#NFLVideos: Giants bench Russell Wilson for rookie QB Jaxson Dart, Lions vs Ravens MNF recap | The Insiders

Giants bench Russell Wilson for rookie QB Jaxson Dart, Lions vs Ravens MNF recap | The Insiders

performance, leading to last
season having the lowest number
of concussions on record Break out your face paint,
headband and chains. It is
officially Jaxson Dart time in New York. We will take you
inside the decision to bench
Russell Wilson after an zero three start. And what play and
dart now means for the Giants
in 2025 and beyond. The bills are three and zero, and while
their high powered offense and
league MVP get the headlines, that defense is starting to
round into form as well.
Standout cornerback Christian Benford will join us tonight to
talk about how much better
Buffalo can get. Your fantasy team can surely get better, too.
And if you’ve got the magic
touch on the waiver wire, that just might happen. Our guy
Michael Florio will be here to
give you a few tricks that will make your roster holes
disappear. Welcome inside with
the insiders. Presented by Progressive Insurance alongside
Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo,
I am Tom Pelissero. Week three. Now in the books. Week four
just two days away and the
Giants have a new QB one. That is where we begin tonight with
the breaking news. Jaxson Dart
is going to play and not just in a package with some type of
run play here and there. He is
going to get his first NFL start on Sunday against the
Chargers, while the veteran
Russell Wilson goes to the bench for the moment, the
Giants traded up to draft dart
at number 25. Overall, it felt like a matter of time until he
got his shot. Well, here we are.
It’s week four. The Giants are zero and three getting set to
welcome a red hot three and
zero Chargers team to MetLife Stadium. Ian why now it was
time. I mean that is the
simplest answer. And not just because of the product that
Russell Wilson putting on the
field just was not good enough anymore. I mean, that that red
zone possession certainly will
not be something that will be immortalized in the Hall of
Fame alongside Russell Wilson’s
statue, his last pass sending it into the goalpost on fourth
down. Just it was time. I mean,
he was starting to look like the Russell Wilson ended the
year with the Steelers last
year. Simply, it was too much to watch for us, for the fans
and those in the Giants
building. And so yes, to pull Russell, that made sense. But
the reason, Mike, why this
makes the most sense is because Jaxson Dart is ready. The
inside the building. I know
there is overwhelming excitement to put him on the
field. He really impressed in
training camp and the small bits that we’ve seen on the
field. He has been productive.
At some point you got to see the future Giants would have
loved, loved. Just wait a
couple weeks, get through the tough part of the schedule,
could not do it anymore. Have
to play Jaxson Dart. Brian Daboll on forming both
quarterbacks today that the
future is now for the New York Giants. Mike, there’s just no
early, easy entry point with
this schedule. The Chargers are going to be a challenge, but
it’s at home next week. You get
the Saints okay. It’s on the road though in a loud
environment. Even though the
team is not necessarily considered a playoff team. And
then when you want to do I mean
do you want to do it two games against the Eagles in three
weeks with a game against the
Broncos sandwiched in between, there’s just no great. You’d
have to wait out this entire
stretch. And right now, I firmly believe that they think
this is not just about getting
them in there, but they think this is going to be better for
the team and everything along
the way that they have handed him. He’s handled. And there’s
been an unshakable confidence.
There’s been a performance in training camp in the preseason
and then from my understanding
during the regular season, he’s been really good in practice as
well. So that package was a way
of introducing things during the regular season to see how
he can handle it. So this way
he’s getting some work as he’s getting ready to start. You’re
right Ian, the time was now. As
for Russell Wilson, 36 years old since leaving Seattle, he
is now gone one and done with
four consecutive coaching staffs, two in Denver, one in
Pittsburgh where they didn’t
try to resign him this offseason. And now with the
Giants, if anyone is going to
continue to persevere and play, it would be Russell Wilson. But
it does seem like his time to
be a starter anywhere in the NFL may well now be over. As
for Giants fans, you can only
imagine that they had a lot of thoughts on the developments of
the past 48 hours. Cable is a
lame duck right now, and his play calling, Kafka’s play
calling. It’s terrible. This
guy, this kid’s going to have no offensive line performance
from Russell Wilson was putrid.
I never want to see him in a giant uniform ever again. I
don’t think people realize that
Jaxson Dart is not going to be this player right away. He is
not going to be Eli going in
for Kurt Warner. I don’t know why people are getting so
excited over this. The
offensive line is going to get him killed. And part of me
thinks that’s why people were
saying Jameis Winston should start. All right. So a lot of
optimism on the airwaves here
in New York apparently as we welcome in our Brian Baldinger
and Marc Ross to the
conversation. Mark, you worked in that building for a long
period of time. You know that
market. You know that franchise. You know, since Eli Manning,
the number of different things
that they have tried to get the position right, mainly sticking
with Daniel Jones as long as
they did. From your perspective, what you know about Jaxson Dart,
your expertise here, what do
you think about this move now? What are you expecting to see?
Well, first of all, those were
mild calls right there. They picked some easy ones right
there to put on the air. But
you know, this whole situation here with with the Giants and
Jaxson Dart coming into the
season, seeing that schedule I thought this was a two win team.
Anyway, I didn’t have a lot of
high expectations because I thought Russ was cooked and
because Jameis was more of a
comedy show at this point. So I thought this season was more
about when is Jaxson Dart going
to play? And of course, we’ve seen the struggles already so
far. And then with the pressure,
there’s always pressure there and a lot of voices in that
building. John Barrett being
one of them and knowing he’s listening to those calls, he
hears the fans. So that
pressure that he is putting on everyone to say, we’ve got to
get this guy in sooner rather
than later. And then with Brian Daboll and Joe Shane, they need
to get him in sooner rather
than later as well, because their jobs might be on the line.
Possibly. I don’t think they I
think they’re definitely on the line Mark, but I don’t think
they made this move to save
their job. I believe that you have to you have to tell your
team the truth, and you can’t
lie to your team and tell you that Russell Wilson right now
is the best opportunity, the
best option to win games. He’s simply leaving too many plays
on the field. There’s too many
points on the board right now that just to go routes last
night against double coverage
to the receivers was bad was bad decisions. He sacked
himself week one right there
against the commanders. They can talk about the offensive
line all they want. The
quarterback has to maneuver in the pocket. These throws right
there. You can’t live with them.
But there was too many plays. It’s just not the red zone last
night. The first red zone. This
first red zone was bad. The first and goal at the one
against the commanders where
they came away with nothing was bad. They need better play at
the quarterback position. Maybe
there’s not a good time, Tom, to put him in, but I would play
him. I’ve been around that kid.
I, I’m not saying he has it or anything. I’m not going to be
foolish. He’s got to take his
lumps like every other starting quarterback. But I think this
kid has enough where he’s been
all over the SEC and every tough place to go play, and
he’s played well, and I think
he’s going to ignite something in that team because they need
it right now. Some not just a
spark, but a future where fans and the players go, all right,
we can roll with this guy no
matter what kind of mistakes he might make early on. I think
he’s going to learn from him,
and I’d be surprised if he makes a lot of them a second or
third time. Based upon the boos
every time Russell Wilson came in the game, and the cheers
every time that Jaxson Dart
came in the game on Sunday night, fair to say he’s going
to get a hero’s welcome on
Sunday, we will see exactly how long that lasts against a very
good Chargers team. We did have
nine Giants news around the league and in the NFC East over
the past couple of days. Let’s
start out with Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee lamb, who was
injured on that play right
there, suffered a high ankle sprain. As Ian has reported is
a multiple week injury for
CeeDee lamb. Jerry Jones has not ruled out injured reserve,
but at this point, seems like
KD may have a chance to get back in under four weeks. They
face the Packers on Sunday
night and we’ll have to go without their top wide receiver.
Mike. Speaking of top receivers,
Hall of Fame receivers, future Hall of Fame receivers Mike
Evans got that hamstring injury
suffered against the Jets the other day. This is a bad, bad
sign for a Buccaneers team
that’s already banged up. Here’s the good news. Doesn’t
seem like it’s as bad as last
year when he missed four games with the injury. So the hope is
for the Buccaneers. They keep
him off IR and he’s back. And let’s see about three 2 to 3
weeks something like that. We
shall see. But better news than it could have been Ian. Mike
Evans going to miss some time
but not too much. Let’s stay on the topic of star receivers
dealing with annoying injuries.
Terry McLaurin, the commanders star receiver. He’s dealing
with a quad injury, getting
additional opinions and trying to figure out what is going on.
Certainly seems like while this
is, I would say, be more considered day to day.
Certainly seemed like missing
Sunday’s game is at least a possibility for the Houston
Texans. They made a major move
on defense earlier today. They released C.J. Gardner-johnson.
They traded for him from the
Philadelphia Eagles and kind of a complicated trade pick swap
earlier in the year. Hoped he
would hold down the back end of the defense. Best thing I can
say, Tom, this relationship run
its course, ran its course as it always seems to with C.J.
the Texans moved on earlier
today. Week three wrapped up Monday night with a really good
game. It is Lamar Jackson and
the Ravens going up against Dan Campbell Jared Goff and the
Lions Detroit coming off a
breakout performance. And that offense was rolling again.
Fourth quarter game tied at 21.
How about the nifty design right there. It’s Jahmyr Gibbs
going in for a four yard
touchdown on the double pitch. Later on in the fourth quarter
Derrick Henry again another
fumble. Take another look here Aidan Hutchinson with the
effort comes up from behind
Henry punches that ball out. Third straight week with a
fumble for King Henry, who is
plainly frustrated on the bench into the fourth quarter. Now
Lions lead 3124 under two
minutes to play. Jared Goff going off of play action Dan
Campbell going for it. You know
he always does. It’s fourth and two. Goff goes deep. What about
that touch. What a throw to
Amon-ra. Saint Brown Lions win on the road 38 to 30. Time now
for fresh takes presented by
Chipotle. As we welcome Mark and Baldy back into the
conversation. Baldy, we spend a
lot of time this offseason talking about how exactly would
this Detroit offense be with
Ben Johnson moving on to Chicago? The alarm bells went
off for plenty of people in
week one, but you watch them. Last night, you’d say, this is
the lions that we’ve seen
before. They settled all the fears and they did everything
they wanted to do against the
Ravens, including an 18 play, 98 yard drive, converting
fourth downs with three fourth
down conversions, three different plays. The play was
ready and it was executed
perfectly, but up front, honestly, I could draw up the
run game of the Detroit Lions
in three plays. They ran the same three plays, but it was
really, really well executed.
And that that law firm of Decker, mahogany, Glasgow,
Ratledge and Sewell along with
the tight ends Brock Wright right there and Laporta. They
were excellent. Excellent in
concert. No missed assignments. From what I saw both backs got
off. Jared Goff had a pretty
easy night finding the receivers when he was asked to
do it. That was a fine display
of offense. And I think you know Johnnie Morton coming in.
The new offensive lineman came
in. That was a good test on the road and they were up to the
test. That was a that was a
almost a virtuoso performance by the Lions offense. When the
schedule came out, we looked at
what the Ravens mark we’re going to have to do early in
the season. Obviously opening
up against Buffalo, having Detroit on the schedule week
three, they got the Chiefs
coming up after this. And if you go back through these games,
they had chances to put them
away. The common thread has been self-inflicted errors
specifically Derrick Henry
fumbling the football. What do you make of where Baltimore
stands at one and two. And now
having to stave off one and three? Despite all their
success over the past few years,
I’ve always said that the only team that can beat the Ravens
are themselves, and even when
they win, they just never look like a good football team. They
don’t look like a well-coached
football team. And you saw that last night with the 20 missed
tackles on defense with the
King Henry fumble. But the most egregious thing for me is that
they just didn’t make any
adjustments on the offensive side of the ball when they pass.
Detroit essentially rushed
three. They had a spy. They played man under with safeties
over the top and the Ravens.
Lamar, the offensive coordinator, didn’t make any
adjustments to counter what
they were doing. Thus you saw the seven sacks and then on the
defensive side of the ball, as
you mentioned, the run game. I mean, Detroit just ran between
the tackles and the Ravens
didn’t load the box. They didn’t try to slant. They
didn’t try to they didn’t try
anything different to to try to stop what Detroit was doing. So
going forward, I don’t know
what it’s going to take because we know they have the talent,
but we can’t just keep saying
that. They have to live up to the talent. Guys have to really
start playing with grit and a
winning mindset like Detroit did last night, and have a
little bit better coaching and
consistency of what they’re doing there. Tom, Baldy, Mark,
do not move lot more from you
two as this show rolls on. The NFL show rolls on this weekend
to Dublin, Ireland, 9:30 a.m.
Eastern Time on Sunday. It kicks off the NFL network
exclusive games. Justin
Jefferson, TJ Watt and you get to hear this music, which is
really the best part. Full
coverage right here on NFL network and NFL plus. As for
coach Mike Tomlin, he’s pretty
excited about this little venture. Certainly getting an
opportunity to play
internationally is a big honor. It’s something that I’ve been a
part of a couple of times, and
it doesn’t get old Man to to represent our game of American
football on the international
stage. Man, it’s a really cool thing. Coming up, we’ll talk
about the three and zero Colts.
That’s right Daniel Jones is rolling. Indy is red hot. Our
Cameron Wolfe will be here to
talk about them. And we’ll also revisit some of the best
performances from week three,
including everything that Isaiah Rodgers did. Who Isaiah
Rodgers know the name. He did
something that has never been done in NFL history. We’ll talk
about it so much more to come
right here on The Insiders presented by Progressive
Insurance. The insiders is
presented by progressive. Get time been gunning for. Time now
for the wolf of Wall Street.
Our guy Cameron Wolfe joining me, Tom Pelissero here on The
Insiders, presented by
Progressive Insurance. Cam is one of our best and most
plugged in reporters. What are
you hearing around the league as we get set to roll into week
four? Cam. Tom, let’s start the
Wolf of Wall Street in Buffalo where the three and zero bills
continue to dominate the AFC
East. I’m a big movie fan. You come at the King, you best not
miss. That’s a wire reference.
And look the bills have dominated this AFC East 70% win
rate in the Josh Allen era.
Only the Chiefs have more wins. Why? Well Terrel Bernard, the
bills linebacker, told me it’s
a earned mentality. No matter what people say, we don’t have.
We believe in us. We all know
we’re going to make the play and check this out for a stat
the bills have had have not
lost the turnover battle in 25 consecutive games. That’s an
NFL record. They find a way to
make a play. Look we all know about Josh Allen Bernard told
me he is Buffalo. He is the
standard. But shout out to Bernard and this defense. They
have found a way to make the
play and the interception off of Tua Tagovailoa. Bernard told
me came through film study
identity and ultimately just making a play. Now let’s
transition to Jacksonville
where they are two and one, in large part because of their
defense as well. Their
defensive coordinator, Anthony Anthony Campanile, loves to
bring the pressure and take
away the football. They lead the NFL in takeaways with nine.
They’ve already surpassed their
total for 2024. Think about that. And turnovers and
interceptions. They’ve already
hit that total. And I talked to Campanile this week and he
talked about his guys. He said
yeah they work hard. They play well together. But he said the
big thing is they are honest
with each other. They are accountable. And as we talk
about this Jags team going
forward, you’re going to learn about these players who hold
each other accountable and have
turned around this defense. And this team is going to have a
lot to say in the AFC South.
And speaking of the AFC South, we can’t talk about that
division without talking about
the Indianapolis Colts. The surprise team of the division.
Daniel Jones gets a lot of love,
but let’s stick on the defensive end of football and
talk about Lou Anarumo, their
defensive coordinator. New guy coming over from Cincinnati. He
told me this week they went
through install four different times from spring to preseason
to make sure their players had
the complexity of the scheme. And maybe the most important
player in that Cam Bynum, their
safety, he said. Every single Friday he comes and meets with
Lou for an hour. They go over
what they see together via tape, and that has helped them
translate it on the field.
Bynum has had couple of interceptions and a destroyed
game against Miami, and this
past week Kenny Moore had a pick six off cam Ward. Lou told
me that play essentially came
from a guy trying to cover the flat, and ultimately Kenny saw
and used his instincts and was
able to take over. And so the Colts, the Jags, the bills all
using their defense to make an
impact. And the Wolf of Wall Street this week, Cam Bynum a
guest on the insiders tomorrow
night cam Wolf just like Jordan Belfort he’s not leaving
actually is for now. But we’ll
do this again. Cam, thank you very much. Mike Garafolo. He’s
not leaving. The show goes on.
This show goes on. Week four. Power rankings. The Super Bowl
champions who haven’t lost a
game are number one. There you go. That’s how we do things
around here. According to
NFL.com, the Buffalo Bills who haven’t gotten to the Super
Bowl despite being good enough
to get there the last couple of years up there at number two,
got to earn your way up to
number one. See, that’s how it works. Now it’s time for Buy
and Sell with Jeffrey Chadiha
and Marc Ross. We are starting with the Colts. It’s an
interesting one because you
look at it and say not the toughest schedule that you
could play right now in the NFL,
but haven’t lost in. Daniel Jones looks great buying or
selling. Jeffrey, I am buying
all the way here because I picked Daniel Jones be my
comeback player of the year
when the season started, and he’s making me look really
smart. Hadn’t turned the ball
over. He’s got three touchdown passes, three rushing
touchdowns. As Cam Wolfe just
said. That defense is playing lights out. Jonathan Taylor is
running the ball like he’s
always done it. I really believe that the way the
Houston Texans have fallen
apart, starting zero and three has opened up a huge
opportunity for the Colts to
take this division. So, Mark, I am bullish on the Indianapolis
Colts. Yeah, I’m only going to
buy this like on the 50% discount rack there, Jeffrey,
just for the reason you said
because of that one Daniel Jones. And I’ve just seen too
much of whenever he starts
making you feel good about yourself and then he goes
crashing down there. No, he’s
in a new environment there. Jonathan Taylor running like
the best running back in the
league. But the Colts as a whole don’t have any turnovers
so far this season in three
games, which is not going to continue. So I’m buying at half
price but ultimately might sell
them here in a couple of weeks. Oh God. Clayton Holloway, one
of our guys behind the scene
here, one of the wizards behind the curtain. Pay no attention
to him. But I actually do pay
attention because I want to bring him up here. He’s a 40
Niners fan. He tweeted the
other day, the 40 niners. Disrespecting these power
rankings is comical. They’re
one of six. And he goes through like the whole resume. I’m like,
who’s he talking about? Oh he’s
talking about our power rankings because we don’t have
them in the top ten. So are we
buying or selling the three and oh 49 we don’t have in the top
ten really. Well you’re right
Clayton. Go, Jeffrey. Well, they’re ahead of me because I’m
selling. And I like the way
they started. I thought they would start fast with a weak
schedule, but I look at the way
the NFC is playing. NFC West is playing out right now with the
Cardinals playing good football.
They’re two and one. Obviously the Rams are a good team. Look
what the Seahawks are doing
with over there in Seattle I just feel like the Niners with
all these injuries. You see
Nick Bosa going down. They’re out for the season out with an
ACL tear. Their whole passing
game is sidelined right now with Kittle and Brock Purdy and
Jauan Jennings Brandon Aiyuk
gone. Mark this team is going to go south back with all these
injuries. Yeah I agree with you.
I’m selling them as well for those reasons you mentioned.
And you got to give them credit
for what they’ve done so far. And being three and oh, and
being gritty and overcoming
adversity. But with most teams like we’ll get our injured
players back. But you know the
40 Niners are going to get them back. They’re going to get hurt
again. And more people will get
hurt because that’s just what we’ve seen from them over the
past couple of years. They just
can’t sustain injuries at the rate that they do. So overall,
I just think the Rams are the
best team, one of the best teams in NFL. What they showed
they should have won that game
yesterday and then the Seahawks. That defense is nasty. Sam
Darnold playing well 49 and a
third in that division. Prepare for some post from Clayton on X
because he’s not going to be
happy. Although he may do it like passive aggressively. If
he if if the last one is an
indication he’ll he won’t tag you guys. The Tampa Bay
Buccaneers another team with
some injury concerns now especially with Mike Evans,
although not too long of an
absence for him. Jeffrey Chadiha well, I’m so I’m there
for the same reason. Those
health problems over there are a concern. I know Mike Evans is
only going to be gone for a
month, but that’s a big month. And you’re talking about this
offense missing three offensive
linemen. I just don’t know how they stay. Keep this thing
going. When you look at what
they have coming down the road with their schedule, they’re
going to see all these NFC West
teams. They’re going to see the Rams and the Seahawks. They’re
going to see the Lions. They’re
going to see the bills. They got the Eagles coming next week
I just don’t know how you can
survive that kind of gantlet when you have so many guys
going down Mark. Well I’m
buying them Jeffrey because they know how to win. And you
talk about that schedule. But
look at their division. I mean they got the JV teams, the
other three. So they’re not
going to win any games. So Tampa is really just playing to
go win some games, win the
division, get healthy towards the end of the season. Unlike
the Niners, these Tampa Bay
players are going to come back and Baker Mayfield has that
magic. Just keep them in the
game with that defense. Todd Bowles has shown he’s one of
the best coaches in the league.
So I’m buying the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning their
division, getting healthy at
the end and scaring somebody in playoffs. Jeffrey NFL.com
backslash read not making many
friends by the way, because I’m hearing in my ear that the
producer of the show, Nick
Shapiro a Buccaneers fan, I got Clayton texting me saying, oh,
Nick, I got you’re predicting
injuries now. And I got Shepro. Who’s getting threatening to
cut your mic? Let’s get out of
here before this gets any worse. And Jeffrey’s never on the show
ever again, ever again. That
won’t happen. Jeffrey Chadiha, you are the man. You will be
back for us shortly. Christian
Bedford, the Buffalo Bills defender. He’s going to join us.
He’s going to be a lot nicer to
us than he was to these Ravens offensive players there. That’s
next on the insiders. If your
grandpa wears one of these NFL network. Jake wants to the
left now. He wants to run to
the right. Now he throws and it’s intercepted by Isaiah
Rodgers. Look out. He’s fast 30
4050 and he’s loose Isaiah Rodgers is gone. He he dropped
the ball Isaiah Rodgers picked
it up. No way he is gone. Two defensive touchdowns for number
two. Would you like more Isaiah
Rodgers. Would you like to watch his entire team this time.
There is only one way to do it.
We got five days to go for Vikings. Steelers only on NFL
network from Dublin where
you’re going to see a lot of superstars making a lot of
plays. Welcome in to good
coverage presented by Progressive Insurance. Our good
friend Brian Baldinger. I kind
of messed that up a little bit, but the guy we were watching
didn’t mess up anything. Baldi,
I want to go deep into your tape study. I don’t even want
to know your breakdowns of of
everything you saw right there. Here’s my main question. I
think a lot of people watching
are asking the same thing. Who in the world is Isaiah Rodgers?
Well, he won a Super Bowl with
the Eagles last year. He was instrumental in their win
against the Los Angeles Rams
when Jalen Carter punched the ball out of Kyren Williams
hands. And who was there to
follow on? It was Isaiah Rodgers. He played an
instrumental role. He’s bounced
around the league a little bit. But you know this defense led
by Brian Flores. They tied
Pittsburgh last year. Ian last year with the most takeaways in
the league with 33 each. They
were number one tied this year. The Vikings right now have
seven takeaways. The Steelers
have eight. They live and die on this stuff. And so they do
it a different way. But Isaiah
Rodgers is part of the secondary right now. Like
you’re seeing like what they’re
doing. They’re going to sack the quarterback. They’re going
to make life difficult in for
the Steelers as far as who’s coming who’s not coming really
making a lot of looks at the
line of scrimmage. Look the same. But then they really
change. And then the Steelers
just you know last week TJ TJ Watt Cam Heyward they all woke
up. And then Nick Herbig you
know my buddy Nick Herbig from the barn. Like that guy. Like
he’s got seven seven forced
fumbles in 32 starts. Ian the guy’s got a knack for getting
the ball out, whether it’s
running backs or quarterbacks. So this could be a takeaway
game. Whoever wins that battle
might win the Battle of Dublin. The way that they say it over
there in Ireland. Ian I just
want to make make that clear right there. I’ve never been
probably never going to go, at
least not in our lifetime. Maybe, but it seems amazing.
They got a golf course. Ian,
you’re a golfer. You got to go. I, I would love to. I would
love to. I’ll tell you what
else is crazy. We spent the whole offseason talking about
so many guys Isaiah Rodgers
signed with the Vikings. Nobody cares. Then you get on the
field and you get to see it all
play out. He has become one of the more fascinating and
exciting defensive players in
the NFL. Love it. Victory Friday. Hey hey I’m going to
tell you what man. That’s
that’s some that’s some real mental toughness right there.
And grit man. Right toe to toe
the whole way wasn’t going our way. You guys stood up. You
stood up and made a big time
play. TB great. Eight. Then we got Jimbo. Todd, listen to me.
Tied a franchise record for
consecutive rushing touchdowns. It takes everybody to get to
three and zero. And as you can
see, the bills have been doing it in a lot of different ways.
No turnovers so far. Barely any
penalties. They’re throwing it they’re running it. They’re
also playing a little bit of
defense along the way as well. Certainly helps when you’ve got
one of the best young
cornerbacks in the game. That is Christian Benford, who is
with us right now on The
Insiders with me, Tom Pelissero, as well as Cameron Wolfe,
Christian three and zero. You
got this little extra mini bye here to rest up a bit. How are
we feeling there in Buffalo?
Feeling great man. Thankful to have this time off. I think you
had this time to our families.
We’re feeling good and ready to get to the next game. Hey,
Christian, you grew up in West
Baltimore. It’s a gritty place. People from not there might not
understand. Buffalo is similar
in a different way. How would you describe the culture of
that city, especially when it
comes to the bills? It’s really family oriented. Like, there’s
so much love here. There’s so
much passion. There’s so much of family like orientation here.
Everybody picks each other up.
Even the neighbors, like they show love. They help out in the
best way possible. They give
advice. They give words of encouragement. So even on the
field, with the team, you come
home to more like words and more uplifting spirits here in
Buffalo. So it’s just so much
love, so much passion, so much family like orientation here. I
would think the number one
piece of help you could use some time from the neighbors is
you get one of those snowstorms,
maybe somebody shows up with a shovel. Do you ever get a
little bit of assistance on
those bad snow days there in Buffalo? No. Yeah, 100%, I
definitely do. Shout out to my
neighbors, though. They have a couple few times to help me
show up my car. I mean, thank
the Lord they had like the the grace and compassion to even
show out my car for me.
Sometimes I just wake up and I’m like, oh, my car. I’m like,
okay, my car out. Like I’m good.
And then I’ll be looking outside like, oh, this snow is
snowing bad. I look outside, my
car already shoveled out, and I’m like, okay, I appreciate
y’all a lot. Like, that means a
lot, you know? So yeah, they 100%. They look out for sure.
Absolutely. We got a few more
months hopefully until that snow comes down there. But you
guys, beyond the culture of the
city, have a cool team with a lot of personalities. So take
us into the locker room. Who
has the wildest personality on the team and why? The wildest
personality? Yeah. Who makes
you laugh? Who’s doing something every day that you’re
like, there you go again. See
what? See what? Okay. Tre’davious white was like, he
just always open and just, like,
just so much, so giddy, so much giddy out of him. Like, no
matter what. Like, it’s just
he’s almost inspirational because no matter what life
shoots at him, no matter what
he’s going through, no matter how practice was, no matter how
the game was he still just
being a light of people’s world? Like he’s cracking so many
jokes, making so many laughs.
You can hear him from like down the hallway. You’re like, yeah,
that’s Dwight. And like, you
just hear him all the time and he’s just an awesome guy. Like,
uplifting the spirit of the
whole facility. So I definitely would say his teammate. Tell me
about this defense, Christian,
because the first taste that everybody gets is that wild
shootout in week one where it
didn’t feel like either team could get a stop. Through the
course of that game. It seems
like we’ve seen some progress here over the last couple of
weeks. What are the things you
guys are trying to tighten up, and how good can you be over
the long haul this season? We
could be as good as we take ourselves to. Some things we
tighten up is our own technique
and fundamentals. Make sure we’re sharp, making sure we get
back to square one, making sure
we get our feet under us. Because sometimes it takes a
little minute for our free, get
our feet under us to make sure we start. Start fast, because
that’s what is most important
when we start fast. So that’s some key things. Just know
tackling, catching, running,
just key things to football. Just make sure our key
fundamentals is up to par and
keeping our head. Our mental coach always talks about the
mental game like mentally
strong because it starts there. That’s where it starts. You
can’t really do too much if
your mental is not there. So that’s a lot of things that we
harp on. Christian, I love that
you mentioned the mental because I’ve covered you guys
for a few years. I was there on
Thursday and coaches always rave about how underrated you
are, how patient you are, how
disciplined you are. You got the big bag already. We’re
talking at the end of the year,
you guys got the Lombardi. What is the individual goal of
respect that you want the most
as a player? At the end of the year? As a player, just being
like an impactful corner.
That’s really the biggest thing. Whatever the accolades is, the
accolades are. But I want to be
an impactful corner, a difference maker, a game
changer for player wise. But
we’re talking personal. I just want to be a better man of God.
You know, better. Disciple
continues. My staff continues my growth to when I look back,
I knew that I grew as a man of
God, as a disciple, and spreading the Word of God as my
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So that’s my that’s my personal goal. And as a player goal,
again, being an impactful
player. So I actually they kind of go hand in hand. Like I kind
of want to be a impactful
person on and off the field, you know, making game changing
plays on the field and making
life changing, life changing actions off the field. So at
the end of the day, when I get
to Lombardi Trophy, that’s what I want to look back at. Well,
one of the ways you’re making
that impact off the field is you’ve got a children’s book,
Stylish Safari The Adventures
of Being. You tell me the origins, why you wanted to
write this, and why people with
kids might want to pick this one up. The origins is really
my son. Like even recently
during this off, like he kind of still gave me like the
reminder of like why I wrote
the book just about just being you. Just being comfortable
with who you are because God
made you in that specific image for a reason. He didn’t make
you like others to for you to
follow them. He made you specifically from down to the
atoms different. So you could
be different not to be like others. And I want to write
that book to, you know, teach
kids that like it’s okay to wear those type of shoes, the
type of pants that you might
like, but everybody else might not like because you’re wearing
them. It’s about what you like,
not what they like. That was absolutely fantastic, Christian.
Keep it rolling man. This week
you got the Saints. Keep that undefeated season going man. We
look forward to having you back
some other time I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Coming up
Michael F Florio is going to be
here to tell you how in the world you fix those big holes
on your fantasy team. You know,
you got one. You know, you’re trying to figure out what to do.
Nobody better to listen to than
Florio. I certainly do. He’s with us next on The Insiders,
presented by Progressive
Insurance. Ladies and gentlemen, protected, protected. Never
rejected, never rejected, but I
am somebody. Welcome back to the insiders, presented by
Progressive Insurance. Are you
perfect? You’re perfect in our eyes. But did you have the
perfect lineup? This is what it
looks like. And then this is what the other end of it looks
like. Ravens defense with a
minus. Rough there. When you start them, maybe you’re
streaming them. Who knows. You
plug them in, you think you’re getting better than a minus
four. You don’t get it because
the Lions came in the Baltimore and ran it right down their
throat. Now it’s time for
Michael F Florio to join us. Ian Rapoport with me. Mike
Garafolo. We’ve got waiver wire.
Your claims got to be in tonight. At least they do in my
league because everything
clears in the morning. So Michael F Florio who are we
claiming. Starting with the
quarterback position. Look a certain New York team is going
to have control of me and Ian’s
emotions all week. It is not the New York Giants, but you
want to go pick up their new
quarterback, Jaxson Dart, who last season led all of college
football in yards and
touchdowns on deep passes. We also saw in the preseason and
in limited usage already this
season that he could add points with his legs because the
Giants trail often they have
thrown the ball at the six highest rate. He’s got good
weapons around him, not someone
you want to pick up and start right away, but he brings the
most upside of any quarterback
you will likely find on waivers this week. This whole segment
pains me most of it because my
fantasy team is zero and three. I need a players only meeting
or something like that.
Someone’s got to stand in front of the team and make an example
of something. Anyway, I need
some infusion of cash, a whiteboard at the running back
position. Who am I targeting on
waivers? If Trey Benson is out there, he is the biggest pickup
not just of this week of this
season so far. And I would go as far as to say spend 6,070%
of your fabs to get him,
especially if you lost James Conner or you need a running
back. Benson was already
playing a good chunk of the passing downs. Now he is going
to be the full time back for
the Cardinals. He is the only running back in the NFL with
170 or more yards on fewer than
30 touches, so he’s been highly effective, and I think he’s
someone you could pick up and
start this week. Because the Seahawks have really struggled
against pass catching running
backs. So get Benson and get him in your lineup. All right
wide receiver I put one in I’m
going for Trey Tucker I’m buying on Trey Tucker. There’s
only one other person that can
get him ahead of me in the league, and that person is
probably not watching. So I’m
just going to say it on the air. What are your thoughts with the
waiver claims at the receiver
position? Michael F Trey Tucker is is one way you could go
another way. I like Darnell
Mooney. He had 11 targets last week. Not only that, he led the
Falcons in targets in the last
two weeks combined. And specifically red and end zone
targets. He leads them. Since
he has returned and we saw last year he could be very useful in
the right matchups by weeks,
etc. More downfield throwing with Michael Penix Jr though,
could even unlock his fantasy
ceiling even further than what we saw last season. Or, you
know, you could have done you
could have done what I did, which was draft Jordan Addison,
stash him for three weeks, then
for week four, be like, ta da! Anyway, I’m such a genius, even
though my team stinks. Tell me
about the tight end position, who we are targeting on the
waiver wire. Mike’s got Ricky
Rice coming back too, though, so that’s a big one there. But
why do I so do I go you’ll be
oh and six at tight end. Grab Hunter Henry. Look, a lot of
people threw him back after his
down week two. And now they hate themselves in three weeks
already. We have seen the floor,
the median and the ceiling. But 11 targets. Last week, he was
heavily relied upon by Drake
Maye last season, especially in the red zone. And I think he
might just be Drake Maye’s go
to guy right now and moving forward. And I think he is
someone that you could start
with confidence this week, because the Panthers have
allowed the most yards to tight
ends. And look at this. If you miss out on those four there
are plenty of other fallback
options, including Trey Tucker, that you can go out and grab to
add to your to that zero and
three team. Ian, there’s options out there to help you.
I like how you softened it
though. You were like Trey Tucker’s one way you could go
however. But I will say this. I
just checked Darnell Mooney, already taken in my league, so
I have to go. Trey Tucker. That
is next up for me, Michael Florio. We’re finally in the
win column. I feel like the
Chiefs, like everybody knows we’re better. We’re one and two.
We’re in the win column. Here
we come. And here comes Thursday Night Football. Our
guy Sam Schwartz theme from
Prime Video going to be along to talk some really smart stuff
that’s going to make you
smarter. Hang in there for it. The thing about hair is, even
if it starts here, it’ll end up
there. But the new Swiffer time you drive after drinking,
the music gets drowned out. But
it’s driving is drunk driving. Week four kicks off on Thursday
night with a fun one in the NFC
West. It is the Seahawks and the Cardinals both two and one,
and a chance to maybe catch up
with the battered San Francisco 49 ers. That game of course
will be on Prime Video. Time
now to welcome in Sam Schwartzstein Prime videos
analytics expert to go deep
into this matchup. Sam let’s start out with that Seahawks
wide receiver corps. Obviously
a lot of changes DK Metcalf out. We’ve seen Jaxon Smith-njigba
take on a bigger role. Take me
inside the impact of Jason so far. Yeah he’s absolutely
become the lead. He lined up in
the slot 20% of the time. Now that’s not always the secondary
or third receiver, but
typically it is. This year he’s out wide 78% of the time. And
what’s that led to his a 40%
target share meaning of all the targets out there, whenever
he’s on or off the field, he’s
getting the ball 40% of the time. Sam Darnold’s releasing
it. He is a go to that’s also
leading the NFL with 4.8 yards per route run. There’s
different ways you can win.
Like you see he’s able to set up guys with blocks. He’s such
a smart, savvy route runner.
Even though his size, he’s still one of the top receivers
in the NFL. We expected Marvin
Harrison Jr. Certainly Cardinals fans did to also be
one of those top receivers in
the NFL. Instead, they’re being treated to various reels of him
dropping a pass with nobody
within ten yards of what’s going on with Marvin Harrison
Jr. What are the numbers? Tell
us about his impact or lack thereof so far. Yeah. The
Cardinals still believe in him
as that guy that they want to isolate. He’s isolated on 103
times. That’s the fifth most in
the NFL since 2024. But he’s only targeted 23% of the time.
And this season he’s been
isolated 28% of the time and only targeted 12% of the time.
What they want to do is isolate
him to one side of the field, make the defense dictate their
coverage. But he’s not winning
those matchups. He’s able to win in the red zone with his
big body gained about 15 pounds
this offseason, but you need to see him win more in the field
than just the red zone. Now
let’s go back to Seattle here. Sam Darnold of course the new
shiny object at the quarterback
position they paid up for him. Not the top of the market but a
very solid contract. Is he
earning that money so far yeah we call it the middle class
quarterback. They’re definitely
not making middle class wages. But that is that tier that he’s
being paid. And they’re not
asking Sam Darnold to do too much. And he’s it’s led to
success. They only have called
pass plays on 48% of their plays. So. But when they’re
calling upon Sam Darnold he’s a
54% success rating which is the second in the NFL to Daniel
Jones. Those New York football
fans they sure miss those quarterbacks. How come they can
win somewhere else. But it’s
being able to say, Sam, do your job. That’s it. When you’re
called upon, execute. I can’t
wait to see Jaxson Dart somewhere in 2029. Dominate.
That’s a joke. Going to be fine.
He’s going to be fine. Giants fans you can watch Sam Thursday
night and every Thursday night
on the Prime Video with Next Gen Stats. Alternate stream
coverage kicks off 7 p.m.
eastern time this Thursday on Prime Video and NFL plus. Sam,
thank you very much. Time right
now to go and vote for the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the
week. How about Luther Bird in
the third and Torrey Horton Jalen Lane. Some new names go
to NFL.com rookies right now.
Courtyards official fan Sunday at 930 eastern only on
NFL network. It was a great
Sunday for bears fans. Get a win. Get for Caleb Williams
touchdown passes, which means
free hot dogs at Wieners Circle. Look at how excited those folks
are right there. Another NFL
food news. You knew it was a matter of time until Bill’s
star running back, James Cook
got a James cookie. That’s right. It’s a real product.
James himself was kind enough
to send me over a little care package right here. So thank
you very much, James Cook. I’m
just going to. Did you guys get any? Because I’m just going to
sit here and give one of these
little guys a shot. No, you know what I think this should
be like? You know how there’s,
like, a grade play and the crowd goes nuts, and the
announcers just lay out for
natural sound. We should end this show with Tom just eating
and chewing
Two of them head to head today

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