The Takes That Matter from Week 7

0:00Austin Gayle:Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Sheil Kapadia. We're giving you three takes that matter from Sunday's action in the NFL. We'll talk about the wildest game of the day. The Broncos coming back, scoring 33 points in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Giants. What did we learn about the Broncos from that win? Then we have a little Eagles discussion. Big win in Minnesota. Have they actually figured things out offensively or was this kind of just an aberration and pump the brakes a little bit? And finally, who's the worst team in the NFL right now? You know, we saw some bad football on Sunday.

0:34Austin Gayle:Dolphins, Raiders, Jets, Titans. Lots of options with some of those teams that we watched. So we're going to get in to that discussion. My guest is from the ringer, Austin Gale, my friend. We're all in LA for the week. We were watching games together. It was a lot of fun. Whole room was going nuts during that Broncos-Giants fourth quarter. and Austin stunned me with a comparison when we were talking about the worst teams in the NFL. So stay tuned for that. All right, let's take a break. We come back and we talk week seven takeaways. This is the Ringer NFL show presented by FanDuel. And if you're betting on the NFL, FanDuel's the place to do it.

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3:12Austin Gayle:All right, we're back here with Austin Gale. Austin, let's get started. Takeaways from week seven. I'm starting with the wild Broncos-Giants game. and I'm sorry, Broncos. You can't fool me. They can't fool me. You're not contenders. You can't keep winning games like this. It was a very fun game. If you're a Broncos fan, this isn't, I'm not, you know, throwing arrows at you. It was a fun game. It was an entertaining game. They've been an entertaining team, but this is mostly the same team from last year, Austin, and the way they're playing offensively, in some respects, is worse than they played last year, and you're not going to score 33 points in the fourth quarter every week.

3:51Austin Gayle:You're not going to come back from a deficit like they did against the Eagles a couple weeks ago. They win 13-11 against the Jets in between. So their last three wins have been by seven points. And this team got so much hype in the preseason, in the offseason as a Super Bowl contender. And they're going to get hyped this week. You know what we're going to hear. Oh, the magic. They're clutch. They know what it takes to make plays in the fourth quarter. Maybe there's a little bit of that. But in the long run, it's going to catch up to them. So nice win. Be happy if you're a Broncos fan. I'm not taking them any more seriously than I did last year.

4:24Austin Gayle:Where are you with this team? I think offensively, it's hard to feel really good about the team. And I think even Broncos fans coming off of this win with a 33-point fourth quarter, I think Bo Nix had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. You still are like, oh, maybe there's this magic. Maybe there's Moxie. I think that's all this is, though. I think it's a really well-coached football team. I think they are maximizing what they have offensively. I also think it's a really good offensive line. I think it gets kind of underrated how good the offensive line is. I think Bo Nix entering now week eight has the lowest pressure rate of any quarterback in the league.

4:55Garrett Bowles left this game for a couple of minutes, a couple of like snaps. And you could hear the broadcaster talking about like, oh, man, Garrett Bowles is out. It's a big, important thing. But I feel like the offensive line is good. Sean Payton is good. I'm not there yet with Bo Nix. And I think you saw that in this game in the first three quarters. He was 11 of 25 for 105 yards for two sacks. And the offense looked terrible. Right. And the running game has been middle of the pack efficiency wise. I think a lot of their shot plays have come off of play action and getting it downfield. And Cortland Sutton's a very good jump ball receiver.

5:24I think if you are buying this team as a competitor in the postseason, I do think the defense is legit. And even against the Giants today, you saw on that first touchdown drive, it was a 44-yard, wide-open Daniel Bellinger who snuck behind the defense. Kind of a blown coverage that you don't really see happen with Denver. Later in the game, they had the 41-yard Theo Johnson touchdown that bounced off of Wondell Robinson's hands. it felt like a fluky game for the defense and i think you know week to week this is going to be one of the best defenses in the nfl and offensively i believe in payton i think he's going to put nicks in the best position he can to succeed i think he's not lived up to the expectation i think he has the least accurate he's the least accurate passer according to true media throwing 10 plus yards downfield it feels that way every freaking week there are guys wide open downfield and i'm

6:07Austin Gayle:with you on sean payton you watch them and you're like he's got his fastball he's scheming it up and Bo Nix isn't making those plays. And I know Broncos fans are sensitive about Bo Nix. Every fan base is sensitive if they have a young QB who they feel like is their guy. So I'm not begrudging them about that. But I think your point is an interesting one because I think if you're a Broncos fan, you're saying, we don't need to be an elite offense, so you don't need to keep ripping us for being 26th in offensive success rate this season because if we have a great defense, our offense only needs to meet a certain threshold.

6:38Austin Gayle:I made this comparison before. What do you think about it? is there some version of last year's Eagles with these Broncos where you're going through the regular season going offense isn't, you know, great and week to week you're saying it doesn't look right. The defense is the thing you hang your hat on every week. But then is there a chance that they get to the postseason and all of a sudden Bo Nix kind of goes on a heater there. Is that a good comp or no? I don't know. I still feel like the Eagles last year and this year have multiple skill players that can solve problems for them. Whereas I feel like Cortland Sutton, and there was a little Evan Ingram in this game too, and Dobbins has had success.

7:15But the skill group compared to Philadelphia last year is obviously night and day. I think if you're a Broncos fan, it's okay to say out loud that Nix is holding this team back. He's holding this team back, throwing the ball downfield, obviously. He's 28th in success rate, 21st in EPA per drawback, 10 plus yards downfield. That's sad I keep saying, 32 % inaccurate throws. That's like uncatchable throws, throwing 10 plus yards downfield. Nix is holding, he even says it after games. Like, I left plays out there. Oh, we had shots. We had chances. And in this game, too, you saw that. Like, he has to be better in order for this team to feel like a Super Bowl competitor.

7:49Now, I think why you're still, like, excited about them is because the defense is good week to week. And I feel like it's a very well-coached unit on both sides of the ball. And that's going to keep you in games, especially in games where the Giants fluky offensively and defensively. The Giants have a very good pass rushing unit, very good defensive line. But we all know that secondary is very bad. And I think that you saw them take advantage of that in the fourth quarter.

8:08Austin Gayle:We had a little moment at the urinal, you know, not to give away the pre-pod secrets here. But you made a good point where you're like, Sean Payton's doing a great job this year. If Bo Nix were in a worse situation coming into the NFL this year, what would our conversations be like around him? I thought that's a great point, and that's a fair point. And that's not us saying Bo Nix stinks and he's terrible, he's never going to be good. Right now, he has not made the leap from year one to year two. No, when you look at last year and this year combined, so weeks one through 17 last year, one through 18, and then now this year, bottom five quarterback in pretty much any metric that matters.

8:42And you've felt that. Even if you're a Broncos fan, you've felt that. Obviously, the fourth quarter's crazy. I wanted to play this game with you. A couple quarterbacks, Bo Nix or, who you'd rather have for the rest of this season. Okay, I always need the parameters. Of course, yeah.

8:54Austin Gayle:Contracts get into the mix. And what team am I, or is it just... You're on Denver. Oh, I'm Denver. Oh, okay. We're going to start with this game. Bo Nix or Jackson Dart? I would still go Bo Nix. I think Bo Nix's superpower is he doesn't create a lot of negative plays. And I don't know that Jackson Dart's going to have that superpower. See, I also feel like some of that too is Peyton. I feel like some of that is Peyton doing a really good job of coaching him up to avoid negative plays but also create open throws. How many of his misses are open throws? Bo Nix or Michael Penix? Penix in that offense.

9:28Austin Gayle:Good offensive line. I feel better about it. More accurate downfield. Now they do a lot with moving Bo Nix now. But again, that's catering to his skill set. All right, I'll go Penix on that. Okay, these are probably rude, but I have Bo Nix or Spencer Rattler and Bo Nix or Mac Jones. Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler, and those are not rude, honestly. I don't think they're rude at all. I mean, we did the redraft last week with Dave Damoshek, and I'm looking at all the numbers, and I'm like, is there a difference between Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler? And people are like, man, you're Bo Nix hater. I'm like, I don't think that's being a hater.

9:59Austin Gayle:I think if you watch both their skill sets and if you isolate their surroundings and you swap them, I don't think you would see a major difference in performance. Mac Jones didn't play great on Sunday night, but you could make the case behind that offensive line operating the offense. I could easily, I would say Mac Jones, honestly. Yeah, I feel like I got there too. I mean, I think where I was out was probably Jackson Dart. We just haven't seen it. I still think he's got some bozo to him where like, you're right, Knicks doesn't have that. The other question I want to hit you with is Broncos team.

10:27Is there a move at the deadline that could excite you about the offense? I was thinking Rashid Shahid, Olave. Is Garrett Wilson available? Is Jalen Waddell available? Because I think that they obviously have Sutton, who I think is great down the field, and he's a big pass catcher. They're trying to make Troy Franklin a thing. They've tried to make Marvin Mims a thing. But I feel like they need another guy if they're going to actually be a legit playoff competitive team.

10:52Austin Gayle:But Peyton's getting those guys open down the field. Now, I'm not saying they can win a one-on-one as much as those other guys you mentioned, but they are finding ways to get those guys open downfield. I mean, I would probably be in favor of a trade like that, but I don't think it would move the needle to the point where I'm like, okay, now I take back everything I said when we did the putt. So, there you go. Alright, I think we're in a similar place. Again, don't be calling us Bonick. We're calling it. He's 29th out of 34 quarterbacks in dropback success rate, playing for Sean Payton, who we think is doing a great offensive line.

11:20Austin Gayle:Like, that's just not good enough. The offensive line is good. Sean Payton I think is a top six quarterback in the league. Or top six quarterback. Top six coach in the league. and the defense when like I'm the nerdiest guy out here defense is volatile it's hard week to week I still think it's one of the top defenses in the league and you see that every single week with the pressure rates they have good secondary they're well coached it's a very good football team it's also fair to say that Knicks is limiting it yes enjoy it Broncos fans Austin said it well good football team we've talked about them can they be an actual contender this year that's what we're talking about not between do they suck and are they good it's good to contender I don't think they can make that leap with the way he's playing right now right now Right now, maybe in December, we're having a different conversation.

12:00All right, next take here, Austin.

12:03Austin Gayle:The Philadelphia Eagles have not solved all their offensive problems. And you're going to hear people say that they have, based on their 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Their solution today was Jalen Hurts, go make more plays. And I thought he had one of his best games as a pro, 19 for 23, 326 yards, three touchdowns. He's improvising on a fourth and four for a touchdown. he's third and 15 scrambling and creating a play to Devontae Smith third and 13 maybe the biggest play of the game finds A.J. Brown throws a dart moving to his right those are those are great and in a one game sample Jalen Hurts can do that he did in the Super Bowl last year he did in the Super Bowl in 2022 he did it in the NFC Championship game last year I think if you're an Eagles fan you wanted to see this team come out of their mini buy and the coaching staff that's taken a lot of heat with the new offensive coordinator Kevin Petullo say they figured some things out they have some solutions.

12:56Austin Gayle:I didn't see those solutions today. I saw a lot of explosive plays, which is great. But again, those were because of the quarterback. So I'm looking at this going, how much of this is sustainable going forward? So I guess it's a little bit on pump the brakes if you think the Eagles have solved their offensive problems based on that one win. I think it's, I wouldn't even say it was like one of the best hurt games I saw. I think that like you look at the first half, three sacks, 29 % drop back success rate. Their first possessions were three and out, four-yard drive, three and out, three-yard drive, three and out, three-yard drive, three and out, one-yard drive.

13:30They were struggling in the first half. Second half starts, right? And they have the 79-yard touchdown to Devontae Smith, whereas Isaiah Rogers gets completely spun around and Devontae Smith is wide open. And Jalen Hurts has all day to throw. He steps up into that pass like twice. Then later in the game, you mentioned the third and 15, scramble drill, good pocket movement, sure, but still on a volatile long third down. They're in those long third down situations. He's the worst quarterback by success rate in obvious passing situations. That second, third, and fourth down, That's this season of eight yards or more.

13:56Later in the game. It's including this game. Including this game. Wow, okay. Third and 13, fourth quarter, scramble drill. Good pocket movement, A.J. Brown in the sidelines. Sure, but again, another long third down where you're getting it in the scramble drill. A.J. Brown making plays. A couple plays after that, you had the A.J. Brown deep in and everyone loved him throwing, oh, in between the hashes, let's go. I looked at the all 22. There wasn't a Minnesota Vikings defender within eight yards of A.J. Brown on that play. And then the one to win it kind of sealed the game. The one over the top, Isaiah Rogers, again, gets beat on a double move.

14:23even with help on the inside, I don't know. I felt like this was Rodgers made some big mistakes. They got two big explosives off of it, one that won the game. And yes, you want to see Hurts make throws on the move. You want to see him scramble drill. You want to see the pocket movement where he's manipulating a little bit. But for me to feel like really good about the offense, I want to see down-to-down consistency and actual dominance. You didn't feel in this game, even in the second half, that they were dominant. Saquon Barkley in this game, 2.4 yards per carry, 45 yards rushing on total, 23 rush attempts.

14:52Like, Cam Juergens left this game with a knee injury. Don't know how long he's going to be out.

14:56Austin Gayle:And that was a problem. That was a problem. And it has been a problem. Nothing to me is salt. I think that they made big plays on huge downs. Third and 13th, third and 15th. Fourth and four was the A.J. Brown touchdown in a scramble drill again. I think you want to see that from A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith, Jalen Hurts, because those are your guys. But until we see, like, think about the Colts. Like, the Colts, when they've been humming this year, they feel dominant. They lead the league in success rate, EPA per play, yards per drive. Eagles are nowhere near those numbers in terms of efficiency, and it's because the run game has taken a step back.

15:27The offensive line has taken a step back. And inside the confines of the offense, it's not good yet. And I think that's a big sign on the back of Kevin Petulo's proverbial jersey, especially after Lane Johnson last week calling out the plays being predictable. I don't know. I don't think this Eagles offense is fixed. Obviously, you're happy to see them win outside of structure like this, but I'm not there yet with them being fixed.

15:46Austin Gayle:It's the different metrics we talk about here. So success rate is just down to down. Are you producing positive plays? This was a 13th percentile game league wide. Wow. For the Eagles. So it was not, it wasn't good. And if you're watching it, Austin just told you, there were like five possessions in the middle of the game where they didn't do anything. However, they produced an explosive play over 30 % of the time when they called the pass. That's only happened one other time in the NFL this season. So that's what you're talking about, that volatility. One-off sample, great. Eagles won. Hertz was chucking it downfield.

16:17Austin Gayle:Awesome. on a, hey, let's look, zoom out, look big picture. Can this team get back to being a very efficient, down-to-down, good, like you mentioned, the Colts, the last time the Eagles looked like that, Shane Steichen was their offensive coordinator in 2022. So I'm with you. The run game continues to be an issue. I mean, Saquon Barkley in this game, 2.4 yards per carry, you mentioned. He's 31st out of 37 running backs in success rate. Still, Austin does not have a carry of over 20 yards. Wow. And we're through seven weeks. last year, he averaged one of those a game. Dang. And so that's killing him.

16:50Austin Gayle:So yeah, they are a weird team. They'll continue to be a weird team. You're happy that Hurts came out and played at least his best game of the season just hitting those plays downfield. You're happy that A.J. Brown got targeted. You're happy that Devontae Smith got targeted. But man, they had the mini-buy last week and I was really looking at, I like looking at the first possession. Like, all right, what did they think their issues were? And they just go, under center, run, run, run. And it's like, you can't bully people anymore. The O-line is not good enough. The tight ends are getting ragdolled.

17:21Austin Gayle:And I think you continue to see that here. The 79-yard touchdown you mentioned to Devontae Smith. Can I give you, it is my favorite nugget from week seven. Hit me. That's the first pass the Eagles have completed on under center play action this year. Wow. Zero yards. I saw some people on Twitter blowing up over that. I mean, how is that possible in the year 2025? This is like what the great offense, they're spamming. I mean, I don't think the Vikings ran a play that way. It felt like every play was under center play action. Why? Because you're moving the defenders. You're creating uncertainty.

17:51Austin Gayle:And the Eagles haven't been able to do that. So they finally did it. And Austin, I was ready to give Kevin Petullo some crowd right. And then I'm reading, you know, my friend Tim McManus on ESPN.com. And he's got the anecdote. Devontae Smith went up to the coaching staff at halftime and was like, we can get him on play action. Because they were just doing all the under center runs. So I can't even give him credit for that. So where are you with this Eagles team? overall after seven weeks? I don't know. I feel like it's hard to buy them as, you know, I still like the Chiefs probably over them in terms of like Super Bowl contender and like the favorite to win it all.

18:28The offense down to down is not efficient. And defensively, the secondary, and you had injuries today with Dory, or who got hurt today? Was it Dory Jackson that got hurt? Yes. The secondary, I think, outside of, you know, Cooper DeGene, they have some talent, but they have clear weaknesses that teams are able to take advantage of. Better teams that don't have Carson Wentz quarterbacking them. I think we'll take advantage of them.

18:47Austin Gayle:Carson Wentz was in full Bozo mode. He was. To start the game, too, you could tell it was just like the lights were pretty bright this morning. It was tough. I wanted to ask you about, because I think some people were talking about how the Vikings laid down a defensive tackle in front of the tush-push. And then they were like, oh, somebody tweeted like, oh, they solved it. But they got it on the first, like they got a first down on it. And then the next time they tried it, the Eagles false started. And then you didn't get a second attempt. Is that actually, is that going to do anything? if you lay a guy down on the ground with his back to the ball, I get that it makes the three interior offensive linemen have to go over the top of them.

19:23Low man wins. I feel like we kind of over... It didn't even stop the tush push. They had a false start, and then the one time they ran it, it went for it. I feel like defenses obviously have to try new stuff to try and stop the tush push because it's such a dominant play, but I wasn't as impressed by that.

19:39Austin Gayle:I just like that someone tried something and Flores, he just does stuff differently. And apparently it was that guy's first game. I know. You get called out. You're a specialist. Lay down. Hey, we need you to lay down and your back is going to face the ball. You can close your eyes if you want to. You will not be able to get out of bed in the morning, but you know, you're playing an NFL game here. Alright, let's take a break. We come back. One more take from week seven. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is changing the way you live bet football and it starts with NextDrive SGPs.