December 17, 2024 • 46 mins
Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to recap the Week 15 Monday Night Football doubleheader featuring the Falcons at the Raiders and the Bears at the Vikings. First, Gregg and Nick talk about Falcons-Raiders and have a discussion about whether or not the Falcons should bench Kirk Cousins (0:55), followed by the Bears-Vikings recap and a look at the Vikings' chances at being the NFC's number-one seed (16:31). After the break, injury updates for Patrick Mahomes and David Montgomery (30:16) and the players of the week (42:33).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're thinking it's time for
a quarterback change. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in my garage,
joined by my friend Nick Shook, who just wrote up
a double header's worth of games on Monday night football.
Shook described to me your experience with Vikings, Bears and
Falcons Raiders gross.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The football was gross. It was entertaining at times, but
it was gross.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It was It was a weird late season pair of
games where you were watching the four teams playing, and
you saw one team that has a chance, a real
chance to be the number one seed in the NFC,
one of the stories of the year, and then you
just saw three other teams. All right, let's start with
two others of those teams, because I think the most
(00:54):
interesting story of the night actually happened in Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Two seconds laft final play of the game, Ritter all
straight drop now up in the pocket, gonna hang it
for the inZone and it is intercepted by Loud of
the end of the game. Holy smokes your hearts and
your throat. When Ridder throws it in the in zone
(01:20):
and Jesse Bates has come away with the interception.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
The ball in interception that's the.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
End of the game.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Of course, it was Jesse Bates who got the game
winning play. That's what Jesse Bates does. Falcons win fifteen
to nine. That was West Durham on w z g C,
and what you could hear there was a sigh relief,
not just from mister Durham, but from Kirk Cousins, from
Raheem Morris. The embarrassment that would have come from losing
(01:51):
to Desmond Rider. Scoring two touchdowns in the last three
minutes of a game you were leading fifteen to three
but just slipped awful on offense throughout would have been
enough to power sports talk radio in Atlanta for a
couple of weeks. Nick, I wasn't expecting to lead with
this game. But I think the kirk Cousins situation is
(02:11):
at such a code red that even though they won
the game, I really am thinking they're going to bench
Kirk Cousins, or they should bench Kirk Cousins. I'm actually
feeling like it may happen. What was your takeaway just
watching him play tonight against the Raiders.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
He looked like he has for most of the last month,
which is a stretch in which he's thrown zero touchdowns
and eight interceptions entering tonight, and he doesn't look comfortable.
He looks hesitant. He looks like the pass rush, which
has been in his face a lot this year, has
started to mess with him mentally. His passes are not
coming out with quite a month, quite as much zip
as they did before. A lot of downward trajectory passes.
(02:49):
Just doesn't look like a quarterback who feels as if
or plays as if he commands the salary that he
does or that he should be out there. And for
a Falcons team that was very much still in the
race in the NFC South, I don't think that they
can waste any more time. I think we talked about
this two weeks ago on our Sunday recap show, in
which we basically agreed at the time that hey, he's
(03:09):
not helping them, he's hurting them. And they won the
game tonight, but it wasn't because of him, say, for
one pass to Drake London. I mean, there was a
lot left to be desired, including the fact that they
trust him to throw on third down when they could
have ran the ball and drained forty more seconds off
the clock. Because you know, as I've often said, the
one thing you can't afford to do is give Desmond
Riddard a minute fifty to go the length of the field.
And they did.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
They they got in position to throw two not quite
hail Mary's from the thirty. You're right, they could have
run the ball. I was actually surprised they let Kirk
Cousins throw the ball. I believe it was what a
third and nine their past midfield. The first down wins
the game, but you're under two minutes to go. The
Raiders don't have any timeouts. If you run the ball
(03:50):
takes it down to about one twenty. And one of
the reasons I thought they would just run the ball
there is they didn't let Kirk Cousins do that much
throughout the final three quarters of this game. For one
hundred and twelve yards. He went eleven of seventeen. He
took three sacks against the Raiders in the first half
of this game. And yeah, the pressure was in his face,
(04:10):
but a lot of it, and Troy Aikman, I mean,
rather Dan Orlovsky and Lewis Ridick were pointing it out
throughout the broadcast. He was just late and on that
play where they did trust him, where they said, you
know what you are, our franchise quarterback. If you were
playing at a normal level, we would let you throw
this ball. He was a beat late and that ball
(04:30):
could have easily been intercepted. And that play was what
put me over the top that I think a change
is coming now. It's stupid to make predictions on a
Monday night podcast. I put this out there on Blue
Sky and everyone pushes back and just says it's so
hard to get a rookie up to speed. And Charles McDonald,
(04:52):
who's a Falcons fan, one of the best writers podcasters
out there, is like, Falcons would never do it. They're
too afraid. And I get that, but I felt a
little better after listening to Raheem Morris after the game.
Here he is answering a couple questions about Cousins.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
He's got to play better, and you know, obviously you
got to go back, you got to be to look
at everything. But you know, he wants to play better.
He's got to play better. We got to find a
way to get him to play better. And obviously we'll
get to work tomorrow. That's a part of our process, right.
You go, you look at the tape, you review with
the people that needs to be reviewed with. You know,
we get all the coordinators the room, we'll talk with everybody,
and we got to play better at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
She'll part b to that.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
If he can't, are you prepared to replace him with
Michael Pennich.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
You know, we got everybody in our roster for a reason, right,
We got so much to get better at. And like,
those things will always be discussed. That's just the nature
of the Beast and football. It's just so heavily talked
about it at the quarterback position because there's only one
guy out there, you know, so like for us man
our mentally, he's the find a way to win the
next game. That's just the mentality that we're going to have.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I'm surprised people are making a bigger deal about this.
I mean, we draft guys for a reason. He was
pretty definitive that Kirk's our guy after the last couple
of weeks. Yeah, and that to me spoke differently. Now
he's in the emotion of the moment and maybe once
he gets back and watches the tape, and the tape's
not gonna be kind. But once he realized he has
to start game planning. Maybe he feels different, but that
(06:13):
to me was Raheem Morris leaving the door wide open
to go to Michael Pennox here at seven and seven,
even though they're in the playoff race only one game back.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It's a drastic change in tone from what he sounded
like two weeks ago, which is when somebody presented that possibility,
he quickly shut it down and was like, no, course,
curse our quarterback. We're not thinking about that now. He
like you said, he's leaving the door wide open, and
rightfully so. Her cousins finished eleven of seventeen for one
hundred and twelve yards, a touchdown and a pick tonight,
and it could have been worse. It could have been
two picks. It could have been much worse. And that's
(06:41):
already a bad line. That's not a guy that you
pay the amount of money that they're paying him. And
they are in a playoff race. They have to seize
this opportunity while they have it now. Their offensive play
calling not really inspired. B Jon Robinson had a really
nice night, which kind of kept them afloat offensively, but
they can't finish drives. They haven't finished drives for weeks
and it starts at quarterback. It's not hard to see
the average eye, the average football fan can see what's
(07:02):
going on. Kirk Cousins is not playing up to a
starting quarterback standard, much less a franchise quarterback standard. And
with the playoffs on the line, you have to consider
all options so as to not waste these last three
weeks with an opportunity in front of you.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So I'm counting. They had seven possessions in the second half.
I mean that was the Raiders. Sorry they yeah, they
got seven as well. They got six points out of it.
The two drives that they got went for fifteen yards
in twenty three yards. If you did not watch this game,
and I don't blame you, if you didn't, you wouldn't
realize that the Falcons defense and special teams were completely dominant.
(07:41):
They blocked two plunts in the game, setting Falcons up
in plus territory. The one touchdown came in plus territory
that the block punt set up. They blocked an extra point.
The Falcons defense had four sacks. The Falcons defense forced
two turnovers. The Falcons defense scored two points with the safety.
It was all Falcons defense, and that's what I'm talking
(08:03):
about and Raheem Morris knows that. And you said this
performance has been coming for weeks in terms of the
touchdown interception. That's right. But I actually understood them starting
him in this game because I thought last week he
played quarterback. He looked like Kirk Cousins, like Troy Aikman said,
like he was making quick decisions. He pushed the ball
down the field. He threw two awful interceptions, but they
(08:26):
were moving the ball up and down the field, and
he had a number of really good throws today tonight
he played scared. This was actually his worst game of
the season by far in terms of EPA per play
and success rate. Their success rate was way worse than
Desmond Ridder and the Raiders who have no talent. And
Riddard just got there and looked terrible and was actually
(08:48):
under more pressure than Kirk Cousins was in this game,
and those sacks were like knocking them back into farther
field goal range. It was just rough. And it's not
even about just making the playoffs. Shook because I don't
think they're going to make the playoffs. It's like, what
do we stand for? Are we trying to do our
best to win games. We have this kid. We got
the Giants next week, Washington and Carolina, like they could
(09:09):
win all three of those games and hope the Bucks
stub their toe. But either way, Mike Tomlin says, don
don't live in your fears. What would Mike Tomlin do,
Nick Schuck, Mike Tomlin would make the tough decision. He
would go to Russell Wilson. He would have a feel
of his team that also on the outside didn't have
like go to Michael Pennox.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, I mean, I do think about that. The Tomlin
example is actually kind of good because Tomlin did the reverse.
He went from a younger guy to eveter at a
time when they didn't need to, when they were winning
football games, but he felt like it was the time
to figure out what they had and it's paid off
for them for the large part. This would be the opposite.
This would be going from a veteran to a rookie
in a key spot. But like Raheem said, you draft
guys for a reason. You drafted Michael PENNOCKX where you
(09:48):
drafted him above where you probably thought most people thought
he was going to get drafted because of the long
term plan and the curiosity of can he be a
guy who helps us out quicker than we think. Yeah,
we just gave Kirk because all this money, but he's
also coming off an achilles injury. He's not mobile. He's
scrambled to night for like the second time this year.
It didn't look good. It looked like Tom Brady when
he was running back in the day and not like
(10:09):
young Tom Brady, older Tom Brady. And so you come
to this point now where it's like, why did we
spend that pick if we're just gonna let him not
really rot on the bench, but just sit there and
watch us as we continue to struggle. I think the
frustrations is tonight match what you're saying, the boiling point,
it's now boiling over because they know they have hard
evidence that Kirk Cousins is not powering their offense to
(10:32):
a victory. Like they had needed Bjon Robinson to go
for one twenty five to night to be there, They
needed the defense to block two punts and pick off
Desmond Ridder once and then twice the end of the game.
And even then they shouldn't have even been in that spot
if they had a quarterback who was capable of finishing
a game, but they don't. That's not a winning football team.
And if you feel like your defense is playing well enough,
which it is, and your defense has been better in
the pass rush in the last few weeks, then you
(10:53):
need to have you know, equal production the offensive side
from Kirk Cousins. They're just not getting it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
And thank you for pointing out Bajohn, who went for
one hundred twenty five yards on the ground tonight has
looked fantastic. Went over a thousand rushing yards. Algier goes
for forty three, so they run for one sixty seven
one sixty eight. Rather, Kirk Cousins did not add to
the rushing total because even though he had that scramble,
had a couple. Did he have Neil downs, No, but
he somehow yet.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
To recover like a botch snap at one time.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Four right, that was very bad snap. So he ended
up with zero yards on three carries, which gives him
the hilarious stat line on the season, twenty three rushes
zero yards, not negative, not one. That's hard to do.
I know there's a lot of meal downs in there,
but twenty three rushes zero yards. I think it's over.
And they drafted Michael Pennix. I supported the pick at
(11:42):
the time. I said, because I think quarterbacks are so
hard to get. It's a long term play. They would
not have expected it to be a short term play
like now. But the running games playing well. The defense
since the bye, I think is playing well. I know
Troy Jyekman said they got you know, beat up last week.
I keep saying Troy Aikman because it's Monday night football
(12:04):
and that's you know who I'm used to, But it
was actually Orlovski and Riddick. In his interview with Scott
Vanpel afterwards, I actually thought they played very competitively on
defense last week until the fourth quarter where their head
got carved in. But if you watch the Falcons defense
all year, it was like, okay, they're pressuring Sam Dartl,
they're making them pull off crazy plays. They actually were better,
(12:25):
and they were very good the week before. They're playing
better on defense. So you're letting your team down. I
believe if you don't make that change.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Raheem's a defensive guy and his unit is performing, Like,
how can you waste that? Given that this is your
second shot at a head coaching opportunity of your first
season there. You got off to a fast start. You
got to capitalize. It's not about like hurting feelings or
protecting feelings. It's about winning football games. It's a cold business.
Sometimes you got to make these tough decisions in these
spots in order to preserve your job and get the
most out of your team.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
And I actually think the future does matter, that it's
not just about winning games. That you wouldn't make the
change if you didn't think that. It's pretty realistic that
Michael Pennox gives you a better chance to win. Yeah,
because like an average rookie quarterback at this point would
give you a better chance to win like an But
I think it's okay to think about the development of
(13:12):
it all. You could win all three of these games
and not even make the playoffs, and that Kirk's playing
that bad that the bonus of developing and seeing your
guy for a little bit is worth it.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Let's look back to the Eagles when they drafted Jalen Hurts,
they made the switch to him, what happened the rest
is history could be a similar parallel there.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Let's go, okay, I'm not going to spend much time
on this game. Falcons fans like, yes, your four games
streak is over. It feels better to win than to lose. Absolutely,
Although I'm introducing the concept first time I've heard this,
at least this is a moral loss, you know moral victories. Yeah,
people always like, well, we don't count moral victories. Do
you count moral losses? Because it's like this, This was
(13:52):
a win that felt morally to me like a loss
when it's one score against Nizuddin Ritter. And you heard
Kirk Cousins after the game, the liquidly with the sideline reporters,
Laura Rutlet, just like he didn't sound happy at all.
Ridder and this offense had about one hundred and twelve
yards until the very end. Give a little love to
(14:13):
Kaden Ellis ro Row, my favorite name in football. Had
some good pressure, they were playing a little better on defense,
and they made this Raiders offense look bad. It's gonna
be a tough watch, I think with Ritter down the
stretch here since here McCormick, who's played great for them
at running back got hurt during the game. That was disappointing.
Ritter had a couple nice passes, but more often was
(14:36):
not on target and did not help out Brock barers
as fantasy owners tonight, as the Raiders maintained their strength
of victory edge over the Giants and are right now
the number one overall pick for what it's worth. But
that's up in the air, like they could lose out
and still lose that pick. It depends on opponent's strength
and everything. If both those teams lose out.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Take Athon very much in full effect right now. It
was funny. The Raiders a bad football team, and Antonio
Pierce's expression on that final drive in which they are
Ritter is checking down relentlessly because he's afraid to take
a shot until the final two throws, final four throws. Uh,
he's just checking out.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
That made a nice one to Jacoby like, yeah, he
did a couple of nice throws, but he just.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
And then they get up to the line and they
get a delay game penalty, and then they show a
shot ap peers in the sideline and he's just got
this look at his fists like you gotta be kidding me, Like, really,
you got that. That's the Raiders in twenty twenty four.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
They had this drive early where they were actually moving
the ball and then they line up, they set up
a Jacoby Meyers pass and Jacoby Meyers takes a sack,
so then it's second and twenty. Then they go minus
four or five or six something like that on a run.
Then it was second in twenty six. Ritter hasn't even
(15:46):
thrown the ball here. Then they're third and twenty six.
They decide, well, let's just run the ball and be safe.
They hand it off and they fumbled the ball that
was Alexander Madison on like what was supposed to be
a safe run. And I'm thinking, like, poor Ritter. I mean,
he's missing throws as it is, but he wasn't even
involved in this sequence. And that's why I think in
(16:07):
part this game had to be so frustrating for the
Falcons because they really did dominate on two units of
the game in terms of their defense and in terms
of their special teams with their block punts and some
returns like in their coverage units. It was all good
for them other than the offense. But they do escape
seven and seven. Let's go to the one team I
(16:27):
talked about before, Yes, the Stars of the Night. Thank
you Minnesota Vikings for showing up to this double header
and being the team that you are and adding so
much freaking value to this season. We didn't expect it,
but I gotta admit, Sam Darnald, Kevin O'Connell, you've gotten
it done. Let's go to Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Three zero Vikings first quarter, five to ten to go
first and goal Darnold straight drop all playoftion to the
end zone one.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Justin Cheff first ten us Kevin.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Yard touchdown from fame Darnold O.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Great job there by Paul Allen. Great job by our
producer extraordinaire, Eric Roberts, because I see what you did
Eric there. You had the call from Paul Allen on
kfa N, but then you got the audio from the
TV copy with Justin Jefferson shouting out Randy Moss. Really
touching moment before the game, Jake Reid and Chris Carter
(17:31):
coming out holding up Randy Moss's jersey. Randy Moss announced
that he's battling cancer and he's got a Moss cancer
in his words, and so we send the best to him.
In a really cool touch by the Vikings and Kevin
O'Connell specifically apparently came up with that idea. An awesome
job by those two wide receivers who showed up on
(17:51):
like a day's notice and made their way to Minnesota,
made their way to that game. To honor the great
Randy Moss. They get to win thirty to twelve. That's
the best way you can honor Randy Moss. With great
wide receiver play, I think they got it tonight. Other
than that one justin Jefferson drop, he goes seven for
seventy three in a touchdown. Addison had a really nice
(18:11):
contested catch. Wasn't the best offensive games shook by the Vikings,
but their defense controlled it throughout. They jumped out to
that early lead on some short fields and even if
Kevin o'cada and Sam Darnold were both bemoaning kind of
the lack of efficiency on offense, they put up thirty
points in This game. Was never competitive. That's what mid
December games are sometimes against bad teams. It didn't make
(18:35):
me feel any worse about the Vikings, that's for sure.
Nice win by the Vikings thirty to twelve.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I had some mild concerns just because you know, Chicago's
defense has had its moments over the last year, right
Like that's how Eberflus kept his job going to the season.
Was their defense carried them to some late season victories
and looked like it was coming around. And at times
they've been, you know, a tough draw for opposing offenses,
and it felt like they were at times tonight. Sam
(19:01):
Darnold at times looked a little hesitant in the pocket,
He froze a couple times, he made some questionable decisions
in where he was throwing the football, But ultimately it
didn't really hurt them much because they're just a better
team and a lot of that had to do with
the defense. You go into a game against a rookie
quarterback and Brian Flores is coordinating your defense, what's gonna happen? Greg,
They're gonna blitz the hell out of you. And that's
exactly what they did. Sixteen blitz is the blitz rate
(19:23):
of forty four point four percent according to Next Gen Stats.
They get fifteen pressures, they get a couple of sacks,
They make Kayleb Williams run for his life. Yet again,
there was one play in particular, I don't know how
long he held the ball for.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Might it was over ten seconds? Yeah, I did check
that one. It was over ten seconds.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
He evaded like four rushers, He jumped at one point
to avoid getting taken down from behind and just flung
a ball out of desperation. Like that's been the story
of the Bear season, but especially tonight. The Vikings do
a great job defensively, like you said, gave him some
short fields they were able to convert. Sam Donald didn't
look his best Justin Jefferson had that drop. But ultimately
they are the superior team and they took care of business.
As a team with this many wins does right on track,
(20:01):
even on a night when everything's not perfect, and they
get a convincing victory in front of a national audience
in all white, snazzy uniforms and continued to train on forward.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Oh, it was not a good offensive performance. My reason
I wasn't concerned is it's a team game. You're not
gonna have your a offense every week. I think they've
had pretty close to that for the last two or
three weeks. It was more like a C minus passing game.
You know, Darnold barely gets over five yards per attemptary,
he's under six. He had that interception, which was on
(20:31):
a fourth down. He just wasn't that accurate under pressure.
It was the opposite of what he's been all season.
He went eight for seventeen for seventy three yards. Most
of his throws were under ten yards. It was actually
one of his worst games, I think because it was
one of the offensive lines words games, And that's probably
the concern moving forward. Brian O'Neill loo's banged up. He
has not played well lately even before This makes me
(20:53):
wonder if he already was hurt, and so that is
a little bit of a concern. But the running game
was great. Aaron Jones was awesome, and the defense was dominant,
and the offense also was efficient on those first couple
of drives to take a two score lead right off
the bat. So the situation of the game does matter
to me, and you're just not going to have that
(21:13):
a performance every week in a long season. So I'm
willing to give that part of the game a pass
because we are grading the whole team. And it was
a really good defensive effort where Caleb looked just lost overall.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, I mean, he had a rough outing. I do
caution against the people that haven't seen the Vikings very much,
and because they're on national TV tonight, this is like
one of their first looks at them and they think, well,
Donald's nothing special, because he's been a lot better than
he was tonight. I also am just mildly concerned because
I just like to think in the next month ahead,
as we approach the postseason. In this Vikings team, I'm
always trying to poke holes in teams, and I think
(21:48):
about depth, and right tackle was an issue when O'Neill
left this game, and David Kessenberry came in and is
not good and became a clear weakness and it affected
Sam Darnald. So like I worry about depth, but I
also just worry about you know what, if this is
a blueprint. You have to have the personnel obviously to
deploy this, but when you face some of the better
NFC teams when you get to the playoffs, this is
a blueprint to be able to counter this offense. Can
(22:10):
the defense then stack up on it. I'm just trying
to find the little things that maybe take a team
out from you know, being an elite contender to something
below that. Just to prepare myself and separate some from
the other.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Well, there's such a huge difference between the one seed
or the two seed and the five seed, and those
are the three most likely seeds that the Vikings could have.
Their playoffs start Sunday in Seattle. Now they're not one
and done the next three weeks, so you don't have
the same sort of pressure, but the rest of their
(22:41):
season is against playoffs or in the case of the Seahawks,
potentially playoffs adjacent teams. On a short week against a
team that's going to really need a win and has
a dangerous defensive front, which I think could give this
offensive line problems if they're not playing well. Then you
have the Packers. Tough division game. Again, that's kind of
why I gave them a little bit of a pass.
(23:02):
It's a division game. The Bears know this team pretty well,
you know tonight like it held them down. And then
you're at Detroit, which could be for the division to
finish up the season before a potential playoff run. If
they win all three of those games, they have a
real chance at the one seed. If they win all
(23:23):
three of those games, they will be the NFC North
champions over the Lions. Which is crazy to think they
control that their fate as it were. I hate using that.
I don't want to say that ever again on this show.
But they went out and they win the division. I
think it's going to be very tough with that slate
to win out, but they will absolutely be tested. And
(23:44):
I think this was a good warm up from them.
I love what I see out of Jonathan Gridard. I
loved what I've seen out of Blake Cashman. They survive
no Stefan Gilmour, hopefully they get him backed defensively that
they did everything they wanted to do. The Bears were
two of fifteen on third and fourth down combined, and
so that was really impressive. And I know it's the
(24:06):
Bears and Caleb just won't let go of the ball,
and that was a big part of them succeeding. But
I think it's partly because Minnesota has showing them so
many different looks.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, and I also think that the protection could be better,
but that's been the case for them pretty much all season.
I'm not worried about Caleb. I think they have their guy.
He has some incredible talents that have exceeded my expectations.
It's just a matter of improving the situation.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
What are you worried about?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
That? He just isn't seeing the field well. He was
frustrating Troy Aikman in this game, and that can easily
click into place with a better coach and probably will
next year. Like I just the ceiling for him is
so high. I was thinking he was, you know, one
of the best prospects I've ever seen. That he's missing
(24:52):
some open receivers. The game seems a little fast for him.
In his default right now is just to not throw
an interception, which is fine, it's not working well right now,
but just you would like to see the processing, the
decision making. But yeah, he's a rookie. I'm not worried
about him being a good NFL player, but just hasn't
been a good This is almost like a worst case
scenario for what I thought his rookie year could be,
(25:14):
and it's happened.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You know, Oh I think it could be. It could
be much worse, I think than it is right now,
because I've seen enough proof to make me think, all right,
he's got it. It's just that the situation around the
coaching staff needs to be better. There are times where
the speedy game, as you mentioned, kind of speeds him up.
They were in a red zone situation tonight where he
had a guy open on a fade and he just
overshot him in the corner of the end zone. The
throw was of those, but that's a rookie thing. That's
(25:37):
the thing that happens when you're still here, though, because.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
He was accurate. He was accurate, like, and he's trying
to make all those extra plays and it's just like.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
But how much of that is how much of that
is a product of knowing that you have to be
a bit of a hero and trying too hard. I
know it sounds simplistic, but trying too hard in those
situations I think is is that's why that happens at times.
I just think that the natural talents there and if
you make the situation run better, he'll He'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Absolutely. I just I was so confident that he's going
to be a good pro and still am that. This
was the baseline to me of like close to the
worst case scenario. I mean, the team is four and ten.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And they've lost their coach, lost coordinator.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
He's struggling out there. Everyone's frustrated. A lot of it
is on the coaching, Don't get me wrong, I have
no doubts long term of Caleb Williams. But I have
been test driving a theory which even at the dinner table,
I'm I'm getting pushed back that's bias, And I know
people think it's biased, but I'm really, I really don't
think it is. I think if you redrafted right now,
(26:38):
I would take Drake May first.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Oh God, here we go. Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I don't think that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That's fair. I mean, and we also.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Don't like other people that are smart not I shouldn't
say other people like had Drake Not many, but some
people had Drake May higher than Jayden Daniels, and some
like Nate Tice even had him higher than Caleb Williams
going into it. So I think if you went into
it with that, I think all things considered, he's shown
the most like pro traits, especially with his age and maturity,
(27:11):
of of all three of them. If you're like factoring
in the age and the experience all that, I don't
think it's crazy. I think all three of them are close.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
And let's let's remove the Patriots Association for a second. Okay,
And I agree with you with what you're saying with
Drake May. Do you think that Jayden Daniels does better
in this offense than Kayleb Williams has right now because
Jayden far and away looks like the best quarterback in
this class so far, not.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Rookie season, So I don't want I don't want Commander's
fans to get into his He's had the best rookie
season and is in a perfect situation for what he
has needed to do. And uh, yes, I think he
would be doing better in this system.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Because then that that's number one. Yeah, that's your first pick.
Okay again, I'm Sammar years. Okay, that's fair years and yeah,
and you worry about durability whatever else, But what I
saw is not.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Even about durability. It's like Jayden does what he does
really really well. I think in terms of being able
to manage the pocket, stay in the pocket. I think
the situation around mate is so bad. And if you
look over the last two or three weeks, like find
me the negative play where he's not making the right decision,
He's been He's done things in terms of his decision
making and his accuracy and his boys that I did
(28:27):
not expect this early. And you know, the physical tools
are there if and when the right coach and system
are around him. Jaden's floor is exceptionally high and is
clearly higher than Drake May's right now. But the kids
three years older, like that means a lot to me,
Like he's played a lot more football, Like that's a
lot three years ago.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
It's hard to separate quarterback from situation, I think, and
we often do that unfairly to quarterbacks that go into
really bad situations and don't produce. I think I'll go
back to him catch the Browns in ninety nine and
through two thousand and one. I mean, he had no weapons,
no offensive line, right, but like May missed one throw
in his game against Arizone, Like I know, you finished
ten for ten in the first half and everything else,
but he only missed one throw. And then I went
(29:08):
to Jayden's game and I was like that was pretty
damn good too, Like he.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Was great too. Even the number as bad as the
situation is, the success rate the aper play all that
with the QBR with Drake me is actually quite good.
It's like above league average starter, which is crazy. So
I am I am greaty on a curve. I think
it's a fun discussion. Uh, clearly this game didn't give
us enough to talk about. We just diverted into that bill.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Come to the NFL Daily four.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Yes, absolutely love this Vikings team in what they're giving us.
It's just a great, great fan base. I love the
fan bases that are getting rewarded right now, the Vikings.
Maybe the Lions fans don't feel like they're getting rewarded,
but take the big picture, they are the Bills. Like,
we have a lot of potentially really fun Super Bowl matchups.
(29:58):
Let's take a quick break, Nick, we're gonna come back,
we're gonna do some news, and then we're gonna give
out our Captains of the week. Back in the nut,
back on NFL Daily. Not a ton of news on
(30:20):
this Monday night. Most of the news is unfortunate news
because it's injury related. And we'll start with Patrick Mahomes.
Further tests on his ankle revealed a quote mild ankle
high ankle sprain. According to our national NFL insider Ian Rappaport,
(30:40):
I don't know what a mild high ankle sprain is, Like,
I've never heard that before other than you know when
it comes to Patrick Mahomes. But it's a high ankle sprain.
And Ian put out a little video that I saw
in Blue Sky which suggested it might make some sense
that he sits out this Saturday game against the Texans
(31:01):
in hopes of getting ready to play on Christmas against
who is it on Christmas?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
The Steels Steelers. Yep.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it's like Netflix,
you know, they're sweat and they don't want Carson Wentz
on Christmas, like giving you a big lump of call.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah, but at the same time, do you want Carson
Wentz on a Saturday. No. But I'm not happy, you know,
I think.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, I think it's a rare like Chiefs Texans game. Yeah,
that's like, yeah, in the middle of the afternoon.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
No.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, but it's just more realistic that he could miss
the first one and get the second one at least.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I mean, frankly, I'd set him out for the next
two games to preserve his health for the playoffs, and
maybe he comes back to you know, play the Broncos
and affect their seeding if they, you know, reach the playoffs.
So it's wise like you've gotten to this point for
a reason, is so that you have a little bit
of breathing room to be able to do something like
this if something unfortunate like his injury has occurred. We
(31:58):
know what the Chiefs are about. They're chasing a three.
There is no need to risk him on a Saturday
game when you have a short week after that. I
don't think it's good. I mean, they could lose one
or two of those games. Does not really bother me
very much without him, because their offense isn't all that
spectacular with him now. He elevates them and converts third
downs and does the magic things that he does. But
(32:19):
I'm not overly concerned about this long term. I would
really worry more about can he play in the playoffs
than can he play this Saturday In the next Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I have to admit I have not watched that game
back yet. I'm playing it's next on my list. I'm
gonna watch it Tuesday morning. He had the lowest PFF
grade like for a game that he's had and I
don't know how long forty three I was like, I
can't remember ever seeing that with problem well bruised and battered,
(32:49):
So I think, you know, physically he could use the
time now. The only thing I'd push back on is
that the one seed is huge for them. The Bills,
the way they're looking in the the Jets and the
Patriots twice in the final three weeks, they're unlikely to
lose any of those games. The Chiefs can only lose
one more game and hold on to the number one
(33:10):
overall seed, and the schedule is not easy. You know,
the Texans are not playing well, but that's a good defense.
And then the Steelers, I think is an even matchup
right now with the Chiefs, if you're asking me to
set that line, I don't believe in the Steelers quite
as much as certainly the Ravens, who they are underdogs
(33:31):
or the Eagles of teams like that, but them in
the Chiefs, like that's not an easy game, not an
easy defense. So these aren't guaranteed wins, even if Mahomes
is playing, and so it's really interesting to watch how
they manage this. And I think he is quote unquote
built different that that's what Ian rapped, you know, Ian said,
and it's true he has played through injuries before, but
(33:52):
it's one thing to play through him in the playoffs.
It's another thing to do it in week fifteen or sixteen.
So we'll see what happens. I'm very curious. It adds
a little intrigued to this one seed, even though it's
not in the way that you want. Let's go to
more bad injury news. The Lions got surprising news on
David Montgomery. He has a torn PCL. He is likely
(34:15):
to miss the rest of the season. That's a heartbreak, heartbreaker,
because he is the heart and soul of their team,
Ali McNeil. It's been confirmed that he has a torn ACL.
He was playing almost at a Pro Bowl level, I
would say was their second best defensive lineman when Hutchinson
was there, was their best alongside Darius Smith, who's been
great for them since Smith showed up. Brutal, brutal injury there.
(34:39):
And then Carlton Davis has a broken jaw and is
out about six weeks, which would give him a chance
to return late in the playoffs, maybe the NFC title
game if you just did the math out, but he's
going to be out for a while. He's their best,
you know, outside cornerback. It's just brutal. You feel for
everyone in involved there. I know it's just football, but
(35:02):
like the fans and Dan Campbell and most importantly these
players who were part of this magical journey, and especially
a guy like Montgomery, just to be taken out of
it is absolutely brutal.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest components to reach
in the Super Bowl or at least making a deep
playoff run is staying healthy. Like that's that's really what
separates some of the best teams from teams that could
have been there and aren't. And the hits keep coming
for them at a level that almost matches the forty
nine ers at this point, and they've done a pretty
good job of plugging holes in the dam. The Davis
injury is going to be significant because of the state
(35:35):
of their secondary as it was before. He didn't play
perfect by any means. He had moments where he could
have been better. But what's really going to matter the
most is that defensive front. I think Alee McNeil losing
him after you lost Hudgson already, Zadarias Smith played I
think less than fifty percent of snaps on Sunday. They're
trying to rotate guys and they're trying to make it work.
That's going to really hurt. And then, of course David
Montgomery won half of this great backfield tandem. There's been
(35:58):
games where he's just put it away. We go back
to way back to Week one, where they just run
it down and throw their opponent to salter with that
victory and overtime, and now you're left with just Jamior Gibbs,
who's a great running back. But it just takes away
all these strengths of your team. How many can you
weather before it takes you down as a team. That's
what concerns me the most.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's crazy to try to think about ranking like because
they've had so many big losses now, they just haven't
had many on offense. And my thought has been all
along that, look, if you have the best offense in
the league and their offense is still relatively healthy, you
have a pretty good chance to win two home games
(36:39):
to make the Super Bowl. Now you got to get
to those two home games, and to do that, you're
gonna have to win in Chicago next week like their chances.
You're gonna have to win in San Francisco on a
Monday night football game. Not a gimme, but like their chances.
And then you're gonna have to beat the Vikings in
what is almost the start of the playoffs in wiki
team possible. Maybe the Vikings will trip up a couple
(37:03):
times before that it's unlikely and make that easier. Maybe
they can get luck that way. But if you have
the best offense in the league, you have a chance.
And I still think they can be about the best
offensive league even without Montgomery. Jamiir Gibbs and David Montgomery
are not the same. Montgomery as the heart and soul
of this team. He is the guy you trust to
get those big yards to close out these games. He
(37:25):
is an exceptional running back. Jamiir Gibbs has been on
this team now for a little while. Like he could
be top three running backs in the league good Like
that is how good he is in terms of his
pure talent. His yards per touch rushing and receiving compared
to Montgomery are not close. So ken Jamir Gibbs step
(37:45):
up a level here and give us five six games
where he's the best running back in the league. I
actually don't think that's that crazy of a thought. As
great as Saquon Barkley as I'm not saying he's gonna
have a better season, I'm just saying for five games,
can he give you that sort of production. I think
he's that good where he could give you that sort
of production.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I think the most important facet of this offense is
their offensive line, which is still intact. And as long
as that's intact, you're still going to have a pretty
good chance of winning. Provided you can get a few
more stops than you did against Buffalo on Sunday. That's
going to be the big Achilles.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Heal right, Carlton Davis, you know he's a man corner.
They love to play man corner. You just those don't
grow on trees. So even though it felt like he
got picked on here or there, like I thought, he
had a really good season for them, because what they
ask out of their guys is a lot. We're going
to fly through the rest of these The Titans and
the Browns are primed to change their starting quarterbacks. If
(38:36):
there's one thing we're known for here at NFL Daily,
it's the maxim that if your head coach does not
commit to your starting quarterback on a Monday, a change
is coming on a Tuesday. And the Titans did not
commit to Will Levis, the Browns did not commit to
Jamis Winston. So look for those changes. Stay tuned for
more on that, and that does make me think maybe
(38:57):
Raheem Morris, who did not commit to Kirk Cousins, is
going to make that change those moves. I'm not going
to say they're soft tanks. In fact, the Titans I
think have a better chance to win with Mason Rudolph
Brown's a little bit of a soft thing.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
That curiosity about dtr Man it rains.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
The guy more likely. What that tells me is they're
not bringing back Jamis as like a backup or.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, honestly, I very much questioned the future will Levis.
I know it was one game, but so bad. It
was so bad it wiped out all the good will
he'd built over the last six weeks. And I'm very
curious to see if they make a move in a
different direction in the off season.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Now I expect they will. He's either going to be
their backup or not on the Titans next year. That's
my expectation. It's a weird note. Sam Hubbard, the Bengals
edge to who got a big contract a couple of
years ago, suffered a torn knee ligament that happened on
(39:56):
his touchdown catch that he made as a defensive end.
If this this was like another team or another story,
or a player that was a little more relevant to
the playoff race. You'd be like, man, that's crazy. It's
just crazy to because Sam Hubbard's been there a long time,
been a really good player for them, and I don't
think they're going to keep him going into next year.
I think they're gonna cut him because of his contract.
So his last play as a Bengal is likely catching
(40:17):
a touchdown pass from one of his very best friends
in the world, Joe Burrow. Those two are really tight.
It's the weird story. Just wanted to note it for
the audience. That's all I got for you. Shook on
that one.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Well, maybe he stays in Ohio and goes and plays
in Cleveland next year.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Who knows, wouldn't surprise me. The forty nine Ers suspended
Devondre Campbell for the last three games of the season
for conduct detrimental to the team, and the Ravens announced
that Deontay Johnson will be staying away from team activities
this week, a mutual decision with the team, according to them.
So that's here. We quit on the team news update
(40:53):
for the night.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I thought it was really funny that the verbiage that
came away from the Devondre Campbell situation sounded a lot
like John Harbaugh talking about Deontay Johnson, and a lot
of people were like, they're just gonna cut him, And
I was like, I bet you he gets suspended just
like Deontay did. And sure enough, it's three games instead
of one, but it's still the same result.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Right. The NFLPA, I feel like, is getting involved in
the Deontay Johnson thing, if I had to guess. And yeah,
because when they said mutually and that he's not suspended,
it's like, all right, we'll pay you while we figure
this thing out. Suspending means we're not paying for you
paying you. They suspended him last week. Now there's something
in between Devondre Campbell. They're not gonna pay him. We'll
(41:32):
see if the NFLPA, you know, appeals, We'll see if
Devandre Campbell gets another job. It's too bad people are
just gonna think about him this way. But he was
kind of nearing the end of the line anyways. Yeah,
he had some nice runs, you know, he had that
you know Pro Bowl run in Green Bay. More importantly
shook just for me and we gotta get we gotta
(41:52):
get out of here. We gotta get you to bed. Actually, no,
you just drank coffee. You gonna get just.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Drink a midnight drink a midnight coffee. Yes, twelve thirty am.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Coffee man. I said, the show is going to be quick,
and now we're getting on.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
No, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Vondre Campbell was half of the five hundred words that
I wrote about the Falcons linebacker corps at halftime of
the Super Bowl against the Patriots, because him and Dion
Jones were killing the Patriots and Tom freaking Brady for
the first half of that game, and I was like,
I'm going to write something about their defense and kind
of focus on Dean Jones and Campbell, and yeah, that
(42:26):
never got published. Let's go to uh my favorite part
of the week. Let's go to Captain's Corner, presented by
Captain Morgan. Let's have you get us going show.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
All right, extreme bias here. And I know you can't
see this because we're not on YouTube in this portion
of the show, but I am wearing a Kent State
Golden Flashes hoodie. Okay, that's my alma mater. And there's
a guy in the NFL who has traveled quite a
road to get to this point. Now he's only a rookie,
but he's been through plenty of adversity already. His name
is Devontes Walker. He played receiver at Kent State. He
hit the portal and went to North Carolina. But because
(42:57):
he had played he had been at multiple different programs before,
he was ruled ineligible at North Carolina by the NCAA.
It made a huge stink in the college football ranks.
Everybody was upset he should have been eligible. He was
supposed to be then he wasn't. Mac Brown and everybody
came out with a statement against it, and then eventually
the NCAA reverse course and he was eligible. Well, now
he's in the NFL, and I thought it was a
savvy pick by Eric Tacosta and the Rams when they
picked him up in the off season. He recorded one
(43:20):
catch on Sunday for a touchdown. A touchdown that was
a spectacular grab in the back of the end zone
which we played. Not sure if it was actually a touchdown,
but it stood on the field and he finishes with
twenty one yards and the touchdown. That's my captain for
the week because he's a Golden Flash former Golden Flash
for a tar heel got his touchdown.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Kent State rough rough season for what are you guys
called the Flyers.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
The Golden Flashes. We went oh to twelve, Golden flash.
We are the worst program in college football because we were.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Oh, that's tough, that's tough. I've been there. Tulane was
pretty close to that for a few years. They're out
of that. You know, who knows. You could be playing
in the Gasparilla Bowl before long, like two litters this year.
Tes Walker best known as the guy who was like
kind of disappointing me when I was watching Drake may
(44:09):
film last year, but like was making someplace, you know,
making someplace. My captain of the week is gonna be
who I believe to be the best wide receiver of
all the rookies. Talking about redrafts, I'm taking Brian Thomas
Junior number one. Sorry, Malik Neighbors. There's only so many
guys that are six three six ' four two fifteen
(44:30):
like Brian Thomas and moves like he moves it, has
great hands. I was like, I saw this tweet over
the weekend. They were like, when was the last guy
that came out that ran sub four three five that
actually had good hands. I don't know what dropped. There
was probably a Xavier Worthy player like inspired the tweet.
I don't even know, And I'm like Brian Thomas Junior.
He just came out. He's doing everything. He was so
(44:50):
good in that game on Sunday. He made mac Jones
look fantastic. The burst that he has to go from
zero to sixty and that you know, using car turn
in like a second on that forty one yarder on
the crossing route was just like it was unbelievable. But
he ended up going ten for one oh five. It's
hurting his yards per reception because you know they're only
(45:11):
going to throw the ball short, but he made so
many people miss. He's a yak god. He's got the hand.
He's a much better route runner than anyone expected this early.
He is awesome. I'm feeling good about having him number
three on my Offensive Rookie of the Year ladder or
number four, whatever it.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Was, number four, I'm checking it right now, and.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Conky was three. Now he's up. He's moved up over
the last week. He's now up to number three. That's
how much I like Brian Thomas. That was the Captain's
Corner presented by Captain Morgan. It's delicious and crisp, perfect
for game day with friends. Spice it up. Visit Captain
Morgan dot com to find a Captain near you. Please
drink responsibly. Hit that music, Eric, I didn't want to
cut you off shook, So if you have anything left
(45:52):
to say, you can use.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
I mean, I'm cruising off of this ice coffee that
I drink in twelve three that morning. I'm ready to go, baby.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Okay, you know, look when when shook his shoehorning a
Kent State Golden Fire tedes Walker reference, you know he's
feeling comfortable, and that's what you know. Football is back.
I'll see you Tuesday.
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're thinking it's time for
a quarterback change. I'm Greg Rosenthal here in my garage,
joined by my friend Nick Shook, who just wrote up
a double header's worth of games on Monday night football.
Shook described to me your experience with Vikings, Bears and
Falcons Raiders gross.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The football was gross. It was entertaining at times, but
it was gross.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It was It was a weird late season pair of
games where you were watching the four teams playing, and
you saw one team that has a chance, a real
chance to be the number one seed in the NFC,
one of the stories of the year, and then you
just saw three other teams. All right, let's start with
two others of those teams, because I think the most
(00:54):
interesting story of the night actually happened in Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Two seconds laft final play of the game, Ritter all
straight drop now up in the pocket, gonna hang it
for the inZone and it is intercepted by Loud of
the end of the game. Holy smokes your hearts and
your throat. When Ridder throws it in the in zone
(01:20):
and Jesse Bates has come away with the interception.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
The ball in interception that's the.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
End of the game.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Of course, it was Jesse Bates who got the game
winning play. That's what Jesse Bates does. Falcons win fifteen
to nine. That was West Durham on w z g C,
and what you could hear there was a sigh relief,
not just from mister Durham, but from Kirk Cousins, from
Raheem Morris. The embarrassment that would have come from losing
(01:51):
to Desmond Rider. Scoring two touchdowns in the last three
minutes of a game you were leading fifteen to three
but just slipped awful on offense throughout would have been
enough to power sports talk radio in Atlanta for a
couple of weeks. Nick, I wasn't expecting to lead with
this game. But I think the kirk Cousins situation is
(02:11):
at such a code red that even though they won
the game, I really am thinking they're going to bench
Kirk Cousins, or they should bench Kirk Cousins. I'm actually
feeling like it may happen. What was your takeaway just
watching him play tonight against the Raiders.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
He looked like he has for most of the last month,
which is a stretch in which he's thrown zero touchdowns
and eight interceptions entering tonight, and he doesn't look comfortable.
He looks hesitant. He looks like the pass rush, which
has been in his face a lot this year, has
started to mess with him mentally. His passes are not
coming out with quite a month, quite as much zip
as they did before. A lot of downward trajectory passes.
(02:49):
Just doesn't look like a quarterback who feels as if
or plays as if he commands the salary that he
does or that he should be out there. And for
a Falcons team that was very much still in the
race in the NFC South, I don't think that they
can waste any more time. I think we talked about
this two weeks ago on our Sunday recap show, in
which we basically agreed at the time that hey, he's
(03:09):
not helping them, he's hurting them. And they won the
game tonight, but it wasn't because of him, say, for
one pass to Drake London. I mean, there was a
lot left to be desired, including the fact that they
trust him to throw on third down when they could
have ran the ball and drained forty more seconds off
the clock. Because you know, as I've often said, the
one thing you can't afford to do is give Desmond
Riddard a minute fifty to go the length of the field.
And they did.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
They they got in position to throw two not quite
hail Mary's from the thirty. You're right, they could have
run the ball. I was actually surprised they let Kirk
Cousins throw the ball. I believe it was what a
third and nine their past midfield. The first down wins
the game, but you're under two minutes to go. The
Raiders don't have any timeouts. If you run the ball
(03:50):
takes it down to about one twenty. And one of
the reasons I thought they would just run the ball
there is they didn't let Kirk Cousins do that much
throughout the final three quarters of this game. For one
hundred and twelve yards. He went eleven of seventeen. He
took three sacks against the Raiders in the first half
of this game. And yeah, the pressure was in his face,
(04:10):
but a lot of it, and Troy Aikman, I mean,
rather Dan Orlovsky and Lewis Ridick were pointing it out
throughout the broadcast. He was just late and on that
play where they did trust him, where they said, you
know what you are, our franchise quarterback. If you were
playing at a normal level, we would let you throw
this ball. He was a beat late and that ball
(04:30):
could have easily been intercepted. And that play was what
put me over the top that I think a change
is coming now. It's stupid to make predictions on a
Monday night podcast. I put this out there on Blue
Sky and everyone pushes back and just says it's so
hard to get a rookie up to speed. And Charles McDonald,
(04:52):
who's a Falcons fan, one of the best writers podcasters
out there, is like, Falcons would never do it. They're
too afraid. And I get that, but I felt a
little better after listening to Raheem Morris after the game.
Here he is answering a couple questions about Cousins.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
He's got to play better, and you know, obviously you
got to go back, you got to be to look
at everything. But you know, he wants to play better.
He's got to play better. We got to find a
way to get him to play better. And obviously we'll
get to work tomorrow. That's a part of our process, right.
You go, you look at the tape, you review with
the people that needs to be reviewed with. You know,
we get all the coordinators the room, we'll talk with everybody,
and we got to play better at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
She'll part b to that.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
If he can't, are you prepared to replace him with
Michael Pennich.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
You know, we got everybody in our roster for a reason, right,
We got so much to get better at. And like,
those things will always be discussed. That's just the nature
of the Beast and football. It's just so heavily talked
about it at the quarterback position because there's only one
guy out there, you know, so like for us man
our mentally, he's the find a way to win the
next game. That's just the mentality that we're going to have.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I'm surprised people are making a bigger deal about this.
I mean, we draft guys for a reason. He was
pretty definitive that Kirk's our guy after the last couple
of weeks. Yeah, and that to me spoke differently. Now
he's in the emotion of the moment and maybe once
he gets back and watches the tape, and the tape's
not gonna be kind. But once he realized he has
to start game planning. Maybe he feels different, but that
(06:13):
to me was Raheem Morris leaving the door wide open
to go to Michael Pennox here at seven and seven,
even though they're in the playoff race only one game back.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
It's a drastic change in tone from what he sounded
like two weeks ago, which is when somebody presented that possibility,
he quickly shut it down and was like, no, course,
curse our quarterback. We're not thinking about that now. He
like you said, he's leaving the door wide open, and
rightfully so. Her cousins finished eleven of seventeen for one
hundred and twelve yards, a touchdown and a pick tonight,
and it could have been worse. It could have been
two picks. It could have been much worse. And that's
(06:41):
already a bad line. That's not a guy that you
pay the amount of money that they're paying him. And
they are in a playoff race. They have to seize
this opportunity while they have it now. Their offensive play
calling not really inspired. B Jon Robinson had a really
nice night, which kind of kept them afloat offensively, but
they can't finish drives. They haven't finished drives for weeks
and it starts at quarterback. It's not hard to see
the average eye, the average football fan can see what's
(07:02):
going on. Kirk Cousins is not playing up to a
starting quarterback standard, much less a franchise quarterback standard. And
with the playoffs on the line, you have to consider
all options so as to not waste these last three
weeks with an opportunity in front of you.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So I'm counting. They had seven possessions in the second half.
I mean that was the Raiders. Sorry they yeah, they
got seven as well. They got six points out of it.
The two drives that they got went for fifteen yards
in twenty three yards. If you did not watch this game,
and I don't blame you, if you didn't, you wouldn't
realize that the Falcons defense and special teams were completely dominant.
(07:41):
They blocked two plunts in the game, setting Falcons up
in plus territory. The one touchdown came in plus territory
that the block punt set up. They blocked an extra point.
The Falcons defense had four sacks. The Falcons defense forced
two turnovers. The Falcons defense scored two points with the safety.
It was all Falcons defense, and that's what I'm talking
(08:03):
about and Raheem Morris knows that. And you said this
performance has been coming for weeks in terms of the
touchdown interception. That's right. But I actually understood them starting
him in this game because I thought last week he
played quarterback. He looked like Kirk Cousins, like Troy Aikman said,
like he was making quick decisions. He pushed the ball
down the field. He threw two awful interceptions, but they
(08:26):
were moving the ball up and down the field, and
he had a number of really good throws today tonight
he played scared. This was actually his worst game of
the season by far in terms of EPA per play
and success rate. Their success rate was way worse than
Desmond Ridder and the Raiders who have no talent. And
Riddard just got there and looked terrible and was actually
(08:48):
under more pressure than Kirk Cousins was in this game,
and those sacks were like knocking them back into farther
field goal range. It was just rough. And it's not
even about just making the playoffs. Shook because I don't
think they're going to make the playoffs. It's like, what
do we stand for? Are we trying to do our
best to win games. We have this kid. We got
the Giants next week, Washington and Carolina, like they could
(09:09):
win all three of those games and hope the Bucks
stub their toe. But either way, Mike Tomlin says, don
don't live in your fears. What would Mike Tomlin do,
Nick Schuck, Mike Tomlin would make the tough decision. He
would go to Russell Wilson. He would have a feel
of his team that also on the outside didn't have
like go to Michael Pennox.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, I mean, I do think about that. The Tomlin
example is actually kind of good because Tomlin did the reverse.
He went from a younger guy to eveter at a
time when they didn't need to, when they were winning
football games, but he felt like it was the time
to figure out what they had and it's paid off
for them for the large part. This would be the opposite.
This would be going from a veteran to a rookie
in a key spot. But like Raheem said, you draft
guys for a reason. You drafted Michael PENNOCKX where you
(09:48):
drafted him above where you probably thought most people thought
he was going to get drafted because of the long
term plan and the curiosity of can he be a
guy who helps us out quicker than we think. Yeah,
we just gave Kirk because all this money, but he's
also coming off an achilles injury. He's not mobile. He's
scrambled to night for like the second time this year.
It didn't look good. It looked like Tom Brady when
he was running back in the day and not like
(10:09):
young Tom Brady, older Tom Brady. And so you come
to this point now where it's like, why did we
spend that pick if we're just gonna let him not
really rot on the bench, but just sit there and
watch us as we continue to struggle. I think the
frustrations is tonight match what you're saying, the boiling point,
it's now boiling over because they know they have hard
evidence that Kirk Cousins is not powering their offense to
(10:32):
a victory. Like they had needed Bjon Robinson to go
for one twenty five to night to be there, They
needed the defense to block two punts and pick off
Desmond Ridder once and then twice the end of the game.
And even then they shouldn't have even been in that spot
if they had a quarterback who was capable of finishing
a game, but they don't. That's not a winning football team.
And if you feel like your defense is playing well enough,
which it is, and your defense has been better in
the pass rush in the last few weeks, then you
(10:53):
need to have you know, equal production the offensive side
from Kirk Cousins. They're just not getting it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
And thank you for pointing out Bajohn, who went for
one hundred twenty five yards on the ground tonight has
looked fantastic. Went over a thousand rushing yards. Algier goes
for forty three, so they run for one sixty seven
one sixty eight. Rather, Kirk Cousins did not add to
the rushing total because even though he had that scramble,
had a couple. Did he have Neil downs, No, but
he somehow yet.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
To recover like a botch snap at one time.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Four right, that was very bad snap. So he ended
up with zero yards on three carries, which gives him
the hilarious stat line on the season, twenty three rushes
zero yards, not negative, not one. That's hard to do.
I know there's a lot of meal downs in there,
but twenty three rushes zero yards. I think it's over.
And they drafted Michael Pennix. I supported the pick at
(11:42):
the time. I said, because I think quarterbacks are so
hard to get. It's a long term play. They would
not have expected it to be a short term play
like now. But the running games playing well. The defense
since the bye, I think is playing well. I know
Troy Jyekman said they got you know, beat up last week.
I keep saying Troy Aikman because it's Monday night football
(12:04):
and that's you know who I'm used to, But it
was actually Orlovski and Riddick. In his interview with Scott
Vanpel afterwards, I actually thought they played very competitively on
defense last week until the fourth quarter where their head
got carved in. But if you watch the Falcons defense
all year, it was like, okay, they're pressuring Sam Dartl,
they're making them pull off crazy plays. They actually were better,
(12:25):
and they were very good the week before. They're playing
better on defense. So you're letting your team down. I
believe if you don't make that change.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Raheem's a defensive guy and his unit is performing, Like,
how can you waste that? Given that this is your
second shot at a head coaching opportunity of your first
season there. You got off to a fast start. You
got to capitalize. It's not about like hurting feelings or
protecting feelings. It's about winning football games. It's a cold business.
Sometimes you got to make these tough decisions in these
spots in order to preserve your job and get the
most out of your team.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
And I actually think the future does matter, that it's
not just about winning games. That you wouldn't make the
change if you didn't think that. It's pretty realistic that
Michael Pennox gives you a better chance to win. Yeah,
because like an average rookie quarterback at this point would
give you a better chance to win like an But
I think it's okay to think about the development of
(13:12):
it all. You could win all three of these games
and not even make the playoffs, and that Kirk's playing
that bad that the bonus of developing and seeing your
guy for a little bit is worth it.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Let's look back to the Eagles when they drafted Jalen Hurts,
they made the switch to him, what happened the rest
is history could be a similar parallel there.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Let's go, okay, I'm not going to spend much time
on this game. Falcons fans like, yes, your four games
streak is over. It feels better to win than to lose. Absolutely,
Although I'm introducing the concept first time I've heard this,
at least this is a moral loss, you know moral victories. Yeah,
people always like, well, we don't count moral victories. Do
you count moral losses? Because it's like this, This was
(13:52):
a win that felt morally to me like a loss
when it's one score against Nizuddin Ritter. And you heard
Kirk Cousins after the game, the liquidly with the sideline reporters,
Laura Rutlet, just like he didn't sound happy at all.
Ridder and this offense had about one hundred and twelve
yards until the very end. Give a little love to
(14:13):
Kaden Ellis ro Row, my favorite name in football. Had
some good pressure, they were playing a little better on defense,
and they made this Raiders offense look bad. It's gonna
be a tough watch, I think with Ritter down the
stretch here since here McCormick, who's played great for them
at running back got hurt during the game. That was disappointing.
Ritter had a couple nice passes, but more often was
(14:36):
not on target and did not help out Brock barers
as fantasy owners tonight, as the Raiders maintained their strength
of victory edge over the Giants and are right now
the number one overall pick for what it's worth. But
that's up in the air, like they could lose out
and still lose that pick. It depends on opponent's strength
and everything. If both those teams lose out.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Take Athon very much in full effect right now. It
was funny. The Raiders a bad football team, and Antonio
Pierce's expression on that final drive in which they are
Ritter is checking down relentlessly because he's afraid to take
a shot until the final two throws, final four throws. Uh,
he's just checking out.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
That made a nice one to Jacoby like, yeah, he
did a couple of nice throws, but he just.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
And then they get up to the line and they
get a delay game penalty, and then they show a
shot ap peers in the sideline and he's just got
this look at his fists like you gotta be kidding me, Like, really,
you got that. That's the Raiders in twenty twenty four.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
They had this drive early where they were actually moving
the ball and then they line up, they set up
a Jacoby Meyers pass and Jacoby Meyers takes a sack,
so then it's second and twenty. Then they go minus
four or five or six something like that on a run.
Then it was second in twenty six. Ritter hasn't even
(15:46):
thrown the ball here. Then they're third and twenty six.
They decide, well, let's just run the ball and be safe.
They hand it off and they fumbled the ball that
was Alexander Madison on like what was supposed to be
a safe run. And I'm thinking, like, poor Ritter. I mean,
he's missing throws as it is, but he wasn't even
involved in this sequence. And that's why I think in
(16:07):
part this game had to be so frustrating for the
Falcons because they really did dominate on two units of
the game in terms of their defense and in terms
of their special teams with their block punts and some
returns like in their coverage units. It was all good
for them other than the offense. But they do escape
seven and seven. Let's go to the one team I
(16:27):
talked about before, Yes, the Stars of the Night. Thank
you Minnesota Vikings for showing up to this double header
and being the team that you are and adding so
much freaking value to this season. We didn't expect it,
but I gotta admit, Sam Darnald, Kevin O'Connell, you've gotten
it done. Let's go to Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Three zero Vikings first quarter, five to ten to go
first and goal Darnold straight drop all playoftion to the
end zone one.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Justin Cheff first ten us Kevin.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Yard touchdown from fame Darnold O.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Great job there by Paul Allen. Great job by our
producer extraordinaire, Eric Roberts, because I see what you did
Eric there. You had the call from Paul Allen on
kfa N, but then you got the audio from the
TV copy with Justin Jefferson shouting out Randy Moss. Really
touching moment before the game, Jake Reid and Chris Carter
(17:31):
coming out holding up Randy Moss's jersey. Randy Moss announced
that he's battling cancer and he's got a Moss cancer
in his words, and so we send the best to him.
In a really cool touch by the Vikings and Kevin
O'Connell specifically apparently came up with that idea. An awesome
job by those two wide receivers who showed up on
(17:51):
like a day's notice and made their way to Minnesota,
made their way to that game. To honor the great
Randy Moss. They get to win thirty to twelve. That's
the best way you can honor Randy Moss. With great
wide receiver play, I think they got it tonight. Other
than that one justin Jefferson drop, he goes seven for
seventy three in a touchdown. Addison had a really nice
(18:11):
contested catch. Wasn't the best offensive games shook by the Vikings,
but their defense controlled it throughout. They jumped out to
that early lead on some short fields and even if
Kevin o'cada and Sam Darnold were both bemoaning kind of
the lack of efficiency on offense, they put up thirty
points in This game. Was never competitive. That's what mid
December games are sometimes against bad teams. It didn't make
(18:35):
me feel any worse about the Vikings, that's for sure.
Nice win by the Vikings thirty to twelve.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I had some mild concerns just because you know, Chicago's
defense has had its moments over the last year, right
Like that's how Eberflus kept his job going to the season.
Was their defense carried them to some late season victories
and looked like it was coming around. And at times
they've been, you know, a tough draw for opposing offenses,
and it felt like they were at times tonight. Sam
(19:01):
Darnold at times looked a little hesitant in the pocket,
He froze a couple times, he made some questionable decisions
in where he was throwing the football, But ultimately it
didn't really hurt them much because they're just a better
team and a lot of that had to do with
the defense. You go into a game against a rookie
quarterback and Brian Flores is coordinating your defense, what's gonna happen? Greg,
They're gonna blitz the hell out of you. And that's
exactly what they did. Sixteen blitz is the blitz rate
(19:23):
of forty four point four percent according to Next Gen Stats.
They get fifteen pressures, they get a couple of sacks,
They make Kayleb Williams run for his life. Yet again,
there was one play in particular, I don't know how
long he held the ball for.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Might it was over ten seconds? Yeah, I did check
that one. It was over ten seconds.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
He evaded like four rushers, He jumped at one point
to avoid getting taken down from behind and just flung
a ball out of desperation. Like that's been the story
of the Bear season, but especially tonight. The Vikings do
a great job defensively, like you said, gave him some
short fields they were able to convert. Sam Donald didn't
look his best Justin Jefferson had that drop. But ultimately
they are the superior team and they took care of business.
As a team with this many wins does right on track,
(20:01):
even on a night when everything's not perfect, and they
get a convincing victory in front of a national audience
in all white, snazzy uniforms and continued to train on forward.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Oh, it was not a good offensive performance. My reason
I wasn't concerned is it's a team game. You're not
gonna have your a offense every week. I think they've
had pretty close to that for the last two or
three weeks. It was more like a C minus passing game.
You know, Darnold barely gets over five yards per attemptary,
he's under six. He had that interception, which was on
(20:31):
a fourth down. He just wasn't that accurate under pressure.
It was the opposite of what he's been all season.
He went eight for seventeen for seventy three yards. Most
of his throws were under ten yards. It was actually
one of his worst games, I think because it was
one of the offensive lines words games, And that's probably
the concern moving forward. Brian O'Neill loo's banged up. He
has not played well lately even before This makes me
(20:53):
wonder if he already was hurt, and so that is
a little bit of a concern. But the running game
was great. Aaron Jones was awesome, and the defense was dominant,
and the offense also was efficient on those first couple
of drives to take a two score lead right off
the bat. So the situation of the game does matter
to me, and you're just not going to have that
(21:13):
a performance every week in a long season. So I'm
willing to give that part of the game a pass
because we are grading the whole team. And it was
a really good defensive effort where Caleb looked just lost overall.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, I mean, he had a rough outing. I do
caution against the people that haven't seen the Vikings very much,
and because they're on national TV tonight, this is like
one of their first looks at them and they think, well,
Donald's nothing special, because he's been a lot better than
he was tonight. I also am just mildly concerned because
I just like to think in the next month ahead,
as we approach the postseason. In this Vikings team, I'm
always trying to poke holes in teams, and I think
(21:48):
about depth, and right tackle was an issue when O'Neill
left this game, and David Kessenberry came in and is
not good and became a clear weakness and it affected
Sam Darnald. So like I worry about depth, but I
also just worry about you know what, if this is
a blueprint. You have to have the personnel obviously to
deploy this, but when you face some of the better
NFC teams when you get to the playoffs, this is
a blueprint to be able to counter this offense. Can
(22:10):
the defense then stack up on it. I'm just trying
to find the little things that maybe take a team
out from you know, being an elite contender to something
below that. Just to prepare myself and separate some from
the other.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Well, there's such a huge difference between the one seed
or the two seed and the five seed, and those
are the three most likely seeds that the Vikings could have.
Their playoffs start Sunday in Seattle. Now they're not one
and done the next three weeks, so you don't have
the same sort of pressure, but the rest of their
(22:41):
season is against playoffs or in the case of the Seahawks,
potentially playoffs adjacent teams. On a short week against a
team that's going to really need a win and has
a dangerous defensive front, which I think could give this
offensive line problems if they're not playing well. Then you
have the Packers. Tough division game. Again, that's kind of
why I gave them a little bit of a pass.
(23:02):
It's a division game. The Bears know this team pretty well,
you know tonight like it held them down. And then
you're at Detroit, which could be for the division to
finish up the season before a potential playoff run. If
they win all three of those games, they have a
real chance at the one seed. If they win all
(23:23):
three of those games, they will be the NFC North
champions over the Lions. Which is crazy to think they
control that their fate as it were. I hate using that.
I don't want to say that ever again on this show.
But they went out and they win the division. I
think it's going to be very tough with that slate
to win out, but they will absolutely be tested. And
(23:44):
I think this was a good warm up from them.
I love what I see out of Jonathan Gridard. I
loved what I've seen out of Blake Cashman. They survive
no Stefan Gilmour, hopefully they get him backed defensively that
they did everything they wanted to do. The Bears were
two of fifteen on third and fourth down combined, and
so that was really impressive. And I know it's the
(24:06):
Bears and Caleb just won't let go of the ball,
and that was a big part of them succeeding. But
I think it's partly because Minnesota has showing them so
many different looks.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, and I also think that the protection could be better,
but that's been the case for them pretty much all season.
I'm not worried about Caleb. I think they have their guy.
He has some incredible talents that have exceeded my expectations.
It's just a matter of improving the situation.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
What are you worried about?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
That? He just isn't seeing the field well. He was
frustrating Troy Aikman in this game, and that can easily
click into place with a better coach and probably will
next year. Like I just the ceiling for him is
so high. I was thinking he was, you know, one
of the best prospects I've ever seen. That he's missing
(24:52):
some open receivers. The game seems a little fast for him.
In his default right now is just to not throw
an interception, which is fine, it's not working well right now,
but just you would like to see the processing, the
decision making. But yeah, he's a rookie. I'm not worried
about him being a good NFL player, but just hasn't
been a good This is almost like a worst case
scenario for what I thought his rookie year could be,
(25:14):
and it's happened.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You know, Oh I think it could be. It could
be much worse, I think than it is right now,
because I've seen enough proof to make me think, all right,
he's got it. It's just that the situation around the
coaching staff needs to be better. There are times where
the speedy game, as you mentioned, kind of speeds him up.
They were in a red zone situation tonight where he
had a guy open on a fade and he just
overshot him in the corner of the end zone. The
throw was of those, but that's a rookie thing. That's
(25:37):
the thing that happens when you're still here, though, because.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
He was accurate. He was accurate, like, and he's trying
to make all those extra plays and it's just like.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
But how much of that is how much of that
is a product of knowing that you have to be
a bit of a hero and trying too hard. I
know it sounds simplistic, but trying too hard in those
situations I think is is that's why that happens at times.
I just think that the natural talents there and if
you make the situation run better, he'll He'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Absolutely. I just I was so confident that he's going
to be a good pro and still am that. This
was the baseline to me of like close to the
worst case scenario. I mean, the team is four and ten.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And they've lost their coach, lost coordinator.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
He's struggling out there. Everyone's frustrated. A lot of it
is on the coaching, Don't get me wrong, I have
no doubts long term of Caleb Williams. But I have
been test driving a theory which even at the dinner table,
I'm I'm getting pushed back that's bias, And I know
people think it's biased, but I'm really, I really don't
think it is. I think if you redrafted right now,
(26:38):
I would take Drake May first.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Oh God, here we go. Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I don't think that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
That's fair. I mean, and we also.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Don't like other people that are smart not I shouldn't
say other people like had Drake Not many, but some
people had Drake May higher than Jayden Daniels, and some
like Nate Tice even had him higher than Caleb Williams
going into it. So I think if you went into
it with that, I think all things considered, he's shown
the most like pro traits, especially with his age and maturity,
(27:11):
of of all three of them. If you're like factoring
in the age and the experience all that, I don't
think it's crazy. I think all three of them are close.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
And let's let's remove the Patriots Association for a second. Okay,
And I agree with you with what you're saying with
Drake May. Do you think that Jayden Daniels does better
in this offense than Kayleb Williams has right now because
Jayden far and away looks like the best quarterback in
this class so far, not.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Rookie season, So I don't want I don't want Commander's
fans to get into his He's had the best rookie
season and is in a perfect situation for what he
has needed to do. And uh, yes, I think he
would be doing better in this system.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Because then that that's number one. Yeah, that's your first pick.
Okay again, I'm Sammar years. Okay, that's fair years and yeah,
and you worry about durability whatever else, But what I
saw is not.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Even about durability. It's like Jayden does what he does
really really well. I think in terms of being able
to manage the pocket, stay in the pocket. I think
the situation around mate is so bad. And if you
look over the last two or three weeks, like find
me the negative play where he's not making the right decision,
He's been He's done things in terms of his decision
making and his accuracy and his boys that I did
(28:27):
not expect this early. And you know, the physical tools
are there if and when the right coach and system
are around him. Jaden's floor is exceptionally high and is
clearly higher than Drake May's right now. But the kids
three years older, like that means a lot to me,
Like he's played a lot more football, Like that's a
lot three years ago.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
It's hard to separate quarterback from situation, I think, and
we often do that unfairly to quarterbacks that go into
really bad situations and don't produce. I think I'll go
back to him catch the Browns in ninety nine and
through two thousand and one. I mean, he had no weapons,
no offensive line, right, but like May missed one throw
in his game against Arizone, Like I know, you finished
ten for ten in the first half and everything else,
but he only missed one throw. And then I went
(29:08):
to Jayden's game and I was like that was pretty
damn good too, Like he.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Was great too. Even the number as bad as the
situation is, the success rate the aper play all that
with the QBR with Drake me is actually quite good.
It's like above league average starter, which is crazy. So
I am I am greaty on a curve. I think
it's a fun discussion. Uh, clearly this game didn't give
us enough to talk about. We just diverted into that bill.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Come to the NFL Daily four.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Yes, absolutely love this Vikings team in what they're giving us.
It's just a great, great fan base. I love the
fan bases that are getting rewarded right now, the Vikings.
Maybe the Lions fans don't feel like they're getting rewarded,
but take the big picture, they are the Bills. Like,
we have a lot of potentially really fun Super Bowl matchups.
(29:58):
Let's take a quick break, Nick, we're gonna come back,
we're gonna do some news, and then we're gonna give
out our Captains of the week. Back in the nut,
back on NFL Daily. Not a ton of news on
(30:20):
this Monday night. Most of the news is unfortunate news
because it's injury related. And we'll start with Patrick Mahomes.
Further tests on his ankle revealed a quote mild ankle
high ankle sprain. According to our national NFL insider Ian Rappaport,
(30:40):
I don't know what a mild high ankle sprain is, Like,
I've never heard that before other than you know when
it comes to Patrick Mahomes. But it's a high ankle sprain.
And Ian put out a little video that I saw
in Blue Sky which suggested it might make some sense
that he sits out this Saturday game against the Texans
(31:01):
in hopes of getting ready to play on Christmas against
who is it on Christmas?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
The Steels Steelers. Yep.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it's like Netflix,
you know, they're sweat and they don't want Carson Wentz
on Christmas, like giving you a big lump of call.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah, but at the same time, do you want Carson
Wentz on a Saturday. No. But I'm not happy, you know,
I think.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, I think it's a rare like Chiefs Texans game. Yeah,
that's like, yeah, in the middle of the afternoon.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
No.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, but it's just more realistic that he could miss
the first one and get the second one at least.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I mean, frankly, I'd set him out for the next
two games to preserve his health for the playoffs, and
maybe he comes back to you know, play the Broncos
and affect their seeding if they, you know, reach the playoffs.
So it's wise like you've gotten to this point for
a reason, is so that you have a little bit
of breathing room to be able to do something like
this if something unfortunate like his injury has occurred. We
(31:58):
know what the Chiefs are about. They're chasing a three.
There is no need to risk him on a Saturday
game when you have a short week after that. I
don't think it's good. I mean, they could lose one
or two of those games. Does not really bother me
very much without him, because their offense isn't all that
spectacular with him now. He elevates them and converts third
downs and does the magic things that he does. But
(32:19):
I'm not overly concerned about this long term. I would
really worry more about can he play in the playoffs
than can he play this Saturday In the next Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I have to admit I have not watched that game
back yet. I'm playing it's next on my list. I'm
gonna watch it Tuesday morning. He had the lowest PFF
grade like for a game that he's had and I
don't know how long forty three I was like, I
can't remember ever seeing that with problem well bruised and battered,
(32:49):
So I think, you know, physically he could use the
time now. The only thing I'd push back on is
that the one seed is huge for them. The Bills,
the way they're looking in the the Jets and the
Patriots twice in the final three weeks, they're unlikely to
lose any of those games. The Chiefs can only lose
one more game and hold on to the number one
(33:10):
overall seed, and the schedule is not easy. You know,
the Texans are not playing well, but that's a good defense.
And then the Steelers, I think is an even matchup
right now with the Chiefs, if you're asking me to
set that line, I don't believe in the Steelers quite
as much as certainly the Ravens, who they are underdogs
(33:31):
or the Eagles of teams like that, but them in
the Chiefs, like that's not an easy game, not an
easy defense. So these aren't guaranteed wins, even if Mahomes
is playing, and so it's really interesting to watch how
they manage this. And I think he is quote unquote
built different that that's what Ian rapped, you know, Ian said,
and it's true he has played through injuries before, but
(33:52):
it's one thing to play through him in the playoffs.
It's another thing to do it in week fifteen or sixteen.
So we'll see what happens. I'm very curious. It adds
a little intrigued to this one seed, even though it's
not in the way that you want. Let's go to
more bad injury news. The Lions got surprising news on
David Montgomery. He has a torn PCL. He is likely
(34:15):
to miss the rest of the season. That's a heartbreak, heartbreaker,
because he is the heart and soul of their team,
Ali McNeil. It's been confirmed that he has a torn ACL.
He was playing almost at a Pro Bowl level, I
would say was their second best defensive lineman when Hutchinson
was there, was their best alongside Darius Smith, who's been
great for them since Smith showed up. Brutal, brutal injury there.
(34:39):
And then Carlton Davis has a broken jaw and is
out about six weeks, which would give him a chance
to return late in the playoffs, maybe the NFC title
game if you just did the math out, but he's
going to be out for a while. He's their best,
you know, outside cornerback. It's just brutal. You feel for
everyone in involved there. I know it's just football, but
(35:02):
like the fans and Dan Campbell and most importantly these
players who were part of this magical journey, and especially
a guy like Montgomery, just to be taken out of
it is absolutely brutal.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest components to reach
in the Super Bowl or at least making a deep
playoff run is staying healthy. Like that's that's really what
separates some of the best teams from teams that could
have been there and aren't. And the hits keep coming
for them at a level that almost matches the forty
nine ers at this point, and they've done a pretty
good job of plugging holes in the dam. The Davis
injury is going to be significant because of the state
(35:35):
of their secondary as it was before. He didn't play
perfect by any means. He had moments where he could
have been better. But what's really going to matter the
most is that defensive front. I think Alee McNeil losing
him after you lost Hudgson already, Zadarias Smith played I
think less than fifty percent of snaps on Sunday. They're
trying to rotate guys and they're trying to make it work.
That's going to really hurt. And then, of course David
Montgomery won half of this great backfield tandem. There's been
(35:58):
games where he's just put it away. We go back
to way back to Week one, where they just run
it down and throw their opponent to salter with that
victory and overtime, and now you're left with just Jamior Gibbs,
who's a great running back. But it just takes away
all these strengths of your team. How many can you
weather before it takes you down as a team. That's
what concerns me the most.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's crazy to try to think about ranking like because
they've had so many big losses now, they just haven't
had many on offense. And my thought has been all
along that, look, if you have the best offense in
the league and their offense is still relatively healthy, you
have a pretty good chance to win two home games
(36:39):
to make the Super Bowl. Now you got to get
to those two home games, and to do that, you're
gonna have to win in Chicago next week like their chances.
You're gonna have to win in San Francisco on a
Monday night football game. Not a gimme, but like their chances.
And then you're gonna have to beat the Vikings in
what is almost the start of the playoffs in wiki
team possible. Maybe the Vikings will trip up a couple
(37:03):
times before that it's unlikely and make that easier. Maybe
they can get luck that way. But if you have
the best offense in the league, you have a chance.
And I still think they can be about the best
offensive league even without Montgomery. Jamiir Gibbs and David Montgomery
are not the same. Montgomery as the heart and soul
of this team. He is the guy you trust to
get those big yards to close out these games. He
(37:25):
is an exceptional running back. Jamiir Gibbs has been on
this team now for a little while. Like he could
be top three running backs in the league good Like
that is how good he is in terms of his
pure talent. His yards per touch rushing and receiving compared
to Montgomery are not close. So ken Jamir Gibbs step
(37:45):
up a level here and give us five six games
where he's the best running back in the league. I
actually don't think that's that crazy of a thought. As
great as Saquon Barkley as I'm not saying he's gonna
have a better season, I'm just saying for five games,
can he give you that sort of production. I think
he's that good where he could give you that sort
of production.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I think the most important facet of this offense is
their offensive line, which is still intact. And as long
as that's intact, you're still going to have a pretty
good chance of winning. Provided you can get a few
more stops than you did against Buffalo on Sunday. That's
going to be the big Achilles.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Heal right, Carlton Davis, you know he's a man corner.
They love to play man corner. You just those don't
grow on trees. So even though it felt like he
got picked on here or there, like I thought, he
had a really good season for them, because what they
ask out of their guys is a lot. We're going
to fly through the rest of these The Titans and
the Browns are primed to change their starting quarterbacks. If
(38:36):
there's one thing we're known for here at NFL Daily,
it's the maxim that if your head coach does not
commit to your starting quarterback on a Monday, a change
is coming on a Tuesday. And the Titans did not
commit to Will Levis, the Browns did not commit to
Jamis Winston. So look for those changes. Stay tuned for
more on that, and that does make me think maybe
(38:57):
Raheem Morris, who did not commit to Kirk Cousins, is
going to make that change those moves. I'm not going
to say they're soft tanks. In fact, the Titans I
think have a better chance to win with Mason Rudolph
Brown's a little bit of a soft thing.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
That curiosity about dtr Man it rains.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
The guy more likely. What that tells me is they're
not bringing back Jamis as like a backup or.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, honestly, I very much questioned the future will Levis.
I know it was one game, but so bad. It
was so bad it wiped out all the good will
he'd built over the last six weeks. And I'm very
curious to see if they make a move in a
different direction in the off season.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Now I expect they will. He's either going to be
their backup or not on the Titans next year. That's
my expectation. It's a weird note. Sam Hubbard, the Bengals
edge to who got a big contract a couple of
years ago, suffered a torn knee ligament that happened on
(39:56):
his touchdown catch that he made as a defensive end.
If this this was like another team or another story,
or a player that was a little more relevant to
the playoff race. You'd be like, man, that's crazy. It's
just crazy to because Sam Hubbard's been there a long time,
been a really good player for them, and I don't
think they're going to keep him going into next year.
I think they're gonna cut him because of his contract.
So his last play as a Bengal is likely catching
(40:17):
a touchdown pass from one of his very best friends
in the world, Joe Burrow. Those two are really tight.
It's the weird story. Just wanted to note it for
the audience. That's all I got for you. Shook on
that one.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Well, maybe he stays in Ohio and goes and plays
in Cleveland next year.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Who knows, wouldn't surprise me. The forty nine Ers suspended
Devondre Campbell for the last three games of the season
for conduct detrimental to the team, and the Ravens announced
that Deontay Johnson will be staying away from team activities
this week, a mutual decision with the team, according to them.
So that's here. We quit on the team news update
(40:53):
for the night.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I thought it was really funny that the verbiage that
came away from the Devondre Campbell situation sounded a lot
like John Harbaugh talking about Deontay Johnson, and a lot
of people were like, they're just gonna cut him, And
I was like, I bet you he gets suspended just
like Deontay did. And sure enough, it's three games instead
of one, but it's still the same result.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Right. The NFLPA, I feel like, is getting involved in
the Deontay Johnson thing, if I had to guess. And yeah,
because when they said mutually and that he's not suspended,
it's like, all right, we'll pay you while we figure
this thing out. Suspending means we're not paying for you
paying you. They suspended him last week. Now there's something
in between Devondre Campbell. They're not gonna pay him. We'll
(41:32):
see if the NFLPA, you know, appeals, We'll see if
Devandre Campbell gets another job. It's too bad people are
just gonna think about him this way. But he was
kind of nearing the end of the line anyways. Yeah,
he had some nice runs, you know, he had that
you know Pro Bowl run in Green Bay. More importantly
shook just for me and we gotta get we gotta
(41:52):
get out of here. We gotta get you to bed. Actually, no,
you just drank coffee. You gonna get just.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Drink a midnight drink a midnight coffee. Yes, twelve thirty am.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Coffee man. I said, the show is going to be quick,
and now we're getting on.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
No, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Vondre Campbell was half of the five hundred words that
I wrote about the Falcons linebacker corps at halftime of
the Super Bowl against the Patriots, because him and Dion
Jones were killing the Patriots and Tom freaking Brady for
the first half of that game, and I was like,
I'm going to write something about their defense and kind
of focus on Dean Jones and Campbell, and yeah, that
(42:26):
never got published. Let's go to uh my favorite part
of the week. Let's go to Captain's Corner, presented by
Captain Morgan. Let's have you get us going show.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
All right, extreme bias here. And I know you can't
see this because we're not on YouTube in this portion
of the show, but I am wearing a Kent State
Golden Flashes hoodie. Okay, that's my alma mater. And there's
a guy in the NFL who has traveled quite a
road to get to this point. Now he's only a rookie,
but he's been through plenty of adversity already. His name
is Devontes Walker. He played receiver at Kent State. He
hit the portal and went to North Carolina. But because
(42:57):
he had played he had been at multiple different programs before,
he was ruled ineligible at North Carolina by the NCAA.
It made a huge stink in the college football ranks.
Everybody was upset he should have been eligible. He was
supposed to be then he wasn't. Mac Brown and everybody
came out with a statement against it, and then eventually
the NCAA reverse course and he was eligible. Well, now
he's in the NFL, and I thought it was a
savvy pick by Eric Tacosta and the Rams when they
picked him up in the off season. He recorded one
(43:20):
catch on Sunday for a touchdown. A touchdown that was
a spectacular grab in the back of the end zone
which we played. Not sure if it was actually a touchdown,
but it stood on the field and he finishes with
twenty one yards and the touchdown. That's my captain for
the week because he's a Golden Flash former Golden Flash
for a tar heel got his touchdown.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Kent State rough rough season for what are you guys
called the Flyers.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
The Golden Flashes. We went oh to twelve, Golden flash.
We are the worst program in college football because we were.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Oh, that's tough, that's tough. I've been there. Tulane was
pretty close to that for a few years. They're out
of that. You know, who knows. You could be playing
in the Gasparilla Bowl before long, like two litters this year.
Tes Walker best known as the guy who was like
kind of disappointing me when I was watching Drake may
(44:09):
film last year, but like was making someplace, you know,
making someplace. My captain of the week is gonna be
who I believe to be the best wide receiver of
all the rookies. Talking about redrafts, I'm taking Brian Thomas
Junior number one. Sorry, Malik Neighbors. There's only so many
guys that are six three six ' four two fifteen
(44:30):
like Brian Thomas and moves like he moves it, has
great hands. I was like, I saw this tweet over
the weekend. They were like, when was the last guy
that came out that ran sub four three five that
actually had good hands. I don't know what dropped. There
was probably a Xavier Worthy player like inspired the tweet.
I don't even know, And I'm like Brian Thomas Junior.
He just came out. He's doing everything. He was so
(44:50):
good in that game on Sunday. He made mac Jones
look fantastic. The burst that he has to go from
zero to sixty and that you know, using car turn
in like a second on that forty one yarder on
the crossing route was just like it was unbelievable. But
he ended up going ten for one oh five. It's
hurting his yards per reception because you know they're only
(45:11):
going to throw the ball short, but he made so
many people miss. He's a yak god. He's got the hand.
He's a much better route runner than anyone expected this early.
He is awesome. I'm feeling good about having him number
three on my Offensive Rookie of the Year ladder or
number four, whatever it.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Was, number four, I'm checking it right now, and.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Conky was three. Now he's up. He's moved up over
the last week. He's now up to number three. That's
how much I like Brian Thomas. That was the Captain's
Corner presented by Captain Morgan. It's delicious and crisp, perfect
for game day with friends. Spice it up. Visit Captain
Morgan dot com to find a Captain near you. Please
drink responsibly. Hit that music, Eric, I didn't want to
cut you off shook, So if you have anything left
(45:52):
to say, you can use.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
I mean, I'm cruising off of this ice coffee that
I drink in twelve three that morning. I'm ready to go, baby.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Okay, you know, look when when shook his shoehorning a
Kent State Golden Fire tedes Walker reference, you know he's
feeling comfortable, and that's what you know. Football is back.
I'll see you Tuesday.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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