PMS 2.0 1633 - OVERREACTION MONDAY, NFL Week 3 Recap, MNF Preview/Picks, Ian Rapoport, Dan Orlovsky, Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to another magical Overreaction Monday, September 28th, 2026. This sports program begins right now. Football is the absolute greatest. That is A.J. Hawk. He's college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner. My name is the name of this particular show, and I will tell you what, I am incredibly zeeked up that I am in a stadium that is 102 years old, A.J., the oldest NFL stadium that there is, been the home of the Chicago Bears for more than 50 years, and tonight, the Chicago Bears in a week three clash take on the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Eagles, obviously, 2-0. They have a win over the Washington Commanders, eh? Eh, no, the Commanders just handed the Super Bowl champions their first loss of the season yesterday. They might be a good team, and then the Tennessee Titans, and then the Chicago Bears, they score 59 points, then they score three points. Their quarterback pulls his hamstring. Who's in tonight? Oh, Case Keenum. How long will Case Keenum be the quarterback of the Bears as he tries to battle against Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni to cap off an NFL weekend that has been nothing short of spectacular? The amount of comebacks and wins in one-score games is certainly in a place in which we will hold in high regard as maybe the greatest time to be an NFL fan of all time. Offenses are powerful. Offenses are dynamic. Defenses are thumping. And we're taking games internationally. We're taking games internationally that are coming down to 56-yard kicks. It feels like a magical time to be a football fan, and we haven't even started chit-chatting about the college football weekend, AJ, which was also packed to the gills. It's a great overreaction Monday, and it's not just me and AJ. Obviously, we got one half of the hammer. God! Cowboys, AP Tone. AP Tone, from a sports gambling standpoint, it feels like there's a trend that might just start carrying us through the entire season, sir. Yeah, there was. Especially this weekend, the dogs were ruff, ruff, ruff barking this weekend. Especially the home dogs. There were seven home dogs this weekend. Five of them won. Six of them covered. So five winners, six covers out of the seven games. You better bring it if you're going to go into someone else's house and you don't think they're very good. And also on that as well, teams that have lost by 20 points or more the next week are now six and two straight up. So they've won six of the eight games and are seven and one again. Against the spread, the only team not to cover was the Miami Dolphins yesterday, and they almost covered against the Chiefs. Oh, yeah. And obviously, bad news coming out of the Miami Dolphins is A-Chan tears his ACL. A lot of injuries yesterday, AJ. That is par for the course for NFL. But you talk about the 20-point losses, AJ, into the wins the next week. Let's go over to the toxic table at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Ty Schmidt, it feels like this year, more question marks than ever, but also solid football seemingly across the board. Yeah, without a doubt, Pat. And it's why you mentioned it. It's why the NFL is the best. Because, you know, we think we know something one week, and then the next week comes, and it turns out that we know absolutely nothing. You can't trust anyone in this league. You literally can't. You mentioned the Super Bowl champions. They're playing the Washington Commanders with a backup quarterback. They've looked terrible. We just figured, hey, you know, Jackson Smith and Jig was going to score two more touchdowns, three more touchdowns. Seattle's going to beat the hell out of them. What happens? They lose. The Steelers, they looked terrible last week. Then you just assume, hey, there's no way. Look at this Bengals team. It's a Bengals team. Oh, is that you? Yeah, that is me. The Bengals, though, like I was saying, you know, they look like one of the best teams in the AFC. They get beat by the lowly Steelers. It's every single week in the NFL. Teams we expect to go in, you stack up a money line parlay, all these favorites. They're going to win. They end up losing. You can't trust anybody in the NFL, and that's why it's the best. Yeah, and I do believe that is a good, accurate depiction of us trying to hit some bets as well. Listen, let's understand that right now it has been quite a rollercoaster. A.J., teams that look like absolute shite have gone all the way to the top. There's only a couple undefeated teams that I think we can hang our hats on, but even they get in. I mean, the 49ers, they might have the MVP, which we'll certainly dive into here in a matter of moments, but I mean, that was a six-point game with the Cardinals in the end whenever it's said and done, so I think the parity is wild across the board in A.J. I think there's some teams that might have started like ass that might end up being great, and then we got some teams right now that we might think are heroes that might be a first overall pick of the draft. Nothing is predictable right now around the NFL, A.J. Nothing is predictable at all, and I think if you check out, look at the AFC North. What are they? Every team is two and one, and when I look at the AFC North, go team by team, what's the common thread? I think they all have solidified veteran quarterbacks. Go down the list here if you check it out. Two and one, like are they, is AFC North awesome, or are they just an average group? I don't know. We will see, but two and one, look at, think of all the quarterbacks you have there, Pat. Obviously, Pittsburgh, we got Aaron Rodgers, Lamar is in Baltimore, Cleveland, it seems like Deshaun is the guy. Right now, he has kind of turned the tide on how they feel about him, how he's playing on the field, and Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, so I'm curious to see how this AFC North kind of shapes out as the year goes, but right now, they're looking really good. Well, you know, AFC North football has always been known as grind and pound football, and Mike Tomlin obviously said it's hot in the kitchen at the AFC North, you got to be able to do that. It's been fascinating, Con Man at the Toxic Table, that just a few years back, the running back was almost kicked out of the league. Now it feels like you need one, Con Man. Yeah, that's right. You know, in 2023, go to the summer in July, you know, Austin Eckler, Naj Harris, JT, Saquon, these guys basically hopped on a Zoom call and said like, "No more of this franchise tag stuff for running backs. We don't want less money, we want more money," and all of a sudden, now here we are in the 2026 season, and basically all the successful teams that are flying high have unbelievable running backs. I mean, this weekend alone, started on Thursday night with Bijon, 29 for 194, two tuds. Then yesterday, like you mentioned, in Rio, that shootout was awesome. Mark Henry, 26 for 89, two tuds. Javonte Williams, 19 for 98, a touchdown. McCaffrey, three and oh-niners, 15 rushes, 75 and a tud. He's also catching the football out of the backfield as well. A lot of the things that these guys do that kind of changed from that phone call was kind of the versatility in the past game as well. Kenneth Walker with the Chiefs, he's completely changed that offense. So it has been one of those things where James Cook, excuse me, I have to mention him, he was the leading rusher yesterday outside of Bijon. 54 and a touchdown, massive for the Bills. It does feel like now you need a good running back to kind of have that successful team. Yeah, you have a good running back, you're probably going to have to have a couple good tight ends. Now listen, if you run the ball well, play action is wide open because you're getting those linebackers. A.J., what does play action do to your linebackers? It tends to suck linebackers up. Sucks them up. That sounds a little dirty. I didn't mean it by that. I don't know how you took it. You interpreted it a certain way, but when you suck them up, they take two or three steps towards the line of scrimmage, "Oh no, what's going on? There's routes behind me. They're running digs. They're running posts. Everything's behind me." Because the linebacker is obviously human nature. If they're getting pounded, pounded, pounded, pounded, whenever you see that ball go in there, you know, veteran quarterbacks might also be better than this and younger guys who haven't had to do a lot of this. You see that ball go, linebacker, natural human instinct is, "All right, I got to start getting in for the tackle." And all of a sudden, guess what? Sucked up. Sucked up. They're pulling that thing back. And the linebacker already out of place, boom, tight ends bopping in there behind. Tight ends might have a historic year. Nine-year NFL vet D-Butt knows everything about that, used to play nickel out there on those guys. Yep. Absolutely. Tight ends are walking mismatches. And yesterday, that Sunday alone, 20 touchdowns by the tight ends, which is a record. So you got in that Saints-Raiders game, it was I think four touchdowns by the tight ends, which is absolutely crazy. Brock Bauer is coming back, made his presence felt, obviously Travis Kelce, George Kittle. You just go down the line. These tight ends, they're walking mismatches, red area, third down, too big for quarterbacks. Too quick for a lot of safeties and linebackers. So you look at the theme around the league right now. It's run game, it's 12 personnel, it's 13 personnel. So I love what I'm seeing right now from the tight ends, man, getting in that paint. Is this going to be a cagey affairs because it's 13 personnel? I know we got a couple of scores over 30 here, but I asked this question after week one, whenever we had the scoring explosion. I mean, it was a volcanic eruption, a climactic affair of offensive points that week one. And I said, well, we're seeing 13 personnel. That takes me back to when I was just a young lad watching Pittsburgh Steeler football. And it's like, is 13-6 coming around the corner? Is there 17-14 games coming? What do you think is inevitably going to take place, D-Bud? And what do we see yesterday with these games being tight across the board? You know what? It's such a matchup in a week-to-week league. You don't really know. You just kind of got to look at it after the week and kind of get back. But once we kind of get to midseason, that's kind of where everybody kind of, I guess, grows into who they are as a team, who they are as coaches. You see a lot of young coaches, too. A lot of these games coming down the ladder. You know, two-minute situations, clock situations, special teams. So you never really know. Injuries always play a huge role, whether they're big injuries to like a starting quarterback or maybe you just have a run on injuries like the Niners with their defensive line or the offensive line in Green Bay, where you kind of get guys on. It's kind of a week-to-week league. And that's why we love it. That is why we love it. And one score games across the board, and the Giants were in one of those and got a big-time dub. And you know, 12 was two times six. Six times two. We do it for you, Jackson Dart, says Jameis Winston, who also had another quote before the game about, "I like getting guys behind and getting them forward," you know. And then he just stares off into the sunset. It's one of the greatest motivational speeches of all time. We have some breaking news out of Junior, Senior, and Garofalo. Whoa. J.J. McCarthy has been traded to the New York Giants. Oh! Oh! Oh! third string, second string quarterback JJ McCarthy, first round pick. of Michigan to the Minnesota Vikings injuries obviously hampered his development with the Vikings maybe some performance issues as well some people acknowledged that maybe he was trying to be a movie character of a quarterback as opposed to an actual quarterback feels like he's had to grow through a lot of different situations he said nothing but the right things through it all maybe he's gotten to a point where he can find a new home fresh start and rebuild under another hardball remember whenever JJ McCarthy was coming into the NFL John hardball head coach of the Giants his brother Jim hardball said JJ McCarthy's best quarterback I ever seen had a best pro day I've ever seen obviously they won a national championship together so hardball understands who JJ is as a person what we have heard about JJ McCarthy since high school down at IMG leader guy in Michigan goes in as a freshman the offensive lineman who normally hate everybody liked him he was able to win had a fastball was he ever gonna be able to become an NFL quarterback both on the field and off the field got memed into oblivion with the nine thing but he was talking about his alter-ego and then the alter-ego stunk as well so everybody was kind of attacking him now he gets a chance to maybe lead a team that's a powerful ball team just like he had a Michigan when he handed it off like 35 40 times straight throughout their Big Ten run while they're gonna try to win a national championship and a hardball maybe brings the best out of him AJ your thoughts on one game with Jameis Winston as a starting quarterback and them saying all right we need to go get somebody how do you feel about JJ McCarthy going to the Giants and this was rumored literally immediately upon Jackson getting ruled out for the season agent yeah I feel like this is a name that we threw out there right away when Jackson dart went down with thinking why wouldn't you JJ McCarthy is not gonna get an opportunity in Minnesota we always talk about a change of scenery but I mean JJ does he come in as he day one started do you think they're gonna try to groom him right away to placement or do you think he's gonna sit behind Jameis for a few weeks at least I would assume he has to learn some stuff nine year NFL vet Darius Jay Butler how do you think they roll it out I assume a couple weeks as if it was a preseason see what he does see what he doesn't do they're paying Jameis 13 million I think two years 13 million dollars to be a backup quarterback obviously that gets expedited he gets into the game I don't know what the long-term feel is about Jameis as a giant I know we love them but JJ probably tries to learn this thing and get him in as soon as possible how do you think they're viewing it well yeah JJ definitely this is a fresh new start for him you know you it didn't work out in Minnesota your first round pick and there were a lot of questions about him as a prospect coming out didn't throw a ton of passes trailed in the fourth quarter at Michigan and then he struggled early but now you got a fresh start you kind of have a whole brain trust with a lot of experience we look at that offensive side of the ball and the coaches over in New York with Greg Roman with Nagy all these guys so I think they're gonna try to bring him alone and try to make him the starter sooner than later look they found a way to win yesterday but Jameis so far it doesn't look like he's the answer but this season or going forward but we shall see man fresh start for him he has the talent he has the tools he has the intangibles now he's got to see if he can play football on the NFL level he'll have another opportunity with this this team and this kind of it's not like a you know run and gun type offense they want to run the ball they want to play physical and then put you in a situation where you got to make some passes down the stretch so hopefully JJ can turn around up there in New York Ty I know you're happy JJ McCarthy's out of the NFC North I know you are excited for that fresh start for him in a Harbaugh building how do we I think you know what I think he's not gonna be ass I think he's gonna figure it out or how could the amount of hand in a ball off that they are definitely gonna do and then obviously neighbors is a weapon Odell Beckham juniors always open they got a tight end they'll be protected maybe this is the perfect place and then whenever you talk about off the field stuff and how we handle situations and how he acts and operates as like a leader of a team and everything who better than Jameis Winston to learn from Ty I feel like this is a good well now we don't know what its trade is for sure has that been it just came out I think it's a fifth I think it just came out okay fifth round pick for JJ McCarthy so it feels like they're they can get another fifth if they need it down the line so for the Giants and are really out anything I think this is good for all parties tie I have no idea how it's gonna work out but I think this is a good for all parties move no I think so too I mean it kind of just resets his entire career the expectations coming in you know that with all the stuff that happened with Darnold when they get that good and then he you know gets thrust into the starting job and we heard constantly from Orlovsky and some other people hey all you need to do is be average with this team and you'll go to a Super Bowl and he was below average and you know never really got the chance to kind of get things going but oftentimes you know when you're supposed to be the Savior like that and you just you never kind of amount up to what you're supposed to like you need to get out of there you need to go somewhere else and we'll see I mean he kind of is in that same vein as Jackson dart now I don't he certainly hasn't shown that he could play as well as Jackson dart has at times but you know I mean can things get much worse than Jameis I don't know if they can and I think for him you know why not you know now you have another opportunity to go prove like hey I do deserve to be here I did deserve to be a first-round pick and he has to go earn it and I'm sure he's excited for the opportunity okay so GM from the Vikings who made the draft pick Kwesi yep gone JJ gone feels like this is uh moving on from that entire decision and I think a lot of the people in the building especially with how many quarterbacks are in there you get a guy who almost leads your team that a number one seed in the NFC almost wins an MVP wins 14 games and you kick them out of the building I think a lot of people in there potentially thought the football gods were not gonna bless them uh they now three and oh feeling good and Kyler Murray obviously doesn't have his absolute best game as a football player but Brian Flores on defensive side they might be able to beat absolutely anybody now let's move away from the JJ McCarthy trade and let's go to uh top five headlines coming out hell yeah top five top five top five top five top five driven by Ram truck and we certainly appreciate the hell out of Ram trucks let's go to number five headline coming out of our football weekend AJ I know the Ohio State Buckeyes recognize this type of feeling but Iowa hasn't had game day in 20 years holy Hawkeyes game day is coming to Iowa City AJ obviously Ohio State anytime you guys show up it's a big weekend but I will get to win on the last play of the game kind of cements themselves as a different team this year than we've seen over the past couple years and if they get a win over Ohio State this Saturday Tash Schmidt the Hawkeye conversations national brother the entire world is going to have to show respect to the Hawkeyes but if Ohio State comes in there and it's a tough I know Kinnick's tough place to play I know it's a tough place to play but all eyes on Iowa I think good news with how they're going to perform all eyes on Big Ten match up here depth of Big Ten I think good and how they're going to perform and I think the scene is going to be biblical for college game day I cannot wait to get out there at Ty Schmidt no yeah I mean you hit the nail on the head and you know I honestly I haven't even got to the game yet Saturday because I'm still kind of just riding high from the previous Saturday and you're right you know I mean I don't know I said coming into the season Iowa just needs to win two out of the three games in this 14-day stretch they have here Michigan being the first one then Ohio State then Washington they just can't get killed they just got to be competitive that Iowa game that Michigan finish I mean that was just a classic Kurt Ferentz clinic from whistle to whistle they got outplayed the entire game had no business winning you look at all the statistical numbers they got absolutely killed but Hank Brown I said it last week you know and he had a 91 yard drive with about a minute 45 left to kind of cement himself as an Iowa legend and that stuff just never happens for Iowa football ever you have two tip passes that somehow get caught you know a Michigan player with two seconds left gets hurt and he has to go down so Iowa doesn't have any timeouts left but they get a chance to kind of drop a play and then Reese Vandersee you know an Iowa kid pulls in the touchdown as the clock expires so yeah I'm just so excited that people are kind of starting to realize what maybe could be a special season going on in Iowa City first time in 20 years the last time game day was there I was a sophomore in high school I was there so I mean I couldn't be more excited and now now you know you it is it's hey don't get blown out maybe we escape with the win and then we can really talk about something special happening in Iowa City this year and I think the beautiful thing about it is uh we love whenever new places are getting spotlighted we obviously love the Midwest as we call that place home uh as I sit here at Soldier Field one of the legendary places of the Midwest and of Midwestern football and Big Ten football and we love that Tash Smith is going to have an opportunity to celebrate going back we'll be taking the entire program on Friday back to Iowa City we'll be going live from wherever the game day set is so whenever we say uh we cannot wait to get there we cannot wait to get there we will be headed to Iowa City on Friday for our first full live show of the season the lads should be uh pretty electric and hopefully Hawkeye fans will come say hello as we kick off a weekend a ball in a spectacular way from this city that made Tash Smith into Tash Smith Ty how do we think Friday will be I'm excited to see the lads out there I think you hit the net nail on the head I think biblical 20 years is a long time I mean you know the majority of the kids who are in college right now weren't alive the last time you know game day went to Iowa City and I don't know where the location's gonna be but you're you know you you can't lose there either we're up somewhere near the Pentecrest where everyone's got class and they'll just kind of migrate right towards you know where the set is or we're somewhere on the other side of the near the stadium um it's a little bit different you know we went to iowa city a couple years ago when the women's basketball team was you know before they started their run in the ncaa tournament we were in the field house and the weather was bad and you know i think we thought you know we'd get a little bit more of a showing like and that is one thing people were excited about that like we're talking about uh you know a top 15 matchup on saturday in iowa city like this is it's religion you know just like it is for everything else people are going to be so excited they can't i mean it's going to start on wednesday probably i so many people are going to skip class so yeah i'm expecting it to be a big turnout i can't wait to get back to iowa city it's going to be awesome okay i can't wait either for friday hopefully we will see all you beautiful i folks should be a fantastic weekend of ball starts on thursday night obviously as the pittsburgh steelers friday we'll be live in iowa city friday night football has been living up to the height and then saturday and sunday packed to the gills wrapping up monday in new orleans let's go to the number four headline coming out of the weekend uh it's a big one the old firm has resurrected boys okay listen these names are names of yesteryear you think back you do nostalgia when you hear these guys names kirk cousins he's undefeated right now aaron rogers oh yeah balling here for the pittsburgh steelers with big mike mccarthy marcus mariota you remember him he has an entire uh wing in the oregon football facility for how much he has won as an oregon duck he's been around the league and then some obviously tennessee titan he was a raider now he's a washington commander comes in for jayden daniels after that nasty elbow injury and he leads them to a huge 30 plus point explosion win over the seattle seahawks super bowl champs don't look now marcus mariota is a big one he's undefeated right now he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated he's undefeated might be back to being a full-time quarterback he's not the only one jamis winston gets a win for the giants now how many more there's going to be okay i guess we will we will certainly keep an eye on and then deshaun watson with the cleveland browns aj you mentioned it earlier he might be their guy he's getting cheered they're getting cheers he said almost brought to you it was ah almost right here it was uh todd munkin on friday stopped by the show he said are we not supposed to be supportive of our guys is this not what we do this for is this not why we're here todd munkin is rallying the dog pound deshaun watson's not playing like ass and the cleveland browns have momentum on their side right now for the first time long time todd munkin had a backwards hat on and said oh thursday night it's for uh the number one seed in the afc north it's the pittsburgh steelers and what what our fans just did at the end of this game to help us win this thing we're expecting all night deshaun watson's back playing winning football aj that is crazy to imagine and it's not just him it's all these old ass dudes why do you think that's the case and uh how long do you think we see at all age i mean i think we can can see these quarterbacks continue to get better and better as the season goes we all know like they talk about sometimes early in the season defense is ahead this this year week one comes out boom we see an explosion of points i think now teams are settling in trying to find their identity but as far as deshaun watson goes think of a couple weeks how the narrative has changed on him and how the fans feel about it it it really helps to win you win a few football games and you are a big catalyst as to why you win you can uh you can get people to change their minds a little bit i cannot imagine what that atmosphere will be like thursday night when pittsburgh comes to town the dog pound will be ready to roll winning cures all okay that is literally a statement that is said around every nfl building because even if you play like ass like the buffalo bills but you still get a win it's like all right we bury the ball we move on but also for a fan's sake then they start believing like okay we're getting killed for supporting this guy and having this guy as our quarterback and he's also playing like ass you can see how the browns are like get me out of this situation especially because the cleveland browns have been the cleveland browns forever but if he starts playing winning football and they get a chance to celebrate in there they'll go to bat they will go to bat for you especially if you're bringing happiness to an entire area an entire region that hasn't had it for a while nine-year nfl vet darius j butler uh d butch quick question why are all the olds playing so well what's going on here i mean they're just adults you know they're ready to come in regardless of the situation you talk about deshaun watson i think that i mean we all know week to week it's a team effort the young guys they have on that roster mason graham is playing his ass off fanny junior jenkins boston like all these young guys are coming along and playing good football with the veterans but talk about deshaun you go over to the west coast vegas nobody had the team that had the number one pick we know they spent a ton of money in the offseason but now they're three and oh with kirk cousins playing out of his mind third first three games three touchdown passes in each game only quarterback in the nfl to do that so it's very very impressive then marcus mariota playing against a team that was on the 12 game win streak getting their starting quarterback back the number one defense in the league since last year and then go and have that kind of output not only with him but once again that defense made some big time plays down the stretch as well so when you have these adults who have been in so many different situations have been in so many different two-minute drills or or two-minute drill before half or four-minute drills all these different situations that pays off when it comes to these games that seem to be always close and i don't want to be you know this guy but lamar's not young either no lamar's been around a long time that win he maybe we'll talk about in the top five headlines oh maybe that'll crack in there let's go to the number three headline shall we a quarterback out west who is playing the best i believe he has uh nine touchdowns and zero incompletions whenever he's targeting a certain group of guys in the second half of games this year it looks like we might be seeing mvp already this might be purdy's year of winning it all he has come out on fire obviously in australia the rams were the conversation because of how they traveled and they looked like ass was like maybe the niners were the reason why and then since then all he has done is continue to dissect and absolutely methodically diabolically beat the hell out of defenses debo samuels all the way back shanahan seemingly in his bag george kittle early back from a recovery of an achilles dominant all over the place kyle uschek's change in the game they got weapons galore and their defense is still their defense brock party and the niners have and mike evans i completely forgot i'm so sorry mike evans you uh obviously gonna have another thousand yard season for the 12th straight season with like your 50th straight quarterback or whatever the case is it's like brock party is playing on another level right now i think he's always been good obviously people didn't want to give him credit for being good he feels like he's in complete control right now and i thought about this and i don't like bringing up like negative things but maybe brock party feels more like empowered more in charge more of a leader because shanahan missed some time right with that car accident yeah so maybe that gave brock party the opportunity to take a little bit more ownership maybe brock party does a little bit more leadership or maybe this is just the natural evolution of what brock party is going to be and i'm not saying that the arizona cardinals are world beaters we think they're a lot better than we could have ever expected but what brock party's been doing has been efficient and it has been fantastic niners are for real this year and it might be mvp hurdy this year aj hawk i we might need to work on the name a little bit but i hate i hate to steal i hate to steal dano's material but if you know dano says like the guy hits his back foot and he throws with conviction i believe danny dan has been saying that those clips right there you talk about throwing with conviction brock has a beautiful nice base to him like he's got a lot of confidence in him he's got a lot of confidence in him like he's got a lot of confidence in him like he's got a lot of confidence in him like he is ultra confident and we know shanahan one of the best play callers ever to live when you're doing that with the confidence that he has and what you mentioned you talked about all these older quarterbacks too how they're playing well they're all taking care of the ball they're not beating themselves and they're throwing touchdown passes left and right so when you do that you have a great chance of winning the con man uh we're not going to talk about what's going on with your core right it's not this conversation it's not may vp anymore no it's mvp hurdy potentially but we assume a quarterback's going to win mvp there's been some other guys who have been in the paint more often than not that might get into the convo about you know skill player position player maybe some speed gets into the mvp convo as opposed to offensive player of the year con man yeah there's definitely a chance i mean jameer gibbs i think has like seven touchdowns through three games i'm pretty sure also he has uh 55 touchdowns through 52 games him and jim brown are the only guys that have more touchdowns than actual games played in their careers so we could see something like that but not with something like purdy right now i think the stat was his qbr right now through three games is like 93.8 uh when brady won the mvp in 2007 when he set the touchdown record his qbr was like 87 so the rate that this guy is playing at is unheard of for brock birdie yeah the espn qbr is a tough judge yeah judge oh yeah i think it was 80.7 or was it 87 i think i think it go ahead well i think it was 80.7 or was it 87 i think it go ahead well i think it was 80.7 just because uh but i'm not sure how how advanced that qbr stat was by the time 2007 rolled around nonetheless tough stat to have a good stat in they are very harsh on these quarterbacks with their ratings purdy's obviously slicing and dicing josh allen's always going to exist even though he has two picks in the first half and they have five total turnovers they end up getting a win over the chargers which i mean if you can't win that one yikes yeah i mean that is yikes i think they were what plus four and a turnover and they lost right it was the first time it was the first time uh i think jesus christ yeah is that since jesus christ yeah it's the first time ever team didn't cover i could tell you that i'm not sure about win loss uh but for covering the first time ever oh and 108 i believe it was or 108 no or whatever before that yeah so i went to bc oh i thought so yeah it was it was yeah because that's all you win field position when turnover battle you win game has always been the stats that they've said you're plus four plus four and you lose that game that's a hard flight back dude that's a long way back to los angeles you got to be thinking to yourself yeah right we're never gonna win a game we're dead we are never gonna win again people are saying some mean things about herbert in this mcdaniel offense i enjoyed hearing uh teddy bruski's take on it bruski's angle was you know mcdaniel might need a quarterback who has a little pizzazz okay a little bit of a showman yeah a little bit of a show somebody that you know is willing to do a whoo and you know all that stuff i hadn't really thought of it until i heard teddy bruski say it herbert's got no pizzazz right i mean he doesn't even like he's not going to do all the pizzazzy stuff you know that tool was doing to make that offense as efficient as a whoop you know fake little back you know all that stuff the two was doing i don't know if herbert's ever going to do that and i don't know if that's exactly what teddy bruski meant whenever he was saying what he was saying but that's how i took it i thought herbert mcdaniel were going to be worth i thought they were going to be the best ever i you know ben johnson here and caleb williams said we're going to lead the scoring or whatever i'm like mcdaniel with herbert it's like mcdaniel with josh allen now joe brady's with josh allen and they're winning games with five turnovers and then minus four turnover margins so they're doing what they're doing but that's how i viewed it going into the year was i wrong for that d by why am i wrong for that and why is that not what i thought it was going to be i guess we were all wrong because you looked at what mike mcdaniel did with tour and we just kind of all expected justin herbert to be the best ever and i think brock purdy just be you know much more talented as dano said hey that's what it's supposed to look like the strong arm the you know physical traits but when you kind of really think about it and aj just mentioned it with brock purdy like you get to that back foot you go through you have to pre-step motions the shift and you have that conviction with throwing jester herbert's not really that type of quarterback he's more of like a old school wide split spread the field out let me see it make a play maybe run around throw it 60 yards down the field make plays uh he's more kind of instinctive so no it it didn't work i thought it would i thought some type of and look it's early in the season i saw derwin james speak after the game and he was like look we can still go 14-3 and win the super bowl and that's the mindset you have to have when you're a leader in that locker room so hopefully you know jim harbaugh has that dobber back up because it is a long season they got to just find a way to win when you come into a season with the expectations with a quarterback like that with the head coach like jim harbaugh and with all these new additions when it comes to coaching staff and players you expect much more than that but yeah the marriage between mike mcdaniel and justin herbert couldn't start all of any worse right now he looks very very bad congrats to josh allen and the bills getting a massive win and uh congrats to brock purdy our early mvp early okay i like it i think it's pretty good rolls on the tongue i would assume the niners social club's gonna be jumping on they're gonna they're gonna be tweeting this social club yeah i like a good social club as if we're back in the mafia i like that stop by social clubs don't just say mv mv purdy no no well i i think you could say that but everybody would we just gotta make the graphic mv mvp dash erd yeah that's what that's how i'm saying it no i think we need to make the erdy just really small oh okay yeah so it's mvp there it is okay i don't know if anybody else is doing that nonetheless he's got my vote early speaking of uh votes for stuff we might have an update on that in the next 24 hours okay let's go to the number two headline coming out of the weekend i don't like to say this because it's been a couple years since we've done this we've done this we've done this we've done this okay oh what happened fresh new deal okay fresh new deal new money new guarantees new expectations new technology the officials are officially on watch listen what happened in that rams broncos game with a game-winning pick one of the nastiest interceptions i've ever seen yes such a oh my god how did we get here it's like this isn't that is this that yes it is josh wallace boom how we doing ball shows up in his lap he gets called for a pi they take that back they show the replay yeah right perfect play what are we doing fourth quarter minute left highlight real play a play that'll live on forever in this man's life and maybe rams season life forever what an incredible ruined by the refs everyone a game right there everyone a game right there now granted both teams got to deal with the refs you got to do what you got to do let's go to the next play shall we let's go to the next one hands to the face hands to the face hey is it a face another one on top of the nobody's seen it's like what's going on here late can't have this but obviously everything is kind of subjective whenever it comes to this stuff and we've made so many advances to the reviewing of things and who can help who can not in indianapolis they uh yeah some just went down over here hope everybody's okay everybody's okay over there old stadium very renovated though they actually lost their national historic stadium they actually lost their national historic stadium they actually lost thing because yeah 102 years old got renovated in 2002 2003 they gutted out the inside of it kept the outside of it uh they came in national historic society came in looked at it says too much too many alterations you're no longer so in 2006 they're no longer a historical site even though it's the oldest thing in there but uh d but yeah we saw at the colts game yesterday sauce gardener was called with a pi early then he said after whatever quick review or whatever they're calling it the further whatever whenever they drop into their ear ball was deflected no longer pi they got it right quickly it's like some of these calls man we can't be getting wrong in real time especially with all the technology that we have right now d but yeah they have three third down uh defensive penalties on the rams at this point like you said none of them were egregious i think this was all just physical play you especially late in the game refs a great game like this on prime time you don't want the refs to be the conversation this is why we were all and moaning about getting their deal done because we didn't want replacement refs and here we are on week three one of the best campaign in nfl history when you come down to one score games and this is all we're talking about was the end of sunday night football i mean it was still a great ending but you cannot have this you talk this is a phenomenal play we've been talking about this play forever on the sideline getting the catch getting the knee down being physical pat bryant on the flip side that did a great job he sold it right there that should be that's a 5k fine in the nba you saw the ref right there that was in front he didn't throw the flag so that was terrible and then this one against lake the hands to the face technically you slow it down frame by frame yeah he went and grazed him across the chin strap but you cannot call it had no impact on the play you still got a clean release you missed the throw you had pressure like you just want these games to come down to the coaches and the players you don't want the zebras to really be involved or be a part of that conversation so this was tough that was egregious i hated how that game ended it was such a great game such a great weekend of football that'll end tonight but yeah you can't have that with the officials havens cowboys had a situation obviously there was a few others where everybody was not happy okay a lot of people not thrilled with the refs becoming a topic of the conversation i did see a couple opis that clearly was one of those uh even though it was called the other way but this game right here number one headline by far ladies and gentlemen number one headline coming out i mean that's clearly on cd nonetheless nonetheless fourth quarter 23 seconds doesn't get called that way we love hussy here we are big fans of hussy we are big fans of hussy we are big fans of hussy big fans of his service to football but yesterday more often than we have seen over the last what year and a half or so refs in huge moments becoming the storyline can't have it storyline of the weekend for us number one headline seven seconds to sue listen an international instant classic i have no idea how the dallas cowboys came to make the decisions that they made late in that game i mean you got to remember in the fourth quarter they got a goal line stand against derrick henry moldy and i'm not going to lie to you i'm not going to lie to you i'm not going to lie to you i'm not going to lie to you i'm not going to lie to you i mean that's a game that you should win fourth quarter goal line stand with the lead you would assume that's a game that your team would go on to win how about whenever you have like first and gold down there oh let's go it's a third and goal actually time out before a third and goal with 14 seconds left why are we keeping 14 seconds on the clock everybody on earth is asking that question you're already in field goal range brandon aubrey got a kick blocked earlier but we assume he's going to make that we should want that to be the last play of the game dac prescott quick let me get this out of my hands no mistakes made we'll kick the field goal we'll tie this thing i i think there was a lot of questionable decisions certainly monday morning quarterback that we're doing brandon aubrey makes the kick congratulations to him he's one of the game's best 59 yarder down there would have been sick it gets blocked nonetheless 31 31 7 seconds left okay now a kickoff we thought like you were gonna have to like in baseball throw a strike you gotta get that thing in there because nobody wants to just give up the 35 yard line cowboys say yeah we do yeah we do so then jesse minter comes out and says they put us at the 35 we have a six second route he said we have a six second play no problem lamar jackson executes it perfectly zay flowers unstoppable in this particular game end around down around up town brazil town you name it zay flowers was everywhere they planned a six second play lamar jackson gets a timeout off somehow now i think watching at home i thought there was no way i think i personally thought that nonetheless they give it to him after watching it and then tyler loop if you do recall this man misses a kick in pittsburgh last year everybody thinks he should be gone instead 56 in Rio seven second game winning drive as you hit a massive in a soccer stadium in Brazil Lamar Jackson's jacked up the entire team is going crazy this is the type of win that can catapult you to win a damn Super Bowl you go all the way to Rio. You go absolutely crazy. You almost shit down your leg. Go-line stand with Derrick Henry against the Cowboys. And instead, mental toughness, mental grit. Seven-second drive with Amar Jackson, who looked faster than he has looked in two years all day yesterday. And they get a big-time win. Jesse Minter, unbelievable. AJ, they were saying that John Harbaugh would have kneeled this one out and played for overtime. Minter came out and said, we have a six-second play. What a time. What an instant classic. And shout out to Rio being the home of one of the best games we've seen in some time. Yeah, especially with all the, I guess, the hubbub before this game about the surface and them sewing in some artificial turf in between this. It actually seemed everything worked out well. But this play right here, watching in real time, I couldn't believe this is actually happening. Like this, oh wait, they're actually going to pull this off. And you know, like they always put a second back on the clock. I have a feeling right here, like, yep, someone, they're going to give them this second. The fact that they were able to execute it, it blew my mind. But these are things that these teams work on. Like every Friday, there's probably a play, D-Bud. This is something these offenses go through and they work on. It's not a fluke that they executed this well. This is something they work on every single week. D-Bud? Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Yeah, Brazil got an absolute. No, no, no, D-Bud, I got a question for you. What's up? I got a question for you. Timeout at 14 seconds. Terrible. Back to the end zone? Even worse. Let a six-second play get run perfectly. How do we end the game that way for the Dallas Cowboys? Actually, how does that end up being? Did they just brain poop themselves? Like what is kind of your judgment of the Cowboys at the end? And how do you view the Ravens now? Because I saw them week one, look like the greatest team on earth. Then they came back down to earth. Then they get that type of win. That could really catapult you, I think, personally, D-Bud. Yeah, like AJ said, we walk through these type of situations, whether it's picket fence or victory. You got Tyler Warren back there in the last play of the game. Like, we always walk through them, but they're never really full speed. They're never really fully competitive. And then you get put in the game or put in a situation where now everything's full speed. Everything is happening so fast. And not only for the players, but for the coaches. You know, Shottie, I know Shottie wants that timeout back, calling it when he did. You have a veteran quarterback who understands these situations, who've been in them before. So you're on third and goal. Why are you leaving at 14 seconds on the clock? And then the special teams part of the we've been talking about it. That's the biggest thing that McCarthy and Goodell and the NFL has been hanging their hat on. This new kickoff rule just changes the dynamic of the game. You're going to have more returns. You're going to have more different things. You have to throw a strike in this situation. So to kick it out there and then give it to 35 or both of these teams, they start on 35. I think Mentor said it, hey, 15 yards and we're a field goal range. So and then the execution. If it's one player on the Baltimore Ravens that we can't let catch this ball and get a chunk down the middle of the field, it's Zay Flowers. So I mean, even on the flip side of that, unbelievable execution by Jesse Mentor, Lamar Jackson, maybe Mentor or Jackson probably put a little bug in the ear right before this play to the ref. Like, hey, we're throwing this ball. We're going to get a timeout immediately as soon as it's caught. And to see this actually executed, like I used to watch special teams, watch you guys, you know, practice, whatever it was called, where you're running out with a towel and it's everybody, you get that time, that kick before the time runs off. So this is one of those situations, man. And then him having a plan and doing this celebration in the soccer stadium. Chuck used to always say, hey, have a plan. You're going to make a huge play, have a plan, have a celebration in mind. And he did. So to see this executed, man, it was unbelievable. Brazil definitely got a treat with this. Yeah. To your point about having a plan, I mean, in a soccer stadium in Brazil, hitting a walk-off 56-yard field goal to go and hit like the most notorious, the most famous soccer celebration in real time, that's big brain stuff. Here it is from the stadium's audio of what it sounded like as all of Rio became a Tyler Loop fan in one fell swoop of a leg. That's awesome. I mean, what a perfect celebration for that place and for that stadium. Congrats to Tyler Loop. Congrats to the Ravens. Lamar Jackson spoke to the team afterwards and he ended with saying, hey, our season starts. Right now. It's like, man, I got worked up for that. I'm excited for Minter. I'm excited for Lamar. And also Lamar kind of in a contract situation. Was that every single OTA? Was it every single offseason thing? I wonder if he was just trying to learn what Jesse was going to be like. I wonder if he really wanted to negotiate a long-term deal, wanted to find out what it is. He looked fast yesterday. Good for the Ravens. That's our number one headline coming out of the weekend. Now joining us, ladies and gentlemen, junior NFL insider for ESPN and NFL Network. On the news, early about the J.J. McCarthy trade. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Rappaport. Hey, Junior, let's start there. J.J. McCarthy to the Giants. Obviously, the Harbaugh relation plays huge in this entire conversation. And we have a quick update. DraftKings has notified us that the Giants movement in any playoff markets have not moved at all with the J.J. McCarthy trade, but Giants over six and a half wins has moved from plus 100 to minus 136. So a little bit of juice on maybe winning more than six and a half games post J.J. McCarthy trade. So a little bit of change for you. How'd this come together? When was the decision made, Junior? Oh, yeah. Great. Shut up. Hold on, Ian. Couldn't hear you, Ian. I don't know if he can hear us or not. What type of shit is this? Wake up. Has this guy ever done this before? Unmute yourself, dude. Doesn't know how to do it if he's not here. I'll tell you what. Let's not put it past. You know, the Bruce and Mitt boys are back there right now on the ones and twos, and the boys have been doing fantastic. I won't put it, but this is Mitt directly operating with Rap Sheet right now. So I think Mitt is probably getting to the bottom of it. Here we go. Yeah, we're giving him a call back right now. Oh, no. Oh, no. He was about to have all the J.J. McCarthy news age. We were just kind of hypothesizing on why J.J. McCarthy ended up as a big guy this morning in a trade for a fifth round overall pick. Rap Sheet actually had the answers. We could see him, but I can't read lips good enough. I saw what Aaron Rodgers was saying. Did you see what Aaron Rodgers was saying? I'm trying to figure it out. I don't know which lip, like, professional lip reader to believe that's out there on the internet. There's a lot of them out there. Yeah, because there's, like, there's stats for every side. You know, stats is on this team. Stats is on this team. Well, numbers say this. Well, the Ian's not available for FaceTime now. Okay. The stats are on everybody's side. Now it sounds like lip readers are kind of doing the same thing. Tone, is Aaron pissed off that he's a Pittsburgh Steeler? I'm reading a lot of different lips over there. What's going on over there? No, I mean, some internet sleuths, some internet engagement accounts, they get paid for an engagement. Just, you know, kind of tried to make up what Aaron was potentially saying. He definitely wasn't saying that potentially that someone on the field was ass, like a lot of ass. I think he was saying, like, they're bringing six. They're bringing motherfucking six. Something wrong. Along those lines. It was nothing like these, these accounts. They should be ashamed. They're a disgrace to the internet community. And I won't have it. I'm going to say this as somebody that grew up and earned my stripes on the internet. Boy, I don't know if it's for me anymore. They are, uh, they're, they're really coming after me pretty good, but boy, it is wild how one thing could be taken like six different ways. And then narratives are built off of all of them. I think Aaron's fans are happy. I think Aaron's happy. And Mike McCarthy was in his bag. I mean, that is something that was happening. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, Junior. Come on, listen, listen, you guys got to get your stuff together. I'll tell you, I assume, I assume Mitt was really responsible this weekend, knowing that he has a lot more stuff to do for the program. I assume that happened. Uh, I got a chance to not talk to him on Friday as he walked out of that building so we will certainly jot that down as something going forward. Like, Hey, maybe we should work on some stuff as we, uh, get hammered. I don't know. Anyway, I doubt it, but let's move along here. JJ. You want to talk about the guy, right? Yeah. Yeah. Sure. So this really started, uh, last Wednesday, as soon as it became clear that Jackson art was going to miss, you know, the regular season at the very least the names they considered were JJ McCarthy, Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner, Shu, you know, JJ's, I would say the most interesting one because he's so young and he's so talented, right? Like obviously he's been up and down. He's been injured. He's been banged up in a lot of different ways. He's been benched, been through a lot, but he is really talented. And so I think he's probably the name that made the most sense. This deal sounded like it got done either late last night or earlier this morning. Um, and I think for the giants, the thinking here is they're two in one. They've had injuries. Yes, it sounds like Brian Burns is going to be lost for the season as well, but the season's not done and he's got a lot of upside. So Jamis will start McCarthy. We'll learn. And then And if McCarthy ends up playing and is good, then you just figure out whatever happens at the end of the year. I mean, to me, this is a pretty good high upside option for the Giants. Okay, Rap, my quick question earlier is, when the hell is this all supposed to take place? You said some immediate help. AJ also has a follow-up there. Yeah, do we have any idea of the timetable of when JJ could possibly be thrust into the lineup? So the trade is official, pending physical. He's got to get there. So as soon as he gets there, he'll take the physical. It's Monday now. My guess is he'll be in the building by Tuesday, and then he will be on the practice field Wednesday. I would say familiarity and understanding the scheme and the offense is incredibly important, and I don't expect it to be immediate. So if I had to guess on a timeframe, I would probably say a few weeks, which would be like maybe three weeks. Three weeks before he's ready to go. And I think, you know, it's a long season. Jameis has been fine. The team's already 2-1, so there's a little room for error there. So I don't know they need to rush him out there. But my guess is probably somewhere mid-season, week 6, 7, 8. You know, he'll at least be ready to go. And then whether he plays, you know, again, will be determined by the product Jameis puts on the field, which has been okay thus far. Okay. I hope J.J. McCarthy has a brand-new life in football out there in New York. And him getting to learn from Jameis from an off-the-field perspective as well, I think is awesome. I'm excited for all of it. Public speaking, it's going to be great. Well, just I'm being serious when I say that. Acting like an NFL quarterback, Jameis is obviously in a realm of his own. I think that's a big part of J.J. McCarthy too, right? Isn't that a big part of the discussion around 9 and J.J. and everything? Like, hey, this is the men's league here. These are adults. Let's act like an NFL quarterback. I assume he's only gotten better and better in that realm as he's matured. But I think being around a veteran quarterback like Jameis, who is unique in his own way. I mean, he's certainly unique in his own way. I think this is good. And getting back into a hardball operation, perfect news. Okay, D-Bud has a question for you about a massive quarterback storyline brewing over yesterday. Yeah, Baker Mayfield and the Bucs are definitely struggling, but he had a dislocated thumb. I believe he had MRIs or something after the game. Follow-up, what's the latest update on Baker Mayfield? Yes, MRI results are in. No fracture, so x-rays are negative. That's good. I was told no ligament and cartilage damage. Now, there is obviously like a stretching dislocated. If you guys have seen the hit, it looked pretty ugly. But no significant damage. The estimate that was given was about three weeks, which means you'll see Jalen Daniels, the undrafted free agent rookie backup, for probably three weeks. Three games for the Bucs. And, you know, hopefully Baker after that. I mean, the outcomes on this varied from like two to four weeks, which is basically where Baker is, to like out for the season. I mean, this could have been disastrous. So they got good news. There hasn't been a lot of good news in Tampa. This is actual good news. And hopefully the team stays in it long enough for Baker to be able to come back and give him a shot. Okay, so Baker Mayfield, unfortunate. Injury to the thumb. It's obviously a massive ordeal. There's some other injuries happening and workouts happening, especially for a team that we love, Green Bay Packers. Ty Schmidt has a question for you. Yeah, Rapshie, we kind of talked with you about this on Friday last week about how the Packers can't block anyone. And then today it seems like they're bringing in just like a bunch of guys who haven't signed yet, who have experience in the NFL on the offensive line. Do you have an update on that? I think I saw Lakin Tomlinson has already signed and they brought in Makai Becton for a workout. Like, is that the plan? Are they just going to sign like five new offensive linemen and hope that something changes? Brought in Makai Becton and signed him. And then Lakin Tomlinson signed, wasn't in Brazil with the Cowboys, so came right over to Green Bay. And, yeah, I mean, I think that's the idea is just get a bunch of bodies in there. You know, Becton has some talent, has played well at times. I didn't realize last year when he was really struggling that he was actually playing through a torn labrum. I don't know if anybody realized it except for probably him. He got surgery in March and was just cleared last week. So that's why, you know, otherwise he'd be a guy who'd be on a roster, no question. So I think if you're the Packers, you just throw a bunch of guys at it, see if you can get this unit better. You know, the offensive line is weird because it's much about cohesion and playing together as it is about talent. So just, like, finding the right mix of guys is going to be key. You know, and then when do they get Josh Jacobs back? I mean, I think it's another. I don't know. It's another big one. You have any idea on that? Yeah. So the league has officially filed to receive the video. So we don't know if they're going to get it or not, but they're trying to get it. He is on the exempt list. And I would say the ballpark for these sorts of infractions are about six games, give or take a couple. So if they make a ruling and if he has missed, let's say, six games on the exempt list, that's time served. So that's when he would be back. With the Packers able to play. Everybody's got to tighten up. Not put themselves in any situations to miss any ball. We need everybody for the sake of ball. Let's stop making mistakes. And let's stop with the injuries. Okay. So we talked about Baker. It's been a lot, man. Yeah, it has been a lot. This is a lot of injuries. How do we feel at this stage of the season? Is this normal? Do you have any updates on anybody around the league? I mean, it feels like a lot to me. You know, and the first three weeks are going to be a lot. You're always kind of like this, but not. To me, this feels like more. So we mentioned the Baker. Burns likely out for the season with a torn ACL. J.C. Horn, one of the best corners in the NFL, suffered a torn quad. Is out indefinitely. And my understanding is that's months, not weeks. So I would say at least two months for J.C. Horn. Now, Panthers defense has been, you know, not great. But as a team, they're still in the mix. So if they can stay alive. Then I would say we could see him back. Hold on. Let me look at my list and see if we got any others that we haven't talked about. Devon A. Chan is another one out for the season with a torn ACL. That's a bad one. Mike Evans. It's a lot, man. It's a lot. Mike Evans out with a strained rib cartilage. We'll see how much time he has to miss there. That one looks painful. Yeah, it looks very painful. There's about to be a performance here. I think it's Soldier Field. That sounds sick. Sounded good. Yeah, there's somebody. Who we got here? Who we got? I don't know. I've been trying to find it. I think they're on the other side in a tunnel. Chief Keef? Are you going to be one of those fans on the field? They don't let me on the field. I don't know if you've heard about this. I'm not allowed on it. Get off the field. What song is that? Sounds amazing. He adds into like, bitches love so, so. I can see it. I don't know. I don't think this is not going to happen with them. I don't know if they're doing it. If it is a song, it seems to have a lot of pauses in it. I don't know. You know, they sing a couple of lines, and then they take a break. Maybe it's the sound system issue. I mean, maybe. It's Soldier Field, 102 years old. Been home to the Bears for over 50 years. Now there's a massive one tonight with the undefeated Eagles coming to town to take on. Is it Case Keenum? Tone has a question for you, Rep. Yeah, Rep. What is going on with the quarterback situation tonight? Because it looks like Case Keenum is going to start, but Tyson Bajan cleared concussion protocol this weekend, and he's, I believe, the traditional or normal backup for that Bears team. So why is Case going tonight, and is it a chance we see Bajan as well? First part, Case is going tonight. He is going to start. Bajan only practiced once and just cleared the protocol, I believe, yesterday morning is when it was. So I think generally what teams do is they let the guy or they have the guy who took the first team reps come in and play. And, you know, Case is capable. He is old. He is old, which is okay. It happens to all of us. But. Should have a skill set that I think should benefit this offense just in being really smart, quick decisions, able to distribute. I think they're expecting a pretty good performance from him. I mean, we're going to we're going to find out a lot about this Bears offense when it's not Caleb in there. What I don't know is if he struggles, do they then turn to Bajan? I mean, teams don't really like having a guy who has not been out there in practice at quarterback being on the field. But I would say at least it would be a possibility. And then. And then for Caleb, you know, he's out three to four weeks with a grade two hamstring strain. So probably going to miss time after this. And that would likely be Bajan next week. OK, so Bajan got paid this offseason to be the backup quarterback, though. He has been in Ben Johnson's system. So obviously, maybe he has a little bit more info than just a one practice quarterback on Tyson. I think they're paying him, what, eight million, four million a year to be the backup quarterback. I mean, it was a huge. I'm sorry, Pat. I got I got some news on what you were wondering about just now. OK, behind you. Mariachi Herencia de Mexico, a Chicago based two time Latin Grammy nominated mariachi ensemble. I guess they are performing the Star Spangled Banner in traditional mariachi fashion, becoming the first mariachi group ever to perform the national anthem at a Bears game. Pretty cool. I will tell you this. The vibes have been immaculate. Every time I've been around a mariachi band. Good times Oh yeah I don't think I've ever done I'm I'm excited. I'm happy for you. I've never had a bad time around a mariachi band. It is Latino Heritage evening tonight, which, I mean, I'm pumped up about. I did not know that was happening. It's obviously an honor to be here. How long is the team going to be here for, Rap? Can you give me an update on that? Are they going to Indiana? That is still to be determined. I mean, at last check, I would say Indiana was kind of in the lead. But I don't know that it is over, over in Illinois either. Like, I know everyone sort of says that, and I think it's all systems go on Indiana. But until it's official, official, I'm holding out hope that Illinois could pull something and keep them there. We know Kevin Warren is in charge around here, so he'll get to the bottom of it. We all remember Kevin Warren, a former Big Ten commissioner, then somehow becomes president of the Bears. And. He also does feng shui, John Taffer stuff with suites on Hard Knocks. That's right. And now that stadium's never going to happen. Do you remember Hard Knocks when he was doing feng shui conversations about the suite? I think we need the feng shui in a suite to kind of go, what was he talking about? The stadium in Arlington Heights, it's not happening? Like, what was that hindsight now? I mean, I would like more info on the feng shui. He's got it for you. I haven't called. I haven't incorporated it into my office. Maybe that would explain some things. Oh. Maybe that's why I can't answer a freaking FaceTime call without on my computer. I have to use my phone. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe they're shutting you down. Maybe. But so we think that Illinois. Yeah. TBD on that, because like as many times as people tell me, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, until Illinois is fully, definitely out of it. I would still say they have a chance of keeping. I mean, the Bears there, that's sort of, you know, that's sort of how this goes. I mean, I was thinking back to when the Patriots went to Foxborough, I believe they even had a deal for several months with Hartford. Like sometimes, you know, these sort of that's right. Right. Yeah. And then wasn't that announced? Yes. And then Bob Craft actually stopped it from happening, then paid for the entire thing in Gillette and Foxborough. But yeah, that was in like the 90s. I want to say early 90s. Yeah. So when will we know the rap sheet? When do we know either way? Yeah. We should be knowing. I mean, it should be soon. Like it should be this season. Hopefully this. Yeah. Right. Yeah. OK. Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. Right. We're supposed to know by the summer. It hasn't happened. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. What else are we missing here? Rap that we should talk to you about? I'm going to consult my list. Somebody going to sign Tyreek Hill? He said he's coming off the catch. I just read a tweet. Is that what he said? Yeah. He said it feels good. Running around in sand. It's your job, Rap. You tell us. Yeah. You tell us, Junior. I will be making some calls on that. I hope he's back. I would like to see him back. Is Puka going to be back soon? What's up with Puka? That's a groin on a hip? Yeah. I would say I think he'll be back soon. I just don't know if it's going to be next week. I mean, they showed him working out last night on TV. Schefter had a report that the groin injury was hurting his explosiveness and that surgery is not in the plans. But maybe at some point. I mean, later. No one's ruled that out, which I was like, doesn't sound great. But I know he's trying to work his way back. I know, you know, it's sort of like with Miles Garrett. Like, this team's going to be in it for the long haul. So they don't want to rush anyone back. And I thought they looked, I mean, I was learning about guys. Mumfield, I'm learning about guys last night I didn't know about. I think this team will be okay. But I would say sooner rather than later for Puka just may not be next week. I mean, one bad PI call from a win last night. Over the Broncos, which would have been gigantic. Instead, Broncos get huge win. Congrats to Bo and Sean. You know what else we learned last night? It was a nice, it was a nice little reminder. Matthew Stafford, that ball coming out of his hand. I mean, there's like three different NFL films like shots, slow motion. And that thing just like perfect right into a bucket. He's special talent. A lot of these old dudes playing great football right now. Matthew Stafford, one and two. Australia beat their ass early. Now they're making. Bad decisions down the stretch and the refs are operating against them. Are the Rams in trouble or are they just waiting to explode? We appreciate you. Rap, you're the man. Thank you for joining us on this glorious Every Action Monday. That's Junior. AJ, not a bad first hour. Feels like we covered everything. You know, what's coming in the next hour, AJ? What is there? Tell me. The Dan wagon. You can almost hear it coming out of town. It's rolling in. Be afraid. Tell a friend, tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're back on the other side. Goodbye. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy, but for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back from professional grade products. You can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority. They're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, clickgranger.com or just stop by. Every game, every practice, every moment. We rely on energy more than we realize. From the courts and fields we play on to the gear athletes use to the technology and transportation that bring fans together. Energy powers it all and energy transfer helps safely deliver the energy that keeps it all moving. Oil and natural gas help make thousands of everyday products possible. Supporting sports and the moments that connect us. So whether you're playing, watching, or cheering it on, it takes energy. Visit ittakesenergy.com to learn more. Football! It is the absolute greatest. I'm here with Dan Orlovsky and the Mariachi band that is about to blow the roof off the roofless Soldier Field this evening. And we are incredibly grateful and pumped to be here to celebrate the Philadelphia Eagles coming to town to take on the Chicago Bears. That's very tall Dan Orlovsky, he brought his entire notebook here. We're going to dive through all of that. A.J. Hawk is back in the Thunderdome, sitting at my desk. I appreciate you, A.J. The Talks and Table is here at Boston Corner and that's Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer, done. Cowboys AP Tone is here. Nine-year NFL vet, Darius. I can't hear a word. It's live. We can hear you. You're coming through. It's coming through. We can hear you, Will. We can hear you. Let's do that. Let's do that. Let's do that. They got a whole set list going or what? Brother, they got a full dance crew and presentation and it's legit. Different waves. Oh no! Oh no! Hell yeah, brother. Did you lose it? Can't even retire. Things are going to fickle. There you go. Yeah, zoom in on that. Yeah, let's clear up. Yeah, let's go. There we go. Hey! The trumpet player with the full white suit is a vibe. Check out the keys, dude. Check out the keys. That guy's had sick. He looks like Bad Bunny. Is that Bad Bunny? Yeah. Could be Bad Bunny. Is that keyboard plugged in? Uh, yeah. They got more people. They got people running in from the tunnel. Watch out, Dan. Dan, move! Get out of the way, Dano. I didn't know. Keep moving. Wait, is this a halftime performance or before the game? Pre-game. Get that out of your game. This is a heck of a pre-game performance. Is that Zeke? That's the Star Spangled Banner. Is that Z? That's the star of Spiderman. Back left is a little off on the steps. It's called rehearsal, bud. I don't think they need rehearsal. What a treat. Holy shit, there's more people. Oh, sick. Bring them out, bring them out. There's the drummer. I knew there had to be a drummer somewhere. Oh, yes. Here we go. They got steel drums in there. Oh, shit. Who's that coming in? Whoa. Is that Z? That's the family magic ball. There it is. Who is that? That's Samoa Joe. Clarinet's moving. Oh, my God. I didn't see the slapping of bass guitar back there. Oh, yeah. It's full-dress rehearsal, man. What kind of instrument do you think, just to the right of the stage, is that guy playing like a weird-looking. It's not a stand-up bass. It's a stand-up song. It might be an oboe. Oh, another new guy. That guy's just playing a trash can. He's just playing a drum. He's so good. He's good. Oh, my God. This is what's up. Yashi, baby. Piano man still bringing it. Blues Brothers? This might be Heartbreak Hotel. Is that a velvet red jacket? Oh, yeah. Wow. Woo! From the top. Boom! Sweet home Chicago. That was sick. All right. Tonight's going to be electrifying. I am excited for that. What a performance. What an honor it was to be able to experience that alongside Dan Orlovsky, a man who has an immense amount of rhythm. You know, it was nice to see him kind of vibing up here to the mariachi band that will be performing tonight throughout the entire game. It sounds like, I don't know, it sounds like a good performance. I don't know if that was halftime. I hope it is. I hope it is, all those things. Let's start talking about what happened just yesterday, Dan Orlovsky. Okay. Big storyline out of yesterday for you. Brock Purdy's the MVP. Josh Allen and Joe Brady sneak by. The Chargers are absolute ass. What is your storyline from the quarterback position coming out of week three NFL Sunday slate, Dan Orlovsky? Yeah, there's no quarterback in football that's playing as well as Brock. When you just, like, watch tape and say, what quarterback does all the things that are the most important elements of quarterback play the best, knowing what the problem is, having answers to fix problems, how quickly he's playing up top, the ball distribution, the ball comes out so quickly, the fundamental part of the passing, timing, rhythm of the offense gets to excel with the way that he's playing. He also makes so many, like, plus plays or off-script plays that just get overlooked so often. I think one of the things that they're doing offensively that is super cool is just the ways that they use McCaffrey with the motions. And I guess the way that I say it is they spread you out. They spread you out so horizontally and then attack you so horizontally as well. Their offense is so fun to watch. And McCaffrey is such a big deal. Kittle looks great. But no quarterback playing better than Brock Purdy. Okay, so we'll go to the complete opposite end of that. Conman has a question for you, Dan O. Yeah, Dan O, who broke Drake May? What happened? How come my brain is in Drake May's brain and he's throwing a football like I do? And why is he making all these decisions? Because it's one thing for the offseason stuff to carry into the regular season and, you know, undisciplined. Football team, stuff like that. But they're not. Drake May is just, he's not taking the easy stuff that he did last year. He's not accurate like he was last year. And he's making every poor decision possible. Yeah, so when you're a quarterback and you're so consumed with trying to not make bad plays that you're so scared to make bad plays. There's blood on the football. Why is there blood on the football? Yeah, I think you can become so frustrated. Like so frustrated to not being able to, like, make throws that you force things. I know that sounds kind of contrary to people at home, like Lee. When I say he's just so, like, he's playing so cautious and tentative right now that you actually, I think, at times become more reckless with the football because you have less opportunities to, like, make throws. And so you get two or three quarters in. You haven't done anything. You've thrown check down after check down or screen or hitch or something. And then it's the opportunity to be like, oh, I just want to go make this throw. I think that's how you end up making more mistakes. So you've seen that play itself out since the, since the fourth quarter of game one. I think the second thing is there are two other things attached to it. I don't see a ton of advantages being created by the scheme. I really don't. I see a lot of two-man routes, a lot of max protection. Oh, McDaniels lost his fastball. Yeah, it's weird because it's not all that different than the stuff they did last year. But you just don't see the advantages created to, say, the stuff that we see that I was mentioning with Shanahan, the stuff that we see with what we're going to watch tonight, with Ben Johnson, the stuff that you'll see with Stafford and Sean McVay. You don't see a lot of advantage being created. And the other thing is, and this is part AJ not being there. I've get four or five times where I'm like, yo, somebody make a play for the kid. Like someone make a play on a ball to make a play to help them out of the funk. And there's no one right now that's just making one of those. Like that's a play. That's a play that they made for the young quarterback. So it's, I don't know, the last time I saw a regression like this so quickly. And I hope he can snap out of it. A lot of lollipops, you know. Yeah, but he's never been a zip thrower. He's never been a. We shouldn't think maybe something's up. No, he's been way more of like a javelin type, like a launch rather than twitchy whip. He's never been a twitchy whip type of thrower. It's much more of like a elongated kind of javelin type thrower. Like who else throws like that, Dano? Who else is a javelin type thrower? Big Ben used to be like that down the field. But Ben had like. The quick kind of loose whippiness to it. Drake doesn't have just like a quick, loose, whippy throw. If you think of, again, a Brock, a Patrick, a Lamar, Josh. You know, Jalen doesn't have a. Jalen Hurts doesn't have a quick, twitchy type of whip throw as well. So there are guys that are very good players that have a little bit more of like that less twitchy type throwing motion. We'll talk about Jalen Hurts here in a little bit, D-Butts. Going to want to ask about tonight. Excited to get your take on, you know, Case Keenum and Jalen Hurts' matchup. But a man you didn't mention there. And whenever you do your little Dano graphics or whatever the hell they are. And you score people for all these different things. In between the ears, I got these guys in my top ten. In between their chest, I got these guys. From their wrist down, I got these guys. Throwing motion and form, I got these guys. You always leave a guy out. And I think you're forgetting about maybe the best. You're the best football thrower of all time. Diggs has a question for you about maybe taking a Dan wagon to Aaron Rodgersville one time, bro. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Dan, I couldn't ask. One time. I couldn't ask about the Steelers. Oh, he's not whippy. You just said he's not whippy like these other guys. You listed off seven guys. Aaron actually has a whip in his arm when he threw that in. Rodgers just didn't come to my mind. Exactly. Never twice. Tone, now the question for you. Exactly. Dan, obviously I could not ask about the Steelers offense the first two weeks you watched it. It was horrendous. But yesterday, Aaron had the most time to throw his entire career as a Steeler. They changed the right guard and right tackle positions. They shored up the O-line yesterday. He was top five in time to throw, average depth of target and completion yesterday, and yardage. What did you think about the Steelers offense yesterday? Is that sustainable? Because it felt like Mike McCarthy and the offense was kind of clicking a little bit. Very different offense. Much more sustainable. I think a couple things. One, Mike McCarthy and the way that they attacked. Man was awesome. The stacks, the bunches, to create the leverage to win. Two, they kept, when you play man coverage, I hate offenses that play against man and they run in straight lines. You got to run away from man coverage, side to side. So many crossing routes, so many slant routes, so many in routes, so many corner routes. And that hasn't been the case through the first two weeks. I think the second part, Tone, is he threw the absolute tar out of the football. Really? Yeah. Oh my God. Oh my gosh, dude. I mean, there are clips where you're like, that's good coverage, and the throw is just insane. DK caught the ball. That wasn't the case the first two weeks. I thought situational football, they were very good in Pittsburgh. I think the right tackle, his first start, I believe, showed really well. I also thought Aaron made some, I know time to throw best. I thought, Tone, he made some big time throws in like kind of getting hit, muddy pockets, restricted space as well. So that offense, much, much, much more sustainable. They also. They ran in between the tackles. Like, I've believed Pittsburgh needs to be an inside-the-tackle, smash-mouth-run football team this year. They did that yesterday. AJ has a question for you about offenses as a whole. I know last year we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers have a sixth offense alignment, a lot, to try to protect Aaron Rodgers. Now it seems like there is a little bit bigger bodies on the field. Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, Dano, is there any trends that you are, like, offensively you're seeing in the NFL right now that you're a fan of? I know we see 13 personnel more than we have in the past. Things like that. Like, who was doing something? Boy, innovative, I guess, that you're a fan of right now. Yeah, definitely utilization of more tight ends. Two and three tight end packages, way more. The fullback being used way more. Having a tight end that can be in a fullback position. So the teams that are playing certainly with more bigger body tight ends on the field, one, that's absolutely the thing. I think the second thing is teams that are using different versions of play-action passes. There are teams that run play-action. It's only one play-action. Like, they're perfect. The example I would give you right now is Kansas City. Everyone's going to tell you Patrick Mahomes yesterday in Kansas City with their play-action pass game. But it's the different kinds of play-actions that they're running. Sometimes they're setting Patrick up behind where the ball snapped. Sometimes it's a full rollout. Sometimes it's a half rollout. Sometimes they're going three level. Sometimes it's all the way across the field. So, like, all the different versions of play-action passing is a big thing that you're starting to see from a lot of these offenses, AJ. The other thing that it's really starting. to stand out through three weeks. is both sides of the ball. The offenses that have receivers that are willing to block versus the offenses that don't will start to separate themselves because there are offenses that don't. And defenses that have secondary players that are capable and willing to tackle will start to separate themselves because it's starting to show up on tape. Teams that have, oh, there's a four-yard run, but the receiver kind of goes in lackadaisical and he gets shot by the safety into the gap. Instead of an eight-yard run, it's a four-yard run. Or a team gets the ball into an unblocked defender. That's what we always do, try an offense run game-wise. And it's a safety or corner and they lose leverage or they go and fire and miss. Turn down. Yeah. And that's going to start, that showed itself a lot this weekend. So we got a lot more physical style football this year than maybe years past. And I think that all kind of stems from when Saquon Barkley and his Philadelphia Eagles team showcased that you can run the ball a lot more. And still win a Super Bowl. Now let's talk a little bit about tonight. Darius has a question for you. Dan O. Yeah, it was a great javelin throw. You didn't miss. 1999 Big East champion, Ed Reed, greatest all-time javelin throw in NFL history. But back to the quarterback, Jalen Hurts. Watch that team. Jalen Hurts off to a tremendous start, 2-0 right now. What do you expect from him tonight in this offense? Yeah, I mean, this is advantage Philadelphia offensively because there are two receivers on the outside, Dontavian. Devonte. I don't believe Chicago has the corners to cover them. Chicago has struggled in coverage one-on-one, even in the rain last week versus Minnesota. Justin was having success just on those simple one-on-one routes, the slants and the comebacks and the stops. And so I'd expect a lot of that from Philadelphia tonight in their pass game. I would throw the ball downfield. This is Chicago's secondary on the perimeter that has just been overaggressive at the corner spot. D, but you would know that better than I. And has been getting the ball thrown over their heads. So a lot of those play-action shots where you can kind of win on the one-on-ones. I think the other thing is, how can Philadelphia find a way to run the football more consistently? I've been a believer that right now the run game is way too side-to-side. I'd like to see more run that's at Chicago's defense. A little bit more double-team to try to get a push. Remember, they're starting a new center and left guard because of the injury to the left guard that I'm blanking. Landed on two. Interesting. And Nickerson, thank you. And so I would say that, but I do think Philadelphia offensively has an advantage on the perimeter. Okay, so let's go to the Bears here. Case Keenum. We saw a lot of nostalgia quarterbacks have great weekends. It was actually one of our headlines was the old firm, okay, has been resurrected. Now. Because now. Is that why? Because right now with quarterbacking, precision is once again a mandate and it wasn't five or six years ago. Does he do well tonight in Ben Johnson's offense? I mean, the answer to that question would be on paper, yes. He's experienced. He's going to know this offense inside and out. He's going to know a lot of what the defense is going to try to present to him, at least from a starting point scheme wise. He hasn't played football in a long time. He's 38 years old. He's their third string quarterback. So I have no idea what kind of feel he has for the speed of the game and how comfortable he's going to settle in. Obviously, Chicago wants to run the football, but I think because of his experience and the way he came up in the NFL and the demand for precision offensively when he got into the league, I do think that bodes well. Home dogs this weekend, one covered six or seven, I think. Yes. One, five or seven outright. Yes. And obviously the Bears are home dogs tonight as they have their potential third string quarterback playing a significant amount of time. If he doesn't do well, we think Bajent goes in. I think that's kind of been talked about a little bit. Your thoughts on him as a player and why they gave him $8 million? $8 million, I think, to be their backup quarterback in Ben Johnson's system. Yes. Bajent's a good player. He schematically fits exactly what they want to do athletically. He can run their play-action game, keep the ball on the perimeter, run their keeper game. Really good layering the throw. So, yes, I would imagine if he struggles, Keenum or doesn't get off to a start or something like that, Bajent could go in. But if Bajent plays, I think Chicago's plenty capable of winning. Okay. So you don't think that would case Keenum? I just don't know. Is that because that's not what it looks like? I just don't know. I have no idea. I don't know what it looks like. I just don't know. When was the last time Case started a game? Is it what it looks like, though? Case Keenum? No, it's not, actually. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. You're welcome. What is Case? Five, ten, six feet, if that? Okay. So you're welcome. Also, the quarterback that I said is playing better than anybody ain't what it looks like. No, it ain't what it looks like at all. And on that note, we have a question from Tash Schmidt about, you know, what we all thought it was going to look like and then the shite that we're seeing right now. Plus, four turnover moments. Four turnover margins. Still losing. Ty has a question for you. Yeah, Dan, I think it was last week where you basically said, like, hey, none of this is Justin Herbert's fault, okay? He's going out there. He's doing everything he can. It's kind of everyone else around him. Is that still the case? Are you ready to change your tune on that? Like, is this fixable or are the Chargers, like, this is broken and they're kind of in a position now where you don't want to say the season's over already, but, like, it doesn't look like it's getting any better anytime soon? I don't want it to be fixable quickly, no. Eventually, maybe. I think, you know, yesterday -- Oh, no. They lost him. The Chargers have lost a Dan wagon. They were driving it up to Buffalo and then, all of a sudden, a Dan wagon -- I never thought it was fixable, though. I never said, like, last week, you know, that this is an easy fix. I just said last week -- All right. Okay. Please, please, we cut you off because a Dan wagon was falling off. I said last week. Like, there's a lot wrong with it other than Justin Herbert and, more importantly, than Justin Herbert. I can't put a ton of yesterday on other people other than Justin. He did not play well. I think the thing that stood out yesterday was he's just playing so fast. Thank you, Dan. Frenetic. Like, way too fast mentally. There are three or four throws that are there that are just not getting pulled trigger-wise. The interception, it's -- there's a safety in the middle field. You're running a double post concept. You -- it's a -- I don't want to say simple read, but, like, it's a very clear read of who tells you when and where to throw the ball. The safety never moves, and that's just an uncharacteristic and kind of un -- indefensible type of decision. Why is he stinking a McDaniel offense? I think his brain is moving way too fast right now. I think -- we've talked about this whole offseason. Was it going to mesh when it comes to the McDaniel offense? It's about anticipation and timing, and Justin's a driver of the football. He wants to throw everything hard. But right now, his brain is just working so quick and so fast that, you know, there are -- there are parts of the progression, and this is what I was talking about this summer, like, the timing of the offense is so -- it's much -- about much more than just the completion. And so, like, there are four or five plays there where I sit there and say there's guys open, like, second quarter 11:09, third quarter eight minutes, fourth quarter 13:38, where you're just, like, your -- your brain is moving so quick that you're missing the open progression in that concept. There are two or three more drops that certainly played their part in yesterday's game, crucial drops, but that -- like, that throw just shouldn't -- he should not make that throw. That safety's in the middle of the field. He doesn't -- that's not a -- that's not a coverage that you can get confused or fooled by. Okay, so Justin Herbert maybe not all the way into McDaniel's system. Do we think they're ever going to be able to figure it out? I mean, I think eventually, sure, but, you know, like, there are so many self-inflicted wounds to have that football game and to lose that game. It's shocking how impossible that is. How do you fix it, Dano? How do you fix it? How do you simplify it? Yeah, I mean, so the -- the thought of simplification always sounds good. Like, let's -- let's simplify it to give ourselves a chance to get plays started. The -- the problem that -- with that is you then become unbelievably predictable, and then you're -- you're -- you're -- you can get overwhelmed by smart defensive coaches. I think that you got to sit down with Justin Herbert, and you got to kind of watch the first three weeks, every pass play. And I think you got to cut out the things that he's struggling to understand right now. Maybe he just doesn't see it clean enough. Maybe he's not comfortable seeing it that way. And then you got to find the things that he did execute well or the things that he is comfortable in executing and try to live in that world more as you try to raise the floor of the performance. What did you notice yesterday that maybe we didn't bring up? I see you have another notebook, obviously, and yesterday was a big day. Lamar Jackson and the boys. Yeah. Shottie and Dak. Obviously, the timeout with 14 seconds left on -- That's a miss. Bingo. Okay, so -- Taking off through the end zone is a miss. Yeah. Jesse Minter, knowing they have a six-second play, that feels like an awesome thing because a lot of the Ravens fans on the internet were saying, "John Harbaugh kneels that out, gets that to overtime." Instead, Jesse Minter was like, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." Jesse Minter, Lamar, 100% ready for a six-second play as we look back at the timeout here into the third down, quick throwaway, kick the field goal, tie the game, hit the kickoff out of the back of the end zone. Just seems stupid with the rules that they've made. I just don't think I fully comprehend a lot of the decisions late. And the Ravens making them pay for it, whenever we thought there'd be no chance, was special. Is this a different Lamar Jackson? Is this a different Ravens? Do you think this is the beginning of where they're about to head? And how do you judge the Cowboys off the end zone? Well, I think it's a different Ravens offense. Yesterday they had a lot of good ball. A lot of good ball, then a lot of stupidity there late, I think. It definitely looks like a different Ravens offense, specifically to the past game. because they have a true one. Zay Flowers right now is absolutely dominating. He's got 234 yards receiving on 25 routes run. That's an astronomical ratio. I don't like the Ravens' run defense yesterday. I thought they got pushed around by Dallas' run offense, which is not a good sign for a defense. I mean, sometimes just totally moving them off the ball. I think for Dallas, you have to be disappointed the way that they end the game and handle it coaching-wise. When Dak scrambles on second down, you just don't call timeout with 14 seconds left or 13. You call timeout with seven seconds left because then you give time for Dak to maybe run around for two or three seconds to try to create on third and goal, and then he knows, okay, if it's not there, you have to get the ball away to save one second. Worst-case scenario, you kick the field goal and you never kick off again. So that was the timing of the timeout is the biggest issue. I'm not going to kill the defense. The defense kind of is what it is right now. It's been bad in late-half, late-game situations, and it hasn't gotten fixed. I don't love that the Cowboys were getting hyped up this offseason, and then we got stupidity happening at the end. They're struggling to cover, man. They cannot cover on the other side. They're banged up back there, too. Super banged up in the back. And then he brought up Zay Flowers. Zay Flowers looks awesome. They did it with Turpin as well. Two end-arounds that actually worked in the NFL because of immense speed. But I like the way Declan Doyle is cooking here. With Lamar Jackson, D-butt. Honestly, I like the way the Ravens' offense is working. Because Lamar, his QBR, I think, is the highest in history or something like that. Everybody talks about how athletic he is. He looked fast again, and it looks like they're using all their weapons, D-butt. The Ravens, just like we saw week one, they are who we might think. They, seven seconds to win that game, you're not supposed to execute. I think I was around Peyton when that play got installed. At least the first time I've ever seen that play get installed. Because, like, D-butt. And, Jay, I believe I was with Peyton. That's a 25-yard in route by Zay. Like, you don't have that route or that play in your offense. And it's a very specific thing that that guy has to get 25 yards deep down the field. I think that ball was snapped at the 35. And so his goal should be to get to the far 40. So is that right, math-wise? Yeah, there you go. So it's a 25-yard in route. And it's built. It's built upon the concept of Mark Andrews is going to run, like, a 12-yard in route. And just defenders naturally gravitate towards color up. And if he, that defender, steps up, you will. And the reason you run it from the slot is because you're hoping that you get outside leverage for an in-breaking route. Yeah, and one timeout. Lamar Jackson gets it off with one second left. Nobody's going to talk about whether or not that that happens. But, D-butt, that was a special finish down there in Rio, Brazil. In fact, you know how they give teams, like, regions and countries? Yeah. Felt like the Ravens probably won over all of Rio. They are not one of the teams, and neither are the Cowboys. I don't know why that was. It feels like Rio is probably a Raven city. But that's what we said with him being in the Super Bowl. Like, if Lamar gets in a Super Bowl, there's going to be people around the world that are watching him for the first time. He looked exactly like that dude yesterday, D-butt. Yeah, when we saw him on week one, boots on the ground, that was our first takeaway. Just how in complete control he kind of always is, regardless of the situation. And being in a new offense, we talked about all the motions and all the different things pre-snap. Him just being in complete control, it's kind of the opposite of what we're seeing with Herbert and McDaniel in that marriage over there in L.A. It's like he has full control of what's going on. And just being calm, composed, and ready to go out there and execute in that situation. Because A.J. mentioned it earlier, you see it happen all the time in the Friday walkthroughs. But actually just being there, get that situation, make the throw he threw, as Dan would say, the absolute tar out of that ball for Zay to catch it and get down. And that is the number one wide receiver. You've got to find four in that situation. I know they went man-to-man coverage, probably outside leverage. I'm surprised they didn't have like a deep hole defender literally standing right at that spot. Jam him up and try to disrupt the timing because you don't want him to get down there. You can't let him just get free access and just get to the spot. This is like a routes-on-air situation for these guys going back and forth. And obviously Lamar, you know, if Rio's not Ravens fans now, leaving that stadium they are now, having Lamar there and then Derrick Henry and then Zay. If that three-headed monster can stay healthy, that offense can be unstoppable down the stretch. Okay, last thing before we let Dano go here. He has in his notes really big there another old who's undefeated. They have number one overall pick, don't need him, and winning games. What have you seen from the Raiders, Dano, that gets you excited? Yeah, the Raiders look legit. It does not look like a fluke through three weeks. I think three reasons. One, as much as I'm loving the way that Brock Purdy is playing and as fast as Brock Purdy is playing, I think I can say that. I can say the same stuff for Kirk Cousins. Dude, he is getting through their offense so quick. I mean, the ball is coming out so quickly. The answering to understanding, like, okay, what's the problem to this defense is so good. I think the two other reasons. Brock Bowers is unbelievable. I mean, he steps right in, and I think he went 10 for a buck 15 in a touchdown. They had him doing, like, George Kittle, Travis Kelsey-type stuff, winning on releases, putting him by himself. AJ, you can know it better than me. Dude, N'Kobe Dean could be the best linebacker in football right now. Oh, Arvel Reese had 13 tackles yesterday. Dude, N'Kobe Dean is all over. Oh, it's got three first—not yesterday. No, no, no, three this year already. Dude, I think he's got, like, 30 tackles, three forced fumbles, three and a half sacks or something like that. He's totally changed their defense. Yeah, I like every move that the Raiders made this offseason. That's why. They're real. Crosby going back there was insane because it was clearly the best roster. That he had ever been on. Then you add their best player back to their team. Not that Brock Bowers isn't, but good for the Raiders doing their thing. And good for you, Dano. We'll see you later on NFL Live, brother. Yes, sir. Thank you for stopping by. Thanks, buddy. Hey, that's what it looks like. That's right. That is what it looks like. Hell yeah. Never going to live that down, huh? Live what? That comment. What, Herbert being top five? Today, you had the microphone up by your eyeball at one point, so I'm happy we got that thing. You have your nostril. Yeah, we do. Exactly. You should give it away. Yeah, hit the bricks. Scram now, maybe? Sorry. Hit the bricks, chump. Blew it, man. When's he coming on? Right now. You beat it. So, what's up? Get out, dork. Thanks, Dan. Really good job. Good handshake. What's going on with this guy? What's happening? You could lay out blues clues to him, and he wouldn't take a hint. I love you, Dano. That's what it looks like right there. That's what it looks like. Yeah. Speaking of what it looks like, I don't know if you guys seen what it looked like, USC, Oregon, but boy, it does feel like a bit of a rivalry that has already, you know, kind of got going is only getting amplified. The head coach of the Oregon Ducks, friend of the program, man who I thought was going to actually fist fight some people for his quarterback, which I love and we love. Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Lanning. Yay! How you doing, Dano? Doing good. You guys good? Yeah. Hey, sorry that that all happened to Dante. Obviously, we'd like to send our love and positive vibes. I think you, football guy, AJ, myself, you know, we've been a part of these joint practices or teams that get into a fight, and obviously, we don't want that. We don't want fighting in football. We never want that to happen, but there is something you can learn about your team whenever a situation like that happens with your quarterback. Can you? Can you kind of talk a little bit about what you learned about the boys and maybe how this carries you the rest of the season, Dan? Yeah, one, just unbelievable discipline by them. You know, if you think back to moments, and I, you know, our players, there's a couple of them foaming at the mouth. There's some guys that are, you know, really distraught in that moment. There's some guys that want to get into a street fight, and I thought they were unbelievably composed and handled that moment, scary moment, they handled it extremely well. Yeah, I think so, too, but obviously, you like to see everybody go to bat for your quarterback. How is Dante doing, and can you tell me a little bit about Ryola stepping in there and playing incredibly well, maybe the best we've seen him play in some time for your squad? Yeah, Dante's, you know, in recovery mode, was able to get scans and identify that it was a concussion, and obviously, a really serious one, so it's one of those situations now where we've got to protect the player from himself. I'm sure he's anxious to get back out on the field, but want to make sure we go through that process and make sure that he's healthy. You know, Dylan's a great example. We talk about strength in numbers, a guy being ready for his moment, you know, prepared to go out there and play every snap if it's needed, and a lot of times, it doesn't happen, and it happened in the game on Saturday, and he was ready for it, and he executed, you know, really at a really high level and gave us a great opportunity and a chance to be in the game and win. Yeah, Ryola, we've seen him, obviously, from the beginning at Nebraska. He transfers to your school. Obviously, we all think to ourselves, that seems like an interesting decision, especially with Dante going back. Wanted to better himself. Obviously, wanted to get himself in a situation to continue to play good football. Let's talk about good football. You guys lose to Oklahoma State, okay, after you hit the crossbar beautifully. You guys lose to Oklahoma State. I was wondering if that's a bad omen, Pat. Like, you know, my wife said that, but, you know, at Texas Tech, we did the throw-off deal, and we won that game. We had a shutout, so I was kind of having, like, good vibe mentality, and then we got our butts whooped by, you know, those guys down there. They did a great job. - Yeah, those guys down there beat the hell out of West Virginia this weekend. think they're going to get a lot of people potentially but on that note you come back afterwards 84-0 get another huge win here how have you been talking to your team and how do you view what has happened here early in the year Boise State obviously incredible football team then Oklahoma State now it feels like you've turned a corner is that how you feel and what has your messaging been to the lads in the locker room I feel like we played good in this last game right and the message has been let's stop worrying about you know down the road and let's worry about what's right in front of us I know we're about to play a really good UCLA team I think our team has done it here's a good wake-up call for us early you know that everybody we're gonna get everybody's best and obviously Oklahoma State has a good team but we have to bring it every single week I thought our guys have brought it in practice the last two weeks and then we've been able to perform on the field and we're gonna see some really good teams before this thing's out you know so we just gotta keep getting better and if we keep focusing on getting better the rest will take care of itself yeah obviously everything's still in front of you excited to see your mature team continue to go AJ has a question for you coach coach yeah you guys have a bye week coming up right now I guess it seems to be decent time with your quarterback everything that happened there but I guess what are the plans what do you what do you do now with your team from now until you play UCLA I would assume that's something you've kind of analyzed every single day how to best use their time yeah we always call bye weeks around here work weeks right so it's about you know we'll do a deep self-scout on ourself uh from a coaching staff standpoint this afternoon we hit our corrections this morning from the USC game and some cleanup that we have to do and we're going to do a to have from there and then it's going to be about us really the next couple days and then we'll start to focus on UCLA a little bit closer as we get to it and get a chance to grow and improve because obviously they've got a great team but right now it's about being the best version of us so that's where we'll start with our attack. Okay I don't know what the best version of you is we've seen a lot of different versions of you we also saw coach do something absurd this weekend in the Big Ten and it feels like it's in your world Diggs has a question for you. Yeah coach you are a fiery coach that loves your players and I remember last year you didn't wear a coat in the rain because you wanted to be with the players you know I'm not sure if you saw PJ Fleck take one of his players blood and wipe it on his face is that is that a move that you were going to pull out or is that just a him thing? I love it man I absolutely love it I text PJ afterwards and said you're my spirit animal you reminded me of remember when John Henderson was getting slapped in the face he's like I gotta see blood taste in my mouth that's immediately like what I thought and uh yeah PJ is one of one man he's yes he certainly is and I think that is something you would do you know I said earlier I don't know how many other coaches would do it I love it and and Diggs tone immediately said Lanning might do that that might be something that Lanning would do if he got all jacked up especially after a huge win over Washington congrats to PJ Fleck still doing in Minnesota congrats to the Big Ten kind of cooking right now huge win for the Big Ten. this weekend obviously in Iowa City Ty has a question for you coach yeah coach you mentioned you know you guys kind of right in the ship and obviously you want to be where you're at every single week you can't really look ahead but does it kind of feel you like when you talk to your other coaches like the Big Ten is still wide open we really don't have any idea who's in the driver's seat outside of you know Ohio State obviously outside of you know Texas but you know them in Indiana up there but then after that it's you know you guys are up there Iowa's up there Minnesota I mean there are a bunch of teams who you know are still running the game and they're still running the game right and the thick of it for the playoff fun does it feel like your season has really officially started now especially after that big win against USC well it started at the beginning of the year well right but Big Ten play now is hey and I love the plug for Iowa Ty have to do it undefeated it's just a great example of like don't don't make a decision too early write a team off or vice versa right I mean there's a long season to be played and every week matters especially in today's format it all matters so we got to come and do it. bring it every single week Big Ten play is certainly different that started for us this past week and they're all going to be challenging moving forward you know I don't know that if people look at our schedule beginning year they they'd say we're going to be facing some of the teams that we're facing now and that's coming up I think it's great example what this conference continues to do and continues to improve so it's going to be a challenge and it's a fun challenge okay bye week obviously for the lads work week is how you describe it let's get better there especially this early in the season Connor has a question about you specifically this weekend yeah coach will you be sitting down like watching the Iowa Ohio State game kind of pulling things from different games I mean if you saw the PG PG Fleck blood thing I'm sure that would be something you would carry into your team the week after like is that something you will do this upcoming weekend or do you kind of remove yourself from it take a little break as far as watching other teams and seeing what they're doing yeah we're going to recruit first so it depends on when I get back from recruiting but hopefully on Saturday I get the opportunity to do that. sit down and watch some ball I'll definitely be watching some football so you guys never have concerts up there is that accurate no we get concerts you like the grateful dad oh yeah I like that actually took a trip I think pretty similar to what they did in their life just a few days ago but I like that you do continue to jab about the west coast and who you are and what's all possible huge win like that is a big deal for the program right especially over a hot USC team right now yeah go win you gotta go win go go take care of business man every game matters now certainly a big one for us you know you've never lost on the road in the Big Ten I mean you're the best hey maybe you wouldn't know not gonna say it lazy no not gonna say it head coach the Oregon Ducks day and landing thank you Dan oh see you man what do you say I mean I was just gonna say you know maybe you guys won a national championship this year after everybody writes you off you know because what Ohio State they obviously lost two games one was early to Oregon then they lose to Michigan last game they go on to win it all Indiana went completely undefeated unscathed even though they had some close ones it's like losing early especially with a mature team that Oregon has and a lot of talent that they have I mean we all know the numbers on the rosters and everything like that and the amount of payment and five stars and everything it's like maybe a loss early isn't the right thing to do. worst thing to happen to you D but I tell you what you also find out about those backups and we all talked about it was big news and Dylan Raiola went over there to back up Dante Moore when he didn't go to NFL and he stepped in we saw him get some action in the blowouts but the way he stepped in against USC I mean they could ride his his coattail to the national championship honestly if Dante Moore doesn't get back and fully healthy which we expect he will but you find a lot out about your coaches you find a lot out about your players when they're thrown in that fire man so I'm excited about it Oregon team congratulations the Oregon team. Oregon get a huge win over USC I picked USC on game day and I said for the first time ever I'm gonna say Lincoln Riley wins a big game he never does no no he doesn't hot water over there no I mean I'd assume yeah but like Dabo like I've never got to experience Lincoln Dabo I guess Venables now we can even add into the mix like I haven't really got to experience these coaches that have been heralded as the ones during the last four or five years is it all because NIL is it because the way the game's going I don't know for USC they're always like well the defense isn't good it's like okay we'll fix it then figure it out I mean you're the head coach go recruit you know like I don't what is it over there tone with Lincoln Riley and how come they're not able to get Doug yeah I mean it has it has been the defense and they're on there so he brought in that guy and then they're on their third defensive coordinator now you know trying to fix it on that side of the ball and they had the number one recruiting class in the country coming and they're playing a lot of young kids this year it's just I don't I don't know what it is I it just it's like you talked about it with those guys and you know Lincoln won a ton in Oklahoma Dabo won obviously a ton at Clemson these guys won a ton but yeah maybe it's just not this era not the right program that they're currently at or whatever but no it's it doesn't seem good because you know they they cannot win a big one at home is where they were winning games it's where on the road that they couldn't win and then they can't beat Oregon either so yeah tough times at USC I believe Lincoln has the same record as Clay Helton who was before him who got fired so yeah we'll see what happens over there okay so that's Oregon USC congrats to Florida the way Summerall's talking to the boys too they got dogs I mean that is dog dogs down there now Ole Miss obviously a lot of conversation about can they handle the bounce back after the LSU Super Bowl that they had it did what did it matter with how Jaden Ball can run and how Philo can play and how the Gators are seemingly all-in-one with the LSU Super Bowl all the way back and Summerall's utilizing every part of Florida to maximize what they can become D-butt Florida becoming a dominant team back in college football great news for Florida boys or the Miami folks a little bit worried that the Gators are coming chomping back into reality you know what Miami fans if it's one thing to be worried about it's probably just a weak schedule because once you get into the playoffs and you're playing these big time teams that have kind of been hardened or their iron has been sharpened by other iron maybe you are a little concerned but I mean it's good for me as a South Florida boy I like when the Florida teams are good I like when Florida State's good I like when Florida's good because that way when you play them and you beat them it actually matters or means something but uh growing up man you always we saw the swamp and when you're in the swamp it's a special place to watch a game it's a special place to go in there and obviously win a game and they were rolling man those running backs both of those running backs could start anywhere in the country talked about Summerall the OC the way he was dialing things up just watching the game you know you always try to figure things out whether it's splits or personal issues you know you always try to figure things out whether it's splits or personal issues you know you always try to figure things out whether it's splits or personal issues and I could never get a beat on this guy the entire game and this Ole Miss defense for some reason It seems like they haven't been able to stop anybody. But once that Florida Gators train got rolling, it never stopped. And they got a recipe. The quarterback, the defense, the running backs. I mean, they got a recipe right now. They can go all the way. And Summerall will fight you. Yeah, beast. I like that Summerall will fight you. Obviously, you have to talk about the Gators a little differently as we go forward. In A.J., Texas, the number one team in the country goes into Rocky Top in front of 102,000 and gets a massive win. Ugly, ugly game. I guess it's going to be like that. But Texas now has wins over Ohio State at home, which is obviously massive. A win over Tennessee on the road in Tennessee. They're the number one team in the country because of their resume. What did you see out of Texas, A.J., after that big dub down there in Knoxville? Well, first of all, that guy needs a shower. Yeah, yeah. We did see some great celebrations. We know that. Some celebrations that obviously could get you in a little bit of hot water. But I love their defense. I love how they play. They're relentless. And Arch is doing plenty to win. I saw him. He's all humble in his post-game interview. He's on the field saying, I didn't really play very well, but these guys all did great. You know, the defense is awesome. And all my teammates played so well. Like, he's got that all about him. I love how he carries himself as a leader. This was pretty sweet, too, actually, by the way. Onside situation here. Cheating. It was illegal. Yeah, yeah. It was illegal. It was pretty cool to see, though. I like that they did it. Allegedly, that ball has to be kicked from the 35-yard line. He was a yard and a half behind that. For safety, punt after safety, you know, you have to be behind the 20. For the actual kickoff, you have to be on the line. I love the genius idea. I love the concept. And I appreciate that this game came down to a final Hail Mary. I was very lucky to be in that building. You know, airspace was shut down, so we couldn't leave. So we couldn't get out of there. No service. 102,000. I was living like an Amishman. I was living like an Amishman down there. But I also got to see the entire Manning family over the weekend. It was a blast. I mean, and watching, you know, Payton, who's obviously so invested in the Tennessee Vols and everything that he's done for the Volunteers, and then, you know, Grandpa Archie coming in supporting his grandboy, and then Coop in there, and then Young Marshall and Olivia, and the entire Shane Gillis, obviously, there. Glenn Powell was in there for a little bit. You know, just watching that family celebrate Arch was cool. Because even Payton, I think, was conflicted. You know, like, love my nephew, love the Tennessee Volunteers. To be in that suite was sweet. It was actually sweet to kind of watch history happen amongst a football family who was given so much. And I'll tell you, there's not. Not a lot of families have more fun than that family right there. I mean, that was a trip back in time for me, for whenever I was on the Colts with Payton and got a chance to hang out with this family on a regular basis. It was a blast. I'm going to let you guys know, Archie told me he's not doing the high hurdles anymore. He's just doing sprints. He had a frozen margarita alongside me that might have had three, four X the amount of whatever in it, and Archie was handling his business. That's what you guys were holding right there? Yeah, that was all frozen margaritas right there. Yeah. Okay. And those things just kept going. I mean, they just kept going, and they were delightful, and we had a blast. Like those Bourbon Street bars, like all those situations. Exactly. Payton was very proud of the frozen margarita he has in his suite. It's the only one in Eland Stadium. He brought it in himself. He plugged it in himself, and it is a great way to spend an afternoon if you're trapped there, but also you can tell the history that was taking place, you know, and getting a chance to talk to Archie and Olivia, you know, they're Ole Miss grads, so I had a chance to be there last week. So I gave him a hand. Hell yeah, damn right. We went right into flim-flam out there, and then, you know, Cooper watching his boy, and it was just, we were stuck there for sure, couldn't leave, but loved the afternoon, and congrats to Texas. Congrats to Florida. Congrats to Oregon getting a massive win. Congrats to Oklahoma State still pounding, folks, and congrats to Iowa beating Michigan and hosting game day this weekend for the first time in 20 years. Alabama, Mississippi State, football's cooking. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye. I feel like I hit it. Wow. Yep. I feel like I really did. I didn't want to leave out Mississippi State and Alabama because how much I love Super Camario Taylor down there with Mississippi State, and obviously Alabama with Keelan Russell playing his best ball late in games, so I didn't want to leave them out, but it was really, that was a hard way to get that back to the beginning, but tonight's a huge game. Football's throwing a fastball. I mean, Ty, we got exhilarating finishes. We got comebacks. We got one-score games. We got teams showing up that we could have never expected, and I think what you said earlier about not trusting anybody is real. We're going to go in college and in the NFL right now, Ty. Yeah, and I feel like, I don't know, maybe this is just recency bias, but it seems like last year, like when we would have an unbelievable NFL Sunday, it was usually preceded by kind of a shitty Saturday in college football where it was just like everything's chalk, you know, the teams who are supposed to win win, the teams who are supposed to lose lose, and then we would maybe get some fireworks or something crazy that would happen on Sunday. It hasn't been like that this year. Every Saturday so far, even the ones where we haven't had a bunch of top 25 matches, have delivered, and then it really is, in the NFL, every single one of those games, in every single window, you turn that on, and you have the expectation that the team with the better record or the team who we expect to be better, like they're going to win, they're going to win handedly, they're going to cover the spread, it's going to go just how you expected it to, and then it never does. It literally, through three weeks, like the amount of, again, I said it earlier, the amount of like, you put in those money line parlays, and it's just like, you're constantly just checking it and like, which one of these teams who should win? This game is going to blow it for me, and inevitably, it's always two or three teams, and it's always a team, or like the Cardinals, who it's like, you know, the 49ers are playing unbelievable right now. They're going to beat the shit out of the Cardinals. The Cardinals look like they might have been a one-week wonder that first week. Nope. They played great on Sunday, so it's just, I don't know if it's ever been like this, where every single game, like it literally is a toss-up, and if you don't have a dog in the fight, you just get to sit back, relax, and enjoy it, and it's incredible. And that's why I love it. That's why Ty said earlier, I don't know if you saw it, A.J., don't trust anybody. Why? Why? Why? A.J., did this seem realistic when you saw this graphic earlier? I don't know when Ty took this photo, but I do think DTA is certainly in play when it comes to football today. Was this, Ty, was this like back when you were in college? When was this picture taken? No, it was like a couple weeks ago. Oh, okay. Coming in here, yeah. How are your knees doing? I see the double knee braces. Yeah, exactly. Knees are doing okay. That's what you work out in, though. Yeah, exactly. You need the double knee braces. Anytime, you know, you're getting underneath the bar. Are you wearing this Friday to the live show? Is that what you're wearing to the live show? Probably not, because that has nothing to do, that's not like Iowa regalia, so I probably won't wear that. But yeah, it is a good question. Fair enough. A.J., what are you expecting Friday for our show there from Iowa City? It's going to be wild, man. Especially, like you said, 20 years. Those kids, like, I'm sure they've already started. I'm sure, like, the preparations have already started. So, Kinnick is an unbelievable, like, I think it's like the history and tradition. You know, of that place. I've gotten beaten there. Like, it's not easy to win. It's an awesome environment to play football. It really is. Kurt Cignetti last year, after last season, they go undefeated, win the national championship, obviously, have a historic year. Everybody was kind of judging him because it was close with Iowa. And all he said is, Kinnick's a tough place to play. Why is a place a tough place to play, A.J.? Why is a certain place bad? It's the people. Like, it's the people that fill the place that make it tough. And obviously, logistically, how it's set up, I know they have renovated it since when I was playing there. It was awesome. They had, I think they had folding chairs behind the one end zone. And there's, like, students, people three yards behind the end zone, right there. Like, it was just. Still like that. Yeah, it was wild how, you know, all the great places, too. It feels like they're right on top of you. And you could tell, like, these people love football. Like, they truly do. And they understand, like, they're an educated, like, fan base that understands how they play the game, too. I'm guessing they're not booing their team too often in there. No, almost never. Are you a little bit worried about Ohio State having to go in there? No, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's awesome. I think it's a great opportunity. You know, it's a great opportunity for Ohio State to go in there and test themselves on the road. We need another test like this. Obviously, what happened in Texas was not what they wanted. So, of course, you're always anxious, I guess, when you're facing a tough opponent. But I think it's an awesome opportunity. And then, Ty, for Iowa, you get a win over Ohio State with the entire world looking at you. All of a sudden, it's a new Hawkeye conversation, Ty. Yeah, it's not just like, hey, we might sneak into the playoffs and say, let's go win the Big Ten. Let's get a. That'd be a heck of a couple weeks back and back. Yeah, exactly. Let's get a first-round buyout. Let's get a home game at Kinnick in the playoffs, because we've talked about it a bunch. The environment for potentially a night game at Kinnick in the playoffs, where it would be cold as shit, there would be snow on the ground, it would just be incredible. But I think it just. You win a game like that against Michigan, where, like I said, Iowa has been on the other side of that affair a hundred times in my lifetime. They never win that game. And for a guy like Hank Brown, that was his first road start. For him. For him to lead that drive, like, the amount of confidence, I feel like that puts in everybody on the team, the coaching staff, like, I think they believe. And it's not just, hey, let's keep this close against Ohio State. Let's try not to. Let's just. Let's try to cover the spread. It's. Hey, we've beat them before. We've beat them before when they've been a top-five team. Like, we know what we do. We know our style of play. We know how we want to play. We know how we win. Like, let's go do it. You know, no one's going to believe in them, but that doesn't matter. That's never mattered to any of these Kirk Ferentz coaches. I'll tell you what I'm looking for. I'm looking forward to. What's that? That Phil Parker defense and how they handle the new Heisman favorite, Jeremiah Smith, coming off of what he's 3-4-2. Yeah, so Illinois obviously didn't have him figured out. We've seen the highlights with, you know, matched up on the safeties, but Phil Parker's probably, for my money, the best defensive coordinator in the nation, so I'm interested to see how they handle or try to handle number four. That'd be the biggest thing I'm watching. Yeah, he had four touchdowns. What was it? Three in the first half or two? I forget what it was. I think it was three in the first half. Yeah, three in the first half. So, you know. - Oh, I mean. I mean, that's tough. That's tough to do. I mean, I don't want to point out anything else about the guy, but like. Jack, what do you mean? Well, I just don't, I mean, that's two guys. I mean, how many guys he's got doing pirouettes out there? It seems like everybody, and everybody knows he's getting the ball. Yep. You know, it's not like it's a surprise that Jeremiah Smith is on the field. So, I assume this is one of those ones where you're a DB, you have nightmares all week thinking about four D-buds. Is that kind of what's happening? Why are guys maybe hesitant and getting spun around so quickly? I mean, it's kind of like AJ said. When you're in this level, especially you're in an Iowa plan for that defense, like this is an opportunity. You know, if you're a cornerback or a safety or a D coordinator, look, we've got an opportunity to go against the best player in the country, the best wide receiver in the country. Let's go out there and show. I had a situation my redshirt freshman year, my third start ever. Coach came in Tuesday and said, hey, you're matched up with 21. We got Georgia Tech this week. 21 was Calvin Johnson. So, I look forward to the opportunity. First play of the game. 50-yard touchdown on me. Boom. I went to the sideline. I'm like, ah, shit. Had to lock in. Had a great finish to the game. So, on this moment, man, you want to step up. You want to play against the best player. So, if you're a DB, you should be excited about it. What would you do defensively, schematically? How do you cover? I mean, we saw it with Texas a couple years ago in the Cotton Bowl. I feel like they did a great job disguising and always, you know, getting a reroute but dropping up under, getting good depth, getting an underneath dropper up under him. And then so that the deep defenders, the cornerback or the safety can say, hey, I can take away the 7, 8, 9. Now, once that ball gets thrown up in the air and it's me in number four, regardless of how well you did your assignment, that's a fucking mutant right there. So, he's going to have to – Then you got to try to get him on the ground, too. That's the thing. Then you got to get pressure. You got to get in the window of saying – but it's tough. It's easier said than done. You go through scouting report. I'm sure number zero there that was in that situation against that post route, oh, that looked great on Thursday in practice. Like, yeah, whoever's in that number four beanie, we got him. I'm here, coach. Picked it off. Great job. Great rep. All right, boys. You get out there. Saturday, that shit look a lot different. So, it'll be exciting, man. I can't wait to see this kid play again. I'm a little bit worried about number zero there, okay, and what people are going to say about him. No, that could have happened to any of us. Okay, no, that could have happened to anybody. And Jeremiah's been doing that to a lot of people for a long time. Hop back on that horse. Now, make sure your horse isn't out of the gate two different ways. Well, let's hop back on that horse. Let's play a little football. That is what Jeremiah Smith has done. Strong communities are built in the places where life happens, where families build their lives, where students build their futures, where businesses create opportunity. Bloom Energy provides reliable power for the places communities depend on every day, from hospitals and college campuses to stores and factories. Clean, quiet power that uses little water right where it's needed so communities can keep moving forward. Bloom Energy, power America relies on. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses, setup required, compatibility and availability varies 18 plus. Okay, let's wrap up some NFL. Headlines before we make our official picks for this evening. The Jaguars are unbelievable. Haven't mentioned that. Liam Cohen's going to be pissed. We should have mentioned that in the first two hours. We are certainly bringing it up now. Trevor Lawrence looks great. Defense looks great. Patriots look like ass, obviously, through Drake May. But this Jacksonville Jaguars team, building off of what they were building last year, just under the radar, nobody cares. Jacoby Myers is scoring. Nobody really talks about them. Offensively big, fast, athletic, dominant. Offensively have a mastermind behind it all. And Trevor Lawrence is playing the best football that he's ever played. And he also has the highest IQ out of any football player. Eight minutes left, up 28-something. Decides to take a knee on the one to try to burn some clock, as opposed to putting that to 35-7. I just think that nobody's talking about the Jags, including us. So I do apologize. But it's all ho-hum with how great they've become, it seems, AJ. Yeah, Trevor Lawrence, when you watch him, like going back to the old day, you know, thing, like throwing with conviction. Yeah, I feel like that. I feel like he and Liam Coen have a cool, like, fiery relationship. Like, mutual respect. He coaches him hard. Trevor seems to like that. And Trevor goes back at him. Like, I feel like they have a great competitive, like, balance between the two. And I think it's trickling down to the rest of the team. But any time, at any level of sports, where you win a football game 35-6, you're doing something right. And this, you know, this Patriots team, I think, is going to turn around eventually. But to put a whooping on them like this, you know, it's saying something. Con man. What did you see from the Jags yesterday that had you go, you know what, that's a good football team? Or was your mindset completely on how shite the Patriots were all day yesterday? No, Jags are definitely good. They got a good defense, too. It's a complete football team. Parker Washington's a top-ten receiver at the NFL. I'm dead serious. That guy is ridiculous. The way him and Jacoby Myers both kind of play together as kind of looking like a slot guy, but then they go outside and they're dominating Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis. It was very interesting to see. And then Trevor Lawrence. I mean, it's true. Someone said it yesterday, but what Doug Peterson and Urban Meyer did to Trevor Lawrence early in his career kind of makes you not have this notion that he's a top-ten guy in the NFL. He is. He's fantastic. And it was cool for him to kneel down at the one, although I'm assuming there are some people who might have had a Trevor Lawrence anytime touchdown ticket that probably don't love him too much today. But, yeah, look out for Jacksonville. They might win 13 games again just like they did last year. Okay, let's move off of Jacksonville. Let's go to Detroit. The Lions get a huge win over the Jets. Jameer Gibbs goes for three touchdowns, and he hits the Aaron Glenn celebration in there. I like the Lions buzzing around. The Jets didn't look as ass, I think, as we all had thought. Now, I had an incredible opportunity to chit-chat with Mr. Haslam at the Tennessee Volunteers game. Obviously, the owner, he said him and A.G. very tight as soon as he saw it. He said he had to do it to him. Gibbs, untacklable. Remember, they had. Sonic, a hedgehog, and some people are calling him ass and cheeks. They decided to stick with Jameer Gibbs, give him money, and he's been awesome to watch alongside Jared Goff and the lads there. Just like I talked to Mr. Haslam about how Todd Munkin might be the perfect coach for the Browns. Like, he wants to be there, wants to turn it around, loves the dog pound. Yes, he's 60, but feels like he's the right guy for your Browns team. He had no response. He loves Todd. Obviously, very thankful he's there, but it does feel like that with Aaron Glenn and the Jets. And I know they just lost to the Lions, but the Jets have looked better than we thought they were going to look this season. I think Aaron Glenn has a mindset of wanting them to be good, you know, and like wanting to turn around the Jets and maybe the mentality to be able to do it. We all know how it started with him kicking Aaron out of the building and trying to turn it all around. They've tightened it up. They don't look as ass as we thought they were. Now, on the flip side, Detroit Lions get a huge win here. I mean, people are on their ass. Back pockets, as old Perk would have said. But I like the Lions win. I like the Jameer Gibbs weapon that he is. And the NFC North is starting to really cook A.J. Hawk. Yeah, they're trying. I think if Jameer Gibbs stays healthy, this Lions team is always going to be a contender. They're always going to have a chance. And credit to their defense, too, stepping up when they needed to right there to get a win. But everything Jameer Gibbs does, it just, I think of it, like whenever I see these offensive guys, I'm sure you do as well, D, but I think of like, okay, if I'm putting that situation, how do I stop this guy? Like, they motion him out of the backfield. They get him out of the backfield in creative ways, too, and get him routing up safeties, linebackers, corners, whoever's out there. It's just so tough. You see, even Jared Goff wants to go get a block. He gets a little chop on old Buddy's chest right there. But I think this offense obviously runs through Goff. But Jameer Gibbs, he is the guy. He is what makes this whole thing work, and he is killing it right now. The right decision appears to pay him a move along from David Montgomery, which leads me to this. Colts get a massive dub. Wow. In the lad house, not the stride house. The Indianapolis Colts hit from 58, I do believe, to take the lead late and then get a huge stop the next way around as C.J. Stroud threw a Hail Mary out of bounds, which I think a lot of people would certainly question. The field is 53 and a third yard wide. I don't know how you missed the entire field, but he certainly did. Danny Dimes, Josh Downs, Keenan Allen get the boys rally. Josh Downs, real weapon. Oh, yeah. Hey, we use him. We used him a lot. He had a magnificent game for us. Spencer Schrader there, he tweaked his groin in warm-ups. He tweaked his groin in warm-ups. They didn't even know how he was going to be. Was Rego going to kick? As you see, Rego hit the trap right there. Great hold. And then Schrader hits a couple from 50, and then he obviously has a perfect game. And the Colts get a massive dub whenever we needed it. A lot of people saying that the field looked like shite because of the shadows. I'll say being in there, it felt wonderful. Roof was open. Window was open. They're actually building a building, so it's not just blue clouds out the window. You see a little bit of cityscape, but this is a gigantic win. And I think the Colts are back, Jack. D-Butt, what did you see from this win in our Anvil unis taking on our rival Houston Texans? First of all, I thought the unis were great. They were sick. Now, they didn't pair well with those shadows. And, yeah, in the building, even as a player, I loved when the roof was open. It didn't really bother me. But as a viewer at home, it makes for a horrible, television product but it was a great ball game we found a way to get a win needed one after nine straight losses you know coach said hey it's a tough ass league and you know this is going to be a tough ass game rivalry game divisional opponent both teams are thirsty hungry for a win uh the defense looked much better after coming off two weeks where we were historically bad so come in there and make the i don't know if we made them but that houston texas office just looks terrible looks completely disjointed i don't know what it is with them they got to figure it out defense didn't look as good as we expect them to look but josh downs was tremendous ken and alan made some huge plays danny dimes jonathan taylor did just enough uh just a great all-around team win and hopefully we can get the ball rolling and maybe stack a few wins here and be in contention late in the season yeah there's a chance the colts found what they're looking for yesterday and there is a chance that the houston texans are ass yeah you know that's not good we talked about the browns a little bit with the sean watson congrats to them picking up another win in the home opener yeah they got thursday night with steelers coming to town town you scared the death of this cleveland browns team hungry dogs at home a little bit i i think this i think we're on a one in six run in cleveland or something like that i thought i saw yesterday so yeah a bit nervous to sean actually looks really good and then the way that they came back yesterday uh panthers go up on them and then the the browns you know they have the fortitude to come back and win that game yeah yeah i uh it's it's not like the the same old brands really uh so far to start this season especially under todd monken who's got the boys uh rally uh no it's definitely not a gimme i believe the steelers are favored but it's definitely not a gimme going up there home dogs tone have been doing pretty good here in the nfl which leads to tonight let's make our official picks here aj for the first time i got you coming out of sunday first time i figured i did not do well first time no you did okay you did okay it's a it's a oh you did good nine five okay yeah hard ass lee it is a freaking hard ass lee so you're still 500 which is great uh you should be pumped up about that me going nine and five certainly awesome there was a bunch of games where i was like wait what was the spread when we picked it because everything was so close you know you kind of got lucky or unlucky as things unfolded towards the end but yeah i think i was seeing the board well hopefully that'll continue home dogs did very very well this weekend tonight the chicago bears find themselves in a similar situation getting three and a half over under 41 and a half that's a very low low number the eagles offensively have just been able to figure it out and win some games the washington commanders might be a lot better than anybody's giving them credit for that's a huge win tennessee titans hey hey that team i love nashville oh good jerseys great jerseys i think i like the cam war just kind of backpedaling a little bit just kind of i don't so cool chilling out there you know he's able to do that i mean if he wins a super bowl it's cool that he does that if you suck it's not good to do that i just titans are scary so the eagles having to do a last second drive to beat the titans certainly could be alarming nonetheless jalen hurts is their quarterback saquon barkley is their running back we assume they'll figure out the offensive line their defense is going to be crazy with fangio and everybody's thinking the same thing with the bears side uh aj your early thoughts before making a pick will go around the room on how tonight kind of plays out that's a low over under number yes that is a very low over under number i think it's uh it's probably right where it needs to be we're not sure what this bears offense looks like they're gonna hopefully try to lean on the run game a decent amount i feel like but i feel like i'm leaning the eagles right now especially the spreads three and a half you know your uh your favorites all right here's major pick it sounds like i didn't know if you're talking about the game i might waffle i'm trying to tell you where i where my thoughts are at right now i see cooper dejean here on the graphic as well and saquon that gives me a little bit uh i'm worried for the chicago bears defense because i think saquon's a matter of time before he gets going even more but yeah i feel pretty good about where the eagles are right now okay so it sounds like aj just made his pick let's go around the thunderdome here we'll start with one half of the hammer done cowboys ap tone eagles favored by three and a half in chicago i'm gonna say perfect weather here i mean just looks beautiful absolutely perfect weather here mariachi band performing tonight we already saw the show it's going to be a spectacle it's going to be fantastic tone who do you like how do you like it in tonight's eagles bears monday night football from soldier field obviously i don't love that caleb williams is out and the bears defense does scare me a bit but the eagles eagles offense still looks a bit disjointed it they haven't you know they they beat the commanders and the titans uh by four and two uh so they haven't really been gangbusters yet this year either give me the bears at home plus the three and a half oh okay are you following the uh home dog trend or actually here no i i'm doing a little bit of both like the gambler in me is saying hey home dog uh in a prime time game situation take them uh and then the football brain is a little bit saying like hey like offensive line defensive line eagles but no i the but the way like i've seen the eagles offense so far this season it hasn't looked great yet so i'm kind of going against that and taking the bears okay no aj brown for the philadelphia eagles offense hasn't looked great no aj brown for the patriots offense hasn't looked great maybe the guy who reads books on a sideline is a little bit of an impact player we'll see if the eagles are a little bit of an impact player we'll see if the eagles are going to be able to win the game tonight could be a national hello i'm still saquon barkley party let's go to the toxic table at boston connor and ty schmidt connor you go first brother then you follow ty yeah i mean a lot of the trends we talked about today old quarterbacks being great again case keenum checks that box off for the bears then the home dogs tony mentioned earlier again chicago checks that box off then the mariachi band comes out there and we watched them perform for 15 minutes one song and it was telling me bears and that's why i'm going to take the eagles minus three and a half because the primetime game big dom's going to be on the sideline getting in front of every camera possible and nick sirianni sirianni will put on the show i love the eagles football gods let me down in tennessee there you know i thought football gods with hypo hitting the crossbar yeah and the field goal kick and the money raised and the incredible morning and everything like that i thought football gods were telling me tennessee instead number one team in the country gets a win so maybe the con man you like the eagles minus three and a half because ty who do you like how do you like it yeah everything uh in me is telling me eagles minus three and a half but part of me is thinking that case keenum is not going to look good the first couple drives and we're going to get the bag man maybe early in this game and i believe in the bag man big time um so i'm going to take the bears i think ben johnson's good enough of a coach that i think he's gonna he's gonna write the ship get this thing figured out and who knows this could be the bag man's you know uh welcome to the nfl moment so i like monday night football tyson bajan leads the bears as a backup quarterback again to a cover or straight up time no cover i think the eagles will win but i think this one's going to be very tight hey by the way stanford steve called tennessee texas exactly how it's going to go yeah if you go back to his pick he said exactly what's going to happen maybe we should ask steve what's going to happen here tonight on monday night football even though he and i had a complete opposite answers and i went nine and five so maybe he's not in the nfl in uh college all right nine-year nfl vet one of the biggest brains in the history of football darius j butler how do you see tonight going oh i mean kind of torn uh emotionally it's the first time two of my teams have faced off now it's close close enough i might have to get in the car and make this drive and have to be boots on the ground for this one uh two coaches i absolutely trust ben johnson nick sirianni uh but i trust the quarterback in philadelphia much much more 14 and two in september since 2022 that's jalen hurt so he's going to find a way to win i think he finds a way to win and covers not only because of him i think the guys that they pay jalen carter and jordan davis they got to show up they haven't really shown up through two games they're going to try to run the ball down their throats i think they show up and have a big game so i'm taking the eagles to win and to cover okay so d butt likes the quarterback feels like ty likes the nfc north and ben johnson tone who'd you like again the bears plus the three and a half home puppy a.j. like the eagles already have you waffled after two people take the bears i have yeah i actually want the bears plus three and a half at home i've been waffling as all of this has been going on i'm i'm picturing a low scoring game give me the bears plus three and a half at home i trust ben johnson his play calling and that bears defense wow all right uh i'll make my official pick on monday night countdown hell yeah they don't do the spreads though i'll say it i'll say one of this yeah i'll say one of this cannot wait for monday night countdown lucky to be back out there honestly lucky to be out on uh soldier field before the game kicks off it should be an electrifying atmosphere no matter who's playing quarterback for the bears and that starts 6 p.m eastern to 8 p.m eastern on espn i think we got some great features obviously some incredible conversation and we kick off the super bowl of every week monday night football in a huge way a.j. thank you for traveling over to thunderdome you're the man hey gumpy way to go here pal way to go god good shot i just got great lighting on that thing great lighting he put those just like to uh just like to throw out there darius cooper scored the game winning touchdown for the eagles against the titans he's plus 850 to score tonight okay just a little something who do you like how do you like it tonight eagles fly eagles fly better quarterback i think would be the conversation but remember case keenan maybe he has a chicago miracle in him yeah you know after the minnesota miracle to stefan diggs Stephon's still scoring touchdowns. Maybe Case Keenum can still throw them. You know, maybe. maybe case keenum's a guy maybe bears plus three and a half is to play tonight because ben johnson has a guy who's going to operate his system entirely not go anything outside is case keenum going to see jared goff tonight is he gonna we'll figure that out uh all right lads see you boys in a bit hey aj you're the absolute man uh behind the glass good work out there bruce and you guys are battling you guys are battling yeah uh i understand there's a lot of buttons back there and you're trying your absolute best i don't love that we come fresh out of a weekend and can't complete a facetime immediately but i'm sure you guys are focused and locked in on your jobs as there's a lot of people depending upon you here as you guys step into whole new roles for all of us we appreciate you doing that uh to the graphic design boys good work today boys and to everybody that set up this show here in the um right outside the bears pro shop thank you so much for an incredible job it looks amazing sounds amazing you appreciate the hell out of that now i'm heading back out to the highway where i am living here in chicago and i cannot wait for tonight's monday night countdown we are so incredibly grateful that we get to do this for a living we'll be back tomorrow to overreact everything that happens tonight start telling the story of the days to come we'll be live in iowa on friday ty let's do that hell yeah let's go be a friend tell a friend something nice it might change their life we're in this thing together we can't thank all of you enough people still saying really mean stuff about me guys but this is the life we live this is uh an honor that we get to do this i'm about tired of hearing people say i need to die though i'm okay with that one not always being said but you know what such is life baby if not me then who be a friend tell a friend something nice it might change your life we're in this thing together team on me team on three one two three team goodbye before this there's this as you celebrate the game take a deeper look at its roots the people grow in the grass paving the lots welding the goalposts inspecting every football the hard-working people that make every sunday possible carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game visit carhartt.com join the trades to learn more finding a doctor is hard enough finding the right doctor even harder someone who takes your insurance has an available appointment when you need one and feels like someone you can actually open up to that's where zocdoc comes in download the zocdoc app to search and compare doctors by specialty insurance and availability read real patient reviews find the right fit for you and book instantly because getting seen by the right doctor matters zocdoc ready to be seen download the zocdoc app and get a chance to become a ZocDoc doctor DocDoc app today.