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NFL 2025 | Week 7 Recap | Banter with the Boys - Gridiron Updates · Banter with the Boys

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laced up let's go it's time for better with the
0:04
boys yo welcome back to banter with the boys
0:16
uh gridiron updates week eight i'm i'm smeltzy
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of course as always well not for the last couple
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weeks yeah thanks thanks for Being able to fill
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in, Jake, at a moment's notice. I tried. I got
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big shoes to fill. No, doubtful. But welcome
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back. Glad to have you back for another episode,
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of course. Pete the Raven's hat still representing.
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Yep. What's your record? One in five. Bob, our
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co -host, welcome back. Thank you. Well, actually,
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welcome back to you, actually. Right. I had to
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carry all the weight of the hosting last week.
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It was okay. It was good. It was good. Like the
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sweatshirt. I don't know if you saw the sweatshirt.
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For you Spotify listeners, it just says get horny,
1:03
but it does have horns. For the Vikings, obviously.
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Skull baiting. Horns up. Or you can take it how
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you want. Kev, behind the cameras getting everything
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done for us as always. With that, Kev, let's
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head right into our week seven game recaps. Recaps.
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You're my Robin. Yeah, whatever. I don't know.
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Anyway, welcome back. Yeah, what are we talking
1:35
about? Week 8 football, baby. Cincinnati Bengals.
1:38
Steelers. Steelers traveling to Cincinnati. The
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Bengals wearing, quite possibly to me, the best
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uniform in the league right now. They were very
1:45
icy. And they came out with the dub. 33 -31.
1:52
It felt like... It felt like an old Western battle
1:57
between two old rugged quarterbacks, but in Cincinnati,
2:01
not out West. But you know what I mean? Fun to
2:04
see those guys go at it and both proving why
2:07
you still don't want to give them the ball late
2:09
in the game. Age is just a number to both of
2:11
those quarterbacks. Slanging it. I mean, I can't
2:13
lie. I saw Aaron Rodgers take off for a run,
2:15
and he was a little bit quicker than I anticipated.
2:18
And he still has the arm strength. He got that
2:21
last play of the game. Like what? 70 yards in
2:25
the air. Even on that deep interception, which
2:28
was a big miss. He was going for DK, I believe.
2:31
I can't remember. But that super deep interception.
2:35
Feet weren't set at all. Just looked effortless.
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Outside of that play, now that we're on Aaron
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Rodgers for some reason automatically. You love
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him. No, no, but, but, but. I feel like his footwork
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is getting better as the season progresses. He
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seems like he's getting through progressions
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a little bit faster to me. I know. A little more
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confidence than that Achilles. To me, it feels
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that way. To me, it feels that way a little bit.
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I think it also helped that Bengals defense couldn't
3:03
get any pressure. There's like no pass rush from
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the Bengals at all. So you got all day back there
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in the pocket. For sure, for sure. I don't know.
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I'm just saying the footwork looked great. So,
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I mean, probably that. Probably a massive factor.
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And Hendrickson did not play, right? No, he didn't.
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So, you know, one of the better edge rushers
3:24
not playing. But Jalen Warren looked good, too.
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That's going to also help your passing game out
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massively. I don't know. Good to see that. Shifty
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player. Yeah, I thought it was all Flacco throwing
3:36
for over 300, three tutties. Aaron matching him
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with his 300 -tut. Kind of the end of the game,
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that long 68 -yarder to fire Muth. Muth, as the
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crowd yells. It was a good, fun game. It was
3:53
back and forth, especially that fourth quarter,
3:54
coming down, kind of who had possession last.
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And then it was kind of that play, Kevin, if
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you want to throw up the video now. We don't
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know these videos. A little Joe Flacco here.
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Running on the boot there. So that 40 -yard,
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you were talking about Rodgers making a run,
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though. So it was a big key play, though. I kind
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of ran another two, three minutes off that clock
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there. What about, did you see the look on Flacco's
4:17
face when he hit Chase right in the number one?
4:20
He bounced off his chest, and he just couldn't.
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Yeah, he's pretty surprised with that random
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drop out of one of the best NFL receivers in
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the league. But a big win for the Bengals to
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get back to 3 -3. I think Burrow still projected
4:36
mid -December where he's at for injury. So if
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they can just stay around, hang around, you never
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know in that division. You never know. And arguably,
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they got two winnable games coming up. You know,
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they play... The New York Jets at home and the
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Bears at home. So those are two winnable games
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for the Bengals to kind of, like you said, get
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back on track. This was a solid team they played.
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And they almost gave it up. The Bengals looked
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okay early on. Yeah, so if they can get through
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for like 500 through the next six games, and
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that's kind of projected six more weeks for Burrow
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to get back. And you never know how it could
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finish out. Absolutely. With that, well, let's
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see real quick. We're not talking about the Steelers
5:19
today. Yes, we are. We're going to talk about
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the Steelers in a little bit as they play the
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Packers. on Sunday Night Football, so don't forget
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to check out our preview episode, which will
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be released after this one. Let's move on to
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our next game, the Rams versus the Jaguars. Blowout.
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I don't know how I can really talk about this
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that much, but Matthew Stafford, I believe, is
5:43
no first player, I think, in international game
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to throw for five touchdowns, I believe. I believe
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that. That sounds very feasible. Only 182 yards,
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but, man, got her done. Yeah. Just absolutely
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shredded the Jacksonville defense. They were
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missing Puka. No, I was thinking about Jacksonville.
6:01
Oh, Lloyd, Devin Lloyd. Yeah, tied for the league
6:04
interception. So, you know, not having him back
6:08
there is going to. It's going to kind of suck
6:10
for you. It was one of those games the Rams got
6:12
up early real quick. Devontae, I think we got
6:15
a clip of one of his touchdowns, one of his three
6:18
touchdowns. He filled in real nice for Puka Nakua
6:21
being out that week. Puka can take another week
6:24
off, too. Well, they have a bye this week, so
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I guess they automatically get a week off. And
6:30
Trevor really struggled against that Rams defense.
6:32
Couldn't get the running game going off. And
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they come back out against the Saints. Which
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play is this? This one, Adams. I think that's
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his first one. Yeah, fun to see Devontae. He
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got three, right? Yeah, three touchdowns on that
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one. Not that play. No, that was the third one.
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That was his third one. Yeah. And they say the
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fate is dead. No, not when Devontae Adams is
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on the field. Are you kidding me? In the red
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zone? Yeah, even though JJ dropped one for us.
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That's right. Well, we'll get to that. Yeah,
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yeah. On the other side of the ball, Trevor Lawrence.
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Obviously, when you get down early, you have
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to just start hucking the ball. Yeah, .48 pass
7:10
at times. No surprise there. But Travis Hunter
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getting his first. I mean, probably the only
7:15
light for the Jacksonville Jaguars, if there
7:17
was one, if you could find one other than getting
7:19
to travel overseas. But Travis Hunter getting
7:22
his first NFL touchdown. So that was kind of
7:24
fun. Yeah, good for him. It was in garbage time,
7:27
though. Yeah. They didn't score until the fourth
7:29
quarter. Right. Duh. Oh, well. And they need
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to get him the ball more if he's going to be
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that dynamic playmaker. for them because brian
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thomas jr is just like disappeared all of a sudden
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in year two he's got a case of the drop skis
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yeah sophomore slump whatever you want to call
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it yeah i would definitely agree with that right
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now yeah the jags team though is also just being
7:52
on playing on discipline 11 penalties 119 yards
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11 penalties i think what nine seven or nine
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sacks it was a lot of sack yeah they gave up
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seven sacks too just Yeah, over 100 yards. But
8:02
against that Rams defense, you know, when you
8:04
know the Jaguars are passing, that's one of those
8:07
front. I mean, we saw it as Vikings fans. You
8:09
don't want to see that. You don't want to be
8:11
put in that position. So we're not talking about
8:14
them. But real quick, the Jaguars traveling to
8:16
Las Vegas this week. What do you think? I mean,
8:21
it's kind of almost like a must win for the Jaguars
8:23
on this scenario. Just stay relevant kind of
8:25
in this season, in their own division. Yeah.
8:28
I think the Colts have the best record. With
8:30
the Colts running away with it. I can't believe
8:33
we're talking about that right now. Danny Dimes.
8:36
And then after that, they travel to Houston.
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That's going to be a toughie. So, Jaguars, get
8:42
your stuff together, man. After starting kind
8:45
of strong, you know. Let's see, the Rams. Just
8:48
not playing consistent. And that seems to be
8:51
kind of, you know. your Trevor Lawrence scenario
8:53
right now they had opportunities for field goals
8:55
too and they passed up on them to go for it and
8:57
try and score touchdowns and I think those are
9:00
missed opportunities try to get some points on
9:02
the board build some momentum for your offense
9:04
and Liam did come out and say kind of like hey
9:07
I'm to blame a little bit on this loss too this
9:09
just wasn't a good game all the way around so
9:11
good to see coach taking a little bit of accountability
9:14
for For some of the mistakes that game. Kind
9:17
of a boring game, though, for London guys. Yeah.
9:20
I mean, other than seeing touchdowns, you know,
9:22
if you want to see some sort of action, I guess.
9:26
Kyron Williams got loose, like, twice, you know,
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on bigger runs. So, whatever. I guess you get
9:32
to see a couple explosive plays. It's always
9:34
fun to watch, you know, versus the tush push.
9:37
Right. Let's, yeah, I think the Eagles -Vikes
9:41
are next. Yes. They are. Unfortunately. Philadelphia
9:47
traveling to Minnesota. Hard fought to the end,
9:51
but the Vikes just couldn't outlast Jalen Hurts.
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I mean, played a perfect game. Nearly flawless.
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Yeah. Played a perfect game. And the Eagles now.
10:01
If you're looking at QBR, yes. Right. I mean,
10:03
just in general. I mean, four incompletions.
10:06
I don't think he lost any fumbles. Nope. Nope.
10:10
Just had an outstanding day all the way around.
10:14
really kind of which is unfortunate for the rest
10:17
of the league they're not a really down the field
10:20
big play team all the time and they had a few
10:25
too many in this game so uh if they have unlocked
10:28
that on i know we credit brian flores defense
10:31
all the time but obvious miscues defensively
10:34
for the vikings but if the eagles can do some
10:38
more of that going forward i mean We got to be
10:43
realistic about them potentially repeating as
10:45
the NFC candidate going to the Super Bowl. Were
10:48
you super impressed with them? The Eagles? Yeah.
10:52
I mean, I feel like with how the Vikings couldn't
10:56
finish a drive and just continue to kick field
10:58
goals, I feel like they should have ran away
10:59
with it a little bit more. I'm impressed with
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them. I thought it was a great showing from the
11:06
Eagles. I thought they played a better than average.
11:08
I mean, I thought they played a better than average.
11:12
Better than average game, obviously, to win.
11:14
The Vikings definitely played well below average.
11:17
Multiple possessions. I was just impressed with
11:19
Jalen Hurts, really. Yeah, Jalen Hurts was really.
11:21
And you can obviously, Flores' game plan was
11:23
not to let Barkley get loose. Which is one thing
11:26
they did. They held him down. The first A .J.
11:30
touchdown on that fourth down, you know, you
11:33
got to get some pressure. How long do you expect,
11:35
you know, a linebacker slash safety to cover
11:37
a guy? 100%. I also think on the backside, I
11:40
didn't get to see the all 22 there. I feel like
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somebody else should have been on that backside
11:44
help where Josh was thinking he had a little
11:46
help. I don't know if it was Harry or if it was
11:48
Theo Jackson. I think it was like a tight end
11:51
on that play, kind of ran a post in there, and
11:53
they both went with him, and no one was covering
11:56
that backside. But Devontae, Smitty had a nice
12:00
game. Defensively, though, we moved the ball
12:06
periodically against that secondary. It just
12:10
felt like Carson Wentz had no touch at times.
12:14
Just no touch. I don't know how else to explain
12:18
a touch pass, I guess. But, you know, it's just
12:20
a field pass. Just a little five -yard boop to
12:23
your running back. He's playing too fast. I just
12:25
don't understand it. He's playing way too fast.
12:27
He's going through his regressions so fast on
12:29
that ham little thing where he's wide open his
12:31
first read. Just moved right through it to no
12:35
other read. That was the intentional grounding.
12:38
As a veteran, that is not a veteran play. That
12:41
was horrible. I'll give him credit on the first
12:45
interception. Because you got Jalen Carter in
12:47
your face. True. Bearing down on you. I can't.
12:51
That was a pick six, wasn't it? Yeah. Just didn't
12:54
see him. It sucks. Didn't see him. And again,
12:56
he got drilled from that. So I can't blame him
13:00
all that much on that one. It just sucks. But
13:02
curious to see what they're able to do against
13:07
the Chargers this week. So we'll get to that
13:09
in a little bit. Yeah. The Eagles still need
13:12
to figure out their run game. I know that everybody's
13:14
focusing on stopping Saquon and trying to make
13:17
the Eagles beat him through the air. Eagles just
13:19
get the ball in his hands outside the box. Only
13:23
one game has Saquon rushed for over 50 yards.
13:26
I know. I have a fantasy. It's just, like, brutal.
13:29
Well, they got the Giants next, so they'll go
13:33
off. It'll be fine. For the Eagles. Their front
13:36
four is pretty solid. This is the game right
13:40
here. Pick the Giants to upset the Eagles again.
13:43
They've already done it once. I mean, it was
13:47
just a weird Vikings game. It was nice to see
13:50
O 'Neal back. Jackson, you know, may or may not
13:55
be back this week. Center could have played a
13:57
little better game overall. It was really interesting
13:59
to see Flores' strategy on the tush push, laying
14:03
that guy down. I think you're going to see that
14:06
more often because that doesn't allow the linemen
14:08
to get that below leverage. You can see it look
14:10
like it worked. Just create a pile. It sucks
14:12
to be there. Oh, man. It was the rookie, too.
14:16
What was his name? I can't remember. The FNG
14:20
is what. With the FNG down in the bottom of the
14:23
pile. And the slow -mo, when he went forward,
14:25
his helmet almost crushed his hand. Yeah, I saw
14:28
that. I was like, oh, my God, he's about to break
14:31
his hand. Somehow missed. Anyway, that's a wrap
14:34
on this game. But the Eagles getting the win,
14:36
28 -22 over our Minnesota Vikings. Jake obviously
14:40
likes them, too, because it's the other purple.
14:42
All right. No comment. He said no comment, so
14:45
it's fine. Falcons traveling. San Francisco taking
14:49
an L to the 49ers. Oh, by the way, those that
14:54
care or keep track of our picks. I have not updated
14:58
any of that crap. Thank you. Next week, yes,
15:00
I'll have that done. He said that two weeks ago.
15:03
Well, I wasn't here last week. Yeah, he was coaching
15:06
up the young ones. He had two weeks to do it.
15:08
Yeah, yeah. Well, shh, shh, shh. Don't help me.
15:12
All right, yeah, anyway, 49ers getting the win,
15:14
20 -10. Christian McCaffrey, have a day. I mean,
15:18
unstoppable. Yeah, absolutely going off right
15:21
now. Really hope that – I'm not even going to
15:24
say it. I'm not even going to say it. Hope to
15:26
keep seeing him do that all season. I mean, he's
15:29
– with all the injuries, especially on the defensive
15:32
side, he's – and then the coaching staff and
15:34
I think their strategy and thought process is
15:37
just keeping that team winning. What are they,
15:39
5 -2 now? They are 5 -2. 5 -2. And it was really
15:43
injury panics, not having – A really great game.
15:48
He's very pedestrian of him. He did get banged
15:51
up at the end of that game, so it'll be interesting
15:53
moving forward if Kirkle gets a shot this week.
15:56
Kirk was ready to go in. No, I saw him in Mormon.
15:58
He's always ready to go in. Are you kidding me?
16:00
Kirk Cousins is always going to be ready to go
16:02
in. He's like Uncle Rico. Yeah, exactly. What
16:05
you're going to get at this point, who knows?
16:07
Could be good, could be bad. It's a 50 -50 shot.
16:09
But you can guarantee you he's always ready to
16:12
go in the game. Helmet on all the time. Yeah.
16:16
And Mac Jones still just playing, managing effective
16:19
games, you know, in Purdy's absence. And I don't
16:22
know if Purdy's even going to be back this week.
16:25
I don't think he is. And San Francisco kept Atlanta
16:28
scoreless to the fourth, you know. First game
16:31
without their captain in the middle, Warner.
16:34
Yeah, it's off to Salah for figuring out how
16:37
to run that defense without Warner. He's got
16:40
them buzzing. Keeping Bijan Robinson at 40 rushing
16:43
yards, that's not easy to do. do you know not
16:45
at all boy we know it yeah but the whole league
16:50
has seen it no great game from the 49ers again
16:53
a team that i i know for me i haven't been super
16:55
high on uh throughout the season they're like
16:58
this year's rams from last year they were like
17:00
expecting to fail but they just keep they just
17:03
won't this wall is so banged up you're like all
17:05
right when are the wheels officially gonna fall
17:07
off and they just keep going yeah because i think
17:09
that was the offensive line for the rams last
17:11
year that they came into the season with nobody
17:14
And they just chucked along. Good winning. Well,
17:17
they got a tougher one on paper coming up this
17:20
week, and we will touch on that again in our
17:22
next show. Who do the Falcons got here? Dolphins.
17:26
Give them a W. Oh, the Finns. Okay. Mike Daniels'
17:29
last game. You think so? Oh, could be if he loses.
17:33
Yeah, it's got to happen. It's got to get close.
17:36
It feels like that locker room is all messed
17:38
up, especially to his comments and the way it's
17:40
going. And their bye week is week 12. There's
17:42
no way you're going to hang on to Mike McDaniels
17:44
for three more weeks, four more weeks. Tua came
17:47
out like two weeks ago when I was saying guys
17:49
aren't being accountable and stuff like that.
17:52
He was kind of calling some people out. Exactly
17:56
by name. A Minnesotan way of calling somebody
17:59
else. Yeah, and then he apologized. He said he
18:02
shouldn't have done it and stuff. It's just creating
18:04
narratives for reporters to ask questions about
18:09
that aren't football related. But look what's
18:11
happening. We were talking about the Falcons,
18:14
and the Falcons going to play the Dolphins, and
18:16
now the Dolphins. Things going on just stole
18:20
that even from our little podcast right now.
18:23
So there you go. It is going on in Miami. So
18:27
not in a good way. Not in a good way. No. So
18:31
let's move on to our final game here. The Bucs
18:35
traveling to Detroit. Man, tough place to play
18:38
right now. Detroit goes to 3 -0 at home. Monday
18:40
night football. That fan base was loud. Oh, yes.
18:45
Holy cow. Between them and Cincinnati, I feel
18:48
like we're the loudest fan bases this weekend
18:51
for me. Oh, really? I think so. Bringing the
18:53
old decibel meter? No, no, no, no. Breaking her
18:56
down like that. No, no. I mean, what else can
18:59
we say about Gibbs right now? You know, 218 for
19:03
scrimmage, a couple of tutties, got that 78 yarder.
19:06
CMC number. And you can just see the speed. Like,
19:10
he just put it in cruise control about the 30.
19:13
Baker, you could definitely see he was struggling.
19:15
Mike Evans with that tough catch. Well, I actually
19:18
almost called it a catch. We got hurt. It ends
19:20
up being a clavicle. Yeah. And then concussion.
19:24
And he got concussion at the same time. And he
19:25
still caught the ball in my book, you know. Didn't
19:29
you have Mike Evans on your fantasy? Not this
19:32
year, last year. Oh, last year. And then you
19:35
could see that Mbakwe was not at full speed.
19:39
Buka. Buka. We'll see when Godwin comes back.
19:42
I don't know where Bucky Irvin quite is right
19:44
now. So it was a struggle, very big struggle
19:47
for the Bucks to compete in that game. And like
19:50
you said, the crowd was in it against a really
19:52
good team. In their house. That defense was flying
19:55
around fast. I mean, fast. And that was the difference
19:59
for me. It was really the Buccaneers defense.
20:02
not filling gaps properly, just in the slightest,
20:06
and Gibbs taking full advantage of that. That
20:09
was the biggest thing for me this game. And there
20:12
were points where it felt like the game was...
20:14
It felt like it was out of reach, but it... Point
20:17
-wise or score -wise, it was pretty close, and
20:19
as I'm watching, I'm like, okay, when's Baker?
20:22
When are we going to see Baker, like MVP Baker
20:25
right now? And they've been losing in the fourth
20:27
quarter of almost every game this year, so you
20:30
never know when the Buccaneers are actually out.
20:31
So it felt like it was within reach, and I was
20:33
waiting for Baker to do Baker things, and unfortunately
20:37
it didn't happen. But I think a lot of that had
20:39
to do with just that front four on the defensive
20:42
side of Detroit. putting pressure on Baker. I
20:45
felt like Baker didn't feel comfortable and was
20:48
rushing his progressions and just, like, missing
20:50
throw after throw after throw because he was
20:52
just trying to get it out. Yeah. I mean, that's
20:54
what a front four is going to do is hurry you
20:56
up like that. And then when you've got the C
20:58
squad of receivers running routes for you that,
21:00
you know, you consistently don't trust as much.
21:04
And, yeah, he's flanging in all over the place.
21:08
Lions, the roar has been restored. The roar has
21:10
been restored. Somebody I do not look forward
21:13
to the Vikings playing on November 2nd as the
21:16
Lions head into their bye week right now. That
21:18
kind of sucks. Yeah, it does. They'll be a tough
21:21
out. Let's see here. Who do the Bucs got? The
21:26
Aints. The Saints. Oh, yeah. That's right. Baker
21:30
has massive hate for the Saints, too. Does he?
21:33
Oh, yeah. Tell me more. I can't remember why.
21:35
I can't remember why. I just remember there's
21:37
a thing with Baker and the Saints, and he hates
21:39
them. Well, when you get a podcast, you can tell
21:42
us. Maybe you'll say, you know what? When I do,
21:44
when we start one, I'll let you know. That's
21:47
a good place for that type of information. It
21:49
would be. Unbelievable. So we'll just leave that
21:53
alone. Thanks, Rob. You're welcome. Anyway, with
21:56
that, we'll close your episode down, Rob. My
22:00
episode? Oh, yeah. Well, thanks for joining us.
22:03
We're going to get to some news. Yeah. Join us
22:08
in the next episode. We'll roll over the injuries.
22:11
Just a little bit of news. Nothing crazy. And
22:13
then don't forget to check out our week eight
22:15
preview and picks. Thanks to Jake, of course,
22:18
for being here. Thanks for having me back again.
22:20
Appreciate it. We did a lot of Jake time this
22:22
season. I like it. A lot of Jake time. A lot
22:24
of Jake time. Rob, of course, thanks for being
22:26
here, as always, I guess. It's fine. Thank you.
22:29
Thank you. It's fine. No, I'm not. No, it's fine.
22:31
Whatever. Kev, thanks for getting everything
22:33
done for us, as always, getting these out. That's
22:35
why you can hear us right now. You're the best.
22:37
With that, don't forget to like, comment, subscribe,
22:39
wherever you listen to the band, or whether that's
22:41
YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or iHeartRadio.
22:44
And we will see you in the next episode of our
22:48
Tent Talk. Peace. Peace. Don't forget to follow
22:53
like and subscribe tune in next time for more
22:57
banter with the boys