TRANSCRIPT 🔗
speaker-0: Yeah. Good morning, Baltimore. It is Monday, October nineteenth. Thank you for tuning in to the latest episode of the Early Birds Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Wyrick, alongside Ravens reporter Sam Cohn here, after the Ravens on Sunday afternoon collapsed against the Cleveland Browns, losing thirteen to ten in a game that they went up ten to nothing in the first quarter. Sam, how you doing, man?
speaker-1: I'm doing well. How about yourself?
speaker-0: No, I'm pretty good. It was a nice week where Jacob kinda handled the bruttload of of of Oriol stuff for us. So I was kinda able to dive into some other stuff, some personal things, which was nice. but here watching football on Sunday, it was a crazy game day on Saturday of college football games, tons of upsets in the top twenty-five. and then here on Sunday we have some several upsets here too. So football has been nonstop entertainment here over the last forty eight hours. And as someone who had no stake in the Ravens loss, it was certainly an entertaining weekend, albeit one that came at the the cost of Ravens fans sanity as yet another collapse here spoiled a big L for them here. what
speaker-1: Yeah, I was g
speaker-0: are we, six?
speaker-1: Yes, I was gonna say maybe some entertaining maybe an entertaining Saturday college football, maybe some other parts of an entertaining Sunday, but boy, what an ugly football game this was.
speaker-0: Yeah, let's get dig into it. Now, the Ravens, as I said, went up 10 to nothing early in a game they obviously did not have Lamar Jackson. He was out for the second straight week, which meant Tyler Huntley, who Huntley played the hero in their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night football last week, but this time really struggled in this game, finished 19 of 31 with 165 passing yards and one touchdown, had probably like three, maybe four throws that should have been interceptions in this game. I mean, something we lauded for him for last week was his ability to protect the ball, just kind of keep the the engine moving for the Ravens. That really was not the case here and he needed his weapons around him to step up. Ultimately was not able to get that. The defense, I I think you you you have to be pretty pr pleased with the defense. The Ravens coaching staff for the most part, they played a a really good game. The obviously only holding them to thirteen points is a is a significant win even with it being the Browns. But ultimately they the Browns stormed down the field in the fourth quarter, a costly yet not so sure if it was legitimate DPI against Keon Martin there helped set up a touchdown for the Browns. Derrick Henry a fumble in the fourth quarter, a costly one at that, and the Ravens offense just unable to kind of get anything going after the first quarter is what ultimately spelled the end for them.
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, just two offenses that really had nothing going for either. you mentioned those first two drives. Ravens put
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points on the board in the form of a touchdown and then a field goal and then kind of just went stale for the better part of the rest of the game. And I think the important thing to remember as we sit here now, Tyler Huntley is one and one as a starter this season, filling in two games for Lamar Jackson, is that in that win over Atlanta, he was not very good for th the three and a half, three and three quarters of quarters. you know, he he was much he was much sharper in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter and in overtime, you know, that stat has been widely circulated about him being eleven for eleven, leading those two drives, and he was really, really sharp. But the thing that Snoop Puntley has done so well, and I've I feel like we've talked about this over over the past week or so, is when the Ravens don't have Lamar Jackson who's a guy who can go win them football games. the thing that Snoop Puntley does well is he can get the ball to playmakers. And he can avoid turning the ball over. And those are kinds of the kind of the only things that you only things that you need to do if you're gonna be Lamar's backup. Like you just can't take the train and shove it off the tracks. You just have to keep them in line, not not make a lot of mistakes and get the ball to the in the into the hands of guys who can be the ones to make plays. And that's why he, you know, was two and as a starter last year. That's why he was able to put come out of Atlanta with a win. But by and large, I mean that as you said, the defense did everything it needed to, and the Browns' offense also looked atrocious. Deshaun Watson is sacked more than any quarterback in the NFL, and the Ravens continued that stretch. I I don't have the number in front of me, but sacked him several times. Calais Campbells five sacks. Calais Campbell got his first. Trey Hendrickson got a sack. so you know, they were all over Deshaun Watson and and and they really didn't like Cleveland's offense too much. But perhaps the most interesting part of this fourth quarter collapse, which we can get more into, Is the Browns only touchdown, which tied the game in the fourth quarter, they didn't drive down the field. They didn't make some big heroic play that got them in position to go win the game. They started at the thirty five yard line because of the Derrick Henry fumble. They had to go thirty five yards to tie the game. So and you know, even if they don't get that touchdown, they probably end up with a field goal and then maybe can get a touchdown for the win. Whatever. They're Nothing that we saw from the Browns offense gave anyone confidence in the fourth quarter that they could lead a game-winning drive the length of the field. But because of a Ravens' costly mistake in the fourth quarter, and because more importantly, they were never able to put the game to bed, extend the lead in any meaningful way in the second half at all, you know, they ended up in a position where the Browns kind of had a layup to go put the ball in the end zone and go kick a field goal to go win it. Didn't take a lot for the Browns to to come away with a win in that in in this game and the Ravens certainly peed down their legs several times.
speaker-0: Yeah, and for those new to the show or or just have forgotten, we recap every Ravens game, like the sports section of a newspaper, our front page story obviously being this fourth quarter collapse and related by the numbers here. The Ravens on their first two drives to open the game, sixteen plays, one hundred and eleven yards, scored ten points. On their final nine drives, the rest of the game, forty three plays, a hundred and twenty one yards, zero points, seven punts, one turnover, and a missed field goal, that loom large as well by Tyler Loop, a forty nine yarder. So just running through the these drives from after the the end of the first quarter for the Ravens. Missfield goal, fumble, punt, punt. I mean, and several being three and outs. I mean, the offense just not able to generate anything through the air, and Derrick Henry very inefficient in this game, in addition to the fumble, seventeen carries for fifty eight yards as a three point four yards per carry average, his longest run of the game, only seventeen yards.
speaker-1: Matt, if I just cut in real quick, those Derrick Henry figures, and I had written about this, you can read it on the Baltimore Sun about about Derrick Henry's shaky afternoon. I guess maybe that's a fair word. coming in this game, the Browns had one of the worst rushing defenses in the league. By most metrics, they were in the bottom third to the bottom five of the NFL. And one thing they didn't do particularly well was stop. I I think it was like the rate of ten plus yards on rushes. No team had given up a higher rate of ten plus yards on a rush. And in the first quarter, Derrick Henry had three rushes going double digit yards. And in that first quarter, it looked like exactly the recipe to beat this Browns team, which is, you know, you have a backup quarterback, pound the ball on the ground, feed Derrick Henry, let him take you, let him take you the distance. And in the second quarter, I think he had three carries for zero yards, and then in the third quarter, three carries for five yards. And you just can't I mean he he has to be better, but also like the offensive line has to be better. It's not just a Derrick Henry thing, it's a collective. So the that that second quarter and third quarter of him getting just zero production really hurt them offensively and led to several of those punts. And then in the fourth quarter, obviously we talked about the fumble, putting them in in you know, in such dire straits, part of a collection of Of mishaps, you know, include Tyler Loop Tyler Loops, missed field goal there in the fourth quarter from 49 yards. But Derrick Henry apologized to his teammates after the game. He took Simonis. He said, This one's on me. I gotta be better. It was a
little bit reminiscent of his September in 2025. You know, we talk about all the ways that this game felt a lot like 2025 with the blown fourth quarter lead and how they fell apart in all three phases. Derrick Henry had a very similar situation last fall. when he fumbled three times in three games and kept having to apologize to his teammates and take some onus. He did it again this week. And this was a game that they really needed to count on him to be able to help kind of keep the offense moving. I think Todd Munken after the game said something to the effect of like he's the engine that keeps them going, particularly when you have a backup quarterback. So just one of several ways that this this loss felt like the the the twenty twenty five Ravens. And I know you put the the quote in In our in our planning doc, but I I thought this was the most interesting thing that happened post-game, personally, was Kyle Hamilton was asked, and I'll preface by saying, like, this is a question that has been asked so many times. What do you feel like you need to do to kind of get past that? Get past these mistakes, not have it happen, whatever the case may be. Kyle Hamilton, and you can probably include Marlon Humphrey on this, have been the two most vocal and willing to have. conversations after losses, take some onis and respond to the idea that they've struggled in these games. And to the Ravens' credit, they have survived a couple of these this season. And the Atlanta win last week was the first time that's like, okay, the defense finally, you know, had the dagger, the Tavius Robinson sack, the Kyle Hamilton interception. So Kyle Hamilton gets asked this question about what do they need to do to sort of get past this? And Kyle Hamilton says, quote, I'm not going to sound like a broken record. It's groundhog day with this question. I don't know. I'm not gonna give you an answer. I really don't know. So sorry, that's the best I can give you. But we've had this conversation so many times, I don't even feel like addressing it again. Kyle Hamilton has been the first person to acknowledge and address their shortcomings, to be the first person to again take onus for it, talk eloquently about the ways that they need to fix things. I think it says a lot about the frustration within the locker room for this particular game. That Kyle Hamilton of all people got to the point where he said, I'm not going to give you an answer. I really don't know. Sorry, that's the best I can give you. Kyle Hamilton has been excellent with the media. I mean, as long as I've been around and before before I was around covering the Ravens. So it's I I think it's it says a lot. It's pretty telling about the frustration. And again, like this is a team that appeared to have gotten over that hump this season. Since that Saints game when they blew a fourth quarter lead, they have survived the Titans threatening. But you know, the Titans just got their first win today, say what you will about them. The in Rio the week before week three, they survived a comeback and you know, so got a got a lot of help from the offense. Kyle Hamilton also something about like Derrick Henry has saved them saved their butts countless times. but this was you know, in Atlanta, they survived Atlanta's comeback. or excuse me, they They were the ones that put the nail in the coffin. This one was they coughed it up again. It's just interesting to hear him hear him talk like that.
speaker-0: I mean, it's hard to blame him, you know, for for feeling this way. The Ravens have done everything you would imagine possible to try to eliminate this. I mean, they have changed personnel on the defensive side over the last few years. They bring in a new head coach, completely cleaning house in the coaching staff. You don't even have Lamar Jackson playing quarterback in this game. You can't fault, you know, a Lamar mistake here. This is a keeps on happening. It's keeps it feels like the same old Ravens, yet at the same time, like, what more can this team do other than just not do it anymore? you know, the we are where we are with this team at this point. But I do I will say that I do feel like they have gotten over the proverbial hump a little bit and it's maybe isn't going to be a like progression isn't linear. There are going to be stumbles along the way. And if you're trying to kick an old habit, you might relapse from time to time. This felt like a relapse. If it happens again, okay, they've fully fallen fallen back into this is a problem and something that, you know, culturally I don't know. You don't you don't even know what to say at that point of what even needs to be addressed. But I do feel like this is a team that had been trending in the right direction in that department. They have had some clutch moments late in games. Tyler Loop missing this field goal in this game certainly loomed large, but he has made some big kicks. I feel like you you your confidence in him is higher than it has been at any point of his young career. So I do feel like look, you you get Lamar Jackson back next week, you have lost him for two weeks, right? You go one and one over that span against two teams that came into those games with winning records. I think you take that. You know, at the end of the day, you're you you're not you're down your V P caliber quarterback. You're probably gonna lose one or two games. it's a l tall order to ask a guy like Tyler Huntley to come in and and go undefeated. That's just not gonna happen. so it's unfortunate because you know you you led by ten points in the fourth quarter. You'd like to have won a a football game when that happens. That hurts. But at the end of the day, the this stretch they have to start the year, they're four and two, tied for first place in the AFC North, technically behind the Browns because they have tiebreaker. But at the end of the day, it is six weeks into the season. And I I still feel like this is a team that is very
much capable of going where it wants to go. They need to clean up this sort of thing, but I I think you can chalk this off and this is kind of in gets into our column here of in a divisional game on the road, backup quarterback, how much do you let the Ravens off the hook for this one? I do feel like they deserve a little bit of grace for losing this game, regardless of the fashion, because of what we have seen building to this point and the personnel that they were out with in Lamar Jackson.
speaker-1: Yeah, the way this game unfolded, particularly that fourth quarter, fits very neatly into the box of discourse that we've had over the last two years, three years, however long. And but I think I think it's worth acknowledging, like, as much as Kyle Hamilton was very obviously frustrated by that conversation, the defense should not get nearly as much of the blame as the offense should.
speaker-0: It's entirely falls on the offense. And Declan Royale deserves some some you know blame here as well.
speaker-1: Absolutely. But Snoop Huntley, like the difference between Lamar Jackson and Snoop Huntley is not so great. I don't even want to say that because I I think people maybe overplay like how good Snoop is in relation to Lamar. And I think this is like a really good reminder of the difference between the two that you know, Lamar can find other ways to spark an offense that maybe Snoop Huntley sometimes can't. but I I the the offense needs to be humming a little bit better because They essentially did nothing after after the first two drives, they just went they just went flat. And, you know, Loop's missed field goal hurt them because they couldn't extend the lead. Derrick Henry's fumble hurt them because it handed, it gifted on a silver platter the Browns a chance to just kind of walk into the end zone. So the defense, by and large, for most of the day was really, really good. You know, you hold a team for three quarters, you you hold them to what, with three points to three quarters or shutout through three quarters, and they the When was that? I don't know when that field goal was. I think it was a third quarter. It was the third quarter. You you hold a team with three points through three quarters and ten in the fourth. It's not great, but contextually, again, the offense put the defense in a bad spot because of the fumble. and and the defense beyond that only gave up a field goal. The offense just had so many chances to just put points on the board and create a little separation, a little bit of breathing room that As much as it is maybe fair for the defense to take some blame, maybe the obvious here is that the o the offense certainly just deserves deserves more of that. Sorry, I didn't really answer your question at all. the our column about Lamar Jackson. I think if you're the Ravens, yeah, you take that at one and one. but I think you also came into game
speaker-0: One could argue that they probably should have lost the Falcons game and should have won this game. So at the end of the day, kind of a w
speaker-1: Yeah. That's a great point. That's a great point. if you're the Ravens and you win that Falcons game, you're coming to this game thinking this is a team that you are far better than and you have a very tough stretch coming up with Bengals, Bills, Jaguars, Panthers, I think it is. So you need to be pos you need to pose Yeah.
speaker-0: Panthers, Texans.
speaker-1: Thank you very much. You need to position yourself in as best a situation as possible. And there was certainly a lot of confidence in Snoop Huntley after the Falcons game that like he could do enough in Cleveland. But Cleveland is a place where weird stuff happens. And it's a really good reminder that we should acknowledge that that win in Atlanta was an excellent performance in the last three minutes of regulation and in overtime, but that Tyler Huntley was not particularly good in in in the first three and a half quarters that Tyler Tyler Loop hit several field goals that put them in that game. And, you know, you want to go back even further. Derrick Henry liked to say, going into that Falcons game, you want to know why we have confidence in Snoop Huntley? Go watch that Packers game. That Packers game, Derrick Henry had like 12 touchdowns. He had a million yards on the ground. Like he was the engine that kept them going. And like I said, like the thing that makes Snoop good is that he doesn't turn the ball over very much and he can get the ball to playmakers and just keep the train on the tracks. And today keeping the train on the tracks without turning the ball over wasn't good enough. And a as you mentioned before, you could argue he should have turned the ball over several times. Just got lucky.
speaker-0: Yeah, I mean, you certainly could do better as a backup quarterback. There are maybe players who have come in and and done better in these situations, but you are always rolling the dice when you turn to to somebody who isn't your starter. And, you know, as we've talked about, to be able to do so with the player in Huntley who doesn't require you to change too much of your offense is a luxury. he is capable of leading you to wins, as we saw against the Falcons in that game, but ultimately there is a reason he's not a starting quarterback, and I we saw that. against Cleveland, which is look, the the Browns deserve credit. They are a very good defense and they played the Ravens extremely well here, pretty much forcing them to throw the ball. just were not able to to kinda connect six catches for sixty six yards on eleven targets for Zay Flowers being leading receiver on the day. ultimately just not enough offensively. To get this win. And now, as you look at this sc slate that they've had so far, I mean, the the Ravens came in and had a pretty soft schedule to open the year. This was their opportunity to get off to a good start. And they're four and two through six weeks, having played the Colts, Saints,
Cowboys, Titans, Falcons, Browns. But as you mentioned, Bengals, Bills, Jags, Chargers, Panthers, Texans, and then your bye week. So you're you're halfway to your bye week right now. You've got six games in the books, you're at four and two. You you probably want to go four and two again over this next stretch, given how tough it is, and that's gonna be a tall order.
speaker-1: Coming into the season, correct me if I'm wrong, you might remember better than I. I think Josh's big take, his sort of hot take coming of season, was predicting that the Ravens are gonna be undefeated through six or seven weeks and maybe going into that Buffalo game, I think it was. And if you look at so far their two losses, like they absolutely should have beat the Browns and they should have beat the Saints, who have proven to be much worse than we thought they were in week two. So I don't know, maybe he was on to something. Maybe I th I think Josh had a lot of confidence in his team and I think like what we've seen so far, of course things are probably different if Lamar Jackson is now healthy. you know, maybe they win this game, but it's it's interesting to think about just like what the the little stuff that's the difference between them being four and two and second in the division behind Todd Munkin versus perhaps undefeated. It's just two fourth quarter blown double digit leads in games that they should have won both.
speaker-0: And in this extremely tough AFC conference, it is maybe the difference in what could be the number one seed, number two seed, number three seed, or winning the AFC North at all, given how tough this division has looked to be so far. And with the date against the Bengals due up next, we are gonna find out exactly how well the Ravens stack up with another team very much in the running for this division title. All right, let's talk injury report here, Sam. the the big one of the day, Rashad Bateman. left with a shoulder injury and didn't return. What'd you see and what does this mean for the receiving core moving forward?
speaker-1: So, no clear update from Jesse Minter after the game, which is par for the course. He's not really going to give specific injury updates post-game. But Rashad Bateman hurt his shoulder two weeks ago. He practiced in a limited capacity going into week five, and then he was fine by the end of the week. He played against the Falcons, played pretty well against the Falcons, if I'm remembering correctly. And then this past week was wearing a red non-contact jersey for the better part of the week. and cleared to play by Friday. So I I think he might you know might have played through some pain in that Falcons game and it kind of lingered going into going into that game and lingered coming out of that game. And in the first half of this one in Cleveland, it was unclear the play that might have reaggravated it because he was ruled questionable during a Browns drive. I I'm not sure anyone saw specifically if there was a play that but you know I think the pain might have sort of just been reaggravated there and and he was ruled out pretty quickly. Obviously the timing of this is kind of alleviated because they got Jacoby Lane back today, who looked really, really solid in that first half, particularly. had a handful of catches and and and looked I think like the Jacoby Lane that we might have expected. And you know, Snoop Huntley was feeding him the ball fairly well when when the offense was looking a little bit better on those first couple of drives, like Jacoby Lane was was in the mix and and contributing. So to your point about like where does this kind of leave the receiver room? You obviously want to have those three guys, say Flowers, Rashad Baby Jacoby Lane all on the field at the same time, but you're you're feeling less antsy about the nature of how quickly this could un unfurl if if Jacoby Lane wasn't back. But but to have him back in the mix, gives you a little bit of flexibility and and and maybe some leeway if if Rashad Baby needs to miss a game.
speaker-0: Yeah, they've had what one quarter and a half, all three of them on the field so far this year. So Ravens have not gotten to see what this offense could look like at full strength just from a receiving core standpoint. especially if Bateman is going to miss time. It was good to see Lane back on the field. Believe he had 40 receiving yards there. So coming back from IR looked promising for the impact that he is going to be making. We also saw Trey Hendrickson return as well from his finger surgery. Jeff Zrebeck from the Athletic did report after the game he was spotted in line for the X ray machine. but it sounds like it's not something necessarily too spooky, more of kind of managing things as he tries to play through the recovery of something. I mean, look, y often playing in the NFL is equated to getting hit by a car every time or being in a car crash every time you play a game. so you're gonna be banged up. Everybody gets banged up, especially a a edge player like him. But he looked pretty good. in this game and and certainly made his presence felt there, combining, as you said, for a sack. I believe he had a tackle for a loss as well. So a big day for the the Ravens defensive front, making their pressure their their presence felt and Hendrickson a big part of that.
speaker-1: Yeah, the pass rushers really happy to have him back. You you mentioned before they had five sacks as a group. There was one play at one point the Browns double teamed Trey Hendrickson and then brought a third blocker to come chip block him. So they understand what Trey Hendrickson is capable of. He was able to bring down Deshaun Watson and he was more even more so able to open up a lot of rushing lanes for his teammates. Obviously, like a huge, you know, force multiplier and game changer for that Ravens pass rushing. And we saw what that can look like, on today.
speaker-0: We also saw Ronnie Stanley shaken up after a
play, needing a timeout and some time to to walk off the field, was able to go off under his own power and only ended up missing one play. So it certainly seems like the Ravens dodged a bullet for an offensive line that has been incredibly banged up so far this year.
speaker-1: The kind of c the kind of play that looked a lot worse than I think it might have been. You know, him coming back in after one play means that it it wasn't wasn't too bad and he should be all right. But yeah, we've seen Carson Vincent check in for Ronnie Stanley a couple of times. And coming into this game, there was a stat the Ravens have had more offensive line combinations than any team in the NFL by a couple, if I'm remembering correctly. And they still have one more combination to come, at least going into next week with Cam Jurgens presumably coming off concussion protocol or finishing up the concussion protocol and and letting allowing Venga Yuane to slide back over to guard and Cam Jergens moving in at center. So Dwayne Ledford has certainly earned his paycheck with the amount of different offensive line combinations he's had to deal with. But yes, they it it's it seemed like they dodged a bullet here with that Ronnie Stanley injury, him coming back, right, coming right back in. He spoke post game, which insinuates that he should be he should be fine.
speaker-0: Benga Yuane also deserving lots of credit for the ways that he has stepped up for this offensive line. we could be seeing the debut of the Cam Jurgens Lamar Jackson duo battery, whatever you want to call it, next week against the Bengals. So certainly something to monitor for both of those guys on what figures to be yet another CVS receipt length injury report over the next week for the Ravens. around the league, let's check some box scores. Sam, only one other AFC North team. was playing today, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who played a a similar role of s what the Browns did. They trailed 16 to 3 with 14 minutes left to play, but came back to beat the Buccaneers 26 to 19 in overtime. Aaron Rodgers continues to throw pretty well here in the second half of games. It seems like he he starts to figure it out in that second half. Rookie Jeremy Bernard scoring the the game winning touchdown in overtime and Jalen Ramsey sacking Jalen Daniels, Buccaneers quarter rookie quarterback, for the game-winning play there to finish that off. So the Steelers, the Ravens and the Browns all tied at four and two. But with the Browns having beaten both those teams, the Ravens and the Steelers this year, they technically hold the tiebreaker for week for first place in the AFC North. And I believe it's the first time since 2014 that the Browns have been in first place the AFC North this late into a season. So certainly with Todd Munkin the helm there, they are feeling very pretty good vibes in Cleveland. Not to mention their baseball team is playing in the ALCS right now. So it is a good time to be a Cleveland sports fan. We will see whether or not the the Browns hot start holds up here as they only beat a Ravens team with this backup quarterback by three points at home. So what this team kind of looks like here down the stretch offensively still very much challenged. They're banged up as well on both sides of the ball, but th th this Browns team f I don't know if it feels like a mirage so far, but certainly there are some warning signs that it they might not be for real. we talked about the Ravens schedule here, Sam. So that is it for box scores for this game. Anything else that you wanted to hit on?
speaker-1: No, I think we hit on it all. You know, obviously the the Ravens did not do enough in any of their three phases. Think that, that game winning field goal to see Keon Martin blast off the line of scrimmage and get a block for a moment, you're like, did they just kind of do this again and and find a way to make a play on special teams? But obviously jumped off sides a bit early. And, you know, you stack a couple ways that all three phases did not do enough in that fourth quarter and Changes the tenor of this next week and and how they move forward into the the tough middle portion of their schedule. Certainly a big difference state in the obvious year. Certainly a big difference between being four and two and you know, and and five and one with a commanding lead in the division. But it's it seems like we're at the point where the Steelers are not gonna be much of a threat. so it's it's the Ravens and then either the the if if the Browns, as you say, really are not for real and and things spiral in the other direction, their schedule gets tougher, whatever, then It's the the division feels very much up for grabs either way at this point.
speaker-0: Yeah. And the Bengals being a a team that's already had its buy. we'll see if that is something that comes back to hurt them not getting that maybe a little bit later in the season. Sam, any final words for the good people before we get out of here?
speaker-1: Let me say two things. One, I'm sure there's a long list of people who are saying this at this very moment. So feel free to add me to that list. There's simply no way that the NFL should add an eighteenth regular season game. Because the re if you look at the injury report of the Ravens and the Browns coming in this week, there were like forty combined people between the two teams. I know the Eagles alone had I think twenty-five on their injury report, which is enough. On their injury report for a starting offense, starting defense, and special teamers. Like it's only week six, and the it's just feels like every team around the league is so beat up. So yeah, don't don't add another game. No one needs that. Let let these guys heal a little bit and and let their bodies take slightly less of a or a a slightly more manageable schedule, I guess. But you know, cash rules everything around us, so probably be wrong on that front. And it's mid October, which means it's soup season. And I don't know if I don't know about you, Matt. I've never made soup before in my life, but thankfully my girlfriend is kind of a soup connoisseur. So there's been a lot of soup around the house lately, which is very exciting to me. And I'm kind of learning learning a little bit, getting into the soup spirit.
speaker-0: We just did some butternut squash soup last week. It was banging. I love soup. That soup's fire. Great, great time of year for it. And also in the same vein of maintaining the status quo around sports. Do we do we have to do the twenty four team college football playoff? Nobody wants it. Absolutely not. Absolutely nobody wants it. People are even going on ESPN. ESPN paid employees are going on there saying how much this sucks. Because it does. Nobody no no fan wants this. We we don't need the sport diluted. What makes college football great is that every game matters. That's what makes it different from the NFL, makes it different from MLB and NBA, whatever. It is like you were playing a postseason game every single time. And I mean, I don't know about you, but for somebody who's a very busy schedule, college basketball, I don't get to watch a lot of regular season college basketball. I don't really feel like I need to watch a whole lot of it. I kind of just tune in for March Madness. I'll catch a couple of big games throughout the year. College football, I ha it feels like a point in viewing every time two big teams play. And that is going to feel like less and less the case when three and four lost teams are getting into this expanded playoff that is basically created to make SEC teams happy. So
speaker-1: They're going too far, too far in the other direction. It was at one point, you know, you lose one game and it's like you've no shot you've no shot of making the BCS. But now, if you know you you w you lose three games, it's like, sure, maybe they can make a make a Cinderella the college football sh wants to capture a Cinderella run like team, and that's just not what the sport really needs.
speaker-0: Twelve could do it, man. My JMU Dukes. We we might be getting in. We'll see. Once again, maybe we'll make some noise. all right. We're gonna go ahead and get out of here. Want to thank y'all so much for listening. Make sure to like and subscribe. Give the show five stars on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you guys get your podcasts, and give us a follow on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. He's Sam Cone, I'm Mattwire. Thank y'all so much for listening and have a good one.