2026 Week 8 Recap: Lions Hand Vikings First Loss, Lamar Injury, Bengals-Titans Shootout and more

Welcome to NFL Daily, where week eight delivered on its promise. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Wesseling podcast studio with my friends Nick Shook and Jordan Rodrigue. Halloween is in the rearview mirror. It's a little bit of chill in the air. Not quite in LA, but I am wearing flannel. It's like a little cooler. Everyone complaining that these Sunday afternoon game slates have been a little diminished this year. You know what we had on this Sunday?

No international game. You know, we missed it, but we're back from Paris. One of the worst Sunday night football, you know, matchups we've seen in a while.

That's fine.

We'll get to that later. But what we had was four huge games early. Three of them in the early window.

One.

Late. And I go back to what I said on the preview show, and I think it proved true. Nick Shuck, week eight was anything but. Anything but.

I mean, we had a game come down to the final play. I don't know what week eight's promise was other than that we had a few big matchups.

Just that we were going to have four games.

He's trying to make that joke happen.

It happened.

I mean, week eight was anything but. These four games, Broncos, Chiefs, Lions, Vikings, Bills, Ravens, and Steelers, Browns. Not all classic, but I think they all did change the way the second half of the season is going to look. And let's start with the best one of them in Denver.

This place is a madhouse. Mahomes, two by two of the set. In the shotgun, takes the snap, looks left. Mahomes bounces around.

Finds the pocket.

He is hit and sacked.

He laddered the ball. He can't advance a fumble.

Penalty flag down. Denver's going to win it.

Ooh, Denver. From 2025 is back a late fourth quarter comeback by Bo Nix down a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They pull off a 28 to 24 victory, ending with a goal line stand. The one yard that was between Kansas City taking this lead late and winning the game. and them getting stuffed there on that play where Patrick Mahomes got sacked is the difference between a two-game lead in the division and having the tie break in a situation now where the Broncos are actually in first place doing what they do, which is win one-score games when Bo Nix is that quarterback. That is 16 straight of them. That is a preposterous statistic, and the Chiefs felt like found a way to lose this one, but give the Broncos credit. in a game where they

looked all but dead entering the fourth quarter, they found a way to get a big one. All but dead, yes. That's exactly what they looked like.

And the Chiefs had done a really good job of putting together what I thought was their most impressive drive of the season, which is Classic Mahomes the last few years, converting on third down, continuing the drive, moving the chains, finishing off with a touchdown. And then the Broncos remembered that they are the fourth quarter Broncos on both sides of the football because it wasn't a dominant performance from this defense early on.

In fact, this is a nice opportunity for the Chiefs to get back on track.

But that fourth quarter hits, and they realize we're running out of time.

We have to make plays here.

And it begins.

With them scoring on a two, a nine play 80 yard drive finishes with a two yard touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Nate Adkins. That was a player two after he had tried to break a clean pocket and just threw it into the stands for no reason.

You felt like they were not going to convert. They capitalize.

It opens the door. The defense gets a stop. Harrison Bucker misses a field goal. Jonah Coleman goes 52 yards on a, on a reception to set up the touchdown.

Suddenly they're in the lead. And then the defense follows through and gets the stand right there. It was such a collapse in situational football by the Chiefs. It is weird to see that. Now, you mentioned that first touchdown. in the Broncos fourth quarter, comes on a fourth down. And that was the second fourth down touchdown, pretty much on the same play that they had in this game after they were the team that just could not get over the line and run the ball on the goal line and had to get to fourth down. But give Sean Payton credit for going for it both times. He got it both times. And then it's the Chiefs that can't get it. But it bothered me how Andy Reid coached this game at the end. Fourth and a foot

at midfield. And I know the running game wasn't great today. Kenneth Walker held under three and a half yards per carry, but he decides to punt on fourth and a foot at midfield. Then he also chooses that Bucker field goal in tough conditions. It's a long field goal, uh, and he misses it. And instead of, you know, a long field, that was actually where the, the analytics as a, you know, they just vaguely say from JJ Watt on the broadcast would say it's a punt. But the numbers would say a punt was probably the better call there. They decide to kick it with Bucker. He misses it, sets up on a short field. And then at the end, I just hate that they can't run a sneak.

Mm-hmm.

They're the one team in the NFL that refuses to run a goal line sneak. If you're that afraid of Patrick Mahomes getting hurt, just put Justin Fields in the game. You can't tell me if Justin Fields went in the game, they wouldn't have won the game.

Yeah.

I mean, you're a yard away. And then here's the other thing. I probably will gloss over because it was wiped out by penalties. They actually scored a touchdown to win the game.

Good point.

Except Jalen Morgan's called for a false start. Pretty ticky tack call, too.

For everyone that says the Chiefs You know, the officials always favor them. First of all, the numbers don't support that over the years at all. But there are a lot of examples like this. If I'm a Chiefs fan, I'm not thrilled with that call. It was like the slightest of movements making Bills fans like Eric and really fans around the NFL cheer.

Yeah, because everybody still hates the Chiefs, even though they weren't the evil empire last year. The frustrating part about that play specifically is that they motion into a trips bunch set on the left side. It's tight to the line of scrimmage. You get what you want. It's like a spot combo, right? You get Rice sitting down. He wins the advantage off of the bunch set where a little bit of a natural rub.

He's open.

The play happens as it's supposed to. it's executed, and you're like, oh, there they go. They just schemed it up again. I was waiting for the whole run the little zone read, flip it forward to the tight end situation that Inter likes to call in those situations. So then the fact that they just didn't execute that little thing with that false start really hurts you. But overall, if you look at this game and you look at these two teams where they stand, it's a nice bounce back for the Chiefs from the performance they had in Seattle last week, and yet it doesn't matter because it counts just as much as last week's game, which is a loss. Whereas Denver finally discovers that, hey, we are kind of willing to start to try to push the

ball downfield. Still not a super productive game from this offense, but you did see Bo Nix hit Cortland Sutton and Jalen Waddell down the field beyond the line of game a few times.

It was such a game changer to me.

And I wasn't able to catch this entire game, but seeing the end, certainly, and then also keeping an eye on it the whole time... Yeah, there were some breaks in the Broncos defense, but overall, I mean, remember that week one, the first matchup between these two, Kenneth Walker has 173 rushing yards and seven and a half yards per carry. And we're all sitting there like, oh, this is going to be a crazy special year from Ken Walker.

And it, and it still is. Don't get me wrong, but yeah. The yards per carry tonight and bottling him up the way that they did to the point where you are fully thinking run or pass at the goal line down there because you know that Denver's front is able to stop that short yardage stuff in this game.

And yeah, they were determined and that's a couple straight weeks. So we'll see if that ends up being a trend to stop Kenneth Walker late. Patrick Sertan made a huge difference returning to the game. There were a couple of returns that made a huge difference. I thought Rasheed Rice, even though the numbers weren't explosive, seven for 53 for a touchdown makes a big difference. Big difference. Sertan was big in coverage and he makes a tackle on the goal line right at the end of that game. Like he, he, it was kind of a combo tackle, but he helped get Kenneth Walker on the ground when on the play where he got it to the one, I thought he was scoring on that first down play and Sertan gets him down. And then who was it? Skinner who, you know,

Skinner makes a tackle on the goal line where I thought Walker was going to run them over too. So it's great individual approach though.

Yeah, Walker was.

And that is Kenneth Walker's MO. Look, they had 100 more yards of them. They moved the ball pretty well. There was a long touchdown by Emmett Johnson for 73 yards. Travis Kelsey gets loose on that last drive like they did a lot of things well, which is why I think it's going to be frustrating for the Chiefs. that you had this chance and you didn't get over the line.

They're going to have to learn how to win these big games again in this new kind of... Exactly, the new kind of Chiefs thing.

That's the thing, because you get Rice back and it does make your receiving core better, but you're still trying to figure out who you are because you can't be overly reliant on Kenneth Walker, who, again, just wasn't very productive. They tried to get him the ball. I think he had 25 total touches. He finished under 100 yards from scrimmage.

So that's a challenge. But on the Denver side, one thing that I do want them to clean up, even though they got guys back and they were better for the most part, Too many missed tackles still. 16 missed tackles. 89 yards given up on missed tackles.

Jonah Coleman, I believe, will be their running back moving forward. Maybe he doesn't have the long speed. I thought he was going to score on that screen. Most players would have. But he ends up with 63 yards as their leading receiver and also runs for 41 yards on the ground. It was a game that Bo Nix did not play that well. But he gets away with it. Again, missed some open throws, but makes it happen. And maybe that gives him a little confidence. He did really... have like one or two runs where at least he used his legs.

So big win there by the Broncos. We're starting this week with two big division matchups, which again will shape how these division races go the rest of the year. Now the Broncos and the Chiefs will be more bunched up than we thought previously. The Vikings, on the other hand, had a chance kind of put Detroit a little bit in the rear view at midseason. Could they do it on the road?

Goff brings him to the line. Single back is Bakke. Goff will move in behind center. Jared takes a snap, keeps it himself, fights for it.

He got the first down.

Ball game, baby.

Ball game.

They can kneel it out from here.

A huge victory for the Detroit Lions, handing the Vikings their first loss of the year.

You pump those arms, Jared.

He's telling that crowd, let's go. Let's go.

That is big.

Time stuff by this football team.

This offense came alive and puffed out its chest in the.

Second half of this game. Love that call by Dan Miller. Great to have him back in the booth on KRL.com. D, did feel like a game where they put it on their offensive line. Hey, Chiefs, if you were gutsy enough to let your quarterback sneak like that, you might have won your game too. Jared Goff, more mobile than Patrick Mahomes.

They made it happen, Jordan. 19-15 at home. They get to 5-2. First loss for the Vikings now at 6-1. This was a game where a lot went against the Lions in terms of injuries. We will get to that, including Jack Campbell. later in the recap, but ultimately a stirring victory for a team that wanted to show everyone who they are in 2026.

It was so emblematic that that is how the game ends because the Lions knew that this was going to take all four quarters of swinging again and again, no matter what happened to them over the course of the game. And after a first half in which Jared Goff was blitzed on 15 of his 16 dropbacks, the took four sacks and threw an interception.

That wasn't actually his fault, but I digress.

The lions offense put together a 230 yard second half behind Jared Goff, Jameer Gibbs, and Jamison Williams that included 164 second half rushing yards and more forced missed tackles than any other game in the Brian Flores era.

They responded.

Those three players that I mentioned responded so well from a fourth quarter, go ahead. Vikings touchdown. that exploited missing players due to injury, including Jack Campbell, Brian Branch, and DJ Reed. And on the corresponding possession, Jameer Gibbs ripped off a 17-yard run to open the game, or excuse me, to open the drive, and the Lions moved the ball downfield before Goff hit Jamo for the touchdown to make the game 19-15 and knock down the last unbeaten team in the NFL.

Love it.

Goff brings him to the line.

He'll work out of the gun.

First and goal from the Minnesota 7. Lions down 3, knocking on the door. Goff takes, fakes the give, sets in the pocket, floats end zone. Jamo caught, touchdown Detroit Lions. They got the lead back.

What a drive by that football team.

He beat Harrison Smith on the play, and the Lions lead at 18-15, extra point coming up.

Yeah, that's one of those you gotta have it drives, and that's what the Detroit Lions took.

You know, this is a divisional rivalry and everything, but there was like, you can sense it in the call how big of a game this felt to those who were in the building.

Yes. Plays like that.

And look, the Vikings had just come back to take the lead. You mentioned all the injuries that happened. You're getting blitzed at the highest rate in the NGS era for the game, 26 out of 29. times it tops last week's record. I mean, look, he just doesn't believe in a four-man pass rush, which I think is a totally legit way to run defense. But Gibbs, especially, you mentioned with the missed tackles, that was 12 missed tackles that he forced. That's four times this year he's gone over 10. forced missed tackles and just like a gutsy win for a team kind of refinding their identity.

Because they just kept going.

This is if you want to talk about a team where this is exactly what Dan Campbell wants his team to look like. It's this because they did struggle in the first half. Jameer Gibbs really struggled in the first half. They were trying to exploit him, whether it was in pass pro like last time or just trying to bottle him up. And he seemed like a little hesitant at first, but he totally came alive in the second half, he finished with 23 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown.

Like you mentioned the broken tackles.

And I also want to point out this felt like an ethical result truly because the Vikings offense played so poorly through most of this game that it was almost going to be unbearable. I know Vikings fans would rather have the wind, but it was almost going to be unbearable as a neutral observer to sit there and watch this defense once again bail out an offense that did next to nothing to deserve this win behind Kyler Murray specifically.

Let me ask you a question on that. After we hear a Kyler Murray touchdown, which maybe this helps explain, you know, some of it. But let me ask the question after this. It was just such a good play by Justin Jefferson. We haven't had enough of him that we want to hear a little Paul Allen on the show.

Why not?

Vikings right to the line. Murray under center.

Jones, the tailback fade to the end zone.

Justin with a one handed catch.

Touchdown!

Justin Jefferson tapped it to himself with a one-handed, left-handed catch. And the Minnesota Vikings have taken a 6-3 lead.

So Kyler.

Ends up 17 for 29, 210 yards, two touchdowns intercept. It doesn't look that bad. When you look at the spray chart, it doesn't look that bad. When you look at the overall success rate between the two teams, not that different. So as someone that watched it closely, and I think this is a common refrain, it's like his numbers have looked better than he's looked with the eyes.

What is showing up to you why he was worse than the numbers?

It's totally well explained there, Greg, that when you watch him snap to snap, it... it bears almost, it bears very little resemblance to what you end up seeing on the stat sheet because there are enough explosive plays. Like there was one to TJ or excuse me, to Jordan Addison, a 51 yard followed up by a touchdown. And there's just enough of those to make you think, well, why doesn't, why isn't he able to do this throughout more, more, of snapped on a snap to snap basis. I found myself thinking during the Vikings first possession of the third quarter that I was actually glad that we had Tom Brady on the call here because he was pointing out how Kyler was just holding the ball beyond his first read,

even when the first read was available. And it led to back to back sacks at that point in the game when they were talking about it. So this is a progression based passing system which means you read across the field or sometimes read across half of the field. And it's one, two, three, boom, boom, boom, just like that.

And open, throw, fire, go. And no, it's not a perfect system in terms of defenses that are playing smarter. At certain points in the game, the lions, the lions defense really held up and played extremely creditably. And like, like we were going to talk about, got through some injuries that were horrible, but in Kyler's case, the holding the ball not only showed to me like a lack of confidence in a system he's been now a part of for several months, But also it set up negative plays and it set up just a lack of cohesion through over down to down. And every once in a while, Aaron Jones would break off a positive run. That's part of the problem too, far too infrequently. And I just think that it is so frustrating watching this thing be

so start, stop, start, stop, taking negative plays and just a lack of clarity or confidence in You know, sometimes he'll want to push the ball down the field. Most of the time he won't. Sometimes he'll he'll scramble and go and you think, oh, yeah, this is it.

This is the vision.

And then you don't see it again the entire game. And there's no identity there. And it's very frustrating to watch.

Yeah, it's like he is not ready to carry an offense. And yeah, Aaron Jones ends up with 22 yards. Jordan Mason, 20 yards. And Kyler Murray, there was a lot of talk in Minnesota, even before this week of like, do we want to go back to Carson Wentz? Do we look at other quarterbacks? Is Kirk Cousins potentially available? Probably not.

We'll get to that later, but that would be interesting. I don't think we're at that point quite yet.

The last thing I want to get to very quickly before we get to the injuries, which we need to talk about, they're very, very serious, is that I thought that against this Flores defense.

I thought Drew Petson called a great game.

We even got like a college football, Canadian football league play where.

I'm on St.

Brown is taking a 15 yard running start to get to a screen on a third and eight that picked up 10.

Just creative, really creative stuff. all throughout the game.

And they were going to need every single thing they had in order to actually beat this defense as good as it is. And they brought it out at the right time and the players really bought into it.

It's awesome. That's a play that you have to practice so much and be so precise and really trust your quarterback. And it worked out for a big first down in a big spot. So we mentioned the injuries. Unfortunately, Jack Campbell left this game, their great linebacker, on a stretcher after suffering an injury after the game. The announcement from the team was not totally specific, just that he was resting comfortably in a nearby hospital and they will continue evaluation and monitoring. So we're really hoping for the best for Jack Campbell, but it did not look good. Center Cade Mays went out with an ankle injury. DJ Wanham went out with a concussion. He's been good as their second edge rusher, Brian Branch, who just returned to the

lineup last week, went out with a concussion. And then DJ Reed, their cornerback, went out with injury. a hip injury. So might be a little bit of a Pyrrhic victory for the Lions. They have a lot of players that they want to get back on the field soon. Most importantly, Jack Campbell, we're all thinking about you. Let's go to another game. Unfortunately, that was marred by injury right off the bat. It is in Buffalo where the Bills just steamrolled the Ravens.

Allen in the shotgun. Three receivers to the right.

Counting Kincaid.

Ty Johnson over there. Single left. Back to pass. Has to step up in the pocket. Fires to the end zone. And it's complete to DJ. Big play.

Moore with an 11-yard touchdown reception. And with that passing touchdown. Josh Allen has passed Hall of Famer Jim Kellett for the most passing touchdowns in Bill's history. That was 259 for Josh Allen.

And that was a dart. I feel like every Sunday, Josh Allen is setting some new record. Really shows how different the eras are that he's already passed Jim Kelly, who was in a go-go, you know, pass-first offense. I know he started a little late for Buffalo, but what an achievement there by Josh Allen. The Bills go on to win 36-10. Took a little bit For the Bills to create separation, obviously aided by the fact that the Ravens were on their third quarterback somewhat early in this game.

Lamar Jackson leaves with a thumb injury on his very first throw. Greg Rousseau causes a pressure on Roger Rosengarten, who was kind of broken up about it after the game. Hits his thumb on the helmet. After the game, Jesse Minner, the Ravens coach, was asked about the severity of this injury for Lamar Jackson.

Jesse, when you said Lamar's going on injury reserve, is that season ending?

Potentially, but we'll see where it's at.

So, this was going to be the lead game because I thought this was the biggest story of the game. I mean, of the week. But it's a bummer to start on an injury like this. And we will get to giving the Bills... the credit for doing everything they needed to do in this game, especially offensively. But the Ravens might not have Lamar Jackson for the rest of the season. And then they lost Tyler Huntley to a toe injury that is believed to be turf toe, which is very often a multi-week injury. And suddenly a team that a couple weeks ago, even going into this week, I thought was a real AFC contender feels like A little bit like a cross-off right now. And they're at 4-4, so it's not like they have some great winning record

to lean on here, Shook. But just a bummer of a day for the Ravens. I'm not really sure what they're going to do next.

Yeah, I mean, the idea of them being like 6-2 or 7-1 and being like, yeah, we can weather this storm, manage the schedule. It's just not there for them. They're at the bottom of the AFC North as it stands right now with the Steelers at 6-2. Bengals a 5-2, Browns a 5-3. You can't climb out of that if you don't have Lamar Jackson. This team has been atrocious offensively without Lamar Jackson. Credit to Tyler Huntley and them scoring early because of good game plans, but they can't sustain it over four quarters. They can't lean on Derrick Henry to do the job. Today, they couldn't do anything because they got down to the third-string quarterback, Joe Fagnano.

Is that how you say it? Fagnano. You nailed it. Fagnano. Who also was banged up late in this game and said in the locker room he thinks he'll be available for Thursday night. I was looking forward to that Jaguars.

He said, who's writing me a bonus?

I was looking forward to that Jaguars-Ravens game. It's not about us. It's not about me. It's not about even the Ravens, but man. So, I mean, yeah, it's just.

I can't see a scenario, even if you go acquire a quarterback in which you can be a competent offense and be good enough to climb out of this.

It's not a huge hole, but it's a really tough division. Well, without Huntley, it's hard to imagine. They could trade for a Jacoby Brissett, who might be available now with Bench by Arizona. They could trade... I would have thought if Kirk Cousins was, you know, there could be someone that, and I wouldn't be surprised because Joe Fignano, like it's tough to go out there and want to try to win games with him. I think that's a conversation for another day, as is the Lamar Jackson conversation, which is fascinating.

He holds more leverage over the Ravens because of his contract in this situation than maybe any quarterback ever. And I think there is a better chance that he is not on the Ravens next year than people realize, even if it's, you know, not, not over 50% chance. Let's get, To this game, because those are such big conversations that I don't even know what to think about this team.

We have months to talk about them. In the short and long term. How about the Bills coming off a bye week and what they did, especially offensively, because offensively they're going against the actual Ravens starters.

Yeah, I mean, the first half was, I think it was Ian Eagle on the call who said, An absolutely bizarre first half in Buffalo comes to an end.

I mean, it was just turnovers.

It was weird. Weird.

Like it was an interception that Josh Allen threw or it went off the hands of Dalton Kincaid. And he tried to get deep bats up there. Broderick Washington comes down with a big man interception.

That was the bet.

The Ravens best chance to score all day from like less than 20 yards out. Otherwise, it was just a kind of a collection of errors or just miscues. But Buffalo was clearly the better team. And they were able to kind of overcome their own mistakes in the second half. I mean, Tyler Bass doinks in a field goal early in this game to make it 10-0. Like, it was just weird.

Tyler Loop missed one.

Yes.

He might be. Oh, yeah.

Big Tyler game.

He might be gone. I don't know.

Yeah.

So, I mean, they didn't really find their stride until it was very clear that the Ravens were never going to mount any sort of threat offensively. And they could just kind of sit on the ball, run the ball, do what they want to do. Let Josh Allen get that passing touchdown that he thought he had on the first drive of.

The game and end up getting it in the fourth quarter to DJ Moore. I will say this, though.

DJ Moore.

Heck of a game.

I know his stat line only says four for 82 and a touchdown. He made a spectacular catch over the middle that set up a touchdown. He makes that offense a lot better. Lester line on the tight ends who are not very solid today. And yeah, it's a good win for the Bills.

Six and one.

You're right.

They're still going against the Ravens starters defensively. And when we go back a few weeks from now and look at this game, it may not be much of a measuring stick as we thought it would be.

But hey, a win's a win. Sometimes the schedule luck breaks your way. Sometimes it doesn't. For the Bills, it breaks their way in a great way here. And yeah, it might be a cross off of one of their AFC rivals. They watch the Chiefs lose. That was good for them. They also came out of the bye blitzing like crazy. Like crazy. That might be because of Joey Pignano, who went, what, 10 for 21 for nine. You're right, though.

Yeah, let's just harass the guy who's never seen an NFL field in a regular season before.

We just learned how to say his name.

Exactly.

Pressure rate at 61.3%. Yeah, we're after him all day.

And I give him credit. His numbers look terrible. But he battled for a kid who's never played before.

He battled.

I would not be surprised if they find some sort of veteran. Jacoby really would. That makes a lot of sense.

I'm just saying, if you know that the quarterback holds all the leverage in the situation, what is the number one way to get leverage back from said quarterback in that situation?

But.

A higher profile trade.

Sure.

I'm trying to think who would be available.

I would not put it past the Ravens to at least kick the tires on that kind of thing.

Kyler Murray?

Who?

Who could possibly be higher profile?

I don't know.

I thought we were having these big conversations later, Greg.

I know.

I don't know. You were giving me the wrap up earlier. I might have to give it to you now.

You have the reaction.

This is how I dangle the bait.

Yes, of course.

This is how I dangle the bait.

We can't quit him though because the idea of him in Ravens purple and black just made my eyes get wide.

We can't quit him.

That would be fun. um look he's only due a million dollars that's not usually how the nfl uh works but it would be fun yeah it's pretty rare to see a game 426 yards for the bills 144 uh for the ravens and look dj moore he did get banged up late in this game he said to reporters afterwards that he thought he would be okay suddenly and i don't know if the ravens want to bother to try to save this season like it's feeling late early for the ravens with that jacksonville game uh coming up let's go uh Elsewhere in the AFC North. I mean, why even try to win games when America's favorite sneaky fun team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are winning week after week.

Rodgers under center now. Anderson motions to the left, back to the right. Here's a handoff to Dattlestarts. Left cuts back right. Inside the five.

And into the end zone.

Touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers.

In your face.

Great call there by Max Starks and Rob King on WDVE. I feel bad giving Rico Dowdle the highlight on a day when Jalen Warren set his personal record with 143 yards on the ground on only 17 carries. They both scored touchdowns, but that was a tone setting first drive and emblematic of a day where the Pittsburgh Steelers just pushed the Browns around this was a classic AFC North game 27 to 6 the Steelers are 6 and 2 the Browns fall to 5 and 3 they just mauled Cleveland on both sides of the ball in a way that I think will make the Browns like kind of look inward yeah about like wow um we could not hold up at all on run defense against this Pittsburgh group I think if if The Steelers had just run the ball on the goal line a little more like

the score might have been even worse. And then on the other side, their offensive line for Cleveland, which played really well last week, got absolutely manhandled as well. Deshaun Watson took eight sacks in this game. Now that's partly Deshaun Watson's fault. Maybe even mostly Deshaun Watson's fault. There's only two quarterbacks in the NFL or two games in the NFL where they've been Eight quarterback sacks in a game.

Both of them involved Deshaun Watson. One of them was the Jets. It's like, you know, not exactly the New York sack exchange this year. 13 quarterback hits, eight sacks. So he holds on to the ball too long. But Watt and Highsmith, who have kind of been in the background in these last few weeks, were both awesome in this game. So was Keanu Benton. So was Patrick Queen.

I really love... this defense, like Peyton Wilson, all the defensive players we enjoyed watching in Paris and I've enjoyed watching on film this year, just dominated.

The team, Frazier. Right.

It was like, it was easy. It was not a fourth quarter comeback this time for Deshaun Watson. Like, it never got interesting.

Yeah, I.

We've talked about this a lot, and so I'll be short with it here, but I really like who the Steelers team has become this year. I think you put it so well, maybe the comp of the year, Greg, comparing them to a sitcom. after the original sitcom, and it's a bunch of older characters, but it's better than the first one.

Yes.

And it's really enjoyable.

I ain't thinking about examples.

Right.

Frasier would be the example, but the important thing here is you have some new faces. You have your David Hyde Pierce's stepping in. That's Zach Frasier, who I think is right now your all pro center. Like him and Mason McCormick were absolutely dominating in this game. McCormick also got on the highlight reel for this toss of Jared Verse.

which was interestingly timed. It was actually on an extra point and verse kind of went in the air, which was a mistake. And McCormick, who had his helmet taken off and slammed him onto the ground. It was just one of the more WWE plays that you'll ever see. There was a lot of afters for our British listeners.

You know, during this game, the two teams, they did not like each other during the game and after the game. Let's hear from Jaquan Brisker at the Steelers safety.

I'm not worried, you know, worried about him, but he should have kept his mouth shut. All that talking, you know, to come out with zero tackles. I mean, that's bad. You know, you didn't stand behind with your words and you didn't stand on business. So he got to look himself in the mirror and, you know, get better.

Ooh, that's a brisker talking about Jared verse, you know, hit.

Him with a do better.

He hit him with a do better. He also did his research. He checked the ESPN, like box score to make sure he had zero tackles before that one assist. That's all it counts.

Verse did get one shot on Aaron Rodgers that didn't matter much, but that's about all he did in this game in terms of impact. This was a game in which there was a lot of chirping back and forth prior. I thought that we were building to a scene that we last saw in 2004 in which William Green and Joey Porter got into it before the game.

I was worried that might happen this week.

It did not happen.

But the Steelers understood the gravity of the moment. They were like, sit down, little brother.

At their age.

They've been around.

They've been around the block a few times, and they came out here and acted like the more professional outfit that was prepared to dominate on both sides, starting in the trenches, and they did it.

They did it running, and yet they were driving Steelers fans, which I'm almost... I'm counting myself as one these days. I'm enjoying watching them. If there was like a team of the... It's just been like a sneaky fun team. They would get to the end of these drives in the first half. They had a first and goal, I think, at the two. And it had been all running. And then Aaron Rodgers calls his own number and throws two passes into the crowd. And then they settle for a field goal. And then another drive happened like that where they settled for a field goal.

And you know he's getting two play calls in the helmet. One's a run and one's a pass.

And he's just deciding.

He's decided to go with the pass.

It's just driving me a little bit crazy. But then he comes back and he makes a few, you know, dimes that get you back on board, including one to our favorite guy, Mount Washington.

After the punt by Cleveland, from the 41, Rodgers first and 10, Dowdle the back.

And he's got the tight end, Washington, being chased by Schlesinger.

Shoved out of bounds.

No, the big man town inside the five.

How can a man that big be so nimble?

57-yard catch and run to the one. First and goal, Steelers.

Pilates, Kevin Harlan.

In motion, out of motion, Greg.

Like we saw last week, they're using it more in motion.

The mountain is moving.

Ten routes for Darna Washington. That's it. Five targets on those ten routes. Had a bad drop, admittedly, but ended up with 94 yards. Great game. Great call by Kevin Harlan. I love hearing that. Harold Fannin. uh, had a monster game. I did want to mention him. He has just looked unreal the last couple of weeks. I actually don't even think this was the worst Deshaun Watson game. He wasn't as good as the box score, but I've seen him play worse this season, but this was just a total team meltdown for the Browns. And I think a humbling game and just one that shows kind of where these two teams are at Malik Collins, who's been really good for the Browns, uh, was hurt in this game. The Steelers go to the bye week at six and two,

and they, uh, They celebrated Jalen Warren's birthday with this record day, you know, in terms of his personal record. And they also avoided continuing a streak of these teams coming back from Europe and then playing on that next Sunday. I think we're like on an eight game losing streak or maybe it was against the spread, something like that.

And so they even beat off that like trend and they have like a real chance here to win the AFC North.

Exactly.

You extended that home winning streak over the Browns. That's right. 23 straight. That is absolutely outrageous. How did anyone pick the Browns this week? Not me. It couldn't be me. It wasn't me. Let's take a break and we will get to the other team right now at the top of the AFC North.

Burrow in the gun. Chase Brown in the backfield. Chase goes in motion from left to right. He's out to the right. Higgins is out to the left. Burrow drops back to throw.

Looking.

Scrambling left. Joe will run. He's at the five. To the goal line. Extends the ball. Touchdown.

Bengals.

A touchdown run to go with his five touchdown passes.

Amazing.

And the Bengals have taken the lead in OT.

Just an outrageous game by the Bengals, pulling off a 43 to 36 victory in overtime over the Titans. The defense stops Tennessee when they get the ball back in overtime. Yes, that was the sixth touchdown. for Joe Burrow. He's the first quarterback since Norm Van Brocklin in the 50s to get five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown and 450 yards in this game. He also threw three interceptions in this game and some total groaners. But you know what?

They finally played complimentary football at the very end, getting a late touchdown in regulation. And then, yes, Getting it done in overtime to outlast the best day maybe of Cam Ward's career.

Really the best game of the Titans season that I've seen in a very long time. And certainly I think the best game of Cam Ward's career and Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense gave, had a slow enough start that it gave Cam Ward and the Titans a window to go.

Up 13-0 in the first quarter.

Like we mentioned, you know, Cam Ward probably had the best game of his career to date. And that included a Tony Pollard 40 yard touchdown. He breaks four tackles and shoves a defender into another defender to knock them both out of bounds. You know, Joe Burrow's throwing interceptions. The teams are trading turnovers. Imani Hooker has three interceptions, including two in the third quarter that were absolutely gorgeous.

And these teams are going swing for swing offensively with each other in the third and fourth quarter, making it what we thought was going to be a really one-sided dud, turning it into an absolute disaster. weird yet thrilling game. One of the best of the weekend.

Yeah. It, the Titans put up two fourth quarter touchdowns and you just like it for a second. If you close your eyes, it felt like one of those Ravens Bengals games where the four, the two teams in the fourth quarter go touchdowns for four straight drives. Now, The Titans will have regrets, I think, about going four and out to close regulation when they just needed a field goal and were about 10 yards away from possibly getting it.

I think Cam Ward took a bad sack in that scenario. And then in overtime, they also have the chance to try to match Cincinnati's score. And it does feel like maybe a game plan specific strategy of going no huddle. They went no huddle more than any team in the NFL all season long, according to NextGenStats, and went 8.5 yards per play in those no huddle situations. Really unlocked that. uh, their offense, but it didn't quite continue at the very end.

Yeah.

And it's, it was crazy because these moments where the Bengals exactly show what they are totally predicated and dependent on because they, they can't really run the ball again through the course of this game. And Chase Brown got activated in the short yardage, like running catch, uh, which proved to be a little bit more rhythmic for them as the game continued. But it was the stars they paid for, the stars they traded for, and the stars they already had who had to make the splash plays in key moments, including Dexter Lawrence sending the game into overtime with a sack on Cam Ward that knocked the Titans out of field goal range with the.

Game knotted 36-36. It was.

Joe Burrow in overtime trotting in what you heard, ultimately the game-winning score.

It's T.

Higgins and Jamar Chase going shot for shot with each other. It's Boye Mafe, strip-sacking Cam Ward, and Dexter Lawrence nearly scoring.

Off of the fumble recovery.

It was literally all of those guys had to make a play in order to win this game, which is crazy because it was the Tennessee Titans on the other side.

Right after trading Jeffrey Simmons, I think it's a game that you can feel really good about. We guessed... that maybe Cincinnati would be looking for a running back. You do wonder if they... Go get the guy that just ran for 117 on you! Right, they see Tony Pollard, how he played in this game, but really positive to see Chimere Dike and Gunnar Helm and Wandale Robinson shows up with a good touchdown. But yes, you mentioned Dexter Lawrence.

Let's hear that late sack.

Third down and three at the Cincinnati 45 32 seconds left in a tie game Ward looking to throw pocket closes Dexter.

Lawrence sacks him.

Way back at the Tennessee 40 sexy Dexy time to dance Oh, baby.

Yeah, and for the listener, he did not dance. He was quite serious.

Quite the opposite.

Quite serious in that moment.

He holds the, I would say, pre-sexy Dexy celebration pose stance. for so long and stares down the sideline as his teammates come over. In fact, I'm sure it was very intense and awesome being down there on the field.

As the viewer, it was sort of like. Oh, is he going to do it? Is he going to do the thing?

But it was an absolutely electric, like big plays were the catalyst in this game for both teams. And I know I mentioned Amani Hooker for the Titans. I thought that he was a problem for the Bengals early in multiple areas.

Of their coverage.

There was a coverage sack on a fourth down in scoring position earlier. uh, that, that the Titans were, were very creditable, uh, in, in defending. I thought this was the, it's, it's sad for them that they lost. I thought this was the most complete and well-rounded and also balanced game for them. Tony Pollard, 21 carries 117 yards, two rushing touchdowns and was involved in the receiving game a little bit too. And Gunnar Helm, like you mentioned, is becoming a bit of a safety blanket for Cam Ward too.

Yeah.

His first 300 yard game, Cam Ward. And it, Look, the defenses weren't great in this game, but it was one of those high possession games because of the turnovers where it was like 14 possessions, so they were having to hold up. But it came word at a really nice back shoulder throw to Wandale. There were some really next level stuff. Even the most hardened Titans reporters were saying, wow, this was a nice step forward. So maybe the perfect result for the Titans who are trying to get that number one overall pick, see some development out of their quarterback, but ultimately don't get the victory. Let's go to another crazy overtime game. One that we thought was one-sided for three plus quarters. But Minsu Mania came out of mothballs

and had different ideas.

Snap from Kreider.

On the way.

It's on target.

The hold down. The kick clears the line. The end over end kick on the way.

And good.

It's good.

The Cardinals win in overtime in Dallas.

An epic game. The Cardinals over the Cowboys.

Final score, Cardinals 33, Cowboys 30 in overtime.

Unbelievable.

That sound you hear is about 60,000 Cowboys fans barfing in their sneakers. What a gag job. What a horrible... I don't know why. That's just... The far way to fall. Just where the barf goes. 33 to 30. Chad Ryland makes up for a missed extra point at the end of regulation. This thing could have been over then. But they get the win in overtime on their third possession.

Score one for taking the ball first, by the way, in overtime. I think it makes more sense. The Cowboys only had 3.6 yards per play in this game. So as much as they coughed up a big lead, their offense did nothing down the stretch of this game. We'll get into that. But how about the fact when we're mentioning television shows coming back for another season. I mean, it's been about five years since Minshew Mania. They finally pull the plug on Jacoby Brissett, who was struggling in this game, 10 for 23 for 119 yards with an interception.

There's all sorts of injuries like Jeremiah Love and Bam Knight and we'll get into other ones for the Cardinals. And yet you bring in Minshew and he throws three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. It's a miracle comeback from 24 to 10 down.

It's one in which the Cardinals, I know business being close to winning this game. But like a new spin on Dexter, Gardner Minshew comes in and he keeps, he captivates the whole world.

He wakes up the offense and somehow kills the Cowboys.

It scares you a little bit.

We don't know if that's actually justice served or not. That's a big morality question we want to answer here.

You put the.

Quarterback in and suddenly your running game unlocks. Tyler Algier is actually the star of this game. In the third quarter, he goes bananas. 63-yard touchdown run. Rumbling, bumbling through a number of different guys. Then he's got this run right here if you're watching on YouTube. That's Yalte Frohold getting out in front, putting Caleb Jones on the ground twice.

That is outrageous. Tumbling down the field. That's the block of the year. Like a runaway wheel of cheese. One of those races over in Europe.

You know they do that? Yeah.

That's the block of the year. It's the effort of the year. And Algier makes that a 50 plus yard run, right? That's fantastic. Continue watching it. Please do. Yeah, there's another big one. I did it about 10 times. There's another one. Oh my God.

Oh my God.

It was in the moment. I stood up out of my chair. You guys couldn't hear me. We're too far down the room. And it just went, Oh, Oh, because that's how good of a play it was. And that was the tone that it was set for the Cardinals in this comeback. Algier leading the way, working so hard because Jeremiah loves out, do another ankle injury. Bam Knight gets hit in the head, you know, concussion, out for the game.

They have one running back. His name is Tyler Algier.

He's going to the sideline and getting oxygen, you know, mask because he can't breathe because he's working his tail off, carrying this entire offense. And then you have Minshew going 17 to 23 for 188, three touchdown passes.

They get the ball back.

With less than two minutes to go, they go 80 yards and eight plays in a minute and three seconds. And it's the Michael Wilson drive of his career. Three big catches, including a touchdown. That's what set up overtime.

Yes.

And Michael Wilson said after the game, you just never know because earlier in the game, you know, he was struggling with an injury. He had, I think, a drop in this game. And he was saying, man, this is not my game. I'm really fighting through it. Kendrick Bourne also left in this game, so it was all up to Wilson. But he made some gutsy catches. Finishes 8 for 111 and a touchdown. I said I've enjoyed watching him and McBride in tough situations. McBride goes 7 for 72.

And yeah, Algier somehow gets almost to 200 yards from scrimmage on only 16 touches. 11 carries, 5 catches, but he gets to 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. And so. That's the Cowboys defense completely collapsing down the stretch. And I think they're going to get a lot of the heat because, you know, the other team gets the ball down to touchdowns with under four minutes to go. And they send it to overtime. It's absolutely outrageous. And that's after the Cowboys did get a field goal. But in the final 34 plays that the Cowboys ran, including overtime, shook.

They gained 27 yards. So the offense has to wear this equally. You watched it closely. What happened with the offense in this game? Because ultimately, they ran 72 plays. They did not get to 300 yards in this game. That is shocking against this Cardinals defense.

You know what?

What unlocked the offense against the Eagles last week was being able to run the football and getting some explosives in the ground.

They never got any.

Even their first touchdown they scored, Javante Williams gets it knocked out of his grasp, and it fumbles it into the end zone, and the Cowboys are lucky to recover. That's kind of what they were dealing with all day. No generation of the rushing attack.

On the ground.

So then you've got to go back to what you were doing in previous weeks, which is, all right, drop Dak back, try to complete some passes. They had some opportunities. They had some penalties that kind of set them back as well. They could never just really find a rhythm. And so when you got to halftime of this game and you saw that it was 14-3, it felt like this could be a 28-3 game if they could actually.

Get any consistency offensively.

They didn't.

They went back to the offense that they've been in the weeks prior to last week. And that is why it's so concerning because then you pair that with that defense and that breakdown.

And this is the results you get.

It's just catastrophe at the wrong times too. For the Cowboys.

You mentioned the start, stop, start, stop with their offense so far, particularly the run game so far this year, their defense. I mean, just when you think that maybe they're starting to put it together a little bit more huge breakdowns in every which way. you know, Caleb Downs is getting taunted by Trey McBride on the sideline. Who's like, you're a first round pick. And, and you're looking at the end of this game. And literally I pointed this out to you in the studio, Greg, like Joey Porter jr.

Is trying to call a timeout.

Before the last play that, that touchdown was, At the very end of the game with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Cardinals down 24 to 30 at that point.

Dallas, I believe, has a timeout left. Joey Porter Jr.

Is trying to call a timeout, does not like the look, wants to get into a different call defensively.

And it's no luck because the play is already going.

They see it and they get the snap off quickly. It is it's just catastrophe at the wrong times.

A minute and five was on the clock. when the Cardinals started this drive at their own 20. Didn't have a good.

And what did I say? I said, the worst of two devils is about to emerge.

You said that, and then I thought you were like ahead of me, but there's no way you could have been because I was on the clean feed, as they would call it, and like I had the fastest feed. Because when it got to the Dallas 13 with 27 seconds off, they have no timeouts.

You said.

Oh, like it's you. I think you said something like it's over or they blew it. And I was like, well, they haven't blown it yet, but you knew that they were going to, to go down the field that quickly with no timeouts is, is a crime. These two teams are three and five. The Cardinals are one win away from already going over there over under wind total for the season. And they have really shown something under Mike Lafleur.

Whereas the, the Dallas Cowboys cannot handle success to, to have the opportunity that they have in this division, man, giants fans were enjoying watching this game. They fall to three and five. Let's talk about another messy division, by the way, it's the messy, like the messy NFC East. That doesn't seem fun to me. It just seems heavy and lame.

And you know what?

The giants will tell you like, Hey, we're a good team. We have a winning record. What about us? You're right. There are no such winning records in the NFC South.

Dijon Robinson alone back in the backfield. And they'll play action. Throw the slam.

Picked off.

Alexi is loading.

At the 40-yard line. Breaks the tackle. Across the 35.

And the Buccaneers for the sixth straight game come up with a turnover.

This one early.

Good call.

Of the captain.

The Bucs will rush four.

Penix drops the pass, throws, picked.

Off by Anzalone again at the 30 yard line.

He gets inside the 20 and down to the 19.

Alex Anzalone does it again.

His second pick here in the first 10 minutes.

Of the ball game.

Here comes the blitz, Penix backpedals to the flag, throws over the middle.

And it's picked off again!

Jacob Parrish with the interception in his own 16 yard line!

This is starting to feel mean, I have regrets. The NFL's leader in passes to face comes up with turnover number three!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry for that man.

Now he throws up the right side, and.

Picked off again!

Zion McCollum with the fourth interception today for the Buccaneers defense!

Four takeaways last week.

Four takeaways this week. And the shutout is intact with 13.29 to go.

We could come up with some sort of genetic technology where we extend my life, all of our lives.

I hope so.

I get like an extra hundred years, let's say. No, let's not get crazy. We're doing NFL Daily until about 2150. There will not be another game in those extra hundred and some odd years.

There it is.

Like this one.

Where.

Michael Pettis throws four interceptions, eight completions in a driving rainstorm, 16 to nothing. The Buccaneers win without a single completion. That's the first time that's happened in the NFL, getting a win since 1974. Oh, but wait, there's more. They actually had negative passing yards because Baker Mayfield dropped back to pass four times, went 0 for 3, and was sacked, and none of it mattered because the Buccaneers.

Baker ball. Keep song rolling, baby!

This is the new Baker ball. You just hand the ball off 56 times for 324 yards, and the Buccaneers are.

Back, baby.

Yeah, so you guys, your math is mathing. That does indeed mean that Michael Penix threw more interceptions than Baker Mayfield had.

True pass attempts.

So yes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a niche type of history on Sunday. Bucky Irving rushed for 170 yards in a touchdown. Kenny Gainwell rushed for 140 yards in an absolute hellscape of a downpour. That was the kind of rain that gets so deep inside your body. It makes your molecules damp. Guys, a question for you. Bucky Irving now has 728 rushing yards.

On the season.

Can you name the NFL teams by which Bucky Irving solely is outpacing on the ground?

Cincinnati Bengals.

Yes, that is one. And I'll just name them.

The Tennessee Titans. No, Pollard recently, no.

It's the Panthers, the Raiders, the Eagles, the Saints, the Texans, the Bengals, and the Green Bay Packers. His rushing total is more than those teams combined. Rushing total on the season as of this taping.

Bucky MF-ing Irving has been a.

Lay him down!

Badass. My favorite... item from this game because I was like, I wonder what next gen stats insights is going to have for this game. Sometimes it feels a little.

Rain and mud.

And they somehow came up with a Jacob Parrish when I was like, how is that even possible? Jacob Parrish did not allow a reception on either of his two targets against Drake London. I was like, I love that the passing game is being highlighted here. The cornerbacks and Jacob Parrish might be looking at an all pro. The Buccaneers also called a running play on 90 percent of the plays. No surprise, that is the highest since 2021, second highest in the NGS era. And it was working to take something real out of this game because I know the last two Buccaneers games feel like they were played in a different sport. They have dominated two division opponents in different ways, but specifically on the ground, the

physical battle back-to-back weeks.

It's going to probably get a little overlooked in all of this.

Not on this show, but in all of this that It is a complete effort minus the passing game, obviously, with Baker still recovering from the hand issue. The Bucks defense basically said, we are going to stop the run and bottle up Bajon Robinson and make you pass the ball in a downpour.

And it did not work.

I mean, it worked for the Bucks defense who came into this game, a top five rushing defense and a top five performing like a top five defense overall.

Jacob Parrish was outstanding. He was a.

Real problem in so many phases for this team today. They are playing such great football today. And you cannot be dimensional against this team right now. And in turn, Bucky Irving's first touchdown is worth watching. Again, another team effort. Everyone in the stadium knows the ball is coming to him.

He gets a couple of pullers and it's a beautiful mud bowl football game.

Tristan Wirfs back into the ball game at left tackle. Snapped to Mayfield.

Hand off Bucky Irving.

Look at their jerseys.

Contact at the four. Keeps the legs turning. He's across the goal line. Touchdown, Tampa Bay. A career day for Bucky Irving.

I love a little quantity and quality. They somehow ran it. Do you need a minute? Oh, it's just so good, man. They somehow ran it 56 times and they still had like an above average success rate, 43%, way bigger than the Falcons. I want to give Tony Castricone done WFUS a hand here because he gave us a lot of calls for this game, the four Pennix interceptions and that touchdown.

There's just something that when you play a mud bowl like this one in the driving rain, It goes like this. You get out there, it's raining, you get wet, you get lathered up and ready to go, right? And you're like, all right, this is the environment that we're playing in. Then the cleats start going and the grass starts getting torn up and you start getting muddy and everybody's slipping and falling. And then there comes a point about the third or fourth quarter where you're caked in mud and everybody else is around you and you just embrace that this is your new reality. And now that's when football is at its purest form and then runs like that.

Yeah. I, I normally am not like a, Oh, the weather person outside of extreme scenarios.

This was an extreme scenario.

They were so soaked by like halfway through the first quarter that the kicker's Jersey was like, like slapping against his body.

It was horrifying.

So the thing that was concerning to me about Michael Penix and yes, downpour site, when the weather cleared up a little bit, the end of the game still wasn't making some of the layup throws, um, to the flat. There was a second and 10 that he missed a third and 10 that sales, uh, long for Drake London on the sideline. He should have had at least six interceptions.

Jacob Parrish should have had two more interceptions. And obviously, Alex Anzalone was a real factor in this game with two interceptions early on.

He's been getting killed. Our friend John Ledyard called him the worst starting player in the entire NFL. And I was like, whoa, that's harsh. But he watches him every week. So a nice game for him. And yeah, Jahan Dotson had two long catches from Penix, but otherwise Penix goes eight for 24 and no other receiver goes Over 10 yards.

And the scenario that I laid out to start this week that all the Buccaneers needed was the Panthers to lose on the road in Green Bay and to win this game. and that they were in the driver's seat in the NFC South despite starting the season 1-5. It happened. They're 3-5. They have wins over the Falcons and the Panthers.

Don't get too carried away. This is Todd Bowles playing in division.

Oh, yes.

It's still.

This is where he butters his bread.

That's all he's going to need to do is go... If he goes 6-0 or 5-1 in the division, they will win the division.

And right now.

I'd say they're the slight favorites. Don't assume too much in the NFC South, but I would say they're the favorites in a better spot than they were certainly a few weeks ago. So that's one division which seems wide open. Let's go to another one, the AFC South, where the Jaguars, I mean, just give them the AFC South title right now.

From the 25, closing seconds of the quarter. Pump fake. They throw a screen to the right. Try to special.

Tootin'. 20, 15, 10, 5.

Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.

A 25-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence.

A special tootin' in the Jags have extended the lead.

Say it with me.

Tootin' Hive.

Tootin' Hive. The Tootin' Hive was out. It was ferocious. And it enjoyed... A couple touchdowns, one through the air, as you just saw, and one on the ground where he ran over a couple defenders. It was so hard to pick which highlight, but that was the one that gave the Jaguars a 40-burger, 42-7. They beat the Colts 28-0 at halftime in this game. Look, anyone can beat the Colts right now, but not anyone can do it in such style. Tootin' was scootin'. Tootin' was incredible. I had such a hard time choosing which highlight of the four first half touchdowns to go with that I asked our great crew, including Dan, who's the VO King. to make just a little video. So if you are watching us on YouTube, you can check out all four. And

they each tell a story. The first touchdown is a wide open throw to Brian Thomas Jr., which is noteworthy because the very play before it was also a wide open potential touchdown for Jacoby Myers. It was the worst throw Trevor Lawrence made on a day where he was awesome, 10 for 14. The second touchdown was a great play, a great play call, a tight end leak for Nate Borkercher, where he gets out open. But I really thought Trevor Lawrence, despite the score, was under a lot of pressure in this game. I thought the Colts front played pretty well overall in terms of their pass rush, but he made big plays. Then there was also the toot and run.

He goes over 100 yards on the ground, but it's not just him, Chris Rodgers. also had a really nice rushing touchdown, so it's been a really good one-two punch, and they controlled the game on the ground. Wasn't as consistent, actually, as you would like. The Colts... had a way higher design success rate. As much of a blowout as this was, it wasn't quite as much as the score indicates, but the first half ended with a pick six. When it rains, it pours. It wasn't even a bad throw by Daniel Jones.

He's just out there trying to live his life. Tyler Warren drops a pass, and it's returned by Rayon Lane, who was awesome in this game. He made the game-winning tackle in that Bengals game, but he was all over the field. They really found themselves a player. They have a secondary... That isn't great at every spot right now, but man, Travis Hunter's playing well and Lane is playing well.

And overall, it's just two teams heading in opposite directions. Daniel Jones finally got the mercy benching in this game. Anthony Richardson comes on for the fourth quarter. Now, so did Quinn Ewers because it was so one-sided. But after the game shook, Daniel Jones was not... awarded the starting quarterback job for next week, just out of habit by Shane Steichen. We'll see. Like I say, the rule is not about the Sunday after the game, but Shane Steichen did say, we'll look at everything, which generally means a change is coming. Maybe with some time to think about it, he'll look at the tape and decide to go with Daniel Jones instead of Richardson. It's not all on Daniel Jones.

Their offensive line was Horrible. The defense is horrible, but that's just how it goes.

I mean, this is a team that hasn't won a football game since the beginning of October. Everything is on the table right now in terms of changes. You've already fired your GM. You've traded away two of your most notable players. More to come, probably. Jonathan Taylor, those rumors are going to persist until we get past the deadline.

Josh Downs. Yeah, Josh Downs, who caught a touchdown in this game. He was a pro.

He was asked to be a pro this week after requesting a trade, and he was indeed a pro.

Sure.

He was wide open. It was a good play call. Jonathan Taylor, who had a very regrettable fumble. They call a trick play. which called for Jonathan Taylor to pass the ball to Josh Downs, who was going to reverse it and throw it back to Daniel Jones. And Jonathan Taylor just starts tripping. And it's one of those where you just got to give up on the play and fall.

And while he's tripping, he just sort of throws like a fastball, like a pitcher over to first base that Josh Downs had kind of had no chance to get. And the Jaguars recover. It's tough to watch. And you saw Jonathan Taylor at the end of the game kind of having this conversation with some teammates, almost like, yeah, this is it. And after the game, he was like, look, this is on me, too. I need to play better.

He didn't have like he had a great run on the first play of the game. But ultimately, they're just not relevant this season. And they have so many more games to play. Yeah, this is the first time this season, though, in which they were just flat out uncompetitive.

Allow me to just very kindly point out that the James Gladstone draft picks are looking pretty solid.

Oh, yeah.

Very good.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, Bork Urcher, who's really made an impact in terms of the running game.

Rayon's a six-round pick from last year. Basial Tootin, Chris Rodriguez was a Liam Cohen guy.

Chris Rodriguez was a free agent pickup from Washington. But that was a great signing for, like, no money that no one really saw coming. And you're right. The pickups have all worked.

And.

I think there's some offensive line questions for the Jaguars that'll be answered in different games. Like I said, I mean, Lawrence threw 14 passes for 210 yards. It was just an outrageous game. Trayvon Walker had a great sack early. I've been looking for him to kind of bend the edge, and he was able to do that. Some stats before we leave, though, that are just outrageous. The Jaguars are 11-1 in Jacksonville under Liam Cohen.

Hmm.

They have won seven straight games in Jacksonville by at least 17 points. They are winning by an average in that seven-game home winning streak. It's only regular season. Everyone's like, well, what about that playoff loss? Okay, it's only regular season. They're winning by an average of 28 points per game.

Yeah, because I'm thinking they started the year against the Browns in a blowout. They blew out the Patriots there. They blew out the Colts there today. The number had to be high.

I have a bummer. That place will be under construction for.

So long soon. I know. Well, it's already they already don't, you know, fill the top. And I've been you know, I don't blame them. It's a tough situation. But there's been a lot of empty seats, even in the ticketed areas in Jacksonville. This year was a bad weather game like you wouldn't have known it by the score, but it was raining here. And it was one of those where a lot of the Jaguars fans just left early because they were ahead by so much. It was just like, we don't need to see the rest of this. That's what you've done to us. And now we get the Jaguars on Thursday night football, potentially against a third string Ravens team. Great job by the Jaguars, five and two leading that division by a lot. Let's take a break.

And when we come back on the other side, we will hear the battle of Los Angeles. We will also hear from our next gen stats analyst. Keegan Abdullam.

Tyra in the back. Three receivers and Davis Allen the tight end. Puka in motion out the left side.

Play fix.

Set up the screen left side. Puka the catch at the 20.

Untouched 15 to the 10.

Cuts inside.

Bounces off a hit and punches it in.

Touchdown Puka Nakua.

Touchdown LA.

In his 50th regular season game as a pro, Puka keeps making history.

Puka Nakua. Caps, an effective sequence here. At the end of the first half, the middle eight for the Rams, and then into the third quarter, this is a team in Los Angeles that doesn't put together complete games, but they're putting together enough to win at least against the moribund chargers 24 to 9 the rams are four and four after beating their crosstown rivals i mentioned keegan abdu was coming on the show took a little while for the rams to get going but they did just enough in this.

One yeah taking a little while was a little bit of an understatement they didn't have a first down until that last drive of the first half So, yeah, the first five drives, they had 15 plays.

For 24 yards.

Including an interception.

Including an interception. What?

Somehow they got a field goal.

They did get a field goal because Justin Herbert threw one of the worst picks you'll see all year. But they started getting going in the second half. They were down Colby Parkinson, so they couldn't live necessarily. in the heavier personnel groupings that we've been known to see Sean McVay embrace over the past couple of years. But second half, they got the running game going. They got Blake Corum going on some duo and man blocking runs and really able to pull away. Stafford today was kind of afraid of this Chargers pass rush. He was getting rid of the ball super quickly. And they were able to get to him early. Thule, Thule Piatu totally mangled that one.

Thule Pelotu, maybe an ex-Chargers soon enough.

Yeah, seriously.

He had a strong start to the game, but last 15 dropbacks, Stafford was just pressured one time, and that really just allowed them to get the ball moving down the field. And the other side of the ball, the Chargers. They haven't scored a touchdown in 27 drives.

Ooh.

Wow, that is outrageous. And obviously Herbert's going to get a lot of the attention as he should. But also this is a Mike McDaniel, Jim Harbaugh running game that they wanted to be their identity. And, you know, you're playing a run defense that's like not known for you know, that being like one of the best in the league and you have an 18% success rate, a Marion Hampton's not getting it done.

Come on.

He Vidal is not getting it done. None of them are getting it done. What did you bad business? Yeah. What did you see out of the Rams defense in this game? That gives you some encouragement with the report that, you know, Miles Garrett coming back potentially for practice this week.

Yeah, I think for the defense, one, I mean, it's the Chargers, so you should get pressure, but they did get a ton of pressure on Herbert. He was able to make some actually some great plays under pressure. It was more his clean pocket performance.

That's most concerning.

But, you know, one thing, one area where the Rams really stood out, and this is kind of their third down defense in general, but in dime defense, they allowed less than two yards of play today. And they kind of had been bullied a little bit in the past couple of games when they went dime.

Chargers just don't have the bodies to really force them.

Bully anyone.

You know, getting an 18% rushing success rate when the defense is going to go that way is pretty tough.

The thing that confused me and continues to confuse me about the Rams is how flat they start these games and how little life they come out with on offense. And they kind of go back to the same like watering hole, despite the fact that it didn't work the last time or the last time.

Or the time before that or the time before that.

I think they had like, they opened with like four carries and they were, Matty's half were just throwing and throwing and throwing and throwing, was not comfortable.

In the first half.

In the first half and was not comfortable.

And the thing that worked for them so well last week against the Raiders was establishing the run early and just riding that the entire game behind a surging Blake Coram, first of all, and then Kyron Williams as, as a compliment, also a compliment in the past game. And they did not start this game out that way at all. So I am confused by that. Um, they also had four special teamers active. three of which were not on the roster a week ago. Josh Carty was back kicking dirty balls because they don't know how to do a kickoff.

So they're really digging into that.

Like they won, but it's one of those where you really expect them to win a game like this.

Yeah.

And the flat starts are overly concerning to me still.

Yeah.

I would say, you know, and the passing game, they just have no real threats right now. Like even Puka right now, I think he's still struggling with the injury. Look at his speed numbers the past couple of games and his bursts is some of the lowest of his career. They were basically just manufacturing touches for Puka today. I mean, he's had 24 snaps in motion at the snap. which is the highest rate of his career. And he was targeted seven of his 10 routes where he was ocean. Um, and that's kind of been the, uh, their whole game plan for him this season. He leads the NFL and targets routes, yards, receptions on that. That's how they're getting him the ball. And that's how they're getting the ball

to their best playmaker in the passing game. But otherwise, you know, no one else is really stepping up.

Right.

It's he had 12 targets, 11 catches for 80 yards, all this short stuff to, to did have a couple of deeper throws. Um, in this game, but if that's all you're getting, it's station to station, but they have this little part of the schedule. A lot of games where they're favored and trying to figure things out. Jalen Watson, who I think was important in that dime defense and has been good for them left with an injury. Trent McDuffie came back from an injury, had an interception, got banged up at one point, but I do think he finished out the game.

And got hit by a Marion Hampton's knee.

Hmm.

Not what you want.

Yeah.

It's a big knee.

It's a very big one.

They get to four and four in a loaded division. So they're in the mix, but they haven't been convincing. And as we sit here on November 1st and like these games just keep getting more important and we're just getting used to it. There's still part of me that's like, I can't believe the Chargers, the worst team in the NFL, but they are the worst team in the NFL. They're the worst team in the NFL and they haven't won a game.

Not only are they the worst team in the NFL, they're the first team to win 11 games in the year before and start 0-7.

That is something has to change at some point here. Somebody's job is going to be gone.

Something will change at some point. But yeah, they are not the worst team in a league that includes a team that was like openly not prioritizing wins this year. It's the Feisty Dolphins, who once again looked quite good. For about one half. I'll give them to you. They looked more like the weak one through six Dolphins were really frisky for about one half and then fell apart against the Patriots. Let's go down to Miami.

Meanwhile, an overload left. Tisland out there as well, good blocker.

Stevenson behind May to his left.

Snap to Drake, fakes the out.

Woo!

A leap across the goal.

Line, touchdown New England, and the Patriots take the lead.

Sassy.

That was sexy.

That wasn't you that said that?

That was Scott Zolak.

What?

I thought that was you that said that.

That was a sexy play fake. You did see the basketball, Drake May, come out in that play. He even did a little, after the spike, he did a little finger roll in terms of the celebration. Drake May gets it done on the ground in a game where he was under a lot of pressure, literally and figuratively, because they were down 13-3 at halftime in a rainstorm in Miami, and he.

Entered the game without his top three wide receivers.

A.J.

Brown was down for this game. His knee injury has popped up again. And then you figure, OK, a lot of the game plan is going to be around the running game. No Travion Henderson and around Hunter Henry, who leaves very quickly with a foot injury. And you're down to Efton Chisholm and Demario Douglas and Kyle Williams. And it's a low possession game and the Dolphins offense is is putting pressure on you by holding on to the ball, at least at the end of the first half of the long drive. Suddenly, it's 13-3 at halftime, which is why, you know, them winning 24-19, I think, considering the circumstances, was impressive out of May because... Jordan, he's doing what we asked in the first part of the season, which

was essentially like if he had made one mistake, big mistake in this game, they would have lost the game. But instead, in the second half, he did what he can do so well, which is have huge plays. He did start finally getting protected. They go for a couple of fourth downs. He hits a long throw to Kyle Williams, who goes one for forty three for a touchdown. He hits a long touchdown to DeMario Douglas. And then they have that drive, which is capped there. And it's like just enough big plays to get out of there with the victory.

Well, I know this sounds a little woo woo, but like it's the confidence. That's what confidence can do for you. And just like like flushing all that other stuff that was so bad that just compounded. You could hear him early in the season talking about how much he was in his own head, how he's the one who is forcing the ball when he didn't need to, how he's the.

One trying to do these things that he didn't necessarily need to do.

When I see that finger roll and the little Hesi step like that is absolutely confidence of a guy who knows that he's going to protect the football. that he's not going to make the boneheaded decision at the worst possible time.

He sort of has flushed that.

And it was great. And look, the big plays from the second half from May were awesome. And, you know, he did have a lot of time. He was holding on to the ball a lot in the first half, but wasn't able to step up. It was like either he was confused by the coverages that he was seeing, or just the offensive line wasn't holding up long enough.

The Dolphins had a really good defensive plan. They only blitz 14% of the time, and yet they got pressure on nearly half their snaps. Chop Robinson was absolutely killing the Patriots tackles. They made a change in terms of benching one of their guards during the game. It was not a good running game by them in general. And I thought the Patriots offense was like a little frazzled.

And they also really did a good job, like the Patriots defense did, preventing Drake May from running. And I think the Patriots prevented Malik Willis from running. So again, it was kind of a game where they managed to get out of there. And yet, I think there are many concerning signs there Injury-wise for this Patriots team, which is like spackling it together, but I think against better competition like we saw against the Bears, it's going to show up more.

They've had 11 different offensive line combinations played over 10 snaps.

That's more than even the Packers. Yeah.

It is outrageous.

Man, have we heard a lot about the Packers offensive line company.

Right.

And I think May is making it work. And Ramondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner had some good runs that weren't blocked that well today. I do want to give the Dolphins some credit. You mentioned Chop Robinson played really well. I thought the first half Malik Willis was giving you exactly what you wanted out of Malik Willis, which was taking what the defense was giving them. They were running the ball okay. They did have some three and outs early offensively. But in the second half, it was kind of a mature performance by the Patriots defense because they actually go three and out to start the second half.

But the Patriots defense was all over Miami. And, you know, the players afterwards saying Vrabel read them the riot act. And I think Vrabel had a couple challenges in this game. One that overturned a touchdown was one of the worst. calls on the field. Kyle Williams kind of clearly scores, but then fumbles it like three yards into the end zone, but also had a clear overturn on a first down call for DeMario Douglas. And so Vrabel, I think, had a good second half pushing the right buttons, going for it on fourth down because he didn't trust his kicker who missed an easy kick.

I am not at all surprised that he read them the right back at halftime because he looked so angry on the sideline, just so irritated, rolling his eyes every two seconds, his hair soaking wet.

Does he never not look angry or irritated.

On the sideline? It's true.

I know.

This is especially irritating for Vrabel, though. Why did he look so wet when both him and Halfley don't have hats on and Halfley didn't look wet?

Well, that all changed within the last five minutes because it really did start to pour.

Yeah, it was wet the whole game. The press grouping was actually offered.

I think it's a gel brand, maybe.

Maybe that's it.

Maybe it is. The press was actually given free dry socks and towels because it was such a deluge before this game. Shout out to the Miami PR staff for giving out socks in towels in this game.

Did they do that in Tampa Bay?

They should have. They should have. See, Miami one-upping Tampa Bay there. You know what will never be one-upped is the sound quality on the doink in this game that Eric just had to put into the show so that can be a future drop. Potentially the loudest doink of all time.

Uh-oh.

It'll be a 52-yard attempt for Gonzalez.

3-3 here in the first half. Not normally a play that would make the highlight show. We got Catalan on here too, which means the reaction is going to be.

Tough this year.

It is Andrew Catalan on CBS.

From beyond 50 yards.

Big build up here.

Better be worth it.

Gonzalez.

It's the Mothman.

It's a cryptid.

It's a cryptid in Miami Gardens. Let's hear that again from Catalan. Massive doink in Miami.

I love that. Great call by Andrew Catalan.

And I hosting, by.

The way, by you, Greg, because we all of our reaction was so audible that we talked over.

We stepped on Catalan. But don't worry, Eric, we'll be using that for a massive doink in Miami. The sound was intense. Great job by the technology. Just putting those mics on the.

Ouch.

On the.

What do you call them? Why am I blanking?

The uprights, the stanchions, the crossbar.

Couldn't spike the football, unlike Drake May there. Let's get to, I was looking forward to Kirk Cousins, Gino Smith. I'm like, we're not going to get to see guys like this back and forth too often. And you know what? They gave us one of the shootouts of the day. As McNamara lines the line drive kick.

Right to Lauby, who's standing waiting for it at the five.

Coming up the near numbers 20.

Angles outside, gets a block 30.

Down the sideline, Lauby!

To midfield there he goes to the 20 10 and.

That is the first time in 15 years.

The Raiders have a kickoff return for a touchdown.

95 yards.

Dynamic.

Oh, great call by Jason Horowitz. Put that on the calls of the year. I love the fact that he's got that in his pocket, that it's been 15 years as it's happening. Broke that duck. Also, the first time this season that anyone's returned a kick for a touchdown. So when that happens, we put it into the show.

It was a great offensive game. Really by both quarterbacks.

Yeah.

And yet, it's a special teams play that makes the highlight here in a 38-33 comeback victory for the Las Vegas Raiders. I've been trying to avoid learning too much about this game, Keegan, because I just want to go home and watch it tonight. But the stats are beautiful for the quarterbacks. And the final score was beautiful. How was it?

It was.

I mean, you're going to.

Really enjoy the tape for both Kirk and Gino. They were balling out today. Gino downfield was very impressive.

He was airing it out.

He threw 20 passes over 10 area yards, completing.

12 of them for 251 yards and two touchdowns.

A.D.

Mitchell had six of those receptions downfield.

He had multiple times where he was just anticipating him. On an outbreaker on Eric Stokes, trusting him to win. He actually had targeted four of six times. He was on an out route, caught all four for 66 yards. Could have had an even bigger day, underthrew a little bit of a post to AD Mitchell there. And then single high coverages. He was 11-13 for 173 and two touchdowns.

Gino had maybe his best day of the year. And then on the other side, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Glenn decided to get back to the old Aaron Glenn and play man coverage 63% of the time. That one didn't work out. Cousins against man coverage.

Was 11-16 for 131 and all three of his touchdowns. Amazing.

The only thing that the Jets could do defensively to stop this Raiders offense was to blitz. Nine pressures on 12 blitzes, but when they didn't blitz, Cousins 13-14, 151.

It's a game that's like so many of these Jets games this year where the Jets probably... Should have won. They outgained the Raiders by 100 yards, but you give up the special teams touchdown. Even though you lose the turnover battle, you have Gino in desperation mode at the end, throws an interception, just trying to go deep down five late.

You're not going to kill him for that. But yeah, Brock Bowers versus man coverage is not going to work. He gets seven catches, gets a couple of touchdowns. And very interestingly, Ashton Gentry was benched in this game, basically used as a third down back. Clint Kubiak... was not saying that it was because he talked trash about the Jets, which is how a lot of people interpreted this. He said that's, you know, between me and Ashton, I think they just made a change.

Is it perchance because Mike Washington was running the ball better?

Yeah, baby.

Like, I mean, we all have eyes.

Like, yeah, of course, you know, S talking the Jets defense right before you play them when you haven't exactly broken a lot of tackles this season yet. is probably not the best way to go. And I'm sure he wants that back. Maybe he wants that back.

I don't know.

They probably talked about it internally, but. Ashton Janty was not creating well anyway.

And so getting him involved in the passing game, to me, is always the smartest thing to do. You get him in space and get him in these mismatches that Clint Kubiak is really good at doing.

Man, can he be explosive and effective.

And Mike Washington, while I know he didn't have the sexiest day, overall has been the better of the two at pure rushing.

Yes, they weren't that effective running the ball today either. He was 3.3 yards per carry. Design success rate was okay for them, but the Jets were much better. The Jets... scored on their first six drives. I believe it was.

Field goal, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown.

And I think, yeah, Rich Cimini had it. That's only the second team since 2019 to score on their first six drives and not win the game. And ultimately, yeah, you got to kill... Aaron Glenn's defense. But Kirk did it again. Three touchdowns, including this go-ahead score to Jalen Naylor.

Back into the mix.

Three receivers split out right. They move Tucker's slot. Snap.

He's going to throw. Cousins, clean pocket to the back of the end zone.

Naylor!

Touchdown, Raiders!

He hopped in front of Thomas!

Jalen Naylor's first Raiders touchdown puts them in front.

34-30 with 11-33 to go in the game.

Two former Vikings connecting. That looked like Kirk Cousins, vintage Kirk Cousins, and vintage Jalen Naylor.

There you go.

I love vintage Jalen Naylor.

35-year-old Kirk Cousins, vintage Kirk Cousins.

Vintage Jalen Naylor is the best part about that game.

That doesn't exist.

That's like a barefoot wine vintage.

Oh, my God. That's amazing. Naylor has been pretty quiet for a big offseason acquisition, so maybe that's what he's getting at. Look, they used the too tight end. I think it was a consequential end of this game. You do wonder if they had lost this game, if they would have thought about trading Kirk Cousins if teams were coming to call, because I think there's been speculation that...

Cousins would be a very attractive piece for a couple teams out there, maybe like one of his former teams in Minnesota. But now you're 4-4, so it would be awkward. You know, the Giants once benched Kurt Warner with a winning record for Eli Manning, which went horribly at the time, but long-term it looked okay.

Yeah, Kurt Cousins. How about let's give Kurt Cousins some flowers.

This Raiders offense has scored their most points through the first seven games since 2002.

Wow. Rich Gannon, baby.

Rich Gannon. Kirk's been playing great. Quarterback Island.

It's really the defense that has just completely fallen apart.

They had a promising start to the season.

Since week four, they rank dead last in success rate allowed, dead last in explosive play rate allowed. They've allowed three times as much EPA per play as the next closest team. They can't get pressure. And when they do get pressure, It's super late. This defense is just completely falling apart. Clay Walker was just chasing the cheese on so many of those big Braylon Allen runs today.

It's good for us. Yeah.

And Eric Stokes also just had a huge target on his back. Targeted 11 times today. including seven times in 11 matches versus A.D.

Mitchell.

Hey, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

They're coming back down to what they look like on paper coming into the season.

Come on, no Mrs. Lincoln pop, Jordan? You know, you get on me for not giving you any.

That's fantastic.

It just goes right into something else.

I've been taught by you to not react at all.

To any comments. This is an all-time one-liner show. Yeah, look, they've fallen apart defensively, and yet, when you start out 3-0, it gives you some wiggle room. You suddenly get a comeback win against the Jets, who fall to 2-6, and you're at 4-4, and the division is not that far away, and you at least are playing relevant games, so we'll see.

I got one question.

At what point do the Jets just take full stock of everything going on and consider massive changes?

There's too many games like this.

Well, here's the thing. They came into this season with Aaron Glenn already... I think likely to be fired barring a surprising season. So I think we're still there. I don't see the reason to change. Now there might be some pieces there that are tradable. They're obviously not going to make the playoffs this year, but I think they're longer term plan. They've got these three first round picks and Muji, like not much has changed. And, and you've had some nice stories right now with the way that the, yes, they're playing and, Good point. And the Cowboys losing and the Colts losing. It's incredible. The Jets picks where they're at right now. And Braylon Allen playing well. Maybe that makes Brees Hall available.

That's what frustrates me is they waste Braylon Allen great games one after another.

But Brees Hall also isn't healthy. I don't think Garrett Wilson would go anywhere. What's the point of having a team unless you keep your good young core players?

Okay.

That was Keegan's part of the show. We will wave goodbye. He did it once again, just like he did on that Monday night recap. Appreciate you stepping in for that one.

You did a great job.

No one needs you to stay around for Sunday night. Cause even though, you know, I know, Greg's getting a.

Little uncomfortable because you guys did such a good job.

Yeah, it was too good. It was too good.

He was a little.

I'm just saying we don't need four people.

We don't need to talk about.

Commanders and Eagles. A little Montana Steve Young thing going on here?

No, we'll see.

Okay, let's get to Sunday Night Football before they take my job. Here's the last gasp.

2.28 to go.

Fourth and 25 for the Eagles from their own 28-yard line.

Snap through the key. Steps back.

Lobs one up.

Three jerseys. That one is picked off.

Picked off by Rasul Douglas running down the sideline at the 40 and out of bounds at the 35-yard line.

An interception for Douglas and the Commanders are going to.

Seal this one.

That's right, they did. Bram Weinstein, our buddy on WBIG, has the call. An interception, which leads to a touchdown and a two-point conversion for the Commanders. 27-10 is the final score in a primetime game that happened on paper, as I mentioned during the week. The lowest combined winning percentage of two teams on Sunday Night Football in the history of... the game since it's been on NBC. They decided not to flex out and they were punished by another tepid Eagles offensive performance. Let's give the Commanders some credit here. Down 10-0. They took charge. Scored 27 points. Unanswered.

Got their second victory of the season. They are two games back of the Giants at 2-4-1. At the end of the game, they did the little NBC, you know, analytics. 25% to win the division. They got a chance, Nick Shook. 1% for the Eagles after this loss.

Yeah, they do.

And they, you know, good on the commanders for overcoming a really rough start. You had a missed field goal on your first drive. You punt on the second one, three and out. You fumble on the first play of your third drive. That's about as bad as it can get to start a game. And then they were like, you know what? We're playing the Eagles and Tanner McKee.

Let's just get after the quarterback. We'll claw our way back into this. Remember, we have Jaden Daniels on our team. And they come with a victory running away, 27-10.

I saw going into the game that the Eagles have the highest punt percentage of any offense in seven years, which is crazy. And I think they improved that in this game because they had a fumble and an interception, and that at least helped the situation. Look, if there are takeaways moving forward for Washington, it's that you hope their defense... can be respectable down the stretch. They really struggled early. Sonny Stiles made a couple nice plays. He looked good next to Frankie Luvu in this game. The pass rush got after it. The offensive line just is not right for Philadelphia right now. And then the secondary is more complete with Trey Amos. out there in general.

Stefan Diggs gets a touchdown late in the first half to get them to a 10-10 score, and he makes a big difference. Antonio Williams is the rookie for Washington getting it going. And Jaden Daniels, who started the game, I thought, pretty shaky in the first half. His accuracy was all over the place. Has a couple big plays in the second half. Mostly makes good decisions. Had the deep one to what? Traylon Burks. He had another one to Williams. And they get out of there looking like the vastly superior team to an Eagles team. And that's like what you want to look like. I did have Troy Aikman in my head, though, from the Monday night game where... Like during that Monday night game, he was like that. This doesn't really tell me much about the Cowboys.

Doesn't that too convincing to me how they played and what do they do a week later? So I think when you beat the Eagles right now, it's what you do a week later. But Washington passed this test and they can stay relevant here for another week.

There are some good signs from this. The year after he had the breakout year with the Patriots, he leads them in pressure tonight with seven, including three quick pressures. Really kind of blows up one of those late dropbacks from Tanner McKee as they were putting this game away. It's a group that, like, you know, when they play together, they overachieve. It's not super consistent from one week to the next. In a game like this, you take care of business. This is what you're supposed to do.

They've had so few wins in... with Jaden Daniels, that quarterback, since he suffered that injury early last season, that just anything feels great to them. So, you know, congrats to them. And they get the Rams next week, which, you know, kind of an interesting week nine game of two. relatively disappointing teams and could the commanders pull an upset there?

We'll see. The Eagles are driving me a little crazy. They are the AFC Colts right now because it's just hard to imagine watching this team so many more times. They have the Giants this week. They are on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys.

Oof.

And they are in primetime three straight weeks on a Saturday against the Seahawks in December. I think that's a Fox spot where they can't flex out of that game. They're on Christmas Eve, which technically I think they could flex out of on Thursday night football against the Texans. Could you would they really flex someone into Christmas Eve?

That's a bummer. Maybe that's a Thursday night game. And then Sunday night in week 17 against the 49ers. which could be flexed depending on if it matters. But this team, if they're going to start selling some parts, this game will only convince them to do it more. I don't think it'll be Saquon Barkley. That's the reporting.

No.

Or Zach Bond, like core pieces, but maybe Mauro Ojomo, some guys who are in the last year of their contract. We'll see.

It was nice to see Jalen Carter benefit from Mauro Ojomo kind of blowing up on a stunt and then creating a path for him to get a sack tonight. It's nice to see production from guys like that. But yeah, big picture. It's like, What, what's your core? What is your vision? Do you do a fluid rebuild? How he's done it before?

Yes.

It's a great success, but who is the most important part of your long-term versus your short-term? Can you make some moves? We're getting close to the trade deadline. So it's time for them to get moving if they're going to do it.

Yeah.

They got the giants before their bye week. Uh, Jane Daniels, just, uh, start stacking games. I've been like wanting to be encouraged this week. It's been a little up and down, but ultimately, uh, good victory there by the commanders. this game on Sunday night football, not really supporting my opening thesis. That week eight delivered? That week eight was anything but, you know, because these four games I talked about at the very top of the show that included that Lions victory. We're waiting to see about the injuries there. I just thought they were transformative type of games, you know, forks in the road types of games, but you got to finish stronger than this Sunday night football.

Tomorrow night.

We did well. This is one of the games of the year. Live on YouTube, myself and Jordan Rodrigue after Chicago and Seattle. Jeffrey Simmons matching up against Quentin Nelson. Two teams that could absolutely make the Super Bowl. We will see them.

2026 Week 8 Recap: Lions Hand Vikings First Loss, Lamar Injury, Bengals-Titans Shootout and more

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