2025 Week 10 Late and Primetime Games Preview

13:15Patrick Claybon:I would... I would ask, like, hey, can I get you guys all in one place? Like, getting poked and prodded, like, seven different times, like, after sitting on multiple planes. Like, eh, like, I already had back. That's why teams want to get guys after they've been poked and prodded three or four times to see how durable that is. That is a technique in the combine. Like, give me an injured player after he's worked out for three teams because I want to see how durable that thing is. Well, you know, you get good veteran teammates, and then you get ones that set you up with incredible segues like chambers, like quarterbacks that play in Southern California.

13:50Patrick Claybon:It is Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, Steve, four-and-a-half-point favorites against the team that beat them at their best in SoFi on Thursday night football. The San Francisco 49ers playing host. 49-and-a-half is the over-under. Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady, it is the Fox Uno to see Mac Jones once again starting for the 49ers. How do you see it going? How are the Rams a four-and-a-half point favorite?

14:17Steve Wyche:That's a big number. I mean, they've outscored the teams they've played since playing the 49ers, 84-20.

14:23Patrick Claybon:I mean, fine, but, you know, you look at these matchups, they tend not to go like this. Look, the Rams outplayed them at SoFi, but the giveaways. I mean, some of the punch-outs, some of the players who stepped up for the 49ers, and Christian McCaffrey has been the bane of the Rams existence. is look at his numbers against the Rams. Even when he was in Carolina, he averages about 150 combined yards against them in passing and receiving. He touches the ball. I was looking at this yesterday like 24 times or more against the Rams. They can't find a matchup against them. I know the Niners defense might be banged up or whatever.

15:02It plays well against the Rams.

15:06Patrick Claybon:I'm not saying the Rams are going to lose this game. Just four and a half points is a huge number. Especially with the Rams' great kicking issues that they've had this year.

15:17Steve Wyche:Look, Mac Jones. No cardy party for you. No.

15:22Jourdan Rodrigue:The thicker kicker is on the practice squad this week.

15:25Patrick Claybon:Oh, there we go.

15:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Competition.

15:28Patrick Claybon:Where's the big booty drop? We missed that one. Booty is massive. There it is. There it is. Look, I like the Rams. I think whoever wins this game, and it can't be the Niners. if you're the Rams, because then they swept you. They've got tiebreaker. Yeah, you can't hear it for you.

15:45Jourdan Rodrigue:And they beat Seattle once.

15:46Patrick Claybon:Yeah, I actually like San Francisco in this game just because of the McCaffrey factor. Whoa.

15:51Jourdan Rodrigue:Kyle Shanahan's having probably his best year coaching, honestly, and that's saying something considering some of the monster teams that he's coached. And Robert Sala is putting on an absolute clinic. You know, they're more and more injured every week. And I think that becomes the biggest threat factor to me if you're thinking about these matchups between the Rams and the 49ers and how strange they can get and how in their own heads, the Rams can get against the 49ers at times. I just don't think this goes that way. I just, this Rams team on two of three phases, offense and defense is such a wagon.

16:30Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, their offense is just rolling over people, through people, pass them in the air. Their offensive line is finally all back together again. Rob Havenstein being back last week was huge. The time to pressure went way up time-wise versus quick pressure that sometimes can get to Stafford and enforces the shorter completions. Puka Nakua's ribs injury is concerning. I would imagine they have one eye on this game, obviously. They're always going to play physical against the 49ers. They probably also have one eye on next week, which is the Seattle game. Their first time that the two teams have played each other.

17:09Jourdan Rodrigue:So you really have to manage this correctly if you're Sean McVay and the Rams. And I think part of why they were able to go so heavy personnel, 12 personnel, 13 personnel. You love that. Oh, man.

17:20Patrick Claybon:You love that with the Rams.

17:23Jourdan Rodrigue:I said some things. Give me two tight ends. Give me three. It's finally happened. I freaking leave the building. And they finally freaking do it. Yeah. And I think that that bodes well for playing a different style of offense as you give Puka maybe a little bit less of a workload.

17:38Steve Wyche:It was interesting that they alternated drives between their running backs, finally doing the thing that they say that they were going to do between Blake Corum. And Corum adds a little more explosion. I just think Stafford versus a team that can't rush the passer, you're almost drawing dead if you're the 49ers. And they probably will get Bryce Huff back this week, which is a big addition, but they're also losing Michael Williams. he's gone for the season. Not much of a pass rusher there, but like one of the reasons why when I was splitting hairs, I know I made you mad and I didn't choose Stafford for MVP was just his numbers clean.

18:20Steve Wyche:I mean, they're, they're insane. They, he is the best quarterback in the league this year. His numbers versus pressure are actually quite poor. He reminds me a little bit of Tom Brady in his later years. And this is a compliment. He's no longer hanging in quite as much to take those big hits because he's playing the long game, and he's just dirt and balls now. And so his numbers, yards per 10, if you get this 49ers team, they're not going to get pressure on him. Newsflash, it's not going to happen in this game. I think they smoke him.

18:48Patrick Claybon:Teams are sitting pressure from depth at the second highest rate against the Rams. That's a great stat. You just try to mess with the picture for Matthew Stafford a little bit, but you got to get it early with Stafford or else you're in trouble where you get in a situation where Devontae Adams is this red zone tight end target. Savant. Well, they're getting their tight ends involved in the passing game some too. And so there's so many different places where you could say, well, the history, Kyle Shanahan figures it out. Maybe Kyron will get the ball punched out on the one-inch line again. It's hard using the logical mindset to say that the 49ers are going to win this.

19:30Steve Wyche:Yeah, the inferior division team, they pull off one upset. They don't do it twice.

19:36Jourdan Rodrigue:They used...

19:37Steve Wyche:I've seen... I know, but it wasn't... It's like too many times. It'll be close.

19:41Jourdan Rodrigue:Listen, I think the Rams win, but these games get so weird. Yeah, they do. And they feel weird, and being in the building all week feels weird. It's just like... Everyone's tight.

19:51Patrick Claybon:Hopefully, Mac Jones has a standard gate by the end of this game. I know. Or dude, man.

19:56Steve Wyche:He's not punched over. He's so extra with everything. I love it.

20:01Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think we wanted to get to a throw of the year nomination. Right, Greg?

20:05Steve Wyche:Oh, yeah. Let's see.

20:07Jourdan Rodrigue:I wrote a whole poem about this throw last week.

20:10Steve Wyche:Stafford. And yeah, if you're on YouTube.

20:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, look at his helmet. Because there's Devontae running the deep dig. There's Stafford. Who's he looking at? Not you.

20:19Steve Wyche:Very similar to the throw in the Super Bowl to Cooper Cup.

20:22Jourdan Rodrigue:It's beautiful. But here's the thing. doing that on a intermediate to deep depth route takes a level of confidence in oneself

20:34Patrick Claybon:that not many human beings have it's also disrespectful can we be honest it's 30 yard pass down the field but look at how deep the linebackers he did it in the super bowl it wasn't

20:45Steve Wyche:quite as it wasn't this deep it wasn't that deep but it was pretty deep it was it was a it was like

20:50Jourdan Rodrigue:a 12-yard pass. I'm just saying

20:52Steve Wyche:it is disrespectful, but so is every celebration. So it's the quarterback version of holding out the ball while you're running towards the end zone. It's just adding a little sizzle to your Sunday. This is why it's disrespectful.

21:02Patrick Claybon:Those linebackers drop like 20 yards each. You got a runner with Devontae and he just brings it to him. When I put this game on this morning. It's just a nomination. Look at the depth

21:13Steve Wyche:of the linebacker. It's an incredible throw. I think it's a strong one. It's so sick. And the crazy thing is like it wasn't, I mean, it was the best throw he made all day, but his deep one to Puka was almost as good. He's feeling himself. And I just think the 49ers, look, they're not getting, weirdly, we talked so much about their rookie class earlier in the season, and now they lost Mikel Williams. Stout, their nickel has been a little up and down. And the other guys, like the defense, they're not helping. They're not playing. There's injuries. They're just a thin team. And they're trying their best.

21:44Steve Wyche:I think the most symbolic play I have, I should have made this a play of the year nominee, is last week with a 17-point lead. I think it was McCaffrey. Might have been Brian Robinson. Was trying to pick up a short yardage situation. It doesn't look like he's going to get it. And Mac Jones, who's all disheveled and everything's all messed up and his face is busted. He runs in there and he lowers his shoulder to push the pile forward. And I'm like, Mac Jones is out there living life. I love it. Football player.

22:14Jourdan Rodrigue:That's awesome.

22:16Patrick Claybon:So see if Mac Jones can do it again against the Los Angeles Rams. It's time for the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. The Pittsburgh Steelers fresh off of thrashing. Once again, one of the best teams in the AFC are on the road to SoFi Stadium to take on Herbo and the tackle list Chargers, who are a three point favorite. 45 and a half is the over under Mike Tirico, Chris Collinsworth, the entire gang on NBC. Do you need tackles to beat the Steelers?

22:49Steve Wyche:I think that would be helpful.

22:50Patrick Claybon:That would help.

22:51Steve Wyche:Yes. Not a question. Not sure if Bobby Hart, who it's crazy, like, oh, I hope we can get Bobby Hart back. He was like literally their fifth tackle and was like, didn't make the Bengals at one point, but he got hurt during last week's game too. So hearing that Penning is going to be a tackle and against this team in particular, it's not like the Chargers major in a quick passing game. Like despite all these offensive line injuries, like Herbert's back there, he's holding the ball and he's trying to make plays and he is making plays. I felt bad not listing him in the MVP conversation because I do think just he is playing as well as any other quarterback.

23:28Patrick Claybon:Insane.

23:28Steve Wyche:And you just think about him versus Herbig and Watt and Highsmith was probably their best edge guy last week. One thing I noticed was a couple of the plays that Highsmith and Watt got off, it was because Herbig got doubled, which is a very interesting wrinkle at their stage of development, but it just shows how many weapons they have.

23:47Patrick Claybon:But Herbig's been, you know, a high volume pressure guy for years. I mean, he's a heck of a player, and I think somebody got into Watt and the Highsmith and said, it's time we start earning your money here. We got to get, maybe it was Cam Hayward because he was very strong against those guys. The guys who were getting paid showed up last week. This is an intriguing matchup because Arthur Smith would love this because there's a tight end on the Chargers. I'm sure he would love to have on his team at Aranda Gadsden Jr. I think he's going to be the threat for the Chargers in this game. There's got to be some type of quick outlet pass in the game, even though they don't have it.

24:22Patrick Claybon:They don't really have a matchup because their edge guys are forward-going guys. They don't really have a dude to match up with Gadsden. So I think he is going to be a factor big time in this game. I like Pittsburgh in this game. I think Aaron Rodgers is starting to play better football. Um, real, just a real, some interesting storylines in this game. I just want to see a Pittsburgh and keep it up, but the charges without those offensive tackles to me is a significant issue. Two unpredictable teams.

24:49Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm super curious, uh, especially with what the Steelers did to the Colts tackles, like you noted on the, on the, uh, uh, the recap show this week, Greg, I'm really interested to see if the Steelers play around a Gadsden the same way they played Tyler Warren. And that was pulled Jalen Ramsey back to the deep safety position and mix up your zone pressure to really, and get that pressure, especially on the outsides to really mix up the quarterback and kind of know where the quarterback is looking. It's really hard to mix up Justin Herbert. And obviously he will make plays with his legs, but it is curious because so this Chargers offense being able to funnel through a mismatched tight end, the way that the Colts offense is also able to do.

25:35Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm curious to see if they deploy a similar game plan because that one was so effective to the tune of six takeaways.

25:40Steve Wyche:And it does sound like Ramsey's just playing free safety now. And not like they said, it's going to be permanent, but he said he's there this week and they have injuries. It's easy to forget. They lost to Sean Elliott. They lost, I think Chuck Clark, it was, and he's just playing free safety. It is weird that he's essentially playing Minka Fitzpatrick's role. Like that trade just seems, but it's something though he's, he's wanted to do for

26:01Patrick Claybon:years. He talks about his affinity for Charles Woodson and making that change.

26:06Steve Wyche:And let's be real, he was not playing well in man coverage. And even last week where they did play the split safeties a lot more, they looked different. They still played the Colts more man coverage than any other team had all year because that's what their cornerbacks can do. And I think you look at these matchups for the Chargers, that's the thing. Basically, if Justin Herbert can play offensive line for himself by just running around and making it happen and he had to do it even against the Titans, then, man, there are mismatches with Ladd and with Gadsden and with Quinton Johnson against the Steelers secondary.

26:39Patrick Claybon:Well, fortunately for Justin Herbert, he's got one of the best pass-protecting running backs in the entire NFL, and Kamadi Vidal. Yes. Back there, where he's making plays in the pass game, again, whether catching the ball or blocking for Herbo, and I think they're going to need it. It's going to be Herbo out on the edge. Yeah. Make Highsmith miss. you have Ladd and QJ come back to the ball and have Gadsden work the middle and just Justin figure it out. It's going to be quarters of that versus the Steelers kind of plotting their way down the field scoring a predictable 22 points.

27:13Steve Wyche:Yeah, they have really gone extreme in terms of the ball coming out of Rodgers' hand so quickly and it being short but I don't think they'll need to throw it that much. The Chargers are 27th against the run and so you think of those jumbo packages and Darnell Washington and all the tight ends.

27:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Jalen Warren.

27:29Steve Wyche:Jalen Warren. Like, the Chargers are not a good run defense. I'm a little stunned the Chargers are favored by three in this game. My take on the Chargers is that they've actually overachieved quite a bit this year based on what's the real level of where they should be. There's no doubt about that. It's clear.

27:50Jourdan Rodrigue:My colleague, Daniel Popper, at The Athletic, actually wrote two sentences that I think are really depressing but really well-written where he said, the ceiling for this season caved in when Alt was lost for the year. Trading for penning is the equivalent of cleaning up the rubble. Oh, it hurts.

28:08Steve Wyche:It does. And yet, because it's Herbert back there, they are a must-watch every week and with the weapons that he has, and you give them a chance in a game where I trust the Chargers coaching just a little bit more than I do the Steelers. Steelers, you never know what you're going to get. That's true of the games we will talk about after the break. We have almost made it to the end of our week 10 preview.

28:41Patrick Claybon:That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Toyota is all in all season with another year of Toyota game day giveaways. Coming up during this week's Sunday night game, the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Los Angeles Chargers. If there's a completed pass of over 35 yards in the second half or a rush of over 20 yards in the second half, 20 fans will each win a$1 ,000 Marriott gift card to take the game on the road. Terms and conditions apply. Enter for a chance to win at toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Ends 2-8-26. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S.

29:16Patrick Claybon:states and D.C., 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter, prizes, and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters.

29:31Steve Wyche:Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks.

29:45Patrick Claybon:If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis.

30:08Steve Wyche:Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TrimphiaRadio.com.

30:24Patrick Claybon:Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products, and more. Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in-store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? ZepBound Terzepatide may be able to help. ZepBound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity.

31:01or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. ZepBound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. ZepBound contains terzepatide and should not be used with other terzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if ZepBound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.

31:38Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop ZepBound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking ZepBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor.

32:10Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounds.lily.com.

32:18Steve Wyche:Innovation is what gets your business to the big leagues, and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition. Break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top-heavy legacy providers. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. Innovation. From Wasabi's AI-enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air, to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, data deletion, and ransomware, Wasabi has taken the lead in big lead data storage.

32:55Steve Wyche:Remember, Wasabi is up to 80 % less than market competition and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi, another championship story. Check them out for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network.

33:12Patrick Claybon:You're a pro at running your life, at committing to your workout, at showing up every day. At Bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our Sport Assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to. Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister-fighting details, and targeted art support. Bombas Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's bombas.com and use code audio.

33:43Steve Wyche:Back on NFL Daily. Big week in terms of news. the future of this country getting shaped, but that wasn't the biggest news. The biggest news was that Tom Brady revealed his dog, Junie, was cloned from a previous dog that he owned back in 2023. And the first thing I thought about when I learned not only did Tom Brady clone his dog, but that he's an investor of the company that cloned his dog. I wanted to hear what Patrick thought about that.

34:19Patrick Claybon:Well, it's a similar thing that you've heard me say every single time. We, for some reason, find out about Tom Brady's most recent investment, which is every single time that Tom Brady has money going on in something, it becomes news. And Tom is at the forefront of seemingly every circumstance that I, you know, personally, I'm not a money guy. I know very little about everything. every time we find out about some tech thing it's Tom Brady is there and sometimes it doesn't work too well and it's a you know maybe it's a fad you know maybe there's a pickleball league coming on maybe it's some crypto thing but it seems like it's always Tom

35:00Steve Wyche:well the crypto pickleball Venn diagram is just like a circle it's everyone it's all together my bigger thing though is you know you are all dog owners I believe I used to you're not anymore I can't take it so Okay, but what are your thoughts on, you know, would you clone Tucker, your dog, Jordan?

35:22Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, it wouldn't be Tucker.

35:24Steve Wyche:Well, yeah. Yeah.

35:25Jourdan Rodrigue:That's my take. There's only one Tucker. It's my Tucker, and that wouldn't be Tucker.

35:31Patrick Claybon:Yeah, that's the same exact space where I am, like in a spiritual sense. Yes. I do believe in individuality.

35:38Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes, I believe animals have souls, and yeah, it wouldn't be Tucker.

35:42Patrick Claybon:And they can't talk and they can't necessarily consent to anything. So it's a lot of the same way I feel about, you know, quote unquote, AI or plagiarism machines, especially when somebody is no longer with us. They don't have they don't have the ability to say whether or not they want this thing. And so hopefully, you know, Tom's pup would have wanted this.

36:00Jourdan Rodrigue:Let the Venn diagram also between people who clone their dogs and chat GPT users also close into a circle.

36:09Steve Wyche:And keep it away from me. I still like these last couple games of the week. I'm curious if the Lions are going to bounce back.

36:17Patrick Claybon:And we'll see if there's a team we expect to bounce back. It is Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions. The odds makers feel like they will. They are eight and a half point favorites over Marcus Mariota and the Washington Commanders, as we are hoping for a return at some point for Jaden Daniels with that dislocated elbow. The over under is 49 and a half points. Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma. They're on the call, Jordan. as the Lions got beat. They got beat. Dan Campbell acknowledged it. There's any number of places where they could have improved. Do they play better against a defense that's had some issues recently?

36:55Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, that's putting it lightly, Patrick, because the Washington Commanders came into this season, I think, a huge concern and question mark on the defensive side of the ball, the oldest defense in the league, and immediately did nothing to soften anyone's fears about them. And now they're banged up. They've got players that, you know, they got guys that are hurt. Their linebackers are not playing the way that they expect from, from the caliber or the reputation of those linebackers. Their plans for some of their players is mystifying to me. Steve, we've taught, I know we've talked a lot about that.

37:27Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think that the lions are probably pissed off and they're looking to roll. And I think they will.

37:33Steve Wyche:I think they have real questions that we aren't going to really get answered in this game because they're just too good. Yeah. But Colton Pouncey, your colleague at The Athletic, had some numbers that supported something that was in my head too. It's like eye test-wise, they don't quite look the same on offense. And he did have some numbers to back it up, that they are 16th in explosive play rate, they are 12th in overall offensive success rate, and they're 26th in terms of their rushing success. All three of those numbers last year were top two in the league in terms of offense. So they have put up some big scoring numbers.

38:08Steve Wyche:They've had moments where they've looked good, but they haven't been as consistent. And I think it's that interior line. It is. And they also lost Christian Mahogany for a while. Maybe not the season, but he's a starter and he's going to be out. And Taylor Decker is talking about retirement at the end of the year and trying to just fight through one last year. And he picked up another injury. He's had a shoulder problem that I think might make this his last year. And now he has a knee injury on top of that. Him and Presul were both out on Wednesday out of practice. So just some concerning signs.

38:39Patrick Claybon:And Taylor Decker is kind of like a, you know, not Joe Noboom. Who's Roger Saffo was the Rams a couple years ago where he's basically held together by like tape and willpower. And so the offensive line has not been as dominant. And remember, they lost some guys in the offseason too. But against the commanders, I mean, the command, I mean, Marshawn, Lattimore is out for the season. He wasn't playing great anyway. They've got nobody to generate pass pressure. pressure. They went out, the players that they signed on the defensive front were run stoppers because they were getting gashed on first down by the run last year.

39:11Patrick Claybon:So they want to solidify the run and then come up and be creative on second and third and known passing situations. When now teams aren't in a known passing downs. So this is a game where Detroit should have its way putting points on the board. And Washington wasn't stopping anybody anyway. Joe, we talked about Frankie Louvler having to use him on the edge to create pressure. That's created gaps all over the middle of the defense and the run and passing games it just they're just throwing stuff you know out there to see what they can do because of all the beat up personnel they have defensively

39:41Jourdan Rodrigue:it's because when you do that with an inside linebacker as frequently as they're doing it with frankie louvu it becomes mathematically appealing for an opposing offensive coordinator to say okay i'm gonna make it so you only have 11 players on the field because you're just gonna waste that guy's rush you're gonna find a way to get him tilt the play away from him or block him up or chip or do something and then you're able to say okay now who am i gonna because you only have technically 11 now in my math who am i gonna target who am i gonna circle who am i gonna block out of the play and a lot of times too it's been the other linebacker a lot of times they're

40:17Patrick Claybon:blocking which is bobby wagner that he's getting doubled and getting sealed getting doubled and

40:21Jourdan Rodrigue:he's getting sort of pushed out of the play because again they have this mathematical advantage and and teams are able to key in on these things and when you have a um concern like that in the middle of your defense, you have nothing.

40:36Patrick Claybon:And real quick, Frankie Louvoo, he is playing this weekend. His hip drop tackle suspension got overturned. He's being fined$100 ,000, but he's going to be able to play this week.

40:44Steve Wyche:I thought it was interesting the commanders didn't make any trades at the deadline. There was some reporting that they were talking Debo or Von Miller potentially to the Bills. That was from Tim Graham, but that never happened. They could have been sellers. Some of the teams that didn't make any trades, I thought, were telling. Like the 49ers not trying to trade too hard for anyone. It's kind of like maybe they're accepting their fate. The commanders didn't become sellers, but I think they know where they are for the rest of the year.

41:09Patrick Claybon:Boy, you're going to be talking compensatory draft pick when you look at them.

41:13Steve Wyche:Especially with Debo, yeah.

41:15Patrick Claybon:And so it maybe gives a little insight into how they view their roster construction long-term. Maybe not as much like the way they view their hopes this season. But, you know, if you're watching on YouTube, you saw the Elijah Arroyo touchdown where it's a similar thing where the commanders have given up the third most completions on vertical routes all season long. And Jared Goff's been throwing them actually more than he did in the Ben Johnson era where we saw the late touchdown to Jameson Williams on a vertical route. So maybe the Lions get a chance to to work on that, you know, get that metric and get explosive plays.

41:48Patrick Claybon:Get the explosive plays by, you know, maybe Isaac Tesla. Yeah, let's go. Get in there. Two hands on the ball. Let's go.

41:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I'd like to see them close a game early on because I really want the opportunity to say the offensive coordinator, Morton, salting away a game.

42:07Steve Wyche:Oh.

42:08Patrick Claybon:I'll leave.

42:08Jourdan Rodrigue:I will leave. No.

42:11Patrick Claybon:Don't go anywhere, Jordan, because we've got another game. Last one. We've got our last game. and it's the best team, I'll say it, in the NFL right now. Green playing host to Jacoby Brissett and the Arizona Cardinals. The Seattle Seahawks are six and a half point favorites. It is Kevin Harlan and Trent Green on CBS. Let's wrap it up, Greg. Where's the weakness? How can we find the point of entry for NFL teams to compete

42:40Steve Wyche:with what Mike Mack has going on in the Pacific Northwest? The weakness is that they got to play the unstoppable Jacoby Brissett this week in the Arizona Cardinals. Very interesting that they named Jacoby Brissett the starter. And one day later, Kyler Murray goes on injured reserve. Now, Murray's been out with that foot injury. No one's questioning that. You know, obviously he's hurt. Right. And there was some reporting. Ian Rapport put it out that, you know, sometimes with these foot sprains, it's a four plus week injury. The thing that's confusing is he's already been out a month. he wasn't put on injured reserve before.

43:14Steve Wyche:So they were hoping it would appear that he would be back within that four-week window. And he's been on the practice field for three weeks. Clearly, they're playing better offensively. We don't need to repeat all the reasons why, like with Jacoby Brissett. It's just obvious. You can see it. But how it all was being handled, I think it's fair to wonder what exactly was going on behind the scenes and if Kyler Murray's going to be on the team next year. I thought it was interesting that Gannon said, look, we talked to Kyler and we talked to a few people before making this decision to putting it on injured reserve.

43:48Steve Wyche:This is like an organizational thing, what's been going on going to Jacoby.

43:52Patrick Claybon:I think if he wasn't really hurt, we hear Kyler and we talk about it, whether it's social posts scrubbing, you know, the Cardinals from his Instagram or whatever. You know, I think he is hurt. Maybe they're saying, okay, maybe he can come back. Maybe he can come back. You know what? But now we got another month, so he'll be out almost two months by that point. So let's sit him. Jacoby Brissett's playing well. Marvin Harrison got the ball last game. Everyone talks about like he was getting the ball before. He wasn't getting targeted that much beforehand, even with Jacoby Brissett. But the offense was on time.

44:21Patrick Claybon:I think part of it is because they're playing a terrible Cowboys defense. I mean, because here's how misleading some of this stuff is. The 27 points that Arizona scored, those are the third fewest points that the Cowboys allowed. Fair. Right. So as bad as their defense is, they actually played better than they did normally. But Jacoby Brissett, you just saw, and part of it is physical size. He can throw the ball with a 6-4 defensive end in his face, whereas Kyler's got to bounce it, extend it, and everyone else is in scramble rules. And so I think Jacoby's patience with some things, but also his quick decision-making is why this offense is working a little bit better, the offensive line playing a little bit better, a little bit more physically.

45:03Patrick Claybon:We'll see how it goes. I mean, this week, it's going to be tough. I mean, he'll show me something if he goes up to Seattle and handles Leonard Williams and the way that defensive front, my God, they are smacking people up there.

45:15Steve Wyche:And they got swept last year by the Seahawks in a version of the Seahawks that wasn't as good as this one.

45:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. I mean, I fully expect Seattle to take care of business, but I really don't want it to get lost that before they played the worst, well, the Bengals exist, but before they played among the worst defenses in football right now, Jacoby Brissett balled out against the Indianapolis Colts who have a good defense and the Green Bay Packers who have a good defense. And so I think that this is important to remember that Jacoby Brissett has like this, um, consistency that the team really, you can tell has craved. If you listen to the press conferences post game from Calais Campbell, from Trey McBride, who was on the Scott Van Pelt, uh, set after the game though they clearly wanted to keep rolling the way that they are regardless of an injury Kyler is hurt and I think it's confusing for fans when there are reports from practice of Kyler taking reps with with at practice a couple weeks ago and then but but the injury is going to be something that's that's sidelining him for a while as well so I think there's some mixed messaging that needs to get under control out there for sure but at the same time I don't want to discredit what Jacoby Brissett has done and how Drew Petson clearly, clearly sees him as the guy, sort of a throwback of what Drew Petson used to do running this offense back when he was like full on QBX system under, you know, with the Browns, under Stefanski, those types of things.

46:43Show me something this week, because if they can be competitive in this game and just give me an

46:48Steve Wyche:entertaining product, and they want more than that, but that would show that this team is still going to make some noise, I think, down the stretch. I'm not sure if they can do it.

47:00Jourdan Rodrigue:And I thought it was interesting that we're listening to the broadcast and the booth is calling to keep Brissette.

47:07Steve Wyche:Oh yeah. Troy Aikman.

47:08Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't hear, you just don't hear that happen often. And this was before we love Troy though.

47:13Steve Wyche:He'll do it.

47:14Jourdan Rodrigue:But this was before we knew that this was going to actually be an injured reserve situation. You know what I mean? Like I know we have that context now, but to have the broadcast team calling to keep Brissette as the quarterback, After going through Tom Brady can downplay these meetings all they want, but those guys really get in there in those meetings and they're in the building to, to, to say those things on the broadcast was, was telling to me.

47:38Patrick Claybon:And again, I'll, I'll bring it up once again, because I always will. I wish the booth community had collectively decided to support Jacoby Brissett when he clearly should have been the starting quarterback in Cleveland where it's a little bit, for some reason, it was easier for people to defend Deshaun Watson, keeping his starting job where Kyler Murray has kind of been on the opposing end of threats and critique from the general Booth community for the majority of his NFL career.

48:05Jourdan Rodrigue:You're so right, though.

48:06Patrick Claybon:Yeah, if there's a guy that everybody's like, well, you know, they're better now with Jacoby, it's going to be Kyler.

48:14Steve Wyche:Let's think about this game, too, from Seattle's point of view. They're coming off a high. It's a much tougher matchup. Rashid Shahid is there. I cannot wait to see what this looks like. You know, for the first time. They already led the league in air yards per attempt. So I do love a team that's building on strengths, like strength on strength on strength. And he's just going to give them so much. And I am curious just when they're on offense, their offensive line who's played well against this Cardinals front, which can test your protection scheme and your communication. And they have Walter Nolan now who I like.

48:46Steve Wyche:Who looked great. Who looked good. So it's a good matchup, I think, when the Seahawks have the ball. What this does, though, getting Shahid is going to open up the run game

48:54Patrick Claybon:because now you've got two vertical threats. We know JSN's better up the seam. Now you've got a guy who can do stuff on the outside. Okay, so now you're going to have to, if you're playing nickel, you're more worried about rotating coverages than seeking a safety to stop the run, which is what teams are doing to the Seahawks. So this is something that's going to open up things for Arroyo in the middle of the field, but I think because Seattle doesn't run the ball consistently well, this is going to pull guys back to open up some teams for the 100 and they can stay in 12 personnel

49:24Jourdan Rodrigue:which they clearly have designed their version of 12 personnel because they want to attack teams in the passing game with two dominant receivers and two dominant tight ends as mismatches and they're not seeing a lot of light boxes to your point steve they're only seeing light boxes 20 of rushing attempts this season and so that number is going to dramatically change that's going to probably flip on its head because they're going to have to pull everybody back to the middle of the field.

49:51Patrick Claybon:I will say if you're, if you're a Seattle fan who's grading things and Donald's throwing all these downfield passes, there's only four teams that have more interceptions than touchdowns allowed on deep passes. And one of them is the Arizona Cardinals. Hey, now, you know, maybe, you know, why are you working things out? There you go.

50:07Steve Wyche:I'll never throw, I never put it past Jonathan Gannon to come up with a, no, he can, he can, a one week game cam game plan that, That makes it tight. It makes it tough. So there are six and a half point favorites. They're a pretty decent survivor option. I know we respect the Cardinals, but we have not picked our survivor pick of the week. Last week, we had the Rams. I mean, we've been in blowout city. We've hit, what, seven straight weeks now? We have. In terms of the survivor.

50:37Patrick Claybon:Can I offer up Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers at home? No. Against the Saints. We could chase the Saints two weeks in a row.

50:45Steve Wyche:but we're not eligible to take the following teams, the Bills, Lions, Packers, Chiefs, Colts, Rams, essentially the best offenses in the league, as you pointed out a week ago. That really does eliminate a lot of the good options in this week. In particular, it's getting tough out here. The Panthers are a strong option. I would say the Panthers and the Seahawks are, to me, pretty clearly the best two options.

51:11Patrick Claybon:Yeah, if you're asking me, Jacoby or Tyler Shuck, I'd rather play against the dollar shot.

51:17Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm going Panthers. Carolina.

51:20Patrick Claybon:Oh, that could do us. It's hard.

51:22Jourdan Rodrigue:I would have gone Seattle.

51:24Steve Wyche:So I can win either way. Either we win as a group or I can point out that it should have been the Seattle.

51:29Jourdan Rodrigue:And isn't that just what it's all about?

51:30Steve Wyche:Yes, pretty much.

51:32Patrick Claybon:I would like to use you guys as a resource for a project I've been working on. Oh, okay. Because I know you've had a conversation about the MVP. Yes. The MVP conversation is sometimes deemed a race, sometimes simply deemed a conversation, but more often than not, it takes the form of a verbal tournament, Steve loosely defined rules that seemingly change from year to year. So I wondered what if I use the incredible resource of the brainpower available to me at NFL daily. Wow. And facilitated a conversation about the conversation while also highlighting its inherent absurdity and lack of logical consistency to ultimately predict the 2025 most valuable player using key metrics.

52:10Steve Wyche:Oh, wow. Okay.

52:11Patrick Claybon:So it's a scoring system that begins because, as Baker Mayfield said, and again, this is not what I believe. This is just what the circumstances have put forth because Greg does it all the time. We have to analyze the people voting for the MVP while we make our statements about who the MVP is going to be. So once Week 10 begins, if you are a non-quarterback, it is minus 17 points. We have to go back to Adrian Peterson. The only reason he got the MVP is because a lot of the qualifications weren't met by the quarterbacks this year. If you were a defensive player, it is minus 50 points. Oh. Off the bat, you have to do the following things.

52:50Patrick Claybon:If you have a positive game after week 10 and you are in the conversation, which we've already established some players that are in their conversation, we'll finalize things and make this once we get week 10 going, it's a plus five. Okay. If you have a positive game in prime time or a major 425 Eastern time start, after week 10, it's plus seven. if it's after week 10 against the contender it's plus 10 okay and you guys don't have to worry i'll track all this in excel spreadsheet that i'm gonna get real into this morose here a negative prime time game after week 10 is um negative 12 okay after week 11 it's negative 15 uh remember back when brock purdy was an mvp contender and he had the negative prime time game fell off he was done

53:34Steve Wyche:at that point. It was the same thing happened to Michael Vick in like a Monday night game. It was Michael Vick versus Tom Brady. Three weeks later, Michael Vick didn't get a vote.

53:43Patrick Claybon:Yep. And so it's those scoring primetime versus primetime against contender. The scoring goes up and changes every single week. I'll have the full list available whenever we finish. Negative primetime game after week 13 goes all the way up to negative 20. Oh, yeah, that does hurt. And you guys will be helping me determine whether it was a positive game or a negative game. Again, in my view, things can be a little great. I was about to say, Patrick Mahomes could go 13 of 30. Exactly. But in terms of the MVP conversation, there are only winners.

54:19Steve Wyche:Yeah, it's true. It is very binary. What if it's a 4-0-5 game? Let's say the Darnold-Baker-Mayfield Seahawks game happens later in the year, but it's 4-0-5. It's buried. It's a Fox game when it's a CBS doubleheader week. You get minus what happens.

54:37Patrick Claybon:Yeah, later in the year, Greg, the flex comes into play. Okay. Because in the conversation, later in the year, games are important. To me, they're all football games. And we can evaluate the teams with their totality of their resume. This is the Baker rules. But the Baker Mayfield logical understanding of the MVP applies here. If you're leading the NFL in a category while in the conversation, but it only lasts for that week, it's plus five. If you break a season-long NFL record at the end of the season, it's plus 15. Oh, yeah. If you've never won the MVP despite a solid resume, it is plus 12. And if you've won multiple MVPs or you won the MVP last year, it is minus six in the final week.

55:17Patrick Claybon:That is the conversation. Wow. They won't be playing in the final week.

55:21Steve Wyche:Yeah.

55:22Patrick Claybon:This explains. That's like the Drew Brees rules.

55:24Steve Wyche:Yeah, this explains why J.J. Watt did not win the MVP that season, that he had the greatest season any defensive player has ever had, because he had the minus 50. Yeah. Right off the bat. Really sunk him. Because he got close, even despite it.

55:38Jourdan Rodrigue:He was in the conversation every week.

55:40Steve Wyche:The conversation. Well, I don't know how we determine who's even starting the conversation, because one of the most ridiculous things about the conversation, do you remember, oh, you know, mid-October, when Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott were in the conversation, And yet here we are just a few weeks later.

55:57Jourdan Rodrigue:But Baker himself said that this is when football starts. That's true.

56:01Patrick Claybon:This is it. But how does Saquon not win that last year then? They played nothing but prime time. Well, he got the minus. Off the top, though. Off the top. That's a one-shot deal, right? He got the minus 17 in one time. And Josh Allen's team had the consistent success, and he plays the quarterback position, and he had big wins late.

56:19Steve Wyche:And he hadn't won the MVP before despite a great resume. That's a plus 12. Saquon hasn't either.

56:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Here's my question for you.

56:26Steve Wyche:Dang, Lamar's got no shot.

56:27Patrick Claybon:No, he doesn't.

56:29Jourdan Rodrigue:What do we also count? So obviously we count players who are in the conversation.

56:35Patrick Claybon:Correct.

56:35Jourdan Rodrigue:Do we also count players who are the subjects of many takes and quotes and headlines that say we should be talking more about

56:49Patrick Claybon:or it's time. That's a whole other section. That's the Daniel Jones rule?

56:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Or it's time to have a conversation about.

56:56Patrick Claybon:Yes.

56:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Those guys count.

56:57Patrick Claybon:Once the conversation is invoked, you can be placed in the conversation. But if statistically you're eliminated from the point total, it's not going to matter. Like Sam Darnold and Dimes will remain in the conversation significantly longer than JSN and Jonathan Taylor, despite perhaps not having a similar level of contribution. It's that minus 17. Matthew Stafford's going to get a bump right there, too. Matthew Stafford is hitting a lot of these.

57:19Jourdan Rodrigue:He is hitting a lot of the qualifications for the conversation.

57:24Steve Wyche:The we need to be talking more about conversation is, is it like a cousin? I think it's a cousin to this conversation. It's related, yeah.

57:32Patrick Claybon:Well, those are the guys who the scoring is a little bit lower, so it's a tier down. Okay. And so they're going to need some huge performances, perhaps break an NFL record in order to get into the actual conversation.

57:43Steve Wyche:I'm glad we did this. I'm glad I'm looking behind the glass and I'm seeing our producers. Drew is like wondering why am I here right now? Why is this show still going on?

57:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Eric's just thinking about how much math he's going to have to do.

57:56Steve Wyche:None of this is going on NFL channel. It's all being cut out. You're not going to see it at a prime pizza back on the back patio. Yeah. If you show up on Friday afternoon,

58:07Jourdan Rodrigue:we should have a conversation about that.

58:08Steve Wyche:Yeah, we should. You can check us out by the way, on the NFL channel. I believe Friday afternoons, maybe Wednesday afternoons. Who knows? It's a, it's all a surprise. We will be back in this very feed for Thursday Night Football. And because Nick, Shook, and I look at Raiders, Broncos, and we say there's a chance it's one-sided, we're going to give you more. We're going to do a little power rankings. We haven't done that in a long time. So we're going to come up with who are the best teams in the NFL. That'll be us on Thursday night. But I don't know if we can top this show. Let's have a conversation about it.

58:46Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? ZepBound Terzepatide may be able to help. ZepBound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. ZepBound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. ZepBound contains terzepatide and should not be used with other terzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if ZepBound is safe and effective for use in children.

59:25Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it. Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop ZEPBound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills.

59:57Taking ZEPBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounce.lily.com.

1:00:16Patrick Claybon:Wasabi is purpose-built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees. Wasabi is the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI-enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air. to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi, driving innovation in data storage for up to 80 % less than market competition. Try for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi, hot cloud storage, proud partner of the iHeart Podcast Network. Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products, and more.

1:00:59Patrick Claybon:Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in-store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. This is Tab Ramos from Inside American Soccer.

1:01:15Steve Wyche:And this summer, Topgolf is turning into the ultimate soccer destination.

1:01:19Patrick Claybon:They've got a new soccer-themed game you can play with your group, exclusive food and drink items. They've even installed full-size soccer goals so you can try to hit golf balls right into the net.

1:01:29Steve Wyche:And every match all summer long will be on throughout the venue. And if you want to keep the fun going all summer, you can get the Topgolf Summer Fun Pass, which lets you play every single day and bring up to five guests every visit.

1:01:42Patrick Claybon:Get yours now at topgolf.com slash fun pass. Hi, it's Karen in Georgia from My Favorite Murder. We cruised around L.A. in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. Want the full story? Take a listen. She starts dating Howard Hughes. And in fact, she helps him design a faster plane. So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy and Lamar and Billie Jean King.

1:02:19Presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

1:02:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Goodbye. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.