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Week in Review: 49ers Make a Statement, Vikings Earn Respect & Chargers in Crisis · The Richard Sherman Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast. Make sure you
0:03
Speaker 1: hit that like and subscribe button if you're new.
0:10
Speaker 2: How did the San Francisco 49ers pull this one off?
0:15
Speaker 1: It was a defensive masterpiece by both sides. I know
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Speaker 1: Mike McDonald is frustrated that they lost, but I don't
0:25
Speaker 1: know if you could have expected them to play much better.
0:28
Speaker 1: And this is from every level of the defense. They
0:30
Speaker 1: played great coverage. I'm sure you could argue that Josh
0:34
Speaker 1: Joe on Mike Evans could have done better. And we'll
0:38
Speaker 1: talk about that later in the show because I want
0:40
Speaker 1: to talk about a bit of the rigidity of this
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Speaker 1: defense because you're paying a corner $ 35 million. You're paying
0:47
Speaker 1: a corner $ 35 million. And if you're having trouble stopping
0:49
Speaker 1: a guy and you're paying a corner $ 35 million, usually
0:52
Speaker 1: those two guys match up at some point because when
0:55
Speaker 1: you're having this kind of issue. People can say, oh,
0:58
Speaker 1: Richard Sherman, you didn't match up with guys. If there
1:00
Speaker 1: was a corner struggling like this, then the coach would
1:04
Speaker 1: eventually say, hey, Sherman, go get him. Figure it out.
1:07
Speaker 1: Let's get this figured out until we get to the
1:08
Speaker 1: next drive, and we'll be fine. And that's what would happen.
1:12
Speaker 1: But I don't think that's possible with the way this
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Speaker 1: defensive structure is. Not that Josh Joe couldn't get it done,
1:18
Speaker 1: but he has to stay inside in some capacity unless
1:21
Speaker 1: his base downs and then he moves outside. But that's
1:25
Speaker 1: the issue a little bit. where you have such a
1:27
Speaker 1: great player like Witherspoon and MN Warrior and those guys,
1:30
Speaker 1: but you couldn't put them on Mike Evans in this defense.
1:35
Speaker 1: They can't schematically change that many moving parts. But I
1:41
Speaker 1: want to talk about these defenses. I want to talk
1:43
Speaker 1: about what happened in this game. First off, they started
1:45
Speaker 1: off playing great defenses. The only reason these offenses scored
1:48
Speaker 1: in the first and second half until the fourth quarter
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Speaker 1: was because these defenses set them up to score. The
1:54
Speaker 1: first one was Jacob Cowling muffing a punt, muffed punt,
1:59
Speaker 1: sets the Seahawks up for their first touchdown. Sam Darnold
2:03
Speaker 1: throws a pick to Jackson Smith and Jigba. Renardo Green
2:06
Speaker 1: reads it on the out route. This isn't tips and overthrows.
2:08
Speaker 1: This isn't luck. This is a guy who did his homework,
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Speaker 1: read his indicators, and made an incredible play. And then
2:15
Speaker 1: we got to talk about the defensive line for the
2:19
Speaker 1: San Francisco 49ers because all week I kind of, I
2:23
Speaker 1: kind of tried to get people to understand this defense
2:25
Speaker 1: has been playing great football. And they're like, oh, that's fake.
2:27
Speaker 1: They've just been playing against this team and this team.
2:29
Speaker 1: And these teams stink. Do they stink now? Do you
2:32
Speaker 1: get it now? Do you see it? These guys are playing.
2:34
Speaker 1: Grayson Halton, with the breakout game that he had, the
2:38
Speaker 1: rookie fourth-round pick, he's been making a few splash plays
2:42
Speaker 1: here and there, but gets his first sack. of his
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Speaker 1: career in this game and then makes the biggest play
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Speaker 1: of his NFL career, very short NFL career, near the
2:51
Speaker 1: end of the half with only a few seconds on
2:53
Speaker 1: the clock. I mean, Mitchell, some people had already stopped
2:56
Speaker 1: watching the game and went to go get their popcorn
2:58
Speaker 1: and go get their food and take their beer break
3:00
Speaker 1: or whatever they do during halftime. And he makes one
3:04
Speaker 1: of the biggest plays of the game. And really, with
3:07
Speaker 1: the point differential the way it was, it was a
3:10
Speaker 1: huge deciding factor and a momentum shifter there. in this
3:13
Speaker 1: game because I thought the Seahawks had kind of climbed
3:15
Speaker 1: back in, kind of pulled the momentum back to at
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Speaker 1: least even, and then he makes a play on the
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Speaker 1: goal line, and I know the outside world, hindsight is 20-20.
3:25
Speaker 1: Mike should have just kneeled the ball. No teams do that.
3:28
Speaker 1: No teams do that. And no teams are expecting this
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Speaker 1: to happen. This is a one in 100,000. It may
3:36
Speaker 1: not be one in a million, one in a billion,
3:37
Speaker 1: but it's a one in 100,000 play. It rarely happens.
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Speaker 1: And if you kneel the ball, it just doesn't end
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Speaker 1: up working out. You know, everybody has all the answers
3:46
Speaker 1: when you're not calling the play because something bad happens.
3:49
Speaker 1: Just because something bad happens doesn't mean it was the
3:51
Speaker 1: wrong call. George Helani has to hold on to the football.
3:53
Speaker 1: But give Grayson Halton a lot of credit. and give
3:58
Speaker 1: Fred Warner a lot of credit. These were forced fumbles.
4:00
Speaker 1: These weren't guys dropping the football. These weren't guys just
4:04
Speaker 1: bobbling it. These were forced fumbles. Fred Warner punched it.
4:07
Speaker 1: Grayson Halton pulled it out. Now, George Helani had another
4:10
Speaker 1: fumble in the game where he just dropped the ball.
4:12
Speaker 1: It looked like it got punched by Casper, the friendly ghost.
4:15
Speaker 1: But that was my concern. This running back room, and
4:18
Speaker 1: it's still a concern, is a huge weakness. Now, at
4:21
Speaker 1: some point, you expect That they'll get. Sharpened back. And
4:25
Speaker 1: you know. They'll lean on him a little bit more.
4:28
Speaker 1: There's a reason they're trying to. Trying to sign running backs.
4:30
Speaker 2: But.
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Speaker 1: This is a huge issue. And it showed up in
4:33
Speaker 1: a big way. Those turnovers. Were the difference in the game.
4:35
Speaker 1: I mean on top of the interceptions. But. The Seattle
4:39
Speaker 1: Seahawks defense never wavered. They never blinked. They kept giving
4:44
Speaker 1: their offense opportunity after opportunity. They kept shutting them down.
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Speaker 1: Multiple turnovers in the second half. They took one from
4:52
Speaker 1: Debo Samuel when he kind of just dropped the ball
4:54
Speaker 1: on the end around. They picked off Brock Purdy. Nathaniel
4:58
Speaker 1: Pritchett made a great play on Brock Purdy, set him
5:01
Speaker 1: up in scoring position, and then They held. Both teams
5:06
Speaker 1: showing their championship medal. These are the Super Bowl champs,
5:09
Speaker 1: the reigning Super Bowl champs. They're going to make plays
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Speaker 1: to put their team in position. They're going to force.
5:13
Speaker 1: They're going to wield their way. The reigning offensive player
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Speaker 1: of the year, Jackson Smith and Jigba, made plays with
5:19
Speaker 1: his ankle, a little banged up in the game. When
5:21
Speaker 1: they had to have it, he was making play after
5:23
Speaker 1: play after play to get his team back in this game.
5:27
Speaker 1: And the unfortunate part, is that the only thing that
5:32
Speaker 1: will be remembered is Jackson, Smith, and Jigba dropping that
5:35
Speaker 1: third and ten pass when he was wide open on
5:37
Speaker 1: that seven cut. And that's just, I mean, I don't
5:41
Speaker 1: know what to say about that. That's just uncharacteristic. That's
5:43
Speaker 1: just a bad bounce. That's just a bad beat. I mean,
5:46
Speaker 1: he's a great player with some of the most sure hands,
5:48
Speaker 1: but this is the NFL. Things like that happen sometimes,
5:51
Speaker 1: but that was a huge factor in the game. And
5:54
Speaker 1: you got to give the San Francisco 49ers defense credit.
6:00
Speaker 1: Because during those sudden changes, they were able to hold.
6:03
Speaker 1: They were able to force field goals. And that's what
6:07
Speaker 1: allowed them to be in position to set up Brock
6:10
Speaker 1: Purdy to be able to drive down the field with
6:12
Speaker 1: Mike Evans. This is why you bring a guy like
6:14
Speaker 1: Mike Evans in if you're the San Francisco 49ers. You
6:18
Speaker 1: talk about a true number one receiver. Everybody arguing in offseason, oh,
6:21
Speaker 1: he's over the hill. He's this. He's that. He's old.
6:24
Speaker 1: I'm going to let you know something. Have you ever
6:26
Speaker 1: seen old carnivores, Mitchell? Like an old T-Rex, an old lion,
6:30
Speaker 1: an old tiger? Would you ever want to be locked
6:32
Speaker 1: in a cage with a Mitchell? Because I don't care
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Speaker 1: how old they are, those teeth are still sharp. They
6:36
Speaker 1: still know how to do what they do. They still
6:38
Speaker 1: know how to hunt and eat. And Mike Evans is
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Speaker 1: one of the all-time greats in the National Football League.
6:44
Speaker 1: He's a big play threat. He's a mismatch anytime he's
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Speaker 1: on the field. And I love that Brock Purdy was
6:49
Speaker 1: put in a position where he did not have a
6:51
Speaker 1: choice but to throw him the football. Like, I think
6:55
Speaker 1: that's what it was going to take for Brock to
6:58
Speaker 1: finally understand who Mike Evans is. Like when he does
7:01
Speaker 1: not have a choice, he has to third, third down,
7:04
Speaker 1: third and 10 or whatever it was. Hey, Mike Evans
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Speaker 1: is one-on-one. He looks covered, but you got to throw it.
7:10
Speaker 1: And he threw it and he saw Mike Evans win.
7:12
Speaker 1: And then he threw the two point conversion. Hey, scrambling around,
7:15
Speaker 1: running around. Everybody's covered. Mike's covered too, but then he
7:18
Speaker 1: throws it. And Mike Evans makes the play. And you've
7:22
Speaker 1: got to start to do that. You've got to feed him.
7:24
Speaker 1: He needs 10 targets a game, I think, in order
7:26
Speaker 1: for him to really show what he's capable of and
7:30
Speaker 1: how much of an asset he can be for this team.
7:33
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey was able to get some yardage on the ground.
7:36
Speaker 1: He 11 carries for 68 yards. George Kittle didn't do
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Speaker 1: a ton. He had a 13-yard catch. Brandon Cooks gets
7:41
Speaker 1: in the end zone, a critical touchdown after the timeout call,
7:46
Speaker 1: the timeout. Last second time out, after they threw him
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Speaker 1: a touchdown pass, they turn around and Brock Purdy throws
7:52
Speaker 1: him a touchdown pass. Fred Warner had a great game.
7:56
Speaker 1: The battle of these two linebacker groups was an underrated
8:00
Speaker 1: storyline in this game. Fred Warner and Drake Greenlaw, Drake
8:04
Speaker 1: Thomas and Ernest Jones. And Ernest Jones made a critical play, Mitchell,
8:09
Speaker 1: and he wasn't even on the field. He made a
8:11
Speaker 1: critical play. And I know if you're a San Francisco
8:14
Speaker 1: 49ers fan, you're up in arms. He shouldn't be in
8:16
Speaker 1: his face. Yes, he should. He on the sideline. It's
8:18
Speaker 1: the game within the game. And if the jersey numbers
8:22
Speaker 1: and the jersey colors were swapped and it was your
8:24
Speaker 1: team did it, you would have called it a great
8:26
Speaker 1: play because that's what it was. Great job by Ernest
8:29
Speaker 1: Jones being a heady player and saying, hey, let me,
8:32
Speaker 1: everything is elevated. Everything is heated. Let me heat it
8:35
Speaker 1: up a little bit more and see if we can
8:36
Speaker 1: get a little bit more out of this. See if
8:38
Speaker 1: we can squeeze a little bit more juice out of it.
8:40
Speaker 1: And he got one of San Francisco 49ers' best players
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Speaker 1: ejected from the game while he was on the sideline. Sure,
8:47
Speaker 1: he drew a little blood now. He drew a little blood.
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Speaker 1: He's a sacrifice. But on the flip side, Drake Greenlaw,
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Speaker 1: my guy, that's my guy. I was there when he
8:55
Speaker 1: was a rookie. We went to a Super Bowl, that
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Speaker 1: huge play he made in Seattle to win the game
9:00
Speaker 1: for us and get us the number one seat. That season,
9:06
Speaker 1: he knows better. He knows better. And Kyle, thank goodness
9:09
Speaker 1: they rallied around him. After that, it was another sack by,
9:13
Speaker 1: I think, Valdez and a sack by Adigizua to kind
9:18
Speaker 1: of rally behind him. And they didn't allow that to
9:20
Speaker 1: turn into a back-breaking moment for the San Francisco 49ers.
9:24
Speaker 1: But I think Ernest Jones deserves a lot of credit
9:26
Speaker 1: for just being a heady player. Mitchell, there are so
9:29
Speaker 1: many instances, so many things like that where the tides
9:32
Speaker 1: change in a game where you don't really understand. You're like, oh, man,
9:35
Speaker 1: he shouldn't get in the guy's face. Yes, he should.
9:38
Speaker 1: All is fair. If he's within the rules, he's on
9:40
Speaker 1: his sideline. He's not breaking any rules. He's not doing anything.
9:43
Speaker 1: He can do it. If you react a certain way,
9:47
Speaker 1: that's on you. And another MVP of this game I
9:50
Speaker 1: want to give, Mike Evans. Mike Evans, you know, and
9:54
Speaker 1: I love Trey Diggs. Trey Diggs is a friend of mine,
9:56
Speaker 1: a good dude. But that time when he walked over
10:00
Speaker 1: and pulled and looked at his name on the back
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Speaker 1: of the jersey, oh, my God. I was in tears,
10:07
Speaker 1: and I wanted to go back, and I was like,
10:08
Speaker 1: I wish I had a time machine because next time
10:11
Speaker 1: I got into a confrontation on the field, I just
10:13
Speaker 1: walk up to the guy and look at the back
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Speaker 1: of his jersey like, I don't have to say anything.
10:17
Speaker 1: That says it all. I don't know who you are
10:19
Speaker 1: and you're on my field talking to me. I'm trying
10:21
Speaker 1: to figure out what you think this is going to be.
10:24
Speaker 1: And Mike Evans tries to play it off later and says, Oh, I,
10:27
Speaker 1: you know, trade day. Cause Mike Evans is actually a really,
10:29
Speaker 1: really cool dude on the field. That's going to be
10:31
Speaker 1: an all time moment. No question about it.
10:33
Speaker 2: He pulled one from you, Richard. There's no question about it. They, they, Oh,
10:38
Speaker 2: you don't see that very often from Mike Evans. And
10:40
Speaker 2: like you talked about, this has totally transformed this offense.
10:44
Speaker 2: It's given Brock Purdy that number one reliable wide receiving
10:47
Speaker 2: option that he frankly has never had outside of George Kittle.
10:51
Speaker 2: This team, I mean, what one season difference can make
10:55
Speaker 2: for a team? The last time they were in Lumen Field,
10:57
Speaker 2: they got beat 41-6. And here they are knocking off
11:01
Speaker 2: the defending Super Bowl champions, the 32-29.
11:04
Speaker 1: Richard....
11:07
Speaker 2: What's the ceiling for this team? They look like they're
11:10
Speaker 2: borderline unbeatable right now. I got to believe they're super
11:13
Speaker 2: bowl favorites. I mean, call me down here.
11:17
Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know what the ceiling is because we
11:19
Speaker 1: haven't seen this team fully healthy. I mean, in this game,
11:23
Speaker 1: another huge factor in this game was a terrible officiating.
11:25
Speaker 1: I thought this was one of the worst officiated games.
11:27
Speaker 1: And a lot of the, the calls were, went against
11:30
Speaker 1: the Niners, and there was an intentional grounding where Brock Purdy,
11:34
Speaker 1: I thought it was going to, you know, you're going
11:35
Speaker 1: to rule it a fumble, but the tight end recovers it,
11:38
Speaker 1: and then they say it's intentional grounding when the tight
11:40
Speaker 1: end's right there. I thought that was a crazy call.
11:42
Speaker 1: I thought there were a number of bad calls that
11:44
Speaker 1: went against the San Francisco 49ers, but at the end
11:46
Speaker 1: of that game, on fourth and ten, Cooper Cupp breaks
11:49
Speaker 1: a tackle, goes down the sideline, kind of tiptoes the sideline,
11:53
Speaker 1: reaches for the first down, and it looked like he
11:55
Speaker 1: got it. In my eyes, it looked like he got that,
11:58
Speaker 1: and The ref calls him down. It looked like he
12:01
Speaker 1: stepped out. That's what the ref called. You go back
12:04
Speaker 1: to the replay. He did not step out. Now, you
12:06
Speaker 1: can't see where the plane is. I don't think they
12:08
Speaker 1: had a good enough angle to see, hey, where does
12:10
Speaker 1: the ball cross the plane? They would have needed a
12:13
Speaker 1: top angle right over the top to see where his
12:15
Speaker 1: body crossed the line with the ball, et cetera, et cetera.
12:18
Speaker 1: And they didn't have that angle, so they couldn't overturn
12:20
Speaker 1: the field. But I thought that was a bad call.
12:23
Speaker 1: I don't think you ever leave it in the ref's
12:25
Speaker 1: hands in that situation. I think if Jackson Smith and
12:27
Speaker 1: Jigba catches that seven cut, we never get to this
12:29
Speaker 1: situation where there's a controversial call. But there was. I
12:34
Speaker 1: don't know what the ceiling is for this team. But
12:36
Speaker 1: when they get healthy, when they get Demarcus Robinson back,
12:40
Speaker 1: when they get Stribling back, when they get Nicholas John Bolson,
12:43
Speaker 1: think about a reigning defensive player of the year just sitting,
12:47
Speaker 1: healing up while you go 5-0, while you're D-line. That
12:50
Speaker 1: has to be a scary proposition for both teams. You
12:53
Speaker 1: got to think, Sam Darnold didn't play his best football
12:55
Speaker 1: in this game, and they still had a great chance
12:57
Speaker 1: to win. They still had. So if you're the 49ers,
13:00
Speaker 1: you got to say, hey, you know, there's some meat
13:02
Speaker 1: on the bone on the other side. This team is
13:04
Speaker 1: a great team, and they had a chance to win
13:06
Speaker 1: this game. They had opportunities. Regardless of how well that
13:08
Speaker 1: defense played, they still had opportunities. But if you're Seattle Seahawks,
13:12
Speaker 1: and you're watching this game, and you're saying, hey, their
13:15
Speaker 1: best defensive lineman is Nicholas John Bolsa, and he wasn't
13:20
Speaker 1: on the field, and they sacked us five times. I
13:23
Speaker 1: don't think before this game you could have named, I
13:25
Speaker 1: don't think anybody on the Seahawks, if you're a fan,
13:28
Speaker 1: would have named the five guys that got sacks in
13:30
Speaker 1: this game, outside of Adigizua probably, you know. And that's
13:36
Speaker 1: the great thing. I think the growth of this defensive line,
13:40
Speaker 1: the maturity, guys starting to develop into issues, guys starting
13:43
Speaker 1: to shine within the absence of Nicholas John Bosa is
13:47
Speaker 1: only going to bolster them more when he returns. Give
13:50
Speaker 1: a lot of credit to Mustafa and Jair Brown, too.
13:53
Speaker 1: They played really well. I mean, when there was a
13:56
Speaker 1: couple plays early on where Mustafa was a missile and
13:59
Speaker 1: coming downhill and just really setting the tone, setting the
14:02
Speaker 1: tempo time and time again, he was doing that. And
14:05
Speaker 1: I think he deserves a ton of credit. Jaden Duggar
14:08
Speaker 1: came in there, made some plays, had a sack of
14:10
Speaker 1: this game as well. I thought he played admirably. You
14:14
Speaker 1: could tell he's not playing as fast as Ray Greenlaw's playing.
14:18
Speaker 1: He's still figuring it out. But I think he went
14:20
Speaker 1: in there and held it down as best he could. Again,
14:23
Speaker 1: Another really solid game for the 49ers offensive line. I
14:26
Speaker 1: knew they would give up sacks in this game just
14:29
Speaker 1: because you got Byron Murphy. Byron Murphy is earning himself
14:34
Speaker 1: a $ 30 million contract, Mitchell. Whether it's here or somewhere else,
14:37
Speaker 1: Byron Murphy is going to get paid. He was unblockable
14:41
Speaker 1: in the first half, in the second half. They're double
14:43
Speaker 1: teaming him, and I knew that, hey, you don't just
14:45
Speaker 1: forget things year to year. Like, certain things carry over,
14:49
Speaker 1: and Byron Murphy and his defensive line carries over. He
14:52
Speaker 1: was causing trouble. problems and you can tell the offense
14:55
Speaker 1: was sitting back getting ready for him to bull rush
14:57
Speaker 1: and all he was doing was attacking edges and that's
15:00
Speaker 1: the game within the game we're not going to go
15:01
Speaker 1: too deep into that but he was a huge factor
15:04
Speaker 1: for the Seahawks and that's a another positive sign from
15:07
Speaker 1: this game a guy that could be dominant at times
15:10
Speaker 1: and I look forward to continuing seeing him continue that
15:14
Speaker 1: I knew this game would be electric and it lived
15:16
Speaker 1: up to all the billing seven turnovers for both between
15:20
Speaker 1: both of these defenses and And a spectacular ending. I
15:23
Speaker 1: can't wait for the next one.
15:24
Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit more about the Seattle Seahawks.
15:27
Speaker 2: This team is 1-2 in their last three games. This
15:29
Speaker 2: is not something the Seattle 12s are used to, and
15:32
Speaker 2: that's losing. What's the panic meter like in Seattle right now?
15:37
Speaker 2: They've been unable to establish a run game. The Kenneth
15:41
Speaker 2: Walker absence is glaring. And they tried to establish it today,
15:45
Speaker 2: given Emmanuel Wilson, 20 carries, netting 61 yards. If you're
15:49
Speaker 2: in Seattle, which you are, Richard, what's the panic meter at?
15:54
Speaker 1: It's not very high for me. Some things I'm concerned
15:58
Speaker 1: about are early turnovers by Sam Darnold, multiple interceptions on
16:03
Speaker 1: plays where it looked like, you know, the play to Arroyo.
16:06
Speaker 1: I thought Arroyo had a step. You got to hit
16:08
Speaker 1: him on time. You got to get it there. He
16:09
Speaker 1: wasn't able to do that early. The other interception, you
16:13
Speaker 1: kind of got to eat that football or figure out
16:16
Speaker 1: somewhere else to go with it. Renardo Green had a
16:18
Speaker 1: great break on it. You got to just accept that, hey,
16:20
Speaker 1: no matter what, this is my best receiver. He's a guy,
16:23
Speaker 1: but we don't have it right here. And you got
16:25
Speaker 1: to eat that. And I think Sam has that maturity
16:27
Speaker 1: to understand that, to see the film and improve the
16:30
Speaker 1: run game lacking and continuing to lack. And I know
16:33
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Wilson had a couple plays in the red zone.
16:38
Speaker 1: I saw he had a lane and he did okay
16:40
Speaker 1: with that, but Overall, the overall run game and the
16:44
Speaker 1: ideas behind it, you know, was limited today. And you
16:46
Speaker 1: got to give San Francisco a lot of credit for that.
16:49
Speaker 1: But I think they got to find another back or
16:52
Speaker 1: get Sharpen A back in there. I think they have
16:54
Speaker 1: to find ways to open that up more. I like
16:57
Speaker 1: that they were trying to attack with Shahid down the field.
17:00
Speaker 1: I think I would love to see more of that.
17:02
Speaker 1: Getting Barner involved, A.J. Barner more involved in the game.
17:05
Speaker 1: I would love to see more of that. But no,
17:08
Speaker 1: my panic meter isn't high. Mitchell out of 10 is
17:10
Speaker 1: probably a 4. I need to tell you about this
17:14
Speaker 1: new prediction market called Polymarket. It's the best new way
17:18
Speaker 1: to trade in sports.
17:20
Speaker 2: In the past, if you wanted action on the game,
17:23
Speaker 2: you'd put some money in. And if your team was
17:25
Speaker 2: doing well and you wanted to cash out, they'd lock
17:29
Speaker 2: the trade or take a huge fee.
17:31
Speaker 1: But Polymarket is a prediction market. It's a stock exchange
17:35
Speaker 1: for sports, buying in and selling out on your terms.
17:40
Speaker 2: Richard, I've tried them all, and Polymarket is simply the
17:43
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17:48
Speaker 2: you name it.
17:49
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17:52
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17:55
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17:59
Speaker 2: And now they've launched a new feature. It's called Squads,
18:03
Speaker 2: a group chat where you can see what everyone is
18:06
Speaker 2: trading on.
18:07
Speaker 1: So download the Polymarket app today and use the promo
18:10
Speaker 1: code Sherman when you sign up. That's S-H-E-R-M-A-N to get
18:17
Speaker 1: $ 25 free after you deposit just $ 10.
18:19
Speaker 2: Let's talk about this 5-0 Minnesota Vikings team that took
18:23
Speaker 2: care of the New Orleans Saints and held this offense
18:27
Speaker 2: that has had their way with other opponents to just
18:30
Speaker 2: 13 points. Richard, is it time that we start taking
18:33
Speaker 2: this team seriously? Is it time that we include the
18:36
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings in our top five power rank?
18:40
Speaker 1: Yes. Yes, it's time. It's time. I have seen enough, Minnesota.
18:44
Speaker 1: I have seen enough. And I know I am as
18:46
Speaker 1: hard on you guys as anyone because of the Sam
18:49
Speaker 1: Darnold debacle. I told you guys, you guys came at me. Don't,
18:52
Speaker 1: you know, we won't revisit that. But Kyler Murray made
18:56
Speaker 1: some really impressive passes today. The most impressive, in my opinion,
19:00
Speaker 1: was the corner to end zone. Pass to Justin Jefferson.
19:03
Speaker 1: Three guys around him had to be. You had one
19:06
Speaker 1: spot to put it. He put it there. Justin Jefferson,
19:09
Speaker 1: the hometown Louisiana kid, makes the play in New Orleans.
19:13
Speaker 1: They go into a tough environment and come out with
19:15
Speaker 1: a win. Aaron Jones, 25 carries, 113 yards and touchdown.
19:19
Speaker 1: The way he ran the safety over on his way
19:21
Speaker 1: to the end zone, just menacing. This defense continues to swarm,
19:25
Speaker 1: create turnovers, really make an impact on each and every game.
19:30
Speaker 1: Minnesota had two turnovers in this game. And not that
19:33
Speaker 1: they were perfect. I mean, they forced three turnovers, but
19:37
Speaker 1: their offense had two turnovers in this game. But Byron Murphy,
19:42
Speaker 1: two interceptions in the game. Andrew Van Gink, the guys
19:46
Speaker 1: that you expect to have production from continue to be productive. It's,
19:51
Speaker 1: it's been incredible to watch this defense and the special teams,
19:54
Speaker 1: the special teams has also, whether it's in the return
19:57
Speaker 1: game or they forced the fumble that led to that,
20:00
Speaker 1: that Justin Jefferson touchdown that we talked about. And I
20:04
Speaker 1: know we can talk about, ah, Do you really trust
20:08
Speaker 1: this offense? Do you really trust this offense against great teams?
20:11
Speaker 1: It's kind of that New England Patriots last year team
20:14
Speaker 1: where you're like, who are they really playing? But they're 5-0,
20:17
Speaker 1: and they're finding a way to win each and every week.
20:20
Speaker 1: This defense is real. It's legit. Kyler Murray looked explosive.
20:25
Speaker 1: He was getting out of trouble. He's making plays with
20:27
Speaker 1: his legs, with his arm. He was improvising. I'm sure
20:31
Speaker 1: that Kevin O'Connell is feeling incredible about both sides of
20:35
Speaker 1: the ball. He has a great great coordinator and Brian
20:38
Speaker 1: Flores on the other side who keeps dialing it up.
20:40
Speaker 1: This defense is in rhythm. And sometimes when Brian Flores
20:44
Speaker 1: gets hot in his mad scientist mode and he gets
20:47
Speaker 1: to executing in the way he has this season, you
20:51
Speaker 1: look out. I mean, that's what happened when they had
20:54
Speaker 1: that 14-win season with Sam Darnold. That defense was incredible.
20:58
Speaker 1: And all you got to do on the offensive side
20:59
Speaker 1: is be productive. Don't turn the ball over. Keep them
21:02
Speaker 1: in these games. Don't let, you know, throw too many
21:05
Speaker 1: interceptions and and throw the game away. But I thought
21:08
Speaker 1: this was a great game. Jonas Sanker for the Saints,
21:12
Speaker 1: that 87-yard touchdown return that really, really gave them life
21:16
Speaker 1: in this game when I thought it was over. Huge play.
21:19
Speaker 1: It was forced by, I want to say, Warner and Emerson.
21:24
Speaker 1: That was a big play while the Vikings were driving
21:26
Speaker 1: in that game. But at the end of the day,
21:29
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray was efficient. They ran the ball efficiently, and
21:32
Speaker 1: they played great defense. That's the formula for success in
21:34
Speaker 1: this game. The Vikings continue to find a way to win. Yes,
21:38
Speaker 1: they're entering my power rankings. I promise you, Minnesota fans,
21:41
Speaker 1: if they won this week, they'd be in there. They
21:43
Speaker 1: will be in there. And they deserve to be in there.
21:45
Speaker 2: And they're one of these unique teams because their defense
21:48
Speaker 2: is dominant. And you just said, I mean, the Saints,
21:51
Speaker 2: the Sanker was a defensive score. So, I mean, this
21:54
Speaker 2: team has given up 22 points week one against the Packers,
21:57
Speaker 2: three points against the vaunted Bears, 16 points against the Buccaneers,
22:01
Speaker 2: 10 against the Dolphins, and truly six points offensively against
22:05
Speaker 2: the Saints. What makes it so different about this Minnesota
22:10
Speaker 2: Vikings teams? I know they blitz a lot. They've got
22:13
Speaker 2: the highest blitz percentage in the league, but what makes
22:15
Speaker 2: them truly dominant, Richard? Because I think there's a very,
22:19
Speaker 2: very fair argument that they are the class of the
22:22
Speaker 2: NFL defensively.
22:25
Speaker 1: Well, it's the pressure that they put. They force and
22:27
Speaker 1: dictate a lot of things for the offense. They dictate
22:31
Speaker 1: where the protection is going to slide defensively. by the
22:33
Speaker 1: personnel they put out there, and they blitz a whole lot.
22:37
Speaker 1: I want to say their blitz rate earlier in the
22:39
Speaker 1: season was almost 80%, and I don't think it's wavered
22:42
Speaker 1: too much off of that. There aren't many teams that
22:45
Speaker 1: are equipped to deal with that on a play-in, play-out basis.
22:48
Speaker 2: But why is it so difficult to adapt to as
22:50
Speaker 2: an offense? Because you see quarterbacks being able to adapt
22:54
Speaker 2: on RPO plays, watching for that blitz, swinging it to
22:57
Speaker 2: the wide receiver on his quick slant. How are defenses
23:02
Speaker 2: not able to adapt to Brian Flores' defense? We've seen
23:05
Speaker 2: it year after year. He's always so dominant.
23:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you see it because it's personnel as well.
23:13
Speaker 1: He has the personnel around him that are executing it
23:16
Speaker 1: at a high level. They understand where the hot reads
23:19
Speaker 1: are for the quarterback. So, you know, you're saying, hey,
23:21
Speaker 1: the blitz is coming here. He's going to be hot here. Yeah,
23:24
Speaker 1: he's sending somebody over there that also knows he's hot
23:27
Speaker 1: here and what their hot route is, whether it's a hitch,
23:30
Speaker 1: a slant, an out, and they're defending it and making
23:33
Speaker 1: you go to your next read. And when you're hot,
23:35
Speaker 1: you don't have time to go to a next read,
23:37
Speaker 1: so you have to eat the football. And he's not
23:39
Speaker 1: just doing it on third down. You know, teams are
23:41
Speaker 1: used to saying, hey, what are their third down pressures?
23:43
Speaker 1: What are their pressures? It's first down. It's second down.
23:46
Speaker 1: It's run blitzes. It's pass blitzes. You don't know who's blitzing.
23:50
Speaker 1: And then in the back end, they play with a
23:52
Speaker 1: lot of confidence. They play fast. They communicate well. They've
23:55
Speaker 1: played together for a number of years. It's an experienced
23:57
Speaker 1: secondary who is experienced in this system. And when you
24:00
Speaker 1: have all those things together, guys like Dallas Turner, Andrew
24:05
Speaker 1: Van Ginkle, Blake Cashman, it works out really, really, really well.
24:10
Speaker 1: He has the perfect guys for his system, playing it
24:13
Speaker 1: at a high level. And you've got to respect that.
24:15
Speaker 1: I hope that Brian Flores gets another head coaching opportunity
24:19
Speaker 1: He's one of the best coordinators in the National Football League,
24:21
Speaker 1: and it's showing week in and week out.
24:22
Speaker 2: He certainly deserves it. And to Minnesota and the Vikings
24:26
Speaker 2: fan base, congratulations and welcome to the top five of
24:31
Speaker 2: Richard Sherman's power ranks. And honorable mention also for mine
24:35
Speaker 2: as well. This segment is sponsored by Sling TV, and
24:39
Speaker 2: it's called Rule Breakers. Who was a cornerback in the
24:43
Speaker 2: past who you would classify as a rule breaker?
24:49
Speaker 1: Mitchell, it has to be the great prime time Deion Sanders,
24:54
Speaker 1: the head coach for the University of Colorado, a guy
24:57
Speaker 1: who's been breaking rules since he came out the womb,
25:00
Speaker 1: as he would say, a guy that played both sides
25:03
Speaker 1: of the football and baseball during his NFL career. I
25:06
Speaker 1: think he was the first guy to play in a
25:08
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and World Series game. He's a guy that
25:12
Speaker 1: just continued to elevate and break the barriers of what's
25:16
Speaker 1: possible for an athlete to be, and especially a defensive player.
25:19
Speaker 1: I think he showed that a defensive player could be
25:21
Speaker 1: the face of a league and could be a primetime, exciting,
25:26
Speaker 1: charismatic face of a franchise. And he made an incredible
25:30
Speaker 1: impact during his time. I think he had 53 interceptions,
25:34
Speaker 1: some punt return, special teams touchdowns, some pass some receiving touchdowns.
25:40
Speaker 1: The guy did it all and continues to make an
25:42
Speaker 1: impact on the game and continue to make a positive
25:45
Speaker 1: impact on young men's lives. Deion Sanders was definitely a
25:48
Speaker 1: rule breaker.
25:49
Speaker 2: What looked like a walk-off Eagles win quickly turned to
25:53
Speaker 2: a walk-off Jaguars win. Richard, simply put, how the heck
25:58
Speaker 2: does this happen?
26:01
Speaker 1: That was one of the most bizarre games, especially near
26:04
Speaker 1: the end. I mean, but Throughout the game, there were
26:06
Speaker 1: so many bizarre moments. You think about right before the
26:09
Speaker 1: half ended, all the Jacksonville mistakes. Was it a fumble?
26:13
Speaker 1: Was it not a fumble? Then they get the ball back,
26:16
Speaker 1: and then they cannot convert. They end up getting zero
26:18
Speaker 1: points before the half when they could have at least
26:21
Speaker 1: had three. And there were a number of red zone
26:24
Speaker 1: trips that just really had you scratching your head. There
26:27
Speaker 1: was a trip. They were at the, I think it
26:29
Speaker 1: was the two-yard line. And then Trevor Lawrence gets two
26:33
Speaker 1: delay of game penalties that knocks him back almost all
26:37
Speaker 1: the way to like the 15 yard line. And you're like, okay. Uh,
26:42
Speaker 1: and again, they, they ended up not converting, but when
26:45
Speaker 1: they had to have it, Trevor Lawrence puts a pass
26:48
Speaker 1: up on fourth down to Parker Washington, who makes a
26:53
Speaker 1: one handed grab over to wreak woolen to, to what
26:57
Speaker 1: appeared to be seal this game. But it was not
27:01
Speaker 1: to be, it was, it was not to be Mitchell. Um,
27:05
Speaker 1: Cam Little misses the extra point, which only leaves the
27:09
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars up two. Philadelphia goes down the field. Jake
27:14
Speaker 1: Elliott hits a 48-yarder with eight seconds to go or
27:18
Speaker 1: 12 seconds remaining in the game. And at that point,
27:22
Speaker 1: you think, all right, that's it. That's it. That's all.
27:26
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, get to your cars. Get to your homes.
27:29
Speaker 1: Get ready for the next game. This one's over. Philadelphia fans,
27:33
Speaker 1: sigh of relief. The offense was banged up coming to
27:35
Speaker 1: this game. No Saquon Barkley, no Devontae Smith, and they
27:39
Speaker 1: were able to come out with a win. They're big-time players.
27:42
Speaker 1: Jalen Carter, two sacks, forced fumble, played big in this game.
27:46
Speaker 1: Quinion Mitchell gets the first regular season interception of his career.
27:50
Speaker 1: Big play. Thought the defense played really well against one
27:54
Speaker 1: of the most talented receiving cores. I know Trevor Lawrence
27:56
Speaker 1: was 24-39 for a 3-31 and two touchdowns, but they
28:00
Speaker 1: did get the interception. They did sack him twice. Jalen Carter, um,
28:04
Speaker 1: But nobody's stopping Parker Washington right now. He had six
28:07
Speaker 1: catches for 124 and two touchdowns. Defensively, this opportunistic Jacksonville
28:15
Speaker 1: defense was not able to get a turnover on Jalen
28:19
Speaker 1: Hurts in this game. They really did a great job
28:24
Speaker 1: just containing him. They held him to, I want to say,
28:26
Speaker 1: 22 overall rushing yards as a team. They held the
28:30
Speaker 1: Eagles to 22 yards rushing yards. As a team. And
28:33
Speaker 1: that's an incredible stat. That's an incredible day. You never
28:35
Speaker 1: hear about an NFL team being held that well in check.
28:41
Speaker 1: But Jacksonville's red zone struggles, I thought, would doom them today.
28:45
Speaker 1: They were 0-3 in the red zone. We talked about
28:47
Speaker 1: their struggles. But weren't we just talking about Amir Abdullah?
28:52
Speaker 1: We were. Weren't we just talking about him? And you
28:55
Speaker 1: were like, man, how is he still in the league? Mitchell,
28:57
Speaker 1: this is how he's still in the league. It's dumb, man.
29:00
Speaker 2: It's wild.
29:02
Speaker 1: It's really wild. When they needed to have it, Amir Abdullah,
29:06
Speaker 1: with one of the biggest kick return moments in his life,
29:10
Speaker 1: I'm sure, sets them up for the game-winning field goal,
29:14
Speaker 1: gives Cam Little a chance at redemption, and he takes
29:17
Speaker 1: care of business, knocks it through, and takes his helmet off,
29:20
Speaker 1: shows so much emotion in London. I'm sure he heard
29:23
Speaker 1: it from those Philadelphia fans all day, especially after that miss,
29:26
Speaker 1: and he wanted to show them, hey, I'm back, now
29:29
Speaker 1: y'all go home and talk about me. I respect it.
29:32
Speaker 1: I'm a villain, Mitchell. I love it.
29:34
Speaker 2: And just for context, Richard and I were together last week,
29:37
Speaker 2: and we saw Amir Abdullah got picked up by the Jets.
29:40
Speaker 2: and I'm like how the heck is this Amir Abdullah
29:42
Speaker 2: guy still in the league I mean he was with
29:44
Speaker 2: my Detroit Lions he bounced around the league a long
29:46
Speaker 2: time and then here he is and Richard simply says
29:49
Speaker 2: because he's a difference maker in key situations he's slippery
29:53
Speaker 2: you know he's a unique skill set to him and
29:56
Speaker 2: we saw that today but you know what my main
29:58
Speaker 2: takeaway from this game Richard I thought the Jaguars were good.
30:02
Speaker 2: Now I know they are good because they did not
30:04
Speaker 2: play their A ball and they came out of this
30:06
Speaker 2: game with a win with their backs against the wall
30:09
Speaker 2: in worst case scenario. A team that can win when
30:11
Speaker 2: they're not playing their best football, to me, that's a
30:14
Speaker 2: tip of the cap to the Jaguars. On the other
30:17
Speaker 2: side of that football field, the Philadelphia Eagles. It looks
30:21
Speaker 2: to me, Richard, like they're punting on the season. Cam
30:24
Speaker 2: Juergens gets traded. Obviously, Lane Johnson retires. Saquon Barkley's status
30:30
Speaker 2: is pretty much up in the air. They're down to
30:32
Speaker 2: Will Shipley and Damian Pearson are still hanging into this game.
30:36
Speaker 2: What's the rest of the season outlook look for the
30:39
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles? I mean, is it, are playoffs still the
30:44
Speaker 2: expectation for this team realistically?
30:47
Speaker 1: I don't see how playoffs can be a realistic expectation.
30:52
Speaker 1: Let me, let me reverse that. I do. because of
30:55
Speaker 1: how the rest of the league and the rest of
30:57
Speaker 1: this division has shaken out. Uh, the Cowboys are three
31:00
Speaker 1: and two right now. Uh, the commanders and the, the,
31:03
Speaker 1: the giants have battled it out today. You know, the
31:06
Speaker 1: giants are still leading this division. So it's still, I
31:10
Speaker 1: think it's still, uh, in reach for this team, but
31:14
Speaker 1: they have to get some things figured out. I thought
31:16
Speaker 1: Jalen hurts did a, did a really good job today.
31:18
Speaker 1: A solid job. I can't say really good. Uh, even
31:20
Speaker 1: he said, it's not up to his standard. It's not
31:22
Speaker 1: up to the standard they expect. Um, but with a
31:26
Speaker 1: bit of a skeleton crew and missing, uh, right tackle
31:29
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson, who just retired. Uh, they trade away Cam Jurgens.
31:33
Speaker 1: These are, these are guys he hadn't gone to battle
31:36
Speaker 1: with before figuring it out. Uh, Makai Lemon, uh, Darius
31:40
Speaker 1: Cooper had, had the big catch and run, but a
31:42
Speaker 1: lot of these guys haven't, he hasn't played in big games,
31:46
Speaker 1: big moments with, and he needs to depend on them today.
31:51
Speaker 1: So I thought under those circumstances, he did a solid job. Um,
31:55
Speaker 1: You know, there were some things said during his press
31:57
Speaker 1: conference that made you feel like maybe he's not trusting
32:00
Speaker 1: the play calling, but he's executing it. He's doing his
32:02
Speaker 1: best to execute it. But, you know, I think there
32:04
Speaker 1: may be some doubts to some of the calls they're
32:07
Speaker 1: making and whether he felt like, hey, I could have
32:10
Speaker 1: said something and got us in a better call or
32:12
Speaker 1: help them understand what's really happening out there so that
32:16
Speaker 1: we can play better, so we can execute better, so
32:18
Speaker 1: we can push the ball down the field in a
32:20
Speaker 1: better way. This was a tough one. This was a
32:23
Speaker 1: tough one. This was one of those emotional roller coasters
32:26
Speaker 1: that kind of drains the team. They play the Carolina
32:28
Speaker 1: Panthers next game, and I know Eagles fans are like, oh,
32:31
Speaker 1: that's a get-right game. Be careful. I know the defense
32:34
Speaker 1: is playing really well. I know the Philadelphia Eagles defense
32:38
Speaker 1: has played really well. They're always, Vic Fangio always has
32:40
Speaker 1: this defense ready. But that Carolina Panthers offense with Bryce Young,
32:45
Speaker 1: I know what he's been in the past, and he
32:47
Speaker 1: had his struggles. He is striking right now. So be
32:50
Speaker 1: careful because that's not just a, easy game, and then
32:53
Speaker 1: the Jags have the Texans, who seem like they kind
32:56
Speaker 1: of found their rhythm against the Titans, but it's the Titans.
32:59
Speaker 1: So I'm not putting a ton of onus on that game,
33:04
Speaker 1: but we will see what the Texans are when they
33:06
Speaker 1: face the Jags. If the Jags have their way with them,
33:09
Speaker 1: then the Texans are the same team that have been
33:11
Speaker 1: struggling all season. But they were able to hold the
33:16
Speaker 1: Titans in place, finally play some great defense. I felt
33:19
Speaker 1: great about this game. This was... a way to start
33:22
Speaker 1: the weekend.
33:23
Speaker 2: Well, I agree with you on that. And to add
33:26
Speaker 2: to your point, with the Eagles, if they want to
33:28
Speaker 2: seriously look at the playoffs as their reasonable expectation for
33:32
Speaker 2: this season, the offense is going to have to get
33:34
Speaker 2: it together. We've seen the defense come together of late.
33:37
Speaker 2: They certainly gave them an opportunity in this game. But
33:40
Speaker 2: reality is, through five weeks of this season, the Philadelphia
33:43
Speaker 2: Eagles have only scored 24 points twice. The rest of
33:47
Speaker 2: the year, 20 points or sub that, 17 and 7.
33:51
Speaker 2: these are not numbers that you're going to hang your
33:53
Speaker 2: hat on. So a lot of eyes are going to
33:55
Speaker 2: be looking at Jalen Hurts and what can he do?
33:58
Speaker 2: I think he's a good quarterback, Richard, but I wonder
34:01
Speaker 2: if he's a better athlete than he is a quarterback.
34:03
Speaker 2: Because when you look at him, he's always had stars
34:06
Speaker 2: around him. This is the first season we've seen without
34:09
Speaker 2: true star-studded options opposite him. How is he going to
34:12
Speaker 2: be able to elevate those players? I have not seen
34:14
Speaker 2: that yet, and that's where questions arise for Philly. I
34:17
Speaker 2: know you still think playoffs are the expectation. I would
34:21
Speaker 2: be surprised if they make it there. The only thing
34:23
Speaker 2: I think they have a fighting chance with is this
34:25
Speaker 2: division looks rather weak. It looks NFC South-ish.
34:31
Speaker 1: Right. Right. But I'm not ready to write off Jalen
34:34
Speaker 1: Hurst just yet. He's having his struggles, just like a
34:37
Speaker 1: lot of these other quarterbacks have their struggles. They have
34:39
Speaker 1: their peaks and valleys. And, of course, we criticize them
34:41
Speaker 1: when they're in a valley. He's without his number one receiver. And, again,
34:46
Speaker 1: you have to look at it with that lens. He's
34:48
Speaker 1: without his number one. He's trying to make it happen.
34:50
Speaker 1: And today he almost made it happen with Cooper and
34:54
Speaker 1: Wicks and Makai Lemon and Dallas Goddard. You know, he
34:59
Speaker 1: was almost able to get that done without much semblance
35:02
Speaker 1: of a running game at all in this game. And
35:04
Speaker 1: I think he's overcoming some things right now. I was
35:06
Speaker 1: impressed with how he played under these circumstances. Now, you
35:11
Speaker 1: still got to find a way to win, but he's
35:13
Speaker 1: been a winning quarterback. So You have to give him
35:15
Speaker 1: that credit. You know, there was some breaking news today
35:19
Speaker 1: about the AFC South. The Houston Texans trade for Marvin
35:26
Speaker 1: Harrison Jr. from the Arizona Cardinals. That was a move
35:29
Speaker 1: we expected to happen. I mean, we expected him to
35:32
Speaker 1: get traded away. Just looks like he's fell out of
35:33
Speaker 1: the good graces. They're using Michael Wilson. They're not finding
35:39
Speaker 1: a way to get him into football. It seems like
35:40
Speaker 1: he's lost his confidence. A change of scenery would be
35:43
Speaker 1: great for him. on the opposite side of Nico Collins
35:47
Speaker 1: in that receiving core, I think he'd be a great addition,
35:49
Speaker 1: and that's a great move for that team. I'm looking
35:52
Speaker 1: forward to seeing how that works out. The other game
35:54
Speaker 1: we had today, another early game we had, the Green
35:57
Speaker 1: Bay Packers dismantled the Chicago Bears. In the last few games,
36:03
Speaker 1: we've kind of seen the Chicago Bears, and you're like, hey,
36:05
Speaker 1: Ben Johnson's doing a great job. Even without Caleb Williams
36:08
Speaker 1: in the fold, he's found a way to do it
36:10
Speaker 1: with Case Keenum and Tyson Bajan. And this, on this day...
36:15
Speaker 1: Neither had the answers. And this Green Bay Packer, Jonathan Gannon,
36:21
Speaker 1: coach-led defense, played their best game of the season. They
36:25
Speaker 1: had three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, just really, really created
36:31
Speaker 1: chaos out there. They sacked Tyson Bajent twice, and they
36:35
Speaker 1: intercepted him twice. And then they switched to Case Keenum,
36:37
Speaker 1: and they said, you can get it too. Sacked him twice,
36:40
Speaker 1: intercepted him once. It didn't matter who you put out there.
36:43
Speaker 1: It was just their day. And give a lot of
36:46
Speaker 1: credit to Jordan Love. Has dealt with a beat-up offensive
36:50
Speaker 1: line all season long. And they've kind of, you know,
36:53
Speaker 1: they went to free agency and picked off everybody that
36:57
Speaker 1: has ever started an NFL game in free agency when
37:00
Speaker 1: they picked up. Makai Becton, Lakin Tomlinson. And, you know,
37:05
Speaker 1: they played Lakin last game. And they're having success. Christian
37:10
Speaker 1: Watson had a dominant game. Six catches, 143, two touchdowns,
37:14
Speaker 1: a 42-yarder and a 53-yarder. Matthew Golden, 123 yards on
37:19
Speaker 1: six receptions, another 50-yard long catch. And everybody was waiting
37:24
Speaker 1: for when you were going to see all this speed,
37:27
Speaker 1: all this speed finally break out for Green Bay. When
37:29
Speaker 1: are you going to see all these weapons finally start
37:32
Speaker 1: to figure it out for Green Bay? And this was
37:34
Speaker 1: that day. They protect it. Jordan Love, he was 25
37:37
Speaker 1: of 31, 367, two touchdowns, 137.5. Passer ratings, 11.8 yards
37:44
Speaker 1: per attempt, and he was only sacked twice. That's a
37:47
Speaker 1: great game. That's a great game. Devontae Wyatt, two sacks
37:50
Speaker 1: in a game, two TFLs, two quarterback hits, and a
37:52
Speaker 1: forced fumble. Zaire Franklin, he was all over the place.
37:56
Speaker 1: Nine combined tackles, a TFL pass deflection. Xavier McKinney had
38:00
Speaker 1: two picks on the day. A great safety, one of
38:03
Speaker 1: the best safeties in the National Football League. The Packers
38:06
Speaker 1: are doing a great job, and that's the way you
38:09
Speaker 1: have to play. When you're... when your back's against the wall,
38:12
Speaker 1: when things haven't been going well, they're finding a way
38:14
Speaker 1: to stack wins against the team. Everybody thought, including us, Mitchell,
38:18
Speaker 1: when he put them in the power rankings, I'm not
38:20
Speaker 1: going to let them fool me again. I keep saying
38:23
Speaker 1: I'm not going to let people fool me. Dallas keeps
38:25
Speaker 1: getting me. Cleveland, I mean, Cincinnati's defense got me. You know,
38:31
Speaker 1: Jacksonville got me once. But this is inexcusable. This is inexcusable.
38:37
Speaker 1: Their defense played a horrid game. And Give the Green
38:40
Speaker 1: Bay Packers all the credit in the world, but some
38:42
Speaker 1: of these passes, you've got to be better than this.
38:45
Speaker 1: You've got to expect, hey, Christian Watson, he's a vertical threat.
38:49
Speaker 1: Matthew Golden, vertical threat. Stay on top of them. Contain them.
38:53
Speaker 1: But they didn't.
38:53
Speaker 2: Well, to steal one of your sayings, Richard, we thought
38:56
Speaker 2: this was going to be a matchup. Missed match. Because
39:00
Speaker 2: you look at it, and I don't know what it is.
39:03
Speaker 2: These road games in division. I mean, people talk about
39:06
Speaker 2: road divisional games. The Bears are the hot team. Everyone
39:09
Speaker 2: thinks they're the hot team. We thought they were the
39:11
Speaker 2: hot team. We both included them in our power ranks
39:13
Speaker 2: this week. What is it with divisional games? Because this
39:17
Speaker 2: is one of the most high-profile offenses in the NFL,
39:19
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears. Every other week, with the exception of
39:23
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings putting three points on the board, and
39:26
Speaker 2: now against the Packers putting seven points on the board,
39:28
Speaker 2: this team just looks like a shell of itself when
39:30
Speaker 2: it plays a divisional opponent on the road. And I
39:33
Speaker 2: know the excuses are going to be coming flying. Caleb
39:36
Speaker 2: Williams is out this week. Well, you know what? They've
39:39
Speaker 2: proven it over the last couple weeks with Tyson Bajan
39:41
Speaker 2: and Case Keenum. This offense can still get things moving.
39:45
Speaker 2: That was not the case today. The Packers defense was swarming.
39:48
Speaker 2: Five turnovers forced. Very impressive. And then whenever Jordan Love
39:53
Speaker 2: was in trouble, he heaved the ball downfield. He found
39:56
Speaker 2: his guys, Christian Watson and Matthew Golden. You've got to
39:59
Speaker 2: love to see this as a Green Bay Packer fan,
40:01
Speaker 2: especially after a rough, questionable start to the season. Maybe
40:06
Speaker 2: this is a turning point in their season, a quarter
40:09
Speaker 2: way through. They're about to get Michael Parsons back in
40:11
Speaker 2: the next few weeks. Things are trending upwards. for the
40:15
Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers. Well, this next game preview is sponsored
40:18
Speaker 2: by Polymarket. We've got the Dallas Cowboys at the Green
40:21
Speaker 2: Bay Packers on Sunday night football. Polymarket has Green Bay
40:26
Speaker 2: at a 52% chance to win this game, while the
40:29
Speaker 2: Cowboys are at 48%. Richard, this is a close one.
40:34
Speaker 2: This is a borderline pick-em. I know how the Cowboys
40:37
Speaker 2: did you last week when you picked them to win
40:39
Speaker 2: on TNF. So this week, Do you agree with Polly Market?
40:43
Speaker 2: Are you rolling with Green Bay, or do you think
40:47
Speaker 2: Dallas can get some retribution here?
40:52
Speaker 1: These are two teams that have let me down when
40:55
Speaker 1: I picked them. So it's tough. It's tough. Polly Market
40:57
Speaker 1: has it right down the middle. But I got Green Bay.
41:00
Speaker 1: I think they found some solutions to their protection issues
41:03
Speaker 1: for Jordan Love. Christian Watson is playing as good as
41:06
Speaker 1: any receiver in the National Football League, and they're finding him.
41:10
Speaker 1: They're getting him to football. They're getting Tucker Kraft involved.
41:17
Speaker 1: I think they're starting to get Golden involved, and he's
41:21
Speaker 1: starting to really shine like they thought he would. Yeah,
41:25
Speaker 1: and their defense. Their defense played really well last week.
41:28
Speaker 1: And Dallas, I mean, they're falling apart defensively. They did
41:31
Speaker 1: not look great. Lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dak
41:36
Speaker 1: looked like a deer in the headlights, not a super
41:38
Speaker 1: veteran quarterback who's played at a very high level in
41:40
Speaker 1: the National Football League against Todd Bowles' defense. I think
41:43
Speaker 1: Jonathan Gannon's going to see that tape and be licking
41:46
Speaker 1: his chops and drawing up pressures. I got the Packers
41:51
Speaker 1: in this game, but Mitch, you think they're going to cover?
41:54
Speaker 1: Three and a half?
41:55
Speaker 2: I believe it's down to one and a half right now.
41:58
Speaker 2: You know what? Yeah, I do. After seeing what they
42:00
Speaker 2: did last week against Chicago, I think the Packers have
42:04
Speaker 2: found a recipe for success. You know, I think there
42:08
Speaker 2: was a lot of struggle to find an identity. This
42:12
Speaker 2: was a team that was so used to hammering the
42:14
Speaker 2: rock with Josh Jacobs, relying on that play action and
42:18
Speaker 2: letting Jordan Love do his thing downfield with that. And
42:21
Speaker 2: they haven't had that run game. Last week, we saw
42:23
Speaker 2: a little bit more success with the run and that
42:26
Speaker 2: opened up the deep ball. I think they get Christian
42:29
Speaker 2: Watson involved in this game. Give me the Packers by
42:32
Speaker 2: a touchdown. uh, Polly market gives the Cowboys a 39%
42:37
Speaker 2: chance of scoring more than three and a half touchdowns.
42:40
Speaker 2: That's kind of a lot. Do you think they can
42:43
Speaker 2: score more than that on Sunday?
42:48
Speaker 1: It depends. It really does. And can Dak Prescott and
42:52
Speaker 1: CD lamb re recapture that magic that they had a
42:55
Speaker 1: few weeks ago, uh, where CD lamb had over 189
42:58
Speaker 1: yards on 17 catches because they lost it versus Tampa Bay. So, uh,
43:06
Speaker 1: Three and a half touchdowns. I mean, they would score
43:09
Speaker 1: four touchdowns in this game. His Green Bay defense isn't great,
43:14
Speaker 1: but they held the Chicago Bears offense to seven. Yeah, no,
43:20
Speaker 1: I'm not giving Dallas that. I'm not giving them four
43:22
Speaker 1: touchdowns in this game. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But that's
43:24
Speaker 1: the best thing about Polymarket. It's an alternative to traditional
43:27
Speaker 1: sportsbooks that keeps you in control of your trades. So
43:30
Speaker 1: if you want to get in, you want to get
43:32
Speaker 1: out at any time, you can.
43:34
Speaker 2: Let's go on to San Francisco. They'll be hosting the
43:37
Speaker 2: Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. Wow, San Francisco 5-0
43:43
Speaker 2: to start the season. Big win in Seattle last week.
43:46
Speaker 2: The Washington Commanders, you were highly critical about Jaden Daniels
43:50
Speaker 2: and his performance down the stretch in last weekend's game,
43:53
Speaker 2: resulting in a tie against the Giants. This seems like
43:57
Speaker 2: the worst possible opponent to try to bounce back against
44:00
Speaker 2: if you're the Commanders. But Jaden Daniels coming off the injury,
44:04
Speaker 2: Do you think he bounces back and it has a
44:06
Speaker 2: significant impact against the San Francisco 49er defense?
44:16
Speaker 1: No, no, I don't. I really don't. I don't think
44:18
Speaker 1: he bounces back in any meaningful way. I think he
44:23
Speaker 1: did a great job of using his legs and the
44:26
Speaker 1: San Francisco 49ers have historically had issues with mobile quarterbacks. So,
44:31
Speaker 1: I expect that to be something that Raheem Morris focuses
44:34
Speaker 1: on with Fred Warner and Jaden Duggar now because it
44:39
Speaker 1: looks like Dre Greenlaw will be out in another game.
44:41
Speaker 1: The NFL suspended him, which I'm not 100. Once you
44:45
Speaker 1: miss so much of a game, that should count as
44:48
Speaker 1: one game suspension. For them to suspend him for another game,
44:50
Speaker 1: it seems to be overkill, but the league seems to
44:53
Speaker 1: be trying to make a point. Should there be a
44:55
Speaker 1: rule about... an opposing team surrounding a player that's on
45:01
Speaker 1: their sideline and pushing and grabbing, sure. But this football,
45:05
Speaker 1: they're not going to do that. They're not going to
45:07
Speaker 1: intervene like that. The refs are rarely going to call that.
45:11
Speaker 1: So obviously, Dre is just going to have to watch
45:14
Speaker 1: his temper and control himself because teams are going to
45:16
Speaker 1: try to goad him in other aspects. They're going to
45:20
Speaker 1: try to get him to react later on down the season.
45:23
Speaker 1: But yes, I think this San Francisco 49ers defense is developing.
45:30
Speaker 1: Their defensive line is growing in a big way. I
45:33
Speaker 1: expect to see more from Mikael Williams in this game.
45:36
Speaker 1: He played a little bit in this last game and
45:38
Speaker 1: tried to make some impact, but just not going to
45:40
Speaker 1: rust off. But Grayson Halton is a guy that showed
45:44
Speaker 1: up in a big way and has established himself in
45:48
Speaker 1: a big way and almost kind of quieted some of
45:51
Speaker 1: the noise that you hear about what the San Francisco
45:53
Speaker 1: 49ers need in the draft and what they need to
45:55
Speaker 1: address in free agency and in the trade because He's
45:58
Speaker 1: developing in that meaningful of a way. Diggy Zua got
46:03
Speaker 1: a sack in this game, so he's starting to show
46:05
Speaker 1: what he can do. There's so many guys that are
46:09
Speaker 1: starting to impact this, and then you're going to get
46:10
Speaker 1: Nicholas John Wilson back, but not this game. I think
46:14
Speaker 1: this defense continues to thrive. They're playing with confidence. Their
46:17
Speaker 1: confidence is only growing. Raheem Morris has them playing great football.
46:21
Speaker 1: I expect that to continue.
46:22
Speaker 2: Can you give me a final score on this one?
46:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about the
46:28
Speaker 1: commander's defense. I think Jaden Daniels can be relatively efficient
46:34
Speaker 1: when he needs to be. He's a great athlete. He's
46:38
Speaker 1: a great passer of the football. But I don't have
46:40
Speaker 1: them scoring a ton of points. San Francisco 49ers defense
46:44
Speaker 1: has been really, really great. So let's go San Francisco– 35,
46:57
Speaker 1: the Commanders, 21.
47:02
Speaker 2: Okay, they're giving up a little bit of points. Before
47:06
Speaker 2: we leave this game, you talked about it earlier. Debo
47:08
Speaker 2: Samuel goes out with the injury last week. He's going
47:11
Speaker 2: to be out a few weeks now. I mean, the
47:13
Speaker 2: San Francisco 49ers are definitely not foreign to having injuries.
47:18
Speaker 2: This is something they're very used to. That being said,
47:22
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hill remains looming as a free agent right now.
47:26
Speaker 2: Do you think it's time for John Lynch to approach
47:29
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hill and get a deal done to push this
47:31
Speaker 2: offense and give them another weapon?
47:35
Speaker 1: Again, I would, but it sounds like Tyreek Hill wants
47:38
Speaker 1: to go back to Kansas city. And I would expect
47:41
Speaker 1: those both parties to be interested in that, especially with
47:44
Speaker 1: Taequann Thornton, uh, out for an undisclosed amount of time.
47:47
Speaker 1: I I'm sure John will call his agent and reach
47:51
Speaker 1: out and see what the price is and see if
47:53
Speaker 1: he wants to play. But, um, I'm not sure the
47:58
Speaker 1: San Francisco 49ers are pushing the ball down the field
48:01
Speaker 1: enough for Tyreek Hill for it to be an attractive
48:03
Speaker 1: destination right now with obviously Mike Evans being there and
48:08
Speaker 1: being the guy that Brock Purdy has a rapport and
48:10
Speaker 1: a great relationship with. When everybody's out, Mike Evans seems
48:13
Speaker 1: to continue to be there and be a safety blanket
48:16
Speaker 1: for him. Brock Purdy has 1,100 yards, 13 passing touchdowns,
48:19
Speaker 1: and only two interceptions this season. Will Tyreek Hill be
48:24
Speaker 1: able to mesh in time? If you take him to
48:26
Speaker 1: Kansas City, he already has a relationship and a rapport
48:29
Speaker 1: with Patrick Mahomes. They know each other. They've won a
48:31
Speaker 1: lot of games together. They've played in big games together.
48:33
Speaker 1: So I think that relationship and that fit makes a
48:36
Speaker 1: little more sense. Last week, I went about 50%, Mitchell.
48:41
Speaker 1: This week, I'm feeling better. Some teams kind of let
48:43
Speaker 1: me down. The Browns, I thought they were going to
48:45
Speaker 1: do better than that. I had the Rams, Buffalo. Hey,
48:49
Speaker 1: Josh Allen used his legs this time. novel idea. But
48:54
Speaker 1: hopefully I do better this week.
48:56
Speaker 2: I think you got it this week, Richard. We talked
48:58
Speaker 2: about it last week. It's been an unpredictable season. So
49:01
Speaker 2: to go 50%, it's not all that bad. Let's get
49:04
Speaker 2: this week six preview started with our power rankings, Richard.
49:09
Speaker 2: I'll get us started and you can kind of tell
49:11
Speaker 2: me what I did right and what I did wrong.
49:14
Speaker 2: At number one in my power ranks, the faithful, the
49:17
Speaker 2: 49ers out of San Francisco. I don't think there's much
49:20
Speaker 2: debate here. No team has looked better in the NFL
49:23
Speaker 2: than the San Francisco 49ers. They've beaten top-tier competition on
49:28
Speaker 2: the road, including in Seattle last week. Give me the
49:32
Speaker 2: Niners at one. Second on my list coming off the
49:35
Speaker 2: bye is the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm going to talk
49:38
Speaker 2: about it until I'm blue in the faith. Kenneth Walker III,
49:41
Speaker 2: K-9 out of Michigan State University, leading the charge, giving
49:45
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes a weapon he's never had before in his career.
49:49
Speaker 2: The Chiefs are a threat. Give me them at number two. Then,
49:54
Speaker 2: re-emerging in my top five, the Buffalo Bills taking down
49:58
Speaker 2: the LA Rams in overtime on Monday Night Football. And
50:01
Speaker 2: it's almost like Josh Allen was listening to you, Richard.
50:04
Speaker 2: You told him to run the football that he did,
50:07
Speaker 2: 121 yards. When he's rolling like that, the Buffalo Bills
50:11
Speaker 2: are very tough to beat. At four, Duval, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
50:18
Speaker 2: Who would have thunk it, Richard? We've talked nothing but
50:20
Speaker 2: nonsense about this team for the last four years, and
50:23
Speaker 2: here they are. The emergence of Parker Washington looking like
50:26
Speaker 2: a legit number one threat for him. And then Trevor Lawrence.
50:30
Speaker 2: And then now all of a sudden, look at their defense.
50:33
Speaker 2: Second in the league in points allowed behind only the
50:36
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings. The Jags coming in at four. Speaking of
50:40
Speaker 2: those Vikings making their first appearance in the year, deservedly so, 5-0.
50:46
Speaker 2: There are question marks with that offense. But when you've
50:49
Speaker 2: got a defense like that led by Brian Flores, I
50:52
Speaker 2: think they've earned their due here. Give me the Vikings
50:55
Speaker 2: at five. Richard, what did I miss?
51:00
Speaker 1: You didn't miss anything this week, Mitchell. Usually you got
51:02
Speaker 1: a few off. Right now we're identical twins, and the
51:06
Speaker 1: San Francisco 49ers continue to thrive even though they're decimated.
51:10
Speaker 1: For them to get five sacks when Nicholas John Bosa
51:12
Speaker 1: is still sidelined, for them to be able to produce
51:15
Speaker 1: against this vaunted Seattle Seahawks defense with three of their
51:19
Speaker 1: receivers on IR and now a fourth potentially with Debo
51:23
Speaker 1: Samuel sustaining a hamstring injury. This team is going to
51:28
Speaker 1: be very difficult to beat whenever, if they ever, get healthy.
51:31
Speaker 1: Renardo Green starting to blossom, starting to come together. You
51:34
Speaker 1: talk about a game last year in Seattle that had
51:36
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan incredibly frustrated in the fan base, incredibly frustrated
51:40
Speaker 1: with Renardo Green. And for him to come back to Seattle,
51:43
Speaker 1: two interceptions, be a key part of the win this
51:47
Speaker 1: week was huge for him, huge for that secondary. And
51:49
Speaker 1: it speaks to Raheem Morris and the impact that he's
51:52
Speaker 1: had on not only him, but these safeties. Jair Brown,
51:56
Speaker 1: Malik Mustafa. Siegel, all those guys have played much better
52:00
Speaker 1: football this year. They're on the screws. They're playing fast.
52:04
Speaker 1: They're playing without hesitation. And they're making impact each and
52:07
Speaker 1: every game, even if it's not in the stat sheet, Mitchell.
52:10
Speaker 1: Sometimes physicality, minutes, the physical presence. Mustafa made a number
52:14
Speaker 1: of hits out there. And before JSN had that drop,
52:18
Speaker 1: two plays before, Malik Mustafa put his helmet and his
52:21
Speaker 1: body on him. in a big way and some are
52:24
Speaker 1: speculating that that may have had something to do with
52:25
Speaker 1: it the Kansas City Chiefs 4-0 like you said K-9
52:29
Speaker 1: is a guy he's a guy in the National Football
52:31
Speaker 1: League and if if Patrick Mahomes has an off day
52:34
Speaker 1: then look for K-9 to have over 150 yards on
52:36
Speaker 1: the ground that's the kind of back he is that's
52:38
Speaker 1: the kind of impact he can have Buffalo Bills Josh
52:41
Speaker 1: Allen when he plays like this and uses his legs
52:43
Speaker 1: like that they're a very difficult team to stop and
52:46
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know Outside of their defense having issues,
52:51
Speaker 1: which they continue to do, they gave up, what, 34
52:55
Speaker 1: in this game and likely could have lost this game
52:58
Speaker 1: had the Rams special teams been a little better and
53:00
Speaker 1: been able to execute. But give Greg Rousseau and that
53:03
Speaker 1: defense credit. They made a play when they had to
53:05
Speaker 1: have it, and that's the reason they were able to
53:06
Speaker 1: win that game. But after that play, you could see
53:09
Speaker 1: Josh Allen said, hey, enough is enough. I am doing
53:12
Speaker 1: what it takes. I'm not putting this ball in anybody
53:15
Speaker 1: else's hands. to potentially lose me this game. I will
53:18
Speaker 1: take it from here. And that's what he did. He
53:20
Speaker 1: went up the sideline. He booted out to the left.
53:24
Speaker 1: He took off. He made the plays that his team
53:27
Speaker 1: needed him to make. Put him in field goal range.
53:30
Speaker 1: They kicked the field goal to win the game. You
53:32
Speaker 1: talk about dying and living and dying and living again. Mitchell,
53:35
Speaker 1: this team showed that, hey, they can overcome the storm.
53:39
Speaker 1: They can overcome adversity against a team that everybody had
53:43
Speaker 1: as a preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl. And
53:46
Speaker 1: too many mistakes by the Rams, too many mistakes, too
53:49
Speaker 1: many penalties. We thought that Aaron Donald got his first
53:52
Speaker 1: sack in over 1,000 days or so, and it was
53:55
Speaker 1: called back because of a penalty. That started to damn
53:58
Speaker 1: this team. Matthew Stafford and Puka Nakua and Devontae Adams
54:03
Speaker 1: have to find a way to do more. I know
54:04
Speaker 1: you scored 34 points. People were like, how much more
54:06
Speaker 1: can they do? More. And this vaunted Rams defense, this
54:10
Speaker 1: defense that they said on paper could be the best
54:12
Speaker 1: defense to ever be assembled. 34 points. It's unacceptable. They
54:16
Speaker 1: have too many pieces. They invested too much in this
54:19
Speaker 1: defense to have these issues this deep into the season,
54:22
Speaker 1: but hopefully they can get those things fixed. Jacksonville Jaguars
54:25
Speaker 1: are playing incredible football again. We talked about their receiving
54:28
Speaker 1: core coming into the season. They retained Jacoby Meyer. Brian Thomas, again,
54:33
Speaker 1: is coming into his own. I thought he could have
54:35
Speaker 1: dragged that foot in that game. I thought he could
54:37
Speaker 1: have had himself a touchdown and made that an easier
54:39
Speaker 1: win for this team, but You know, you live and
54:41
Speaker 1: you learn. Parker Washington is doing things both in special
54:45
Speaker 1: teams and on the offensive side of the football. He's
54:49
Speaker 1: a surefire number one on that team. No question about that.
54:53
Speaker 1: It's time. I have seen enough, Minnesota. I have seen enough.
54:56
Speaker 1: And I know I am as hard on you guys
54:59
Speaker 1: as anyone because of the Sam Darnold debacle. I told
55:01
Speaker 1: you guys, you guys came at me. Don't, you know,
55:03
Speaker 1: we won't revisit that. But the Vikings continue to find
55:06
Speaker 1: a way to win. Yes, they're entering my power rankings.
55:09
Speaker 1: I promise you, Minnesota fans, if they won this week,
55:11
Speaker 1: they'd be in there.
55:13
Speaker 2: Let's take it to Arrowhead. The Kansas City Chiefs, 4-0,
55:16
Speaker 2: coming off the bye week, are hosting your buddy, your
55:20
Speaker 2: good friend, Justin Herbert, one of the best quarterbacks in
55:23
Speaker 2: the NFL and the L.A. Chargers team. Is this the
55:28
Speaker 2: game where L.A. finally gets a one in the winning
55:32
Speaker 2: column in Arrowhead?
55:39
Speaker 1: Um, that seems like, uh, that question. Oh, I'm not
55:47
Speaker 1: going to go there with you. I see what you're
55:48
Speaker 1: trying to do and I'm not going to allow you
55:50
Speaker 1: to go there. Um, this, I see what you're doing.
55:55
Speaker 2: You like it?
55:56
Speaker 1: Uh, this, this game seems like a layup for the chiefs.
55:59
Speaker 1: No question about it, but I don't know. I, the
56:01
Speaker 1: NFL is weird that way. It just, just like earlier
56:04
Speaker 1: in the season, we thought Buffalo would just have their
56:06
Speaker 1: way with the, with the Chargers and then the Chargers
56:08
Speaker 1: defense decided to step up in a big way force
56:11
Speaker 1: five turnovers and almost Chargers almost found a way to
56:15
Speaker 1: win that game then of course they have games where
56:18
Speaker 1: they struggle and you're looking and you're like I don't
56:21
Speaker 1: understand this I don't understand how you struggled this this
56:24
Speaker 1: mightily against everybody else but I don't see them winning
56:30
Speaker 1: this game I think Kansas City's rolling Justin Herbert is
56:33
Speaker 1: struggling more this season than he has in any season
56:36
Speaker 1: his career. He's five touchdowns and seven interceptions already on
56:40
Speaker 1: the season. Omarion Hampton is splitting time in a big way.
56:46
Speaker 1: He's starting to lose his momentum and his grasp. They're
56:49
Speaker 1: doing this three running back system that I'm not sure
56:52
Speaker 1: I agree with, but their defense has forced eight turnovers.
56:57
Speaker 1: They got 11 sacks, and the Kansas City Chiefs have not.
57:00
Speaker 1: They've gotten pressure on quarterbacks, but they have not finished
57:02
Speaker 1: the game in a way that you would have expected
57:06
Speaker 1: in a Spags coach defense. They only have three sacks
57:08
Speaker 1: on a season. They have seven turnovers. But I don't
57:14
Speaker 1: really understand what Mike McDaniel is doing with this three-running
57:19
Speaker 1: back system. And I know he joked about it in
57:21
Speaker 1: training camp that fantasy owners aren't going to be very
57:25
Speaker 1: happy with what he's doing. And, of course, they're not,
57:27
Speaker 1: but the results aren't very happy with what you're doing.
57:29
Speaker 1: And no running back can really get a rhythm when
57:32
Speaker 1: they're not in there. You know, it's one of those
57:34
Speaker 1: positions where you have to kind of wear teams down
57:37
Speaker 1: and find your legs and find, you know, your, your rhythm.
57:40
Speaker 1: And I don't think he's given an opportunity for anybody
57:42
Speaker 1: to find their rhythm. And I think this Kansas city
57:44
Speaker 1: offense is rolling, is rolling. They gave up, uh, the
57:48
Speaker 1: chargers gave up 20, 23 points to a Denver offense.
57:52
Speaker 1: That's struggling mightily. I think this offense can score 35
57:55
Speaker 1: on them pretty easily. And that's what I'm expecting to happen.
57:59
Speaker 1: I'm not expecting this offense to find its, its footing. Um,
58:03
Speaker 1: and I got the Kansas City Chiefs sending the Chargers
58:07
Speaker 1: to 0-6 with a lot of question marks, with more
58:10
Speaker 1: question marks. Like, I know this fan base was like, no,
58:13
Speaker 1: we don't need to do anything, but you got to
58:16
Speaker 1: do something. After 0-6, then, you know, you're staring 0-7
58:21
Speaker 1: in the face, and you're saying, hey, we're going to
58:23
Speaker 1: go into next year with everything the same, where, you know,
58:26
Speaker 1: you fire another coordinator, you get rid of another coordinator.
58:29
Speaker 1: Does that solve your problem? I don't think it does.
58:31
Speaker 2: And I know you haven't been a part of any–
58:33
Speaker 2: many losing teams. I guess your only time really would
58:36
Speaker 2: be at Stanford, right? That you were part of a
58:39
Speaker 2: team that lost, not even, no. So I can't imagine
58:44
Speaker 2: what it would do to the psyche and morale of
58:46
Speaker 2: the team.
58:46
Speaker 1: No, my first year in San Francisco, we went 4-12.
58:50
Speaker 1: That's how we got Bosa.
58:51
Speaker 2: So I guess with that being said, your first year
58:53
Speaker 2: in San Francisco going 4-12, and when you guys got
58:56
Speaker 2: Nicholas John Bosa, and we saw what that did to
58:58
Speaker 2: the franchise. But, I mean, how tough was it to
59:01
Speaker 2: go into that off season with optimism after you went
59:04
Speaker 2: four and 12 the following year?
59:06
Speaker 1: Well, I think, I think it's, it wasn't tough because
59:10
Speaker 1: you lost your quarterback. And so when you lose your
59:12
Speaker 1: quarterback early in a season, you kind of say, Hey,
59:15
Speaker 1: if we had our quarterback, we would be so much better.
59:19
Speaker 1: I think that's what makes this so much harder for
59:20
Speaker 1: charger fans to really digest to really a tough pill
59:24
Speaker 1: to swallow because Justin Herbert is healthy and he's out
59:27
Speaker 1: there every week. And, He's playing. Now this offensive line
59:32
Speaker 1: isn't playing well. And the two tackles that were playing
59:35
Speaker 1: well before haven't played well this season. So again, the
59:39
Speaker 1: concern level is growing on every because the players that
59:42
Speaker 1: have played well for you aren't playing well. And I
59:45
Speaker 1: think that's what makes it so much harder for them
59:48
Speaker 1: is that you kind of expect Slater and Joe Alt
59:50
Speaker 1: to be foundational pieces that just play well. You put
59:53
Speaker 1: them out there, you forget about them. Both have played
59:56
Speaker 1: at a really high level at times in this league.
59:58
Speaker 1: And so has Justin Herbert. So you have these foundational pieces.
1:00:02
Speaker 1: You say, hey, let's build around them. And then you
1:00:04
Speaker 1: think you got a pretty good running back in Omarion Hampton,
1:00:06
Speaker 1: but now he's rotating. And then Quentin Johnson, you're like, hey,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: we got a good number one receiver, but do you?
1:00:15
Speaker 1: And then Ladd McConkie is your guy, but is he?
1:00:19
Speaker 1: You know, right now Trey Harris is your top receiver. So,
1:00:23
Speaker 1: you know, so many things that were, were, afterthoughts and
1:00:28
Speaker 1: foregone conclusions for the Chargers are now question marks, and
1:00:31
Speaker 1: I think that's what makes this season so difficult because
1:00:34
Speaker 1: there aren't any real clear answers. Sure, the offensive line
1:00:38
Speaker 1: is struggling, but what's the immediate answer? There isn't any.
1:00:42
Speaker 1: Why is the defense playing as well as they have?
1:00:44
Speaker 1: And why are they so hot and cold? There aren't
1:00:47
Speaker 1: any easy answers, and people are starting to call for
1:00:49
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack, and now it's starting to get to the
1:00:52
Speaker 1: point of, hey, do you start to sell off pieces
1:00:55
Speaker 1: and try to you know, recoup some draft picks and
1:00:57
Speaker 1: kind of re, you know, refigure out what you're trying
1:01:00
Speaker 1: to do in the future.
1:01:02
Speaker 2: It looks like it might be time. I'm going to
1:01:03
Speaker 2: join you. I'm going Casey as well. I think my
1:01:07
Speaker 2: boy canine gets loose here. Chargers defense is definitely decent,
1:01:10
Speaker 2: but there are 21st against the run. I expect Kenneth
1:01:14
Speaker 2: Walker for the third to have a big game in
1:01:16
Speaker 2: this one in Kansas city to roll. Let's go to Vegas,
1:01:20
Speaker 2: a team that got off to a strong start. This
1:01:22
Speaker 2: Raider team has lost two straight against tough competition, going
1:01:26
Speaker 2: down against the Chiefs and against the New England Patriots,
1:01:29
Speaker 2: but they welcome now the Buffalo Bills, and we talked
1:01:31
Speaker 2: about it a couple weeks ago when they got off
1:01:33
Speaker 2: to a 3-0 start. Reality might smack them in the
1:01:36
Speaker 2: face really quick here, and we're going to see whether
1:01:38
Speaker 2: they're proven contenders or not. This team looks feisty. I
1:01:43
Speaker 2: know they got beat up pretty good by the Patriots
1:01:45
Speaker 2: last week, but they They almost beat the Chiefs. Do
1:01:49
Speaker 2: you think they have what it takes to get it
1:01:51
Speaker 2: done against this Bills team at home?
1:01:55
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be closer than Polymarket has it.
1:01:58
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is actually quietly having a really strong season.
1:02:01
Speaker 1: He has 1,200 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, only four interceptions.
1:02:06
Speaker 1: That's the reason they've been in these games. That's the
1:02:08
Speaker 1: reason they've been having success. Obviously, they just took a
1:02:10
Speaker 1: massive loss, 28-point loss to the– the Patriots, but before that,
1:02:18
Speaker 1: they've been battling in every game, and I thought they
1:02:20
Speaker 1: had a chance to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead,
1:02:23
Speaker 1: and they weren't able to get it done, but this
1:02:26
Speaker 1: Vegas team is better than the numbers show, and against
1:02:30
Speaker 1: one of the worst defenses in the league in the
1:02:32
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills in terms of total defense. They're giving up
1:02:35
Speaker 1: 404 yards a game, 295 passing yards a game. There's
1:02:40
Speaker 1: some room there for Kirk Cousins and the Vegas Raiders
1:02:43
Speaker 1: to cause some issues, but Josh Allen, has 15 total
1:02:47
Speaker 1: touchdowns on a season, thrown for 1,200 yards. And if
1:02:50
Speaker 1: he's going to use his legs as he did against
1:02:52
Speaker 1: the Rams, I got them winning this game. If he
1:02:55
Speaker 1: goes back to being conservative and protecting his body or
1:02:59
Speaker 1: whatever he was doing the two previous games, then that'll
1:03:04
Speaker 1: give the Raiders a chance. But I got Buffalo in
1:03:06
Speaker 1: this one.
1:03:07
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, this team
1:03:09
Speaker 2: and Buffalo goes as their quarterback goes. And Josh Allen
1:03:12
Speaker 2: brings a lot more to the table than just throwing
1:03:15
Speaker 2: the football his ability to get out of the pocket
1:03:17
Speaker 2: and make decisions on the run, whether that means tucking
1:03:20
Speaker 2: it and taking a cornerback head-on-head or lofting it over
1:03:23
Speaker 2: his head for a completion. When Josh Allen plays without
1:03:28
Speaker 2: any sort of hesitation, it relies 100% on his instincts.
1:03:33
Speaker 2: This Buffalo Bills team is near impossible to beat. The
1:03:37
Speaker 2: question is, will he play like that? Will he put
1:03:40
Speaker 2: his body on the line? Or will he reserve it
1:03:43
Speaker 2: for the playoffs? We shall see. But what we saw
1:03:46
Speaker 2: on Monday Night Football against the Rams, that version of
1:03:48
Speaker 2: Josh Allen is going to be very difficult to beat.
1:03:51
Speaker 2: Give me the Buffalo Bills in this one as well.
1:03:54
Speaker 2: Let's go to Vegas, a team that got off to
1:03:57
Speaker 2: a strong start. This Raider team has lost two straight
1:04:00
Speaker 2: against tough competition and going down against the Chiefs and
1:04:04
Speaker 2: against the New England Patriots. But they welcome now the
1:04:06
Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills. And we talked about it a couple weeks
1:04:08
Speaker 2: ago when they got off to a 3-0 start. Reality
1:04:11
Speaker 2: might smack them in the face really quick here, and
1:04:13
Speaker 2: we're going to see whether they're proven contenders or not.
1:04:17
Speaker 2: This team looks feisty. I know they got beat up
1:04:20
Speaker 2: pretty good by the Patriots last week, but they almost
1:04:23
Speaker 2: beat the Chiefs. Do you think they have what it
1:04:26
Speaker 2: takes to get it done against this Bills team at home?
1:04:31
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be closer than Polymarket has it.
1:04:34
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is actually quietly having a really strong season.
1:04:37
Speaker 1: He has 1,200 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, only four interceptions.
1:04:42
Speaker 1: that's the reason they've been in these games. That's the
1:04:44
Speaker 1: reason they've been having success. Obviously, they just took a
1:04:46
Speaker 1: massive loss, 28-point loss to the Patriots. But before that,
1:04:54
Speaker 1: they've been battling in every game, and I thought they
1:04:56
Speaker 1: had a chance to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead,
1:04:59
Speaker 1: and they weren't able to get it done. But this
1:05:02
Speaker 1: Vegas team is better than the numbers show, and against
1:05:06
Speaker 1: one of the worst defenses ever, in the league and
1:05:08
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills in terms of total defense. They're giving
1:05:10
Speaker 1: up 404 yards a game, 295 passing yards a game.
1:05:15
Speaker 1: There's some room there for Kirk Cousins and the Vegas
1:05:19
Speaker 1: Raiders to cause some issues. But Josh Allen has 15
1:05:23
Speaker 1: total touchdowns on the season, throwing for 1,200 yards. And
1:05:26
Speaker 1: if he's going to use his legs as he did
1:05:28
Speaker 1: against the Rams, I got them winning this game. If
1:05:31
Speaker 1: he goes back to being conservative and protecting his body
1:05:35
Speaker 1: or whatever he was doing, the two previous games, then
1:05:40
Speaker 1: that'll give the Raiders a chance, but I got Buffalo
1:05:42
Speaker 1: in this one.
1:05:43
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, this team
1:05:45
Speaker 2: and Buffalo goes as their quarterback goes, and Josh Allen
1:05:48
Speaker 2: brings a lot more to the table than just throwing
1:05:51
Speaker 2: the football. His ability to get out of the pocket
1:05:54
Speaker 2: and make decisions on the run, whether that means tucking
1:05:56
Speaker 2: it and taking a cornerback head-on-head or lofting it over
1:05:59
Speaker 2: his head for a completion. When Josh Allen plays without
1:06:04
Speaker 2: any sort of hesitation. It relies 100% on his instincts.
1:06:09
Speaker 2: This Buffalo Bills team is near impossible to beat. The
1:06:13
Speaker 2: question is, will he play like that? Will he put
1:06:16
Speaker 2: his body on the line? Or will he reserve it
1:06:19
Speaker 2: for the playoffs? We shall see. But what we saw
1:06:22
Speaker 2: on Monday Night Football against the Rams, that version of
1:06:24
Speaker 2: Josh Allen is going to be very difficult to beat.
1:06:27
Speaker 2: Give me the Buffalo Bills in this one as well. Richard,
1:06:30
Speaker 2: it's always a pleasure to sit down with you midweek.
1:06:33
Speaker 2: I will let you sign us off, my friend.
1:06:35
Speaker 1: Well, as always, we appreciate you guys joining us. You
1:06:38
Speaker 1: could be anywhere in the world, but you're here with us,
1:06:40
Speaker 1: and we surely do appreciate it. Hit that like and
1:06:42
Speaker 1: sub button and hype us up a little bit if
1:06:44
Speaker 1: you can. We surely do appreciate you. Have a beautiful,
1:06:47
Speaker 1: blessed day. We'll see you next time.