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- [00:01]
Frank Isola
Talk about stepping up.
- [00:02]
Jeff Saturday
Bang, bang. It's time to level up your game. Introducing the all new ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. The electricity is palpable. Step up your game. With no annual contract required. It's the ultimate fan experience. Level up. For more on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com Sign up now.
- [00:31]
Frank Isola
Pardon the interruption but I'm Frank Isola in for Wilbon today.
- [00:36]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser. Is he leading the Bears or three and two parade?
- [00:42]
Frank Isola
Why not? Why not?
- [00:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Well I'll say this, I'll say it in the body of the show and I'll say it at the beginning of the show on this air. Wilbon said the bears were gonna be 05 for a start. 05. And now they're three and two. Welcome to PTI board has the day off. I'm joined by our great friend, the host of the starting lineup on Sirius XM radio, Mr. Frank Isola. And we begin today with last night's late NFL game in the mist in Washington where the Chicago Bears got a small measure of revenge for last year's Hail Mary game by beating the Commanders on a last second field goal, 25, 24. That field goal was made possible by a fumbled exchange between the Washington quarterback and running back that was recovered by the Bears on their own 44 and advanced down the field in the last minutes. Frank, what does this say about each team?
- [01:39]
Frank Isola
Well, I look at the game and I'm thinking this is the kind of game that the Bears lost last year and this is the kind of game that the Commanders would have won. Why do I know that? Because that's exactly what happened. And remember you mentioned the Hail Mary, the hail Maryland play. You know, the Bears ended up losing 10 in a row after that. This comes on a now they have a three game winning streak and Tony, they didn't even play that well. No, they blew a double digit lead, they had nine penalties, but they found a way to win. So who knows, maybe Ben Johnson, maybe this quarterback who completed a big pass on third and five and then Swift had the big run to set up the field goal. The kicker, Jake Moody had missed a field goal before. You see, these are the kind of games that kind of determine if a just a good team could maybe be a playoff team. I think that's what we saw last night.
- [02:29]
Tony Kornheiser
Just following up on what you're saying, I think that Washington should have won that game and they were undone by three turnovers the last of which, the fumbled exchange just completely sunk them. And that one is on Jaden Daniels. I mean, in the rain, he was bobbling the ball. They are 3 and 3. Last year, Washington went to the NFC championship game, albeit a surprise, but they went to that game this year. That feels like they've regressed. They have literally won one, lost one, won one, lost one, won 1, lost 1. And I think that the people you know here in Washington, D.C. are rather disappointed with this. And it has the feel, Frank, of what it must have been like last year in Houston when everybody thought the Houston Texans were going to be real good, because they were the year before and they fell flat on their faces. You're right about the Bears. I mean, the Bears are significantly better this year than they were last year. As I said earlier, Wilbon picked them to be.05 at the start, and they're three and two and they've won three in a row, and that matters. And yeah, hiring Ben Johnson as an offensive coach, that seems to produce something. The Bears are scoring 25 points a game. That's 10th in the league. We don't. We don't look at the Bears lately as an offensive machine. It's had a great effect, clearly, on Caleb Williams, who wasn't that good last year. He's got nine touchdown passes, he's got two interceptions. He's going to pass. He's on pace for 4,000 yards. Nobody in the Bears organization as a quarterback has ever done that before. And I'll just take a little more time to say what their upcoming schedule is. It's New Orleans at Baltimore, at Cincinnati and the Giants. They should be able to at least win three out of those and be six and three and a playoff contender in a tough division.
- [04:13]
Frank Isola
And let's remember, too, they lost a game where they gave up 52 points to Ben Johnson's old team, where he was the offensive coordinator in Detroit. And this is why I talk about that margin of error sometimes. Last year, Washington had 19 scoring drives in the fourth quarter that was fourth best in the NFL. They also gave up 20, which was the six most in the NFL. So last year they were kind of winning those close games, and this year, when you lose them, that's sometimes the difference between getting into the playoffs and not. That's why that was a good sign last night for the Chicago Bears. All right, let's move to last night's early game in which the Falcons surprisingly beat the Bills. Bazon Robinson went for 238 yards from scrimmage including an 81 yard touchdown run. The Falcons defense meanwhile picked off Josh Allen twice. Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Said post game that the win shows his three two team is, quote, really good. This team is really legit. Tony, do you agree?
- [05:13]
Tony Kornheiser
No, not as I'm sitting here right now, you know, not yet. Halfway through the season. Not. No, it's a not yet situation. Look, their wins are good. It's Buffalo, Washington and Minnesota, those are nice wins. But they lost the division game to Carolina, a bad team. They lost the division game to Tampa Bay. So they're 02 in their division. So what is the path to really legit when you're 02 in that division? Bajan Robinson is a great back. He's a great back and Penix has had a fine year so far in what is essentially his rookie year. But my skepticism, Frank, is based on last year when they were a bad team when they. I believe they ultimately benched Kirk Cousins, but they were in the middle of a run where they lost six of their last eight games. They haven't been in the playoffs or had a winning record since I think 2017 right around there. So I'm a hold back a little bit on really legit. I'm going to hold back.
- [06:10]
Frank Isola
Yeah, that's a great stat that you gave. 2017 haven't had a winning record, haven't made the playoffs. But the one difference maybe with this team right now, and I know it's still early in the season, they've only allowed an average of 253 yards per game. Their defense has that is best in the league. That's how you win in the NFL. You don't need the great quarterback and who knows, maybe this kid has a chance to be pretty good. But they're doing it on defense. Yesterday they blitzed Josh down, Josh Allen on 71% of his drop backs. They caused a lot of pressure and the one thing I kind of took away from that game, I'm not necessarily buying Buffalo yet. Like you look at the AFC and for some reason Kansas City, we keep waiting for them to fall off and you keep waiting for Buffalo to do something. But look at the wins that they've had, Tony. They've beaten the Ravens, the Jets, the Dolphins and the Saints. Those teams are combined 3 and 21. And we all love Josh Allen, but he hasn't looked like John Elway just yet. Right, Right.
- [07:06]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm just going to make one point here that that something's wrong in Buffalo the way something is wrong in Philadelphia. Yeah, I don't know what it is. Yes, Buffalo, I think, is emblematic of a capsizing in the afc. Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City have been at the top, the cream of the crop for five or six years now. They are now a combined 8 and 10, while Indianapolis is 5 and 1 and Jacksonville and Denver and the Chargers. You know there's movement in that conference. Let's move to base. The Mariners hit three home runs last night and we pulverized Toronto 10 3. They go back to Seattle with a 2 nothing lead and three games at home if they need three. Dodgers got a great start from Blake Snell, giving up only one hit through eight full innings, beat the Brewers 3 to 2. The Dodgers are now 61 in these playoffs. Frank, where do you want to start?
- [07:57]
Frank Isola
All right, real quick on the job. I'm going to let you dive into Blake Snell, who, by the way, I'm still wondering why Tampa took him out of that World Series game. When you watch a pitch like he did last night. But this is what you love about baseball. How about the 8, 6 2? I remember when I cover, I was a B writer for two years. They said you're going to see things you've never seen before. Last night you watched the game. It's never happened before in the playoffs. An 862 double play. The Dodgers are the victims of it, and they still go on to win. You got to win a game like that if you're the Milwaukee brewers, so that's tough. But I'm going to turn to the Mariners for a second because I think the Dodgers are still the best team. They always find away. You think about where the Mariners were on Friday night. It felt like they won the game four times, but they could have lost it about four times. They sneak in by beating the Tigers. Polanco has the big hit in that game. He has one of the three home runs yesterday. There's something about this team. And now they go home. Like you just mentioned before, they get those two wins. First time in franchise history in the World Series. So there's a little magic there with the Seattle team.
- [09:00]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm just going to go to the 8, 62 briefly. I've watched baseball for 3,000 years. When it hit against the wall and he caught it, I somehow thought it was an out. I have seen so many people juggle the ball off their own glove, I actually thought it was an out. All right, let me get to Blake Snell, and I would forgive people if they don't remember that he's actually won the Cy Young twice. Once in Tampa Bay in 2018 and once in San Diego in 2023. Those are marginal franchises, not World Series winners. So maybe you could forget. In fact, Blake Snell has been in the bigs for 10 years, and he's only won 81 games in 10 years. He only started 11 games for the Dodgers this year. He didn't pitch at all between April 2nd and August 2nd. Didn't pitch right. So you could be forgiven if you didn't even know he was on the Dodgers. He goes out last night. He goes eight innings, eight full. He gives up one single and he picks that guy off. And what that means, Frank, is that he faces the minimum amount of batters possible in eight innings. And you know the last guy who did that in a postseason game? Yeah. It's Don Larson. Hello.
- [10:05]
Frank Isola
Yep.
- [10:05]
Tony Kornheiser
Hello, Don Larson. Pretty good comparison. Let's take a break. Coming up, we last Jeff Saturday what he saw on Baker Mayfield's big scramble.
- [10:14]
Frank Isola
And we'll also ask him for his advice for the 06 Jets. Oh, boy.
- [10:20]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. Blake Snell last year, 14 innings in the playoffs, two hits, two hits, no runs, 19 Ks Dodgers.
- [10:27]
Frank Isola
Come on, Dodgers. Starters are 61 in the playoffs and they got that lineup.
- [10:33]
Jeff Saturday
Pardon the Interruption is presented by the refreshing taste of Twisted Tea Hard iced tea. Please drink responsibly. Part of happy hour.
- [10:43]
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- [11:41]
Jeff Saturday
Welcome back to Pardon the Interruption, presented by Twisted Tea Hard iced tea. Part of happy hour.
- [11:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Time to dig into the NFL trenches with our great friend ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday. Let's start with this Baker Mayfield. If I had to Vote right now on MVP right now. And I understand there's a lot of games left, but I would vote Baker Mayfield for MVP at this point. What did you see in that great run when he went third and 14 and he got the first down? What did you see in that?
- [12:16]
Jeff Saturday
Oh, will and determination. I mean, how about that run? And just, you know, the way he spins out, he stretches forward, he gets the first down. And then the best part for an offensive lineman is when he gets up talking trash, you know, and he's like flexing to himself, you know, he's doing the whole Hulk thing, you know, and all fired up. And he plays with his emotions, right? He plays with them on his sleeve. And he's, he's done an incredible job this season. I would agree with you from an MVP perspective, he would be my vote right now as well. But he has. With all the injuries that they face, not only on the offensive line but at receiver, he keeps finding ways to get his team in positions to win. It's been a special beginning of the season for Baker Mayfield and he got a lot to smile about and so do his teammates.
- [13:02]
Frank Isola
All right, that's the good. Let's talk about the bad and the ugly. It's been a rough year for the Jets. The Jet fan will tell you it's been a rough 15 years for them. But right now, Aaron Glenn, 06. It's tough to coach in the NFL. You know that you were an interim. You lost seven in a row. How do you kind of navigate that? Those struggles? How do you do it?
- [13:21]
Jeff Saturday
Yeah, I think a large part of it is talking about for him. It's a little bit different than me being an interim versus him. Is, is. Is talking about the future of. Hey, here, here are the, the foundational stones that we're going to build this organization on and understand. I was in Detroit when we were 313 and 1 or whatever their record was, or where they were 0 and 9, I think, or something like that. When Dan, like I've been through tough storms and tough days. Like, I know what it feels like to have to drudge through, but we're trying to lay the foundational bricks for this organization. It's not going to be pretty. There's going to be some setbacks. But men, trust me, the long term vision of this is the way we need to head. And I think that part of him needs to be, needs to be vocal to his team. I don't care about what he says to the rest of us, but that needs to be the emphasis in the locker room. And I'll say this as well.
- [14:15]
Tony Kornheiser
Be.
- [14:16]
Jeff Saturday
Be a little more aggressive at this point, right? Like just kind of let it, let it. The season isn't going to be. You're not making the playoffs, right?
- [14:24]
Tony Kornheiser
So.
- [14:25]
Jeff Saturday
So let it. Let the guys kind of have fun with it. Because there's something about energy that breeds commitment, right? It's like when you breathe energy back into your team all of a sudd, you know, they. They start to feel it. The commitment kind of. Kind of gets reunified. So that's the other small piece of advice. Obviously, he's. He's much further along than I was, but that's what I would be telling him.
- [14:48]
Frank Isola
You played for some great teams with the Colts right now. Five and one and through six games they scored the most points in team history. What is different about the team this season?
- [15:00]
Jeff Saturday
No, I'm fired up for him. You know, it's, it's. I think Steichen's done a really good job of finding balance and it's, it's. I'm not trying. It's a very simplified way of playing, right. Like Daniel Jones, when he hits his spot, he knows where the ball has to be delivered. When they. They're running the ball. Jonathan Taylor knows how to make it happen. And oh, by the way, let's not miss this. Their offensive line is on fire. Quentin Nelson's playing well, but the entire offensive line has played good football. They're. They're a top five team in passing and a top six team in rushing. When you get to that and you're win in the trenches, it leads to a lot of plays being made by receivers down the field because your quarterback's got time and a lot of explosive plays from your running back, which we're seeing from Jonathan Taylor. All of those bode really well. And by the way they travel, they just got to keep doing it and no matter what opponent they play, keep stacking these dubs, man. And I respect the heck out of how they started and have some high expectations for the finish.
- [16:02]
Tony Kornheiser
We will get you out of here on this. Indianapolis has been very good. Miami has been very bad. After the game, their quarterback Tua took off after some teammates for either arriving late or not arriving at all at players meetings. I think this is a big deal internally anyway. How do you think that plays in their locker room, Jeff?
- [16:24]
Jeff Saturday
Yeah, so my wife Karen, she has these things for our family called tone, tact and timing. Right. You got to have the three T's in place and I Think Tua missed it a bit, right? The timing on this. It was not the right time, right? So. So take that into your locker room. Have those. Have those conversations with the guys, whoever it is in particular, or if you want to have a team meeting, address it that way. You don't address it after a loss. There was a devastating loss at the end. Right. And point guys out. Here's the thing. He. He hasn't played right. He hasn't played great either. Right. He's made mistakes. So we're all making mistakes. So let's make sure it's all we. And there's no that guy and this guy and that. And then I think McDaniels made worse, right? Like, he goes over the top and he created even more of a monster. Like, don't address it to the media. Go address it with Tua and the football team. Hey, guys, like, not everything has to be aired out in front of everyone else. I just think it's. The timing was. Was wrong for two. I don't think his heart was necessarily in the wrong place, but I think they got to figure that organizational alignment matters, y'.
- [17:29]
Frank Isola
All. And.
- [17:30]
Jeff Saturday
And it's like you're hearing different voices. It's hard to win that way. They need to clean that part up to get this thing back on the right. On the right. Direct or going in the right.
- [17:40]
Tony Kornheiser
It's good to hear. Thank you, Jeff, as always. Much thanks.
- [17:44]
Jeff Saturday
I appreciate it.
- [17:46]
Tony Kornheiser
We'll take one last break. When we return, Cape Verde's soccer team takes on my population theory.
- [17:55]
Frank Isola
And the NHL loses another Kachuk brother.
- [17:59]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't know how many Kachuk brothers there are. Yeah. But my theory is that you, you know, the smaller the population, the harder it is to win. You know, it's why I think we should win more. In soccer, we lose to places that have 1/20 of our population.
- [18:15]
Commercial Announcer
As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by.
- [18:47]
Jeff Saturday
Eight years ago, I blew my football career.
- [18:49]
Frank Isola
He dropped it at the one yard line.
- [18:50]
Jeff Saturday
Chad Powers has arrived on Hulu. If I can't play as Russ I'll.
- [18:54]
Frank Isola
Play as someone else.
- [18:55]
Commercial Announcer
My name's Chad and last name Lijia.
- [18:58]
Jeff Saturday
From executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning.
- [19:00]
Commercial Announcer
Remember when wearing a prosthetic mask.
- [19:02]
Jeff Saturday
This is acting and starring Glen Powell.
- [19:05]
Commercial Announcer
He thinks you're a rubber cheet to not rubber.
- [19:07]
Jeff Saturday
I'm a man made of flesh. The Hulu Original Series Chad Powers is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundled subscribers. Terms apply. New episodes Tuesdays Pardon the Interruption is presented by the refreshing taste of twisted tea. Hard iced tea. Please drink responsibly. Part of Happy hour.
- [19:29]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy time, people. Happy 23rd birthday. Ameca Abuka, the Tampa Bay rookie wideout was the 19th overall pick in the most recent NFL draft. He played at Ohio State and had 81 catches and 10 touchdowns for the Buckeyes team that won the national championship last January. Ebuka has already caught 27 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns in six games for the Bucs. The 469 yards is fourth in the league. The five touchdowns are tied for third. Abuka is averaging 17.4 yards per catch, which is fourth in the league. So Buuka presents himself as a candidate for Rookie of the Year. But he hurt his hamstring on Sunday against 49ers and the NFL Network is expecting him to miss some time because of it.
- [20:12]
Frank Isola
It's amazing how Ohio State turns out great players. Quarterback a little iffy, but wide receiver. There are great ones all over the NFL and they all come from Ohio State pretty good.
- [20:24]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy anniversary. Ozzie Newsom on the state 41 years ago, the Browns future Hall of Fame tight end set franchise records for catches and receiving yards in a single game. Newsom had 14 receptions for 191 yards and a loss to the Jets. These records stood for decades until 2013 when Josh Gordon caught passes for 261 yards in one game to break one Newsom record and caught 14 passes in a game to tie the other. Newsom still owns the Brown square record for catching 662 and yards 7,980. Newsom's continued fame stems from his career as the Baltimore Ravens general manager and his presence as an architect of the Ravens two Super bowl wins. Newsom is credited for drafting, among others, Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, Ed Reed. No longer the gm, Newsom is an executive VP in Baltimore.
- [21:14]
Frank Isola
Think about all the great tight ends from that era. Dave Casper, remember him with Oakland, Kellen Winslow, Russ Francis with New England. Newsom was unbelievable. But how many guys have had the great playing career and then Segued into a career like that as an executive. Really remarkable.
- [21:33]
Tony Kornheiser
Very few. Happy trails. Brady Tkachuk, the Ottawa Senators captain injured his hand in Monday night's 4 to 1 loss to the Predators. He is expected to miss at least four weeks. Surgery has not been ruled out for the who is not just an important cog for Ottawa, but has been expected to be in the running to wear the sea for Team USA come February's Olympic Games in Milano. Cortina surgery could complicate that. Both Tkachuk brothers are out now with injury as Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers continues to recover from off season abductor surgery.
- [22:04]
Frank Isola
Look at, look at you bringing up the Olympics. So let me ask you, can we win if we don't have the Tkachuk brothers in Italy? Maybe not. I mean, maybe not.
- [22:15]
Tony Kornheiser
It's the first time in a while, right, that the NHL pros are back in it. Yeah, I think. Maybe not. Sure, Canada would be the favorites, but we're in the top three. Yeah, of course we could win it. Let's go to the big finish. Purdue is atop the men's preseason college basketball bowl. Does that make sense to you?
- [22:33]
Frank Isola
How about the fact that St. John's is in the top five? Rick Patino and St. John's in the top five. I love it. UConn top South Carolina in the women's preseason poll. Your thoughts?
- [22:45]
Tony Kornheiser
They were the best teams last year. They played in the finals. UConn drilled them in the finals. They're probably the best two this year. Utah Jazz first round pick Ace Bailey apparently has tendinitis in both knees. Does that cause for concern?
- [22:57]
Frank Isola
You know, the head coach, Will Hardy said, you know, he's not really concerned right now. Remember though, you know, Ace Bailey didn't want to get drafted by Utah. Now he's all banged up. Cape Verde this is story right for you. Tony, population 525,000 has qualified for the World cup for the first time ever. Is that a big deal?
- [23:16]
Tony Kornheiser
Second smallest country ever. Iceland is the smallest. That's why I'm rooting for the Faroe Islands to get in. There's more teams. Put the Faroe Islands in last one. US Men's soccer takes on Australia in a friendly tonight. Is that significant? Frank?
- [23:30]
Frank Isola
We played really well against Ecuador the other night. It's not really a big deal. But in other news, Italy beat Israel. Italy may be moving closer to qualifying for the World Cup. They missed out on the last two.
- [23:41]
Tony Kornheiser
We're out of time. We will try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [23:46]
Frank Isola
And I'm Frank Isola. Thanks for watching.
- [23:49]
Jeff Saturday
A 20 year old soldier goes missing.
- [23:52]
Tony Kornheiser
From a U.S. army base.
- [23:54]
Frank Isola
How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous.
- [23:59]
Tony Kornheiser
What would come to light is horrifying and ignites a movement that sparks a reckoning in the US Military. Listen to Vanished what Happened to Vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.