PodcastFrom Bootleg Football
Talking about the teams that don't get talked about.
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
46 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 18, 2026
Published
Fri, September 18, 2026
18
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Bo NixBrenton StrangeBryce YoungCam WardColston LovelandD'Andre SwiftDaniel JonesDarnell WashingtonFeleipe FranksJack BechJayden DanielsKenneth Walker IIILuther BurdenMarvin Harrison Jr.
Player analysis
Player insights
Bo Nix
NegativeProjection0:29
Bo Nix struggled significantly against man coverage paired with 6-plus man blitzes in Week 1, posting a 47.9 passer rating and a -28.9% completion percentage over expected. He was 2-for-5 for 13 yards on these specific reps, resulting in -10.4 expected points. The source notes his performance resembled his 'Auburn' days rather than his progression at Oregon, and he must rebound against Jacksonville.
Insight pageBrenton Strange
NegativeUsage10:42
The source notes that the Jaguars' offense is not a 'YAC-based' style that relies on players like Brenton Strange to break tackles in the flat, contrasting them with other offensive schemes.
Insight pageBryce Young
PositiveProjection29:53
Bryce Young delivered a brilliant performance under pressure in Week 1, posting a 133.1 passer rating, 9.2 yards per attempt, and a 54.5% success rate while under duress.
Insight pageCam Ward
NegativeProjection25:04
Cam Ward showed significant hesitation and a lack of trust in his offensive line in Week 1. He had a 28.2% scramble rate and played 'not to lose' rather than conquering adversity, which the source found concerning compared to his previous tape.
Insight pageColston Loveland
NegativeUsage24:50
Colston Loveland did not record a catch in the Bears' 59-point offensive outburst in Week 1.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
PositiveUsage24:36
DeAndre Swift showed impressive efficiency in the Bears' Week 1 win, recording 5.3 yards after contact per touch.
Insight pageDaniel Jones
NegativeProjection33:46
Daniel Jones looked uncomfortable in Week 1, exhibiting signs of poor communication and lack of cohesion similar to Matthew Stafford's struggles, which the source found surprising.
Insight pageDarnell Washington
PositiveUsage44:06
The source highlights Darnell Washington's physical prowess, specifically a recent dominant stiff-arm, and advocates for the team to increase his usage in the offense, noting he is a perennial candidate for their 'play of the year' honors.
Insight pageFeleipe Franks
PositiveRole43:26
The source highlights Felipe Franks as a converted quarterback now playing tight end who is excelling as a special teams contributor, specifically noting a high-impact hit he delivered on Sunday.
Insight pageJack Bech
PositiveUsage32:56
Jack Bech had a productive Week 1, recording three receptions for a touchdown and contributing as an insert blocker in the run game.
Insight pageJayden Daniels
PositiveProjection15:33
Jayden Daniels played well under heavy pressure in Week 1, with the source noting he is 'back' and capable of making plays despite a poor offensive line. He accounted for over six yards per carry himself, helping the team stay competitive.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveUsage10:12
Kenneth Walker was described as 'sensational' in the Chiefs' Week 1 game, benefiting from an offensive line that successfully opened holes in the run game.
Insight pageLuther Burden
NegativeUsage24:50
Luther Burden was not a significant factor in the Bears' 59-point offensive performance in Week 1.
Insight pageMarvin Harrison Jr.
PositiveUsage26:05
Marvin Harrison Jr. contributed a 33-yard explosive play in the Cardinals' Week 1 win, helping the offense maintain drives.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
NegativeProjection16:51
Matthew Stafford looked out of sorts in Week 1, showing uncharacteristic inaccuracy and throwing an early interception. The source notes a lack of rhythm and communication issues within the Rams' passing game.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeProjection9:01
Patrick Mahomes had a poor start in Week 1, going 2-for-12 or 13 in the first half before recovering in the second half. The source attributes the Chiefs' passing issues in the first half specifically to Mahomes rather than the offensive line.
Insight pageStefon Diggs
PositiveUsage15:02
Stefan Diggs was credited with helping the Commanders stay in the game against the Eagles, working alongside Jayden Daniels and Antonio Williams to nearly force a tie.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveUsage28:00
Trey McBride dominated his matchup against Derwin James, serving as a force multiplier for the Cardinals' offense.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00And just like that, EJ, we are in Week 2.
0:03Talking about a few of those. And teams who overperformed, who kind of need to keep it rolling.
0:09That's the roll part. Teams that, you know, burst onto the scene.
0:13Can they keep that momentum going from Week 1 to Week 2?
0:17And hopefully for the first quarter of the season.
0:20We'll just kind of get right into it today because we're going to be talking about a lot of teams.
0:26So I don't want to waste anybody's time here.
0:29Bo Nix. That's my first rebound. Somebody who absolutely has to rebound.
0:33Like doesn't have a choice. Cannot play like that again for the second week in a row.
0:38They are trying to keep pace in a tough AFC with a resurgent Buffalo, resurgent Baltimore, resurgent Kansas City.
0:44They have to put together a better game than what we saw.
0:48And unfortunately, the team they're playing against is also another AFC contender this week, Jacksonville.
0:53If we're looking at all of Bo Nix's problems in Week 1, there were several.
0:58Let's be honest. There were several problems. But to me, one of the main ones was how he handled man blitzes.
1:05Spags did use a bunch of man coverage in that game, especially like split safety looks.
1:10But specifically the man calls that he did have as the changeup, half of them were paired with a 6-plus man rush.
1:17Like when he called man coverage, he brought heat with it.
1:20And Bo Nix could not handle it. Like it was absolutely atrocious.
1:24At one point late in the game, they were averaging 3 yards per pass against man coverage.
1:30And that's really because it was against pressure paired with man coverage.
1:33He had 6 dropbacks of man coverage with a 6-plus man pass rush in addition to another half dozen of just straight man coverage.
1:41But of the man coverage reps with extra pressure attached, he went 2-for-5 for 13 yards.
1:46So 2.6 yards per attempt. Obviously got sacked as well.
1:49A 47.9 passer rating. A completion percentage over expected.
1:52Really under expectation. Negative 28.9%. And how that's calculated is next-gen stats looks at the throws that you're making, the depth of
1:59target, you know, inside the numbers, outside the numbers.
2:02How near is the closest defender? And they calculate what the expected completion rate is on that kind of throw.
2:09And he was damn near 30% underwater when they were bringing pressure at him like that.
2:14Negative 10.4 expected points on 6 dropbacks. Like, that's crazy.
2:17You have 6 plays and you lose 10 points of offense expected on 6 plays.
2:22That is just nuts. Now, the saving grace for him, the Jags did not do man coverage with a 6-man rush one time against Cleveland.
2:30Didn't really have to, if we're being honest. And they're not really a man defense to begin with.
2:36Anthony Campanelli, like, really loves quarters. He really loves cover two.
2:39Jags were a low man team last year as well.
2:42So, it might not be the same issue this week.
2:46But if the Jags were paying attention at how much that wrecked Bo last week, I bet they throw a little bit
2:53of that at him just to see if he responds.
2:56And he has to respond. Yeah, especially early. If you're looking at that game in general, it looked a whole lot more
3:03like Auburn Bo Nix, who we typically haven't seen.
3:06He was better at Oregon and a lot of us sort of forgot or said, hey, he's progressed past that.
3:12That first game reminded me a lot of Auburn Bo Nix and that is not a good thing.
3:18Unfortunately, one of my first rebounds is also the Broncos, but it's on the other side of the ball.
3:24It's the defense. And if you want to win in any league, and I don't care if it's the high school league, college, division two, whatever.
3:33But certainly in the NFL, you got to tackle.
3:35And missed tackles crushed the Broncos versus the Chiefs.
3:38Highest missed tackle percentage in the league, 27.5%. There were 25 total missed tackles.
3:43I don't know that I've ever seen that before in a game.
3:4725 missed tackles in one game. That's bananas. And maybe if you combine missed tackles from both teams, I've seen that before,
3:54but not from one side of the ball. To put that in perspective, next closest team was Chicago at 20%, which is bad.
4:01That's one in five. There's 7.5% lower than the Broncos.
4:04That means the gap between the Broncos in first place and Chicago in second place is as big as the gap between Chicago and the 16th team.
4:13Which ironically was Kansas City at 12.5%. But when the gap between one and two is the same as the gap between
4:20two and 16, you got a problem. And what that resulted in was tons of extra yards for Kansas City, tons of
4:27yards after contact, yards after the catch. And if we're just talking about the Broncos defense in general, the pass rush wasn't great either.
4:35They were 27th in pressure percentage generated, 17th in sack percentage.
4:38For reference, last year, they were number one in sack percentage for the entire season, for the entire league.
4:44So again, if you're dropping from number one to number 17, I know it's a small sample size.
4:50I'm fully aware that Cooper's not in there. I get it.
4:54But if you're not rushing the passer well, and even when the play develops, you're not getting guys on the ground, you're
5:01going to end up with a score that looked like the score of Casey versus the Broncos.
5:06And that game was really over before the fourth quarter ever started.
5:10Broncos, like you said, can't afford that in a very competitive division.
5:14Shout out to Khalil Benson, by the way. Oh, yeah.
5:17You mentioned the Broncos low pressure percentage. Part of that was because Khalil Benson played his ass off in relief of Josh
5:24Simmons, who's away from the team for insert reason here.
5:27And we still don't really have clarity of what's going on there.
5:31How injured is he? We don't know. But either way, the fact that they have Khalil Benson means that Josh Simmons being
5:38out didn't actually hurt them as an offense. I would argue that all of the Chiefs passing issues were Patrick Mahomes.
5:45As weird as that is to say, he started out really bad in this game.
5:50It was like two for 12, two for 13 first half and then had a lights out second half.
5:56So they ended up being like, quote unquote, average as a pass game by the end of the game.
6:02But, you know, the issue was not the offensive line.
6:05That offensive line kicked ass. Khalil Benson was great.
6:08The interior was great. Opened up holes in the run game.
6:12Kenneth Walker was sensational. Like that. That was a complete Chiefs team other than the quarterback.
6:17And I don't know when the last time I said that was about Kansas City.
6:22And so I agree. You know, Broncos, they have to tackle better.
6:26Luckily for them, they're going up against an offense this week that isn't really yak based.
6:31You know, Trevor likes to throw dots deep down the field.
6:34They're not really a yak team. They're not really a, you know, give me Brenton Strange at five yards and go break some tackles.
6:42That's that's not their style. I'm curious to see if Liam, you know, whether he's dialing up screens early on or if
6:49Trev is just hitting shit in the flat and seeing if people can tackle.
6:54Just kind of test the waters a little bit.
6:56See if they fixed it. Because if they didn't fix it, well, then, you know, Jacksonville's day is going to be pretty easy.
7:04Yeah, they'll be off to the races for sure.
7:07What's your next rebound? Speaking of offensive line play.
7:10So we had talked about how the commanders are really thin in summer series.
7:14And they were only a couple injuries away from being a really shaky team.
7:19And you could say that about any NFL team.
7:21I get it. But the drop off between the commander starting 22 and the guys behind them, I felt was really significant
7:29compared to, say, the Chiefs where you lose Josh Simmons.
7:32Khalil Benson comes in. You're still fine. When they lost Laramie Tunsil, alarm bells were going off.
7:37And I was really worried about the offensive line.
7:40We saw a lot of people from camp saying, hey, this offensive line is really bad.
7:45You go up against the Eagles. You give up a massive pressure rate.
7:49Like, next gen stats had a 50% pressure rate allowed.
7:53It's the second highest in week one. And specifically, Brandon Coleman, who's Laramie Tunsil's backup, allowed nine pressures in this game.
7:59Nine for a tackle. Like, that's absurd. He only had 38 pass blocking.
8:04Like, that's a pressure rate allowed of 40%? Something like that?
8:07Like, he was bad, bad. And, you know, the running game, they were okay on the ground, but not phenomenal.
8:13Like, they got 130-ish rushing yards at like a flat four yards a carry.
8:18The only reason they were even up there at that yards per carry is because Jaden, you know, had over six by himself.
8:25But the running backs, I don't think any running back averaged more than four flat.
8:30I think two of the three were in the threes.
8:33So, the running game was like kind of chugging along.
8:37It wasn't the worst in the league, but it wasn't dynamic like, you know, Kansas City's was.
8:42The offensive line was bad. Jaden was running for his life for most of the game.
8:47A quarter of Jaden's passing attempts, by the way, were four plus seconds after the ball was snapped.
8:53That's how much he was running around. So, you just can't function as an offense under those circumstances.
8:59And it's kind of a miracle that Jaden and Antonio Williams and like two-degree Stefan Diggs willed them back into the game
9:06and were a two-point conversion away from tying it.
9:09Like, that's damn near impossible. And they managed to do it.
9:12But it was only impossible because the offensive line was playing that poorly.
9:16They have to play better. They have no option.
9:19If they go down 0-2 in this division, like, that's it.
9:23Like, I think the NFC East is going to be too good this year for them to kind of dig out of
9:30that hole with the state of the roster right now.
9:33Yeah, there were three guys last week in terms of quarterbacks that played under a ton of pressure and played really well.
9:40Jaden was one of them. Jordan Love was another.
9:43And Bryce Young was the third. We'll talk about him in a little bit.
9:48But it was ridiculous to see him running all the time and still making plays.
9:52His good news for Commanders fans is he looks like he's back.
9:56Bad news is he has to be because if he's not moving, he's going to get pasted.
10:02And that is no way to run a railroad or a football team.
10:06So pretty rough day. Another team that needs to rebound, certainly on the passing front.
10:11The Rams passing game. I'm not going to put it on the offensive line.
10:15I'm not going to put it solely on Stafford.
10:18They were just out of sorts all day. They never found any rhythm.
10:22They had miscommunications. They had a lack of separation if you're watching all 22.
10:27And uncharacteristically, Stafford inaccuracy, which is not something we're used to seeing, especially after his lights out season in 2025.
10:33They were only two of nine on third down.
10:36And a lot of that came from not having success in the early downs on passing.
10:41So you were facing third and long all the time and having to come up with those plays.
10:47And they weren't sharp enough to do it. On top of that, Stafford threw a pick right off, which is crazy.
10:54He only threw eight all of last year. And through the first half, he already had one.
10:59It was like, hey, what's going on here? It was a bad pick.
11:03It was it was really jarring, like so bad.
11:06It was jarring because it's like, wait, he doesn't throw those.
11:10And he literally didn't all of last year. Within the first half of this game, he'd already thrown one and it was not great.
11:17So I think it was probably a back to the drawing board week for L.A.
11:22In a lot of ways, in terms of revisiting first principles, going through all those misses, cleaning up communication.
11:28OK, whose fault was this? Was it on me?
11:31Was it on you? We saw it differently. How are we going to see it next week so that it meshes so
11:38that it becomes more cohesive like we've seen it in the past?
11:42I believe it's going to get cleaned up. This isn't a I don't think they can fix it.
11:48It's a they need to fix it. But I think they can.
11:52The burning question for the Rams, just like it was for the commanders, is how fast they are in the ultra competitive NFC West.
12:00How many games can they drop? And my answer would be no more than two before things get pretty dire, because the
12:07other teams in their division aren't going to let up on the gas.
12:11They're going to continue to push it and rack up wins.
12:14And if the Rams are floundering for even just the whole first month of September, they're going to be in a hole
12:21they might not be able to dig out of.
12:24And that could be very, very costly down the stretch.
12:27Honestly, the question I have with them going into week two is what's the energy level look like?
12:33Because they look so sluggish against the Niners, which I understand, you know, 15 hour flight the day before or whatever it was.
12:41And then you get back on the plane right after the game, another 15 hour flight.
12:46And the whole gambit was let's not get on to Australia time at all so that we're more ready for this game in week two bodyclockwise.
12:54So I'm fascinated to see, do they look sluggish again because you took two 15 hour flights back to back?
13:01Or do their energy levels and just downright juice look like what we're used to seeing from the ramps?
13:07Because that didn't look like the ramps. And if they're just kind of sacrificing week one so they can go back to
13:14being themselves by week two, rather than say, getting out there a week early and then taking a long time to adjust
13:21in weeks two and week three, like maybe that's the math they're doing.
13:25I don't know. But they better look more juiced up in week two or else it's like, OK, then what was that for?
13:32Right. What was that plan for? We'll find out.
13:35But it's not like the Giants are going to be a pushover, right?
13:39With how good they are as a ball control offense and how really surprisingly good I thought their defense was in week one against Dallas.
13:47They better be on their shit like they can't afford to drop another one.
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14:58Now, as far as my third rebound here, we didn't talk about Cam Ward in the week one reaction show.
15:04A big part of that is because I wanted to go back and like really look at the film first and come
15:12with a take that I felt was well backed up.
15:15I was hoping that the numbers would lie to me a little bit and I would get into the tape and be like, actually, it wasn't that bad.
15:24Yeah, man, I have severe worries about what I'm seeing from Cam Ward.
15:28I don't think he's decisive. I think he's questioning what he's looking at.
15:32And I don't think he is responding well to pressure in the sense that he does not trust the team around him.
15:39He absolutely does not trust the offensive line whatsoever, which to be fair, 100% deserved 10th highest pressure rate allowed at 41%.
15:46And I was surprised it was even that low on film.
15:50A 28.2% scramble percentage, second highest among all quarterbacks who had at least 10 dropbacks in week one.
15:56He had eight of those pressures under two and a half seconds, which is stupid high.
16:01And, you know, even though the passing metrics under pressure weren't necessarily bad, he did play it very safe under that pressure
16:08because it felt to me like he was, OK, my team isn't very good.
16:12I'm not going to make it worse. And it came off almost like he was really questioning his ability to make that
16:19play that is very needed under adverse circumstances. Like we need you to unload this tight window throw from the far hash.
16:26Please do it. Or failing that. If you don't trust that, come off that quicker.
16:31Go to the backside quicker. Everything just felt like he was really hesitating because he didn't want to put his team into
16:38a bigger hole than they were already in. And at that point, like you got to just do it.
16:44Like you got to just elevate the team. Like it's a shit team.
16:49We know it's a shit team. They're trying to rebuild.
16:52It's a multi-year process. Make the throw. They drafted you, your receiver fourth overall.
16:56Make the throw. It's there. You cannot hesitate. You cannot play with fear.
17:00If you play with fear, you're never going to get out of the hole.
17:05If you're firing shots and you're missing and you're playing quote unquote hero ball, like you will be criticized for that.
17:12But to me, the criticism is even greater if you're afraid to take that shot in the first place.
17:18And to me, it felt like he was really playing not to lose rather than playing to win, you know, surviving adversity rather than conquering adversity.
17:26And like you drafted him first overall. You gave him a receiver fourth overall.
17:31You have to conquer adversity. You cannot play scared like that.
17:34Not that he was scared of getting hit. More so scared of making a mistake.
17:39You got to just go out there and do it, man.
17:42The hesitation on tape just killed me. It looked better on tape last year when I went back and watched this game.
17:50I watched it live on Sunday. And every time I looked up, I thought, oh, that actually doesn't look as good.
17:56And this is not new territory for Cam. This is exactly the team he had last year with slightly better personnel.
18:03But he's used to pressure. He's used to quick pressure.
18:06He's used to things breaking down and having to be the guy.
18:10And last year, I thought he rose to that more often than he did in week one.
18:16And the decisions he made about the same types of pressure he was facing this year didn't look as good as the decisions he made last year.
18:24He did make it worse. There were a couple where he faded deep into the pocket vertically under pressure.
18:30And I was like, buddy, of all the things you can't do, like break that off and get lateral.
18:36So even if you take the sack, it's five or six yards, not eight or 12.
18:42And I just was like, no, no. I found myself saying that over and over as I watched the tape.
18:48And I thought, oh, OK, this is rough. The adaptation, again, new offensive system for him, did not look smooth.
18:54It did not look like it was helping him out.
18:58It looked like it was hurting him. And therefore, he was hurting the team.
19:02And that is not a good position. So Titans absolutely need to rebound.
19:06My last rebound is Colts pass protection. We talked in the summer series.
19:10What pass protection? That's right. We talked in the summer series about how hot the Colts came out last year.
19:17They were literally the hottest unit in football for the first six to eight weeks of last year.
19:23This year, not so much. Big reason is the offensive line did not have a great day versus Minter and the Ravens D.
19:30They were 26th in pressure percentage allowed, 47.1% for those of you counting at home.
19:35So last year in week one, they were the fourth best or lowest in the league at 27.3%.
19:41That's a huge difference. In 2025 week one, they had a 60% passing success rate.
19:45That's to start off last year. That's that hot offense that was just running over the league.
19:51On Sunday, it was 30.3%, the lowest in the league.
19:54Literally a 50% drop from year to year in week one.
19:58That is insane. They were 24th in average depth of target this year in week one.
20:03So it wasn't a high degree of difficulty thing.
20:06It wasn't that they were bombing it down the field and you would expect a lower percentage success rate from that.
20:12They had a low ADOT and they still weren't getting it done.
20:16And talk about offenses that looked comfortable last year.
20:19Bo Nix looked more comfortable for the Broncos last year.
20:22Cam Ward looked more comfortable for the Titans last year.
20:26Daniel Jones looked very comfortable out of the gate last year.
20:29This year, I think he looked a lot more like Matt Stafford in week one of this year, which is not a
20:36good look, which is a lot of head scratching, a lot of pointing.
20:40I wanted you to go over there. Like a lot of back and forth on the offense that is characteristic of teams
20:47that are not on the same page. And that was surprising to me, quite frankly.
20:52I expected a smoother start to the operation for Indianapolis and they did not get it.
20:57Now, before we get into our roles, all the teams that actually did well in week one that we want them to
21:04keep it going in week two, I do want to do a quick shameless plug here.
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21:46All right, EJ, let's get into roles. Yeah, things that actually went well.
21:51It's nice to save the good stuff for the second half.
21:54Certainly feels better. And I want to give a shout out to a team we didn't talk about that didn't have a
22:01great day as a team, but part of the team played well.
22:05And I think that's the real benefit of a show like this is you can kind of dig in and say, well,
22:12this part, this unit held up their end of the bargain and it's the Falcons run defense.
22:18They only gave up 58 yards on the ground.
22:20They stuffed eight runs. They had the lowest yards per carry allowed of the week at 2.76.
22:26The Steelers average yards before contact in this game was negative 1.3.
22:30So Jeff Ulberg and that run defense doing a tremendous job.
22:33The team overall did not have a great week one, but that defense was low key cooking.
22:39They only gave up one touchdown to the offense.
22:42The other touchdown was Watts pick six for Pittsburgh, but two field goals and one touchdown.
22:47If you keep playing like that on the regular on defense and they can get anything going on offense.
22:53And I realize that's a huge if right now.
22:56But if that defense keeps playing this way, Atlanta is going to have a chance every week and quite frankly, they're going to need it.
23:04But they delivered in week one. The offense dropped the ball a little bit so they don't get the W.
23:10But overall, I wanted to shout out the defensive team's effort in Atlanta because they were rock solid in week one.
23:17It was interesting that there were only two teams that averaged negative yards before contact per attempt in week one, and they played each other.
23:25It was Pittsburgh and Atlanta. So it was like two kind of like the Spider-Man meme, like two great run stopping defenses
23:32playing against two kind of underwhelming offenses. The surprising part about it is I actually liked both these offensive lines going into the game.
23:40Neither one of them could do anything. Even the young Steelers offensive line, which we think is really talented, like they got their asses kicked up front.
23:48So fascinating game. We'll see if either one of them can kind of carry that forward.
23:54As far as my first roll, how about a good run game?
23:57Chicago. Bears fans were very upset that we only talked about the negative part in the week one reaction.
24:04Can you blame us? They allowed 37 points, by the way.
24:07Good God. But they did score 59. So I want to talk a little bit about that.
24:13This team had 291 yards on the ground on 39 carries.
24:16Speaking of yards before contact per attempt, 2.6. So if you look at the difference between what the Steelers got at negative
24:231.3 and what the Bears got at 2.6, that's almost a four yard per carry difference just before contact.
24:29They were fifth best this week. And as far as yards after contact, DeAndre Swift was 5.3 after getting touched.
24:36Kyle Manungai, 8.9 after getting touched. Ridiculous performance on the ground.
24:39I especially want to shout out Darnell Wright and Jonah Jackson.
24:43They ran to the right side 64% of the time and averaged 7.8 yards per carry when running to the right side.
24:50Just a dominant, dominant performance. And that's how you put up 59 points without Colston Loveland getting a catch, without Luther Burden
24:57really doing a whole lot of anything. I mean, Rome had one big catch.
25:01But when's the last time you saw a 59 point performance where the top three receiving options didn't really do a whole lot?
25:09Yeah, Ben went on Chicago radio this week and said, you know, I know it's going to sound crazy because we put
25:16up 59 and that's a record-breaking performance in week one.
25:19And certainly for Chicago, but we left a lot of plays on the field.
25:24There's a lot of things to clean up. And he's not, he's not sandbagging.
25:28If you go back to the film, there were things they missed.
25:32There are things that were available to them that they didn't hit despite that impressive offensive output.
25:37And that should scare the living hell out of the rest of the NFL.
25:42So it's going to be a fascinating week two to see how that role continues or not.
25:47For me, I'm going to go to the Cardinals offense for my second role.
25:52Rang up 277 passing yards versus the Chargers. Jacoby looked composed and in command.
25:56He spread the ball around really well. Six different players had receptions.
26:00Five of them had more than one. Who was the one that had one EJ?
26:05Well, it was Marvin Harrison Jr., but it was an explosive.
26:08It was 33 yards. So for all the Cardinals haters out there that don't think he's a great player, I get you,
26:16but he contributed in his own way. Overall, kept drives going and got points.
26:20They were six of 14 on third down. Chargers were only two of eight, did not turn the ball over through the
26:27air in terms of interceptions or fumbles, which is kind of handy for them.
26:32But again, if you'd said prior to week one, Cardinals are going to hang up almost 300 yards of offense on the Chargers defense and win that game.
26:41I think a lot of people would have said, nah, Michael Fleur kind of announcing his presence with authority here.
26:47Like you all said, I didn't have a lot that was good enough to get this done.
26:52I just got it done. Week one is weird.
26:55It's fickle. It is not a season's worth of results, and we'll see how this evens out.
27:01Maybe it gets better. Maybe it drops off a little bit.
27:04Maybe it's a roller coaster ride throughout the season.
27:07But for a week one performance, Cardinals offense definitely over-delivered.
27:10The thing that I really liked about their play, and I thought LeFleur kind of leaned into Jacoby's strengths really well, which
27:17is like being that catch and shoot two guard, right?
27:21You're in shotgun most of the time. You're getting the ball out immediately most of the time.
27:26You had the second highest rate of passes being under two and a half seconds.
27:31Like you literally just catch and shoot. The only quarterback that was higher was Joe Burrow.
27:36He was like over, Burrow was like over 70% this week, which is nuts.
27:41So if you're wondering why Tampa didn't get any pressure, well, the ball was gone.
27:45Same thing for the Chargers. Like they did not have a good pressure rate in this game, but they didn't really have
27:52opportunities to get pressure in this game because the ball was out.
27:56So they really understood the opponent they were playing against.
28:00Also, shout out to Trey McBride. Like he kind of put Derwin into a trash can a few times in this game,
28:07which if you have somebody that can win the Derwin matchup, you're going to have a good day on offense because Derwin
28:14is, you know, one of the things that kind of holds the whole team together.
28:18So the fact that they got the better of that matchup, that was already a force multiplier for them.
28:25Plus Jacoby being smart with the ball and distributing quickly, like kind of a nightmare offense to play against when they do that.
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29:45And speaking of getting the ball out quick and being a nightmare to deal with, modern day legend Bryce Young, welcome back to the fold.
29:53Let's go. When I was watching that game, it felt like it in the moment.
29:57I wanted to go back and confirm, but it felt like in the moment, like half of Bryce's pass attempts against Chicago
30:04was about a quarter second away from getting massacred by any defensive lineman and the ball was still out and it was
30:12accurate and it was going down the field. It's not like he was dumping it off.
30:17Like he was attacking down the field with pressure in his face and he was brilliant.
30:22Here's his numbers under pressure from that Chicago game.
30:25Chicago actually did surprisingly get pressure in that game.
30:28He had a 133.1 passer rating under pressure, 9.2 yards per attempt under pressure, plus 17.2 completion percentage over expected.
30:34We talked about how Bo Nix, you know, was negative, was negative 28% in terms of expected completion percentage.
30:40Bryce was plus 17. Like that's absurd. 54.5% success rate when under pressure.
30:44Highest in the league in week one. We've had some really good quarterback performances in week one.
30:50Bunch of teams put up 30 plus. Bryce was the best quarterback out of anybody under pressure in week one.
30:56He was unbelievable. If they're getting that from him, like if he's finally turned the corner and like kind of looked like
31:03Bama Bryce again, and he's got, you know, Teddero McMillan, he's got Coker.
31:07If the offensive line could just be a little bit better.
31:11Like what do you do? Like he got the ball out so quickly and so accurately.
31:16Like if I was a pass rush from the Bears, I'd be losing my mind.
31:21They almost had like six sacks on him. Keyword almost.
31:24They couldn't get there. Yeah, that's the feeling I came away with watching this game live was almost right.
31:30They had to be going back to the huddle as defenders going, man, we had him.
31:35We had him again. And not only did we not get him, it didn't force a throwaway.
31:41It wasn't a, you know, chuck it at the running back's feet so that you don't take the sack.
31:47He was making plays, putting the ball in the bucket down the field, even under those situations.
31:52And for all those numbers you just gave, like very typically most quarterbacks in the NFL have a pretty significant drop off under pressure.
32:00Sometimes 20 or 30 percentage points. If anything, he was better under pressure than he was when he wasn't pressured.
32:06And that's completely upside down. But it was a really good thing for Panthers fans to see.
32:12That's something that we got used to as Chicago fans last year watching Caleb turn what should be disastrous negative plays into
32:19positive ones, whether it was ducking out under a rush and picking up 10 with his legs or hitting a big completion down the field.
32:27He did it over and over again. And it's so frustrating for a defense, especially defensive coordinator, because it's like we called the right one.
32:35We had the right people in the right place.
32:38They should have made the play. And when that doesn't happen over and over again, it's really demoralizing.
32:44And with what Bryce did on Sunday in terms of turning those negatives into true positives, that's just kind of crushing.
32:50It's I think it's great that the Bears found a way to overcome that because that performance from Bryce was one of
32:58the better ones I saw in week one. I got to talk a little bit about a team we talked almost none
33:05about last year, and that's the Raiders. The pass rush.
33:08Damn time. I know, right? Pass rush was nice, which I can't remember the last time I can say that.
33:14Look, Max has been nice for a long time, but even he dropped off last year.
33:1956.8% pressure percentage, number one for the week. 13.5% sack percentage for the week.
33:24That was number three. Quiddy Pay, of all people, looked good paying off one-on-ones because the attention the Dolphins had to pay to Max.
33:32Three sacks in 24 pass rushing snaps. That's crazy.
33:34He had four all last year for the Colts.
33:37He had three in 24 pass rushing snaps. And Malcolm Kuntz, one of my favorites, has been doing the best he can.
33:44But when you add another pass rusher, it just puts guys in the right spot.
33:49And Kuntz is perfect as a third rusher. Seeing that defensive line work together like that was just a true joy, especially after last season.
33:57And on the offensive side of the ball, we had a lot of players that we really like that are super talented
34:04that a lot of people bagged on last year because they were terrible as a team.
34:09But Ashton Gentry, 4.43 yards per carry. So much better than last year.
34:14It's middle of the pack this year for week one.
34:17But middle of the pack is like a 15-point improvement for that offense.
34:21He had six missed tackles forced. And the one I really want to highlight is that he was eighth in yards before contact.
34:28That is massive progress for the offensive line because that offensive line was garbage in that stat last year.
34:34And JPJ was one of the guys that we really liked.
34:38Now, he struggled with injuries, especially concussions, but he was in there.
34:42That offensive line tied for first in sack percentage allowed.
34:45That is, they allowed zero sacks, 0.0%. There were five teams that did that.
34:50They were the fourth lowest or best in pressure percentage allowed.
34:53So they weren't even allowing pressure. Forget sacks. And 15th in yards before contact.
34:58And I know people say, oh, 15th, that's middle of the pack.
35:01I was like, do you realize they were dead last for the entire year?
35:06That's like Super Bowl caliber by their standards. 15-point jump.
35:09Like our 15-place jump. You've jumped half the league in one week.
35:13That is so impressive for them. And even Jack Besch.
35:16Jack Besch, a lot of people slagged on him last year and said he's not good.
35:21He was targeted four times. He had three receptions.
35:24Nice touchdown. But more importantly to me, he had some feisty blocking rips.
35:28They used him as an insert blocker in the middle of the line.
35:33And he was able to help open gaps. So nice bounce back after a rookie year where a lot of people heaped
35:40garbage on a lot of the players that we really liked that the Raiders had picked because the team was bad.
35:46And we said, ah, again, situation, landing spots, so important.
35:50These are not untalented players. And to see all of them have a contribution in a week one matchup.
35:56I understand it's the Dolphins. Look, they don't pick their schedule.
35:59They all played really well. The defense also played really well.
36:03It's a really good start for the new regime in Las Vegas.
36:07And were it not for two really bad picks from Kirk, they would have blown him out by even more.
36:13The team played good. Like the run defense, which we had talked about in the Raiders episode a few weeks.
36:19No, two weeks ago. Whenever the AFC West week was.
36:23We had talked about how like the one thing the Raiders could hang their head on was a good run defense.
36:29It's just the volume stats look bad because teams ran the ball against them so much because they were blowing them out.
36:36That run defense still looked good. Still great against Miami.
36:40Plus their offensive line looked better. The entire backfield, I think like you look at Gentry as the starter, Washington, Dylan Lowby
36:47also is their third back, but he had a huge return in this game that set up another Gentry touchdown.
36:53If they just take care of the ball, they would have won this by even more points.
36:59Like this is a, I'm not ready to say they're going to be a good team.
37:04They're competent. They're watchable. They're solid. They're plucky. They're feisty.
37:07Whatever word you want to use. They're not somebody I would overlook.
37:11I'll say that going forward. Depending on how quickly they come together, you know, N'Kobe Dean, free agency acquisition.
37:17And we talk about so many teams that we don't like their linebacking core.
37:21They paid big this off season to get Quay Walker and N'Kobe Dean.
37:26N'Kobe Dean is a madman when healthy. I love watching that guy play football.
37:30I just hope he stays on the field. He had a couple of ridiculous range plays on Sunday.
37:36Dude, that punch at the ball was like, you psycho, dude.
37:39Absolute heat-seeking missile. Love watching him play football again.
37:42Really want him to stay healthy. Really want this whole team to stay healthy.
37:47And they'll figure it out at quarterback. Again, we said if Kirk plays well and they don't have to switch to the
37:54rookie at quarterback, they'd be perfectly happy with that.
37:57If they do down the road and everybody else is contributing, that's the best possible situation for a rookie to come into.
38:04So either way, just want to see them keep progressing and really hope they keep this role going.
38:10Speaking of plucky, feisty teams that have been bad for a while, that had really nice wins in week one, I got to talk about the Giants.
38:18Giants fans, you were 100% deserved to give me shit because I emphatically picked the Cowboys to win in week one.
38:25And New York controlled that game, man. Like not only controlled, they dominated that game.
38:30They just choked the life out of them. Only gave them two possessions, the Cowboys, in the second half.
38:36That's tied for the fewest possessions a team has had in a second half going back to at least 1991.
38:42That's when I was born, EJ. Oh, rub it in.
38:46That's at minimum. And that's at minimum. They just didn't even start tracking the stat until 1991.
38:51So that's just something you literally never see. You go generations without seeing that kind of ball control in a National Football League game.
38:59And the Giants did it in their first game with that, you know, naggy Roman hive mind.
39:04And it worked, right? They weren't super splashy. They weren't super explosive.
39:08They had a 48.6% rushing success rate, which was third.
39:11But also only a 10.8 explosive rate, which was dead average.
39:15So they weren't getting huge chunks. They were just getting four yards, five yards, six yards, five yards, six yards, over and over and over again.
39:23Basically never went backwards. Had a 5.4% stuff rate, which was third best among all teams this week.
39:29Especially compared to Giants' seasons past. That's a remarkable stat.
39:32You know, CeCe Malinoa, no pressures allowed in his first game as a pro.
39:37Jackson Dart was decisive and he was accurate. They took advantage of the Cowboys' defense.
39:41Apparently not understanding Vic Fangio's rules in cover nine in terms of how you play it back fast to the flat.
39:48So they just repeatedly gave up shit in the flat over and over and over again.
39:53Just gave up free yards. So it was the perfect game plan at the perfect time against the perfect opponent.
40:00And it was the perfect game. Like, if I'm a Giants fan, what more could you want from that game?
40:06Like, okay, maybe don't allow two touchdowns in the second half, but they only gave them two drives in the second half.
40:13Like, Cowboys can't win with seven possessions. That's not their style.
40:17So I, boy, I'd be over the moon if I was a Giants fan.
40:21That's got to be the most satisfying win they've had in a long time.
40:26I want this team to be good so desperately.
40:29I know if you listened to the Summer Series episode, it didn't sound like it.
40:33I was trying to be realistic. I thought the three-headed sort of monster of coaches, head coach, dual offensive coordinators, if you want.
40:41I just couldn't see a way that it was going to work really well.
40:45And to your point, it worked perfectly. And this is such a fun, young team.
40:50You talked about Mauanoa. Look, powerful and quick on the inside in his first start.
40:55That is a really good sign for Big Blue.
40:58They have a lot of fun defenders who we really like.
41:01Like, I want this team to be good. The NFL is better when the Giants are good.
41:07And they haven't been for a long time. I just didn't think they were going to be.
41:12And they came out and looked, again, week one could be fickle, but they looked so good in so many different ways.
41:19Jackson Dart ran the ball with a little more discretion, which is all we were asking for.
41:25He only got blown up once. Yeah. I think they'll have their words about that.
41:30And if he can legislate that out, he's a very good runner.
41:33He was a great runner in college. We knew that.
41:37But the problem was, hey, you can't do the Cam Scadabo thing and sacrifice your head as a quarterback.
41:43It's not going to work. And he largely didn't.
41:46He looked good throwing the ball, but he looked good throwing the ball last year as well.
41:51All the other pieces came together. And it felt complete, which is something I was not expecting from the Giants.
41:58So that's a sort of unexpected joy from week one.
42:01And I'm really glad that we got to see it.
42:04All right. Closing out the show with one of our favorite segments.
42:08Of course, it's back again. The bootleg shot of the week.
42:11We gave you your five nominees in our week one reaction show.
42:15And perhaps unsurprisingly, the winner in a landslide. 66% of the vote.
42:19Tyler Owens. Yes. With the gunner rep of all gunner reps.
42:23Absolutely unbelievable effort. One of two times he did that in the game, by the way.
42:28Like, we talked a lot of shit about the commanders today.
42:31None of it directed at Tyler Owens. He might have been one of the best players on the field, even though it's an underappreciated role.
42:39Great, great effort. Hell of a hit. And that's how you stay in the league for a decade, doing shit like that.
42:46So cheers to you, Tyler Owens. I've got my trusty six-year Woodinville with me.
42:51Ooh, what do you have? That's dark. I have rye, and it is not over ice, which is my typical.
42:57So here's to Tyler Owens. Happy to take it.
43:00That was a hell of a football play. And I think one of the great things to celebrate about the game, which
43:07is guys playing their role as well as they possibly can.
43:11Whether or not it's the role they want, like, I'm sure he would love to play on the front line offense or defense.
43:18But you're making a difference for your team that way.
43:21So here's to Tyler. I already did mine, but I'm toasting you as you do it.
43:26There we go. There we go. So Felipe Franks, also a big hitter on special teams as a former quarterback.
43:33Yeah, I did a preview episode over on Bear Air with John Ellis, who's a Panthers broadcaster.
43:38I just kind of had to throw in the question at the end.
43:43I was like, so is what I'm hearing about Felipe Franks true?
43:46Because, again, converted quarterback, now tight end, but really special teams player.
43:50And he had a hell of a hit on Sunday as well.
43:54So a little bit of foreshadowing on that one.
43:57But, again, a guy just adapting to life in the NFL and doing it really, really well.
44:02I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our honorable mention.
44:06Yes. It's an honorable mention because we didn't see it.
44:09It's my bad. I apologize. We did not see the Darnell Washington stiff arm before we recorded the episode.
44:15It would have been nominated. It might have even won.
44:18It might have even won. He put that man's.
44:21Darnell's won a few of these. Yeah. Over the years.
44:24He put that man's soul through the core of the earth.
44:28He spiked that guy so hard. It looked like one of those, like, peewee football highlights where one kid just grew a lot faster than the other kids.
44:37Or, like, when the mascots play against the kids at halftime and just fucking yamming on him, dude.
44:43Oh, it was definitive. We will say that. He will definitely be nominated again this year.
44:48He's been nominated a lot, as you brought up, in past years.
44:52He has won previously. So I would not doubt at all if he is a repeat nominee and certainly not if he's
44:59a repeat winner this season because that was forceful.
45:02Just keep giving him the ball. That's all I ask.
45:05Yes, please. Keep doing it. All right. We're going to get out of here, but I want to thank all of our executive producers over on the Patreon.
45:14And, again, reminder, Patreon does get bonus content throughout the season.
45:17EJ and I have not decided yet on what our topic is going to be for this week's bonus show.
45:24If you guys have any suggestions, by the way, for stuff you want us to hit in the Patreon bonus show, maybe even draft stuff early.
45:32If you're a fan of a team that you don't think is going to be in the playoffs and you just want to hear about college prospects already.
45:41We can do that, too. Whatever you guys want.
45:44We are here to make the show for you and all of our patrons.
45:48So thank you to all of our patrons. Thank you to our EPs on Patreon.
45:53Fitzy, Connor, Kells, Mike, Owen, Eichen, Stuart, and Major.
45:56Appreciate all you once again. We'll be back either tomorrow over on Patreon or on this channel on.
46:02Let's just say by Tuesday at the latest for our week two reaction.
46:06And we'll see you guys then.