Conor and Gary break down a strange Week 5 Sunday, including the Cowboys' outlook after losing Dak Prescott and turning to Andy Dalton. Plus, how the Vikings brought the perfect plan to Seattle but still fell short, Derek Carr out-dueling Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, the Falcons fire Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff, Alex Smith completes his comeback, and much more.
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Hello, and welcome to the mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I am Gary Grantling. I am joined by Connor Or of the week Side Podcast. And Connor, as we talked about, if you were looking at the schedule of games on like Sunday morning, you'd be like, not great, not the most exciting, uh sort of sort of schedule this week. The games themselves weren't weren't done my Sunday night. It was great. We'll get to that, but uh, just so much news coming out of these games, so many major developments coming out of the games this week. It was it was in the end, I mean, this was this was a a sad week, but a fascinating week for the league. Yeah. I mean it just started out with you know, more scheduled Jenga and uh, you know, I think the Patriots Broncos game is now scheduled for June of two, I think is when that was officially moved to. Um. But yeah, I mean injuries, UM, massive upsets, Alex Smith coming back, which was really the only redeeming UM part of this Sunday. Everything else was sort of crazy and uh and morose a little bit. Well, let's start with the most morose, which would be the Cowboys Giants game. And look, Cowboys gotta win. They need wins. They are leading the NFC East now by having game. But obviously the big headline from the day was a Dak Prescott goes down. And I get you know, let's start with sort of the immediate impact here and then we'll get into some some of the long term stuff with Dak. But um, Andy Dalton obviously takes over at quarterback here. Uh. When they signed Andy Dalton this summer, it was kind of like, all right, you know Andy Dalton. They and and don't get me wrong, Andy Dalton is not in the class of Dak Prescott. But you would look at this and say, like, you know, based on what Andy Dalton did over his Bengal's career, his best years there. Uh, and based on the supporting cast they have in Dallas, that's that's actually not a bad situation at all of Andy Dalton is forced into act action here, but um, the issues, I mean always he's always had trouble in the muddy pocket. Now you have a team the weapons are great, but both offensive tackles are out. Uh. They played a giant team yesterday that has no I mean nothing off the edge there there is just complete. It's almost like an anti pass rush off the edge for the Giants. And uh so you got to sort of breaking in slowly here. But I don't know, I I'm not feeling great about Andy Dalton keeping this team and uh in in in, well, they'll they'll compete for the division title, but uh not in any sort of a great shakes here going forward, you know, I am I just being too pessimistic. Is the weather that's sort of getting me down at this point and in the northeast where it's just raindy and overcast. Well, I would say this, so the past that he completed a Michael gallup to set up the game winning field goal, Everyone's saying that, oh, well, that's a throw that Andy Dalton can make, and uh you know, and that's evidence that he can keep us going moving for forward. I would counter that by saying, um, next gen stats ran their numbers on it, and that pass falls incomplete five percent of the time, right, so you figure he got a fifteen in a hundred shot there, took it, got it, and now everybody feels a little bit better about having Andy Dalton for the long term. But that becomes so meaningless um as as we move forward, and um I think what I wrote on Sunday was that you're just gonna see day by day, minute by minute, all the little things that you start missing about Dak Prescott and regardless of what happens with them moving forward. I think that if I'm Jerry Jones, I'm probably a little bit upset that, you know, I didn't get all this contract stuff done when I did, because this could get ugly again, or you're gonna have to franchise him coming off of an ankle injury, which is gonna be weird too. Well, look, it's uh you figure they're going to run the ball more. I mean really they needed to run the ball more. Anyway, Just keep that defense off the off the field because oh my goodness, that is uh Dak has He just adds that little extra value to the run game because you have to respect the backside uh keeper against him Andy Dalton, can you know, Yeah, I guess you could do that with Andy Dalton, not as effectively. You're You're probably not going to have that in the back of your mind like you do with Dak, but uh, you know, it's it's you downgrade the run game again, We'll see what happens going forward. The passing game. Obviously, the weapons are great, but you know, Dalton under pressure, it's just uh, I don't know, I don't think it adds up uh to anything very good offensively here for the Cowboys going forward. Uh. And if you're talking about Dak in the long term, I mean, look, the understanding with with sort of contract impass was Dac wanted one of those you know, three year deals where he can, uh you know, he can basically negotiate a new deal every couple of seasons. Here the Cowboys wanted it more like five and six to get that uh, you know, not only the long term guarantee here for them, but they also you know, they don't have to pay him again in the short term as these uh as these contracts sort of seemed to to increase exponentially, so uh, they end up not getting a long term deal. And you all look, they signed Dalton and who was kind of like, well, you know, we'll see what we think. We have a great team around Dak Prescott and we'll see what happens with sort of replacement level quarterback now and now they get to see what it's what it's going to be, and I don't think they're gonna like what they see. Yeah, And I think that this is going to be a wonderful education for Cowboys fans, who, even in the midst of the Tyron Smith and Lal Collins injuries, have held onto this platitude that this is a this is a team built around the offensive line in the running game, and that any quarterback is sort of a system product, and that Prescott was extremely fortunate. I mean, no stats bear that out. He's in excellent individual player that has been kind of keeping this offense afloat for the last three years. But I think now that will be come fairly clear. You know. I think that every Cowboy fan is just like, yeah, we'll just run Ezekiel Elliott thirty times and and then play action and and somehow that magically happens. But no, I don't think that's going to happen. And I think the b side to this is it's gonna be fascinating to see Mike McCarthy without a world beating, top five quarterback, which is something that we've never really seen before, right, I mean, Mike McCarthy walks in with Brett Farve and then Aaron Rodgers, and then you go to Dak Prescott, which is a pretty nice little uh Bruce arians esque career slide. And you didn't even have to stop off at the Kelly Holcomb station. You've got to keep going with all these great guys and so that I think that is going to be really interesting to you. What is Mike McCarthy without a top three quarterback? Well, you got a little Deshaun Kaiser flavor there back in the day with the true uh Brett Humley. Yeah, um yeah, I don't know. They won the game yesterday, by the way. Yeah, the Cowboys beat Giants, so so good on them. Uh uh that defense though, man, I mean they they they're gonna have to score points or they're going to have to Like I said, uh, you want to run the ball thirty times a game with Zico Elliott. That's that's great, and the run game better work. But uh, um gosh, that defense can't stop anyone. I mean the good news is that you could. Um. I think a couple of people figured this out yesterday. There's a scenario where the NFC East winner has four wins at the end of the season. Um, and and so I think that we might be kind of circling the drain there of that. So the good news is the Cowboys have what two wins now, so they only need to get two more. And you're basically in a power position in the division. So defense be damned, you know, just just get it right for the playoffs. We'll get it. I I will get to it later, but I'm all sorts of bullish on the Eagles now after I'm fully back on the bandwagon, they will surely disappoint me after that. Full gum. Can't get enough full gum. By the way, before we move on, Connor, I just want to remind you that your podcast, the week Side podcast that you and Jenny Frentis do and is absolutely wonderful. It's not on this feed anymore, so, uh you if you want to hear yourself, you gotta subscribe to the weak Side podcast feed. It's out there. Everyone should get it. Albert Brier has his own feed to uh it's actually his old feed and we just sort of uh uh you know, re I don't know, reincarnated it. It was like the phoenix rising from the ashes and now uh now he has that. But if you are looking for those shows that you're disappointed last week that you didn't get him and thought we like took a week off. We didn't. The Monday shows on this feed. The Gambling podcast on Friday's is on this feed. The weak Side podcast has its own feed. Albert Brier has his own feed. Subscribe to him. Now, we'll wait, we'll wait or hit pause and we'll just jump back into it. Do it alright. Sunday Night Football Sudden This was this was the best game of the week. Uh. If you're just talking about what goes on on the field here, uh Seahawks Vikings. We'll start with the positive because we are we are optimistic, positive people. Uh. Russell Wilson two, DK metcalf on fourth downs twice on the final drive. That's what ends up sealing the game here on a night when the Seahawks offense was human. They were they were vulnerable, they were uh uh you know, they were not on the field a whole lot, and when they were, it was kinda all right. This is not a team that I guess you can pencilan for three five points every week, but uh uh they needed point at the end and they they got it. Yeah. Um, and it was interesting to see Russell Wilson sort of try to figure out that Vikings defense and and Zimmer is so fascinating because you can just his defense can look dead on arrival for four weeks and then all of a sudden, you know, against the Seahawks, he'll kind of throw out this first half masterpiece where they hold them to you know, basically nothing, and uh, and Wilson's sort of scrambling around all of his um you know, immediate reads are cut off, and even when he tries to make the his place, he's under pressure from you know, fourth and fifth round draft picks. And it was incredible, And I thought that that gave me more confidence in the Vikings moving forward, I think than anything that we've seen to this point this season, outside of maybe Kirk Cousins and Adam Dealing keeping everything alive. But yeah, and then the Seahawks just find a way to win again, and it's just you know, they're they're incredible. Man. It was Mike Zimmer went in here with a perfect game plan. Here you saw all the uh, all the cover two looks. They control the ball offensively, they put up points early, so they were playing ahead, which which to some extent, kept the Seahawks from just you know, running the ball forty times against their uh deep cover to shell here, but they took away the deep stuff from Russ and uh, you know, the Seahawks didn't have an answer in the first half. They found answers early in the second half, and then they sort of went dry again. I will say it was just kind of a It was just kind of reminder down the stretch here. Uh, you know, you can have a great game plan, but sometimes you just are under talent did undermanned and uh boy that that fourth and ten completion t DK Metcalf where Russell just sort of puts the ball up and Cam Danceler, who had a real nice game and and is doing nice work as a day to rookie here, Um, he misjudged it to an extent, but also kind of forgot that Dk Metcalf can can go get that ball with with relative ease. So let me tell you I tried the Russell Wilson method. Um. As some of you guys know, Gary and I worked on a Russell Wilson story for the October issue September issue of Sports Illustrated. And you know, one of the things. Is this mental conditioning that he goes through where basically he is training himself to believe that everything he does is going to happen, like that fourth down catch, like catch, like when he throws the ball, he is one certain that it's going to happen. Um, that the catch is going to be made. And you know that affects the way that your body everything works, your motor control, all that stuff. And so, uh, last night, going into the game, UM, I decided to kind of run a little bit of an experiment. And my neighbor and I are in a relatively high stakes fantasy football league that we're uh, we were winless and it's been very going, very badly, and I sent it. I sent him a text before the game. We needed Adam Feeling to score thirty points for us, which is an absurd amount for a wide receiver. Am, and uh, I said, Hey, we're gonna do this, like you know, this is what Russell Wilson does. He believes that this is gonna happen and Adam Dealan is gonna score us thirty points and he's like, yeah, whatever. Um. I went to bed at halftime so I could wake up early and watch the rest of the game and lo and behold, like I wake up to ten texts from Holy sh it, we did it. You know, this is amazing. And so the Russell Wilson method works not only for Russell Wilson but for you in your everyday life. So I would encourage you to try just just just manifested into existence with your mind and it's gonna happen. That's why that's why she kill Griffin fell down on that last touchdown for theeling totally. Yeah, Like, it's just I made it happen with my mind, man, just like Russell Wilson is bending everyone's will to become the m v P this year. Oh the uh so Mike Zimmer the fourth down call, fourth and inches, Uh, it was it was the correct call analytically, it was not overwhelmingly correct. I was sure he was kicking the field goal. They're they're they're up five. The balls inside the Seahawks ten or just outside the tent. So it's gonna be a chip shop field goal. Uh. That makes an eight point game. Uh. You know, as Seahawks have one time out, there are two minutes left, they went for the juggular that they tried to seal the game right there on the fourth and inches, and it was the right thing to do. But Alexander Madison just slips a little bit. Uh, coming out of the backfield. It's not blocked up as well they had been. You know, they've been dominating the line of scrimmage for most of that game. And uh, that's that's how it turns for the Vikings here. And Uh, Mike Zimmer, of all people, I thought he was gonna kick it, and you know he said after the game he's not gonna second guess that decision, etcetera, etcetera. But we'll find out as a year went on. I mean, they were aggressive on fourth down all night. Uh, we will find out as a year goes on, if that moment, that anecdotal moment ends up affecting Mike Zimmer's decision making going forward. I like to whenever that happens with especially coaches like Mike Zimmer. You know, I would throw like the former Tom Coughlin in there, you know, like old kind of crusty salt of the earth guys, Like whenever they bend just slightly to the pressure of the analytics department and it doesn't work out, I just picture in my head, like, you know, three guys with laptops hiding in a closet somewhere in the facility, and Zimber just like where is he? Where is the where's the numbers guy? And he's like kicking at every door. It's like, God, damn it, where is that guy? You know? But it happens, and non anecdotally, I mean, fourth down conversions are up way big time um this year. And I think the revolution I mean the Nerds won, I mean the revolution is over. People agree that this is a good decis vision, to the point where I think only Mike Zimmer might have a problem losing sleep over this. It's very Just just play the clip from Wrenching the Nerds over yelling Nerds over and over again. That's that's that's the scene in the Vikings facility when they get back. Uh. It was just look, I don't I don't root for either of these teams. It was just kind of a shame for the Vikings because they really did show up with a perfect game plan and executed it pretty much as well as they could have. They got you know, they take this uh you know this CounterPunch where the Vikings score or excusing the Seahawks score three touchdowns and like, uh, I don't know, twelve seconds or whatever that was, and then they come back and retake the lead, and in the end it's all for not the same thing is just going in there and and losing fifty to ten like they did to the Packers or something like that. Yeah, but it's you know what I the a F or the NFC North outside of what Green Bay is doing is weird too, and I do think that we're going to see some adjustments there, um, you know, certain I don't see Chicago holding on and I could see the Vikings like kind of just sort of clawing themselves out of this. You know, I don't think that by any stretch of the imagination, especially with the extra playoff and how weird things are going to get. I I think that they showed today that they are good enough to at least remain somewhat relevant during the season. And whether that means slogging to eight and eight or whatever it is, I mean that that's about as bad as a Mike Zimmer team is going to be at the end of the day. Alright, let's let's go down to Kansas City. Upset of the day. I look, I've been tracking the stat for a while now. If you go back over the last five seasons, I guess six seasons now including this one. Uh, Andy Reid was was twenty eight and three against the a f C West. The three losses were all Thursday night games that he lost on the final possession. Uh. They just have completely dominated this division and the Raiders are going in there. And and someone someone posed the question to Derek Carr about a rivalry and cars quote early in the week is we have to we have to win at some point to to see rivalry. And uh, look, this was we talked about it before the show. Derek Carr was kind of overshadowed today. It was in the one o'clock window. Not a whole lot of people saw the game. This was a big time performance by Derek Carr. And if you were kind of, uh, you know, there's been this undercurrent of Okay, Gruden's gonna get a new quarterback. Derek car is not his guy, and at some point he's just gonna find the right guy and that'll be it for Derek Carr. Uh. Derek Carr was fantastic in this game. And we wondered going into the year, Okay, he didn't attack downfield a lot last year. It's it's just not been part of his d n A. Uh, we'll do it with a guy like Henry Ruggs in the lineup now, and and the answer was was yes in this game, and he absolutely outduled Patrick Mahomes. They go on the road, they get uh, they get a big win here in Kansas City, and you just you can't say enough about what Derek Carr did in this game. Derek Carr and John Gruden are destined to quietly despise each other for another five years. They're like, um, if anybody's watched The Ozarks on Netflix, they're like the bird family and they're just gonna like stay together for the kids and quietly hate each other. But maybe there's like moments of love and appreciation too. But the other big sort of knock on car, you know, if you look at the area yards and kind of all those statistics, was that he was kind of kind of drifting into a comfort zone of a little bit of a checkdown quarterback, right, you know, a quarterback that kind of kept it intermediate. But this was a highly vertical um game. Plan for uh Las Vegas that you know, he needed to hit some of these shots down field, and he did, and I think that, um, you know that that kind of changes the way that defenses are gonna play. Um. We saw the Patriots last week just beat up on Darren Waller and then that kind of shut their game plan down. So I think this was a little bit of a response from Gruden to say, Okay, we we've got other stuff here that we can we can play with. Yeah, it was It's sort of the signature playing this game was uh that they had a tight trips alignment. It was third down in medium uh, Hunter Renfro coming over the middle. Chiefs had a blitz on They had one free defender, Daniel Sorenson. And if you're Sorenson and you've watched film on Derek Carr you figure nine times out of one hundred cars locked in, He's he's really got time for one read because of the blitz. He's locked in on Hunter Renfrow. That's where the ball was going. So Sorenson creeps up uh and then Rugs runs behind him and and car ends up going deep with it and hits Henry Ruggs for the long catching run touchdown here, easy touchdown in the end. But uh, that was not a throw that Derek Carr always made in the past. And and you know they got they have a new element to that offense now and that's very exciting. I guess you can start to feel a little uneasy about the Chiefs going for they suddenly have protection issues, which is it's something we saw early last year when they had a bunch of injuries in the offensive line and and you know, I always point to that game where the Colts just went in there on a Sunday night and just hammered him. They just dominated them. Uh, Colts de fence or Chief's offense. You're you're seeing a little bit of that. Obviously, they're they're putting up numbers right now. Uh, but it's just it's it's more difficult for Patrick Mahomes than then it's been usually in the last calendar year or so. Yeah, it's interesting to see kind of where things are going there. And you know, I would I would hesitate to say that, like like the Rams two years ago, when everybody's saying, oh, there's a blueprint now, which I did believe because there were so many things that were fundamental to their scheme that we're being disrupted. I think the Chiefs just need to break out of some habits, some bad habits. I think there's there might be a little offensive complacency there, but that's not anything that Andy Reid and Eric b Enemy can't solve with three minutes of nineteen forties Rose Bowl film that they're going to come and you know, attack somebody with next week. So all right, Connor, please stand by because it is now time for the s I Fantasy segment, presented by DraftKings. As always, we are joined by Michael Fabia know of the s I Fantasy podcast also dot com slash Fantasy. If you want this stuff anytime, it's all there. Seven We get him on Monday mornings here. But uh uh Fabs. As usual, we're gonna do our early waiver wire and uh well, we'll start with the running backs and there's not much there. I gotta be honest with you. The most popular ad this week will probably be Alexander Madison, who is available in over fifty percent leagues on ESPN after he put up twenty carries, a hundred in twelve yards, three catches, and nearly seventeen points against Seattle, but all that depends on whether or not Dalvin Cook is able to come back. Right, So the matchup is great. I mean, they have Atlanta coming up, and you can't get a better matchup as an offensive player outside of the Dallas Cowboys. Right. So if Cook can't go, Madison's in RB one. So if he's out there, go out and get him. I feel like in most competitive leagues he's not there because anybody who knows anything about fantasy football knows that Dalvin Cook is not durable and that they have to have Alexander Madison as a handcuff. And other owners know that if they can roster a player and sit on him and wait until an injury happens, it's Alexander Madison. So but certainly worth a look off the wire. Chase Edmonds also is a player that we actually talked about last week. Only had eight touches against the Jets, but he had ninety two total yards and over twenty fantasy points. The Jets stink, uh. Edmonds had fifteen plus points now too straight games, and even though Kenyan Drake dominated the touches, he wasn't very good and it took playing against the Jets, and he had matchups against Alliance and the Panthers couldn't do anything. Had a decent game against the Jets from a fantasy perspective, But I would not be surprised if that ends up going committee because Edmonds has looked pretty good in the last few weeks. One other guy, I guess Matt Breta. I mean he had ten touches. He only had ex point nine points, but Jordan Howard was a healthy scratch by the way, great job with that signing, Miami Um. Although hell they went into San Francisco and beat the Niners. So but that that signing has not worked out, and Miles Gaskin is skilled to get the guy. But it looks like if anything should happen in Gaskin that Brita would be number two. So he's worth a speculative ad, but he's not gonna help you as a fantasy starter right now. All right, how did the how did the receivers here? This is a long list and it starts up with Travis Fulgum fantasy points. Baby, I didn't even know who this guy was two weeks ago, and suddenly thirteen targets, ten catches, a hundred fifty two yards of touchdown over thirty one fantasy points against the Steelers, no doubt. I mean the Steelers, maybe their defense isn't that good, and I don't know, maybe it's just not that good. But he had a monster game. And he's got a bad matchup this week against the Ravens in Week six, but then he's got the Giants and the Cowboys and those defensives are both bad. So fulgum needs to be owned. Chase Claypool not only did he give you three touchdowns as a receiver, he ran one in for good measure over forty two fantasy points against Philadelphia. In that same game, Deante Johnson left the game with a back injury. He's not been very durable, and so Claypool suddenly is probably gonna be one of the most added wide receivers, if not the most added wide receiver heading into Week six. Uh, the Steelers have the Browns, the Ravens by and then the Cowboys, so the schedule is not great, but Claypool needs to be added, especially as long as Deante Johnson is gonna miss time. Levisco Chanel also worth a look. Eight targets, seven catches, seventy nine yards and over almost four fifteen Fantasy points against Houston ten plus points and four of his first five games. Uh, he is owned, and he has owned about thirty one percent of leagues on ESPN. His schedule looks like Lions, really good matchup by Chargers and then the Texans. Henry Ruggs only had three targets, but he made himccount a hunter in eighteen yards touchdown in nearly twenty points against Chiefs in a game that no one predicted outside of anyone who's a Raiders fan. Right now, Las Vegas has a by coming up, but Ruggs is still worth adding if you're looking for a rest of season sort of scenario, which most people, of course are. Some other wide receivers Nicole Hardman for the Chiefs uh. Sammy Watkins heard his hamstring so he could end up seeing more work. Preston Williams and the Dolphins. Nelson Aguilar again because the Raiders have a buy maybe not as big as they have been ad but he's had two straight pretty good games with Brian Edwards out, and then if you want to go even deeper, Tyler Johnson and the Bucks. But his value really depends on the status of Chris Godwin fair enough. Yeah, I don't think any Raiders fans predicted to win over the Chiefs either that I'm sure. I'm sure they all thought in their hearts that they could do it, and we're still a little bit surprised when it actually happened. And you know what to I mean, we could talk about quarterbacks here too in a second. But Derek Carr, he's had twenty plus points and three he was last four games, right, He's playing pretty good. Maybe that's the John Gruden influence, right, But he's not a guy that a lot of people drafted, and he's not a guy a lot of people expected to be a consistent fantasy producer. And maybe at the end of the season he won't be consistent. Uh, But so far twenty plus and three of his last four. But he has a buy coming up this week. So he's not gonna help you, uh if you need instant gratification. But and he's certainly worth rostering in a lot of leagues at this point after Las Vegas is by so going into week seven, Yeah, that's a question. Will Derek Carr, ever ever, you know, start going deep, start attacking? And yes, the answer was, yes he has Henry Ruggs Now, yes he is. Uh, well, let's let's talk quarterbacks. I know this one year and the year to your heart, but uh, um, I want to ask right off the top of Andy Dalton, uh did you run after Andy Dalton here? I'm not saying plug him in as a starter for for week six here, but Andy Dalton is is he gonna deliver some consistent value going down the stretch? He this is the best offense he's ever had. Right, Dalton is a He has a former top ten fantasy quarterback during his time with the Bengals, and in terms of backup quarterbacks, he's one of the best in the league. Is he a downgrade from Dak Prescott? Hell? Yeah? By the way, Dak get will soon. Um literally was was just about in tears yesterday watching that game. Um, it's awful, awful because I like him as a person. Um, you know, not that I know him personally, but just what you read about him people I know that know him. He's a great guy and and really my heart breaks for him. So but Dalton is gonna be one of the most added players, not just quarterbacks players. I would assume that his value uh is probably gonna eat borderline QP one, QP two, maybe matchup based from time to time, and he will probably be owned in about eight percent of leagues once we hit kick for Week six, and it's mostly because he's been there before, he has had Fantasy value in the past, and this offense is bananas good. So with that being said, I would suggest that the Cowboys are probably gonna run the ball a little bit more, which means more Zeke and it is a downgrade for a Mark Cooper and Ceedee Lamb and Michael Gallup for example, because doc Is is just a much better quarterback than any Dalton, but Dalton in Fantasy especially, I mean uh in leagues with with with twelve or more teams, he will be percent owned h and all super flex two QB leagues will be owned without question. Ten team leagues. I'd say he even gets to around ownership, he's going to be on a cross the board. Um. Another quarterback to Eddy Bridgewater who we talked about last week, said to pick him up and play him. He was my start of the week on SI dot com and he went he went off, I mean another three hundred yard game, twenty points. Very very solid game. Now he's got the Bears coming up, so you probably don't want to play him. Then he's got a revenge games against the Saints, and he's got Atlanta again and then the Chiefs, and the Chiefs just got their lunch and it to him by Derek Carr. So Bridgewater is a pretty good pick up too. Not this week because the matchup is not great, but moving forward for sure. Some other quarterbacks Gardner Mitshew, who's probably owned in most leagues on ESPN is fifty six per cent owns, but that still leaves where he's still out there, uh, nineteen point eight or more points in all but one game. And then Ryan Fitzpatrick. So Ryan Fitzpatrick is Rodney Dangerfield. Okay, in the second half of last year, he was awesome. He was one of the best quarterbacks and fantasy football it was. It was literally like Lamar Jackson, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Tannehill, right, he was great. He sucked in his first game this year. Ever since then, every game over twenty fantasy points. And for some reason, and I'm included in this, all of us idiots are still starting to dude like Matt Ryan, I mean, Ryan Fitzpatrick has been great and he's owned in fewer than seventy of leagues on ESPN. Go out and get him, Like at some point he's probably gonna lose the job to toa But he is playing at a ridiculously high level right now and I don't know why people aren't writing him. And he's got the Jets coming up and that's a nice matchup. Yeah, yeah, not yet to uh, but I don't want to. I I don't want to disrespect tight ends here, but can I can I say miscellaneous at the end here? Tight end defense? It's it stinks like it's gotten worse that that there are there are some more players that we can start with a higher level of confidence, like a T. J. Hockinson Johnny Smith for example, right but Gerald evert would be the only guy that I didn't even think about, and I don't even want them because the Rams are going committee it seems right with the tight end position. And keep this in the back of your mind as an example when you draft in the future a player highly who had maybe four or five good games at the end of the season, Tyler Higbee was never going to have that that that level of production. Ever, there's no chance he was averaging twenty points a game, and I drafted him as a tight end one. I think most people drafted him as a tight end one. And he's been a dud. He's had one big game, that's it. He's done nothing. So I don't even know if he's a tight end one anymore. I like t be in this game because Washington had struggled against tight ends. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong ramstide and to start, So, I mean, I guess you could pick up Everett if you if you're desperate, but no, uh, Cameron Brad Again, we're digging. We're digging at the bottom of the barrel here. And then Darren Fells, who was a sleeper of mine and a sleeper of Doc Rhodos too going into that game against the Jaguars, had only two targets, but he had a touchdown in fifty seven yards, So I mean, maybe he's worth a look. Tight End stinks right now, it really does. It's it's just, uh, it's a tough position to fill. He goes. We kind of knew it coming into the year, though, yeah, we did. I mean we were hoping, like like Kasicky came back and had a nice game against the Niners. But he's been really unreliable. Right. We all liked Hayden Hurst and he's been a dud. So, I mean, Gronkowski is is not startable in most fantasy leaves. We saw that on Thursday, even though the numbers weren't terrible, right, they weren't terrible, but I mean, even with all the guys out that he he still wasn't a prominent part of that offense. Alright, Well that's a that's a down note to end on. But it's like, know what, I gotta be honest with you, bro. Yesterday it was the first time in a while that after all the afternoon games were over, I didn't want to watch football. I mean I followed along with the Seattle Minnesota game on my Sling app on on my phone. I was burnt, man. I was burnt out on football yesterday because of the COVID situation. Being a commissioner in so many leagues where people are wondering what do I do? Can I play my Bills, Can I play my Titans. I'm letting people do alternates because it's only fair. And then I'm in leagues there there's no alternates, and I gotta drop players. I don't want to drop I've got to ask commissioners, well, what do I do here? I can't set a complete lineup. I don't want to drop players because you didn't expand rosters and and then Dak with that injury. I was a little burnt on on football yesterday, so a little bit somber today because I love Dac and uh that that really really breaks my heart. But um hoping that ay Adult could come in and at least somewhat filled the shoes of Dak Prescott. But there are a lot of good players to grab off the wire this week, most notably though at the wide receiver position. And I think Madison will probably be the most added player if Dalvin Cook is going to miss time with that groin injury. Moving forward, yeah, and look we still have Monday night football, two to night football to uh crossing our fingers that the Titans don't have any more positives because I told people yesterday, I said, this is what you need to do if you've got prominent Titans, prominent and prominent Bills. John Brown is replaceable, okay, Uh, Ryan Tannehil is replaceable. So I would play then unless you don't have a really good alternative because there's risk involved. But the NFL is shown, whether it's arrogance or not, that they're going to play these games no matter what. I mean, it's got to be something's awful's gotta happen. So like with Patriots, they couldn't play that game because they had a they had a positive yesterday one day before the game. Tennessee has got an outbreak right now, that's an outbreak, and they're on schedule. According to Adam Schafter and many others in the know, they're on schedule, can play that game tomorrow night. So I just like the fact that the Dolphin the Broncos game, the NFL was kind of like, yeah, maybe we just get away with not playing this. Dolphins were kind of like like, oh yeah, how about we go uh, you know and drop forty three points in the defending NFC channel game. Yeah. See see, there are certain weeks that go sideways, like statistically, yesterday it was one of those one of those sundays. The Niners gave up that many points to Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins. The Chiefs defense got toasted by Derek Carr and the Raiders. I mean, there was a lot of weirdness that went on yesterday. But uh, as I always say, the only thing that's predictable about the National Football League is that it's unpredictable. Alright, Well, we only have them on Mondays, but you can have them anytime you want. SI dot Com Slash Fantasy, The SI Fantasy Podcast Michael Fabriano, the SI Fanties segment, presented by DraftKings. Thanks as always, buddy. We'll talk to you next week. All Right, Connor, welcome back to the world, as far as anyone is concerned. Let's uh, let's go the the field. Good story the day. Uh, this was the Rams versus the Washington football team. Kyle Allen got the start, of course, and and we'll get into the Kyle Allen Dwayne Haskins uh situation playing out here. But Alex Smith gets back on the field, and look, it's a lot of us sat around and said, like, oh, Alex, why does that guy even want to get back like this? I don't know about this. And the point is he wanted to get back, and he got back, and he came back from almost dying. Uh. And quite frankly, you know when when people kind of say, like, oh, why why does he even want to come back? I mean, this is this is it, this is his football gread. He can't decide in twenty years that actually I did want to play some more football and and go back to it. This is his window. He is a football are right now. And uh, he gets back out there. It didn't go very well when he got back out there, and and like I said, we'll get into Washington's quarterback situation a little bit, but um, just amazing he was back there and and he did have literally Aaron Donald on his back on one of the first snaps, and obviously he he came out of it. Okay. It's one of those weird things where it's almost like if you're a parent watching your kid ride a bike for the first time. Um, which I have yet to experience, but I imagine is like at first, very exciting and you're like, oh, he's he's coming on the field, and then you're just like, oh no, like so many things could go wrong here, and you know, they mentioned which I was a little surprised that Ron Rivera kind of put him in in the in the situation because Alex Smith had yet to be contacted period, he had not been contacted by anybody since November of two thousand and eighteen when he broke his leg, and so you know, your thought process as Rivera is like, Okay, well it's pouring rain. Uh, we have a horrible offense. We're facing Aaron Donald. Uh yeah, let's see what we got, you know, let's see what we got going on here. And Smith on the sidelines too. Um. I think the sideline reporter for that game, it might have been Pam Oliver was saying that he was just shaking his head. You know, he's he's trying on all these different gloves and basically just trying to shop put the ball because you're in driving rain. Like it was the worst possible situation to put any human being who's coming back from something like that into, right, it is, you're begging to get another leg injury. The field sucks, the offensive line sucks, you know all that stuff. But give him credit. He stuck it out and that's fortitude, man. I mean he if anything else, he locked up the Comeback Player of the Year award with one forward pass. I mean, if you even needed it to see that from him, Ron Rivera just kicking him on the shins in the sideline for measure, like what do you what are you doing? Even if you're Aaron Donald. I was talking to someone about this yesterday, like wouldn't you just when you just grab him and then just be like just just go like whisper, like go down, you know, like like this please? Wouldn't you feel horrible about it? And they were on the sidelines like laughing and high fiving, and I was like, there really is like just a players who will tell you this is right, Like you can't think about it, um, And and that goes for anything, whether it's the helmet, the helmet hits, you know, anything like you just can't train your body to do it. So you take the good with the bat and you move on like you can't think about it. And clearly they're not because the ram sacked Alex Smith six six times. Poor guy in his first action back. Yeah, that that quarterback situation. So Kyle Allen got to start, and Rivera had set after the game that Kyle Allen is the starter going forward if if he's healthy, etcetera. Uh, he had he had gotten banged up during this one. Um Dwayne Haskins, who was obviously he was demoted the third string. He was not at the stadium. They said it was a he was he was very sick with the stomach bug, which which I'm not I'm not just saying that out loud sounds like I'm casting down on it. But I'm sure Dwayne Haskins was was feeling ill and and was not at the stadium for that reason. Uh. The issue is, I mean, I took you to the Haskins benching anyway. I thought he was a disaster in the Cleveland loss. I thought he was better in Baltimore. I know there's a lot of this. You know, well, Kyle Allen knows the system. Uh, we kind of saw what the offense looked like with with quarterbacks who maybe know the system a little bit better, and it didn't look good at all. And uh, there's there's always something you said for Uh, you have to put the best quarterback on the field for the sake of the locker room. There are guys in there who not only want to win, their guys in there who are who are playing for their career. You know, if you're a dontrelle Inman, if you're a Logan Thomas, you're on the fringe of the NFL. Uh, you need to put some tape out, put some production out to stay in the league another year. Uh. What Washington had out there yesterday, it was just not a functional offense. And to to look at Dwayne Askins and say like like, oh, yeah, you know, he didn't know the system well enough. It wasn't good enough with him. Well, this was one game, but it was it was markedly worse without Dwyne Haskins. So I'm just I'm not sure how you can sort of be like, oh, yeah, Kyle Allen's a guy, he's our guy going forward. It's just I guess we'll see. But this was this was not winning football they were putting out there. Yeah. No, And and it's interesting. I mean, you know with Rivera, why are you microwaving? You know? Well, I'll say this, I think that he came in kind of liberated from the Haskins situation because Daniel Snyder was like, you know, I don't know if he quietly realized it or just didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. But you know, Dwayne Haskins was Daniel Snyder's problem. That was the guy he wanted. He shoved him down. Jake Gruden's throat, and then Jake Gruden couldn't develop him, so he was fired, and Ron Rivera comes in with a clean slate. And I think that this was a lot about exercising a little bit of independence and saying, you know what, I want to win. I think we might be able to win, and I don't feel like playing with this guy, and so we're just gonna move on. And you know, in some ways you don't blame him because it's not his problem, and and that I think, you know, he can go back to his comfort zone. But I do think I agree with you that the ultimate reward would have been higher if you stuck with Haskins and did not derail his confidence. And you know, I think somebody leaked to the Washington Post that he wasn't studying his playbook and all that stuff, which I think is just a horrible thing to do to, you know, a young, developing starter. Um, but you know that's not what Rivera wants. I wouldn't be surprised if they sink low enough to try to get another quarterback at the end of this year and replace him and move on. But you know, it's it's one of those things where what's kind of the risk reward. I think that somebody will pick up Haskin, uh when they have a long offsete you know, a legitimate full off season and really kind of develop him. I know that, you know, you talked to people who know him, and he really put a lot into this offseason as much as he could, despite it being totally virtual. Um. And I do think that there's something there, but I just don't think it's people in Washington are willing to or want to put the work into actually doing that development. Yeah. Yeah, I I owe for the sake of the quarterback, they uh, they move on and they do move him before the trade deadline here because that's a nothing good can come of it at this point for Haskins Washington. Uh, let's go down to Panthers three straight wins though that's not what anyone's talking about coming out of this one. Uh. Dan Quinn and Thomas Demtroff, Uh, I mean, look at that. The seats have been hot there for a couple of years now, but it it ended they you know, another disappointed to watch for Atlanta. They follow to own five. Quinn and Demetrof are out there are and to an extent It felt kind of like ownership just saying like, you know what, we we can't go through another year where we start one in seven and finished seven and one and say, okay, that's what we're building toward now. But um, it is a shame. Look this dan Quinn, This entire defensive philosophy is built around having speed and having talent. Uh, and they just they're not healthy. It's a bunch of backups operating it. And it's not a system that is conducive to having I mean no, no system is really conducive to having not good players in it. But uh, this one especially, you need uh, you need the guys who are sort of the you know, the cornerstones of your of your defense to be out there. And it's just it hasn't been the case in Atlanta the last two or three seasons. Now. Yeah, my argument against this firing was that, like, um, you just give them the rest of the season to be around the team, you know. And I think that behind closed doors, I think dan Quinn was really good to his players. I think that he was one of those few coaches that actually said, you know, I have an open door and you can come by with any problems. And I do think that he was one of those guys that actually, you know, put all that stuff into motion and did have guys that really wanted to play for him, just didn't work out. Um. But I you know, I think that if you're Arthur Blank, I guess the equation they are the calculuses you want to see what Raheem Morris can do um with your roster over the final eleven games. I just think, you know, if you're gonna fire a coach five games into this season, there has to be a really good reason, right like in Houston, like it has to be a house of cards it's about to come down, or in Cleveland like where you know Todd Haley and Hugh Jackson are going to get into a fight in the sidelines at some point if you don't fire one of these guys or both of them, and you know, you end up just kind of making that change whatever it is. But this was one of those things where it's like, you know, what's the point of doing it now, Like, yeah, you guys are gonna catch the Saints or the Buccaneers. You know you're not gonna make the playoffs, and so just let him hang out with his team for another couple of weeks and then do it at the end of the season. I don't know, but no, no, I I totally agree with you. And and it's a it's a point that people don't really consider. It's like, oh, yeah, fire the code to get them out here. It's like, okay, well, what now, you're not going to install a new system. You're not gonna like we we just hired Dabbo Swinney for week six and now we're gonna now we're gonna completely redo this thing. No, You're just you're not installing new system. You're there. There's no doubt that the players played for dan Quinn. That was never an issue. Uh And that is one reason you would make a change, Like you know, they're they're rumors of you know, revolt in Houston and then okay, well you got to do something at that point. But that was not the case here. So uh, I look, I get it. It's it's been just you know, this is a third strade, disappointing year for the Falcons, and you know, sometimes you just gotta make it change for change sake. But I don't think doing it right now is supposed to doing in December really does a whole lot for for what you're gonna do in the long term here for the Falcons. I will say this though, that is going to be an attractive coaching job because it's gonna be a high draft pick and if I'm a coach, that is gonna get um a Matt Rule kind of deal where I can kind of sell the PAIRM me with the GM and get us the six year contracts and all that kind of stuff. I mean, you look at the division going forward. Uh, Drew Brees is done, um and maybe a year. Tom Brady's done in a year, and both of those franchises are gonna collapse without those guys, you know, um, at least in the in the short term while they try to build up and get their own starters, you know. And the Panthers are gonna be the Panthers. They're gonna be okay. And I think that there's a chance to come in there and really grab that division, um and and run with it for for a couple of years, because all the people that you're really afraid of aren't going to be there for very long. You say that, until Taysom Hill goes on his run of eight m V ps and eleven years or will be going forward. But let's let's talk about the Panthers. I mean, three straight wins now without Christian McCaffrey. It was already one of the least talented Rogers. They're young, but they are not very talented. Uh. Three straight wins now, all against teams that are objectively better than them on paper. Uh. We talked about every week, you know, they they have they have figured out with with Teddy Bridgewater and with Joe Brady on offense. Uh, Brian Burns was emerging as a star, still as emerging star. He left this game the concussion. Uh, they are figuring it out here in Carolina and they they it is absolutely commendable. I thought this is a two and fourteen team. They're already sitting at three and two. Yeah, I mean really, I thought that was they were the fast track for for the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes. And all of a sudden, they're a team that, uh you know, they're team that has to Uh, I don't know. They're in the thickest things. And Joe Brady's influence is really coming through. It's fun to watch. Um Matt Rule doesn't seem to be blown away by the moment whatsoever. So you know, this is, uh, this is a really fun situation, and you know it's not gonna get its credit. It's due credit in this season, just based on all the other chaotic things that are happening. But I mean, Matt Rule is certainly positioned pretty well for Coach of the Year at this point if they if they keep this going, absolutely no. I thought the Chargers win was a little bit of a game managed win. But last two weeks, I mean they have they have really outclassed the Cardinals and out of now the Falcons. All right, let's go down to Houston. Interim head coach Romeo Carnell now percentage as an interim head coach three and one, uh gets the win over the Jaguars. I mean, look, this was uh the Jaguars practice squad basically defensively out there, so uh, we don't want to go nuts. It was a week where the Texans receivers could actually win in some of their routes, which we have not seen so far this season. And also Jaguars don't have a kicker. Stephen Houshka, Poor Stephen Howshka, such a fine career just Uh, he's injured and he just couldn't kick the ball. So uh, all that said, Texans get a win. Yeah, and uh the search is on for Bill O'Brien's replacement, led by the guy who hired Bill O'Brien. So a lot of good things happening in Houston. I'm sure they're gonna love whatever happens there. So um, but yeah, no, you know, this was a game that Bill O'Brien would have won too, I'm guessing, um, you know, I think that. But and I'm sure he was sitting at home just you know, kind of sulking about this. But you know, whatever, you know, I still think that it says something about Romeo Cornell and the fact that you can kind of wrangle these guys up and get them to play for you after a week like this and and and get everybody in the right direction. You're always gonna get that little bounce after you fire a coach under these circumstances, says I mean, look at what happened with Hugh Jackson and Cleveland. Sort of a similar similar vibe there. But you know, it's always short lived. It's always going to compress back to reality. And Houston then remains in an interesting position as a kind of a middling team with no help coming via the draft for a long time. All right, let's uh, let's head out to Cleveland. Browns go to four and one with a victory over the Colts. Uh. Look, Brown's pass rush took over this game. And I think that's maybe something we overlooked a little bit for a couple of reasons. One, they haven't played any great teams coming into this. I do think the Cults are a great team and and I probably have to reassess the Browns at this point. Uh, Myles Garrett, even Olivier Vernon was what was getting into it. And Anthony Casanzo was out in this game, so you didn't have the classic Colts, you know, starting five that had started whatever a million straight games wherever it is. But uh, Cleveland pass rush, I mean, you know they're not fully formed, uh you know the linebacker position or or you know they're still working things out at safety. But if the passwords is gonna play like this, like absolutely, this is uh, this is a team that's going to win double digit games? Isn't that crazy? Like under any other season, Um, we would be freaking out about the fact that the Browns are four on one, but now we're just lopping it into sort of this insane blender of events that is just saying, of course it happened this year because nothing makes sense anymore. But I would say that for the first time, this is a team that is aligned on all fronts. And you know what I mean by that is, you know, the sort of the analytics heavy front office got to pick their head coaching candidate, and they knew what they were going to get on offense. They could draft specifically for and and do free agency specifically for one guy in one scheme, and it's all starting to line up, you know, and I think that there's, uh, there's some really special things happening there. I mean, this is the a f C North is going to be fascinating. I mean, this is gonna be kind of one of those like old school years, like when the Bengals, Steelers, and the Ravens were all relevant at once. Yeah, it's uh that says the other thing about being four in one right now, they're they're tied for second in their divisions. Pretty mind blowing at this point. Uh, look at the quarterbacks both sides of all the quarterbacks were not good in this game. Philip Rivers was was under constant pressure for the first time since joining the Colts and did not respond well. He had one really bad pick six that was again kind of like the Jaguars loss. It's just a throw where it's like, what what are you possibly thinking with this throw? Uh? Nothing good could have happened the best case scenarios. You bounced off the defender's chest and it's incomplete. Uh. And then he took an intentional ground and call uh in the in the end zone, which again it's pressure, but it's also I don't know, I mean this this is you gotta you gotta have a better approach than this is a veteran guy. Uh. Look, Baker Mayfield was getting protected here. There was no Darius Leonard Julian Blackman. Really good it Uh, rookie safe for the Colts left in this one. Uh. Baker was a erratic Uh he he gotta. He got a boost from Odell on a on a circus catch, but he put the ball in danger a couple of times two interceptions, had a couple of throws in the first half where he just put it in defender's hands, just sailed passes and uh, you know all this all that said, Browns just sitting at four and one, the quarterback is is not quite clicking at this point. And if the quarterback does click, uh, then you really have something going here. And I think he will. I think that we saw that. I think he's starting to drift a little bit again. And I think that he's just better when he gets the ball out during sort of the um during the assigned steps or whatever it is in the play. You know, if you know, if it's a three or five step drop, it's one to three and out. And yeah, that's sort of a dated philosophy a little bit, but I think it's better. It just keeps him um from from trying to do too much or or trying to get outside the pocket. And he's good. He's exceptionally accurate when he wants to be. And I I think that Stefanski is a guy that will will keep him on his tracks. And you know, at some point, like look, like you said, if you're four and one without a really exceptional Baker Mayfield game, yet, I think you have to feel pretty good about the fact that, like everybody ebbs and flows during a season and his up trajectory has yet has yet to hit. Yeah, good things in Cleveland right now, Uh, let's go out to the Fits Magic Show out in Santa Clara. The Dolphins just absolutely smashed the forty niners here, and uh, we'll start with the Dolphins will start with a positive Byron Jones is back, and uh, I I don't I don't wanna, I don't want to go nuts about. You know, when we're talking about non quarterbacks across the league, there are only a handful of guys. You truly, if they're out of the lineup, it's it's like a huge impact type of thing. Uh. Byron Jones, who you know, he's a top five corner in the League's a true number one corner. Uh. When he was out, the Dolphins had to force their first round pick, Noah Igbanogny h into the lineup. He's he's a converted receiver out of Auburn. He was going to be sort of more of a long term investment here. Uh igvan Ageny just he was he was he was. He was a disaster out there. I don't know how else to say it. He just wasn't good enough filling in for Jones. But Byron Jones back. So you get this Dolphins defense at full throttle now, and they obviously, I mean they they overwhelmed Jimmy Garoppolo. Will get to Garoppolo in a second, but also Ryan Fitzpatrick. I mean, there's just no sign that Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to have to head to the bench. I mean, at the way this is going, and we've seen any given week he can sort of have that meltdown performance, but the way this is going, I mean, you wouldn't even consider putting two in the lineup right now. Fitzpatrick is playing too well and he was near perfect, uh in this win over the forty niners. Forgive the reference, but you know, having Ryan Fitzpatrick is your quarterback is sort of like taking an edible in college when you go to someone's house that you don't know, um, and you know they might be able to bake and they might understand the principles of how all this were works, or you might be on the floor, um, just completely unable to find the door in thirty seconds. But it's working out right now. And I think that the comfortability with chan Gailey is obvious. Um. But and and he can take chances in that and you know, I think he's the right age, it's the right time. Like Ryan Fitzpatrick has never cared, right, I mean, there's always been that sort of yolo aspect to him. But the fact that it's working in a functional way. He has the receivers, he's stretching the field, and you know, people are afraid to get beat at this point, and so everything kind of has a little bit of a respect factor. From the defense. It can help kind of organize the way that you're going to set up your offense. And I wouldn't rush to out there. I mean, what's the point. You know, you're you're you're developing everything else, you're laying the groundwork, and and I think that things you are definitely going better than expected right now. Yeah, the offensive line is better. I think people didn't realize how good the DeVante Parker UH President Williams tandem was there in Miami. But um others to the ball here. Jimmy Garoppolo returned to the lineup. He was not fully healthy, he was not moving around well. That said, he also was just I mean, he was he was He was atrocious. This was one of the worst quarterback performances you'll uh, you'll see. Uh he did get pulled at halftime. C J Batler went in uh for basically a garbage time second half. Kyle Shanahan says afterwards that he just took Garoppolo out to sort of protect him with the ankle injury. Uh, you know, body of work. You don't worried that much about Garoppolo. I mean when we were talking, you know, you know, is is he good enough to win a Super Vio? Yeah, he's good enough to win a Super Bowl on the right team. Uh. The forty Niners losing Nick Bosa, losing to Forrest Buckner, losing d Ford. I just think it was too much for them to get back into the UH championship contention. Uh category. Anyway, as far as Garoppolo goes, it's it's worrisome, But you know, I don't know, get him back out there, see if you can uh take some forward steps with his offense and what is probably gonna be, uh ultimately a lost year for the forty Niners. Yeah, but I was there was a hot second there where the forty Niners came out in the second half and Bethard let a touchdown drive and I think they were down like by like ten points or something like that, And I was like, what do you do if you're Kyle Shanahan and he leads this team to a win, um, during the same circumstances that you were afraid to track Garoppolo out? And and I don't know. I mean, I think that Kyle Shanahan is one of those people that is overtly sensible and and and not one of those people who gets caught up in all the ridiculousness. But you know, and I'm sure there's some you know, headbanging analysts out there it's gonna say, oh, well, you gotta be tough for your team and all that stuff. You know. I don't think any of this has a real long term effect, but I did was curious in the moment, what would happen if Bethard actually did lead a comeback drive, because then that kind of ham strings you a little bit. But um, yeah, I mean this is obviously Garoppolo's team moving forward. Yeah yeah, I mean, look, a couple of weeks ago, people were saying, like, it's Nick Mullins, Nick Mullins, is he better than Jimmy Garoppolo? Like that, No, he's not. And we saw it once we saw the larger sample size from Nick Mullins, and you would probably see that from from Betha as well. But now I had the same feeling. I was like, yeah, c J. Bether leads a four touchdown come back here things things get a little bit dicey there in uh in San Francisco. Uh, let's go. This was actually I mean, look, this was what I thought was going to be sort of the lead to this show. When it was unfolding. The Steelers Eagles, Uh, Steelers win this one. Chase Claypool just absolutely goes off and and uh Steelers did lose Jante Johnson, who has sort of been the number one receiver this year for Ben Roethlisberger. Claypool, He's been getting some manufactured touches this year. It's very exciting. You know, he scored on a little end around touchdown run in this one. But they also he got more used as sort of a traditional receiver in this one, and he was the Eagle did not have answers for him, and and you know the physical package he brings, you wonder if, uh, if anyone's really gonna have answers for him this year. Yeah, this is a creative as Steelers offenses I think we've seen in a long time um and and they're opening up the playbook, which I think you can tell takes a lot of stress off of Ben Roethlisberger. You know, he's not gonna have to make some of those uncomfortable throws and you're gonna be able to manage him throughout the season. And it reminds me a little bit of the way that the Chargers were using Mike Williams um At at his best, you know, when he was a legitimate touchdown threat in two different ways. But they're they're pushing it in the direction that I think even expands on that and really utilizes Claypool's athleticism. You know, this is one of those classic weekends where everybody goes and and and acquires him and puts them on their fantasy team and then he has three catches for thirty nine yards for the rest of the season. But you know, I think at this point he is he's drawing defenders, he's four seeing everybody to um to take notice and really taking stress off of your thirty seven year old quarterback who's come off you know, our arm surgery. I mean, I think this is as good as good as it gets for Pittsburgh right now. This is going to sound like hyperbolee, but I promise you it is not. I grew up a Steelers fan. I am very familiar with what they've done over the years. This is the most creative offense they have run since like Cordell Stewart gone under center and back in the mid nineties. Uh, for the entire run of Roethlisberger's career, it's been uh, you know what the the static Uh, you know, three receiver sets and you know, obviously a lot of stuff where he's deciphering post snap. Obviously, you know they they streamline that a little bit over the years, but uh, this looks nothing like they ever ran under Roethlisberger. And and that's not to say, you know, all of a sudden this is the most forward thinking offense in the league. Is not that much, but uh, it's trending in that direction. And that's uh, that is incredibly uh promising because quite frankly, I don't know, obviously Rotherelberger goes down, you don't get the answers last year, but uh, Antonio Brown was so good in his last couple of years in Pittsburgh. I think they really didn't have to come up with these answers and and solve some of these problems, and it looks like they are doing so going forward. Um. What really excited me about this game? And and again I thought Carson Wentz was going to have an m VP campaign this year. Uh, that is not going to happen based on what happened first three weeks of the season. We saw things get better Sunday night, but still we're not very uh, you know, impressive in in uh in San Francisco. This game was I mean, Carson Wentz was spectacular in this game, and no one will realize it because the numbers weren't very good. Uh. His two interceptions, one was a hail Mary and one was a play where zach Ertz basically got bumped off his route should have been in defensive penalty on on Vince Williams and uh and and you know ball ended up in in the defender his hands. I'm not sure what's going on with zach Ertz. Uh, I assume he's hurt. If he's not hurt, this is an extremely troubling decline for him. But uh, it's Travis Folgan out there. Uh arts has become completely unreliable form whence uh and yet Wentz is generating offense here and he's making plays late in the down and you know there's you saw him trying the Superman stuff earlier in the year and it was sort of resulting in disastrous stuff. But uh, he is making it work now. He's still missed a couple of throws that you'd like to add back, but he also he had two throws. There was one where I mean his rib cage was getting caved in and he ends up putting it fifty yards in the air just off of John high Tower's fingertips. Uh, and you other one. He had another one late in the first half that would have been a long touchdown and high Tower just sort of misjudged the ball and then went through his hands. And that's just the way it goes. But uh, Carson went with a couple of breaks in this game, could have had a monster game and a huge upset for the Eagles. The way it's just it's night and day from the guy you saw in the first three weeks in the season, and it's the guy we thought we were going to see in nuts that they're going to win the division at six and ten Um, But yeah, no, I think you know, he will get better, he will figure it out. But you're right on Earth. I mean that that is probably the piece of the puzzle that nobody's been talking about and how valuable he's been Um four wents throughout his career and then to kind of have him absent or hidden or not winning on his routes or whatever it is, you know that that's it's it's been gigantic and it kind of puts the Goddard thing in a bigger spotlight now. And so yeah, you have to wonder kind of what what their next move is because they can't keep just piecemealing these things together. Yeah, along with the interception play where you know, he got bumped and just he just stopped, like he didn't even try and fight through. But there's another play where Steven Nelson, who was a hundred ninety pound quarterback, just absolutely muscled Earth's off of a route. And it's just kind like that that that can't that can't happen because you know who did eat up Steven Nelson consotly in this game was was Travis Fulgum absolutely dominated Steven Nelson to Travis Boston Scott, It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. They plucked this guy, you know whatever Packers practice squad guy to pluck him, and all of a sudden, he is the only reliable guy in that offense now for Carson Wentz and and it is it is working Aaron Rodgers who said you didn't have any weapons, you had all along and you weren't even telling anybody, just letting fulghum walk here. Ridiculous. Uh two more games here. Uh, To be honest, Connor, I I don't have a whole lot to say about this Raymonds Bengals. Uh, you know, we're all kind of like, oh, you know, big test for Joe Burrow, Let's see how this goes. And I mean the Ravens defense just just destroyed Joe Burrow. You felt kind of bad for him in this one. And I don't think it changes the way any of us feel about Joe Burrow long term, but it was just kind of reminder of like, oh, boy, like this is uh, there are gonna be some bumps in the road playing on on this Bengals team. Yeah, I mean, you know, that's that's the best defense. He's ever faced in his life, the most talented, the most creative, the most well designed. Um. Add in the fact that you still don't have an offensive line, add in the fact that your best receivers aren't really winning on a regular basis, and you know, of course it's gonna be a butt whopping. But you know, it's one of those things where it does not seem like maybe the Sam Donald Patriots game two years ago, where there there you could notice an actual change in his career trajectory from there, like you know, he did do things differently after that. Um, I don't think that that will happen for Joe Burrow. I think he's fine, and you know, I think he's smart enough to realize that the Bengals have a lot of work to do here before they're they're able to stand in with the Ravens, Cardinals, Jets. Uh is Joe Flacco the future for the Jets? Well, I don't know, Maybe we need to see a larger sample size with that. Uh. They were Look, Jets were within seven points in the second half, which shocked me. Uh, But in the end, I mean, look, the Cardinals had to just get aggressive against a team that has I mean, my goodness, the Jets are running. Uh Pierre to see her, who Uh, I love Pierre to see her and the and the little run he had there in Indianapolis. Pierre to see her. Is is at a point where he is giving like twelve yards of cushion on every snap and it's just it's just free completions against him right now, and I feel terrible saying that. And then on the other side, it's it's uh, it's the other Lamar Jackson. It's it's the rookie from Nebraska who. I mean, look, he went he went undrafted because he's just he's kind of like to see her Jr. He's just a guy who you know pretty good length can't really run though, and uh, I mean you have to feast on those guys. And the Cardinals kind of waiting and waiting and wait and then finally and then in the end it was like, you know what, I don't think Lamar Jackson could cover DeAndre Hopkins and then they just started throwing deep to Hopkins and that was it. I I wonder, like, yes, this team is severely undermanned and almost to the point where our Adam gateson Greg Williams just deploying their personnel in a way that they can show their owner like there's literally nothing we can do, Like, yeah, like look at how bad this is. Like I can't I can't change anything, but like you know, you're not going forward on fourth and sure you're just like, you know, this team just feels like they have zero interest in competing. Um, and you wonder, you know when all this stuff kind of happens and all these coaches are getting replaced and stuff. And I'm not advocating for anybody to lose their job in the middle of the season, but like this is one of those it's like, man, this is just so weird. Everybody seems to be just sleepwalking through this through the remainder of this season and we're only five games in. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a Uh you wonder if they hope they I don't know, get some other teams with COVID outbreaks and they just sort of start canceling some of these games and uh, you only have to play like a nine game season if you're the Jets, you guys are fine. That will say, let's touch on the COVID stuff just real quick, because the one thing that stood out with me. To me with the scheduling, is they just sort of they threw that Broncos Dolphins game just kind of into the ether. They were just kind of like, we'll get to it eventually. It's it's just sort of gonna float around out there. And uh, I did kind of get the sense. And maybe there's thinking, like, you know, it's gonna be by December the four and ten Dolphins and the three and eleven Broncos, And if we just don't play that game, is anyone really gonna notice? Yeah, I think they're just gonna like be like, Okay, you guys can coin flip for the draft picks, but you know, let's just keep everybody safe here and uh and you know, just let's let's not put the bad product on the field. Well we uh, at the time of our taping, we still have Monday Night football to go. We still have Tuesday night football to go. Maybe maybe Tuesday Night Football nights bills. But uh, I don't know. They're plowing ahead with this thing and we'll see where it ends up come November December. But so far, so not good, but not horrible. Wednesday Afternoon Football is going to be a blast. It's I'm just gonna enjoy when they finally, you know, like they were going to give the Bills the break and being like, you know, we're not gonna put you on a Tuesday game and then a Thursday game. But I feel like at some point you're gonna have like a game move to Tuesday, and then uh, they're gonna be like, we'll just push it back maybe a Friday or something. Yeah, just I don't know, let's just get to across season. Gary go, I like it. Connor Or of the week Side podcast catch him all the time with Jenny brent Is on their new feed. There's a new feed. Why are you not subscribing to the new feed yet? You should do it? All right, Connor, We'll we'll talk to you next Monday. Sounds good. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast is Connor Or and me Gary Grantling. We are produced by Shelby Royston Sis. Executive producer of podcast is Scott Brody. Ben Eagle is director of Editorial Projects and product Mark Rabick is Emeritus editor of the MMQB. Andy Benoit is the founder of the MMQB NFL podcast. Be sure to subscribe to this feed as well as the feeds for the weak Side Podcast and The Albert Breer Show. 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