Potential AJ Brown Trades, Titans Firing Aftermath and Steelers-Bengals Preview

21:30Jourdan Rodrigue:Switch the positions. We're having the same conversation about Liam Cohen, who's done a great job so far, but has had some sloppy stuff on offense. if you switch those two markets and those two coaches right now, we're not even talking about this. We are talking about, you got to figure your, you know what out in terms of the game management, the play calling, get better play out of the quarterback, have a better plan for the quarterback, but quarterback has to play better. Liam Cohen might have some wins though. That's the main thing. But that's the thing. We're, we're not like, that's the tone.

22:00Jourdan Rodrigue:We're talking a lot about the tone. I don't, I just don't really, I don't really see the point of it. I think it's, it's, it's more representing maybe how that locker room is feeling or maybe just giving a little bit to the fan base. Garrett Wilson was pretty open about how disappointed he was about that late second quarter into halftime strategy. Like he said, I know once I learned what the plan was, I was disappointed. Yeah. And as he should be. It was a cowardly way to coach a football game. Yeah. I think when you're the kind of CEO head coach, you have to have that part of the game and part of it is game management buttoned down.

22:38And part of it is handling the media afterwards. The Minnesota Vikings are not letting us know who the starter is at quarterback this week. Kevin O 'Connell says he wants to see how this week looks for J.J. McCarthy. He also mentioned Carson Wentz will be practicing. Does feel like Carson Wentz has a good chance to start again. And a little bit of a soft benching, I feel like, for J.J. McCarthy. There is somebody who you are not thinking about in this conversation

23:10Jourdan Rodrigue:that I think the local media there has been thinking about since training camp. We all should be thinking about and talking about as it pertains to, can Carson Wentz actually not Carson Wentz up a game? Or is he hurt and banged up? Max Brosmer, their backup, who basically, he was the only backup that stayed on the team. They overhauled their entire quarterback's room late into training camp to bring Carson Wentz in. They kept Max Brosmarin. When I was there for training camp, not only was he throwing the ball really well, but like the coaching staff, like this, these kids got some. And the coaching staff is, is buying in on his development.

23:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Now I'm not saying he's going to come out here and be the future. I'm not saying that at all. Please don't be in my comment section, but, and I put them on the future hits list for that reason. And I got, I caught heat for it because why the hell am I putting, don't, don't I know JJ McCarthy's on this team? Why the hell am I putting Max Brosmer for the Minnesota Vikings choice and all of that? Fair. But he's got something to him and the coaches see it and they like it and they want him to keep, they want him to stick around and they want to develop him. I was getting excited in London when I, when he was warming up on the sideline, we thought it was Brosmer time, but it didn't happen.

24:21Wentz stayed in that game. The more interesting part for me is if J.J. McCarthy is back on the practice field and maybe they'll use the injury as an excuse that they're bringing him back slowly. But if he is on the practice field and he's not starting, it is really taking a more aggressive, hey, we're trying to develop this kid long-term, but we kind of decided he is not ready to go right now and he is not going to be starting games when he is able, which was kind of my suspicion over the last couple weeks anyways. and it's different but I think we have to support quarterbacks having different development arcs and timelines.

24:57Jourdan Rodrigue:We've learned enough. We definitely would have been surprised going into the season to find out that this is how it was going but we'll see. Maybe it'll be McCarthy this week and this will all be a waste of time. Surprising news this week Eagles pass rusher Z'Darrius Smith retired out of nowhere and he signed with the team four weeks ago. made a big impact, I would say, in the first couple of games and has been playing plenty. They're without Nolan Smith, so they are very thin in terms of their edge rush group. It is becoming a major problem for them. They have Aziz Ojolari, they have Jalex Hunt, but they are just not getting much heat.

25:34So it just makes you think that Howie Roseman's going to make a move there, maybe a move at cornerback, more in that in a little bit. And then finally, I noticed Chauncey Garner-Johnson was released from the practice squad, And since we are the official podcast tracking all the doings of CJ GJ, our great producer, Eric, decided he'd put together something, combining a couple of clips from the last few weeks. Let's be real. Every team that's gotten Chauncey Gardner-Johnson since has gotten sick of him pretty quickly.

26:08Jourdan Rodrigue:But it's always, it's getting shorter and shorter. Right, it's getting shorter. The Eagles had him for a year, and then they let him go to the Lions who had him for a year. And to be fair to, you know, CJGG, the Eagles took him back. One's going to add a little spice to the defense. You know, CJ Gardner-Johnson, who did not play well or fit in in Houston. Yeah. But you don't go to the Ravens kicking that noise. How many weeks is he there? I feel like he's going to have learned and he's a good player. Oh, yeah. I'm going to say, all right, weeks left, 12 weeks left. He'll be there through the season.

26:40And I'm going to give him one more year. 30 weeks left. I think he gets a solid year and a half. Will he be benched at any point? And then it'll kind of expire. That second clip was from seven days ago, so I was only 29 weeks off. That was rough.

26:56Jourdan Rodrigue:That's okay. You know what? Restart the counter. His agent told Pro Football Talk that they wanted a spot with a clear path to playing. And once the Ravens made another trade for a safety, Aloy Gilman, the path to playing was really no longer there. And so he gone. I need someone to not let me put off getting a haircut for quite long in the future. Real shaggy September over here. I mean, yes, that those two clips from September and October. So much happens. I love a little shaggy September. Let's take a break. We're going to play a little game of Would You Rather in just a few minutes. Talk a little TNF, too.

27:38For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. 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. 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.

28:18Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. 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.

28:38Jourdan Rodrigue: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. 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.

29:22Jourdan Rodrigue: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 league data storage. 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.

30:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of the iHeart Podcast Network. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University. Made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu. Back on NFL Daily, and we're going to play a quick game of Would You Rather? And we're approaching the trade deadline. We're still pretty far away, November 4th, but we've already gotten a lot of trades.

30:46Jourdan Rodrigue:This is great for you. You love this. I love trade season. And if you think about this season in particular, there's a lot of teams at the bottom. Definite sellers, Titans, Raiders, Saints, Browns, Jets. That's a lot of potential sellers considering we're only six weeks in. We still got a few more weeks. There's more possible teams out there. Like would the Ravens and Bengals ever be sellers? I mean, if the Ravens. The Cardinals be sellers? Yeah, if they took on some L's. So we're going to play some would you rather. Mine were somewhat focused on jamming some trade content. I am shocked by this information.

31:23I'm just going to throw out one which has just like a little bit of backing, you know, information behind it, but is more just spicy and fun. Would you rather AJ Brown or. Actually, let's go AJ Brown and a fourth round pick or Christian Gonzalez of the Patriots.

31:45Jourdan Rodrigue:Whoa. Oh, man. This is partly informed by Mike Rabel and the Patriots seeming to be like a little annoyed all the time about injuries and about injured players in general. This was a thing back in Tennessee. Something a player cannot actually humanly help. Let's be annoyed about that. And Mike Vrabel made it pretty clear in Tennessee he would get sick of and sometimes get rid of players who would mispractice with soft tissue injuries, which is what Christian... So to me, it doesn't make a ton of sense to trade him. But if you would, the Patriots have been connected with A.J. Brown, and this is just a way of the larger conversation.

32:27And look, teams are having it around the league. Like, could A.J. Brown be available? I think there's a lot of teams that think either A.J. Brown or Devontae Smith could be available at some point. To me, A.J. Brown would make more sense of those two. And so there's an interesting need combo here. I think the Eagles would do that trade, but which would you rather?

32:49Jourdan Rodrigue:I would rather, if I'm a team that's in contention possibility, like at AKA I'm a buyer and I'm looking to see if, you know, after the deadline I can make a real run, I would, I would take AJ Brown. If I had a quarterback and if I had a pass heavy or even balanced attack, like I'm looking at, you know, there's a couple of teams in Los Angeles that might be into having AJ Brown on their roster. Um, there are teams all over the NFC. Uh, there's a Buffalo bills team. If he was available, he'd have a fantastic market. Yes. there'd be a Buffalo Bills team that might be super interested in having a receiver, finally a number one receiver, uh, like AJ Brown on the team.

33:30Jourdan Rodrigue:And maybe even having a player such as that on your roster kills the entire section of the playbook. That's all gadget plays. How about that? Wouldn't that be something for the Buffalo Bills? Um, yeah, I, I, I think I would pick AJ Brown. I love Christian Gonzalez, you know, this, but I think that I would rather if I'm, if I'm looking to actually make a push, I'm looking at scoring points, run blocking, I pick AJ a little a little. Maybe I'm overrating Christian Gonzalez because I threw in a fourth with AJ Brown because I just figured Gonzalez is going to get a big contract after this season. He'll be eligible.

34:05Yeah. For the first time.

34:06Jourdan Rodrigue:So the big contract wait the Patriots out is that is coming. But the big contract would be coming for AJ Brown, too. You can't trade for him and not give him another upgrade, although he just got one. He's already getting paid a lot of money. But the difference in years, I just think about, yes, I guess what top like number one wide receivers are worth on the market a little bit more than number one cornerbacks. But I think if you were just putting cornerbacks on the open market in a vacuum, everyone's just available. I would guess Christian Gonzalez would be a top five cornerback in the entire NFL.

34:41and maybe AJ Brown is a top five receiver too. But at that age and you have cost control for him, like for five, six years, I would think that would be like an extremely attractive trade target that Patriots fans would go crazy if they traded him.

34:55Jourdan Rodrigue:But if you are, again, you're talking trade deadlines, specifically Greg. So you're not really thinking necessarily about 2026. If you're a team that is aggressive to buy at the trade deadline, you are thinking about this January and potentially this February. That's what you're thinking about. All the other stuff can come after that. But that's what you're thinking about is breaking through that final window of contention, that final little ceiling and getting into like the real contention area versus playoff contention. You have to you have to make some some big moves in order to get to that point.

35:26Jourdan Rodrigue:And that's why I think a team would and potentially will even make this move if he's available, because he could take he can take your receiver's room from an A to an A plus a B to an A plus. Hell, a C to an A, depending on your passing attack and your quarterback, if you bring him into your building. Well, imagine A.J. Brown is the one you're talking about. You need a good quarterback. How about Drake May? He would he would qualify. Oh, you want to. I mean, I want this to be the trade. This is this. Yes, that's the trade. That's what I'm saying. Which would you rather? You're so back. I think that I think I could see that happening.

36:05I wouldn't want it. I actually would rather have Christian Gonzalez personally because of the long term, long term thing. It's hard to find a good young cornerback. All right. Give me one.

36:14Jourdan Rodrigue:OK, this is kind of related to not just this head coaching vacancy, but a couple of others who have been on shaky ground over the last year or so. would you rather you're starting in 2026 you're not coming in now you're starting in 2026 rosters as is okay so don't do the free agent math or anything rosters are as is would you rather take over the Tennessee Titans the New York Jets the Miami Dolphins or the New York Giants and ownership counts ownership everything counts but you are making roster and coaching decisions Ooh. I'm drunk with power. Yeah. Well, you can eliminate... I knew you'd like this one.

36:55Yeah, you can eliminate the Dolphins and the Jets quickly, I think, because they don't have quarterbacks that I would want. Jackson Dart is a consideration. Ownership, you know, these are teams that have done a lot of losing, ultimately. I think you'd feel better about the Giants' ownership over the longest of stretches. stretches so that that's a positive for them you know I'm gonna have a lot of confidence that I'm gonna be the one to really fix things and I can fix them cam board I think I would take over the

37:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Titans of it just because of cam board that's that that's an interesting one I actually thought you would pick that one um I actually would pick the Dolphins because I if I'm looking at the roster as is what I see if I am a GM or whoever the person in control is going to be um I will get to hire my own head coach at that point. And in turn, there hasn't already been a move to make that move prior to 2026. Okay. I will, I see a roster full of big time tradable assets from the quarterback to the defense, the edge rushers to the receiver. So if you want to, but you said like for the rest of this season or next season, next season, those guys are all gone, but I'm saying you have this, what, whatever core is there now, this is what you have to work with.

38:14Jourdan Rodrigue:That's what I'm saying. Don't think of the agency or whatever. Like I see a complete rebuild and I see a huge load of picks coming in, draft picks coming in because of all of these players who would then be deemed as tradable to completely overhaul and rebuild that entire play. See, we see things differently because they would be last on my list. I don't see any players that I really want long term. There are not many like Jalen Waddell. Like there's one Patrick Paul. Somebody would trade for Tua. Somebody would trade for Tua. Sure, but not that much. And you'd have to take a dead cap hit and everything to get rid of him.

38:55I don't think you're going to get much. The pass rushers, even pretending they're on the team next year, which they're not going to be.

39:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Right, but this is the parameter. You gave me A.J. Brown a fourth round pick. You play in the parameters of my game. This is why I will never play Settlers of Catan. I'm taking your wheat. I would put him, you know, even if you're getting the stuff that you would get for him like this year, for instance, because I think Chubb and Jalen Phillips will be available in trades. I just I don't know if it's much the longer I thought about it, though, after I answered quickly, because my initial instinct is just just take the team with the best quarterback. Yeah, I don't think that's right, because I think the Jets and the Giants ultimately have way more.

39:36foundational pieces that I like. I kind of like the Jets offensive line.

39:40Jourdan Rodrigue:I love the Jets offensive line in a vacuum. They're two young tackles. That's like a really nice starting point. You have Garrett Wilson. You have Sauce Gardner. It's a lot to overcome. The Giants, I think, are the pick actually, though, for me. Now that I came all the way back around. I'm not sure how I feel about Jackson Dart, but I get to see what happens. And, you know, you took them late enough that you can still have eyes wide open at quarterback. But you have Malik neighbors. You have Andrew Thomas. You have Abdul Carter. You have Brian Burns. You have Dexter Lawrence. Ultimately, you have at least a history that they used to win some games.

40:17Jourdan Rodrigue:That was my second pick. Big blue. The Giants were my second pick because of all of the players that you just said, minus perhaps Jackson Dark, because I would not want to take over a team and inherit a quarterback who wasn't like a lights out Jaden Daniels superstar. Like, you know. We'll see how he looks the rest of the year and then we'll just replace him. And yeah, that's what I'm saying is like you could always you could always move from somebody who isn't necessarily a top five pick. You can always reputationally and optically move on from that player. So it's good. I just wouldn't want to inherit the quarterback.

40:47That's fair. Although after that last game, I mean, my mind is open. That game was good enough to change.

40:54Jourdan Rodrigue:We don't know if he's going to make it to next year. I hope he stays healthy. That one game was good enough, though, to change, I think, like the math of Jackson's art. Like if we were redoing the draft right now, just based off that one game, I think it would be like you have to move off your points. That game was good enough at an NFL level, and he did so many different really good things in that game. Like he would be a top five pick. He would no longer be a late pick. I love this because I remember, and fairly so, I think at the time, you comped him to Tim Tebow because, fairly because of - No, I just meant that was a Tim Tebow performance.

41:29In terms of the stats.

41:30Jourdan Rodrigue:Eric's been great pulling up some of the tapes. We could go through the transcripts a little later on. But I remember texting you during this last game, their win, and saying, see, not Tim Tebow. Yes. I mean, very much not Tim Tebow in that game. I'm going to do a little different type of would you rather. We're going to go back to the trade candidates. But first, this is more of just a life one. All right. You have the option. Remember, I'm already getting hit 20 times in my lifetime by Miles Garrett. It's closer to that one. All right. You have the option, and we actually have a drop ready here.

42:06You have the option to listen to this drop in a soundproof booth.

42:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Baker Ball. Keep sound rolling, baby. Baker Ball. Keep sound rolling, baby. No. Baker Ball. Keep sound rolling, baby. Just keep that playing. You're going to listen to this drop while in a soundproof booth for 24 hours straight while watching the Baker Mayfield scramble from Sunday on a huge television in which the soundproof booth, you will be given exactly two salads from the huddle at 10 hour intervals. You can choose the ingredients of the salads. I know you like that. Or... Yeah, please stop playing this sound. It would be 23 hours, 59 minutes more of that. And you're watching the scramble.

43:05Or you're back in the soundproof booth for 24 hours, but you have to listen to a specially curated podcast by Eric collecting every single mention and discussion of Drake May since the inception of NFL Daily. you don't have to clap for when you like good points but every time you do a bag of trapper beef jerky magically appears for sustenance so which would you rather?

43:35Jourdan Rodrigue:this is so personally curated I don't know whether to be horrified or feel very special right here oh I do love a huddle salad okay not playing the sound stop playing the sound it's 24 hours what if I threw in with the Drake May deal you can also get the bucks you know every Sunday as like an assignment I picked that one I want you to have to listen to the beef jerky anytime you clap you have to clap to a good point good job Greg thank you we're right the whole time Greg Drake May Greg we've got time to go you're up Oh, that was so fun. Okay. I took your, this is another like very personally detailed one that I, you know, I cherish our friendship.

44:29Jourdan Rodrigue:And so I thought about you specifically when designing this one, mostly based on your stature. Would you like to talk about that a lot? Complete a pass behind, attempt a pass behind the Raiders offensive line or against the Broncos defensive line. Oh, wait. You have to complete a pass behind the Raiders offensive line. Would you rather either do that or attempt a pass against the Broncos defensive line? Okay. Well, I would just go Raiders because I would hope that, you know, we're playing the Titans or something like that. I don't know who we're playing. Jeffrey Simmons right in your face. I mean, that wouldn't be great.

45:10Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, interior pressure for a lower stature quarterback. But basically the the Browns defense is a worst case scenario. If you're picking the defensive line, I least want to go against. You know, they're in the top five, certainly. So I just feel like I'm going to roll with the Raiders. I feel like silver and black. I would look good. It's slimming. It's cool. I feel like you put 60 percent G on the back of a Raiders jersey. That's selling. Yeah. I also feel like because you I would know that you would want to just for a minute, put yourself into Geno Smith's shoes, his cleats, feel his pain.

45:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Maybe not this year. You'd want to feel just a small percentage of his pain. Take that away from him, you know, take it upon your shoulders. It was in that moment. You know, you only see one pair of footprints leaving the field that day, Greg. It's in that moment that you carried him. I would do anything to help him out because he is not having fun playing football right now. you can see it. They got the shackles on him. It's not going well. And yeah, you can kind of, you know, just imagine what it's like for, you know, watching Dylan Gabriel every week and then like subtract like four, four more inches.

46:21He's what? 5 '10", 5 '11". Yeah, it would, it would be comical. I will wrap up with, with a more of a trade deadline. He won again, because I did want to get, you know, some talking in this. There's a lot of interesting players potentially available. And so I just thought I would give you some of the offensive skill guys. Who would you want the most? So I'll give you Chris Olave or Jacoby Myers or Brees Hall or Rashid Shahid. Those are some of the most interesting skill position players I think will be available for various prices during the trade deadline.

47:04Jourdan Rodrigue:Jalen Waddell an option at all? No. You could throw that in if you really want. Okay. I'd probably take Jalen Waddell. Okay. Chris Olave would be good. I worry about the concussion history. Obviously, as a human, I worry about that for him. Rashid Shahid's got some pop. I think I would take Jalen Waddell, though, if I was going to choose. Especially if I'm looking at the parameters in the context of the trade deadline, like I said, buying to win now. Yeah. But I think I would want that speed and versatility on my roster. I think they'll wind up not really making him available, but I'm making him available to you.

47:43So that's a totally fair answer. I could see that. It's interesting to watch Alave and Shahid. Shahid's running more diverse routes these days. He beat Carlton Davis on press coverage last week with a really nice move. and we were talking about Tutu Atwell before the show. You're saying you can't teach that sort of speed. Well, like Rashid Shahid's got that sort of speed, literally the fastest player in the NFL this year in terms of miles per hour on that long touchdown and some size to him and a little bit of versatility. Olave happens to be coming off one of the worst games of his career, so maybe it's tough, but it had me go back to watch those targets because he's not bringing in the contested catches.

48:29He had, I would say, three drops in that game. Like PFF, for instance, only gave him one. He's not quite as explosive or maybe as confident as he used to be. His yards per catch under 10. He's an interesting player, I think, as a trade deadline approaches. If I was picking one of these players to most likely actually get dealt, I think it would be Jacoby Myers just because he's on the last year.

48:47Jourdan Rodrigue:And there was all that buzz beforehand, before the season, about him wanting to be traded. So yeah, I have no reason to believe that won't eventually happen with the Raiders season going the way that it is. Our friend Adam, he's got good connections. Yeah. Look, I think any Saints player, for the most part, except for the really young players, are going to be available for the right price. But there's a couple of guys on that team like Pete Werner, their linebacker, or Carl Granderson, who you almost expect to get dealt. I don't think a guy like Shahid or even Alave would go unless someone comes in and gives a big price.

49:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Unless Tutu Atwell is not available. And I believe he will be. Yeah, he would be available. But Shahid would cost second rounder minimum. Maybe a first. I mean, he's going to get a big contract, a good big second contract. I wondered if Jordan Addison could ever be available just because the contract structure, they need him this year. But also, you know, he's had the suspensions and things are always popping up. David Njoku, I think, will be available. Yeah, I can see that one. There's some interesting offensive linemen. like the entire Browns interior line, I think could be available. Kevin Zeitler of the Titans, I think could be available.

49:57It'll be interesting. We'll get into it more when we get close.

50:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Your favorite. To the deadline. Your favorite time of year. Regular season part. Let's do our TNF preview. It is in Cincinnati, Thursday night. Steelers are five and a half point favorites going to Cincinnati. And yeah, Joe Flacco, who started for the Bengals only... Suddenly. Yes, six days after arriving there is going to start another game four days after the first start. It's outrageous, at least according to Mike Tomlin. You know, to be honest, it was shocking to me. Andrew Barry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn't make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening day starter to a division opponent that's hurting in that area.

50:49Jourdan Rodrigue:But that's just my personal feelings. Okay. Someone is not a fan of Andrew Barry because I feel like Mike Tomlin would not make that pointed a criticism for something that is worthy of being critiqued this specific move if you want to from Mike Tomlin. If he didn't have a little more something there that he's just not a fan of how Andrew Barry and the Browns do business. Someone wanted to face Jake Browning. Come on. That's fair. He knows Joe Flacco so well at this point. That dude wanted Jake Browning ball. I know you're still a believer. No. I'm not. I'm definitely not. No, but that guy really wanted Jake Browning.

51:26I don't think it's that. I think he's questioning the integrity of the Browns and how they operate. And I saw a lot of people answer. It's like, oh, you got something for Joe Flacco? Like, that's a clear win. Like, of course you would do that. Like, what are you even talking about? You can't be worried. You're not going to win your division anyways. Okay, let's calm down about, oh, they got something. They got something about, hey, we got trade resources. You got a fifth to a sixth round pick swap. That's worth nothing. Like that is worth next to nothing. And whenever people make a big deal of like, oh, we got something for him.

51:57And it's some like pick swap that you're going to give up a million times on day three of the draft when you're just like moving. It's just like, calm down. I kind of like Mike Tomlin saying like, are we even trying to win at playing football here? Or are we just are we just like playing math?

52:11Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, because he sometimes he does make comments about other organizations, but it's never over. Like it's always very, there's a lot of like subtext to wade through and there's like hints and clues, bits and pieces, but never like, I'm going to call you by your name kind of a thing. Like that was wild to me. I still, I do think there's something to not really wanting to see the more veteran quarterback, especially one who's so familiar with the Steelers and the defense they have always run. that's changing a little bit now, but still is Mike Tomlin's defense. 25 times, 22 in the regular season and three times in the playoffs.

52:51Jourdan Rodrigue:Joe Flacco has faced the Steelers. Wow. Flacco is 11 and 11 in the regular season against the Steelers and one and two in the playoffs. In the 22 regular season meetings, this is courtesy of my colleague, Mike DeFabo at The Athletic. He's completed 61 % of his passes with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a passer rating of 85.4. When he's at a passer rating of 98 or higher, he's been 7-0, including the playoffs, against the Steelers. So, yeah, I think he wanted Jake Browning. Yeah, I mean, let's calm down, though. I know, it's like Joe Flacco. It's like 70-year-old Joe Flacco. I get that.

53:26Jourdan Rodrigue:No, I mean, let's calm down. Those numbers are doing a lot of work from 10, 15 years previous. That's what I just said. It's like 70-year-old Joe Flacco. But he still, he knows this group. He played well last week. I think the Bengals are putting a lot into what happened in the second half of last week, but he did show up there. And that Jamar Chase touchdown was a thing of beauty. And we find out after the game that it was an audible called by Jamar Chase. I mean, I haven't heard that happen. I love it. Also makes you wonder like, what exactly is Zach Taylor doing there? That the wide receiver is going into the huddle and just calling plays.

54:02Because Flacco and Chase and Higgins, Flacco was saying it was so cool to see how good they are on the field. Like he literally hadn't practiced with them. He had 12 practice snaps with them during the week and to see what they could do on the field. And they were just talking about, hey, this could work. That could work. And they're out there just like calling plays by themselves. And I think he got rid of the ball very quickly in the second half of that game. He was decisive and he looked better in that one half than he had at any point for the Browns this season.

54:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, he gives the great receivers a chance and he's not really like he's playing kind of like effort mode football right now. He literally has nothing to lose. These teams are trading him around basically being like, can you help us get the ball to our pass catchers so that they, so that they don't stop showing up to our building, like get these guys the ball. And that's what he's going to do. And with as sort of banged up and limited as they've been, the Steelers have been in the secondary. Joey Porter Jr. Obviously came back last week, a little, still a little bit banged up from the injury.

54:58Jourdan Rodrigue:Jalen Ramsey was dealing with the hamstring, but played really well last week on a short week. I think that, yeah, you're probably kind of annoyed, that this is the guy who's at least going to give his pass catch a shot. Right. I do think he's an upgrade. Ultimately, they have so many other problems on their team. And so I'm curious what you think about Aaron Rodgers coming off. Potentially his game in years. Yeah, potentially his best game since the Packers. He did have some great box score games with the Jets last year. But I test wise, I thought he kept stacking really good play after really good play.

55:32He had the wow plays, but overall, he was just really composed. and he's going up against a Bengals defense, which might not have Trey Hendrickson, and just benched their inside linebacker, Logan Wilson, who had gotten multiple long-term contracts and is only 29 years old, and they benched him for a rookie, Barrett Carter. So they're playing two rookies at linebacker. Against Aaron Rodgers. Neither of whom played well last week, by the way. Demetrius Knight really hasn't played well all season. So how about that chess match for Rodgers against this Al Golden defense, which has been playing hard, but not consistent.

56:06Jourdan Rodrigue:When I went back and watched the Steelers, this all turned to the Steelers this last game. Yeah, I agree with you. I think other than that sort of garbage time of the season, Rams game where the Rams came to the Meadowlands when he was still a jet and made it kind of a game at the end of the game. Other than that game, this is the best game I've seen from Rodgers in a while. And it really was the second half. And what I saw from Aaron Rodgers in that game was a lot of the last couple of years have really been punctuated by like, there have been mistakes all over the field himself included. And he's always looking around and getting angry and he's angry at the sideline and he's angry at team.

56:46Jourdan Rodrigue:And he's, he's just angry. Well, in this game early on, he misses a long pass attempt to DK Metcalf. It was wildly underthrown, like egregiously underthrown. So that's the thing where you're like, okay, this is probably why in part, he's not really throwing the ball down, down the field anymore, but he didn't, he got mad. He was mad at himself. Clearly. Like he sort of internalized it in a way that to me, I've only been watching him externalize it for the last couple of years. And instead he folded back into what the game plan clearly was and will be moving forward, which is hit yak plays and get the ball out fast, which he always does, but depend on these guys to get yards after the catch, whether it's DK Metcalf, whose touchdown later in the game was off of a yards after the catch play on a quick throw by Aaron Rodgers where he was, or excuse me, on a movement throw by Aaron Rodgers where he was bootlegging out, which is great because he looks better moving now than he has in quite some time.

57:43Jourdan Rodrigue:He doesn't look 20, but he definitely looks better than we've seen. A lot of plays on the move last week. A lot of plays on the move. They're moving his spot around and he's getting yards after catch plays to guys like Jalen Warren, who is playing a little yards after the catch receiver as well as running the ball and DK Metcalf. And I think, and especially including the tight ends and the way that they're protecting, especially last week and the way that they're moving his launch point. I think that that bodes well. This bodes well for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. If he, again, he had the confidence and he let that thing sail and it was several feet before where he intended to put it.

58:19Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think seeing that and then being like, okay, I got to come back to Arthur Smith's game plan here. and actually adhering to it, I think it worked. And the play has essentially ended for Rodgers this year when he's gotten pressure quickly. Even last week, like the numbers under pressure have been bad. And I don't think their offensive line played well at all against Cleveland pass pro wise, but that's a much tougher matchup and they game planned around it so well. We talked to Miles Garrett, talked about it in the post game that it didn't matter. So if you have a bad pass protection group and I'm still waiting to see what the Steelers group is like, I mean, this is the perfect matchup for you.

58:54The Bengals just have no juice if Hendrickson is not on the field. And even if he is on the field, they don't have a ton of juice. And you mentioned the tight ends. They have gone to the Darnell Washington offense. I love it. He's dominating snaps. Pat Firemuth is tight end three there now by quite a distance. So it's Washington playing 80 % of the snaps. John Smith's going to be on the field quite a bit. And they're using Washington really as an extra offensive lineman, but also detaching him. And I really think he is the third most important person on that offense to DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers.

59:30And he might be just as important as DK Metcalf. It's, it's crazy. So it's, it's an uphill battle for the Bengals. Although, you know, Thursday night in the division at home, if you're into those sort of numbers, it is pretty rare for like a team to go on the road, winning the division on, on these short rests, especially in the AFC North. Yeah. The Bengals have complained about it for years and they got a home game here this week.

59:52Jourdan Rodrigue:And I will say I did get a kick out of Aaron Rodgers response to Evan Washburn who asked him, what was it like for you to come down and, you know, experience some AFC North football after this last game? And Rodgers sort of looks at him and is like, well, I've been playing NFC North football for a while. And so it's like, okay, so he's not, I think, I think he's feeling it a little bit and he's not really phased by any of this. They already have such a gap, Thanks in part to some of the injuries around the division, especially at quarterback. They already have such a gap. These are games you cannot lose.

1:00:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Obviously, you cannot play down to your opponent. If they can literally just hit the floor of their potential in this game, I think they have no problem with this team. Five and a half is a lot. I would maybe take the Bengals there. And yeah, if the Steelers win this game, they should win the division. I mean, they should win the division regardless. They have a 72 % chance right now before this game of winning the division. Right. And like, yeah, he isn't really raiding the AFC North because he showed up for just in time for Joe Burrow to get hurt, Lamar Jackson to get hurt, for both those teams' defenses to absolutely stink and for the Browns to be the Browns, but a particularly depressing version of the Browns.

1:01:03And oh, by the way, the Steelers defense has been getting better and better. Nick Kerberg, no matter how good you think Nick Kerberg is, he's probably better. There's a pretty strong argument to be made that he's not just the best pass rusher on this team. I think that's clear right now. He's better than TJ Watt. But he's top five in the league just in terms of that pure skill set.

1:01:23Jourdan Rodrigue:They're sending more blitzes. Jalen Ramsey had a couple of hits, quarterback hits, because of the blitzes. They're starting to do safety blitzes or send that slot player in for extra pressure, too. That actually really complements Nick Herbig super well. you could see how well that those two kind of work off of each other. It's not just how he works with the rest of the defensive line. And they, I know they were like really penalized last week too. I don't really mind that. I just saw more like juice from this defense, you know, and getting guys back helps obviously, but I just saw just more from them.

1:01:58Jourdan Rodrigue:And like, just that, like that feeling that kind of jumps off the screen that you can't really quantify. Yes. I saw that too in London that, you know, Their defense came out to a slow start, to put it nicely, to start the season. But I think they've been getting better and better as they go. Who knows? Bengals' defense is, you know, I know the web and on the text thread with the Wesseling brothers. And, you know, they've noticed that DJ Turner is playing well, like Dax Hill is playing well. Like they've been playing hard. I think they can make this thing interesting. But yeah, ultimately, it'd be surprising if the Steelers did not win.

1:02:31We will be recapping that game on Thursday.

1:02:34Jourdan Rodrigue:Stop! Keep stop! Yeah, let's forget even playing the music out. I picked the other one! We will be back. I chose the bear. You will be back, Jordan. And this drop will probably be back, too, because we'll be talking about the Buccaneers and every single game other than TNF previewing it all from the studio on Wednesday. We will see you then. Oh, my God. It's really annoying. It's really annoying. Baker Ball. Keep sun rolling, baby! This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.