After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Depending upon how your football team did on Sunday, either that music, that NFL Films classic music, gives you a friendly jolt this morning and you are thrilled to be waking up with this gigantic grin on your face.

You know who you are. Or it's the opposite. And the music's jarring because it reminds you. For a few short hours there, you are able to sleep and forget. But as we wake you up, as you hear the music, as you know we're going to talk about the NFL, a pit in your stomach. It's amazing the impact that sports has on us, is it not? When we are diehards, we can pretend like it doesn't bother us or we can pretend like our mood isn't completely affected by how our team does, but anyone who knows us knows we're totally full of it and it's an act.

So welcome to the morning after. Unless of course you're a Bills or Rams fan, then you've already had time to process. Of course if you're a Bills fan you might still be smiling. And then smiling at what happened to the rest of the AFC East on Sunday. If you are a Seahawks or Broncos fan, well, you get your chance tonight. I would say this, be ready for Adventures in Kicking, because that was a definite theme from Sunday in the NFL, everywhere you looked.

Stunning. And yet it's week one, so nothing should surprise us. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live on this Monday morning, first one, first one of the NFL season, inside the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance, yours, Rocket Mortgage, can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. We have a very distinct and stated goal to get to every single game on this edition of the show. Now some of them we're going to regurgitate, some of them we're going to hit more than once because we hit them a lot earlier on the show and because we think they're still the biggest stories.

Injuries, you're going to hear about them here in these next few minutes. But if you missed any of the show and you want to hear what I had to say about your team or your team in its first game, well then all you got to do is check out the podcast. I know you can't listen. Most of you can't listen to all four hours. That's fine. I don't really mean that's fine, but I'll just say that's fine to keep the peace. But we have hit a ton of games already, plus an interview with our NFL insider on this edition of the show joining us from Chicago for Fansided, Matt Verteram.

And in a moment, we're going to hear just a snippet of what he had to say because we were on this first. When is a loss not just a loss? Well, exhibit A, the Dallas Cowboys. 1989 was the last time that Dallas had fewer than six points in its season opener.

So check that off the list. The Cowboys only managed a field goal in last night's game at home versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Remember, this was the other half, kind of the home and home that they started last year when the Cowboys pushed the Bucks to the limit. At the time, Tampa was the defending Super Bowl champion and the Cowboys served notice. Dak was back. They were going to be good offensively and defensively. They nearly upset the Buccaneers right after they hung up their banner. That wasn't this. This game did not resemble what happened last year in the season opener.

It was rough. One touchdown. The two teams combined for one single touchdown. Now it was pretty.

It was dazzling. Tom Brady to what's become one of his favorite targets and a guy that's probably going to pick up some slack now that Gronk has retired. Brady will go under center first and goal from the five ball resting in between the hash marks.

Here's the snap. Brady back, lobs it left corner from Mike. Oh, Mike Evans makes the catch. Touchdown Tampa Bay. Tom Brady puts it in the air and Mike Evans reaching up, snatches it down with one hand. The Buccaneers add to their lead. 3.23 to go in the third quarter. Tampa Bay 18, Dallas 3. The extra point coming up and that is as good as it gets. Mike Evans over the shoulder, one handed, twisting around because it's Tom Brady and he knows where to put the ball, but he also knows that Mike Evans can make it work.

Ryan Radke on Westwood won. So it was Leonard Fournette early and often the run to set up the pass. Even without Chris Godwin for a good portion of this game, there was talk of a hamstring injury, not the knee.

So I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news. But the only touchdown drive of the entire game comes late third quarter, nine plays, 79 yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I mean, Dallas had opportunities, but the Cowboys wasted a Tom Brady interception at midfield, did absolutely nothing with it, a three and out. And the worst moment of the game for the Cowboys actually came long after this outcome at least was already, well, was all but set in stone. Prescott, it was on that throw to Brown as he was following through Shaq Barrett made contact.

They're checking out around that right thumb and wrist area. And it was with the hands of Barrett. A lot of times you'll see the quarterback hand hit the helmet of a defender. Barrett's hands were up and his deck's hand went right into Shaq's hands. In the game, just in the midst of it, thought I jammed it. I mean, I've hit my hand on helmets or bodies a lot in my career and never really had anything, maybe a jammed finger here. And I actually thought that's what it was, just the next play, realized I couldn't grip the ball, let the sideline know. And then when I got off, yeah, I told the trainers the same thing. Just got to go see the doctor tomorrow, plans to see him surgery tomorrow and let me know once they get in there, they see everything.

I was told it was much cleaner than it could have been. Just unfortunate, obviously going to miss some time, not be there for my team. That's what hurts more than anything, especially after the start that we just put out there, wanting to be able to respond and not necessarily having that opportunity for several weeks. Yeah, it's unfortunate, but I'll do what I've always done anytime adversity comes.

Take it on head first and it'll get my best and I'm sure I'll come out of this thing better. He has an injury above his joint and his thumb up here that'll need surgery. I'm particularly disappointed for our fans. Dak will be out for a little while and so we'll be dealing with that as well. So this was a really tough night for the Cowboys and a really surprising night that of course really add to it right there at the end to lose him for several weeks.

We'll see more about how long, how many weeks that may be. When we watch the tape, there'll definitely be a lot to build off of, but we had just the untimely penalties, the pre-snap penalties. They were trying, they had a good plan, making us go the long way offensively and you got to be able to sustain truck drives and stay in favorable down distances, so we weren't able to do that consistently. I thought defense gave us some opportunities with some stops and so forth. Had a big turnover there in the second half. We weren't able to get any points out of it. I thought our return game was going to have some opportunities. I thought they did a nice job covering, so hey, sweet one.

We got work to do and that's the way we'll approach it. I wouldn't be surprised if Mike McCarthy hears or is expected to shoulder the majority of the blame for this game and yet I feel like it's more complicated than that. Now the penalties, weren't they supposed to be cleaning those up?

Ten of them last night. So that's on him. That's still on the head coach. They've got to be more disciplined. And he makes a good point about the defense. Micah Parsons had a couple more sacks. The defense didn't allow a touchdown until late in the third quarter. But you can only ask your defense to do so much. The offense has got to be able to carry some of the weight. At some point the defense is worn out. That's why the Bucs end up with 152 yards rushing. You can only ask the defense to do so much. The Cowboys offense doesn't even get into the red zone in this game.

But here's the thing. It's not just on Mike McCarthy. How about the fact that the Cowboys front office, General Manager Jerry Jones, they make questionable decisions about their receiving core. The offensive line is in transition. They've had some injuries there. I feel like this Dallas team is searching for an entirely new identity on offense. And without that Prescott, they're in no man's land. Even if he's only gone for a month, Cooper Rush is not going to stamp the Cowboys identity on offense. We knew about CD Lamb, right?

Expected to step into that number one spot. But did you notice in this game, the Cowboys receivers really had trouble finding separation and space? And so it was even if Dak had time to throw, which he saw a lot of pressure, even if he had time to throw, there weren't a lot of open guys to throw to. It felt like every single time Dak launched a pass, it was into really tight spaces where these balls could have been picked off. So that's partly on Dak, but it's really just as much about the receivers. So these guys are starting almost from scratch. It feels like, yeah, Dalton Schultz and yes, CD Lamb, but there's got to be more to it and they've got to get more from their run game, which falls back on the offensive line. And so this Dallas offense is almost rebuilding, if that makes sense. And so some of that's on McCarthy, but not all of it.

He's not the one who put the team together. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Quickly from Tom Brady. Okay, there was not a whole lot of highlights for the Bucs offense either. You know, run game defense, that'll win you a lot of games in the NFL. So very happy to see that line play the way they played. The backs played great. Receivers made a lot of great plays. We just didn't finish in the red area through a bad interception. So a lot of room for improvement.

So get back to work. Got a huge game this week. Going up against one of the tough teams in the league and really well coached team, but a good win. But long, long season. A win is a win is a win is a win and Tampa Bay will take it and get out of Dodge.

I'm 45 years old, man. There's a lot going on. But for the Dallas Cowboys, a loss is not just a loss. So what now?

Can they keep their heads above water? As I say, searching for an identity on offense without Dak Prescott. We asked Matt Verteram of fans cited his reaction. What do the Cowboys do now? Without him, the Cowboys are done. They're not winning anything without him. No offense to Cooper Rush, but they're not staying in the playoffs, even in the weaker NFC without Prescott. Prescott's out for a month, two months. If I'm Dallas, I'm making the phone call to San Francisco and saying, look, would Jimmy waive his no trade clause to come here?

And if so, what would the draft compensation need to be? Now, you're the Niners of all the leverage in the world. You're not going to win games.

So how do you want to play this? And the other question is, though, if you're San Francisco and that calls an aid to you, do you want to trade to me, Garoppolo after what you saw in week one? No, I'm not going to, I'm not going to get on trail answer his performance today. They played them on June in Chicago, but are you willing to trade Garoppolo to another NFC team that you might be fighting for a playoff spot with?

Do you feel confident enough in Lance that you would move off of Garoppolo for what would probably be a mid round pick? But if you're the Cowboys, the next 48 to 72 hours have to be you're doing anything you possibly can to replace Prescott with somebody who's not named Cooper Rush. You can hear that entire interview with Matt on our podcast after hours, Amy Lawrence dot com. And there's more.

There's more about I thought that was significant. His solution is not to stand pat. His solution is to go get Jimmy Garoppolo. Now, I don't know if the Niners are willing to part with them, though, considering that Trey Lance had some growing pains. But again, it was a monsoon in Chicago, so it's hard to tell what the offense is really going to look like.

But I wonder what the Cowboys do. Here's what their schedule looks like coming up. It's not easy next week. The Cincinnati Bengals the following week on the road at the Giants. We're going to get to the Giants. They want to know for the first time in six years.

Then it's the commanders. Then it's the Rams and the Eagles back to back on the road. That's rough. And that's the next five games. We don't know how long Dak will miss with this thumb that needs surgery. Jerry Jones just said several weeks.

They're going to find out on Monday when the surgeon takes a look. But if you're the Cowboys, do you make a move or at least try? The Niners may not be willing to deal. They may be playing hardball and be worried about their own quarterback.

And here's the other question. If you don't deal for a QB, how long can you stay afloat in the East? We know the NFC East is suspect. Except the Eagles, they've already got a really impressive win on the road. I know the Lions rallied.

But how about AJ Brown? How about the fact that four different Eagles scored rushing touchdowns yesterday? We're going to talk about the Eagles coming up. Even the Giants got a win.

So do the commanders. So right now the Cowboys are the only team in the NFC East that started out 0-1. It's not going to get away from you in the first month. But are you willing to roll the dice and go without a veteran QB to replace Dak Prescott or a QB with more experience? Cooper, he's been around for a few years, but a QB that's got more experience.

And then how long does it take Garoppolo to get up to speed anyway if you make that move? I mean, this is devastating for the Cowboys. Eagles, Giants, commanders, they all win in week number one. We're going to do a blitz through the NFC East.

But man, Brian Dable already changing things for the Giants. Guts. I'm telling you, guts. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. It is fourth and goal of the one. Sanders standing to the right of Hertz. Fourth and goal. 7-0 Detroit. Two minutes into quarter number two. Hertz fakes, rolls, walks in, touchdown. Hertz gives it onside, plunging forward, miles, Sanders, touchdown. His first of the season. And the Eagles take the lead on first down. Game well, pushing, shoving, second effort, walks in. He walks in. He was hit at the line of scrimmage and just scraped slightly to his left and walked into the end zone.

Hertz in the gun. Boston Scott to his right. Handoff, Boston Scott, forward, touchdown, Boston Scott. Too strong.

I just think having the mentality of, hey, when my opportunity comes, how do I respond to it? And I think we have that mentality as a team in every position. Off the field, on the money, and after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence. It certainly was all hands on deck for the Eagles and Jalen Hertz, specifically with the ground game. On Eagles Radio with Merrill Reese, pretty amazing to hear four different Eagles score a rushing touchdown. I think I saw the stat on TV.

That hasn't happened since the 60s. It's rare to have four different players, but in this case, four different Eagles get in the end zone with rushing touchdowns and 216 yards rushing for Philadelphia as a team. Jalen Hertz himself with 90. Miles Sanders with 96. They ran roughshod over the Lions. Now, DeAndre Swift did his own damage. He had 144 yards on the ground and a score as the Lions made this a little bit too close for comfort in the end. Philadelphia actually led by as much as 17 in the second half, but there were three touchdown drives by Jared Goff and the Lions to make it close in the end. Jalen Hertz did not have a TD pass, but boy, does he like his new target, A.J.

Brown. Ten catches and 155 yards in Brown's Eagles debut. I think he did really well.

I'm sure he's going to say it wasn't good enough, but that's the mentality he has and the great he has, that mentality. Oh, yes, yes. Abrupt. Succinct. Short but sweet. You get no more.

You get what you get and you don't get upset. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So, Eagles score 38 points. They get a win.

They start out 1-0. The Washington commanders have a new quarterback in Carson Wentz and, well, we know what Carson Wentz is. He's a mixed bag. He's a wild ride.

He's like trying to ride the bull at the rodeo. He engineers a pair of fourth quarter touchdown drives, so that was good. Of course, the commanders also had to deal with two interceptions, so he has four touchdowns and two interceptions. But really impressive to see him go 49 yard connection with Scary Terry, Terry McLaurin. To get another touchdown late there in the fourth quarter, a 24 yard strike to Johan Dotson. And so, even as the commanders are kind of figuring this out with Carson Wentz, Jacksonville makes it close because James Robinson is back.

This is fun. This is a bunch of playmakers in this game. Ultimately, though, Ron Rivera, thrilled with his new quarterback. They cycle through quarterbacks like some people cycle through, hmm, I was going to say underwear, but that's offensive for a Monday morning.

So, socks would be way better, yes. So, we'll see if this pairing with Carson Wentz last, but Rivera was thrilled. He gives Wentz the game ball after the win, and Carson, I mean, he smiled. He's back in the NFC East.

Cool way to start. I mean, it is hard to win in this league, and so it doesn't matter how it looks. It doesn't matter any of those things in the last couple minutes of the game. If you find a way to get it done, that's what good teams do, and I'm glad we did that today. Trevor Lawrence looks more comfortable in that Doug Peterson offense. So, Doug Peterson's first game as the head coach of the Jaguars, and for Trevor Lawrence and just the idea that his rookie season was all about the growing pains and all about getting his feet wet in the NFL. And this is his first season with a coach who gets him, first season where the Jaguars have some real hope that you kind of look at it that way, frame it that way, and know that we're about to see a different Trevor Lawrence. Found a way to fight back and have a chance to win, so, you know, when we can clean up all that, we're going to be fine.

I'm not worried. I'm frustrated, obviously, because I know we're good enough to win that game, and we should win that game. So the commanders get a season-opening win. The Eagles are also 1-0, and then there's the Giants, who are riding a streak of five years in a row without a win on week number one. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. First thing you must know about the New York Giants is welcome back Saquon Barkley.

Wowzers. Early and often to the tune of 18 carries for Saquon, 164 yards and a rushing touchdown, and another critical play that Brian Dable saved until the very end. Now, Tennessee was up 13-0 at the half because, well, Daniel Jones turned the ball over.

He had a fumble, but, well, he had a fumble and he threw an interception in the end zone. I mean, okay, I'm not an NFL quarterback, but if you go back and watch the video, while he's waiting for the play to unfold in the red zone, he stares. He stares. He stares at Saquon Barkley. He never looks away from him. He locks in on him. He's on the left side. He's moving into the end zone. Jones just, he tells everyone on the field where he's going. And do you know why he does that?

You could say, like, oh, it was Mr. Ekblo. No, he never looked anywhere else. He didn't even know what else was out there because he never looked at the other side. He stared at him and then it was not a great throw anyway, but it was easy to, well, easy, I'm using my air quotations. It was easier for the Titans to anticipate because he never looked anywhere else. So, Daniel Jones, fumble, an interception in the end zone, but he also finds Sterling Shepard for a 65-yard touchdown, grabbed midway through the third quarter and ties the game. Now, Dontrell Hilliard, Ryan Tannehill, they got a good connection. Hilliard's second touchdown puts the Titans back in front and then here's Daniel Jones. Okay, just really quickly, producer Jay, you're a Giants fan. Were you waiting for Daniel to throw another interception in the late stages of the fourth quarter? Yeah, of course I was. I mean, at that point of the game after he had just done that one in the end zone, which was one of the most egregious touchdowns, especially with the spot it came, I'd ever seen, anything was possible.

So, anything, anything is possible. Barkley and a one-back set. Now, Sills comes in motion right, play fake, Jones rolls right, throws right, touchdown Giants, Chris Myrick. They got the tight end, leak it out, and with 106 to go, the Giants are an extra point away from tying it.

Bob Papa on Giants radio with a minute to go, he fires a strike. He doesn't turn the ball over and the Giants, they actually came back with a 12-play, 73-yard drive, no mistakes. And the touchdown, which put him a point back, right, put him a point out.

It was 20 to 19. And instead of going for the extra point, their brand new head coach, Brian Daball decides, nah, we're going for the two-pointer and the win. Jones takes the snap, rolls right, shovel pass for Barkley, Barkley in for the two-point conversion.

Oh, a little shovel pass to Saquon and then he did the rest, taking on defenders and the Giants have the lead, 21-20 with 106 to go. When we scored, I was on the field and I saw him put up the two sign, we kind of made eye contact and he gave me that look and I knew what the play was going to be. And he gave me that look and I kind of looked back at him and, you know, said, F-E-N and, you know, we called it up and we asked him to play and get in.

He's a man of his word. He told us he's going to be aggressive. He told us he's going to lean on the players to make plays and in that situation, he did exactly that.

And when you have a coach like that, definitely will make you go out there and fight for him and execute in those situations. If you guys haven't seen the highlight of this two-point conversion that put the Giants up 21-20, please go find it. Because the second these guys got off the field, they mobbed Brian Daball. Was it Sterling Shepherd that nearly knocked him over with a bear hug?

Grabs him, embraces him, just like screaming at him. Saquon Barkley, same thing. They were so thrilled that Daball trusted them enough.

And I hear this from a lot of players. We don't mind if you go for two or if you go for it on fourth down. Even if it doesn't work sometimes, just to know that our coaches believe in us enough and they want the win that badly, that they're willing to take this massive risk. Now it wasn't quite over. It wasn't quite over because these games on Sunday with the kicking and everything else, I mean, it just, you know, there was still time on the clock and Ryan Tannehill put them in field goal position. Bullock is set. Snap is clean. Kick on its way.

Endover and it is no good. He missed it left. And the Giants have won. For the first time in 2016, the Giants have won a season opener.

And Brian Daball, in his coaching debut at the New York Football Giants, has come to Nashville and beaten the Titans 21-20. That's what you sign up for when you're a leader. Being a leader is tough. It's not easy.

There's going to be plenty of times that I fail. And I understand that, but I try to prepare the best I can along with the other coaches on the staff. And that's what I want out of the players, too. You know, you got to be able to take the good with the bad. And there'll be plenty bad.

I understand that, but just have a lot of confidence in our players. Brian Daball said he was going to be aggressive. He stuck to that.

That's what you sign up for when you are a leader. He also reamed out his quarterback following that end zone interception. Daniel Jones got an earful.

If you could read lips, there were some choice words there we can't use on the radio. And yet, Jones was the one out there with the ball in his hands. And Daball was coaching him through it in that last drive. He's been very clear throughout training camp and throughout the week kind of preparing for this game that he's going to be aggressive in those situations and give us the chance to execute. So I wasn't surprised. I don't think any of us were surprised by that at all.

Of course, there's the thrill of victory and there's the agony of defeat. And honestly, I think a lot of people may forget that the Titans were even in the playoffs last year with those. Was it three Ryan Tannehill interceptions that doomed them? Didn't they sack Joe Burrow nine times? Eight or nine? I think it was nine.

Nine times? And then they have all these takeaways. Well, they have all these turnovers from Tannehill that kind of gives the game right back to the Bengals. And so it's brutal.

And here we go. We've got Tannehill as essentially a dead man walking or incumbent, if you will, because Malik Willis is waiting in the wings. And so this is a tough way to start.

It's not the end of the season by any means, but it's painful to be sure. We got started how we want to give them a lot of credit. We went flat and then we weren't able to get anything going there in the second half. I mean, I just think, you know, it's all it's everybody, you know, the execution, you know, third down, you know, they hit some big plays, you know, we weren't able to convert in the red zone and defensively just couldn't stop the run number one key of the game. And that's why you lose. Not because you miss a field goal at the end of the game.

It's a lot of things up to that. I think we had a good game plan coming in, you know, felt really confident about it. And I feel like we had opportunities with some of the stuff that we were trying to hit, you know, just inconsistent and didn't take advantage of some of those opportunities when they arose.

You know, you don't get in this league, if you don't take advantage of plays whenever you get the opportunity to, then, you know, you're going to come up short a lot of the time. So the Tennessee Titans are 0-1 and the Giants join two others in the NFC East that start out with a win. Eagles, commanders, Giants. Wow. Dallas Cowboys?

Nope. And they've got a major problem on their hands with Dak Prescott and his fractured thumb. Not the only team that is waiting with bated breath to hear an injury report or two coming up on Monday will explain why in Pittsburgh they have also that feeling of trepidation. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Are you overreacting? Of course you are.

How are you overreacting on this Monday morning? Also on our Facebook page. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Winds to the left, a tight end to each side. That's Thomas and Ricci. Mayfield under center. Back to throw.

Buys time. Deep downfield. Anderson wide open. 25-20. 10-5.

Touchdown Cal-Ra. Line up. Cade York trying to win the game for the Browns.

13 seconds remaining. He lines it up. Borges with his knee on the ground at the 48. Hewlett over the ball. Snap back. He's into it. Line drive. End over end. The kick is up and it is.

It's time to pull on the pads and hit somebody. On After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Remember the name, Cade York.

The Cleveland Browns. They drafted him in the fourth round out of LSU because he has a cannon for a leg or something along those lines. He was 6 for 6 in Charlotte against the Panthers in his debut and honestly the moxie reminded me of Evan McPherson of the Bengals the year before, of course.

He's got ice in his veins. All of his confidence and not to mention the impact that he had on the team instantly. Well Cade York has already proven to be his, proven that he's worth his weight in gold because the Browns wanted this game badly. Myles Garrett did his part in Charlotte with two sacks of old friend Baker Mayfield. We had Kareem Hunt with a touchdown through the air and a touchdown on the ground and the Browns seemingly had this one in the bag. Until they didn't.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Early on, this was no contest. Seriously, I almost felt like they were supposed to stop the fight. 6 total yards for the Panthers in the first quarter. Baker fumbled twice though he did recover in both times and actually over the course of the game, Butterfingers was a major problem. Baker Butterfingers, he dropped the ball four times, but the Panthers recovered all four times.

Now partly that's getting to know your center, getting used to snap counts and formations and yada yada yada, but man, dodging bullets left and right. Still though, Carolina didn't even have 100 yards of offense in the first half. Baker has an interception and Cleveland scores on three straight drives in that second quarter and is leading by double figures at the half. So this Baker revenge game felt like it was a fizzle.

Until he finds a rhythm. The Panthers get some momentum late third quarter. He's got a rushing touchdown in which his spike, not really a spike, his chuck. It was more like a bat chuck.

You know like a big time home run hitter will bat flip or bat chuck. That was Baker. He just threw the ball with all his might right at the back wall behind the goal post and nearly took off the head of a security guard. Anyway, the 75 yard strike to Robbie Anderson and then another field goal drive and all of a sudden the Panthers are in front by a point. You hear those calls on Panthers radio, but Jacoby Brissett, there's limitations to be sure he did get them into field goal range or at least Cade York's field goal range. A 58 yarder by the rookie.

He goes six for six in his first game, but this was his welcome to the NFL moment as the Browns get the win. I remember hitting it, realizing it was going in, stopped watching it and kind of just, I usually say I don't celebrate kicks, but that one was a little bit different. So yeah, everyone was just all there.

That's kind of a blur. A fist pump maybe somewhere in there. Lots of yelling. We knew it was a 60 minute game. We knew they were going to make plays. They got good players.

Got a good team. So it was just about, you know, just sticking with our plan and finding ways to keep making plays at the critical moments. I mean, you just think about Schwartzie on his third down, making a big play.

Donovan on that one. The O-line did a great job in protection and running the ball and giving us those opportunities to make those plays and I think that's what it all boiled down to. This was the first win for the Cleveland Browns in their season opener since 2004.

2004. Wow, Browns fans, you have suffered a ton. I mean, that may be an overstatement, but wow. That's not just based on the season opener, obviously, but since 2004?

As for Baker was a roller coaster ride to be sure. So what did it feel like finally to get this game against the Browns out of the way? Everybody made this out to be the Super Bowl, but despite everybody's going to make this, there's 16 more games. The Super Bowl is not until February and this is the beginning of September. So like I said, a lot of anticipation, but we're going to flush this.

We're going to learn it and we're going to be better from it. Did I miss something? Did anybody make this out to be the Super Bowl? Browns and Panthers? Super Bowl is a bit of a stretch. Maybe that's Baker's overreaction to week number one.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. He did take responsibility for the loss, but there certainly are going to be some growing pains and they did look much better toward the end. A ton of mistakes, self-inflicted mistakes in the first half by our offense. Take the blame on that for sure.

The ball's on the ground too many times. Just miscommunication and just things that we can get fixed. You know, disappointing because they're things that we know we can do and we've handled before. So those are the ones that you think about, you harp on, but they're fixable.

That's the positive. So we are off and running with the Browns, Jacoby Brissett, the Panthers, and Baker Mayfield, and of course the AFC North. No shortage of drama. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio, Steelers at Bengals, and I'll tell you what my overreaction is to week number one, even as I'm asking for yours.

So find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, or on our Facebook page and we've gotten to a few, but we'll sift through more of them on our Monday night show. My overreaction, quote unquote, the Bengals offensive line still sucks. My God, what was that? Joe Burrow was under siege most of the game. Now some of these turnovers are on him. He throws a pick six to Minka Fitzpatrick on the very first play, his offensive play of the game. He has five turnovers, five turnovers, all of them on him. And then he gets sacked over and over and over and over and over again.

So yes, that's my overreaction. Seven sacks and five turnovers and the offensive line is no better than it was. Steelers have a big lead. Bengals come back.

We've seen them do this before. Crazy moment at the end of regulation where the point after attempt is blocked again by Minka Fitzpatrick. So Jamar Chase gets in the end zone. The Bengals think they've won it, but the PAT is blocked and so they go into overtime. Both kickers miss field goals in overtime.

Laces, all about the laces. Now there was a backup snapper for the Bengals, so it was a rough day for Evan McPherson. But Chris Boswell, he misses from what was it, 55 yards, something like that.

And so ultimately, he gets an opportunity at redemption. Straightaway kick. Good snap down. Kick is on its way. That kick is long enough.

High enough. And it is good! The kick is good!

The Steelers survive in Cincinnati. How it happened, it'll take you an hour, me an hour to tell you. I'm not surprised by the fight. I knew they would fight. I found comfort in that.

I wasn't looking for comfort, but I found comfort in that. I've just seen enough of that during team development. Obviously, it was a hard fought game on both sides, man. And it always is when you're in the AFC North.

It's good to come down here and get it done today. You can say that again. It always is in the AFC North. Mitch Trubisky, just shy of 200 yards.

He does have a touchdown. Steelers offense sputtered. Let's be honest, this was a lot about the defense as I pointed out. But also, just the playmakers. 14 tackles for Minka Fitzpatrick, plus the pick six, the block point after attempt. Here are the major concerns, though. Najee Harris left with a foot injury.

There's speculation it could be Liz Frank. And seemed like TJ Watt walked off the field saying, I tore my pec. I tore my pec. And that is what the Steelers fear. So we will wait for that injury news from Pittsburgh, plus the Dak Prescott surgery. We'll sift through week one after Monday Night Football. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Boom!