With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just 50 cents each to get off the season. Limited time, price participation in this election may vary, tax number two would be excluded. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now, you're multitasking, but what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers, you save by switching, save nearly $750 on average and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at progressive.com. Progressive cash, we're the insurance company and affiliates. National average 12 months savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all states and situations. I know you said Sunday, you know, you're not a chip on your shoulder type of guy. Is there really no part in you that if you start on Sunday, it's not like I want to prove these guys wrong for whatever happened when you were with the title? No, I can't care less for them. I think I got paid the whole time I was there for a more than blessed for opportunity. They've given me and they brought me into this league, you know, whether those guys are there or not, you know, that organization, they took a shot on me, Miss Amy. They did a great job by me. All I'm concerned. The whole concept of revenge is so overrated in sports. He's right. They drafted him, they paid him. And you know what? They traded him to a place where he's now playing. He wouldn't be playing, although maybe he would be sooner than later given the Will Levis propensities. But, yeah, they look, that's the way it works. They didn't, they didn't, Jeff Galulium out in the hallway. They didn't do something, you know, they didn't break into his house. I mean, they drafted him, they paid him, they employed him, and they traded him. There's nothing for him to be upset about. Well, not really. No, although he said, I think I got paid. Malik, you better know. You don't know, you better have somebody check on that, bud, because if they owe you some back pay, then you really need to get that. But no, I don't think that the Titans did wrong by Malik Willis in any way, shape, or form. And, you know, he had some opportunities. And at some points, when he played, it was clear that he was not ready to play, right, which is part of why they went out and they got Josh Dobbs at one point because they needed to have somebody who could, you know, run me in a fellow offense. And I give him credit because it's not like he has sulked, you know, taken his ball and gone home or what have you. He's obviously improved a lot. And maybe it's the situation that he's in now. And, you know, maybe he's with some better offensive coaches, whatever, that Matt Loeffler was able to craft a game plan around his particular set of skills, even when he's only been there for a few weeks. And then he went out and he executed it, you know, even if Josh Jacobs, as he did took 30 plus carries, you know, well, this was still 12 of 14 in that game. And we were completing 12 passes out of 14. It does mean something, you know, so I think he executed what he had to last week really, really well, had that chance to play. And if he gets the op against the Titans, you know, it's probably a much bigger deal for the Titans if he comes in and beats them than it is for him to beat the Titans, if that makes any sense. Well, and it does make sense. And look, he was caught in the dysfunction between the former GM, John Robinson and the former head coach, Mike Rebel. I always got the impression Willis was a Robinson pick and Rebel didn't really want him. Rebel didn't really like him as a player. I think Malik Willis worked really hard after the 2022 season to ingratiate himself into verables, good graces. And last year, there was a sense that, you know, maybe this guy is someone who has potential and then will love us started playing. And it's like, Hey, he's the guy. And so now he has a fresh start. And now he gets a chance. And he plays as long as he can this year until Jordan Love comes back and somebody sees that and maybe somebody says this is a guy that will get a chance to compete to start. Yeah, there's only 32 of those jobs. And even though there aren't enough bad quarterbacks to go around, there's still aren't enough opportunities for guys who are trying to change the narrative about themselves to play. There aren't enough of the Geno Smith opportunities, the Sam Donald opportunities. They're just not there. And teams, I think, get a little skittish about entrusting the starting job to somebody who has a track record of not playing well. So this is his chance. We assume he gets another chance. Right. Maybe he won't. Maybe he won't get a chance at the revenge that really isn't revenge against the Titans. Here's Jordan Love, and Malik Willis, and Packers coach Matler Floyd, talking about the fact that love is at practice and could possibly play on Sunday just 14 days, 16 days removed from that MCL injury is definitely feeling a lot better. A lot better for one, you know, the injury happened in Brazil. So, you know, the whole thing is, like we've said before, it's taken a day by day. I mean, that's one of those things I'm gonna take the week and just take it day by day and see how it feels. But I'm not gonna make any decision on that now. You know, I'm hopeful that I'll get to that point where I can get in there. But we're just gonna, you know, take it day by day and see. I mean, it's been awesome. And like you say, he's been around the clock doing, you know, treatment and taking care of his body. And you could see that he feels more comfortable just the way he moves around the building and the way he's out there today. So, I wouldn't be surprised, you know, and I just have to stay ready and focus on what I can control, and the rest will leave up to him and coast the floor. So what was that Jordan able to do for you today? He was limited, Phil. I was able to do team. He was limited. So it's just a no-one team. He was limited. Team? He was limited. Take that, whatever you want. I wonder if he was limited. Is it good? Good Lord. Is that like Bill Belichick DNA and Matt Lefort? But see, a little bit. This is the game. This is the game that teams are allowed to play because the NFL's injury report requires only the most cursory basic information. Did he practice? Was he limited or did he fully participate? That's all you have to do on Wednesday. No practice or limited practice or full participant or author report all together. He was limited. Don't have to say anything more than that. And Lefort is probably, I don't know, probably upset that love was was so candid, unless the game is to create the impression maybe he will play. So the Titans spend some of their time preparing for the possibility that love will play. I don't know. I'd be surprised if he does play. I was originally told number one, the MRI of the MCL injury was the best it could have possibly been given what they feared when the injury happened in Brazil on that Friday night game against the Eagles. Second, he'll be back week four, week five or week six. So I could see him getting very close this weekend and then lays the foundation to come back for a key game against the Vikings, especially if the Vikings should somehow beat the Texans on Sunday. Key game week four, Lambo field, maybe Jordan Love is back and, you know, and ready to go. And that'd be something just, it looks so bad at the time. Like it's like, is he done? Is this another week one star quarterback done for the year? So the fact that we're even having the conversation about the mere possibility of him playing this week is astounding, astounding 13 days removed from that injury. Yeah, I'm really happy about it. You know, I mean, I think we all are, but I just hate to see players go down and get injured, especially week one, you know, when you work so hard and you feel like, man, we can really do something. We can take those steps to becoming a great team and not just a good team, but a great team. I feel like that a lot of us think of the Packers can become that this year. And, you know, it's just a great sign that he is getting healthier and that there is the possibility of him being able to get out there and play against the Titans this week. But that's the interesting thing. Whenever they're, you know, talking about the gamesmanship of, you know, whoa, what's the practice participation and la, la, la, and that's what the reporter is supposed to do. They're supposed to ask the question. And if you are the head coach, if you want to be smart about it or whatever you want to say, like, that's what that's the answer you give because that is within the rules. That is the grounds that you can use either, like you said, full participant, limited participant, or did not, they all the media saw that he was doing things in individual drills. We're looking at right now, you know, he's moving around a little bit, but that doesn't mean, you know, when the media goes inside and when they're restricted there that Jordan love is doing everything. So we'll see if, you know, he goes through the week and is able to progress from limited to full. I think if he is a full participant on Friday, then that's really going to be the key indication because right now I would assume, you know, knowing what I know of covering the league for as long as I have, it's going to be limited Wednesday, limited Thursday, limited Friday questionable, right? Like that in status for Sunday. So if it happens to be limited, limited full, then to me, that would be the indication that yeah, we could actually see Jordan love. But if he's not a full participant on Friday, then I would still think it's going to be Malik Willis this weekend. Covering the league as long as you have, what are you going to, are you going to are you going to quit to become the GM of the Columbia football team? Is that what's going to happen? Maybe yeah, if they ask me, I don't know, depends on how much they pay, I can be bought. Yeah, I'm not the guy you kill. I'm the guy you buy. One of my all time favorite lines from said, do you know what that's from? I'm not the guy you kill. I'm the guy you buy. I don't. I'm not not off top of my head. Pete knows. Well done, Pete. Michael Clayton, one of the most underrated movies of all time. Excellent scene at the end. Tilda Swenton and George Clooney. Great, great, great. And you should check it out. And it's not a movie from the 1980s. This is the possibility that it's on your it's on your list of approved viewing. Okay. Last week, love was questionable until Saturday and they downgraded him to doubtful they pulled Sean Clifford up from the practice squad. So that's when we got our answer, but you're right. Let's watch the injury report. That's all they're going to give us as we saw from Matla floor. He was limited. He was limited. He was limited. He was limited. Okay. He was like crazy. We'll see what he is tomorrow. What? Yeah. Okay. Chargers have a quarterback issue and they had it during training camp. Justin Herbert was out for a while. Then he was back. He didn't practice on Wednesday in advance of a showdown in Pittsburgh that the Chargers could win. And this is old school grinded out slobber knocker kind of a game coming as Jim Harbaugh takes his team to the field formerly known as Heinz. Here's Harbaugh on Justin Herbert not practicing on Wednesday. Yeah, I was just working. Yeah, working through the, working through the ankle from the, from the game on Sunday. Possibility that he doesn't, that he doesn't play. Is that a possibility in your mind? Crystal Ball. Expect him. It's getting better every day. Last, I was just several meeting with him said he was feeling, feeling much better and, and good today. Who would, if you can't go, who would, who would start going to be Taylor or would it be Eastern? Right now it's Eastern. But the, you're, we're going to be way over the, the legal limit of what if, if, if this, if that, you know, it's funny. It used to be Jim Harbaugh at press conferences came off as a guy who was putting his intended answers on an invisible teleprompter and reading them hesitantly and editing them as he was looking at the words. That's how he used to be like with the eye movements. Now, you know what he comes off as when he's asked a question? He comes off as a guy who's in a town where he doesn't live and somebody asks him for directions and he's surprised that he's being asked. Do you agree with that? You know what I, if you're in a town where you don't live and somebody comes up to you and asks you for directions, you're kind of like, why are you asking me? Well, like you're at the store. Don't you know I don't live here? Don't you know I don't live here? You're, you're, you're at the store. You're wearing a red shirt and you're in Target. It's like, excuse me. Do you know where the, like, oh, sure, like, no, I don't, I don't, I don't work here. I don't, I don't know what in the world you're talking about there. I don't necessarily think that that's true. I think it's just he has his own unique way of answering things. Like when you in 2014, he was still the coach of the, the, the 49ers and he was going through all the stuff, right? And, you know, we had him with their back when they used to have conference calls with the opposing coach. We had one with the Rams and with him and, you know, asked, we asked him, like, Oh, you know what, the, the, all the rumors and stuffs that affect you were in any way, whatnot. And he goes, it's all oatmeal to me. What the hell does that even mean? It's just, it's just jive turkey, turkey, gobble, gobble, jive turkey, gobble. Remember that one? I mean, good Lord, but I love it. I love it. I have wanted Jim Harbaugh to be back in the NFL for years, for years. And he is, and his team's two and oh, and they're, they're, they're winning the old fashioned way. Here he is from yesterday talking about offensive coordinator Greg Roman in the work he's done helping propel the chargers to a two and oh start. He's just a, he's just a great, he's a great coach. I mean, one of the best I've ever been around, you know, like Moses, I'm gonna, I'm gonna die leaning on my staff. I, I, Greg Roman, Jesse Menner, Ryan Fick and those coordinators are, you know, my opinion, the, some of the best in the business. I am somewhat, I am somewhat schooled in the Old Testament, more New Testament when you have the Catholic upbringing. You know, that's more of what the Catholics lean into. But I don't, I don't know that Moses died leaning on his staff. I mean, the staff was the source of his power. So I don't know. I don't know. Don't, don't let the mythology get in the way or theology, whichever you want to call it, get in the way of Jim Harbaugh's incredible and very interesting analogy right there. But I think his, to his point about Greg Roman, right? I mean, this is somebody who, when you know that it's a Roman offense, you know, they're gonna run the ball well and you know, you brought up JK Dobbins in the last segment. I mean, this is somebody who has done an incredible job over the first two weeks, you know, 131 at last week, 135 the week before against the Raiders. And I mean, I expected, when I saw last week that Derek Brown was being placed on injured reserve, like I expected them to rush for over 200 yards and lo and behold, they rushed for 219. So that's why this game is so interesting to me. Because even if Justin Herbert cannot play, I mean, they are, I'm just gonna, if Jim Harbaugh's not just gonna lean on his staff, he's gonna really lean on the run game, right? And if Easton stick is that guy that's out there, he's gonna be turning around and handing the ball off probably 30 to 35 times, you know, to either Dobbins and some combination of Dobbins and Edwards, because that's the strength of that team right now. I don't think Justin Herbert is thrown for over 150 yards in the first two games. So that's where everything is set up, obviously with the Greg Roman offense for the run game to go and thrive. The JK Dobbins reference, this is number three, but he's got those performances so far this year on 27 total carries. Jordan Mason had 28 in one game. JK Dobbins has 27 in two games. He is averaging 9.9 yards per carry and but for the injuries, JK Dobbins, because this isn't new, his right, his biggest year in the NFL, he averaged 6.0 and he had like 800 plus yards. If he doesn't have those injuries, this guy is superstar right now in the NFL. He's making 1.6 million this year. Can you believe that? Unbelievable. Between him and Jordan Mason, they're just under 2.6 combined combined. So I'm rooting for JK Dobbins and I hope that after this season, number one, he's healthy and number two, somebody gives him the financial reward that he's been denied so far because he's got superstar potential and hopefully he can keep showing it week after week, Miles. Yeah, no doubt. It is really interesting. I mean, yeah, they played the Raiders defense and then they played the Panthers and like the Panthers were as much of an abject disaster of a football team that I've ever seen last week, which is why they replaced their quarterback. But I mean, you still have to go out there and execute the plays and, you know, Dobbins was really good with Greg Roman before when they were both in Baltimore. So it doesn't shock me that he is now doing this with another Harbaugh and still Greg Roman, you know, on a different team. But yeah, it is really remarkable, you know, given what he's been through with the injuries that he has been able to persevere and come back and now he's thriving like this. I don't know that he's going to get 130 plus against the Steelers defense. That that would surprise me. But it's not another run with possibility. Miles, you don't read PFT. How dare you? He's got three games against the Steelers and 320 rushing yards. Well, so he had 120 on 15 carries the only time he played at the field formerly known as Heinz. Okay. So he could do it. He could do it. Now watch. I've jinxed him. Yeah, you probably have. But I was thinking of it based on the quarterback situation too. But yes, you're, you're, you know, I have an important update. What's that? Moses may not have died leaning on his staff, but he did turn his staff into a snake. He used his staff to bring about plagues. And I do recall a thing about the staff being out there front and center when the Red Sea was parted. I also vaguely recall that he that he plunged the staff into the bridge of Khazad doom and told the Bowerog you shall not pass. I vaguely recall that as well. I think that was a vaguely recall. That was a different movie. Moses. Run you about some better ring. That wasn't Moses. I would also say that, you know, Harry, go away because like the snake is about to kill me. Yeah, I was more Lord of the Rings than. Yeah, I know although although although I was I was going, I was continuing what you were doing there. Yeah, but it didn't hold men with white beards, me basically. I really wanted during our hiatus to not shave for a couple of weeks, but I was horrified at the possibility. Anytime I miss a day and it's just all shiny and white, it's like, hey, Santa's here early this year, kids. All right, let's take a break. We will preview when we return some of the biggest matchups for week three with a game of what's more likely next on PFT line. Snap to Murray, three step drop, looking left. Now in trouble, spin's left. Now steps up. Running left, Murray breaks the tackle, looking in so far and left side. It's Higgins making the grab. Tyler Murray does it again. More Murray magic, 20 to nothing, Cardinals. That is amazing. That's pretty. Calorie. He's back to Roadrunner status, full-blown Roadrunner. Yep. We saw flashes of it last year. Look, you tear your ACL. That's a big injury, especially when your whole game is premised on acceleration, change direction, speed, and he's back. They just kicked the crap out of the Rams, a team that has historically dominated under Sean McVay, the Cardinals. It went the other way. The turntables turned for the Cardinals and the Rams. And now, now Miles, the Lions, who could be 0 and 2, R1 and 1, they go to Arizona and you've got Aiden Hutchinson who had four and a half sacks last week. Kyle Murray with his perfect passer rating, second guy ever with perfect passer rating, 250 plus passing yards, 50 plus rushing yards in a game joining Ken Anderson from 1974 in a win over the Baltimore Colts. What's more likely this weekend? Hutchinson, two or more sacks of Kyle Murray or Murray, two or more touchdown passes? I'm going to go with Murray, two or more touchdown passes, you know, because I honestly have watched a lot of Kyle Murray play, you know, from covering the NFC West to now. And I've never been as impressed with his game as I was last week. I mean, the way he connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. in the first quarter, I thought was exquisite, you know, and he makes that play. And the best part of that clip, you know, in that play, honestly, something you can't see from the overhead do, but he starts celebrating, like Steph Curry, when he knows a three is going in after he threw that ball to the end zone, he's like, Oh, yeah, that's a touchdown. He puts his hand up and he starts up like, really good last week. I was very impressed. And so it's not that I'm not impressed with Hutchinson and Detroit, but I think that what they're doing in Arizona right now and the way they protected him and the way that Murray has shown that he can escape sacks, right? As we were just watching, I would say Murray, two or more touchdown passes, Mike. Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, you got to catch Kyle Murray. Yeah, Baker Mayfield, Baker Mayfield more elusive and slippery than he gets credit for. And here's another thing too. I'd forgotten about this. I remember when Kyle Murray was entering the draft in 2019, we interviewed him at the Super Bowl and Baker Mayfield must have called him seven times during the 15 minutes we were with him. I suspected at some point this week, Baker gave Kyler everything he picked up about the lions, the pass rush, Aidan Hutchinson, and, and one of the reasons Hutchinson had all this sacks last week, the starting right tackle was out for the Buccaneers and the replacement got completely dominated all game long by Aidan Hutchinson. So I just think number one, Hutchinson isn't going to have, you know, basically free release. And it's not going to be as easy to swallow up Kyle Murray. And that would apply versus any other quarterback. It's not going to be as easy to get Kyle Murray under control and on the ground. Yeah, no doubt. And you know, I think with all due respect, Aidan Hutchinson, right? Like this, this is a really good player who is emerging into a great player. That's exactly what you want, you know, with somebody who's had the experiences that he's had in his first few years in the league. Now he is ascending into that next year, right? Where we can talk about him as one of those dominant guys, you don't get four and a half sacks, even if it is against the turn style without being dominant. So that that's one of those things where I think Hutchinson can still have a dominant year. But when you're going against a guy who's got the kind of speed and elusiveness that Kyle Murray does, it's very hard to bring him down when you're coming off the edge. Raven's Cowboys, one of the great games of the weekend, Tom Brady, back Brady game. He's got the Cowboys every week. He may as well, I mean, why is he buying a piece of the Raiders? He should be buying a piece of the Cowboys. And I guess you're gonna keep you think of it this way. If the league is going to keep you from going to practice and attending production meetings and having any access because of the fact that you're trying to buy a piece of the Raiders. Why not just do every Cowboys game? You then, then you, you build, you build it every week. He's basically the de facto unofficial official Cowboys broadcaster. So Ravens at Cowboys, Ravens have a good history against Dallas. They closed out the old Texas stadium by beating the Cowboys on a Saturday in 2008, late in the season. What's more likely in this one? Derek Henry has two or more touchdowns rushing, or Dak Prescott has 300 or more passing yards. Dallas has allowed an NFL worst five rush touchdowns this season. Baltimore has allowed an NFL worst 257 passing yards per game. So what's more likely Henry two or more touchdowns on the ground or Dak 300 or more passing yards? I'm going to go with Dak because I think that this is going to be one of those high scoring games and they're going to need to throw it around the yard a little bit more than Derek Henry's going to be able to run it. Like I think if, I think it's more likely Lamar Jackson has two plus touchdowns than Derek Henry because like Lamar Jackson might be running all over the field just based on some of the things that we've seen, right? And then Dak Prescott's going to have to be able to throw in order to keep up. So I'll go with Dak Prescott on that one. Yeah, I will too. This is one of those and you know, Pete will select two options where I'd like to say neither. But if I have to pick one or the other, I'll say Dak Prescott with 300 plus passing yards so they don't feel great about either one. Eagles at the Saints, great game, great game coming. Eagles short week going on the road disappointing loss to the Falcons on Monday night, Saints 2 and 0 looking incredible on offense. What's more likely? Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia has 150 or more yards from scrimmage or Alvin Camara does for the Saints. You know, you go, you know, hit and pee. Like, I think this is a good question because I'd almost like to say both. But I'm going to go with Alvin Camara because that Eagles defense, man, I don't know what the hell is going on there. But maybe it was just the fact that Matt Patricia was in the building and they just decided that they had to crumble, you know, when they had a chance to stand up and in the game and they don't. I mean, that last minute drive that Kurt Kuzens put together was ridiculous. I mean, I don't understand defensively what in the world they were doing. Like, what has happened to Vic Fangio? So yeah, like I said, maybe it was the fumes of Matt Patricia. We're talking about fumes of former Patriots earlier. But that defense, there's something wrong there. And I think that the Saints who have looked better than anybody on offense, frankly, they've been the best team in the NFL over the course of the first couple weeks. I mean, if you want to say Camara is the MVP, I could, you know, do the first two weeks of the season, which is nothing. But if you want to say that, I can go with it. If you want to say Derek Carr who has been really, really good is the MVP for the first three weeks. I can go with that too. Two weeks, I should say. But like, yeah, I think that in that way, I feel like the Saints have a good shot of really dismantling whatever is going on with the Eagles right now. The run defense for the Eagles was bad all game long. The past defense got exposed on that final drive. And for those of you who weren't watching on Tuesday, Miles included or he would have known this when it show starts 4 a.m. his time. So I don't expect him to have seen it live. But Deborah McCordi had a couple of great points about it. Number one, his observation that it looked like the Eagles were playing scout team defense on a team that was specifically told we need to build confidence for the starting offense, let them kind of go down the field in the two minute drill, right? And the other thing, the other thing that we stumbled onto was, I think the Eagles defense shut it down. They thought the game was over and they couldn't, they couldn't start up again. You know, they listened to Scott van Pelt must have been standing on their sideline when he declared the game essentially over at the two minute warning. And Devin told the story about Super Bowl 51 when the Patriots tied the game up and they went to overtime and won the coin toss and got the ball. The mood on the sideline was to quote Matt Hasselbeck. We want the ball and we're going to score. Yes. We know that didn't happen for Hasselbeck in the Seahawks that day in Green Bay. But he said, Mapitricia, there's that name again. Mapitricia came over and got in their faces and said, get your basically in paraphrasing, get your asses over there and get ready to play. Get ready to play. And who was on the sideline? Because we know where Fangio is during the game. He's up on the booth. Who was on the sidelines telling the Eagles players when it, when everyone thought the Eagles had just, they, they'd won the game, get your asses ready to play because they just didn't look. They did not look ready to play. But I agree with your point, the defense, there's something still wrong with the Eagles. Something's whatever was wrong last year. I don't know if it's the same thing, but there's something wrong with the Eagles. So I'm with you. Alvin Camara, more likely than Sequan, although both possibly could Texans at the Vikings. Which more likely the Texans defense has four more sacks or the Vikings defense has four or more sacks. The Vikings have 11 so far this year. Houston is second in the NFL with nine. What's more likely four or more sacks Houston or Minnesota? This one's kind of tough because, I mean, I have good faith in both of these offensive schemers, you know, against whatever defense it is. And so, you know, Bobby Sloak has a bit of an advantage here in some way because he saw the offense. He basically runs just play the Vikings defense last week with the 49ers. Obviously he came over there from the 49ers to the Houston Texans to be their OC. So I guess I'll say still Vikings anyway because C.J. Stroud is a younger quarterback. Although Sam Darnell, I don't necessarily have faith in at times. So I'll just go with my first instinct and say it's going to be the Vikings defense. I think it's going to be the Vikings defense simply because they're playing in Minnesota. It's going to be loud. And they're going to have that advantage. You know, if the Texans have to go silent count, you have a little more of an edge getting off the ball. And it's that Florida's defense. And it's every week, you know, it's funny. You know, Shanahan was a little defensive because for two straight years now, the Brian Flores defense has, has completely confounded the 49ers offense and Shanahan's position is they're doing this to everybody. They're doing it to everybody. You don't know what they're going to do. They disguise everything. You don't know where the pressure is coming from. And by the time you figure out where the hole is, it's too late. So, yeah, the Vikings defense has been really one of the biggest surprises, especially when you consider how bad they were two years ago, how good they've been last year. And now this year, they seem to be even better, even though Daniel Hunter defected from the Vikings and signed with the text. And you got two former Vikings coming back to town this weekend in Hunter. And the guy that authored the Minneapolis miracle in the 2017 postseason against the Saints Stefan Diggs. All right, last one. Bears kingdom two now. Case kingdoms on IR season ending IR. So we're not going to, we won't see him in the game. He might be on the sidelines hanging out with Matt Patricia, but he won't be, he won't be, he won't be playing in the game much like Patricia won't be either. Okay, bears at the cults and Patricia, you know, he probably never wants to go back to us bank stadium because that's where the Eagles beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Cana Williams throws a touchdown pass or Anthony Richardson, the NFL's version of a rollercoaster that may or may not stay on the tracks completes 50% of his passes. What's more likely? I'm going to go with Caleb Williams throwing a touchdown pass. And, you know, it's interesting because none of these rookie quarterbacks have done it yet. And I like Anthony Richardson. I like watching Anthony Richardson, but that bears defense could be a real problem for him because, like you said, he's the rollercoaster. So, I mean, hell, he might, you know, rear back and eat it, you know, 60 yards down the field again. But I just feel like this is the time now where because of how, let's say not great, the Colts defense has been over the course of the first couple of weeks, the run defense, especially this may be the opportunity where Caleb Williams can get some things going a little bit, you know, where he's not playing a defense that we think is great. There are certain things that we unexpectedly learn during football season, Yeet, the thing that I learned from Miles after week one, because Anthony Richardson had the Yeet throw to Alec Pierce. He had an anti- Yeet throw last weekend against the Packers. I mean, it looked on the front end like it was going to be Yeet until there were like seven Packers waiting to catch the fly ball. They were like the kids at the home run Derby, right? Here it comes. Yeah. It's fun. It's fun if you're not a Colts fan. Watching Anthony Richardson play is fun if you're not vested in the outcome of each given play. It is a lot of fun. And he needs those reps. That was why him getting hurt last year was such a problem. He needed to work this stuff out because if he can ever, you know, go the good way on a regular basis, he could really be something. Let's take a break. He's trying to get me to say a bad word. I'm going to resist, at least for now. When we return will Isaiah Pacheco return this season. That's next here on PFC Live. The five dollar meal deal at McDonald's means you get to pick between them a double or a chicken. Then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Get the five dollar meal deal today. Prices and participation may vary for a limited time only. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Limited time, price participation in this election may vary. Tax number two would be excluded. This time of year, Saturdays mean one thing and one thing only. College football with Sling, you get access to hundreds of games and the biggest network starting at $40 a month. That's just $40 a month. Sling takes your love of college football to the next level. It's a no-brainer. Streaming games and saving on them too and it's not just college football. Sling has live sports news, entertainment channels you love, and less are the ones you don't. So, you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. Sling also lets you choose and customize your channel lineup so you can choose the channels you actually like to watch. Sling's cloud DVR lets you record your shows to watch on your schedule. There's no complex technology, no long-term contracts, and no hidden rigmarole. Get rewarded for watching college football. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com/play to learn more and get started. That's sling.com/play. sling.com/play. Okay, as far as the injuries go, Pacheco is the only one to announce. He's been put on IR. He's having surgery today. I can't give you a time when he'll return, but we'll just see if it's this season or next season. You love the games. He wants to be out there and he puts so much work into it. So, I think at first, you're obviously upset that you have the injury, but if I know anything, I know that man's going to be getting after it. It's going to be more about the trainers having to hold him back than him not getting in and getting to work because he loves it so much, man, and he's in the building. He's working, and I'm excited for it for the comeback, man. He's going to come back ready to go whenever he gets back. Congratulations to Isaiah Pacheco. Excuse me, easy for him to say, doctors, they have continued the streak of successful surgeries for professional athletes. Nobody ever got butchered. They're all successful, all of them, always successful. And I thought when I saw that Coach Andy Reid had made the comment about he'll be back this season or next season, I thought he was just kind of being coy, sarcastic in response to a question that he was just announcing it affirmatively, which is a surprise because all indications are it's a six to eight week injury and he'll be back later this season. So I'm kind of alarmed that Reid would keep it that open ended, that nonchalantly because we've seen from everyone that's commented on this and reported on this six to eight weeks. And it probably goes straight back to Pacheco's camp, but still you've got the running back and the people close to him thinking six to eight weeks, you got the coach of the team just kind of throwing out there very casually this season or next season. Yeah, I also that like made my ears perk up yesterday when I was watching that. But you know, I think part of it is potentially Andy Reid not trying to put any pressure on Pacheco to do something that his body is not going to let him do, you know, and through no fault of his own. It's not that he's not going to push to come back as my homes was saying. That's the kind of guy because and you can see the passion with which he runs every single play. That's a guy you believe is going to push himself to come back. But there are things that happen, right? So if somebody goes on, I are there is always the possibility that he is done for the entire season. And I guess that's what Andy Reid was going for. But yes, it does make yours perk up when you hear the coach say whether it's this season or next season. And without Isaiah Pacheco, they've got Samaj P. Ryan, who they added not that long ago, Clyde Edwards, a layers on the non football injury slash illness list. He's eligible to return after week four Carson Steele, undrafted rookie fullback technically, but he's in the mix. I thought they were going to add Jerick McKinnon. He's that guy that the past few years, like eventually he ends up back on the roster. They brought back Kareem Hunt. Kareem Hunt was the guy that led the league in rushing in 2017 as a rookie. 2018 right around Thanksgiving, there was that bizarre video that emerged of him kicking the woman in the hallway of a Cleveland area hotel. The chiefs cut him abruptly in large part because they asked him what happened. He said nothing and the video showed it wasn't nothing and he lied to them. So that was that. He spent a lot of time with the Browns when he finally got back in. And now he's back in Kansas City on the practice squad. Here's both coach Reed and Patrick Mahomes on this issue of reconciling the decision to dump Kareem Hunt with the decision to bring him back some six years later. You know, what we told him and probably just he needed a change of scenery and get some help and take care of business there. And we felt like he did that like he's 29 years old now. So time flies. He's 29 years old and looks like he's grown up sometimes. Was it the type of thing where you felt if you need to speak specifically about the past? No, just, you know, make sure that keep your nose clean. That's the important part and go play football. So I think people deserve a second chance if they've done something to work on the first part of it. At the end of the day, man, I just I just root for the person to keep becoming a better and better person in the football secondary. But I'm glad to have him back and in the building. And I gave him a high five in the hug when I saw him because it's a person that I've used to spend a lot of time with a long time ago. Yeah, they came and lead together in 2017. While my homes was watching, Hunt was leading the league in rushing. And then during my home's first season as a starter, they had to overcome the distraction and root to that overtime loss at home in the AFC championship. They had to overcome the distraction that was created by the Hunt situation. So now he's back. They have the need. And that's the thing. Second chance. Look, I always say, one person's second chance takes away someone else's first chance because it's a zero sum game. They have a need. If they didn't have a need, he wouldn't be on the team. And he still has a level of talent that can help them win football games. And that's what it's all about. So they'll say whatever they have to say the word salad their way around any and all. And it all makes sense. I'm not saying that, you know, it's as implausible as it was really a t-shirt cannon. But the only reason we're having this conversation is that Isaiah Pacheco was injured and they had a need. And that's the guy they decided to go with. It is. And I think part of it is his strength in short yardage situations, right? And I don't want to make light of anything that Kareem Hunt did, you know, but it also was in 2018 that that video came out. He has since been with the Cleveland Browns. And I mean, you know, he brought up Jerick McKinnon. Kareem Hunt was kind of that guy for the Browns over the last couple of years, right? Nick Chub gets hurt last year. They call him. They bring him in. He ends up running for just over 400 yards and nine touchdowns. And you know, the speed, the burst wasn't necessarily as much there as it had been in the past last year. Now, Andy Reid talking about he's 29 years old now. He also brought up that Ron was dealing with the sports hernia so that's something that he's had corrected. So we'll see if there is a little bit more speed and bursts now. But I think one of his strengths is you need a couple yards. He's going to get you a couple yards, right? There's a reason why he had nine touchdowns last year for Cleveland because when they're in those short yardage situations, they know that they can give the ball to Kareem Hunt and he can power his way through. That's one of Pacheco's strengths as well. Right. I mean, yeah, Pacheco can has the burst still and he's a young back to kind of break away. But you need a yard, you give it to Pacheco and he's going to run with the head of steam and get that thing. So I think that that strength matches up with the need. And that's why he is now back with the Chiefs. One of those popular players in all of sports right now is Travis Kelsey, 34 years old, turns 35 on October five. He has for the season four catches for 39 yards combined in both games. Here he is from yesterday talking about his not really Travis Kelsey ish stats so far this season. I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time from not having that success knowing I demand that out of myself and I demand, you know, that I just like to play the game to to such a high level of accountability that it's just it's tough for me to to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that. So I stopped caring about stats about four or five years ago and I just went out there and started to just play free and wanted to play for my guys. And sure enough, I think that's a better mentality. You think about it more play by play and what your job is on that specific play. And I think moving forward is just, you know, how can I be better in those moments? It's only two games and you can have any two game stretch during a football season. And I would suspect if we look through Travis Kelsey's career, we could say here's two games where he had in those two games, four catches for 39 yards, but the book ends are, you know, 120 in a touchdown. So I don't know that it's time to sound the alarm, but he's going to be 35 in a few weeks. And, you know, it feels like he's in this transition from football player to something much bigger than that, that he ultimately will be better known for over the long run, whether it's the nine-figure deal with Amazon for the new Heights podcast, acting, there's some new show, Rotescary, is that the name of it? Rotescary? Is that what's called? Is it the grotesque or grotesque? I can't remember. I don't know. Rotescary. Rotescary. And you, they're running, they're running the commercial and you can see him in it. He's in that. He's going to be in Happy Gilmore too. He's talking about this. He's, there's a game show on Amazon that he's hosting. And, oh, by the way, he's dating Taylor Swift if you haven't heard. So what? I think that, I think that, yeah, you didn't get the text. So anyway, it's, I think with him, it's kind of like, you know, he had said when he signed the new contract in the off-season two more years, I don't know. I mean, there's a point where, especially if they would win three in a row, there's a point where it's like, I got a, you know, I got a frontier in front of me, far different from being GM of the St. Bonaventure basketball program. And, and, and I, I, I just feel like at some point, he's going to, he's going to embrace that. He, it feels like he's already, he's currently trying to do both. And I feel like as soon as next year, he just says the hell with it. I got, I got much more waiting for me on the other side of my football career. Maybe, but I think, you know, the opportunity to play with Patrick Mahomes is still very appealing because it means that, you know, through however many seasons it's been to this point, right? At worst, you finish in, in over time of the conference championship game. So, you know, that's one aspect of it. So, I mean, Pete points out here, I mean, through two weeks, you know, last year, Kelsey had four receptions, 26 yards and a touchdown. So, I mean, and then he had 355 yards, three touchdowns in the playoffs. So, when you get to playoff Kelsey, it's different. And then that also leaves the Super Bowl Kelsey, where, you know, he may talk about, I don't necessarily care that much about stats over the last five years, but I don't know, Mike, if you remember, but Kelsey was not very happy in the first half of that game, you know, against the 49ers. We're up, there's a little bump against coach Reed, and it's like, oh man, what's going on there? Kelsey's a little bit frustrated. He's a little bit upset. So, yeah, I think it's different also, of course, when you're in the Super Bowl, right? And you want, and those competitive juices are just flowing, they're firing off, and you want to win that ring so badly, that's different than, okay, we're in week two, and now going into week three, and I haven't had that much production. By the way, by the way, the Chiefs will be playing the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday Night Football in BC and Peacock, and everyone there, because Arthur Blank has secured the very coveted honor as bestowed upon him by himself to enter the team's ring of honor to obscure that fact he's given away free food, free hot dogs, free chips, souvenir cup with Arthur Blank's image on it, unlimited refills, two hot dogs per fan, two bags of chips per fan. That's a pretty good deal. That's a pretty good deal. Now, it's already pretty cheap to get the food. I've always respected that one. We went to the Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I went out and just bought as many hot dogs as I could find, because they're only two dollars each. Give me all the hot dogs, and we all ate hot dogs except NDS. MDS's hot dog from Super Bowl 53 is still in the press box at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, like that one hot dog that's withering on the weird little rollers thing. The turn style at the gas station, it's all wrinkled and nasty. It's still there. All right. I will eat a movie theater hot dog, but I eat in the gas station hot dog. I got to have standards. Got to have standards, man. I've never eaten a hot dog in a movie theater, but when I'm at a sporting event, I got to have a hot dog. And I know, Mike Tomman, I know what's in them as long as they can take those things and turn it into that glorious pink sausage of like what, and I understand it, folks, it's all the stuff they can't sell. Let's just throw it in a vat, grind it up, and put in pink food coloring, and it's delicious. The old one nutritious. I don't know if you're ever there. That one of those hot dogs, man. Oh my gosh. Did I eat them? Absolutely. But it's a good thing that the raiders are out of there, because those were some of my rants and hot dogs. Given what was going on at the Oakland Coliseum generally, yeah, I have a feeling the ingredients and the hot dog there, even more disgusting and unpalatable than the ordinary hot dog ingredients. All right, let's take a break. When we return, from the best team in the NFL to the worst, some quotes from the head coach of the Carolina Panthers as they process the change from, I don't know, bad to worst quarterback more PFT library after this. Bryce Young making his way to practice as QB two for the Carolina Panthers stopping to sign an autograph. That's, I mean, look, he could have kept going. That's a nice gesture. Andy Dalton, apparently, oh, signs the ball, sign the program. And here comes Andy Dalton. Get him both on there. I don't know what you sell that for. I would suspect that guy's not looking to sell it because all anybody's going to buy it right now. I don't think anybody's going to be buying anything Carolina Panthers relate. Why are you as a grown man, like standing on a fence, waiting for people to come come there? I've been like, what are you doing? I don't, I don't, I don't understand what we're doing there. Like, go to work. Get a job. I'm sorry. Don't, don't bother. The possibility is on the way to practice. It's not training camp anymore. Why do they allow that? That that was weird. Can Alice also sign the football? It must have been a different clip, but I also saw that. Like, what are we doing? It's possibly, it's possibly for his kid. And I also feel like, like it's not like the guy was like, hang on a second. It's not like the guy was like, hey, hey, come, like, they went right to him. Like, almost like they knew they were going to do that on the way out to practice. Like, hey, there's a guy out there who's shorter than Bryce, if you can imagine that. And I'm just kidding. And, and, and I'm just kidding. Come on. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I said, there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong with that. When I made the point this week that I have photographic evidence that I'm not five three, there's nothing wrong with being five three, but I'm accused of it incorrectly. There's nothing wrong with that. Anyway, the point is you put out there last week, but go ahead. They, well, okay, last week, this week, whatever they know, they do. Anyway, I feel like they knew that the guy was going to be there and they went over to sign it. Whatever the reason, whatever the reason. Maybe it was charity. Maybe it was charity. It may have, it may have been for the Panthers Foundation. Regardless, here's Dave Canales asked yesterday whether he saw an energy bounce at practice with Andy Dalton, now the starting quarterback. You know, it's the same thing that I expect every day. It's the focus is the intensity. Andy is that way. And so, you know, as he was in the huddle, he was able to just make sure that the energy stayed up through the practice and that we finished the right way. And so he did a great job. Dave, how has Bryce responded? How did he respond today? Right back to work, dove into the game plan. We had our conversations in the QB room just going around talking about reads, talking about what we see from the defense, followed it up with a great day on the field, some fantastic throws, and just got right back to work, which is exactly what I expected him to do. Do you still believe in Bryce as a future maybe franchise quarterback later on now? Absolutely. This is a developmentally-minded program. So the development didn't stop, you know, every rep he's out there. We're evaluating the whole thing, having conversations, and just continuing to push all of our guys, including Bryce, to take that next step every day as a growth possibility and opportunity. So, we're fully committed to that. Look, dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things, and it's the height of dysfunction. To bench the guy who was the number one overall pick and still have faith in it. You can't thread that needle. Benching him is the sign to everyone that you have no faith in him, and it's almost as if they're trying to create a trademark for him. And Canales was asked about a possible trade of Bryce Young. He said that's not something we're really considering. We have a great situation with our quarterbacks right now with guys that have experience. I think if someone make them an offer and they could save face and move on, they would. And you maximize the return by acting like you don't want to trade the guy. If you say to the world, man, we really wish we could trade this guy. No one's going to offer you anything for him. So it's part of the dance that you have to do. And I think that's the only thing that makes sense here. They have basically declared the world. He's not their guy. He never will be their guy. There's no coming back from this. And now we see if at some point between now and the Tuesday after week nine, someone offers him something for Bryce Young. And maybe someone will. I mean, I've heard from a few different people, hey, Miami should, you know, if they know too is not coming back, should Miami offer something for Bryce Young? I've heard crazier propositions about possible trades over the years. I have two, Mike, but I mean, this is somebody and you know what, if there's a place where he can go and you have his confidence rebuilt, I would suppose that it is with Miami and a guy like Mike McDaniel, who did that so successfully with Toa Tonga by Loa. But it's not like Toa Tonga by Loa was ever throwing jump passes to throw to a player that's at the line of scrimmage. I mean, Mike, I've never seen a quarterback do what Bryce Young was doing on Sunday against the Los Angeles charges. I've never seen that man. And so that's part of to me, why if canals is doing that evaluation and saying, hey, we've got to make this replacement, you know, even though it's week two, I don't think this is something that just came out of thin air, you know, whether it was tipper driven or whether it was more coaching staff driven, they've been seeing stuff through training camp through the preseason that they must have thought was concerning. So this is where we are. The point that Sims always makes in situations like this, the locker room has a say and if the vibe among the team is we got to get this guy off the field, you're going to lose the team if you don't get the guy off the field. All right, we got to take a break. When we return a draft of the top matchups that we're watching for as week three of the NFL season begins tonight at MetLife Stadium. This is nice trophy. Hopefully not my last. If he in charge of giving me if he is he in charge of doing this, is what we call it? Great. Great. That was awesome. That was awesome. That's all slimy and moving. Go give them a hug. You got to give them a hug. Marvin Harrison getting slimed the weekly Nickelodeon award, whatever it is that they do, Kyle and Murray came over and slimed him. What is it? The Nickelodeon and VP. And you get slimed. Okay. Oh, was Paris Johnson? I thought that was Kyler Murray. It did look like Paris Johnson Jr. Maybe my eyes are bad. Yeah. All right. Well, I missed that. Okay. Anyway, time to draft the top matchups for week three. Miles, you're up. You know, I'm going to start with the Lions offense versus the Cardinals defense because the Lions need to bounce back game, right? I mean, they lost to the Buccaneers. Deregolf threw 55 passes against the Bucks last week, which is just too many. That is not what they want to do. So also through two picks. So they've got to get some get back, you know, and I think that the Cardinals defenses played pretty well. At least last week they did, you know, it had some problems. Josh Allen, but that's going to be an interesting matchup to me. Here's one that we touched on earlier. And I think that it is the most compelling matchup of the week. Bobby Slowick, the Shanahan disciple against Brian Flores, who has confused the hell out of Shanahan and stymied that offense the last two times they've played can slow it pick something up that will help. Or is it just going to be? Oh, well, I'm the next victim of this for as approach. All right. Yeah, that's a good one. Let me go with something out of the box a little bit, but rookie quarterbacks versus the end zone. We haven't seen a rookie quarterback throw a touchdown pass yet. So which one is going to be the first to do it? I would say Caleb Williams based on the matchups that we've got this weekend, but that's going to be interesting to see can actually someone finally get that ball there. I will go with the old school, Ohio State, Michigan, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Fields, Harbaugh knows a thing or two about facing fields. And that's who he's most likely going to face at the field formerly known as Hines on Sunday is one of those teams is going to emerge three and oh, unless there's a tie, which probably isn't impossible when you consider the makeup of those two teams. Let's take a break. We'll do one more round when PFT live concludes right after this. All right, we have done two rounds of the week three matchup draft as week three is upon us. Miles Simmons, you are up for round three. Give me Andy Dalton versus the Raiders defense because you know, this is one of those games that could get a little bit weird. And the Raiders play weird games. I don't know if you remember this, but it kind of reminds me a coach Saturday coming into the Death Star, whatever they want to call it at Allegiant Stadium, you know, for in Las Vegas. And maybe something weird happens. You know, I know Josh McDaniels was the head coach then, but you know what, Patrick Graham Antonio Pierce, they were on that staff. So let's see what happens when Andy Dalton comes in and the Panthers offense has to take on the Raiders defense. I'm going to go to Monday night football, one of the two games that will be played to cap week three. Josh Allen versus Josh Heinz Allen used to be Josh Allen versus Josh Allen. And Josh Allen, the pass rusher once had a pretty good game against Josh Allen, the quarterback. I remember talking to him by phone after that game happened, but the Jaguars need something. The Jaguars are desperate. They're owing to the bills or two and oh, this is one of those games before the season started. Hey, not a bad primetime game. Now it's like the Jaguars shouldn't even be on the same field as the bills. Josh Heinz Allen will be one of the key ingredients in proving that the Jaguars belong and that they can maybe get a win miles. Yeah, Trevor Lawrence put it very succinctly after the last game where they lost to the Cleveland Browns. He goes, we suck right now. So I guess we'll see if they still suck when they play the bills on Monday night. Bengals commanders the other Monday night game Thursday night Patriots Jets enjoy the game. We'll be with you tomorrow morning to break it all down. Have a great day. With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Limited time, price participation in selection may vary tax and gratuity excluded.
