With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a Mac Double or a Mac Chicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece Macnuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. 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? Please 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, casual insurance company, and affiliates, national average 12-month 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. Now two pigeons be moaning the fact you can stream DirecTV satellite free. These humans can stream all the top rated national news channels on DirecTV and now with no satellite dish. It's just in. Weather, sports, election coverage. DirecTV has it all, but something is missing. The satellite dish. What are you doing? I'm reporting the news. Back to you, Bob. Here's some news. You're a buffoon. Stream the top rated national news channels. No satellite dish. Visit DirecTV.com, internet required, top rated news based on 2023 Nielsen ratings. Game and grabs it for the score. Hey, that's a good job, baby. You're starting, but we got it. Happy birthday. It's a beat. Hey. Don't do it. Peace. Go. Go. Go. Go. Good job. Good job. All will still be counting you out eventually, CD. Don't worry about it. You won two games in a row. That doesn't change the season, but it did provide for an exciting night. They renewed the rivalry. It really is a big deal. Cowboy Steelers. It goes all the way back to matcha, childhood, your childhood. They don't play as often as we wish they would. They met in the Super Bowl three times more than any other teams, and they made us wait for it. Mother nature made us wait for it last night. Yes, they did. And they made us wait for the ending. And it wasn't all that long ago that that game ended when I was watching the highlight of the game winning touchdown. I thought that really wasn't that long ago, and I was struggling to stay away. I was in there doing the podcast and just four hours ago or five hours ago, so you're in this building. I felt like the old cartoon where they like used tape to keep your eyes open or toothpicks to prop them open. Like that was a rough, rough effort to stay up to see the Cowboys beat the Steelers, and I have a feeling we're going to hear it next week because Maria Taylor was the only one that took the Cowboys. Everybody else was on the Steelers. Good thing for her. Absolutely. Look, good for the Cowboys that they won the game. I don't know how you come to that conclusion though, but it could be that the chair is starting to turn into a pumpkin a little bit for Justin Fields. And you know, I said last week and we were talking before the show about how even though our job is to fill the vacuum with analysis and talk and just stuff, decisions will lead to answers that reveal themselves in time. And we're probably at the point where Russell Wilson's healthy. They need a spark and it becomes the obvious thing to do to give Russell Wilson a chance. And a dramatic change from today yesterday, yeah, because yesterday we would have said keep riding with fields. But last night, it's just enough that you can say, you know what, they got the Raiders coming up and they got two primetime games against the Jets and the Giants. This may be the time to pivot back and it's not an insult to fields. No, no. To be once healthy. No. And it all worked out perfectly. Well, and you know, I think anybody you talked to around the league and I know you got your people out there and we all got tentacles everywhere where it kind of seems a little bit like this is what the Steelers really want anyways that they want Russell Wilson to be the starter. It's what Mike Tomlle wants. Yeah, maybe I don't know about the rest of the organization, but Tomlle wants and and that's fine. Yeah. He's got a stronger vote than everybody has. Yes, he does. He's definitely more than one vote in that organization, but it has seemed that way. It seems like they've tried to frame it that way from the get go that fields is not I mean Russell Wilson's number one and it has felt like they've kind of been trying to hey, we don't want to play fields. We want to continue to groom him and make him the guy for the future after this year. But let's make Russell Wilson the guy right now. The door is definitely open as cracked open last night after after that game for sure. I mean, yes, they lost last week against the Colts and you certainly wouldn't blame Justin Fields. The defense had issues. He wasn't perfect, but he did some good things, but nonetheless, it's a not a good cult defense and they didn't win. You need a spark. And now here they are two losses in a row and to your point last night. He didn't play well. You know, we have all these cameras and angles in the viewing room where we can see it all. There was definitely a few plays in the first half where I'm sure you heard me talking where I'm going. That guy's open because we have all these different cameras all around. So I could see all the coverage is all the plays. So he wasn't at his best last night and then I think on top of that, the offense was kind of stagnant as well and the two game loss that you're talking about. And yeah, I think you're right. We're going to hear a lot of Russell Wilson. Is he going to start talk over the next 48 hours 15 for 2731 yards and a couple of touchdowns for Justin Fields. And sometimes you just need a kick in the ass as an organization. When you have a starting quarterback who aggravated his calf injury just days before week one, you ride it out, you get three straight wins and now you've lost two in a row and there may be other issues contributing to it, but the easiest way to shake things up is change quarterbacks. When you already have a QB one who ostensibly is still QB one, then you do it. We're going to have the same conversation about the Browns. They have bigger issues than quarterback, but there's one thing that's easy to do to shake things up. Sure. Sure. And that's what you do. Yeah. And if it was any other team with any other quarterback with any other contract, they would do it. And I think that's what's going to happen in Pittsburgh. And by the way, by the way, you think that's what will happen though. You think it's going to happen. Yeah. Posting meatballs. We haven't had a Posting meatballs say. You're right. Posting meatballs, it's going to be Russell Wilson next week. Yeah. Well, I think it's a fair question. And I know we're going to talk about the Cowboys. They won the game and I do want to give them credit for that certainly, but the Steelers and yeah, two in a row and the quarterback situation does make them interesting. And I think it will be the hot button topic of the week. But I think it's fair to ask too, would the Steelers to the point of what we're on? And this, this crossed my mind a little bit. And I think we talked about it last week is just how good they are overall. They got a little fortunate. Hey, got the Falcons week one, you know, didn't play any of their starters. Your cousin's first game back since the Achilles tear. You get the Broncos in bow, Nick's week two, it wasn't real impressive, but it was your style of the game and you won it. Week three was the Chargers and it was banged up right. So I think there's like a little bit, the schedule fell the right way and maybe we were misled, misevaluated by a little bit of Justin field success through that. And I think maybe the same thing with the defense, you know, I thought, man, after those three games, of course, they look phenomenal. They were one of the top five defenses in football. The Colts had their way, Shane Steichen had a good game plan. But you went, oh, the Steelers messed up a few things, they'll bounce back to on Sunday that against the Cowboys. But again, last night, 20 to 17 in a game where, hey, the Cowboys moved it a lot more than the 20 points that they produced on the scoreboard. And that's the thing too. So the Steelers, I think it's fair to ask still the question of how good they are actually overall almost twice as much yardage for 45 to 226. Like in the end zone, right, bad play there, whether it was CD, lamb or deck press got strip sack fumble right inside. What was that? The 20 yard line for sure, right early in the football game. And then of course, the post route interception that led to the short field Steelers last touchdown that take the lead before they blew that lead and the Cowboys went down and scored the touchdown. So yeah, it was a little bit of the Cowboys making mistakes. I know the Steelers are responsible for that. But yeah, I still think it's fair to ask how good the Steelers are overall net passing yards. Three thirty six Cowboys one thirty four for the Steelers. It's shot. It showed last night, you know, it's it's it's that press gots damn good. And it's not like the Steelers are running the ball either. That's the other thing. Yeah. And that's where I think getting back to how we pick the game that that to me was the thing that scared me is some of the injuries on the Cowboys. And I just went, wow, no Demarcus Lawrence, no, no Micah Parsons. The Steelers did some good things last week, but they kind of blew it. You know, the Cowboys look okay against the Giants last Thursday night. But now with the injuries, oh, the Steelers will be ready to go. That was kind of my thinking they're all together. But from the get go, the Cowboys were the better football team on the on the field last night. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And they really controlled the flow of the game, the ball, all of that. And just, you know, Pittsburgh, it's work work for everything and especially on the offensive side of the ball. You mentioned the Falcons earlier. And I have been reminding folks of the point you made back when the season started. We'll see who's different based upon who played their starters in the preseason and who didn't. And with the Cowboys, it's slightly different. It's who had their act together contractually and who didn't because they dealt with the CD lamb, right, hold out. They dealt with Dak Prescott all the way until the morning of week one. They had two embarrassing outings at home against the Saints and then against the Ravens. And since then they've won two in a row. Short week beat the Giants extra time beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh. It does give them a lift and we say this all the time because it's true. Teams get better. Teams get worse. Yeah. Teams never stay the same. Yes. Exactly. Right. You know, it becomes a point to of, hey, yeah, do they say the same, do they continue to reinvent themselves schematically, right, to the good teams figure out what they're good and bad at and in a hurry and start to build around that the bad team. They're like, oh, I don't, I'm not sure what we are yet. Let me see if I can figure it out and all that. And I think that's fair to say you talk about the Steelers, right. I mean, they want an identity on offense. I thought they were capable of maybe doing that with Justin Fields and being a smash mouth running football team and control the clock and play defense that way. But yeah, that has not come to fruition. I thought they would be able to run the ball better with Justin Fields at the quarter at the quarterback position. So that's been an issue, certainly. But the Cowboys, I give them credit for fighting and coming in there, ready to battle last night and really bringing it to this pitcher of Steelers. Before we give the Cowboys that UK does fit well here, good point by Gary. Here's Justin Fields when he was asked about the identity of the Steelers offense. Listen closely to what he had to say. Justin, do you feel like this offense knows what its identity is or has its identity right now? Do you think that's still forming? No, I think we have our identity. What are the identity options of football? I've never heard of a team having an identity. I think we have an identity. I just don't know what it is. I've never heard necessarily an option for an identity. I think we ran the ball well today. Like I said, I think we just missed shots and shot ourselves in the foot again. So I don't think we're one of those teams looking for our identity. I think we know who we are. We're a team that predicates on running the football and staying on schedule on first and second down and then executing on third down, but we just didn't get the job done. I think when you sift through that word salad there and I love Justin Fields, I think what he's saying is we have an identity that we would like to have. We just don't have that habit. We know what we want to do. We talk about it. This is who we say we are, but the games themselves might tell a different story. I think that's fair to say. As you're sitting there talking, I'm going, the team has an identity. It's a defensive football team with an ugly offense. That's what it is right now, but the offense itself does not have an identity. Yeah, they're striving to be ball control, physical, run the ball, do all that stuff, but they don't have that. Let me ask you this, let me ask you this. How's it going to be a different Russell Wilson though? If you can't run the ball, if Naji Harris is 14 for 42 with a 3.0 average, Jalen Warren is out. He had the hamstring in the preseason. He has a knee now. He's far more explosive, far more dynamic than Naji Harris. How in the world do you get the Russell Wilson old school play great defense, beast mode and play action pass with a rainbow from Russell Wilson? That's what the Steelers want to do, but if you can't run the ball, you can't do it. No, but I think they're going to hope that Russell Wilson and his ability to throw the football and run the offense that way will open up some of the other stuff that you're talking about and they're going to take, hopefully they're going to try to sell that bag of goods as far as being the angle that'll help the offense, give them the jump start, the spark that you were talking about, get George Pickens involved in the game down the field and the passing game a little bit more to maybe back defenses off to where now, okay, we got a little bit of, you don't know what we're going to do. We're good at both running and throwing and we can do it that way. But yeah, the question's real and like, let's play back that videotape right there if you don't mind. See, these are some plays too, Mike. When you watch them back where you're going to go, like, man, you know, yeah, high level throwers certainly could have made some of the plays last night, Justin feels this play right here. Look, this, this is, this is open in the NFL, throw it right at your huge tight ends head. He's going to catch the ball. He gives them no chance here. This one, hey, losing the ball, okay, that happens mistakes are going to happen. But this is all Justin fields here. This is what I did not like and I saw this play and we can rewind that last play if you, if you don't mind guys. This last play, let's go back here. Look at this, Mike. I think I yelled to you, see, this is, this was kind of alarming to me because I'd seen two or three people open already in the game. Here it is. The pocket's fine. Step up in it a little bit. Try to keep your eyes there. The end cut behind it, you can see is wide open, but he kind of got into eyes down. I'm going to run, didn't look at the field, didn't see the field nearly as well last night as he had in the first few games. Not that it was awesome in those games, but it was better than last night. But we thought we saw and we hope we were seeing a trajectory of up, right? He's the guy that they want to develop into the quarterback after this year. Look, I said before the season started, this is an organization that fired its entire quarterback depth chart after 2023. It'll do it again after this year if it decides it's in the best interest of the team. It could be Russell Wilson, who stays, it could be Justin Fields, who stays, it could in theory be both. It could be neither. It could be starting from scratch again. This was a low cost experiment. What they're paying, Wilson and Fields and Kyle Allen combined is less than what Mason Rudolph gets this year from the game. It's incredible. It's a bargain. You're right. Let's see what happens. Like I said with Russell Wilson, answers tend to unveil themselves at the appropriate time. We can talk about what about this, what will happen here, if this, if that will know, will know based upon how they do the rest of the way. And I do think it's going to be Russell Wilson time for Pittsburgh, just because they need a kick in the ass and they can use Justin Fields package. They were talking about using Justin Fields package as of week one. If Russell Wilson doesn't get injured three days before, four days before the Falcons game, we would have seen some Justin Fields, I think. I hear you. You know, I mean, with Kyle Allen, if they feel comfortable with him as far as if they had to use him as a backup and we saw him coming last night and throw a nice pass down the middle of the field, if they feel comfortable with him, then I would say go ahead and yeah, use the Justin Fields package if it gives you an offensive advantage, right? Now, if they don't feel good with Kyle Allen and Justin Fields is like, you know, it's like, oh man, Russell Wilson gets hurt and we don't trust Kyle Allen, then you can't risk getting him hurt or banged up, right? And risk your season that way. But I would think Kyle Allen's played enough to where they feel confident in him to be able to get it done for a game if they got to and they can play steel or football. I don't think that's crazy. And then to your point of, hey, the offense is struggling and maybe a guy that can give them an angle or a certain package that gives some team some headaches, hey, they got to figure out and, you know, they got to figure out something because just running ISO up the middle is not going to get it done. They're offensive line name that great. And they only have one guy, a receiver and pickings who can really make a play outside of the realm of just what the offense delivers. And even that, I don't think he's a superstar that way where he can deliver all the time. So yeah, they need help, Mike. To your point. We're 29 days away from the trade deadline. Yeah. They were running back out there on a team that is heading down the proverbial crapper that maybe would have a running back that the Steelers could trade. I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. But they need to be thinking about that because all due respect, they didn't pick up the Najee Harris option for a reason. He reminds me of Leroy Hoard was this way. If you need two yards, he'll get you three. If you need six yards, he'll get you three. Right. Yeah. He's a tough hard runner, but he doesn't have that burst. I remember being at the Brown Steelers game last year. And when you're there, you can sense it. Jalen Warren explodes. Najee Harris doesn't. They need for the Russell Wilson offense to work. They need a better running back. Yeah. It seems like every team's got one and I would have to sit down and look at the standings and think about who's really in, who's really out, who really has a guy that they could say. Yeah. Dangle him as a trade to the Steelers and the Steelers say, yeah, well, we'll take him. Chuba Hubbard is one that Gary's popping in or somebody's popping in to the document we share. That's not a bad thought. I hear you. It's, you know, what team's going to be willing to give up on their season quite at this point, not yet. We're a few weeks away from that. But, you know, I don't know, this, this Jacksonville with ATN and Bigsby, because I've told you and you've heard me saying, I think you're believing it, Bigsby is better than ATN. I know that. That's for sure. Well, so what do you do? Do you get rid of ATN? I know. I don't, I mean, I don't know. Do you dangle ATN and hope that the team that takes him doesn't realize Bigsby's better? Well, I mean, I think they're going to know that and that fact that he's out there for trade bait and they're not going to give that away. But I think to your point overall, and yeah, I got to think about it too, but, you know, there's some teams here in the bottom of football and their standings that I think could be, you know, teams that are looking to deal and get rid of players. But, but to your point too, hey, the Steelers, they've talked about being a running football, running football team every year. They've never really seemed to enhance that position on their football team. And then on top of that, I think part of it is what we always see, the politics of football, well, we drafted Najee Harris in the first round and we're just never going to give up on it. We're just going to continue to go with it. But they gave up on Kenny Pickett. Well, yeah, they did. I'll give you that. I'll give you that. They're also a team that I think looks at to running the football to be a priority. And we've had the issues with Najee Harris and what he does. And it's been well documented and they've played Jalen Warren over him in certain points. It is a little head scratching at times that they're not a little deeper or more talented at that position. There has seemed to be a resistance to saying the undrafted guy may be better than the guy when I used to first round pick on. I have detected that. Like, come on, everybody can see it. What the hell are you doing unless Najee Harris is such a behind the scenes leader. And I think that's part of it, too. He's got a toughness that speaks old school football, he will run into a wall and he will not let the fact that the bricks are winning stop him. And I think that's quintessential to what the Steelers are. Yeah, I hear that. I hear that. And he is. He's got a great way about him. And I'm sure they like that about him. He's a worker. He is tough. All of that. But I think you explained it right. You know, there's some good physical runs. There's no doubt about it. But more times than not, I see runs where I go, oh, a really good running back in the NFL. But it got 20 right there and he got six. And that's an issue. And they're a team that, you know, needs somebody that could supply some explosive place with. You know, we all find ourselves in situations where we can feel a little bit nervous sometimes from me standing in a studio, the lights get a little hot. The anxiety runs a little high as I wonder whether or not the words are going to come out of my mouth the way that they are supposed to. When you get in a situation like that, you worry about sweating. Here's one way to take that worry off the table. Dove men plus care whole body deodorant provides you all day care and odor protection wherever you need it most from your pits to your privates to your feet. It's available at Walmart in the soothing sense of aloe and bamboo and she butter and cedar. When they say whole body, they mean it. Dove Mandio works on anywhere that smells. It goes on instantly dry for odor protection that lasts, giving you confidence to celebrate like a real fan all day long. The Dove Mandio is aluminum free with vitamin E, paraben free and dermatologist tested to keep you feeling just as great as you smell. Pick up Dove men plus care whole body deodorants at your local Walmart. Teats and Watson's been making meats and cheeses the right way since forever. What's that mean? That means never cutting corners, ever. It means cooking, not processing. It means our Virginia brand ham that's cooked to perfection, then twice baked to layer the flavors. It takes more time, but you can taste the difference. We come to work every day to do it the right way, even if it's the hard way. Because if it's not right for us, it's not right for you. Teats and Watson it's a family thing since 1939 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 of the ones you don't. So you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. Sling also lets you choose and customize your channel line up 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. Because it's sling.com/play to learn more and get started, that's sling.com/play sling.com/play. Okay time to give some praise to Dak Prescott who once he became the highest paid player in NFL history on the first Sunday of the season became an even greater focal point for scrutiny, derision and everything that goes along with making 60 million a year and you know it'll be a paying me 60 million a year, you can save it whatever the hell you want. I don't care, I got 60 million a year. But crap on me all day, he had it literally, he had a great, he had a great night last night. Couple of interceptions, yeah 42 passes, thrown 29 completed 352 yards, a couple of touchdowns and the game winner. Drive down the field, hostile environment, long day, game winner, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys and that's the kind of thing that that makes people say, okay, maybe he is a franchise quarterback so many people want to say he's not franchise quarterbacks do this. They get you down the field and they put you in position to win and they throw the game winning touchdown pass on fourth in goal, that's what they do. That's right, I mean there's definitely a difference in quarterbacking in the game, let's just say that, let's be real here, Dak Prescott is damn good, you can win a championship with Dak Prescott. I don't have any doubt about that, he is clutch in these moments, he's the kind of guy you want to lead your football team, that might have been the best player of the day right there because a land in Roberts came in flying, knocks the ball out and he does a great job recovering it there but I think it's his stubbornness and I say that he's not affected by prior mistakes, he's not affected by people on TV getting on him, the contract stuff, I mean he is just a driven individual who has a lot of talent of course can really throw that football and he was the difference in that. That's what a real cowboy is though, no cowboy just takes care of business, doesn't care what's going on, doesn't get flustered, doesn't get rattled, just keeps doing what needs to be done. And let's be honest too about this, when you talk about the Dallas Cowboys right now, I don't think we're going to see the Cowboys reinvent the wheel on offense this year, but who are we really talking about when we talk about the Cowboys in offense, two guys, I mean who? Dak and see me. Exactly, I mean so why does everybody think it's going to be pretty and they're just going to light up the world every week? This is not like they got an NFL All-Star team, they're going to be like this most weeks and it's going to be Dak, Jammin' in tight throws and who can make the one big play, can CD break it right but that's what they are, they are Dak and CD on offense and then hopefully we can run the ball a little bit and our defense can make a play and then Dak can be clutch and we can win the game and that's kind of how they're trying to get it done right now in Dallas. Come on the guy who caught the game when he touched like that so hopefully he can come. Seven yards last night on seven catches, somebody's got to be the number two to CD Lamb. Rodney Harrison made this point ten days ago the morning after the win over the Giants. You can't be a functioning offense if your number two receiver Brandon Cooks has one catch for 16 yards. Now I don't know when he got the knee injury but he has not been injured or not, he has not been a fact. Right, right. It can't just be CD Lamb and whoever just happens to be there. Yes. And that's why I think they should be talking about the Vonte Adams and of course we can't afford it. We can't, it's easy to say we can't afford it, we can't afford it. If you really wanted to do it, you would do it. If you're deciding not to do it, that's your prerogative but don't throw around the we can't afford it. If you wanted to do it, you could do it. Say we don't want to do it. Don't say we can't afford it. Yeah. Well, they're a team that I think we look at them when we go. They got holes in the future and they do have still some money situations. I know they go all in. They go all in. I know. If I'm them, I would say, no, don't. This is not the time to go all night, but still they say they were running games for Devontay and then, you know, what you're going to have to trade to get them. That must is not, you know, swimming in it right now to be able to just go, hey, big asset here, big asset there. No big deal. But if you're all in, you're all, that's what all that's what an all in team does. There's a fine line between being all in and being desperate. Yes. And the raiders are waiting for somebody desperate. Yes. And there isn't anybody desperate yet, although the Jets may be feeling desperate after yesterday, but still they need something. They need something. Your point is real that somebody else on the offense has to show up. That is real and whether they can get the run game and doubt all to get going and maybe he can be that function. But the, the encouraging thing is Tolbert, like you talked about, if he can be a guy opposite of CD land that can win one on one match ups, catch them tough calls over the middle, Ferguson's a pretty good tight end. We know that then they got something working. But yeah, last night, a little silver lining certainly in that aspect. But I think we got to see it more than one night before we're sold on. This is the new formula that will work for the Cowboys. Here is Steers, I'm going to say it's just Cowboys and I got twisted because Mike McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy. If you never listened to Mike McCarthy talk, if you listen to him talk once, you know he's a Pittsburgh guy, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy back in Pittsburgh. Here he is talking about Dak Prescott's effort down the stretch, composure is a huge strength of his. He's the same man every day, the way he works and the way he competes. Yeah, he doesn't, he doesn't blink. I mean, he's not a, you know, he doesn't dwell on mistakes, you know. So yeah, he never, he never blink one time during that game. So I mean, there was never a doubt that we were going to go out on a score. You know, we were just trying to really manage, manage things against that defensive front. And I thought our, I thought our guys up front and, you know, Rico and Zeke, I thought they did a great job running a ball in a second. Yeah, and look, Zeke, I mean, Zeke, Zeke's not who Zeke used to be. No, definitely not. This gets us back to the whole, we can't afford Derek Henry conversation, but Dattle had 87 yards on 20 carries. Zeke is just the number two now. Yeah, pretty much. That's what he is. I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's a name. He was awesome. He's a legend. Now he's just going to be a guy that comes in and I think gives, gives Dattle a breather every now and then. He's at that point of his career. So yeah, but they need that, they need that other element of the offense and whatever that's going to be because they can't always just put all the burden on Dak Prescott week after week. Dak Prescott is amazing. I mean, the fact that how he handles the turnovers, listen, I don't know if we have the clips of the turnovers or not, but the turnovers are bad, right? I mean, they were bad. The fumble wasn't necessarily all that great. He saw the guy coming at him, protect the football. Don't let, I believe it was Nate Herbig hit you like that. I know it was a big hit. I get that. The interception to CD lamb and the end zone. Oh, that was really bad, you know, okay, I can understand the one in the fourth quarter because he started with the post route over the top and he's trying to make a big play. But here you go. I mean, nobody open moving. He sees the pockets collapsing again. I know it's football. It's not a perfect game, but curl up, protect the football, live to play another day. This is pitiful at the end of the hat. I don't know what was going on there. I would think it all do want to see CD lamb supposed to come back there. You got the block field goal. Again, this is just showing you to how much the Cowboys really controlled the football game. And there was some mistakes made that allowed Pittsburgh to kind of hang around. That's typical pits. It is though. They do a lot of kind of football. They want to play this. No, that's 20-20. I hear you. I hear you. Hang around. Right. And you're going to get a break and you're going to find a way to win the game. Yeah. And the stats don't matter. But you can't win a big game. They were trying to fight. And go to the AFC Championship playing that kind of football. And I feel like they're trying to break from that this year, you know, your big complaint last year and historically about the Steelers has been they get to the playoffs and they don't belong there. Yeah. And then it's not a good playoff game. Right. Right. Now they gave the bills more than anyone thought they would last year, but still this is supposed to be the year that they have their act together and that they earn a playoff spot and can compete when they get there. The team we saw last night was 20-20. Oh, a lot of stuff. They didn't win. Right. At least in 23, they'd win a game like that. Yeah. No, no. If you talk about a receiver or something, they're in another team when you talk about the Steelers. Well, they're in on Devontae. Yeah. Now, I don't know. How in are they? It'll be just like Brandon I do. Right. We'll pay what we're going to pay. We'll give up what we're going to give up and if that's fine with you, it's fine with us. Otherwise, we're not interested. They draw. They're never going to be desperate. Yeah. They're never going to mortgage the future for anyone. And so yeah, if we if we can literally no pun intended steal him, then we'll do it. Yeah. Well, that'll be interesting because they're the same conversations. The Cowboys, it can't just be George Pickens and like, hey, we just hope the quarterback can make magic happen. That's not fair to them either. So we'll see where that goes. But our point there is more than less that, yeah, the Steelers can't rely on other teams making dumb mistakes like that. Good football teams, right? Other good quarterbacks. They're not going to do what Dak Prescott did last night. He had a bad moment there and a little bit of a bad moment because he does have to carry the load so much on the offense is out of the ball. He's dealing with TJ. What? I mean, he's dealing with defensive coaches as well. Then can do some stuff. There's no doubt about that, but I do give the Cowboys a lot of credit. I really do. They are tough. People are always on them. They answer the bell. Here's a week where you're going, wait, it's the injuries, Pittsburgh's going to be pissed off. And that's where I do give Mike McCarthy credit. His teams never back down from a physical battle, right? I think it's still fair to ask how good Dallas is. They beat the Browns whoop the F and do. They beat the Giants whoop the F and do. That's your team. They're two and three. How dare you? Well, I'm not throwing a parade for beating them yet, okay? And then they beat the Steelers, which now I will say whoop the F and do from what we've seen from them. You know, we're going to find out next week. Lions. Lions. Now we'll get a good feel. We will because the Ravens certainly had moments of dominance. You know what's after that? You know what's after that? Who's that? At the 49ers. So we're going to find out. You know what's after that? This test is coming. At a cook of cousins. Oh, man, man. We've got a long going on. We'll really know, but yeah, I think it is fair to ask how good the Cowboys are still at this point. I'm certainly not sold that they're one of the best teams in the NFC, but certainly looking like they're going to be a pain in the butt in the NFC and not back down from anybody in football right now. Two games still to come against the Eagles. Two games still to come against the commanders. Yeah. And that rivalry. And afterthought in recent years now, they got the bucks. They got the Houston Texans on the schedule. They got. They got. They got some tough games coming up. The Ravens and Bengals respectively had a tough game on their schedules. Each other yesterday, this was a game the Bengals had to have the Ravens trying to stave off Cincinnati. Those division games. I love them. It's that two game swing, right? What a difference if you win? What a difference if you lose? They go to overtime. The Bengals had a chance to win it 53 yard field goal try terrible hold. The hand was right down there. I thought, hey, the ball's bad, but the guys fingers probably through the uprights. Yeah. After that kick from Evan McPherson. And then the Ravens turn around on the next play. They get themselves in field goal position. But what a hard fought battle nine touchdowns total between Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. Burrow said last week, he would need to be perfect and he wasn't. He was borderline borderline and and even then the defense like I heard Tony Junge saying this last night. I think this is the AFC North where the hell is the defense predicated on defense. And these offenses and you know, it's funny. All of September where the offense is where the offense is now we're in October and it's an explosion because September is the de facto preseason for October, November, December. Right. And it usually takes the offense longer to kind of start hitting on all cylinders than it is a defense. And I think you're starting to see some of these quarterbacks and offenses, you know, functioning at a higher level, starting to get a little, you know, feel or homework on wait, we've seen this team on defense for three or four weeks. We got some signs of what they like to do, whatever. I mean, unreal game, well, it couldn't, it couldn't be more exciting. I would probably argue that was the most exciting game of the NFL this year, right? Oh, absolutely. Through four weeks. Yeah. This year, this year. I don't know if there was one that pops to me quite that there was some good one. We have recency bias. I mean, Thursday night's game was pretty exciting. It was great. The Eagles Falcons game was pretty exciting. It was. It was. I still think this was better. I do. I think with the quarterback play, that's what kind of separated it. And just the big plays we saw from so many different playmakers. I mean, come on, Burro Lamar, Derek Henry, Jamar Chase. I mean, those were special plays we saw yesterday. You asked if this is the week Lamar Jackson going to throw for three fifty and you were wrong. He was three forty eight. Three forty eight. Yeah. I had a feeling. I had a feeling. But you talking about Joe Burro having to play perfect and he was damn close to perfect yesterday. It really was. It was surgical. It was surgical with some tactical bombing in certain points. Here comes one of them right here. I believe. No, but he was great yesterday. They obviously have a feel and know how to attack this Baltimore Ravens defense about as good as anybody in football. We've seen them have some success and make big plays that most people don't make. But man, I mean, all of it was great except this right here. The slant up three, three minutes to go. Got a chance to put it away. I give Jamar Chase credit. Did you see what he said? He said I ran a shitty route for Joe Burro and that's why we do it. Yeah. Way to way to go for him to man up there. But yeah, between that and then the Miss Field Gold, you know, in overtime, the Bengals certainly had plenty of chances to put this one away and really put Baltimore in a tough spot, at least. And credit to Baltimore. Yeah. They just kept going. Chase had a huge day. Ten inches. 193 yards, two touchdowns. Incredible. Incredible. I mean, the deep one. Remember, he had the screen where he ran down the sideline. I mean, you don't see people do that to Baltimore very often. And it does create hope for Baltimore's passing game. And this was a day when Cincinnati was committed to taking away the run. Derek Henry told me after the game, they had him bottled up in the middle. So yeah, Jamar Jackson had to do some Joe Burro things, but Burro Burro and Chase are incredible. And yeah, it's so funny to be around you and Devin McCordy because you had Bengals win in the Super Bowl. And Devin is, well, I don't care that they start slow. Right. One of these years they're going to start slow and they're going to run out of games. And that's the thing. Yeah. How many losses? One and four. Right. Where are you at the point where every game is a playoff game? Yeah. And we see a team every year around Thanksgiving slip into that mode of we got to win the rest of them. And then by the time you get to the playoffs, hey, it's been the playoffs for a month and a half. And we know Joe Burro is different when you get to that postseason mindset. So I'm not ready to give up on the Bengals because they could start. And we've seen this happen one and four becomes two and four becomes three and four becomes four and four. Oh, hey, they're back at five hundred five and five now. How did that happen? And they started to trip away. I get you. I mean, I'm not counting them out of that. But like the fact that I picked them to Super Bowl and all that, I'm certainly not willing to say they're in one of those teams in the Super Bowl window right now. They're not there. I mean, for Joe Burro to have to play like that, for Joe Burro the way he played on the Thursday night loss to the Washington commanders. I mean, he's had a few games here where they've been awesome on offense and they still can't win the football game. That's the concerning thing. And it's not like one of those things where I go, Oh, the defense is close. I think they're about to turn it around or they got these guys coming back healthy and I know their details are a little banged up, but they're just not good enough up front. That's a big issue. And their defense shows no signs of being much better than what we've seen. Let's hear what Joe Burro had to say after the game and then I have a prediction to make okay after that. I'll probably be wrong. I'm still going to make it. It's never stopped me before. The possibility of being wrong has never stopped me from making the prediction. Here's Joe Burro from after the game. We're not a championship level team right now. We're not. You know, I, I like to think that, you know, we'll come back and improve throughout the season to get to that point, but right now we are not and we have to get better. Yeah. Look, when you're one and four, you would look delusional if you came out and said we're a championship level team. He's just stating facts, but Chris, I'm ready to make a prediction. Okay. Let me hear it. Sunday night, right? Bengals at the gym. I got an email from somebody last week who said that that is like infected and he hears the Giants now and in his own brain. He says, the gym and I'm trying to get it. Look, Giants win at the Browns win. But you're not, you're just giving them a win against the Giants. I'm going to win against the Giants. Who are you? Who the hell do you think you are? Okay. All right. Super Bowl winner to win on Sunday night at the Browns. There's a win. Eagles coming to town. That's a win. Raiders is a win. They'll be, they'll be five and four when they have the Thursday night reunion week 10, the week 10 back to Baltimore. Don't wear a sleeve on your wrist, Joe. Okay. That's what happened last year. Remember we had the sleeve on the wrist. Yes. Yeah. I, one thing I've noticed every practice report this year, Joe Burrow, full participant, right wrist. Right wrist. Right. Right. And then they get mad when people point out that they hit the thing. Oh, and the NFL exonerated them. Well, well, there's, there's a freaking surprise. The NFL is going to exonerate somebody who's lying on the injury report. Yeah. So I think they're going to win the next four. They're going to be five and four when they play the Ravens on Thursday and in football. Listen, I hope you're right. I would love that story. I, I like watching Joe Burrow and that offense play when they're functioning at the level they are. Right. I mean, he's, to me, kind of old school quarterback, he's not necessarily as much like my homes are on when you talk about like pure mechanics and decision making and play in the pocket. That's where Burrow thrives, right? It's like somebody like with my skill set that I admire because I know I can't do some of the things Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes do. Right. He's special that way. He really is. Hopefully they can do it, but man, their defense worries me and I don't think it's going to get any better. And I think it's going to be Joe Burrow's going to have to play like this pretty much the whole year. He's having a phenomenal year. I mean, he's really having an MVP caliber number type of year right now, but one in four ain't going to get that done. So yeah, that's an issue and I don't know what happens with them. They might need to make a trade, do something for the defensive line. If they can get back to close to 500 and maybe help them out, we'll see where it goes. But you know, yeah, the Bengals are going to be an offensive high-flying football team. I think that's the only way they win. We were having a conversation before the show. There and I about MVP and MVP reality and dating back to Adrian Peterson in 2012. Every year after that, it's been the quarterback of a team that earns a buy. And since the NFL went to only one buy per conference, it's a quarterback of one of the two number one seats. And that was Lamar Jackson last year as a Ravens were the one seed. It was Lamar Jackson and they could end up being the one seed again. They were slow starter, but now here they are. What are they? Three and two. Three and two. They could get hot and we've seen that before. You write the Ravens off early and they get hot and it's like, oh, the Ravens won this week. Oh, the Ravens won this week. Oh, the Ravens won this week. Oh, the Ravens are 10 and two. Yeah. And when Lamar plays like he played yesterday, when you know what he's capable of, and this is the ultimate current NFL, pick your poison offense, okay, we're going to run it down your throats. Right. Oh, you're going to take away the run. Okay. Lamar will throw for 350. That was right. That's why they got to be great at the run though, right? That's why you've heard me go crazy. And to that point right there, right, because I don't think it's a passing offense that can just go, oh, we're going to throw it 50 times a game no matter what, they're going to pass to set up the run. They have to run to set up the path. Exactly. And that's where you heard me say all last week, this will be the game he throws for 350 and everybody goes, wow, because they've run the ball so good and so effective the two weeks before this. Now teams are going to start going, we don't have a choice. We got to stop the run and we have to just hope that Lamar is a little off. This play. This plays incredible. He's going out of bounds and it felt like he was throwing the ball away. And there's Isaiah likely. He just, you literally looked like he was, when he cocked it back, he went, oh, he's about to throw it away. And then he saw, I think likely make the move and he went the hell with throwing it away. He's open. I'm going to throw this. That was almost the same spot on the field. Remember the playoff game against the Raiders where Joe Burrow stepped out of bounds? Yes. It was the same spot. Yeah. Almost the exact same spot. And out of bounds. He Higgins closer to the corner. Right. Right. But yeah, that was a phenomenon. There were so many phenomenal plays in this football game. And the Ravens, we know they got weapons on the offensive side of the ball and Derek Henry running the ball. But yeah, yesterday it was all about Lamar Jackson and the pass game. How he fends off Trey Hendrickson twice. Yeah. Sam Hubbard, Trey. I'll say I'm Hubbard. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. One of the two. Yeah. That's four twice. And then fires the dart. It's just a, and he's falling. He's getting knocked out. It's just incredible. Yes. And he's not as open as you think he is when you see the game happen in real time. Incredible there. And the good thing for them too is their team, hey, we know Zaflowers, the number one guy. Rashad Bateman is showing up every week. Right. They got a few tight ends that are all getting part of the mix here. They got three tight ends that are dangerous in the pass game. And to your point to Mike, I think I know they're only three and two. But when you take away, when you take like that half against Dallas or the three quarters of just ass whooping, they gave them the ass whooping, we saw them give Buffalo. And I know yesterday wasn't their best defensive performance, but like I said earlier, I think the Bengals know how to attack them a little bit at their best. I would agree. The Ravens are in the running for one of the teams. I would say, Ooh, when they're at their best, they look like they're one of the best teams in football. They're up there in that combo for sure. Well, remember last Monday, we were sitting right here and we played the sound from Josh Allen, the Bills quarterback who said, we lacked the urgency. How do you not have urgency when you're going in to face a Ravens team that desperately needs to win and they're at home? Well, the Ravens went to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team that desperately needed to win. And they matched the urgency and exceeded it just enough. So that's what championship teams do. They go into the other teams building when the other team really needs to win and they keep them from winning. Yes. And the Ravens look like a championship team. They kept taking blow after blow and then just kept going, wait, we're going to keep throwing haymakers too. I mean, it was 24 or 14, right? I think we're third quarter, halfway through and you're going, man, they're just, they're can't stop the Bengals and the Ravens just, they never panic. Right down the field, boom, big passes, Zae Flowers, colder the tight end, boom, touchdown, no problem. We're right back in this thing and they continue to answer like that all day long. I mean, again, go down 10 again, 31, 21, come right back down the field with a long drive, touchdown again, go down 10 again, answer right back. I mean, that's, it's incredible that way and good for that. Maybe this jump starts their passing offense too to another level now that they're running the ball, they can mesh it all together where they can become an unstoppable offense, certainly encouraging on that side of the ball defense, certainly not going to love the film when they watch that. No, no, and having Derek Henry, they have to love that acquisition they made. He had the huge play in overtime along the way. He became the fifth player in league history to have 10,000 rushing yards, a hundred touchdowns from scrimmage in his first 125 games and I talked to him after the game. I said, do you know the other four and he rattled them off football historian Derek Henry? Jim Brown, Emmett Smith, Lydani Thomas, Adrian Peterson. And now you think about all time greats, he's here in the Hall of Fame and Adrian Peterson will be there. Yeah. And Derek Henry is going to be there too. He's definitely one of the modern day running backs that's going to the Hall of Fame, a hundred percent. I was compared to Jim Brown and I saw something recently where it's really, there's Eric Dickerson. I think the running styles and running style high knee running up right that way definitely has a has that look for sure. And he said on that last play in overtime after the missed field goal they had been bottled up in the middle. Yeah. So they ran the sweep because usually we see him do his, his best work through the line. Yeah. Get a crease. Give him a chance to get up the speed and he's gone. This sweep to the outside and off he went and is so funny because I said, man, you got caught from behind. I didn't get caught from behind. I didn't know that guy was there. I was there. I would have stiff armed if I were to run away from him or to jump over. Oh, Derek Henry. I'm sorry. I threw the challenge flag last night. I love football. I know. But we saw him go 87 last week. I know. I know. Yes. I still have a hard time believing he didn't see the guy. He said he didn't know. Well, couldn't know because he cut inside. What happened was him there? He cut in and there was another guy. I didn't know if we were as hype man over that. I am a hype man. Yeah. It's a good guy to be a hype man. Hey, if they'll talk to me, I'm a fan. Well, this is what this is Aaron Rodgers great about that. Aaron Rodgers is going to want to talk to me soon. Aaron Rodgers needs the boost. He's not dropping that low yet. He's getting there. But I do think that's what's exciting about them is they're showing the ability to be explosive on the ground and in the past game. And then we know Lamar with the off schedule plays certainly is special that way. Derek Henry was bottled up for the most part of yesterday. I mean, it was a 51 yard run there at the end. And he had 92. And he had 92 for the day. So that shows you. But I think what it shows everybody and puts everybody on notice in the league is pick your damn poison with Baltimore overplay the run Lamar is going to tear you up in the past overplay the past and worry about that they're going to run it right down your face. And that's where that could be good. And Lamar. So what do you do as a defensive coordinator? What poison do you pick or do you just disguised you're going to have to be creative, right? You're going to have to be creative in certain situations through film study and yeah, try to create a pre snap look that you're piling up against the run. You get Lamar to audible to a pass but you're actually going to do stuff like that. You've got to pass the play man mind games with them to play caller and do all that because yeah, they're big up front and they look like they're ready to run the football once again and do that. But like what a day. And this is what's crazy about the NFL, right? This is what to me I always find fast today. The game's awesome. Joe Burroughs about to be God and Lamar Jackson were about to go, Oh man, he messed up in a big moment and dropped the damn snap and overtime. And then they miss a field goal and they break a run and we go Lamar Jackson had the greatest day ever. It's just it's just amazing. That's how close the sport is. That's how close you can be to a talking point of oh my gosh, he blew it into oh my gosh, he's amazing. It is amazing that way. And that was a hell of a game yesterday. Let's hear from some of the Ravens after the game on the performance of Lamar Jackson. I was like a third MVP level for him, the best player in the league. He's a goat for a reason. I never ceased to be amazed, but I'm always amazed. And then just the way he plays the game, it's unparallel. But different, right? I'm just wondering what are you going to start talk about it like, man different, he do everything. Ah, that's cool. Oh no, it's cool. I love Lamar. He is so understated. The video from a couple of weeks ago when Marlon Humphrey was on the plane and they were on I think Instagram live or some social media platform and Lamar was like we shouldn't be live right now. And that's the right attitude. That's what a leader needs to do. Hey guys. I mean, that was their first win of the season. It was the first win. And they tried to blow it. They're up 28th six and they almost blew it like this isn't a time to celebrate. We got a lot of work to do. So he's the heart and soul of that team. He's a man on the missions. And he is physically, he's right up there with Mahomes and Alan. Definitely. Everything that can be done. They're the best three in the NFL. And it's easy to lose sight, you know, because he gets the knock about the lack of post-season successful. I don't see pelts on the horse for Josh Allen. Yeah, I hear you. So I think we need to revisit because we've been in this Mahomes Allen. It's Mahomes Allen Lamar. Yeah, right. Right now. Right. And maybe it's Mahomes Lamar Allen, maybe it's Lamar Mahomes Allen. You'll see what Patrick Mahomes does tonight, but this year has not been eye-popping vintage Mahomes. No. It's been eye-popping vintage Lamar. It is. I don't think it's going to be eye-popping vintage Mahomes this year. I mean, they're a defensive football team. There's no doubt about that. It's going to be ugly. And then he just makes a few plays. Baltimore on the other hand, no. They are a really good team throughout. Have enough pieces that they can unleash Lamar and Lamar is crazy talented. I mean, come on. Lamar is out of this world. He is a special, special talent that way. And yeah, I think you're right with what you're saying as far as the class of guys that he's involved in there. They're an Isaiah likely toenail and a crapping and/or peeing down their leg at home late against the rate he should be in five and off. No, I know. And that's why I make the statement at their best. And I look at it and I'm going to look here at the standings and all that again. At their best, I think they play with anybody in football. The Minnesota Vikings have been the best team in the league to this point. The Ravens beat the Vikings, Vikings couldn't handle them. Well, I can't listen to you. You're like, you could never say anything positive about your team once they start to play good. So you're, you don't count. Be quiet. Okay. But yes, it would be a good game. And I don't know if they would. You know what? I call scars permanent. Yeah. Because they are. Okay. Sometimes they get a little bit better though. Okay. Sometimes they just get used to them and it sets you up for more scars all over my face. You don't even see them all over. But when you get used to your scar, you, you, you retreat back into the behavior that gave you the scar. Well, nonetheless, at their best, they're up there with the Minnesota Vikings and the best teams in football. And like you said, yeah, the Chiefs are four and oh, and I would go, wait, I don't think the Chiefs have played as well as the Ravens who were throwing him too. Right? I mean, that's what you would say. But yeah, they blew it in some big situations and of course, close to the cost, close one to the Chiefs. The Vikings were five and oh in 2016 and they missed the playoffs. Yes. They finished eight and eight. This ain't 2016. This ain't that team that isn't that coaches, but you allow yourself to think and, and we'll hear all the stats with each additional win, what your percentages are. Oh, this is a percentage that means stuff. How many times do we see, you know, we see these charts after a game where here's your win percentage, here's your win percentage and then something happens and it goes like that. You know, the charts sucked. Maybe that's why maybe it shouldn't have done that. Maybe you should have realized that it was going to work out a different way and I carry around 50 years of scar tissue to tell me it's going to work out differently than what you think. We need to talk about that team coming up before we talk about the Vikings. Let's take a break. When we return, talk about the Buffalo bills that went down to Houston and it looked like they were going to get manhandled, but they almost pulled off the victory against Stefan Diggs and a Texans team that was wearing the ugliest uniforms I have seen. What? They weren't that ugly. I disagree with you. We'll be able to argue that next. Get off my lawn, old man. Teats and Watson's been making meats and cheeses the right way since forever. What's that mean? It means never cutting corners, ever. It means cooking, not processing. It means our Virginia brand ham that's cooked to perfection, then twice baked to layer the flavors. It takes more time. But you can taste the difference. We come to work every day to do it the right way, even if it's the hard way, because if it's not right for us, it's not right for you. Teats and Watson, it's a family thing since 1939. The $5 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 $5 meal deal today. Prices and participation may vary for a limited time only. (upbeat music)
