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Reaction: NFL Week 2 + College Week 3 · Unicorn Football Talk

• Emily: Unicorn Football Talk is back talking about NFL week two and college week three. I wish they shared the same number, Hilary: There's always one more week. I think that changes next year actually, and there will not be a college zero week anymore. Emily: Okay, well, before we get into our individual stories that we highlighted is looking at the NFL unbeatons and teams that have not won. And then we'll just each week we'll report out on that until there are none left standing. at two and we have the Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Raiders, Vikings, Seahawks. Eagles and 49ers. I think the only one there that doesn't look like the others is the Raiders. The others are not super surprising to me. Hilary: Yeah, go Raiders. That's a I was unexpected for me, but good for them. Emily: Good for them. We'll see. It's a long season. and the O and two teams are Dolphins, Titans, Chargers, Texans, Colts, Bucks, Falcons, and Commanders. So there are a few surprises there. Chargers, Texans, Colts, Bucks are are surprises for me. Hilary: They are surprises for me. It's a long season. I think the Texans and the Colts are gonna be fine. The Bucks, not so sure. Emily: Not sure. Hilary: Chargers, we're gonna talk about in depth later on because I'm a little concerned. They were a team I picked to watch this season. So I'm not not thrilled to see them on the O and two list. Emily: Okay, one more big picture comment before we get started. Five quarterbacks have gone down in two games. Kyler Murray was a concussion and he will be back this week, but it's not good to see all of these starters go down. Sam Darnold hopefully will be back soon. He's looking good. And then last week we lost three. Caleb. For the Bears, Jackson Dart for the Giants and Daniels, who we're gonna play, the the Seahawks are gonna play this weekend that for the Commanders. Hilary: I did not have time to check in on further developments for those three. Jackson Darts injury looks significant, I think. any any feedback on the other two? Have you seen anything today? Emily: I haven't the only thing I saw today was the Dart update that it might be potentially season ending and Caleb's might not be as worse as they thought. But I don't think any of them are playing this weekend, that's for sure. and then I do want to highlight Penix, who's also a starting quarterback, hasn't started yet because he was injured to start the season and I heard that he's gonna get his first start of the season on Thursday. Hilary: Let's hope that's an improvement for the Falcons. Emily: Let's hope. We'll see if that makes a difference. All right. So for college, we're I only highlighted one story because I just want to revel in it. I don't want to spend my time on more than one story. LSU goes down in spectacular fashion. I am so happy. I'm still glowing. I am a Lane Kiffin hater. that game was so much fun to watch. the energy in that stadium must have been one for the ages. It was just looked electric. You could just feel it watching it on TV. olmus pretty much dominated in the game, but it ended up being very close, coming down to the end. Hilary: exciting game to watch. Emily: it was. I mean, at the time I wasn't glad because I just wanted it to be stress free. But these are the games that are more memorable in the end if you win it. I will say Old Miss made a gutsy call at the end. they went for two on their final touchdown, and that forced LSU to think about an eight point play that they were gonna need to tie it up. but they didn't and they lost. Trinidad Chambliss looks really good. Like I'm gonna be interested to see how he plays the rest of the season. He was poised, confident. He made the throws he needed to play. And that was like a pressure game that he performed in. But Hilary: I saw some commentary on that too, that perhaps that game was a showcase for the beginning or increase in his Heisman candidate campaign, I think. Emily: Yeah, and before I hand off to you, just the icing on the cake, the picture of Lane Kiffin crouched down when they missed the touchdown. he just looked devastated. That was the picture that circulated around and just really enjoyed that sports hate moment. Hilary: Okay. Well, I did watch the game too, and I, of course, was also cheering for Ole Miss, but I'm not sure that I was quite as passionate as you about the outcome there. But I get that, you know, you you've got some other personal rivalries going on there with Tennessee But I did catch two other really great troll moments from the wrap-up to that game. I saw a bunch of Old Miss players waving at Lane Kiffin as they ran by on their way to the locker room at the end of the game. I thought that was hilarious. I also read later that the music soundtrack in the stadium at the end of the game was the song called Colin Baton Rouge. And that to me is just like, that's priceless. I love that. go, old Miss. Let's see if they can keep it rolling for their next couple of games. Emily: All right, what caught your eye for college last week? Hilary: Okay, so I had a couple things catch my eye. I guess I'm gonna do this in the reverse order of what I was planning to. I'm gonna start with the really easy. North Dakota State is 4-0. Go bison. Enough said. I Emily: You've got a soft spot for that team. Hilary: do. I am following them. They play in the Fargo Dome. Come on, how can you not love that? anyway, the best game I saw this week, other than the Ole Miss LSU game, was the Texas Tech versus Houston Cougars game. the Cougars led 17 14 at the half. Tech rallied in the second half and was up 28-20 late. Houston scored with 49 seconds remaining and went for a two point conversion for the tie. their quarterback lunged forward and extended the ball, and it was ruled short by the roughs. And it went to replay. And that's kind of the end of the game from the point of the what transpired on the field. But the really interesting point to me on that was that they actually showed what was happening in real time in the replay booth. And so viewers could watch and listen to the discussion of the reviewers in real time. And I'd never heard or seen that before. And I thought that was kind of cool. Anyway, the field ruling was upheld. It was literally inches short and Texas Tech went on to win that. But it was an exciting game and it had that added little extra officiating nugget there for viewers. Emily: Yes, I saw that. I heard that booth review. And I think that's a really compelling change that some of the conferences are doing. And I hope it I hope it goes broader, maybe even to the NFL someday. I would love to see that. Hilary: Yeah, I would love to hear the conversation of what they're what they're thinking and what they're looking for as they review the video images. So moving on, something else I saw. A Texas AM lost at home to Kentucky. And with the loss, they dropped to 23 in the polls. Next up, they're facing LSU in Baton Rouge as seven and a half point underdogs. This is probably a critical win game for AM. Well, maybe for both teams, actually. a loss puts either of them at two and two overall and to s be and two in the SEC would be brutal in terms of playoff contention. Any thoughts on that? Emily: Well, you know who I'm rooting for. Hilary: Yeah, right. We know who we're rooting for there. Okay. And then against Emily: Or against Hilary: right. And then there was another kind of wild one. The game wasn't really on my radar until I started reading some sports coverage Saturday night. And it was NC State against Vanderbilt. And apparently this one was wild. Vandy started a true fresh freshman quarterback, and they were behind 24 7 in the third quarter before staging a huge comeback to get it down to 2831. And so NC State's up and they have six seconds to go, and they're Backed up on their own five-yard line and it's fourth down. So the NC State quarterback attempts to run out the clock by running around in the end zone, or I guess potentially taking the safety. But it Emily: Yeah. Hilary: all blows up. The Vanderbilt edge charges through there and rips the ball out. A Vandy player falls on the ball and recovers the fumble in the end zone. Final score. thirty five thirty one Vanderbilt is three and Can't Emily: That just cannot happen. Like it just can't happen. they were they were taking the safe. I would have taken the safety. I I think that was the best move was to take the safety. You didn't want to punt it. there's more risk there. I understand trying to take some time off the clock, but come on, just Just go out of bounds, take the safety. They weren't gonna do anything with four seconds left, you know? So Hilary: Right. Emily: I I'm sure they're feeling awful about that one, that's probably the only time we'll see that in our lifetime. Hilary: Let's hope so. That Emily: Okay. All right, let's move on to the NFL. really hard, Hilary: Yeah. Emily: really hard for me to bring the topics down to just a few. but I will start with Chicago, Minnesota. Chicago got all the highlights and all the accolades after week one. It's like, hold on, it's week one, don't overreact. no, they were not great week two. They scored three points. So don't ever react in week one. but is Chicago that great or that bad? I don't think they're that bad. I don't think they were that great. Now, of course, the highlight was or low light was Caleb Williams going out with an injury, but that was not why they weren't scoring points because he went out in the fourth quarter. I was gonna talk about how. Next up was Tyler Badget as their quarterback as an undrafted free agent, but he's got a concussion. So now we're in the third string. We got Case Keenum starting. Hilary: What? Emily: Yeah. Yeah, Case Keenum is starting. You gotta keep up. I mean, it's like you gotta be reading the news nonstop I thought Tyler Badget looked pretty decent coming off the bench. But Case Keenum, aged thirty eight, is not appeared in a game since twenty twenty three, so we'll see what he can do. Hilary: Next man up. Emily: Next man up. All right. The other thing I wanted to talk about, other game I want to talk about is Titans Eagles, which why would I be talking about that? Well, I don't know if you heard, but it was hot in Nashville. The game took place in Nashville. Temperatures were in the high 90s, what was interesting about it is it's a turf field, and turf just soaks up that heat. the the reports were that the field was like 157 degrees. I don't know. That's just a an article I read. the players' cleats were melting. They had to change them at halftime. They were hosing the cleats down to try to keep them cool. but they just said that was a really, really tough game for them to play in. I think that borders on like dangerous. I don't think players should have to play in those conditions. And just another case to be made for grass over turf. Hilary: Yeah, I agree. I had seen a little bit of coverage on that. I didn't realize that temperatures were way up there. That is scary hot. Emily: I can't imagine even being in the stands for that game. Anyway, my last bit before I I pass over to you. I don't want to do a huge thing on the Seahawks, but I just want to shout out that the Seahawks now have a 12 game winning streak, which is the longest in franchise history. So when you hear something like that, you take notice. Because we've been around for 50 years. So that's a pretty big deal. And I just want to shout out Mike McDonald is the real deal. His coaching just gets better and better. The team looks more and more prepared. They adjust like no other team we are lucky to have him. Cannot wait to see where he takes us. Hilary: Yeah, shout out, Gohawks. I didn't know that that win put us into the franchise record books, I guess. So that's super cool to hear. Thanks for bringing that Emily: Yeah, what Hilary: up. Emily: yeah. So what do you got? Hilary: What have I got? man, okay. What is going on with the Chargers? I pick them as a team to watch this year, and they're starting 0 and 2 with losses to the Raiders and the Cardinals. is it time to hit the panic button? I I'm Emily: Maybe. Hilary: concerned. Maybe, maybe. five turnovers and two games certainly doesn't help. And I know you mentioned you're gonna get a chance to see them here in Seattle in week four. So that's not this coming week, but two weeks from now. they're losing at home. You know, maybe SoFi's not the greatest home field advantage in the NFL, but still. Emily: Yeah. I I don't know what to say. Harbaugh he's not one of my favorite people, but he's a great coach. And this is surprising. Hilary: Yeah. so I will say they do have a bunch of injuries. the two of their tight ends are out, their left guard is out, and their starting center, which is Tyler Biodish, who they acquired in the offseason to help protect Justin Herbert, is out. I think I read somewhere that five of their eight free agent signings will miss time. So that is yeah. Yeah, Emily: Yeah, but Hillary, our quarterback is out and we're two and we had Eamon Wari out. I agree, yes, they've got injuries and your left Hilary: Yeah, they Emily: guard and center is not great, but like that can't be an excuse. Hilary: Right. Okay. So let me keep going here because I'm gonna I'm gonna make I'm gonna put the other side to it. They do have a talented roster. Justin Herbert, Omari and Hampton, Ladd McConkey, Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater. They're all out on the field. They are all three or four of those guys were in the ESPN top 100 players. So I wanna take a minute to look at the Raiders' loss a little bit more. A lot of it, they're just, I think they're just shooting themselves in the foot. There's continued sloppiness, penalties, three turnovers, two of them in the final four minutes, bad snaps, handoff issues. I'm gonna put this on the offense because the defense, they're on a learning curve with the loss of Jesse Montier, but they're playing decent. They allowed 26 points from the Cardinals and 24 from the Raiders. I believe the Chargers offense should be able to score enough points to beat that. They scored 14 on Sunday against the Raiders, 14 with the Cardinals. next four games, Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, and Chiefs, you Emily: Brutal. Hilary: know, out brutal, brutal. they've got a lot to address. But I think cleaning up the penalties and securing the ball handling on offense would be a solid start. And then maybe just simplify. Lean on Ladd McConkey and Amari and Hampton to get some offensive rhythm going and then build out the fancy plays from there. But you know, go back to basics a little bit. I'm not a coach, obviously, but that's that's my take on it. you know, clean it up and start simple. Emily: Well, they are gonna have to score points this weekend against the Bills because the Bills have been unstoppable. Was there anything else? Hilary: Yeah, I do want to just call out that in week two in general, defenses showed up in a really big way. And you and I have talked about that. I love a solid defensive battle. And Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and new England all allowed zero touchdowns this week in their games. So shout out to the D. Emily: Yeah, that's that's the way I like it. I know we might be in the minority. I don't know, but I like when defenses show up. I enjoyed the low scoring Minnesota Chicago game. so yeah, cool. Thanks for shouting that out. All right, so we're gonna wrap up by talking about what we're circling for this weekend. In college, game day will be in Knoxville, Tennessee for the Tennessee, Texas game. So, yes, circle that one. the other one, there's so many games, but the other one I circled was Ole Miss, Florida. my interest in Ole Miss really peaked after watching the game last weekend. They looked So good, was it the moment and the adrenaline from plain lane or will there be a letdown? Hilary: Yeah, that'll be an interesting one. And can I just say I'm excited for you to have game day in Tennessee and I'm cheering for the vols, but come on, Texas on game day twice already? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Emily: Yeah, yeah. Boo. Hilary: Anyway, moving on. Okay. This is the game I've talked about before, and I've had it circled because I just Don't know who to cheer for in this one. And this is Oregon versus USC. it has huge implications for both teams in the Big Ten. Also, Lincoln Riley's on the hot seat for USC. He needs the win. Oregon dropped out of the AP poll for the first time in I don't know how long. and this is their first game against a ranked opponent and A loss here for them would definitely intensify the scrutiny on them and probably eliminate them from playoff contention. Emily: Okay, those are good ones. in the NFL, what will you be watching this weekend? Hilary: Wow, you know, maybe we should circle that Chargers Bills game to see if the Chargers Emily: Yeah. Hilary: can bounce back from a very, very shaky start. I I kind of hope so. they're coming up here to Seattle. I hope the Seahawks take them seriously. Emily: Yeah, I hope the Chargers put up a good showing, because I do think that helps like maybe maybe I'm wrong. But like if the Chargers come in to Seattle 0 3, will the players really take them as seriously? I think I worried about that more during the Pete Carroll era. I don't know that Mike McDonald would allow that to happen though. Hilary: Okay. Interesting take though, right? if you're coming up against a team that's perceived as a weaker opponent, do you kind of look past them to whatever's, you know, looming the week following, right? Emily: Yeah. I feel like human nature you would, but again, Hilary: Right. Emily: I don't know that Mike McDonald would allow that to happen. But still, I kind of would prefer them to win, beat the Bills, just for that. Just in case. Just in case. Hilary: Well, that would also give us something to talk about next week as a headline, wouldn't it? Emily: Yeah, it would. It would. well, I thought is it Sunday night football, Rams, Broncos should be a great game. Rams obviously were not what they were in week one. I didn't expect it. I don't think anybody expected them to be bad. They looked dominant last night, but of course, they were playing backup quarterback. for against Jameis Winston, but still they're great. but, definitely pulling for the Broncos on Sunday. I think it'll be really interesting to see Penix back and starting on Thursday night against Green Bay. And just one more. I'm sorry I shouldn't be just I I only gave you one. Vikings Bucks Vikings are two and Bucks are and two, and Kyler Murray is back to start. I feel like Wentz did a pretty good job with Kyler out. and will the Vikings regret that decision? I'm just curious whether whether Kyler will play well. Hilary: You know, I don't know if they'll regret that decision or not, but I'm thinking if Kyler doesn't set the tone and start that game well and I'm the coach, I have no hesitation to bench him and put Wentz back in to keep the continuity going of the prior two games. Emily: I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. Hilary: Yeah, me too. Emily: All right. Well it was fun talking NFL week two, college week three, and have fun watching games this weekend. Hilary: Yeah, you too, Emily. We'll be back for another wrap up next week. Unicorn football talk.