Two for the Win
"Mike" and "Bryan w/ an I" discuss the latest sports news and events and offer an interactive fan culture.
Two for the Win
Two For The Win - E02
What if an 0-2 or 0-3 NFL team could still make a playoff run? Our discussion takes a deep dive into the unpredictable world of the NFL, spotlighting teams that defy the odds. We analyze the early season surprises and breakout performances, like the Chiefs and Steelers. Alongside, we explore the shifting dynamics of quarterback roles and how players like Sam Darnold have found new life with the right team. Personal anecdotes offer a peek into the highs and lows of being a 49ers fan, emphasizing the emotional rollercoaster that comes with following your favorite team.
As we round off the episode, we delve into the surprising early-season performances, highlighting strategies and unexpected victories, such as the Broncos' triumph over the Buccaneers. We preview Week 4 matchups and make bold predictions, pondering whether Denver can upset the Jets and evaluating the Patriots' chances against the 49ers. Tune in for a comprehensive and engaging discussion that promises to keep football fans on the edge of their seats, brimming with insightful commentary and expert predictions.
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us today. I'm Brian with an I and I'm Mike, and we are Two for the Win. What do we got on today's agenda, mike?
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to talk Shohei Otani 50-50 chase, we're going to talk college football from this past Saturday and we're going to recap the NFL Week 3. But we begin today's show with some unfortunate news. We lost Mercury Morris over the weekend. Mercury Morris was a popular Dolphins player. He was a running back part of the 72 Dolphins undefeated season where he and Larry Zonka both rushed for a thousand yards that season. Mercury Morris had 12 touchdowns that season as well. It's very unfortunate and I know his family's probably mourning the loss and hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to them. Absolutely. Mike Rest his soul. Thoughts and prayers go out to them.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, mike. Rest his soul. You know Otani's getting back to Otani's moving into Otani. On the subject here, we talked about him last week. Did he make it into the 50-50 club?
Speaker 2:That he did. He not only made it, he had probably one of the best stat days for a baseball player, you could almost argue ever. I mean, he went six for six, which is pretty hard to do. I mean, just think about it, how many players go six for six in a game? Not many, I mean. There's probably been a handful of them. And not only does he go six for six, but he gets 10 RBIs 10 RBIs in a six for six game. And those 10 RBIs, he had three home runs. So he not only made it, but he was like you know what? I'm going to go one past it, I'm going to get it. And on the same day he also got hit his stolen base to reach 50-50.
Speaker 1:You know, talk about balling out man.
Speaker 2:Oh, and I mean it's an exclusive club. No one else in MLB history has done this, so hats off to Otani. I mean you're doing it and we're seeing what all that money that the Dodgers paid out, what they're getting for their money. And he's not even pitching.
Speaker 1:Certainly seems to be paying dividends, and I think this makes him a favorite to win his third MVP there, which would give him, if so, would give him an MVP in both leagues. The only person to do that before him was Frank Robinson.
Speaker 2:Yeah, again, another exclusive club. When you're talking, there's one of or none of in a club that's saying something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, otani just screaming through the record books here recently, good job yeah, hats off, hats off.
Speaker 2:So moving on to college football man if you love football, this was a weekend for you.
Speaker 1:Wild, wild weekend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there was plenty of football on. I mean, that's one of the things that's great about this time of year. If you're big into college football, nfl football, you pretty much don't have a weekend because you're going to be watching football all weekend long, Yep.
Speaker 1:Any given Saturday, followed by any given Sunday.
Speaker 2:Exactly, Exactly. So you know there was some pretty interesting stat lines that came out from some of the games, and one of the first games I want to talk about is USC versus Michigan. Usc ranked number 11 and Michigan ranked 18. Always great when you get two ranked teams playing each other because you're hoping for fireworks, and this game didn't disappoint. But the hot stat line in this is Michigan. If I told you that a team had 37 passing yards for the whole game, you'd probably say they lost, right.
Speaker 1:I mean, you'd think, that wouldn't be a good game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you would think, man, we only had 37 passing yards. That's pretty bad, that's pretty bad. So what Michigan did is they took and rode their running back, their running back Mullings, for 17 carries, 159 yards and two touchdowns, man.
Speaker 1:Rumbling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean he was doing his thing, just rumbling. Yeah, I mean he was doing his thing, just rumbling. I mean the final score in that was 27 for Michigan, 24 USC. You know not much more. You need to say about that when you lose that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, moving on, we had Tennessee defeating Oklahoma 25-15. That was number six in the country, tennessee beating 15, oklahoma. And then for an upset because everybody likes an upset we had Kansas City State or Kansas State sorry, let me refrain Kansas State, who was ranked number 13, which that's going to change now, because they lost.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, sitting at 23 right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they lost to BYU, an unranked team. Not only did they lose, they lost 38-9. So they never even had a chance in that game.
Speaker 1:Well, BYU's ranked now.
Speaker 2:When you beat a team when you're unranked, that kind of happens.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and insultingly so, one spot ahead of Kansas. I bet that hurts a little bit.
Speaker 2:It probably does. It probably does. And then another game we had was Illinois versus Nebraska, Illinois being ranked number 24 in the country before the game and Nebraska being ranked number 22. And Illinois pulled it out winning 31-24 24. So I'm sure their standings are about to illinois sitting at 19. Uh, I'm not seeing nebraska in here they might have fallen off not in the top 25, they might might have fallen off, they might have fell out.
Speaker 1:Welcome in BYU.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, somebody's got to fall out for somebody to come in. That's the way it works. So now, moving on to the next game Northern Illinois, who was ranked number 23 before their game with Buffalo. Buffalo, an unranked team, defeated them 23-20. So they eked out that win.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. You just happen to hold on. But probably the most fireworks came in an unranked game. We had JMU versus North Carolina, so JMU versus the Tar Heels. Final score was 70 to 50.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and that game was not nearly as close as it even sounds, and that's saying a lot, given the score.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, nearly as close as it even sounds, and that's saying a lot, given the score. Oh yeah, well, basically defense was non-existent in that game. Defense decided we're going to take a nap on this one, y'all go ahead and score. And most of that scoring was coming from JMU's quarterback who had his fourth start in college in Barnett Barnett III, I should say he went 22 of 34 for 388 yards with five touchdown passes, but he wasn't done. He wasn't done, no interceptions in that. And he got two rushing touchdowns on 99 yards.
Speaker 1:Rushing, I mean, come on, yeah, I mean, if those touchdowns if those stats don't put you on the radar somewhere, I don't know what will, and you know. Getting back to that game, it was, uh, brutally lopsided. I mean JMU scoring 53 points to UNC's 21 in the first half alone. I mean JMU taking 20-plus points a pop each quarter before then, and then they still put on more to end the game. So that was just a wild game. I mean, those guys went out there and balled out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because the defense was napping the entire time yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Were there players on the field that game?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure yeah, it's crazy scores, crazy scores. So beyond that, we also had uh, utah and oklahoma state utah ranked number 12 and oklahoma State being ranked 14, with Utah, the Utes pulling it out 22-19, hanging on to that win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Utah sitting at number 10 now Oklahoma dropping to number 20.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean this is just some of the ranked scores. I mean there was plenty of other ranked and unranked opponents who had wild scores. You know, running up the score on teams that are unranked. I mean it happens in college all the time.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, not to mention. You know some of these notable up-and-coming players in some of these contests as well. You know Shador Sanders' performance this last weekend in Colorado.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, whether you like Shador or not, because I know there are some people that are on the fence with him, for whatever reason. I mean people are going to hate what they're going to hate, so just don't worry about it. You know, do you? Don't worry about them. But Shador, you've got to give him credit. The man is on the field and he's taking hits. He's sitting in there, he's waiting for that pass play to open up and he will throw it in there and take a lick. I've seen him multiple times during that game get laid out.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, and that seems to be one of the things about his play style. I mean, you know his, his passing percentages, you know his efficiency is not exactly eye-popping, but you look at the total yardage and touchdowns he's got um and and that's really where his strengths I think come in, in those, in the ones he lands. Uh, I mean, he went 25 of 41 last week and it's not exactly great. Yeah, a little over 50%.
Speaker 2:A little over 50%.
Speaker 1:You'd like to see that number come up, but he still landed.
Speaker 2:But also keep in mind he's not dealing with the creme de la creme of wide receiver talent. I mean, yeah, he has Travis Hunter, probably his best receiver. I mean, yeah, he has Travis Hunter, you know, probably his best receiver. Who's also their best corner, the, you know, the star two-way player.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Taking a note from his coach Deion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean they've got that guy too. I mean he put up a great game. You know, I pull up the stats here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's definitely. If you haven't watched Travis Hunter, you're missing out. I mean, I realize he plays for Colorado but you really need to watch him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go. I mean, he won forced fumble that was recovered, I mean. And then another, you know, seven receptions on 130 yards. You know, he's sixth in receiving yards and fifth in receiving in college, and Shadur Sanders sitting at number 43 among all NCAA quarterbacks right now.
Speaker 2:Well, one thing that was interesting about that game, beyond those two players, is the fact that Colorado was down early so they could have gotten into. The woe is me, you know we lost this one, but no, they fought back and they fought back to the final whistle. I mean, they got down to the last few seconds and threw a Hail Mary pass. Shador threw a Hail Mary pass to the end zone and they came down with it and they went to overtime and in overtime they did their thing. They won that game, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, like I know I'm you know, Cliff Notes versioning this game. But you know you can't hit everything from every college game. I mean, there's so many college games going on there, and then we haven't even touched on the nfl yeah you know, the nfl has.
Speaker 1:I mean that's just another round of football on a different level itself oh my god.
Speaker 2:Yes, I mean, but the nfl never disappoints. Just when you think you've figured it out oh, yeah, you think that you know what's going to happen and you're you're placing your bet online. You're like I got this. I have a strong feeling this team's going to win. The nfl goes.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no, no, no, you don't yeah, yeah, yeah, I had a good for week. First, uh, good week, one prediction round, and then, you know, uh, well, yeah, you did you did you called the vikings beating? Yeah, texans, yeah, and you were 100.
Speaker 2:Right, they did. I. I had a little more faith in the texans, but the texans they did not look good.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of teams didn't look the part, uh, this weekend uh, and I wonder are they not looking the part, or are the other teams catching up to them?
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like in the early part of the season everybody's just kind of feeling each other out Like you're still trying. For most teams I'm not saying all teams, but for most teams they're trying to figure out their identities. You know you, you lose players, you gain players and you're trying to get your core right to play as a team and it's it's. It's kind of hard. I know it sounds simple, but it's not.
Speaker 2:It's kind of hard to do yeah you know, if it was so easy, we wouldn't have coaches getting fired left and right every year yeah, you know, you know what would we lose?
Speaker 1:an average of like what four to six coaches a season.
Speaker 2:If we don't lose them in the middle of the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, a good little chunk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, speaking of a coach that might be out. You know them, cowboys with Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy might be looking for another job if he doesn't start winning some games.
Speaker 1:You know games Because.
Speaker 2:I was right on that prediction.
Speaker 1:I said them.
Speaker 2:Ravens were going to beat them boys.
Speaker 1:I believed you on that, not just because I'm a Washington fan, but I also just believe the Ravens to be a better team. I mean, sometimes I wonder if Jerry Jones isones is gonna fire himself, right like um, it's not a chance.
Speaker 2:Not a chance, jerry. Jerry is in love with jerry and his moves are the best I mean what they paid.
Speaker 1:They paid dac, they paid c, they brought Zeke back and they're 1-2 to start the season and they were a playoff team last year or a playoff-ready team last year.
Speaker 2:Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. We have some teams that went 0-2.
Speaker 2:We have some teams that are 0-3 right now you know, we have some teams that are 0-3 right now. Well, yeah, I mean that does happen, but but the point is you have teams that, for whatever reason, maybe they're just not clicking on all cylinders or they change coordinators or they change coaches and they're just not quite there, and then they figure it out. I mean the bang. The Bengals are known for this the past few years. They start out slow and then all of a sudden it's like the lights turn on and they're playing on all cylinders. So I mean there's a difference between seeing a team like the Ravens or the Bengals being 0-2 and seeing a team like the Panthers 0-2.
Speaker 1:Panthers or the Giants or the you know, I hate to say it the.
Speaker 2:Panthers.
Speaker 1:We can go on.
Speaker 2:Case in point the Panthers, though that's one of those. If you placed a bet this past weekend which unfortunately I'm guilty of, I thought you know the Raiders could do something against the Panthers. But I mean logic.
Speaker 1:You know, logic does not often exist in the NFL. You know, you think one team I mean what? They just beat the Ravens last week and then they get beat at home by the Panthers.
Speaker 2:Well, if you're going to go off logic, just look at the teams right now that are 3-0. Right now we have the Chiefs, which, if anybody, if any of the teams that are 3-0 right now, if you said the Chiefs would be 3-0,. Nobody's shocked, but we have the Vikings who are 3-0, which, if you had that on your bingo card, you were not a Vikings fan, kudos to you. Then we have the Seahawks.
Speaker 1:The Seahawks yeah.
Speaker 2:Which nobody saw that coming. The Seahawks, I mean granted it lights out, granted, I'm not taking away.
Speaker 1:The Seahawks, I mean granted the light's out.
Speaker 2:Granted, I'm not taking away from the Seahawks. They have a pretty good squad, but nobody would have said by week three they were going to be the team that's undefeated in the NFC West. You know, that just was not going to be a thing, and I mean we might have Buffalo wind up being 3-0 as well. We still have to wait for that game to happen, so that's a strong possibility. Yeah, I feel like I'm missing. There's a team I'm missing. I know I am. That's 3-0. The Steelers yeah, see, that's another one.
Speaker 2:I've been waiting, if we said that there was a team that started 3-0 with all the questions they had at quarterback where they were doing the. We're going to have Russell start. We're going to have what's his name? What's the old boy's name?
Speaker 1:Justin Fields.
Speaker 2:Justin Fields, there we go. That's it. Fields or Russell Wilson, we're going to have one of these guys be our starting quarterback, and they were back and forth all preseason and then they said, well, we'll go for Russ, yeah. Then all of a sudden, russ is hurt.
Speaker 1:And not only that. Look at what they. I mean they cleared out their quarterback cabinet Brought in two quarterbacks.
Speaker 2:I mean they drafted pickens, you know so to clear him out, you know as soon. So I, oh, you mean you mean kenny pickett. Yeah, pickens is their wide receiver.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sorry, I'm thinking I'm sorry, I'm thinking of actual great players, sorry anyway.
Speaker 2:Um well, I don't know if I classify him as great, but he's definitely their number one receiver no, I think Pickens has a ton of talent.
Speaker 1:It's just not been unlocked yet.
Speaker 2:Could that be because of his quarterback play?
Speaker 1:I think they're getting there. I think the Steelers Go ahead. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:But you know the old adage If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have a quarterback.
Speaker 1:Well, that just goes back. So there's an old saying I'm going gonna take it back to my boy scout days, my rope climbing days. We have a saying two is one and one is none, okay. So basically, if you got one, you got nothing yeah, but I mean you can't.
Speaker 2:Okay, we've seen a number of teams do with good enough at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's a few examples I can think of yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, but in this case this might be more of a right time, right fit for this team.
Speaker 1:I think so.
Speaker 2:Because Fields he is looking okay with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:He's not like lighting it up, but he definitely looks okay.
Speaker 1:And also look at the league's move from traditional pocket quarterbacks to quarterbacks who also have mobile ability and the way that they're changing the game now.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, you can't In the days of having a statue for a quarterback, it's pretty much done like you can't have a statue for a quarterback in this nfl, not unless that player is, you know, lights out, gets the ball out in less than three seconds, no matter what, and has the talent to deal with that. If he doesn't, it's just not going to happen yeah so one game that I hesitate to bring up. I really I hate to bring it up because I'm a niners fan, but I'm gonna bring it up.
Speaker 2:So here'm a Niners fan, but I'm going to bring it up. Oh boy. So here we go. Here we go ladies and gentlemen, so the 49ers and the Rams. I watched every single second, but you know we had that game and I say we. You know, like I'm on the team, I'm not on the team, I'm just a fan who suffered through a loss.
Speaker 1:Typical NFL fan. We all were.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we always say we and it's like, really, I don't see you padding up and getting out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we drafted, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:We didn't do anything. We sat on the couch and watched a game. So, but Brock Purdy, for as much as people want to hate on him and say, well, look at him, he benefited from a Shanahan system and look at all of the players he has around him, he is benefiting from all that he has. And it's like, okay, you say that, but this game he was without christian mccaffrey, without depot, without kittle, and he still put up a stat line of 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards, three touchdowns. Now, those three touchdowns, most of you may know, came at the hands of their number three receiver, jawan Jennings. We always say next man up, step up. We need somebody to step up. Man, did he ever? He stepped up for three touchdowns, I think he had. He was approaching almost 200 yards receiving, but I think he was kind of gassed there towards the end.
Speaker 1:This is a good problem, you know, having that talent. The Houston Texans had a similar situation. They just cut, I mean Noah Brown. Similar situation just got cut. They just didn't have room for him. Stacked that receiver Next man up mentality, the trickle-down knowledge, the trickle-down experience.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what I bet you? The rest of the GMs in the NFL would love to have those problems where they say we want to keep them. We just have too much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, true.
Speaker 2:Hey, sometimes problems ain't problems. They sound like it, but they're not.
Speaker 1:And then sometimes you got, you know, qb1 problems, where you just give all of your money to a single player and then you ship off your next best player and you hope it works.
Speaker 2:It's a classic story of you know cap casually yeah you know you're. You're sitting here primed and ready to to build a squad and it's like well, wait a second, we gotta pay our quarterback, but we're paying that guy over there. I'm paying that guy over there, we're paying that guy over there. How are we going to pay all these people?
Speaker 1:and you know that's that's one thing I gotta give it. And there's other players, a lot of other players that do this. There's a few 49ers players that done this recently, taking pay cuts, and one in particular I'm going to mention what begrudgingly yeah, I mean what? Begrudgingly? Yeah, I mean sometimes begrudgingly, but you got to hand it to them, looking out for the best interest of the team as well. Right, they want to win and they want to stay in a winning program. But another one, tom Brady, was notorious for that.
Speaker 2:I mean, say what you want about him, but yeah, but he could because he was dating a supermodel who was making more than enough money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean he had all of the endorsements, he has everything else, but at the end of the day, he still doesn't have to play for less than his value, which a lot of these guys don't.
Speaker 2:He's getting his value now as a commentator. He's getting the big time value of he's a number one talent player back in the day and you know, with his super bowl wins he gets that kind of money. Now as a broadcaster, you know where he can dictate the highest level of money because of who he is based on his talent.
Speaker 1:And, speaking of Patriots, let's talk about that Thursday night game with the Jets.
Speaker 2:How do you think that went? Mike man, I had higher hopes for that game.
Speaker 1:You and I both being a divisional matchup.
Speaker 2:Gerard Mayo had us all fooled, you know, because they were playing great those first two games. You know they came out and beat the Bengals week one and nobody saw that coming. But it just, man, it just shows that when you think, you know, you don't. And I mean, I'm not saying we were fooled into thinking like the Patriots were going to be Super Bowl winners, but we didn't think this was going to happen. You know they lost to the Jets and Aaron Rodgers looked more like the Aaron Rodgers that we had seen in past years. You know he was crisp with his passes, he was rolling out. He was crisp with his passes, he was rolling out, he was extending plays. He looked like the Aaron Rodgers of old, albeit a little bit slower. But what can you expect? He's a 40-year-old quarterback. Father time is undefeated.
Speaker 1:Well, I think, especially with all the money surrounding him and then his Achilles injury, I think coming back out and showing that he still has, I think that's not just important for him, I think that's important for the fan base.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, the team well, they want parody in the NFL and when teams have long suffered losing seasons, it doesn't help, you know, but you know. Speaking of that Achilles injury, uh, had somebody explained to me what that surgery is like, you know. They said that if you wanted to try to figure out what it's like to repair an achilles tendon, right they said basically, think of two mops and try to sew the two mops together end to end.
Speaker 2:And that's what it's like trying to repair an achilles is you're trying to reattach all the fibers to one another and it's difficult, which I had never thought about it before, but somebody had mentioned that and I was like man, I don't want to do that god, I'm not a surgeon.
Speaker 1:I'd like the surgeon money, but I don't want to.
Speaker 2:I don't want to deal with, you know, trying to repair somebody's body and then be like sorry, yeah, screwed it up or if their body doesn't take to the repair.
Speaker 1:I mean, that happens sometimes too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does. So you know, another game that was interesting over this past weekend was that Browns and Giants game. I did not think the Giants were going to win that game. Based on the way they played these first two games, I didn't think they were going to win. I didn't think they had gonna win.
Speaker 1:I didn't think they had a shot now is it the giant showing out which it may be. You know, uh, you know, malik neighbors is here oh yeah, he's definitely showing like daniel jones has got his number one. But is it giants finding their footing or are the Browns slipping on defense Because they had a rough week one against the Cowboys?
Speaker 2:Yeah well, I think they have a few things going against themselves right now. It did come out after the game that Miles Garrett is dealing with a foot injury, not just to one foot but both feet. He's suffering through and now these aren't things that are going to keep him out. But he said that he's going to try to push through and play this season and deal with surgeries and whatnot after the season. But I mean, that's your feet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean when your feet and ankles aren't good. It's almost like playing on stilts.
Speaker 2:Well, and not to mention the fact that you play at his position where it's all get off the ball and yeah this is not a receiver who can, like you know, sit on the outside oh, it's a run play and he can kind of, yeah, fake, block or something and take a playoff. You know this, this is a pass rusher. He's, you know, it's all fighting in the trenches and leverage and and trying to yeah, it's all guys.
Speaker 1:All go all motor, high motor, all the time yeah, it's difficult, but I think you.
Speaker 2:I think you are right, though, because the browns, for as much talent as they have, they just don't look like they're hitting.
Speaker 1:Their season looks like it's awfully close for unraveling, I mean aside from a couple of their injuries and their defense. Taking a step back, I mean now you have the drama around Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 2:It looks like their season— Stop me if you've heard that before.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, it wasn't supposed to happen again, but here we are. But you know, I know the details of that are kind of murky. It's an old case.
Speaker 2:You know it's an old case. They say it's from 2021 right but still it's a civil suit where massage watson is. You know, back to his same old tricks, you know I mean well, yeah, and I don't want to go too deep into that.
Speaker 1:I mean, especially since I don't have all of the details of the recent one. Oh, I don't, I don't want to go too deep into that. I mean, uh, especially since I don't have all of the details of the recent one.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't either, but you know you know these things, not that I want to know about it either.
Speaker 2:I mean because, come on, let's face it, it's. It's a subject that nobody wants to deal with yeah, you know, I just his terrible towels are not one that anybody wants to talk about.
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, we don't want those terrible tales. They're too terrible. I just hope for his case that he's just trying to get by the old stuff and get it past him. I just hope this is something old kicking up. Sometimes that happens. I just hope you always hope for the best.
Speaker 2:I don't think anybody you know accidentally has another you know issue where they're you know being inappropriate with women. I mean it just, you know. One thing that I was thinking is is his head even in football? Does he even love to play football anymore?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean maybe, maybe it's just time for him to just say, hey, do I love this game? Do I want to keep playing this game? Because I don't know. I just something about the way his face looks when he's on the field. He just he seems like he's going through the motions and maybe he doesn't love the game anymore. I mean, I mean he loves the money. I mean who wouldn? I mean he loves the money, I mean who wouldn't?
Speaker 2:I mean, he's not necessarily, he's not playing bad, you know he's doing all right, comparatively, though, to what he was with the Texans.
Speaker 1:He's playing bad, he's playing. He's not playing on the same level. And I mean, let's be honest, the Texans were a little more loaded than the Browns were at the time.
Speaker 2:Hey, the Browns are no slouch. They have some talent there.
Speaker 1:It's just like I don't understand. Yeah, I mean they brought in.
Speaker 2:Amari Cooper and Jerry Judy. So he has some receiver talent. Not to mention he has Njoku at tight end yeah. And let's not forget, he's had running back talent too, you know. So it's not a matter of hey, we don't have any talent around you, and they've definitely been trying to keep their offensive line bulked up. Now they've had a few injuries on the offensive line, but it's the nfl who hasn't had injuries yeah, honestly, I put him at the upper end of middle-tier quarterbacks right now.
Speaker 1:I mean, he's not playing necessarily lights out, not putting up a ton of touchdowns and points. He's not really rushing for a ton of yards, but he's getting them by, he's getting the job done and he's doing it fairly well. So what I'm?
Speaker 2:hearing is he's being serviceable?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I put him at a little bit more than serviceable. I mean, you know, I think Sam Darnold is a serviceable quarterback given his lack of history. Right, he's serviceable for the Vikings.
Speaker 2:You brought up Sam Darnold Going to him. I think it's another case of right fit. I agree he is where he needs to be. He was playing for the Jets. Let's face it the Jets when it comes to drafting, especially at the quarterback position. It's been a wasteland for many years. I mean yeah, you could say Mark Sanchez had a little something going there, but I mean it wasn't like he was the answer.
Speaker 1:I mean, even before Geno Smith found his foot in Seattle. I think Ryan Fitzpatrick might have been one of their more notable quarterbacks in recent memory.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say that and that goes back quite a ways. I wouldn't say that a journeyman quarterback. You know I'm talking draft picks.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're talking about drafts, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, nothing against Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he was a journeyman quarterback. He basically played for every single team in the AFC East.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And then they drafted Minus the Patriots, Then they drafted Zach Wilson too right. And then he's he's a backup in Denver.
Speaker 2:Yeah, zach Wilson too, right, and then he's, he's a backup in Denver.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I mean the track record is not good, not a great track record of you know talent evaluation there, or maybe scheme fit, but one way or another you're right. I think that in the right place, the right time has something to do with it. I mean Sam Darnold, the Vikings. They are playing their players' strengths. I mean we heard it earlier. You know, one of his biggest strengths coming out of college was his arm strength, and look at the bombs he's throwing out there in Minnesota right now. They're playing to that.
Speaker 2:He's playing confident.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they got him playing, he has every reason to feel confident.
Speaker 2:I mean, the man threw four touchdown passes this past weekend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I realize you know.
Speaker 2:And he doesn't have to be the hero. Yeah, you know when he was with the Jets. It's oh my God, there's nobody here. I've got to make this happen. So he's just forcing balls in and he's trying to extend plays and run and he's doing everything he can to make the team good and it's just not working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and their defense has stepped up too, though. So those two start a little bit stark difference. I mean, Cleveland had a good defense last year. They came into this season rated.
Speaker 2:They do. They do have a good defense, but they also are not playing up to their standard. But it's also a little bit of injury, but a little bit of. If you're on the defensive side of the ball and you're giving your all, you're looking at the offense and going. Are you serious? We got you the ball back and you did a three and out. Yeah, in the Raiders game some players made some business decisions according to their coach where they basically decided to relax because they're getting their butts whooped by.
Speaker 1:Of all teams, the Panthers, yeah, and I mean again. All they did was switch the quarterback.
Speaker 2:Yes, but they switched to a journeyman quarterback who has been a starter in the league and has played in multiple offenses.
Speaker 1:No, I was saying you want to talk about serviceable quarterback. Andy Dalton is a good way to describe serviceable. He has played relatively well wherever he's been, but he hasn't quite been the guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I mean, that's who the panthers just started yeah, it was andy dalton yeah, and he looked.
Speaker 2:He looked good in the offense, they, they had a lot of things going for them yep you know they had receivers actually catching passes downfield and not the other team, so big win there yeah but you know, sometimes it's like I said last week, where if you don't have your confidence, you're not going to do well yeah that's why a lot of players, even when they're not doing well, they're still barking and talking trash Like it's confidence. You've got to have confidence. You cannot be in the NFL without confidence.
Speaker 2:You've got to be able to say I don't care who is across from me, I'm better. You know, I mean every single NFL player deep down feels I'm walking on that field, I'm better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the competitive edge. I mean, really you need to bring in everything you do. I mean it might not be true that you're the best, but you need to believe that you are the best.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, if you believe it.
Speaker 1:And a lot of these guys do. I mean Richard Sherman. I know a lot of people don't like him. I love listening to that guy and you know he's really smart. Um, he got.
Speaker 2:He graduated from stanford right like yeah, and he was his own agent during his playing career, negotiated his own deals I don't care about all that, because I've heard all that.
Speaker 1:I don't care about all that I'm talking about the things he says when he talks, whether it's whether he's being an asshole or excuse my language whether he's being some kind of way or not.
Speaker 2:You mean like after a win against the 49ers, where he's berating the poor sideline reporter by talking about Crabtree being trash and going on and the sideline reporter's like calm down, dude, y'all won.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that might not I know the time you're talking about. That might not be a great example, but I like the way he engages and, yeah, he comes off abrupt and comes off abrasive, he does. And you know he's off abrasive.
Speaker 2:He does and you know Well, not to mention you know he's had some off-field issues as well, yeah, I mean there's been those, but there's been plenty of players with that and I think, for the most part since he's become a commentator, we're getting to know Richard Sherman a lot more, and Richard Sherman, for all his faults. We're starting to get to know the person more than the player and what we're finding is the person. He's very smart and he's very passionate and he loves a game of football, otherwise you wouldn't stick around.
Speaker 1:You'd just say, hey, I'm going to go count my millions in my mansion. And he's a football personality too, right, and that's one thing I love. I won't say I necessarily love, but when these guys start to transition out of the game some of the ones that go into commentating you get to see more of their personalities, see more of who they are and how they are when they were on the field. Well, sometimes, it works out and sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, you wind up with the pulling a rabbit out of their head Certain commentators from back in the day who aren't commentators anymore. Moving on to some other games, what about that Eagles-Saints game?
Speaker 1:That I think a lot of people was projected to be one of the highest scoring games this week and it just did not go down like that. Man Derek Carr, he just didn't hit man. I gotta give it to the Eagles defense they did alright keeping them.
Speaker 2:You could say the same thing on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:With the other team. You could say the same thing on the other side of the ball. Yeah, With the other team you could say that the Eagles Hurts, he didn't do much either. Yeah, I mean, they literally were almost counterbalancing each other. You know, whenever one made a little progression up the field they would stop him.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And punt the ball, and then the other team would make their little progression up the field and then punt. It was a back-and-forth game where they were just playing outstanding defense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think the bigger surprise for me is on the Saints, not necessarily that they lost, but the fact their first two games they're putting up 40 points a game. The Eagles are putting up points. Points a game. Uh, the eagles are, they're putting up points but who did they play? They. They played some notable games. See here week one, they played, week one, they play. Okay, that doesn't matter that doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go ahead. No, say it, say it. Who did they play week one? Okay, uh, the panthers yeah for our list, for our listeners. Do you know how that game started out for the Panthers? Interception, first throw, first offensive possession for that team.
Speaker 1:And then they played.
Speaker 2:You know what this?
Speaker 1:conversation doesn't matter. We're going to move on to the Saints and how they score.
Speaker 2:We'll move on from the Saints.
Speaker 1:After doing a little more research, the better team probably did win. I hate to say it about Philly because I'm a Commanders fan, but you know.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean they. Sometimes it's being the team with the ball last that gets the win, and that's very easy to say and very cliche, that, yeah, of course the last team with the ball wins, you know. But sometimes it takes a team just being the team that guts it out, the team that they just have whatever. It is just that little bit more yeah determination than the other team and and to.
Speaker 1:To add to that level of determination, I just want to say philly came out, they, they came out already going on fourth down from the get-go. Uh, they were running four downs pretty much all day. They almost I don't think they punted, but maybe once. If that so a lot of teams have been they're, they're coming out. The game is definitely changing for the more aggressive.
Speaker 2:I mean mobile qb's oh yeah, that's probably due due to stats and stats, higher passing rates, bigger passing yardages well and and just you know, looking at it and saying we have a higher percentage of completing this fourth down now in the game.
Speaker 1:You know it's playing the game scenario I will say that that fourth down tush push does not look as strong without jason kelsey in there. They've had to run a couple variations of it and it just does not look like it has the push that it had last season, but it's still effective for them to an extent, so yeah I don't think that's a long-term play if you want to keep your quarterback healthy.
Speaker 2:To be honest, I.
Speaker 1:I like that they switch it up. They set up for this the tush push, but sometimes they wildcat it or sometimes they pass it off or, you know, they do some fun things with it. Obviously the rest of the league hates it. I hate it sometimes too, but well, yeah, the uh.
Speaker 2:Another game that was kind of like that, that eagles and saints game was the steelers and the chargers they were very back and forth game very back and forth game that you know it did wind up with the steelers winning yeah but you know the score doesn't really tell the full story because it wasn't until late that the steelers kind of pulled ahead.
Speaker 2:you know, they were very back and forth there for a little while and it was really when Justin Herbert went down and was pulled out of the game and they put in Tyler Heineke. Odu alum.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But Heineke, he just didn't look ready and he probably wasn't. But you've got to be ready to step in the game as a backup quarterback. You've got to feel like when you show up, you're going in the game. You can't be showing up and going oh crap, where's my helmet. Somebody give me a helmet, any helmet. I've got to get on the field. But again, the Steelers are 3-0 now and they find a way to win. You know, it's typical Steeler football. We're going to keep the game close and we're going to win on our defensive side and we're going to try to gut out a win over the other team usually a one-score game, but this time it wasn't. It was 20 to 10 yeah and uh.
Speaker 1:I'm just looking at some stats here. With the steelers they have one of the one of the best defenses this season. Um, they next to the vikings, who are first in most categories well, I said one of the best, but yeah, the vikings are the best, I think right now as it stands I can't find some stats. But the Steelers, they've been pretty decent against the run. They've been okay against the pass. They've wrapped my head around what I'm trying to say here.
Speaker 2:I don't know what are you trying to say?
Speaker 1:For them. I'll just. I'm really surprised by steelers being three.
Speaker 2:You know that's not a not saying it, I'm not trying to knock them no, but but with having quarterback controversy and having to sit here and question whether or not, yeah, you were going to get anywhere with them. That kind of lends to that question. Yeah, so moving on from that game, if we're going to talk surprise, did anybody honestly think the Broncos were going to win this past Sunday, given the fact that they have looked horrendous?
Speaker 1:these first two weeks. I'll be honest, I did not, and I mean that's partly because of denver and how things have been going for them here recently, including last season, but that's also. I was looking at the first two games of tampa and how they played those two teams and I'm I'm not gonna lie, I thought Baker was baking, I thought he was the chef of the day, I thought he was going to go in there and shred.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the first two games for the Broncos. You would have thought when they walked in there that Baker was just going to chop it up, but that's not what happened. This game.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:They only mustered seven points to the broncos 26. I mean they really just did not look like they were doing anything on offense all game long yeah, and I think baker, um, you know he, he put up a touchdown, he didn't do.
Speaker 1:uh, terribly great, I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean Baker. I'm sure he'll bounce back the good quarterbacks. They find a way to goldfish memory Five seconds later. What we lost, I don't know I guess we did.
Speaker 1:It was a rough outing for them, but props to Denver for stepping it up and getting the W in that game. Yeah, and Bo Nix showing some potential and some flashes.
Speaker 2:But speaking of quarterbacks, the Packers game against the Titans there was a little bit of a revenge factor in that game.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, Malik Willis.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He got it done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he got it done. Yeah, he got it done like he went in. He went into that game. I'm sure thinking, oh, let me on the field, let me on the field, I want to torch them so bad, because you know, he was drafted by the titans. Thinking, yeah, I'm the future quarterback for this team. And and they're like nah, we like this, will Levis, kid, we're going to put him in, just sit here on the pine there, willis, we'll figure something out. And the figure something out was trade him to the Packers, and the Packers have turned him into a pretty decent-looking quarterback.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying he's going to turn into a Mahomes or anything. But they've kind of coached some of the reckless out of him.
Speaker 1:I mean honestly, the last couple weeks he's played pretty good. I mean just this last game alone 13 of 19, 202 yards, a touchdown and then another 73 rushing for another touchdown. I mean he's in the conversation with Lamar at that point.
Speaker 2:Well, they gave him the game ball for that game.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Called it his revenge ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, his revenge ball, yeah. And then you know, just in case, love is out a little bit longer in week two. You know it was a little less great. You know his first showing he was 12 of 14 for 122 in a touchdown and still put 41 yards rushing. So it wasn't necessarily a bad showing, but you know.
Speaker 2:Well, they might want Love back a lot sooner.
Speaker 1:Probably.
Speaker 2:For next week because they got the Vikings. But you know we'll see how that one. Probably for next week because they got the vikings but yeah, you know, we'll see how that one shakes out next week. So moving on to the seahawks and dolphins dolphins, just they do not have an offense right now I mean, you just see the difference with and without to.
Speaker 2:Uh well, not just, most are just that their backup quarterback goes in there and he gets hurt and they roll out Tim Boyle. How does this guy keep getting a job? I don't understand. Like seriously, if you want a good laugh, go look up Tim Boyle stats and see how. Just like why is this guy still in the league? I mean, I know people say he's a good locker room guy, he's a good quarterback room guy, he helps prepare people for the next game. But there's a word for that A coach, An assistant coach.
Speaker 1:Well, you got, you got player mentors.
Speaker 2:But a player mentor to me should be somebody that you're seeing do it Like they're being good players. But Tim Boyle I mean like come on, go look at his college stats. There's nothing there in college either. Like I don't get it. I, I don't get it.
Speaker 1:I don't get it. Maybe it's, maybe it's a who you know situation and maybe.
Speaker 2:But but the seahawks, they, they came out with the win, you know, 24 to 3. Then they're, they're hitting on all cylinders, they are looking good and they're three, and oh, and they are division leaders in the nfc west. And you know, one team we thought was going to be looking good was the cardinals, you know, because they kind of were flashing there a little bit yeah but they had a tough matchup.
Speaker 1:They were going against, against the lions yeah, and that that was a good matchup for them too, even though they lost, um, but I still think the cardinals are solid. And then, uh, with marvin harrison, you know, coming out.
Speaker 2:Marvin harrison jr coming out yes, he's, yeah, he's gonna be something for them. His dad is definitely not playing anymore.
Speaker 1:No, you're right on that oh, but yeah, uh, let's move into the week four picks coming up man mike. Uh, who are you looking at this week? What games? You're right on that, but yeah, let's move into the week. Four picks coming up man Mike, who are you looking at this week? What games are you looking at?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I definitely want to see that Green Bay Vikings game.
Speaker 1:I think that's going to be a thriller, especially if whoever's under center for Green Bay comes out and puts up Well, I really hope that Love comes back, Just for the matchup's sake. I want to see that.
Speaker 2:So I mean to me I feel like the Vikings are going to keep rolling and they're going to win that game, but that's just me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What about you? What game are you have penciled in, or feel you?
Speaker 1:really want to see. I am actually. I think there's some interesting matchups here I really want to see. I'm having trouble picking between two. Okay, and it just depends on how the matchup goes on this game Just give me your two.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at the Philly-Tampa Bay game, especially if Tampa Bay can get back into the swing. I know they kind of had a down week in Denver, but I think that could be a good slugfest. And the other one I'm looking at I'd like to see Seattle and Detroit. Seattle's undefeated. Detroit has a high-flying, volatile offense. They're not totally all volatile to open the season, but you know they can be. I think that that's going to be a rare matchup as well. You don't see those two teams get together for fireworks very often.
Speaker 2:Well, what about that Sunday night game Bills and Ravens?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was my third runner up pick that I was looking at. Um, you know, I'm interested to see the the bills and the Ravens go at it. Uh, both of them, you know, both of them had their bumps to open the season. Um, but if honestly, not the bills.
Speaker 2:The bills are barring. Barring their Monday night match. Tonight. If they win, they'll be one of the three or be one of the 3-0 teams. So they haven't really Bumps too much for them yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're kind of good. The thing I want to see with their game Is if Baltimore can show up, because they they showed up Sunday. Yeah, they're kind of good. The thing I want to see with their game is if Baltimore can show up, because Baltimore's.
Speaker 2:They showed up Sunday.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they showed up Sunday.
Speaker 2:I mean Derek Henry had 150 yards rushing against the Cowboys.
Speaker 1:But they didn't show up. In Las Vegas, buffalo's been showing up, so if Baltimore shows up, I think it would be a hell of a game. I'm giving the edge to Buffalo, though.
Speaker 2:Okay, so give me one upset. You see happening.
Speaker 1:One upset I see happening for week four. Let's see here. We got some good matchups here, guys. My upset, you know, houston is really going to. Not, these guys aren't going to like me, but I'm going to take Jacksonville over Houston. These guys got to get a win somewhere along the way and I think it happens earlier in the season than it does later in the season.
Speaker 1:So I'm taking Jacksonville over'm taking jacksonville over houston, taking jacksonville over houston wow it's kind of it's kind of a super wild dog, wild underdog pick, um, but I'd like, I really like jacksonville, despite, despite their struggles um, I really like Houston, even though I keep picking them to lose. But Houston fans I love y'all. It's nothing personal.
Speaker 2:Nothing personal, huh.
Speaker 1:This one might be personal. There's really no reason not to pick Houston, but I really like the Jaguars. I think they get their first win early in the season, rather than mid or late in the season.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to pick Denver to upset the Jets.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like that pick.
Speaker 2:I really think that Denver kind of feeling themselves they might actually pull it off, that might be a thing. Actually pull it off, you know, that might be a thing. Because I mean, honestly, if you want to take the coaches I mean you got xerxes on one side, yeah, or you can take the experience on the other. I mean I'm gonna, I'm gonna lean experience every time. So I I would have to say that that's a uh time, so I would have to say that that's a must pick for me if I had to pick an upset. And I'm just going to steer away from talking about my game because I really feel like, if, if the team that faced the Jets last week in the Patriots shows up like they did against the Jets, playing the 49ers like that, count that as a win baby.
Speaker 1:We'll see. We'll see. That's a tough matchup there. It just depends on what version of the Patriots you get, I guess. So, yeah, well, I think that does it for today's show. Thank you everybody for joining us for episode two. I'm brian with an eye and I'm mike, and we are two for the win.