2024 Week 1 Recap

Published Sep 9, 2024, 5:36 AM

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook for a full recap of the first Sunday of action in the 2024 season. The show starts with a look into the Texans beating the Colts (1:30), the Cowboys making a statement against the Browns (10:04), and the Bills finding their footing against the Cardinals (21:36). After the break, the show runs through Jaguars at Dolphins (27:46), Steelers at Falcons (38:12), Patriots at Bengals (43:20), Titans at Bears (50:09), Raiders at Chargers (56:44), Vikings at Giants (1:05:10), Commanders at Buccaneers (1:11:41), Panthers at Saints (1:17:05), Broncos at Seahawks (1:24:32) and finally Rams at Lions (1:33:08).

Note: time codes approximate. 

Welcome to NFL Daily, where we cannot wait to talk about an entire slate of Week one games. I'm Greg Rosendal here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio with Patrick Claybond, Nick Shu reporting live from Cleveland. We won't mention what happened in Cleveland, at least not for our game, because we want to keep the spirits high. What is happening, Patrick.

Greg, I'm so juiced. I'm juiced because it's Week one and nothing's hit me yet. We just fit wrapped up three hours of football and I want to talk some more football because I'm walking into the news room. Chris Rose is fired up on game day highlights, and now I feel like I gotta match his freak.

I gotta match his energy.

No one can match Chris Roses freak or the volume, the just incredible amount of voice that comes out of him is rediculous. I don't want you to do that either, Shock, but I am happy You're going to be here every Sunday night through the Sunday night football game with us, and you're wearing your Madden you know shirt proudly. But this is this is better than Madden. This is the real thing.

Yes, this is the real thing, and hopefully you guys can send that energy in my direction about two thousand miles east where everybody around here right now feeling pretty down, not getting me down.

I'm gonna drive it up for the show.

Yes, the Browns, you know, they were in a highlight game, but let's face it, America's game of the week was not the game of the week. I'm choosing Texan's Colts as the game of the week where CJ Stroud remind you, reminded us just what a special young quarterback he is. Third and eleven. Strau fires and it is breaking up by Jones, but on the sun of College they've caught it. Unbelievable.

This is an unreal catch by Nico Collins.

Jones was all over him in Collins somehow still brought it in.

It looked like Jones undercut this ball and had a chance to intercept it. But as we get into this replay, Nicocollins corrals it and in his left knee hits in bounds catch for Houston.

Texans had a first down. Not often we start a highlight with a twelve yard pass, but Cidre Stroud is so good at the little things. Nico Collins is so good at the little things. Of course, that was the CBS coverage there. Tiki Barber on the call, will also hear the local Houston call in just a little bit on some throws and look, I thought the Colts were getting the ball back. This was a back and forth game. These two second year players just delivering highlight after highlight in this one. And it's hard not to compare him and Anthony Richardson's great and had a great game overall and delivered some great highlights. But I do think they're different, and C. J. Stroud is the one. To me, Patrick more likely to go through his progressions and hit a throw that just didn't look like it was possible to hit to put the game away. What a mature second year player.

I mean, we're in the twenties of quarterbacks that donate eve an attempt that throwed at Nico Collins, it was an exceedingly dangerous attempt with draped in coverage. Nico comes up with the catch. He had six for one hundred and seventeen on the day. You saw the emphasis on getting this talent around him. Joe Mixon comes over. I don't think they're gonna load Joe Mixon up with carries. He has thirty attempts for one hundred and fifty nine yards.

Oh, they had to do it because it was so effective, Like back.

And forth, both of these guys went.

Anthony Richardson was like the bizarro bo Nicks on the day, just taking deep shots after deep shot. He hit a couple hit that we'll get a chance to see. The other one to Alec Pierce. But just a fun game with two of the best in the game. But right now, it's not just Anthony Richardson that's looking up to catch CJ.

Stroud.

I think it's a lot of quarterbacks in the league they're gonna have to contend with this guy just being so good so early.

That's right. I wanted to talk Stroud first because you mentioned the running game. It's why they were in this game. Mixon gets those thirty carries, he finishes with one hundred and fifty nine yards. I realized Nick that the running game was so different than it was a year ago immediately. First of all, the you know the Colts, I think they have a good front. Maybe they're better rushing the passer than they are stopping the run. But I knew it was different when Damian Pierce is getting five yards per carry, because that's just like that's like an ab test that was not happening last year. So they're blown open holes. And they did not protect c J. Stroud all day. This is the game I watched the closest all day. And he goes twenty four for thirty two for two thirty four and two touchdowns and you think, like, okay, good, good, solid c J. Stroud game. But that last play was typical of a day where he was under duress. The Colts actually had more pressures, like they had five different defensive linemen with over three pressures, like four of the defensive line with four or more pressures, and he still made it happen. If it was any other quarterback, maybe not any other quarterback, but just about any other quarterback, Like they wouldn't have been able to deal with all the pressure that the very good close defensive line sent at him, and he kept them on schedule enough and had some big third and lungs that Nigo Collins won. Was not the only one.

Yeah, And this is precisely why I put CJ.

Stroud at number four in the first QBNDX yes twenty twenty four, because I got a lot of pushback on this this week. Totally fine, Oh, he had one season, But I'm telling you this guy's a special kid in plays like that or why he is a top five quarterback. Seventy five to eighty five percent of the league is not making those type of plays under that type of dress. If you need examples, I could give you a ton just from today. Usually guys get frazzled, they break down their brain short circuits when they get that much pressure all day and.

In a tight game on the road.

CJ.

Stroud in his second season delivers in the clutch to put a game away.

That's the type of special player he is.

So I'm overdosing on the next sten stats this year that for some reason I didn't think to have access to. He goes seven for nine against pressure today, twelve point one yards per attempt plus thirty two percent completion percentage over expected. So that says it all. So to me, it was a really good sign that they were able, you know, to run the ball. That was so different than last year. You would think that the pass protection gets cleaned up. I didn't think it was going to be this close of a game. They were up fifteen to seven early in the third quarter. They got up twenty eight to twenty, but the Colts, you know, kept grinding and Anthony Richardson, you mentioned, Patrick was a big playmaker. He kept going deep. Alec Pierce had a sixty yarder and a fifty seven yarder in this game. And the throw that Anthony richards had made in the first quarter, I submit, at the end of the year, let's just start making a list. Put this down the throws of the year. This is my submission. Maybe won't be the only one, but it's definitely one for this week. I submit this throw from Anthony Richardson in the very first quarter of the will be on our end of the year top ten throws of the year.

Five and a half minutes to go, first quarter A.

Napolis trails three to nothing, but they've got it now, first in ten on their own forty.

Richardson on play action backs to throw.

He slips on the turf, get.

Sucked, deejit downfield looking for Alec Pierce.

He's done.

Touchdown bomb sixty yards Anthony Richardson to Aleck Pierce. That's what you're talking about in the deep game touchdown hide why.

That is absolutely preposterous. He slips on the play, it goes sixty five yards in the air. That is the third longest completion in the next Gen Next Gen Stats era. So I immediately got a pushback because I had tweeted this out. It's like, that's gonna be one of the best theres. Dude, Like, really, Greg overreach munch in the first quarter. It's like, No, I've seen a lot of throws. I've very rarely seen a ball go sixty five yards in the air to that in perfect and that's kind of what you get with Richardson Nick that nine for nineteen on the day, but he gets two hundred and twelve yards. He missed some throws. His interception, in his defense came out of play where his receiver slipped, but he also missed some other third downs that were just not on target. So he makes those sort of big plays. And then when they're trailing late down a couple scores fourth and goal on the goal line and he gets stopped as a runner a couple of yards before the end zone, and he just carries the defenders like Cam Newton in his prime into the end zone, and like I thought, they had a chance, they had a good chance to win if they had just stopped that third and eleven, they were gonna get the ball back. He ends up being their leading rusher with fifty six yards as well.

Yeah, and so we know he's gonna miss some throws because his mechanics aren't the cleanest, and that's been the case for him since he came out of Florida where he didn't really play that much. But I think it's really fitting. And this is also because of where he got drafted, that in the same stadium in which he wowed everyone with these rainbow passes that were just seemingly effortless flick of the he slips, he's under duress, and he just does the same thing he did in his workout of the combine a couple of years ago. Flicks it down the field, majestic touchdown pass. Like that's the type of stuff that you expect from a guy that you draft in the top five. That's why you ignore the inconsistencies from here to there because of the big play potential both in the passing game and the running game.

And you were right.

I saw that highlight of him scoring that touchdown and running through that defender because I'm watching him approach the goal and I'm like, I know he scores here, but how does he get in?

Oh?

Wait, he's built like Cam Newton and we haven't seen a guy like that since Cam Newton. So I think he's here to stay as long as he stays healthy, and you're just gonna have to deal with some of the inconsistencies because the big plays are so worth it.

Yeah, it was a really fun game. I would recommend it highly. If you're into hitting some game pass during the week, you'll see, yeah, you know he missed aighty Mitchell a couple times deep one on a play where they created But I think both teams come out with some positives. But a huge road win in the division to start the season for the Texans, really where they left off last year when they won the division in Lucas Oil Stadium. All right, let's go, let's go to America's quote unquote game of the Week. I do think this is the second most interesting game of the week, just because of why are you laughing? Patrick?

Well, it was the.

Look on Schook's face and I'm not you know, laughing at Chook's misery, but it was just appropriate.

Okay, there were better games this week, but there was just a lot going on between Tom Brady and Dak and then two teams going into the week that we were like, what are these two teams gonna be?

Like?

One of them gave us a pretty good answer. That was the Dallas Cowboys.

New York is standing in the middle of his own end zone.

The kick actually comes from the goal line, a little end over end, Wobbler taking it to forty by turpin, trying to get up the middle fifty forty five, get up block right sideline thirty. He's pointing twenty and to the fifteen, to the ten. There's your return. Come on a turpin for the sixty yard putt return.

That was Cavante turn And of course that was Brad Sham from k r LD, former around the NFL guest, Brad Sham getting it done there. Dallas thirty three, Brown seventeen. I could have picked some nice Dak Prescott throws had a twenty one yard touchdown pass to Brandon Cooks under pressure, thought he handled the Browns defense. I could have picked one of the six sacks that the Dallas Cowboys had of Deshaun Watson, who looked lost and haired, and this was a game that was ugly for the Browns, but it was beautiful for the Cowboys.

Shookie.

Yeah.

First off, all those pieces that we read in the offseason about Mike Zimmer is gonna make this defense into a monster kind of came true today. And it was really because he didn't give a damn what the Browns were gonna do.

They had no fear.

He just dialed up blitz after blitz after blitz. Oh, both of your starting tackles are out. Guess who's gonna capitalize on that all day? I am Mike Zimmer, the defensive coordinator who's here to ruin yours in one Sunday afternoon.

And that's exactly what he did.

Deshaun Watson was pressured forty four point six percent of his dropbacks.

They were after him all day.

This offense had no chance to go anywhere, and it was all because of that Dallas defense and some of the final stats you see, like Trevon Diggs's interception, that was just icing on the cake because they had already dominated and had this game in hand. Really an impressive performance from them and on the offensive side. Honestly, Greg, I know we are all worried about the Cowboys. Could this be the year they collapse? When they get the contract done with Dak right before the game, right, and then Mike McCarthy goes into out there and he just runs circles around the Browns staff, like just operating an offense that's taken what they're giving him, just piece by piece. Third and three, we're gonna pick up five. Second and ten, we're gonna pick up six. All the way down the field. Oh, you're gonna blitz us on third down, Jim Schwartz, because that's what you like to do. Yeah, Dak throw it up on the slot, fade wide open Brandon Cook's touchdown. They were one step ahead all.

After Okay, so they end up with two hundred and sixty five yards when Tom Brady and Will get to Brady in a minute said when he did the on camera shot late in the game, and they're talking about how the Cowboys should feel, and he's like, he thinks they should feel great, and he talked about how on point the offense was and how the operation was really good. And I didn't watch this game as closely. You know, they only have two hundred and sixty five yards in this game. They don't really run the ball too well. Dak finishes with one to seventy nine and one. Was Brady over selling it there? Or like, how did you feel about how their offense held up? Or was it like a game management situation where they really didn't need to do more.

That's what it was.

It was a game management situation because the Browns turned it over on downs multiple times. They couldn't mount an effective drive that really sustained very long save for one touchdown drive.

That was it.

So like every time they got the ball, the Browns defense played fairly well, just they were on the field for a long time early in the game, and then by the time the game was out of hand, they were getting stops against the Cowboys offense. I was just trying to avoid making massive errors with a multi score lead. That's essentially what it was. Because when they had to actually move the ball, they had a couple of really nice drives where I was like, there's Dak mid season for him, Zeke looks spry, looks like he's like three years younger than he actually is. Everything else is caut ceedee lamb looks awesome. Glad they got that deal done. You know, everything was fine, so they didn't need to push it.

I will. I will defend the Zeke Patriots season for all times. Underrated by the.

Way, Yeah it was underrated. Dick played well today. It was a balanced game. Because I think it's easier to look back and I know the game was frustrating for Shook, but the game was in question for a little bit here because Tyler Geyton starting his first NFL game looking over and seeing Miles Garrett and that was a real problem. Like Dak had a backwards throw early in the game, it could have been a fumble. Miles got to him, Dalvin Tomlinson got to him early. But the way that Mike McCarthy utilized the run game to keep the pass rush away from Deck, it was kind of like this veteran offensive leadership, guys who had played together for a long time. We'd seen the way that they operate. They knew what they were doing. And then on the other side, Brown's missing tackles like Micah Parsons is getting through. He's coming around on twists and stunts, and Deshaun's bouncing like, we're watching the game. Pep Hamilton is on Game Day Live with me, and he's like, why is DeShawn backed? Of course, Pep closely worked with DeShawn during his time in Houston. He's bouncing up and down, not necessarily at the top of his drop, stepping back, and so it as an offense that knew what it wanted to do, versus an offense that clearly is just trying to figure things out.

So are you saying, Patrick Claybon, that I may have overreacted to the Cowboys offseason? I see you giggling over there.

Like.

It's because we've had a few times to chat, and I felt like this was a total thing because for some reason, mister Jones is long playing these contract things ultimately to pay everybody anyway a detriment to his own pocketbook, which is, you know, fine by me. But there's this attention that goes to them getting run over in the playoffs, and everybody's like, oh, the Cowboys are bad.

Now.

They're still a good team. They've just lost these games in the playoffs, but so did the Browns.

Why did I fall for this? You know how much it hurts me that I picked the Browns in this game. It doesn't know what does it really matter which which which team you picked.

But it was it was the tiny table that you really hurt yourself on that too.

Well.

The Cowboys could still disappoint over the course of the season. But picking the Browns, another team I'm very down on in this game hurts me because I haven't hit the fact that I've enjoyed Deshaun Watson in his trade being the worst move in NFL history. I thought it was at the time. Even if you if you took away his play and his play is an absolute disaster and you don't. I don't need to focus on that. But from a Cowboys perspective, one thing I do want to mention just is Demarvion Overshan and Marshawn neland two names I know not a lot of people know about Overshon, second year player neland more of an edge. They both look like dudes, and this defense really needs some young players to step up. Over Shan, more of an edge outside linebacker type, looked really good in this game from what I saw, and that that's really important. All Right, you mentioned slow playing the contract. Let let's talk about that here first before we get to Brady two hundred and thirty one million dollars guaranteed. What what a day to do it on the day you're playing Deshaun Watson, a guy that never deserved that contract because of legal situation that he was in at the time before the suspension. He gets two hundred and thirty million guarantees and Dak is saying, I'm not signing that deal until you give me one more million then, Dashaun. And it's a four year deal, so it's it's kind of it's not short, but it's on the shorter end of these huge ones, and it's so much guaranteed money eight you know, record setting signing bonus. And for the chaos and the fun of it all, I liked the idea of Dak Prescott going to free agency. It's not gonna happen, and it shouldn't happen because the Cowboys would have been in huge problems in terms of the salary cap. They would have had so much dead cap if Dak ever left. So it doesn't surprise me that that Dak Prescott got such a great contract. On the other hand, I don't know what the Browns are gonna do here, Shook. I think there there will be a question. This is not the week for it. It's only week one. But like, if he continues like this over and over, we don't have to have this discussion every week. But I do think it'll happen at some point this season. If he doesn't improve like that, they would go to another quarterback.

Yeah, well, the most concerning thing about Deshaun's performance today alone. Yeah, he was pressured a lot, and he rarely had time to throw. But when he had time to throw, ye had no idea where the ball was going. Sometimes it was on target, it was a great throw, a touchdown passed to Jerry Judy, great throw. There are other times where he step up in the pocket and try to take a shot deep and miss this guy by ten yards out of bounds. Like three or four times he did that. He overthrew. I think it was Judy Elijah More on a drag route and gets tipped and picked off. Like there's no consistency here. I think they're gonna be in the market for a new quarterback. It might sound like an overreaction, but if this is the way that it goes throughout most of the season, there's no way that they go to year four of that contract.

Right, and I think luck they have two on their roster, Jamis Winson and DTR. I think they're higher on DTR internally than people probably think it's too early for all that, but you're right, he just doesn't look comfortable. Finally in this game, speaking and not looking comfortable. What do we think about Tom Brady? I did have the sound ot so what I did in this game, I'm like, this wasn't my game. A little behind the scenes so I was really not watching it as closely because I'm watching my games closer. But I did keep the sound in my ear and ear everybody just to kind of get the feel of Brady. I thought he was like tight. He was kind of silent early, like he was a lot of pauses, and I thought he warmed up as it went, and even the warming up only got him to just like Okay, you know, he's definitely better than Jason Witten. I have my doubts whether he'll ever get to Greg Olsen level, because I feel like there is part of it that either you got it or you don't. But he was fine. He was like in the end, I thought he was fine, but just not adding a ton.

Well, it was funny because we were talking. He was like, see if you have anything clippable, and I'm sitting there listening like there's nothing good for it.

Right, We wanted a sound clip to play, but yeah, it wasn't there.

But at the same time, here's here's how I described Tom Brady's debut on broadcast television as a color commentator.

At times he seemed very nervous.

At times there was a big opening for him to jump in and give some analysis and it just went dead air, which I was like, talk, Tom, talk. But what I think he could be He has the knowledge of a Tony Romo without the presence of a Tony Romo. He you could tell the times he wanted to nerd out. There was couple time where he was getting on the tele straight and he's going, oh, look, man coverage on Amari Cooper here, and then he would stop himself right in his tracks, as if he doesn't know his place and he doesn't want to step on Kevin Burkhardt's toes. Kevin's gonna give you all the space in the world. You're Tom freaking Brady. Let that knowledge flow, baby, And so I think over time he'll get better, but like a C minus performance today.

At least I have a theory.

Okay, do you guys, anybody listening, if you're watching on YouTube, hear how seamlessly shook weaved freaking in there. That's what Tom Brady. Tom Brady is a noted sayer.

Or swear words. I feel that.

Tom, being on TV for the first time for an extended amount of time, was constantly checking himself out of f bombs.

That is my theory.

Did not get to hear a single part of the game because you know we're on Yeah, but that would be my.

Go That's a good one.

I like that there were some stops, like in the middle of sentences. There were some moments he just stopped abruptly, So maybe it was that's my theory.

That's a great one because we want I want more agro Tom, Like I was, I was listening in the second half for him to be a little more critical of Deshaun Watson. Didn't get that they didn't really meet the moment when Brandon Aubrey was lining up for an NFL Tyme sixty six yard field goal and he nailed it, and the Cowboys didn't take a time out, and it was a delay a game. They snapped it just after and they sort of missed that whole thing that it was even happening as it was happening. But kudos to you, Brandon Aubrey. I believe you are gonna set this record at some point almost in a year. I mean, yeah, he was. They were thinking about going for a seventy one yarder and he hit the sixty six yarder. I saw it with my own eyes. It just didn't count. Let's move on to our next game. Josh Allen, all four of his touchdowns did count.

Allen in the shotgun, Kincaiden Cook in the backfield on either side of him, two receivers to the left, Cook in late motion. Here's the snap, looks to the right, flat to Cook. Now steps up in the pocket, throws. Now he's gonna run, and the beast has once again been released.

Josh Allen with a six.

Yard touchdown Romp his second rushing.

Touchdown of the day.

Four total touchdowns from the Bills.

QB shout out to Chris Brown, who got the full time job over there at w g R as the Bill's radio voice. Nice come up, I remember Chris Brown as the website guy. When I was starting twenty twenty years ago, I would go on, so, good job by Chris Brown, great call there, and yeah, the beast Josh Allen with a very Josh Allen stat line eighteen for twenty three over ten yards per attempt, two hundred and thirty two yards, two touchdowns, two more on the ground. And look, the Cardinals made the Bills work. They made everyone who took them in survivor pools like me, sweat seventeen to three lead in this game. But Josh Allen brought him all the way back. They put up thirty four and they got it done, Patrick.

Playboy, and they did. And it was a nice start by the Arizona Cardinals. And I had taken the Cardinals to win this game strictly based on the defense.

Of the Bills. Haven't kind of just that they did.

But they didn't get the w which is what I not necessarily wanted, but is what I predicted. And late they did have an opportunity before the fourth down pass to Greg Dortch, who you know, the Cardinals fans will tell you he was interfered with. It certainly appeared on the field. The referees didn't make the call but the play before that, on third down, Marvin Harrison Junior was all by himself behind the Buffalo Bills for what would have been a game tying touchdown. They could have won it with the extra point, but Kyler did not get his eyes up there in time. Wound up being an incomplete pass, but the Cardinals fall a solid start. James Connor played well in this game. He had sixteen carries fifty yards. It was big in the receiving game as well, at three catches. Greg Dortch was the team's leading receiver. Kyler played well, ran for fifty seven yards on the ground, but ultimately Arizona couldn't deal with Josh Allen being a giant, mechanized destroyer of worlds to his own detriment because he did hurt his left hand. He told Tiffany Blackman after the game, it's not necessarily a problem. They did have it wrapped up, but just too much Josh around the goal line. And if the team does anything, it's going to because seventeen does it and right now he's doing all of it. But James Cook played well, but it's it's.

All Josh Allen, right, Like Josh Allen running the ball is the most successful play in football. I'm not exaggerating, like literally by the numbers, it's by far the most successful running play. And it like again today, nine rushes thirty nine yards doesn't sound crazy, but a success rate of like seventy eight percent on those runs like per run. He is the most effective runner in the NFL, partly because he knows when to do it, and he does it so often in the red zone and it ends up in seven points. Marvin Harrison three targets, Yeah, four yards?

What's going on here? One catch?

Four yards?

What's going on?

Hello?

You have like the best receiver in the class, and Joel Klat's been saying it's gonna be a top five NFL receiver for three years.

Throwing the football, Trey McBride took a lot of those targets. He had nine of them. Greg Dorch had eight.

There was a play early on in the game where Kyler and Marvin weren't necessarily on the same page on a back shoulder thing. I don't know if it's a trusting that it needs to develop, but Kyler definitely had him. If you guys get a chance to see that play, Marvin Harrison is doing jumping jacks in the end zone. Just a brutal with and a closing game situation could have gone totally different for ari zone.

Right, and they were in that situation the Cardinals because of a very exciting play just to set this up that the Bills had just taken a thirty one to twenty lead. So for as exciting as the first half was of this game, really the most of the first two quarters, it's seventeen to three until late in the first half. The Bills then put it on him and go out a twenty eight to three run there to take a lead thirty one to twenty. The game seemed all but over until the dynamic kickoff got really freaking dynamic.

Bass will be kicking into the wind again. He's gotta get it past the twenty and the wind is whipping as we look to our left at the flags on the top of each upright, this one hangs in the air. It'll make it past the twenty, but it's taken on the five yard line by Dallas. Helped the middle ten twenty thirty thirty five Dallas to the forty breaks at tackle bar side of midfield forty five forty Dallas thirty five, thirty, twenty five, twenty Dallas to the ten to the five, dives into the end zone.

It's a touchdown for the Cardinals.

A kickoff return for a score and Arizona's right back in the game.

Let's go. We got the first kickoff return in that dynamic touchdown Worlds Dynamic k MVP. That was Dave Pass. I'm taking that as a victory. You know, everyone's disappointed that there's so many touchbacks. There were a lot of touchbacks before. We'll have to off to look at the numbers to see if it's changed much. Here's what I think it did is a help field position and scoring was pretty throughout the league, although the passing numbers were crazy low. I saw stap from the AP that more starting quarterbacks had less than two hundred yards in this week, one than any in a really long time. That includes Kyler who has got one hundred and sixty two yards but one kickoff return in one week. That sounds like a victory for me, and yeah, shout out to the Bills. That's what good teams do. They were in a tough spot. I think they're going to be an offense first type of team. They put up thirty four points in this game to make the comeback and the Bills get the victory. Let's take a quick break and we will be back right after this one of the Bills division rivals. Back in the Chris Westling podcast studio for the very first Sunday night recap for NFL Daily. And yeah, it's time for the Sunday Drive presented by the all new hybrid Toyota Kid. And we're gonna take that drive down to Miami. I just want to set up this play for you and the moment of the game, seventeen to seven, Jaguars are leading two twenty seven left in the third quarter. It looks like the Jaguars are gonna pull off the upset in Miami.

To give it to atm he breaks your tangle upgrade follows out.

It's rolling into the end zone.

Now we're covered with cater Coho on top of the football. That's exactly what Miami needed. Debby, look like you might score.

What a crazy playing a hole in the pail of players.

Javon Holland knocked the three Peter Kle Whu fell on it in the end zone. Gavon Holland just made a big time play at safety.

That was one of the best peanut punches I've ever seen in my life. If you're watching our shoe uh on YouTube, we've got our highlights, we've got the sound trying to be unlike any show out there, and that play absolutely turned the game. Remind me so much of Antoine Winfield's punch on the Panthers which actually got them into the playoffs last year on a touchdown that was going in and it felt even bigger. Eric, Let's throw it to another play right away, because the next play in the game was this one.

Play I should take two a back to thrown was a deep one down Dal He's got Tyreek Terry gonna forty five down the sidelight, he.

Go touch down, Miami.

Oh my gosh, killed again, Tyreek hilt to the house.

Eighty yarns.

Why do they have to do the shot to Travis ETN said on the sideline right after the touchdown.

It let me know because I looked up because I wasn't watching that particular game with that time, but I saw the touchdown and then I saw Travis CTN and you instantly make the connection.

Oh it must have been his.

Yeah, it was and it was just such a moment because to that point in the game they had done such a good job holding Tyreek Hill and Check it was actually like, hey, how come Tyreek and Tua aren't getting going down the field that he finishes with seven for one thirty in touchdown I that, to me was the biggest play anyone made all day. Was Javon Holland in that punch out and then after the Tyreek kill the very next play. I just want to play this for the joy of having Kevin Harlan back in our life. Let's listen, when you consider how it began, this baby will be Lyne drive and it'll be taken.

They wanting in, We'll grab it.

Calm. I gotta say. I know I've been saying football is back all day, in all week and all year, but that I really felt like football was back when Kevin Harley just yells out calamity and actually the Dolphins somehow got it back at the I mean, the Jaguars got it back at the bottom of the pilot. It wasn't quite as big a calamity, but it kind of was. In this game. Patrick Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense was great, really efficient in the first half. He was nine for fourteen for one hundred and twenty five yards in a touchdown the first half, didn't have the ball much in the second half. He ends up only throwing seven throws after halftime, three of seven for thirty seven yards, and their offense just didn't get anything going and the Dolphins end up getting.

To win and Trevor taking some of the blame there. So there were a couple of throws that he had that he wishes he could have. There was an incompletion to Christian Kirk as well, that was a drop in that second half.

Yes, a big drop by Kirk in the first half too, so that it was not the best game for Christian Kirk.

It's just those six or seven plays, which again feels like a lot, but this could have easily been shook a Jags blowout. But ultimately the Dolphins make the plays that they need to do to win the game.

So I just ran down the drive chart twenty three total plays. I think it was twenty three twenty four total plays. In the second half. They had one drive of more than four plays, and it was the drive that ended in the ETN fumble, which I know, Greg, you said, hey, shades of Antoine Winfield for me. As soon as I saw it, I thought, oh, man, for the love of Ernest Beiner, tod do that to the Jaguars in week one? Like that, it feels like a game that the Jaguars had right there. And yet when you play teams like this, you can have it right there, and unless you close, more often than not, it slips through your fingers and you're left walking away thinking, Ah, what could have been. We could have came in here and stole a win. And that's probably how they're feeling. There's a lot to feel good about, and yet you walk away zero and one and got to figure out how to clean up those little things.

Bummer for them. But again, nice little feather in the cap for the Dolphins fans who had quite an adventure's day.

Anyway, Yes, let's talk about their adventure. Tyreek Hill was detained by police before the game. It turns out that he's not going to be charged with anything. Let's actually listen to Tyreek Hill with Melanie Collins of CBS asked about what happened before the game.

What did it mean to you for your teammates to join you this morning and show support.

Bo I loved that. I was fired up, Doll to see Joe new to see Clais.

You know, right there in the heat of the battle with me, man, I go to show that man, it's more than It's.

More than about football, Doll. Like the brotherhood that we got outside of just football. He's amazing, man.

Freemont Doll. Hi free Zombo, Hi, Free Cheetah baby. So he's saying free cheetah. They're having fun with it. It was strange. Yeah, he mentioned Kalaias Campbell went down there. Kalais Camble talked with our camp Wolf and and talked about that had never happened to him. The internal affairs, Uh, there was an internal in investigation that Miami Dade PD announced and they're putting one officer on administrative duties right now because of it. Sane. Basically, there was a dispute between Tyreek Hill after some sort of traffic incident and now the officer is actually getting put on administrative leave and.

Ultimately MIAs and again not being there. All we have is the video from the bystanders, and it's my perception right the Kalais Campbell and Tyreek Hill might not have gotten to play that game if not for the bystanders taking the video, because ultimately Khalais Campbell got handcuffed showing up to support his teammate trying to figure out what was going on, and there was a video of an officer striking Tyreek Hill while he was cuffed as well, and so it would you know, the assumption would be that that particular officer might be the one it's going on administrative leave. But this is we saw it, right, Jeff Darlington. There again, we saw it with Scottie Scheffler making his way to the open in Kentucky, goes around some cones. We're not sure exactly what happened with Tyreek Hill, but ultimately he and Kalaius were able to get to the game. But it was a dicey situation and we're just gonna have to figure out what exactly happened.

Yeah, what a strange way for them to start their season. Yet Tyreek Hill was not on the field for like his normal warm up, so it really was a delay and just craziness. We'll continue to update everything around this story if more happens. Just one last thing on the Jaguars, I think they're gonna get what they wanted out of Brian Thomas Junior four for forty seven and a touchdown in this game, but also had a fifty yard pass interference where he beat Jalen Ramsey pretty clean. The touchdown was on a play where he beat his own coverage but Jalen Ramsey and a safety and he makes a nice toe tap for the touchdown. Then the one catch that Christian Kirk did not drop was a thirty yarder where all the coverage went deep down the field to Thomas as he's burning through them and then opens up the middle for Kirk. So there were some good things in this game. Travon Walker had a couple sacks. For the most part, I thought Miami's offensive line all the concerns that they had were warranted. They could not run the ball. Tua was under some pressure early, but as the game went on, actually Tua was able to hold the ball a little more, And Mike McDaniel said, Tua did a really good job on his big plays, getting further in the progression than he's used to. So, you know, you talk about how two always gets rid of the ball so quickly, he actually held onto the ball longer than usual in this game and hit two big plays because of it, so that all set up what we hadn't even mentioned happened in this game. Jason Sanders one of the most reliable kickers in the game. He hit the kick to tie it with four minutes left when the a Dolphins drive bogged down, and then he was set up for a fifty two yarder. I mean, this is no gimme to try to win the game. Let's listen before we go to Joe Cephalo and Joe Rose on WBGG our first walk.

Off, Albers said, Fergerson the long snapper, Bailey the holder, Sanders, they'll swing.

That right way. Holes now kicked yourself and.

A money Dolphins have won this football game twenty to seventeen over the Jaguars.

What a comeback. What a comeback for the hobby Dolphins. That's what winning team's doing right there.

Man.

Normally I would say the weather had a big factor. It was like ninety five degrees there, but they were playing against the Jaguars, so I don't know if the weather because it really felt like that Dolphins had so much heat in the second half of the Jaguars kind of ran out of energy.

It was a big kick from Jason Sanders, considering he absolutely power hooked one.

Yes early, one of the worst kicks you'll ever see.

Yeah, I might have made it to the side of the stands and not necessarily making it out of the back of the end zone, but a nice kick to finish things off.

Tua hanging in there late.

You mentioned, Mike, what coach Mike Mack said about getting late in his progressions. There was that one ball to Jalen Waddle.

Yes, that was the other one he was talking about.

Just a great completion of good connection.

Betwe those guys Wada left the game for a little bit, came back in, but just a gutty win.

That was the Sunday Drive presented by the all new hybrid Toyota Camray. Whatever your vibe, it's a camera vibe. Learn more at Toyota dot com slash Camray gutty Win by Yeah. Two teams in the AFCs today, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills. Maybe there'll be one more in a little bit, but that's not the game we're talking about.

Next.

We're going down where it got grimy in the Dirty South. It was the Steelers and the Falcons.

Here we go, Steelers chant coming up as Cousins gets the snap looking, TJ Watt gets there and TJ Watt slings them down on the play that will end this game. TJ Watt bows to the crowd, kicks up the leg and finishes off this victory for the Steelers.

Oh yeah, the Steelers fans in Atlanta. That sounded like there was a lot of them. I know they sold out their season tickets, but Pittsburgh travels well, Sookie. Yeah, eighteen to ten. This Steelers win the game, a very Steelers score, Nick, did it? Did it look as steelersz e as the score indicates, Oh.

Yeah, I mean shades of the Steel Curtain.

Maybe not in terms of total defensive ability or potential, but the way they played.

My god. First off, Cam Hayward still a menace inside.

TJ.

Watt still a nightmare off the edge.

DJ Watt had two strip sacks that didn't count because one he was off side for which understandably, and then the other one there was a defensive hole in the secondary like he could have been even better than he was, and he completely changed this game by himself. Kirk Cousins was completely off rhythm, he was uncomfortable the entire game. I don't care if there's rust off the injury or not. It was because the guys like TJ. Watt, that pass rush, Larry Ogan, Jobi, some of the guys in the interior causing problems destroying This Falcons line, which is supposedly supposed to be pretty good, wasn't very good today. And all the Steelers did it was field goals. They didn't need to get in the end zone because that's how good their defense played.

Oh the rare eighteen by way of six field goals. Yeah, I did see the Steelers go for it on fourth down try to put the game away late. It was a fourth and goal with fields and they didn't get it. And yeah, the Falcons stayed in this game forever when it felt like maybe that they were gonna get the knockout punch, but the Steelers couldn't do it. Cousins was under pressure almost forty percent of his throws, which is a high number. Both of his interceptions came on plays where he was pressured, and yeah, pretty disappointing start there for kirk o Chain sixteen for twenty six, one hundred and fifty five yards that touched down in the two picks similar you know, the oh.

Go ahead, the pressure show it throws real quick.

Patrick.

This is what it was with Kirk.

I think he came from a system in Minnesota where he was like, you know what, I trust the guy's gonna be there and I'm going to throw it under pressure because he was pretty good at that Minnesota. That is not how it panned out today. I mean, he was throwing into traffic without even seeing the traffic because he was anticipating the pressure, especially in the second half. Both of his interceptions in the second half, feels a guy bearing down on him and he just throws it and you could see him almost wincing as he's throwing it, like I know I'm gonna get blasted and I got to get rid of this directly into the stomach of a defender on throws a ball down the sideline that's easily intercepted. It just felt like this was not the Kirk that we knew from before, because he was harassed so much that he just never got comfortable and that's what produced the turnover.

From the start to the finish. Because there was a play by Dante Jackson earlier in the game where Kirk hit him in the face mask. It was the Steelers were all over the Falcons pass game for the duration, and not just not just due to the pressure, they were actually clamping up in the secondary as well, Drake London and Kyle Pits having some difficulties separating at some points. Kyle Pits did get loose on a busted coverage and Kirk was able to find him. If not for that, the Falcons offense really had nothing to speak of other than some solid Bejon runs.

Right gets one hundred and eleven yards from scrimmage, had five catches for forty three yards. As part of that, the rest of the team only had one hundred and fifteen So you know, the main guys are on the field down. We've solved that problem, Drake Londonjonn Robinson, but it wasn't nearly enough to end up with only two hundred and twenty six yards. I mean, that is meager and it's why I picked this upset on game debut. I don't care, you know, because the Steelers defense was the only group in this game that I trusted. And yeah, the Steelers offense didn't do that much, but justin fields did not turn the ball over. We have a picture of Russell Wilson, who was inactive for this game. He tweaked his calf during the week. We had told you about that. He was not on the field, but he did wear his shoulder pads and showed off a new shaved haircut. Maybe that's been the case all camp. I hadn't seen it yet, but yes, shoulder pads. Despite being inactive. Justin Field spoke after the game just talking about you know what he is thinking about as the starting quarterback at least for week one of this team.

You know, I just came in wanting to win, and I'm glad that we're leaving here with the wins. So in terms of who's starting, who's not, all I want to do is win at the end of the day. So yeah, I'm really not even going to get into all you know who I want to start today album. I came here to win, no matter I phil if I was gonna throw for three hundred yards, one hundred yards, no yards, like, I came in to win. So that's the only focus.

One hundred and thirty seven yards on the ground for the Steelers, fifty seven of those were from Justin fields seventy from Naje Harris only one hundred and thirty three passing yards net, so they were much more effective on the ground. They forced three turnovers of various Steelers win nice win for them. A very similar score line happened in Cincinnati, but the result was pretty darn surprising.

Stevenson has fumbled once today. He got it back himself. He's behind Berseti's under the center. Hooper one of two tot ends Roy Henry to the left to give him a moderate starts light. Gots it back all the time if he's going to near a ship away from a center. But he picks up a first down on the left over he gets to the Cincinnati forty four.

He was in the grass, but the defensive.

Back Cam Taylor, brit A cornerback and ramanderre Oh. Although he couldn't slip away Old together for a touchdown rod he nonetheless has a first down run put them in a bubble rap.

That's right. That was Scott Zolak on wb Z. Bob soci on the call. You know, I can't decide if I'm completely embarrassed and oh just not enjoying. Scott Zolax calls that all or appreciative of that. He's such a perfect representative of the region in which I grew up. I mean he he is the cout that Patriots announcer that we deserve. Ramandre Stevenson, get it, gets it done. What a win, sixty to ten. I'm back, He's back. I'm back in. I mean, I eve when Drake may starts him even more back in. But you get a you get an opening win, you throw, you put the gatorade bath on Girod Mayo, one of my favorite Patriots when he was a player. Robert Kraft gives him the game ball. Afterwards, you win as the biggest underdog of the week. You knock Patrick Claiban out of our survivor picks in. It's over and yeah, then I'm back in. Tell me something about this game shook because I actually didn't see any of it.

Well, you didn't miss much from the Bengals, who essentially slipt walk through the first three ish quarters of the game. They get basically found every reason they could to make a mistake and give the Patriots more opportunities. But what this really was, Greg, and I'm speaking to your Patriots heart right now, this was twenty twenty two, Jacoby Brissett leading the Browns and Nick Chubbs in the backfield, except the names are different because it's Romandre Stevenson.

Now. The Patriots, despite.

All the concerns we had about their offensive line the preseason, dominated at the point of attack, and Stevenson was the hammer through that point, picking up extra yards, breaking tackles.

I mean, the stats don't lie on this guy. He ran hard and he powered this offense.

And Jacoby did exactly what you wanted him too, which is manage the game, find a way to keep drives going, pick up first downs occasionally with his legs, and just don't make mistakes. And they left the door cracked for the Bengals in the fourth quarter. In fact, I had a buddy at the game and I'm texting, going, you know, I know your team's struggling right now, but they're gonna win fourteen to thirteen.

And then they did it because the Patriots put it away.

They refused to give him the ball back, and they got to stop on defense deep in the bengals own territory late, and Zach Taylor punned and I thought he's punting. He's got all three timeouts, but you really think you're gonna get a stop here with the running game involved, and they didn't.

So hats off to the Patriots and girod Mayo.

Yeah, not stopping Remonderate today, averaging four point eight yards per carry. The key moments in the game, Mike Gasicki has a touchdown in the corner. Turns out the ball pops out of his hands as he hits the ground, then he slides out of bounds, so it's incomplete. The very next play, Joe Burrow hits Tanner Hudson up the middle of the scene scene, but Kyle Duggar punches the ball out right at the one yard line. The Patriots recovered. From then on, it was the Bengals just kept having key errors at key moments to kind of waste a solid Joe Burrow game. He was nine twenty one to twenty nine, but nothing much else to speak of.

Right, They didn't have the ball that much. So this is Patriots Formula nine possessions only for each team. You're not as good, you shorten the game if you can get one or two long drives, stay on the field. They had a fourteen eighty five yard touchdown play drive. They also had two other twelve play long field goal drives. I'm shocked that they were able to move the Bengals, but if you look at the Bengals up front, that's their biggest team weakness is they're not very heavy. You should be able to run on them. You were able to run on them last year. I'm just surprised that the Patriots were able to execute it. We did have a correspondent at this game, Nick Wesseling was at the game texting me talk. First of all, he said multiple Mac Jones jerseys at the game, which is like, why come on, I know you bought it, but come on. And then he said, there are certain things in life that you can count on, death taxes. In the Bengals losing in Week one, they have been bad under Zach Taylor early in the season. Two bad loss fumbles. I think they only had two loss all of last year, which is crazy. He didn't see the identity on the offense. Jamar Chase, you know, had a decent game, but nothing crazy six for sixty two. And he made a comparison that really spoke to me, Nick, that Jacoby Brissett is the new Dalton and you know, of course, Nick Westling's brother Chris Westling, of whom this studio is named after, came up with the Dalton scale, the guy who rises and falls based on the talent around him and doesn't take anything off the table. If you have someone better than him, you have a franchise quarterback. If you don't, you know you need to look for one. He's right at that line now, and maybe that's enough for the Patriots at least scrape out more wins than four and a half like everyone was expecting going into the year.

Yeah, and knowing this about Jacoby from his previous stops, that's why I completely understood why they chose him as their starter going to the start of the season. Because the thing is is, like you can get Drake May out there at any point, There's no need to rush him out there when you have a veteran who can do this in games like this and sneak out a couple wins that maybe most people didn't expect you to get. So it makes a ton of sense. And it's exactly how he played on Sunday in Cincinnati. I mean, he handled the game really well. I was very proud of him as he operated that offense, because let's face it, like Romandre had a great game, but like the passing game still leaves a little bit to be desired. But the beauty of it, Greg, I still think on the defensive side of the ball with the Patriots is the fact that the Bengals got.

Never got a first gear.

I mean there were multiple possessions where Joe Burrow's running for his life and like the gains are small and it's all checkdowns and it's everything short, and I'm thinking, man, this is way better than I thought they would be in Week one from a defensive perspective.

Well, I mean it's the same coaches. They're still leaving a Belichick on the staff. Darrod Mayo was there. He did a great job last year. And when they kept paying everyone this offseason, and unfortunately, you know, their best player on defense in my mind is Kristen Barmore, who's out with blood clots. But they were all good players. Like it was like, people like, why are they bringing back all these players? I was like, because those are their best players. You want to keep them, like Kyle Dugger who had that force fumble. So that part of it doesn't shock me. It's also Week one and week one can can lie. I get that, but I do think it's a big deal no matter how this season goes, even if they only end up with five or six wins, to have that moment, that first sort of buy in where you get a tough road victory. This is not the type of victory they were getting the last couple of years, and they got one in week one. I'm excited about it. You should be also excited about Caleb Williams and what he's going to bring to my life as a person who enjoys watching Bears games, and yet he wasn't really at the center of a Bear's victory On Sunday Bear.

Stack the line of scrimmage. Are they blitzing? They are Gordon coming to love us? Swallow it up, gets rid of it. At the last second, editors intercepted down the sideline, so the twenty eighth, then a ted.

To the five to the end zone.

Ty reach Stevenson for the lead in the fourth quarter.

We'll love a Sunday Eat just flipped it in the air.

The easiest fix six you're gonna find for Tyring Stevenson's Oh will love us, Like, what are you doing?

We'll us and he takes away.

What are you doing, Will Levis, You had a lead, You had a chance. That was one of two touchdowns scored by the Bears that were not scored by the Bears offense. We also got a punt return touchdown by Jonathan Owens, Yes, the star of hard knocks because he's Simone Biles. His wife will hear that call in a little bit, Patrick, I don't know where to go in this game because camleb. Williams goes fourteen for twenty nine for ninety three yards. So I don't want to go there. First, Give me something else first.

Okay, Well here it was a game of big plays by the Bears.

Yes, that overshadowed a solid ground game by the Tennessee Titans, both Tony Pollard and ta j Spears averaging over five yards to carry.

The problem is they only had two attempts between the two of them.

There were the two interceptions by Will Levis, but there was just a period there in that in the second half of the game, third quarter, early fourth quarter where the Bears just hit the Titans with giant play after giant play. You saw uh that that pick six, uh coming off of Will Levis just kind of floating the ball out there, trying to.

Flip it, flip it away. Pick six. There was a fifty yard field goal.

From Cairo Santos after will Levis got stripsacked by Darryl Taylor.

TJ. Edwards recovered that the block point there was just so much.

But Caleb had an opportunity to hit Keenan Allen early in the first half. He overthrew him for a touchdown. Then right at the end of the first half, Keenan Allen is running it out on the goal line from the slot, Caleb puts in the perfect position. He drops that I think Bears fans feel a little bit different, but they're they're gonna be over the moon regardless. With a win in Caleb's first game, he says he only cares about the win, not stats.

Well, let's hear him say that. Caleb Williams after the game.

About stats as long as you, yeah, don't care about stats, I feel I feel great.

I'll be honest with you. I feel great.

I understand obviously the stats were you know, where I wanted to be and things like that, because I want to go out there and perform to the best of my ability, and you know, didn't do that today, and.

So you know we're gonna get better tomorrow.

We got this low period, you know, this these next fifteen hours or so, and then you know, you reset, you know, you get ready for Houston next week.

And so you know we're we're gonna enjoy this win.

We're gonna go dinner with my family, hang out with them, and then from there get back into it and get ready to go.

We're gonna be better next week.

Yeah, the passing stats in this game are crazy.

Uh.

Will Lewis and Caleb Williams combined shook for about fifty percent completions and somewhere between three and four yards per attempt. They were actually pretty similar numbers. The difference was Levis made two big mistakes with the two interceptions. At least Caleb Williams uh was clean. But the Bears offense only had one hundred and forty eight yards total in this game, which, if you put that into last season, would have been a I can just say this without even check. It would have been a bottom ten offensive game that any team had all season, maybe bottom five.

Yeah.

It's not often that you look at the NFL game and you see that both offenses failed to combine for four hundred yards of total offense.

Well, it's just mental math. Off the top of the head.

They florted with it, but they didn't quite get past that. So you kind of know what you're dealing with here. But at the same time, this is the beauty of the NFL, and not just speaking from a Bears or Titans perspective. A game like that, if you just find ways to hang around, you keep chipping away, you hit a couple of field goals, you make it, you take it from seventeen ten to seventeen thirteen to seventeen sixteen, boom breaks your way and you get a pick six. That's the beauty of being able to watch these games in this league, and for the Bears that paid off.

Let's listen to the call on the return that Jonathan Owens had Stonehouse back deep to our left.

DeAndre Carter pushed the cluck on the ground, picked up to the ten, to the five, to the.

End zone, put the touchdown on the black put by the Bears.

Jonathan Owens, Welcome Chicago.

That w MVP Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer, And yeah, it was seventeen to three at that point, Patrick, and I guess the defense did the rest of the job because if you look at the pressure numbers in this game, the Bears, especially even without having a big performance from Monte Sweat, whether it was Sweat, Girvon Dexter, Andrew Billions, DeMarcus Walker, guys that we don't really know that much about, but they were pressuring will Lewis quite a bit.

Yeah, and under pressure in this game, will Lewis was five of thirteen, one touchdown, two interceptions with a thirty eight percent completion percentage. The Bears defense was all over him, but that those plays kind of tell the story of the game, because I mean, first of all, what better way for Jonathan Owen's the former Packer to ingratiate him people in Chicago than having this return touchdown in Caleb Williams first game. But just play after play that they made in Tennessee after playing so well, Like said, the margins are just so thin.

Week one is ugly, like a lot of these games. Just you even saw it with the best teams on Thursday and Friday night. Those are good teams that played on both tho Dads, It's just it's sloppy it's different. You just try to escape with a win. Our producer Air Robt says, we have a funny still of our guy Will Levis. So if you're watching this show, I want to see this still. I haven't seen it. It's him kneeling after the interception with his hands clasped behind his head. That is the picture of a man who has said, what have I done? I've thrown away a beautiful start, a beautiful upset to start the season. So the Bears start their season on track. Want to zero. Let's take another break and get to the rest of these games. Oh yeah, back on NFL Daily and for the first time all season, let's go across the sidewalk where it was one hundred degrees today. It was the hottest game in the history of Dodger Stadium. Not too far away today. It was a recipe for emotions to be lost, to get a little out of control, and that happened over at Sofi Stadium in a Chargers victory over the Raiders.

Matt Locke and Edwards get a breather. Dobbins checks back in on this third and six and the right pocket of Herbert Herbert to throw and has him on the cross or.

It's mccauckey shuffle, shuffle toushound, Oh lady, ten yard touchdown toss and he broke two sets of ankles on that touchdown grab.

What a play for the rookie.

He hit the.

Brakes, watched the plane fly right by and not another plane flew by and he skipped into the end zone.

Oh what a call. That's my first nominee for call of the Year. What away to start our Chargers season? That, of course was Matt money Smith, our friend and guest on NFL Daily, our friend Daniel Jeremiah, who does do a pretty good job at this football broadcasting thing. They were on KYSR Lad McConkie with some moves there gets the score from Justin Herbert to extend the lead to twenty two to ten, and the Chargers come from behind in a game that I don't think shook Jim Harbaugh could have scripted any better. They had two first downs in the first half. I don't think he wanted any more first downs because he wanted a game where he could talk about where manly men who grind them down and run the ball down their throats by the end of the game, and that's what happened.

Yeah, I mean he's lost the ability to use the Michigan man term for himself, so he's got to find something else, right. I'm just glad. First off, I have two questions. One went, it's that hot out in the Greater Los Angeles area? Does Money Smith does Money's voice excuse me, get deeper than it already is? And secondly, a big tip of the hat to him for saying, oh lad, because I tweeted, oh my lad as soon as he made that play, so I was like, all right, same wavelength. But yeah, this does fit the the Harbaugh you know approach. You know Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. They are embodying his approach, primarily because they were just offensively bad in the first half. It's a good Raiders defense, and they went three and out a few times, and there wasn't a lot to talk about, and yet they stayed in the game. And that was the key there was staying in the game and then pulling away. I need to point out real quick one big moment. I thought it was a big moment in this player's trajectory over his career. JK.

Dobbins.

Guy has been through the Ringer health wise in the last couple of years. He rips off a long run to set them up for that touchdown pass to Ladd maconkeeye, and as he's taking off and breaking away into the clear, I'm thinking, there's no way he's getting there. He's definitely getting caught. But what a moment for JK. Dobbins for everything he's gone through over the last few years to be here now playing for the coach that used to coach at his rival college and putting it all together and getting a win and.

Doing it with thirteen yards per carry. Show.

You look at the and you think, well, Greg Roman, Jim Harball, they're just gonna grind and run it out, and that's what they did in the second half.

But JK. Dobbins did all this damage with just ten carries ten care He hit those two big plays.

I think the first one was for forty six yards and then he hit the sixty one yarder in the second half and it was just they did nothing. The only reason they got three in the first half was because Gardner Minshew tried to check up on a pass that he was thrown to the flat, ends up throwing it behind himself. In this one of these comical type hilarity things that has caused me to wonder how long Gardner Minshew maybe starting for the Las Vegas Raiders. Another performance like this, and I think we're going back.

To day Connell. He finished his twenty five for thirty three. So that wasn't the fourth down play that you're talking about on Minshew right, because there was a few weird ones. There was a fourth down where the Chargers zero blitzed. They had the lead, I believe at that point, and he just kind of held onto the ball. Actually might have been when it was nine to seven. He holds onto the ball. They're trying to be aggressive, they maybe in field goal range, and that's been his bugaboo of just not making quick decisions holding onto the ball. And then his day, uh wasn't over until late in the game where we had one of the more enjoyable interceptions I believe of the day.

Khalil and Bud out there is your edge bench. You has time pump fag swatted in the air in are sped at boot Afford, Oh, the biggest man on the field and as well as he had played the run all day today. Give it to the three hundred and twenty pound five foot eleven refrigerator. Mac got his hand on it. Ford intercepts it, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call salt in the wound.

That is Awesomeford getting Joey bosahead a monster day and yet again and not a lot of offense, not a lot of passing, justin Herbert with one hundred and forty four yards in this game. And let's just talk quickly about uh Antonio Pierce. He had a fourth and one situation at the Chargers forty three yard line, down one, so at this point it's only UH down one score rather late in the game, and he decides to punt it at the forty three yard line on fourth and one with seven minutes to go. What year is this? That is something they would even be going for in like nineteen ninety five, two thousand and five, Like you had to go back to the seventies to pass up that fourth and one. Let's listen to Piers try to defend it after the game.

Yeah, no, I was considered going for it as a long one and got stopped earlier in the game with them punter had done a good job, you know, pining those guys back.

I think you had two or three.

I think three points since I twenty again, you know, defenses was strange for the most part of the game.

Keep them back to it three timehous.

Like five plays later the game was over. The sixty one yard gus I mean JK. Dobbins run was just a couple of plays later. So they they punt it. It's seven minutes left. You have to get a stop to even have another chitse to fourth and one.

Patrick Lamon, Yeah, and this feels like a fourth and one that Antonio pears in the way that the Raiders were built in the mindset they seemed to have last year after he got the job, would have gone for one hundred percent of the time.

Yeah, I think interesting.

The head coach might have been influenced again by the fact that Chargers had two first downs in the entire first half and the only reasons that they had the points that they did was because the quarterback threw the ball backwards. Maybe that played in into believing that they could get the ball back and get a stop versus the way his offense was up.

In fairness, though they had given up a long field goal drive and a six play sixty one yard touchdown drive earlier in the half. So the defense had you know, that's a defensive coach. It's why I'm always a little afraid of a defensive coaches shook.

Yeah. But at the same time, man, you cannot justify that to me as it was a long one, like, yeah, I understand leaning on your defense, but for the love of God, right it was twenty four. Maybe he was in the house that you know, the former Chargers regime, they love to go for it and really unorthodox situation. So maybe he said, I'm gonna go in the opposite direction and not go for it in a situation when every analytical mind is screaming at the TV, patting the table, go for it.

Yeah, And I mentioned how the you know, some emotions got got cranked up in the heat. David Ealy are in our newsroom was watching to see if there were any like fan fights because there was just what the heat. We were looking outside. We didn't see anything, but the players did fight. There was There was a pretty real deal fight. Towards the end of this game. Jack Jones was one of the players ejected, which goes against my NFL Daily bump theory that JK. Dobbins got because both of them were guests on NFL Daily. But Jack Jones I thought had a good game. Other than that, I think Josh Palmer also got ejected, So we'll see if there's any suspension anything like that. Also, I thought it was weird Tony Romo and Jim Nantz were on this game, like a four or five game on CBS between two EH teams. It was almost like they saw Tom Brady there at four twenty five and they didn't want to compete.

Oh you think they're ducking.

I'm just gonna say they're just like they're just like, hey, we don't want that heat this week. We're gonna let time.

Maybe they should get it next time.

You know who got it? The Minnesota Vikings. They got a good Vikings went to the Meadowlands and they put one on the Giants.

First and ten for the Vikings from the Giants. Twenty one.

Darnald shotgun puts Justin Jefferson in halo motion to the right JJ startage in the backfield.

Darnald, it's gonna.

Throw to the end zone.

Man wide open top touchdown. Vikings Shlon Naylor with his second career touchdown. Sam is thrown two today and the Vikings lead twenty to three.

That's Paul Allen of Kate f An, the Great Paul Allen, who once owned a horse with Mike Zimmer. We found out last week and Mike Zimmer's feelings were so hurt when Paul Allen dared to mention that he pushed Kirk Cousins that Mike Zimmer then made Paul Allen sell his share of the horse. He kept the horse. What a story, And they haven't spoken since Mike Zimmer.

Stole his horse.

I mean, why hold so many grudges? Mike Zimmer who doesn't love Paul Allen, who doesn't love Sam Darnald, I mean, I don't. I'm not gonna love this season if Sam Donald keeps playing like this, shook. He finished his night nineteen to twenty four for two hundred and eight yard and two thousands, just because all the donald Hives gonna make me eat my words because sounds like he played pretty well today.

Well, I mean, I'm already drawn some flat from Vikings fans for saying that he wasn't perfect early in this game, even though he went fifteen first first seventeen attempts.

He ended up being really great.

The only reason I was talking about him not being perfect is there was a few moments of hesitation early in the game that took me back to his Jets days and seeing ghosts, and I was like, no, Sam, you've grown beyond that.

Get beyond that. Be the better player that you can be.

And he was.

He was dialed in, He was pretty composed, He extended to play with his legs a little bit. He was on target, he didn't look like he was overwhelmed. And his touchdown pass first the one on fourth and goal from the two, I thought was almost more impressive than the one to Naylor because he sees justin Jefferson lined up in single coverage with Deontay Banks and the outside knows he's thrown the slant and just puts it right in his stomach and fired it in there. I was like, Oh, there's that arm strength that I remember from USC and that's kind of the way he played this entire game. Hits Jefferson down the sideline with a really nice completion for forty four, he had to tight end over the middle down the scene. That was probably the most impressive throw outside of that touchdown pass that I've seen. I mean, I was like, whoa, look at the confidence he stepped up and let it rip. So it was a beautiful start to the season for Sam Darnold. But again it also came against the Giants who have an improved defense. Dexter Lawrence is an absolute menace and was a problem all day. And actually credit to Sam again on that touchdown pass to Naylor. He stood there and took a hit from Dexter Lawrence knew it was I'm gonna still put it on him, but again, it is week one.

It does lie. But I was very happy for Sam in his first game as the start of the Vikings.

Yeah, in a beautifully called game by Kevin O'Connell as well. Sam makes that nice throw to Justin Jefferson. Then on the touchdown to Naylor, it's a fake bubble to Justin Jefferson where every Giant and probably every Giant fan in MetLife is locked onto eighteen and Darnold comes off of him and comes back for the touchdown. Aaron Jones how to score it as well. But it's hard to look at this game and not get the visual of Phil Simms and Eli and lt in the pre game and the Giants in the throwback life going nuts, and then Dimes comes out and is absolutely putrid, and Giants fans are gonna have to remember that.

Yeah, Nick. After the game, Dable was Brian Dabel, their coach, was already asked if he's thinking about benching Daniel Jones, which he said, no, that is not entering my mind. But yeah, two interceptions one hundred and eighty six yards and Patrick mentioned it. They're celebrating the hundredth and you know, anniversary of the Giants being a team, and this is a tough way, tough way to celebrate.

No, you kind of had a feeling as soon as they I mean, you can't just like skip the year. It's one hundredth anniversary and you're gonna go through with everything. But yeah, you kind of knew they were going to set themselves up for this type of day at some point, considering the state of their team. Daniel Jones, when he had time and was comfortable, put some passes on target. It's just that for the majority of the day he looked frazzled. He looks like the Daniel Jones that we all know, and he'll make the boneheaded mistake, and it was a great play by Andrew Van Ginkle to pick him off Jack Jones style for the fastest interception, fastest pick six in the last year or two according to next Gen Stats.

But let's listen to that one. That was one of the more fun plays of the day.

Let's listen, all right, Go Titans, go Will Levis, and here comes Daniel Jones twelve with twenty two for one hundred and eleven yards.

Vike's lead twenty one to six.

Jones through.

Touchdowns, go fourth touchdown in and grew Van Ginkle's career, and he read Daniel Jones like a book, and that book had a happy ending twenty seven to six Minnesota.

And that's not the first time he's done that. That is awesome. And just for a little context there, Yeah, they were coming back from a score break on the radio. So that's fun here in Paul Allen enjoy uh Will Levis and uh wow, what a what a play. Van Ginkoll was with Flores in Miami, And yeah, this is just a team. These are two teams that you're like, I don't know about these teams this year, and yet today shook. They didn't seem like they were in the same area code. Really of like their potential.

Yeah yeah, and that's the thing. I think the Giants defense will carry them to be competitive in some games. Is just as long as Daniel Jones doesn't bury them. But I do want to just point out one thing. Paul Allen's zero to one hundred is among the most doable things I've experienced. You know, uh, audio speaking like it just in their ear its first intended well Tonsdell, like, that's just great.

That is that's passive. Malik Neighbors gets five for sixty six in his first NFL game, so he was their leading receiver.

Solid, He's a guy. He's a guy, Greg, He's definitely a guy.

Just Jefferson of course back from the injury four for fifty nine with a touchdown. Jordan Addison had an ankle injury in this game. Our guy Ian Rapaport. His initial reports indicate it's not believed to be anything major, but you know, there's there's gradations of this, so we'll have to see what it is after he gets more tests. But a great opening week win for the Vikings, and their schedule gets really hard after this, so I thought this was an important game for them, and as you mentioned, Patrick Aaron Jones getting it done fourteen for ninety four on the ground and a touchdown that is a site for sore eyes for Vikings fans who have not seen an effective running game for a couple of seasons. Let's go down to a game that I feel like wasn't really on the radar for most people, even though it featured the number two overall pick in the NFL draft making his first start, but he was not star on Sunday.

See if we could punch in points with a touchdown leading six to nothing.

White chift shot in the backfield, dropping Vega Thos a sideline while.

It is coot ball, pop ball Mike Evins for the guy Craig pull over in touchdown Tampa Bay Fire of the cottage, Get up.

Going love Gene.

That was Gene Deckerhoff for the first time this season on w f US. And yeah, Mike Evans is a special player. I mean that was an incredible catch. Nice throw by Baker Mayfield who finishes with four touchdowns on the day two hundred and eighty nine yards. And yeah, I got I got a text during the day from our friend Jordan Radrieg, who is lucky enough to watch the early games that she's waiting for this RAMS games to start in Detroit, and she's just like Mike Evans makes me feel things. He is just like an extraordinary football player.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was thinking of watching the game Death Taxes Mike Evans. Benjamin Saint Juice was fighting for his life on that touchdown. If you're watching on YouTube and Mike Evans comes through with the catch, he gets Saint just later on in the game, and it overshadows Baker Mayfield's performance. Twenty four thirty to eighty nine, four touchdowns, A really good first game from Jayden Daniels. But our concerns about the Commanders come through because the defense could not get off the field. They could not stop Tampa Bay through the air. But Jayden Daniels has two touchdowns on the ground, seventeen to twenty four through the air, fo one hundred and eighty four yards, complete seventy percent of his passes. Okay, it's it's like it didn't even happen because Baker and company were just melting through the Commanders all game.

This Fantasy owners got to be happy. I mean, that's that's Lamar Jackson numbers eighty eight and two on the ground with you know, with the passing, but just looking at the box score, Patrick, you watched this one a little more closely. To me, it just it does point out well, first of all, I don't think they're very talented on defense, and you're going up against really talented receivers. And Chris Godwin and Evans and Jalen McMillan, who I've been excited about, had a long touchdown in this game too.

He could have had too.

Also, there was there was one that just went out of his reach that wasn't a Baker's few misses in this game.

And then you look at the wide receivers for who Jayden's throwing to. Luke McCaffrey leads the way with three catches for eighteen yards, Terry mcclaurin gets seventeen, Diami Brown, who I thinks was maybe he got hurt, but he Yeah, he's not even in the mix. Alamedia Zakias like just not getting anyone involved in Austin Eckler and Brian Robinson and Zach Ertz are your leading receivers. That's not a recipe, but we should talk positive because I like this Bucks team a lot. Your guy Baker shook. But when I say a lot, I think there could potentially be a nine to ten win team. They were my pick to win this division, and I'm not going to crown him after one week. But one of the reasons is just like they have pretty deep, top tier talent and they have pretty good continuity. Like that's that's a nice combination.

Yeah.

So, like going into the season, I was concerned because I didn't know what this offense would look like without Dave Canalis at play caller, because I just thought he was a big reason why Baker had the career year he had last year. And there's only one week and week one lives and everything else. But this is really encouraging to see from Baker, and I do think you're exactly right. It's a product of a quarterback with a rapport with very talented receivers just going to work and making it happen against the defense that lacks talent. Because Dan Quinn is the head coach and he should lead some sort of defensive turnaround eventually, but if you don't have the players, you don't know the players, and when you're facing receivers like this, Like you just said, there's going to be a difference.

It's just good.

It's good to see Baker pick up where he left off. You know, he's gotten paid now and week one at least he picked up right where he left off.

Yeah, and a lot of it was, you know, the short stuff. That's what he does very often, is you know, nineteen for twenty three for one hundred and eighty four yards on the short stuff for two touchdowns. But it was very effective. And when he needs to throw the ball deep, he could. Yeah, I'm concerned about this Washington team, but yeah, I don want to overreact after one game.

Slight concerns for the Bucks run game. Bucky Irving led the team, but there were a couple of long runs that kind of skew those numbers. They really had difficulty getting things going. Rashad White had fifteen carries for thirty one yards. He was involved in the past game as well, But it's tough to nitpick problems for a Bucks team that took their feet off the game.

They could have scored forty plus in this game.

That is.

Fascinating to me because Rashad White, I don't know what he did to the next gen people. But like whenever you look at rush yards over expected, it's Rashad White's always got that biggest negative on the board, and today he was minus thirty two. Somehow, I don't feel like he's that bad. But whatever whatever that metric measures, it doesn't work out for them. And they have not been a good run blocking team in years. And they haven't been a good running team in years.

I do have to ask the NGS team about that, because there were a couple of plays where Rashad White's getting the ball on like a deep handoff and there are two defenders in his face and.

He loses five yards.

That can't be the ones that go on.

I just wondering, like what was the expected yard Rashad White was supposed to get.

Yeah, so the Commanders, we'll need to go back to the drying board. Need a little more juice bucks get off to a great start. They're at one game ahead of the Falcons, but they're not in first place by their lonesome in the NFC South because there was another team that put up a crooked score. It was down in New Orleans where everything is great again.

Third and fourth of the Saints while sitting at their own forty one, moving.

Right to left towards Poidris out of a shot in inness car Panthers.

Bring four cars, stands now fires at deep middle of the field.

PUSHI scheh see you let it bar touchsto.

New Orleans, whiss sase middle of the field, post pattern sixty four.

Yards and a perfect pass from Parr because he gets an out past j C.

Horn to Rashid Sehe.

That's how you start.

That was Mike Hass of w w L. Derek Carr going deep, Derek Carr making plays like all the things that you killed Derek Carr for, which is like, oh, he doesn't go deep enough. He just you know, thinks and dunks and things and dunks like that was beautiful. He doesn't really make anything happen on his own. I mean there was a no no no no, no, no, no yes touchdown to Foster Moreau a little later in that half, and like everything that has been wrong about the Saints offense looked right in this game. Now, they did play against a defense that's under man but I don't care. Last year's Saints team Patrick weren't putting up forty seven points in any game and they weren't looking like this at any point in the last couple of years. So every time I tweeted out something positive out the SuDS, oh yeah, look who they're who they're playing, It's like, yeah, they played them last year a couple times too. They didn't didn't put up many points on the board. This was different. They scored on nine straight possessions to start the game. That's preposterous.

Clint Kubiak could levitate around the streets of New Orleans at any point over the next week.

People could carry him.

It was.

It was that explosive.

And you mentioned that no, no, no, yes, Like I'm looking at the TV and Derek Carr had an option to run, but then he pops up, throws the ball to Foster Moreau, who mosses in Carolina Panther rashishah.

He'd beat j. C. Horn on that long touchdown.

Olave had a great block that sprung Alvin Kamara, who had a nice game as well. They were just going up and down the field. To contrast with the Panthers struggling yet again, where it's the Canal's era is starting to feel very similar.

Well, okay, it's one game. It's one game.

It's one game.

Let's stay positive, shook and talk a little. Alvin Kamier. Alvin Kamara hasn't seen holes like this to run through since that five touchdown game on Christmas. Was that six touchdowns or five touches? I don't know six.

It should have been seven. But for some reason that's Sean gave Taysom one.

And at that give taste one. That's fine. Taysom Hill, by the way, very involved in this game. I was hoping that he would be five rushes. I think he's more of a running back. He's listed at tight end, played a little tight end, little full back, but only had two targets for one yard. As a pass catcher five runs for eight thirty five yards. But Kubiak is having fun with him in the way that you could see Kyle Shanahan and Kubiak using Kyle Yuschek last year. And I'm thinking about a very specific play where the motion before the play with Taysom Hill in the backfield, I think it might have been Jamal Williams on that play too, in the backfield totally scrambled the Panthers and it frees up Juwan Johnson for a touchdown. So I think Kubiak had an extraordinary game. I know it was against the Panthers, but it just everything made sense for the first time in a while for this Saints offense.

Well, yeah, window dressing and hey, look the fullback or the age back is back. If you don't know that, you know now with the way that they're using Taysem Hill. It's just I think to me, it's refreshing because we slogged through last year with these Saints. I mean, it was a trudge every week. I'm just stuck in the mud watching Derek Carr refuse to throw it at chrys Olavae and not look down the field unless it's not a desperation. And then they put forty seven on the board today. You're right, it's against the Panthers. You know, take it with a grain of salt and everything else. But it's just so encouraging because then this means the Saints might be watchable. This means the Saints might be able to compete for the division even if it's only one game. I mean, if they have this offense.

Right, Look, they tied for the division win last year. It gets a little lost. The Bucks won and on the tiebreaker. It's not like there was some huge gap between them. I do want to hear the college just because I'm curious of Jamal Williams's first official touchdown as a Saint that didn't involve an insurrection against this coach.

First and ten all sitting.

Fourteen knocking on the door for more toss outside left side Jamal Williams.

It's out of the ten five.

Jabal Williams Week eighteen touchdown last year, not this time.

Maybe Week won.

He had seventeen touchdowns when he came to to Wallans, but it took all of last year.

We know how he scored.

It don't matter now, but that was a big rock for Jamal Williams.

Fourteen yards because he gets on the board week one, that is awesome. I don't know if wal Williams looked that spry in this game. I did watch that eleven carries thirty eight yards, but you saw some nice holes for both running backs and that was big. We should mention. Yeah, Bryce Young struggled thirteen for thirty one hundred and sixty one yards two interceptions, really disappointing for those of us. Patrick. I think I think basically anyone with with a heart and who just likes football that wanted to see a better start out of him, certainly under a ton of pressure in this game, the offensive line could not pick up the blitz as it was a great game plan by Dennis Allen Alante Taylor very active getting sacks as a slot corner and also in coverage. Then again, you know, the interceptions weren't great. One was just a poor overthrow and the other one was a bad decision. So back to the drying board.

And I think I think we could say it like the one two Deontay Johnson the very first pass of the season. I don't know if Deontay was felt that pass coming looked like he could have got his hands up around and on it before it got into the second area. But in terms of it's hard to get a lot of talent at the corner position, the Saints have it.

Oh yeah, this is a very good defense.

Going up against a familiar opponent in week one on the road, it's very easy to have these over you know, you look at your Twitter, Tomline, it's over for Bryce.

His career is finished. It's in the tank. Yeah.

I don't necessarily buy into that, but there's clear places that this offense needs to improve and we're gonna get another crack at it next week.

Yeah, and this playmaking Saints defense, we'll see against different competition, but I think it has a chance here. Tyron Matthew talked a big game coming into the season, gets a force fumble early in this game. Marshawn Lattimore was a little banged up and left. It's not believed to be anything serious initially, so kool Aid mckinnistry came in for a few extra snaps there. We're gonna take one final break before we wrap up the show with the Broncos in the Seahawks. This was a fun one. And then Sunday Nie back on NFL Daily, I am excited to wrap up our Week one recap show with my favorite part of the week, where a honk about Gino Smith in the incredible season this Seattle Seahawks team is gonna have and this was a wild one, but they got the win in one of the most geno ways possible, making a throw where there really wasn't a window. There.

Here comes Tyler Lockett. He's slotted on the left side. Charbona is wide to the left, almost to the sidelines be a great place to just throw a little pass to Tyler, and Tyler.

Only one hands it.

Holy catfish, Tyler Lockett, you make me look like a profit Dundy.

Just a little crossing round.

The ball was too far out in crown, yet he reaches out with one hand and makes the.

Catch be done. Nine yard game. Holy smoke. That was Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett. And yeah, it only shows up in the box score as a short right pass for nine yards, and yet it was incredible because Lockett needed such strong hands to catch a pass that had about a one inch window to get through. And if they didn't complete it, they were punting back to bow Knicks and the Broncos. And I didn't have much faith that the Broncos and bow Knicks were gonna go on a touchdown drive to win the game. But I was pretty surprised that Bo Knicks and the Broncos had a touchdown drive just previously to make it even competitive. Because the Seahawks defense was absolutely dominant in this game. The Broncos defense was pretty dominant in the first half too, but then Gino and the running game got it going twenty six to twenty Seahawks get the victory survive a scare nick that included two safeties by the Broncos in the first half. This was the first game in seven years where where one defense had two safeties. Usually that would happen in a win, but this one happened in a loss for the Broncos.

Usually that also requires some strange field position management where you have to pin them deep enough to have that opportunity.

We had two drives start at the one yard line and it was there you go. It was a theme to the first half that the Seahawks offensive line is going to be a problem, and was an extremely big problem in the first half of this game, and very typically for how this first half went. They got stuffed for a loss on a running play for the second safety, and had a holding penalty, They had penalties. Gino was just getting absolutely manhandled, and the field position was outrageous in this game. The Broncos were averaging starting at midfield and the seahawkskept being at the one and everything, and that's how you get a very weird ten to nine lead early for the Broncos. But the Seahawks end up, you know, finally getting.

It back and Seahawks fans, they will relate with me. In fact, I'm relating with you. Who better for it to happen to than the Seahawks, the team that is always in the most unusual games in the NFL, and yet they find a way to come back and win against the Broncos, team that you know, was scrappy. And if it wasn't for a really bad Bonix interception that also produced one of the best, you know, natural reaction calls on air on network television, then maybe it would have been even closer. But look, it's a good way for them to rekindle this weird week one thing that they have in the schedule makers they did a couple of years ago. They're doing it again, totally different fashion, and they come away with the win. It's good for them, and you know, for somebody who's ready to get rid of Tyler Lockett, Greg you were really.

I'm for that play. I'm not getting that is twisting my words in a million different ways. Tyler Lockett leads them and receiving six for seventy seven. What I said was, I think this is going to be the last time this group is together. And that's just looking at the economics of the NFL and that Tyler Lockett's getting older. Maybe not, Maybe he'll be one of those guys who signed slightly below market deal and stays there forever like Doug Baldwin did. And I hope that happens because they really needed him today. DK Metcalf had a tough day. Couple near catches. Patrick Sistan did a good job against him. Let's actually listen to that call you mentioned about bon Nicks, because I want to get into a little bit of a Bonix discussion before we move on.

Denver played with all three timeouts, No. Five thirty five left. There down thirteen Knicks. Oh noycept they don't.

By lolling second interception toned by the rookie Knicks.

See take lessons from former Rams safety Adam Rchhletta. There on the call, Tom Brady, just react, just be you and b real. That ball is in mid air, crossing the line of scrimmage and Adam marsh Lettis's Tarika Woolen's screaming across the fields. Oh no, as he comes, he comes underneath and undercuts for that interception where bon Nicks was. If you were going to describe quarterbacks only through the memes attributed to him. This was a very bon Knicks game. Wow, his yard his yards per completion exceedingly low. He throws the ball forty two times fo one hundred and thirty eight yards. Nevertheless, I mean he didn't have many games like though. That's like, what was it Auburn Bonicks? What was his first school I started? That was Auburn Bonicks. That was not Oregon Bonix, right, Oh yeah, no, Oregon Bononix was lightening up, but still a lot of attempts, keeping it very close, very efficient around the line of scrimmage. But you wanted him to attempt balls, you know, ten to fifteen yards down the field, but whenever he did, the Seahawks defenders would get a handle.

Oh it was a disaster. This was the worst performance any quarterback had. Two for twelve on throws over ten yards. You're making a face, shook. I watched every step of this game on throws over ten yards, two of twelve for forty two yards and two interceptions. The crazy thing is, if you look at all of his different splits, they all add up to numbers like that. There's no split that doesn't have him averaging under three yards per attempt. He had one point five yards per attempt on his first fifteen attempts. And the reason why I was tough to watch him, the reason why I believe Archiletta says oh no, And it was Spurodidas on the car there as the play by play guy, former NFL network shot at Total Access Access host. Maybe the first one. I could be wrong, Maybe that was Rich he was in the mix. I think he was saying no, no, because he saw so many throws like that during the game. Yes, Nicks only had two interceptions. When I used to chart for QB Index, I used to have an NP category near picks. He had at least four to five picks that were dropped or that were touched by the Seahawks. So it could have been an even more disastrous day. It was pretty pretty tough to watch, pretty disappointing, I think for Broncos fans that were pretty over their skis in the preseason. Let's be real.

Yeah, and I understandably so because he kind of, you know, he very much won that job in the preseason with his performance. Also, I'm a have to open your mind on this QB next charting because NPS is a good idea. It's like unearned interceptions is like the flip side of near picks, you know, as we kind of ex I counted picks.

In the NPS. It was just sort of it was basically turnover worthy place. I guess pff copy of the meet. Guess how I look at it? Uh yeah, And then you also have you know, big throws you know, yeah, yeah, throws other guys couldn't make. Nicks does not put many of those on tape, I have to admit. And Gino, yeah, who was under arrest and struggling in the first had a really nice half in the second half, but it was more about the run blocking. Ken Walker is just a great running back who looks to me like he's running with even more confidence in burst than ever. Twenty four one oh three, Zach Charboney had a three yard reception. So thanks Pete Carroll, you drafted running backs in the second round. Maybe it was John Schneider, but it's a great backfield and Gino Smith actually got them going on offense with a thirty four yard longest of his career. Yeah, I'm not surprised. He looks spry, he says. He told the broadcast crew that's he's faster than he's ever been in terms of his training. He's been timing it out that he's that he's more in shape. I believe it.

I'm glad he said it after the big run because.

He said before. Now he said it before. Oh, in like the broadcast meetings and whatnot.

Oh, I hate it. I hate it when you say something in a production meeting then it comes true.

Yeah, not as fun. Seahawks get the win. They go to one to zero with their rival team in the NFC West. The La Rams join them there to Sunday Night football.

We go.

Here come the Lions out of the huddling to the line, first and goal from the one.

The end zone will end.

You golf up under center, single back Montgomery golf takes the snap, turns, gives the Montgomery brake side tuckows for Lions.

Yes, this game over. Pack it up, boys, we're going home.

They don't night the great.

For the Lions. That was Dan Miller and Lomas Brown on w x y T. The Lions get it done in overtime twenty six to twenty and outstanding Sunday Night football game to kick off the season and to wrap a beautiful slate of games. On Sunday, Nick Shook still with me. Patrick Claybond has headed off. He's hosted a show in the morning on NFL Network. I'm gonna read you Shook the plays that occurred in overtime in this game, and just tell me if you think this defines what Dan Campbell wants the Lions to be. Khaley Fraeman left end twelve yards, creative, great player, David Montgomery right end twenty one yards, David Montgomerytgomery left tackle nine yards, Jared Goff pass to Jamir Gibbs ten yards. Jamir Gibbs left tackle three yards, David Montgomery up the middle six yards, David Montgomery up the middle eight yards, David Montgomery right tackle, one yard, touchdown. They do not give the ball back to the Los Angeles Rams. They run it down the Rams throats on a night in which previously they couldn't really run the ball. But so when it came down to it on a long game, these players are tired. The Lions counted on that offensive line, which is really the bed rock of their team.

Yeah, it was a beautiful thing to see as just a football traditionalist. And you know, Greg is a former offensive lineman, because we don't want to kick, slide and pass drop. We want to line up man on man and Ron block our tails off all the way to paydr That's exactly what he said. You know what, I'm done. I'm done with all this nonsense. We let the Rams back in this game. We almost threw a pick here, we threw a pick there. We're running the football with our horses, and David Montgomery was the horse that would not quit. He was fresh, He ran people over, he ran through tackles, he refused to go down. So it was only fitting that when they were on the doorstep of the end zone, which by the way, fresh take on the meeting of end zone because it did end the game, and that kind of blew my mind for a half second there during that call, they went to David Montgomery for the game ceiling touchdown. A beautiful vision and just a beautiful side to see.

Yeah, Rams fans have to be having flashbacks if you're listening to this. It just last year at the end of last season, when you're hearing Dan Miller so excited with the call of the year when they win that playoff game against the Rams, and it was such a similar game. This was twenty four twenty three. That was last season. This year it's twenty twenty going into overtime. The difference was the Rams made a furious comeback, as you mentioned, in this game, seventeen to three late in the third quarter. The Lions are winning this game, and then the Rams get all the way back to a twenty to seventeen lead off of a cup touchdown late in the fourth quarter. They had a chance they got the ball back to seal the game. They couldn't get enough first downs to bleed the clock. The Lions get Jake Bates a field goal to wrap up regulation, and then yeah, they steamrolled. There's something about Montgomery that just completes this team as good as Jamir Gibbs is. I was so wrong about this Montgomery signing. I thought it was too much and he just wasn't a special back, and then he was getting taken too early in fantasy leagues, and he was quiet in this game as I mentioned, and then when it comes to closing it, he gets it done. Sometimes your takes you just got to give up on them, yep, when they're not going well. But some takes you hold on to forever if you believe in them, because eventually they might be right. My friend Adam Levitanover had established the run. He says, never wrong, just early. And I've been just early on Jamison Williams. I've been waiting for him to pop. He was my wide receiver one in that class which had Garrett Wilson and a lobby and everything. And okay, it's year three though, that's when the receivers used to break out before this new NFL where everyone's good right away at wide receiver, and Jamison Williams they say it's been a maturity issue and figuring out how you got to be a pro and everything like that. But he goes five for one, one and a touchdown, and he was the reason they had this big lead fifty two yard pass from Jared Goff where he burns Tredevius White in the third quarter, but also made some other nice plays throughout the course of the game. And they really need him to be not a number one because you have him on Saint Brown. Although he only had thirteen yards tonight, that was weird for three catches, but you need him to be a high quality receiver starter, and he showed he can step into that role.

Yeah, and he did so well.

Exiting briefly with an injury too, was able to come back and continue to contribute and made a nice catch in the second half that helped them get within field goal range, which is a crucial drive because before they knew it, suddenly they were trailing after seemingly dominating this game with a two touchdown lead. So having players like that is obviously huge for you. I mean, this kid was such a talent that he spent one year in Alabama and became their best receiver. And the only reason that he didn't, you know, breakout prior in college is because he was at Ohio State with the Lave and Wilson and Harrison like that was an incredible receiving s course. So now he finally gets the opportunity in year three. He's with Jared Goff, who didn't have like a great night, but had a good enough night, you know, eighteen to twenty eight two hundred and seventeen yards in a touchdown. The Rams took away the middle of the field a lot, but good for James and Williams. He can operate on the outside, which is what he did at a high level, and you know, it's the combination of everything. Is the beauty of the Lions. I think because they are we look at them as a team that relies on their identity. So it's like, all right, let's still the ball around the yard. Let's get James to Williams hot. We don't even have to lean on the mounts Ross Saint Brown. Maybe they're taking him away. We can go somewhere else now, which is a strength to them. And then they get to overtime and they pound the ball on the ground. They get a big defensive stop right before the end of regulation too. That's a complete team. And Jake Bates hitting the field goal. That's a complete team with the third phase of the game coming in there. And that's why they're favored to win this division and make a deep run.

And yet I think Dan Campbell, when he watches this film will be disappointed. Overall, they were lucky to escape with the win. The Rams had thirteen more plays than the Lions. They dominated a time of possession, and that's evencluding that, you know, great long overtime drive which the Rams did not have a chance to make despite having so many injuries. Let's let's go through them our friend Jordan Rodrieg sent some texts that I'm gonna use during this portion of the show. She mentioned they were on their second center third technically because who they started at center today had to move over to fill in ther one of the guard spots, their second right tackle, and their third left tackle, Rob Hevenstein, their swing tackles ends up starting this game leaving early with an injury. Alerc Jackson's out with the suspension, So you got a guy aj R Curry at left tackle and he's getting smoked play after play by Aiden Hutchinson. Aiden Hutchinson, all these draft picks for the Lions coming through in a big spot, a sack to end regulation, getting all over Stafford on a third down play which could have potentially ice the game. He had a chance to throw it to Cup to really burn the clock late in regulation. That didn't happen. So that's going up against the third string left tackle. We got our second string right tackle who's given up a lot of pressures, and then the center. And Puka Nakua also leaves this game with a knee injury, which is very worrisome. It seems like he struggled to get fully back to one hundred percent. They use him a lot early in this game. I mean, he had a bunch of catches, four catches thirty five yards, and then he leaves with an injury and that leaves everything to Cooper Cup and Matthew Stafford, and you know what, they almost got it done. Twenty one targets for Cooper Cup. That's outrageous.

That's the catches.

That's the most of his career, and it's the most any anyone I think has had. I need to check this in. I think more than anyone had all of last year. At least fourteen catches one hundred and ten yards and just a gutty performance. He was in motion, according to next Gen Stats, more in this game than any player that they've recorded. He touched the ball wall in motion twelve times, which is more than any player they've ever recorded, which says to me, like the whole game plan, the whole offense is built around Cooper Cup and using these motions, and they made it work, especially with Pokinakua out to the point where Cooper Cup yes catches a go ahead touchdown with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it looks like the Rams are gonna pull off an improbable comeback first and.

Goal from the nine Ram back in the red zone under center, a chance to take the lead deep on Sunday Night football, play.

Action forward the flat cop in the sixth cut to the pylon, touchdown Cooper Cup touchdown ally nine and dime with a.

Clutch direct deposits a nineteen seventeen lead.

With four and a half to go. Oh, JB. Long are great friend from KSPN. I mean that is a that is a game winning call. Sook the Rams offensive defense just couldn't quite finish the deal after that to make it a game winning call.

Yeah, get Bank of America on the line with the direct deposits call. That was fantastic out of JB. You know that this was the culmination of what I think a lot of teams wish they had, which is a coach with plenty of experience. We already know he's an offensive genius and Sean McVay, but also a veteran quarterback who has worked with this coach long enough to be on the same page, because when you lose a guy like Puka and Akua, that could destroy some teams. Instead, McVeigh says, screw it, We're just gonna motion Cooper cut back and forth the id coverages and just pick them apart. And even with our backs against the wall, we're gonna continue to stick to that. And yeah, we're gonna feed him a lot, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we just have to go to him. It's just that he ends up being open and it speaks to the rapport that they've established in their years together with the Rams. And the product was a furious comeback capped by something like that, and also a terrible series of events for Carlton Davis. I had a buddy Buccaneers fan. He's like, is Carlton Davis even on the field for the Lions, And I was like, yes.

He is.

And he got caught in motion there and fell over twice, which left Cooper Cup opened to score. And then he again he drops an interception that would have been at the end of regulation. But man, it's a beautiful thing again to watch McVeigh, Stafford and Cup all work in tandem because they are on the same page and they are dangerous enough to wipe out your lead if you just give him a few possessions in the second half of a relatively close game.

Missed opportunity though, because for this Rams team, these injuries aren't necessarily going away next week and it's going to be a challenge and this would have been a tough road win to get. And yeah, you mentioned Carlton Davis dropped that ball from Stafford which went right into his gut right at the end of regulation. That was a play where Cup didn't seem like he knew the ball was coming, like he never looked around. And as great as they played, it just shows how tough the NFL is. As great as Stafford and Cup play, I think they'll have a couple of regrets. As I mentioned that there was a third down play with about a couple the two and a half minutes to go where Stafford had to step forward and there was a lot of pressure on the play, So you don't fault him for missing the throw, But if he just had a little more time, and he's such a good quarterback, I bet he wishes he just put a little more touch on it because he had Cup streaking open and if he had hit him, they almost certainly win that game. But yeah, that sequence to set up the Cup touchdown was awesome. Again, Jordan points out how they sub to two at well in the play before kind of signaling that they were gonna do a deep shot, and then the defense that ended up rotating to protect against that to two runs the deep concept, but Stafford ends up hitting Cup on the opposite side. So this is place sequencing. I get on stat you know McVeigh for not using timeouts at the right time or burning them at the wrong time, and yet you mentioned shook. They were kind of in a timeout staredown at the end of the game, which was interesting. I didn't fault McVeigh though it was weird he still had three timeouts at the end of that second half, But it was understandable why that all happened. Just these two teams are two of the most fun teams in the league. It was a little bit of everything, and as great as the quarterbacks were, like Stafford through a groaner of an interception at the end of the second quarter, and Goff who inspired kind of a very tepid like the Lions fans are a little tight at the end of this game when they were trying to come back. There was a very quiet Jared GoF But it really was was just like it was just like only a few people because people were kind of worried because Jared Goff. Jared Goff had just thrown an interception on the previous possession and then he almost threw another one to Kobe Durant who leaped for it and couldn't quite come down with it. And Dan Campbell, who has such a great feel of the moment, decided not to go for fourth in five. I believe it was in his own end when he wasn't guaranteed to get the ball back, he decided to punt it just feeling how his offense was playing. And you know what, they did get the ball back, and just everything Dan Campbell throws out there just seems to turn into gold these days.

Yeah, they're making and mazes out of him. He's in commercials now at restaurants about covering your mouth when you order like and then he goes out there and he feels it out properly, and he relies on his team and trust them and they produce for him. And that's why people love the Rams because they can get behind a guy like Dan Campbell. They can get behind a player with a story like Jared Goff, and even in those moments where it's like, oh, he's looking a little shafy, shaky. His comfort zone is not really where the rams are allowing him to operate. Like the pick he threw to John Johnson. I mean that's cover one, Robert, like he's sitting there. I don't know how Jared didn't see him because he threw it right in that path.

Because he was coming back. Yeah, he got you got a little pressure. It's kind of typical golf that he panicked a little bit. That was with eight minutes left in the game, when they had a lead and we're trying to ice it, and it was really bad situational football by god Goff.

And yet the fans a little bit of a Jared Goff chant like we still you're still our guy, like Dan said in the locker room after that playoff, when you're good enough for Detroit, show us again. And he did well, David Montgomery did. But Jared got them down in range enough to kick the field goal to send it to overtime, which is a great outcome for the Lions.

Yes, Goff did bounce back and as you mentioned, had a good drive to get it to overtime.

What a game.

Happy for the Lions. Fans, because I think that would have crushed them a little more than was really necessary. They're gonna be a good team. It's only week one, and yet I think losing the Stafford in that way such a big lead, they actually would have been like, oh no, are we gonna turn back into a team? Yeah, but like can we not handle? It would have been a devastating loss for the Lions. So they get it done. It's it's a tough one for the Rams, but a tough spot on the road against the Lions with all of those injuries. They can't hang their head too much, neither, can you? Nick Shook? Appreciate you. We're gonna do this every Sunday?

Shall we every Sunday? Every Sunday?

So everybody who's listening right now, saddle up, get comfortable for yourself, your favorite beverage, because we're doing this every week. All right, recap all the games?

Well, are you right? Yeah, don't get too comfortable, Shook. We're gonna do Monday night football too. Tomorrow night.

Well, I want to keep us surprise and me.

Come on, Yes, we'll do some news and we'll we'll talk about the Jordan Love injury. Since we last taped. He's now out three to six weeks. We'll dive into that a little more, figure out what other injuries happened on Sunday, all the analysis, and obviously recap that great Monday night football game forty nine Ers and Jets, your guy David and Joko fear there's a high ankle spring there, so that won't be good, but we'll save that for mind. This has been a beautiful Sunday. Truly, thank you all for joining us on NFL Daily being part of the journey. I think now that you know we have a football Sunday under our back, we could finally say it, I mean, football is back.

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen  
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