Hour 2: NFL Week 2 Preview

Summary

---

Sunday Mornings with Matt and Myron

Episode: Hour 2: NFL Week 2 Preview
Date: September 14, 2025
Hosts: Andrew Sal Tunis & David Dennis Jr. (in for Matt & Myron)
Platform: ESPN Radio

---

Episode Overview

Hour two of this special NFL Week 2 Preview is a football-packed blend of analysis, banter, and sports headlines. Andrew Sal Tunis and David Dennis Jr. take listeners on a fast-paced rundown of all things NFL, spotlighting the week’s biggest matchups, emerging storylines, and key player performances. The duo also venture into college football, MLB, fan traditions, and officiating in sports, making this a Sunday sports fix for fans with wide-ranging interests.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Bills vs. Jets – Can Fields Carry the Jets?

[00:29–03:57]

• Justin Fields’ Rise or Jets Curse?
  • Andrew wonders if Justin Fields' promising performance in Week 1 is evidence the Jets finally have a franchise QB, or just a one-off.
  • "Can anybody be good enough to avoid the stink of the Jets? And I don't know if Justin Fields is that guy." (Andrew, [00:56])
• Week 2 Reality Check
  • David stresses this matchup will separate “fool’s gold from what’s sustainable." He compares Fields to "Sam Darnold lite," hinting at a fleeting honeymoon phase.
  • “He looked incredible against that Steelers team...” (David, [03:11])
• Offensive Shootout?
  • Suggests both teams could put up big numbers, expecting a potential "another 40 point game from both these teams" (David, [03:47])
• Line Movement Suggests Jets Action
  • Line moves from Bills -6.5 to -5.5, showing respect for the Jets after Week 1.

---

Josh Allen: Year of No Doubt?

[03:57–05:34]

• MVP Competition
  • Andrew asks: Is this the year Josh Allen leaves no question about his MVP status?
  • "Is this the year where Josh Allen, you go, all right, he's the MVP, and there's no debate behind it?" (Andrew, [04:17])
• David’s Take:
  • He sees Allen asserting himself as the league's top QB, especially as Mahomes faces more challenges.
  • “Josh Allen has now elevated himself to saying, ‘I am the best in the world.’” (David, [05:28])

---

Odd Jersey Sightings & Team Fandom

[05:34–05:58]

• Andrew shares spotting a Josh Allen Wyoming jersey at a Temple-Oklahoma game—"He just loves the ball!"

---

Rams vs. Titans – Rookie QBs and Old Backs

[05:58–09:59]

• Cam Ward’s Debut
  • Andrew applauds the Titans for starting their rookie, noting Ward played well despite the loss.
  • “I would say that's a good start for a rookie.” (Andrew, [06:27])
• David backs up Cam Ward:
  • “I thought he played really good, really well. There were some drop passes there that really changed, especially that last drive.” (David, [06:50])
• Low-Stakes Rebuilding
  • Titans are “not going anywhere,” so letting Ward play is best for growth without excessive risk.
• Matthew Stafford’s Health
  • All eyes on whether Stafford’s back will hold up. Success hinges on his durability, with promising signs from his connection with Puka Nacua.
  • “This is a pretty good test to see how that back holds up.” (Andrew, [08:26])
• Rams' Defense Note
  • David wants to see if Rams’ Week 1 defensive dominance was just a result of playing Houston’s weak offensive line.

---

Sunday Headlines (with Mikey C.)

[13:26–22:18]

Anthony Rizzo: Ultimate Fan in Chicago

• Threw out first pitch, sang with Eddie Vedder, almost caught a home run bare-handed, quipping, “It's because I'm retired.” (Mikey C., [13:59])
• Friendly debate: is it okay for adults to bring a glove to the ballpark?
  • David: “Wear a glove at any time... by any means necessary.” ([15:07])
  • Andrew & Mikey: Only for kids.

Texas Tech’s Tortilla Toss Tradition at Risk

• Big 12 trying to ban fans throwing tortillas onto the field due to safety concerns.
• Andrew: “I just don't get penalizing traditions. Like, why do we do this?” ([16:41])
• David: “Let them throw tortillas.” ([16:55])

ACC/ESPN’s Replay Transparency Innovation

• Mikey C. describes new over-the-shoulder replay review coverage. Andrew welcomes the transparency for fan engagement.
• David’s “hot take”: “I don't think we need replays at all. I'm so anti replay in all of sports.” ([18:15])
• Andrew: “This is the most surprising segment I've ever done…” ([19:11])
• Back-and-forth weighs the value and futility of replay in sports, officiating, and the difficulty of pleasing fans.

Officiating Woes: Burnout and Turnover

• Referee Gary Patterson quit after a mishandled replay, providing real-world proof of the strain on officials.

---

Colts, Dolphins, and Broncos – Sorting out Pretenders

[23:21–32:47]

Colts vs. Broncos

• Question: Are Colts for real or were Dolphins just that bad in Week 1?
• David warns that Daniel Jones is facing a top defense now and may not repeat Week 1 success.
• If Colts win, it will raise questions about Denver rookie Bo Nix, who looked "average" in Week 1 despite hype.

Miami Dolphins Spiral?

• Andrew boldly asserts, “The Dolphins are that bad.” ([28:04])
• Multiple signs of dysfunction: poor defense, Tyreek Hill’s sideline frustration, and a players-only meeting already.
• David: “This is a must win in week two just to sustain the possibility of this team even sticking together this season.” ([28:36])
• Discussion of Vic Fangio's “tough love” coaching style and the Miami roster’s struggles adapting to discipline.
• Mike McDaniel’s charm may be wearing thin as league and players appear to be tuning him out.
• Patriots also at a crossroads: rookie Drake May did little to inspire playoff hopes in Week 1.

---

Cowboys vs. Giants – Must Win, or Meltdown?

[34:30–38:17]

• Dallas' State of Mind
  • Dak Prescott has 13 straight wins over Giants, but both teams are "a mess."
  • Loss of Micah Parsons via trade looms large for Dallas’ defense and identity.
  • Andrew: “This might be a must win game for the Cowboys today.” ([35:59])
• David agrees:
  • “You don't have to just win this... I think you need to win this one convincingly.” ([35:59])
• Playoff Contender?
  • David sees a path to a nine-win season, but not serious contention without defense or a power run game.

---

Bears vs. Lions – Is the Window Closing in Detroit?

[38:17–43:53]

• Detroit’s Rocky Start
  • Lions' loss to the Packers raises concerns, with Jared Goff’s struggles tied to missing OC Ben Johnson and shaky O-line.
  • David: “Jared Goff flourishes when all the pieces are kind of working around him.” ([39:11])
• Vegas Views
  • Lions still clear favorites over the Bears, but question marks for Chicago rookie Caleb Williams persist after an uneven Week 1.
• Caleb Williams Patience
  • David says Williams is safe for now, but scrutiny will grow if struggles repeat.
• How Open Is the Lions' Window?
  • “There's like a little crack in that window... Those three teams [Packers, Eagles, Rams] look like they are cut above the Lions right now.” (David, [43:00])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On reading and Philly stereotypes:
  • Andrew: “I read espn.com right. I read text messages from you. I don't read many books.” ([02:32])
  • David: “If you are anybody in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and you've read a book in the last calendar year, please let us know.” ([02:51])
• On tradition vs. safety:
  • Andrew: “I just don't get penalizing traditions.” ([16:41])
• On replay in sports:
  • David: “I'm so anti replay in all of sports that I don't care about these things being over the shoulder. I don't want us to look at them because I don't want replays at all in sports.” ([18:15])
• On the Dolphins' spiral:
  • Andrew: “The Dolphins are that bad.” ([28:04])
  • David: “The window already looks like it's closed. This team, it seems like 10 years ago where they put up 70 points against the Broncos.” ([29:49])
• On the Cowboys’ mindset:
  • Andrew: “This might be a must win game for the Cowboys today.” ([35:59])

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | [00:29] | NFL Headlines – Jets, Bills, Fields | | [03:57] | Josh Allen: MVP Case | | [05:58] | Rams at Titans – Rookie QB Storylines | | [13:26] | Sunday Headlines: Rizzo, Tortillas, Replays, Officiating | | [23:21] | Colts/Broncos/Dolphins struggles | | [34:30] | Cowboys vs Giants – Pressure Cooker | | [38:17] | Bears vs Lions, The Curious Case of Detroit and Chicago |

---

Final Takeaways

This episode is a punchy, fun, and insightful primer for NFL Week 2 and broader sports debates. Andrew and David bounce between serious breakdowns—Quarterback performances, MVP races, struggling teams—and lighthearted riffs on baseball gloves, college traditions, and the eternal drama of sports officiating. Their chemistry shines in the banter, providing both passionate sports analysis and a relatable, fan-centric perspective perfect for Sunday morning.

---

Transcript

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15 a month. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five. My mom used to say, are you.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Are you playing me off?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try.

[Commercial/Ad Voice]

@Mintmobile.Com Switch upfront payment of $45 per three month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

See mintmobile.com this is Matt and Myron the podcast two hours away from kickoff. Less than two hours away from kickoff week two of the NFL season. This is Matt Myron on ESPN radio and ESPN app presented by Progressive Insurance. I'm Andrew Sal true us Alongside David Dennis Jr. In for Matt and Myron on this Sunday morning. And more NFL action to talk about as we will all the way until kickoff. This is your Countdown to Kickoff show here on ESPN Radio. David, we have the Bills and we have the jets divisional matchup Bills 1 0. After that ridiculous comeback that they had against the Baltimore Ravens last week and the jets almost were able to hold off Aaron Rodgers and his debut in Pittsburgh with the Steelers, but they were handed a loss. Now look, there is some excitement in New York, clearly with what Justin Fields was able to do in his week one performance. It was a lot of fun to watch what he was able to do on the ground. Made some timely throws but ultimately they get the loss. But one of my biggest question is is that Justin Fields starting to show that he could be a quarterback in the NFL that you could build around or was that just a week one game against a brand new team in Pittsburgh? Because I have to ask, can anybody be good enough to avoid the stink of the Jets? And I don't know if Justin Fields is that guy.

[David Dennis Jr.]

That's all well and good. You gonna let the producers shade you like this? We come back to the show they're talking about people from Philly don't read. And we're just gonna skip over that. You wore a temple shirt, man. You are a highly educated Philadelphian. You're gonna let them do that to you. I know you're reading, you're reading, you're reading. But you know who Stephen King is, you're reading books.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Don't let Cs get degrees is all I'm gonna say. And when it comes to working in sports talk radio, nobody needed to be on the honor roll list. I just needed to get through and work my ass off working the late night shifts. So it was more working than reading in my lifetime.

[David Dennis Jr.]

David, you're not. You're not. This sounds like. This sounds like you're just talking about you're not reading this. I was. I was trying to lob you up alley oop to talk about all the many books you've read.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I can't tell you.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Leather bound books and everything that I can't tell you.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Last time I read a book, I honestly don't know. The last time I read I read espn.com right. I read text messages from you. I don't read many books. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I read the newspaper every once in a while. I'm like the oldest 30 year old you'll ever know. Still reading a newspaper in my hand. But a book. It's been a while. I can't hate the clip.

[David Dennis Jr.]

If you are anybody in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and you've read a book in the last calendar year, please let us know. We got to redeem ourselves. What are we doing? Buffalo. Buffalo with the Jets.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Buffalo Jets. Can Justin Fields avoid the stink in New York York? I mean that's. He played well week one which is great. I'm happy for him. He played this around already.

[David Dennis Jr.]

He played Incredible Week Week 1 and this is. This is one of the more intriguing matchups I think of this week because we've. There's a lot of questions about when you go from week one to week two, what's fool's gold versus what's sustainable. Right. And we saw Justin Fields that looked like a dude who had found that Sam Darnold and I've been saying this before the season like this could be Sam Darnold light right Where a guy finds that stop and looks great. He looked incredible against that Steelers team that Bill's defense they got run over and the scheming that we're talking about here that the jets do not that dissimilar from the Ravens. Now of course there's no Lamar Jackson over here, there's no Derrick Henry. But the scheme itself is not too dissimilar and I would am very interested in the type of scoring that we're going to see in this game. This may be another 40 point game from both of these teams by the way.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Buffalo five and a half point favorites. It was six and a half. So money going toward the New York jets for the line to move the way that it did. I mean Josh Allen. My. My question for him, because we know how great he is. We know the greatness of Josh Allen. Do you believe this is his MVP season where there's no debate? Remember last year, there was plenty of debate of whether Josh Allen should have won, which he did, or whether it was Lamar Jackson. One wins offensive player of the year, one wins mvp. Is this the year where Josh Allen, you go, all right, he's the mvp, and there's no debate behind it.

[David Dennis Jr.]

I'm not sure about. So the mvp. You know, we take into so many other things into account when it comes to mvp, not just being the best player. To me, what I saw from Josh Allen in that game, I know it's just one game, but what we saw there, to me was a guy who asserting himself as the top dog in the league. Like, I am that guy. I went against Lamar Jackson. I was unstoppable. I had the confidence to be the best player. I think that what we saw is a guy who said, who. Who has now become the like. And in the quarterback world, right? I am LeBron. I am Jokic. I am better than the guy across from me. Whether that, you know, manifest MVP or not. I think if you're going to believe in one guy right now, is Josh out now? Patrick Mahomes, I think is, you know, you could still believe in him in the same way. I just think that what they're. What they've lost in terms of weapons, Xavier Worthy, Rasheed Rice not being there, I don't know if he can overcome that. I think it's the first year where it looks like the chief deficiencies are insurmountable for Patrick Mahomes. And Josh Allen has now elevated himself to saying, I am the best in the world.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

By the way, speaking of this, I got to ask personal question. I was at the Temple Oklahoma game yesterday, as I mentioned.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

There's a guy wearing a Josh Allen Wyoming jersey in attendance. Why? I respect it. Like, I respect that you have a Josh Allen Wyoming jersey, but why at a Temple Oklahoma game are you rocking, you know, the brown and the gold?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah, I don't. That's a good question.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

That is a weird question. Big Josh Allen fan.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yes.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

He just loves the ball. I gotta give him credit. All right, so we go from the one and oh Bills versus the oh one jets to another battle of a one and oh verse. Oh and one team Rams at Titans. So obviously the big storyline all off season was the back of Matthew Stafford. And the storyline for Tennessee was the growth year for Cam Ward. Let's start there. David. It was, it was a shame that Cam Ward actually played pretty well. The statistics might not back that up. We saw his father in the stands, you know, falling apart a little bit. I don't blame him. His son's playing a good game, wasn't getting much help from his offense. But I would say that that's a good start for a rookie that's just going thrown right into the fire. We know how careful a lot of these teams are. Always not ready yet. We don't want to ruin him. We don't want him to see goes. Tennessee goes. You know what, let's give the kid a shot. And I thought he played pretty well in his first game.

[David Dennis Jr.]

I thought he played really good, really well. There were some drop passes there that really changed, especially that last drive. I think that was what his dad was reacting to as a drop pass there. That while he was trying to make that run. I thought he looked ready. I thought he looked good. This Rams defense is going to also make him look a little bit worse than he probably is. There's going to be some better games ahead. But I like what the Titans are doing. Hey, we got a number one pick. We're throwing him out there. He's good enough to be, to sustain something there and to be competitive. And he's learning. He's getting his lumps. I like it.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

And by the way, yeah, he didn't get much help from his receivers, but he could go to bed that night saying, damn, I played pretty well today.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

And then that's when we go back to conversations about like, Jackson Dart. Like, Jackson Dart is going to bed saying, damn it, I'm better than Russell Wilson. Play me, coach. Like, yeah, he's going to bed frustrated. Cam Ward's going to bed. Probably a little bummed out, but he's going to sleep soundly that night. Or is Jackson Darts probably sitting there staring at a ceiling fan go, why can't I play, coach?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Well, I think, I think the answer, if you're, if you're coaching the Giants answer here is that you had a team that you kind of thought may be able to make some noise with a veteran quarterback. Right? The Titans are not that team. The Titans are not going anywhere no matter who you put behind center. So we might as well throw this young guy out there in low stakes games and see what he has. And it's not going to be a situation where the Titans are going to be so bad that his confidence is going to be shaken. I think that he's going to be good enough. They're going to be competitive. They're in a division where they can win some games, where they may come out of here with five or six wins. And you still feel like you have a quarterback of the future who has not been ruined. It's not like he's getting, going to be dropping back, getting sacked 10, 15 times a game or something like that. I think they'll be fine.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Now on the other side, an age difference of 14 years. Matthew Stafford obviously getting the start the entire offseason. We talked about the back. He played well in their Week one game point wise. I know it didn't totally look at that connection with him and Puka. Nakua is deadly. Nukuha had to leave the field a couple of times being evaluated for a concussion, but he ends up coming back and they had a big day, the two of them. You mentioned that defense. This is why the Rams this season falls on the back of Matthew Stafford. I'm not saying get on my back, I will carry you. I'm talking about whether or not his back can hold up. And that's what's going to be really interesting about this. You and I, the last time we did the show together, we talked about, all right, week one, that's great that they can tell us that if he's ready to play today or if the season started today, he'd be ready to play. Okay, that's great. How does the back respond? Because when you get hit a couple of times, I know what it's like. I'm talking about the wedding that I was at last night. I know how my body's feeling today. Like how is Matthew Stafford feeling in week two, week three, week four? So this is a pretty good test to see how that back holds up. But that defense that you talk about, that will probably bother Cam Ward today. It's so good that if Matthew Stafford can play at 80% throughout the entire season, they're going to be a. A force in the nfc. Yeah.

[David Dennis Jr.]

I want to see exact, just exactly how good this defense is. Also because part of what they went against was a Texans offensive line that is paper mache.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Sure.

[David Dennis Jr.]

So I want to see exactly how they look, if they can get if, you know, if they're at that same level against a Titans team with a little bit of a better line, a little bit of better protection. But. But a rookie quarterback behind center.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Rams five and a half point favorites in Tennessee on ESPN bet. Coming up next, a major leaguer gets the full fan experience in Chicago. We'll tell you about it in Sunday Headlines. That's next here on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app.

[Commercial/Ad Voice]

If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Shopify gives you a leg up with hundreds of beautiful ready to go templates to express your brand style and forget about the code. Tackle all those important tasks in one place. From inventory to payments to analytics and more. Spread your brand's word with built in marketing and email tools to find and keep new customers. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.comnetwork. go to shopify.comnetwork shopify.comnetwork 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.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Matt and Myron the podcast you down to Week two of the NFL. This is Matt Myron on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app presented by Progressive Insurance. I'm Andrew Sal Tunis alongside David Dennis Jr. We're in for Matt and Myron here. You can climb in at 888- say ESPN. That's triple 872-93776 as we break down every single game on the NFL slate today. It's been a lot of fun so far. We reacted to week three in college football as well. A crazy week three in college football. But now we are excited. One o' clock kickoff to get this day started and we are leading you up to it every second of the way. Matt Myron is presented by Progressive Insurance. Insurance for motorcycles, boats and RVs for protection on the water. See how much you could save at 1-800-progressive and progressive.com the Sunday headlines. Well, it's time now for Sunday Headlines. Instead of Matt Myron, it's Andrew Saltunas and David Dennis Jr. But instead of James Steele, it's Mikey C. Mikey, good morning.

[Mikey C]

Morning, guys.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

How are you? Great. We're doing good, man. What do we got today on headlines?

[Mikey C]

Well, I wanted to bring this up. I don't know if you saw it in SportsCenter today, but it was Anthony Rizzo day in Chicago yesterday. The longtime Cubs fan favorite, though he had the full fan experience. He threw out the first pitch, got to sing Take Me out to the Ball Game with Eddie Vedder and even sat out into the, in the bleachers with the rest of the fans and nearly caught a home run right off of his hand. You guys see it?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

No way. He almost caught the home run. I saw the other two things. I did not see the home run.

[Mikey C]

Ball that he almost caught literally off his hands. In fact, they asked him, I think in the announcers asked him what happened after. He said, how'd you miss it? He said, it's because I'm retired.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, that's a good point. Plus, he's been dealing with a glove, like, his entire life. He's, he's not one of us common folk just yet. He'll get there. One day. Anthony Rizzo will get there and he'll be able to catch the ball with his bare hands because you can't take the glove into the outfield once you reach a certain age. David, what's your ruling on that? I think once you are like 16, no more glove in the outfield at the ball game. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[David Dennis Jr.]

You could take a glove. Glove is age. Is age rich? Anytime you want, take the glove out there.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

No, you're pro glove at any age.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Pro glove. You could wear a glove out there and hand it because you got like, what am I going to say? I'm there with my kid and I'm holding my kid. I miss a ball, I would say, well, I'm too. I had to be a man. I didn't want to wear my glove, kid. Sorry, I didn't get a ball. No, you got to do what you can to, you know, make sure you can catch. You can catch the ball and give it to your little one.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

You and I have worked a couple of Times. And I've respected you every step of the way until this moment right here, right now. Ball. Though the glove does not happen past a certain age.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Wear a glove at any time. Go out there and get a ball for your kids by any means necessary. Do what you can.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

All right, Mikey C. You gotta break this up. We're split 1 1. What about you, Mikey?

[Mikey C]

I. I don't. I think if you're a man, you gotta leave the glove at home kind of, right?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Oh, come on. Oh, come on.

[Mikey C]

You got it. You can always try and catch it with your hat.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

That doesn't work, Mikey. No. What else we got, Mikey?

[Mikey C]

All right. One of the coolest traditions in football actually may not be a tradition for longer, but the Texas Tech tortilla throw. It's a practice that's been happening since 1992. After ESPN announcers joke about Lubbock being a tortilla factory, the Texas Tech fans actually tossed tortillas onto the field at the start of the game. But the Big 12 has been trying to shut it down, actually because of causing a hazardous field to the players. What do you think of shutting down the tortilla toss?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Look, I get it. It's. It's kind of like back in the days of the Palestra when they threw the streamers, because it kills the time. So the Big Five, even though it's not as strong as it once was, which is very sad for somebody that's born and raised in the Philadelphia area, It's all about timing at this point. They just don't want to have to clean up the tortillas at this point. Maybe they don't want to waste tortillas. I don't know. Maybe a player might be hungry. We, the guys eat uncrustables on the sidelines all the time. Maybe a good tortilla might help you, David. I don't know.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Wide receiver, gloves out in the stands to catch the tortillas. That's what I'm talking about. Go out there, do what you can. Catch tortillas, eat the tortillas. This is more important than catching the baseball. It's tort. It's free tortillas, man. Go out there to catch them.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I just don't get penalizing traditions. Like, why do we do this? Like, if it's a tradition, it's a tradition. Just let it keep on going. Now am I watching a game to see tortillas? No, I'm not. But it's something that I'm excited about. It happens. Let. Let him continue doing it.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah, I think you're overthinking this. I think folks are overthinking this. Let them throw tortillas.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

They actually used to do this at my college in Santa Barbara. After every single goal in soccer, throw tortillas on the field. Is that right? They tell you you're not supposed to, but students come in with bags of them.

[David Dennis Jr.]

There's.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

There's a Costco down the street. And of course, if you're doing the tortilla throw, you have to buy the cheapest tortillas you can find. Right? Like, I really hope nobody's going out there. And the smallest and buying the high price tortillas, you can't do that as college students.

[David Dennis Jr.]

What can you afford?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, that's a good point. What else we got, Mikey? See?

[Mikey C]

All right, you guys, I know didn't get to see this, but the ACC and ESPN is providing an over the shoulder review of replay control and actually showing you behind the scene officiating of what takes place when an actual replay review takes place during a game. And it was pretty cool. I got to catch it this week. You guys need to see what this is like. It's really awesome.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, I think that's cool. I mean, I like to be able to see what they're showing. Like, you know, when you watch baseball, they usually do the whole. This is what they're watching in New York. You're seeing it live right now, what they're watching in New York. I think it's cool. I think it's a good fan experience. You know, I was at the Temple, Oklahoma game yesterday and there was a play being reviewed and they weren't showing it on the big screen. And I was like, well, come on. Like, if you're watching, why can't I watch this? Like, I don't. Is this some secret tape that nobody's allowed to see?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Hot take. I don't think we need replays at all. I'm. I'm so anti replay in all of sports that I don't care about, about these things being over the shoulder. I don't want us to look at them because I don't want replays at all in sports.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

The replays are going to happen.

[David Dennis Jr.]

They're going to happen. I just wanted to get our takeoff that I don't think they should. I just think that, that they are a waste of time. They get the calls wrong half the time anyway and we shouldn't do replays.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

So what you're saying is we should just roll with the call regardless of.

[David Dennis Jr.]

What might be absolutely 100% roll with the call, regardless of what.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

We had referees in the NBA rigging games before. Now all of a sudden, you don't want to have any replays.

[David Dennis Jr.]

When was the. How many times a game do you. Do we watch where they do a replay? And then you say, well, they fixed that call versus how many times? Like, they still got it wrong. And. And they kind of got it more wrong than they did the first time before you did the actual replay. Like, how many times does that happen? I think we're still betting 50, 50, and I don't think it's making calls any more accurate than they were.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

This is the most surprising segment I've ever done on es.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Think about. Think about how many times you've watched a football game, right? And you've seen something that in your eye looks like a catch.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Sure.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Right. And then you do the replay and you go to the minute, minute, minute, like, you know, frame and say that the ball grazed the ground or whatever, and it's not a catch when it actually kind of looked like a catch or they even just got it more wrong before when they shouldn't have because you can replay and you say it's a. Clearly a pass interference, but I can't call a pass interference on the replay. So I'm not actually getting. I'm not actually getting the play right. I'm getting one fraction of the play right instead of the overall play being right.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

When they tried that a few years ago, the one off of being able to review past interference, nobody knew what was happening right. In the officials. The officials didn't know what to call.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Right? Yeah, that's. That's what I'm saying. Like, they change it all the time. They do it. It does not actually make games more accurate or make calls more accurate. We're still like, how many times have you watched the game and left out there and said, man, refs really nailed all those calls. Even with the, with the replays, refs just really just had a flawless game there. Does not happen.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Wait, you don't wear your zebra jersey, like, when you're sitting on the couch watching games. You're not. You're not cheering on the refs.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And the replay does not help.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Speaking of refs, what else we got, Mike? You see?

[Mikey C]

Yeah, maybe somebody who actually agrees with David here after last week's Yukon Syracuse game, an awkwardly handled replay late in the first half of the game, but had an ACC official, Gary Patterson, who actually believe I've heard this name before, I think he's pretty well known actually quit because of the way the review was actually handled that game actually that you can Syracuse game that a lot of chaos after that. Syracuse was running sprints after it. He had an ACC ref quit. I don't know. I think it agrees with you though, David.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I wonder at some point does an official just go, I'm tired of this. Like is this, is this word sounds like happened?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, hey, you. It's, it's a thankless job. Officiating is a thankless job like this. We know when people are talking about officiating and making it better. When would can anybody name the golden era of officiating hockey? Right.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

The gun show.

[David Dennis Jr.]

That's all I got for anybody name. Nobody has ever been like man, 1993, that was an incredible officiating year. I like, I don't know what the golden era of officiating was like. When has anybody ever been just happy with how officiating has been?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, we talk about officials that are forcing game sevens on purpose. You know, we got Angel Hernandez, who we wonder if he can actually, you know, see all that well, calling balls and strikes or he did before he retired in quotes, before he was no longer an umpire. Major League Baseball. That's a good point, that one. I agree with you, David. I'm glad we were able to find common ground at the end. Great job, Mikey C. Cam, good job as well. Coming up next, was Miami that bad in week one or are the Colts that good? That's next here on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app.

[State Farm Commercial Voice]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to do list is a great feeling. And when it comes to checking off coverage, a State Farm agent can help you choose an option that's right for you. Whether you prefer talking in person on the phone or using the award winning app, it's nice knowing you have help finding coverage that best fits your needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Commercial/Ad Voice]

Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with zero artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new energy multiplier.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Sugar free.

[Commercial/Ad Voice]

Unlike other energy drinks, you know the ones that make you feel like you're glitching. It's made with natural caffeine and electrolytes so you get the boost without the burnout. Liquid IV's new energy multiplier. Sugar free hydrating energy. Tap the banner to learn more.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Matt and Myron the podcast Closer to kickoff. All across the NFL, we've been Talking about leading you up here on Matt Meyer on ESPN Radio and ESPN App presented by Progressive Insurance. I'm Andrew Sal Tunis Alongside David Dennis Jr. We're both in for Matt and Myron today. And last week we saw an absolute beatdown when the Colts just took care of business of the Miami Dolphins. David, you asked Herm Edwards earlier in the show about the players only meeting and having one in already week two or leading up to week two in the NFL slate. So we'll talk about those Dolphins here. Come up in a little bit. But Broncos Colts is the game we'll focus on first Denver one and a half point favorites on ESPN Bet. So one of the questions that we'll discuss is whether or not the Colts are that good and Daniel Jones is that good or the Miami Dolphins are that bad. I I'm going to tell you right now, I don't see Daniel Jones having the same success that we saw in Week 1 against this Broncos defense that will be one of the best in the NFL this year.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah. What's interesting is this Colts team may come out of this one and one, right. And we may still not know what Daniel Jones looks like because they faced Nobody in Week 1, aka the Miami Dolphins defense, and now they're facing one of the best defenses in the league and the Broncos. So he may come out there and look terrible. But if you're in a situation where Daniel Jones comes out and he looks even half as good as he looked last week and they beat this Broncos team, you may have something cooking here in Indianapolis.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

And if they beat this Broncos team, that's then going to lead to a lot of questions of Bo Nicks. And I know Bo Nicks had a good rookie season. I know there's a lot of excitement for Denver fans with Bo Knicks. But you know, I read an article the other day on ESPN.com it was Bill Barnwell. I didn't even realize until I read it that they were one in seven against teams with winning records last year. So it shows you that they were able to beat up on the bottom feeders, which look, that's what you're supposed to do with a rookie quarterback and a good defense. You're trying to, you know, make a name for yourself. You're in a very good division out there in the AFC west, but you're going to have to be able to beat teams that are just as good as you, if not better if you want to be a legitimate playoff threat, which a lot of people have. I've seen people pick them to Win division before the season started. But Bo Nicks kind of looked average in week one and he did not play a dominant team. He played a Tennessee Titans team that the storyline's the Cam Ward, not anybody else. If Bo Nicks and the Broncos lose to the Colts today, there's gonna be a lot of questions coming out of Denver, I would imagine.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah, Bo Nicks did not look good last week. Some of those throws were just inaccurate. They were bad timing on those throws. Like those are some the issues that you have. That defense I think is going to be stout all year and you have a wide open, possibly wide open division. When you look at the Chiefs maybe falling apart and the Broncos were sort of the, you know, they were the, the sort of catchy pick, right? People were talking about them maybe still in that division, maybe being a top team in the afc, Bo Nicks has to be better. And if that defense does what it can do against a Daniel Jones, you hold that colts team to 13 points, 17 points, you're going to look at Bo Nix and say what can you do to get us over the, over the, to the 20 point margin? Win the game.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I also think during the off season they did not do much to help Bo Nix like Cortland sounds good, don't get me wrong. But that defense I think was already set. I think there should have been a little bit more attention to help out your rookie quarterback going into year two. We know all about the sophomore slump. You know, your big off season addition is J.K. dobbins. Like if Denver wants to really be considered some sort of offensive threat or some threat in the afc, they're going to have to help out Bo Nix a little bit more when it comes to offense. By the way, that win for Indianapolis, their first home opener in 12 years where they won, that's crazy.

[David Dennis Jr.]

That's. Yeah, that is wild. And I don't even know how many starting quarterbacks they've had in those. In those 12 years. But it's, it's, it's maybe double though those that 12 years, I imagine.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Well, you got Daniel Jones, you've had Anthony Richardson or did Jacoby Brissette maybe open up a season at one point, Curtis Painter open up a season. Andrew Luck would have been in this stretch of 12 years. That's a lot of quarterbacks and a lot of losing to start the season. So the Colts started the season one and oh, because of the team that they beat. That we'll talk about now. Patriots at Dolphins. So the question of, are the Colts that good or the Dolphins that bad. David, I'm here to tell you something that I think I'm earth shattering here. The Dolphins are that bad.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. That defense look, everything about the. It's one thing to look bad. Teams come out the gates looking bad. When the vibes are off, that's when you have a big question. And they had that players only meeting. The vibes looked terrible for that team. We may have a front runner for the first coach that's on that, the coach that's on the hottest seat when we're talking about Miami. This team need as much of a must win as you can. This is a must win in week two just to sustain the possibility of this team even sticking together this season.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, you had Tyreek Hill obviously upset on the sideline. Tua Tagovailoa looked horrible, just taking bad sacks, making bad throws, bad interceptions. And to your point, the defense looked the way that it did. It wasn't that long ago where Vic Fangio, who of course is now the defensive coordinator of the defending super bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles was kind of run out of town. And not by fans, but by his own players. Players like Jalen Ramsey were vocal and open about how they did not like his tough coaching, which I don't know, is this a societal thing? Like I, I don't know what it is like, I understand we always talk about how everybody's softer these days and all that kind of stuff. It's still football, right? And Vic Vangio, I love that he's a hard nosed coach. I love one of my joys being in Philadelphia is listening to his press conferences because there's no coach speak. It's are you playing well? I'm going to tell you that you're playing well. Are you playing poorly? I will call you out in the press conferences for it. And I guess you have to have the right people around you. And maybe it's a good thing that 80% of the roster is from Georgia at this point when it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles. But when he was there just a couple years ago, the Dolphins pushed back on his tough coaching. And now look at what you're showing on the field. You're showing that you probably need that tough coach around the building.

[David Dennis Jr.]

You need something. And you know, there have been sort of these whispers about Mike McDaniel and the way that he is treats these players, kind of lets them run over. That team did not look like a well coached team. That team looked like a team that was in disarray that kind of gave up the Defense gave up for sure. The offense gave him nothing, didn't score until, what, the end of that game. You got to go out there. Now you're in the division. Now you're playing the Patriots. You. I mean, the window already looks like it's closed. This team, it seems like 10 years ago where they put up 70 points against the Broncos, but we were talking about them as a legitimate contender, and now they look like complete opposite of that. Like, I knew when this season started we would say Saints and Panthers would be the two teams that you start the season. They have no shot. The Miami Dolphins already, after week one, look like the 13 to be added to that list.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

And the thing is, and I'm not going to be unfair when I say this, I mean, you just get it in life, right? You spend time with somebody, you get to know somebody, all right? This guy's per. This guy's cool. And then you're with them more and more and more. You start seeing some of the quirks. And let's face it, Mike McDaniel is a different kind of cat, right? He's not Dan Campbell talking about eating kneecaps, right? He's not considered a football guy. He's not looked at it that way. Maybe in the beginning, guys were like, oh, this guy's cool. He's different. And then after a couple of bad losses and a couple of bad seasons, and I know it's been tough with the health of Tua Tagovailo, but at some point, maybe the messaging, I don't want to say wears thin, but maybe it gets to the point where guys roll eyes at it.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Well, it's not just the messaging that's just wearing thin. I think the league has kind of figured them out. And you. When you're a coach, you have to evolve with that. When you came in, he was an offensive guru, an offensive genius. He had all these schemes, and he was confounding a lot of defenses. Defensive coordinators and defenses figured this stuff out. And Tua has not shown that he's been good enough to adapt along with Mike McDaniel. And McDaniel does not seem to be a guy who can confound these defenses anymore. So what do you have beyond that? As an offensive dude, you got to figure out something, because right now, you're. For a while now, you've been looking like you're stuck in the mud and you're so dependent on to his health and all that stuff where you don't feel as though you have somebody as a coach who can scheme his way out of the hole that they've dug themselves in.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Now with all that being said, the Dolphins still favorites in this game, but just by a point and a half on ESPN bed. They're hosting the New England Patriots today, who are also.01. Both teams looking to avoid starting the season.02. I know there's a lot of buzz and a lot of excitement with the Raiders, who the Patriots played last week and lost to. It was not a good game for Drake May and the defense looked okay until Geno Smith threw for almost 400 yards. But there was we talked about how the Broncos were that fun, trendy pick to maybe even win the division. The Patriots have been a team that a lot of people have talked about maybe sneaking in as that final wild card team. I did not see much from Jake May in that Week one performance to make me think, all right, yeah, the Patriots are are ready to be a team in the AFC that you should look at for the playoffs.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Well, this is the year to do it right. I mean, this is the week to do it right. You're going against the Dolphins team. They looked atrocious last week. They look like a team that you could score on. Now you go out there, there's no excuse not to put up a bunch of points against this Dolphin team. If you cannot, then we'll be looking at you and saying, man, this Drake May thing, it's going to take a lot longer than we thought.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Now you mentioned how this is a must win game for the Miami Dolphins. Coming up next. 1. Will Russell Wilson look any better on the road against Dallas today? 2. My question for you. Is this a must win game for Dallas for multiple reasons? That's next on Matt myron here on ESPN radio and the ESPN app. I'm Christian McCaffrey, pro running back and Abercrombie is an official fashion partner of the NFL. I'm not kidding when I say NFL by Abercrombie Broke the Internet last year and I think this season's lineup is even cooler. And so does my wife, who keeps.

[Mikey C]

Stealing all my hoodies.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Stay fit for the season and Abercrombie's newest arrivals Shop NFL by Abercrombie in the app, online and in store.

[Commercial/Ad Voice]

When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail].

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Matt and Myron the Podcast this is Matt Myron here on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app presented by Progressive Insurance. Matt and Myron both off today. I'm Andrew South Trueness alongside David Dennis Jr. Counting you down to kickoff, getting you ready for all the 1 o', clock, 4 o', clock 4:25 Sunday Night Football. We're talking about it all here on ESPN Radio. And of course you just heard the return there. Giants, Cowboys, Dallas five and a half point favorites on ESPN. Bet Dak Prescott has won his last 13 games against the New York Giants. But both teams, David, are a bit of a mess, maybe for different reasons. Obviously the Giants are just kind of an overall mess. The fact that there are coaches coaching for their jobs, GMs GMing for their jobs. At this point we know what happened with Daniel Jones goes to Indianapolis and everyone goes oh how come he didn't do that here? Saquon Barkley goes to the Eagles last year wins a Super bowl, oh how come they couldn't do that here? But then on the other side it's the Micah Parsons factor. Still, we watched on Thursday night Micah Parsons be an absolute beast against the Commanders and once more you're reminding yourself they had every opportunity to pay that man, keep him on the team. The best player on the team defensively. The best player probably on the team period. And yet you trade them, you lose week one and now for the psyche of the team. Not just for a one and one start, but maybe the psyche of the team. This might be a must win game for the Cowboys today. David.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Oh it absolutely is. You cannot go down.02 in your division, especially against a Giants team that looks like they're not in contention at all. And you have Russell Wilson who did not look good, who the Giants just kind of biting their time to see what Jackson dart when he's going to start. It seems like and I mean you're the Cowboys, you don't have to just win this and it's a five and a half point spread. I think you need to win this one convincingly and from and for my fantasy team you need to get George Pickens the ball. But that's neither here nor there.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I see. Well for my fantasy team CD Lamb needs to not drop like 16 passes. However he was playing my Eagles and so I was happy that those drop passes happened because I don't know how that game goes. If he holds on to a Couple of them, but they almost go into Philadelphia and they steal. Could have stolen week one from the Eagles. The lightning delay was a big factor. Both offenses just went dead the second half after that lightning delay. Think about it, that both teams scored on their first three possessions and then all of a sudden a total of three points were scored in the second half when that delay happened. But to your point, a game like today against the Giants, where obviously Dak Prescott has had success, 13 straight wins against the New York Giants. If you still want to be considered a contender, which I thought before the season started, before the Micah Parsons trade happened, before really the drama really started, I thought the Cowboys could have been that sneaky team that even battled the commanders for second place in the NFC east because the offense is there. Dak Pickens. CD Lamb. The ground game is questionable, but they have a good tight end there, as they always do with Micah Parsons. Your defense is formidable without them, which they don't have them anymore. Do you really have that much faith that the Dallas Cowboys could be a sneaky team and making it into the playoffs this year?

[David Dennis Jr.]

I think that offense, I mean, they may just end up being Bingles nfc, right, where you have an offense. I mean, Dak looked really good against that Eagles team. CD Lamb, minus those drops, looked really good. That offense was humming. Dak looked about as good as he's looked since he was in the MVP conversation a couple years ago. I think that they can stay in enough games with their offense. I think that they can. Nine games. What does nine games get you? You know, like, that may allow them to sneak the play. But I'm not taking them serious as a contender, though, because they just. That defense and the running game are just not going to be good enough.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, there's. There's a lot of questions with that defense. And you know what? There's a lot of questions about a team in Detroit. Bears at Lions. So we got two teams that start off the season. Oh, and one, the Bears lost their first game. The Lions lost their first game. Of course, the Lions to the Green Bay packers, who we've seen the season start. 2. And, oh, you asked Herm Edwards right away, are they. Are they super bowl champions? The Green Bay packers, they've looked good, but the Detroit Lions, man, they looked bad in week one. And Jared Goff without Sean McVay, without Ben Johnson, who he's going to be going up against today, the new head coach of the Chicago Bears, Jared Goff looked like a guy last week. And with those weapons with Amon Ross St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Jameer Gibbs, David Montgomery, Sam LaPorta. A great offensive line. Is it really all that much because of the offensive coordinator not being there anymore?

[David Dennis Jr.]

Well, and the interior, that in that offensive line too, like the offensive line, I think looked. Looked a little hapless out there as well. And that kind of impacted Jared Goff. Jared Goff. I, I don't. I think he's. I'm not going to call him a game manager. I don't think that's what he is. But he is a guy that flourishes when all the pieces are kind of working around him. Right. When you have protection, when he has a clean pocket, everybody's seen the numbers. He's so much better quarterback than when he has to make up something or has to scramble or is it under pressure. And there was a lot of pressure that, that packers defense with Michael Parsons puts a lot of pressure on you and that is going to impact him. He has a chance to right the ship against this Bears team and I think he will. I think that Jared Goff, I think that ceiling is lower when you don't have Ben Johnson, when you don't have some of that stuff around you in terms of protection. But I think that they, that, you know, what we saw with the packers, that's a really good defense.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah, absolutely is. Now they're going up against the Chicago Bears lines six and a half point favorites on ESPN bed. Ben Johnson making his return to Ford Field. Is that a little disrespectful? The six and a half point line. Look, the Lions roster, no question, still one of the better rosters in the NFL. I'm not even saying nfc, one of the better rosters in the NFL. But we all had the same questions. What would the offense look like without Ben Johnson? What would the defense look like without Aaron Glenn, who's now the head coach of the New York Jets? But it's six and a half. Almost disrespectful. I mean, Vegas sets the lines, right? So they're not here to be disrespectful. They're here to make money.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Right?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

So the fact that they're six and a half point favorites. There's still a lot of respect for the Lions, but. But not much for Chicago, it seems.

[David Dennis Jr.]

I mean, you set that line after you've seen, after you saw like second half Caleb Williams, right? There was a tale of two dudes out there playing quarterback. And, you know, first half, I'm watching that game, I'm thinking that the Bears looking good. Caleb Looks like some guy who's got a hold of this thing that that Lions defense is still going to be a good defense, and he's going to be under a lot of pressure. He's going to have to make some throws on time against this squad. And I think that's kind of what's setting that line. The fact that the packers defense was so good, the fact that the Lions have all that talent and some questions about who's. Who's, you know, throwing the ball for Chicago.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

At what point do we start having more and more conversations about Caleb Williams and whether or not they reach a certain point of fairness or unfairness? I mean, you're the number one overall pick, so there's a lot of expectations on you. To begin with, there was the Seth Wickersham book that comes out where he never wanted to go to Chicago in the first place. He now has Ben Johnson as his head coach, the offensive guru, the offensive genius that helped the Lions be as great as they were for multiple years. And to your point, first half, you're going, all right, this is real. This is there. Now, I'm not about to say that the second half is what we should get used to seeing. It was one game with a new quarterback, new head coach combination. But at what point do we start having that conversation, especially if it doesn't look good today against Detroit?

[David Dennis Jr.]

I. I don't. I'm not thinking that Caleb Williams going anywhere this season. I mean, in terms of, like, not starting. I think they're going. I mean, he's going to. There may be some questions if he looks terrible. Right. But I think that you got to show some promise. You got to win some of these games. You go against the Lions, you go against the packers, it's okay. I mean, sorry, the Vikings and the. And the. And the Lions, you don't look your best necessarily against them. I think it's okay. I think we're going to look at the holistic season before we start making decisions about him.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

So with the Lions, are we still talking about NFC champion contender Lions? There's been a lot of talk about how they missed their chance. Right. And unfortunately for them, last year, all the injuries that they dealt with, and then what happens to good teams? Good teams lose their coordinators, they lose good coordinators. There are now two head coaches in other places in the NFL. Did the Lions window. I'm not going to say shut because your roster's too good to say the window shut, but just how big is that window actually open right now?

[David Dennis Jr.]

There's like a little crack in that window because I just think, like, look at what else is in that nfc. The packers look really good.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Oh, yeah.

[David Dennis Jr.]

And the packers not only decimated the Lions, they decimated Commanders, which are two teams at the beginning of the season we talked about as real NFC contenders. Right. The Eagles are still the Eagles. The Rams still look pretty good. And I just think that those three teams look like they are cut above the Lions right now.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

Yeah. It's just gonna be interesting to see how this team goes. Look, we know what Dan Campbell can do when it comes to the motivational factor, the whole all his team's always ready to play. But there was something that just looked off in week one last week. You want the credit to the Green Bay Packers? Sure. That's fair. Because the packers do look that good. The way you're talking about them is actually it was absolutely accurate. But if it doesn't look good today against the Chicago Bears, we're going to start wondering whether or not the Lions absolutely missed out on their chances.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Yeah, I mean, I think we started the season already wondering that. Right. With who, what they've lost. This will only be confirmation bias. This is not necessarily a must win, but this is one that's going to get a lot of red flags and a lot of alarms going off. The Lions cannot do what they need to do against this Bears team, especially after what we saw from from Caleb Williams last, last last week.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

So when we come back, we will be under an hour away from kickoff. The best game of the day it might be in Kansas City. We break it down for you next, coming up here on Matt and Myron on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. Matt and Myron, the podcast. You've seen the headlines, heard the debates.

[David Dennis Jr.]

The three point ball has created a monotonous rhythm to the game. Has the three pointer ruined basketball? And how did we get here?

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

The rise of the three point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric.

[David Dennis Jr.]

Kansas genius named Martin Manley, whose story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined.

[Andrew Sal Tunis]

I decided I wanted to have one of the most organized goodbyes in history.

[David Dennis Jr.]

30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.