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Reaction: NFL Week 6 + College Week 7 · Unicorn Football Talk

• Emily: Hey, Hillary. Unicorn Football Talk is back. We are reacting to the NFL week six and college week seven. And I have a question for you, because you can see me on camera. Do I still have that beat Alabama glow to me? Hilary: You do, I think it's gonna last at least a week. Emily: I think it's gonna last a few days for sure, but yes, I am still beaming, and I'll talk about that a little bit later. Let's start where we always start with the NFL and who is still undefeated and who is still winless. Three teams are still undefeated. The Chiefs are five and they beat the Chargers, the poor Chargers last week. The next up for the Chiefs. Seahawks on Sunday night football. The Hilary: Wowza. Emily: yeah, Wowza. Let's hope that this list is a little shorter next week, Hillary. the Vikings are five and They were on a bye, so they remain undefeated. Next up for them is the Colts. And the last in the list is the 49ers, who are six and unfortunately. And they are playing Atlanta next weekend. Hilary: Okay, but maybe a little bit of slowdown because I think Mike Evans is injured. Emily: Yeah, they did have that injury. So we'll just have to see who plays. And I kind of believe in Atlanta, even though they lost last week. so I think that could be a tough game for them. Let's hope so. Yeah. Hilary: I hope so. I hope so. Okay, who's still winless? Emily: All right, we got two sad teams. Now the Dolphins were on a bye, so they were gonna remain winless. They're 0-5, and they're playing the Jets this weekend. And the poor Chargers are the lone 0-6 team. They are playing the Rams after a bye. interesting fun fact, Hillary. The last time the Chargers started 0-6 was the year 2000, and their QB room at the time was Ryan Leif. Moses Moreno and Coach Jim Harbaugh of the Chargers. It's Hilary: No way. Really? Emily: true. So Hilary: I love that fun fact. Emily: Owen six is is not a place you want to be. But let's celebrate the Titans. They got their first win against the Colts. I'll talk a little bit about the ramifications of that loss for the Colts a little bit later. Hilary: Okay, before we move forward, going back to the Chargers for one last second, were they the team that we talked about in our preseason podcast about having one of the worst rest disparity schedules this season? Emily: I think you're right. Hilary: Not saying that that's a total factor. They got a lot of other things going on there, but I'm pretty sure that they were one of the teams that played more other teams coming off of buys and had less put had more travel miles and less rest days than everybody else. Emily: Yeah, it was called net rest edge and they had the worst in the NFL. So it's gonna be getting harder and harder for them, I think, to make up for that O and six start. All right, I'm gonna move on and review QB injuries. The list is getting shorter, but we have one new one that is really notable and a very interesting topic. Eagles Jalen Hurts. What a story this is. I don't know if you've followed all of the drama, Hillary. And I feel like the story gets more interesting every day. So based on as of recording, what we know. Is that Jalen Hertz was hurt and complained of soreness after the Rams game a couple of weeks ago. He was cleated during that game. and he flies to London they perform an ultrasound in London and they find out it's a blood clot in the leg. But they let him play. they said something like it's better to be active, and he was not put on any blood thinners at that time. He was cleared to play against the Jags. there's also some conflicting stories about him being asked to stay up all night or not. And it's conflicting, so I probably don't want to report what I had first heard. but then he flies back, and the blood clot has since moved to his lungs, which is life-threatening. So Hilary: Okay, and that's two long flights in a three day time span. Yeah. Emily: Yeah, and I think doctors would say you don't want to be flying with a blood clot. And everyone's asking why was he playing in the London game after being diagnosed with a blood clot at all? the athletic reported today that the NFL evaluated the procedures that the Eagles went through and believed that the process of clearing Hertz to play was handled appropriately, and the Eagles will not be punished. And I'm I just don't know how I feel about that. Like I can't believe that it was handled appropriately. Hilary: Sure how I feel about that either. I feel like there's still some more pieces of the story under the rug that will come out over time. It just the timeline and the way the story is unfolding just call it my mom radar is kind of, you know, on high alert here that that that somehow it doesn't quite sound right. Emily: It doesn't. So yes, I think we'll definitely check in on this story next week. All right, that was the new quarterback out for this week and a quick update. The Giants I won't be updating us on every week because Jackson Dart is out for the whole season. But I think what was interesting here is Jameis Winston was pulled in the game last week after two interceptions and JJ McCarthy was in. So it will be interesting to see who gets the start this week. Hilary: Yeah, is it J J McCarthy time? I don't know. Emily: I don't know. I don't know about Jameis. Might as well give J J a try, right? Hilary: Yeah, he's had a couple of weeks to learn the playbook and adapt to some of the schemes going on. It wouldn't hurt. Emily: All right, moving on. Baker Mayfield could be back in this weekend. I think he was practicing or they're expecting him to practice on Wednesday, which is usually a sign that the quarterback will play. Hilary: That would be a positive step for the Bucks. They they need him back. Emily: They do. and then Lamar Jackson did not play last weekend. I don't know if he'll be in this weekend. and lastly, just want to report that Caleb Williams and Michael Penix are were back and they actually played against each other, Bears and Falcons, respectively. Hilary: Okay. Emily: All right. So the list is getting shorter of hurt QBs, which is good. All right. So NFL Topics, I circled two. It's always so hard to pick these, Hillary, but I picked two. One, after the Colts lost to the winless Titans, the Colts fired their general manager, Chris Ballard, who has been with them since twenty seventeen. they are now two and four. And it's just been interesting for me to watch that organization from the outside. They were so hopeful last year because Daniel Jones had them off to a really great start. And as soon as he got hurt, they've done nothing since, even though he is starting for them this year. Chris Ballard has had a couple of misses recently. Quarterback Hilary: Mm. Emily: Anthony Richardson was drafted at number four in twenty twenty three. And He's not somebody they even want on the team anymore. And here's the worst part for them. They don't even have a first round draft pick next year. They gave it to the Jets in the sauce gardener trade because they were all in on making a run. So what will they do in the GM spot? I heard some rumor that they might make a run and reach out to Peyton Manning, but I don't know. Hilary: I don't know if he'd give up his current gig. It looks pretty good. Emily: It does look good. The owner there, for the Colts, Carly Ursay Gordon has taken a really hands-on ownership approach. She's seen on the sidelines quite often, listening in on the headset during the game Since she took over, and that was in twenty twenty five from her father, Jim Ursay. Interesting about her too, she has worked in every part of the Colts organization before becoming owner, including scouting. So that will be one to watch there, Hillary. Hilary: She's a really well informed owner in compared to many, I think. maybe knowledgeable is and well rounded in the running of the organization is a better way to put that. Emily: Yeah, so she is not gonna tolerate this record and we'll see what she does. Hilary: Okay. Looking looking Emily: Okay, my s Hilary: forward to update on that. Emily: okay, we'll update you. okay, my last topic before I hand off to you is you know, I hate the forty niners, but I have to give kudos to Brock Purdy. last night he exceeded a total of 1,500 pass attempts in his career, which is what you need to be ranked on the all time passer rating scale. Like you have to have a certain number of attempts to be ranked. And he has the highest passer rating in the history of the NFL. At a hundred and five point six. Beating out Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson at 102.7, Aaron Rodgers at 101.8, Joe Burrow at 101.3, and Patrick Mahomes at 100.8. So that's really impressive. Hilary: Way to go, Mr. Irrelevant. Emily: he has been phenomenal for the Forty Niners and you know, I'm happy for him. I mean I hate the Forty Niners, but he seems to be a good guy. Hilary: Seems to be a good guy. All right. I had such a hard time choosing NFL topics this week that I didn't. Let's just move on. There's so much in college Emily: Let's move on. Hilary: going on. Emily: There is this I think that's fine, Hillary. There's there is a ton in college. All right, if we're gonna talk college, I have got to start with Tennessee beating Alabama. It was convincing. both Tennessee and Alabama wore their home uniforms for the first time since 1970, so it was a very colorful game. It looked a little odd. You're used to seeing one team wearing white and one team wearing a color, but it looked it looked good on TV. Tennessee looked Great, especially on defense. Five sacks, four takeaways. But they were they were aided by the home field advantage. I think that was the edge. I've heard many players say that Naylam Stadium is the loudest, most intimidating place to play. And I know a lot of fan bases want to claim that. So I'm not really saying that it is the most, but it is an intimidating place. Knox News reported also that the crowd reached 130.3 decibels, which set the record for the loudest verified crowd at a home college game. Hilary: that's jet engine loud, right? Emily: Yeah, is it Jet Angelette? how can you play in that kind of noise? it's not gonna be an easy day for you. So I think that that had something to do with it. also I want to point out a fun fact. You may not be aware that there's been this little feud going on between Tennessee and Alabama over a song called Dixieland Delight. Alabama adopted the song many years ago. And they play it at their games because it was sung by the band Alabama. But the lyrics are actually about Tennessee. So Tennessee fans are like this is our song. So they blasted it after the win in the stadium, and everybody stormed the field and we're singing it. It just really added to the scene, and there were just a ton of social media trolls. about this, hey Bama, it's it's really a Tennessee song. So great win, great win. it took the stung out of the Seahawks loss last week, which we haven't talked about, which we won't, but great win. Hilary: Okay. There were a lot of great games this weekend. Emily: Okay. All right. I there were, let me talk about the game that I circled last week, Notre Dame and BYU. I had not seen either team play until the last week. And the game delivered. exciting game, down to the last play. but what's really interesting, because there's actually a lot of games that delivered this week. The reason I'm calling this out was how it ended. So Notre Dame is down and they need a touchdown to win, and they throw to the end zone. And there was arguably a PI on that throw. But regardless, they didn't call it. And there was a second left on the clock. But nobody said anything or they didn't correct it. I know that when we were watching it at home, my family was like, wait, there's a second left. But the announcers didn't say anything. I didn't see any coaches saying anything about it. But after the game, the Big Twelve acknowledged, yep, they made a mistake. There was a second left. So we will never know what would have happened if Notre Dame had that one more shot in the end zone. Hilary: Okay, because it's Notre Dame. Can I point out something else here? I just like to point out that the only reason this game ever happened is because Notre Dame and USC couldn't agree on the date for their annual matchup. Neither one wanted to impact their playoff chances with a loss. And so BYU took the slot against Notre Dame, and even a little more football karma or whatever you want call it, BYU would have been Notre Dame's opponent. opponent last year in the Pop Tarts bowl if Notre Dame hadn't declined to play in the playoffs because of their perceived slight in the college football playoff rankings. Emily: I forgot about that fact. I think that's why the coach Hilary: Right. Emily: the coach said something after the game thanks for the opportunity to play you or something like that. I don't know. Hilary: Exactly. Exactly. There's a lot going on there. Emily: Wow. Yeah. I don't wanna I don't feel too bad for Notre Dame 'cause I don't like them and I that was the team I picked to root against. But I think that's terrible to not let them have that one last play and the officiating's been pretty bad this season. Hilary: So here we are once again with a clock issue. Emily: Another game, another clock issue. I know Hilary: Okay. Emily: you have a lot to talk about in college football, and I'm not gonna like go deep on this topic, but I just feel like we need to acknowledge the fact that the CFP, the college football playoffs, announced an expansion from 12 to 24 teams. I don't like it. This is just more of the same for me. NFL and college in general, they just want more, more, more. And at what point do they take too much from us. So I feel like we could do a deep dive on that, but just didn't want to not mention it. Hilary: Yes. Is the deal formalized? I had not seen the official details on that. So deep dive coming up when we understand the full ramifications of the expanded playoff format. Emily: Okay, Hillary, what do you got on college football? Hilary: Okay, well, as you know, at the beginning of the season, I chose Texas as a team to root against. And yet every week I find myself in the college section talking about something that happened at Texas. And I'm thinking, why on earth am I spending so much time on this team that I Cheer against. And I think it's because Texas really had national championship aspirations at the beginning of the season. And they have one of the most expensive rosters in college football. it's actually hard to come by the numbers, but multiple sources list them as one of the five or six teams in the 45 million plus club. And they are not playing like that caliber of a team. So I want to dig a little deeper into the Texas-Florida game. Texas was beaten at home by the Florida Gators, unranked, by the way. They entered the poll this week, but that's two weeks in a row that Texas has lost to an unranked team. This one at home and Florida with their backup quarterback. So Texas blew a two score lead to the Gators, not good in Austin. And you know, Arch Manning's play is definitely part of the problem, yes, but there's a lot more going on. the offensive line allowed five sacks this week. They have a three million dollar receiver on the roster in Coleman, and he had three catches for 18 yards and negative yards after the catch. their rushing tandem of Smothers and Brown is supposedly one of the best in the country. They combined for 99 yards and they actually had negative yardage in the second half. That's as a duo. The two of them together, a hundred yards, no yardage in the second half. Yeah. Texas had three plays total over 20 yards. And at this point, I Steve Sarkeesian's a 10 million a year coach and he's the lead play caller on the offense. So I think a lot of the failure is on him. I I'm I'm not a huge Arch Manning fan, but I think his supporting cast is not helping him out. and in the third quarter, the Texas defense imploded and let Florida convert on five consecutive third down passes for the game tying drive. they've got a lot to fix heading into Saturday's matchup with Old Miss, and their schedule does not get any easier. And after all of that, the flip side of that is I really want to call out Florida. They came in with a super solid game strategy to shorten up the game and limit Texas's opportunities. They executed well. The Gators dominated the ball in the second half with a plus fourteen minute time of possession. Texas had 19 snaps in the final minutes of the game. So way to go, Gators. And I promise ahead. Emily: Yeah, it's not easy. not easy to go to Texas and do it there as well. So props to them. Hilary: Correct. And I promise this is the last you're gonna hear from me about Texas for at least three weeks. I said it out loud. My adopted team, North Dakota State. They sit at six and one after a victory over the Nevada State Wolfpack. And that game had a kick six, which I actually didn't know what that was. Do you know what that is? Emily: Yeah, I do because there's a famous kick six in a Iron Bowl Auburn, Alabama game. It's like you that game was crazy. yes, I know what a kick six is. that's exciting. That's a pretty rare feat. Hilary: Yeah, so a kick six means their returner specialist Jackson Williams caught a missed Nevada field goal attempt in the end zone and he returned it for a hundred yards as time ran out at the end of the first half. Go bison. Emily: Amazing. Hilary: All right, great week. Anyway, super quick college by the numbers. Here we go. Our unbeaten list is down from nine to six. BYU, Texas Tech, Miami, Utah, UCLA, and James Madison remain. Hello, Big 12 Conference. BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah, all on that list. Please note there are no SEC teams, Emily. Emily: Whoa. Hilary: Yeah, and one from the Big Ten. And you know, this is gonna this list is gonna change. We're at the point in the season where interconference games will begin to eliminate playoff hopefuls and obviously work down this list of unbeaten people. But in the AP poll from last week, five of the top seven ranked teams lost. And this week Miami is the new number one. So where does that leave us? AP risers and followers. BYU is up six spots to number two after their win over Notre Dame. Houston won and moved up six spots to number 14. And Florida, after beating Texas, entered the polls at number 20. Our biggest followers, Texas dropped 12 spots to number 19. Missouri's down nine spots. Alabama's down seven. And Emily: Nice. Hilary: yeah, and going into this coming week, six of our top. twenty five teams sit out the week on a bye. So three of those are in the top five. That's Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Georgia, but also sitting out this week, Wake Forest, Florida, and Missouri. And one more fun fact. You ready? By the by the numbers. College game day pregame show was in Provo this week for the BYU Notre Dame matchup. And every week they give a student the chance to kick a field goal for a million dollars. And this week, Pat McAfee noticed that in the crowd surrounding the kicking area was the owner of the Utah, I believe he's the owner of the Utah Jazz and maybe also their hockey team. And so he basically guilted him into putting up another million dollars. And I forgot this guy's name, I should look it up. But his friend was with him, who's a huge Notre Dame fan. And so he gilted his Notre Dame fan into a million dollars from him on behalf of Notre Dame and charity. So this freshman dressed as a Spider Man makes the kick for three million dollars. Congrats to that young student. I think that's awesome. it's it's a super fun clip. And he's like in his whole Emily: Wow. Hilary: Halloween, Spider Man gear. To his credit, he did admit he was a former soccer player, but still not easy. Emily: All right, well, let's wrap up and get us ready for the weekend. let's talk about what games we're circling. You talked about Texas playing Old Miss. That's the game I circled. I'm interested in that because I'm wondering, will Texas bounce back? also I haven't seen Old Miss play since the LSU game, where Trinidad Chamblus, their quarterback, looked really great. But they lost big the next week. So who are they? Who these two teams both had big aspirations I'm interested in that. What about you? Hilary: I've circled number fourteen Houston at number ten Utah. It's Saturday night late in Salt Lake City. Game day will be there. Utah's defense is going to need to step up if they're gonna win this one against Houston's very potent offense. Emily: All right, and in the NFL, I circled the Thursday night game, New England at Chicago. Chicago looked great with Caleb Williams back. And New England, after having a really rough start to the season, has really bounced back. So I'm kind of curious what will happen in this game. Hilary: That's a good one. That one was on my radar, but I will tune in. I'm trying to work on watching some different teams as the season progresses. So I've circled the Steelers versus the Saints in Paris. I haven't watched the Saints yet this year. They're technically the home team. And I'm also interested to see what the Paris game, what the vibe looks like. they say as of Today that the game is going forward as planned despite some political upreest in the city. And then I am also gonna take a look at the Giants visiting the Texans. will the Giants start JJ McCarthy as we talked about before? the Texans have won two in a row and can they capitalize on that momentum at home? Emily: Yeah, and did you notice that Cam Scadaboo for the Giants got no touches last week and I don't know what the backstory is there. So will he get any plays this week for the Giants? Hilary: I did notice that and I didn't know if there was a backstory, if it was just circumstance or if there's a for lack of a better word, a disciplinary issue going on there or penalty for lack yeah, something's going on, right? He's a very t he's Emily: Something something's going on. Something's going on. So that'll be Hilary: he's a very talented offensive weapon to deny the opportunity to touch the ball. Emily: Yeah, so thanks for circling that one. All right, well, fun talking Hilary: Yeah. Emily: with you this week and I will talk to you after hopefully a Seahawks win over Kansas City next week. Hilary: You bet, go hawks.