Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're always limited in practice. And in reality, we're old. I am Greg Rosenthal here in the Chris Westley podcast studio. Beyond lucky today to be joined by my friends Patrick Claybon and Steve Weish. It's preview week three time.

Here we go. And on day to day, that's the new injury vernacular in the NFL.

Yes. And of course, we are presented by DoorDash. Excited about that. And yeah, we got some surprising injury news about Jordan Love. We'll get to the packers game later. We will also get to our survivor pick. So tough story, tough times for us here with the survivor pick.

It felt so great after week one.

Patrick went out week one. I went out week two. Steve wasn't here week one. And so as a host of NFL Daily. I'm saying we're going to continue this survivor thing. You missed week one, and I'm letting Patrick and us back in, or else people don't. So hopefully you weren't listening. So whenever you have your pick of the week, just let us know.

I'll let you know. It's a loophole. Nice one. Thank you, guys.

All right. So every week, we start with the game that has the smallest point spread, and then we work our way up to the biggest point spread. It doesn't mean it's going to be a blowout. We saw a lot of underdogs win outright last week. A lot of big upsets, but I am happy from an old-school traditional TV way that we're starting with Ravens and cowboys.

Yeah, the Baltimore Ravens, favored by one point, Greg, over the Dallas Cowboys. These teams have a similar issue, glaring offensive deficiencies in one particular portion. The Ravens still dealing with the departure of three linemen. The replacements have been slow in getting a start and making things productive there. For Dallas, it's seemingly making the run game an afterthought, both schematically and personnel-wise. They both rely on their highly paid quarterbacks to compensate for that. But that couldn't compensate Steve for the defense, which got run out of the stadium for the second straight game there. The packers did it last year in the playoffs on Sunday.

Well, that's why this is the Derrick Henry game, right? This is the back that everybody in Dallas wanted for the Cowboys. And so this is the back that the Ravens have not figured out how to use yet. We're looking at a video of Rasheet Shaheed and all these great pass plays. They only threw the ball 19 times. The Saints ran all all over the Cowboys. I think this is going to be an opportunity because of that soft interior, as they say, up the spine, D tackles, middle linebacker, and safeties in the run game for the Cowboys for Derrick Henry to get that run game going, even though both of those guards, as Patrick said, for the Ravens, have been shaky.

Yeah, you know what? They did get the running game going late against the Raiders. They ran the ball pretty well in the second half before the three and outs at the end of the game. But before that, Henry was finally looking like Henry, and You said it, this Mike Zimmer defense, they could not set the edge last week at all. We were talking about DeMarvian, Overshawn, Marshawn, Neela, these young guys for the Cowboys, and Overshine was barely even playing last week. They were in base defense. They had three linebackers on the field, and they still got run over. You sign a couple of guys, Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph, late in camp, and you're starting them week one. That is never a good sign. And now, Phillips is actually going to IR. So I just don't know if they're that talented defensively, which is crazy to say when you have Trevon Diggs. And I like Jordan Lewis, and of course, you like DeMarcus Lawrence and Michael Parsons up front, but it's more just like, can a good offense pick out their weak points? I think they have some at linebacker, at defensive tackle, and maybe in the secondary, they are missing Duran Bland, too.

It was just so difficult for the Ravens to really do something in the opener against the Chiefs that wasn't directly Lamar related. And Even in the Raiders game, where the passing yards they did get, Lamar is having to shift away from Max Crosby. He's having to make Christian Wilkins miss in the pocket and then come up and do the pump fake thing and get the ball to Zade down the field. It's just hard to let go of those images and thinking about Micah Parsons being the chase guy. It's very tough.

I agree. I think Micah Parsons, Zimmer is going to turn him loose. But this is the game I think we're going to see Mark Andrews and Ezea Likely get in there. You talk about some of the linebacker issues they have. You soften them up with an intermediate passing game, and boom, Derrick Henry can get going. Like you said, Greg, he was hitting some nice runs. He was doing that against Kansas City as well. Then Todd Mankin flashed back to the playoff game and said, We don't need to run the ball with our running backs anymore. Let's make Lamar try and do everything.

Flipping to the other side, when Dallas has the ball, and I like the Ravens in this game. I do, too. It's partly because they're 0-2, but it's partly just because I think they're a better football team. I might have jumped off my take that the Cowboys were going to be a mess one week too early. I got it right, and then I jumped off, and now I'm wrong. I'm not really being serious about that, but I do think the Ravens are a more talented team. That game last week that the Ravens lost, it was one of those where if at football outside of FTN, now they run the simulations. If you look at the game, the Ravens should have won that game 92% of the time. It was a little fluky how they lost it. Then you look at this Dallas offense, which hasn't really been right for two straight weeks. Where are the strengths for this Cowboys team? Sure, it's Dak is there, but the offensive line communication, I think, has been an issue. There's been a little bit of talk of like, Dak's making all the calls at the line of scrimmage, but you have a rookie center and communicating to the offensive line and them all being on the same page.

It's not just the rookie left tackle with Tyler Guyton. Their right tackle, Terran Steele, had a really bad game last week. Ravens can maybe They get after the passer a little bit. They can cook things up. I still think the lack of depth behind CeeDee Lamb is an issue. I have more faith in the Ravens infrastructure.

If the Cowboys are looking for good news, this stat was wild that I saw this week. The Baltimore Ravens have had the opposing quarterback play action pass drop back 13 times. They are 13 for 13 on those dropbacks. A rough start. Both teams, somebody's got to get something figured out. But, Greg, you mentioned offensive line issues. That brings us to our second game, the Chicago Bears at the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are favored by one and a half points. The bears work their way through the AFC South this early season, their third AFC South opponent. On the road again this time, the Colts were able to score thanks to a couple of spectacular plays by Anthony Richardson and Alex Pearson Company in week one, but the run defense has been an issue. Can the bears even run the ball, Greg, to make it an issue in this game?

I mean, they couldn't last week. Their offense has been It's such a mess. You would think this is a great week to get off the Schneid against a Colts defense, which has had its share of struggles. But I don't know. Deforece Buckner is out of this game. He is on injured reserve, and the front four for the Colts just haven't been good enough in any respect. This is what they were building their defense around. And yet, when a bad offensive line goes up against a bad defense, I still tend to trust the bad defense more. They are the number one. As much as the run defense has gotten some attention, the Colts aren't a great pass defense either.

Yeah, look, the Colts have some players. I mean, still, you've got Quitty Pay. You've got some guys on that defense, I. R. Franklin, Speed, some guys who can make some plays. But this is one... I mean, soon is Shane Waldron, this coaching staff, we're going to start feeling some heat for the bears. We already know they're all on one year potential Green Mile deals, so they're going to have to figure something out.What's.

A Green Mile? Green Mile.

Did you ever see the movie Green Mile? You know what that means? No.

I do know what it means, but I haven't seen the movie.

You're on your way to the Death Chamber. You're on the Green Mile. That's where you're walking.

The floor is green. The floor is green.

That is the path. If they don't get it done, that's exactly where they're headed. But when I look at the bears and Caleb, just so many things, they're overcomplicating. I think they can run the ball. I think they need to get Rashaun Johnson involved a little bit more and Khalil Herbert a little bit more. I think there are certain things that those guys do that they could take advantage of against the defensive front that is not great against the run. I do some quick passing game stuff to get Caleb's confidence going.

The point I wanted to make about the past defense with the close because you're right, the rushing numbers are so bad. But on NFL Pro, like the next Gen sets, they look at efficiency, and this is actually the second worst passing attack in the league, the bears. That's not a surprise. The fact Panthers exist is the only reason they're at because their numbers are so bad. But the Colts, actually, efficiency-wise, are the second worst past defense. So they're not doing- Which is crazy. They're not doing anything well.

And that's considering the fact that we're two games into the season. And Joe Mixon ran for 153 yards for them. In the very first week of the season, it's one of those very, very movable objects against a very, very resistible force type matchup because the Bear's offensive line has given up pressures on 47% of their dropbacks. That's not okay. To see Caleb Williams on on the ground, writhing in pain. First of all, he was exhausted towards the end of the game, but just getting teed off time after time again by Will Anderson Jr, as well as the rest of that Texan's pass. It's just hard to get past that for me. I know that they want to get the downfield pass and thing. But Steve mentioned the danger that this coaching staff might be in. And you juxtapose that with across the street here where the charger staff comes in, and they aren't running the ball well at all in in the first half, but they stick to it. They stick with it. They're committed to it. I don't know if the bears feel like it's safe to go out there and try to grind it out against a team that can't stop the run.

And this is the example that we're seeing so many with the young quarterback. We drafted a guy high. We have to let everybody know that he He's going to be the savior. Protect him. Run the football. They have shown that they can do some things in the run game if they stick with it. They're not playing this Texas defensive front. You've heard me on here. The Texans are too deep at all their front seven positions. They're not playing that type of front this game. Stick with the ball. If it is a 10 to 7 game, because it very well could because the Colts can't score.

That's-what means that, though? They should be able to score. Okay, it's the bears? I do.

That bear's defense It's just legit.

Bear's very good on the back end, and so that's troublesome for an Anthony Richardson-led passing attack, which has been erratic. Michael Pitman said it. They're not getting the simple plays. They're not getting the chain moving plays. They're getting a couple of big plays. Anthony Richardson, I've sold him as a guy who makes really good decisions with the football, that it's an underrated trade of his interception last week. One of them was a bad decision. I don't think he's always been making the best decisions on when to keep the ball and when to give it on the RPO stuff. So that's something that was a little off in Green Bay. I think they got to build the whole ship out of the run game. I mean, they need to win in the worst way. They're at home against a vulnerable bear team. They're 0-2. You cannot go to 0-3 at home against the bears. I'm leaning into Anthony Richardson running, and of course, I'm leaning into Jonathan Taylor running. That's the one thing they have done well. Their offensive line has looked good, I think, through two weeks, and they can run the ball. They're one of the best running teams in the league.

This bear's Ibraflus defense is built to stop the pass, really. I think you can win a game because I think Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor should still be one of the very best backfields in the league. To me, that's actually the number one thing in this entire game that I trust the most. Give me the bears. I mean, give me the colts.

The high variance aspect, right? But you at least believe in one of those variances is being able, in Anthony Richardson being able to make plays, even though this bear's defense is very good. It's like it could go either... If he's going to be effectively wild, he's doing it against the bears, but he's also doing it against everybody else.

The bears are going to cover. Caleb is going to go ahead and have a pretty nice game.

I like this one. A little disagreement here.

There we go. We're going head to head there. We'll go from there to a matchup of unbeatens, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Pittsburgh Stealers in Pittsburgh for their week three home opener. Three yards in a cloud of dust. Yeah, no, it's going to a grind out with Justin Fields back at the helm, favorite by one and a half points. Here comes the Chargers, though. They do have some injury concerns for Justin Herbert dealing with a foot, but they're bringing in one of the most efficient passing and rushing efficiency defenses in the entire league. They're number one, Steve, and both of those categories, do they get it done?

Yes. I'm torn on this. That's why I like the 1.5 here. I think this is a tight game because neither one of these offenses, well, the Chargers could score, but Pittsburgh, finding that end zone is a very difficult thing for them. Man, that defense. This is where I think fields, being an RPO type of guy, can put some stress on those ends, because this is where uber talented outside linebacker/defensive ends, they like to use their talent, and this is going to be a disciplined game. Are you going to stick with the quarterback? Are you going to take the pitchman? Are you going to take the RPO fake?

In terms of Bosa and Mac.

In terms of back and Tulio Polo, too. I think, boy, I'm torn on this because, again, Pittsburgh can't score, but this is where I think Justin Fields and Arthur Smith are going to be able to dial up a couple of things to get some yards in that RPO game.

We're so early in the season. This is a show me something game because what do we really know about the chargers. They've improved. Their base level is obviously better on the lines, and I think the defense is playing in sync. But they've played the Raiders and they've played the Panthers. The Steelers last week are coming off a game against Bo Nicks, and Kirk wasn't moving around week one. These defenses are going to be excellent, but they've had good matchups the first couple of weeks. I have a question. How good is this chargers offensive line that their fans are telling me is going to be great? People are really impressed with Joe. There's some disagreements. If you look at the metrics, like pass-rush, win rate, and PFF are way off. Pff has them as a good offensive. Pass-rush, win rate, run-block, win rate isn't to the charges right now. I don't put that much into it, but this is the ultimate test because I think this is the number one front in the entire league, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kam Hayward, he's done it again. He was injured last year, and he's back to just being ageless Kam Hayward.

Keanu Beton had a great game last. Hy Smith is good. They're just so deep. It is going to be a huge test. We tape this show on Wednesdays. Justin Herbert missed practice entirely on Wednesdays, so that's just something to watch because if it's Easton Stick, I've seen enough of that movie. They're not winning with Easton Stick, but we will just have to watch and see. Herbert did finish out the game, which is usually a pretty good sign that you're going to play the next week.

Yeah, but anytime we're invoking Easton Stick and not in a sports equipment type of-You cannot help yourself. I can't. No, it's every time it comes up. Yeah, that would change things entirely. But the numbers for Joe Alt do look good. He's allowed four pressures on 51 blocking snaps. Some of that's against Jadavia and Clowny coming back. And then there was the opener and we did-Max Crosby. Yeah, That's the one that jumps off. But T. J. Watt and the Stealers defense is just such a different beast. I think it comes into... We've seen the Stealers, where if you're watching the game and you're not necessarily paying attention to how things are going, you see them take downfield shot after downfield shot with Justin Fields. They're drawing penalties in terms of George Pickens. There's been a couple of touch downs that have been called back. It's where we looked at the Pittsburgh Stealers last year, and it's like, Well, they just need to rely on this big play to George Pickens. It's the same way, but the defense is healthier now, and the quarterback can make more plays.

There's some real chemistry there.

Which makes me feel good. Yeah, there is. Between those two, there is. If they get the play action going, if they can get any type of run game going, this can be fun. It sounds like we're leaning to the home team here.

I am a little bit, partly because of the Herb er injury. These are the top two defenses in terms of EPA. The Steelers are shorthanded. They're counting on a lot. It's a lot of Darnell Washington and Van Jefferson and Michael Pruitt and Calvin Austin. It's not great. The book on Justin Fields has always been blitz and blitz and blitz and he'll struggle. That's what's been the approach the first two weeks. The defenses have taken. Hasn't worked at all. He's actually been very effective, maybe showing some maturation. But this Steeler's offensive line stinks, too, right now. They're benching Broderick Jones, their first-round pick. They have not played in sync. You mentioned the running game. We thought this team would be a good running team. They've been really poor so far, actually, per play. So that's very different. Maybe I'm switching My pick as I'm talking because only one of these teams has a one-time guest of NFL Daily. J. K. Dobbins has gotten that bump, and he is a man of his words since he was on the show with us in training camp. I'll let you go on this. Are you throwing any numbers out there?

You got any goals in mind?

I'll let you put your numbers out. I'll let everyone put their numbers out, and I bet I'll beat those numbers that you all put out.

Okay. I'm thinking 1,200, 1,300 yards from scrimage, something like that, because they want to share the ball a little bit. Gus is going to get his work, too. But you're looking, you can still beat that, you're saying? Yes. Okay. I love it. The look on his face is awesome there. I listened to him. I know J. K. Dobbins is a man of his word. I know this is a very talented man in terms of vision and patience, and just he's got it. I told my daughter, You better get J. K. Dobbins on your fantasy team. She didn't. He's 1,300 yards. That's nothing right now. He's going to pass that easy.

Yeah, easy money. His yards for carry went way down in week two, and he had 7.7 yards for carry against the Carolina Panthers. We'll leave that matchup of unbeatens to go to another matchup of unbeatens, the Houston Texans who got that win on Sunday Night Football, favored by two points on the road in the Hive.

I love this game. I absolutely love this game.

That's The Darnal Hive.

Look, you have two offenses that run the same scheme. Bobby Slowing, Kevin O'Neill. These are all McVay, Shana Hand disciples. So it's going to be running the same scheme. And we saw what that Vikings defense did to the 49ers in this game where you have Rock Purdy coming up to Brian Flores saying, Wow, that scheme.

That scheme is crazy, bro. It's crazy, bro.

But the Texans are a different monster now. Well, I don't know how… They're so loaded. This is such a good game. In me talking about Houston's offense going against this defense, I do think still that Houston has got some advantages with the receiver The fact that they spread the ball around the way they do. We know Nico Collins is really showing up big time.

Leading the league and receiving by 50 yards.

But not having Joe Mixon is a different thing in this game. We saw Kam Akers had a couple of good runs, but he coughed up the ball. I mean, that's been a problem of his. C. J. Stroud is going to have to really show up in this game. I mean, he shows up every game, but I think this is one where it's going to be on his arm.

Yes. I've felt that the Texans passing him has actually been a little disjointed the first two weeks. They've been productive. C. J. Stroud has made a lot of good throws, and a couple of good throws in rhythm, but he's really counted on in both games, just making plays. As if He's probably been working on that. Not that he wasn't good at that, his rookie year, but these two games, it's really stood out. But the on time winning from the pocket throws haven't been as consistent. Now, they've had pretty tough matchup this last week against the bears, and this is a tough one, too. But you met it. I mean, Purdy's not wrong. That scheme is crazy, bro. You said these offenses are similar. The defenses are not because there's no defense quite like a Brian Flores defense. They have four players. I was watching this on film this week that are just everywhere. It seems like there's two of them. Here's the four. Metellus is everywhere. He's everywhere. Harrison Smith is everywhere. Still playing like he's 25 years old. Van Ginkle is everywhere. Then the guy I wanted to talk about is Blake Cashman. It's the Cashman revenge game.

Blake Cashman was awesome in that game last week in coverage. Brian Flores said he got it like a tip from, I forget it was a former Huracan's coach of Cashman's in college that happens to live in Eden Prairie now or something like that. That's been a great free agent signing. Then they have a lot of really smart guys who can execute a tough defense.

That's the thing because when you I mentioned all those guys. They've all seen a lot of football, and the communication with them works so well, where there's plays where they line up showing double A gap. They got like, double mug look, and they come out to cover two. It's like, Brock's having to figure that out. And at one point, a cornerback's traveling with Brandon Ahouk in motion, and instead of running, he runs around the rest of the secondary, and he goes back into a single high look, and Brock Purdy looks up like, What am I supposed to do with this?

That's a hell of an ask of a player, too.

And he just has to take a sec. It's just there's so much, and a lot can go wrong, and C. J. Stroud can make you wrong, but it's going to be fun to watch. But I do think since he comes into the league as a rookie, he is top four in yards attempt against the Blitz, and that includes his entire rookie season where he's still figured he's still good.

And B-Flow sends him.

But even that week one, they didn't... You just never know what you're going to get. This team, I think, could execute anything. I'm torn on this game. I lean Texas. I don't have a strong feeling. You're right, though, Steve. This is an awesome one. As much as we talk about the Viking scheme and everything, it's like the Texans still have the players, Stingley and Lasseter and Petrie in the back-end. That's a tougher matchup than Sam Darnal.

Here's The bigger point, no one talks about them. The Texans linebackers, this might be other than maybe the Niners, the best overall group of us. He's Al Shair, the puncher. You got Henry To'O to 'O. They have dudes who can run and get to the ball and deliver some turnover, changing contact when they get there. And that's going to be a problem for the Vikings. In that run game, that intermediate stuff, the way that these linebackers can run and get to the ball are going to be an issue for the Vikings. I do like the Texans to cover.

This was an interesting game coming into the season, but you just never know what's going to look like. To me, maybe the game of the week, I have a little hot take here. Okay. That the secondary crews. For For CBS, that's Charles Davis and Iron Eagle. And now for Fox, that's Greg Olson and Joe Davis. They've been getting the better games every week. Charles Davis is on Texans/Vikings. That's intriguing. That's a 2024 type of game. Greg Olson's got Saints/Egles. That's a lot of fun. And then they stick the big names. It's like, Oh, the Cowboys are just Tom Brady's personal team for the third straight week. That's a good game, too. But I'm just saying, sometimes I've been noticing the secondary teams are getting the juicier games. I'm looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to the rest of this show, too. But we are going to take a quick break, and we'll be back right after this. Back on NFL Daily for what I think is the game of the week. In the Superdome right here in week three. We're already doing games of the week in the Superdome. How about that?

We were a field goal or a caught ball on a crucial Third down away from this being a matchup of unbeatens in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Saints. Instead, the one-on-one Eagles on the road in what will be a bananas atmosphere in the Superdome on Sunday. Two-and-a-half point favor with the New Orleans Saints bringing in the top offensive football, Steve, that went deep into the second half before they even had a drive that didn't result in a TD in Dallas. How do you see this one going?

I'm not a gambler, but two and a half seems like a small number because the Eagles defense is not good. I mean, the issues that they had last year, then their losing streak have surfaced big time. Their defensive line fades as the game goes along in terms of stopping the run. The linebackers get outmatched, and their corners, at least one of them, the veteran, the speed is an issue. Well, okay, Rasheed Shaheed, all he does is catch big play touch downs. You've got Chris Alabe, Derek Carr is hitting these guys. Running game, Alvin Kamara looks fantastic. Like I said, for that big number that the Saints just put up on the Cowboys, he only threw the ball 19 times, guys. They can run the football. They've got guys who can mash. We can say all we want about the Eagles's offense, keeping them close. Their defense, Vic Fangio or whatnot, it's not there right now. That two and a half number seems very small to me. You could think the Saints fans are going to be here and stand up and get crunk. A whole lot in the dome this week.

It's just evaluating, do you put stock into the players' names and what you thought going into the season, or do you put stock into what your eyes are telling you? Now, the Saints have not played a normal game yet. They've gotten the 30 by halftime in each game because they just put up, touch that, touch that, touch that. I mean, it's just crazy. At some point, they will play a normal game, and I think that'll be a good test of their offensive line. Can they do some true drop-back passing? Not just blowing people open in the running game. I don't know if they're going to have to, though, in this game. To your point, Steve, because the run defense for Philadelphia has been so bad, especially against the outside zone. That's what the Saints have been majoring in. I can't I believe how in sync the group is. You give a ton of credit to their offensive line coach and Clint Kubiak, their coordinator, because Cesar Ruiz and Eric McCoy, especially on the interior, just blowing people up. Trevor Penning is making it happen. This is going up against the exact biggest weakness right now of this Eagles group.

And Derekar has shown in this system, he'll pass early to set up the run. I think people always get a miss. You pass early, you get a lead to set up their run, and that's worked perfectly. Right now, like, Bryce Huff isn't getting it done, but no one else... Like, Jalen Carter is not either. Jalen Carter did not have a good game against Chris Lindstrom on Monday night either. It's a short week. You're on the road. They wish they had that win just in their pocket because even though they weren't playing well, sometimes you can work your way into it, but now they're looking at a one and two record, potentially. It's amazing how quickly things change, though. I saw on Twitter some Eagles fans just saying, Oh, this is schedule lost. Here's one and two. I'm like, Man, that's crazy.

The big and rapid change to me was it was not that long ago where we're thinking about this Eagle stable of edge rushers and pass rushers that's rotating in. They're leading the league in time off the snap, snap to target times for everybody. And then they don't necessarily want to go up on that $1 million for Hassan Reddick. The Jets don't want to either. And then Bryce Huff comes in, and you're starting to wonder if how it gets back on the phone to try to figure something out.

It's not that crazy if everyone could just swallow their pride a little bit.

Because it makes sense for all parties. Because, not to get into the contract weeds, but Hassan Reddick deserves more than a million change here in 2024. And there's plenty of teams that could use an edge that can-Well, the Jets now, the Jermaine Johnson town.

Yes, they absolutely could.

But now they've got a number 2 passing efficiency offense coming in, where they're number 26 in passing efficiency. And It's not like it was last year, where's the comedy of Errors on the back end. It's like Quinian Mitchell is playing great. Yes, he is. Other than getting completely diced up by Drake London on the final plate, the Slate played all right. Sure.

There was a play. I think it was the last one. I was listening to an evaluation of it on PHLY, this podcast, the Eagles podcast. They noted on that play, they're doing a stunt on one side, and then they do it three by one to set up their best pass rusher to have a one-on-one situation. The Eagles, that is. Their best pass rusher, they believe, with the absolute game on the line is 37-year-old Brandon Graham, who has played okay through a two week, but that's not a good sign for what's going on with the rest of your guys.

This is a bad matchup. I mean, again, you look at the stretch zone scheme. What's interesting, you talked about even someone like Trevor Penning, who we didn't know could play. This scheme has really let guys like that resurrect their careers. It comes from an Alex Gibbs run from back in the day with Mike Shanaan. He never wanted first-round draft picks. He wanted guys who are agile with athleticism who move to a spot, not to a man. That's what they're doing when you talk about the offensive line playing on a thread and just having someone like Alvin Kamara, who this is his type of game where he can be patient and hit some spots. I just think this is tough. Philly, yeah, they might be able to put up some points, but we all know that the Saints bread has been buttered with this defense.

Okay, just to make the case quickly for Philly, it's a huge deal that A. J. Brown is expected to miss another game. They're such a drop off. They're thin. But the Saints defense, at least the last few years, basically the same defense, has struggled with good rushing quarterbacks. That's Jalen Hertz. Hertz is playing at a high level. More than anything, I can see this Eagles's offensive line mashing this Saints defensive line in the running game because I think they can be that good. You can push back on me. No way they're mashing. I think they can move the ball on offense, running the ball, and it's going to be more of a game game than the Saints have had so far.

Well, speaking of quarterbacks, they can run Tayson Hill D&P at practice Wednesday.

Tied in, Patrick.

Well, either way. He's a big factor, though, because they dictate. They move them all around. Yeah.

But Regardless, having him on the field is probably important for a couple of plays. We go from that game to another good game, which maybe we wouldn't have thought was good a few weeks ago, and that is the Detroit Lions, a three-point favorite on the road in the desert against Kyler and company who were all over the Rams on Sunday. Chris Myers and Mark Schlaroth on the call, Greg. Kyler and Marv Jr. Got it figured out last week.

They absolutely did. He has been so awesome. I still feel I'm glad that I nominated that Derek Carthrow to Shahid as the throw of the week on our Sunday night recap. Let's watch the angle here in the studio. Obviously, if you're just listening in your car, just pull over and watch it. Because the figure eight that he made before he threw on the run and had to throw it behind him and time it perfectly to the receiver, and then he turns around like Steph Curry. That really was the throw of the week last week. So I apologize to Kyler Murray. Do you think that throw would beat the Anthony Richardson throw from week one as the throw of the year so far?

The play itself might beat it.

It's called the throw of the year.

Nobody's doing what Kyler does, but the throw itself.

The champion still has the belt then. What a fun test, though, this is against, I think, a good lines defense. Hutchinson's playing well, O'Neill-Ruizu-Rique is playing well, Brant is playing well. I think the lines defense has shown up in these two games.

Yeah, this is the one that's going to be a little bit more of a truth teller as to what the Arizona Cardinals are because they are exciting. You know me, I'm the world's biggest Kyler Murray fan. Is he on the island yet? Have you gone back?

I'm glad you mentioned that we are debating whether to do QB Island next week or the week after. We have not gone back to the island. Okay, so we got to get Kyla on the island. I think he's going to be on there. It's safe to say.

With Derek Carr, we get fired on there, too. But I just think this is the week where Detroit, though, its offense gets right. I mean, they've been junked up and truncated. They've had some tough games, but I think this is where their offense gets right. Again, I think Kyla is going to put some points up on, but I think Jared Goff is going to not be throwing picks like he did last week and to get the lines.

Question for you, Patrick.Yeah. Just a little theory I had. Okay. At least the last couple of weeks. I heard teams catching up to the lines just a little bit on offense? The run has been pretty good. Not great. They struggled at the end of last week's week. But more, I just haven't seen the wide open dudes and Goff hasn't looked quite as comfortable. I'm just used to seeing those wide open guys. Maybe I'm overreacting.

It's always tough to say, Hey, you take away the turnovers because it's the NFL. You can't take away the turnovers. They doubled up the bucks in terms of first downs rushing, almost did it in passing. They doubled up in total yards, and they doubled their passing yards as well.

Okay, I have an answer for that, though. They are 16 so far through two games in yards per pass. Just a basic stat. They've been pretty average by their passing metrics. Yeah, you're going to dial up some yards when you go back there 55 times, but it hasn't been as easy, I don't think, for Jared. No. I think he's had a tougher time than I would have expected.

It certainly has not been as easy. I think, of course, they're playing against two teams that they just beat in the playoff.

Good point.

There's a lot of familiarity there, a lot of commonality in the game plan, and now they get to go off of that into a different place. I'm confident. That's a loss where Dan Campbell was already saying at halftime, I screwed up. I blew that. That's on me. I think they're going to come out, and we're not going to see Jerrord Off dropping back 40 times. I think they are going to pound the rocks.

One reason why this lines offense is successful is they personnel scheme team defense is into a brain maze ahead of time. They'll come out and run personnel, two running backs, two tight ends, and they're throwing it 30 yards on field. Well, now teams aren't going for the okey-doke. There's some situational things they're probably looking at that they're discovering. Ben Johnson has got to get back into the lab a little bit. But I'm with Patrick. I just think this is a game where their offense finally gets it going.

The over-under here is 51.5. That's not high enough. This is the one game where I'm feeling 33 He's 25, something like that.

Yeah, up and down the field. The Cardinals haven't played a low scoring game all season.

No, their offense is legit.

It's legit, man. I mean, the offensive line is playing, and Kyler, he's feeling pretty good these days.

And so points easy to come by in that one. Perhaps not in our next game. That is the Green Bay Packers in what would be the Malik Willis revenge game against the Tennessee Titans who are at home, favored by two and a half. But, Greg, we just saw a video earlier today on Wednesday of Jordan Love on the field wearing pads and throwing a pass. I'm not going to extrapolate it because I'm not a Twitter doctor. But he's doing that.

So take from that. He's limited in practice, and they took it all the way to the weekend where Matt Lafleur was leaving the door open. They had him questionable initially and then downgraded him to doubtful. It's one of those where the coach has been publicly saying something and the insiders said something quite different initially. Just read between the lines, I still think he's unlikely for this week, and that next week might be the one. Just read in between how these things go.

Well, if Matt Lafleur plays it like he did last week where they run it 53 times. Jordan Lough can hand it off 53 times. I'm with you. Against this defense, which gets after people. I mean, this defense, I think, is a little bit more surprising. The way they've been able to get after the quarterback, I would not put him out there. This is a long-term play. This is a guy you just signed to a deal, Patrick. You were talking about.

They just won a game. They bought themselves a week.

They bought themselves a week. This is going to be a very tough game. To me, it's going to be on the packer's defense to keep forcing Will Levis to make mistakes. But I would not play Jordan Love in this game and let Malik Willis try to get revenge because it's a very different Tennessee team, too.

Okay, so Malik Willis last week, obviously, it was a lot of hand-offs, but when they asked him to make a throw, he was effective. When he ran a few times, he was effective. I just thought it was really an outstanding story, especially after his former teammate, Taylor Luan, said on a podcast last week about Malik Willis, that he likes him, good human being, but the guy doesn't really know ball, unfortunately. Then went through that when it comes to checks and cans, that he's a tough time seeing safety, seeing the field, which I thought was an unfair thing to say because he's in the locker room with this kid as a rookie coming out of college when he's very raw. I thought it was very telling how Matt LaFerre said, how impressed he was, how quickly Malik Willis picked up this offense, that there was only one moment in the game that there was any communication issue or that there was an issue of understanding what was going on there. He expected there to be a lot of it, and that they installed the game plan and he executed it to a T. But Malik Willis was not taking the bait this week.

Asked whether he wanted to prove the Titans wrong. He said, I could care less. I got paid the whole time I was there. I was more than blessed for the opportunity they gave me. They brought me into the league, whether those guys are there or not. So very good.

Spoke like a true Liberty University.

Yeah, you don't survive at Liberty University without being able to respond well to issues that affect many different aspects of your life. I think in terms of because with so much coming in, like how he'd never thrown for 100 yards. Nobody had ever had 50 yards receiving in a game that Malik will have started. Those are all out. We now see what it looks like when a coaching staff is willing to put together a game plan, a thoughtful game plan, that's not just, Oh, yeah, it's a backup quarterback. Okay, let's go in.

Or let's just run our normal system when the two players are very different. This guy is not Ryan Tanne. He's not Jordan Love. They made it work.

Yeah, I think it's conceivable. And again, because Steve mentioned the mistakes, at a certain point, it's not like, Can Will Levis not make these mistakes. Oh, my God. It's just, When is it going to happen? And you'd have to think that if it doesn't happen here where they're playing against a quarterback that they're very familiar with, perhaps, Emily Willis, where the defense has been so good, if it still happens in this game, it's just an inevitability that he's going to give the ball to the other team in some hilarious sequence of events like the 2017 Jameis style, where it's just all going on.

Yeah, that's it. I mean, that is a very good point. I mean, He played pretty well last week, I got to say, other than that play. Right, but that's the thing about Will Levis. He plays pretty well, but if you don't protect the ball, it doesn't mean Jack. I think that's part of it. Also, real quick, Taylor LaWan on Malik Willis. That was a knock on Malik, and that's why he dropped until the third. So salute to Matt Lafleur for devising game plans and strategies to play to a guy's strengths.

And salute to him to developing as a pro. Yeah, 1,000%. And being, like you said, in a system that... Look, it set him up because the run game was so creative. That's what coaching is. You take what you have and you take advantage. Jaden Reid is this chess piece that they're moving all around and is messing with the coverage. You could see Jacob's really getting up the middle on plays where they got distracted by what was happening with Reid. Meanwhile, Tucker Kraft is out there looking like Rob Gronkowski or something. It was pretty awesome. The Titans, though, they need this game. They're 0-2. They're going up against the defense. It's been pretty blah in terms of their pass rushing the packer, so we'll see.

Yeah, interesting side note, Calvin Ridley had those problems with press coverage last season. He's got zero yards against press coverage this season. He's not seeing the ball when he's in press, and he's not necessarily getting open. So looking forward to that game, taking us to his time for hot matchups presented by Wingstop. And you want a matchup that got a whole lot hotter than it was with two minutes to go in the game on Monday night. Kirk Cousins and the resurgent Atlanta Falcons playing host to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs who were favored Greg by three and a half points on Sunday night football with Mike Torrijco and Chris Collinsworth and everybody at NBA.

Is it hotter? I mean, see, I'm a dark human, and if they were 0-2, I would be on Michael Pennick's watch, and so that would make it feel-You He would just make it a whole lot of other people. It would just make it all the bigger. Now they've bought themselves some time. People would understand if they lose this game. I think the Falcons have a chance to win this game because I just think the Chiefs, they've just been okay so far. I know they've won the games, but I think you do got to look past that. Sometimes they are 18th right now in DVOA. That's total team efficiency. 22nd in defense, 12th in offense. Asking a lot out of Xavier worthy. Now there's no Isiah Pacheco. You're shorthanded there. Travis, Kelsey hasn't broken 40 yards on the season yet, total. So that's just something to keep an eye. And they make up for it. They still have great players. They have Patrick Mahomes. They have great coaches. But they strike me as a little bit of one of those Patriots teams coming off the Super Bowl wins. That's like, yeah, they'll find their ways to win, but sometimes it's a little bit on fumes, and it's just not all there yet.

You nailed it. When I saw the three and a half, I was like, That almost seems big. Not because I think the Falcons are just going to have an answer for everything, but right now, they're just getting by. When you knew the Ravens is going to be a tough game, you saw how challenging of a game that was, and the Ravens made some second-half adjustments, but they're just getting through it. Now, the Falcons are feeling a little spicy. You talk about this sponsorship, this Wing stops, spicy spots. They're feeling good about themselves because you saw what Bajon Robinson and Tyler Alger did in that run game. That offensive line, the new OC, Zack Robinson said, Oh, this offensive line is designed to run the ball. Let's do that now. That's tough sledding when you're going up against Stone Cold Jones and nick Bolton and some of the Drew Tranquil and guys like that for Kansas City, but they're going to stick with it. I mean, they're not going to put too much pressure on Kirk Cuddles, especially with the way the Chiefs can dial up some pressures. But I think this is going to be a competitive ball game.

Again, maybe not so much because of what the Falcons do, but because the Chiefs are just, we're here and there. One quick thing, though, the fact that not having Pacheco, that's a good point. The Falcons' linebackers in that game against the Eagles did not play well. They did not play well. Week one, they weren't good either. They just did not look good. If you can run the ball, if Kareem Hunt can come in and remember some of the plays, Kansas City can get that run game going. It is for the taking unless all of a sudden they sink Simmons or Jesse Bates, who is out of this world in that game Monday night can make a lot of plays.

Well, Jesse Bates is going to have to be out of this world in this game, because I understand you're asking a lot of worthy as well as maybe Juju Smith-Schuster I don't... If Patrick Mahomes has the amount of time that Jalen Hertz had on Monday night- Good point. I don't... I really don't care. Great point. Because I'm all on Lou Anarumo for Russian 3 on fourth and 16. It's like, if Mahomes has time, of course, the game goes and the Chiefs are up and down every single year. But just watching the sheer amount of time that Jalen Hertz could watch the one time that he didn't have time was towards the end when he throws that pick looking for Devante Smith because that's the only place he was going. I can't see. I need Atlanta. The number 32 pressure rate defense in the league. 32.

But Patrick, the Chiefs just bench their left tackle. This is not the Eagles's offensive line.

He'll probably be back in this week, but yes, it shows that they got weaknesses.

Because Judon did play well. He's playing better. Look, he played better. He wasn't some of this. But in terms of pressure, he was the one guy who could win.

30 second in pressure rate, though. That is probably... Grady Jarrett's looked okay. On Yamada is on my radar. I've watched him closely his whole career, and he's another one of those guys I mentioned. Amari Cooper is one of those guys. Either it's great or it's just not your year with On Yamada. You think of him as a great player. In some years, he's great. There were just a couple of those Saints years where I was like, Where are you, man? That's what it's been the first two weeks. I do think the Falcons have a chance. They just have to dominate. You mentioned that the offensive line just has to dominate. If the offensive line mashes and protects, they get a shot.

Bijon goes for 2-12 or two scores. He has a Texas line coming up.

He could. He's the best. I'm already ready to put him there. He's the best running back in the NFL. He's the guy I would want if I just had one, right?

It's a reasonable proposition.

Saint Quine is right there. Probably one, two in that game. Probably one, two in that game. All right, we will take a quick break, and we're going to finish up the games just a little bit. Back on NFL Daily. No survivor picks yet, but there might be one coming up.

Do you think so? We'll see.

We're getting to the end of the show here.

Okay, well, let's find out if this is the one because the undefeated Mike McDonald, Seattle Seahawks are a four and a half point favorite at home, as the Miami Dolphins will literally fly from the other side of the planet to take them on without to a tongue of Ialoa, Skyler Thompson getting the start for the Miami Dolphins. So how do we feel about this?

First off, can I get an Amen on the survivor pick? This is me, guys. Okay.

Oh, wow.

Seahawks. That's my survivor. Okay. You know I've You know I've been hot on them all. What about you guys?

I mean, it's a little peek behind the curtain. Let's just be real here. We take a break, and Steve tells the producers, Eric behind the glass, Hytham's there, too. You're taking your survivor right now. And I was like, Oh, well, that was going to be my survivor pick.

And I said, Oh, I was going to take Gino and company as well.

And we could be gutless and spread it out, or you could just believe in NFL Daily. Don't go down with the ship because this is a They're winning this game.

They're winning this game. If they don't, then we're all suckers on here next week. But Skyler Thompson going Coast to Coast, playing in that stadium in front of the Twelves? Right.

It's not ideal.

No. When I look at this matchup, the offensive line of the Dolphins going up against the defensive line. I think that four and a half is disrespectful. I agree. There's five or six more games here that have a bigger line, and I don't get it because the Dolphins, to me, have not played well. Tua Tungavailo was in that game. When he got hurt, they were trailing 31 to 10. I was not impressed. And it's not because of Tua necessarily or their receiver, but the offensive line has really struggled. The defense has its share of issues, and the Seattle front, Patrick, they got something going here with the Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy, Boye-Maffe trio. That trio is going to create some issues this season.

We saw it with Vets in McDonald's last year in Baltimore, and it seems like those circumstances are reproducing themselves as this system continues to snuff out opposing offenses. With some of that being the schedule a little bit, we're going to find out a little bit more going up against this Dolphins team. But are we, though? I do think we can expect some growth from Thompson because the last time we saw him was two years ago. He's a young guy as well. But it's hard to get out this idea of this Dolphins offense, even struggling with Tua, to where he's throwing balls to Robbie Chosen, who we love, but he runs the wrong route. There's another ball that goes-He's no longer in the NFL.

He's no longer in the NFL organization, yeah.

Which is tough because that's where he wanted to be. He spoke to us in the offseason as well. He came in in studio, but it's not working right now. Now they're going up against a team that's on the come up where everything's going right for Seattle thus far.

Who's one of the fastest DBs, if not the fastest DB in the NFL, Tarek Wollen. Wollen. So he's a bigger guy. He might not be able to handle some of the shiftiness, but he's a guy with speed who can play. Devin Witherspoon can help out in some of that shorter catching-yack stuff that they'd like to do with Jalen Waddle. Look, Raheem Mostard, it looks like he's coming back. That's going to help out HN in the run game, so we'll see. But when I look at a Seahawks team, to me, they showed a lot last week because, Greg, we've talked about how good the Patriest defense is going to be this year. And the fact they had to go there and throw it 44 times to win a tough game against that defense on the road, cross country, and they did it. It goes to show me, you see the playmakers, we're looking at DK Metcalf on that big TD play against the Patriots. I just think that they're going to be able to put it some points. It could be a fairly tough game. Let's just give the Dolphins defense a little credit, but the four and a half does seem like a small number for me.

I know it's just two weeks, and that includes a quarter and a half without to it, but Dolphins offense 27th this year. Overall in DVOA, 26th running the ball. The O-line. The O-line, in the past, it was like, okay, they're banged up. In Toronto Armstead's day-to-day, McDaniel actually said he's not overly concerned, which I'm surprised by. I would always be overly concerned about Toronto Armstead, especially when he just left the game. By the way, I just don't know why I'm thinking about this right now, but I wanted to say it. My son was at a Jekyll Swallows baseball game in Tokyo. I love it. And on the loudspeaker, they were playing a Theron Armstead rap song from the Madden soundtrack. I'm just saying that's impressive. Thron Armstead has gone international as a rapper. So he's a Walter Payton Man of the Year type of guy. He's a great player, and his rap song has been played in Japan. Oh, man. That's a come-and-a-woman. Somehow, Walker knew the song. He's like, Yeah, I heard Taran Armstead's song.

That is a major come up from Kehoki, Illinois, right outside of St. Louis. Well done.

He's world one.

Give him the Ox.

World one. I completely forgot whatever point I was actually making. But yeah, their run game has been bad. Thrun Arm said good, but their run game is bad. They need it to be good.

We'll see if they can overcome one of the big spreads of the week. The next biggest as we go to the Buffalo Bills, playing host to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills, favored by five against the number 20 ranked passing efficiency offense, 17th rushing efficiency. They haven't been able to figure things out when they have Steve. They've made crucial mistakes. What can the Jags do to win this?

This is a big number for me because I know the bills have looked unbeatable. The Jags are desperate. I think the Jags come out and play a good game this game. Trevor Lawrence can limit the giveaways. I mean, look at the numbers last week. Was he 14 for 30? I mean, you talk about hit or miss. Now, he He's playing against a very good Brown's defense, but now this is where he's got to earn his money. And I think he's going to show up. I think they're going to have a good game plan. I don't know if they win this game, but at five, looks like a big number for me. I do think they're going to be able to run the ball a little bit. You can't ask Trevor to put that ball up 35 times a game. They're going to have to run the ball, but I think Jacksonville is going to give the Bills a very, very tough game here.

I look at Trevor, he's 31st in the NFL and completion percentage over expected. They were one or four in the red zone last year, last week, rather, which has been a problem. So suddenly you're having problems that are recurring. It's year three with Doug Peterson. There's some real frustration. Trevor Lawrence saying he sucks. Doug Peterson seemed pretty downcast after that game. You're not really used to that. They're 26th in the league in terms of quick pressure. So the offensive line is not playing well in multiple ways. I think they're 29th in something like contact before getting hit. Their runningbacks are actually playing well and having a lot of yards after carry. Again, it's another team where it's the line and it's going up against a reborn. Bill's line with Von Miller's playing well. Greg Ruso's playing well, and Oliver played well in that game. Vanessa.

That's huge. It's this version of safety, Josh, that we've seen where he's not taking the big risk, mainly because the offense is structured differently. The volume of receivers out on the field just It wasn't the same where he's taking deep shots down the field and putting the ball in dangerous situations. He's been very careful with the football. He's distributed the ball very well. He did have that one Yolo Josh run where he hurt his hand, but fortunately, it got a week after the Dolphins really didn't have a lot to offer against the Bills on Thursday night. Then, Tua gets hurt as well, so not a lot of pressure to make him deal with that. Here comes a struggling Jags team where the Bills might just march on the 3-0.

The one That's what I do like about the Bills. We all knew coming in because of what they did at wide receiver, they were going to be a tight-end-centric team and do some things with James Cook. They have done that plus. I mean, they have accentuated the two tight-end look, and James Cook has been Absolutely fantastic. Now, there's two games of film on that. All right, is Joe braided going to continue to be... Because he's always been known as a great play schema. It was a play calling that was something he had to learn. Well, he looks like he's learned his butt off in terms of calling a great game. I think this is going to be a good challenge for him because we do know the Jags D front, they've got some talent there, and they've got some linebackers who can run and not let James Cook get runs off like this. Again, I think it's going to be a really, really good challenge, but salute to Joe braided, what those guys are doing up there with that two tight and look offense. Yeah.

I don't think the Jags defense has been their issue. They've scored 30 points on offense through two weeks, I believe. That's been the issue. They are playing, though, a couple of young players, rather, in the secondary. Jerrion Jones is a rookie, and then Buster Brown is a young player because they're without Darnell Savage, at least last week they were, who's their nickelback, and they're without their best cornerback, Tyson Campbell. That worries me going against a pretty diverse passing attack with the Bills. I like this Bills team. They are my Super Bowl team. They are good. They could change their game plan week to week. I noticed that in the Miami game, no blitz and stuff. That's what you get with a veteran team, a veteran coach. They're a little People say, Oh, it's the preseason. It's extended preseason. A team like the Bills, a veteran team, maybe are a little more ready.

Five points feels like a bit much. I would feel more comfortable in another spot where the Jags are 0-2, but they were in both of those games.

This is the early Monday night game, we should point out. Chris Fowler, Orlafsky, and Riddick action. We're back to the double headers. How do you feel about the double headers, guys?

I love it. I love it.

You don't like it, Patrick? I support every decision made by the Here's, and again, exceedingly diplomatic because, again, I support and carry the shield and we'll stand in front of it and take whatever fire. I like the afternoon slate on Sundays. It's where I work. We do game day live. I don't losing a game from the afternoon on Sunday because sometimes we run into a situation where we get the Cowboys and the Saints, and people are out there looking for a game to watch, and the game might not be.

Where's Jag's Bills? It's on Monday night early. The only issue I have is just why put them at the same time? Let's go back to back. You can deal with whatever little ratings you have for starting it at 5:30. I don't care. You'll get plenty. It's an NFL game. Go back to back and have about 15 minutes in between for everyone to get a beverage.

But wait, I know you stand behind the shield. I'm going to step in front of it and take a big hit because you know how they're going to compute the numbers. Oh, the combined numbers for Monday night are going to be 78 million viewers on all platforms with these two games. Because too many people miss the game because they're watching one or the other.

Titans Dolphins last year was the perfect example. That was one of the most astounding football games I have ever seen and most people didn't see it because they thought the game was over, and they're too busy watching Tommy Cutlets over there on ABC or whatever.

You're not a picture and picture guy?

I was downstairs working for channel 5. Shout out to the UK audience, but yes.

If I could get TV manufacturers to understand that we've been in 16 by 9 by over a decade now, we got to figure out a picture and picture that serves both parties. From the picture a picture, I'll hop off my soapbox, and we'll go to the return of the line himself. Andy Dalton starting for the Carolina Panthers at the Las Vegas Riders, who were favored by five and a half points. Dave Canales was emphatic. He is not making a quarterback change. He believes in Bryce. Less than 24 hours later, Bryce Young going to the bench in favor of the veteran Andy Dalton and the Raiders, and Garner Minchou coming off a big win in Baltimore over the Ravens. Greg, five and a half points?

Feel comfortable there? No. Andy Dalton I love you, man. I love that. Same. I love that your courtside at the US Open, just chilling the weekend before the season starts. I love that our great friend Chris Westland came up with the Dalton Scale 10 plus years ago now that if you have a quarterback better than Andy Dalton, you have a franchise quarterback. And if you don't, then you need a franchise quarterback. And that is the Dalton Scale. And here we are in 2024 in the studio named for Chris, and it's still true. He's still that guy. You need a solid starter, a veteran to come in and just be average to be your version of Garner Minchou. Andy Dalton will do that for you. As long as he stays healthy, I would take him over Garner Minchou.

He would do that for you with those The angle seems he played on. I feel bad for him playing.

He looked pretty good when he played for the Panthers last year with a shootout. One game, but it was a shootout.

Last year. Okay, last year. Right now, he's wishing he was Ryan Tannehill, who has publicly said a few times, I am only going I'm going to expose my body to the right situation. Ryan Tannehill, I'm sorry, the Red Rifle, Andy Dalton.

You don't think he wants to play a little football again?

Maybe. But behind these guys? Look, I watched. I was at that Raiders Ravens game. That Raiders defense is real. Patrick Graham has some real dudes, and he is coming up with some creative schemes. Getting an athletic detackle like Christian Wilkins has allowed him to run a ton of games up front. Max Crosby, not just winning coming off the edge. You saw him duck under. They were doing some great twist and stunts up there. We have seen that the Carolina Panthers have... Look at that. There's one right there. We've seen the Carolina Panthers have not been able to block Anyone. Greg, you and me are going to combo for at least a half-sack against that front.

I think I would struggle to get off my block, to get off the ground.

I mean, look, the Carolina Panthers are a hot mess. As much as we could blame it on Bryce, and he has not played well. He has earned not playing, but not everything he's been exposed to. Against this defense, that five and a half number is small. I think the Raiders defense might get a score or two.

That's fair. Dave and Clowny, you mentioned coming off an injury did not have any impact in that game. No quarterback hit so far this season. J. C. Horn has showed up, made some big plays. The Raiders are a really weird offense, Patrick. They only have two first downs rushing on the season. They're averaging 2.5 yards per carry. That would obviously be the worst rushing team in the history of football. And yet, Brock Bowers looks like maybe already the best tight end of the league.

You could make the case.

Real deal.

And Garner Minchou is in the top three. I could not believe this. On intermediate and deep throws this year, he's in the top three in every metric. Now, he hasn't thrown that many, but when he's thrown them, they've been very effective.

A lot of them, and shout out to Josh Norris for pointing out the particular route that Brock Bowers is running a ton right now. He's dragging across the middle and then using that speed versatility to come back out to the outside where nobody is. And so now you're in a bind where you're having to defend Brock Bowers literally 50 yards all across the field, as well as Devante Adams behind that. I don't know when they figure out the run game in Zamir White and how that goes. I don't think winning the game is going to be a question here, because even, which is apparently retconning, the greatest start of all time by Andy Dalton two years ago in Seattle, where they lose the football game anyway, and he throws the ball 58 times for 361 yards. I just all love to Andy Dalton. I'm not seeing it with this Carolina Panthers. Oh, I feel so bad. But maybe the offensive genius of Dave Canales shows something to me. It improves that why he's in this position in the first.

When they show this game, can you imagine the cutaway to price young on the sidelines? I mean, they're going to be living on those cutaway just to see him.

Let's go. Look, he's their backup, and Andy Dalton has struggled. The difference between young Andy Dalton and an older Andy Dalton that I've been able to tell is he just can't stay on the field lately. He's been getting hurt pretty quickly when he does play.

Number 98, Max Crosby, who's arguably playing better than anybody in the NFL, is coming Sunday.

Which is bananas because he still doesn't come off the field. No. It was bananas a couple of years ago when we're talking about Max Crosby playing every single snap. He's still doing it, which is But what do you even say at that point? What do you even say? I feel bad.

Brandy Tom this week, man.

We'll see. We'll see, Andy. Show us. Show us, Dave. Show us, Carolina Panthers. Let's go to the New York Giants, who had a tough, heartbreaking loss. Perhaps they figured out if they're going to have a kicker and if they're going to have that kicker kick the football at the Cleveland Browns, who are favored by six and a half points. Over, under.

That's a big number.

Is not a big number. 38 and a half. There are going to be enough points to get there, Greg.

Probably not. But the Giants defense is involved, and it passed my notice that they did not have a stop last Sunday. That the Washington Commanders, now they didn't score a touch down, I get it, but they got the ball, and they scored every single time they got the ball. That does not It happened too often. That is insane. They're not doing anything well. The big defensive line up front, they're not really doing much. Then they play this soft zone where they allow a lot of short passes. Their run game in terms of their defense has not been good. Their defensive backs are getting put in position where they have to make tackles, and they're not making tackles. I just think Stefansky will be good enough, and the run game will be good enough. You could see it against Jacksonville. When they were in that first 15 script, Watson looked very comfortable. They knew what they were doing. They were all in sting. The rest of the game wasn't so great. He weirdly just doesn't look that athletic anymore, and his arms looks a little weird, but it was enough. He was much better in week two.

If they can get that version of Deshaun Watson, which is just good enough, they can score on the Giants.

Yeah. Wasn't that a crazy game? They score three touch downs. They don't get any Pats. Then Washington, because Jaden Daniels is getting every third 19 and running for first downs, over and over wins by getting what?

8? Sometimes they were just hitting these short passes and then running for it. Come on.

It's almost the game directly decided upstairs before the game. One team has a kicker problem. They go sign a kicker. He comes in that week and hits seven field goals. The other team makes a decision to have the punter kick extra points of field goals. He misses one, and then they punt on that plan, literally, figuratively. It's just all over, and they lose the game because they can't do one or the other.

I do have something positive to say about the Giants. We have been talking on this around the NFL podcast, and then now on NFL Daily, that the Giants' offensive line has never once been good since I've covered the NFL. Maybe, I guess, back when Eli Manning was great. But I mean in the late Kofflin to now era. The offensive line has not been their issue the first two weeks. This will be a much tougher test. But by the metrics, by the eye test, actually, they've been quite good through two weeks, and their offense was fine against Washington. Now, it was a much, much, much tougher matchup. I don't know if the offense can continue to be, Hey, ask on the sideline to Malik Nabors, what plays do you like? That's what Brian D. Was doing. How good is he then? And then doing him. That'll work against Washington. I think you just need more. You need more than just that. He's special.

Then over on the other side, because offensive line issues have been a problem for Cleveland as well, who have not had their starting tackles at any point.

Aren't they coming back? They haven't even practicing.

And we'll see. I think Jack Conklin is back.

I'm going to have to check. I think they're both back, but Dwan Jones was not. So now we'll see. But I think they're hopeful maybe they might get their tackles back this week. Yeah, their original starters.

I think one thing, and it comes from another game on Monday night where I saw Eagles fans talking about Jalen losing a step before he had those big rushes. And the difference to me was the decisiveness on that. When Jalen was decisive, he put his foot in the and he was getting upfield. He was getting a lot of yardage. We haven't seen a decisive Deshawn Watson. No. Other than, like Greg, you mentioned those scripted plays. Things get in the second half and they get weird. He starts bouncing with the football. Some of that's probably not having the tackles. Some of that is just him regressing as a football player. I think we'll learn something a little bit if they can get those tackles.

Real quick, do you think this is an opportunity? Him and Amari Cooper have not hit it off so far these first two games. Is this a game where they force feed him to get him early? I think this is.

Yeah, you're going up against Cordell Flott.

No Najoku.

Dory Jackson, no Najoku. This Giants team just isn't very talented. Defensively, I think they've been left wanting. I think they were hoping to be better defensively, and so far, they haven't been any better on defense.

Just don't ask Brian Dable about his job security, Greg. He's going to tear you down.

Well, Malik Nabors has job security. Yes, he does. If we want to be positive about the New York Giants, protect that man at all costs. Last one day, the biggest win of the week, like it was this week for the Giants, was celebrating somebody else dropping a football on Monday night football, where the entire Giants beat us talking about Saquon. Maybe they can get something to enjoy here a little bit, Greg. Maybe.

Maybe.

Next game, the Denver Broncos at MVP candidate Greg Baker Mayfield. The Tampa Bay Bucaneers, six and a half point favorites at the big pirate ship down there in Tampa Bay. Greg, you scoff at the idea.

I do. If they voted today, would Baker Mayfield not be the most valuable player in the national football? I don't know. I haven't thought that through. I'm not in favor of MVP talk before week seven.

Have fun with it.

It's all nebulous in vibes anyway. Come on.

Even in week 10. I'm giving it to Kyler. How about that? Okay.

I thought it might be Kamara.

Josh Allen.

I thought it might be Kamara or Josh Allen.

Kamara would be fun. You're right, though. When Baker Mayfield is the best runner on the team, you know things are going crazy. I guess I'll pose this question to you guys. Do you think Baker is just more athletic now or is he just on a heater? Because he actually is... The thing people would get on him for is he would try to make plays in the pros that he would try to make in college, but it's like, you can't do that in the pros. But the last two weeks, he has been doing that in the pros.

Craig, it sounds like you're insinuating he's on some special gatorade.

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying, is he on a hot streak or is he legitimately just better that now he can be creator, Baker?

Hey, look, man, he looks fantastic. His offensive line is playing well. I just think he's having fun and seeing the game better. He knows when to use whatever athleticism he has to his advantage. But I just think he's playing with supreme confidence. We know he is a talented player. He's a football player, too. He's got that in him. He's got something to him. The way his teammates respond to him, that's such a big part in playing that position. Those guys clearly like playing with him They believe in him. So knowing that your teammates have your back, it's got something. He's been playing fantastic. This game for Tampa Bay, the 6.5 seems a little wide to me, even though they're at home, they're playing a Denver team. Poor Bo Nicks. I mean, he baptism by fire. All these defenses he's had to play, coming off of playing the Stealers, now coming into a game where Todd Bowles is going to show him 75 different looks. It's going to be a challenge, but I think this is going to be a tighter game than what we expect. When I see this over under at 40, I think that's probably about the perfect spot.

It's just a question of how many points do the Broncos offer into that equation, because we've talked now for two weeks, Greg, about the depth of target for Bo Nicks. The weird NFL pro stat that came up to me, he has the deepest dropback depth in the NFL right now. He's 9.1 yards behind the line of scrimage. And so you take Bo Nicks' difficulty getting the ball down the field and make the fact that he's actually even throwing the ball farther.

Does he have a negative plus minus?

It's right.

And that puts your tackles in a bad spot. Hackles hate it now. Garrett Bowles is coming off of an injury and hasn't maybe been at his normal form, and they lost Mike McGlinchey. He is out, I believe, about a month. Their right tackle. And yeah, you do wonder if Sean Payton just doesn't have it anymore, because the one thing you always knew about Sean Payton teams is they were going to block better than you expect, and they were going to have a running game. That was always the secret sauce. Actually, the Broncos last year, I thought, did that. You wouldn't have thought they would have been a good offensive line. They were. This couple of weeks, they've looked a little broken. And maybe that's Nick's But this is a tricky matchup because of the scheme. On the other hand, Kalajia Canti has been out for the last couple of weeks. Vita Vea is out of practice. Wednesday, we've talked about Winfield. They're shorthanded in the secondary, so there are a lot of injuries for the Bucks who are getting great play, by the way, by Zion McCollum. That's good internal scouting. You trade away Carlson Davis.

People were like, Really? You're going to start Zion McCollum? And he looked really good.

Well, again, Todd Bowles, he gets off the bus blitzing. I mean, that whole expression, Bo Nicks is going to see a lot of looks. Not something Sean Payton is unfamiliar with Bo Nicks taking that deep drop. Maybe Drew Brees did it, but the one thing Drew Brees did would climb the pocket six yards. I mean, that might be something Bo Nicks has to do because Sean Payton would build his offensive lines, guard, center, guard, instead of with the tackles. That's something they've just got to get better at.

I want to continue this Baker talk at some point because, yeah, it did start- He's not on the island either, Greg. It started to occur to me, though, is he going to... He is trending towards more of a Jared Goff type career than like a Jacobi Brissette type of career. When I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty dangerous. That's right. I mean, he got a nice contract, but he got the Gino in between first contract. But if he's really Jared Goff and having that career after this year or the next, then he gets another big one. 53 mil a year. We will see. Also, keep an eye on Patrick Sertan, who has traveled with the team's opposing best wide receiver in both games against Mike Evans. That's a fun matchup. This Broncos team has been blitzing like crazy. Actually, more than the Bucks, more than any team in the NFL, the Broncos have been blitzing. We will take one final break. And yes, we'll talk about the NFC champions from a few years ago and last year, and the AFC champions from a few years ago. Back on NFL Daily, starting with a NFC West game that was the NFC Championship a few years back, and we thought maybe it'd be a potential one this year.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday's NFL Daily, Jordan Rodrieg of the Athletic, our friend was saying, Yeah, the real battle might be with the Cardinals and the Seahawks in this division. That's getting a little over our skis, I think, when it comes to the 49ers.

I don't know that it is, Greg. Wow. Everybody's getting hurt. This game is between two teams who are dealing with a litany of injuries. Yes, it is San Francisco 49ers who are a seven-point favorite at Sofi Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams. It's going to be a Fox game with Adam Amin and Mark Sanchez on the call. The Rams decimated by injuries. Steve, they could not stay on the field with the Arizona Cardinals last week. And over on the other side, this is a 49ers team that without Debo Samuel takes a significant drop off.

A significant drop off. This is the Brandon Iyuk breakthrough game. Brandon Iyuk has been quiet the first two weeks. This is his game because the Rams defense is battered. We talk about energies on both sides of the ball. In the secondary, they're banged up. They're not getting a ton of pass rush. I think this is where Ayouk really gets his. Jordan Mason is going to continue to run the ball. I think the offense, yes, you're going to miss Debo, Sam. You can scheme up everything you want, but this is personnel-personnel. I think that's where the 49ers' offense is best. Then Defensively, for the 49ers, this is where they could eat. Matthew Stafford, he's going to be feeling it. Bosa, Floyd. You talked about your MVP. We talked about Baker May. Fred Warner and Max Crosby, to me, have been playing better than any players in the NFL. I just can't see how the Rams are going to get to the end zone.

It's hard to imagine Fred Warner improving because I think he's on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and yet he seems to be at another level. His last two games is as good as a linebacker can play. That's the thing with the 49ers. Yes, they're missing really important pieces that they probably can't get to where they want to go without having most of them back. On the other hand, they still have more talent than I would say 27 teams in the league with the talent that is remaining on both sides. Compared that to the Rams where they're 28th in DVOA right now, 29th in defense, where the defense really hasn't been that injured. I know they lost John Johnson, their safety this week, but most of those Almost all the injuries has been on the offensive side of the football where they're just decimated, and they're not good enough. They do get Alrick Jackson back from suspension, who is their left tackle. But it's an organizational gut check type of game because that was embarrassing a week ago. It's your home opener against your biggest rival. I tend to think that they're going to show up in this game and give a great effort and a representative game where it's going to be a close game.

These games, even when the Rams were really bad a couple of years ago, early in the season when they were struggling, they showed up for these 49ers games and made them close, and then they would lose. But I have a feeling that that will happen.

Yeah, the making it close and lose part plays into it. It's just very... Because I'm looking at last season with and without Cooper Cup. Matthew Stafford's passer numbers, rating-wise, dropped 23 points. You take Cupp off the field. That happens instantaneously. Now they have to do it with no Kup and no Puka With all the issues that they're facing up front on the offensive line, the defense is worse other than some promising guys up front to believe in.

You say, by the way, Ayouk season. I say Juan Jenning season.

It could be Juan Jenning, move the sticks. We know this is also going to be a road game for the Rams, even though they're playing at Sofi. There will be 50,000 Niners fans in that stadium. They take over stadiums, and especially Sofi.

It has potential to get dark fast. It It makes you wonder bigger questions about this Ram's team.

Yeah, this is going to be real interesting when they get about-We will see.

In defense of... Because I know people hear Steve's point, which is true. Didn't have football here in Los Angeles for a very long time. San Francisco was good for a very long time. There are a lot of Niners fans that don't have to travel. They live down the street. They live on, they just walk up to the game.

They're like, Oh, they're like, Oh, they're like, The home team, let's take the next closest team. Well, second next closest team because the charges of San Diego. Let's call it 49ers, and that's what they've done.

Yeah, it was a rough spot for some fans for a long time. Speaking of fans who were in a rough spot for a very long time, the Washington Commanders. In the second Monday night football game coming up, Joe Buck and Troy Hinkman will be on that game. Our seven and a half point dogs at the winless, Cincinnati, bangles.

Talk about disrespect.

How bad is that? How bad struggled early on in the season. Come on. What did Jaden and company have to do, Greg? To get some respect.

And yet this will not be one of my three games that I pick, Man versus Model, Me versus Cynthia. That show is going to go up a Friday afternoon. But if I had to choose this one and this little preview for our show on NFL Network, game to view. I would take the bengals still to win by 10 because they need this so bad, and I do think they're that much better. The one route that the commanders have is that their backfield of Brian Robinson and Ekeler have been one of my most pleasant surprises of the entire season. Cliff Kingsbury has always been able to scheme up a run game. I think that's his biggest strength in the NFL and has gotten his offensive lines to play pretty cohesive at the NFL level, and they're playing well. But I'm giving more credit to the running backs because they're breaking tackles, they're making moves. I've never seen Brian Robinson play this well. He's been outstanding, and Ekeler looks like 2022 Ekeler. I'm not putting him back into 2020, but I'm putting him back into 2022 when he was still a very effective player.

They're getting them in space. And that's one of the reasons. They're going to break the first tackle, break or shake them. And that's one thing that they've been able to do. Jaden Dan is going to be running. Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson are going to be putting some pressure.

I just talk myself out of it because the Bingo's run defense has been terrible. They lost B. J. Hill, and they lost... Who else? Shaden Rankin's up front. Sheldon Rankin's up front.

That's a lot.

Maybe that's a recipe for a close game, at least.

That's a lot on those linebackers. Pratt and Wilson are fantastic hyper athletic, not the biggest guys, but they can run. But with those running backs and Jaden Daniels, we'll see if Cliff can go against his instincts and not throw it 35 times. But to me, that seven and a half number looks wide. I get it, but they are 0-2. There are some things going on in Cincinnati that aren't quite right.

Well, you guys mentioned it, the third most rushing yards between the tackles this season.

Given up. Yeah.

Here comes Brian Robinson Jr. Jaden's gotten rid of the ball very quickly this season in terms of time to throw. He's leading the entire NFL in time to throw.

Now, that's-That's because he only throws the ball two yards behind the line of scrimmage.

We got to get Terry. We got to get Deyami Brown. We got to get Keep him deeper down the field, get him into some routes, and keep Jaden safe, because this, Bingo's defense is built to defend the pass. But if Jaden wants to go Yolo as he want to do, I think seven and a half is too many points. I think the commanders can move the ball and shorten the game because at a certain point, all love to Benjamin St. Juice and everybody in that secondary for Washington. If it doesn't work with Dan Quinn to the extent that it's not working now, I'm having difficulty picturing this group in the secondary, getting significant time in another spot. They are not good right now.

Yeah, their corners, they're having a hard time figuring out what to do with their corners.

Might be the worst in the league. Tee Higgins might be coming back, and that'sThat's the recipe, right?

Jamal Chase might not be getting unsportsmanlike type penalties for not getting the ball and things like that.

Look, I think the bangles should have won that game in Kansas City. That's just because of the penalty call. But just in terms of game flow and the drives, they looked like, it wasn't by a ton, but they looked like the better team to me in that game. Joe Burrow, who had that rough week, one looked a lot better, looked a lot more like Joe Burrow. So now you potentially get Higgins back and you're looking at these cornerbacks that look like barbecue chicken. I I think it's coming. I think the big offensive day is coming for this Bengals team.

And also in defense of Jamar Chase, he can't see what's happening in that interaction with the tackle. He feels the defender grabbing towards the shoulder in the back and landing on his knee.

Oh, yeah, that he was off on that.

He was calling for a horse tackle because in his body, in his experience, he felt like that's what happened.

He's like, Son, are you trying to hurt me? I don't have my money yet. That insurance company, that 50 million, might take a couple months. Exactly. So do not put me on the sideline.

Just a little injury note before we go. The Cowboys listed CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs as not practicing on Wednesday, so we'll monitor that throughout the week. But They both did finish last week's game, which is usually a good sign. Thanks for watching NFL Daily presented by DoorDash. Just a treat for you guys to have you here in the studio. We will be here every single Thursday morning in your ears previewing every game. And of course, we're going to be with you Thursday night. I got my old friend Dave Damoschek. Hey, fella. Joining me for Thursday Night Recap Jets, Patriots. We're going to be live on YouTube, so come 10 minutes after the game. We'll recap it. See you then.