Latest / NFL explained. / NFL REPORT: Quick learner Lamar Jackson, Bengals in trouble?, Sean Payton’s dilemma

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NFL REPORT: Quick learner Lamar Jackson, Bengals in trouble?, Sean Payton’s dilemma · NFL explained.

0:05
Speaker 1: Week two of the NFL Report is here. I'm see
0:09
Speaker 1: White and my guy James Palmer rocking the terra cotta
0:13
Speaker 1: right there as he is back in Denver after a
0:16
Speaker 1: long flight back from.
0:17
Speaker 2: Cincinnati this week.
0:19
Speaker 1: Jpe, we got a lot going on because you're usually
0:21
Speaker 1: Week two is a.
0:22
Speaker 2: Much more truth teller than week one.
0:25
Speaker 1: Right, we can kind of read the tea leaves, and
0:27
Speaker 1: I think we can see what some teams like Cincinnati
0:29
Speaker 1: and Miami might be. He's like, Dallas, do we really
0:32
Speaker 1: know they're too?
0:33
Speaker 2: Well know how good they are? Wet? Still a ton
0:35
Speaker 2: of unanswered questions?
0:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, see, how about this if we're telling the truth.
0:39
Speaker 3: What's your take on Skyline Chili in Cincinnati?
0:42
Speaker 2: Skyline Chili is good.
0:43
Speaker 1: I'm also but I'm probably a bigger gold Star fan myself.
0:47
Speaker 1: But I don't want to insult anybody in our audience.
0:49
Speaker 1: You know that there's there's a lot of touchy feelings
0:51
Speaker 1: about that. Do you like chili on spaghetti?
0:53
Speaker 2: JP?
0:55
Speaker 3: No, I skip halftime meal in the press box when
0:57
Speaker 3: I'm there at Peay Course Stadium. I'm not gonna lie.
0:59
Speaker 3: A double up pregame pre game was good. I double
1:02
Speaker 3: up pre game, get a little something extra. There was
1:03
Speaker 3: sticky buns up there this time, even though I told
1:05
Speaker 3: that's a Philly thing when you say sticky buns too often,
1:07
Speaker 3: cinnamon roll, whatever you want to call it. I call
1:09
Speaker 3: them all sticky buttons. But I had an extra one
1:11
Speaker 3: of those, so I wouldn't do the skyline stuff at halftime,
1:13
Speaker 3: I'll be honest.
1:14
Speaker 1: And and everybody watching and listening, they're like, oh, these
1:16
Speaker 1: sports writers, they get fed. They don't I don't want
1:18
Speaker 1: to hear them complain about anything. Well, you know that's
1:21
Speaker 1: part of the issue. I'm sure you want to complain
1:22
Speaker 1: about the fact that we also get to watch football
1:25
Speaker 1: for a living.
1:26
Speaker 2: Shame me.
1:27
Speaker 1: We saw a fantastic display of what this Ravens offense
1:32
Speaker 1: could look like when they went and they beat Cincinnati.
1:34
Speaker 2: I mean, this was a huge game.
1:36
Speaker 1: You heard John Harbaugh talk about it's a big game,
1:39
Speaker 1: players talking about how how sweet it.
1:41
Speaker 2: Was to send the Bengals to an zero and two start.
1:45
Speaker 1: You were there, and you were texting me during the game, like, man,
1:49
Speaker 1: Lamar looks really good.
1:50
Speaker 2: This offense is serious stuff. Tell us a little bit
1:53
Speaker 2: about what you.
1:54
Speaker 3: Saw, man, Yeah, pregame, Steve and I think I was
1:57
Speaker 3: on with you pregame. Also, when I was talking to
1:59
Speaker 3: that commend members of the coaching staff and they're like, listen,
2:01
Speaker 3: Lamar is not comfortable in this offense. Shed We're not
2:04
Speaker 3: sure how long it's gonna take. We're gonna see how
2:07
Speaker 3: the process goes. But obviously this is very different. He
2:09
Speaker 3: didn't play in the preseason, so Week one was really
2:11
Speaker 3: our first opportunity to see him go out there and
2:13
Speaker 3: operate in it. We didn't see him run at all.
2:15
Speaker 3: I thought it was really interesting. When I talked to
2:17
Speaker 3: Zay Flowers, the rookie wide receiver, he was like, no, no, no,
2:20
Speaker 3: that was the plan for Lamar not to run. The
2:22
Speaker 3: plan was for him to sit back there, get comfortable, Steve,
2:25
Speaker 3: get a feel for this offense, sitting in the pocket,
2:28
Speaker 3: because why, he knows he can run right, he knows
2:30
Speaker 3: you can find ways to go out there and create
2:33
Speaker 3: and make plays. He wanted to sit back there and
2:34
Speaker 3: feel it. And what did we see in week two?
2:36
Speaker 3: We saw him go out there and have an extremely
2:38
Speaker 3: balanced attack. I think that's the difference. When I talked
2:41
Speaker 3: to Mark Andrews after the game, he was like, now
2:43
Speaker 3: that we have these receivers on the outside, life's easier
2:47
Speaker 3: for him in the middle. You have explosive players on
2:49
Speaker 3: the outside. You saw after the interception bang right to
2:52
Speaker 3: a fifty two yard reception by Jay Flowers to go deep.
2:55
Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson was accurate. He was comfortable. If they're wondering
2:59
Speaker 3: how long it's going to take him to get comfortable offense,
3:01
Speaker 3: I don't know. Week three. Now, they're so balanced because
3:05
Speaker 3: at the back end of this game, what did they do?
3:07
Speaker 3: They just kept the Bengals off the field. Lamar ran
3:09
Speaker 3: the football. They ran the football even when Cincinnati knew
3:12
Speaker 3: they were going to run the football. I think this
3:14
Speaker 3: is a really fun, interesting offense to watch now because
3:17
Speaker 3: of the balance it has.
3:18
Speaker 1: And what's interesting about that is they were down two
3:21
Speaker 1: starting offensive linemen right the center, Tyler Linderbaum.
3:25
Speaker 3: Center.
3:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean this was this was we were wondering
3:28
Speaker 1: before the game, you want a pregame show with me.
3:30
Speaker 2: JP were like, well, Lamar.
3:31
Speaker 1: Is gonna be on his horse all day because these
3:33
Speaker 1: these Bengals rushers are going to be all over him.
3:35
Speaker 1: He was on his horse on scalded runs and because
3:37
Speaker 1: that's what may have opened up because this offensive line
3:40
Speaker 1: held up well, that is a positive sign because we
3:43
Speaker 1: know left tackle Ronnie Stanley has had injury issues to
3:46
Speaker 1: his legs for years. So if they can have somebody
3:49
Speaker 1: come in and feel incapably, that's fantastic. But the balance,
3:53
Speaker 1: that's when the Ravens work right. When they have to
3:54
Speaker 1: rely you know, one dimensional running too much or throwing
3:57
Speaker 1: too much, that's not them. But also, and I want
4:00
Speaker 1: to get this back to you, Zay Flowers. You saw
4:03
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham go out with an ankle injury. We don't
4:05
Speaker 1: know how significant that is, but the rookie wide receiver
4:09
Speaker 1: out of Boston College seems to open up this offense,
4:12
Speaker 1: open up the.
4:12
Speaker 2: Field for Mark Andrews across the middle.
4:15
Speaker 1: What impact could he make because they have not had
4:17
Speaker 1: not only a deep threat like him, but a route
4:20
Speaker 1: runner like him, maybe a Lamar's tenure.
4:24
Speaker 3: That's the thing, And there's already such a it looks
4:27
Speaker 3: like chemistry and connection between him Lamar Jackson's nine catches
4:30
Speaker 3: in the first week like from a rookie wide receiver.
4:33
Speaker 3: The interesting part about Zay real Quick is that he
4:35
Speaker 3: already can line up in every single receiver spot they have.
4:38
Speaker 3: He can play the X, he can play the Y.
4:40
Speaker 3: He can be a different member of a trips group,
4:42
Speaker 3: you know, the number two of the three. He can
4:44
Speaker 3: line up in the backfield. His versatility in that sense
4:46
Speaker 3: and understanding of the offense and being able to do
4:49
Speaker 3: that is extremely important and really impressive this early. But
4:53
Speaker 3: what they're impressed with Steve is how strong he is
4:55
Speaker 3: for his size for a little Yeah, guys on the
4:58
Speaker 3: coaching staff, they were like, you know what he can do.
5:00
Speaker 3: He can't get tackled, and that's pretty important. Is he's
5:04
Speaker 3: hard to tackle and I look like he's gonna be
5:06
Speaker 3: that explosive player to add into making this a layered
5:09
Speaker 3: offense with Mark Andrews as well. As we talk about offenses,
5:13
Speaker 3: talk about explosive plays. That's usually what we talk about
5:15
Speaker 3: with the Cincinnati Bengals, but we have not seen that
5:18
Speaker 3: very much. We saw them get better offensively in the
5:21
Speaker 3: second half, but what we also saw in the second
5:23
Speaker 3: half was Joe Burrow reaggravating that calf injury. I was
5:27
Speaker 3: in the press room to hear him say this postgame.
5:32
Speaker 4: Well, when when your quarterback missus camp, it's it's tough
5:35
Speaker 4: to it's tough to start fast, it's it's not an
5:40
Speaker 4: ideal situation. Yeah, I'm still confident. I feel really confident
5:47
Speaker 4: in all the guys we have in that room. Now,
5:49
Speaker 4: Like I said, we're gonna have to see how that
5:51
Speaker 4: feels the next couple of days. It's pretty sore right now,
5:54
Speaker 4: but no telling how it's gonna feel sorrow. I think
5:57
Speaker 4: we're gonna take it day by day.
6:03
Speaker 3: Steve. This is a team that we were not very
6:06
Speaker 3: concerned with starting oh to one. Now they're zero in two,
6:10
Speaker 3: which is what they did, I believe last year. So
6:15
Speaker 3: what's your take watching this game? Watching a Super Bowl
6:18
Speaker 3: contender start not just oh and two, oh and two
6:21
Speaker 3: in the division?
6:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean JP.
6:25
Speaker 1: Normally i'd be like, you know, they're gonna be fine.
6:29
Speaker 1: This seems a little different. There's a feel to it.
6:32
Speaker 2: And you were there, not me, but in pregame again,
6:36
Speaker 2: you were on the pregame.
6:36
Speaker 1: Show with us on our game day preview show with
6:39
Speaker 1: Andrew Ciliano and me, and you said, I have been
6:42
Speaker 1: watching him warm up and he doesn't look right.
6:45
Speaker 2: That calf did not look right. You saw that pregame.
6:48
Speaker 1: Then he aggravates it during the game, and then we're
6:52
Speaker 1: seeing him and for those of you listening on the podcast,
6:55
Speaker 1: he's got the thera gun kind of gunning and trying
6:57
Speaker 1: to get it loose, you know, after he's staying this,
7:00
Speaker 1: you know, the injury, the aggravation.
7:03
Speaker 2: This seems like it might be something that could linger.
7:05
Speaker 2: And so you say to yourself, well, will they shut
7:07
Speaker 2: him down?
7:08
Speaker 1: You know, because Burrell said, we have to figure wait
7:10
Speaker 1: a couple days to see what's going on.
7:11
Speaker 2: That's not Joe Burrow.
7:13
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is usually not that open about how he
7:15
Speaker 1: physically feels.
7:16
Speaker 2: And when you hear a.
7:17
Speaker 1: Lot of athletes like that talk about that they know something,
7:21
Speaker 1: they know something, and so maybe they have to shut
7:23
Speaker 1: him down or maybe this is gonna be an issue
7:25
Speaker 1: for several weeks, if not for longer, that he has
7:28
Speaker 1: to work through. And we know, if Joe Burrow is
7:30
Speaker 1: not at full strength with some of the pressure that
7:32
Speaker 1: they allow on him, this could be something where the
7:35
Speaker 1: folks in Cincinnati, and the words of the great animated
7:39
Speaker 1: legend Scooby Doo say rut Row.
7:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, say it again, Steve Row. There we go. Listen.
7:52
Speaker 3: This was a dejected locker room. There was definitely a
7:55
Speaker 3: lot of confidence after the first loss. This one was
7:57
Speaker 3: a little bit different, and I don't think it's because
8:00
Speaker 3: they're Row and two. When I had side conversations with players,
8:03
Speaker 3: it was Steve, I have a fear that this is
8:06
Speaker 3: going to linger, like that's my concern, that this calf
8:08
Speaker 3: thing is going to linger with Joe Burrow and that's
8:11
Speaker 3: going to impact our ability to get out of this
8:13
Speaker 3: own two start. I don't think anybody in that locker
8:15
Speaker 3: room doubts Joe Burrow as a player, doubts that he's
8:18
Speaker 3: one of the best quarterbacks and players in football, that
8:20
Speaker 3: this offense can still be one of the best offenses
8:22
Speaker 3: in football. We've just seen too much success out of
8:25
Speaker 3: this group, right, That's not their concern. Their concern in
8:28
Speaker 3: these conversations I was having in the locker room were man,
8:31
Speaker 3: I hope this doesn't linger like I feel like that
8:34
Speaker 3: might be the case. And that is the major concern
8:37
Speaker 3: because you saw them in the second half. Steve, after
8:39
Speaker 3: a slow start, I talked to Orlando Brown Junior, is like,
8:41
Speaker 3: we wanted to get out to a quick start. They
8:43
Speaker 3: barely had the ball. They had the ball for eighteen
8:44
Speaker 3: plays and that first half the Ravens had forty seven
8:48
Speaker 3: plays in the first half. The second half, they started
8:50
Speaker 3: stringing together some drives. They really did, and then this happened.
8:53
Speaker 3: So that's where really, to me, the major concern is
8:57
Speaker 3: everybody says Joe Burrow is the next peg down, and
9:00
Speaker 3: I believe they say Steve from Patrick Mahones, who on
9:04
Speaker 3: his birthday goes out and gets his sixty fifth career
9:08
Speaker 3: win over the Jags, a game that I thought was
9:11
Speaker 3: going to be a shootout and it was just the opposite.
9:16
Speaker 1: Well, and that's in part JP because this Kansas City
9:18
Speaker 1: Chiefs defense, which typically slow plays it's development into being
9:24
Speaker 1: very good, is off to a great start. I mean,
9:27
Speaker 1: they get Chris Jones back and he plays thirty four
9:31
Speaker 1: plays and none of us really thought he was going to,
9:33
Speaker 1: you know, completely dominate.
9:35
Speaker 2: Well he did. He did. And once again, to go.
9:38
Speaker 1: Back to our pregame conversation, that's where I said. One
9:40
Speaker 1: thing about Chris Jones when we talk about his dominance
9:43
Speaker 1: is he does it at the right times.
9:45
Speaker 2: He does it in key moments. He does it on
9:48
Speaker 2: third line.
9:48
Speaker 1: This is a three man rush we're watching right here,
9:50
Speaker 1: and he bats it down, just.
9:52
Speaker 2: Absolutely works the left tackle.
9:54
Speaker 1: Here's one where we three man rush again gets to
9:57
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence. This is one on one This is impact football.
10:02
Speaker 1: This is getting Trevor Lawrence to think, oh my god,
10:05
Speaker 1: there's ninety five coming off the edge from a five technique,
10:08
Speaker 1: not even a seven technique, and I can't get away
10:11
Speaker 1: from him.
10:11
Speaker 2: Now.
10:12
Speaker 1: Part of that's the coverage downfield and James. This speaks
10:15
Speaker 1: to the bigger issue of Chris Jones' impact. It effects
10:18
Speaker 1: all three levels of what the Chiefs are doing. They
10:21
Speaker 1: could cloud the deep past and from behind drop their
10:25
Speaker 1: linebackers to cover the intermediate stuff because they know Chris
10:28
Speaker 1: Jones can be that disruptive. That's what we saw over
10:31
Speaker 1: and over again in this game.
10:34
Speaker 3: And you saw him rush from different spots. He was
10:36
Speaker 3: out there on the edge. Remember when they toyed without
10:38
Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, he dropped some weight and
10:40
Speaker 3: they were like, may maybe he's an edge rusher. Now
10:42
Speaker 3: he's doing it at his current dominance and his current
10:44
Speaker 3: strength that he has in the middle of the defensive
10:46
Speaker 3: line seat, but also can rush from the outside. They
10:48
Speaker 3: always love moving him around finding advantages. But you mentioned it.
10:51
Speaker 3: He's a drive ender, a game ender. You saw him
10:54
Speaker 3: do that on fourth down. You see how he's able
10:57
Speaker 3: to get their defense off the field to put the
10:59
Speaker 3: best player football back on the field and what's happening
11:02
Speaker 3: with this defense? And when I spend some time Darren
11:04
Speaker 3: Camp there, I was talking to safety Justin Reid and
11:07
Speaker 3: he was like, everybody now understands our system in the secondary.
11:12
Speaker 3: He's like, I was teaching everybody my role and their
11:15
Speaker 3: role throughout all of the season last year. So many
11:17
Speaker 3: new faces. Now they're to year two into the system,
11:20
Speaker 3: and this group as a defense, which usually starts slow,
11:25
Speaker 3: is playing really well early on and helping out this
11:27
Speaker 3: offense that struggle a little bit. I have to put
11:29
Speaker 3: this out there. As we talked about Patrick Mahomes. This
11:31
Speaker 3: was a nice birthday present from the Chiefs. This is
11:34
Speaker 3: this is from rap sheet right now while we're recording.
11:37
Speaker 3: This a new deal for Patrick Mahomes. In the restructured deal,
11:41
Speaker 3: he now receives two hundred and ten point six million
11:45
Speaker 3: between twenty twenty three and twenty twenty six, the most
11:47
Speaker 3: in NFL history over a four year span. We knew
11:52
Speaker 3: this was coming, Steve, it is now here and who
11:56
Speaker 3: the offense is sputtered a little bit, but.
12:00
Speaker 1: I might hold on, hold on, okay, okay, Now everybody
12:03
Speaker 1: who's watching and listening, this is how like TV and
12:07
Speaker 1: all this works. Thirty seconds before we are coming on
12:11
Speaker 1: to tape this show, James and I are talking about
12:14
Speaker 1: this Mahomes deal is gonna get done pretty soon. Don't
12:18
Speaker 1: believe all this hype where Patrick says he doesn't need
12:20
Speaker 1: all this money. There's been conversations going on for months
12:23
Speaker 1: about getting this restructure done, and now you are saying
12:26
Speaker 1: he's getting two one hundred How does Marshawn Lynch put
12:31
Speaker 1: it two hundred grips two hundred thousand.
12:35
Speaker 3: Ten million, two hundred ten million, two d two hundred
12:38
Speaker 3: and ten millions.
12:40
Speaker 1: This this is cash dollars. I'm assuming this is guaranteed
12:43
Speaker 1: bread that is get per in.
12:45
Speaker 3: Listen to this. Steve Mahomes has now received over two
12:48
Speaker 3: hundred and seventy three million in guarantees since the deal
12:51
Speaker 3: was originally signed in twenty twenty, an NFL record that's unbelievable.
12:58
Speaker 3: But I mean this, and this is this is how
13:01
Speaker 3: this team is operating, Steve. And it's interesting when we
13:04
Speaker 3: talked about this whole Chris Jones situation and everything that
13:07
Speaker 3: was going on and Chris Jones wanting this new deal,
13:09
Speaker 3: We've talked about how this team has looked to build
13:12
Speaker 3: moving forward, they move on from Tyreek Hill to make
13:14
Speaker 3: other money. They look how they're moving everything forward with
13:18
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes in line. How does that change everything else
13:22
Speaker 3: We're going to find out this offseason.
13:24
Speaker 1: Well, and let's let's also not let people forget Wow,
13:26
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes is getting all this money, this and that
13:29
Speaker 1: in hard cash dollars. The amount of money he took
13:33
Speaker 1: in the first three years of that ten year, four
13:37
Speaker 1: hundred and.
13:37
Speaker 2: Fifty million dollars deal was minimal. Isn't a lot.
13:40
Speaker 1: I want to say it was around sixty million. Now
13:42
Speaker 1: minimal to NFL players, It's a lot for you and I.
13:46
Speaker 1: But the fact that he was willing to sinimal for
13:48
Speaker 1: Steve Wych, yeah right, damn right if you took that
13:52
Speaker 1: little money, when you see some of this other upfront
13:54
Speaker 1: cash these players got, this is this is a just
13:58
Speaker 1: reward for him to get to two Super Bowls. Plus
14:01
Speaker 1: it's going to allow, as crazy as the sounds, the
14:04
Speaker 1: Chiefs to create cap space along the way, so maybe
14:06
Speaker 1: they can get Chris Jones done depending on how the
14:09
Speaker 1: structure of it is. We're not going to get into
14:11
Speaker 1: all of that good stuff right there, all right, JP
14:14
Speaker 1: you're gonna get the final word before we move on
14:17
Speaker 1: to the B block.
14:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll say this, they were just waiting for Joe
14:20
Speaker 3: Burrow's deal to get done before they really pushed this
14:22
Speaker 3: things forward. Once they had those numbers, they were able
14:24
Speaker 3: to readjust everything they wanted to do moving forward. Now,
14:27
Speaker 3: as we move forward with this show, Steve Wera have
14:28
Speaker 3: Jeff Schadea on to talk about a couple of these comebacks.
14:31
Speaker 3: Who is gift rapped of victory and who had to
14:34
Speaker 3: go out there and actually earn it More coming up
14:37
Speaker 3: on the NFL Report. Welcome back to the NFL Report.
14:49
Speaker 3: James Palmer, Steve White, John by Jeff Chadea.
14:51
Speaker 5: Who.
14:52
Speaker 3: I'm not sure how close, Jeff, you lived to Patrick Mahomes,
14:54
Speaker 3: but you might want to swing by and see what's
14:57
Speaker 3: happening over there at Mahomes Manor. It's been redone and
15:01
Speaker 3: now they have some more money for future upgrades, even
15:04
Speaker 3: though it's all Brent spanking nouah.
15:06
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're not in the same neighborhood. I can promise
15:09
Speaker 6: you that.
15:09
Speaker 2: Come on, yeah up to see where he's You're adjacent.
15:13
Speaker 2: You're adjacent, right.
15:14
Speaker 3: Not the right right word to use.
15:16
Speaker 6: I'm more like he's up here and I'm way down
15:19
Speaker 6: here with the other peons. But yeah, you know, look,
15:23
Speaker 6: I think one thing that we knew when he signed
15:25
Speaker 6: his first big extension was that that was not going
15:27
Speaker 6: to last for ten years. The numbers sounded great, half
15:31
Speaker 6: a billion dollars, but at the end of the day,
15:33
Speaker 6: he took a team friendly deal with a discount, and
15:37
Speaker 6: they weren't going to allow Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson
15:40
Speaker 6: and Deshaun Watson and everybody else, you know, justin Herbert,
15:44
Speaker 6: all these their quarterbacks to be paid more than the
15:46
Speaker 6: best quarterback, the best player in the league. So this
15:49
Speaker 6: was definitely not a surprise. The numbers aren't surprising. I
15:54
Speaker 6: think James in the break we talked about just the
15:56
Speaker 6: possibility and then looking at this again in four years
15:59
Speaker 6: and redoing it. But they're always going to make sure
16:01
Speaker 6: that he's at the top of the pay list, and
16:03
Speaker 6: they're also going to try to make sure he has
16:06
Speaker 6: his money. But they have the flexibility to keep making
16:08
Speaker 6: moves to keep this team going.
16:10
Speaker 1: And yeah, real quick, explain that because people who may
16:13
Speaker 1: not necessarily know how to finesse the cap say, wow,
16:16
Speaker 1: he's getting you know, two hundred ten million dollars over
16:18
Speaker 1: the next three years.
16:19
Speaker 2: We're going to be hamstrung.
16:21
Speaker 1: But that money, when it's amortized over the length of
16:24
Speaker 1: the deal, it actually creates cap space.
16:27
Speaker 6: But it does, it does, and really, and they've been
16:30
Speaker 6: doing this for the last couple of years where they
16:32
Speaker 6: don't want to get into this world and I don't
16:34
Speaker 6: want to go too deep into the weeds and how
16:35
Speaker 6: NFL contract works, but they don't want to go into
16:37
Speaker 6: this world where they're always trying to borrow money, get
16:40
Speaker 6: players restructured, and try to get create salary cap space.
16:44
Speaker 6: They feel like having him at a number that's manageable
16:47
Speaker 6: for them, they're able to go to him and create
16:50
Speaker 6: cast spaces when they want to. But they also know
16:52
Speaker 6: he's getting paid as well, so this number will be
16:55
Speaker 6: spread out over the course of the deal. I don't
16:58
Speaker 6: know exactly all the details involved, but even though it's
17:00
Speaker 6: a big number, it's really more about the years and
17:04
Speaker 6: the way that the escalators are set up, the way
17:06
Speaker 6: that they can actually spread it out, uh, you know,
17:10
Speaker 6: pay to pay it to him over the course of
17:11
Speaker 6: that deal. So a lot of ways to work and
17:13
Speaker 6: make it flexible, which.
17:14
Speaker 3: Is big for a general manager Breadfeach. And with that said, Jeff,
17:19
Speaker 3: look at what they have to do this offseason. You
17:21
Speaker 3: have to pay the two guys that are right there
17:23
Speaker 3: in front of Patrick Mahomes and centered Creed Humphrey and
17:27
Speaker 3: their left guard, right right right guard.
17:32
Speaker 2: The guard guard, his guard.
17:35
Speaker 3: You know, those those are two of the best guys
17:37
Speaker 3: that their positions right now in football, and they want
17:40
Speaker 3: to hang on to the interior portion of that offensive line.
17:42
Speaker 3: And both of those guys, Steve are up uh and
17:45
Speaker 3: looking for for some cash of their own.
17:48
Speaker 2: Uh.
17:48
Speaker 3: And you've got to pay some of those guys if
17:49
Speaker 3: if you're gonna build all this around Patrick Mahomes, protecting
17:52
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes is a big part of it as well.
17:55
Speaker 1: So as you guys know, that's that's when you have
17:57
Speaker 1: guys in the roster like, hmm, I'll be thirty two
18:00
Speaker 1: the time of this next deal. I've got two years
18:02
Speaker 1: left on my contract. Honey, let's go ahead and put
18:05
Speaker 1: the house up for sale because we will not be
18:08
Speaker 1: here next year. One guy who will be in placed
18:11
Speaker 1: for a long time is Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who,
18:16
Speaker 1: like Patrick Mahomes, signed a big deal this offseason, not
18:20
Speaker 1: for as much bread. But here's Brian Dayball talking about
18:23
Speaker 1: his quarterback and his team rallying from three touchdowns down.
18:27
Speaker 2: Yesterday to beat the Arizona Cardinals.
18:31
Speaker 3: Belief.
18:33
Speaker 5: But you can talk about it till you're blue in
18:34
Speaker 5: the face, pat belief, it's got to happen. You have
18:37
Speaker 5: to see tangible results too. So I think we have
18:41
Speaker 5: some mentally tough players on our team and coaches.
18:45
Speaker 2: It's not always easy to be mentally tough.
18:46
Speaker 5: When you're you know whatever, it is, sixty to nothing
18:49
Speaker 5: after a game and a half.
18:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, mentally tough. You better be because, like he just said,
18:58
Speaker 1: like Brian Dayball has said, Jet, you have not scored
19:01
Speaker 1: after being outscored sixty to nothing after a game and
19:04
Speaker 1: a half. You're playing the Arizona Cardinals, who I'm sorry,
19:10
Speaker 1: aren't really that team.
19:13
Speaker 2: You gotta do something.
19:14
Speaker 1: And JP and I were talking about this before the show,
19:18
Speaker 1: the coaching that Brian Daball and that staff had to
19:20
Speaker 1: do not only to motivate those guys, but to scheme
19:23
Speaker 1: them back.
19:24
Speaker 2: And to get them rolling again.
19:25
Speaker 1: Jeff, what about being able to come back from a
19:28
Speaker 1: game like that when they really were reeling?
19:31
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, I do. The first three column every week,
19:34
Speaker 6: and I thought about writing about this team. The Giants
19:36
Speaker 6: are what to make of them for what you just said,
19:40
Speaker 6: which is, you've got a team that got destroyed by Dallas.
19:45
Speaker 6: You got a team that couldn't score a point against
19:48
Speaker 6: the worst team in the league for the first half,
19:50
Speaker 6: and then they have this great comeback. And then they
19:52
Speaker 6: also by the way Sakuon Barkley gets hurt, you don't
19:55
Speaker 6: know how his ankle is going to respond. I feel
19:58
Speaker 6: as if the Giants are a little bit of a
20:02
Speaker 6: mess right now, and I think you have to do
20:05
Speaker 6: all this work to beat the Cardinals. You've got some problems,
20:09
Speaker 6: and I'm a big fan of Brian Dable, and you
20:13
Speaker 6: can say that they did a great job of coming
20:14
Speaker 6: back in this game, but I also feel like they
20:17
Speaker 6: got away with a lot of stuff last year, got
20:19
Speaker 6: some things that break their weight. They're not doing it
20:21
Speaker 6: to happen now, and I just feel this is more
20:23
Speaker 6: of a team that's going to end up being around
20:25
Speaker 6: six seven wins than a real playoff contender.
20:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jeff, you just said something that has been talked
20:31
Speaker 1: about kind of behind the scenes for a while, and
20:33
Speaker 1: so I mean, even speaking with folks of the Giants.
20:36
Speaker 1: They'll tell you last year they won, but they did
20:39
Speaker 1: it with smoking mirrors and some optical illusions because they
20:41
Speaker 1: were not a fast team, right They did not have
20:44
Speaker 1: a ton of speed, and they had to upgrade their
20:47
Speaker 1: speed to be able to compete. And I don't know
20:49
Speaker 1: if they necessarily did that by adding Darren Waller and
20:51
Speaker 1: this and that. They've got to be tougher and better
20:53
Speaker 1: at some of the positions of the coaching job Brian
20:55
Speaker 1: dave Ball did last year was worthy of him winning
20:58
Speaker 1: the Coach of the Year honors. But Jay, you know again,
21:00
Speaker 1: you look at this team. They play Thursday night against
21:03
Speaker 1: the Niners. Saquon we don't know if he's gonna be
21:06
Speaker 1: able to go because of that ankle.
21:08
Speaker 2: You know, I'm with Jeff.
21:10
Speaker 1: I mean, you just don't know what to make of
21:12
Speaker 1: this team right now because we still don't know what
21:14
Speaker 1: their identity is and I don't know if anybody still
21:17
Speaker 1: is really sold on Daniel Jones.
21:20
Speaker 3: Well, part of that identity seed was gonna be you
21:22
Speaker 3: bring in Darren Waller to be really probably your number
21:25
Speaker 3: one target, and you don't know how his season's gonna
21:27
Speaker 3: go with the hamstring right now, and how that's gonna
21:30
Speaker 3: move forward, especially with some of the offensive line issues
21:33
Speaker 3: that they have, and what we saw on the second half, Yes,
21:35
Speaker 3: that was the most yards, by the way, Daniel Jones
21:37
Speaker 3: has ever thrown four and a half. I think it
21:38
Speaker 3: was two hundred and fifty nine, most he's ever done
21:41
Speaker 3: in a half. But it was essentially him and Saquon.
21:44
Speaker 3: I'd like that they got Jalen Hyatt kind of like
21:46
Speaker 3: into the mix of sense, maybe you can find ways
21:49
Speaker 3: to stretch the field a little bit, Jeff, because you're
21:51
Speaker 3: gonna need to do that if that's your offense. Essentially
21:54
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley trying to somehow half run it,
21:58
Speaker 3: half throw it as a because there are definitely some concerns,
22:02
Speaker 3: but I do agree that once again, what I saw
22:05
Speaker 3: was a locker room that kind of believes, and that
22:09
Speaker 3: was a definite defining moment. When you get embarrassed in
22:12
Speaker 3: Week one and then you're going, well, we have the
22:14
Speaker 3: Cardinals and then you're getting embarrassed when you walk into halftime,
22:18
Speaker 3: that might be a defining moment to where this season
22:20
Speaker 3: somewhat salvage. But I think their margin for error, Jeff,
22:23
Speaker 3: is really really thin. If they think they're a playoff.
22:26
Speaker 6: Team, Yeah, certainly. And look the money that Daniel Jones
22:29
Speaker 6: got paid this offseason. Sometimes when you pay a guy
22:33
Speaker 6: that usually usually when you pay a guy that kind
22:34
Speaker 6: of money, you want to turn him into somebody who
22:37
Speaker 6: can justify that kind of payment. I agree that this
22:40
Speaker 6: was a big moment for him and this team, But again,
22:43
Speaker 6: if you have to be down twenty to nothing in
22:45
Speaker 6: every game you play against bad teams to find yourself,
22:49
Speaker 6: I just don't think that's a great place to be
22:51
Speaker 6: and discover your identity. They did a great to have
22:53
Speaker 6: a coaching this team up last year, but weapons wise,
22:57
Speaker 6: they're still lacking in a lot of ways. And by
22:59
Speaker 6: the way, no one really talks about this, but came on,
23:02
Speaker 6: Tipada's gonna start doing something it.
23:03
Speaker 2: Yeah he doesn't. You're right, You're right, Yeah, you're right.
23:06
Speaker 2: I mean, he's got he's got to start making it.
23:08
Speaker 2: And here's the other part.
23:09
Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about the Giants and them rallying,
23:12
Speaker 1: they're still probably, uh probably they are the worst team in.
23:18
Speaker 2: The NFC East because the Washington.
23:20
Speaker 1: Commanders folks are two and oh the team we thought
23:23
Speaker 1: that was gonna be busterrific is two Sam right now,
23:27
Speaker 1: and because they had a big time comeback against the
23:31
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. Jeff, We're gonna talk about the Broncos a
23:34
Speaker 1: little bit later on, and some great stuff you wrote
23:36
Speaker 1: in your column at NFL dot com slash Jadia. But
23:39
Speaker 1: what about the Commanders right now and the fact that
23:41
Speaker 1: Sam Howell, who you wrote about, looks like a real dude.
23:45
Speaker 6: The biggest surprise of the week for me. And I
23:48
Speaker 6: was certainly a doubter and Sam Howell did not see
23:52
Speaker 6: him being a prime time player. But you know, I
23:55
Speaker 6: watched a little bit in the preseason game when they
23:57
Speaker 6: played against Baltimore, and he showed some of that savvy
23:59
Speaker 6: and that and kind of that cavalier style of play.
24:02
Speaker 6: But to do it in week two, when you're on
24:04
Speaker 6: the road and you're down and you have to forget
24:06
Speaker 6: a lot of bass that's happened and still deliver big
24:09
Speaker 6: plays for you. I was mesmerized by what he did,
24:12
Speaker 6: and not just the throws, but leading the offense, keeping
24:15
Speaker 6: things together. I feel like he and Eric Bienemy right now,
24:19
Speaker 6: this tandem is it's almost like Dangiel Jones and Brian
24:23
Speaker 6: Dabole last year. Like they are surprising people with the
24:26
Speaker 6: way the enemy's coaching him and the way Howell's responding.
24:29
Speaker 3: I love that you brought up eb I mean, I'm
24:31
Speaker 3: not gonna say that the Chiefs are struggling offensively because
24:34
Speaker 3: Eric Vienemy is not in the building, but I'll say
24:36
Speaker 3: that the Washington Commanders as an offense that definitely have
24:40
Speaker 3: some weapons. I talked to Patrick Sardan in the locker
24:42
Speaker 3: room last Wednesday before this game, and he was like,
24:44
Speaker 3: Terry mccluurin is the most underrated receiver in the NFL.
24:47
Speaker 3: That's in Pat's mind. He's like, I don't understand why
24:50
Speaker 3: he doesn't get attention. He can do everything. But he
24:52
Speaker 3: also told me Johan Dotson is an up and coming
24:55
Speaker 3: star in his eyes. That's one of the best cornerbacks,
24:58
Speaker 3: maybe arguably the best cornerback in Football's opinion of these
25:01
Speaker 3: wide receiver duo, let's let's just remember this Steve before
25:04
Speaker 3: we get to break they had, they were down eighteen
25:07
Speaker 3: on the road, Sam Howse first ever WROT start in
25:10
Speaker 3: the NFL, and then they really go on a thirty
25:12
Speaker 3: two to three run in a stretch in the middle
25:15
Speaker 3: of this game. That is just ridiculous.
25:19
Speaker 1: I mean, who the hell would have thought that Eric
25:21
Speaker 1: b Enemy might be able to coach up a quarterback. Jeff,
25:26
Speaker 1: We're going to see you a little bit later in
25:27
Speaker 1: the show as we get ready, as we move on
25:30
Speaker 1: to the next block, Chef A Baker, We've got Jordan
25:34
Speaker 1: Love and a new dog in Atlanta, the Beijon Freeze
25:39
Speaker 1: here on the NFL.
25:40
Speaker 7: Report does just can you just talk about how that
25:51
Speaker 7: game was?
25:52
Speaker 3: It was so crazy.
25:53
Speaker 7: You guys looked like you were, you know, kind of
25:55
Speaker 7: down for the count, and then you come back and
25:56
Speaker 7: you just kind of take us through never done.
26:00
Speaker 8: When you see the nflcons out there, will never be
26:02
Speaker 8: down for the count. We're gonna fight until that clock,
26:05
Speaker 8: kids zero. So you know that's what I'm proud of
26:07
Speaker 8: this team and everyone on this team for not giving up,
26:10
Speaker 8: not you know, and just keep going out there and
26:12
Speaker 8: just fighting so that clock kids zero.
26:17
Speaker 1: I thought Stockings quarterback Desmond Ritter is now James and
26:20
Speaker 1: I are joined by Sarah, And I gotta tell you, like,
26:24
Speaker 1: if you're if you're a teammate of Desmond Ridder and
26:26
Speaker 1: you see that, you're like, that's my quarterback, especially after
26:28
Speaker 1: the way he just played. I mean, they made some
26:30
Speaker 1: fourth down conversions. He made some really gritty like run
26:33
Speaker 1: type place and big throws to Mac Collins and Drake
26:36
Speaker 1: London down there as they come back from twelve down,
26:39
Speaker 1: Sarah to beat the Packers and to move to two
26:42
Speaker 1: and zero atop the NFC South. And you were telling
26:46
Speaker 1: me earlier that you know, you had a conversation with
26:49
Speaker 1: the team owner just by a chance, by the way, about.
26:53
Speaker 2: The optimism first circles. Does Sarah run in like just
26:56
Speaker 2: hunting this Sarah gets down?
26:59
Speaker 9: Yeah, guys, I just you know, I didn't make it
27:01
Speaker 9: to the owners meetings, the fancy owners meetings that you
27:03
Speaker 9: get to go to. So I was just playing around. No,
27:05
Speaker 9: I was actually in Atlanta. I was at Mercedes Benz
27:07
Speaker 9: Stadium on Saturday for a different kind of football, soccer
27:11
Speaker 9: related because Arthur Blank, as you know, owns Atlanta United
27:14
Speaker 9: as well, and so he has just given the US
27:16
Speaker 9: Soccer Federation a fifty million dollar check. They're going to
27:19
Speaker 9: break ground and have US Soccer's training facility in Atlanta.
27:22
Speaker 9: I also cover soccer. Again, everything, as you know in
27:25
Speaker 9: life is a very very small world. So I was
27:27
Speaker 9: up there. I was at their stadium on Saturday, with
27:30
Speaker 9: Arthur Blank and obviously the season is very young, there's
27:33
Speaker 9: a lot of optimism. And I was actually standing out
27:36
Speaker 9: on the field, which was the soccer pitch at that time,
27:38
Speaker 9: because they were about to play a game after this.
27:40
Speaker 3: Press conference, no message, no.
27:44
Speaker 9: There were people yelling at me, and I was like,
27:45
Speaker 9: you guys, don't think I wanted Messi to be here.
27:47
Speaker 9: I was doing this. I was doing an unrelated press
27:50
Speaker 9: conference announcement, and then Messi was supposed to be playing
27:52
Speaker 9: thirty minutes later. So I was staying I was all
27:55
Speaker 9: in on this thing, and like fans are yelling at me,
27:57
Speaker 9: I'm like, yo, I want him out on the field
27:59
Speaker 9: just as much as you do. I actually don't know
28:01
Speaker 9: if Arthur Blink wanted him on the field because it
28:03
Speaker 9: was better for his Atlanta United anyway. But they're so
28:07
Speaker 9: excited and this is it. It was crazy because we're
28:11
Speaker 9: standing out on this field and I was talking to
28:13
Speaker 9: a team in play and I'm like, it's insane to
28:14
Speaker 9: think that since this stadium was built, there's been a
28:18
Speaker 9: Super Bowl there and there has not been a The
28:22
Speaker 9: Falcons have not hosted a playoff game in that stadium,
28:25
Speaker 9: which feels like it's been around for a while now,
28:28
Speaker 9: so to think that you erected this beautiful stadium at
28:30
Speaker 9: host Super Bowls, Peach Bowls, all these exciting games, like
28:33
Speaker 9: they are clamoring for a playoff game to be in
28:36
Speaker 9: Atlanta in that stadium, and it hasn't happened yet. And
28:39
Speaker 9: you know, I saw the Falcons last year too, and
28:41
Speaker 9: they were knocking on the door, as you could say
28:43
Speaker 9: about every single team in that division, right because they
28:45
Speaker 9: were all separated by one game with the box and
28:48
Speaker 9: then everyone else's tied, so it could have gone either way.
28:50
Speaker 9: But look, they've shored up that defense. They need Desmond
28:53
Speaker 9: Rudder to not make mistakes. He needs to make the
28:55
Speaker 9: plays when he needs to make them, and we saw
28:56
Speaker 9: him do that in a really gritty, gritty win. I
29:00
Speaker 9: think to the sense about Arthur Smith is, you know,
29:03
Speaker 9: this hasn't been like the most when you look at
29:07
Speaker 9: wins and losses. Hasn't been the best start right of
29:08
Speaker 9: anyone's coaching career when you come in and like you
29:11
Speaker 9: want to go right away, right to the postseason, and
29:13
Speaker 9: that hasn't happened for him. But anyone you talked about
29:15
Speaker 9: Arthur Smith, there's just so much respect for him around
29:17
Speaker 9: the league and how smart he is, and there's always
29:19
Speaker 9: just been this sense like they are going to get
29:21
Speaker 9: it on track, and it sort of felt like they
29:24
Speaker 9: were really putting the pieces in place this offseason and
29:27
Speaker 9: you're starting to see this. I mean, look, he's doubled
29:28
Speaker 9: down on Desmond rd Or this offseason when they could
29:30
Speaker 9: have looked elsewhere, and he was like, Nope, this is
29:32
Speaker 9: our guy. And that was the first time I saw
29:34
Speaker 9: his comment, Steve in that press conference and when I
29:36
Speaker 9: was sitting here when he was saying that and cut
29:38
Speaker 9: off their porterns like nope, never doubt. I'm like, yeah,
29:41
Speaker 9: like I'm in. I get it, like I'm in. So
29:43
Speaker 9: I think this is a Falcon team that's certainly heading
29:46
Speaker 9: in the right direction. I'm not surprised by that. To
29:48
Speaker 9: enough start.
29:50
Speaker 3: Listen, not everybody's sporting a mustache, but this team has
29:53
Speaker 3: Arthur Smith's identity all over it, Steve like, they are
29:56
Speaker 3: physical in every way that they play on both sides
29:59
Speaker 3: of the football. I found it interesting talking to people
30:01
Speaker 3: in that building this morning after their win. One of
30:04
Speaker 3: the most interesting things that said that was said to
30:06
Speaker 3: me was we really love Drake London and Mac Collins
30:09
Speaker 3: as a one to two. You're like, Matt came in
30:13
Speaker 3: as an afterthought. He leads this team in receiving right now,
30:16
Speaker 3: and they really like those as a one two wide
30:19
Speaker 3: receiver combo. Now you're looking at it and going like, well,
30:21
Speaker 3: that's kind of interesting. But they like that matchup, Steve,
30:23
Speaker 3: because of all the other pieces they have as well. Right,
30:26
Speaker 3: they are wowed by Bjeon Robinson and what they can
30:28
Speaker 3: do with him. He's their second leading receiver honestly, and
30:31
Speaker 3: where they can put him all over the field. I
30:33
Speaker 3: was told we're just scratching the surface about what we
30:36
Speaker 3: can do with Bijeon, and and you're seeing this is
30:39
Speaker 3: right now. I know we're two weeks in. This is
30:42
Speaker 3: probably offensive Rerookie of the Year materials so far, this
30:45
Speaker 3: is what we're looking at. I mean, I think Andrews
30:47
Speaker 3: and Siliano hosting that show with you, Steve said his
30:49
Speaker 3: moves have moves, which is essentially the way Bijeon plays,
30:52
Speaker 3: but he also plays physical. I think that's the other
30:54
Speaker 3: aspect of it. I'm curious how Kyle Pitts fits into
30:58
Speaker 3: this coming off with the knee, does he become another
31:00
Speaker 3: added element. We'll see if that happens. But what I
31:02
Speaker 3: like is they have enough talent Steve where they do
31:05
Speaker 3: think Desmond Ritter is making mistakes, but they feel like
31:08
Speaker 3: he's making rookie mistakes because they do consider him still
31:11
Speaker 3: a rookie. They have enough talent around him right now
31:15
Speaker 3: in a physical enough defense to where if he doesn't
31:16
Speaker 3: make rookie mistakes that cost you games, they're still in
31:19
Speaker 3: a very good spot as he grows.
31:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, I spoke to Terry font No years
31:23
Speaker 1: ago and they were building this and twice passed and
31:25
Speaker 1: two drafts passed on quarterbacks, and he said, look, we
31:28
Speaker 1: want to build our rosters.
31:29
Speaker 2: And when we get to the point where we find
31:30
Speaker 2: a quarterback, he has got a nice landing spot. He'll
31:34
Speaker 2: have time to develop. He's got land Ron who can
31:36
Speaker 2: carry this seat.
31:37
Speaker 1: So they've got those types of players. You know who
31:40
Speaker 1: else is two and oh in this division? Though, the
31:42
Speaker 1: team that nobody thought was gonna be two and oh, Sarah,
31:45
Speaker 1: those are the Bay Buccaneers who just put a absolute
31:51
Speaker 1: waxing on the Bears.
31:53
Speaker 2: You were there, You.
31:54
Speaker 1: Saw that game at Baker Mayfield. Two and oh for
31:57
Speaker 1: the first time in his career. What is transition from
32:01
Speaker 1: Brady to Mayfield not only done for Baker, but kind
32:04
Speaker 1: of the rest of the guys.
32:05
Speaker 2: You're saying, yeah, we can win without Tommy.
32:10
Speaker 9: I think what's interesting is that it's not that Tom
32:15
Speaker 9: is his own entity, right, Tom is his own universe
32:19
Speaker 9: in the football world and even bigger than the football world.
32:21
Speaker 9: And as soon as Tom was gone, these expectations change.
32:26
Speaker 9: And I don't necessarily think that it has to be
32:29
Speaker 9: in a bad way, because when I say the expectations
32:31
Speaker 9: of change, like, no one expects them to win. Everyone's
32:33
Speaker 9: saying that they're going to fish last in the division.
32:35
Speaker 9: And while you would go, wow, is that a good thing,
32:39
Speaker 9: it just took pressure off these guys. They have been
32:41
Speaker 9: under the spotlight every single game since the day that
32:46
Speaker 9: Tom Brady announced he was coming to Tampa Bay. And
32:48
Speaker 9: then you win a Super Bowl. That doesn't lower the expectations.
32:51
Speaker 9: And so I just think that that starts to wear
32:54
Speaker 9: on you in a different way. And look, expectations are
32:57
Speaker 9: a privilege. You hear pressures of privilege, all those things. Yeah,
32:59
Speaker 9: that's great and all, but this is a team that's like, Okay,
33:02
Speaker 9: nobody's looking at us, nobody cares about us. Like that's fine,
33:05
Speaker 9: We're just gonna go out have a good time. And
33:07
Speaker 9: I do think it's sort of changed this mentality of
33:11
Speaker 9: the team where they're just kind of out there having
33:13
Speaker 9: a good time. I know, Steve, you and I talked
33:15
Speaker 9: about it when I was in Minnesota last week and
33:17
Speaker 9: I was in the room right next to where the
33:19
Speaker 9: box their locker room. I've never heard them screaming and
33:23
Speaker 9: hollering after a game the way they did when they
33:25
Speaker 9: beat Minnesota take out the Super Bowl. That's a different thing.
33:27
Speaker 9: But like, this is a team that's just operating in
33:30
Speaker 9: a different manner because one people discounted them. But I
33:33
Speaker 9: think that they're enjoying that. I think they're enjoying being
33:36
Speaker 9: out of the spotlight. Every little thing that this team
33:38
Speaker 9: has done in the last three years has been picked
33:40
Speaker 9: apart and scrutinized in every single way imaginable. And if
33:43
Speaker 9: you don't have that on you, it's almost like it's
33:46
Speaker 9: a relief. And like, let's be honest, Chicago came to
33:48
Speaker 9: town and after they're terrible Week one, the pressure's on Chicago.
33:51
Speaker 9: I mean everyone's looking at like the sky is falling
33:54
Speaker 9: in Chicago, whereas in Tampa they're like, hey, great Week
33:57
Speaker 9: one win.
33:57
Speaker 3: We surprised.
33:58
Speaker 9: We went to Minnesota and like no one thought we'd
33:59
Speaker 9: come win, And now we're down here and no one
34:01
Speaker 9: still expects us to win, and they win again, and
34:04
Speaker 9: they've done it in a myriad of ways. The defense
34:06
Speaker 9: has been really good, really lights out, and Baker Mayfield
34:09
Speaker 9: one of them. I know you guys are on a
34:10
Speaker 9: stat show, but tell me if this surprises you, because
34:12
Speaker 9: it surprises me. Baker Mayfield is leading the NFL right
34:16
Speaker 9: now in third down completion percentage number one, and like
34:19
Speaker 9: that was something they struggled out last year. Do you
34:22
Speaker 9: have Is that not surprising to you?
34:24
Speaker 3: I surprised.
34:25
Speaker 9: It's unbelievable he's been He's he's converted eighty seven percent
34:29
Speaker 9: of the time on third down. I mean that's like insane.
34:32
Speaker 9: And this is a new offense to him, a new team,
34:33
Speaker 9: and so I think they're just really enjoying themselves here
34:36
Speaker 9: in Tampa right now.
34:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I think Sarah that's been the biggest surprise
34:41
Speaker 3: I think for all of us. Everybody's seeing.
34:43
Speaker 9: Uh.
34:43
Speaker 3: I think Baker. Let me do the math here. My
34:45
Speaker 3: math's not as good as yours, but I think he's
34:46
Speaker 3: played for fourteen teams in the last twelve months, and
34:51
Speaker 3: he goes out there and he plays the way that
34:52
Speaker 3: he's gone out and played, specifically on third downs protecting
34:56
Speaker 3: the football, which I think, I will say this Steve,
34:59
Speaker 3: everybody's kind of waiting for that Baker stretch to happen,
35:01
Speaker 3: where you go, what was that throw? Right? But it
35:04
Speaker 3: hasn't happened yet. It hasn't happened yet. And I do
35:06
Speaker 3: think that there's something between him and Mike Evans specifically
35:09
Speaker 3: when plays breakdown, and I think Mike is, you know,
35:12
Speaker 3: definitely that type of player, and Sarah you know him
35:14
Speaker 3: well in terms of being able to make plays when
35:16
Speaker 3: things are off script, with the size that he has,
35:18
Speaker 3: the speed that he has. We'll still see ingim going
35:20
Speaker 3: out there just being one of the best receivers in
35:22
Speaker 3: all of football. But Baker is the one who's making
35:24
Speaker 3: this go. In terms of all of us being surprised
35:26
Speaker 3: because this is a talented roster, Vidavea and Twine Winfield Junior,
35:30
Speaker 3: I mean the linebackers. I mean they have Tristan Wurf's
35:32
Speaker 3: on the offensive line. I mean they have a lot
35:35
Speaker 3: of talent and one of those guys that I didn't mention, right,
35:38
Speaker 3: there is a pass rusher in Shaq Barrett's there. Yeah,
35:40
Speaker 3: and hey he goes out, and he goes out and
35:43
Speaker 3: makes an unbelievable play to seal that game. But what
35:47
Speaker 3: happened in the end zone just on another level compared
35:51
Speaker 3: to the play that he made.
35:53
Speaker 9: Yeah, here's the thing. And for people that aren't aware,
35:56
Speaker 9: and I think most people are shocked. First of all,
35:58
Speaker 9: it's coming back from a tour Achilles that happened I
36:00
Speaker 9: think in week eight of last season, so he's just
36:02
Speaker 9: trying to make his way back right. And then horrific,
36:05
Speaker 9: horrific tragedy this off season, his little two year old daughter,
36:09
Speaker 9: Ariah drowns in the family pool. So what he has
36:13
Speaker 9: had to endure over the last several months of his
36:16
Speaker 9: life are it's just incomprehensible. And he talked about it
36:20
Speaker 9: yesterday that before the first game of the season in Minnesota,
36:23
Speaker 9: that he just sat in his locker room and started
36:24
Speaker 9: crying because it hits him in different moments. And yet
36:27
Speaker 9: he stepped to the podium yesterday and he was so joyful,
36:30
Speaker 9: and I had this like I actually had this anxiety
36:33
Speaker 9: of like, oh my god. So he just has this
36:34
Speaker 9: pick six end of the game seals the deal. But
36:36
Speaker 9: he's going to get asked about his daughter and what
36:38
Speaker 9: it means and like, this poor guy, because he's now
36:40
Speaker 9: he's going to get up there, like how is he
36:42
Speaker 9: going to handle it? And he had the biggest smile
36:44
Speaker 9: on his face. He had this huge, blinged out necklace
36:46
Speaker 9: that was a heart and it was his little daughter
36:48
Speaker 9: on it, and he was so joyful though, and he
36:51
Speaker 9: was like, I was so happy that happened because I
36:54
Speaker 9: blew her a kiss and like it brought the spotlight
36:56
Speaker 9: back to my daughter. And which was like a very
37:00
Speaker 9: way of thinking about it, because I mean this he's
37:03
Speaker 9: he's going through it and he's going to be going
37:04
Speaker 9: through this for a long time. And Todd Bowles was
37:06
Speaker 9: asked about, you know, how do you see Shack being
37:10
Speaker 9: able to maneuver what he've been able to maneuver through
37:13
Speaker 9: not you know, he has an injury that he's still
37:15
Speaker 9: working his way back from. And he said it's unbelievable.
37:17
Speaker 9: I mean it's it's unbelievable what he has been going
37:20
Speaker 9: through on and off the field. And so to have
37:22
Speaker 9: that finish, the people that know that story behind that,
37:25
Speaker 9: to have the finish that he had yesterday. It was
37:28
Speaker 9: just crazy, and it's been a very an amazing start
37:32
Speaker 9: for a Buccaneers team that there were a lot of
37:33
Speaker 9: question marks about. And then of course, you know the
37:35
Speaker 9: Eagles are coming to town for Monday night football. Soever
37:37
Speaker 9: and goes, okay, here's here's the test now, so we'll
37:39
Speaker 9: see what happens on Monday night.
37:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, And Sarah, just real quick, yeah, yeah, just
37:46
Speaker 1: just we're all parents here, and so the respect for
37:49
Speaker 1: Shaq Barrett to continue to wear a smile on his
37:52
Speaker 1: face going through what he's going through just immeasurable.
37:56
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Sah.
37:58
Speaker 9: Community is just devastated.
37:59
Speaker 3: One of the best dudes in the league, man, one
38:01
Speaker 3: of the best people in the league covered him for
38:03
Speaker 3: a long time. Unbelievable. Yeah, all right, Sarah, appreciate it.
38:06
Speaker 3: We're gonna move back onto the football field a little bit.
38:08
Speaker 3: A couple of legendary coaches, Steve in terms of Sean Payton,
38:11
Speaker 3: Bill Belichick, both Owen two, how about Brandon Staley Owen two,
38:16
Speaker 3: whose seed is the hottest? Well, Jeff tod is gonna
38:19
Speaker 3: come back and tell us.
38:29
Speaker 10: Russell in the pocket now bounces around set it throws
38:32
Speaker 10: the ball up in the air, the ball.
38:34
Speaker 3: Deflected Johnson, good Cook Logan, Well, I mean the hell
38:47
Speaker 3: Mary did not get to the end zone. Steve Jeffett
38:50
Speaker 3: did not reach the goal line, but somehow it was
38:52
Speaker 3: caught in the end zone Brandon Johnson. That was the
38:56
Speaker 3: hell Mary from Russell Wilson to Brand Johnson, but no
39:00
Speaker 3: two point conversion. Some debate about a penalty in the
39:02
Speaker 3: end zone, there wasn't called, and the Broncos fall shorts
39:06
Speaker 3: and lose thirty five thirty three. But it wasn't that
39:09
Speaker 3: hell Mary, even though we saw Russell Wilson play a
39:11
Speaker 3: little bit better. Sean Payton still having some issues with
39:14
Speaker 3: the operation. Sound familiar, Here's Peyton.
39:20
Speaker 10: There's a number of drives you know where we're late
39:23
Speaker 10: with personnel getting out of the huddle. We took a while.
39:26
Speaker 10: I mean, that's got to change. We had to burn
39:30
Speaker 10: timeouts in the first half and I'm not used to doing.
39:32
Speaker 10: We got to be better, and I've got to be better.
39:35
Speaker 10: Russ's got to be sharper with get getting the play
39:38
Speaker 10: out and then we got to look at how much
39:39
Speaker 10: we have in But you know, if we need to
39:42
Speaker 10: riskband it, we will.
39:48
Speaker 1: Well you know, one too long ago when Sean Payton
39:50
Speaker 1: was talking about Nathaniel Hackett and the bad operation because
39:53
Speaker 1: he was a bad head coach Jeff. Now he's getting
39:56
Speaker 1: it kind of a reality check, talking about going to
39:59
Speaker 1: wrist bands get personnel out today. On Monday, he said
40:02
Speaker 1: he had to shorten the verbiage now of the play
40:04
Speaker 1: calls so they can get to the line of scrimmage.
40:07
Speaker 2: Quicker.
40:08
Speaker 1: I mean they're they're searching for answers already, my man.
40:11
Speaker 6: Yeah, building a glass house over there is what Sean
40:14
Speaker 6: Payton's doing. It's easy to throw stones when you're watching
40:16
Speaker 6: from a farm, but once you're actually in there dealing
40:18
Speaker 6: with the quarterback, things get a little bit different. I
40:21
Speaker 6: thought it was ironic that he was talking about these
40:24
Speaker 6: kinds of challenges because I thought Russell Wilson played fairly,
40:27
Speaker 6: played fairly well, and Russell Wilson even said they played
40:30
Speaker 6: their best half of offensive football this year in that game.
40:34
Speaker 6: First of all I see with this team right now
40:36
Speaker 6: is that all the talk about culture and teaching people
40:40
Speaker 6: how to win and getting the right people in the room,
40:42
Speaker 6: it just it takes a while to make this kind
40:44
Speaker 6: of stuff work. And I will say this. The Broncos
40:47
Speaker 6: are probably a better team right now with Sean Payne
40:50
Speaker 6: coaching them, but the numbers game is not working in
40:52
Speaker 6: their favor because when you lose two games against teams
40:56
Speaker 6: you should beat at home, and you have the Dolphins
40:58
Speaker 6: coming up next, a couple weeks down the road, you
41:01
Speaker 6: get the Chiefs and the Bills and the Packers and
41:03
Speaker 6: the Chiefs again, it's starting to look like this team
41:06
Speaker 6: is going to end up being two and six, you know,
41:09
Speaker 6: two and five as they near the midpoint of the season,
41:12
Speaker 6: and that's just not going to get it done in
41:14
Speaker 6: a crowded AFC. So I understand the concerns and Sean
41:17
Speaker 6: Payton desire and make Russell Wilson as good of a
41:19
Speaker 6: quarterback as he possibly can be. But you're up twenty
41:22
Speaker 6: one three at home. You got to win that game.
41:24
Speaker 2: Hold up, John, if they're two and five. If they're
41:26
Speaker 2: two and five, what do they do a quarterback?
41:28
Speaker 1: Because you know people are going to be screaming for
41:30
Speaker 1: Jared Sidham or whoever.
41:32
Speaker 6: Oh man, it's I think part of it depends on
41:35
Speaker 6: how it looks, because you can be you can play well.
41:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, this the second half that squandered this one.
41:43
Speaker 6: Away, thank you, thank you. No one wants to talk
41:45
Speaker 6: about that part of it. But defensively, they're not the
41:47
Speaker 6: same team they were a couple of years ago.
41:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I want to chime in a little bit
41:52
Speaker 3: before we move on about this whole situation that is
41:56
Speaker 3: being talked about here in Denver at nauseum on Monday,
42:00
Speaker 3: the play calling and about it taking too long in
42:02
Speaker 3: the operation first point. I was told repeatedly after Sean
42:06
Speaker 3: Payton's initial comments to jare Belle and USA today this
42:09
Speaker 3: offseason texts from multiple members of that coaching staff from
42:13
Speaker 3: a year ago that just kind of all had the
42:14
Speaker 3: same sentiment, wait till Sewan starts working with Russ. We
42:19
Speaker 3: had these issues constantly last year. I was told repeatedly
42:23
Speaker 3: that there are issues about plays getting in too slow,
42:26
Speaker 3: and that blame kept going on Nathaniel Hackett and the
42:29
Speaker 3: offensive coaching staff. And now we're seeing the same issues
42:33
Speaker 3: with a new coaching staff coming in. And I remember
42:35
Speaker 3: at the beginning, maybe third of training camp, I asked
42:38
Speaker 3: Sean Payton about that communication between both sides, Steve, and
42:42
Speaker 3: he said to me, ninety percent of it is on
42:45
Speaker 3: the play caller when things go wrong, it's usually the
42:48
Speaker 3: play caller's fault. That is not where he's coming from.
42:51
Speaker 3: Right now, it looks like it is the same quarterback
42:53
Speaker 3: with two different play callers, that this is an issue
42:56
Speaker 3: with the verbiage. Now, the interesting part with the wristband
42:58
Speaker 3: was Russ was wearing a spand on Sunday, So I
43:01
Speaker 3: guess they're gonna change some aspects of the wristband, change
43:04
Speaker 3: some of the verbiage. This has been an issue with
43:07
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson his entire career. This was a big issue
43:10
Speaker 3: in Seattle. They just work ways to work around it.
43:14
Speaker 3: Michael Robinson has talked on our air at nauseum about
43:17
Speaker 3: the help that he gave in the huddle to Russell
43:20
Speaker 3: Wilson at times. So it's finding ways around it, which
43:23
Speaker 3: my last point. I know I'm going home with this,
43:25
Speaker 3: but I'm fascinated by it. During training camp, you always
43:28
Speaker 3: see right the play caller with the with the walkie
43:31
Speaker 3: talkie and they're talking to the guy. They're talking to
43:33
Speaker 3: the quarterback. That did not happen during training camp here
43:37
Speaker 3: in Denver, Sean Payton was in the huddle giving the plays.
43:41
Speaker 3: What I'm curious about was are we not practicing this
43:44
Speaker 3: or is there an aspect of this to where this
43:46
Speaker 3: is slowing down our operation in training camp. So we
43:49
Speaker 3: just have to make sure I get the play in
43:51
Speaker 3: so the rest of the other ten guys aren't affected.
43:53
Speaker 3: Jeff like, we have to get work on this. We
43:55
Speaker 3: can't let this slow us down to camp. I'm curious
43:58
Speaker 3: to try to get to the bottom of this because
43:59
Speaker 3: apparently it is an issue in Denver.
44:03
Speaker 6: Yeah. I have a hard time understanding how a quarterback
44:07
Speaker 6: who's played as long as Russell Wilson's played can't understand
44:10
Speaker 6: verbiage or can't get play calls in. It seems like
44:13
Speaker 6: it should be second nature, right, It's it's a miss draggery.
44:17
Speaker 6: It's it's hard to understand it, and it's happened so
44:19
Speaker 6: many times now that it's easy to say, oh, it's
44:21
Speaker 6: the play caller, but it's got to be the quarterback.
44:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, look and the guy. Let's let's not forget
44:27
Speaker 1: about this. He has had tremendous success in his career,
44:31
Speaker 1: but for things.
44:32
Speaker 3: That kind of wine always told me, Steve, not everybody's perfect.
44:35
Speaker 3: Somebody everybody has everybody has a flaw in their game.
44:38
Speaker 3: This is something russell'sn't been great.
44:40
Speaker 1: Hey James, what is it about being in Denver and
44:43
Speaker 1: bringing up how mama has raised you. I'm just talking
44:46
Speaker 1: about Colorado, I should say, not Denver. That's a part
44:49
Speaker 1: of the whole Colorado State Colorado thing, all.
44:51
Speaker 2: Right, Hey, Jeff. Another coach who who Sean Payton supposedly was.
44:55
Speaker 1: Going to replace before he got to Denver's Brandon Staley
44:59
Speaker 1: with the Chargers.
45:00
Speaker 2: As we know, this team is loaded.
45:01
Speaker 1: They spend all their money on defense, I mean tons
45:04
Speaker 1: of it on defense, other than on their quarterback.
45:06
Speaker 2: They're owing to. They've lost games the same ways. It's
45:09
Speaker 2: tough teams. Now well to Miami and then well Washington.
45:13
Speaker 1: They're doing all right, but they just keep you know,
45:16
Speaker 1: they just keep getting I'm sorry the charge loss of
45:18
Speaker 1: Tennessee beat on the deep ball. Defensively, they're not affecting
45:22
Speaker 1: the quarterback the way they're paying people to do that.
45:25
Speaker 1: And Brandon Staley is a defensive coach. We know last
45:28
Speaker 1: year there are roamings about his job security. The way
45:31
Speaker 1: this team has started. Are you concerned about this?
45:36
Speaker 9: Yes?
45:37
Speaker 6: No, without without a doubt. You're talking about again, a
45:39
Speaker 6: team that was supposed to be pushing the Chiefs every
45:44
Speaker 6: year we hear this right. The Chiefs owned the AFC
45:46
Speaker 6: West for the last seven years, But the Chargers are
45:49
Speaker 6: always that team that's snipping at their heels and getting
45:52
Speaker 6: close and on the version of a huge breakthrough. And
45:56
Speaker 6: I just don't get it. Brandon Staley is a I
45:59
Speaker 6: like him as a coach, I like him as a person,
46:02
Speaker 6: but he's supposed to be a defensive guy, and the
46:05
Speaker 6: defense has never been good since he's been there. There
46:08
Speaker 6: was a great stat that I read earlier today that
46:10
Speaker 6: said the Chargers as a team have given up more
46:14
Speaker 6: pass completions of over thirty yards than any team in
46:17
Speaker 6: the league since Stateley became the head coach. And you're
46:20
Speaker 6: talking about a secondary that has Derwin James, that has
46:23
Speaker 6: j C. Jackson, that passed for us is Khalil Mack
46:26
Speaker 6: and you know.
46:27
Speaker 3: Joey Bosa, all these guys, and it just never seems
46:29
Speaker 3: to work.
46:29
Speaker 6: Again, oh to two with against teams that they're good
46:34
Speaker 6: enough to beat. You can't do that in a crowded AFC,
46:38
Speaker 6: and certainly when you're chasing the Chiefs.
46:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the one that blows me away. And the
46:44
Speaker 3: other part is if you look at the numbers, the
46:46
Speaker 3: way Ryan Tannehill has closed out games with the Tennessee
46:49
Speaker 3: Titans that are in overtime. He's five and one. If
46:52
Speaker 3: you look at what's happened with Justin Herbert in these
46:55
Speaker 3: late games, the stats are not the same. A lot
46:58
Speaker 3: of times, guys, that's coaching right, what happens down the stretch.
47:01
Speaker 3: And a lot of times also we think one guy's
47:04
Speaker 3: gonna win Rookie of the Year, Steve. Maybe another guy,
47:07
Speaker 3: a sleeper already through two weeks, could be the rookie
47:11
Speaker 3: of the year. We'll tell you who Steve has his
47:13
Speaker 3: eye on. Coming up next on the NFL Report.
47:27
Speaker 1: Are back with a final block here at the NFL
47:30
Speaker 1: Report And JPI was at the Rams Niners game yesterday.
47:32
Speaker 2: A fantastic game, Trucky.
47:34
Speaker 1: The Rams are a lot better than we give them
47:36
Speaker 1: credit for their very physical upfront. Matthew Stafford looks absolutely reborn.
47:40
Speaker 2: You saw that in joint practices with the Broncos.
47:44
Speaker 1: But rookie wide receiver Puka Nakua, a fifth round draft pick,
47:49
Speaker 1: the latest mid to late round draft pick the Rams
47:51
Speaker 1: had that have been developed by wide receiver coach Eric Yarber,
47:54
Speaker 1: who is the secret sauce to this offense no one
47:57
Speaker 1: talks about.
47:58
Speaker 2: He went for.
47:59
Speaker 1: Fifteen catches against the Niners. He's got twenty five over
48:02
Speaker 1: the first two games, the most by a rookie. First off,
48:06
Speaker 1: the fifteen catches the most by a rookie in the game.
48:08
Speaker 1: Twenty five most by a rookie over two games. But
48:11
Speaker 1: you know, I'm speaking of Niners players. After the game,
48:14
Speaker 1: Talaa Hufona was like, oh, I know his brother.
48:16
Speaker 2: Well, I'm tight with his brother. But I always knew
48:18
Speaker 2: Pookap was a dog.
48:20
Speaker 1: And they said in the first half he was their
48:22
Speaker 1: zone buster, right, and they saw it on film against
48:24
Speaker 1: Seattle the week before that. He saw the seams in
48:27
Speaker 1: their zones and was killing them. So in the second
48:29
Speaker 1: half they went up, they pressed him a little bit more,
48:31
Speaker 1: they put a little more traffic.
48:32
Speaker 2: In front of him.
48:33
Speaker 1: He had eight catches in the second half after having seven.
48:37
Speaker 2: In the first, so he was better. He's a real dude.
48:40
Speaker 1: And here's the thing, when Cooper Cup comes back, because
48:42
Speaker 1: right now he's playing Cooper Cup's role, I mean lining
48:43
Speaker 1: up at flanker, cracking guys like Nick Boges at the
48:46
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage.
48:47
Speaker 2: When Cup comes back, he may change roles a little bit,
48:50
Speaker 2: but he clearly.
48:51
Speaker 1: Is trusted by Stafford, as you can tell by the
48:54
Speaker 1: twenty targets James he received against the forty nine ers.
48:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, we should make it abundantly clear with Cooper Cup
49:00
Speaker 3: comes back, this is not just like all right, Cela
49:02
Speaker 3: ter Pooka that that is not the case. He's definitely
49:04
Speaker 3: gonna have a major role in this offense. And when
49:07
Speaker 3: they had those two joint practices in Denver and I
49:08
Speaker 3: was there, I was just like, this guy is torching
49:11
Speaker 3: a secondary that's supposed to be very, very good. Now
49:13
Speaker 3: through the first two games, we haven't really seen it
49:15
Speaker 3: plays women at that level, but he was really the
49:19
Speaker 3: dominant player in those two games. And I love that
49:21
Speaker 3: we bring up Cooper Cup repeatedly because that's what I
49:23
Speaker 3: love about Team Steve is this guy drops in the
49:25
Speaker 3: draft due to concussion due to speed. He was like
49:28
Speaker 3: a four to five guy. You know who else was
49:31
Speaker 3: a speed guy that dropped. A guy that dropped because
49:33
Speaker 3: of his speed, Cooper Cup. And this is a team
49:36
Speaker 3: that has not really been focused on the speed aspect
49:39
Speaker 3: of it. It's understanding defenses, understanding space, understanding ways to
49:44
Speaker 3: get open. And this is just a great example, just
49:48
Speaker 3: like Cooper Cup to go out there and be a
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Speaker 3: dominant player when the whole league apparently is based off
49:53
Speaker 3: of speed.
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Speaker 1: JP he's got football speed because they were using him
49:57
Speaker 1: on jet sweeps and things like.
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Speaker 2: That as well. They were getting the ball in his hands,
50:01
Speaker 2: speaking of speed.
50:03
Speaker 1: This edition of the NFL Report, it flew by j Peb.
50:06
Speaker 1: You want to thank Sarah Watash and Jeffshediah NFL dot com.
50:09
Speaker 1: Slash first read for more on Jeff and We'll be
50:11
Speaker 1: back on Thursday. Also listen to the podcast