JB's Sports Podcast
JB's Sports Podcast
What Were the Bills Thinking?
What if the legendary Nick Saban isn't irreplaceable? Join me as I take a solo journey into the heart of college football chaos following Vanderbilt's seismic upset over Alabama. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama's new head coach, faces intense scrutiny as I analyze his potential to live up to the legacy left by Saban. I also explore the ripple effects of this unexpected defeat on Alabama's fan base and the broader SEC, where traditional powerhouses are struggling with surprising losses and underwhelming performances. Can Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia regain their footing in a season defined by unpredictability?
Shifting gears to the NFL, I unravel the intricate dynamics within teams like the Jets, where Aaron Rodgers seems to wield more influence than the coaching staff. In a league where coaching strategies and player performances often clash, I highlight notable games and team decisions, from the Ravens' thrilling victory over the Bengals to the Patriots' bold quarterback change. As struggles plague teams like the Browns and Bills, with coaching choices coming under fire, I provide intriguing insights into how these decisions impact the game's outcome.
Lastly, the spotlight turns to NFL injuries and surprising upsets. Derek Carr's absence for the Saints opens the door for rookie Spencer Rattler, while Thursday Night Football promises excitement with the 49ers facing the Seahawks amidst injury woes. I also discuss the Steelers' need for wide receiver leadership and reflect on the Cardinals' unexpected triumph over the 49ers. The episode wraps up with a keen analysis of the current state of football at both the college and professional levels, capturing the essence of a season where anything seems possible.
welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is wednesday, october 9th, and we are back for another one. Well, not we, uh. Well, the, what? Not the? The royal, we right? Uh, currently I am by myself at the end of the solo podcast.
Speaker 1:Jace couldn't necessarily get here, so it is me doing a solo dolo for today. If you want to jump off right now, I totally understand. I know it's not the best podcast when it's just your boy, but either way, a podcast has to get out. So here I am doing the pod and we'll just kind of get right into things here. So, with there being no jace, if you've been listening for a while, you know that college football talk is not necessarily in his bag. Uh, it's not something he'll talk about michigan state and like he'll do some like bigger things, but like any type of deeper college football conversations. Uh, he kind of loses interest very quick. So here I am, I get to. I'm doing this by myself, so I get to. Kind of loses interest very quick. So here I am, I'm doing this by myself, so I get to kind of control how this thing works. Again, I'm not going to go too long on anything because I just think this podcast is going to. I want to keep this one pretty quick. I don't want to make it too long, if you just happen to listen to me ramble on by myself talking to a wall and a computer screen. So let's go ahead and get into things.
Speaker 1:Honestly, when we did the last podcast it was Saturday, as things were happening I think it was after the Ohio State-Iowa game and the other games that were happening around that same time. Later it was like those later games were still going on at that point. So we kind of got into a good portion of those games, especially the bigger ones, obviously, as we were doing it on Saturday. But I just kind of want to do just. I want to recap just a couple with kind of like an overarching thing because I will, because honestly, I kind of miss a few of the last game because the last podcast, because, again, jace is not necessarily big keen on talking about a bunch of college football. So I kind of rushed through a little bit.
Speaker 1:I just kind of want to talk about some of the bigger upsets because of the upset filled weekend, because nobody really thought that it was like a huge matchup weekend last week for college football. Honestly, really, when the case and there's only one ranked on ranked matchup. Definitely a huge difference from what's coming up this weekend with like a bunch of ranked, unranked and like rivalry games and all that. So like there is. It's a definitely a stark contrast and weekends from last weekend to this upcoming weekend for college football, but there was definitely a huge weekend either way, just because of how some things shaked out.
Speaker 1:So the Bama Vanderbilt game we were kind of talking. The game was literally ending as we were talking about it last podcast. But Vanderbilt, if you didn't listen to the last one and if you didn't hear about this whole thing I doubt that anybody that listens to any type of sports didn't hear about this because it's one of the bigger upsets in a long time. Vanderbilt beat the number one ranked Alabama 40-35. And this is coming week after Bama had beat Georgia in a epic matchup between those two teams and Bama kind of came out on top on that. So it literally took the week before this game where Bama was talked about like how good are they? And, um, does this make them the number one team in college football and all of that. I wasn't necessarily a part of that conversation because I just thought both Bama and Georgia seemed like they were flawed teams. But again, as soon as an SEC team looks to be one of the better ones in that conference, people just automatically assume they're the best in the sport because it's an SEC team and they have the Bama and or Georgia name behind them, so they automatically get a nod in a way that other Big 10, uh, big 12, uh, and ACC teams are not going to get, even in comparison to the Big 10, where kind of the SEC and the Big 10 should be on equal footing at this point with, but like, both conferences having their strong teams and then having teams that are like a little bit more, um, undervalued. But again, it's just kind of how it goes.
Speaker 1:So so, coming into this Vanderbilt game, heck Nick Saban while they were doing game day, because Nick Saban's on game day now, if you didn't know, he literally said that playing in the SEC is one of the hardest things you have to do, especially playing on the road. Everywhere except for Vanderbilt, it's exactly what that guy said and it just so turns out the team that he was coaching for 20 years at Alabama went into Vanderbilt and lost, coming off of their big win against Georgia the week before. So what does this mean? This honestly, still kind of shock waves being looked like, being felt. Even this is three, three day, four days from when that happened. So this is this. This is the conversation. What does this mean for Alabama? Is Kalen DeBoer the guy? Would Nick Saban have lost this game?
Speaker 1:Like a lot of things are kind of coming into, coming into focus, and not only for the fan base but for the nation at large, because BAM is like one of those brands that is kind of like nationally recognized. So I'll kind of look at it from a few different standpoints here. So I'll start with the fans. First off, the fans at Alabama for the longest time, especially younger fans that have only known Nick Saban and now this one year, kalen DeBoer being the head coach, they don't know losses like these, especially to the worst team, like literally universally looked at as the worst team in the SEC. Vanderbilt is usually looked at as a team you just roll over If you are a good team in the in the SEC, especially if you're on Bama or Georgia's level. So as a Georgia fan I mean as an Alabama fan and you're coming off the Nick Saban era where he retires, it was kind of surprising for a lot of people, but they were sold Kalen DeBoer as like a very good, a very good coach. Obviously he has been everywhere he's been, he's been a winner.
Speaker 1:But the questions about Kalen DeBoer coming into this season is is he Nick Saban? Can he live up to that hype? Can he be a great recruiter like Nick Saban was, which he turns out to be as of right now? I think? Bama's in the top five in recruiting. In pretty much every single what is it? Recruiting site they're ranked as a top five recruiting team, so they're recruiting. Can he recruit in the SEC? It looks like he can.
Speaker 1:Honestly, people were questioning his coaching acumen in comparison to Nick Saban. Nick Saban is probably going to go down as the best coach to ever live in college football, to ever be a head coach in college football. He's going to go down as the best one. Can he live up to that standard? Again, I don't know how anybody can, but Kalen DeBoer in his own right is a very good head coach. So from a fan standpoint, can he keep up what Nick Saban has for the longest time? And after the week against Georgia, a lot of people were heck. This one, this part, including me were like okay, this is one of the biggest, the first test that Kalen DeBoer has had as the Alabama head coach, and it looks like he passed with flying colors. So coming off this Vanderbilt loss the week after it now puts him back under the microscope of oh, can he keep the same type of what is the word for it? Can he keep the same type of mentality or the culture in that team in order to not like have games like this? Because Nick Saban was so good, I'll give him this credit because I do.
Speaker 1:I truly hate Nick Saban competitively, not as a person for what he did college football, because he kind of took away any type of success for a lot of teams and that's including mine as an Ohio State. Even as an Ohio State fan, where we have, like, had some of the best success in all of college football family was still a little bit higher and he kind of changed the game for what being a fan of a top team in the sport really means. So Nick Saban for everything that he was. For a lot of times where he doesn't like to take like blame for when things go wrong, nick Saban was really good, even after big wins for keeping up the pressure on his team, because obviously when you have a Bama team that they recruit as well as they do, they do not have a lack of talent. They do not get to go into a lot of games with the chip on their shoulder that they're being undervalued or they're being looked down upon, right so they don't like.
Speaker 1:A lot of those teams that he has coached over the years did not have that issue. So what he had to hold on to that he had to create that. What is it that chippiness, that vibe in his own locker room and he was very good at that. Even after the big wins, he's the first one to say, hey, this is just one, we still have to go back out of the next week. There was no kind of basking in your glory, at least until the championship happened. But even after that he looked happy for like five seconds and he's like hey, when's the next one? So like he really was in charge of keeping the pressure on his own team from year to year, from game to game, game. Be like hey, as talented as you are, you need to keep working because you have a target on your back and that really did happen.
Speaker 1:They very rarely had the upset game where they shouldn't have lost and they ended up losing. They really didn't have many of those, especially to this magnitude against Vanderbilt. So now that you have Kalen DeBoer coming off the big one against Georgia where they showed that they can offensively they're a very good team, but defensively a little bit of a struggle Coming off of that loss I mean coming off that win against Georgia. Now you're coming into a Vanderbilt team. Nobody really questioned like, oh, is Bama going to win or lose this game? It's just a foregone conclusion because of how history has gone for so long. And even with Kalen Moore that's as talented as Bama team, they should not lose to a team like Vanderbilt. So now the question is is there a culture issue with Alabama? I'm not going to necessarily go that far, because things happen and I think to a certain extent a lot of the issues that showed themselves in the Georgia game were from half to half, where Bama had a dominant first half and the second half they really struggled to hold on to their lead against. Georgia kind of showed up against Vanderbilt too.
Speaker 1:This loss against Vanderbilt was not a fluke. This loss against Vanderbilt was not just like Vanderbilt hitting a bunch of trick plays and like and just really stunning Alabama and Bama shooting themselves in the foot a bunch of times. No, this was a systematic defeat from start to finish, where Vanderbilt jumped on them quick and then, as the game went along, even when Bama kind of got back into the game in the third quarter, it was 23, it was 28. It ended up being 23-21 at some point in this game. So, that being the case, in the third quarter it was 23-21. So, like, bama got back in the game.
Speaker 1:So the question was, by the time Bama got back into it offensively and they really started playing well in the second half is Vanderbilt offensively was able to stay on the football field, take time off the clock. They were able to stay on the football field, score points in the second half and they were able to stay on the football field, score points in the second half and they were able to keep that lead overall. So this was not just like some magic happening. This was a systematic. Bama wasn't ready for what Vanderbilt was bringing, both offensively especially, and then because of Bama's weakness defensively, is what allowed this to happen. It wasn't like Vanderbilt's defense was necessarily the best of all time it was Vanderbilt had a very good game plan for what Bama was and they came in and worked it to perfection.
Speaker 1:So, with all that being the case is that I just think this Bama team, as great as they are offensively, defensively they have a lot of issues. They don't they can't really get out of off the field. On third down has definitely been an issue for them. Their secondary is very young and makes a lot of mistakes. So that is one they have like a lot of it's talented secondary but it's a lot very youthful. They have a lot of guys that have to kind of still grow as games go along and I just think that when, when rubber hit the road Vanderbilt with their, their quarterback Diego Pavia, I believe, is his name Diego Pavia he came out there and made the plays they needed to win. He was a runner when they needed him to. He was definitely effective runner.
Speaker 1:Like they kind of did state their rpo game was absolutely perfect, like they ran a lot of rpos that were very good. It made alabama, not only in the front, like in the front seven, have to question what they were doing in their rush. So when you play defensively, you're playing against team that does a lot of rpo. Rpo you have to question who is going to get the ball and who's going to take that run and kind of do what they have to do. So it makes you question what you're doing in the moment. So you can't play fast, you can't play free, and Vanderbilt did that to perfection. So it kind of raised questions within the minds of the Alabama defensive players so it just kind of makes them tab it slow to kind of recognize the way plays are going and that's what allows Vanderbilt to kind of come in there and win that game at home. You know it's funny when they were at home in this game.
Speaker 1:Usually in games like this a lot of Bama fans end up buying tickets to these games and it was a Vanderbilt home game but it felt like a Crimson Crimson Tide home game. So it wasn't like they were dealing with a raucous environment Bama where they like had to get over noise or anything like that. It was a honestly 70 Alabama in that crowd kind of controlling that stadium. So it wasn't even like it was that. So this Vanderbilt team systematic defeat of this Alabama team and Bama has some real issues to get over and again, it's not like this Vanderbilt team is very talented, but it does crystallize the fact that Nick Saban was a defensive guy on the ball and I think with Nick Saban leaving and them making the changes that they did, there's not a less amount of talent in this Bama defense. Obviously, when you lose a guy like Caleb Downs, it's definitely a huge loss. When they lost him when he went to Ohio State Thank you very much, alabama but they still have very talented guys back there. They're young but they're talented. But was there kind of like a lesser amount defensively? Is the coaching necessarily at the same level? No, because bam I mean nick savin is an absolute monster of a defensive mind that knows what he wants out of his defense and he coaches them very well and usually their defenses, like have been, are just on a different level for the most part when what they want to do.
Speaker 1:Obviously, they have years where their offense is a little bit more powerful, where they have some crazy offensive pieces, but that's the issue right now. With Kalen DeBoer being an offensive coach, their offense is amazing. Jaden Millereau has made a lot of strides and become a better quarterback throughout this year in comparison to last year. They're able to throw the football like crazy. Ryan Williams is an absolute sensation as a freshman wide receiver that's only 17 years old. He literally makes plays that kind of defy the laws of physics in the way that he had that one catch down the sideline where it looks like he's supposed to only step out of bounds and he managed to get his feet back inbounds, stays in there and he ends up running all the way down for a touchdown. Ryan Williams is an absolute freak for that team.
Speaker 1:But I think another question is that Bama receiving core doesn't really have a lot outside of that Like they are missing a little bit at wide receiver talent-wise for what they usually do have. It's not like every year Bama has the best receiving core out there, but outside of Ryan Williams do they have a lot of guys getting open? It's not necessarily the case is what Bama does have to deal with. But they do have a very talented offense and they can manufacture points. Just defensively they're not on the same level they usually are when they have Nick Saban at the helm. And this is the same thing with Caleb Nabor teams of years past, with Washington For the last few years they were more of an offensively powered team and this Bama team is no different, and Vanderbilt was able to take advantage of that and that's kind of how this game went, so fan-wise.
Speaker 1:They have their questions now about what Caelan Boer I'm not going to go as far as to say he's not going to work out at Alabama, but I just think when you're the guy after the guy, it's definitely going to be something you're going to have to get over and he's all there's all. The question always is going to be can he be as good as Nick Saban? And the question is going to be no. I think the real question for the Alabama fan base is that are they going to be able to accept that they're going to have year, they're not going to be literally the class of the SEC every single year. They're going to have talented teams, but they're going to have their issues and they may not be automatic title contenders every single year. Can the fans of Alabama that have known so much prosperity get over that? Can they get past that? Because that is the biggest question, because if things start heating up and not just the fans but the university, but I think the university will have confidence, have confidence in caitlin board. They hired him, so they're going to give him as much lease as possible as long as the wheels don't fall off.
Speaker 1:So like it's really about the fan base and how hard they're going to make this. If they do have struggles early and, as as of right now, being four and one is a great spot to be in, and if they run off the rest of the teams on their schedule, they'll be in the playoff and they'll be a team. But nobody really looks at Alabama as like a national title contender, especially after losing to Vanderbilt. I think they can win against anybody, they can be a very good dark horse, but they can also lose to everybody too. So I just think this team has issues and the fan base is like in the future I'm not. They're not necessarily going to fall off a cliff by any means. They're still going to be one of the more talented teams in the SEC. But they're going to have their issues sometimes and they're not going to have the best coach of all time. How do Bama fans react to that if they're not necessarily at the top of the sport at every single second of every single day during the college football season is going to be the question that Bama fans are going to have to answer for themselves, not necessarily for anybody else on the outside, but for what their expectations are Nationally.
Speaker 1:I feel like, going into this, everybody still recognizes Bama as a very talented team. I feel like nationally, people kind of had a better idea about what Kalen DeBoer was and is. So the idea that they're kind of struggling defensively is not necessarily a huge surprise and I think that with that, I think people are still going to have nationally, are still going to have a lot of confidence in Kalen DeBoer. I think anybody with a brain will be able to say, hey, this is a questionable thing. That happens because you just don't lose the Vanderbilt. That's a rule for not just Bama but for a lot of bigger teams in the SEC. Georgia has the same type of rule. This is a team you do not lose to and they lost to them. So there's going to be questions.
Speaker 1:But I don't think anybody is looking at Bama saying they should fire Kalen DeVore, because everybody recognizes how good of a head coach he is. And I just think nationally, I think there might be a little bit more of a acceptance of, oh, that guy, nick Saban's gone, so Bama's going to fall down to earth just a little bit in comparison to what they have been over the last 20 years with Nick Saban at the helm. Was it been 20 years? It hasn't been 20 years, like 15 years, something like that. So it's not going to be the same as when Nick Saban was dominating the sport.
Speaker 1:And then for me, as an Ohio State fan, I think Bama's still a very talented team. But I think I've been saying this for the longest time that like not for the longest time before this season that Bama has their issues, georgia has their issues, and I think this sport of college football may just lack a very elite team that everybody looks at as the better than everybody else, without question. I think the only two teams that really still have an opportunity to really make that statement is probably Ohio State and Texas. I think Ohio State has their opportunity this weekend against a team like Oregon who's also looked at as a top 10 or so team. They're currently ranked number three in the AP poll. Right now. I don't think anybody truly believes they've been playing like a top four team in college football, but they're still easily a top 10, top 15 squad. So can Ohio State prove it against a team of that caliber is the question they have to answer. But so far this season Ohio State has proven offensively, defensively, that they have the talent to be that team and they haven't really shown much weakness as of yet. And Texas same thing. For Texas, they've taken on everywhere on their schedule. Even with Arch Manning at the helm for the last few weeks, without Quinn Ewers with his, I think, oblique injury that he had, they've still managed to take care of business every week. They were on a bye week last week so they kind of got to sit at home and watch as a lot of other teams in the s, a few other teams in the sc, kind of took their l's, so like they got to watch as everything went down. So I think texas and ohio state the only two teams left that truly have that opportunity to be the elite teams of college football.
Speaker 1:And that's a home run for the yankees. Let's go. Uh. I've been watching the yankees play, uh, since I've been doing the podcast here because Yankees up the series tie one-on-one, they're playing the Royals right now. Giancarlo just hit a home run. I know probably people listening to this podcast don't care, it's not like we talk about baseball that often, but I love my Yankees and we've been struggling with Kansas City since last game and we're in a dogfight of a game right now all fight of the game right now. So John Carl just hit a home run. We are in the top of the eighth. Yeah, john Carl just hit a solo home run for us to go up one run in the top of the eighth. So if I get distracted and start watching a little too much, that's probably what I'm doing, or I'm taking a drink of my water, which I'm actually going to take right now because my mouth's getting dry right now.
Speaker 1:A lot of talking when you're doing this by yourself. So Bama-Vandy talked about that. Bama's still a good team, but they still have other teams in their schedule they're going to have to face. They're going to have to face the Tennessee team. That's also a good team. We're going to talk about that. They had their upset loss. We're going to talk about that in a minute.
Speaker 1:But like they, I think, on the rest of their schedule like this loss against Vanderbilt does make you question the rest of their schedule Like, can they win out for every game left in their schedule. Like they have Tennessee left, they go to Tennessee. They have to face LSU who, like, started the year looking not that great but, like LSU is very much built the same way, where offensively they're a very talented team, defensively it's more of a question mark. So can Alabama win that game? They have to go to LSU.
Speaker 1:A lot of the big games that they have left they are going on the road for they still face Missouri. Missouri is like a. They're still ranked in the top 25 in the AP poll somehow, which is insane for me to say. I don't know how that's still the case, because Missouri's kind of been awful this year and they've lost. They just lost a really bad game. Two, they got destroyed by Texas A&M, I believe. Let me make sure. Yeah, they lost badly to Texas A&M 41-10.
Speaker 1:So, like Bama still has a few road bumps left in their schedule, is it going to take them out or are they going to be able to roll through them even with the issues they have, or can their defense improve and they become a better team throughout the rest of the season? They still have plenty of games left, but it's just kind of hard to see where. It's kind of hard to necessarily say that they're going to run through the rest of their schedule without a question, especially now with this, this Vanderbilt loss, um, you have to start questioning some things now. They're not necessarily an automatic hey, they're just going to beat this team. Not the case, and I didn't think they were anyway. But I think for a lot of fans for Alabama and for the national fans at large, definitely some questions to answer for that Alabama squad coming off this loss to Vandy, I think the only other games I wanted to talk about Tennessee lost to Arkansas. They went into Arkansas and let me see Nico Ami, no, amiava, nope, iamaliava, yeah, iamaliava.
Speaker 1:Nico Iamaliava looked like a freshman in this game. He went 17-29, 158 yards and didn't really play all that well. The offense for Tennessee really started off very slow In the third quarter, was able to get up 14-10 to have a lead, but they weren't able to get really any points outside of that. Tennessee's defense is still very good. It's just offensively they just were out of sorts altogether and they just weren't able to stop Arkansas from getting points there in the fourth quarter to um to win this game. But Tennessee was also looked at as a team that could be very special and Nico kind of had high, really big Heisman odds coming into the season and I just think Nico hasn't looked as dominating as they've gotten in the SEC play, as he was early on in the year.
Speaker 1:So the question is is like can Nico learn from this and can they be a better squad going in in the next few weeks? They, like I already said, they have Bama in a few weeks. Can, can they do enough offensively in order to win some of the bigger games on their schedule that they have left coming off of this loss to Arkansas? I think Arkansas is a they're better than their record would imply. They're 4-2 right now for Arkansas. They're not necessarily a bad team whatsoever, but I just think offensively, when they were coming in, like, oh, how dominating of a team they're going to be, I think it's more. Their defense is probably the stronger side of their squad and I think offensively they have some questions to answer.
Speaker 1:So, with all that being the case, I don't necessarily sit here and say Tennessee's still probably a top 10, top 15 squad. It's just are they going to be able to kind of stay in the bigger games that they have left in their schedule? They have to play, like I said, alabama. They have to play at Georgia as well, and apparently they have to play Vanderbilt as well. So bigger games in their schedule. So they have some games they're going to have to buck up and Nico Iamaliava is going to be a big cog in that. If he can learn from this and get better as a football player, he's already a very talented dude. There is no lack of talent in that quarterback. It's just is he going to learn from the bumps in the road that he's going to have and how quick can he learn from them? And can other teams make that same type of situation where he won't be able to respond as well, is the real question. But you know, all that being the case, tennessee can still run the football very effectively. So it's like they have other ways to attack. But I just think at the end of the day, offensively Nico is the spoon that stirs that drink or the straw that stirs that drink. So if he's struggling, it kind of makes it hard for Tennessee to kind of get everything going, especially against the bigger teams they have left on their schedule. So that loss is definitely another big one. That was another big upset in that weekend. It was the first time two top five SEC schools ranked lost in the same weekend. It was like the first time ever, I believe. So the first time they've both lost to unranked teams in the same week, same weekend, to top five sec squads. So definitely some big upsets on that, uh, from what happened last week and there's definitely some questions to be answered for both of those squads. The only other games I wanted to talk about was let's see Georgia's like. Georgia beat Auburn I did talk about that this last week but they did struggle again Offensively. They're still struggling a little bit. Carson Beck isn't necessarily looking his best. He had a good stat line but you could just tell that they are just not as explosive as you think they would be. And then defensively they are able to do enough. But Auburn was still able to score a few points. But it's just Auburn's not the same team as Georgia and Auburn's not as capable offensively. So Georgia really didn't have a lot to worry about. But just Georgia does not look like a squad that everybody thought would be one of the best in college football coming into the season. They still have their issues but again, they're still alive in the SEC. But it's just. With the rest of the games Georgia has on their schedule. It's tough, what the heck. It's tough. They have this week, I believe, they got Mississippi State, and then they got Texas the week after that. So they're going to have a huge test on their hands here in the next couple weeks. So, all that being the case, they have to get better as a football team. And, not to mention, one of their wide receivers just got arrested Kobe Young, I believe, for some type of assault or whatever for an unborn child, I believe. So I'm not going to go down that road, but I just think Georgia, with some of the guys in their squad, have issues not only with driving too fast and getting arrested, but now with other issues as well. So we'll see how that goes, but Georgia is still a very talented team, but they have a lot of landmines left in their schedule that can really trip them up.
Speaker 1:We didn't talk about Miami and Cal. That game went to like 2.30 in the morning. It was definitely a late game. Miami won the game 39-38. They were down 21-10 in the second quarter at halftime and they got even down even more after that. I believe. Let me see Box score wise, let's see. Let's probably do play-by-play. They were down 35-18 at the end of the third quarter. So in the fourth Miami was able to come all the way back. They had not only offensively uh, with with Cam Ward coming back and playing some very good football in that fourth quarter and their offense playing very well, but with some help from the officiating as well. It's been now a couple weeks in a row where they've gotten some help with a fit from officiating. That really helped them get these last two wins the win against Vatek the week before and now this win against Cal. They definitely needed some help and they got it and they were able to do well offensively.
Speaker 1:But Cam Ward definitely makes some iffy decisions on the football field whenever he's out there, especially when things start breaking down. He likes to make a lot. He's definitely a runner, he's a gunner out there. He likes to make a lot like. He's definitely a runner, he's a gunner out there. He's going to try to make plays he probably shouldn't and put the ball in some harmful situations and he does like to throw picks that way. He does make some mind-boggling plays as well. But again, he's so electric and he can make the insane play that makes you question how he did that as a quarterback. It's like you're just taking the good with the bad, but again against the better teams.
Speaker 1:That I don't think Miami really has a lot of great games left in their schedule. Do they have to play Clemson? No, they don't have to play Clemson. The rest of the season They'll probably have to face them in the ACC championship game. So that's going to be something they're going to have to deal with. But the rest of their schedule is not like they're. They have a like they face louisville, florida like louisville is going to be a hard one this weekend. But actually, no, they have a bye week. So they have bye week this week. They play louisville the week after. But then the rest of their schedule florida, state, duke, georgia, tech, wake, forest, syracuse so like they should be able to run through the rest of that schedule.
Speaker 1:It's just when they go to face clemson in the ac championship game. How are they going to fare there against a good defense? That can make you pay for some of those mistakes. And offensively, clemson's playing a little bit better as of late. I'm not necessarily going to go all the way in and say Clemson's offense is fixed, but again, it's something you have to keep track of. Is that their offense is playing better and once they get to the playoff as well, can those mistakes from Cam Ward be turned into points for the other side? That really hurt this football team is going to be the biggest question in the biggest games that Miami is going to have to play, but they're still a very talented team all around. Um, it's just can they play a full football game from start to finish, where they don't need help from officiating? To win the football game is the biggest question after the last couple weeks and I think that's about it.
Speaker 1:But I think the last thing I want to talk about this college football stuff is that I wanted to talk about the AP poll. Let me look this up here. It's because it's kind of insane with some of the teams they have ranked. Let's see here. I know I've been going a little while here. It's been 30 minutes of me just talking about Bama and talking about some of those games from last week, but I just kind of wanted to get into that. But AP poll a few teams that they have in spots that I just have questions about that I kind of want to mention. But we'll kind of get through this and then go to the NFL stuff, where I'll talk about those games from this past weekend as well.
Speaker 1:My first question is Texas, ohio State, oregon. I'll give you the top 10. Texas, ohio State, oregon, penn State, georgia, miami, alabama, tennessee. Ole Miss Clemson is the top 10. My question in the top 10 is why is Bama below Georgia?
Speaker 1:Bama just had a very bad loss to Vanderbilt, yes, but the week before they did beat this Georgia squad. Can you, as an AP poll voter, say hey, georgia in the second half is more of what that team is than what they were in the first half? Okay, maybe, but I think the fact that it was only a week in between, it wasn't like it was a month, it wasn't like it was two months, it was literally only a week in between Bama playing Georgia and having one of the better games that have been played all season and then Bama going in and losing to Vanderbilt. So how? I think the more the question was, I mean, I think the more of what happened was was that if you have to drop Bama from losing to Vanderbilt but there was no way those voters were going to be able to not only drop Bama, but you would have to drop Georgia as well If you're going to give credit to the head on the one V one matchup that literally just happened a week before. So the question was would they would they rather look stupid keeping Bama below Georgia even though they just beat them? Or would they rather have to maybe think about the fact that maybe Georgia's not as good as everybody thinks they are? Would have to hold that standard where they haven't played good football and they lost against a team that lost to Vanderbilt. It's almost like they're acting as if that same Bama team wasn't playing both those games. No, they still had all the same guys out there. Those same players are out there. That same head coach was coaching for that Bama squad In that game against Georgia where they won, where the same guys were there for the loss against Vanderbilt. And I just think it's a little bit weird that literally a week after, they're going to want to throw that actual result that really does matter to the side and keep Georgia in the top five while dropping Alabama to seven is definitely a weird thing for me to have seen. For this AP people Does it really matter? No, but I just think a lot of people still kind of put credence into it, which is why I still have to look at it and at least keep track of every once in a while into it, which is why I still have to look at it and at least keep track of every once in a while.
Speaker 1:Tennessee I don't know how they dropped four spots number eight on the schedule in the AP poll. Their loss wasn't nearly as bad as Alabama's, which is weird. I don't know why Tennessee has dropped below Alabama, which is kind of weird. Tennessee's loss was a lot better than Bama's. They at least lost to an Arkansas squad that at least has a like is looked at as a talented squad, like they have their issues, but like there's still more talent to the Vanderbilt. So I don't know why they dropped as low as they did. Um, Ole Miss being below both of those squads is crazy, even though their loss to Kentucky was bad. But Kentucky's always looked at as like one of the better teams in the SEC, so it's kind of bad how they dropped. They're still below those two squads in Bama and Tennessee. It's just I feel like their loss is better than both of those teams. So it's just kind of crazy how that goes.
Speaker 1:Let's see who else I want to talk about here and the fact that Indiana is 18, but they're 6-0 in the Big Ten and they've been boat racing everybody that they've faced is insane how they're still so low. They're tied 18 with Kansas State who got beat up by BYU, and they are them and BYU are like the two undefeated teams in the teens. But Indiana hasn't been racing everybody they've faced. They haven't had a close game yet this year. Offensively they are super dominant. So the fact that the AP poll is still holding down Indiana, a team that has played very well, especially offensively, and they beat everybody on the schedule, it's kind of crazy how they're still holding them as far low as they have, oklahoma being 4-1,. I don't know how they're still ranked from how they've looked so far this season. They have not looked good whatsoever. They've made a quarterback change. They have had points where they look really bad, especially offensively, and I just don't know how they're still 18th on the top 25.
Speaker 1:Missouri has been absolutely awful for most of the year They've been. They were lucky to win some of the games they've won. They got just that destroyed by Texas A&M. Missouri has not looked like a top 25 squad at all, but they had them in the top 10 before the season. So they just have to kind of keep this going because they don't want to have a team that they had inside the top 10 fall outside the top 25 so early on in the year. It kind of makes them look stupid that they had them that high in the first place. But it's just, they're just kind. They're kind of protecting their own butt by keeping a team like this in the top 25, especially when they don't deserve it.
Speaker 1:Michigan still being in the top 25 is crazy from how they've looked this season 4-2. They have switched to a third quarterback. They just lost to Washington an unranked Washington squad, and they went to their third quarterback, jack Tuttle, and was not able to play a good football game and win. They pretty much got thoroughly dominated Not dominated, but they've got thoroughly beat by a Washington squad and they've looked anemic offensively, no matter which quarterback that they've put in. They've got thoroughly beat by a Washington squad and they've looked anemic offensively, no matter which quarterback that they've put in. They've had picks.
Speaker 1:Their defense hasn't looked that great. They're a talented defense but it's not necessarily looked at as a dominant defense that everybody thought they'd be coming in the year and I just think they're just keeping Michigan up there because they're Michigan and their brand name. They're just coming off the national title win last year. So I just think to a certain extent they're holding on and keeping them in the top 25 and they really don't deserve. It is from what they've put on film on display for everybody so far this season. It's just they just kind of holding on because again Michigan was a top five team to start the year. So so they're definitely holding onto this Michigan team a lot, way too long and Michigan has a ton of losses left in their schedule. But again, I think they will play them way their way out of it, especially by the time they do the cost.
Speaker 1:Well, playoff rankings is when, like Michigan, it will. The. That's what really matters in this whole thing. So eight people really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but they're still looked at as a prestigious way to look at the rankings for college football, especially for the first six or seven weeks. So again, I, I, I that's all pretty much all I got on the eight people. I know I've been rambling on a little too far about long about it, but again, if you're following college football, you hear every week about these teams being ranked and where they're at, and I just think it does hold a little bit of weight, even though it's still stupid and at the end of the day really truly doesn't matter um, in what happens at the end of the year with the playoff and all that. So that's all I got on the playoff.
Speaker 1:Uh, let's go ahead and go into the NFL stuff. I just want kind of want to recap some of those games, talk about them and give some thoughts as to how things are going, and that'll be it. And we'll also do the Thursday night football pick. I got Jason's already out and text me so I know what he'll be picking for the Thursday night game. I still have to make my decision and then that'll be it for the pod. So on to the NFL. Let me take a drink right, quick, alright. Yankees still up 3-2, top bottom of the 8th, if you're wondering at all.
Speaker 1:So first game I want to talk about Jets-Vikings. Uh, the game that was in england. I think they were in london, sorry, london, england, so city, and in england, so they were in london. Vikings won the game 23 to 17. Vikings were able to get off to a very early lead, able to keep it. But jets kind of came back in the second half, made the game a tad bit closer.
Speaker 1:Rodgers didn't play all that well. He went 29-54, 244 yards, two touchdowns. He was able to get things going with Garrett Wilson 13 receptions, 101 yards and a touchdown. But I just think offensively they were just not able to get into the end zone enough against this Minnesota Vikings squad, this Minnesota team, 5-0. They're one of two undefeated teams that are left in the NFL After this past weekend. They've just been a very good squad offensively.
Speaker 1:Defensively, sam Darnold did not have a great game whatsoever in this game. He went 14-31, 179 yards and a touchdown. So he hasn't been as lights out. He wasn't lights out in this game like he had been in past games and Sam Darnold's that kind of quarterback. He's gonna have games like this.
Speaker 1:But I think, as I've talked on this podcast with Jace about I've said this before is that Minnesota Vikings may be talented enough around Sam Darnold to where those bad times where Sam Darnold's not playing all that well won't matter. I think this Minnesota Vikings squad is built a lot like San Fran of years past where they have so many talented guys around the quarterback to where, if they just get a good mid-level of quarterback play, they're going to be a team to have to deal with. Oh no, oh okay, so sorry, there's my play made. I'm having the game play right here on my left so I got distracted there for a second. So it's just Sam Darnold not necessarily having a great game.
Speaker 1:They were able to do enough. They have Justin Jefferson, being a monster that he is. Six receptions, 92 yards. They were able to run the football effectively, get a touchdown out of that, with CJ Hamm getting a touchdown. Let's see. I think the defense for the Minnesota Vikings is a very good defense situationally. They were able to get three interceptions out of Aaron Rodgers. They were able to take advantage of those and they were able to get a fumble as well from Aaron Rodgers. So it was recovered by the Jets.
Speaker 1:Never mind, that doesn't really matter, but I just think overall this team for the Minnesota Vikings is very talented from top to bottom. Sam Darnold can have his moments where he doesn't play all that well, but I just think talent-wise around him they are able to kind of coddle him Not necessarily coddle, but kind of keep him in like a. He's not necessarily going to ruin the game for them because of how they're built defensively, offensively all the playmakers out around Sam Darnold I feel like they have a perfect spot for Sam Darnold, even in his bad moments, to still be able to play winning football. And I think this New York Jets squad they have a lot of issues from top to bottom. Talk about like they literally just fired Robert Sala yesterday as their head coach Came as a surprise. He walked in for a meeting and then just pretty much got told hey, you're out, we're replacing you with our defense coordinator as the head coach and they pretty much got him out yesterday. So that was a weird thing.
Speaker 1:Aaron Rodgers didn't play good football. The offense has kind of been the problem for this team. The defense has been playing okay. The fact that you're able to hold this Minnesota Vikings team that was one of the better scoring teams in all of the NFL to 23 points with all of what they have offensively, was definitely a win. And Robert Sala that's his side of the football right. Sala was known as a defensive guy with the Niners, so the defense is his side right and I think for a decent decent, I think, for anybody with a brain you can watch his squad and see that the offense was the reason that this team has been struggling as much as they have.
Speaker 1:Aaron Rodgers not been playing good football. The wide receivers outs like it's. Garrett Wilson just had his first really good game with the Jets out. Before that, it's like they Aarongers was really focusing on his guys, alan Lazard, and they weren't really running the football all that effectively. So the fact that they fired Robert Sala, the guy that's in charge of the defense, to make a change to try to make this team better is kind of insane.
Speaker 1:Right, and it was shown pretty much throughout the season that Aaron Rodgers and Robert Sallet weren't necessarily on the same page at all times, especially when it came to like the cadence issues a few games ago, where they got a bunch of false starts, with Aaron Rodgers trying to use the cadence on trying to get people to jump off sides on the defensive side and the rooting is having his own offense jump offside Actually, sorry, not offside, but a false start. It's like that whole debacle. After that game a few weeks ago, I just think that somebody's head was going to be on the floor for how they have started this year and it's crazy because they like they. They're acting like as if they haven't won any games but there's still a game from leading in the AFC East, like they still have everything in front of them if they want to. But I just think somebody's head was going to roll from how this has looked so far, especially with them getting beat by Minnesota the out there in, uh, in London. So it was going to be, it wasn't going to be Aaron Rogers, especially after he gave them a discount and, like, took the pay cut. I think it just was in. I feel like it came with a price of you having to listen to Aaron Rodgers and he has more power within that organization and that shows because the side of the ball that's having the most issues.
Speaker 1:Why isn't Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coordinator, fired? You know why? Because Aaron Rodgers wants him there. Why is Robert Sala gone? Because Aaron Rodgers and Robert Sala aren't necessarily on the same page. They don't really like each other and so he's gone. And I just think Aaron Rodgers has so much power within that organization that it doesn't matter that the owner came out and said it was my decision and my decision alone, but I have no doubt he got the word to Aaron Rodgers somehow and God is okay.
Speaker 1:You think if Aaron Rodgers said, no, don't fire him, that they would have fired him anyway. I. Aaron Rodgers said, no, don't fire him, that they would have fired him anyway. I just don't think that's necessarily the case. And there's a saying going around that dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things, and that's exactly what they're doing. They're doing dysfunctional things. There's no reason to fire Robert Sala from what they've been doing this year.
Speaker 1:And especially if there's going to be anybody fired, the offense coordinator should be. But guess what? The offense coordinator really is Aaron Rodgers. Nathaniel Hackett wouldn't have that job if Aaron Rodgers wasn't there. He is there because he does what Aaron Rodgers wants. So it really is Aaron Rodgers being the head coach of that football team and they just have a figurehead there at the spot as of right now, because it when became a power struggle between the coach and the player. The player won, the coach is out and the the coach that should actually get fired because he doesn't deserve that job and he has been doing all that well within this job. He still keeps his because he's the buddy of Aaron Rodgers and all the guys that Aaron Rodgers has in that squad Alan Lazar, who played not necessarily a great game.
Speaker 1:In this one, he dropped the touchdown touchdown pass in this game as well, even though he got one. He also caught one. And heck, they're trying to trade Devontae for Devontae Adams, another one of Aaron Rodgers' former teammates and buddies. So I'm just like this is an Aaron Rodgers-led squad where they're going to do everything for him and they're acting as if this is the last year and if Aaron Rodgers is potentially going to retire after this year. This is their only shot to go and try to win a championship and they're going to do it by doing what Aaron Rodgers says. And that's just not how good organizations run, because, as great as Patrick Mahomes is that Kansas City team, they run how they're supposed to run. They have a GM that does their job, they have a coach that has control and, yes, do they take Patrick Mahomes' advice and what he wants to do in situations? Yes, but they're still going to make decisions and not be ran by Patrick Mahomes, and I think Patrick Mahomes knows that and he doesn't ask for that type of control on this squad Because he can trust that this team is going to do the right things in order to get them into winning situations, and I just think that's how good organizations are run and the Jets aren't that as of right now, and Aaron Rodgers is not going to get them there by making the decisions in that room, which is kind of insane, that they're kind of jumping down this rabbit hole, but it's not going to go well for them.
Speaker 1:Bears Panthers Bears beat the Panthers 36-10. Caleb Williams has been making a step-by-step improvement. Every game for the last couple games this year he played well 20-29, 304 yards, two touchdowns. The Bears' defense was absolutely smothering. They kept the Panthers' offense under control. They have looked better as of recently. They were able to dominate. And I just think DJ Moore having having his revenge game playing the Panthers again, he had 5 receptions, 105 yards, 2 touchdowns. Did I mention what Caleb's was? He went 20 of 29, 304 yards, passing 2 touchdowns, both of them to DJ Moore. Dj Moore was an absolute cessation.
Speaker 1:This game made a lot of big plays for them and I just think if Caleb he's still having struggles with the deep ball, if this, if Caleb he's still having a struggle, he's still having struggles with the deep ball, but game by game he's getting better and better, getting more calm in the pocket. He's playing better football and if he keeps going he will become the player that everybody thought he was going to be to start the year. And they still might be a potential dark horse in the NFC. I'm not necessarily going to sit here and say that they have a chance to win their division with how the Lions are looking and how the Vikings are looking, but outside of those two they still have a chance to potentially get a playoff spot in the wild card if they play out the rest of their schedule right and if Caleb keeps taking these steps to get better.
Speaker 1:But again, it was a very good win by the Bears. They needed this game and it was a tougher game coming into it because how much better the Panthers have looked offensively with Andy Dalton at the helm and I just think that Bears defense being as good as they are, they're legit defense like that. Bears defense is pretty good. So, like the fact they're able to hold down that Panthers offense really doing anything um was definitely a big, a big one for them. So Bears got a big win against that Panther squad. Uh, this is probably the biggest game of the day. Let me make sure I'm not crazy here. One of the bigger games of the day but honestly it was like the most action-packed. To be totally honest with you, ravens Bengals. Ravens win the game 41 to 38. This was in overtime. Let's start with the losers. No, sorry, we'll start with the winners. Get to the losers, so winners. Get to the losers, so winners. Ravens 41-38.
Speaker 1:Lamar played an absolutely spectacular game 26-42, 348 yards, four touchdowns, zero picks. Derrick Henry 15 carries, 92 yards and a touchdown. He also came in and played well. Zay Flowers kind of had a resurgence this year. He hasn't really looked all that great this season. This game seven receptions, 111 yards, zero touchdowns. Rashad Bateman four receptions, 58 yards and a touchdown. He played well. Isaiah Likely had two touchdowns in this game off of three receptions.
Speaker 1:This Ravens offense really did come in and make a lot of plays, led by Lamar and Derrick Henry oh, derrick Henry, by the way. I way I mentioned the 15 carries, 92 yards and a touchdown for Derrick Henry, if I didn't mention it before. But this offense for the Ravens did come in and play some pretty good football. I don't think. I think they were definitely helped by some of the issues that the Bengals have been having defensively, definitely helped their defense offense looked better than it honestly has. Throughout this year their rushing has pretty much been the dominant side, I mean dominant part of this Ravens offense. But I just think with how bad the secondary has been for the Cincinnati Bengals, it definitely opened things up for them where they were able to get so many 345 yards passing from Lamar and they were able to get a lot of different wide receivers involved for this squad in this win. So, ravens, I think defensively they still have a lot of issues, like the Bengals.
Speaker 1:It wasn't for a lack of scoring from the Bengals side that really led to the bank Ravens winning this game. I think it was a few mistakes on the Bengals side that really helped Baltimore get this win, especially in overtime. I'll talk about that in a minute. But, but no Baltimore. They've now won three games in a row after starting season 0-2. They're definitely within striking distance. I feel like they're tied with Pittsburgh right now at 3-2 in the division. So, with all that being the case, the Ravens are looking like they are getting back to being that team, game by game, playing better and better. I feel like as long as they know what their identity is offensively, they're going to be a very hard team to stop. Their defense is still a little bit of a step back in comparison to seasons past. But again, if, with their offense playing as well as it is, will it even matter in the regular season? Probably not. Probably won't matter until they get to the postseason. But again, it's a long way from now. So they're playing some really good football. On to the loser of this game, jace. I'm glad Jace isn't here for this because this game made him absolutely insanely upset.
Speaker 1:Joe Burrow did everything he could. He went 30 of 39, 392 yards, five touchdowns. He did have one pick, but again, as great as he was, the one pick pales in comparison to what Joe Burrow brought to this team. Chase Brown 12 carries, 46 yards Like they ran the ball for 71 yards total. They really weren't able to run the football that effectively, but they stuck to it. They got some decent yardage, kept their offense on schedule.
Speaker 1:Jamar Chase was an absolute superstar for this Bengals squad 10 receptions, 193 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. T Higgins also got in on the fun. He had 9 receptions for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns. Andre Iliasovas also got in one big catch that they had a rainbow ball from Joe Burrow down the field. He was able to get that catch. It was an amazing throwing catch on that play. It was awesome. If you didn't see, you probably should look it up it was. It was crazy that how Joe Burrow got in that one spot and Ilya Silvas was able to go out and catch that one.
Speaker 1:So the problem for this Bengals team is their defense. Uh, their defense is an is absolute Swiss cheese. Honestly, it's Cam Taylor-Britt and then everybody else they lost. Let's see why am I forgetting his name now, the other corner that they had, oh no, hold on, let me get his name name because we've mentioned him so much. Let's see Injuries Zachmo's, dj Ivy, dax Hill.
Speaker 1:Dax Hill is going to be out on injury reserve. I think they said he's going to be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. They lost him in this game. It's not like he's been all that great for them at corner, but again they lost him. Dj Ivey's been hurt.
Speaker 1:Like they have some injuries on the defense, especially in the secondary In the front seven. They have some injuries, but they have some guys back and they were able to kind of get after it. But it's just and honestly, for the most part in this game. They weren't able to hold Derrick Henry for most of the game, up until the I think overtime right when he was able to get that one long 51-yard rush, but before that he had 14 carries for like 40 yards, so he wasn't necessarily all that effective in this game up until the very end. So they were able to hold their end of the bargain, as the front seven was. So they were able to hold their end of the bargain, which the front seven was, but it's just the back five. The back four or five wasn't able to do their job when it came to stopping Baltimore from being able to get up and down the field, especially getting touchdowns, and it's just the Bengals being at one and four. They really needed this game and now they're in a hole that I'm not sure they're going to be able to dig themselves out of.
Speaker 1:They're a talented team, but it's just as Joe Burrow, because in years past this is the difference, I think me and Jace talked about this a couple days ago, not on pod, but in years past Joe Burrow starts off slow, the offense starts slow and they just kind of get better and better throughout the year. They're in the one and three holes and they end up digging themselves out of it to be one of the best teams in the NFL. But I think the problem is this year. The difference is that Joe Burrow has played four awesome games. I think the first game was kind of the only outlier where he really didn't play all that well, but he still played good football. But he has played five, four otherworldly games, especially these last four games, and their defense is not able to do enough at all to hold the other side and uphold their end of the bargain. So, with all that being the case, it's just kind of like if Joe Burrow is playing as lights out as he is over the last four games and they're still losing most of them. I don't know how this gets any better. You get 193 yards from Jamar Chase and two touchdowns. I just don't know how as lights out as Joe Burrow has been and that offense has been these last few games and they're still losing games. I just don't know how this changes.
Speaker 1:Again, I'm not going to sit here and put them in the dirt and say they don't have any chance of doing it. Joe Burrow is as great as his offense is and as talented as Joe Burrow is and as much as he's a culture setter like, if it does happen I will not be surprised. He's done it before. But it's just it feels like this year is different and this year just seems different in comparison to what it's been in years past. And one in four is a definite um, big hole to dig yourself out of and it might be too much. But again, I'm not going to put them totally in the dirt yet, so I'm not going to throw dirt on top of them, on top of the hole they're already in. So it's not going to be me. I'm not going to be the one to sell them, to send them out to pasture, and they come back and prove me wrong. So I've definitely made that mistake before. I'm not going to do it again.
Speaker 1:But this is definitely a game they had to have. They're going to have some soldiers searching. They're going to have to. After this game Joe Burrow said it that much they don't lay a championship-winning squad right now. He's like hey, we hope we can, throughout the season, get better and better and make enough necessary improvements in order to be a better football team by the end of the year. Will it make them a playoff team by the end of the year is the big question. Will anybody in the year is a big question. Will they get to where they want to go Is a big one. But again, they have an opportunity.
Speaker 1:The next five games is definitely very vital for them. They play at the Giants, at the Browns, eagles, raiders and Ravens. These next five games are absolutely pivotal. If they can go, they probably have to really get back into this thing. They're going to have to win four out of the five to be told. They're going to have to win the next four, especially with how bad the Eagles have looked. They're going to have to win the next four to really get back into it because they have to go back to the Ravens on that fifth game and they really have to have that one too if they're going to try to have any chance in the divisions. These next five games are pivotal for them if they really want to get really get back into this thing. They're going to have to make some improvements in order to even have a chance at doing that because of how bad their defense has been.
Speaker 1:But Joe Burrow has been absolutely lights out. I don't know how there's anybody in this world that has any type of question about whether Joe Burrow is an issue for the squad. Again, as great as he's been, it's going to take six or seven touchdowns to win these games. He's just been playing lights out. It's not his fault. He can't play every position. He can't play offense and defense. So, with all that being the case, they're just going to have to defensively figure some things out. By the way, zach Taylor he's fired in this season, no matter what. I don't care what happens, he's fired. They can get all the way back into the playoffs, but he's fired like they have been. I feel like they've been going back like keep going with Zach Taylor thing, where he's an offensive dude and like, but he just doesn't bring anything to the table. To be totally honest with you, it really is a Joe Burrow-led offense. They don't really scheme people open. They don't really have a lot of like. If you're usually an offensive head coach nowadays, you really are able to scheme things open, but it's just not that easy offensively and then defensively, as bad as they've been. They definitely need a reset and I just think, no matter what their coaching staff is going to be doing, it's going to be an overhaul for the coaching staff next year, no matter what happens for the rest of this year.
Speaker 1:Next game Dolphins beat the Patriots 50-10. Dolphins finally get a win after they've lost a few games in a row here. So they haven't looked all that good. Huntley, honestly, this was a good game between two bad football teams. If you know what I'm saying, both these teams were bad. Honestly, the bright spot in this game was Ramondre Stevenson playing as well as he did 12 carries, 89 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots. But these are two bad squads. Offensively, miami is anemic, but they were just able to do just enough in order to get the win against this bad Patriots team. That is also bad offensively, but it just felt like defensively they just didn't bring the same fire that they usually do and Miami was able to do just enough to win this football game.
Speaker 1:I'd be lying if I said I really watched this game. I really didn't. I was really more watching the box score in this one. And that is a win for the Yankees. Let's go, yankees now up 2-1 in their series. So if we can get one more win, we'll take care of it, take care of the Royals and be on to the ALCS. So definitely a big win Very happy, but, yeah, definitely didn't watch much of this game. It was definitely more of a box score watch. But it's just two very bad football teams. The Patriots, coming out of this game, have now made Wow, I'm forgetting his name. Now, which quarterback? What's his name? Oh man, see, I struggle with this and usually Jace is my safety net in order to help me when I start forgetting names.
Speaker 1:Drake May, quarterback they just drafted in this last year's draft in the top what was it? The top five? They drafted him like four overall, I believe Let me make sure I'm not crazy here no three overall. They drafted Drake May. They pretty much stayed consistent that they weren't going to play him this year and they were keeping Jacoby Brissett in there. Actually, no, they didn't guarantee Drake May would ever play this year. I think what their coach was claiming was that as long as Jacoby Brissett is looked at as the better option with football games for this team, he will stay in there until Drake May makes it clear that he is the better option for this football team to win games. Apparently, that has happened. Either that has happened or the owners come down and said hey, we drafted this young guy, it's time to get him out there. Who knows how that happened, but as of right now, they have made the claim that Drake May is the better quarterback now and he is ready to go.
Speaker 1:He will be the starter for this New England Patriots team going up against Houston this weekend, which is absolutely insane because of how good that Houston defense pretty is and they like blitzing and making it harder on the quarterback. So he will have a nice test game, one to see if he is ready for the moment against a Houston team with CJ Shroud that he's not going to let us put off the gas. He's going to be able to make some plays offensively, so they're going to have to score some points and we'll see if Drake May is ready for the moment, because it's definitely a hard, a hard first game to kind of jump into when you are making your first start as an NFL uh, nfl pro. So definitely a big game for them, for him. Um, I'm not sure it's not gonna be a win. I don't. I would, honestly, would not put money on the Patriots winning that game. But I feel like the Leafs're taking a step towards the future and seeing what Drake May is and what he can be, because no matter how much learning you can do, you have to get out in the football field and figure some things out. They'll see if he's the guy. Maybe he's made enough progress and he'll come out looking like a superstar, but I doubt it. I think he'll show some flashes because he was that good at North Carolina where he was able to. Honestly, the North Carolina team while he was there was not all that good and he was kind of keeping them good from how he was playing. So maybe he'll be able to do the same thing with the Patriots and kind of flash. Even if they're losing football games Next game Browns still suck.
Speaker 1:I don't know how I could put it more plainly. This Browns football team is absolutely awful. They're led by an awful quarterback. Deshaun Watson has been absolutely terrible. I think it's already been the case, but I think you can definitely now say that it's the worst trade of all time. When the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson. He's been absolutely awful ever since they got him, even with all the issues off the field. It has been an absolute disaster for the Browns this year. Their defense hasn't been good. Their offense hasn't been good. The commanders absolutely destroyed the Browns. This year. Their defense hasn't been good. Their offense hasn't been good. The commanders absolutely destroyed the Browns 34 to 13 commanders on a.
Speaker 1:You know, what's funny is that we thought I mentioned this to Jace, but Deshaun Watson has to be. Looking at the other side of Jane Daniels in this game was like I, was you like Jane Daniels as much as you've been tearing up the NFL for, uh, this season, that's how Deshaun Watson came out and was playing for the Texans when he first got drafted. So it's just crazy how Deshaun Watson, being in his mid-to-late 20s, he should be in his prime playing his best football. But he looks like he's done. He looks like he shouldn't be in the NFL anymore from how he's been playing these last two seasons and he doesn't look. His team doesn't believe in him. His coaching staff like there was a point where they were trying to go for it on fourth down and it looks like Deshaun Watson kind of just gave up and just kind of went to the sideline, even though their head coach, kevin Stavansky, wanted to go for it.
Speaker 1:I think this decision when they traded for Deshaun Watson, I was saying at the time it was an awful decision. Um, I think it was more for on the field, ish, off the field issues, but not necessarily on the field, but like from as bad as nobody ever would have thought it would be. As bad as it has been for Deshaun Watson. That decision to trade for him is going to get everybody fired except for the owner, cause the owner is not going to fire himself, but I feel like everybody else is probably going to take an L for this.
Speaker 1:The fact that they haven't benched Deshaun up to this point has been insane. It's not like they have anybody else on their roster. It's funny they had Joe Flucco on their roster last year. Joe Flacco I have to give him respect, he did beat us last time we played them. Joe Flacco was on their roster last year and led them to the playoffs and they got rid of him.
Speaker 1:They didn't re-sign him because they didn't want to have that type of dynamic in the offense where, if Deshaun Watson plays badly, they could have somebody that the fans can turn to be like hey, we saw this guy play well for us, why isn't he on the football field? So they got rid of him because they didn't want to have that conversation. But guess what? They have nobody else in their roster. That's good enough to have that conversation they made. They paved the way for Deshaun Watson to become that dude and like, really like he's the only option for them. So, like the fact that he's now terrible, their Browns are left with nothing else they can do. It's not like even if they had somebody else they would, because guess what? Every single dime that is owed to him is guaranteed, and they even reworked his deal to where they could have more, more, uh, cap space for this year. So they like that. Now he's gonna have like 60 million dollar cap hits over the next two years because they were trying to make it better for this year. So I'm like there is no way they can get rid of him because every single dime is guaranteed to him. There is no dropping him and making it cheap or anything like that. So they are stuck in this absolute hellhole of a contract. They are stuck with this quarterback.
Speaker 1:That's been awful. It has been an absolute disaster. And, uh, the commanders came in and put a big, nice old exclamation mark on that. Jane daniels getting to the winners here. Daniels played great. Didn't play like offense, like when it comes to passing, didn't do as great as he probably has been like as not as efficient 14 to 25, 238 yards in a touchdown but he was also able to bring it with his legs 11 carries, 82 yards. Terry McLaurin played well uh, four receptions, 112 yards.
Speaker 1:And let me tell you, for as much love as this Cleveland Brown defense is given, as like how talented they are and all that, this Browns defense has not brought it at all this year. They've been awful. I don't want to hear anything about Myles Garrett and how like dominating he is, because he hasn't been this year and it has been an absolute dumpster fire all over this Cleveland Browns team, offensively and defensively. Don't get it twisted. Let's not try to make it seem like the defense is being screwed over in this situation. They're not bringing it on their side of the football either, and the commanders were able to come in and pretty much do whatever they wanted. They ran the football like crazy.
Speaker 1:This Washington team ran for over 200 yards offensively, like I already said Jan Daniels at 82 yards, austin Eckler at 67. Jeremy Nichols had 44. Brian Robson Jr had two touchdowns rushing like Washington was able to do whatever they wanted and the Browns couldn't stop them. And I think as honestly, this Washington Commanders team is a problem. They're looking like probably the best team in the NFC, in the NFC East. As of right now. They have a real chance to win their conference, win their division at this point and like they're looking like one of the better teams in the NFC from how they have started off this year, only being 4-1. They have been honestly a surprising team to watch. As of right now they're led by Jan Daniels, who was pretty much tore it up pretty much his whole first, at least so far, in his first season as being the Washington Commanders quarterback. So he's been awesome, that team has been awesome and they've been playing some very good football and they were able to be an overmatched Browns team because they're just an awful, awful football team.
Speaker 1:Jags beat the Colts 37-34. I think Trevor Lawrence probably played his best game he's had this season. He went 28-34, 371 yards, two touchdowns. The Jags were able to run the football more effectively. Tank Bigsby had 101 yards off of 13 carries and two touchdowns. They were able to run the football for a total of 126 yards in this game. They were able to honestly, with Trevor Lawrence being as effective as he was, to throw the football down the field. Brian Thomas Jr had a good game five receptions, 122 yards and a touchdown. Christian Kirk had 88 yards off four receptions. Etienne had six receptions in 43 yards and honestly, it was against the Colts defense. That really isn't great in the secondary so they were able to kind of do what they wanted, and especially when Trevor Lawrence nobody's ever questioned how talented Trevor Lawrence is it's just.
Speaker 1:When this team meets any type of adversity, they usually tend to fold. This was the first game where it looked like this team had any sort of adversity. They usually tend to fold. This was the first game where it looked like this team had any sort of life. That defense for the Jags is still bad, which is why the Colts was able to score as many points. The Colts scored 34 points in this game. That Jags defense is still bad, but I just think Trevor Lawrence, the talent that he is, was able to do enough to win this game and he didn't throw a bunch of picks. He threw one pick in this game but he wasn't throwing a bunch like he usually has been. So Jags were able to do enough to win this game. Joe Flacco still had a decent game 33 of 44, 359 yards, three touchdowns.
Speaker 1:They weren't able to run the footballs effectively. They had Trey Sermon as their leading back. They did not have Jonathan Taylor in this game, which is probably another reason why they weren't able to pull out this football game. He's definitely a huge weapon for them, but Trey Sermon, former Buckeye, came out 38 yards off 10 carries for a touchdown. Weren't able to really do anything else outside of that, but they had 99 total yards rushing in this game, so definitely more of a committee in this one. Alec Pierce had a good game three receptions, 134 yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1:But it's just. This Colts team is not really looked at as a great team, but defensively they're not really all that great. Again, I'm saying this while literally they beat my Steelers two weeks ago, but their defense isn't great. Offense done by Joe Flacco was able to do enough to score a bunch of points, but it's just. The Jags were able to show some life and Trevor Lawrence was able to kind of use his talent to put a spark into this team and able to not be winless on the year. Jags are now one and four on the season with that bait, with that win, uh win in the good performance from Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1:All right, this is the game that had me bugging out. Okay, this game had me bugging. Okay, texans Bills. Texans win the game 23 to 20. Okay, let's start with the winners before I freak out winners. Cj Stroud played good football 28 to 38, 331 yards, one touchdown that touchdown being an absolute bomb to Nico Collins.
Speaker 1:I feel like at the start of this game the Texans were absolutely on fire. They got to a 14-3 lead, but Nico Collins went out sometime in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, I believe, and he wasn't able to come back. Let me see, was it a hamstring injury or was it a? Let me see. Let me make sure I'm right on this. Let's see here. Yeah, it was a hamstring injury and they placed him on IR. So he's going to be out for the next four weeks or so. So he's going to be out for a little bit.
Speaker 1:But offensively, houston started off on fire. They got up to a 14-3 lead, but then the rest of the game it kind of just felt like the Buffalo Bills were just slowly but surely getting back into the game. Houston, at the end of the second quarter, was up to a 17-3 lead and then, by the rest of the game, the the Bills scored 20 points to the Houston only scoring six. So the Buffalo Bills was kind of like slowly but surely getting back into the football game. But by the fourth quarter they ended up scoring again, scoring a field goal, with three minutes and 18 seconds left to kind of come in and tie the game up at 20. But CJ, not really being protected all that well, was going out there making plays when necessary, getting the play, making good plays. On third down he only threw one pick. He threw one bad pick in this game, but outside of that he played a very clean game. Stephon Diggs played a good game six recepts to 82 yards.
Speaker 1:I already mentioned Nico Collins having the huge. He had two receptionsions, 78 yards and a touchdown before he ended up leaving this game. I do feel like Nico is definitely their big play receiver and I feel like without him they kind of took a dip offensively, they kind of slowed down. But even with that all happening, cj was able to manage the game, did what the Texans needed him to do to win the football game, and with a little bit of help from the Buffalo Bills I'll mention here in a second, but I feel like they were able. Cam Akers this is what I'll give them. This is what I'll give them. The Houston Texans credit, outside of just loving CJ Stroud, and all that Even without Joe Mixon, the guy they traded.
Speaker 1:They signed in the offseason from the Bengals. Even without him, because he's been out the last few weeks with an injury, they're still trying to run the football. It's not necessarily crazy effective they only had 94 yards total rushing in this game but I just think, with as dominant as CJ Stroud is, all they need is to keep their offense on schedule and I feel like, even though it's not necessarily crazy effective, I feel like they're able to do just enough to keep their offense on schedule and do enough to help CJ Stroud out to where he's not dropping back every single play of the game. Cam Akker six, nine carries, 42 yards and a touchdown. He was able to get that red zone touchdown. Ogunbowale is another running back for them that made a few good carries for them. Cj Stroud was able to get out of the pocket and able to get a few yards when necessary. He had 27 rushing yards. So I think they still are trying to stay balanced as much as possible, even though they're obviously still a much more of a throwing football team without Joe Mixon in there, but like they are still trying to help him out as much as they can, even though TA Stroud is the straw that's that stirs that drink for that team. But they are trying as much as they can to kind of keep it balanced and still try to run the football, even if it's not effective. And they were able to do enough to win this football game and I'm helped by Buffalo here. So let's go to the losers.
Speaker 1:This is where I freak out. I'll start this off by saying Josh Allen played awful in this game. He went 9 of 30. Let me repeat, 9 of 30. They let this man throw the ball 30 times and he only completed 9 of them for 131 yards and a touchdown. And it's not like the Buffalo Bills weren't able to run the football. They had 150 total yards rushing in this game. James Cook had 20 carries, 82 yards and a touchdown Not necessarily the most efficient, but they were still getting it done.
Speaker 1:James Cook was able to do it.
Speaker 1:Josh Allen had four carries for 54 yards. He was able to run the football effectively. It wasn't like this Buffalo Bills team is more of a running football team Like that. That's what they are now Like. Ever since the last year where they went to Joe Brady and like changed their offensive philosophy a bit, they have become more of a rushing football team, like they are trying to not rely on Josh Allen as much, even though they're still kind of still relying on him. It's kind of crazy. But they're at their most effective. Relying on him is kind of crazy. But they are at their most effective when they can play with balance. But they were not balanced at all in this football game and again, as unbalanced as they were, they still were able to get back into this football game and have it tied up 2020, at the end of the football game.
Speaker 1:But like this I'll get to the big intent, the big moment. That kind of shows why this game was so daunting, so damning for this football team. But Josh Allen the fact they let him throw 30 times when he was this inefficient is absolutely insane. That's a crazy decision. I'm not necessarily going to put it on the head coach I don't think he decides every time when they should throw and pass, but I do feel like he should. Mcdermott should be able to get on the headset and be able to say hey, dude, josh Allen ain't all that efficient. We got to keep running the football here because we're back into this football game. Maybe we can do this. We can score some more points and really put our team up in this situation. So that was a big issue. Keon Coleman was the only effective receiver they had in this game. One reception is 49 yards and a touchdown. That one was the most that they had being effective in this game. So this is where it comes to the head right. This is where it would wig me out. End of the game. I feel like Houston gave them.
Speaker 1:Houston ended up punching the ball. They were able to get down the field and score the field goal in order to take a lead in this game. So they had to punt the ball back to Buffalo. Let me make sure I get the time right here. They had to punt the ball back to Buffalo with, let's see, with 32 seconds left. Okay, 32 seconds left. Buffalo is now put back there They've been. When Houston kicked off the ball, they pinned them back on their own five-yard line Sorry, the Buffalo three-yard line. So they pinned them back on their own three-yard line. So Buffalo, with 32 seconds left, is tied 20-20. Houston still has two timeouts left.
Speaker 1:Buffalo should have ran the football three times and said, hey, let's go to overtime, because they had 97 yards in front of them. They weren't going to be able to get all the way down the football field. They had no timeouts left. There was no way that they had a chance to go and get down the field to win this football game.
Speaker 1:Do you know what they proceeded to do, especially with how inefficient Josh Allen was in this game? They went and tried to throw three deep balls in a row on first, second and third down to try to. You know, let's go win this football game even though we haven't been able to throw the football all day. Let's throw three inefficient deep balls and try to just chuck it back our way back into it when there was only 35 seconds left. 32 seconds left and you could go to overtime and set yourself up to try to win in overtime. Then they let him. It wasn't. They didn't try to do a quick pass to try to get their offense off their own three-yard line. They just tried to throw the ball deep three times and it didn't work. So they ended up having to punt the ball back to Houston. Houston then has a very good, a good return, a good enough return where they were close to field goal range for their kicker. Honestly, fairbairn Fairbairn is like one of the better kickers in the NFL right now, especially from deep. Houston only needed two plays and five yards and they ended up getting the field goal to win the game 23-20. Yards and they ended up getting the field goal to win the game 23 to 20.
Speaker 1:I don't know how any football mind especially if you are good enough to get to a point where you're a head coach in the NFL can look at that situation and be like, hey, let's let Josh Allen, as inefficient as he has been, with 32 seconds left, let's go ahead. With 97 yards in front of us, let's go ahead and throw the football three times deep and just see if something works and not at least try to run the football to make either Houston use their timeouts, or let's just go ahead and bleed this clock out and let's go to overtime. For all they know they can get the ball first and then be able to go right down the field, hit the touchdown to win the game. I just don't know how, in that situation, you do what they did. It was an absolute crazy moment by the coach, by the offense coordinator. I don't know how that was a decision that they made whatsoever based on how that game was going up to that point, but they did it. They made the absolute worst decision. They gave the ball back to Houston and they were able to make enough plays to. They only needed five yards to get back in the field goal range and they got the field goal to win the game.
Speaker 1:It's just as good as this Buffalo team has looked at times. The fact they have a moment like this where it is so easy of a football decision to make and they made the wrong one and they lost the football game because of it. I lose all confidence in this team whatsoever because it just doesn't look like their head coach is able to make a good decision. Neither can their offensive coordinator, and then Josh Allen still has this bad of play inside of him. So when the game matters the most and they need to make some good decisions, are they going to be able to do that? I just don't have any confidence they're going to be able to. They should have been able to at least get to overtime to have a shot to win this football game and they didn't Because of that terrible decision and like they got themselves back into it. I just don't know how you work your way back into that and then just go ahead and piss it all away by trying to throw three deep balls into the game. I don't know. They gave the ball back to Houston. Houston was able to take advantage of those mistakes and win the football game even with them not playing their best ball.
Speaker 1:But I just the fact that McDermott being a head coach as long as he's been with the Bills, and then you have D'Amico Ryans being the head coach for Houston and you can just tell the different. It almost feels like two different classes of coaches. Even though one has been coaching a lot longer. He looks like the worst coach in the situation. D'amico Ryans looks like the NFL veteran head coach who's been coaching for a while and he's not only in a second season as being a head coach of that Houston Tech football team and of his own head coaching career. It's just insane. That Buffalo's Bill Squaws is mind-boggling to me and I will never get over how bad of decisions that was for that to happen.
Speaker 1:I've been going long enough here, so I'll try to get a little bit quicker here. For the rest of these games Broncos Raiders it a little bit quicker here. And for the rest of these games Broncos Raiders. Broncos beat up on the Raiders. This game wasn't even close.
Speaker 1:The Raiders have a lot of issues. Devontae Adams wants to get traded. Raiders are trying to trade Devontae Adams. It looks like it's probably going to be to the Jets at some point once. They kind of figure that out, but there's other teams in that as well. They weren't able to. Yeah, this Raiders team. They're also making a quarterback change. They're going to be going to Aiden O'Connell as their starter going into the next game. Gardner Minshew has not played all that well over the last few weeks.
Speaker 1:This Raiders team just has a lot of issues. They look like they just need to blow everything up and just start over from scratch with only Brock Bowers and scratch with only Brock Bowers, and I think only Brock Bowers being safe and Max Crosby probably the only two and Christian Wilkins being the three safe people on this team. Everybody else should kind of be under question. Head coaching wise, I know they just hired Antonio Pierce to be their guy and signed him for a deal, but like I just don't know how. This just has been off the rails all season and it's been bad. It's been a bad look and I think they've had some guys give up on their squad and all that. It's just not a great look and this Raiders team has not been playing all that well.
Speaker 1:The Broncos are in a different scenario. Bo Nix played okay 19-27, 260 yards, two touchdowns. I just feel like offensively they've been playing better and better. It's not like they were playing a great Raiders team that has a great defense. So it almost felt like I'm not going to sit here and say the Broncos are fixed offensively, but Bo Nix was able to do enough to win this football game. Defensively, the Broncos have been playing better than what everybody thought. They were, coming off of all the guys that they got rid of. It was led by Pat Sertain who had, I think, two picks in this game. Let's see here Including one where Pat Sertain had a pick six. It was like a 100-yard pick six all the way back to the house. So their defense is definitely playing some very good football, and especially against the Raiders team as well as it isn't all that great offensively, they're able to do enough to win this football game, uh. But yeah, the Raiders team is pretty bad.
Speaker 1:Cardinals beat the 49ers 24 to 23. This game was like it almost felt like the Niners were in control for most of this game and just felt like the Cardinals were just able to kind of claw their way back into it and in that fourth quarter they scored 11 unanswered points against the four Uniteds and ended up winning this football game. It wasn't like Brock Purdy, like he wasn't all that efficient. Brock Purdy went 19 of 35 for 244 yards, with one touchdown, two picks. It was definitely not great for him for 244 yards with one touchdown, two picks was definitely not great for him. Did not play all that great offensively, but it just felt like they should have been able to win this football game. But it's just the Cardinals, led by Kyler Murray 19 of 30, 195 yards, touchdown and a pick. But then you also add Kyler being able to run for another 83 yards, rushing off seven carries and a touchdown is including that like 30 yards scamper at the beginning of the game.
Speaker 1:Michael Wilson was able to do enough in this game. He had five receptions, 78 yards. Marvin Harris Jr Didn't was like given a lot of. He was given a lot of eyes in this game so he wasn't able to do as much. He only had two receptions for 36 yards. Trey McBride had a big game six receptions for 53 yards.
Speaker 1:I just felt like this was one of those games where San Fran probably should have had it in the bag. But I think defensively we're not able to hold the Cardinals from scoring, especially those in that fourth quarter. They ran the ball effectively. Jordan Mason had 89 yards off 14 carries. It's just one of those where, like it was like a weird game. It really was a weird game. Brandon Ayuk had probably his best game of the season eight receptions, 147 yards. Um Kittle had a decent game eight receptions, 64 yards and a touchdown. Like it just felt like San Fran did everything they needed to do to win this football game. They just didn't. And again, I just think I feel like San Fran of years past would have just dominated this football game. If they have Chris McCaffrey in this game. This game isn't close, but it's just the fact you kind of you're without a closer of that caliber for this San Fran team Just kind of opens the door for games like this to happen. And it happened. Um, I got like four games left here. So let's kind of run through them.
Speaker 1:Packers Rams Packers won that game 24 to 19. Um, this Rams team just undermanned they. They kept it close for a little bit there, but in that second half the Packers scored 14 unanswered in the third quarter. But in that second half the Packers scored 14 unanswered in the third quarter and it kind of just kind of the Packers kind of took control of this game. They just never gave it away. Matthew Stafford played a decent game 29-45, for 260 yards, touchdown and a pick. Kyron Williams 22 carries, 102 yards and a touchdown for the Rams. And it's just offensively they are good enough and savvy enough, led by their head coach, sean McVay, that they're going to be able to offensively keep themselves into these games for a good portion of time. But it's just defensively they weren't able to do enough to stop Green Bay.
Speaker 1:Jordan Love did make one big mistake in this game. He threw a pick six. He was in his own end zone, was trying to get out of getting sacked for a safety. He ended up trying to throw the football out of bounds and it goes straight to a Rams defender. That ended up taking the football and going back in for the picking it off and going into in for the uh, picking it off and going into the end zone for seven points. Well, for six, and then the extra point for seven. That was one big mistake by Jordan Love, but outside of that he had a decent game 15 of 26 for 224 yards, two touchdowns. They ran the football effectively. Josh Jacobs had 19 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown Wasn't efficient, but they were still able to get the job done.
Speaker 1:And then this Green Bay Packers team just kind of scored and did enough to win this football game. It's not like the Green Bay is super elite defensively, it's just. This Rams team is just under man right now. They don't have a lot of their weapons. They're trying to make it work with glue and duct tape at this point, just led by Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, and they just don't have enough uh firepower, especially with their defense not playing all that well, to win a football game like this. And the Packers are able to take advantage.
Speaker 1:Giants beat the Seahawks 29 to 20. I think Daniel Jones plays his best that he has played this season 23 of 34, 257 yards7 yards, two touchdowns, zero picks. They ran the football effectively. With Tyrone Tracy Jr. I'm not sure if you've heard of that guy before. I sure didn't. He ran for 18 carries, 129 yards and zero touchdowns, but he ran the ball effectively and kept their offense going. Daniel Jones had another 38 yards rushing. Darius Slayton was the leading receiver for this Giants football team had eight receptions, 122 yards and a touchdown. Wanda Robinson also had a touchdown, with six receptions and 36 yards receiving.
Speaker 1:This Giants team was just able to get up and down the football field. The Seahawks were not really able to do enough to stop them. Daniel Jones had his best day this season, for the Giants team was just able to get up and down the football field. The Seahawks not really able to do enough to stop them. Daniel Jones had his best day this season for the Giants, so it definitely gives you a little bit of a bright spot to kind of look forward to.
Speaker 1:But again, does this mean that he's their guy? I don't necessarily think so. I think he's probably going to his last year as being the starter for them. They're probably going to draft somebody and kind of replace him at some point going on in the next couple years, but they still owe him a bunch of money, so that's going to be a hard way to get rid of him. But I think this is more about what Seattle didn't do. Geno didn't play all that great 28-40, 284 yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1:Geno Smith was also the leading rusher for this team Four carries, 72 yards. Kenneth Walker only had 20 yards. Rushing Charbonnet only had 11. And it just felt like the Seahawks defense wasn't able to get off the football field when they needed to, especially on third down was definitely a big thing for them. Um, again, daniel Jones played very good football but it just felt like that secondary for the Seattle and I just think that Seattle defense in general was not able to make the plays to win the football game. Um, especially at home. Definitely a little bit of a thing, especially with how bad the Giants have looked at times this year. They had Tyler Lockett, 75 yards off, four receptions. Kenneth Walker had 57 yards off, seven receptions. Dk Metcalf, 55 yards receiving with four catches. Jsn, four receptionsions, 31 yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1:I just think with how how gino is a good starting quarterback in the nfl and there's a game like this where it just feels like if they have a dude at quarterback they'd be able to overpower that, like kind of get them over the hump, be able to win the football game like this, where it just seemed like they should have won, but it's just they just weren't able to. Their defense didn't necessarily get the job done. Dk Metcalf had a fumble that was lost in this game. That definitely didn't help them. When they were close to the goal line, that definitely was a big difference. So, all that being the case, it just felt like this Giants team just took advantage of a Seattle team that wasn't ready for the moment. Daniel Jones had a great game. All the credit to him. The Giants came out and won a football game they probably shouldn't have. So good for them.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get to the more annoying thing for me here Sunday night. This game was Steelers-Cowboysboys. This game was delayed due to lightning strikes, so the game didn't even start till like close to 10 o'clock. Was it close to 10? Yeah, I guess it was like nine. It was like nine something by the time the game started. No, no, no, because it was like 9 something by the time the game started. No, no, no, because it was like 8.45, 9 o'clock by the time the game started. So, with that being the case, game started late. Teams had to come out. They were getting ready on the football field a little bit late, so I think it was a little bit of adversity for both teams to have to deal with. The Cowboys won 20-17. Let's just kind of get to the crux of the situation here In the of 17. Let's just kind of get to the get to the cross.
Speaker 1:This crux of the situation here in the week prior, where the Steelers played against the Colts, where it felt like the offense played well and the defense played like trash, this week was totally different, where the defense played okay, play good football. For most of the game, the defense played very good, very good football, and the offense played like trash. The Steelers were not able to run the football really effectively at all. They had 92 total yards rushing in this game, which is very bad for them. Justin Fields didn't have a good day. He had 15-27, 131 yards and two touchdowns.
Speaker 1:I feel like the way that Pittsburgh wants to play. They don't have much of a drop-back game. When they did try, they didn't really have anybody really getting open for the most part for the Steelers. Offensively they George Pickens had his snaps reduced for some reason. He didn't play as much as he usually does, like it just felt like this game. I don't know, man. This is a game the Steelers should have won. Right Defense played good football. It is offensive. They were not able to run the football like everybody thought they could have. The offensive line isn't playing all that great. We have a bunch of injuries, like season-ending injuries that the Steelers are dealing with. So it's really having a patchwork offensive line as of right now. Their identity is running the football and we're not doing that all that well right now, even against a weakened Cowboys defense. Without Micah Parsons, without DeMarcus Lawrence, they were missing some of their best dudes on their defense and the Steelers weren't able to take advantage.
Speaker 1:I think this Steelers team needs another receiver. I've been saying this all season, but I think with George Pickens getting less reps in this game, which is crazy, because when they asked Tomlin after this game, why is Pickens not playing as much, he said that they are trying to increase his effectiveness by giving him less snaps so he's more effective on a snap in, snap out basis. Is Pickens not playing as much? He said that they are trying to increase his effectiveness by giving him less snaps so he's more effective on a snap-in, snap-out basis, which is insane. If he's your best player, you need him out there. So that's insane because there's no other wide receiver on this team that you're scared of.
Speaker 1:And as bad as this defense played, I don't think it was Justin Fields' fault. There were some deep balls. There was an opening drive deep ball to Connor Hayward. That was a perfectly thrown football and Connor Hayward just totally dropped it. There were plays that Fields was trying to make and I feel like it changes his mentality where, if Pickens isn't out there as much as he probably should be and he's trying to make these plays to other receivers on his football team, you're not scared of them. There's nobody else in that wide receiver room that any team should be afraid of and I feel like they need a veteran, they need a talent at wide receiver to come into this football team and infuse some talent in there.
Speaker 1:Pickens as great as he is, he gets all the attention from all every defense they play. He gets frustrated because he's not getting enough footballs and George Pickens is immature in a way, because I kind of made this kind of parallel to Antonio Brown right where Antonio Brown especially early on in his career he was a model citizen on the football field and he knew, you know, in the practice field was like where he knew that he was a model citizen, citizen on the football field and he knew in the practice field is like where he knew that he was not the most talented dude coming out of central michigan. If he was going to become the dude that he wanted to be, he was going to have to be through work. He was going to work his way into that and he was going to be the hardest working guy on the football field. He was going to make, do everything he needed to and to be able to win. And I think him not being talented kind of changes mentality to how we treated the game, where George Pickens has all the talent in the world and I feel like Pickens has more probably off-field maturity, because you're not really hearing about him doing anything bad off the field like Antonio Brown. But I think on the football field he's very immature. If things aren't going well, it's not George Pickens' fault, it's the offense's fault. They're not getting him the ball Because I feel like George Pickens is so talented.
Speaker 1:Every spot he's been he has been the talented guy that has been not used, right when he was at Georgia. Oh, you were so talented they weren't using you right and you he did. It also was injured a lot at Georgia. So, like every spot, it wasn't his fault, it was. He's a talented dude that wasn't being used correctly and I think for the Steelers for those first few years of his career he wasn't being used right. He wasn't in an offense like. The offense was terrible over the last few years, but now we have an offense that kind of is a lot more effective.
Speaker 1:He now he's so immature that when things aren't going his way, he takes himself out of football games because of his own immaturity. So like, and he's going to be taking on football games there's nobody else to be afraid of. So now, if you're not going to have another wide receiver that you're the defense gonna have to worry about, pickens is going to get all the eyes and he's going to be get frustrated and take out of football games and it's over. So that's why I not only think that the Steelers need to probably trade for somebody or pick up somebody to help out this wide receiver core, but they need an adult in that room. The fact that George Pickens is the veteran dude on this team and he's been with the Steelers the longest and he's the most talented guy is a problem Because he's not mature enough to do what he has to do on a snap-in, snap-out basis, whether he's getting the ball or not, to be able to be a leader for the football team and be the most talented dude. So we need a talent infusement in this wide receiver room. We also need an adult to be a leader in this room, because George Pickens isn't mature enough on the football field to be that guy.
Speaker 1:And that's that's like probably the biggest issue with the Steelers team, because I feel like when the running game isn't working, they're not able to do enough offensively to win football games, especially against the Cowboys team, where, where the defense played well enough, the defense held the Cowboys from scoring a lot. They got a few red zone interceptions in this game. They kept the Cowboys from scoring for a good portion of this game up until the fourth quarter where the Cowboys scored 14 points, dak Prescott 29-42, 352 yards, two touchdowns, two picks. The Cowboys were able to get up and down the football field but then, when they got to the red zone, the Steelers kind of bowed up and was able to make enough plays defensively up until the end. I think the rushing defense wasn't great for the Steelers.
Speaker 1:The Cowboys were able to run the football kind of effectively Rico Dotal, 20 carries, 87 yards. Kind of effectively. Rico Dotal, um, 20 carries, 87 yards. Is you can Elliot 17 yards, like. So the D they were to run the. The Cowboys were able to run the football a little more effectively than what I would have liked.
Speaker 1:Um, I think there were issues for this Cowboys team. You had CD lamb yelling at Dak Prescott during the game and they were having their issues. But again, like Jalen Tolbert, seven receptions, 87 yards and a touchdown. There was still somebody else. Jake Ferguson had 70 yards off, six receptions. Like there were a bunch of dudes that they were able to get catches for this Cowboys team because the Steelers kind of let them go up and down the football field and at the end of the day the Steelers defense had a shot to stop the Cowboys from scoring at the end of the game.
Speaker 1:It was a. I think the Cowboys got into the red zone and it was. Let's see here. It was really like a last playing at the Cowboys had. The Cowboys were able to run a 15 play, 70 yard drive at the end of the game. It was a 4 minute and 36 second drive to kind of run the clock down to like 20 something seconds for the Steelers into the game. So the Cowboys were able to run that, have that nice long drive and they had four shots at the end zone, in the red zone for the Steelers to stop them and the Steelers weren't able to were able to stop them up until that fourth down play where they were able to get that touchdown. So I'm just like the defense played well enough for most of the game and it kind of broke down by the end and that was just a big. That was just a. It was just a game the Steelers should have had.
Speaker 1:The offense wasn't good enough. They need more weapons. It wasn't like Fields. Fields didn't play a great game, but it wasn't like he didn't play terrible and I don't think it was necessarily on him that we lost this game. I don't think it was. I just think we just need more and we need to be able to run the football more effectively. But we just have a makeshift offensive line where it's just not really going to happen. So if you're not going to be able to run the football as effectively as you would like. You have to help in another way and you do that by getting him at wide receiver. If there's anybody to trade for, go trade for them. Especially if you're truly serious about winning this year and making it to the playoffs and all that Like if you're truly serious about that, you need to do this. You need to help out this team because if they're not able to run the football as effectively as they want to, they're going to have to throw it and you need to have some weapons for fields to go throw to. And that's just the short and long of the situation. And the Cowboys they got the win, but it's just. Again, I feel like it was more about what the Steelers didn't do that led to them winning this football game. So it's just like they just offensively, just shot themselves in the foot way too many times.
Speaker 1:Alright, that was the Sunday night game. Last but not least, the Monday night game. Sorry, I know I've rambled on about that Steelers game a lot, but man, it was a frustrating game to watch. It really was. Saints-chiefs Chiefs won the game 26-13. Mahomes 28-39, 331 yards and an interception. He didn't really play all that great. But again it's just. He has that Tom Brady effect now where he may not be able to light up the scoreboard but he's going to be able to manage the football game and do enough to win the game.
Speaker 1:Kareem Hunt 27 carries, 102 yards and a touchdown. He was a workhorse for them in this football game. Juju Smith-Schuster was the leading receiver for this Chiefs team Seven receptions, 130 yards. He kind of looked like he was back to his old self, was Juju, but again he's back in a situation where he knows that Kansas City offense and they know how to use him. So he played effectively. Travis Kelsey came back to play Nine receptions, 70 yards. He played a good football game Like and this Saints team was not able to protect Derek Carr whatsoever.
Speaker 1:Literally from the start of the game it just felt like their offensive line was ill-equipped against that Kansas City Chiefs defensive line to protect him. Derek Carr went 18-28 for 165 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. The Saints weren't able to run the football at all. Alvin Kamara had 11 carries, 26 yards and zero touchdowns. The team total was 46 yards, total rushing in this game. So nobody was able to run the football effectively for this Saints team. And then because Derek Carr wasn't able to be. Let's see, I think Derek Carr was sacked like eight times. No, sorry, he was sacked one time, but he was just pressured all game long. They weren't able to get to him, this Kansas City team, because he was having to get rid of the football so quickly, but they weren't able to run the offense because of how ineffective they were protecting him.
Speaker 1:Rashid Shaheed had a decent game, receiving for the Saints team Four recepts to 86 yards and a touchdown. Alvin Kamara had 40 yards off six, six catches. Chris Lave was a total. They weren't even able to give him the football at all because of how, like Chris Lave is more like the deep threat for this football team, he kind of does look like more of like the longer routes and he wasn't. He was two receptions, 10 yards. It's just the Saints were just so bad on the offensive line that they just he does more of the longer routes and he was two receptions, 10 yards.
Speaker 1:It's just the Saints were just so bad on the offensive line that they just weren't able to do anything offensively and the Chiefs were able to take advantage of that and the Chiefs kind of just made enough plays even without their best game to go ahead and win. That's what they are. They're just freaking Patriots, man. It's really what they're feeling like. It's just they're not playing their best football. Mahomes isn't playing his best football, but it's just. Their defense is very good, making enough plays to win games, and they just kind of finish it off at the end, and the Saints just weren't equipped to go in and get the upset on this one. So it's like I never really thought they had a shot, but it's just, this game was just another reason why this Chiefs team you have to be able to put them in the dirt and throw the dirt on top of them. You really have to force them to lose games, because they're not going to lose these games on their own merit. They're not going to make mistakes. To lose football games like this, you're going to have to throw the knockout punch, and the Saints just weren't equipped to do that. Throw the knockout punch and the Saints just weren't equipped to do that.
Speaker 1:So, and not to mention, derek Carr had an oblique injury, so he's now gonna be missing next week. Actually, I don't think he's gonna be missing a few weeks now. I think. Let me check here Saints injuries. Let's see here. Yeah, derek Carr is not going to be week to week due to an oblique injury. Next week they're going to have Spencer Rattler, the guy they drafted not last year but the year before. No, did he play last year? No, they drafted him this past draft. So the rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler that played for the South Carolina Gamecocks is now going to be their starting quarterback for this upcoming week when they go and play. Who did the Saints play this week? Boom, boom, boom, boom. Sorry, I just can't read. They played the Buccaneers this week, so they're going to have Spencer Rattler as their quarterback coming into this week.
Speaker 1:Apparently, they're the other team trying to trade for Derek Carr, so they're trying to get another weapon, but again, with this injury for Derek Carr, being like Derek Carr is the reason why they're even an option for um, for Devante Adams to even go there because he likes playing with his former quarterback from college. So with this injury, does that potentially put that trade in jeopardy for them? Potentially? But again, it's not like they were really the favorite to land the trade in the first place. I think it really is the Jets and everybody else. I feel like the Jets will have to totally screw that trade up in order for it not to happen for them, especially with Aaron Rodgers kind of like running that football team now and them wanting him. So I feel like if he wants it, the Jets are going to make it happen and they would have to totally screw this up in order for that trade not to happen for them. But yeah, they're going to be without Derek Carr this upcoming week.
Speaker 1:Spencer Rattler, they were just not able to win that football game against the Chiefs. They just weren't equipped. Their offensive line is absolutely awful. They were not able to protect Derek Carr at all in that game. Alright, chris Jones went insane. It was a crazy game to watch. I only watched it because I bet on it, but it was not necessarily a great football game whatsoever.
Speaker 1:Alright, that's the rest. That's all the NFL games from this past weekend. I wanted to say that's all of them. I. That's all the NFL games from this past weekend. I wanted to just that we. That's all of them. I talked about all of them at this point. If you're still listening, I definitely appreciate you. Um, let me go ahead and give the Thursday night football game, cause we're probably going to record again on Friday.
Speaker 1:Um, so Thursday night football game this upcoming week is well, tomorrow is going to be the 49ers going to Seattle to play them. Seattle coming off actually both teams coming off bad losses. I think this is in Seattle, so it's definitely a hard one to watch. Let's see Injuries for the 49ers Let me make sure I'm not seeing any big ones here. Ward's questionable Hufong goes out, so that's a big hit for their defense. Their kicker, jake Moody, is out. They have a different kicker they're going to have to have for this game. Ooh, so the Sanford defense is going to be as good as it probably can be. The offense has been struggling a little bit for them, but again it's against a Seattle team that hasn't really been lighting the world on fire defensively, even though I think they are talented. They have a good system Again.
Speaker 1:I just think San Fran's going to be able to run the football effectively enough to win this football game. I did get Jace to text me in this game and he did pick the Seattle Seahawks to win that game. I think I'm going to go with San Fran. I feel like San Fran needs this game a lot more than Seattle does, especially coming off there. They've looked bad multiple weeks in a row. So I'll go ahead and start the game off with a split and I will go San Fran. I just think they're going to be able to run the football effectively enough to win this football game. But again, I would have thought that last week too, against Arizona, oh dang. And Seattle does have a lot of weapons offensively, especially if that Sanford defense is going to be great Dang, we think you know what.
Speaker 1:Why make this a split? I know I'm probably playing a little cheeky and I probably wouldn't be able to do that if Jace was sitting here, because he'd be yelling at me to because I'm being a coward. But according to our records as of right now I know I didn't mention that before picking games I am 47 and 31,. So I'm eight games above five. Oh no, sorry, I'm. I'm many games above 500,. I'm 16 games above five. Oh no, sorry, I'm, I'm many games above 500. I'm 16 games above 500. Jace ain't necessarily that. He's 39 and 39, so he's dead even as of all the games going right now. So I'm having a much better season picking games than he is.
Speaker 1:Um, so why should I cut in my own lead, especially with a game that's kind of going to be so close coming into Thursday night. Oh, this is in Seattle too. So I do like the fact that Seattle's going to be playing at home off the on the short week. I think Seattle offensively will be able to come back and play a little better football. Seattle always plays the 49ers tough and I just think, with the 49ers not playing all that well offensively, um missing a few guys defensively, I think Seattle can go in there and win this game at home. So we're both picking Seattle and that's about all I got.
Speaker 1:If you've been listening to me for this whole podcast, I definitely congratulate you because I know it's a hard job. I know we've been having shorter podcasts recently, like pretty efficient, but I know I kind of rumbled on this one. We're close to two hours at this point. So if you're still listening, kudos to you. My friend, if I, if you did, kind of jumped off early, I definitely, I definitely would understand, cause it's definitely not the same vibe that it usually is for us going into this pod, uh, having podcasts with me and Jace on the helm. But we will be back there back Friday or Saturday morning. One of the two I definitely want to do Friday, because I just think Saturday is going to be so action-packed football wise. I want to be able to talk about everything and not have to worry about watching games at the same time, because it really is going to be a crazy Saturday for a college football. So let me go ahead and end this podcast here.
Speaker 1:If you've been listening to us for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now joining in, hopefully you enjoy us and like the podcast we're putting out, if you did, if you're just now joining on this episode, listen to a different episode that'll have both of us in. It kind of gives more of the vibe what we are on a week-in-week-out basis when we talk about sports together. It's definitely more of a fun vibe talking jokes and all that. It's definitely a little bit more of what this podcast is at its core. Um, if it just me, not necessarily as much of that, because you know I'm more of the hard sports guy and he kind of brings more of the funny. He kind of draws it out in me. So if you're just now joining in, hopefully you can listen to another podcast and kind of get the vibe of what we like, what we're doing and if you'd like to join us and listen to us on this crazy ride of talk about sports in the dumbest way possible.
Speaker 1:We would definitely appreciate it and love if you stick around. If you do stick around, you are going to support us. If you could do a couple things for us, we would love if you could Like the podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars Wherever you listen to us, whatever platform you're on. If you could do those three things for us, we would definitely appreciate you. And if you could share the podcast. Friends, family, enemies, anybody you feel like, could enjoy the podcast we put out on a weekly basis, a couple of times a week. We definitely love if you could do that. And then follow us on Twitter and or X, whatever you would like to call it.
Speaker 1:At JV sports pod, it's a podcast handle. At Javante boozer is my handle. At Jace boozer One is Jace Boozer won as Jace's handle and there is nobody to hand the podcast over to, so I'm going to go ahead and end the podcast right now. So thank you. Thank you for listening. Have a great day. Good night. We appreciate you for listening. We always appreciate it and we will see you on the next one. Bye, y'all.