GMFB Monday Hour 1: Cardinals Comeback, Vikings Lose, and AFC North

0:04 Good Morning Football is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.

0:21 Good Morning Football.

0:26 This is Good Morning Football presented by Old Trapper Beach.

0:30 That was a soft clap over there. Let's go! We got to pick it up. We got to pick it up.

0:35 I'm Sarah Walsh in for Jamie Erdahl. We got Manti Teo, Sam Macho here in L.A. We got Kyle on the East Coast. And Kyle, we got a Gardner Minshew sighting back at the podium. All is right in the world again, it feels.

0:45 Like, Kyle.

0:46 What a fun time to be alive. Let's get after it. Let's start right now.

0:50 The people want highlights. The people want discussion. We'll give it to them both.

0:53 Start this show with the Dallas Cowboys. No, not the Dallas Cowboys. The Blapen Arizona Cardinals.

0:59 Here we go.

1:00 Dak this, Dak that. All right, Jacoby Brissett's relieved. And there he is.

1:05 Minshew damn mania. It's always fun. God bless him.

1:09 And God bless Tyler Algier. Down 17-3 at the end of the third quarter. He's going to casually bust off the longest run of his career.

1:16 This is a guy who's an angry runner. Big shoulder pads. Forward lean. North-south runner. Always loved him. But this is awesome. 63 yards. Touchdown. Fourth quarter, though. Cowboys still leading 17-10.

1:26 Zach Prescott looking casual.

1:28 No big deal. It's just the Cardinals at home. I'm just going to walk this one in and whoop.

1:32 All right, so the Cowboys completely in control.

1:34 Why are we starting the show with this?

1:36 Cowboys over Cardinals doesn't seem terribly interesting. Still a 10-point lead with nearly two minutes left.

1:41 But wait a second.

1:41 Trey McBride, one of the best football players on the planet Earth, who was on one yesterday, and we'll get into it, with the touchdown, seven catches. Jerry Jones now at his feet. 30 to 24.

1:52 Minshew Mania with 10 seconds left. Touchdown. Touchdown, Michael Wilson. Incredible. Incredible.

1:58 But wait, why are we showing the extra points?

2:01 Because of this? A dead hook.

2:03 For Chad Ryland in the game-winning extra point. Mikey LeFleur is like, this was my signature victory.

2:08 Another one, by the way. We're going OT. That's all we do in 2026. OT. Zach Prescott. Third down.

2:16 He has sacked the Cardinals defense. Josh Sweat. Look at that guy with the Cowboys. Tats can't believe it. So now it's a true sudden death. The Cowboys have already had the ball in overtime. And they give the ball to Michael Wilson, who's going outside.

2:27 Great block from McBride. Extra yardage, 17 yards. Five plays later. Chance for redemption.

2:33 Remember this guy dead hooked the extra points and wouldn't regulation.

2:36 Chad Ryland. Bam into the throat of Jerry World. It's over. 31, rather, 33 to 30. Who cares? Cardinals have more points than the Cowboys.

2:48 Jerry with a likely four-letter word. The Jones boys sitting up there and watching the Mikey LaFleur Gardner Minshew War Machine come into that edifice in Dallas and win. The Cardinals have the same record as the Cowboys.

3:05 Let's go to the quarterbacks. Just keep going.

3:09 You know, it's not like that's, like, first adversity we had on the day. Like, I know it seems like, oh, man, but, like, two or 30, 30, you got a chance to go play these boys in overtime. Let's freaking go.

3:19 You know, sign me up.

3:20 So I think that's how quick can you reset, how quick can you– because I think this is a game that was a total testament to that, you know. Forget what happened before. Forget everything that's happened at this point. Just keep going. Keep giving yourselves a chance. And we had a group of fighters today that was a lot of fun to go with.

3:35 Names don't win games. It's just that.

3:37 So, I mean, I don't think I've ever put a lot on, oh, we've got, you know, we've got some great men in that locker room, men that care, men that do the right thing and try to come out here and give their best each and every game.

3:48 We're just not getting it done.

3:49 That starts with me and goes to any and every guy on this team and coaching staff.

3:53 So, it's the NFL.

3:55 Yeah, names change, names evolve, right? And that's, yeah, we've got the firepower. We've got the talent. We've got to be a better team and put it all together.

4:04 There is a lot to unpack here.

4:05 The Cowboys were up 14 at the start of the fourth. The lead falls apart, led by the Cardinals backups. Manti, we're going to start with you. This defense was supposed to be different. What happened yesterday?

4:16 Well, you said that there's a lot to unpack.

4:18 If you're unpacking this for Christian Parker and the defense, there's not a lot of things that you want to unpack right now.

4:22 It is ugly.

4:24 The Cardinals had five possessions in the second half. Four of those possessions were scores, not just field goals.

4:30 It was touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.

4:33 Tyler Algier, their defense, their rush defense gave up over 200 yards rushing. Tyler Algier was averaging 13 yards a carry.

4:43 That's like a passing stat.

4:45 It's like receivers, they had 13 yards a catch. He was 13 yards a carry. He had one rushing touchdown. And then on that last drive where... Thank goodness the kicker missed the field goal on.

4:56 That last drive.

4:57 I don't know, Sam, how you allow Michael Wilson to catch the ball three times for them to tie up that ballgame.

5:04 I don't know how you allow him a 21-yard.

5:06 Catch, a 27-yard catch, and a 13-yard catch for a touchdown. That's the same thing in week one when they play the New York Giants where you're asking yourself is, how can they not guard the running back to the flat?

5:18 How can they not guard a running back in the pass? It happened again.

5:22 Michael Wilson was down the sideline every single time, just pass him, pass him. Christian Parker, if you want to run man coverage, two men, double him. If you want to run zone coverage, you're a zone coverage team, squat the guy. Like run cover two, Tampa two, run squat, cover six. I don't know what it is, but Don't let Michael Wilson beat you in the game.

5:40 It just happens all the time, Kyle.

5:42 And I just don't know how, if you're the Dallas Cowboys, you allow a defense that gives up over 200 yards rushing with.

5:49 All of your guys back. You allow Tyler Algier.

5:52 That came in for a germ I love that nicked up the ankle again to go for almost 200 yards rushing. I just don't know how you sustain this defense Dallas Cowboys outfit when you have a defense that continues to give up as many points as they gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter Kyle that is just insane to me.

6:10 Yeah, listen, I'm not angry this morning. I'm happy. I'm grateful.

6:15 I feel blessed because I am someone who thought Dak Prescott is going to have an MVP season.

6:21 I am someone who.

6:23 Got hooked into thinking the Cowboys are going to have a great season and you know why I'm happy and grateful because I am never going to do that again.

6:30 I'm done.

6:30 I've learned my lesson. Thank you to all of them. I cannot believe that I believed in this team, this coach, this quarterback, a team who hasn't won back-to-back games all year. They are the first team this season to lose when leading by 14 or.

6:46 More in the fourth quarter.

6:48 And since 2000, when they are leading by 14 or more in the fourth quarter.

6:52 The Cowboys are 69-0.

6:55 Before yesterday, 69 and 0, a ridiculous number for a ridiculous team.

7:01 I know why the Eagles can't win a game.

7:03 It's because they're a bunch of zombies.

7:05 They're all hurt and done. I understand.

7:08 Why can't the Cowboys? Because the Giants are in first place. Their quarterback got nuked five minutes into the season. And they rallied and dug deep and showed spine and heart and balls with a brand new head coach.

7:21 I don't see any of that from Dallas.

7:23 And it's not like they fell to 3-5 because they had some juggernaut come in there and slap them around.

7:29 This was the.

7:30 Gardner Minshew in 2026 Cardinals that just did this.

7:35 If we did the.

7:35 Inside the NBA thing, and I had sprung it on you guys last Friday, and I said, who.

7:40 He play for... Gardner Minshew. Do you guys, wouldn't you have all looked like Charles Barkley? Did you even know? And I'll include myself in that.

7:48 That Gardner Minshew was on the Arizona Cardinals in 2026.

7:51 I don't know if I did.

7:53 I'll just put my hand up. And clearly, the Cowboys had no idea.

7:58 He probably came out and they're like, whoa, dude, is that Gardner Minshew on this team?

8:01 Yeah. And he just threw three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

8:05 You guys want the list of quarterbacks who have thrown three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the season?

8:09 Well, Burrow's done it. Brock Purdy's done it. No, I'm just lying. Those guys haven't done it. only gardener it's he's the only guy in the nfl to have done that this year and.

8:20 He did it against these stupid ass cowboys who somehow convinced me no dac's seeing it differently now he's talking what was i thinking i'm so now i am angry i'm not angry the cowboys I'm angry at myself.

8:33 Ridiculous loss. Embarrassing loss. Cannot believe this happened.

8:38 Never again.

8:38 I will talk about them, and I will in my own way support them, but I will never believe in them.

8:43 And how could you? Well, Kyle, I'm trying to find out.

8:45 Are you angry?

8:46 Thank you. I don't know, right? Because, I mean, first you were thankful, then you're angry, then you're thankful. I'm everything.

8:50 You're everything, which I respect and I appreciate. But here's the interesting thing.

8:54 I'm everything.

8:55 Interesting thing for me about the Cowboys team. Like, despite everything you said, which is true, right? You lose to a backup quarterback, four touchdowns, three passing touchdowns. You have not a backup per se, but Jeremiah Love gets injured. Donovan Knight gets injured. You're going on Tyler Algier. Hadn't really had the season that he wanted. You still lose that game. Yet, despite all of that... the Cowboys are still second place.

9:14 In the NFC East. I'm telling you.

9:16 I'm not here to tell you they're going to win everything. I'm just saying, despite all of that, all that needs to happen is this, right? Five-star, it's not going to be this quick, immediate solution, right? Bring in Mike Pettin, all of a sudden, we're going to be the number one defense. Bring in Christian Parker, all of a sudden, we're going to be the number one defense. Things like this take time. What do I mean by that? The five-star players in that locker room need to make five-star plays. Like, you need to see Quinn and Williams game on the line, making the game-changing play. Rashawn Gary making a game-changing play.

9:41 Caleb Downs, I get it, he's still a rookie, but there has to be this level of growth in his game. It's not just going to happen because, you know, you fire everybody and fire Brian Schottenheimer and get a new D.C. Like, that's, I think, the mentality that a lot of people have. They think, okay, if you make that one switch or one change, everything's going to change. That's just not the case.

9:58 It needs to be.

9:59 Hunter Coach, you said, inch by inch, everything can be a cinch. Little things done well make big things happen. You know who that coach was? That was big fan Joe actually was right under or right above Christian Parker. And so this transition, this change is not going to happen overnight. Number one, number two, the guys in that locker room on defense and on the offensive side of the ball have to be the ones that make that difference and make that change. And all that being said, You're still in a division with a team that just lost six straight games with Philadelphia Eagles, another team in Washington that has two wins, and the New York Giants that are still trying to figure out if JJ's the

10:31 guy or not. So I'm still thankful. All hope is not lost, but changes do need to be made on the inside, not bringing people from the outside in.

10:39 They got a game next week against the Colts. That's who the Cowboys face next. Can you imagine if they lose that game against the Colts? I mean, this is Kyle's going to, there's going to be brain splatter behind Kyle there in his basement.

10:48 Kyle, what else you got?

10:49 Yeah.

10:51 I honestly don't even know why we started the show with the Cowboys.

10:54 We should rethink that. Let's start the show over.

10:56 Vikings-Lions, two good teams that are worth talking about, batting second in.

11:00 The lineup behind the 3-5 Cowboys. All right, Kyler, Justin Jefferson, amazing catch! Oh, that's why we.

11:06 Love watching number 18. Problem is, he didn't have a lot of those catches. That was a fantastic highlight. Four touchdowns this season already doubles his total of two last season.

11:14 Blah, blah, blah. Stats.

11:15 You know that.

11:16 All right, so third quarter. 7-6 Minnesota. The defense is doing their thing.

11:22 And, like, the coolest play of the day is Amon Ra lines up, like, in Grand Rapids and runs.

11:27 Up to the ball and catches it before the line of scrimmage. We love that. And then Mr. Gibbs. Oh, that sweet Mr.

11:33 Gibbs.

11:34 Number zero, the number of players who can equal him when he's really in his flow state like he was there. 30-yard touchdown. Gibbs was awesome in this game. 12-7 after a failed two-point conversion. Minnesota back in the red zone.

11:46 Hawkinson. Yes. Touchdown. Kyler.

11:50 Successful two-point conversion makes it 15-12. Ensuing Lions possession. Look at this man go.

11:56 Block for him. Jared, do something. And he does. He does well, actually. Gibbs, 17 yards.

12:02 He had 153 on 23 carries.

12:04 Again, he was great. Later that drive, first and goal. Goff. Give me a shot at Jamison. Yes, touchdown. Lions scoring on the Vikings in the fourth quarter. That doesn't happen.

12:15 It's the first touchdown.

12:16 They've let up in the fourth quarter.

12:18 Jamison had four huge catches for 70 yards and suing Vikings possession. 3-0-7 remaining. Kyler on a third and four. Looking for Addison. Cannot find him. Jefferson not happy on the sideline. He had 33 yards receiving. Ensuing Lions possession, third and one. They can ice the game.

12:33 Goff calls his own number, and it's over. Get on the bus. Get on the plane. The Vikings lose. That's it, folks.

12:44 Somewhere those dolphins are doing that champagne thing, blah, blah, blah, because nobody's going undefeated this year.

12:50 19-15. The Lions get to 5-2. How good is the North? How good is the North? Hey, man. Hey, it's a hell of a win, man. Let's go to Dan Campbell, man.

13:01 You need to find some of those wins. You need to have some of those wins because those are to learn how to hang in there when things are a little bit muddy and it's just kind of back and forth and the ebbs and flows and to just trust what you're doing, trust your training, trust your other teammates, the other units, and know that, man, the dam will burst.

13:20 It will burst.

13:21 You just got to hang in there and don't. Don't do anything that's going to put us at risk. You know, you just play the next play. And I just thought they did it to a tee, man. It was awesome. That was a great win.

13:32 It was a big win for the Lions, but it's secondary to another situation that everyone's keeping a close eye on. We want to bring in ESPN insider Ian Rappaport, NFL and ESPN insider, I should say. Ian, really scary situation in Detroit yesterday. Give us the latest on Lions' Jack Campbell.

13:48 Yeah, the game actually paused for several minutes while Jack Campbell, after a vicious hit, was loaded onto a cart, immobilized onto a backboard, and taken quickly to a local hospital. Have not received the latest update this morning, but as of late last night, Jack Campbell transported to a local hospital.

14:05 They are calling it... A neck injury.

14:07 The Lions have said that he is resting and will remain there, which is where he is right now. They're going to provide further updates this morning. Dan Campbell in his press conference yesterday did not shed details on this. Simply said that the thoughts and prayers of the entire team are with Jack Campbell and his family. Obviously, ours are as well. And until we get a definitive update that things are Things are going well. Things are positive.

14:33 We will continue to hope good thoughts. It's just simply do not know the fate right now of Jack Campbell, the star linebacker for the Detroit Lions.

14:40 Yeah, Ian, thank you so much.

14:41 And just even looking at the video of that game yesterday and you see the player, I mean, you just take a look at their faces and you can understand, obviously, the emotion and the concern of everyone. And it's obviously early right now on this Monday morning, but we await hopefully some positive news on Campbell's situation. This was the second time in franchise history that the Lions have beaten a 6-0 or better team. Kyle takeaways from that victory for them.

15:04 No, it's a lot of the concerns of the Vikings is that they don't have the offense.

15:07 We know that.

15:08 Guys, they scored 15 points. I'm sorry the defense gave up a fourth quarter touchdown.

15:12 It's the first time this season. Sorry, we're not perfect. We need you to score more points than that.

15:18 And the concern is fantastic defense and the quarterback who's just going to be fine, who's never going to be great enough to really carry them on a day that, sorry.

15:26 They gave up a touchdown. I know over the.

15:28 Last month, you know, the Lions or rather the Vikings have beat And they beat the Buccaneers. They beat the Dolphins. Okay, you ran into a really good team. And the best player on the field was Jameer Gibbs. The best player on the field. And you're going to run into those guys. Gibbs was fantastic against this defense. I love the Minnesota defense.

15:45 You love the Minnesota defense. I don't blame them for not being able to contain Gibbs. Gibbs is fantastic. I think Gibbs is going to be the offensive player of the year.

15:52 It's fine.

15:53 You run into a Jameer Gibbs sometimes when the playoffs start. You'll run into one of these one-man wrecking crews like JSN, whoever it may be. Pick your guy. Pick your special player in the NFC. Yesterday, they picked Jameer Gibbs, and they couldn't stop him.

16:06 That's all right. I don't blame them for that.

16:08 I blame the offense for scoring 15 points in a dome, in ideal conditions.

16:13 With the wide receivers.

16:15 This Vikings team has a great record and a great defense, and they are flawed.

16:20 They are flawed, and their offense is not good.

16:22 And I know KOC is the quarterback whisperer. Well, start screaming then, because it's not early. It's not early at all, and the offense just doesn't have it.

16:31 Do you know who they're playing next?

16:33 They're playing Buffalo, and they're playing the Packers, and they're playing the Niners.

16:37 Like, it's go time. This is big boy time.

16:40 The Saints aren't coming, the Dolphins, none of those teams that you guys smacked around.

16:44 And it's just going to get harder.

16:45 So.

16:46 Six and one is a great record. We're not calling the end of the Vikings season. The offense has to be way better, and if it doesn't happen soon, you know it and I know it. The offense is not good enough right now, and if you face a player like Gibbs, they'll make you pay.

16:58 Well, Kyle, I just disagree with you just a little bit, and here's where I'm saying. You say you don't blame the defense, but... The defense, this has been your calling card for the entire season, gave up 230 rushing yards. You also mentioned, okay, well, man, you go against Jameer Gibbs every once in a while. Man, Jameer Gibbs, you have to play him twice in the season, maybe again in the playoffs. So if you're calling card, if you're in that locker room and you know, all right, man, our offense maybe isn't what it needs to be, right?

17:23 You know that, right?

17:24 You know, man, our defense is going to be how we're going to win games. You can't allow, you can't tell yourself you're going to be a dominant defense and allow 230 rushing yards. I mean, it's just, it's inexcusable in my opinion, no matter how good the opponent you are, are playing. But that's also the issue, the positive and negative with this type of defense. It's almost like a feast or famine defense. You got eight guys up in the line of scrimmage, right? There's a lot of disguise.

17:45 You got seven guys up there. You might be dropping out and all of a sudden you miss one tackle or two tackles or maybe three tackles. All of a sudden, it turns into a big play like we saw with Jameer Gibbs when he came across the field, even really the whole game, really specifically the second half. And so the Vikings are who they are. They're a team that's not going to score a lot of points offensively. That's just who they are. It's not going to change. And so the defense has to be able to hold up their end of the bargain as well. Andrew Van Geekle had a great game. Three sacks in the first half.

18:11 I get that.

18:12 Dallas Turner didn't hear his name called as often. And so my issue with this game or this team specifically is you are who you are. You can't allow bad days like that, at least not consistently, if you want to continue to be competitive.

18:23 I think some of the frustration, Sam, comes from when you say the offense isn't going to score a lot of points. I think some of the frustration comes from you look at that offense. You're like, they should score a lot of points, right? You look at the running backs. You look at the receivers, a tight end. You should be able to put up points. Now my response to the defense has this, obviously they missed a lot of tackles and you know this playing football with Brian Flores and his aggressive style because it's a penetrating defense. There is nothing different between a vertical seam and a horizontal one.

18:50 And for somebody like Jameer Gibbs where he can jump forward then to the side immediately because you saw a lot of those Minnesota Vikings guys get some penetration in the backfield. Somebody like Jameer Gibbs can just shake somebody like that.

19:01 So a lot of those missed tackles.

19:03 That I saw, Well, Jameer Gibbs, number one, being Jameer, and number two, a lot of these guys being out of phase. They're out of position because they were so aggressive. And when you do miss that one tackle, to your point, Sam, a lot of the guys are out of fit because Brian Flores is so aggressive. So those, to me, are easy remedies. You can easily remedy a lot of that stuff.

19:25 The hard stuff to remedy is the quarterback position. That is something for me, when I watch Kyler Murray play, he is sailing a lot of balls there are a lot of those like this one right here Justin Jefferson is right there Kyler Murray now I found myself a lot of the a lot of the game like just put it on his chest a lot of them were over his head now he was hitting Jordan Addison he was hitting TJ Hopkinson and the thing that was puzzling to me was like why can't that be with Justin Jefferson why can't that be with the best player on the football field?

19:57 So did it look good at times? Yes.

19:59 I just didn't I could understand Sarah why when the ball was going to 18, it was inaccurate. But when it was going to 3 and 80, whatever TJ Hawkinson 87, I think is yeah.

20:10 It looked nice.

20:12 Until they can go to 18 the same way, it's always going to be a situation and a problem for the Minnesota Vikings offense.

20:17 To put a button on this conversation, we started talking about the NFC. We were talking about the Cowboys and that division and how, I mean, the sky is falling in Dallas. They could still win the division. This division, Kyle alluded to it, best division in football.

20:28 You could make the argument.

20:29 The worst team in that division right now, the worst record in that division, five and three.

20:33 Five and three, you're winning.

20:36 Your landslide winning other divisions, that's how good that division is. Hey, look, if you flipped on the TV yesterday and you're like, Gardner Minshew's in this game, what's going on? Kyle, the next game, if you're watching Ravens and Bills, what is going on at quarterback if you flip that one on halfway through in that Ravens game?

20:53 He said, I don't know.

20:55 No, no, this is a great Josh Lamar matchup we've been waiting for. Let's get to the highlight. Lamar's been on the show for a long time. We've been a little impatient waiting for him to come back. But he's back, and now we get to see him for the next few months.

21:05 Maybe they make the Super Bowl run this year.

21:07 All right, first play of the game, down 7-0.

21:09 Lamar's first pass. It's incomplete. No big deal.

21:12 It's all right.

21:12 Huddle up, everybody. Wait a second. Why is he looking at his throwing hand? Hold on. Wait. Mayday. Mayday. Watch his throwing hand come through. And hit Russo. And Lamar's having surgery. He might be done for the year.

21:25 That's it.

21:26 Are you kidding me? Why am I looking at Snoop? Ian Rappaport will come up shortly to talk about Lamar. It's just horrible. Absolutely sucks. And then wait.

21:36 Tyler Huntley steps up in the pocket. We can do the Snoop thing for a few weeks. We've done it.

21:41 Snoop is hurt. What the hell? He's on a tractor. We've got to get the emergency quarterback up. Joe Fignano. The Ravens are Fignanoed. Unbelievable. Who's after Fignano? Joe Flacco?

21:56 Is he on the roster somewhere?

21:58 Kyle Bowler?

21:59 What?

22:02 Trent Dilfer? I don't understand what's going on here.

22:05 All right, so let's protect 17 at least.

22:08 All right.

22:09 Big old bomb from Josh Allen. Yes! 49 yards. To DJ Moore.

22:16 That's a hell of an acrobatic catch. Remember, he's been out for a long time, too. They get him back. Pays off immediately.

22:23 Josh Allen gets who he goes to. DJ Moore back in the end zone. 29-10. They go for a two-pointer. It fails.

22:30 Allen passes Jim Kelly. The American badass is there in the stands. I've been up in those seats with Jim Kelly.

22:38 It's awesome. There's a lot of whiskey. It's really fun. All right, Dalton Kincaid.

22:42 Sorry to name drop there. I just saw the image, and I'm like, oh, that's fun up there. Dalton Kincaid, 23 yards. He starred in the Hallmark movie. No, actually, that was Dawson Knox. You get them mixed up sometimes.

22:51 You know what?

22:52 I'm just rambling because this game was not a game because the Ravens quarterback went out in the first five seconds, and their backup went.

22:57 Out five seconds later. 36-10. And let's bring in Ian Rappaport.

23:03 Ian, I talked about it in the highlight.

23:06 You know I respect you, what you do.

23:07 I always get frustrated Monday morning because you have to be the bearer of bad news, especially when it's about the quarterbacks that are such a huge part of what we do.

23:14 Take it away, please.

23:15 Well, let's start with Lamar Jackson, an unfortunate, ridiculous injury. First play, he was back. He dropped back to pass, had his right throwing thumb hit. You're going to see it right here.

23:26 Greg Rousseau, I believe, gets the hit.

23:29 Lamar Jackson immediately knew that it was bad, went to the sideline, came back in the third quarter or so with a cast. He's going to have thumb surgery and could be out for the season, either way out an extended period of time. We don't know. This is something where if the Ravens make some sort of magical run, he could be back. but out for the foreseeable future.

23:48 That is one significant Ravens quarterback injury. Then Tower Stoop Hundley came right in and quickly injured his toe, was diagnosed with turf toe. My understanding is he is going to be out extended time as well. He is going to have test day to determine how much, but not expected back this week. certainly, or in the weeks to come.

24:05 That means Joe Fagnano from Maine and UConn is expected to be the quarterback for now for the Baltimore Ravens, and it obviously changed the tenor dramatically of everything Baltimore is doing.

24:19 Yeah, Ian, well, you'd like to think, well, they got a couple days to get this together. No, it's Thursday night. They have, like, blink and you miss it. They're going to be back out on this football field. And is Joe the only choice they have? What are you hearing about what else they might go and do now?

24:32 Well, I would expect Joe Fagnano to be the starter because he's the only quarterback on their roster. So that would be process of elimination there. But I do expect the Baltimore Ravens to go out and consider some QB trades and really kind of discuss. I think some of the main discussions now is how bold do you want to be? Do you want to go spend a lot of capital to trade for a quarterback for a season that may be lost because you don't have Lamar? Or is it going to be a stopgap and then you end up as sellers? I mean, these are real decisions for Ravens general manager Eric DaCosta and the rest of the Ravens brass. Tyson Bajet, the Chicago Bears backup quarterback who's been on again, off again, obviously played with Declan Doyle,

25:08 their offensive coordinator, last year. Would be a potential name to consider. Jacoby Brissett, essentially benched in Arizona. Could he be a name that's available? There are some options. They're not great options, but there are some options for the Baltimore Ravens.

25:22 And it gets even tougher because this game on Thursday, it's against the Jags, a team that's absolutely rolling once again. There is one game left on this week eight slate. It might be the best of the bunch. It's the Seahawks playing host to the Chicago Bears. I'm going to speak for the group. We're going to all sign up for this as the maybe NFC championship game.

25:41 Maybe, maybe.

25:43 Bears, Seahawks tonight on the ESPN family of networks, Manti.

25:49 Well, coming up on our show after a week where Quinton Nelson was traded, DeForest Buckner was traded, Josh Downs requested a trade. I don't think anybody was surprised with that 14-7 shellacking that they took, that Indianapolis Coast took against the Jacksonville Jaguars. What could this mean for our guy Jonathan Taylor? We'll bring in Ian Rappaport and he'll give us more. What else we got, Kyle?

26:11 I'm still reeling that we're going to do the Joe Fagnano thing on Thursday night. Hey, Carissa and Big Wit and Fitz, start doing your research on Joe Fagnano, Kaylee Hartung.

26:22 I know you will.

26:23 All right.

26:24 In their division, meanwhile, the Steelers never lose. They never lose. They haven't lost in over a month. It's about how old their quarterback is, how big their tight end is. The Steelers are on fire. We're going to get into it after this. Joe Fagnano, everybody.

26:37 Joe.

26:48 All right, AFC North tough guy time.

26:53 Steelers-Browns. He loved this one.

26:55 Rodgers has been playing well, but they lost to the Browns the last time they played.

26:58 It's already the second matchup of the year. Deshaun Watson. Early on, scoreless.

27:05 He's going to be sacked by Patrick Queen and Cam Hayward, and he fumbles!

27:09 Keanu Benton recovers.

27:10 The ruling on the field was intentional, grounded by Watson, but the.

27:12 Play would be reviewed and ruled a fumble. So Rico! Suave Dotto! I love Rico Dotto. Nine-yard rushing touch. His first touchdown of the season. There's been so much Jalen Warren. Now they're doing the Rico thing.

27:24 Boswell makes the extra point, but hold on.

27:27 There's a flag on the play. Mason McCormick flagged for unnecessary roughness. on an extra point. Boom! That's Jared Burst getting powerbombed. I shouldn't laugh, but listen, Burst flapped his gums a lot going into this game. You might have seen that. We'll get into it shortly.

27:43 And I think there was absolutely 0.0 apologies from anybody on Pittsburgh.

27:47 For that one.

27:48 Rodgers doing the stand there with his hands on his hips thing.

27:51 Pat Fryer moves scores. Rodgers does the hand on the hips just to be funny. He doesn't need to do it. He can do an athletic stance, but he doesn't want to.

27:57 I like it. 20-6, third quarter. Cleveland, do something. You're a first-place team.

28:03 Oh, baby!

28:04 The mountain! Get out of his way! Look at the big man tiptoe! He has dexterity! He has balance. It's not just size. Throw it up to Mount Washington. Always works.

28:14 It's the greatest show in the NFL right now, if you ask me. I mentioned Jalen Warren earlier.

28:18 Touchdown!

28:19 Says here in my notes, this is his 28th birthday, but who cares about adults' birthdays?

28:23 Fourth quarter now. 27 to 6. Third and 18. Deshawn, do something. Tejota!

28:31 What?

28:32 TJ does the hamstring kick. It is all going Pittsburgh way. This is a Steelers party. This was never in doubt. And by this, maybe I don't just mean this game. Maybe I mean bigger things than division 27 to six, but chirping before chirping after let's hear from Jared verse of.

28:51 The Browns doubling down. And then the very.

28:54 Talkative Jaquan Brisker of the Pittsburgh Steelers saying, shut up.

29:00 I stand by everything I say, and as a man you have to naturally do that. I think we could have definitely done more to just present ourselves as the team that we are. I don't know who the hell that team was that walked out there, that presented themselves. We didn't do enough across the board from the first quarter to the last quarter.

29:14 I mean, them just playing team football.

29:16 I'm not worried about him, but he should have kept his mouth shut. All that talking and to come out with zero tackles, I mean, that's bad. You didn't stand behind with your words, and you didn't stand on business. He got to look himself in the mirror and get better.

29:30 I love it.

29:31 The trash talk continues after we're going to get into the game.

29:33 We're going to get into the game and what happened. But Manti, give me into the locker.

29:37 Get me into the postgame quotes here afterwards.

29:39 Well, when you go on, the thing about football is football is very. combative, and it's almost like boxing or any type of combat sport. If you're going to say something, people are going to remember it, especially if it's about a certain side, and they're going to try to send a message. Well, I think that the Pittsburgh Steelers sent that message, and it was very, very clear. If you notice, after that offensive lineman got that unnecessary roughness or whatever it was, and he came to the sideline.

30:04 Patrick Queen came over there and.

30:09 Was like, good job, buddy.

30:11 So, believe it or not, yes, it's a gladiator sport, right?

30:14 You want to be able to have that type of environment. If you're a team that has a lot of pride, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sam, they're going to go over there and they're going to send that message, especially if it was.

30:25 Something that they took personal.

30:26 And they definitely did.

30:27 No, they absolutely did.

30:28 I love, and I don't know if we can show Jaquan Brisker's comments again. If we can't, I'll say it. He was so matter-of-fact, right? He was like, all that talking to have zero tackle. He's like, look, that's bad.

30:38 And it is bad.

30:39 I mean, in all reality, I love it because Jared Versker, at the middle of the week, he was like, man, we're going to own Pittsburgh. We're going to show them that this is our city now. And he didn't do anything, right? He didn't have any tackle. Didn't have any stats.

30:49 Didn't do anything.

30:50 And that's just a matter of fact. And then what Jaquan Brisker said, I know Jaquan, he was in Chicago. I got a chance to chat with him just a while ago. Like, I love his game. But he's just like, man, I'm going to tell you the truth, right? objectively i'm not here to give my opinion i'm not here to say hey man i'm missing that team that's actually bad right you actually didn't do what you said you're gonna do you didn't back up your word so i love and respect not just the competitive fire from jared verse but also the response from jaquan brisker and i get it right it is football there's a lot of times you have this bulletin board material you may not want your team for the cleveland browns to put out bulletin

31:20 board material but i actually loved it from jared verse because that's his game he's a trash talker he's a smack talker he's a mental guy he's He's a mental guy, a confident human being. And that's how he plays. And so we didn't have the best day, of course, I get it. But just the banter, the back and forth, to me, I have so much respect for both of those individuals because one backed it up, one didn't, but they'll see their time again.

31:42 I like Jared verse. We need Jared verse. I like his style. I like how he goes about it. I like that he has something to say and I like he doesn't apologize.

31:50 The problem is when you pop off and go and play well, you look awesome. When you pop off and don't do squat.

32:00 You look like a fool.

32:01 It's just you look like a clown when you do that. And we don't like that for you Jared versus too good of a player. That's what he's gone through got shipped out LA here to alleged Siberia and he's gonna make something up.

32:12 We're gonna have an identity. We're gonna hit you. We're gonna talk about it. That's cool.

32:16 But hit anyone hit the water boy.

32:18 You hit nothing. You can't go like that and do squats in the middle of a game, guys. Yeah, you hit the ground. You know what?

32:25 You hit the ground really hard when Sid Vicious slammed you down here, just shutting your mouth as you collided with the turf.

32:33 You've got to do something, Jared. I mean, geez, anything. This is all you did. You didn't hit a quarterback. You didn't hit a running back.

32:41 You hit the ground at terminal velocity when one of the Steelers slammed you.

32:45 And this is bigger. This is representative of a lot of things, guys.

32:48 This is much bigger than Jared Burst.

32:50 This game was big, big-time little brother stuff. Big time.

32:55 Big time shallow end, little brother. 23 straight road losses at Pittsburgh.

33:00 The Browns won earlier this year. Great.

33:02 They haven't swept the series since 1988. Mike Dukakis was running for president. Do you even know who Mike Dukakis was?

33:11 I barely remember that name. That's how long it's been. This was going to be a different year.

33:16 The coach has got you playing hard and everybody's talking.

33:18 Bleep and all this. Smacked.

33:20 27 to who cares. Big time little brother stuff. You're not a first place team. Pittsburgh just completely, they did the too small thing that my son does. They sonned you. Whatever expression you want to choose. This was a rough day for the Browns. It's not just verse. It's the whole, whole team from top to bottom. Little brother stuff.

33:41 Go home. Get out of here. Maybe try again next year. Let's head to Duval County. We haven't been here in a while. Why?

33:48 Because this is the first Jacksonville Jaguars game since home game since week three.

33:52 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

33:54 Daniel Jones drops back, tries to throw the ball to Tyler Warren and is intercepted by Rayon Lane III, who puts it into third gear.

34:01 And takes it 91 yards for the pick six touchdown. Look at the score, guys, and look at the quarter. 21-0, soon to be 28-0 at half.

34:11 Rough game so far for Daniel Jones.

34:12 Third quarter now.

34:13 Trevor Lawrence, not a rough day for him, especially not for Basho Tootin, who goes 25 yards for this touchdown. Basho Tootin would finish with 159 scrimmage yards, 104 coming through the ground, 55 through the air.

34:24 Both career wins. Jacksonville wins 42-7. Kyle. That was quite a game.

34:33 It's almost like the Colts get rid of all their best players except for the running back.

34:36 All right, Saquon riding a bike.

34:38 That's an inauspicious way to start this highlight.

34:40 But look, he jumps outside. He's got a burst. He's been playing through a lot of things. Physical, emotional, absolutely dismal football. But 10-3.

34:51 Jayden look at the play tonight.

34:52 Jayden, excuse me. Stephon Diggs back in the end zone. Touchdown. They tie it at 10. There's Tanner McKee, or as Michael Irvin calls him, Tanner McGee. He's going to be intercepted. That's not a good pass. Not a quality pass, guys. That's Rasul Douglas with the pick. The Eagles were shut out. Oh, look at that shot. Wow. Hey, DQ, have a day.

35:14 It's nice to see Dan Quinn smiling. The Eagles did not score over the final three quarters. They lost by three scores. It was not competitive. And that's it. The commanders are kind of alive. Ian, come on back in here, please. The Eagles are the zombie Eagles. I don't even recognize them out there. I see some of the players I know, but certainly a lot of the players I know are not out there.

35:37 What can you tell State of the Nation with the Philadelphia Eagles?

35:40 We'll start off with Saquon Barkley, the man that was very famously shown riding a bike at the beginning of that highlight. We reported on Sunday morning, Mike Garofalo and I did, that the Eagles are not trading Saquon. He confirmed that postgame and said that is what the organization has told him. And he said he wants to be part of the rebuild. He wants to be part of the reason why the Eagles get back to where they should be. Now, really, what has happened with the Philadelphia Eagles is they lost Jalen Hurts. And I, too, feel like at the end of this, bizarrely, we're all going to get an appreciation for how very, very good Jalen Hurts was and how it essentially all came apart when the team lost him. Now, they do have some pieces

36:15 to sell. I don't expect to be anything that would affect their future, but names like Reek Woolen on an expiring contract, Landon Dickerson may not be part of the solution next year, but has been playing better since he came off IR. Those would be the kinds of guys that the Eagles might look to sell before the deadline.

36:33 Well, the Colts have shipped pretty much everybody out of there, Ian, except for their running back, Jonathan Taylor. What is the latest on what they might do with him?

36:40 Well, my understanding is the Colts are open to trading Jonathan Taylor. It does not necessarily mean it'll happen, but there is interest, I would say significant interest, and there are discussions, active discussions, that are.

36:52 Happening right now.

36:53 The fact that the Colts went out and lost by 100... I would say probably makes it easier to say, you know what, let us just move on from Jonathan Taylor right now, get whatever draft picks we got, and just take our lumps in a lost season. Now, the fact that the Colts don't have a first-round pick, the fact that it goes to the Jets makes the good part of being a terrible team just nonexistent, so it's all going to be bad for the Colts. But I wouldn't be surprised if they start ramping up the selling, especially because of the result.

37:22 Yep and the colts get the cowboys next rap sheet thanks so much rewind that is on the way what play had us needing another look see if your guy makes the cut it's good morning football.

37:33 On a monday good morning football.

37:46 We've got a full slate of shows to get you ready for tonight's big Monday night matchup between the Bears and the Seahawks. You can catch up on everything that happened yesterday on The Aftermath. That's right here on NFL Network at noon Eastern. Then head over to ESPN for NFL Live at 3 Eastern.

38:02 You can catch the Monday night.

38:03 Countdown crew at 6 Eastern.

38:05 We've got you set.

38:08 It is time for the plays. We need to see more than once to believe it's a you got to rewind that man tie start us off.

38:14 Football is a beautiful game about football isn't only played here in the United States is played also internationally and it's has different rules internationally and in Canada specifically as a different rule for wide receivers wide receivers can't have a head start. Well, the Detroit Lions yesterday got a.

38:28 Little wrinkle to their game.

38:30 I'm on Ross St.

38:31 Brown is lined.

38:32 Up about 20 yards from the line of scrimmage and has a running head start.

38:36 I thought this was brilliant. Let's rewind that back. Give your best player.

38:40 Besides Jameer Gibbs an opportunity to have a head start.

38:43 Let him come at the line of scrimmage full speed and let him do his thing.

38:46 I started thinking about, are there different players around.

38:49 This league that I would love to have this happen?

38:51 Derrick Henry, give him a 20-yard head start and see who likes to hit this guy. I thought this was brilliant by the Detroit Lions, and I want to.

38:57 See that again, Sarah.

38:59 Okay, so I saw a play and I'm actually surprised that Kyle, you didn't pick this because you're a guy that makes a lot of wrestling references. And this is all I could think of when I saw this play.

39:07 Sure. Show us the Bucks game.

39:09 First of all, we've got the run game was going clearly.

39:11 For the Buccaneers.

39:12 Watch Baker, who's been told to reel it in. Maybe don't put yourself in harm's way. So that was Baker. He's out leading the blockers. And then watch, this is the side. This is Baker and Jesse. This is like a mud brawl. Are we at WWE? Baker said if he's not going to be throwing the ball- He said if he's not throwing the ball, he's got to be active somehow. He was like playing shortstop yesterday. He went 0 for 3 in the game.

39:32 Doesn't matter. The Bucs won.

39:33 But Kyle, I saw this and I'm like, this is a Kyle Brandt play, but.

39:35 I'll take it. I love it. Well, Mara won that. I love that you thought of me. I thought of me. That's fantastic. Go ahead. Go ahead, Sam. Well, so Mara won that.

39:45 It was actually going to be a head-scratcher because this is somewhat of a head-scratcher play.

39:49 But watch what happened with T.

39:50 Higgins pregame yesterday.

39:52 In the game. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

39:53 What happened? We got hit with the football. Bum in the face. And he laughed about it.

39:59 He retweeted.

40:00 But here's the funny thing. Like, I've been on the field before a game. You know, you're walking around. Let's say you're calling a game, et cetera, right? And I've been hit in the face with a football by a punt, most likely with a kickoff. And so I just wanted to rewind that and say, okay, is it AI?

40:12 Is that real? Definitely real. T.

40:14 Higgins is okay. He's laughing about it, tweeting about it. But I had to rewind that real quick.

40:18 That could have been a broken nose.

40:19 I'm glad.

40:20 I've seen guys miss games for less than that. At some point, guys, Kirk Cousins is going to be out of the league, and we're going to miss him, and I'm going to miss him dearly.

40:27 Because he just does things like this. Roll the video. I don't know what he's doing. He wins a game against the Jets. Okay, he does a quarterback sneak. Great. Fine. We've seen that. But, like, he comes up and he's like, what are we doing? Kirk.

40:42 Kirk.

40:43 I don't know what that celebration is.

40:45 I've never seen a human do that in any context, let alone in sports.

40:49 And then afterwards, he's like, oh, well, here's what I was doing. Elbow grease.

40:53 That's one of the main techniques that they do. So I said, someday I'm going to, if I run a touchdown and I'm going to give a shout out to all the, the staff that works so hard to help us feel good and, uh, and be one of the healthier teams in the league. So, uh, I forgot to do it, and I'm jogging off the field. And Brock, who doesn't say much, goes, hit him with the wellness celebration.

41:12 I said, what?

41:13 He goes, hit him with the wellness.

41:14 So I stood there and looked right at AG, and I just did the elbow. So that was it. That's the story.

41:22 I mean, this goes without saying, but just never change. Shout out to the trainings that he's doing, like a resistance band celebration, and next will be a foam roller celebration.

41:31 It's just so nerdy and so him, guys.

41:34 I would love to see a dance competition between him and Ben Johnson. If they could get him and Ben and Johnson with his little stanky leg that he does, that would.

41:43 Be must-see TV for me. Do not ever change Kirk Cousins.

41:46 Keep shouting out the wellness coach, the medical staff.

41:49 Great job. Great job by Kirk Cousins under Raiders. And they got the dub. Yeah, and they got the dub. They got all of that. All the dub and the dub.

41:56 We're talking about a Broncos dub next.

41:59 Kirk Cousins makes Ben Johnson look like Michael Jackson, guys.