Richard Sherman Podcast - NFL Week 6 REACTION: Jaguars-Seahawks, 49ers-Bucs, Patriots-Saints & Tua post-game

Summary

The Richard Sherman Podcast – NFL Week 6 Reaction: Seahawks over Jags, 49ers-Bucs Fallout, Patriots’ Rise & Tua’s Leadership in Question

Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd (Richard Sherman Podcast)
Date: October 13, 2025
Host: Richard Sherman with co-host Mitchell
Production: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume

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Episode Overview

This episode, following a thrilling NFL Week 6, features Richard Sherman and Mitchell breaking down early headlines, pivotal games, and storylines including the Seahawks’ statement win in Jacksonville, 49ers’ crushing injuries and defeat to the Bucs, the Patriots’ turnaround with Drake Maye, and Tua Tagovailoa’s controversial leadership. The discussion is packed with sharp analysis, candid reflections on player/coach relationships, surprising team surges, and pointed takes on struggling franchises.

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Key Topics and Detailed Discussion

Seattle Seahawks Impress in Jacksonville (01:18–09:14)

• Main Points:

  • Seahawks defeat 4-1 Jaguars on the road; Sam Darnold plays a highly efficient game with 295 yards, including a “beautiful” 61-yard TD to Jaxon Smith-Njigba (JSN).
  • JSN is emerging as a top NFL receiver, setting a franchise record for yards in the first six games (696).
  • Both Sherman and Mitchell marvel at OC Clint Kubiak’s gameplan and JSN’s route running; AJ Barner’s late-game explosive play highlighted.
  • Seahawks defense played outstanding, despite missing three Pro Bowl secondary starters. Byron Murphy and DeMarcus Lawrence had dominant performances on the D-line. Adjustments simplified coverage after early coverage busts.
  • Seattle’s depth on the defensive line recalls Sherman’s Super Bowl years.
  • Richard Sherman Quote (08:41): “This defensive line is really reminiscent of the year we won the Super Bowl… every guy rotating in is just as lethal.”

• Challenges Pointed Out:

  • Run game still struggling to find rhythm; lack of reps for K9 and Charbonnet.
  • Missed red-zone opportunities by not targeting JSN enough.

• On Road vs. Home Performance (09:14–12:29):

  • Team is 3-0 on the road but struggling at home, possibly due to ongoing secondary injuries and communication issues amid crowd noise.

• Sherman’s Prediction:

  • Seahawks can win the NFC West; not so crazy anymore.

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49ers Fall to Buccaneers Amid Devastating Injuries (13:49–26:33)

• Main Points:

  • Immediate reaction to Fred Warner’s apparent serious ankle injury (“devastating”).
  • 49ers lose to Tampa Bay; Baker Mayfield is praised as an under-the-radar MVP candidate.
  • Offensive miscues: Key false start stalls a critical drive, o-line struggles, and a fatal interception result from an avoidable penalty.
  • Offensive line, specifically the interior, called out repeatedly for “throwing flies in the soup”—wasting big plays for Christian McCaffrey.
  • Uncharacteristic tension erupts between Jauan Jennings and Kyle Shanahan on the sideline, hinting at deeper frustrations.
  • Backup-level players in the secondary exposed; too many open receivers, missed tackles, and bad angles. Defense played uncharacteristically poorly.

• Baker Mayfield’s Clutch Moment:

  • Mitchell at (24:10): “Third and 14… Mayfield drops back, breaks numerous tackles, stretches out his arm to get that first down, and that flipped the game.”
  • Sherman (24:31): “If you don’t make that play, you don’t deserve to win.”

• Consequences:

  • Both hosts lament loss of All-Pros Fred Warner and Nick Bosa; Sherman calls it exponentially harder for the 49ers to stay atop the division.
  • Sherman’s playoff outlook remains conservative; team must win by committee and hope for speedy injury recoveries.

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Rams Handle Ravens; Ravens & Lamar’s Season in Jeopardy (30:20–33:49)

• Rams beat the Lamar-less Ravens; Matthew Stafford’s and Davante Adams’ lack of chemistry spotlighted.
• Cooper Rush unimpressive at QB for Baltimore, and despite Derrick Henry’s big day, Ravens’ season looks lost at 1-5 unless Lamar returns soon.

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Colts Quietly Become AFC Contenders, Cardinals QB Conundrum (33:49–38:46)

• Indianapolis Colts:
  • “Indiana Jones” (Daniel Jones) shines, Jonathan Taylor racks up 123 yards, and team solidifies itself as “true contenders” (Sherman, 34:47).
• Arizona Cardinals:
  • Jacoby Brissett looks better than Kyler Murray at QB, sparking debate about Murray’s impact and speculation over his absence.

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Coach-Player Relationships: Gannon’s Sideline Incident (38:05–43:40)

• Discussion of Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon’s physical sideline interaction with Amari Demercado, boundaries in player-coach relationships, and how modern athletes might not tolerate old-school coaching methods.
• Sherman (41:54): “You don’t want these grown men to show you why they play professional sports… Things change.”

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Patriots’ Resurgence & Drake Maye’s Leap (43:40–47:42)

• Patriots ride a soft schedule to 4-2, fresh off wins over the Bills and Saints.
• Second-year QB Drake Maye is “borderline top 10” and ascending.
  • Sherman (44:34): “This week it looked like he took a huge leap in his processing and leadership.”
• Patriots’ skill players like Demario Douglas and Kashon Booty emerging; team is brimming with “legit” playoff potential.

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Panthers Run Wild, Cowboys’ Defensive Collapse & Eagles’ Depth Issues (47:42–55:23)

• Carolina Panthers:
  • Rico Dowdle explodes for 183 yards, Bryce Young efficient, team reaches 3-3.
• Dallas Cowboys:
  • Sherman (50:39): “If they could stop a runny nose, if they could cover a bed with a blanket… Dak Prescott would be in the MVP conversation.”
  • Coaches criticized for scheme and effort, defense looks lost compared to recent years.
• Philadelphia Eagles:
  • Defensive depth decimated, interior linemen overworked, and CB injuries mounting.
  • Offensive play-calling (by “Pachulo”) called “bad,” with bizarre alignment and run calls.

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New-Look, Energized Giants with Jackson Dart & Cam Skattebo (55:40–59:04)

• Young Giants’ offense breathes energy into team, toppling Eagles led by Jackson Dart (QB) and Cam Skattebo (RB).
• Dayball’s job possibly saved by this turnaround in spirit and performance.
• Sherman (56:09): “These young guys don’t know they’re not supposed to be this good. They don’t care who’s across from them.”

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Dolphins’ Dysfunction: Tua Calls Out Teammates (59:15–63:27)

• Miami Dolphins fall apart; Tyreek Hill injured, Mike McDaniel on the hot seat, Tua calls out teammates for skipping player-only meetings.
• Sherman’s Take (59:57):
  • Tua's comments backfire: “It says more about him—it’s an indictment against his leadership. You don’t build respect finger-pointing in the media.”
• Calls for Tua to show true leadership by taking accountability, handling issues in-house, and not dividing the locker room.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Seahawks’ Resilience:
  “To be able to play a team that’s 4-1 on the road… with three starters in the secondary out and still pull off a win is incredible.” — Richard Sherman, 05:52

• On Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s Emergence:
  “If JSN isn’t top five, I don’t know what top five looks like … He’s the go-to guy.” — Richard Sherman, 01:18

• On Baker Mayfield for MVP:
  “He’s got 12 TDs, just one interception… If he keeps playing like this, the sky’s the limit.” — Sherman, 25:00

• Eagles’ Fatigue & Roster Issues:
  “You can't play 330-pounders 90% of snaps. It’s not sustainable.” — Sherman, 54:46

• On Leadership:
  “Accountability means you take blame when it’s not always due. You give praise to your teammates—you don’t tear your teammates down.” — Sherman, 61:11

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Timestamps: Major Segments

• Seahawks-Jags Reaction: 01:18–12:29
• 49ers Injury Fallout/Bucs Game: 13:49–26:33
• Rams-Ravens: 30:20–33:49
• Colts/Cardinals QB Talk: 33:49–38:46
• Gannon Sideline Incident: 38:05–43:40
• Patriots' Emergence: 43:40–47:42
• Panthers/Cowboys/Eagles: 47:42–55:23
• Giants Energy, Dayball’s Job: 55:40–59:04
• Dolphins Chaos, Tua Issue: 59:15–63:27

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Overall Vibe & Final Thoughts

The analysis throughout is sharp, unfiltered, and laced with personal anecdotes from Sherman's playing days. The standout theme is resilience against adversity—both on the field (Seahawks, Giants) and off of it (NFL leadership, player-coach dynamics). The urgency for accountability—at all levels, from players like Tua to coaches like Gannon and entire franchises—comes through loud and clear.

Sherman’s closing message:
“The 12s are feeling good, the faithful are down… but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.” (64:34)

Transcript

[Richard Sherman]

This is an iHeart podcast from NBA champion Stephen Curry comes Shot Ready. A powerful, never before seen look at the mindset that changed the game.

[Mitchell]

I fell in love with the grind. You have to find joy in the work you do when no one else is around. Success is not an accident. I'm passing the ball to you. Let's go.

[Richard Sherman]

Steph Curry redefined basketball. Now he's rewriting what it means to succeed. Order your copy of the New York Times bestseller Shot. Read [e-mail] the NFL is rolling.

[Greg Rosenthal]

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[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

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[Richard Sherman]

Isn'T top 5, I don't know what top 5 looks like. Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast and what an incredible week of early games in the National Football League. The Seattle Seahawks go Into Jacksonville, the 4 and 1 Jacksonville Jaguars and pull out a win. They didn't turn the ball over against a very, very good Jacksonville Jaguars defense on the opposite side, Sam Darnold. I mean, what else can you say about Sam Darnold? He's played an incredible, efficient game. Very accurate. He was 16 of 25 or 16 of 27 for 295. He had an incredible touchdown to JSCN 61 yards. Incredibly accurate. Their connection is one of the best in the National Football League. If JSCN is in top five, I don't know what top five looks like because he's the go to guy. He's the number one receiver, the number one read on every play and he's getting the ball and and he's eaten wide open most of these plays. You got to give Clint Kubiak a lot of credit for all he's been able to do with this offense. All he's been able to do creating opportunities for jsn, creating routes, but then give credit To JSN because he ran some really good routes in this game. One on one coverage, just getting open. Sam Darnold accurate with the passes. And my guy, AJ Barner late in the game, 61 yard catch and run to, to really seal this game for him. We will talk about the leverage play on the field goal that, that gave them the first down. That really, really closed out the game. But this defense for the Seattle Seahawks is incredible. Missing three Pro bowl starters in the secondary. Mitchell, Devin Witherspoon, Tariq Woolen, and of course my guy, Julian Love. And they had. It was, it was, it was, it was very iffy early on. There were, there were miscommunications. Jacksonville was moving the ball down the field. You could see the mistakes leading to explosive plays by Brian Thomas. Just simple adjustments, simple bad eyes or, or bad communications. That's what you expect from a secondary that's missing three Pro bowl players. And you look, you get into the second drive, after the touchdown drive, touchdown throw to Brian Thomas on a fake screen and go. They made the necessary adjustments. What I would assume they did is simplified the defense down. You can't run as many crazy disguises and coverages and invert twos and run this guy here, run this guy here. Just keep it simple, guys. Let's talk it through. Enough veteran players back there to get it done. And then the D line got hot. The D line got hot. All the conversation about Byron Murphy, he's a bus. Why did we take him that I, I hope you're not having that conversation anymore in year two. He's thriving. They have incredible depth on this defensive line. He had two sacks. DeMarcus Lawrence doing what he's done his entire career being a game record. Two and a half sacks. Leonard Williams got in on a half a sack and OSU got in on a sack and it just looked really dominant. From all facets of the game, you could see Trevor Lawrence, he had some success. Receivers dropped some passes. No question about it. But, but there was disguises. He was holding the ball for a long time and the defense was closing. Just a beautiful game. A complete game by the Seattle Seahawks against the. Against a defense that's been. Been taking the ball from every single team that they played. For them not to get a turnover in this game was huge.

[Mitchell]

Mitchell, Richard, they look dominant in certain facets of the game and you already hit on it. JSN J. Jackson, Smith and Jigba, Holy cow, what a fine for them. We talked about it last week. It's obvious now why they moved away from DK Metcalf, JSN's their number one option. He becomes with 669, 696 total yards in the first six games. Most yards for first six games in franchise history. JSM, man. I mean, anytime it seemed like a play was breaking down or they needed a big gain, it was going to him. You got to love the connection with him and Sam Darnold. Richard, is it safe to say the Seattle Seahawks team is the best team since your playing days with Seattle?

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, I would say that. I could say that. But you got to see more. You know, it's only been six games, so we don't want to start saying what's greatest and what's, you know, when, when other teams have complete seasons and this team doesn't, you never know what could happen. But the depth on this defensive line is really reminiscent of the year we won the super bowl. Because when they rotate out, they still have guys who could have been starters and they're a little banged up right now. But every, you never know when the starters come out of the game because the next, the next wave is just as lethal as the wave that left. And to be able to play a team that's four and one on the road all the way across the country, corner to corner on the, on, on the map, and have three of your starters in a secondary out of the game and still pull off a win and is incredible. It's a testament to everything Mike McDonald has preached on this defense. You look at Ernest Jones continuing to steady the ship. Really incredible plays throughout the game, just being physical, being where he's supposed to be on the two point conversion. He comes off a block, makes a stop and then everybody else rallies to the ball. You can just feel the energy from this defensive, from this team. They're feeding on each other and it's been incredible. This is a game again. I think AJ Barner needs to be involved more. I think he can be one of the best tight ends and one of the best weapons in the National Football League. If you find them, if you use them. There was only 16 completions, 27 passes thrown in this game. They tried to get K9 and Charbonnet going. K9 had 10 carries for, I think 34 yards and Charbonnet had 12 for 24. It's just that the lanes aren't there and Jacksonville has been really good against the run. But you got to find a way to get those guys going. You got to figure out which one you really want to go with because I think that's part of the problem with the run game is nobody's getting enough reps to really get in a rhythm and to find themselves and find the rhythm. 10 carries the entire game for 4k9 just isn't enough. And even the 12 carries for Sharbonnett isn't enough. And there was a sequence in there where they were inside the 10. I think Charbonnet got a carry, six yards on the first play, then he gets maybe a yard or stopped for no gain on the next play and then they run him again for minus 2. I thought that was a head scratching series of events, especially the way JSN and Sam Darnold had been playing. Like you said, JSN is on record pace, franchise record pace. And you got to find a way to give him at least one opportunity down there. You know, he's backside one on one. I don't care if it's a Colorado a slant and back out or out and back in or just a normal fade. You get an opportunity to put the ball up, give your playmaker a chance, honestly, your best offensive weapon, a chance in the end zone to make a play. And I thought that was a missed opportunity, but it didn't end up costing them in this game. Cooper cup gets his first touchdown reception as the Seattle Seahawks, they attacked the safety Jordan Lewis. Well, safety nickel Jordan Lewis on the play and he just did what he does. He just did what he does and he did this throughout the game. He had another catch on what looked like to be a hot read or maybe a seam, a nice catch and run by him. And it's great to see him getting more involved in this offense. You would hope that, that they find him with more opportunities. But again, a huge win for the Seattle Seahawks haven't had the greatest record at home, but on the road they, they can't lose.

[Mitchell]

What gives with that, Richard? Because during your playing days, the twelves, you, you guys could not lose at home if you tried. And now it seems like you can't win as much. Three and oh on the road and one and two at home. What gives with this home field advantage in Seattle?

[Richard Sherman]

Well, I think it's a number of things. I mean, they used to think that it was just as simple as, man, the fans are loud so the other team's gonna lose. Like it. It's a lot more complicated than that because on the defensive side of the ball, when the fans are that loud, you don't, you don't have the same communication as you would on the road. On the road is quiet. Their offense is on the field. I can communicate very well. We can get our checks, we can get our adjustments. We can clearly know what's going on, see each other. Hey, check this alert. This bang D line's talking perfect. At home, you have to have a different kind of chemistry, a different kind of understanding of each other. No, hey, it's just hand signals. It's body language. It's winks, nods and, and you get down to playing. And so I think it's going to take a second, especially in a secondary with the guys being in and out of the lineup. You talk about Nick Emmwar being back in the lineup. He was injured for a couple games. Devin Witherspoon in and out of the lineup so far. Tariq Woolen in and out of the lineup. And so Kobe Bryant has been back there consistently. But when you have that many injuries, you don't have the same kind of chemistry, the same kind of connection that you would any other time. So when you, when you're at home and you can't hear each other to, to, to really communicate these calls, you have to almost have a great feel for one another and a great connection with your, Your, you know, be locked in and, and tied on a string in the back end and, and they just don't have that yet because they haven't had a chance to, to, to really run with the guys that their day one starters very often this season. I think late in the season you're going to see that change when they get their full, full, full, full defense back out there. They're going to have success. They're going to be fine. But it's really cool to see them be able to pack their defense and their run game on the road and pack Sam Darnold and JSN and, and their instant offense on the road and come away with these big victories. Because 4 and 2 for the Seattle Seahawks is fantastic. They could easily be 6,05 and 1 with a few plays here and there. I thought they were in both of those games at home. And I, again, people thought I was crazy when I said, hey, I got them winning this division and being tied with the San Francisco 49ers and winning a tiebreaker. You're not looking that crazy, Mitchell. I'm not that crazy. I might be a little crazy, but I'm not that crazy about this football game. This football. I understand. I know it. I knew what I saw when in a training camp when, when I watched this team play Nick Ammon, Ward coming back. Starting to get in shape, Starting to get his feel back. Still a rookie. Had nine tackles in his game. Leading tackler for the Seattle Seahawks. You saw him everywhere on the field. Whether he was pressuring Sam, I mean Trevor Lawrence or he was. He was playing in coverage. One on one man coverage against Brian Thomas. He was making impactful plays and I think that's only going to increase as he gets more and more comfortable. He's still a rookie, but they have huge plans for him and I look forward to see him.

[Mitchell]

They got a big test next week. Monday Night Football in Seattle. They bring Houston Texans into town. Let's see if they can get a win on the board at home now.

[Richard Sherman]

H. Mitchell devastation. Oh.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Richard Sherman]

What was that?

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Richard Sherman]

Oh, my.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway. They sold that.

[Richard Sherman]

Yes.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the Colt Stadium. Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well. It's worked for generations. We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go. I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry. I wouldn't fight him.

[Richard Sherman]

I would listen.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

NFL Cover 0 with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple P podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mitchell]

The hat change.

[Richard Sherman]

Richard. I I.

[Mitchell]

This has to be a tough one. I mean, walk me through your emotions here. Early in this game, Fred Warner carted off the field with what looks like a serious ankle injury. This team just can't buy a break. So many injuries. Walk me through your emotions right now.

[Richard Sherman]

Well, I'm sure my emotions are the same as a lot of The San Francisco 49ers faithful. It's emotional. It's sad. It's not just sad because you lose a great player on the team, but it's sad because it's such what Fred Warner has meant to this team. His consistency, his toughness. Before today, he's only missed One game in his career, if I'm not mistaken. And to see that way everybody reacted to the injury was just devastating. It's a hard blow. I couldn't imagine San Francisco 49 if they would have somehow pulled this game out away in Tampa Bay against a really good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Baker Mayfield playing like an MVP candidate. I would have been incredibly surprised. I mean they would have been one in my power rankings because I can't. What are you going to do with a team that loses everyone and still perseveres and makes it through? But of course they didn't and they lose unexpectedly. So with, with such devastating losses and it's just a tough blow for the team. Not just the loss, the loss. I mean they're still tied for first in the division. I felt like the offense played really, really solid football outside. A few mistakes, you know, the puny false start on 4th and 1 where, where it looked like they were going to try to go for that deep in Tampa's territory. Then they had, they got pushed back five yards. Just uncharacteristic unnecessary mistakes, unforced errors. And then just overall offensive line play late in the game was, was disappointing. There. There's clearly some issue going on between Juwan Jennings and Kyle Shanahan. I, I don't know what that exactly is, what those conversations were, but there was clearly some frustration throughout the game with him. Another huge performance for Kendrick Bourne. Another really solid performance for Mac Jones. Obviously wasn't perfect, but kept. Gave him a chance to win. Kept them in the ball game. Devastating interception again. They were, they were forced to throw that pass because of a false start by Puny that pushes them back and they, they're going for the first down. He's going for the big play. And they, instead of just running a simple QB snake or a run or whatever, they were going to run on that play. They have to throw for a six yard gain. He throws interception and it's just unnecessary. But I thought the interior offensive line was the issue late in the game and again I knew that would be the Achilles heel for this team. But it's not just on the passing plays, not just from the pass protection standpoint. It's ridiculous. On plays that are set up successfully, plays that are set up successfully, you got guys in space. All you got to do is block your guy, block your guy. Getting away. Christian McCaffrey, let him do his work and you can't even do that. And that's where it's starting to become devastating to this offense because you can draw up the perfect play. But if you have guys that are incompetent, unable to get the job done, unable to to block people, unable to block linebackers, then you can't run these plays. Then you should be able to expect your center and your guards to, to be able to get out in space and get up on a. You know, Levante David is an incredible player. All Pro, all A Pro bowl, you know, big time guy, been playing for a long time. I got a ton of respect for him. But you should be able to at least be able to get in his way. He shouldn't be able to shock shit and tackle Christian McCaffrey right. Right where they were. And I think that's happened throughout the season on plays that are drawn up well and we're looking at the center get up on guys and just whiff or not block at all. And I know that people looking at PFF greats and things like that and I hate to to harp on one guy, but it's just, it's been incredibly debilitating to this offense consistently. And there are plays that are drawn up for bigger gains that you can't get because one guy, you know, throws a. Throw the fly in a soup. And that's something they're going to have to address this offseason. No question about it. If they go again, like I said last year, if they go again with this same lineup, they're costing their team and they're leaving guys out to dry and they're wasting Christian McCaffrey's wasting good Christian McCaffrey years because he's making plays that could go the distance, could be big, bigger gains. But it's one guy, one guy, one guy every time that's throwing a fly in the soup. So that's something I'm sure Kyle Shanahan has addressed and will continue to address. They don't have an answer in house right now. Maybe they they try to address it at the trade deadline but again, that's not a position you really bring somebody in and change things. But receiver wise, Kendrick Bourne played well. Jake Tonjas did well in in George Kittlestead. I thought outside of one drop, Robinson played well, made a big catch before the half after a huge drop. Hopefully they get George Kittle back. Hopefully they get some reinforcements back on the offensive side of the ball, get a little healthier. Haven't heard a lot about Brandon Aiuk. Huge, huge game from Eddie Panero. A big reason they were in this game in the first place. I think he made a 52 yard or 54 yard or 42 yarder just has been incredibly stable. I would, I would imagine he's going to be up there in Pro bowl votes and all pro because he's just been perfect so far from San Francisco 49ers. And it's an allowed. It's allowed them to stay in games when. When, despite the injuries, despite the issues, offensively, despite the turnovers and, and give them a chance. I think defensively they got a lot of questions. Well, I know they were juggling. Go ahead.

[Mitchell]

No, the. The big question here, and we talked about it going into this season, it was Juwan Jennings time to earn a big contract. And what, what's most puzzling to me is, yeah, I know he's banged up. He was questionable coming into this game, and I'm sure he's frustrated, especially with seeing a guy like Kendrick Bourne just go off back to back weeks. He probably wants those targets. But what the heck is going through his mind when he's getting in? Kyle Shannon. Him and Kyle Shannon are getting into it after the game. I mean, Richard, I know you have a lot of respect for Juwan Jennings. I know you love him as a player, but what is going on here?

[Richard Sherman]

I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I'm sure they'll ask Kyle Shanahan about it. I'm sure they'll ask Juwan Jennings about it, and maybe that'll give everybody more clarity about what's going on, because I have no idea what's going on. Obviously, frustration when you're losing, it's hot. You know, it's a game of inches. It's, it's. It's one play here or there, one mistake and one play in a game like this and you lose by double digits. And I think that's. That's what's frustrating. Kyle Shanahan, I would assume, is mistakes in the game. I don't know if it's. If it's lack of effort or lack of execution, but usually with that kind of response from Kyle Shanahan, it's one or the other. It's not just, hey, you know, he's having a rough game or he's injured and he's not playing full speed or something like that, I don't think. I think Kyle's been pretty understandable about guys being banged up and just not being able to do the job. And so there's frustration, clearly, on both sides. And it'll be asked by a lot of reporters, I'm sure, but Defensively, again, that's, that's, that was the issue in this game. Too many open players. And I know everybody's like, Fred Warner wasn't here, but, but this was in the secondary. Too much space, not enough. It didn't look like they could play man coverage. They played Jair Brown, they played Mustafa, they played Seagull. And you saw missed tackles. You saw, you saw, you saw bad angles. And again, some of that is youth. Some of that is, you know, just growing up and figuring it out. But some of it you can't have. And some of you got to get these things corrected. And I think you lose sight. When you talked about last year, you talked about guys like Tyler, Noah Huanga and Gip and guys like that who were there in the past and played at a high level. You don't appreciate the execution and the angles, the little things that they do consistently to really mitigate big plays. And I think you're starting to see that when a quarterback has time and a quarterback is as proficient as Baker Mayfield has been, he's going to make you pay. He's got 12 TDs on the season, I think only one interception. An MVP candidate. He played fantastic football. Down a ton of weapons down Mike Evans down. Chris Godwin. Lost a Mecca Buka during the game to a hamstring. And still you would have never known, you know, Tez Johnson, he pushed the ball down the field to Tez Johnson right before the half, led to a, was a touchdown. Great catch by Tess Johnson and used a number of other receivers to get the job done versus the San Francisco 49ers. And I think you gotta, you gotta give him a lot of respect for that, but you gotta. There's questions. There's not enough pressure on the quarterback. Obviously, you lose Nick Nicholas, John Bosa, that's going to be a factor. And everybody's like, hey, trade, trade, trade, trade. One person does not change the dynamic of this pass rush. They're going to have to find some answers in house. They're going to have to switch it up. And it's not always just blitz, blitz, blitz. That causes more issues sometimes than it solves. So I'm sure they're going to come back together and figure it out. But there was too many, too many plays where guys were sitting down in zones, running through zones, scot free, open catching and running. And it's just not characteristic of a San Francisco Robert Salah coast defense. And this is one of their, this is one of the down games they've had this season.

[Mitchell]

Well, you talk about Baker Mayfield, you talk about the struggles of this defense. I think it was all embodied in one play. And I think this play tipped the scales in the Buccaneers favor for the win. And that was third and 14. Baker Mayfield dropped back, scrambles out of the pocket, breaks numerous tackles, and stretches out his arm to. To get that first down. And then right after that, you see the touchdown that breaks this game open. It was a one point game at that point in time, Richard. You got to clean those things up. But it goes to show you how.

[Richard Sherman]

Good you got to have that play. You got to have that play. If, if you don't have that play, you don't deserve to win. And they didn't have that play. It's third and long. You got him in the backfield. He gets out. You got two, three guys in front of him between him and the first down marker, and you don't make the tackle. Like you don't deserve to beat that guy that day. And hats off to Baker Mayfield. Heck of a play. But that's. That's awful defense.

[Mitchell]

Let's talk about Baker Mayfield. You already mentioned that he deserves to be in this MVP conversation. I think he firmly is in the mix right now. We haven't seen this type of Baker Mayfield before. He's always been a solid quarterback, but right now he's taking this team and putting him on his back. Like you said, down their top three wideouts. He carries his team against a all although bruised up 49ers team. He carries him to a double digit victory. Is Baker Mayfield the guy right now the front runner for mvp?

[Richard Sherman]

I can't say the absolute front runner because of Josh Allen, the reigning MVP is still playing at a high level. I know he just lost it. They just lost to the New England Patriots, but I think most people would still have him penciled in as the favorite. But Baker Mayfield's right on his heels. And if this team continues to play like they have, they're at the top of the NFC right now. They're playing well even with the injuries. They'll get healthier or they'll get Mike Evans back. Chris Godwin and Mecca Buka eventually get healthy. I can't imagine what the limit is for this offense. The flip side of that, their defense has to clean some things up. They're having a hard time stopping the pass. Mac Jones threw for 327 today. And with some guys that were not day one starters or some of the guys that weren't even on the roster day one. And so that that's going to be the Achilles heel of this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. But yes, yes, Baker Mayfield deserves a ton of credit for what he's doing and what he's done all season is playing efficient football, doing what it takes with his legs, with his arm to win football games. And whether it's home or away, he's going to be. They're going to be a tough out.

[Mitchell]

The San Francisco 49ers. The Conversation this week, I'm sure is going to surround the injured talent that they were without, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Luckily, they're going to be getting Kittle back, but without Fred Warner, without Nick Bosa, they're hosting the Falcons on Sunday Night Football. How much does this change your expectations for the team? I know you thought they would tie the Seattle Seahawks in the division. How does this shift your expectations, if at all?

[Richard Sherman]

I don't know if it totally shifts it. It's definitely going to be tougher. Now they're going to have to find some answers on defense. I don't think without a trade or a big time move, really on both sides of the football, it's going to be hard for them to really reach their potential. These are devastating losses. These aren't just normal guys. You're losing like, hey, you know, you lost a big time starter or you lost a day one starter, you're losing all pro future hall of Fame players and Fred was having another all pro season before the injury and Nick Bosa was doing the same. So I think it's going to be one of those situations. You got to do it by, by committee. You got to do it by committee and if, and if you don't do it by committee, you're not going to get it done. And so I, I don't know. I don't know if the offense gets healthy and Brock Purdy's there and George Kittle opens offense and Brandon IU comes back. You know, there's, there's a, there's a long shot chance they can still win double digit games and be in it, but this makes it exponentially more difficult to do.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Hey, this is Matt Jones, I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Richard Sherman]

What was that?

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Richard Sherman]

Oh my.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway. They sold that.

[Richard Sherman]

Yes.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the Colts stadium. Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well. It's worked for generations. We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go. I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73. He is a young 73. He is spry. I wouldn't fight him. I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Richard Sherman]

We're taking a quick break to let you know that today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet.

[Mitchell]

Week six wraps up with a Monday night doubleheader, Buffalo versus Atlanta and Chicago against Washington.

[Richard Sherman]

Listen to these streaks from the Hard Rock Bet stats hub. You can find live odds to bet on all these streaks in the Hard Rock Bet app. DeAndre Swift has scored a touchdown in five straight games against Washington.

[Mitchell]

That's actually pretty wild. How about Bijan Robinson though? Richard? He's reached pay dirt in five consecutive home games and Atlanta hasn't covered the spread as an underdog against the afc. And get this, seven straight games.

[Richard Sherman]

That's incredible. But Roma Dunese is on a four game touchdown streak and Washington has won six in a row as favorites and covered the spread in five straight home games. So maybe I'm missing something. If you haven't tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet, there's still time for you to get $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet. And if it hits, you not only get your winnings, but you get $150 in bonus bets.

[Mitchell]

You also get profit boost for every day of week six. If you already missed Thursdays and you haven't used Sundays, don't miss Mondays. You can boost your parlay so it pays extra winnings.

[Richard Sherman]

Download the Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app and make your first deposit today.

[Mitchell]

Richard, this NFC watch, you already touched on it. It's going to be a nail biter. And the LA Rams go on the road today and take care of the Baltimore RA without their. Their. I mean their engine, really. And Lamar Jackson, this Baltimore Ravens team falls to one in five. Is it safe to say now that their season is over?

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah. I mean, before I jump, jump to that Game. I want to give credit to the Seattle Seahawks offensive line. Only gave up one sack today against the defensive line that's been playing well. I said the Jacksonville Jaguars defense have been playing at a top five tilt the entire season. So for them to play that well against them is incredible. The Rams, they handled business against the Baltimore Ravens, but it looked very, very iffy early on. You know, this game turned around late in the game and they got a couple touchdowns, some, some mistakes by the Ravens, some fumbles that, that you can't have when you're not playing well offensively. And that put the Rams in position to really take over this game. But if you look at the stats, Matthew Stafford 17 to 26 for 181 and touchdown. There was a number of misses, especially to Devonte Adams, that I really would like to ask them about because it just seems like they have no feel for one another and for them to be two great players, two phenomenal guys. You would think it'd just be a hand in glove fit, but right now it's just not happening like you would expect it to. Sometimes you got a great race car driver, Mitchell, and a great car, but they just don't go well together. Mitchell, maybe he needs his old car and his old engine. Maybe it's just puka Nakua and the way he runs routes. Maybe Devontae's, you know, the way he moves within routes, you know, don't vibe well with Matthew Stafford right now. And he needs more chance because obviously they didn't have the training camp to make that connection and continue to come together in the way that you would expect them to. But it's really, it's really starting to become a glaring issue in these games when you look at how, because Devontae is open and Matthew Stafford is an elite quarterback, we're not going to debate either of those things. But he's missing him and he's missing him a lot. And I think that's what's making this offense for the Rams sputter a little bit. But their defense is showing up in a big way. The Ravens, it looks like this may be a lost season for them. They tried to go with Cooper Rush for most of the game. He looked awful. He, he, he threw an interception in the game. Derek Henry, 24 carries for 122. He did what he could. They got stuffed in the red zone. They, they, they tried to, to, to do a QB sneak with the tight end. Didn't work, didn't try to run. Derek Henry. Didn't work. Get stopped on fourth and goal at the one yard line. Obviously as a, you can't, you can't miss those opportunities, get points on the board, especially when your offense is struggling. They went to to Tyler Huntley late in the game. Offense looked like, looked a lot better with, with Tyler Huntley in the game. And I would expect them if Lamar can't go next week to start with Tyler Huntley. But I think if they lose the next one, it gets to the point where it doesn't make sense to bring Lamar Jackson back with a 1 in 6 team or 1 in 17 to put even a 1 in 5 team. But I'm sure you know he has pride. He wants to play, he's going to want to get out there. But right now they look dead in the water. And it's unfortunate because I think their defense played good enough to win this game, but they just didn't get enough offensively.

[Mitchell]

Well, the only fortunate thing for the Ravens is their division is not what it used to be. And this thing could be wide open if the do. If the Steelers do slip up along the way. So maybe Lamar does come back. But to your point, maybe they just tell him to sit down the rest of the season. We shall see. But I know a team that you're falling in love with is in Annapolis. Colts and the Arizona Cardinals come on the road without Kyler Murray and put up a fight right? This game came down to the wire, came down to the end. Trey McBride was he interfered with in the end zone, was he not? The ref saw that he was not. The Colts come away with a huge win. Indiana Jones, I know you love this guy. Richard. What, what is going on with him, man? Because this guy was dead in the water in the Giants. Cast away goes to Indy, beats out Anthony Richardson and now looks like he found a new home, a new forever home in Indianapolis. What is going on with these Indianapolis Colts? Are they true contenders in the afc?

[Richard Sherman]

Yes. The simple answer is yes, they're true contenders in the afc. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're one of the top three seeds in the nfc. I mean AFC when the season's over. And it's because of a number of things. Obviously Indiana Jones is playing really good football. Really good football. He had a, he had a really bad interception in this game that kind of made people, you know, give people flashbacks to his time in New York. He was rolling out to his right, throw an interception. Didn't see Mack Wilson standing right there in the, in the tall grass. Unfortunate interception. But outside of that he used his legs when he needed to. He ran for a touchdown, he threw for two touchdowns. Outside of interception, they played really well. Then you look at Jonathan Taylor. He had 21 carries, 123 yards and a touchdown. Anytime you have a really consistent run game, a great running back, a defense that's playing solid football, getting stops, taking the ball away, you're going to have a chance at success. On the opposite side. You look at Jacoby Brissette in Arizona Cardinals, he threw for 322 touchdowns, had the interception. But they look like a better team with with Jacoby Brissette than they did with Kyler Murray. And I understand people say how great of an athlete Kyler Murray is, how fast he looks, how cool it looks when he running around and doing all that, but if you really just peel back the layers, you stop and just level set and say who's playing quarterback better? How does the offense function with him at quarterback? There are times he guys drop footballs, no question about it, but he misses wide open receivers. The off he just takes off from, from clean pockets and he doesn't let plays develop. And when you see Jacoby Brissette play this way for this offense and then play against a really good Indianapolis Colts team, it was a battle against old Eagles coordinators and Shane Steichen and, and, and Jonathan Gannon. You wonder do they need Kyler Murray? And the answer probably is no. Like they don't benefit from having Kyler Murray out there. When you can get this kind of performance from Jacoby Brissette and your offense function really well even without your star running back, who's who, Connor, who's out for the season, you still are in a game with a 4 and 1 Indianapolis Colts team driving down the field with a play in the end zone that could have potentially won the game in the closing seconds. So I think there's a conversation that's going to be had at least with Cardinals fans of is the offense better off with Kyler Murray being out? I don't know what Kyler Murray's injury is. You know, I know everybody's going to joke that Battlefield 6 just came out on Friday and now Kyler Murray's out. But hey, I look, hey, I'm just telling you what they going to speculate, Mitchell. They going to speculate it. Usually it's Call of Duty, but Battlefield came out and Tyler's. I mean Kyler's out, I don't know. But Jacobe Brissette is clearly locked in and played a really, really good game gave this team a chance to win the ball game. After a really unfortunate game against the Tennessee Titans last week, I think it's going to be a point of contention going forward, especially if, if Kyler does come back and doesn't play as well as Jacobe Brissette just played.

[Mitchell]

Richard, before we leave this game, Jonathan Gannon and this Arizona Cardinals team, they really should be 3 and 3. Let's look back real quick. At last week's game, we saw something transpire on the sideline. Jonathan Gannon to lay his hand on Amari D. Mercado's arm. I, I, I know you've been on competitive teams, you know, on heated sidelines when things might not have gone your way. What do you make of this situation that developed last week? We saw Jonathan Gannon come out and apologize for his actions. But as a former athlete, when a player makes a mistake of the magnitude that Amari D. Mercado did, I mean, what, what is your take on what transpired on those sidelines last weekend?

[Richard Sherman]

Well, it's just, it's just frustration. As a head coach, you can't control everything, but you feel like you control putting guys in positions to be successful. They felt like they put D. Markado in a position to score. And you give a lot of responsibility to guys when you hand them the football and they talk. Every coach would talk about this. You have the whole team's hopes in your hands when you have the football. Like, that's the hopes and dreams of everybody's family, everybody's friends, everybody's kids, every teammate, everybody who's sacrificing, every coach and the hours they're putting in. You have that ball in your hand, and it's your responsibility to not put it in danger. Now, nobody, I mean, guys get frustrated when guys get stripped or punched. Ball gets punched out. But you can understand competitive plays. And hey, football's football, it's a violent game. Things happen. You tap them on the head, hey, that's all right, man. We'll keep getting them. But unforced errors, unforced, where it's just showboating, lazy, like carelessness is a different level of frustration for both coaches and teammates. But it doesn't excuse Jonathan Gannon's actions. Coaches can get frustrated. You can curse them out. It's what you deal with as a football player. You can get cursed out. You deal with accountability. You're going to have to watch it in film over and over and over. You might get benched the next game. That's accountability. But the Physical part of it is where the concern came in. That's why Jonathan Gannon said, okay, I'm going to accept my fine. I was wrong. I'm going to apologize, because I shouldn't have done that. Because you do that to the wrong guy. Because when you make a mistake, there's only one or two ways you go. You either get really frustrated and you're pissed off and nobody needs to touch you, just let him cool off. Or you kind of go into the tank and you're, like, so down that you're like, man, I don't even know if this sport is for me. And some guys go all the way down. And that's what the direction it seemed like DeMarcado went is just into the tank. His teammates were consoling him. You can tell he's down. Coach, are you wrong for cursing him out in that situation? Not really. You. You go over there and speak your piece. You're the head coach. Go over there and make your point. No question about it. But if you catch a guy who goes the other way and you start to talk to him in that way, like, it may get physical to a point that you can't control and you can't handle it. I'm sure everybody else said this already, but that's where you got to be careful, because you're in a dark place. To play football, to play, you got to be fearless, you got to be aggressive. You got to be wired different. And don't, don't, don't. Don't match my energy. Don't come at me with that kind of energy attacking me when I'm in that space. And I'm already frustrated with myself. I'm frustrated with the situation, and thank goodness for the resilience and control that DeMarcado showed right there. But I don't know if I would have showed the same. You know, I'm not. I don't think I would have punched anybody because we're on a football field. We're not going to do all that. But as soon as you would have pushed me the second time, I probably would have grabbed and say, hey, that's enough. Like, hey, don't. Don't make me snatch you up out here. Like, I'll calm you down real quick. I'm not. I'm not going to punch you. I'm not going to do anything. But once you go physical, I can go physical back and we can play that game. And I think that's the dangerous precedent, and I think that's what Jonathan Gannon understood about that situation is like, hey, I was wrong. I could yell at him. That's part of the game. And everybody's like, that's just old school, super coaching. That's old school. Well, I'm gonna let you know, things change. And players are making a lot of money these days and there's parking lots that they can meet you in and understand that these are grown men you're dealing with. These aren't kids. They have family. They have kids. They are going to ask for a certain level of respect. A mistake was made. You can do whatever you within your powers as a head coach. You can cut him, you can curse him out, bench him, like, demote him. You got all the power in the world. Once you get physical, you kind of. You're changing the. You're blurring the lines between coach and player interaction. Unless you guys have that relationship like Travis Kelce and Andy Reid have. They clearly have a relationship where they have that kind of, hey, we're going to bump each other. We're going to get each other hyped up. We're going to get each other riled up. We're going to go there with one another and there's an understanding. Hey, that's. We've seen it multiple times where Andy Reid's come stomach bump Travis Kelsey, like, get, come on, get it, get going. And it's to get him going in the game. That's something they have. And we've seen the other way, you know, Travis Kelsey come up to Andy Reid like, oh, yeah, what you think of that, you know, and it's cool. Okay, cool. That's the connection those two have. When you don't have that, be careful, be careful. You don't want. You don't want these grown men to turn to show you why they play professional sports, to show you how strong and how aggressive they can be. Like, you don't want to be the opponent because you don't have pads on or helmet or anything protecting you. Just be careful.

[Mitchell]

Let's talk about another surprising team. The Indianapolis Colts obviously have five and one. I think they take that cake. But the New England Patriots, fresh off a victory against the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo on prime time. Monday Night Football. Go to the Big Easy, New Orleans, and take care of the Saints. And I know it's the lowly Saints, but the Patriots are now four and two. And we were talking about it off air. Their schedule is probably the easiest in the NFL. Their next two games are against the Titans and Browns. If you guys have not Looked at their schedule yet take a peek at it. There is a world that we live in that the Patriots could easily be a two seed, a three seed entering the playoffs. But the question I have for you, Richard Drake, May 2nd year quarterback out of North Carolina, is really starting to put on a show. Has he entered the conversation for top 10 quarterback in this league?

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, I think he's, he's, he's definitely on the edge. He's definitely a tweener right now because any given day he kind of goes back and forth. You may make a couple mistakes that, that you question. You're like, ah, I don't know about that. But this week it looked like he took a huge step, a leap in his processing, the way he saw the field, his understanding, his risk taking. He put the ball down the field. Demario Douglas had two huge plays in the game. One of them got called back for an offensive pass interference on Stefon Diggs, but it's still on tape and he found him and they were attacking the Saints defense aggressively each and every drive. He also did it with his legs. He made plays with his legs, had a 20 yard run in the game. But yes, I think, I think he's doing a great job of leading this team and they don't. And he's not doing it with the guys that you would expect. Obviously he had to win the big time win against the Buffalo Bills and everybody's like, oh, that's a fluke. Good for them. But the Bills are obviously better. Don't, don't be so sure about that. And we'll find out later in the season when they play again. These divisional games can always be competitive, but I don't know how Buffalo, you know, goes throughout the season, but there is a world where the New England Patriots, like you just said, can be the two or three seed. They don't have a lot of difficult games down the stretch. They have the, the, the jets twice, I believe, and the jets have been struggling, struggling mightily and look like they are going to have a fire sale before the trade deadline. Then you got, you got Cincinnati Bengals who just traded for Joe Flacco. I don't know what that's going to look like. We'll see in these next couple, in these next few games, these next few weeks, how that manifests itself. Then you look at the Tennessee Titans who they have next week, the Browns who, who are playing a rookie quarterback and maybe, you know, changing that up later on down the line. So there's a world where they play a Lot of winnable games. The AFC east is not a strong division with the, with, with the way the Miami Dolphins have been struggling. They lost today and the jets have been just. They haven't won a game yet. So I know we sound crazy, and if we'd have said this before the season, everybody would have been like, oh, my God, there's no reason to watch this show because these guys have lost their minds. But don't be so sure. The New England Patriots look legit. And you would think, hey, Stefan Diggs played an incredible game against the Buffalo Bills. He's the guy. That's why they're doing this. But it was Kashon booty that was 5 for 93 this game. And like I said, Demario Douglas had a great, had, had a great catch and run for a touchdown. Had another touchdown called back. And so they're getting contributions from different guys. They didn't run the ball necessarily well today. They ran it 31 times, 2.4 average, but they're still finding ways to win. And don't, don't count out teams like the Saints because everybody's like, oh, it's just against the Saints. Well, the Saints just beat the Giants last week who just beat the Eagles. And I know this is all a lot of complicated math, but they could clearly are NFL team that could get things done and they could play good defense when, when things happen right for them. And they were competitive in this game late, they're 1 and 5, but I got a feeling they're going to upset teams late in the season as well.

[Mitchell]

Well, Mike Vrabel is quickly making his name heard in New England territory. Let's talk about the Panthers. Richard, what if I told you the Panthers were going to be three and three to start the season off? I just, I don't get it. I mean, they get Rico Dowdle going rushes for over 200 yards last week, comes out against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys runs for another 183. This is impressive stuff here in Carolina. And I know they're probably not, you know, in the conversation for playoff contention, but for them to get to winning is important, especially with the young quarterback and Bryce Young probably the bigger storyline here, though, is the downfall of the Dallas Cowboys. A loss on the road against the Carolina Panthers. You know, this could have made this team 3, 2 and 1 in contention. You know, with, with the Philadelphia Eagles stumbling in that division, who knows? Dallas could have been firmly in that mix. But Dak Prescott, and we talked about it off air, you compared him much so To Joe Burrow, who you thought last year had the MVP numbers, Dak Prescott looks very similar. Thirteen touchdowns on the season, 261 and three touchdowns today and a losing effort. What do you make of this game, Rich?

[Richard Sherman]

I know they got Eber Fluth thinking, hey, hey, Eber Flutz has been great, you know, at least on the defensive side. He didn't do great as a head coach in Chicago, but it looks awful. They look badly coached. The scheme looks broken. It looks like they have bad personnel for what they're trying to run. They don't tackle well, they don't blitz well, they don't contain well. They give up a lot of points every single week where it just looks like, how could this defense be so bad? We've seen a lot of this same personnel, I mean, Daron Bland and Trevon Diggs and a lot of these same guys, these pass rushers, these defensive players play pretty good football under Al Harris and under Dan Quinn and really be successful. And so to watch them struggle against the Carolina Panthers and. And. And have the. The issues that they're having. They had the issues against Green Bay packers where they gave up 40 points. Everybody thought, oh, man, they had. They fixed their issues against the New York jets, but it's just the Jets. The jets are bad. So you didn't fix your issues. The jets even scored 22 on you. So it's really concerning for Jerry. And we. I know we want to sit there and talk about Micah Parsons and how much they miss Michael Parsons, but this is beyond Michael Parsons. Thank goodness he got out of there, because they're just a bad defense and they make everybody look bad. Everybody on the defense looks bad when you're playing this bad. And the Carolina Panthers deserve a ton of Credit. Bryce Young, 17 to 25, 199, three touchdowns, two going to your guy, Tetaroa McMillan. Did I say it right?

[Mitchell]

Yes, you did, Richard. I'm impressed, man. That's. That's a heck of a. You were struggling off air, but you got it right now, man. That's all that matters.

[Richard Sherman]

That's why. That's why you practice. That's why you practice. And I appreciate your help. And Rico Dowdle, I mean, the last two weeks, he had 200 yards rushing. Last week, he has 183 this week in a revenge game versus the Dallas Cowboys. What a game. But when you're in Cowboys land, and Jerry Jones this offseason is saying, we're just trying to get closer to a Super bowl, and we're doing. Making the moves to get closer to a Super Bowl. Jerry, do you feel closer? Do you think super bowl this year you got George Pickens, who had an incredible game. George Pickens looks like the future face of the Dallas Cowboys, especially when CD Lamb gets back. But do you feel closer? Offense. Dak Prescott, probably an all Pro right now, would be an MVP candidate. If the defense could just stop a runny nose. Mitchell, if they could cover a bed with a blanket. Mitchell, if they could just, if they could do anything, get in the way, you'd be talking Dak Prescott as an MVP candidate. Thirteen touchdowns on the season, three interceptions, phenomenal football. But you can't stop anybody. So now you. It's going to be ignored and people are going to talk about Derek Prescott. They need to replace the quarterback. No, it's not the quarterback. It's not the offense at all. I think the offense is doing well. They're playing well enough to win these games. You have to do something about the defense. Obviously an incredible pass rusher would help, but it would not stop some of the issues that they are having in the secondary. These are busted coverages. These. It's a lack of effort, lack of concentration, focus, bad play calling. You can't keep. These are. These have. This has been a man coverage defense for the last couple years and done well. I mean, Duron Bland had that 10 or nine, pick six year. They were playing really good football. Now you just, you can't even recognize the schemes they're playing because you, you just, oh, it's just awful football to watch. Every time I watched all 22, I'm like, God, Lee, man, they, they're just going out to practice and, and, and drinking on the job or something because this is. You couldn't have practiced and went out there and executed this. It looked bad. And then you're, you're talking about a year where the NFC east could be up in the air. You know anybody that you looked at the Philadelphia Eagles this Thursday? We were there Thursday Night Football in New York, the New York Giants and these young boys, Jackson dart, Jackson scat in the trap. And they, they wore you out. They wore them out, Mitchell. They wore them out. They looked like the better team. And you're talking about they're going against the, the reigning super bowl champions and they outplayed them in every aspect of that game. The offense looked pathetic. The Philadelphia Eagles offense looked bad. Not because of the talent level, but because of the play quality. You're like, hey, there has to be an easier way to just get AJ Brown one on one backside and throwing the ball and say, hey, we got better players than you. You got to find something else to stop them. And if they're clouding him, then you should be able to run with your reigning offensive player of the year, Saquon Barkley. But you know what you can't do? You can't run flex into an overload. I'm not an offensive coordinator in the National Football League, but if you run into a side where they have more than you have, it's not a successful play. And unless your. Your players do something extraordinary, it's not going to work. And so when you talk about Pachulo, it's on him. You know, this isn't different personnel. Cool. They lost Makai Becton. No question. That's a loss. Landon Dickerson was hurt this game, but for it to go as bad as it's going with the same personnel, you got to look somewhere. And right now, it's looking like the play caller needs to put these guys in better positions to be successful, and he's not doing it. And defensively, they're thin. Jalen Carter, there was. There was conversations before the game that he's sitting out because of this New York turf and how dangerous it is. He has a heel injury, which is usually an Achilles injury in a shoulder injury that's been lingering from 2024. So you have no death. You're playing Jordan Davis 90% of the plays, and that makes no sense. You don't play interior defensive linemen who are 330 pounds plus 90% of the snaps, 80% of the snaps. They usually play 40 snaps a game. He's playing 60, 65 snaps a game. That's not sustainable. So you wonder why in the fourth quarter, other teams are running the ball better. They're executing in you seeing the D line get less pressure because you can't play these guys like that. You have to find more depth. And you can't let guys like Milton Williams walk out the. The building. Can't let guys like Josh Sweat walk out of the building, because you go from a very strong team to two injuries away from having no depth. Now Nolan Smith is on the IR and you wonder what happened.

[Mitchell]

Your.

[Richard Sherman]

Your CB2 are very questionable right now. You. You lost Quinon Mitchell to a hamstring in this game. And then it's like, oh, my God, this looks like an entirely different team. This does not look like a team that. That can't be beat. It looks like a team that any contender would have their way with. And that's got to change.

[Mitchell]

You want to talk about a team that looks entirely different? The New York Giants, with Jackson Dart at the helm, look entirely different with Cam Scatterboo running the ball, look entirely different. How impressed were you with their game? And let's talk a little bit about Cam Scatterboo. Who was the toughest, a running back that you had to tackle? Because I would have to imagine this guy. No one wants to line up against him. He just lowers his head and runs right into your sternum. Who is the toughest guy that you had to tackle during your playing days?

[Richard Sherman]

That's tough. That's tough. I mean, you got a lot of guys. Jonathan Stewart was a. Was a good one. You know, you have Frank Gore. He's not hard to tackle in terms of physicality, but just slippery and finding a way to get extra yards after the carry. But running backs like that, I'm more concerned about Cam in this respect, because they don't last long. I know it looks cool for a few years, and you're like, man, look at all these. But you got to start protecting yourself, Cam, because this league has a lot of people who don't have any sense on defense, and they're going to hunt you, and they're going to like enough of those hits. You're human. Like, these aren't robots. These aren't machines. He's not made of metal, and so it's really fantastic what he's able to do. I love the way he played in this game. I thought his physicality, the hit on Bourne that rolled him over and he got the first down, the hit at the goal line where him and ball in the hole, they met. He drove him forward, scored the touchdown, reached the ball over, was huge in terms of the psyche of the New York Giants and the momentum, but it's just not a sustainable way to play the football game. And every. It's a lot of years of study in it and the way they've done it, it's really cool to see because they're injecting such a new life into the New York Giants and their fan base. You talk about. You talk to the other team's coaches. I was talking to the Eagles coaches before the game, and they say they. That team is just playing with a different energy with Jackson Dart at the helm. They feel. They feel like they can win. They believe they can win. They were injured, too. They. They were down. Slayton, obviously, Malik Neighbors went down with his ACL injury, and Wondell Robinson has a great game. Theo Johnson continues to eat. Scatter Boo has three touchdowns. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. They're going against A.J. a.J. Brown and Devonte Smith and the reigning offensive player of the year. They don't care. They're so young that, you know when you're too young to know you're not supposed to be doing this. Like, you're too young to understand that these are the reigning super bowl champs and you're supposed to be intimidated and your, your, your team isn't technically as talented and you guys aren't supposed to be able to win this game. It's like they don't know. They're just going out here like, hey, we're balling. We're having a good time. We're celebrating. We got our handshakes together. And that's a dangerous kind of combination for a young team. I wouldn't be surprised if they ran off a couple wins against some, some competitive teams and really gave this fan base some hope. I think they might have saved D's job, especially for this season. You can see the chemistry and real, real love that that day Ball has almost to the point where he, where he went too far.

[Mitchell]

He.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah. And when he was, he wasn't just.

[Mitchell]

Checking on Jackson Darton in that tent, Richard. He was checking on his job status because let's be real, if Jackson Dart does not come back, and this is a couple games, I mean, this Brian Dayball experiment might be one that ends here pretty soon, but like you said, I think they probably end up keeping them around because this team looks like they're having fun again. And this is something that we've not seen in New York Giant football in quite some years. So you got, you got to love to see it for their fan base.

[Richard Sherman]

Yeah, you definitely love to see it. They're, they're, they're fantastic. They're energized, they're having fun. These young guys being a face of the program for a long time to come, that's going to be great for New York football.

[Mitchell]

Richard. Let's talk about the Miami Dolphins. They're off to a horrendous start. It seems like the team is all up in arms. Tyree Kill goes out with a huge injury. This identity of this team is gone. Mike McDaniels is on a very hot seat. He might be joining James Franklin in the unemployment line here soon. And we see post game after this loss against the Chargers today. Tua is calling out his teammates saying they're, they're either not showing up to player only meetings or they're just showing up late. I mean, obviously there's frustration into his voice. Obviously he's got to be very frustrated going through the prime of his career like this. What do you make of Tua's comments post game?

[Richard Sherman]

It's, it's. Tua's comments were, were head scratching, to say the least. Because basically you're saying they don't. Your teammates don't respect leadership and you're the leader. Your teammates have no respect or regard for the leadership your team is showing and you're the leader. So it says more about him. It's more of a shot against himself, you know, than it is anybody else. It's an indictment against his leadership because your teammates don't respect you and your teammates don't respect you. So they're not showing up. They don't hold you in high enough regard. I guarantee you most quarterbacks in the National Football League, they could hold a players only meeting at their house playing 20 miles away, and guys are going to show. But when they don't have that kind of regard or respect for you and you continue to try to call them out in the media instead of having conversations behind closed doors to try to do it, to make an attempt to make yourself look better and make them look worse, the respect only drops. The respect level drops. And I'm sure it's almost down to nothing. With this last attempt earlier in the season, they lost and he was like, oh, I want to see how other guys approach the gay. If they're going to still show up on the off days and do all this like, that's enough, that's enough. We don't, we don't care what you think other guys are going to do because it's almost like you're saying, hey, I'm perfect, everybody else isn't. So you guys need to be better. And then we'll get better. As a team like Tua, you threw ridiculous interceptions today. You've done so throughout the season. You haven't played great football. If you're playing great, if you're playing the way Dak Prescott, for example, was playing and he gets up on a podium and he's played at all pro level and his team has let him down, you got the right to say something like that. You definitely probably won't. And you haven't heard Dak Prescott or many leaders ever speak like that about their team. They say, hey, I can do better, even though in reality they probably can't play much better. But accountability looks like that you take blame when it's not always due. You take less credit than you're due to, and you give praise to your teammates. You don't tear your teammates down and say, hey, I've been doing everything I can. I don't know about the other guys. That's. That's the opposite of leadership. So I expect this team to continue to implode. And you, you start to understand more and more why Tyreek Hill was celebrating after a devastating knee injury. Because he no longer has to. To be a part of this kind of nonsense. And I think Tuatanga Vailoa is a. Is a good person. You know, he's been a solid player in the league. But you can't do this. You can't talk like this about guys and play to the level you're playing at. Like you just can't. Like these are grown men and you're not playing great football. So it's time to just shut up and buckle up and try to play better, try to get wins and try to do better. You could come to guys and be like, hey, in the locker room, you got everybody after a game, hey, if we really going to take this serious, we got to show up to players only meetings. We got to show the effort. We got to show that we care, show that we want this season, show that we want to win, not get up in a press conference in front of guys, in front of the media so you can make headlines to finger point at other guys like, get out of here, man. Get out of here. That's. That's bush league. That's bush league bull. All odds and lines come from our partners at Hard Rock bet. We've got two Monday night football games tomorrow between the Bills and the Falcons and the Bears versus the Commanders.

[Mitchell]

Richard Hard Rock BET has the Bills at minus four and a half traveling to the Falcons. Do you have the Bills covering four and a half points?

[Richard Sherman]

Do I have the Bills covering four and a half points? I could see it happening. I could see it happening. The Falcons defense has been spotty. Obviously, the Bills has struggled last week, but I think this is a big rebound game. I think they can get it done.

[Mitchell]

And how about the commanders? They're also spot in the Bears 4 1/2 points. You got the commanders covering 4 1/2.

[Richard Sherman]

That's much tougher to really calculate with the injuries that the Commanders have to Terry McLaurin. Debo Samuel is questionable in this game. I'm not sure I got the commanders covering four and a half against the Bears and my two players for anytime TDs are Keon Coleman and my Stafford guy, Zach Ertz.

[Mitchell]

Okay, I like it. I like it, Richard. That concludes week six tough loss for the 49ers. Big win for the Seattle Seahawks. Feel free to sign us off, my friend, as always.

[Richard Sherman]

I know you know, Seattle Seahawks, the 12s are feeling really good. The faithful, you're feeling down. You're feeling down and out. Especially with the Fred Warner injury. It's not over. There's always hope. There's always light at the end of the tunnel. You know, take a second to yourselves. Figure it out. Twelves, get ready for this Mariners game tonight. I know, Mitchell, you're a little disappointed. I was there for the 15 innings of craziness against the Detroit Tigers. I know you were watching every second after that two run homer. You were probably feeling pretty good.

[Mitchell]

I was.

[Richard Sherman]

But the Mariners were able to pull it off. Hopefully after this long trip to Toronto, they're feeling okay. That was a long, long game they used. They went deep into their their bullpen. I think they went back to the starters by the end, so hopefully they got some gas left in the tank for the Blue Jays. They can pull out a win tonight at 5 o'. Clock. I'm going to be watching. Game starts in about two minutes and I can't wait to watch it. Appreciate you guys joining me. You could be anywhere in the world, but you're here with us and we sure do appreciate it. Hit that sub button if you're new there. Foreign.

[Greg Rosenthal]

The NFL is rolling. That's right, and you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60. It's in the name NFL Daily so you'll have fresh content in your feed all season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, in an all star cast of co host for previews and recaps of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with every everything you need to know so you can sound smarter than all your friends. Listen to NFL daily on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Matt Jones and Drew Franklin]

No purchase necessary void where prohibited ends 2826 open to legal residents of the 50 US states and DC 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter prizes and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com this is an iHeart podcast.