it was until the Flacco bump. Not anymore! Until the Flacco bump hits Cincinnati. They're having, they have some hope. They have a little hope if they can just manage, maintain. You rattled off some of their upcoming games, Cincinnati's upcoming games here in a previous show, Greg, in terms of like if they can just hold on, if they can get to six wins.

46:05Steve Wyche:Gotta get to this. Gotta get this one.

46:06Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, by the time Joe Burrow gets back, this is obviously a, every game from here on out is a bit of a desperation game for the New York Jets. I don't really see them making changes at their coaching staff. our front office or anything like that certainly at quarterback uh yeah where there's a little drama unfolding earlier this week apparently from the owners meetings not apparently i mean that was

46:30Patrick Claybon:very uncool i mean woody johnson coming out and taking a dump on justin fields you know saying oh if we can complete a pass the rest of the team's getting better but our

46:38Steve Wyche:quarterback is terrible fields his response though on wednesday was fascinating you pointed out yeah

46:45Patrick Claybon:I mean, he threw a fade at their media relations team. Like I didn't see his response because I don't have social media. Nobody, nobody briefed me on the comments before I got up here. And this is the New York media, man. You got, you have to let them know what's coming.

46:57Steve Wyche:Yeah. The crazier thing is that he said he doesn't know who's starting at quarterback and he's splitting reps with Tyrod Taylor and Tyrod might not be healthy. It sounds like he has a knee injury and they consider him day to day. So if you want to, what a disaster specifically cite, why making those type of comments aren't a great idea. Like that could be your starting quarterback, Justin Fields this week. It's just so uncool. I mean,

47:26Patrick Claybon:you pay the guy$30 million. You hired a coaching staff, which you hope can develop him. And you come out and you're just going to, you're just going to do so on him like that publicly. You know, this is where you say, you know, owners don't met all this. he meddled right now Aaron Glenn is in a real tight spot like I gotta bench the guy because my owner came out and said that he sucks I think he was ready to bench him anyways yeah fine there but now he might not be able to let him bench him well and also you know to to the in defense of the media relations folks because we say it so many times with being able to make these decisions a lot of people's job like is to keep their job and so it like how how aggressively do you want to tell uh justin fields about this considering the ultimate boss uh who has no issue right terminating right or terminating the person above you um you know in that particular situation where

48:18Jourdan Rodrigue:it's everything's bad uh everything's bad depression yeah like the run game is sneaky bad

48:24Steve Wyche:like they're 25th or 26th in in rushing efficiency right now well that's what we're saying brees all's in the block right because you know he can't you can't get anything going and the quiet thing is the defense you know if they could have just combined one of the defense has played well last week i mean the last two weeks they haven't given up more than 13 points in in two straight games but this will be a much bigger challenge no sauce gardener it sounds like in this game he's coming off a concussion garrett wilson is very uncertain so i think this is where you can absolutely crush darren mouji in this front office for showing up to this season with a receiver group like this because with Wilson out, they have no chance.

49:03Patrick Claybon:Does Jamar Chase also get more than 23 targets? Why not? Maybe. Why not?

49:09Jourdan Rodrigue:As long as Joe Flacco can lift his arm above his head, throw the ball.

49:14Patrick Claybon:Well, I think the most important thing for Joe Flacco is being able to put both of his hands under center. And I can't believe that I didn't think about this initially because I was so skeptical of the idea. But they had, if you take out empty and shotgun snaps, Jake Browning just edged out Joe Burrow after starting more games in terms of being under center. And already, Joe Flacco has had more under center dropbacks than Jake Browning. And you could see the improvement generally in the offensive line. They were able to protect better. Chase Brown got loose. He had his longest carry of the season.

49:46Patrick Claybon:And then seven plays later, he had his longest carry of the season. Once again, the football team seems to exist. The defense is better. Everything got improved.

49:53Steve Wyche:Defense is not better. The defense is trash. DJ Turner, DJ Turner,

49:57Jourdan Rodrigue:the corner is playing well. He's one of the bright spots on this Bengals defense, the corner who got demoted before the regular season began and then won his job back. He's playing really well.

50:05Steve Wyche:He's playing great, but the defense is maybe the worst. I think it's the worst defense in the NFL, at least when Trey Hendricks is out of the field.

50:10Patrick Claybon:The Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins would like to hear you say that.

50:13Jourdan Rodrigue:The Dolphins would like to hear you say that. I love that point you made, Patrick, about being under center versus being in the gun or even in the pistol, which I love, but they don't really do that there. They do either mostly out of the gun. But when Jake Browning was playing well a couple years ago, Greg's glory days of his Jake Browning love where it first developed and blossomed was he was they were mixing it up a little bit like that and then they moved him back in the gun the same way that they've had Joe Burrow keeping so much of this offense that doesn't necessarily work for every style of quarterback and for every experience level of quarterback even the most experienced quarterback currently in football right now who is playing for the Cincinnati Bengals or second him most or whatever.

50:57Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't know how many years he's got on Aaron Rodgers, but he he's even saying I'd rather play under center. Why is it that this is the change they make for Joe Flacco, but you can't make life easier on your backup knowing you have some gotta have it games coming up? Why? Why? Why is any of this like I love seeing this offense click? I love seeing the receivers get the ball. Joe Flacco playing football is just fun, right? But why is it taking this to change around what you're doing and make your offense a little bit easier on the quarterback. You know, I just don't understand.

51:30Steve Wyche:Maybe they're a staff that kind of likes the quarterback to dominate a little. You know, that's just

51:35Jourdan Rodrigue:like their flow. They're just like, they're submissive.

51:40Steve Wyche:You know, different partners are different. Maybe it's a coaching staff that's just kind of a submissive. Because Joe Flacco is the only reason he came in and said, what the under center for a soft landing spot. Oh, I think he's just calling the plays out there. Jamar Chase is calling the plays. Thank you.

51:58Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm getting the ick.

51:59Patrick Claybon:Speaking of the ick, what about the 2025 Miami Dolphins who are taking their show once again on the road? There's hopefully they get the if there is rain, they'll close the roof at Mercedes Benz Stadium taking on the Atlanta Falcons who are favored by seven coming off the loss. Steve, 44 and a half. The over under the voice of God, Kevin Harlan, as well as Trent Green on the call. are the dolphins okay no no they're not what a question they're a disaster you know once two came out and said that it was over it was over i mean they may came out and compete and that's why this is an intriguing game to me because the falcons game plan offensively was terrible against the 49ers and you talk about how you love the pistol that's when the pistol gets you into trouble when you're not creative when you're not running texas routes with your running back against a team that's without a starting linebacker when you don't put any stress on your weaknesses and you play right into sidelines hash marks and things to give them an extra defender so they're going to have to be more creative in their short passing game quick passing game against a terrible dolphins defense atlanta's just one of these teams where it is a week to week you can't get a feel of what they are defensively they're a good football team and And that's why they're going to win this football game because Dolphins offense is just non-existent.

53:19Patrick Claybon:It's an absolute mess. But I'm interested to see if Atlanta should come out and put up the big numbers as they should offensively.

53:26Jourdan Rodrigue:Darren Waller was Miami's best offensive player and he's on injured reserve.

53:30Patrick Claybon:But on the IR now. Yeah.

53:31Jourdan Rodrigue:And I am mad at Atlanta. I'm mad at the Falcons because it is exactly what you said. They come out two weeks ago with an absolutely incredible game plan offensively that funnels the entire offense through one of the best football players on the planet right now who can do everything, who did do everything in this game. And then just a few days later, they almost like put one hand behind his back because they're not giving him even when they were aligned with him to the side as well. And yes, they still run a lot of pistol back without. They did not give the same autonomy. me they didn't attack the second level part of what I loved about when they ran so much out of the pistol two weeks ago was he was directly attacking the second level whether you could see it obviously or not every single movement and shift that he's able to set up affects the middle of the defense whether they're having to flow side to side or come and crash down this was not the same stress points that they put and they should have and I don't want to take anything away from Tatum Bethune who played awesome saw it well read everything great played it awesome.

54:35Jourdan Rodrigue:But Atlanta is not stressing defenses enough in enough types of ways. And that makes me annoyed because they are better than this and they know it and they're not doing it.

54:45Steve Wyche:I do. I struggle with them. And I wonder if they're coaching around whatever Michael Penix's limitations are. And, you know, if you listen to Chris Collinsworth, it's thrown over the middle and he's such a good thrower to the perimeter and that's a great skill to have. But it doesn't really show up when you look at this team. The baseline for Penix this year has been a little lower than I would have expected in the passing game. They are a team where their quarterback holds onto the ball quite a bit, but they don't push the ball down the field, which to me is a frustrating combination to watch.

55:25Steve Wyche:For whatever reason that's happening, that's what the numbers tell you, that he's holding onto the ball a lot and it's not going, it's not like they are a bombs away deep type of offense well i think one of the questions that we

55:33Patrick Claybon:had last year was about play action and we thought it was related to the health of kirk cousins what did jj mccarthy cooper rush jake browning marcus mariotta i could go on and on have in common their completion percentage with play action is better with than michael penningstreet they're actively not running a whole lot of play action passes and when they do uh they're not successful and some folks have pointed directly that they've obviously pointed oddly enough at the pistol Well, yeah, that's exactly it. That's a knock on the pistol scheme.

56:03Jourdan Rodrigue:That's part of the reason why, because that's part of the reason why you run it so much, because it gives the illusion, and now it's not doing that for them, let me be clear. But in theory, and it did this for the Rams a couple years ago, when the quarterback didn't want to be turning his back to the defense so much and wanted to see everything in front of him, it gives the illusion that you still could get the play-action game out of that, even though you're in sort of a more gun look. That's the thing. You still are trying to keep the run fakes available to you, but just moved backwards out of the stack of offensive linemen so that the quarterback can see everything in front of him, which then should lead to a deeper downfield passing game, but is not in this case.

56:44Jourdan Rodrigue:So all of these things that we're talking about are very much connected here. And it's all of them not working the way that they should in theory or in execution is what the Falcons.

56:52Patrick Claybon:But here's it. Sometimes they do. That's the thing that they're hot and cold. Sometimes they look brilliant. Sometimes they look terrible. Take a page out of the Bengals' book what they did with Joe Flacco. I mean, no bull stuff here. They must have thrown 80 % of their passes were slants. When you're playing a team that is struggling in the middle and you've got those receivers you have, especially two big-bodied guys, slant them to death. I low them, do whatever.

57:15Steve Wyche:My number one test of, do you have an effective quarterback? Are you going to have a long career as a quarterback, first of all, and do you have a good passing game? Which is like, are you good, like you mentioned, before when you're not pressured because almost any NFL quarterback can be good if he's not pressured and Penix does have some of the worst numbers this year when not pressured which does point back a little bit to scheme because I don't think it's personnel. I know they don't have a right tackle but overall their pass protection is fine like it's in the middle. It's absolutely fine.

57:46Steve Wyche:On the flip side Mike McDaniel like there's many cries for help that he's had. The fact that he said publicly that they played hard but they're not playing hard executing his assignments is the most insane quote I've maybe ever heard from a coach in terms of just like, I'm done. They don't listen to me. And you see that in the running game more than anything. They are 31st in the league in success rates. The missed assignments, what you see from the offensive line is crazy. And that was supposed to be Mike McDaniels thing. Like run game coordinator, Devon H and pushes back at your best offensive player.

58:19Steve Wyche:You know, so does Jalen Waddle is Darren Waller. Like, cause Devon H looks awesome this year and Jalen Waddle is like a good player, but like they can't figure out their running game at all. It is brutal to watch. You know what? You know what's not brutal? What's that? Breaking it up between the early games and the late games. That's it for the early games. Oh, okay. It's a pretty light early slate. Seven games early. We're going to talk about the late games and a really spicy Sunday night football game in our next one. So just go right over to that show.

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