B (2:45)

Yeah. I'm going to applaud you for everything that you said because I want to say essentially the same stuff that Baker Mayfield was maligned for years in this league, especially at Cleveland. And what has Cleveland exactly done without Baker Mayfield? So Tampa Bay doesn't win the super bowl and they're in a weak division, but they go to the playoffs all the time. Baker Mayfield wins games. That run on 4th and 10 was spectacular last night. And after that he completed five passes in a row. So, you know, what are we talking about here? The guy is a good professional quarterback who wins games. So let me go over to Houston now because Houston is a disappointing team. They're going in the wrong direction right now. Six of their last eight games over two seasons, they've scored 20 or fewer points. Right now they have the fewest points in all of football. They were a sexy pick last year because C.J. stroud had a great rookie year. But he went the wrong direction last year and he's continuing that in the second half last night, Mike, he completed five passes for 76 yards. That's nothing. And the defense that they have that everybody is salivating about and slobbering over, allowed an 80 yard 11 play drive in the last two minutes. So how good was that? The answer is a 1 billion.

A (4:06)

You know what? I'm not ready to bury them yet. I think Houston can still be okay with, particularly in that division. I think they will be very proud of them offensively that a lot of teams have with a defensive coach. They don't score enough points. You're right about that. But let's. I'm not ready to bury them. You are. We're going to keep that, you know, in mind over the next couple of weeks. Let's move to last night's late game in which the Chargers beat the Raiders 20 to 9. Long after Tony was asleep, Justin Herbert threw two first half touchdown passes. The charges picked off Geno Smith three times, including once in the end zone. Fabulous play in the fourth quarter. Tony, the Chargers are now the only 2 and O team in the AFC west with wins over two division opponents. Are you sold on them?

B (4:56)

Am I sold on them? I'm not quite sold on them, but let's put the under contract sign out because I'm close to being sold on them. They beat Kansas City at a neutral site in Brazil. Then they went to Las Vegas and they beat the Raiders and they beat them comfortably. So as you say, they're two and own division and they haven't played at home yet. And it appears that they have now in Justin Herbert, the guy they thought they were going to get when they drafted him six years ago, I mean, he's got five touchdown passes and no interceptions. And last year he had 23 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. And a lot of this is Jim Harbaugh. The flowering of Justin Herbert was not until Jim Harbaugh got there. Before Harbaugh got there, he had 42 interceptions in four years and now he has three in a year plus. And this Mike, as you know, because you love Harbaugh.

A (5:52)

I do.

B (5:53)

This is why you hire Jim Harbaugh to fix your quarterback. And the other reason you hire him is because he makes improvements quickly. Which he did at Stanford, which he did with the 49ers, which he did at Michigan and which he's doing now with the Chargers. And so you hire him even though maybe you think he's a loon, but you hire him cuz it works.

A (6:11)

You know where I wanted to hire him. You know, I screamed about that for years. Hire him. They'd gotten rid of Iberfluss a year earlier, they could have hired him. It's H and H. It's Herbert and Harbaugh, that yes, I am bullish on the charges. And you know, in previous years, for decades, back to when you and I were working sports writers, I would say stop with the Chargers because they take a nap.

B (6:35)

They take a nap.

A (6:35)

They do.

B (6:36)

They take a nap.

A (6:37)

They're not gonna take a nap under Harbaugh. Cause he's not gonna let them. And I'm not giving up on the Chiefs yet. And Denver's really good. Denver got hosed. Cause they would be two and oh, they got hosed. That's the only way I see it. And they're gonna get Denver. That's gonna be a nice matchup coming in week three.

B (6:52)

But that's at home. Like that's at home for the charts.

A (6:54)

Yeah, yeah, they got it home.

B (6:55)

I wish it was in San Diego, but it's in la. That's the Way it works these days.

A (6:59)

Well, we still call it San, you and I and we will call it San Diego.

B (7:02)

Yep. Let's move to Tom Brady in his dual role as broadcaster and team owner. He broadcasts for Fox and he owns a piece of the Raiders. Last night Brady looked like Beau Brummel in a jacket and tie sitting in a Raiders coaching booth on a headset. This is not illegal by NFL rules, but it is causing a stir. Will Bond Brady in the booth wearing a headset. Big deal. Little deal, no deal.

A (7:26)

Brady in the booth wearing a hat, says nothing. Nothing. A waste of time. And I thought last night, wow, this is like Sean Connery 1964 in a booth with a headset. I don't care about that at all. The question is what happens during the week before we get and usually and you know about this having been involved in crew and discussions. I'm gonna turn this over to you. That's right. Look, it's a terrible appearance of impropriety. I can't say there's any impropriety. I don't know. I mean, there were some people on television this morning saying they know. They figure Brady's cheating cuz he always was involved in other cheating scandals. I'm not going there. The appearance of impropriety is enough that the NFL should say, no, we're not going to have this. Any impropriety's insider trading that if Brady or anybody else wanted to and you got information during the week and then you were in meetings with people on whatever you met Friday, Saturday, you could divulge state secrets, you could have favorite players on other teams. The appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest. Now, you know this intimately because you sat in on these. What do you think?

B (8:40)

Well, you know, let me talk. You know, I mean, I agree with you about the appearance of impropriety. I do not think this is a big deal yet. And I see that the NFL is trying to defuse it. I do not think it's cheating. I do not think it's awful, but I think it looks bad.

A (8:55)

Yeah.

B (8:55)

Okay. When you're in a broadcast crew, in order to make the broadcast better, you have access to players and to coaches that other people don't have. Because you're asking a lot of questions about a lot of topics and you're gleaning information. And even though Brady doesn't do it in person, he does electronically. He still has access to all these players if he has Mike, and I'm going to assume you agree with me on this. If he has a different agenda. If his agenda is because he is an owner of the Raiders, then he may be looking for certain kinds of information to pass along.

A (9:28)

Yes.

B (9:28)

You know, he has a privilege that no other owner has in talking to these players and these coaches. And so you and I agree it doesn't look good. Now, the NFL came out today and they said, hey, this is legal. What I would have suggested, and by the way, I would have had Goodell on it and not an underling because Brady deserves that. What I would have suggested is to say he can't talk to players and coaches within two weeks of a Raiders game. I think that would have made, you know, everybody feel good because we both agree there's something that doesn't look right.

A (10:03)

That's right. And Tony, real quickly, just to underscore this, we're not even saying this is not Brady's doing. The league has to decide. The appearance here is what. What does this mean for somebody that takes his product seriously and wants its product to be viewed with a certain perspective? What does this didn't mean Brady's done anything wrong, but you know, no, he hasn't.

B (10:27)

He's going by the rules.

A (10:28)

Yes. He's doing what he's allowed to do. Absolutely.

B (10:31)

Let's take a break. Coming up, if teams had trouble with the tush push before, what do they do now that some Eagles appear to be going early? We're going to ask Jeff Saturday.

A (10:41)

We'll also ask him whether the Bengals offensive line deserves heat for Joe Burrow's turf toe.

B (10:47)

By the way, our friend Grant Hill is a part owner of the Atlanta Hawks and a broadcaster on NBC. Yeah, so this could happen to him.

C (10:56)

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B (12:07)

Let's get into the NFL trenches with our great friend, ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday. Jeff, we're going to start with everybody's favorite play, the Tush Push. The Eagles now appear to start early on several of these Tush pushes against the Chiefs. What should teams or what should the league maybe do about this?

D (12:28)

Well, I mean, you got to call it when you, if somebody's had the snap count, they got to call it. But let me put this in perspective. It is not abnormal for offensive linemen to anticipate the snap count that their quarterback is given. So let's just say, you know, you get a hut hut for your cadence. At the end of the first hut, I'm going to start snapping the ball before that second hut comes so that everybody is moving at the same time. We want to use that as an advantage. We want to use that as a weapon for an offensive lineman. So we aren't waiting for that last tee to hit before I snap the ball when that I'm letting that thing rip and let's go. So I think they're trying to anticipate the snap count. So the guards were getting a little bit ahead. They will officiate it down. I am a fan of the Tush Push. I have put this on record a number of Times. There's, there's 31 other teams that could be doing it and are not for a reason. The Eagles are very effective at it. They're not going to stop until somebody stops it. They will officiate it better than they did this past week. But, but I love the play and the execution.

A (13:34)

All right, Jeff. The Lions offensive line lost Frank Ragnow to retirement, yet their line seems to be, you know, still pretty good. They look good in Week 2 against the Bears. Meanwhile, the Bears cannot get this offensive line together no matter how many changes they make. How can one outfit be so good at this and another same division be so awful year after year? Yeah.

D (13:58)

Well, I'll say Hank Fraylor, the offensive line coach for the, for the Detroit Lions, is a very good coach and he was a good player as well. And so, and I think what, what they have done is they have, they have likened their offensive line to Dan Campbell. They are a rough and rugged bunch. They want to play the run first and then get in the pass. This is not a team that's Going to get back and shotgun, you know, 80% of their snaps and let you just tee off. They want to be coming off the ball, firing off the ball. And I know people don't understand, but when a, when a, when a quarterback goes underneath center and is turning his back to the line of scrimmage, it's a benefit to the offensive line in the run game and in the play action pass game. When all 11 defenders can see everything that's happening in the shotgun, it makes it hard. I think they do a really good job of balancing it. For, for so far, the Bears in what they've had pre Ben Johnson have not been able to figure that part out. I think Ben Johnson will get there. Like I said before, you got to be patient with this thing. But he understands that being under center, understanding how to, how to formulate that between quarterback and center and how that will help and translate to the offensive line will be very beneficial for the Bears.

A (15:14)

Going to switch over to ask about something that has peeved me now for, I don't know, 48 hours. I thought the defensive leverage penalty called against the Broncos that got the Colts that game winning re kick was garbage. So Jeff, does the penalty and the 15 yard punishment for that penalty make sense to you? And should this particular one even have been called a penalty?

D (15:39)

Okay, it should have been called. It, it was a penalty. But here, this is what I equate this to. This is like the defensive end who's rushing the passer reaches out and just barely grazes the mask, right? Or pushes the mask of the quarterback and it's roughing the passer or it's the guy who hits the quarterback and tries to fall and they're like, oh no, his body splashed on him. It is garbage. Right? But, but it's, it's the rule. And so the referee called it.

B (16:06)

It's.

D (16:06)

It's a right call. But it's frustrating, right, because you don't want to see games decided by something that ticky tack. If, if it's, if there was a clear advantage or somebody's getting hurt or it puts somebody at risk, I totally get it. But I'm with you. It's one of those, it can be both, right? It's both and it's, it's garbage because we don't like it. But it is a foul and it should have been called and they did call it and, and effectively, you know, the, the Colts win the game because they get another shot and at kicking.

B (16:33)

The field goal and The Colts are 2 and oh, and Daniel is leading them up and down the field day after day after day. It just seems. Let's go the MVP right now. All right, I'll get you out of here on this. And this is. We ask you this because of the position you played for all those years. The Bengals offensive line is apparently taking heat for Joe Burrow's turf toe. That's your position. Does this make sense to you?

D (17:01)

Okay, so. And because people, they equate quarterbacks getting hit to offensive line, and I totally understand that. But I just made this point. I'm going to make it again. The way the Bengals operate their offense is. Is Joe Burrow is in gun a large majority of the time. Everybody in the building knows they're going to pass it. They're not very effective running the football. Defensive players are going to have their ears pinned back. And Joe Burrow wants to hold the ball, right. He wants to extend plays. He wants to make big plays. He wants to manipulate the pocket, get the ball downfield. All of those things, all of that is inherent risk to a qb. He's going to get hit. And those defensive linemen understand if they are persistent and keep rushing, keep pushing, they're eventually going to put a body on a body. And that's what has happened. It has accumulated in Burrow's career. That's why you see so many injuries. And it's frustrating because the offensive line ultimately gets blamed. There's a lot of blame to go around in the building with bur. With everybody. Everybody involved protecting the quarterback is head coach, offensive coordinator, quarterback and offensive line. It's everybody involved, and they just haven't done a good enough job.

B (18:13)

Yeah. So get off the center for a.

A (18:15)

Little while on that. Get off the whole line on this. As always.

B (18:20)

Yeah. Let's take one last break. Still to come, the Phillies clinch the NL east and a few words about.

A (18:26)

The life and times of the now.

B (18:29)

Departed Robert Redford, who was only in about 30 great movies.

A (18:35)

At least.

B (18:36)

That's all.

A (18:36)

At least.

B (18:37)

Maybe 40. Maybe 40.

A (18:39)

And directed. And directed a few, too.

B (18:42)

Yes.

C (18:43)

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B (20:53)

Happy time people. Happy 32nd birthday. Bryson DeChambeau of all the players who bolted from the PGA Tour for the guaranteed money of the Saudi Tour, DeChambeau may be the most consistently impressive. In 2024, DeChambeau won the US Open at Pinehurst, his second Open, beating Rory McIlroy. When McElroy stumbled on the 18th, DeChambeau did not. This past year, DeChambeau finished T2 in the PGA, T5 in the Masters and top 10 in the British Open. DeChambeau is the only American player on the LIV Tour to qualify for the United States Ryder cup team. And although he wasn't eligible to play in last week's Pro Court Championship, DeChambeau showed up to show solidarity with his Ryder cup teammates who did play.

A (21:34)

Tony I can't figure out how I feel year to year about DeChambeau. There was a time where I thought he was a villain, a worthy villain, but a villainous sort of figure. And then he just seems to now be happy all the time with everybody. He's high fiving the gallery, he's got a different thing. He lost all that crazy muscle mass where he looked like some caricature. I think I like him now, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'll revert.

B (22:00)

Hey, tell me in a week. Let me know. Happy anniversary, Ryan Fitzpatrick. On this day seven years ago, playing with Tampa Bay, Fitzpatrick became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 400 yards and four touchdowns in each of the first two games of a season. Fitzpatrick played 17 seasons in the NFL, started for nine different teams, an NFL record for quarterbacks. He earned $82 million, the highest career earnings ever for a seventh round pick, which he was out of Harvard in 2005. However, Brock Purdy is about to pay us Fitzpatrick money wise. When Fitzpatrick retired, he had the NFL record for most games played without a playoff appearance. I like him in the Thursday night pregame show on Amazon Prime. Do you?

A (22:40)

Yeah. He and Andrew Whitworth. It's just a lot of beard, but I like those guys. Why didn't more teams hold onto him longer at quarterback? If you could last 17 years for all those teams couldn't like, I don't know, just two or three say, you know, we like you. I don't understand that either.

B (22:59)

A melancholy trail is to Robert Redford. The great actor died this morning at the age of 89. Redford starred in sports films like the Natural and the Unseen, Downhill Racer. But his greatest fame came from a run in the late 60s and early 70s that included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Three Days of the Condor, the Sting and the Great all the President's Men. And he also won an Oscar for directing Wilbond's favorite film, Ordinary People.

A (23:24)

My favorite film ever, Tony. But quick story, don't you remember after playing in all the President's Men, after playing Bob Woodward, our dear friend and idol, where Robert Redford would come into the Washington Post newsroom to see Woodward and everybody would just stand around and stare at him. That was so crazy that Bob Woodward would just be like, you know what, fellas? Hello.

B (23:47)

They were great friends for like 50 years. Really great friends. Let's go to the big finish quickly. Kate Horton and Paul Skeens tonight. I'll bet you're excited.

A (23:55)

I am fired up. Cade Horton, rookie of the year and he's going to win tonight. Phillies clinch the NL East. That's a big deal, isn't it?

B (24:04)

Best lineup one through nine in the majors and has been for three years. Jordan Alvarez of the Astros left last night's game with a left ankle sprain. Is that cause for concern?

A (24:14)

Yeah. We're a couple of weeks from postseason, and they need him to overtake. Yes. Mondo Duplantis set the pole vault record for 14th time. Is that bogus, or are you impressed?

B (24:25)

No. Sergey Bubka did this. He would kick it up a quarter of an inch at every meet because he got paid every time. He raised the record. That's what this guy does. Last one two WNBA playoff games tonight. Who?

A (24:36)

You got the dream. And the Aces will win, close their series out, respectively, and move on.

B (24:45)

We are out of time. We will try to do better the next time. And I am Tony Kornhuiser.

A (24:49)

I'm Mike Lobon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.

C (24:52)

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