PodcastFrom Bootleg Football
The season was fun while it lasted.
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
57 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 22, 2026
Published
Tue, September 22, 2026
38
Player insights
32
Players mentioned
Topics
Bo NixCaleb WilliamsDavis WebbJayden DanielsJaylen WaddleAaron RodgersBijan RobinsonCooper RushD.J. MooreDallas GoedertDavid NjokuDemarcus RobinsonDrake LondonDrew Lock
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Rodgers
NegativeProjection2:00
Aaron Rodgers is playing poorly and dragging down the Steelers offense; he was ranked 29th at quarterback last year and remains flat out bad this year with no sign of late-career improvement. His average air yards per attempt is 4.7 (worse than last year), 3.8 yards per attempt under pressure, and 2.7 yards per attempt against blitzes. His average air yards per completion of 3.0 is the second-lowest in the NFL this season (only Cooper Rush is lower), making it nearly impossible to have a functioning NFL offense. The source believes he should be benched in favor of younger quarterbacks like Howard or Aller.
Insight pageBijan Robinson
PositiveRole8:00
Bijan Robinson is one of the best running backs in the league, but even his talent cannot overcome the Falcons' poor quarterback play and predictable offensive scheme.
Insight pageBo Nix
PositiveProjection19:30
Bo Nix bounced back in Week 2 after a rough first half with a bad interception in the end zone; he responded well to the Broncos' defensive adjustments and played great in the second half, making key plays in the fourth quarter to lead the Broncos to victory. The source credits him with responding to opportunities his defense gave him, showing resiliency and championship-caliber play.
Insight pagePositiveRole22:00
Bo Nix thrives when rolling out or throwing on the move; in week two, the Broncos increased design rollout rate to 16.1 percent (versus 3 percent in week one and 13.1 percent last year), generating second-best EPA per play in the league on those plays with five rollouts yielding four completions, all first downs or touchdowns, two of which were explosive gains. Nix's superpower is operating in space outside the pocket, where he feels less constrained and becomes a more effective quarterback.
Insight pageNegativeRole24:33
Bo Nix's superpower is operating out in space on rollouts; the source notes that when given space to stretch his legs, he becomes a better quarterback, with 80% of rollouts resulting in a first down, touchdown, or explosive play. The source advocates for Denver to lean more into this strength, recommending five rollouts per week based on this game's success, and warns opposing defenses must have a plan to reduce rollouts or risk getting cut up by this as Denver's primary sword.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
NegativeInjury33:00
Caleb Williams was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageNegativeInjury47:29
Suffered a hamstring injury that prevented him from finishing the game; the source explains that hamstring injuries cannot be effectively treated with Toradol shots—you literally cannot run on a badly pulled hammy, only walk a little, and the injury will get worse if aggravated, which is why the decision to keep him out was correct despite only a few minutes remaining.
Insight pageCooper Rush
NegativeProjection6:06
Cooper Rush is playing for the Falcons and is performing poorly; his average air yards per completion is 3.0, the lowest in the NFL this season, tied with Aaron Rodgers. The source uses him as a negative comparison point for quarterback play.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
NegativeInjury43:36
Landed on his shoulder and sprained his AC joint; the source notes from personal experience that AC joint sprains are extremely painful despite NFL players' toughness, and while Toradol shots can mask pain effectively, the underlying injury remains serious and limits mobility.
Insight pageDallas Goedert
NegativeInjury33:00
Dallas Goedert was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageDavid Njoku
NegativeInjury33:00
David Njoku was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageDavis Webb
PositiveRole21:00
Davis Webb deserves credit for the Broncos' Week 2 bounce-back victory, contributing to the team's resiliency and championship-caliber response to Week 1 criticism.
Insight pagePositiveRole22:28
Davis Webb, taking over play-calling duties in week two after week one struggles, demonstrated adaptive coaching by analyzing what worked in the previous season (13.1% rollout rate) versus what failed in week one (3% rollout rate), then increasing rollout rate to 16.1 percent to unlock Bo Nix's strengths and generate explosive plays and second-best EPA per play in the league on design rollouts.
Insight pageDemarcus Robinson
NegativeInjury33:00
Demarcus Robinson was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageDrake London
NegativeRole8:00
Drake London is part of the Falcons' offensive firepower but is being used predictably; Devin Lloyd got a TFL on Drake London on a fourth-and-one play by recognizing the same play design from the Browns' playbook and immediately triggering on Drake instead of falling for the Bijan handoff fake.
Insight pageDrew Lock
PositiveProjection32:00
Drew Locke looks like a starting quarterback in the NFL; he was 19 for 26, 235 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 139 rating against Arizona. The source emphasizes that Locke's quality backup play is invaluable to Seattle's division race, allowing them to not rush Sam Darnold back from injury and providing flexibility worth whatever money they're paying him.
Insight pageJ.K. Dobbins
NegativeInjury33:00
J.K. Dobbins was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageJack Strand
NegativeProjection11:00
Jack Strand is the Falcons' third quarterback option; the source speculates that he could be their version of Brock Purdy (a surprise success), but acknowledges this is unlikely and that the team's hope is teetering on the edge.
Insight pageJadarian Price
PositiveBreakout32:47
Drafted in the first round to replace Kenneth Walker, Price is emerging as a dominant force; he had a strong week two with multiple impactful plays including a highlight-reel stiff-arm/forearm flipper on Andrew Wingard that drew comparison to Walter Payton's signature move; the source notes Seattle drafted him to be a lead back and expects them to give him a lot of touches this season because 'every time they do, good stuff happens.'
Insight pageJalen Coker
PositiveRole31:42
JSN had a great day in Seattle's win over Arizona; Drew Locke connected with him on an 80-82 yard touchdown pass among five explosive plays, highlighting JSN's role as a primary target in the Seahawks' passing game.
Insight pageJayden Daniels
NegativeInjury33:00
Jaden Daniels was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageNegativeInjury33:40
Suffered an elbow dislocation (no fracture) with brutal timing for the Commanders; the source expects a few weeks of recovery and he will likely play with a brace upon return, similar to how Mahomes wears a lightweight magnesium brace and Joe Alt plays with an arm brace; pain tolerance, soft tissue healing, and structural support will be key factors.
Insight pageJayden Reed
NegativeInjury33:00
Jaden Reed was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageJaylen Waddle
PositiveRole21:20
After a quiet week one performance despite his high-profile acquisition and large contract, Jalen Waddle showed up significantly in week two, benefiting from the Broncos' offensive adjustments and increased rollout usage that put the offense in position to succeed.
Insight pagePositiveUsage21:30
Jalen Waddle didn't really show up in Week 1 despite being a high-profile acquisition with a large contract, but showed up in Week 2 for the Broncos.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
NegativeInjury33:00
Jaylen Warren was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
NegativeInjury33:00
Jonathan Brooks was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageJustin Herbert
NegativeProjection13:00
Justin Herbert and the Chargers' Mike McDaniel marriage has underperformed significantly; Herbert's offense posted a 32nd percentile EPA per drive performance in Week 1 and 20th percentile in Week 2. The Chargers are 0-2 at home as favorites with a brutal upcoming schedule (Buffalo, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, LA Rams, Houston, Baltimore), and are not favored to win a game until November 22nd.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveRole52:56
Currently having an amazing season as a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs; mentioned in context of Jadarian Price being drafted to replace him in Seattle, indicating Walker's strong performance elsewhere.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveRole8:00
Kyle Pitts is viewed as fine by the source despite the Falcons' offensive struggles; he is part of the team's offensive firepower but cannot overcome the poor quarterback play and predictable play-calling.
Insight pageMichael Penix Jr.
NegativeProjection10:00
Michael Penix Jr. is expected to return from injury for the Falcons and is better than Cooper Rush, but the source is uncertain whether his accuracy issues and the predictable offensive scheme will be enough to make the Falcons offense relevant. The source liked Penix coming out but has concerns about whether he can elevate the offense enough.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeInjury33:00
Mike Evans was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeInjury48:09
Wearing a lightweight magnesium brace on an injured knee; the source notes that Mahomes would prefer to play without it, as braces are fussy and difficult to get right, but the structural support is necessary for stability.
Insight pageRico Dowdle
NegativeInjury33:00
Rico Dowdle was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageSam Darnold
NegativeInjury32:00
Sam Darnold is dealing with an injury that has sidelined him; the source states they don't want Darnold back until he's 100% because Drew Locke is performing well enough to keep Seattle competitive in the NFC West race, reducing urgency to rush the starting quarterback back.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
NegativeInjury33:00
Saquon Barkley was among the star-power players who suffered injuries during week two, part of a vicious Sunday that saw multiple high-profile injuries across the league.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
NegativeMatchup51:35
Was obliterated by Caleb Downs right before the two-minute warning in the Cowboys-Commanders game; used as an example of Downs' aggressive defensive play.
Insight pageTrevor Lawrence
NegativeProjection20:00
Trevor Lawrence had an incredible first half against the Broncos but lost his mind in the second half; when the Broncos switched to more man coverage and cover two, he started throwing prayers and was intercepted by Riley Moss. He almost got picked again later in the game, completely losing it on offense when his receivers were challenged more aggressively in man coverage.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Well, Week 2 went exactly as nobody expected, quite frankly.
0:03We learn this lesson every year. Week 1 is weird.
0:06Week 2, arguably weirder. And so coming up with a list of things we think we know is virtually impossible.
0:13But we do have things we think we think, EJ.
0:16Yes, we think we think the NFL is healing or regressing to the norm or whatever you want to call it in Week 2.
0:24So we have some things we think are more true.
0:27Some of the things that people thought were true after Week 1, what we typically call overreactions.
0:32Some of those are fading away and some are still in the gray area.
0:37But we're going to tell you what we think we think we know after Week 2.
0:42And we're also going to talk about injuries because injuries are a fact of life in every NFL week, in every NFL season.
0:49But right now they're really highlighting how important decent backup quarterback play is in the league and whether or not that can
0:56keep your season on track or derail you completely.
0:59So we'll talk about that a little bit as well.
1:02So why don't we start with the first thing that we think we think, which is really a threefer.
1:09The Steelers, the Falcons, and the Chargers might be in for a very long, very arduous 2026.
1:14We'll start with the Steelers. I have been trying to find something positive to say about this team for two weeks now.
1:21Basically, all I got is TJ Watts making plays.
1:24Joey Porter might get traded. At this point, they probably should trade Joey Porter.
1:28I don't think it's going to be a very good year.
1:32So get an asset while you can. Man, this offense is horrible.
1:36Like absolutely putrid. They're not running the ball as well as they did last year.
1:41You know, the offensive line isn't playing as well as they did last year, quite frankly.
1:46Not that they're the worst offensive line in the league, but you have a quarterback who, you know, is playing the position
1:53that's supposed to elevate the rest of the team.
1:56He's dragging them down. Aaron Rodgers is flat out bad right now, and he's not making anybody around him good.
2:02And he's doing the typical Aaron Rodgers thing of passing off the blame to the coaching staff and teammates.
2:08And if I'm a Steelers fan, I don't know if I want to sit through 17 games of this.
2:14You do not. This is miserable football. So I had all the games up as I do in my office yesterday.
2:21And the one that I sort of clicked into the least and turned the volume on was this game, because every time
2:28I did, I just kind of got sad. And it's not I've been there.
2:32I have followed teams that played particularly offense like this.
2:36The defense is OK. The offense is hot garbage.
2:39I DM'd you in the middle of yesterday and said, this team is awful like this.
2:44They might be the worst team in the league on offense.
2:4731st in offensive success percentage. Only Miami is worse.
2:50And kind of everybody expected that. This really started for us in the summer series when we were talking about the decision to bring Aaron Rodgers back.
2:59And we were like, I guess if we squint, maybe it might work.
3:03Neither one of us felt great about that. You said Aaron Rodgers is terrible now.
3:08He was terrible last year. He's a 29th ranked quarterback, and yet they decided to bring him back.
3:13So they kind of made their bed and now they're lying in it.
3:18They scored 23 total points in two weeks. That's a little misleading because seven of those came from a pick six and a PAT.
3:25So it's really 16 points over two weeks in the NFL.
3:29That's not going to win you a lot of games, no matter how you could have the Seahawks defense and not win
3:36a lot of games with that point production. And as you said, now Aaron's standing up the podium week two, folks, and
3:43saying, ah, well, this coaching staff is calling the wrong plays a lot of the time.
3:48I just need to tell them more often when that happens.
3:52And if that's happening in week two, I'm with you.
3:55As a fan of Pittsburgh, I don't want any of this.
3:58I would much rather bench Rodgers, take a look at the young guys, see if that gives you a spark.
4:05Even if it doesn't, it can't be worse. And I'm just here kind of wondering, like, what plays are you referring to?
4:12Because we kind of criticized the design of the offense last year for just being quick game, and that was basically it
4:19as far as how their passing game is structured.
4:22Their running game, like we said, was pretty solid over the summer.
4:26But if you're looking at number of plays where you have a route breaking 10-plus yards down the field, anything breaking 10-plus yards down the field.
4:34They only had 248 last year, which was dead last by a lot.
4:38Like the second least amount was like 330-something. They were at 248.
4:42So they just didn't stretch the field. It's a big reason why they were one of the least explosive, if not the
4:49least explosive passing game in the NFL last year.
4:52And this year, they have 43 through two games, which is an uptick, but it's still only 21st across the NFL.
4:59And so to me, I'm like, Aaron, are you referring to them trying to stretch the field more?
5:04Is that what you're upset about? Because right now, his average air yards per attempt is 4.7.
5:10It's worse than it was last year, even with routes breaking more down the field.
5:15So he's horrific under pressure, 3.8 yards per attempt under pressure.
5:18He's even worse against blitzes, especially the ones that are getting pressure.
5:222.7 yards per attempt against blitzes. You could run the ball for more than that.
5:27Well, maybe not this year, but it's just outright horrible.
5:30An average air yards per completion of 3.0. I don't know how you can have a functioning NFL team with that number.
5:37There's only one quarterback that's lower so far this year, and it's Cooper Rush.
5:41So it's like, if you're keeping company with Cooper Rush right now, who we'll get to in a second, that's not an offense.
5:49And I understand McCarthy wants to defer to the first ballot Hall of Famer and ride this out.
5:55But at what point do you just owe Steelers fans putting either Howard or Aller on the field and just seeing if
6:02there's some kind of life in the room? Because you're not getting it from Aaron.
6:06I think you do it right now because you've seen what you've seen.
6:11And again, it's not just a two-week sample size.
6:14This isn't an overreaction. If you look at the entirety of last season, he was healthy.
6:19He played most of the games, almost all of the snaps for the Steelers, and the results were not great.
6:25That was with the offensive line playing better than it is this year.
6:29That was with the running game being more effective than it is this year.
6:34This year, that's gone away, and it's really sort of pulled back the curtain on what's left.
6:39And the answer is not much. Like, very little offensive success and, quite frankly, very little hope.
6:45And I think that's probably what's going to turn the tide here is what's done is done.
6:50This is at least hopeful. It might not be better in the win-loss column.
6:55It might be the season that you need either Aller or Howard to basically take their development lumps and move along.
7:01But spend it that way because that's at least a sunk cost into something that might be good.
7:07I am pretty sure that Rodgers is cooked. We were pretty sure he was cooked last year.
7:12He's shown no sign of some late career bump that would make Pittsburgh fans excited.
7:17So they're in a tough spot. Unfortunately, the guy you mentioned, Cooper Rush, is playing for the Falcons, and they too are in a tough spot.
7:26We highlighted their defense last week as playing pretty well.
7:29This week, we're going to highlight their offense as not playing really well.
7:33So we'll start with the fact that they have the number two highest screen percentage in the league.
7:3918.5% of their plays are screened. That's high for a college team.
7:43Correct. A little bit of an NFL team in 2026.
7:46That's stupid. And you would think because of that, screens are easier to complete, that their passer rating would be okay because of it.
7:53No. Falcons team passer rating. So this is all passers, Rush and Strand.
7:5838.2. If they spike the ball on every play, it would be 39.6.
8:02I talk about hopeless. The Falcons are only the fourth team.
8:05This stat killed me. The fourth team since NFL play-by-play was first tracked in 1978 without a red zone drive through two
8:12games, joining the 2008 Rams, the 97 Lions, and the 92 Patriots.
8:16That means in two full weeks, they haven't touched inside the opponent's 20.
8:20This is not a team you can look at on offense, even with all their firepower.
8:25Again, we like Drake London. We think Kyle Pitts is fine.
8:29Bijan is one of the best running backs in the league.
8:33You cannot look at this team with that offense and say they are going to win a damn thing this year.
8:39So one of the two quarterbacks better come back and play again.
8:43At least average or Falcons fans are in for a very long trip.
8:47You combine bad quarterback play with just predictability. Devin Lloyd knew everything they were doing in this game.
8:53He had one of the best games by a linebacker I've ever seen.
8:57It wasn't necessarily on volume stats. He only, quote-unquote, had nine tackles in this game.
9:02But he had five stops. He had two picks, including a pick six.
9:06He had another pass defense on top of that, which led to a different pick.
9:11He had a sack. There was a sequence where there was a third and two.
9:16He got the stop there. Dial up fourth and one.
9:19Got the TFL on Drake London on that one because he clearly went back and he looked at a carry that Malachi Corley got with the Browns.
9:28Again, same coaching staff. He did the same thing that I did where I saw how quickly he reacted to it.
9:34He didn't take the cheese of Bijan whatsoever. He immediately triggered on Drake.
9:39I was like, he must have watched a cut-up.
9:41So I went and watched the Browns' short yardage cut-ups last year.
9:45Sure enough, same play. They ran it one time the entire year and they gave the same handoff to Malachi Corley that
9:52they gave to Drake London this week. And he didn't fall for it at all.
9:57He just triggered shot in the backfield and got the TFL.
10:01So when you have Devin Lloyd, you could hand him the playbook.
10:04I don't think he would have read it any quicker.
10:08And he was doing that all game, both against the run and the pass.
10:12It's predictable. It's poorly executed. I feel bad for the other players on this Falcons offense because to your point, they do have a lot of talent.
10:21But I don't know where you go from here.
10:24I liked Michael Penix coming out. You and I have talked about his accuracy issues.
10:28Set aside the durability stuff for a second. If you put the last version of Michael Penix that we saw before he
10:36got injured, if you put that on the field in this offense right now, how much better are the results going to be?
10:43They're probably going to be better. But are they going to be good enough to really make this Falcons offense relevant?
10:50I'm not sure that it would. So there's still more hope in Atlanta than there is in Pittsburgh.
10:55Because I do like their defense. And I do think that Penix is better than Rush.
11:01And who knows? Maybe Jack Strand is like their Brock Purdy.
11:04Weird things have happened. But my hope for this team is teetering on the edge.
11:09Two more weeks of this, maybe one more week of this.
11:12And I'm like, all right, let's move on to April.
11:16I really think the Falcons are who everybody thought the Cardinals were trying to be this year.
11:21If you want to talk about tanking games. And again, they brought in two quarterbacks, which we didn't really like either one.
11:28Which means if you have two quarterbacks but neither of them are good, you actually don't have one.
11:34That was kind of what we said beforehand. We weren't predicting that they would be on QB3 in week one and two.
11:41We'll talk about that in a little bit. But in terms of hope for the season, it's rough right now.
11:47They're going to have to have some kind of miracle.
11:50And you don't get those at quarterback in the NFL.
11:54Good quarterbacks are not available on somebody's practice squad before the trade deadline.
11:58It doesn't happen. So they're going to have to get right by working through it.
12:03Probably with Penix when he comes back. And again, if you had to ask me to bet on that, I wouldn't have very much confidence in it.
12:11Speaking of teams I have very little confidence in, the Chargers.
12:15Again, we want the Chargers to be good every year.
12:18And they aren't every year. And at some point, you just go, hey, this is the thing.
12:23And it might be this year. And that's, again, the year we didn't expect.
12:28We thought, hey, Mike McDaniel is the offensive coordinator.
12:31Unleash Justin Herbert. Maybe the tackles will stay healthy.
12:34Chargers are only the second team in NFL history to lose back-to-back games by double digits.
12:39Both coming at home against teams that had a sub 200 win percentage in the previous season.
12:44The other was the 1926 Racine Tornadoes, who played just one more game before folding.
12:49And our buddy Alex Katzen tweeted, oh, good. Then I only have to watch this for one more week.
12:55Now, I don't think the Chargers are going to fold, but the start.
12:59Well? Well. I don't know, man. Don't put it past them.
13:03So the Justin Herbert, Mike McDaniel marriage that we were all really excited about.
13:0732nd percentile offensive performance in week one. This is according to Shilke Padia.
13:12That's based on EPA per drive. And a 20th percentile in week two.
13:16So they dropped 12 points, two losses at home as favorites.
13:19This is where it gets gross. Upcoming schedule is a absolute meat grinder.
13:23This is so bad. At Buffalo. At Seattle. Denver.
13:26At KC. Ugh. At the Rams. Houston. At Baltimore.
13:29Like, you had two chances as a favorite in the first two weeks.
13:33You blew them both. And now you're staring down.
13:36Bills. Hawks. Broncos. Chiefs. Rams. Texans. And Ravens. I.
13:39Good luck, Chuck. This is going to be so difficult.
13:42And we might be talking about Harbaugh's seat warming up of all things.
13:46Which we thought was the furthest possibility at the beginning.
13:50I don't think it's going to happen just because it's really hard to start 0-9.
13:54It's just as hard to start 0-9 as it is 9-0 in the NFL, quite frankly.
14:00But it's on the board. There's a non-zero chance that this is an 0-9 football team.
14:05And perhaps the least expected 0-9. Like, even people that's out of the Chargers going into this year.
14:10You didn't think they were going to go 0-9.
14:13But they're not favored. Trevor made this point to me last night.
14:17They're not favored to win a game until November 22nd.
14:20As it stands right now. Like, that's... This is uncharted territory.
14:24Even for the Chargers. Really, since the season before they took Herbert.
14:28Right? When they ended up picking in the top 10.
14:31This could get really, really bad. If they don't fix their issues.
14:35And we talk about... Okay, well you get McDaniel in there.
14:38You know, you have two elite tackles. If they're playing well.
14:42And you got Herbert. You got Ladd. And Omari.
14:45Well, those two tackles that we love so much.
14:48Both had really bad games. They both had pressure percentages in the double digits allowed.
14:52Joe Walt had four penalties. Including giving up a safety.
14:56Because Max Crosby beat him. So he drew a penalty in the end zone.
15:00Gave up a safety. Led to an onside free kick at the end of the game.
15:05Weirdly enough. So you have a bad game from the tackles.
15:09Because Omari is fighting for his life. He gets like 25 touches in this game.
15:14He was the only real consistent thing the Chargers had going for him.
15:18You get two picks. One of them bouncing off a receiver's hand.
15:22You have six Charger fumbles. They only lost one.
15:24But they fumbled six times. Like... It's like they dipped the ball in butter before every drive.
15:30It's insanity. It was one of the sloppiest games I have ever seen a Jim Harbaugh team play.
15:36Like truly. At any level. One of the sloppiest games they've ever played.
15:40And even by Charger standards. One of the sloppiest games.
15:43Like... There had not been a team that fumbled six times since 1987.
15:47EJ. Like... Decades. Decades. So I don't know where we go from here.
15:51I don't have confidence in them against the... Like I don't think they're going to win at Buffalo.
15:57I don't think they're going to win at Seattle.
16:00It'll be a dogfight against Denver. But like how can you be super confident in that?
16:05And then you're going on the road at the Chiefs.
16:08Who had ten explosive pass plays. Last night against Indy.
16:12Like... They look all the way back. Their defense is playing...
16:15Well... Sort of. Other than against Jonathan Taylor. But...
16:18You know their defense was playing great in week one.
16:21Mahomes looks back. The running game looks good. Like...
16:24This could very easily be an 0-6 ball club that has to then play against the Rams and the Texans and the Ravens.
16:31I don't know, man. If I'm a Chargers fan, I'm booting up the mock draft simulator already.
16:37I didn't think I would say that mid-September. Yeah, you're calling up Steelers fans and saying, so what are we going to do with our falls?
16:45Because I don't want to watch this. But I'm with you.
16:49It is hard to go 0-9. I do think that they will probably circle the wagons a little bit and figure out some of their issues.
16:57Because some of it is execution. Some of it is not.
17:01And we're going to find out which is which.
17:03But everybody talks about the Patriots schedule last year and how that aided their, you know, roll to the Super Bowl.
17:10The schedule cuts both ways. And right now, the schedule's not doing the Chargers any favors.
17:15In fact, it is saying, you know, toughest battles?
17:18Here's all of them. Go for it. Fix your issues in the worst possible way.
17:23And if they can do that, if they are successful in winning a couple of those games, three of those games.
17:30I don't know which three they'd be, but weirder things happen.
17:33Yeah, there'll only be a three and six at that point.
17:37Right. Like, but they will be a better football team because they marched through an incredible gauntlet and found a way to sort of get right.
17:45And that's the NFL. There's good players across from you every single week on Sunday.
17:50There are no gimmies. There are easier games and harder ones.
17:53And this is certainly one of the harder slates.
17:56But they might be able to sort of forge an identity here.
18:00If they don't, they are going to fold. I don't mean like the racing tornadoes, but this team will be done for the year.
18:08One quick break, then we'll get right back to it.
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19:24And with that, let's get back to it. Speaking of bouncing back, forging an identity, Broncos bounced back in a huge way in Week 2.
19:32Started out super shaky. Like they were barreling towards a very embarrassing 0-2 start because Bo Nix had a rough first half.
19:39Really bad pick in the end zone. Have no idea what he was thinking there.
19:44Made a tremendous throw, to borrow an EJ-ism, to get down to the one-yard line.
19:48And then they couldn't punch it in. So the offense, you know, one step forward, two steps back for basically the entire first half.
19:56Meanwhile, Trevor was dealing, having an incredible first half in his own right.
20:00And it was going sideways. Come out at halftime.
20:03Similar thing happened to what we talk about in Summer Series, right?
20:07Where we're like, hey, this is a second half team.
20:10But the second half offense was really given juice by their second half defense over and over and over again.
20:17And we always credited Bo with like responding and taking the opportunities that his defense gave him.
20:22Happened in this game, too. Right? Trevor, he kind of lost his mind in the second half.
20:28The Broncos came out, played more man coverage, more cover, too.
20:31Gifted them an interception. Well, I shouldn't say gifted.
20:34Riley Moss made a great play. And then he almost got picked again by Moss later in the game.
20:40He was just throwing it up and just saying prayers, essentially, when the ball was in the air.
20:46No idea what got into him in the second half.
20:49It's like as soon as the Jags receivers got challenged more aggressively in man coverage, they just lost it.
20:55They completely lost it on offense. Jacksonville did. But that gave Bo Nix and the Broncos an opportunity to stabilize offensively on their end.
21:03And Bo played great. The run game played a lot better in the second half.
21:08Quinn Miners was just playing like a man possessed, pancaking people all over the place.
21:12And they clawed their way back into it. You know, made a couple key plays in the fourth quarter and ended up winning this game.
21:20But, you know, credit to the Broncos. Credit to Bo Nix.
21:24Credit to Davis Webb. Credit to Vance Joseph, obviously, for the bounce back defensively from week one to week two.
21:30This team showed resiliency in the face of very warranted criticism that I think a championship caliber team needs to show.
21:37And they found their way back in multiple ways.
21:40Jalen Waddell, who didn't really show up in the first week.
21:43He of the high profile acquisition and large contract showed up in week two.
21:48One of the major changes that really facilitated this, there was a lot of criticism of Davis Webb taking over the play
21:55calling duties in week one from Sean Payton. And obviously the offense was moribund.
21:59Well, Davis Webb, not one to sort of stick by his guns and say we're going to win this way or the
22:06highway, says, huh, what did we do last year that we didn't do in week one?
22:12And this comes from our buddy Sam Bruckhaus over at Sumer.
22:15Last year, the rollout rate for Bo Nix was 13.1 percent in week one versus Casey.
22:20It dropped 10 points to 3 percent. They basically didn't do it and it didn't work Sunday versus the Jags.
22:2716.1 percent higher than all of last season. Davis Webb's like, look, we need to get this guy going.
22:33This is what really lights him up. He tends to create explosives and see the field very well rolling out.
22:39He's a good thrower on the move. We're going to do that more often.
22:44And the results were, I don't want to say predictable, but I was highly encouraged by the change, especially from a young
22:51play caller to not just say, oh, it's one bad week.
22:54Look, he'll settle in. We'll get it done. But instead saying, look, what were we missing that we had last year when he played really well?
23:03Oh, let's do some more of that again. Let's put my players in the best possible position to succeed.
23:09And I think Davis Webb did that in a huge way in week two.
23:13And it was a big reason that the Broncos were able to generate all the plays that they did, especially in the second half.
23:21There is something about throwing on the run that Bo is just comfortable with.
23:25Right? Like even that huge gain that got him down to the one yard line in the first half.
23:31He was on the run and it was a dot, not even a dot.
23:36It was a missile deep down the field. Perfect ball.
23:39And it was on the run. And going back to last year, whether it was a scramble or a design rollout, he
23:46was really, really deadly, either to his left or to his right on the run.
23:51This past week, they were second in EPA per play on those design rollouts in the entire league.
23:57They had five in this game. They only had two in week one.
24:01One of those was a throwaway. He was down in the red zone.
24:05Play kind of got blown up a little bit.
24:08So he just smartly threw it away. The other four were all completions.
24:12All of them were either first downs or touchdowns.
24:15And two of them were explosives. This works for them.
24:18Right? If we're looking at the legacy of what Broncos offenses have looked like in the past, going back to the Shanahan
24:25days, that's what they did over and over and over again.
24:29Because John Elway was also really, really good at throwing on the run.
24:33There was something about it. But when you kind of gave him space to stretch his legs, he became a better quarterback.
24:40And Bo Nix is, I'm not saying he's John Elway, by the way.
24:44I'm just saying Bo Nix, his superpower is just being out in space.
24:48And maybe it's just he feels less constrained than when he's in the pocket.
24:53I have no idea. Maybe it's when you cut the field in half and he's just reading deep to short.
24:59There is just something about it that is his comfort zone.
25:03And he is so, so good at it. So, yeah, lean more into that.
25:07I want to see five rollouts a week, just like this game.
25:11Because 80% of the time when you do it, it's going to result in a first down or a touchdown or an explosive.
25:18And if you're an opposing defense, you best be ready for it when you face Denver.
25:24You best have a plan to reduce rollouts. And look, many defenses have faced great quarterbacks who, if they roll out, are all kinds of more dangerous.
25:32We talked about one in Pat Mahomes earlier. Early in his career, it was like, do not let him leave the pocket.
25:39He's probably still going to beat you, but do not let him get out on the edge because that's when you're going
25:46to see huge explosive gains down the field to Tyreek Hill and everybody else.
25:51And so defenses are coming to the plant. Not all of them could execute it, but you best have one for Denver
25:58at this point because that is their sword. And if you can't block it, you're going to get cut up.
26:04Next thing that we think we think we know.
26:07There are three young pass rushers, two of them edges, one of them interior.
26:12We've talked about them all in spurts, but I want to dedicate a segment to them because all of them are exploding.
26:19Dallas Turner, Lucas Van Ness, Deion Walker. Arguably, all of them have arrived.
26:23We'll see if they can sustain this, but at least early sample size of this season.
26:28Dallas Turner has 20 pressures and three sacks so far.
26:31He is just a man possessed out there. Even if you take out the six unblocked pressures, because I know, you know,
26:38everybody's like, okay, well, they blitz so much. He's coming free off the edge.
26:43Yes, true. But if you take just normal pressures, no unblocked pressures, he's still second in the league.
26:48He's tied with Aiden Hutchinson. Aiden Hutchinson's pretty good, right?
26:52So Dallas Turner is playing at that level. They are not missing Jonathan Grenard whatsoever.
26:56So great call by that front office. Lucas Van Ness, we had talked this offseason about, hey, the on-off splits with Micah Parsons are brutal.
27:04I don't know if they're going to get any pass rush whatsoever with Micah not there.
27:10Well, cue Lucas Van Ness going against a really talented tackle tandem with the Jets.
27:14He got nine pressures. This is from NextGenStats. Nine pressures against the Jets in week two.
27:19A handful of those against Armand Membu, by the way.
27:23Extremely talented tackle. Five of those pressures were under two and a half seconds, tied for the third most by a Packers defender since 2020.
27:31That's the kind of game that they need him to have, A, to alleviate the pressure without Micah Parsons.
27:37But if he can sustain that and they get Micah back, now you've got a real duo, right?
27:43Now the Packers have a real defense and game on in the NFC North, right?
27:47And then Deion Walker, who we've talked about several times at this point, but we should do it again.
27:53That game against the Lions. Oh my God. Like that, that's a brand new level even for Deion Walker.
28:00You go back to healthy Deion Walker at Kentucky and we're like, oh, what could he be?
28:05That looked even better than our wildest dreams of young, healthy Deion Walker.
28:09He is tied with Jeff Simmons at the top of the pressures list among all interior defensive linemen.
28:15If you're tied with Jeff Simmons in anything, you're an incredible football player.
28:19Also has two tackles for loss already against the run.
28:22330, moving like that, literally tossing Penny Sewell to the side.
28:26Penny Sewell of all tackles. Deion Walker is here, man.
28:29And he is, he is exceptionally good. But all three of these guys are making their mark this season.
28:35Turner, it's his third season with the Vikes. And I'll say he's maybe one of the more expected on this list.
28:42I would also put Deion Walker in that category because all summer long, everybody said, oh yeah, Dallas Turner, breakout season, year three, it's coming.
28:50He's looking like he is turning the corner. He's always had the gifts, folks.
28:54We highlighted them in the pre-draft process and we said if he lands in the right spot.
29:00He did land in the right spot. It just took a while.
29:04Well, it does look like he is able to, going to be able to sustain that.
29:09That's very good for Minnesota. Deion Walker had his moments last year.
29:13He definitely came along and it was the question of, okay, what are they getting when they took him in the fourth round?
29:20Are they getting the injured version from his senior season in college or are they getting the absolute game record that was
29:27his junior tape in college before the back injury?
29:30It kind of looked like he was starting to be back last year and he has taken that and to your point
29:37just pushed it up to another level. He is playing against the NFL's best and making them look silly and it's not
29:44just power from a 330 pound guy. He's using swim moves, club and arm over and beating guards who are supposedly supposed to be quicker than him.
29:53They're not. He's quicker than them. So that's where those results are coming from.
29:57I'm going to say Lucas Van Ness is probably the most unexpected on this list because even when he had, has had
30:04opportunities in the past, he hasn't seemingly put it together.
30:07Flashes for sure. Again, physical talents were already there, but it wasn't that he was having dominating games and to go out
30:14and do it against that young Jets, very talented offensive tackle tandem.
30:18He had them in a blender, like all game long.
30:21He was finding ways to get through and around them.
30:25And you might say, oh, well, look, Van Ness is going up against Membu this week.
30:30It's okay. You can kind of give him a week off and we'll see what he does for the rest of the season.
30:37Uh-uh. Turned that switch the other way and said, I'm going to take the best and put them in the ground right
30:44in front of me and did it over and over and over again.
30:48So I think that is the happiest and most unexpected result for Packers fans, certainly on the list.
30:54But all three of these guys are really making a dent this season and really feel like if we're making a who's
31:01next list, it's these guys and it's not next.
31:04It's now. Yeah. Who's next to get $150 million?
31:07Yeah. Well, that's coming. All these guys. Um, all right.
31:10This next thing is not a thing we think we think it's a thing we know we know.
31:16Seattle's still really good. The fact that it was midway through the third quarter and it was 14 to seven, right?
31:23Your classic NFC West, you know, mud, mud wrestling match, right?
31:26And next gen stats still had Seattle an 85% chance to win.
31:30That is how feared this defense is, is like you give them one possession in the second half and next gen stats is like, yeah, they win.
31:39That's it. Game over. And from there, they just took off.
31:42JSN had a great day. Drew Locke was dealing, man.
31:45Like they ran the ball a lot and Locke still managed to have five beautiful explosive passes in this one.
31:52One of them was an 80, 82 yard touchdown to JSN, obviously.
31:56But Drew Locke, he looks like a starting quarterback in the NFL and the Seahawks.
32:00They're going to hold on to him for dear life because having that kind of quality quarterback play in the room, you
32:07know, if a Sam Darnold gets injured, it's worth his weight in gold.
32:12You're trying to keep up in the NFC West.
32:14You're trying to keep up with the race for the one seed.
32:18You know, if Sam Darnold went down and they didn't have Drew Locke, right?
32:23If they had a really poor backup quarterback situation, like say Cooper Rush, right?
32:27I would be pretty worried about Seattle's ability to win the division.
32:31At this point, I don't want Sam coming back until he's 100% because Drew's fine.
32:36He's more than fine. Like they are cruising at the moment.
32:39And I think that kind of flexibility to not rush your starting quarterback back is worth whatever money they're paying Drew Locke.
32:47Like you can't really put a price on that.
32:49Yeah. John Schneider was a champion of him coming back into town to be the backup to Sam for this very reason,
32:56because if the other eventuality happens, Darnold goes down and you don't have a Drew Locke who you're comfortable with taking this very talented offense down the field.
33:05You have this loaded team in a window that is now handicapped and probably going to be giving up games and they
33:12can ill afford to do that in a very competitive division.
33:16So backup quarterback play, quality backup quarterback play is, I would say, more important than ever because the season is longer.
33:23There's more attrition. We're just going to highlight some of the injuries that happened on Sunday.
33:28It was a vicious Sunday. Some are worse than others.
33:31This one was really bad. I'm just going to go through names, not necessarily injury or severity, but you can see the star power on the list.
33:40Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Saquon Barkley, J.K. Dobbins, Rico Dowdle, Jadarian Price went out for a time.
33:45Looks like he's going to be okay. Jonathan Brooks, Mike Evans, Jaden Reed, Demarcus Robinson, Dallas Goddard, David Njoku, Charlie Kohler, Eli
33:52Reardon, Avante Maddox, Michael Onwenu, Derwin James, Sam Cosme, Calvin Banks, Alec Pierce, you get the idea.
33:58A lot of star power left the field in week two.
34:01And more than ever with some quarterbacks on that list, it just highlights the importance that you're talking about.
34:07So three teams went into week two already starting backup quarterbacks, the Vikings, the Seahawks, and the Falcons.
34:13By the end of the day, that count had risen to five.
34:17The Bears and the Commanders added to the list.
34:20If you have a good backup, Drew Locke being case in point, you can keep your season on track.
34:26On Sunday, Drew was 19 for 26, 235 yards, three touchdowns, no picks, very important, and a 139 rating.
34:32To your point, he looked sharp. He looked able to function at a high level.
34:37Some people will say, oh, it's the Cardinals defense.
34:40They were terrible last year. They were pretty good in week one.
34:43They're an NFL pro defense. He didn't stumble. Some of these other quarterbacks faced not great defenses as well and didn't have as good a result.
34:52Commanders are in a similar position. Marcus Mariota played a bunch last season.
34:56He came in. He went 11 for 16, 111 yards with one TD, but a huge asterisk because they had one disallowed that was...
35:04Did they give a reason why that got over?
35:07No. One knee is two feet. What are we doing?
35:10And it was clearly in the green. Like, that was a touchdown.
35:14Like, it got taken off the board. So again, you have a guy that can come in and function.
35:20He threw that immediately. That was within like the first five plays that he was in.
35:25So they're in a good spot. Marcus Mariota, we sang his praises on this podcast last year.
35:30Both of those teams are stable if their starter goes down and their starter has already gone down in week two.
35:37If you don't, you can still win, but you need a little luck in for everything to go right.
35:43We talked about how well Dallas Turner's playing. We didn't talk about Caleb Banks.
35:48He kind of announced his presence with authority in week two.
35:51Again, one of those players like Dion, who, if he's healthy, can make a huge difference.
35:56But Carson Wentz, 11 for 20, 143 yards, three sacks, and a 77 rating.
36:01The Vikings know what he is, and KOC doesn't trust him, and that's rightfully so.
36:05Their run rate on first and second down versus the Bears was 64.9%, second in the league for Sunday.
36:12They know what they're not going to ask him to do, and they found a way to win the game.
36:18Credit to them, but that is not a quarterbacking performance that's going to go out and win you a game.
36:24That is a quarterbacking performance to not go out and lose you the game.
36:29And I understand the difference, and so do they.
36:32If you are the tier below that, if you are the Falcons, Cooper Rush and Jack Strand.
36:37So I know a lot of people hope Jack Strand is the answer.
36:41Look, great story. Unlikely that he is, but Cooper Rush has taken the majority of these snaps, and we talked about how
36:48hopeless it was for the Falcons at the top of the show.
36:52Cooper Rush, 10 for 17 for 86 yards, no touchdowns, two picks, and a 32.6 rating.
36:57That is not going to win you anything. It is not going to put you in the if we get lucky category.
37:04That puts you in the we're going to lose category.
37:08You cannot play offense at that level in the NFL and expect to come away with a W.
37:13Now Jack Strand, for his part, 8 for 15, 59 yards, no touchdowns, one pick, and a 35.1 rating.
37:19He is a rookie getting his first starting action in the regular season.
37:24I think that's a little bit more excusable than Rush's performance, and that leaves one Tyson Bajan on the board because Tyson Bajan has torn up the preseason.
37:33He has been rewarded with a contract. Obviously, Chicago thinks he is their version of Drew Locke.
37:38They think he can hold the reins while Caleb Williams might miss some time with a hamstring, but in the regular season, it remains to be seen.
37:47This is not an assured thing. In 12 career games, regular season games, Tyson Bajan is 99 for 149, 917 yards, three
37:54touchdowns, six picks, and a 73 rating, very close to that Carson Wentz 77 rating.
37:59So is he a caretaker that you hope your defense and the rest of the offense can lift up and carry to
38:06a win, or is he going to ascend? Has he developed enough that he's going to move himself up into that Mariota
38:13and Locke category where he might be the reason?
38:16Some of those highlights he's shown in the preseason, are they going to come through against regular season defenses and be a
38:23reason the Bears win, or just hopefully a caretaker and not the reason the Bears lose?
38:28I mean, it's tough to get your first snaps of the season without preparing as a starter for the week against Brian Flores in the rain.
38:36So we'll see. It doesn't get any easier because now he's got Vic Fangio to deal with if he's playing this week,
38:43which as of recording, by the way, this is Monday morning, West Coast time, we're recording this.
38:48All we know is Tom Pelissero said the hamstring for Caleb is not expected to be serious, and they think he could play.
38:56I have no idea. Also, I want to go on a tangent a little bit.
39:01There was a lot of tomfoolery, maybe is the best way to put it, about Caleb being carted off and crying for
39:08what ended up being a quote-unquote minor hamstring injury.
39:11Guys, he wasn't crying because his hammy hurt. He was crying because they were on the six-yard line.
39:16It was first and six. They had an opportunity to win the game.
39:21Touchdown was right in front of him as he's running.
39:24He popped his hammy, and he wanted to go win the game.
39:28It was a tough game against a really tough defense in division.
39:31Didn't know how serious it was. He's a football player who likes playing football, and in the moment, you have an adrenaline
39:38dump, and you're like, oh my God, am I not going to get to play for a while?
39:44That's why he was upset. It's because he wanted to go win the game.
39:49They were on the six-yard line, and you can criticize somebody having emotions about their team's potential success or failure and the
39:56emotions of, quote-unquote, letting the team down by popping a hammy or how much time you're going to miss.
40:02I don't know. Perfectly acceptable response to me to let the emotions come out.
40:06I know everybody loves to watch a robot walk off the field when they have their leg ripped off.
40:12That's not what Caleb is. That's fine. He's an emotional human.
40:16He's allowed to have emotions. As far as I'm concerned, he's a really damn good quarterback.
40:21That, to me, trumps whether or not he's a human in the moment of an injury of unknown severity.
40:27So, I don't know. It's just a bunch of hardos on Twitter that are trying to act tough.
40:33And I don't know. I know what I know about Caleb, which is he loves playing football, and in the moment, he
40:40was upset that he didn't get to play football for the rest of the day.
40:45I think those reactions probably highlight other folks' agendas about Caleb and his place as the quarterback of the Bears, his place
40:52in the overall stratosphere of the NFL, and when they want to bring him down, they're going to find a way to use stuff like that.
41:00Can you find other examples of high-profile, supposedly very tough football players?
41:04And to your point, they're all tough. If you play in the NFL, you have to be very tough.
41:10It is a demanding occupation. I don't care what position you play.
41:14It is physically very difficult to play in the NFL.
41:17I am not questioning any player's toughness in the NFL.
41:20But you can find other high-profile players. The one that I saw, and again, there are as many examples on both sides
41:27of this spectrum as you want, was Gronkowski going down with what eventually became a grade-one knee sprain.
41:33Like, he was on the field. This is when he played for the Patriots.
41:38On the field, writhing, screaming, hammering the ground. And, you know, I didn't see a lot of people talking about that at the time.
41:45Again, it is an emotional moment. You're all jacked up.
41:49You're trying to win the game. You are uncertain about the outcome.
41:52You don't know how bad it is. You just know that you can't get up and run on it right then, and
41:59that's what you really want to do. So we tend to see all kinds of reactions.
42:05Some people are very solemn, don't move at all.
42:07Some people are, you know, animated. I don't really care, right?
42:11It's if you are going to get up and go out on any given Sunday and take shots in the NFL from
42:18300-pound guys bent on your destruction, I'm not going to question your toughness.
42:22I don't need to. There's no reason. And, you know, I think a lot of people sitting at home deciding to do
42:29that are showing their true colors more than Caleb Williams.
42:32Similar story with Jaden Daniels. Like, his elbow was like an obtuse triangle.
42:37And he tried to run it off, and eventually he's like, this really fucking hurts.
42:41I'm going to get on the ground right now.
42:44The fact that he made it 10 steps, like, I would have been folded like a lawn chair if that happened to my arm.
42:52I, oh, man, that was a brutal one to watch.
42:55I know. And the timing was horrendous, obviously, for the commanders.
42:59Incidentally, way down the importance scale for me. I ran upstairs to get a bite to eat right before it happened.
43:05And I came back. Good, you missed a really awful replay.
43:09Nope. I came back down, having eaten, still sort of wiping the food off my mouth.
43:14And, wah, got to watch his elbow do that.
43:17And I was like, oh, my God. Like, I have a pretty strong stomach for stuff like that.
43:23Seen a lot of stuff like that in person.
43:26Elbows, for some reason, really get me. And that was obvious and immediate.
43:30And, unfortunately, one that he's injured before, which is always tough.
43:33That one was just ill-timed all the way around.
43:36Rough news for the commanders? Luckily, no fracture, by the way.
43:40I think it was just a dislocate. Well, just a dislocate.
43:43Okay. Your soapbox, I'm going to take mine. DJ Moore landed on his shoulder, sprained his AC joint.
43:49I've sprained my AC joint. I have, too. It fucking sucks, dude.
43:53It's so painful. It hurts so bad. Everybody's like, oh, well, they're tougher than you.
43:58Well, we've already established we know that that's true.
44:01True. I've seen plenty of people that aren't NFL players exhibit extreme toughness just out in the wild in regular life.
44:07They also don't have Toradol. And, yes, I'm one of those rare people that didn't play in the NFL and, yes, have had Toradol.
44:15And that stuff is scary effective. I had it when I broke my back.
44:19They gave me a shot of that stuff. I'd been in the fetal position for two hours.
44:25It was about five hours post-break. I'd been sitting in a hospital waiting room, curled up in the fetal position, couldn't move.
44:32They wheeled me into a room. They said, oh, could you get something for the paint?
44:37I said, yeah, sure. That'd be great. Nurse came in, big syringe, flips up my gown, is about to jam it into me.
44:44And I was like, excuse me? She was like, what?
44:48And I was like, what is that? And she goes- I didn't even tell you what it is.
44:53She's like, oh, it's like really strong liquid Motrin.
44:56And I was like, okay. This was when it was in clinical trials.
45:00So she gives me a shot of that stuff and she leaves.
45:04That's her job. She just came in, cleaned up the area, gave me the shot and left.
45:10Five minutes later, by the clock, x-ray tech comes in, says, hey, I know you're in rough shape.
45:15Can you stand? Can you walk? We got to get you the x-ray room or do we need to get a wheelchair?
45:23I said, hang on. And I pivoted, swung my legs over the table, sat up and was like, uh-oh, this is not good.
45:30Because I was pretty sure I'd broken my back at the time.
45:34And I was like, can you stand? She grabs my elbow.
45:37I put my feet on the ground and I don't feel all right.
45:41I feel fine. I feel like I could walk out of the hospital, go home and be good.
45:47That is the power of Tordal from fetal position with a broken back to, yeah, I can walk.
45:53No problem. Like, and I walked the 15 steps down the hallway.
45:57I go get my x-rays. I come back, back, you know, doc comes in and goes, yeah, you broke your back.
46:04I was like, okay, that's really scary. Because if I had decided as a lesser informed person, I'll just walk out of
46:11here and go do whatever with a broken back, it's all Tordal, folks.
46:15So yes, getting a shot can make it so you can play through just about anything.
46:20It doesn't mean AC joints don't hurt. It doesn't mean that badly pulled hammies.
46:24If you've badly pulled your hammy and lots of people have had that injury, like you're not, you don't even want to
46:31walk around, forget, put weight on it or, you know, be chased by people who want to drive you into the turf.
46:38So all of this stuff hurts. You have to have a high pain tolerance to play in the NFL.
46:45And if you're going to get a shot, you better be really careful because even if you are devastatingly injured, you're not
46:52going to feel like it and you're going to go out and go full speed.
46:56That's why, you know, when they're doing these assessments in game, it's almost like triaging or it's like, can it get worse?
47:03Yeah. Are we going to make it worse by sending you out there?
47:08Yeah. If the answer is no, congrats, bud. You get a Tordal shot and going back out there.
47:13If it can't get worse, if that's the ceiling of where we're at and you could still function, you're going back out there with a shot.
47:22If we risk it getting worse, then you're not like some people are like, oh, Caleb should have come back and finish the game.
47:29It's like, I don't think that was. Yeah. Well, first of all, there's only a few minutes left.
47:35Hammies are or a shot doesn't necessarily fix a hammy.
47:38Like you literally can't run on that at all.
47:41You can maybe walk a little bit. You can't run on that.
47:45It will get worse. So yeah, that's just one of those things.
47:49We don't have an update, by the way, as a recording of if Jaden's going to miss time or if surgery is going to be required.
47:57I'm not an expert on elbow dislocation. Because there was no break that is in the bone.
48:03It will probably be a few weeks and he will or can play with a brace when he comes back.
48:09So he's not going to be injured. I have to imagine he will.
48:13Right. With a brace. It's difficult as a quarterback to play with a brace.
48:18We talked about Mahomes, right? He's wearing a lightweight magnesium brace.
48:21They've talked about that for the past couple of weeks on that injured knee.
48:26And he would prefer to be without it. Braces are fussy and they're tough to get right and whatever else.
48:32But you need the support. And you see like Joe Alt is playing with a brace on his arm.
48:38You see lots of guys that have messed up elbows, shoulder slings.
48:42You know, lots of NFL players play with braces on to give them additional structural support.
48:47Jaden's going to need that. But because there's no break, it is going to be pain tolerance, soft tissue, and then just extra support added to the joint.
48:56I'm going to wrap up the show with an interesting little trend.
49:00Nobody can hold on to the ball, EJ. We mentioned the Chargers fumbled six times this week.
49:05They're not the only team. Everybody's fumbling and they're fumbling a lot.
49:09Yeah, at a tremendous rate. We have 83 fumbles now through two weeks in the NFL.
49:14Last year, we had 56 through two weeks. That's courtesy of Ben Solek.
49:19And that is a large increase in percentage in total number.
49:22Again, fumbles are very fickle. Sometimes you can have six and lose one.
49:26Sometimes you can have three and lose all three.
49:29So that's why turnovers are so fickle and the rates go up and down.
49:34And there is regression when teams depend on getting them on defense or making them on offense.
49:39You're probably not going to stay at those heights on either side.
49:43But it is notable that it is, I think defenses have decided it is easier to get fumbles, to create fumbles, than
49:50it is to try and get interceptions for multiple reasons.
49:53And we can have a more reliable, not a reliable, but a more reliable source of turnovers if we get everybody punching at the ball all the time.
50:02And that has become a league-wide trend of like, hey, free food.
50:06Like, if we can generate extra possessions by, again, it is a training thing.
50:10It is a point of emphasis thing for defenses and defensive coordinators to say every day, every time you come in, there
50:18is a way to make the tackle and have your other hand punching at that football.
50:23You never know when you're going to be able to get it out.
50:27And the teams are getting it out of runners' hands at a historic rate right now.
50:32There was some sound because Fred Warner was mic'd up in week one, and he went to Dre Greenlaw, and he's like,
50:39hey, man, just hold him up for me. I'm going to get the ball.
50:43And a few minutes later, Greenlaw's like holding up.
50:46I can't remember who it was on the Rams that he was holding up because if you tackle somebody immediately, that takes
50:53away your opportunity to punch it out. So he was holding up this Rams offensive player, whoever it was.
50:59And Fred just comes in, just hatchets it out of there.
51:03Did it again this week, by the way, which is probably a great segue to Shot of the Week nominees.
51:09Fred Warner is our first Shot of the Week nominee because he did it again, second straight week.
51:15Dolphins player, literally two hands on the ball, like four points of contact at this point.
51:20He's like, no, you're not going to get it.
51:23And Fred's still just perfect, pinpoint accurate punch, still got it out.
51:27He's one of the best fumble forcers, I guess you could say, force fumblers, peanut punchers.
51:32Honestly, he's the best since Peanut at doing that.
51:35He's just so accurate with it. So even though it's not a huge hit, I still want to nominate it for Shot
51:42of the Week just because that is to me what, beyond his coverage ability, that's what I mostly know Fred for, is just those incredibly accurate punch outs.
51:51Nominee number two, never thought we would get Pop Douglas on Shot of the Week.
51:56He got a two for one on Tre'Bion Henderson's big touchdown run, took out both safeties by himself, 185 pound Pop Douglas getting after it as a blocker.
52:05Hell of a play by him. Nominee number three, Caleb Downs, obliterating Terry McLaurin right before the two-minute warning in that Cowboys-Commanders game.
52:12He's already looking like he's one of them ones.
52:15He had a great week, too. We kind of anticipated that he was just going to be ready to go out of
52:22the box, and he's absolutely been ready to go out of the box so far.
52:27Nominee number four, Quinn Miners. Speaking of getting after it as a blocker, burying a Jags defensive tackle late in the game.
52:34You know, when the Broncos really started leaning on him on the ground, Quinn Miners got revved up and really had a whale of a second half.
52:43Multiple pancakes in this game. And then finally, nominee number five, Jadarian Price getting his get back on Andrew Wingard.
52:49I mean, it's like a bug off a windshield.
52:52Like, he came in low, didn't matter. Price just ran his ass over.
52:56He's already looking like he's a dude for Seattle as well.
53:00They said they were going to get him more touches in week two.
53:04I think they're going to give him a lot of touches this season because every time they do, good stuff happens.
53:11Yeah, they drafted him to be a one. They drafted him in the first round and to replace Kenneth Walker, who is
53:18having an amazing season as a chief. So, Jadarian Price is one of my favorites because it just harkens back directly to
53:25my favorite football player of all time. When Walter Payton used to do this, they called it the forearm flipper.
53:31His offensive linemen call it the forearm flipper, and he would tape a board to his forearm because you could do that in those days.
53:39And he would use it to just open up defenders.
53:42And it is the exact same move. If you wonder what it looked like, go watch this.
53:48Jadarian Price basically hit on Wingard. He hits him with a forearm and just lifts him off.
53:53It is not really a stiff arm. It's a little bit different, a little bit more violent, and certainly worked for Jadarian Price.
54:00All the guys you named on the list definitely having impact seasons.
54:04The Pop Douglas one was interesting because if you're a fan of offensive line play, and I know lots and lots of
54:11you that follow bootleg are, go watch the blocking on that run.
54:15Pop Douglas was the last part of that, and a key and important part of it.
54:20But watch the technical precision of the Patriots' offensive line on that Henderson TD run.
54:25Watch it from the end zone angle if you can find it.
54:29It is poetry in motion. It is gorgeous. It is just the way you draw it up on the whiteboard.
54:35Reminder, you can vote for the winner of this week's Shot of the Week over on the Patreon.
54:41That QR code's been up this whole time. Also linked down below.
54:45That poll is running. Whenever this episode goes live, that poll is live.
54:49So we will announce the winner later this week in our second show of the week.
54:54Sometimes it's Thursday. Sometimes it's Friday. We're still ironing out the schedule here.
54:58But when we do our Week 3 preview, we're going to do Shot of the Week winner.
55:04I have no idea who's going to win this one.
55:07Like, I had a pretty good idea that Tyler Owens was going to win for Week 1.
55:13I have no clue who's going to win Week 2.
55:16So excited to see how this one works out.
55:19Again, thank you to all of our patrons that vote in these polls.
55:23You don't have to be a patron to vote for Shot of the Week, but it would be nice if you became one.
55:30Support the show directly. And before we get out of here, I do want to thank our executive producers over on the Patreon in our highest support tier.
55:39These are people that we, quite frankly, could not make the show without and your support.
55:44So thank you once again to Fitzy, Connor, Kels, Mike, Owen, Eiken, Stuart, and Major.
55:49Thank you guys once again. We'll be back in a few days previewing Week 3.
55:54And if you have any suggestions for games you want us to really cover in Week 3, maybe we haven't talked as
56:01much about your team and you want us to rectify that issue, tell us down in the comments below who have we
56:08missed in our coverage so far this season. We try to get to all 32 teams.
56:13That's why we do Summer Series in the first place.
56:16Some teams will fall through the cracks. We want to make sure we catch those.
56:21So if we're missing something, if you have an observation that we haven't made yet, let us know in the comments below.
56:28We'll address it in the next show. We'll see you guys then.