The Washington Commanders put on another big performance in the NFL Week 5 vs. the Cleveland Browns. Peter Klein breaks down their game and the other big stories from the week in the National Football League.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Week 5 in the NFL is almost done with just one game left tonight.
00:10The Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Saints of New Orleans.
00:14So obviously we will not be breaking that game down, but let's run through what we
00:18learned from the NFL schedule this week.
00:21And we will start very early out in London, England as the Jets took on the Minnesota
00:26Vikings.
00:27And again, the Vikings continue to show their for realness.
00:32And a lot of people were wondering, what would Sam Darnold do when there's some pushback?
00:37And when there is some resistance to what he is actually putting out there, how will
00:42he handle it?
00:43Because everything has kind of been smooth sailing so far.
00:45And obviously there were some stumbles.
00:47This was not a perfect game from Sam Darnold, but it was good enough to get them the win.
00:51And I thought good enough to make you feel comfortable that this Vikings team is for
00:55real.
00:56This is a very well coached football team.
00:58And Sam Darnold with the weapons they have on offense is enough to get out there and
01:04keep piling up these wins and keep being a threat in the NFC North and the NFC just in
01:10general.
01:11And the one thing that you really take from this is this defense is for real, for real.
01:16They are very, again, very well coached.
01:19Brian Flores has them absolutely rolling.
01:22And they are, I think, a real force to be reckoned with.
01:25From a fantasy standpoint, as Deeds points out, needs a bit of help this week.
01:29Just 70 points.
01:31And you'll get there.
01:32I'm in the Vampire lead, I'm needing 24 points from Shaheed tonight against Kansas City.
01:37So I'm hoping my, the Chiefs allow big days to secondary options really comes through
01:42in this game.
01:44So we'll see how that one ends up.
01:46But for the Vikings, like yeah, from a fantasy standpoint, maybe you don't really want to
01:50play them.
01:51The only team that has a good game this week is Garrett Wilson with 105 yards through the
01:58air.
01:59The running game was completely shut down.
02:01And Aaron Rodgers did not have a good football game.
02:04And again, this is going up against a good defense.
02:06And so it is weird to say, hey, this defense is legit, that's awesome.
02:09But also, you cannot have that bad of a day against this defense.
02:12It's weird to say both of those things.
02:14But for Aaron Rodgers, it needs to be better.
02:17Because this was not a move.
02:19Bringing Aaron Rodgers in for this roster a couple of years ago, this was not a move
02:24to, you know what, let's squeak into the playoffs and let's see what happens.
02:27This was a move to become contenders to win the division, contenders to get home playoff
02:33games, and contenders to win the Super Bowl.
02:36This does not look like a Super Bowl team right now, and he is not executing at a Super
02:40Bowl caliber.
02:41Which, by the way, told ya.
02:43But you look at the two wins they have this year.
02:45It's the Titans, who gave it to them.
02:47And it's the Patriots, who suck, and it was on Thursday night, and it was the first time
02:51Mayo was coaching on a Thursday night.
02:53So he did not have his team ready for that game.
02:55Other than that, any time this team has faced anything remotely close to a challenge, it
03:00has failed.
03:02And we talked last week about how Aaron Rodgers did a good job in holding his team accountable.
03:07Well, now it's time to hold him accountable.
03:09He was not good enough to win this football game.
03:11Three interceptions is unacceptable, and the missed passes that they had when there were
03:16opportunities to come back in this game, just are not good enough.
03:19And you can credit Minnesota's defense for doing that to them.
03:23And they did a really good job of just shutting that down.
03:28Um, I, I just think that for the Jets, there is a, there is a concern now that basically
03:36everything we talked about in the preseason is going to be right.
03:40That he is, he is just not the guy to elevate this group.
03:44And honestly, the coach maybe isn't that guy, either.
03:46Again, we're not going to run through every game.
03:48Dolphins-Patriots was damn near unwatchable.
03:52The Panthers have come crashing back down to earth, and the Bears are not this good.
03:57Um, toxic in the chat, I didn't think I was going to win this week in the Vampire League.
04:03Just put some scraps together.
04:05That's basically where we're at right now, is scrap time with the, um, with the bye weeks
04:10coming up and all of those sorts of things.
04:12How, um, how was it looking for you?
04:14Or how is it looking for you here, uh, this week, toxic?
04:17Oh yeah!
04:18Huge day.
04:19Um, so yeah, you're definitely going to win.
04:20Who was it, uh, that, that balled out?
04:21Oh, Chase.
04:22Well, that will help.
04:23Um, yeah, that's, that's going to help get the job done in that league, for sure.
04:27Um, the Colts against Jacksonville.
04:29This was one where you can look at both of these teams, um, and you can say, hey, you
04:36know what?
04:37Positives to take from this.
04:39But also you can look at both these teams and go, you know what?
04:41Real negatives to take from this.
04:43Um, Walt Grizzley.
04:44How many years of, uh, choking do you give a head coach before you fire him?
04:48Um, this is on the, the Robert Salah one, but I think you can also very much account
04:52it to Doug Peterson.
04:53Now, they get the win here, so it's weird to talk about firing a coach off of a win,
04:57but I, I think in both cases, Walt, and again, I'm assuming we're talking about Salah here
05:02mainly, um, I, I think time is certainly running out.
05:05Uh, also, thank you for, uh, joining, Walt.
05:07Appreciate it.
05:08Um, oh, just in general, uh, not Salah or Peterson.
05:11Okay.
05:12Uh, apologies for, uh, for, for guessing wrong on that, but, um, yeah, I do think that sometimes
05:18the blame the coach thing is a bit too quick, and you have a, a lot of situations where
05:25players become almost a little invincible, and that leads to some not great situations.
05:31But also, there are way too many occasions where coaches get too long of a leash.
05:37Uh, Walt talking about Kyle Shanahan.
05:38Okay.
05:39We're gonna talk about Kyle Shanahan, because again, yeah, this is a common theme.
05:44And now, part of it for Shani this week is his, his kicker got hurt.
05:50And so you didn't have options to kick field goals and, and stuff like that.
05:54But still, the, um, very well thought of, vaunted Kyle Shanahan, uh, offensive system
06:02should be able to put up more than 23 points against the Arizona Cardinals with me kicking
06:08field goals.
06:09This, Arizona, we've talked about them, they are improved, they shouldn't be that improved.
06:15That they are holding this team to just 23 points.
06:18They were able to, it seemed like they were able to move the ball on them, but, and it's
06:23not even like the defense didn't play well.
06:25Like holding Arizona to 24 points, you feel like you should be able to win that football
06:30game based off of how, um, again, how that Arizona defense can play.
06:36And so, I don't think Kyle Shanahan gets, like, I don't think he's even on the hot seat
06:42there.
06:43Um, injuries have been coming up, now this offense is, for the most part, pretty healthy.
06:47But, there is certainly a pattern there, right?
06:51Where it is late game situations don't go well.
06:55And you can go all the way back to 28-3 against the Patriots, um, where he was the offensive
07:00coordinator and they kept, like, passing it for some reason and not running the clock
07:04out.
07:05He is very, very bad at clock management, and letting those things kind of wind down.
07:12And, I do think you look at, like, he is, I do think he's a smart offensive mind, um,
07:17I don't think there's any denying that.
07:19But I also do think that, you know, he has very exceptional players all over his roster.
07:26And I think the whole, oh my god, he's doing this with Brock Purdy, this is insane.
07:29I think we're seeing Brock Purdy's actually a pretty good quarterback.
07:32And, maybe there is a chicken and egg situation and he has done a good job of developing this.
07:38But there is, I think, no denying that this is a coach who struggles when games are close.
07:44And struggles in situations where his team has opportunities to put games away and it
07:50doesn't work.
07:51And yeah, like, I don't, I think we are at a point now with Kyle Shanahan where you can't
07:56say anything other than he chokes in big, close, late game situations.
08:02And, like, it's not his fault the pass gets deflected and intercepted, but it is, I think,
08:06his offense's fault that it got to that point.
08:10And even, you look back last week, when they were kicking the crap out of the Patriots,
08:13a lot of drives that just, like, didn't end the way that they needed to.
08:17Um, he's been there since, is that, god, it doesn't feel like it's been seven years, but
08:23I guess, hey, he's been there since 2017 and chokes regularly.
08:26Like the Rams game is a perfect example, right?
08:29Like, they have already choked this season, and this is one that they let get away.
08:33And now, when you look at the NFC West, like, yes, the Seahawks have a bit of a surprising
08:39result yesterday, but the 49ers are in third in this division right now.
08:44And I don't think, as much as we talked about how Arizona's defense shouldn't be one that
08:48is overly threatening, I don't think that they are, like, that much better suited to
08:54jump over an Arizona, or a Seattle, or anyone like that.
08:58Like, I think that they are legitimately in some trouble in this division.
09:04And I guess, yeah, to that point, the offense only put up 16 against the Cardinals, because
09:07there was the defensive touchdown on there as well, or defensive plays anyway, that stood
09:14up.
09:15So no, this is a, it is a weird spot, and it is very frustrating for the 49ers, because
09:20when, and Walt, I know you are new to the channel, and again, thank you, but this is
09:26a team that I am constantly putting on my most talented teams in the NFL list when we
09:31do those rankings in the preseason.
09:34There is so much talent on this football team, and when you see how wide open the NFC kind
09:39of should be, they should be lapping everybody.
09:44And I do think that, again, to your point, when you look at the 49ers schedule this year,
09:50you can put quite a bit of the blame at the feet of the head coach.
09:54So I think that's a, it's honestly, it's not the direction I thought I was going to
09:58go with this, Walt, but it is a good kind of thought here.
10:02You look at the losses that they had.
10:04They lose this game by one to Arizona, so it is, again, bad late game situations, and
10:11not being able to adjust and make the plays properly.
10:16And then they lose to the Rams 27-24 in a game where, again, you're winning by a lot,
10:22and poor clock management can't put the game away.
10:25You lose to the Minnesota Vikings 23-17.
10:27Now we are seeing that that Vikings win, or that Vikings loss, doesn't look quite as bad
10:33as time goes on, because the Vikings look like they are legit, but still, this is a
10:38close game that they were unable to get across the finish line, and so yes, you can draw
10:44up all the great plays and all of these things that you want, but there is more to coaching
10:50than just being able to draw up the good plays that get some guys open sometimes.
10:55It is about clock management, it is about late game situations, and being able to get
10:59the job done.
11:00And we saw a couple of coaches kind of fail in those situations this week, but this is,
11:05to Walt's point, this is a pattern in San Francisco that has been going on for years
11:10and years and years, and multiple Super Bowls, and yes, NFC Championship game against the
11:17Los Angeles Rams as well.
11:19He is great for neutral observers, because it's always interesting, and he is always
11:24going for these things that he shouldn't be going for, and doing these things that
11:28maybe he shouldn't be doing, and all of that.
11:31But at the end of the day, from a franchise standpoint, I mean look, as a Raider fan,
11:37would I rather him than Antonio Pierce right now?
11:39Yeah, I would.
11:40And I would figure out the late game stuff later.
11:42But when you have a team that is in its championship window, and like, it's going to get much
11:47more expensive to have this team very quickly, because Brock Purdy, that whole, oh you get
11:52a quarterback on a round 7 contract, that's going away very quickly.
11:58And I think you are starting to see with how the IU process went down, and all of that,
12:02how difficult it's going to be to kind of put all of those pieces into place.
12:08And I do think that there's probably a little bit of, there should be anyway, a little bit
12:13of pressure and a lot of the blame on Kyle Shanahan for what has gone on in San Francisco.
12:19So no, it is a great point out there, Walt.
12:21But again, to kind of tie it back to the game we were talking about before, for Doug Peterson,
12:26now he has his Super Bowl with the Philly Philly, and all of that, but like, this was
12:31a game that shouldn't have been close for Jacksonville.
12:35They were dominating early, and they just kept letting Indy get back into this game.
12:41And offensively, like, they were great.
12:43Like Trevor Lawrence had one of his better games of the year so far, and they just couldn't
12:46get a stop.
12:47And that's not something that's been usual for this defense so far this year.
12:51And so again now, it looks at Doug Peterson where you finally got your first win, but
12:55even this one wasn't as convincing as it needed to be.
12:58And for the Colts, the offense kept putting up some points and kept them in there, and
13:01Alec Pierce is making a wild catch after wild catch.
13:07How are we not getting a stop against this team that has struggled so much on the offensive
13:13side so far with Trevor Lawrence?
13:14Yeah, and Walt, I would say he has been the problem in Jacksonville.
13:18He hasn't been good enough.
13:20He was better in this game, and the Colts just could not stop it at all.
13:24So it's one of those ones where Jacksonville, alright, you put up 37 points, you never quit
13:28and you won, that's great.
13:30Probably needed to put that one away a while ago though, right?
13:33And for the Colts, it's like yeah, you battled back, you almost got there, probably shouldn't
13:37be falling behind by that much and having that much trouble with Jacksonville, right?
13:40So this is one of those games that I think kind of just drove home how mid both of these
13:45teams really actually are.
13:47Speaking of poor clock management, the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Texans, the Texans come
13:54away with a 23-20 win, and they lose Nico Collins in this game, and at that point the
14:00offense does kind of stall out a little bit.
14:02And so I do think some of the talk of, oh wow, they have three No. 1s, you know what?
14:07I think Tank Dell is really good, I think he's a really good No. 2, and at this point
14:11I think Stephon Diggs is kind of appropriately set as a No. 3.
14:15But to lose Nico Collins, obviously they are struggling running the football right now,
14:20and that was kind of a theme again in this game.
14:23They tried to get Ogunbowale going, didn't feel like he really was, Buffalo was able
14:27to get back into this one, and then it felt like it had kind of been cost, or they kind
14:32of were cost, as Stroud tries and thinks Schultz is going to go out toward the sideline
14:38and just misses him, and they called it grounding?
14:41Which I thought was kind of insane, because that's, that is a miscommunication that
14:45happens all the time.
14:47And so I thought you could explain away that one pretty easily, keep them in field goal
14:50range and they still get the field goal to give them the lead, instead they have to punt
14:54it, and Buffalo is pinned down at their 2.
14:56And they take a shot on first down, and they're like, you know what?
14:59Give it a go.
15:00Just let fly the hogs of war, or whatever it is, and just let them go, and see if you
15:06can get a touchdown or a big play out of it to get you into field goal range.
15:09When you don't, then you just like, pound the ball into the offensive line a couple
15:14of times and go to overtime.
15:15Like that is, that's basically what it should be.
15:19And for them to then punt the ball, and with any kind of return allow the Texans to get
15:24into field goal range and win that game, is some very poor management, and again, to kind
15:29of go with the whole theme of this, with what Walt was bringing up earlier with Shanahan,
15:34Sean McDermott has done a lot of very good things for this franchise that haven't happened
15:40in a really long time.
15:41But I think we are getting to the point now where we have seen that there is a ceiling
15:45on this guy, and that they don't necessarily, he doesn't necessarily help them get over
15:50the top with this roster.
15:53And I think that there was a real miss with how they handled that whole game.
15:58Walt, I'm not surprised that you would be a solid fan coming from being the defensive
16:03guy out in San Francisco and the energy and everything that he brought there, but I just
16:07think, again, when you look at how late game situations have gone with the Jets, and how
16:12this roster has kind of not really set everything up, and not really advanced, I think that
16:19there are some major flaws in his game that need to be ironed out.
16:22Doesn't mean they won't be, but I don't think he is helping the Jets.
16:27I will say that much.
16:28Baltimore against Cincinnati, this game was another absolute wild one.
16:32And a real knock against people who think that Lamar Jackson can't win the big one,
16:36and can't really get going.
16:39Because he was phenomenal in this game, setting up some of those plays that he did.
16:45Obviously Derrick Henry finally gets rolling on the outside.
16:47They did a really good job of getting him outside, taking on those defensive backs,
16:53and just powering forward through that.
16:55I thought he was great, and they stepped up in a big time way.
16:59But it's something we talked about a little bit, the defense continues to be something
17:03that you really worry about in Baltimore, because they got picked apart in this game,
17:07and it was poor tackling on Jamar Chase, who helps Toxic's fantasy team, and it was an
17:12inability to stop anything, really, at any point.
17:15And then down in the red zone, Joe Burrow was just picking them apart.
17:21So you feel a whole lot better about Cincinnati coming out of this one, and it's still, you
17:24feel good about Baltimore, but you don't feel great about it because of that defense.
17:30And yeah, Walt, back on the pills.
17:33The problem is, they refused to get a wide receiver for Allen.
17:36I mean, this year they did.
17:38He had a pretty good one for a while, in Stephon Diggs.
17:40But yes, this year, they have tried for it, and like, I think Keon Coleman, there's actually
17:46something there.
17:47But there should, there should have been at least somewhat of a veteran backup plan, aside
17:52from Curtis Samuel, as the option once you move on from Stephon Diggs, like, even if
17:59it is just a whatever, um, no no no, and I'm not questioning that, like, Diggs, Diva, lost
18:04them a playoff game, for sure.
18:06He also got them to a lot of them, like, he was a talented receiver, and so there is a
18:10balance that you need to have, but I do think that they still had, they gave him that for
18:15a bit.
18:16But now they are counting on him to try to elevate around and do kind of the Tom Brady
18:20thing where, alright, and Brady was a different situation, he wasn't making as much money,
18:24but um, or as much of the cap, but for Allen, um, they are now asking him, like, we are
18:30paying you a ton, we need to see you elevate the guys around you.
18:34And I think he's done that with a couple, but like, we know what Curtis Samuel is.
18:38There isn't this mystical thing that he or MVS are going to find at this point in their
18:42careers.
18:43So, I mean, yeah, like, Devontae Adams would make this team a Super Bowl threat, I think.
18:50And that would be one of the landing spots for him, for sure.
18:54But they are, like, the Chargers kind of did the same thing, where, it's like, we have
18:58a quarterback that we view as a franchise quarterback, and we now have to pay him as
19:02a franchise quarterback, so he has to be a franchise quarterback and make the weapons
19:06around him better, because we can't afford to bring one of those in.
19:08But I do think there are a lot of veteran receivers that you could have brought in that
19:12weren't Curtis Samuel or MVS that maybe would have helped.
19:17So much for my Washington might come back down to Earth thing.
19:20Hey, they were phenomenal again, and the Browns, it's just, it's so bad there.
19:25They took two timeouts on goal-to-go situations and ended up kicking field goals.
19:31Like, Deshaun Watson is just the drizzling shits, and is so bad, and has just basically
19:36given it all up.
19:38He'll start games and it's great, and then as it goes on he gets less and less interested
19:42in how that game is going.
19:45Raiders-Broncos, Broncos are looking a little bit more for real.
19:49And a game against the Raiders isn't going to drive that home, but this defense does
19:53look legit.
19:54And Bo Nix, albeit against a not-great defense, does, has shown that there is at least a bit
19:59of maturing going on in his game as this season progresses.
20:03They're not like a threat to, I don't even think, make the playoffs, quite frankly.
20:06But I do think they're going to beat some bad teams, which they did this week.
20:09For the Raiders, the Gardner-Minshew thing is just, it's not working.
20:12And now All-I's, as was pointed out in here before, All-I's certainly go to Devontae Adams
20:22and seeing what the Raiders can get for him.
20:24Because again, as we kind of addressed last week, this team has some pass-catching options.
20:29Like Jacoby Myers, if he's your number one wide receiver, you're not winning Super Bowls.
20:33But like, he's fine.
20:35And they have guys like Tucker who I think are interesting, and Bowers is a beast.
20:39So those are all good players that they can go out and pick up some yards and actually
20:48help you out.
20:49You don't have a quarterback, though.
20:50Minshew, it's just, the league has figured him out, and I don't think Aidan O'Connell
20:55is any great shakes at all.
20:57Walt, on the Commanders, Browns, Cardinals, Bengals, and Giants, I'm still waiting for
21:03Washington to play a decent team.
21:04I would say, like, Cardinals are a decent team, and I would say the Bengals are a decent
21:08team as well.
21:09Like, yeah, no, they haven't played the tippity-top of their schedule yet, coming up.
21:15Like, the Ravens game this weekend is going to be an interesting test.
21:19But I mean, and this is something I kind of did last year, we were looking at a few teams,
21:23like, alright, well who have they beat?
21:24Who have they beat?
21:25Who have they beat?
21:26Who's there to beat?
21:27Like, if we are not counting the Cardinals and the Bengals as decent teams, then our
21:36bar for decent teams is kind of only cleared by, like, four or five, right?
21:41Like, let's look at the Commanders' schedule the rest of the way.
21:44Ravens, I would put in that as a good team.
21:47Panthers, no.
21:48Bears, no.
21:49Giants, no.
21:50Steelers, yes.
21:51Eagles, yes.
21:52Cowboys, I wouldn't.
21:53Titans, no.
21:54Saints, defense probably, but, like, that is a test for them offensively.
22:01Eagles, yes.
22:03Falcons, borderline?
22:05Okay, and then if we're saying Eagles, no, then they're not going to play a decent team.
22:10And that's, that's where we're at in this league right now.
22:13And that is kind of a bigger picture thing, and it's one of the things we talked about
22:17last year with a few of these teams, whereas, well, who have they beat?
22:19Who have they beat?
22:20That there isn't, there isn't anyone to beat.
22:23Like, that there isn't a, like, what would you consider a good win in the NFL these days?
22:30Because there are only a handful of teams who look like they have it all together.
22:33The rest of them, there are some holes on teams, like, you just, you run through the
22:38entirety of the league right now.
22:40Kansas City, offense doesn't look super explosive.
22:42Minnesota, it's Sam Darnold, how can we possibly trust that?
22:45The Houston Texans, yeah they're 4-1, the offense has looked good in exactly one of
22:49those games.
22:50Washington is who we are talking about, and the defense is supposed to be abysmal.
22:54The Detroit Lions have finally got some things, like, pieced together here a little bit, but
22:59I, still, like, they didn't look fantastic in the first little bit.
23:05Atlanta, Kirk Cousins' leg could fly off at the end of, um, at the end of every play.
23:10Baltimore, they have had some troubles in some weird games, they lost to the Raiders
23:15so far, uh, at different points this season.
23:17Buffalo, their defense is completely falling apart, and is really banged up.
23:21Seattle, looks like they should have a bunch of talent, but just got walked by the Giants,
23:26and lost that game that they shouldn't have.
23:28The Steelers, defense looks really good, but the offense can only put up 17 points
23:32a game.
23:33And so you just, you go on through, every single team has a flaw right now.
23:38And so that is why the door is open for a team like a Washington to step through.
23:42For a team like an Arizona to step through and to take that.
23:46And why it is so frustrating, um, to Toxic's point in the chat, the Browns completely fumbled
23:51the bag with the Watson trade.
23:53They have one of the most talented defensive players the league has ever seen in, um, on
23:59their defensive line right now.
24:01And they had Nick Chubb, and they have Amari Cooper, and now they have Jerry Judy who kinda
24:06is what he is.
24:07And as far as tight ends go, David Njoku is a pretty good one.
24:09And so it feels like you should have this opportunity to just walk right through, because
24:13everything is so wide open in this NFL right now, and they just can't do it.
24:19And so that is where you get a lot of the desperation, well we'll just get a new quarterback,
24:22get a new quarterback in, get a new quarterback in, and it is an entire cycle that just feeds
24:28on itself.
24:29So, yes, if they beat the Ravens, then I will give them that credit.
24:32But if they lose to Baltimore and then win five in a row, I'm gonna have a hard time
24:37not giving them credit, because there's like three teams in the league that you can give
24:42teams credit for beating every single week, and when you don't play any of them, like
24:47no, I am not saying go cash a Washington Super Bowl ticket right now, but I am saying
24:54that when we are looking at who's legit, the list isn't that big.