The Bucs Stopped Here: Recapping Detroit and Seattle Wins Plus Winners and Woofs

21 Oct 2025 · 1 h 1 min · 25 chapters

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In short

Recaps Monday Night Football games—primarily Buccaneers at Lions (Detroit) and Texans at Seahawks (Seattle)—then briefly discusses Rams vs Jaguars (London) and 49ers vs Falcons (NFC West power rankings).

Guest backgrounds

The episode is hosted by Meanie Kime Show featuring Lenny, with Dominique as a co-host (no other guests mentioned in the transcript).

Key claims

  • Lions defense dictated the Bucs’ offense using individualized pressure/deception, simulated pressure, and coverage that prevented Baker Mayfield from settling.
  • Jack Campbell spy/coverage usage and Lions’ mixed motion/zone look kept Mayfield from reading coverage; Mayfield’s accuracy suffered amid panic and a high 3.15-second average time to throw.
  • Bucs’ offense is a “high wire act” without a consistent run game and with Mike Evans injured; Lions’ run defense limited Tampa while Jameer Gibbs exploited coverage.
  • Seahawks’ defense was elite again: pressure + coverage coordination produced 10 pass breakups, even with key secondary injuries.
  • Texans’ offense struggled mainly due to inability to run and offensive-line issues; Seahawks’ defense forced turnovers and limited Stroud’s effectiveness.

Notable examples

  • Campbell lined up at the line ~30% and repeatedly dropped to spy Mayfield.
  • Gibbs: 125 yards and 2 TDs on 9 runs; also 94 receiving yards.
  • Seahawks: multiple simulated-pressure breakups; Rick Wollin and Josh Jobe praised.
  • Rams: 35-7 win in London; 7 sacks; 13 personnel with three tight ends.
  • 49ers: beat Falcons; strong run game and defense despite injuries (Warner/Huff noted).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Monday Night Games Discussion

0:45 to 1:27

Analyzing the excitement and outcomes of recent Monday Night games.

“We're here to talk about the Monday Night Games, which were very exciting.”

Bucs vs. Lions Game Recap

1:27 to 2:33

A detailed recap of the Bucs vs. Lions game focusing on defense.

“the Bucs-Lions game, to me, felt lopsided the whole time.”

Lions Defense Analysis

2:33 to 5:09

Exploring the performance of the Lions defense and key players.

“we were wondering how the coordinator changes because they had coordinator changes on both sides of the ball.”

Baker Mayfield's Performance

5:09 to 8:13

Discussing Baker Mayfield's struggles and the impact of the Lions defense.

“And the DBs were smart enough to know wherever they were, their responsibility changed.”

Injury Impact and Future Outlook

8:13 to 11:23

Assessing the injuries and future implications for the Bucs' offense.

“So let's go quickly to the Mike Evans injury.”

Lions Offense and Defense Overview

11:23 to 12:26

Reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the Lions on both sides of the ball.

“They were just throwing it to him in the flat.”

Seahawks vs. Texans Game Insights

12:26 to 14:00

Insights from the Seahawks vs. Texans game focusing on quarterback performance.

“I mean, if these teams play again, I'm going to pick.”

Analyzing Sam Darnold's Performance

14:00 to 15:00

Discussion on Darnold's decision-making and pressure management during the game.

“That said, Sam Darnold, Will Anderson is on the blind side.”

Seahawks Offense: Inconsistencies and Challenges

15:00 to 16:40

Exploration of the Seahawks' offensive struggles and the impact of their running game.

“You know, he came right out and just kept firing.”

Defensive Performance Under Pressure

16:40 to 18:10

Discussion on the Seahawks' defense and their handling of difficult situations.

“And, I mean, I guess it's hard to take anything from this game for their defense, because like, it's against the Texans.”
Show all 25 chapters

The Role of Leadership in Defense

18:10 to 20:00

The importance of leadership in maintaining defensive performance despite offensive struggles.

“to so many questions is about leadership.”

Seattle's Defensive Strategy

20:00 to 23:00

Analysis of the Seahawks' defensive strategies and their effectiveness against the Texans.

“than go out trying to take your timeouts because that's effectively what they're doing.”

Houston's Offensive Struggles

23:00 to 28:00

Evaluation of Houston's offensive shortcomings and challenges against Seattle's defense.

“some of it obviously had to do with competition, was it felt like the way pressure and coverage were working together.”

Offensive Line Struggles and Defensive Insights

28:00 to 31:01

Discussion on the issues facing the offensive line and the defensive strengths of various teams.

“They had five attempts with one yard or less, and I think netted out negative one yard.”

Offensive Line Struggles and Defensive Insights

31:32 to 31:56

Discussion on the issues facing the offensive line and the defensive strengths of various teams.

“Game day at my place is kind of a big deal.”

Offensive Line Struggles and Defensive Insights

32:02 to 32:30

Discussion on the issues facing the offensive line and the defensive strengths of various teams.

“Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on?”

NFC West Overview: Rams and 49ers

32:36 to 38:46

In-depth discussion on the performances of the Rams and 49ers, including their offensive and defensive strategies.

“We talked about the Seahawks winning and your winner is the Rams and my winner is the Niners.”

Analyzing Team Dynamics and Quarterback Decisions

38:46 to 42:00

Exploration of quarterback decision-making and team dynamics in the NFL, particularly regarding the 49ers and their challenges.

“The run defense, I thought, was legitimately very impressive in this game against one of the best rushing attacks and arguably the best running back.”

Analyzing the Niners' Offensive Strategy

42:00 to 45:50

Discussion on how the Niners' offense exploited the Falcons' weaknesses.

“And there were definitely plays where that helped.”

Analyzing the Niners' Offensive Strategy

45:51 to 46:03

Discussion on how the Niners' offense exploited the Falcons' weaknesses.

“which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC.”

Analyzing the Niners' Offensive Strategy

46:18 to 47:22

Discussion on how the Niners' offense exploited the Falcons' weaknesses.

“The one that makes buying so incredibly easy?”

Vikings' Quarterback Dilemma

48:02 to 56:00

Exploration of the Vikings' quarterback situation and its implications.

“My wolf is the Vikings who lost to Philadelphia.”

Evaluating the Defense's Struggles

56:00 to 59:12

A discussion on the performance and issues surrounding a struggling defense.

“We got a great quarterback or rookie deal.”

The Chad Powers Concept and Its Implications

59:12 to 1:00:06

Exploring the concept of Chad Powers and its relevance to quarterbacks today.

“Yeah, I hate to see bad defenses get rewarded.”

Tom Brady's Hypothetical Return

1:00:06 to 1:01:26

Debating the effect of Tom Brady joining the Vikings and team dynamics.

“You're not laughing at me because it's wrong.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with Power Boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell.

0:34Welcome back to the Meanie Kime Show featuring Lenny. Like we're doing school news a little bit. We are in New York for the audio audience. You can also watch this on YouTube if you want to see me and Dominique sit next to each other like we're in Weekend Update. Does it feel like that? Can I write jokes for you? You can always write jokes for me. Whether I'll use them is another story. We're here to talk about the Monday Night Games, which were very exciting. Were they? they were weird. Yeah. The second one was exciting in a way. I don't know. It was sloppy. Yeah. I fell asleep before the second one.

1:08I saw I had to watch it again in the morning because I'm on the East Coast, but I was less excited by it because I already knew the result. Yeah. But the first one was intense. I felt like there was, I don't know. It felt like playoff-y atmosphere. Bucks, Lions playing for first place in the NFC. Let's start with that one. And then we'll do, let's go in chronological order because this one, the Bucs-Lions game, to me, felt lopsided the whole time. Felt like the Lions were firmly in control of that. The Lions offense, weirdly though, I thought it was going to be like a shootout and both offenses were going to go to, especially, you know, we were in Detroit and you're like in the dome.

1:45And that was not the case. The story of the game was the Lions defense, which is where I want to start because I was so impressed by them. I mean, I also would like to give a little bit of love to the Bucs defense. I thought that defense actually played really well, all things considered. But, yeah, the Lions defense, I think, will go to the obvious place of, like, they have a whole bench secondary. And it wasn't just that they were holding their own. They were playing well and making plays. And Kelvin Shepard was not calling a conservative game plan to protect them. It's just it feels very Lions-y.

2:18They feel like the most authentic team as far as their culture matching up with their words on a regular basis because all coaches are like, yeah, we're not taking a step back. where next man up, but they actually do it, and they've done it in back-to-back seasons. So heading into this Lions season, we were wondering how the coordinator changes because they had coordinator changes on both sides of the ball. Both sides of the ball, pardon me, would impact the team. I feel like offensively the jury's still a little bit out. The offense looks fine. We'll talk about that side in a second. And there's been games where they've looked dominant, but I would say it doesn't look that different.

2:51It kind of looks a lot of copy-paste from last year. I don't want to it's okay look Aaron Glenn was down a lot of players too but I kind of feel like Kelvin Shepard might be one of them guys and no I mean I'm not laughing because it's ridiculous I'm laughing because it's ridiculous and it feels true it feels true um what strikes me is they've really mixed things up game it's not just and I think this was last year it was a lot of just like they're just man blitzing right when i watched them this year i feel like he comes into each games with a pretty individualized pressure plan and he's really good at game planning for individual offenses um so there was a lot they did in this game and you know i was like oh man that you know they're missing so many players in the secondary how are they going to handle that um and really a lot of it i thought the answers came up front with what they were doing to rattle baker mayfield so something i wanted to mention because it felt too during the game and i looked it up Jack Campbell was lined up at the line of scrimmage 30 % of the time in this game.

3:53And they did a similar thing to what they did to actually the Ravens, ironically, where he would line up and then drop out and sort of keep eyes on Mayfield while also covering the check down in some cases. It's a little bit easier to do that spy thing on Baker than it would have been on Lamar. So I'm sure he was happy with that job. I remember it was the second play of the game where they're D-line and McNeil, welcome back. Yeah, welcome back. The second place of the game, he pushed right into his lap, and Baker scrambled and started running and stumbled to his feet right in front of Campbell's feet.

4:24And it felt like from then on it kind of seemed clear what the game plan was. And there's another thing that jumped out to me about them is they do this thing that very few teams do, is that they will run with all motions but still play zone, which I noticed them doing it where it's like Jack Campbell, they'll put him outside. And so some teams will come out of the huddle and line up with tight ends and running backs at the furthest points. Oh, got some zoom action. I didn't know I could do that. The camera will track you. I thought I turned it off, but whatever. They'll come with tight ends and running backs at the furthest points outside.

5:02And the defense will match like a safety will go out there and a linebacker out there. So, you know, it's man. Then they shift back to the real formation. And they were doing that. They were going out there. And then they would run in motion. And the DBs were smart enough to know wherever they were, their responsibility changed. I think it's sort of the other part of the simulated pressure aspect, which is it felt like the whole game Mayfield never got a beat on what coverages they were playing. So often watching, and the Bucs offense has been very well coached to this point, it's felt like they have dictated to defenses.

5:36In this game, it felt like the Lions defense was dictating to them. And I want to go back to Alain McNeil, too, because you really saw his impact, I thought, on the interior of that defensive line. And, I mean, Muhammad was the one. He got eight pressures in this game. But it felt like so often they were running a ton of stunts on the inside. The defensive tackles were getting doubled. They were worried about Campbell. Then he would drop. So you were getting one-on-ones. Hutchinson gets chipped all the time. So Muhammad was often the beneficiary of that. But I thought he was fantastic. And Hutch was ridiculous, too.

6:09Yeah, despite being chipped and doubled. Chipped and also he did that spin move on worse that they highlighted. But I want to go back for one second to the Baker Mayfield thing. One of the things, if you picked outside of like the funny, half funny but half serious comment of Moxie, if you picked one thing about Baker that he's exceptional at, I think it would be his accuracy. Yeah. And he was inaccurate in his game. Yeah. And I want – my theory is that it has to do with the deception of the defense. is like I feel like it's a lot easier because you walk up to the line as a quarterback and you mentally like all right this is where I'm gonna go this is what I'm gonna do and then if it works out that way then you're all in stride I felt like oftentimes he's like all right this is where I'm gonna go this one to do and then there's like a panic to it yeah where he's like and then the accuracy suffers because he's whipping around and throwing it I think that to me at least I feel like that's connected to his accuracy issue in this game because he kept going high yeah he had a 3.15 second time to throw, which is, without looking, has to be the highest of the season.

7:09And I think you're right. I think it just felt like he was never quite sure who was coming, who was going, what kind of coverage was he truly getting in a one-on-one. Now, we should note, obviously, they lose Mike Evans in this game. Ibuka is playing, but he was injured. The Bucs have kind of been holding this together, right, with straw and paperclips up to this. There were some moments where the two young receivers, the Johnsons, looked like rookies. And you could tell that they didn't quite have that timing with Baker. And I was watching and thinking, like, brilliant defensive game plan. I want to give the Lions credit.

7:46But also, we are now seeing this kind of high wire act. Because the camp couldn't run the ball either very well. Lions have a great run defense. And the deception, I think, I hadn't thought of this until now, it also impacts the receivers. because I remember you and I talked after the Bucs played Seattle, and it felt like the receivers in Baker had a good understanding of where to be and where they wanted to be versus particular zones, and it didn't seem as if they had that same understanding in this game. Yeah, I think that's exactly right. So let's go quickly to the Mike Evans injury. Don't know how long he's going to be.

8:24It's like, oh, finally he's back. The offense is once finally at full strength. do you feel I mean I don't want to like you know this team was just the first in the NFC and we all had them you know in our top fives and whatnot are you starting to worry about the offense or do you feel like they'll figure things out or do you think this is more just about like the Lions defense being really good yeah I mean I think one week of the Lions defense being really good and them not having an answer for these particular pressures and deception I think we owe Baker in this offense, at least a little bit of leeway that they'll get it all together.

9:04Yeah. I think they really have to figure out a way to run the ball. Yeah. They had a running attack at some point. Yeah. I think they've been injured on the offensive line. Obviously Irving's not. I think White's a good back, but I just feel like all the two-back stuff they were doing last year gave Baker so many easy answers, the screens and whatnot. I was surprised, a little bit surprised that they didn't attack the Lions linebackers more. I thought coming into this, that would have been my game. That's, I think, the Chiefs kind of put out the, you know, the clinic or not the clinic, but the blueprint in that way.

9:38But, yeah, it's, I don't know. To me, the story of the game for me was Lions defense because when we think about, like, the Lions and where they stand in the broad landscape of the NFL, we know what the offense is capable of. The fact that the defense could play this well despite their injuries, I think should be really scary for the NFC. Yeah, I mean, I think that was one of my takeaways, but it feels like you're also taking away that I should be a little more concerned about the Bucs, offensively at least going forward, which I hadn't considered. But, I mean, you're right. The running game matters.

10:08Baker Mayfield, I think, has shown us that he can play at tip-top elite level for some amount of time. How long he can do that or if we can expect him to do that, because even the best of the best quarterbacks have a couple off weeks. So, like, we can give Baker that. I guess that's the question is if they don't establish a running game, Mike Evans, obviously, and Godwin, if they come back, well, Mike Evans seems like he's probably not coming back, but Godwin comes back. I don't know the effect they'll have on the game. Will Baker be able to manufacture this offense? I mean, they still have O-line injuries, so there's hope, obviously, that things will get better.

10:41Yeah, I'm not. I still think they'll win the division. The defense, too, I mean, just to kind of flip it to the other side of the ball, they've had their fair share of injuries as well. Like you said, they played really well in this game. I think the problem is the Lions were able to attack what the Bucs' glaring weakness on defense is, which is the linebackers in coverage passes to running backs. I was surprised by how well Gibbs actually did run the ball in this one because I know he's crazy. Because the Bucs' run defense is really well. Jameer Gibbs, 125 yards and two touchdowns on nine runs between the tackles.

11:18Obviously, he had the one gigantic run. And then the passing game, he had 94 yards after the catch. It wasn't anything crazy. They were just throwing it to him in the flat. But I just don't think the Bucs have the speed at the second level to keep up with that. Winfield made an incredible avoidance of Penesol in tackle on one of those passes. But other than that, it felt like no one could get to him. And Winfield couldn't catch him when Gibbs was running through the middle of their defense. The patience and the explosiveness and acceleration that Gibbs has is exceptional. I think for the Bucs, it's kind of true on both sides of the ball.

11:56It just felt like a really bad matchup. Because the Bucs are really great. I mean, some of the stuff they do with pressure was really rattling Goff as well. But when they just would throw a straightforward blitz at them, he was able to dice it up. And I think the Bucs, when I think about this defense, the weaknesses, throws to backs and tight ends, and then play action and then teams that can beat the Blitz. And unfortunately for them, the Lions just check all of those boxes. But you're going to have to beat the Lions. Yeah, right. That's probably going to be the Lions. I mean, if these teams play again, I'm going to pick.

12:29Unless Tampa can really get back to how they ran the ball last year, I think that would be it for me. So, right, in conclusion, the Lions. Pretty good. Look really good. I think if you're a Lions fan, though, you're just especially encouraged that you want a game because of their defense, which is what I would pin this on because that's, you know, moving forward. We know that what this offense is capable of, but the defense has been losing guys. And they did it last year too. And then eventually caught up to him. He did. Yeah. So we'll see. This defense looks better to me than last year. So, I mean, yeah, I think you already pointed it out because of the, they're a little bit more versatile defensively than they were last year.

13:07I think you're absolutely right. And healthy huts right now. That helps a lot too. All right. Speaking of defense, Texan Seahawks. the nice way to characterize this game is we watched two great defenses yes the negative way to characterize this game is at least in the second half the offenses took turns peeing down their legs but i really do i mean like look sam darnold made some bad mistakes as a play calling whatever we can talk about that i don't understand some of the things clint kubiak was doing from a clock perspective. But when you actually looked at how he turned it over, again, mistakes on his part, but it was an amazing interception.

13:50Amazing interception at the seam. And then – The fumble. Yeah, the fumble is like, you know, they were backed up at their own goal line a couple of times in Houston's pass rushes. I mean, Will Anderson. That said, Sam Darnold, Will Anderson is on the blind side. Like, show a little bit of pressure feel, my guy. Like, how do you not, you know, if I'm there, this is the number one person I'm worried about is Will freaking Anderson. And, I mean, I guess this also speaks to the play call in that situation, too, where, like, it wasn't like a fast-developing play. It's like, what is generally, what was the concept there?

14:24And then, Sam Donald, you're not Mike Vick. Like, it's not there. This is not the situation to try to buy time. He starts to roll out like he's about to make something happen, which I know you're capable of, but this isn't the time and the situation. and live to fight another day. This was the first game of the season. There was a couple times in week one where you felt like you saw a little bit of end of season. But it's funny because right after, was it the pick or right after the forced fight? I think it was right after the fumble in the end zone. He came back and threw an absolute dime to JSN on like an outbreaker.

14:56And like, you know, I'll give this to Sam Darnall. He's got a cornerback brain. You know, he came right out and just kept firing. I mean, I think he had to develop that. Like, there was a long stretch of bad play at the beginning of his career. But him to bounce back in any way, like, suggest that, yeah, a bad play? Oh, that's not going to stop Sam Darnold. Like, he's had a bad start to his career in New York. The first half, the Seahawks' offense was actually rolling for a while. And, you know, it was an incomplete performance from them. I badly want the Seahawks to be like it feels a lot like the same way I feel.

15:37I guess I'm talking to the wrong person who also badly wants the Seahawks to put it all together. Because I think the pieces are there and they've shown glimpses of it. It's the consistency. And I guess it's also the Sam Darnold of it is that there's only so high a level. Or I guess it's not even the highest level. It's only so many of these games you can expect because they have what they need, I think. but it just never quite raises to like what you think the a big part of the reason is they're not a good running team yeah i mean well they got to benefit they benefited from being next to like a horrible running team we'll get to the texans in a second um but they just don't consistently run the ball and the vision for this offense is one where their play action the play action still works obviously but where sam darnold isn't being asked to drop back a zillion times a game and he's not in third and the Seahawks are terrible in third and long by the way I pulled up the numbers earlier because I was looking at Green Bay and how good they were um so you're right that's why it feels incomplete like you have a receiver who is playing out of his mind right now you have a pretty well-designed passing attack I think the play action game is really good guys are getting open and you have a quarterback who is extremely accurate throwing downfield but because you can't run the ball, he's not always in good down and distance, and he also has a tendency, pardon me, to turn the ball over, and I think that's going to be, until they can run the ball better, it's always going to be a little bit of a roller coaster with this offense.

17:08And, I mean, I guess it's hard to take anything from this game for their defense, because like, it's against the Texans. Okay, just the Texans defense is so depressing to me right now, because No, the defense. because I'm sad for them. Also, by the way, what a credit to them that amidst the offensive impotence until the very end, they were still playing so hard, turning it over, forcing fumbles, getting after the quarterback, picking him. I mean, that has to be, you can speak to this better, I'm like, we've talked about this, actually, you and I a lot, like, what do you do when you're an elite defense saddled with a crappy offense?

17:48And you often see, as the season goes along, The numbers fall off a little bit. They're gassed. I was so – it's hilarious to say about a game where, you know, Seattle put up 27 points. But it's like they're right now the best defense in football where it doesn't matter. I mean, I think that it's kind of a cop-out because the answer to so many questions is about leadership. But I think that's what it's about in that situation, whether you can keep it together or whether you fall off. But I'm sure that I probably told you this before, but I remember being on teams with Ray where it was like, if they don't score, they don't win.

18:30Yeah, I feel like on one hand, you look at this team, we'll talk about the offense in a second, and you wonder if there's moves that they can be made so they don't waste their defense this year. But I don't know if there are. We'll get to that side. particularly because of the nature of their problems on offense. It's a shame. The defense is amazing. A couple other things, though, about the Seahawks offense that I wanted to mention. Clint Kubiak. At one hand, like, it's so weird because he, like, runs it. On one hand, I understand why he didn't want to run the ball at the end of the game because they were so bad at it and they're good when they're aggressive.

19:12I just don't think this is the defense that you can do that against. you know and Darnold had a couple straight drop backs backed up at his own goal line yeah I mean they survived it is it's I mean it is the defense you're right I guess the the question is what are you trying to accomplish yeah and I I think generally like I have a hard time like chastising aggressiveness like I get how the Giants-Broncos game comes up as a decision to have Dart throwing in that situation. I'd rather go get it, especially when you're in a situation where you haven't run the ball well all game long or all season long.

19:55We need a first down. We need several first downs. I'd rather go out trying to get the first down than go out trying to take your timeouts because that's effectively what they're doing. I get it, but I also hate to... criticize people for trying to go forward yeah i the clock factors into it a little bit but it was there was also enough time left where it wasn't like there was like two minutes left right so it's like i don't know i think it's a little bit overstated yeah um the other thing i didn't like it was mike mcdonald punting it on fourth and one they did that weird fake formation like they were going to run a trick play and then they punted it that to me was more offensive from a uh like clock management kind of standpoint like you're right like just i guess i mean i assume it's like a check with me like the fake trick play thing i was like we get the look we want we'll go for it and i mean either way it's a lot of it it's fourth and one yeah i don't know i think they would have but i guess if you feel like you can't run the ball and they weren't as bad as houston running the ball i think they've shown the capacity to get you know untouched on that touchdown that he scored but that was a one yard touchdown right or two yards yeah yeah so they have the capability to your point like yeah i i don't know it's it's just something i'm you know it's like okay you're up two scores i get it but like i don't i think there's been a few moments this season where i've questioned sometimes his lack of aggression it feels a little bit like i hate to say it but it's defense i know defensive coach being like my defense is elite and it's like i i respect that but that's not how you manage yeah i mean and the league is tilted for the offense to have success So, like, if you're in a situation where you need to get one yard, like, I feel more comfortable no matter how elite your defense is.

21:41All right. Speaking of that defense, story of the game, really, for most of the game, they were put in some pretty horrible field position situations by the offense. But for the most part, the Seahawks defense, which you before the season predicted would be the best in football or the second best? Where did you have? They were top three. You had top three at least. Something like that. What impressed you the most about this defensive performance against Houston? I mean, nothing new, honestly. Like, it's the same stuff that they've been doing all year. It's like, it's the, I mean, not all year, for the past couple of seasons.

22:17I think it's the versatility of their players in general, but obviously, specifically the secondary. I always like watching Leonard Williams do anything because he's just a ridiculous special giant of a human and athlete. And I mean, I've also like this is a minor thing, but tackles is like it's a team that and I guess I haven't looked at the numbers, but just watching them play. It's a team that I feel like tackles well. And you so many explosive plays are a result of especially coming off that other Monday night game where like nobody could tackle Gibbs. And those are like they played well, though, most of the game, but they would miss tackles.

22:57And that would be a problem. I think what struck me the most in this one, some of it obviously had to do with competition, was it felt like the way pressure and coverage were working together. The Seahawks had, according to True Media, 10 pass breakups in this game, which is the most of any defense in any game all year long. And I was going back this morning and watching them, and on so many of them, a lot of them are, it's a guy getting it, dropping into, it's a simulated pressure. So you have guys, like the very first one was Moffay, dropping and he breaks up the slants and amazing he was amazing this game amazing play um you have a few like that where they were taking away the checkdowns and forcing stroud to hold on to it pressure gets home he throws the ball checks it down immediately it's broken up um so there were a number of of those past breakups were because of pressure there were all kinds of games up front stunts all of that but also i i was really impressed by the coverage i mean just going back Like some of them were just tight coverage on slants and go balls.

23:55I thought Rick Wollin and Josh Jobe were both excellent in this game. Again, it's like Nick Hans goes out. It's not exactly a group of world beaters at receiver, but still, because that's where the Seahawks were really injured. You know, still no Devin Witherspoon or Julian Love, and I thought the secondary played really well. But they played really well, like knowing that what was going on up front. There was that relationship. Playing DB in the NFL, I know that they aren't the starter, or Nico's not there. Like, it's hard all the time. So, like, I get that you have to put the disclaimer about who's there and who's not, but, like.

24:30PBUs are hard. It's really difficult. You get 10 PBUs is a lot. Incredible. And, yeah, I think that also speaks to preparation, which, like, that's one thing that we can say. We could criticize McDonald's decisions on punting the ball, but, like, it feels like his team is always really well schemed up for the opponent they're playing against. 100%. They are pretty comfortable saying one of the most challenging defenses to play from just a schematic perspective, and they're really talented, which is very cool to see. All right, on the flip side, the offense. I mean, it's nothing new with Houston.

25:05It's kind of the same stuff we've been talking about. They can't run the ball. I don't think – it's funny because, like, I wasn't watching this thinking it was like a jailbreak of an offensive line situation, the way I sometimes feel watching the Chargers. You know what I mean? Or the Raiders or the Titans. I was like, oh, there's moments where I actually think Stroud's a little late or he's making a situation worse. But they just felt outmatched in every way. It didn't feel like there was a single area offensively where they had an advantage over Seattle. That's good of you to be able to separate that from saying it didn't feel like a jailbreak.

25:43because I think maybe I have this problem where if I come in expecting something and then I see it, and of course it was really bad because they did not – I guess when I replayed in my mind, you're right. It wasn't just like the levees broke. It was just flooding them. No, it wasn't like that at all, but it didn't feel good. So I still left thinking you're still the problem, and I know you're right. Like, Stroud wasn't perfect, and he's probably getting worse, in part because of the situation. But if you ask me what was the problem with that offense, I'm going to say the offensive line. Yeah, I also don't – I mean, schematically, too.

26:24Or, I mean – But what do you do? That's the thing. We haven't seen anybody really do that effectively, except, like – and I guess the Chiefs last year, they really didn't do it effectively, but they, like, stayed alive. I think McDaniels a few years ago managed to put together a good offense with a bad O-line. Like, you can't block. It's hard to even get to. Well, so much of what they do in quick game, which is just slants. And the Seahawks are really good at defending slants because they take away some of those sim pressures. We're taking those away for throughout in terms of, like, the outlets.

26:58Again, the Seahawks defense is so good at game planning for their opponent. They understand that's where you want to go with the football. They got them a few times with play action. You know, it felt like where Stroud would kind of boot. And then it wasn't even like long. It wasn't shot plays. He was just flipping it to someone, which is why I agreed with Dan and Lewis. They were losing their minds at the third and fourth down rushing attempts. I really feel like they would have gotten Seattle a little play action flip. And then they tried it on the next drive. Seattle's like, we know what you're going to do at this time.

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27:28We got the boot covered up, dude. I think, but like... It's a very – the Seahawks defense gives everybody problems, but I also feel like this offense right now isn't – there's nothing they measure in. When you think about when it was good with Stroud and Collins, it felt like those in-breakers, those digs off of play action, they were really good at, and it's just not there anymore. They didn't give Baker problems. Yeah. That's true. Speaking of that run game, they had five – So every run was either a first and 10 or second 10, which was not great, or the short yardage runs. They had five attempts with one yard or less, and I think netted out negative one yard.

28:13And that doesn't even count the false start one where he got – it was a TFL. Oh, gosh. That's really bad for the offensive line. An offensive line coach. Like, that's – I don't know. In training camp or in any situation, we do goal line drills, is like the first hitting or tackling drill that you do. And it's the time the offensive line is the happiest because you can't go anywhere. It's like we're just going to use our big bodies and slam into you. For them to not even do that well is particularly a concern. The overhead shot of the third and fourth down, every lineman loses. I mean, and again, the CX defensive front is really good and really scary, but that's crazy.

28:53They knew this was a problem. I know. They've known it's a problem. for a while now and not addressing it just feels terrible. Sorry. Well, I think that kind of cuts to what I said at the beginning, which is, you know, it feels like we're wasting a Super Bowl caliber defense because these offensive problems don't feel like something that can be fixed out the trade deadline. I mean, it could have been if you tried. I mean, it's too late now. I don't know. I mean, you said, you said that earlier too. And I guess I, what are the problems that could be fixed at the trade deadline? Like receiver, if you have a receiver problem, maybe.

29:27Can I say something nice about the Texans? That kid, Noll. Jalen Noll, who's their third-round or fourth-round draft pick. They should use him more. Holy smokes. He's not going to fix their problem. I know, but he gets open. But I guess, yeah. All right. No, I mean, it's exciting. Need another receiver. Can he kick slide? That's what we need to know. Can he drive a lot? So the Seahawks win headed into their bye. Feel really good about that defense. I still feel good about the offense, but I think it's flawed. Yeah. And the Lions, I feel probably the best about the four teams just because of that defensive performance was so impressive.

30:05Are you ready to start, like, ranking teams in the NFC? Well, I've been doing a top five power ranking. Oh, this is the dog walk? Yeah. Yeah, I got to get on that. Go check him out. It's exclusive to IG, Meena Kaim Show on Instagram. Go follow it. That's where I post my power rankings. I'll do a new one at the end of the week. Last week I did Chiefs, Bucs. They're going to fall. Colts, Lions, Seahawks. Wow. Such disrespect to my Colts. Third. Yeah, they're going to rise. That's not that disrespectful. Third is pretty high. Do you disagree with any of the five teams? I'll give it to you again. Chiefs.

30:47Chiefs, Bucs, Colts, the Bucs will fall. Lions, Seahawks. This was last Thursday. Yeah. Yeah. AFC stinks, huh? I mean, Rams, 35 points. Rams. I feel like they're going to wake. We'll talk about them. Let's take a break. Come back and talk about them Rams. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they are there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

31:22And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Game day at my place is kind of a big deal. If I'm grilling, chilling, and watching hoops, my outdoor patio setup better be ready to play. That's where Wayfair wins. From patio seating and umbrellas to grills and grilling accessories, Wayfair has got it all, and it shows up fast. I'm talking championship-level fast and easy delivery. So level up your grill game and your outdoor chill game and head to Wayfair.com now to get your outdoor space ready for the season.

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32:36All right. NFC West. We talked about the Seahawks winning and your winner is the Rams and my winner is the Niners. Bloodbath of a division right now. Could send three teams to the playoffs very easily. Yep, only three. Definitely only three. I actually don't even know how to rank him. I went on Rich Eisen's show, Colleen was hosting, and she asked me, how do you rank the NFC West? And I was like. I mean, the problem with the 49ers is, like, I keep expecting them to succumb to these injuries. And, like, I refuse to, and that's probably not fair, but I refuse to take them seriously because all their good players are hurt.

33:17their most important defensive players are hurt. And then they just shut down the Falcons. But anyway, we're talking about the Rams, right? That's what you want to talk about the winner. You can do the Rams first, then we'll do the Niners. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, it's, the Rams were incredible. They went to London and it was to close out that series. They did the, I think they're the first team to fly in the day before. So they stayed on the East coast, but they didn't go to London until they like did the regular schedule where our team arrives the day before they went the day before, but they weren't all on the West Coast.

33:48They spent the rest of their time on the East Coast. But anyway, that aside, they woke up on time, and they beat that ass 35-7. That game was incredible. Matt Stafford, I assumed, would have had – I mean, you would assume for 35 points, he would have a ridiculous amount of passing yards. He did not. That front – what did they end up with? Seven sacks, I think, against them. That front is incredible. They're fun to watch. Yeah. The whole team is fun to watch. Yeah, they're fun to watch. Without Puka and Nakua out there, They put up crazy points. I mean, it was embarrassing for Jacksonville, of course, because they are supposed to be London's team, right?

34:22Isn't that what they say? But they got off to a good start this season and then have obviously fallen off. But the Rams are so fun to watch. Really quick on the defense, where we get to the offense, which is, I think, like, so thinking about the NFC West too, I still have the Seahawks defense is the best, but I think the Rams offense is the best of the three. but the defense really quickly you're right they sacked him five seven times going back and watching all seven sacks I was very impressed Chris Shula I think does a really good job with his pressure designs they do a lot of five man rushes similar to the Seahawks a lot of stunts and guys dropping and this and that but I was actually really impressed by the coverage in this game which has been the Rams weakness I thought the cornerbacks played I still think that's a position that the Rams should try to target ahead of the trade deadline but I thought they played really well in this game.

35:13Yeah, I did too. And I, and was against, well, I guess you also have the drop situations and Travis Hunter made a couple of big plays late in the game, but it wasn't against bad receivers. And Travis Hunter seems so like, just so comfortable as a football player, which is really impressive on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, Jacksonville can't get it together. So he won't be on any more big stages this season. Every game though, I'm always like, why is, why are you not doing this earlier with like, Why is he not more involved in the offense? Also, Brian Thomas Jr. Just stop throwing it to the ball at the middle of the field.

35:45I don't know what it's... I mean, I get it. It's reasonable. It's logical. The problem is most football players are not reasonable and logical. And he seems to be going in the middle of the field like, nah, it hurts in here. No, thank you. No, thanks. The Rams offense without Puka, yeah, I was really interested in seeing what this would look like. There's a couple things that really jumped out. One, the connection with Adams, which had been really kind of... It felt like until this, the timing was a little bit off between the two of them. Timing was not off in London. Holy smokes. And then they were, it was the 13 personnel was really interesting.

36:19They had three tight ends on the field for much of the game, which was, you know, obviously a change from how they've been with Kuka Nakua. They finally got the rookie second round draft pick Ferguson. So I think I talked about this on the pod last week, but I've been wanting to see him because in the preseason, you saw he has an explosive element to his game, Problem is he's not a blocker. McVay doesn't like putting players who can't block on the field. So his solution was that was to play with three tight ends instead of two and just make him a glorified wide receiver. And, you know, I mean, they were effective.

36:51I don't know how that works when Puga comes back as healthy, but I'm sure it works. I mean, I think that's the one of the things that McVay, if you think about like what he does, that's like exceptional is kind of his ability to innovate in ways. And I think he was one of the first coaches who was like after preseason. And he also, I feel like is one of the few coaches who I think sees the season. I feel like it's shifting. He was one of the first coaches who I think sees the whole season as like a marathon and a journey. Whereas we all come from a place where it's like every week is the Super Bowl.

37:27And I say that because I think that this 13 personnel set is like it's going to be something that they have in their pocket that for the right matchup, even when Puka's back, that this is going to be something that they break back out. And I imagine that he's like, oh, let me file this away. This is a way to find an advantage if we need it. If the matchups are there. Yeah, I mean, there's such an under-center play action-centric team. When you're putting three tight ends on the field, they were – Fits. Yeah, it was – play action in this game, Stafford, was 14 to 15 for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

38:00He only had like 170. I don't remember how many yards, but like almost all of them. A lot of play action is my point. Yeah, the Rams offense rolls on. Sean McVay's so good. Yeah, he is really good. Okay, well, I had the Niners as my winner, and you talked about them a little bit. Some interesting things in this game, I thought. So you can really talk about both sides of the ball because against the Falcons, they were really good. Defensively, we'll start there. So that was in some ways more impressive because – So much more impressive to me. Well, they've lost everybody. Yeah. Pardon me. They're still losing people.

38:37Bryce Huff, who was unbelievable in this game, then, of course, immediately they're like, he's out for two weeks. I'm like, what? What are they doing? Lay by a stadium. Ancient burial ground. Look it up. But Fred Warner's out, so... I want to get his name right. Tatum Bethune comes in. Plays really well. The run defense, I thought, was legitimately very impressive in this game against one of the best rushing attacks and arguably the best running back. football though Christian McCaffrey said I'm listen youngster um we'll talk about him in a second but I also think Atlanta I'm not saying this is more because Atlanta's so inconsistent their unwillingness to throw over the middle of the field against a Fred Warnerless defense really helped San Francisco out and helped you know the spine of the defense play the way they did I think that that middle of the field thing like I imagine that is something that you probably have been paying attention to, but it feels like there's a number of starting quarterbacks that won't attack the middle of the field.

39:39And it seems like there was a time when there were quarterbacks that wouldn't go deep, you know, and it's like, it feels like it's a weird way to stretch the field, but it feels like Trevor Lawrence is that guy too, where it's like, and I guess that's partially because Brian Robinson doesn't want to do it, but it's scary in there because it's confusing. it's not scary out on the outside and I wonder if I wonder if coaches are if it's decisions that the quarterbacks are making or if it's coaches that won't attack that portion of field because it's I'm saying it's scary in there it's not just about people getting hit but it's about being able to understand where the coverage is coming from yeah because people can come now especially with the Sims and the people dropping out, like people can come from anywhere and guys just feel hesitant to attack that portion of the field.

40:33I think you're onto something, which is defenses are better at defending the middle of the field. It felt like, you know, when you think about like Shanahan, early Shanahan Niners offenses, it was so easy to attack the middle of the field against, you know, like the Seattle defenses, but, but really most defenses. And I should actually look this up. It does feel like defenses have made a concerted effort. It's like a post-tua thing, too, you know, where it's like, okay, we all know we just got to take away these throwing windows over the middle of the field. I think with Atlanta, it's a little bit chicken egg with the play caller and the quarterback because they think he's pretty – they're pretty aware of that's just not a thing.

41:14So, like, when people ask – sorry, I know we were talking about the Niners, but Falcons fans, you know, when they say it feels like everything's so hard, It's like, yeah, everything is hard because you're on fourth down, you're throwing outs, which was an amazing play, by the way. But it was Nickel, Upton Stout, right? Or no, Chase Lucas. So in any case, yeah, that's a little specific thing. But I do think the Niners' defense was really impressive. Obviously, Robert Sala is still a really good defensive coach. And then they could run the ball finally, which was the other thing I wanted to emphasize.

41:49Because Chris McCaffrey has been amazing as a pass catcher. But prior to this game, he's been pretty underwhelming just running the football. And, you know, I think there was a lot of emphasis made on George Kittle being back. And there were definitely plays where that helped. There was like one big split flow play where I think Cronisworth highlighted during the broadcast where he just comes across and just lays out a dude. But going back and watching all their explosive runs, it's almost all power. A lot of it's two back power. and the line was just pushing Atlanta around, which is how do you mitigate this Atlanta pass rush?

42:25Well, you run the ball like that. And that's it. You don't get in those situations where the blitz is as dangerous, which is what they want to do, and don't have Mack in that situation. I think the offensive line, and to be honest, I didn't watch the offensive line super closely, but I do like Christian McCaffrey is a unique player, and his ability to turn. And that's something that always jumps out to me when I watch any running back is like, how much is because of you? And it's not just like yards after contact, although that's like a big thing on it. But like watching someone set up blocks and watching someone understand that I need to get back to there.

43:05But that means that I'm going to use my eyes to pull you here like that. That type of stuff, I think, goes unnoticed for why a running back. And we talk about a lot with quarterbacks and pass protection. it's like where your body is in the pocket and how aware you are of everything around you and how quickly you make decisions all of a sudden that bad o-line looks a little bit it's like they're passable now because you don't put them as in any bad situations i think the same thing could be said for a running back that's as smart and yeah and talented as christian mccaffrey um i also will say again in this game i think when the falcons lost diablo who's their very good linebacker, the Niners correctly made a decision, okay, we're going to go with super downhill run scheme between the tackles.

43:48It worked well. I genuinely don't know what to make of this Niners team because I think good offenses will do a better job. I think the Falcons offense is just so inconsistent. I think there are some offenses that do a better job of attacking them without Fred Warner, but the offense is almost back to school. Despite their quarterback not playing, is back to full power so yeah i don't know yeah i mean i i just can't i mean i refuse i know it's not fair because they're doing what they have to do but i refuse to believe that they're going to be a competitive team late into the season without bosa and warner on the defense maybe the offense which like offense they don't have a ton of weapons i know kiddos back and christian was great in this game so maybe that'll change the thing but they're starting quarterbacks gone like they don't have like a proven receiver that's like a real number one which i guess i don't know it's hard for me to and to your point they couldn't even run the ball well yeah yeah so we'll see i mean we'll see if you can do it consistently so i don't know we'll see what do they have this week they don't have a buy i think sf let's see oh no they do a buy seattle and san francisco oh no they're playing houston oh that'll be an interesting test offensively.

45:08We'll see if that running game can stay consistent. That's the thing about having, and this is why people make a big deal about having the right head coach is I don't imagine that they're going to be unprepared for that attack in the way that defense in the way that I think a lot of teams seem unprepared. They got Trent Williams, which helps. He was good in this game. I'm telling you, on those power runs, both tackles were just caving in guys on the down blocks. Shanahan's. It's been for a few years now that I feel like they've been more power-centric, gap-centric. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment.

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47:00And did I mention that iconic purple ShopPay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash network. Go to Shopify.com slash network. Shopify.com slash network. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.

47:45Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com or just stop by. All right. My wolf is the Vikings who lost to Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts went nuclear in that game. Could have easily been a winner, but I'm sure you guys have heard a lot about Jalen Hurts' game. It was excellent in that. Devontae Smith. Oh my God, by the way, watching that one back. Ooh, buddy. but so Vikings are loser because I think you know defensively there's been games where the Flores defenses if you run into like an offense that will really throw downfield you don't punish them for that I think they'll bounce back my reason why I have them in this category what I want to talk to you more about is what they decided to do at quarterback because it just seems like a very they're in a it's funny I feel less bad about the Niners because it's like you have two decent options.

48:55I genuinely believe Mac Jones has shown he can operate that offense. And I'm still like, I think Brock Purdy can as well. Whereas in Minnesota, I don't think right now it feels like two bad choices. Now, obviously, McCarthy's been hurt, and there's a lot of confusion or murkiness around that injury. But when I say it's a bad choice, he was playing poorly before he got hurt. And they had two good choices in the building last year. I mean, I think it wouldn't look – Yeah, I know. But it's not their fault, but it's their problem. I guess it makes it uglier, to me at least. It makes it harder for the fans and for anybody watching it to accept when you're like, hey, Daniel Jones is the best quarterback in football.

49:38It would appear by his numbers right now. And Sam Darnold is balling out also. Like I was, I applauded the decision that they made. I thought it was the right decision. And we can't say whether it's the right or wrong decision yet, because like the, the calculation that they're making is that just that, what's his name? J.J. McCarthy will be good enough as he gets better. So, but at this point right now, it's impossible to look at this and be like, Hey, good job. I know. Is there – so, McCarthy, I guess, might be back next. It's been really odd for him. It has been odd. I do not see the point of continuing with Wentz.

50:24He has, like, flashes of decent play. In this game against Philadelphia, he'll make some good plays and good throws. But then he also makes the errors that have kind of plagued him over the course of his career, holding on to football, taking sacks, throwing bad interceptions. You would expect that Kevin O 'Connell is one of those coordinators and coaches that gets the best version of a quarterback, and it doesn't seem like we're getting that, or maybe we are, and it's not good enough. But you're right. It doesn't seem like it serves him. If J.J.'s healthy, then it's time to put him in. Put him in and see if you can get him to play faster just from – I mean

51:09you gotta find out what you have this year I think is where I come down on it with Minnesota I mean there's this it's obviously like it's we do this with a lot of teams but it does feel true about this team is that they do feel like they're a quarterback away and like they're not a perfect roster but like especially when Derrishaw is healthy it's like this offense should be one of the best in football like it's it has all the things like multiple weapons catch the ball good tight end uh top of top of the league offensive mind like they should and like the defense defense isn't as um like consistent but like the defense has the ability to be really good and has been at times this year but i don't even care about that as much as it's like if they reach their potential on offense this team is a real contender no matter what And then if that defense plays well also, they're blowing people out.

52:05So that's the frustrating and I think disappointing part for Lions – I mean Lions for Vikings fans and that team, honestly. I kind of blew past the defensive. I mean they got wrecked by Philly. I just charted it up to Jalen Hurts just backing out and just – It was explosive plays and like scrambly stuff and like I don't know. I think – I didn't think Flores called his best game. I will say that. He stopped the tush push, though. So he's not the guy laying down. What do you think it's like if you're that guy? When do they tell you you're going to be the guy who lays down to stop the tush? I should have looked up who it was.

52:47Oh, gosh. I mean, I think, honestly, you probably feel good about yourself. Really? Yeah. Until you have two tons on your back and you're at the bottom of a pile and it's hot and you can't breathe. It's like. Never mind. I thought I was really disgusting if I was going to say it. Not a lot of fun. Yeah, I feel like he called up some emotional blitzes in this game. A couple times, I'm like, really leaving AJ? So the back-to-back zero blitzes killed me. At the end of the game, like the big one, it was like – and I guess it makes sense. I don't want to be super critical because it makes sense. You beat Jalen Hurts by blitzing him, so we blitzed him, and we got a stop on a slant.

53:31you're gonna run up and I just knew I'm watching it I was like this is a bluff this gotta be a bluff you just did the blitz the next play you're gonna show blitz right you're gonna bluff no they zero blitz again and double moves which like to be fair to I think it was Rogers that was covering that's not supposed to happen yeah like you're not supposed to be able to pull off double moves against a zero blitz and that's the wonder that's the best part I know we talk about how zero is so hard on the coverage guys but i used to play a lot of zero and was happiest in zero because it's like look you can't mess around with me you're gonna run your route and i'm gonna guard you as best i can but they you hit them with a sluggo which is tough yeah um let go for those who don't know i kind of when i saw that was like surprised that philadelphia doesn't do that more often on blitz plays yeah it feels like it's usually they just run a straight go because or aj on slances again that's probably why it was effective but um yeah it was not the best day I I they were actually good against the run still you still can't run the ball but uh the quarterback issue is is a big question mark for them and for Washington because that's your wolf yeah that's my wolf for the week so I mean if all if their only issue was the quarterback I think the Washington thing is particularly bad because they were a regression candidate for everyone.

54:57They were like the top tier regression candidate for everyone. And they have absolutely regressed. But it's not for all the reasons that you expected them to regress. They've actually gotten worse is the problem. We're like, no, they're going to be the same team, just as good as they were last year but they won't be as lucky and that will cause them to regress I watched that game against the Cowboys like no this team is worse yeah on defense at least and the offense obviously is worse too because they don't have the quarterback they don't have um they did find a running game with Bill for a couple of weeks but they don't have Terry McLaurin out there he's injured so like that's the reason why it feels like it's sad to me because it felt like entering this season that there was no way you could end this season more concerned than optimistic.

55:51And now it feels like with Jaden getting hurt again and the defense being older and not good, because it felt like the idea was the traditional one. We got a great quarterback or rookie deal. Let's get bets we can trust that are going to make this defense good. No, we got best we can trust and the defense is bad. So I don't worry about the offense as much when Jaden's healthy. because he's really kind of that good, but they don't have anybody to take pressure off of him on offense, and the defense is just impossible at this point. When you Google Jaden Daniels, the first headline that comes up is, Jaden Daniels' mom demands fans stop manifesting former NFL star.

56:29I assume that's RG3 after Lace's injury. She tweeted or something, right? She got it. Yeah. Agreed. No comment. Yeah. Yeah, the injury stuff with Daniels is concerning. It's been a concern of mine for a while. it was striking how comfortable the Cowboys were just manning them up because they just didn't have enough in terms of the skill players but the defense is the problem like you said I think the offense has definitely regressed and there's issues in McLaurin and all of that I'm still believing the quarterback although I worry about his health status I just don't think this is a good defense I just don't think there's too many holes there are major talent issues there's in the passing game there's guys that Teams are just hunting.

57:13In the run game, they're just slow. You can run on them, especially off tackle. And then they lost their best pass rusher. Did you see that? Dorrance Armstrong. So it's tough, man. I've been – I was watching them against Dallas. I was watching the Dallas offense thinking of like adjustments or they don't really have anything because they traded for Lattimore and Tunsil, so they don't have trade ammunition. but it feels like they desperately need speed. Maybe move Samarstil back outside. I don't know, but because Lattimore, they can't keep playing Lattimore. I mean, it's hard for me to figure out a solution for this because they don't have the bodies to do it.

57:54Like when it's kind of a cop-out, but when a defense is just flat bad at a bunch of different places, my automatic response is – Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what else are you going to do, Mina? Blitz. Blitz. Blitz. Blitz. Blitz. I mean, do you have a better idea? I don't know what the scheme is that you can – I think they're too worried about their corners. That's fair. But I don't know. So I guess I don't know. So what are you – No, I know. I'm with you. Because, like, what I would argue for, and this is the problem, is generally the way that I think about defense or offense, too, is, like, where are we strong?

58:31What's the unit that we can put the pressure on? Like, who can handle this in order to support other people? I don't know. Like, none of these units do I feel like, hey. Yeah. So it's just like, let's get some pressure and try to create havoc. Either we score or they score. Go for it on fourth down every time. Yeah. They're good at that. It's an old roster. That was the funny thing, right? Coming into the season, they were up there. I don't have it in front of me. And it looks like it. It does look old. All right. Well, those are our wuss for the week. Dallas Cowboys playoff team, perhaps. I don't know.

59:14I guess maybe. I mean, I'd be happy for Dak, but like. Falling. Yeah, I hate to see bad defenses get rewarded. So, you know, Omaha Productions makes the show. They also make the show Chad Powers, which finishes next week. For those, check it out on Hulu if you have Hulu. It's very funny. So you know what the show's about, right? Yeah, it's like off that Eli thing, right? It's like pretending to be a great quarterback. Or no, it's a guy who's a college quarterback who comes back. Right. And puts on prosthetics and then is really good. So we were talking about how the Vikings are woof. Here's my question for you.

59:57This is dead serious. Okay. If Tom Brady pulled a Chad Powers and joined the Vikings, what do you think their record is at the end of the year? What's their record right now? No, no, no. Ignore it. Just to get started from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 10 and 7.

1:00:20I was being serious. I mean, I watched Joe Flacco. I was being serious. Okay, just making sure. No. You're not laughing at me because it's wrong. You're laughing at me because it's ridiculous. No, I kind of agree. If Christian Derrissaw was playing. If there's no Derrissaw, he's dead back there. Do you think when he calls games, he thinks about it? Of course. How could he not? Yeah. You don't think that he's watching these plays? Like, man, I could have done that. 100%. Jefferson, throw it up to Justin Jefferson, please. I could. And he probably is in great shape. He probably still works out and stuff.

1:00:53I guarantee you. He could make it through a game. Charlie was making fun of his team. It's my co-host who loves the commanders. And he said that he thought that I could play better than Lattimore. And I was like, that's the most insane shit. It's not quarterback. I would die after one play trying to play NFL corner. I would die. I might survive as long as I didn't have to make a tackle. And it was a run away from me. Quarterback is the position. It's why the Chad Powers is a very realistic show. It is, and everyone should watch it. Are we doing the Chap House commercial? We just did. Go check that out on Hulu.

1:01:31I will be back later this week to preview week eight. Check that out wherever you get your pods. Go follow Meena Kimeshow on Instagram to wait for my exclusive to IG power rankings, dog walk power rankings. Also, check out the Dominique Foxer show, which comes out on Friday. Well, it comes out multiple times a week. Yeah, check it out. They probably already have that.

1:02:06Good energy in. Ah, good energy out.

1:02:14Storm, zero sugar, 200 milligrams of caffeine, and immunity support. Storm, energy for life.

From the publisher

Mina Kimes is joined by Domonique Foxworth to break down both Monday Night Football games. The Lions defeat the Buccaneers with a strong defensive performance, and the Seahawks take care of the Texans in a well-rounded win. Together, Mina and Domonique analyze the biggest plays, key takeaways, and top storylines from each matchup — before wrapping up with their weekly Winners and Woofs.
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