Week 1 Recap Includes a Sunday Night Classic!

18:20And he was quick to also point out that this game had a little extra. Before the game, oh, no, it doesn't matter at all. After the game. You spoke about the meeting with Aaron Glenn on McAfee a few months ago. Beating him, is there significance in that? Since he basically told you to your face that he didn't think you were right for that team?

18:40Patrick Claybon:Yes, that's what he did.

18:42Nick Shook:So there's significance in beating him for you?

18:45Patrick Claybon:I was happy to beat everybody associated with the Jets. Not too bad. I mean, they were like almost goading him into that. You got to enjoy it. He came back. He got it done, Shook. should I feel better or worse about my Jets to the playoffs prediction that I forgot I even made

19:06Nick Shook:on NFL.com I think you should feel good about it because this is an offense that looked a lot better than I anticipated them to look and I thought they were really creative with their play calling they used their weapons really well they used Justin Fields ability to run really well they put up a ton of points it's just that things went bad for them at the worst possible time and and that's how you lose a close game but this is a way more encouraging debut for this team under Aaron Glenn than I anticipated and that alone should inspire a lot of confidence in them and I'm also glad that we played that Rodgers touchdown pass to Calvin Austin by the way because that's classic Rodgers and I don't think we saw a lot of that over the last couple years that off the one foot flick of the wrist you move into his right I saw that throw and I was like oh buddy oh buddy if he's gonna do that this season with Arthur Smith as coordinator oh and look at him he's a little fist bump too if you're watching this on youtube that's classic aaron rogers right there people might want to watch out yeah i uh i got the take from a steelers super fan by my friend anthony jeselnik afterwards god what a effing game all i'm all in super bowl the steelers the steelers fans are feeling great and since you spent about 45 minutes patrick talking in the uh newsroom and researching Chris Boswell for your take.

20:19I have to give you the floor. He had a 60 yarder after Aaron Rodgers couldn't get them any closer with a couple with about a minute to go. He had a 60 yarder to take the lead.

20:30Patrick Claybon:Yeah, a 60 yarder where the Jets were trailing the entire game. His career long was 59. And I thought about it and it's been true for a while that Chris Boswell is the kicker that everybody talked about Justin Tucker being. And I went back. I went back to try to find a game. The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost by three or fewer points where Chris Boswell missed a kick. I'm in 2018. Greg was goading me the whole time. I still haven't found it. No, I thought like, you know, we got a lot of games to talk about. You're just going through game logs for Chris Boswell back to 20 because you're like, you might have to defend that take.

21:04Patrick Claybon:I have not been rooting for this guy. I have rooted for the other teams in the division, significantly the one that plays for purple. And I feel like there has been like no situation where I've wanted Chris Boswell to miss a kick. He's always put that thing. He put it almost in the net from 60 today. You make a fantastic point. Who has been more reliable in big situations? Because Tucker, I think statistically and just I, I test has been better. Maybe the best kicker of all time until it all went sideways. And it's, it's great that he's out of league considering what he did, but just talking about his kicking, But Boswell's hit more big kicks.

21:40It just feels like they're always in these sort of games, and Mike Tomlin enjoys the hell out of having a guy like that.

21:46Patrick Claybon:Just acknowledging that NFL football is tough. There's going to be ebb and flow. You're going to be up against it. You're going to be tested individually and collectively, and how you respond to that oftentimes defines you. And I can't say enough about Bos. Man, our kicker is a serial killer. Man, he's got a low pulse rate. he can't wait to deliver. When you get the natural laugh there from Shook, you know it's a great quote. Let's go to a game that I hope Shook can laugh about, you know, through the pain.

22:19Nick Shook:Oh, yeah. 43-yard line. Flacco looking to throw his pass. It is intercepted! It went off the fingertips of Tillman. DJ Turner comes up with a football. And that is Coughing nails. Bam, bam, bam. How about Turner? Division game. A matchup that's been tough for Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor over the years. The Kevin Stefanski Browns did it again in terms of outplaying the Cincinnati Bengals for 60 minutes. But it's all for naught. They lose 17-16. That was Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham on WCKY, a late interception. The second one for Joe Flacco, just part of a series of disappointing moments, Shook, in a game that the Browns outgained Cincinnati, 327-141.

23:19What do you think was the most important reason they couldn't get it done?

23:23Nick Shook:I have a trifecta of takes on this. I'm going to start with your kicker because you cut Dustin Hopkins to bring in this rookie thinking that he would be the guy that wouldn't miss PATs. And then he misses a game tying PAT. And then he misses a field goal that would have put you ahead by at least two. And if you'd made the PAT, it would have put you ahead by three. And instead, you get no points out of an opportunity for four points. I also have another take in this, which is that we should still have earned and unearned interceptions because both of Joe Flacco's interceptions hit his receivers in the hands.

23:49Nick Shook:And yet that is what Cleveland Browns football has been for a long time and certainly was on Sunday. You know, I'm fielding texts from emotional Browns fans after the fact for hours. I'm watching games. My phone keeps lighting up. I'm ignoring it. I take a moment to scroll through it and see. They are so deep in their feelings over so many things. And then you go look at the stats, and my response is the same to all of them. The Browns statistically outperformed them in every category. And this is not a good football team. And the reason they're not a good football team is because they outperformed them statistically in every category and put 16 points on the board and lost a game like that.

24:23Nick Shook:They lost over 93 % of win probability in three plays. Two of them were the interceptions. The other one was the missed field goal. Bad teams don't take care of the details. That's the Cleveland Browns. And the last point of my trifecta, the Bengals are going to be hooting and hollering about how good they feel about their defense. And those were two very athletic, acrobatic interceptions. I give them credit for that. But you let the Cleveland Browns, led by Joe Flacco, rack up 327 yards. Dylan Sampson, in his first NFL game, went for almost 100 scrimmage yards. Don't puff your chests out that much because a team that can actually take care the details is going to make you pay in future weeks.

24:56Yeah, I was getting texts from our friend Nick Wesseling. That was just the Bengals defense is the same. The Bengals secondary cannot tackle. So a lot of complaining, but ultimately they at least bowed up and forced field goal attempts sometimes. And unfortunately, some missed field goal attempts.

25:13Patrick Claybon:Yeah, the missed field goal attempts, the the missed extra point loomed pretty large as well on top of that. But going back to what Shook was pointing out with this Bengals defense, Joe Flacco, Joe Flacco on the run today was three or five for 47 yards. There were several plays where Joe Flacco is glacially moving away from Bengals pass rushers and they couldn't get to him. He making moves in the pocket, making great throws. I'm with Shook. The Browns absolutely sold a very, very solid Joe Flacco game where they had any number of chances to be successful here and a great game from the defense as well.

25:48Patrick Claybon:And this whole like, oh, the Bengals are playing in the preseason. They're going to try extra hard. You have to go back to October of 2014 for a game where the Cincinnati Bengals had fewer total offense yardage. 2014. It was Andy Dalton. Wait, really? It was a long time ago. And the second worst was a couple of years ago in 2023 against this Browns team where they had one more yard than they had today. And that was in a rainstorm and that was week one and Burrow was coming off an injury. I remember that well. It is funny because it's not like we thought they were going to try extra hard early.

26:24They were just trying to change their process, tackle more in training camp, approach it a different way, play more in the preseason. And then, Chuck, tell me what went on when the Bengals were on offense because I got to admit, I didn't have eyes on this one too often. And when I looked afterwards and saw that the Bengals had under 100 yards net passing today, Joe Burrow ends up with 113. Chase Brown goes 21 for 43 on the ground. Jamar Chase has two catches in five targets for 26 yards. Man, this Browns defense must have balled out, did they?

27:00Nick Shook:Yeah, they did. They didn't in the first quarter and a half. So this game starts with a very methodical, very long Bengals scoring drive. And then the Browns respond with a similar drive that's actually longer. And I'm thinking, God, we're going to end up with four total possessions for each team by the time this game's over. Just the pace of the way that the game was going. Eventually, though, in the second half, the Browns defense came together and completely denied anything that the Bengals wanted to do through the air for the most part. Greg Newsom had a couple of great pass breakups on Jamar Chase after getting flagged for a pass interference in the first half.

27:30Nick Shook:They just got all together, and then they got after Joe Burrow. Miles Garrett had two sacks. They had this sequence in the fourth quarter where they really needed to stop. They were down by a point, and three plays in a row, Joe Burrow's just under complete duress. Miles Garrett gets a couple of sacks. they have a combination of players sack him and he barely avoids a safety which by the way would have changed the outcome of the game potentially so the defense was fantastic and that points again to the fact that they wasted this opportunity so you know the theory going into the season for the browns was we know their offense is not going to be very good they're gonna have to lean in their defense their defense passed every test today i don't know how that's going to be on a week-by-week basis because they seem to have the bengals number but yeah that high-powered bengals offense that we see often in other places once again did not show up in cleveland they still won though and And this season is going to be about development.

28:13And, you know, Schwestinger ends up having a nice game with a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, like eight tackles. Harold Fannin, who in theory is the backup to David Njoku, catches seven passes for 63 yards. Like he is such an interesting player. You mentioned Dylan Sampson. So you're getting production out of the rookies. You also got good news that Quinchon Judkins is expected to be back with the team this week. He has signed his contract. at this point. We're not expecting any league punishment as far as we know, and I think there's a loose expectation he will be back with the team. We'll handle all these little news items that have popped up.

28:52This happens a lot before week one. Like, Jameson Williams got a contract. Zedaria Smith is on the Eagles now. We'll hit all that in another show probably Monday night with you, Shook. You're working hard all season. Hopefully this augurs well for an improved Brown season, But ultimately, if you're a Bengals fan, yeah, it doesn't feel great. But you were losing games like this a year ago. And it's very important to get that win. And it's heartbreaking for the Browns to not because their schedule coming up is absolutely brutal. Let's take a break. We are just getting started on the very first recap show of the season.

29:29Jordan's waiting in the wings. One more segment to go.

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30:21Nick Shook:Before 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 Tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremfireRadio.com. 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 Ego, DeWalt, Filtrete 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.

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31:56Nick Shook:Come on, faster! How can I go any faster? Channel the speed of T-Mobile 5G home internet. Think 100 meter dash fast. Think drag racing fast. Think speed skating fast. Now let's bump up your speed a notch. Hey, whoa, whoa, that's too fast! You'll be all right, just walk it off. Get on the fast track. T-Mobile now has the fastest 5G home internet. And it still starts at just 35 bucks a month with auto pay and a voice line. Plus a five year price guarantee. Plus taxes and fees. Fastest according to Ooglove Speedtest Intelligence Data. Second half, 2025. All rights reserved. Guaranteed for monthly price of 5G internet data on eligible plans.

32:33Nick Shook:Find exclusions and details at T-Mobile.com. Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts.

32:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Why did I search the internet for answers to my cold sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history. But I could never unsee that.

32:57Nick Shook:Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Health care just got less painful. Kuz, field goal attempt will be from 44 yards, far side to hash.

33:10Patrick Claybon:He is a right-footed kicker. A little different angle, perhaps.

33:15Nick Shook:The holder, Bradley Pinion. The snap of Goodwin. The spot is down. The kick is airborne, and it is. Oh, my goodness. It is. No good. He missed it wide to the right. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will prevail in Atlanta. Two seconds remain. Earlier in the game, you remember he hit the right upright and it went in. This one, it was far enough back that it missed outside to the right. He pushed it. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23. Two seconds left. We lead three. That was Young Way Koo finding a new and painful way for the Falcons to lose a game. 23 to 20. Buccaneers on top. Get the road win. Get revenge on those Kirk Cousins Falcons from a year ago who swept them.

34:06So much went on in the fourth quarter of this game. One of the many reasons, Chuck, why I always say the NFC South is underrated. Like maybe they're not going to win the Super Bowl every year, although the Buccaneers pop up. But man, there's just something about these division games that always end up awesome. And this was sneaky. One of the best games, if not the best game of the day. Like how did it all happen?

34:30Nick Shook:Well, it's a bit of a war of attrition early. The Buccaneers offense under a new offensive coordinator again didn't exactly answer all the questions that, oh, could they just transition and be the same explosive offense they were before? And granted, they don't have Chris Goblin out there and I give them that. And they don't have Jalen McMillan out there either. they have Mike Evans and they have Emeka Abuka who stepped up in a big way to catch a touchdown pass but it was a lot of the Buccaneers are near midfield the Buccaneers drive has stalled and they just kind of repeated it uh credit goes to the Falcons defense they got a lot more pressure than we saw from them for most of last year but that was it was just kind of a back and forth game like that and then the Buccaneers take the lead and then the Falcons move into scoring range and then it seems like they spend an hour in a goal to go situation I just counted the plays I I think it was a total of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight plays from in goal to go before they finally scored.

35:18Nick Shook:It involved a replay review that was basically inconclusive and involved Michael Penick scrambling and reaching out and getting across the goal line for a touchdown. Everything finally going the Falcons way. They finally broken through. And then that is what Baker Mayfield needed to wake up the entire offense and go right down the field and hit who else but Emeka Abuka again for a touchdown pass. So it was very weak one. It was very NFC South, and it was a reminder that the Falcons, for as much as they feel like they've improved in certain areas, they're still the little brother to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

35:48Yes, let's put a disclaimer on all these games. There were so many where I thought, man, the last 20, 25 minutes of the game was just so sloppy, you could tell everyone is just tired. And so sometimes it's dangerous to draw big conclusions. And yet, Mecca Agbuka looking amazing and catching big-time touchdowns, I think that's a thing that's here to stay.

36:10Patrick Claybon:25 yard line empty backfield baker mayfield he's got bucky irving as a slot receiver to his left

36:16Nick Shook:takes a belt high snap looks looks goes the ball toward the end zone it's a caught ball touchdown tampa bay a mecca a buka with a defender all over him he makes the grab in the end zone the bucks take the lead a game patrick where you know bucky irving's held to 2.6 yards per carry the the Buccaneers get out gained pretty significantly. They're under 300 yards. It did not look like the offense from a year ago. You thought Baker maybe didn't like look his best.

36:43Patrick Claybon:Well, no, especially early. It was, as you always pointed out, Baker Mayfield can be a little bit streaky. The Falcons defense did cause some problems. The ground game wasn't going. In fact, anything that Baker Mayfield or Michael Penix Jr. did today was with it during extended periods. Zero run game, especially on behalf of the Falcons, where Tyler Algier and Bijan both had 24 yards. on the ground that were close to having Michael Penix Jr. be the leading rusher in this game. In that sequence where the Chook was referencing, where it was two scrambles from Michael Penix Jr. that almost eclipsed the entire run total of the Atlanta Falcons today.

37:18Patrick Claybon:Vitavia was a huge factor in this game, so I wouldn't sell all your Falcons run game shares. But the Bucs continue to be explosive, and the risk-taking and playmaking of Baker Mayfield gives them that puncher's chance. And we saw it today. And Emeka Ibuka is going to change a whole lot in that because these were no doubters. He looks strong at the catch point, just explosive. I don't know who tabbed him as the safe pick, as the guy who's just... Right. He's just... He's a workman like, no, this cat is explosive. Like, they undersold Ibuka coming out of Ohio State, which is a crime to me. It's crazy.

37:58He... Yeah, he had a 30-yard touchdown catch, and then you heard the 25-yard touchdown catch. That was longer than any of the Falcons wide receivers had on any of the plays. Like 15 targets for Drake London shook. What did you see? Because, you know, Pajan Robinson gets that 50-yard, you know, catch and run on a reception, ends up with 100 yards as a receiver. So his fantasy owners are happy early. And you think, oh man, they're going to be rolling. I mean, Pennix had a great, that highlight touchdown that he had. But what did you see out of this Falcons team especially offensively that didn't quite get it done it was a disjointed offense and they made

38:36Nick Shook:some strange decisions situationally when it came to play calling uh even that goal to go situation they they had uh i think it was bijan try to go wide from like the one as if they were going to catch him by surprise it did not work um it felt like you know this is not a new staff that that does or doesn't understand their personnel they know what they have it just felt like a team that penix was under duress a decent amount he was out of structure a lot he was trying to make plays he He was throwing balls that weren't necessarily on the right shoulder in certain situations. It just felt like a week one offense for this team.

39:07Nick Shook:And, you know, fortunately for them, their defense played so well that it kept them in the game. But it took them, God, I mean, other than that big play early, it took them most of the game to figure out how to get the ball into scoring position again. And ultimately, you know, young like who his kick, you know, takes off the right side and it results in a defeat. And shout out to Baker Mayfield, too. Like even in a game, if he doesn't start well, like he's earning that reputation, where if you need a touchdown late in the game, he goes and he gets it. And I know we're not supposed to box score, you know, scout or whatever.

39:35But I went and I did check the pressures in this game just to kind of, you know, see how this new fangled That's not a box score scouting. You know, this new fangled Falcons pass rush. And we got like four from Ruka Roro, which I think I said correctly for the first time in my life. And then, you know, they were blitzing Devon Diablo quite a bit who got in there. James Pierce did have four pressures. Jalen Walker didn't have any on his 13 pass rushers. But the thing that stuck out to me was by far the leader in pressures for the game was Hassan Reddick of the Buccaneers with seven and led the game also with three quick pressures.

40:09So that signing is already starting to pay off. And man, the Buccaneers needed a player like that. Close division game there. We got another fun division one, this time in the late window at West.

40:23Nick Shook:And it's second down and five at the 49ers nine. Again, shotgun. Again, Darnold looks. Darnold, the ball came out, and Bosa falls on it. Was that a pass or is it a fumble? Might have been an empty hand. And the ruling is 49ers football. Bosa time. What did we say? Bosa time. Holy smokes. What a play by Nick Bosa. Nick Bosa pushes the newly minted million-dollar man, Abe Lucas. Yes, the right tackle of the Seahawks, who was given a big long-term contract over the weekend, ultimately pushed back into Sam Darnold, who never gets that playoff. They were in the red zone with a chance to score a game-winning touchdown.

41:09Instead, it's the 49ers who get the win 17-13. Patrick, you are living and dying by a kind of wild back-and-forth performance here by Brock Purdy and this 49ers team.

41:23Patrick Claybon:Yeah, things start off and you're thinking, well, the 49ers get Christian McCaffrey. There was the calf scare on Friday. He wound up getting a lot of action, 31 touches in this game, 22 carries, nine catches, and they would need it because after a five-yarder to George Kittle in the first half, he comes up limping. He would leave the game with a hamstring injury. Later, Juwan Jennings would leave the game with a shoulder injury. So it was pretty much exclusively Ricky Pearsall and CMC in the past game. And that would ultimately be enough because Robert Salah's defense made a ton of plays where the Seahawks would get chunk plays and then nothing would happen.

41:58Patrick Claybon:There was they even attempted to have JSN throw a lateral late in the game to try to get something going. And the boom and bust nature of it was kind of emblematic in a final drive after Brock Purdy hits a miracle touchdown to Jake Tungus, who I had to I had to Google try to figure out who this guy is. He had no career catches going into today. and he makes a great play but the seahawks come right back there's a huge play from darnold to jsn down the sideline they're inside the five and then bosa makes the play that ultimately seals the deal for the 49ers in a game that could have been even more in their favor but jake moody got a little wiggly kicking the ball oh man um but he hit he hit the ones that they ultimately needed uh once he'd missed them and the 49ers and by ones you're you're including like an extra point Let's not go too crazy here.

42:45It counts. He hit one 32-yard field goal and missed two other short ones. One was blocked, but it looked like it was a low kick. You mentioned the Tonjes catch, which was one of the moments, I believe, of the entire day just to set the scene. Yeah, the Seahawks take a 13-10 lead with under four minutes remaining. I thought Greg Olson was so good. It's why he's the best in the business. Explaining that situation. It's a tie game. it's a short yardage situation it's 4th and 1 and they decide to take the field goal you know to take the lead and he really thought they should strongly consider going for it there because the clock is so important at that stage you know about 3.5 minutes to go in the game and taking a 3 point lead there is probably just not going to be enough like it's going to encourage the opponent almost to go for 7 that's exactly what happens and they end up chasing those points that they get with the Tonjes catch.

43:47Let's listen to it.

43:49Nick Shook:1.44 to go. Fourth quarter. Shotgun. Purdy. Looking. Looking. Bump from behind. Now he rolls out. Still has time. Still looking. Now he rolls to his right. He's pursued, and he throws it. Caught! Tonjes got it! And the 49ers take the lead! Tonjes plucked that out of danger's way for his first career touchdown. Boy, did he ever. That was Guy Haberman and Tim Ryan on KSFO. Purdy threw two interceptions, which, you know, he throws a very catchable ball. So it's like a very catchable ball for both teams. For real. It's just like floating there and it's real nice because they were incredible plays.

44:32Julian Love, that was a great interception. The Ernest Jones, that was a great interception. If you guys go back, if you're looking for a game pass game, I think this is high on the list because I just thought there was a lot of really exciting individual plays. The blocked kick from Julian Love was fantastic. Like just a lot of good moments and it was a lot on the defensive side, Chuck. But what do you what do you take from the fact that Christian McCaffrey, after hearing that he's all banged up all week, winds up with 31 touches and over 140 yards in this game and had to be an even bigger factor than he normally would have, I think, because of the injuries around him.

45:13Nick Shook:Yeah, I mean, we knew that was going to be the case because of all the injuries they've dealt with and then the injuries that they dealt with during the game. Like, that's been the story of the Niners for years and especially during this preseason. But what do I think about it? I think that I got completely played by the 49ers over the span of two days because I'm sitting here thinking, oh, God, Christian McCaffrey's on the injury report with a calf issue. It's deja vu from last year. And then start to write it up on Friday. And then McCaffrey takes the podium as I'm about done. And he's like, no, it's just precautionary.

45:38Nick Shook:I know I've been there before. I just want to take myself out. Oh, by the way, I'm going to go touch the ball 31 times on Sunday and exit completely healthy. And we're going to win the football game. But that is, I think that's 49ers football in 2025 in a nutshell, because for as great as of a play that was made by Brock Purdy in the closing moments, you know, in a key situation there, He also, you know, you talk about the Julian Love interception being a fantastic play. As he threw the ball, I'm wondering, why are you throwing that? And on that touchdown pass to Tonjes, as the ball's in the air, I'm thinking, why are you throwing that?

46:06Nick Shook:That's going to get picked. And then it somehow doesn't get picked. Great description on the call. Plucked it out of the air. By the way, Rick Woolen is going to want to burn the tape from this game, and especially that last drive because he misplayed a couple of balls. Yeah, he had some positive plays, too.

46:18Patrick Claybon:He did save a touchdown that was destined for Ricky Pearsall. got it and used that full 6-3 wingspan to get to that one. Somehow the ball skills available on that play just went away because I think Rick couldn't see Tonjes at all. Or he's like, this is Jake Tonjes. He's not going to catch this ball. And ultimately, Jake Tonjes game saves the day. He was hot today. He's almost as hot as the microphones in the booth. I love it when the right team gets rewarded. And I was watching this game just thinking the whole time, I'm like, how are the Seahawks winning this game? How are they tied in this game?

46:57You know, they were pretty thoroughly outplayed. You do got to worry about the preseason sometimes. I mean, I know we learn this every time, but we were so excited about how the Seahawks run game looked. Kenneth Walker runs for two yards per carry in this game. Charbonnet was a little better, 12 for 47. And I do think you have to be worried about the depth of the options that Darnold's throwing to. 124 yards for Smith and Jigba and the next closest receiver is Cooper Cup who had 15 yards and also stumbled and dropped a third down to kill a drive in the second half. Arroyo gets seven yards. That's it for their offense.

47:36And I don't know if it's that many Seahawks fans out there, but my friend Jackson, who hosts Cigar Thoughts out there, had the tweet, I think, like really glad that we saved five million dollars at quarterback i don't know it seems a little early i don't know even though was it even that bad at darnold game i don't think it was that

47:55Patrick Claybon:bad i don't think it was that bad of a darnold game again he had an opportunity they turned it over in the red zone late we saw gino do that uh plenty of times i do think the scoreboard you you would feel a little bit more comfortable with with gino that they would have had the points necessary to win this game i think that's fair to say what a transition because it is time for the Sunday drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. And one of those places is Gillette Stadium.

48:24Nick Shook:Bowers motions right to left. Snap. Hand off. Gentry trying to pick his way forward. He's pushed. He gets out of the pile. Touchdown Raiders. Ashton Gentry's first career scorer. And the Raiders capitalize on the pick. They go down for six and take a 13-10 lead in the third. That was Jason Horowitz on KRLV. Did I put Geno Smith and Sam Darnold in the rundown back-to-back on purpose? I did not. Sometimes these magical football. I know you don't believe me, but I did not. There's only so many games. It had a chance. I lost so many picks today. The football gods were trying to repay me for just enjoying the day.

49:10Geno Smith sets a record, if you can call it that, for the most yards in a game by a debut Raiders quarterback. Up and down the field, 362 yards in a 20-13 victory over the New England Patriots. He was clearly the best quarterback on the field. I think they were the best coach team, certainly, the Raiders. And I talked about Omens a little earlier. I'm big into first plays. I'm big into omens. We talked about the Parsons one. We had a couple of omens here. Omen number one, first play from scrimmage. Geno to Brock Bowers, just wide open down the field. Bowers, people were worried, oh, they're going to take him off the field a little bit more.

49:58Like they're using, you know, they're not sure about his blocking. Yeah, five catches, 103 yards, eight targets, dominated the snap share as well. He is that dude, a one of one. that first drive after the Bowers catch, Trey Tucker, who I thought had some really good routes. I know he only went two for 54, but there were about four different routes in this game where I just thought he looked really great. He ends up with a 26-yard touchdown catch on that drive to cap it. It was a great way for them to start. It made me feel like Chip Kelly was back. They definitely had a portion basically after that drive till the third quarter where they got quiet, but they figured some things out.

50:35And it really does feel like an offense where I thought their offensive line did a good enough job pass protecting for Geno Smith that they have enough right now, even without Amari Cooper, who's retired.

50:46Patrick Claybon:Yeah, really, the big mark, the only mark on the game for Geno was just a weird decision to force the ball to Brock Bowers with four people on him that ultimately got picked off. And Ashton Gentry really didn't get a lot going. He only averaged two yards a carry. He had a touchdown. They missed his celebration because the camera cut to Chip Kelly for some reason because we never saw enough Chip Kelly. So we missed your celebration, Ashton. But this was a sustained effort from an offense where Jacoby Myers was a couple targets away from a big game. We were concerned that when Michael Mayer caught a ball in the middle of the second half, no Brock Bowers there as a knee injury.

51:21Patrick Claybon:Coach Carroll said he just bumped knees with somebody. He wanted to go back in the game. Ultimately, they didn't need him. The offense was consistent, and the defense made the plays that it needed to to get Drake May and company off the field. Glad he brought that up. And yes, a revenge game for Jacoby Myers, who was close to a bigger day, but still went eight for 97. You think old Bill Belichick should have given him three for 39 million a few years ago? Still, I'm still salty about that. Yeah, you should be. Okay. Let the Patriots scouts go to the games. The other omen, if you'll forgive me here, Shook, is first drive for Drake May, first down, has a wide open check down, doesn't see it, you know, like after he goes through his reads, holds onto it, tries to scramble, it's a bad idea, and then completely sails his third down.

52:06He had open receivers. You know, Keishon Booty goes six for 103. I think Hunter Henry is the most important player on this offense. That's not a great sign. And they moved the ball. If you look at the box score, it was 287 yards, a touchdown interception for Drake May. It's like not that bad, though he had to throw it 46 times. But he did not look comfortable, even on a lot of completions. I don't think he was that accurate. and that disjointed start, I think, continued because in the middle portion of this game, there were opportunities for them, short yard situations where they got stuffed, open receivers that Drake May missed while their defense was playing better.

52:46And I thought they were creative, getting a lot of pressure on Geno Smith and they ultimately didn't take advantage. And it ends up being kind of a snoozer of a game shook where they tack on a field goal, you know, really late to make it 20 to 13. but it was kind of a game where the Raiders just choked the life out of the Patriots in the second half. Yeah.

53:06Nick Shook:And it felt like a game that was defined by just a lot of new for both teams, but one team handled all the newness better than the other. And that was the Raiders with Pete Carroll. And because of experience, to be honest with you, like you have the experienced coach and Pete Carroll, you have the experienced quarterback in Geno Smith. You have an experienced coach and coach and Mike Vrabel, but you still have a very young quarterback in Drake. May you have a ton of new pieces on both sides of the ball there. And I'm glad you brought up Hunter Henry being a big part and a key part of this offense.

53:29Nick Shook:maybe the biggest part of it, because how do you get a young quarterback comfortable? You feed the tight end. That's your safety blanket in any offense. So that is, it's a great point. But also, this has been prevalent throughout the games that we've covered, most of the games we've covered today, save for the Jets, nobody's running the football well. How are you going to balance out an offense and take a little bit of pressure off your quarterback in his second year and his first year and under a new offensive coordinator with a bunch of new guys? If you don't run the football well, that explains a lot of it.

53:54Nick Shook:You talk about, well, they couldn't, they got stuffed in a number of situations And it was a close game until it wasn't when the Raiders made it a two score game in the second half. That could all be solved if you have a little bit more balance. But balance is an aspiration. It's very much more difficult to achieve in the NFL. Yeah. Ramondre Stevenson ends up doubling Travion Henderson in snaps, but ends up with 15 yards on seven carries. There was no push. I mean, they were they were running on third and a foot and losing a yard. And that's been on my radar all week all week. Well, maybe we'll talk about it later in the week.

54:28Like we talked about, oh, the run game is back. It's all about the run this year. And game after game, you are really seeing it's like the defensive coordinators knew it was coming and they were ready for it. You're seeing the run game stymied all around the league. It's only one game and I'm not going to panic too much, but there was one sequence I do want to get to. I mean, we talked a lot about Will Campbell in the offseason. And I actually think for most of this game, he looked pretty good. I bet his PFF score or whatever is not going to be that bad. but it was a brutal sequence that really decided the game late.

54:59He ended up with two penalties in the game total, but there was a sequence late where he gives up a strip sack. Malcolm Koontz and Max Crosby combining on that, and Koontz looked good in this game. So did Crosby. He gives up a strip sack. He falls on the ball, so they keep the ball. They end up in a fourth and five, and then he tries to get off the ball early after getting a little spooked out from that strip sack, and they call a penalty on him for a false start. It was his second false start of the day. Then they're at fourth and 10 at midfield or so, a little before that, with what? Five, six minutes left in the game.

55:37And Mike Rabel with one of the most gutless punts you'll ever want to see. I hate a gutless punt. Your defense isn't even playing that well. You're down 10 freaking points with five and a half minutes to go. And you know what happens when you punt the ball over to Geno Smith, he makes you pay.

55:54Nick Shook:Very good. 325 to go. See if they put this in the air. Geno Smith is going to throw. He rolls to his right. He puffs. He heaves. Wet ball for Thornton. One for one. Comes back. Slides and makes the grab at the Patriots' 39-yard line. Oh, my goodness. The wet football was like a dying duck. But he picks a 36 in the Patriots' territory to Milwaukee. I should point out this game was a little sloppier because of light rain happening throughout the game. It definitely had an impact. Great call there by Jason Horowitz. Terrible job by Carlton Davis, who bites on a slant on third and 20 when he was overaggressive.

56:34You got the full Carlton Davis experience today. He gave up some big plays. He made some big plays. But you told me, and I thought about you, Patrick, like you won't know until it's the fourth quarter and you see Geno Smith make a nice throw, like how you really feel in your heart. And, um, The heart can hold many truths at once. Ultimately, I was like, that's why you don't punt it back to Geno Smith. You deserve what you get. It was beautiful. I was happy to watch him play so well. And yet I still was ultimately disappointed by a dispiriting effort by the Patriots. That was the Sunday drive presented by Toyota.

57:11Let's go places. Let's go to Lucas Oil Stadium.

57:15Nick Shook:Second and 20 for the Colts. First play of the second quarter. Daniel Jones flies it right side. It's caught at the goal line. Touchdown for the Colts. And it's Michael Pittman Jr. A 27-yard beautifully placed pass by Daniel Jones to Michael Pittman Jr. Touchdown I-N-D-Y for the Colts. Ooh, Matt Taylor on WFNI. Danny Dimes is back. 33-8 against the Dolphins. The biggest beatdown of the entire day was the Indianapolis Colts over the Miami Dolphins. What happened, Patrick?

57:55Patrick Claybon:Well, what happened was we get a generational Dimes game, and I remember starting the 2024 season and seeing Saquon Barkley in Philadelphia and the Eagles score 30 points and thinking, wow, that only happened a couple of times during the Dimes and Saquon era. His first opportunity here against the Miami Dolphins defense. You would think by looking at numbers that straight up, the Dolphins got enough pressure to bother Danny Dimes, of course, famously had 18 turnovers his rookie year, a significant amount of fumbles. No, they were there. There were 12 total pressures by the Dolphins on Daniel Jones.

58:29Patrick Claybon:Wow. Consistently. these two new additions on the offensive line for the Colts paid off dimes navigated the pocket he got balls to Tyler Warren who almost finishes a tight end one the rookie made a whole bunch of plays on the outside Michael Pippen Jr. was involved there's a crucial third down conversion to Josh Downs where the the Miami Dolphins turned the ball over two out of two out of the first three drives that they had the ball and the Colts consistently scored every single time where there There was just no spot for hope. The Dolphins got a late touchdown, but this was nasty. It was 30 to nothing at one point, Greg.

59:04Patrick Claybon:The Dolphins were never in this game. I picked them as a survivor. Me and Zach Taylor both start the seasons traditionally bad, except the Bengals got a winning week one, and I lost again. And I'm out of the survivor waiting for you guys. That is absolutely outrageous. It's on my radar that both Patrick and Jordan, you know, didn't take this survivor responsibility seriously enough. and you're just throwing out willy-nilly one and a half point favorites in a survivor pool. Although I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth because I absolutely thought the Dolphins were going to win this game. Yeah, and it was clear early on that they had no chance to win this game.

59:43Patrick Claybon:They were thoroughly outplayed to an extent where like Tua airmailed Tyreek Hill on the first interception. or preseason, I'm thinking Cam Bynum. Well, hey, you know, he had all those celebrations and all turnovers in Minnesota with Brian Flores' defense. No, Lou Anarumo has come in. This Colts defense made plays. Liatu Latu had an interception as well where he dropped off into coverage. A great interception for a defensive end, like one of the best defensive interceptions of the decade. I'll say that. Yeah, so Lou Anarumo gets scapegoated and since he comes to Indianapolis, and it is a new day in Indy.

1:00:18The Anarumosance is on. Yeah. At one point, I think it was halftime, actually. The Colts had run 43 plays to 15. They had 255 yards to 43. Tyreek Hill was honking and wildly gesticulating, not happy on the bench, like in the first half of the game. At least somebody was. The vibes are bad. Let's listen to Mike McDaniel after the game.

1:00:44Nick Shook:I think it's definitely not all on him. There's just throws that I know he makes nine times out of ten, and he didn't make them today. But that being said, it's hard to play quarterback when you have surprise pressures, meaning that they're blitzing, but you think it's accounted for, and then somebody doesn't pick it up. Or, you know, you have people coming out the huddle the wrong way when they had been nailing it for a week plus, really. Mike McDaniel has a bad habit like me of just like the sentences just trail off at some point. You're not really sure where they end. I'm that guy as well. Yeah, Tua Tungavailoa ends up 3.9 yards per play passing the ball.

1:01:35You're just not used to seeing that. And I think the focus is going to be so much on the dysfunction there. And everyone that's been whispering that it's not a good situation there in Miami is going to be spiking the football and celebrating. And the Colts people are going to say, hey, Daniel Jones looked pretty good. They're going to be saying, I told you. So I do want to just more focus on the credit to the Colts. Just that Tyler Warren going 7 for 76 in his first game as a pro. Michael Pittman, who was just falling to the nether regions of fantasy drafts I saw late, like I saw him like the 11th or 12th round.

1:02:10Like this is, you know, go six for 80 and a, and a touchdown. This Colts team, if they can get decent quarterback play, they obviously got better than that today. Shook does have some talented players and Shane Steichen, you know, has, has coached up some pretty, you know, shaky quarterbacks here over the last few years to a decent amount of wins.

1:02:28Nick Shook:Yeah. You know, in that McDaniel response, the one thing that I took away was it sounds like the operation is dysfunctional. It's just disorganized. You need to work on that. which is the exact term that Shane Steichen used when describing why he took Daniel Jones over Anthony Richardson in their quarterback battle. And obviously he was onto something because according to this, the operation was fantastic in Indianapolis. I can understand why people didn't want to draft Michael Pittman in their fantasy drafts because you have no confidence in Daniel Jones. And it is only one week. I caution against overreacting because let's remember what the saints did in the first two weeks last year.

1:02:59Nick Shook:They look like, you know, a wagon. They were an incredibly explosive, explosive offense that fell off a cliff later, but this is kind of a shock to me not that the Dolphins struggled but that the Colts were able to produce at this level so we'll stay sticking you know giving credit where credit is due and that's the winners in this game and I just said that teams aren't running the football well Jonathan Taylor and DJ Giddens combined for over 110 yards that's pretty good it sounds like everything you know I mean from my view of the game everything went pretty well for the Colts a

1:03:26Patrick Claybon:lot better than most people expected they did even in in run defense where you you wonder you look at over the course of the game. Of course, the Dolphins were trailing for a significant amount, but we know they can be explosive in the run game. Devon Achan had nine yards of carry in this game, but they just didn't go to the run. Of course, the turnover is a big part of that where everything was disjointed. I really think it would be easy, Greg, to listen to, do Vibe Watch and say that this is a wrap. This was an especially bad game for the Dolphins to where I'm willing to throw this one and count some of it to week one.

1:04:03Patrick Claybon:They're not good, but they're not 26 points worse than the Colts. They just have a monster week too. They're at home against the Patriots, two teams that are going to be 0-1. And you can fix everything for a couple weeks with just getting a win, but if they can't win that game, the Vultures will be circling. Rough performance. There are three turnovers for Tua. Only 12 first downs for the Dolphins offense. Let's go to Denver, where the offenses were struggling as well. Straight-eye formation, double tight end set, wing right, one wide receiver. The handoff, this is J.K. Dobbins. Nice patient run there.

1:04:40Patrick Claybon:Dobbins first through to the 10, the 5, high steps into the end zone. Touchdown, Denver! J.K. Dobbins, his first touchdown as a Bronco. It's a run of 19 yards. That was Dave Logan on KOA. Hey, Broncos win 20-12 against the Tennessee Titans. A very interesting game. I do think this would be a fun rewatch, even though it was ugly. Shook is giving me the eyes, but the Titans had so many wild things happen. I know they only ended up with seven first downs, but, man, they were like an entertaining seven. Sean Payton is just calling gopher broke fourth and eights late in the game. The Broncos are trailing against the Titans for a good chunk of it.

1:05:26As bad games go, I think this was a good bad game. I'll stand for that.

1:05:31Nick Shook:I gave you the eyes because this game made my eyes bleed. It was terrible. I mean, not terrible in terms of watchability, but terrible if you like football that's executed at a solid level. The Broncos played with their food this entire game. Now, their defense is as good as we expected them to be, and I think that factor into why the Titans couldn't do anything with the four turnovers they forced. but that speaks to the Broncos being sloppy. They were, Bo Nix comes out and he's just letting it rip. You know, he throws a 50-50 ball to Cortland Sutton that gets picked off. Great play by Roger McCreary.

1:06:01Nick Shook:He's under pressure and steps up as if he's going to escape the pocket and then throws a pass into traffic. He didn't see the defender, you know, drifting underneath to pick that one off. So he's got two picks in his ledger. He fumbles when he's trying to escape the pocket. That's the third one. Then they fumble, they muff a punt. The Titans did nothing with basically any of that. They finished with 12 points. They're all on field goals. The Broncos could have won this game in their sleep. And that's why they go for it on fourth and eight and just chuck a ball down the field because they don't care that they're giving up field position in the final minute and a half of the game.

1:06:29Nick Shook:They just got two stops in the fourth quarter because Cam Borda's surrounded by spare parts. Titans fans, you have your quarterback. He has a strong arm. He looks the part. He put a number of good passes on receivers in this game that dropped. They were dropped. They failed him. It was just an example of a team that made the playoffs last year and is looking to continue to build. But it's week one, so they're shaking off the rust. and it's a Titans team that's still two years away from, you know, thinking about the playoffs. Well, he had chances on that last drive. And so I think his accuracy and his timing is not there 100 % yet.

1:07:03You wouldn't expect the timing to be there with this receiver group. Like Tyler Lockett did not have a catch today. I heard some concerning whispers about how he looked in training camp and just in the practices that, you know, like, is he going to be a guy who really helps? I mean, he was signed for$4 million. There was a reason for that. So Ward, I thought, had a chance there late. But man, I thought that was one of the biggest look at me calls of all time by Sean Payton to go for it at fourth and eight and call that. And Bo Nix had a wide open Cortland Sutton, I believe, that would have made Sean Payton look like a genius, but he did not see it.

1:07:40Patrick Claybon:Yeah, they had the crossers. And Bo went with the one that the defenders actually went with. If you go back, if you want to watch SkyCam view or on NextGenStats, if you want to look at the dots, no matter how you look at it, Cortland Sutton is all alone and heading towards the end zone on that play. It was just either Knicks didn't see him, the pressure was there. But in Payton's defense, the call was there. And in the Titans' defense, they had several opportunities, as Schick pointed out, to ultimately win this game. There was a huge play that could have led to another possession where Jeffrey Simmons, for some reason, is pushing, I believe, R.J.

1:08:17Patrick Claybon:Harvey down a full second after the whistle was blown that extended a drive where I, coming into this game, obviously you made it your survivor pick, and congratulations, Greg, to surviving in this one. But there were several, like Cam Ward throwing seam balls, firing them in there with confidence that just had a lot of heat on them. Maybe there'll be adjustments, as you said, unfamiliar targets on the outside, but there was a lot of positives to take away from Cam Ward going on the road against a good Broncos defense. To me, I know it's week one. And, yeah. I mean, the average 2.4 yards per play, and they had 133 yards.

1:08:56And this was not one of those games, like we talked about, the Packers and Lions were shortened because there was only seven or eight drives. Each of these teams had 14 drives today. Shook, I actually, from what I saw, it was one of the worst games of Bo Nix's career do you disagree with me not entirely because he had a stretch like late in last

1:09:16Nick Shook:season where he started to turn the ball over a lot he got it they really won this game because they decided to turn to the run rj harvey ripped off a 50 yarder and then dobbin scored that touchdown that we just played um like i said when i said that they played with their food you could see that the potential was there it's just like they everything wasn't sharp at least not until the second half and I think a little bit it was Bo Nix coming into the game with a lot of confidence from last year and just letting it rip and kind of paying the price a little bit like a better team makes them pay for this and they lose this game which is okay in week one when you're playing the Titans which would kind of justify your claim but I wouldn't be like overly concerned because I feel like they were kind of testing some things out and they knew at one point in the game they're like look our defense is not going to give up a score like unless something miraculous happens they're not going to give up a score so we can get a little aggressive and kind of tinker a little bit it felt like a big tinker game for the Broncos once they got ahead by eight points.

1:10:08Yeah, if we didn't make it clear, the Titans did not score a touchdown in this game. It was four Joey Sly field goals. And yeah, Bo Nix ends up with three turnovers. He lost the fumble. He was intercepted twice. He threw the ball 40 times and averaged under five yards per attempt, under four and a half. So I'm calling that one of the worst games of his career. It was a survivor pick that I survived survived and it felt like just barely surviving. Nick Shook, you've done more than survive. Oh, yeah, we got the music. You've done a fantastic job. What we're going to do now is we're going to say goodbye to you for a little bit.

1:10:48We're going to welcome in Jordan Rodrigue for a segment. And then we're going to see you to recap Sunday Night Football. So see you in a little bit, little buddy. We'll be back in a break. Yes, I just called Nick Shook, little buddy. What is wrong with me? where did that come from my brain i've been up since 3 30 a.m i'm not lying

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1:14:38Nick Shook:Trevor Lawrence under center. play fake Trevor rolls to the right looks fires for the end then goes caught touchdown Jacksonville Hunter Long the tight end from six yards away and the Jags are in the end zone for the first time today that was Frank Frangie of WJXL Trevor Lawrence to Hunter for a touchdown not the one we expected but the former Rams They're finding Rams in Jacksonville. Your old friend, James Gladstone. Yes, Jordan Rodrigue is joining us for this next four-pack of games. The Jaguars win 26-10. I watched this game closely, Jordan, and I have another omen. Very first series of this game, Jaguars start with the ball, fourth and one on their own 37.

1:15:37literally the fourth play of their season does Liam Cohen say oh let's punt it away we're on our own 37 yard line or does he say I've got the chutzpah to go for it right off the bat the belief in my offensive line in my offense yeah he goes for fourth and one on his own 37 right off the bat to Deami Brown and he picks it up easily on a kind of end around type of play and it was part of a day where they just dominated on the ground. The 2025 Carolina Panthers run defense looked a lot like the 2024 Carolina Panthers run defense, giving up 200 yards to the Jaguars. Travis Etienne with 143. This game felt pretty over by halftime.

1:16:27There was a long lightning delay that I had to wait about an hour, I think in 15 minutes for that, that broke up some of the scoring. But basically Jacksonville did whatever they wanted. And then we were just killing time after that.

1:16:41Jourdan Rodrigue:It's a huge problem because this is the part of Carolina's defense that they at least expected to look better, especially right out of the gate. Derek Brown is back. Bobby Brown is lining up next to him. This is a group where, yes, there's been, you want me to say my prerogative so bad right now. That's his prerogative. That's his prerogative. You got to close the bit, you know, got it. Nailed it. Ran over here, ran over here from the stadium. But yeah, that's, they've had questions about their secondary, their safeties, injuries on and off over the last couple of years. This was supposed to be the, the, the get back that they got back.

1:17:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Derek Brown was supposed to be that factor and it's one game. It's week one, but man, the two former Tampa Bay Buccaneers, offensive coordinators dueling it out against each other. Liam Cohen squad obviously looked a lot more polished right and Liam Cohen squad last year with Tampa put it on Carolina for about 500 yards per game when he was with Tampa and honestly they look kind of like the Bucks in the first half I was so impressed and in the end Trevor Lawrence's numbers don't look that amazing 178 the game slowed down in the second half they just had a couple field goal drives but what I what I saw was that there was a lot of cohesion in the running game specifically.

1:17:52And this is not an offensive line that you think of as having been particularly cohesive in the past. And they're blowing open holes. I thought that 71-yard run by Etienne was one of the best runs of his career because he showed a lot of patience. I think Trevor was really on time and on target for those first four drives or so. They put up 20 points in their first four drives. And then, like I said, it just got quiet. But I was impressed. I think if you're a Jaguars fan and you look at Brian Thomas ends up with 11 yards, Travis Hunter doesn't do that much as a receiver. And yet you won like going away without much from those two guys.

1:18:31It's pretty impressive.

1:18:32Patrick Claybon:Yeah. And I can make another Gladstone Rams reference where the play to Deami Brown on fourth down reminded me of Cooper Cup in the Super Bowl. Oh my God.

1:18:40Jourdan Rodrigue:I saw two of those today by McVay tree people.

1:18:44Patrick Claybon:Like that's awesome. Yes.

1:18:45Jourdan Rodrigue:It's the play that will never die ever.

1:18:47Patrick Claybon:It works. Yeah, it works consistently. The new acquisition gets used there. Brian Thomas Jr., again, you mentioned it, not very involved in the passing game, but he gets in the end zone as you see the commitment to the run game by these Jags on a carry. And yeah, the answer to the great Jags backfield trivia question ultimately was Travis Etienne. Yes. Getting way more opportunity than Tank. Basically, Basial Tootin comes in in relief of Etienne because honestly, at 8.9 yards of carry, Travis was tiring himself out. Oh yeah, he's only tired because that was after the 71-yard run. And I got to say, Basial Tootin's first run, man, I love that game.

1:19:22It was an eight-yard run where he had the jump stop, and I was like, oh, that's my favorite run I've seen all day. So I think we will hear from Basial Tootin. That's a tough to him. Yes, you absolutely nailed it with some Basial Tootin honking in the preseason.

1:19:34Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm tooting my own horn there, Greg. She's coming in. She's hitting home runs right off the bat. So I took this game myself because I wanted to see Travis Hunter. It was a quiet day. Six catches, 33 yards. A lot of them weren't really in the flow of the offense. They were kind of manufactured touches. He played six snaps on defense. He was in zone coverage on a play where he gave up a first down to Ted McMillan. I'm pretty sure it was. Nothing remarkable really on either side of the ball. But the fact that the Brenton Strange hype from the preseason and offseason capitalized, he was a really important part of their offense.

1:20:12I think that was a good sign. And on the flip side, the Panthers were a total mess. like the run defense was a disaster. The defense couldn't get any stops early. They stabilized in the second half, but Bryce Young had one of the worst games since he was benched. Maybe the worst game since he was benched after two games last year. At one point he was eight for 17 for 56 yards with a couple turnovers. He added another turnover late on what ultimately was a drop, but he also had a pick six that was on a totally ghastly decision that was taken back by a penalty. So it was about as bad as it looked.

1:20:50I actually feel bad about doing this, but we were talking about you wanting to make the worst throw of the year like a thing, Patrick. And so I do have a clip of Bryce Young making a toss here.

1:21:04Nick Shook:It's fourth in a yard and an empty backfield. Young drops, drops. Look, he's going to have to throw it in toward the end zone. That's incomplete. He threw it out of the back of the end zone. That's an incomplete pass. and the ball's going to go over on down. What worked by that Jaguars defense.

1:21:20Patrick Claybon:Wow. I can't believe that Bryce Young threw it out of the back of the end zone to throw it away. You got to give your guys the chances for it now.

1:21:29Jourdan Rodrigue:I love it. I love how he complimented the Jags defense. Did nothing on that. It's all Bryce Young.

1:21:36Patrick Claybon:I love Bryce. It's a long season. There is only one choice for Watote, leader in the clubhouse, and it's Bryce Young putting it in the stands on 4th and 1 inside the 10-yard line. Well, the crazy thing is when you watch the replay, he had an open receiver. He actually, I think some color flashed in front of him to use some football jargon, and he clearly didn't see. I think it was Jatavian Sanders flashing open right in front of him. But he had two options. As he was scrambling, he must have lost track of what down it was, and he throws it away. So our early worst throw of the year candidate. it.

1:22:12Jourdan Rodrigue:It was bad. I caught the condensed, very fast version of this. And there were center timing snap issues. There were center exchange issues the entire game. I was talking with my colleague, Joe Person, and Joe wrote in his column postgame, it just seemed like Dave Canales did not have this group prepared. They just did. And in juxtaposition to, I guess, the pleasant surprise of first-year head coach Liam Cohen and those guys and how they were ready to roll, it was very stark for someone who was there watching it. And it was a big factor that Iki Ikuanwu was out for this game and they played Yosh Nijman, I believe, who used to be with the Packers.

1:22:52And Josh Hines-Allen was the most dominant player in this game and a lot of it was on Nijman. He had six quick pressures, which I'm sure will be the most of any player in the entire NFL all week. So that injury played a big factor. Good job by the Jaguars. getting to 1-0. Let's go to the Superdome in a game that looked like two pretty even teams.

1:23:15Nick Shook:Four seconds left. Final play of the game. Fourth down. Ball on the 18 of the Cardinals. Rattler back to pass. Looking. Throws left side. And it's thrown out of bounds. Incomplete. And the game is over. The Cardinals win week one in New Orleans. 20-13.

1:23:31Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, photographer catches a big stray there in the end zone. Yes. an unfortunate fourth down throwing the ball out of bounds. We give you Spencer Rattler on what was, I believe, a fourth and goal chance to tie the game 20 to 13. The Saints go down in a game where if you look at the stats and this was really true throughout the day, it wasn't them catching up at the end. There was very little separating these two teams. It looked pretty even and the Saints ultimately just couldn't finish drives. They put a lot on Spencer Rattler's plate. He threw the ball 46 times, Patrick, and the Cardinals wasn't perfect.

1:24:16It's week one. It's just survive in advance, especially for these teams that have high aspirations in games that they should win. No style points. It's fine. You got out of there with a win. Move on.

1:24:26Patrick Claybon:Yeah, and my expectations were completely wrong in this game in the way that the new head coach, you know, they come over, does Kellen Moore from the Super Bowl champions, 2 ,000-yard rusher. I thought Spencer Rattler still looking for his first career win. They're going to lean on Alvin Kamara and the big guys up front. No, it was airing it out with Spencer Rattler for the duration of the game. Alvin Kamara did have a touchdown run where he looked like vintage, a.k.a. kind of smoothly gliding into the end zone and making those adjustments with the ball in his hands. but it was a lot of rattler throws a lot of juan johnson involved in this game especially down the seam where the cardinals couldn't pull away there was the first completion to marvin harrison jr of the season was a bomb from kyler murray they eventually pay that off with a with a a crosser where wilson comes up and sets a little bit of a screen uh that doesn't get called was we were favoring offense today on game day live with steve smith senior saying there was no penalties on the offense today.

1:25:27Patrick Claybon:But a little bit of a concerning win for the Cardinals over a team that we thought might be in position to take the number one overall pick come next year where the Saints really held in onto this game and had a lot of chances to win. Yeah, yards for play, overall yards. The Saints were a little better. You mentioned Juwan Johnson, who goes eight for 76. NFL Daily Guest was a delight. I think the biggest play of the game was ultimately the third down, where Rattler makes a nice throw and hits Juwan Johnson in the hands. Would have tied it up, assuming they hit the extra point. That was the play before the one we listened to.

1:26:05It was tough to see on replay if it was jostled out. He definitely was hit, or whether Buda Baker actually even got his hands on the ball. But the coolest play of the day was our guy Buda Baker knocking that play out, essentially, and then doing a kickflip off the Superdome turf, like basically for what was the game winning play.

1:26:25Jourdan Rodrigue:He is one of the coolest players in the NFL, honestly. Yeah, the Cardinals let the Saints hang around a little too long. I think part of it's the Saints know there's nothing to lose. Literally this season, they have to go out and play every single game. Like it's the biggest game of their season. Other teams are kind of looking at week one. I'm not saying they counted them out at all, but other teams are just not quite cohesive yet in week one. The Cardinals kind of just took their foot off the gas a little bit. It seemed like I want to shout out Will Johnson. You said the coolest play of the game.

1:26:53Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, Will Johnson, I went back and I watched the quick clips while I was sitting in the wings listening to you. You made good time coming from the Rams locker room. You were earlier than we expected. I'm so shiny right now, too. I ran so fast. It was so hot outside. But I was watching like the quick clips and the cutups of Will Johnson, the corner, the rookie corner. He's targeted seven times, defended three passes, allowed just 32 yards on four catches. and the best play of the game, in my opinion, of the limited viewing that I had, was him crashing down and reading a Chris Olave motion on a second and long.

1:27:26Jourdan Rodrigue:And Chris Olave was supposed to be an outlet, little outlet for Spencer Rattler on the play. And he hit Chris Olave so hard out of pure read and knowledge, understanding this play and what was supposed to happen. He hit him so hard that Chris Olave had a hard time catching his breath afterward, catching his wind. If he keeps playing like this, he is on a really, really, really interesting track as a rookie. I love it when two of my favorite football minds come together on an opinion, because I asked our friend Adam from the Saints Block Party podcast any thoughts from this game, and he thought the cornerbacks for the Cardinals were just all over the Saints receivers, that they just were not open receivers throughout the day, which matched a lot of what you heard in Saints practice, too.

1:28:09You weren't seeing a lot of open receivers. So Kellen's struggling to scheme them open or the receiver's struggling to get open, but that's a good sign for a really good young secondary. Yeah, and it was surprising because their success rate on their runs was quite high. It was 45%, which is really good. And it was close the whole game and they just didn't run the ball much. And so Kellen Moore had one really big moment that I thought he was in over his head where at the end of the first half, the Cardinals are running the clock down. Ultimately, they score a touchdown with 28 seconds to go and they're inside the 10.

1:28:42And the Saints just let them do it with all three timeouts. Kellen just, you know, like on first and second down, the Cardinals kind of went out of their way to drain the clock before scoring the touchdown. Now it could have ended up a field goal, but either way, and he just let it happen and then kneeled on the ball. I'm like, bro, you gotta, like this is the NFL. You gotta use those timeouts. Like a Madden player knows how to do it. So I think he was showing a little bit of a rookie head coach there.

1:29:09Jourdan Rodrigue:It's possible you forget sometimes you're supposed to be the one who's doing that in the headset. You're on the wrong channel, maybe. Like, I just, it's, you just, you're like, oh. I was like, someone should be telling him to take these timeouts. The broadcast was, I think it was Ross Tucker who was hammering about it. It's a good job by our friend Ross. You're like, oh, shoot. That's me. I'm supposed to be doing that, actually.

1:29:28Patrick Claybon:Maybe an adjustment to the process. He's on the sideline with Brandon Staley. Maybe he's looking over at Brandon Staley, saying that he's in that situation.

1:29:35Jourdan Rodrigue:This guy's really intense.

1:29:37Patrick Claybon:Yes, they were. when they were with the Chargers. But there was another quarterback sneak by Spencer Rattler where the Saints offensive linemen lined up improperly. One of them actually lined up offsides. And you think about all the shove success that Kellen Moore called in Philadelphia, trying to get used to things to process. I feel better about the Saints after this game than I did before coming into it. Absolutely. The fact that they outgained another competitive team by 40 yards, absolutely. And if you're the Cardinals, you're a little concerned about the target depth. Harrison and McBride both have really good games.

1:30:13No one else has over 10 yards. So you're going to have to develop more options there. All right, let's get to the Jordan Rodriguez special games. She was focusing in on a couple of them, including one in Washington.

1:30:30Nick Shook:Wheels around, takes a handoff, spins back to the left, has a wall in front of him with the 15, breaks a tackle in 10, to the five. Leads for the end zone. Touchdown! Touchdown Washington! Devo Samuel!

1:30:43Patrick Claybon:That was one to perfection. Oh, it was so great having Bram Weinstein back in our life. London Fletcher also in the booth. Didn't hear him there, but love that guy. 21-6. The Washington Commanders win in a game that looked like the score. Just one-sided, not too flashy, but pretty cool to see Debo Samuel there with a rushing touchdown, also led them in receiving with 77 yards and seven catches.

1:31:14Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And was all over the field. Like some people were saying after being at training camp, I mean, tooting my own horn again, all over it, facial tooting my own horn again. But that play was the backbreaking moment. And kind of this, this game was kind of ugly through most of it. Um, they'd been playing with their food a little, there's a little sloppiness in the whole operation offensively. Jane Daniels, overthrew a couple of sure touchdowns. He was trying to get a connection going early on in the game. There was a couple, there was a bad mental mistake to a clock runoff out of a grounding penalty that they just weren't, they were a little loose at times.

1:31:46Jourdan Rodrigue:But other than that, there were all these flashes that this was the Jaden Daniels commanders. He was so calm the entire time. They were running him on these really cool design runs where they would intentionally align to spread out that giant's fearsome front. And then he just goes zoop right up the middle and have these huge gains. So that was really impressive. But this was really, for the most part, they look like the commanders we expect out of some of the looseness that comes with week one. Giants quarterback Russell Wilson, out of that touchdown, he made a few nice throws. The pressure got to him on the third and fourth down.

1:32:23Jourdan Rodrigue:And then he was picked. He was bailed out by a roughing the passer call. Bobby Wagner accidentally palm slapped him on the helmet and then got bailed out by the call. And then they got all the way down to the Washington three and they kept throwing it because they could not run. And then they had another batted ball by Bobby Wagner and two incompletions. And that was the story of the game for the Giants offense who overall ran 11 plays inside the 10 and came away with just three points, including a turnover on downs late. It was awful. Right. You're talking about the design runs and Russell Wilson had a couple of scrambles, but Tyrone Tracy goes 10 for 24.

1:33:02Kim Skadaboo gets a couple of carries, ends up with negative yardage and Devin Singletary three for nine. And yes, they struggled in the red zone, but they struggled everywhere. You know, this was a game where they got basically doubled up in yardage. I thought Trey Amos made a nice play on a deep throw to Malik Nabors. A couple of plays, I saw the young, you know, Washington cornerback show up in a way that they have to be excited about. But it was bad enough offensively that Brian Dable got the questions we kind of expected after the game.

1:33:38Patrick Claybon:Will you consider starting Jackson next week?

1:33:42Nick Shook:Yeah, look, we're going to get home, Pat. We're going to look at our game. Collectively, we all got to do better.

1:33:48Jourdan Rodrigue:There are a couple things on this that I was really trying to pay close attention to, whether I was sort of scouring the beat writers' posts on various social media platforms and then also like looking on the broadcast. One of the things that was super interesting to me was Brian Dable walking out onto the field for pregame warmups with Jackson Dart. And then, you know, week one of the Russell Wilson experience, and this was already coming into it, reading reports about there's a package of plays for Jackson Dart just in case, and the commanders are preparing for this certain package of plays.

1:34:19Jourdan Rodrigue:And Russell Wilson just looked so uncomfortable and out of sync the entire time. He was pressured at a 50 % rate by the end of the game, which is insane. And it was coming from everywhere. The interior of this rebuilt commanders line, defensive line, was getting some good push and disrupting his pocket on the insides. And then the edge guys were containing and making some plays where they had him. Obviously, the linebackers are a factor here, too. He just could not get any sort of rhythm going. I mean, this was I knew I knew that this is probably happening soon. Like this has got to happen soon because when the Giants offense got to the Washington 10 yard line, that was a Malik neighbors 25 yard pickup out of a blitz pickup by Cam Scadaboo, which I texted you, Greg.

1:35:04Jourdan Rodrigue:I was like, Cam Scadaboo just killed a guy. They ran seven plays from that position after that explosive gain. and then they settled for a field goal from the two-yard line because after they got a fresh set of downs, Brian Dable got to third and two again and was like, I can't watch this anymore. I got to kick a field goal. I'm afraid I won't get points. I think this is happening soon. Oh, it's happening. Like my immediate reaction from that clip is he's gone. That's it. It's this week. It's the most tried and true rule of which I've just put out and I should do it now like year after year. If they don't answer the question of who's the quarterback, then they're making the change.

1:35:45If folks want to listen to it again, the first thing he says is, yeah.

1:35:49Patrick Claybon:He's like, yeah, we're like, and I'm not saying that was confirmation that he's going to start Jackson Dart because the package of plays being discussed so vigorously, and as Jordan pointed out, drive after drive coming up short, Dayball's having a heated argument with Malik Nabors coming off the sideline. It's like, oh, Jackson Dart at any point. Jackson Dart is the future of the Giants franchise. He's also a job-saving mechanism for Brian Dayball. And so you can't throw him in in this situation against an opponent that's very familiar with your offense. Dan Quinn and company have seen a whole lot of Brian Dayball's offense and how it's going to work.

1:36:23Patrick Claybon:Of course not with Jackson Dart. Yeah, but they didn't stop it last year. It was two of their worst games of the year was actually against Daniel Jones. I mean, Daniel Jones' two best games of the year is essentially against Washington. So I think it will stick in Brian Dayball's head that like a year ago, our offense with Daniel Jones was way better than this. And Russell Wilson, not helped by Andrew Thomas, not being available. There's a lot of pressure. Russell Wilson also invites a lot of pressure by holding on to the ball. Ugly. Wouldn't be surprised if we find out Monday or Tuesday they have a new quarterback.

1:36:54And then finally, just shout out to Bill Krosky-Merry. It was quiet early in the game, was getting a little worried, but he came through for you, a 42-yard run, 10 for 82 on the ground, and a touchdown. Let's now go across the street where Jordan was in person watching the Los Angeles Rams win a defensive struggle.

1:37:15Nick Shook:One timeout remaining for the Texans. Open up right. Play fake. Flip to the flat. Caught by Nakua at the 30. He's got a first down at the 40. Puka Nakua staying inbounds across midfield and tackled on his sideline. Nakua for the win from Matthew Stafford. 24 to clinch it. That was JB Long on KSPN. Puka Nakua on a great play call by Sean McVay. Felt like there were a lot of those today, despite the final score being so low. 14-9. The Rams win it in a game where neither team had 300 yards from scrimmage. Continued the trend throughout the league of not great running, not great offense in general.

1:38:01And yet, I think there were a lot of positive signs like that last play by the Rams.

1:38:05Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, and Puka Nakua, by the way, who had to leave the game at one point to go get stitches in his face because he was bleeding profusely from above his eyebrow after taking a huge hit. And then the second he's all stitched up and bandaged up and comes back into the game, he runs a 19-yard dig. And it's like, you know, it's like he welcomes, which is a contact play because those defenders are crashing into you in the middle of the field once you get there. He was welcoming the contact because you needed to in this game because this game was a freaking rock fight, you guys. Like from that very first play, the third and two, the Devontae Adams converts and gets bent literally in half, you know, by a double hit and Stingley, Derek Stingley Jr.

1:38:48Jourdan Rodrigue:is on the backside of that and actually takes some incidental contact, bangs his shoulder up, comes back in. This game was so, it's like drunk uncles trying to punch each other. It was seriously, but there was, but I don't think, and I posit, that this was not your typical like oh it's an ugly win or it's an ugly loss or whatever there was some real toughness here there was some really nice ideas here this wasn't two teams just like slap fighting each other this was actual like hey we are two of the tougher teams and we want to show that in the NFL and that's what I thought out of this game both teams including Houston yeah two

1:39:20Patrick Claybon:of the best pass rushes yeah in the NFL and in terms of the talent on the Texans defense it it leaps off the screen but also Matthew Stafford fully upright fully operational making throws off his back foot there was a timing uh ball that was just perfect there were so many moments where it's like that's it yeah that's number nine had I I would have never picked the Texans if I don't know nine was going to be moving like that uh against a very good pass or so there were some dangerous moments where there was a high snap that got away from Matt and he was flat on his back and

1:39:50Jourdan Rodrigue:I oh and Will Anderson Jr.

1:39:52Patrick Claybon:is is clear like 10 times out of 10 gotta get there before Matt Stafford does but Stafford's able to get on top of it so it's not 10 out of 10 and there was a moment in this fourth quarter where I'm thinking this is a classic Sean McVay constrictor drive circumstance where they are going to have timely screen calls they're going to get the ball out of Stafford's hand we're going to be passing in run situations and running in pass situations and it was enough to keep D 'Amico's defense off off of what what they were looking for and drain the clock out with the puka catch as with the ever-expanding bandage where he kept going into the blue tent.

1:40:28Patrick Claybon:And I was glad to see him with his helmet off after the game because I was concerned the forehead was gone.

1:40:33Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, I talked to someone with the team. The stitches kept coming out. So you're getting, you're not only getting stitched in game. He was in the locker room, but then also they kept coming out because he's taking so much contact throughout the rest of the game. You mentioned Matthew Stafford, some of the like unconscious throws that he made. I would say it might have been a cooler catch than throw, but maybe this is a candidate. minute, we'll go back to it where we visit the film at the end of this here. There was a throw that he made to Devontae Adams, who had a quietly really great game. He was being shadowed most of the time by Derek Stingley Jr.

1:41:03Jourdan Rodrigue:And he basically flipped his hips to turn a back shoulder ball into a front shoulder ball. And Matthew Stafford read it right before the ball came out of his hand. And he placed it so perfectly because Derek Stingley Jr. had the backside leverage. And it was down the sideline. It was right in front of Sean McVay. I thought Sean McVay was going to pass out. It was like, so, and, and I will say like, that is this team. That's what this team wants to be. The combination of toughness and finesse on the converse. That's what the Houston Texans want to be. And they keep losing lineman. Greg, you were talking about omens, Kim Robinson, fall, holding penalty on the very first snap, their left tackle that they brought in holding penalty on the very first, uh, off offensive snap.

1:41:44Jourdan Rodrigue:And then came Robinson left with an injury. And then he came back in Jake Andrews, the center left. And then he never came back. He was carted off. This was a brutal fight of a game. Yeah, and I think it's a great thing that the Rams can win games like this, that the defense is coming around where you think of them as a tough defense. And Devontae Adams ends up with four for 51, but it felt like at least two of those catches that I can remember are just like catches no one else is making. And yeah, he's soaking up now, Derek Stingley, while Puka gets 10 for 130. So he's proving his value there.

1:42:20I also think Sean McVay, who found fourth down religion because he read an article by Jordan Rodriguez. I'm only slightly exaggerating. Helped win the game by going for fourth down in the first half. And Kyron Williams scores a touchdown on that in a key sequence in the first half. Let's hear about another key sequence. And this is before.

1:42:43Jourdan Rodrigue:This is when the game got drunk. Right. This is when the game got drunk. Before Puka iced the game, the Texans were driving for what they were hoping would be a game-winning touchdown.

1:42:55Patrick Claybon:Stroud. And he's got him underneath. It's caught by Gumbelow. He fumbles the ball. It's loose. And it's recovered by the Rams. Big hit by Landman. Oh, calamity.

1:43:11Nick Shook:What a play by Landman.

1:43:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Who better than to put the ball on the ground than a guy named Nate Landman? Am I right? That punch out classic moment right there. Who better to call it than Kevin Harlan? And then who better to hear the word Landman from than Trent Green? Somehow it all came together. Braden Fisk recovered it. He's quite, you know, he put together a runner up season for defensive rookie of the year last year. And it's already starting out really well. They were rushing him out as a wide nine a little this this game. And part of you're going to see a little bit more of that. I want to use this talk about CJ Stroud a little bit more because I want to be fair to him.

1:43:53Jourdan Rodrigue:I think that with what he had and what the types of pressure they were bringing, I think he did pretty well for the most part. Him himself. Obviously, there's there were still some protection issues when he had a starting offensive line. They allowed 13 pressures per next gen, which is not great. then obviously that starts missing losing guys in the third quarter and then I'm not really calculating it from there but I thought with what they were bringing they were widening and condensing their fronts like crazy and they were really trying to go against this right tackle Ariante Urzuri who Rams players were complimenting postgame for how he handled all the stuff they were overloading on his side they were sending safety blitzes they were doing all of this stuff and the goal they were telling me was to overload CJ Stroud pre-snap because they weren't sure how much help he would be getting from his offensive line.

1:44:36Jourdan Rodrigue:So this was a problem last year. I think there are more answers this year. CJ Stroud baited the rush a couple of times really well, and he also baited the Rams to overrush. That's a little Nick Cayley who was with the Rams last year watching Jared Verse and Byron Young rush around the cup of the quarterback essentially. So the quarterback can run up through that space. And that is that that's really smart. That's smart football. That's CJ Stroud navigating the game, navigating the pressure really, really well. So while the stats don't really show what he was actually able to do, I do have optimism about how they're going to handle some of this pressure that they'll see moving forward.

1:45:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Certainly it won't be at this caliber all year. Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise. They okie-doked us by putting Ursary at right tackle to start this game. Everyone thought he'd be on the left side and Cam Robinson did start. They didn't have a ton of plays. Neither team really did. 57 snaps overall. Nico Collins held to 25 yards. No receiver for the Texans and they didn't have Christian Kirk available for this game. Had 32 yards. but you talked about answers and some things looking a little better. Nick Chubb, I thought ran pretty well, had 4.6 yards per carry. They actually had a decent success rate when they tried to run the ball, at least with Nick Chubb.

1:45:41And so there were some positives, but the Texans start out with a road loss against a tough opponent. Jordan, you're going to be with us on these Sunday shows. Looking forward to it all. Patrick's had a long day here, cranking out highlights on NFL Network. No longer, Greg. So we thank you both. And we are going to take one more break. And we will be moving on to Sunday Night Football. First recap show there, Jordan. Did I do it? Let's go. You did it.

1:46:10Jourdan Rodrigue:I blacked out. Did I do it? You did the damn thing. Expertly.

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1:49:24Jourdan Rodrigue:Why did I search the internet for answers to my cold sore problem? Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.

1:49:42Nick Shook:Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Health care just got less painful. This will be a 32-yard attempt from the left hash for what could be the victory. They're going to run the clock down, so it is. Down to three seconds. Here's the snap. Hold is down. Kick on the way. And it is good. And Matt Prater, in his first game as a Buffalo Bill, has won the ballgame here in Week 1. The Bills were down by 15 in the fourth quarter. They come all the way back to win the game at the gun. Chris Brown of WGR caps what was the game of the day. might be the game of the year.

1:50:38It's one of the best games in the history of the Ralph. I'll say it. Certainly one of the best Sunday night football games of all time. The best comeback of Josh Allen's career. 41 to 40. The Buffalo Bills score 16 points in the final four minutes to rip a sure victory away from the Baltimore Ravens on a night where the Ravens put up a 40-burger in 50 minutes. It wasn't good enough, Shooky. There were so many ways that the Ravens could have finished this game out, but they didn't. But we got to just start just giving some love to Josh Allen and this offense. 251 passing yards for Josh Allen. No, not for the game, Shook.

1:51:25In the fourth quarter alone. What a moment there in Buffalo.

1:51:31Nick Shook:Yeah. Look, fans started leaving the stadium when they were down 15, and frankly, in my heart, my heart left the game as well with, I don't know, more than four minutes to go when the Bills turned it over on downs in the fourth quarter down 15, and I understood why they left, but these are the same fans who come from a generation prior that once saw them come back from down even more in the AFC wildcard game way back in, I think it was 1992, and they witnessed a magical night, and no better way to close out Sunday of week one than with an incredible, improbable, thrilling comeback like this. It's an all-time gut punch of a regular season loss for the Ravens.

1:52:10I mean, just an absolute all-timer, considering the opponent, considering the situation. Leaving the stadium was a crime against sports fandom. They shouldn't be allowed back in the stadium ever again. It's Buffalo in September. It's not cold. You're playing the Ravens. Josh Allen is your quarterback and you'll live with it for the rest of their lives. I mean, that's the punishment is that they know who they are. We could talk big picture, but what I want to do shook is go through how that game ended. You mentioned the turnover on downs that the bills had. You could say that the comeback started in a way with the Ravens three and out with about nine minutes to go.

1:52:57Cause they had been rolling so much averaging about 10 yards per play until that point, literally 10 yards per play until that point. They go three and out, and they give the Bills the ball back. That's when the scoring really starts. That drive ends on a fourth down play, and it is the moment in this comeback that, beyond any other, was really, really lucky and set up the collapse to follow.

1:53:25Nick Shook:So big play here, down 15. It's a fourth and two situation. Allen going to work from the shotgun here. Here's the snap. Allen has time. Now pressure coming from Van Nooy. Throws. It's high. And it's caught in the end zone by Keon Coleman. It may have been intended for Dawson Knox, but Coleman's the one that ends up with it. Agent Zero with a touchdown. Okay, football is a lot about luck sometimes. Everything that you hear about Josh Allen and how this team came back and the mistakes that we're about to talk about that the Ravens made, they can all be true. And that can also be Josh Allen's worst pass of the night that I can remember.

1:54:07He just sailed it. He missed it. And because he missed it by so much, it went all the way to Keon Coleman, who deserves credit for, for making a great play there.

1:54:15Nick Shook:Do you, do you see the, the body language though, after they scored, did you hear the tone of the call? Did you hear the background noise? Those, the bills probably didn't believe that they were going to come back at that point. They were just like, Oh, nice. Cool. A deflection went our way. When I saw that, I just started laughing. Cause it was like, Of course, of course, they're going to stay in the game off of a weird deflected touchdown pass. Like, OK, that's fine. Yeah, I'm sure you're going to now you have to go put eight on the board again. Good luck. I didn't believe at that point either.

1:54:41Nick Shook:But it was a great play by Keon Coleman, who made a number of great plays, who's a great athlete and was thinking on his toes. They're able to react in time to catch it. Yeah, I I was watching the game in our film room, you know, a little studio kind of thing. and Maurice Jones-Drew and Chris Rose are there getting ready to do NFL Network postgame and they were getting up to leave to go to the set when that happens and it gets tipped and Maurice just immediately is just like that's youth football. I quit. I give up. That should not count. That should not count as a play. Well, I'll tell you what, it counted and the Bills defense helped really make it count and really ratchet up the insanity the second that the Ravens gave Derrick Henry the ball on the ensuing possession.

1:55:28Nick Shook:High formation here from Baltimore. Jackson under center. Going to hand it off to Henry. And he's bottled up. The ball is out! It's loose! Who's got the football?

1:55:40Nick Shook:It's Buffalo Ball! At the Baltimore 30-yard line! Terrell Bernard! Wow. He did it in the playoff game. He's done it again! Mr. Fourth Corner! They show some Bills fans in the crowd hugging each other like they just had a newborn child happen. It was just absolutely outrageous. At that point in the game, they're down eight. But it just felt like, oh my gosh, for something that insane to happen. Derrick Henry, who was having one of the best games of his entire career, the first game where he's ever had three 30-yard-plus carries, rushes. rushes 169 yards and two touchdowns on the game, loses the ball to Terrell Bernard.

1:56:30And it's on first down. It's like before the bills even have to use a timeout. It's before the Ravens potentially drain more clock and it set up the bills to take advantage. And the thing that you got to give them credit for shook is that when they got the ball this time and on the ensuing drive, they didn't really waste any time at that point. and it kind of felt like, oh, they're going to go cash it in.

1:56:54Nick Shook:Yeah, they move with urgency. But for further context, Derek Henry is in the process of detonating the Bills almost single-handedly. He was dominating them. And the last touchdown that the Ravens scored was him around the left end just cruising past the defense, cruising past Taylor Rapp into the end zone for a touchdown. It was such a frustrating night for Bills fans that somebody threw a water bottle in the end zone toward him as he scored. And then this is the guy who fumbles. And who's the guy who forces the fumble? none other than defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who had a phenomenal night, who stuffed Henri on a carry earlier.

1:57:25Nick Shook:He finishes the five run tackles on 18 runs snaps, according to next gen, two run stuffs. That's one of them. And it's the biggest one because he happens to pop the football out and the bills are right there to recover. And that was the moment you saw on that picture where people are hugging. That's when everybody started to believe myself included to the point where I went, oh God, you gotta be kidding me. I mean, I felt sick for all the Ravens fans, for Patrick, for myself who picked the Ravens, but also just watching this team who played such brilliant football for most of the game, just find a way to lose.

1:57:59But you know what was in my head in a lot of my notes, going back to watch the first half and I'm watching the second half, a lot of my notes were like, the Bills offense is actually playing really well. Josh Allen, despite not having the big numbers, is playing really well. They had 25 points in nine drives, I believe it was, before this crazy comeback happened. So 25 points in nine drives is a league-leading pace of points per drive against a good Ravens defense. They were playing efficient. They were just stuck with a Bills defense that couldn't get any stops and was getting run over. And I'm glad you pointed out at Oliver, who just had a star-making night.

1:58:39He also had a great sack on Lamar Jackson. So the Ravens cash in that touchdown pretty soon thereafter. But they go for two. And they do it with under two minutes remaining to try to tie the game. And the two-point attempt fails. Could have maybe called a pass interference on that play, I thought. It was close on the Ravens. But either way, it fails. The Ravens still had the lead. Get the ball back. And here's where... Thank you. I don't want to kill them for running the ball twice in a row there, but there's two MVPs in this game. And Derrick Henry's just fumbled. You just went three and out with a relatively conservative series before that Derrick Henry fumble.

1:59:26And they give the ball to Henry. He gets stuffed for one yard. Then you give the ball to Zay Flowers, trying to get really cute. That doesn't work either. It sets up a third and long situation for the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, and he hits DeAndre Hopkins over the middle for six yards. It's fourth and three at that point, and the Bills are forced to take their third time out with 133 to go. Did you want them to take a chance and go for it there on fourth down, Nick? And why is your answer yes? and why is it wrong if it's not yes?

2:00:07Nick Shook:Well, in terms of field position, you would say no, but given the fact that the Bills had no timeouts left, and you, look, I know Claibon is very anti-momentum in sports, and I don't want the Claymates coming after me right now. I'm not trying to get after him right now. The Claymates are all taking a dirt nap tonight. Sorry. I know, but I'm not trying to rile them up, especially in his time of pain. I'm not trying to cause some sort of rift here, but momentum is very real, and it was very obvious in this game. So how do you stop momentum? You take the life out of them by going forward on fourth and three and end the game right there.

2:00:39And they didn't. Okay. I don't want to get into momentum. Forget the momentum. Because here's where the momentum and then I agree in a sense, but here's where the momentum and the numbers all agree. That was one of the hardest, like, go for it. Analytical decisions that you would ever want to see. I think the systems say that would have helped their chance of winning like 8%. And it's very simple to understand. If you go for it there, you need to get three yards with the Ravens offense, which has been awesome, all night. And if you get those three yards, you win the game. If you don't get those three yards, you have another chance to win the game.

2:01:20You have three timeouts. So you get either one chance to win the game by getting the three yards or stopping them, or you get two chances to win the game by either going for it or trying to stop them. And you can tell me, oh, field position and all that, and they don't have timeouts. Well, they were right back ahead of where they would have kicked that field goal in about five or six plays and less than a minute with more than enough time to set up what could have been a long Matt Prater field goal. But then they didn't need to because they were more than in position to set up a chip shot Matt Prater field goal.

2:01:59So the Ravens, who are one of the most analytically driven teams out there, I think John Harbaugh was just emotional in the moment. It's possible it was because Lamar Jackson got a little shaken up, I thought, on that play. He got hit pretty hard. But the Buffalo Bills took a timeout in that situation and gave them a chance to reset and go for it. And so the numbers will say it's a bad decision. And I think it's just logical because everyone says, well, those number systems shook like they don't provide context, right? Like they're not, you know, looking at the game. Okay. Well, here's the game.

2:02:37You have an MVP on your team in Lamar Jackson and you're punting it away to another MVP who's thrown for like 200 yards in the fourth quarter. So I thought that decision was terrible and it doesn't take away the beauty of that 32-yard throw to Josh Palmer from Josh Allen that set up the game-winning field goal. Because that was just a layered throw past Jeyer Alexander that I thought was just awesome. And Josh Allen made a lot of really smart decisions tonight. He made a lot of accurate throws. And that was the best one. Followed it up with a seam to Keon Coleman that set up the game-winner. So you don't want to take anything away from there.

2:03:15But I don't think the Ravens coaching staff ultimately leaned into their strengths. They leaned into what was a weakness there on the defense.

2:03:22Nick Shook:Yeah, the numbers, at least the next-gen stats model, said it was a toss-up by 1.7%. So at that point, you go with your gut and you go with being aggressive given the fact that things are going Buffalo's way. Let's end this right now. And they didn't. And they'll learn from that. And, you know, traditionally, people would punt there. You go back 10, 20 years, everybody's punting there. But he should have taken a pay. You had one more opportunity to make up, as Todd Munkin's offensive coordinating decisions kind of put them in that situation, you had one more play to make up for not going to your best player on first, second, and third down.

2:03:51Nick Shook:Well, you did on third down, but it was a short pass. And you had fourth down to do it. You should have taken a page out of your old offensive coordinator, Greg Roman's playbook. What did the Chargers do in a similar situation on Friday night? They threw the ball. They put it in Justin Herbert's hands. Why did you do it with Lamar Jackson? It's one thing they're going to regret. It looked so easy all night when they called a run for Lamar Jackson. He ended up with six for 70 on the ground. How efficient is that? every time they essentially called a run pass option and he pulled it and kept the ball, he ended up with a big run.

2:04:24It was incredibly efficient. Derrick Henry, like I mentioned, 169 on the ground. Early in the fourth quarter, they had 16 plays over 10 yards, 8 over 20, and that was only at about 40-something plays. It was an incredibly impressive performance by the Ravens offense until it wasn't. And you mentioned the next gen stats model, only giving it like a small go situation. You know, we have a dork off because, you know, the ESPN model run by Brian Burke had it at that strong, like plus 8%. So, you know, different models. Love a good dork off. See things differently. I'm a dork so that I can say that it's only week one.

2:05:09It really is only week one. I mean, I think that will sting. We'll remember that game all season. It doesn't change how I felt about these two teams really going into the game. But I know it's going to make our Bills fan producer, Eric Roberts, feel differently as he's driving home tonight. I mean, he had to suffer through Yamamoto, you know, losing the no hitter and then four straight runs on Saturday night with two outs in the ninth. and he gets it all back and then some with the Bills.

2:05:43Nick Shook:I'm not going to say I would have left the stadium, but I did give up on this game several points throughout the night. Yeah, that was going to be my question, is would you have left the stadium? Because I'm feeling this is that 1.7 % toss-up right now. No, I'm definitely not an early leaver, even if a team is getting waxed. I mean, my Bills fandom moment is I sat through the Nathan Peterman 5 interception game from kickoff to end the whole game. I was there in that soccer stadium watching that game. But yes, I gave up several times. And I definitely, you know, deep down the Bills fan inside of me, they set up for that field goal.

2:06:15Nick Shook:And I'm like, he's going to miss it. I've seen them miss it in this situation. It's a new era. I know they haven't gotten over the top. And this was actually their first win coming back from 15 plus in the fourth quarter since 1967, which is just outrageous. But it is a new era with these Buffalo Bills. and the game was never quite over. Even though there were multiple times, I'm with Shook, I'm with you, Eric. There was always like a, it was always two scores with some time left. And when they got that three and out, it started a process of a game we're going to be talking about really for the rest of the season.

2:06:53What a day, what a game to finish it up, Shook.

2:06:56Nick Shook:I got one more note for you. According to NFL research, teams with 40 plus points and 235 or more rushing yards in a game were 277 and 0, including the playoffs entering today. They're now 277-1. That's why the models all had the Ravens with a 99.1 % chance to win at various points. There was one at six minutes, one at two minutes, and that's why they play the game. What a beautiful game it is that we get to cover. I am so excited to do 17 more weeks of this. Unreal. We won't be long gone, Shook. We will be back talking Monday night football in just 24 hours. I said I wasn't going to say it again, but when the Bills make a historic comeback and send us all home in ecstasy, football's back.

2:07:53Nick Shook:I'm U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The sound of a seatbelt. It's one of the most important sounds in our car. It means everyone is ready and everyone is safe. The more our kids see us put on our seatbelts, the more natural it is for them to put theirs on too. Make it a priority. Buckle up every time. Hear the sound? Make it a habit. Paid for by NHTSA.

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2:09:57Nick Shook:Fill your liter of cola, grab your buds, and roll up to the multiplex for Super Troopers 3. Only in theaters August 7th. Get tickets, meow. This episode is brought to you by Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Hosted by Katie Milkman, behavioral scientist and author of the best-selling book, How to Change, Choiceology is a show about the psychology and economics behind our decisions. Each episode shares the latest research in behavioral science and dives into themes like the power of self-control, shaping your mindset for success, navigating new beginnings, and why starting over can feel so hard.

2:10:42Nick Shook:Katie talks to authors, athletes, Nobel laureates, and everyday people about why we make irrational choices and how we can make better ones to help avoid costly mistakes. Listen to Choiceology at schwab.com slash podcast or wherever you listen. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.