After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Here's Amy Lawrence. We are trying to mix in baseball and football as best we can to keep you on your toes. It actually dawned on me as I was driving into work.

So our headquarters are located in lower Manhattan, New York City. And I couldn't figure out why there was so much traffic. Usually on Sunday nights, it's relatively light because people have to work or go to school the next day.

Yeah, not so much. Didn't recognize or remember that it was Columbus Day Monday. It's Columbus Day weekend. A lot of people are out of their regular routine. So if you're just discovering our show for the first time, I do always say that I enjoy working holidays because it gives us an opportunity to introduce the show to those people who might not otherwise be listening.

And sometimes we have affiliates that don't generally join in, but they will on holidays. So here we go. We are going to dive into some baseball and the matchups coming up. And then we'll get back to football.

But we got to go back and forth because it's October and that's what happens. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Oh my gosh, I just spent seven minutes talking about the Cowboys and this is what I get on Twitter.

Cowboys get no love, Amy. Yeah. This is why I try not to pay attention to social media. Maybe it's better if my screen just stayed black. My gosh, those are my most amusing tweets, though, is right after I talk about something.

I generally will get people accusing me of not talking about what I just covered. So yeah, on that note, we're down to the four divisional series, which all begin on Tuesday. How did you like that wildcard weekend, that new format that baseball kind of threw together?

Think for a couple of reasons. Number one, they had to condense the wildcard round considering that the regular season started a week late and everything got pushed back. So we're going to start Tuesday, October 11th with all four divisional series until they break off to National League and American League and kind of go every other day. But for now, unless they want to play the World Series in the snow somewhere, they're going to have to scoot. So how do you like the wildcard series? We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

When you need cash out of your home in a simple way to get it, Rocket can. Why don't we pose that question to our Odyssey Baseball insider? He's also a longtime columnist for the USA Today sports section.

And Bob Nightingale, pleased to connect with you for the first time this season, so long time no talk. What's your impression of wildcard weekend, the way baseball set it up for the first time this year? Yeah, well it's interesting that everybody's fighting for a home field advantage and it meant absolutely nothing. I'm the only team that won with home field advantage, the Cleveland Guardians, and didn't even sell after either game.

So what does that really mean? I think it means that home field advantage doesn't really mean anything in baseball. Remember even going back to 2019 with the Nationals and Astros. Nobody won a home game. The Nationals won four road games and the Astros won three road games. Why is that do you think? Why has it become so not effective or not important in the baseball playoffs?

I don't know. I was talking to Rob Thompson of the Phillies the other day about this, and they've been in the road for about two, two and a half weeks. And he was saying, and I asked, is it sometimes even better to be on the road?

And he agreed. Because you don't have the distractions, family and friends and tickets, you know, it brings some camaraderie together. Everybody's on the road together, should get a seat setter for breakfast and, you know, grab some dinner, that sort of thing.

So yeah, I don't think it's, you know, nearly the disadvantage, you know, like it is in the other sports. We're already down to the division series because wildcard weekend was set up with three days in a row, although we only needed the third day for the Padres and the Mets. So let's start with that one. The Mets win 101 games in the regular season, actually have the same record as the Atlanta Braves, who ended up edging them out for the NL East title, and they're done. How did San Diego do it? Well, I always thought there was two sleepers going to the playoffs and it was San Diego and Seattle just because of the pitching. I mean, new Darvish who won game one is pitching as good as anybody, if not better than anybody in baseball. Joe Musgrove, as we saw tonight, is a stud, you know, through the personal hitter and pottery history. Blake Snell, up until yesterday, had pitched very well down the stretch. You know, you got Josh hitting a bullpen. So a dangerous team, a dangerous pitching staff, just like Seattle, you know, when they can throw, you know, Luis Castillo at you and Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert, you know, tough teams to beat in both teams' events. You know, obviously, Ray didn't have a great outing by any means, but the Padres, you know, they line up that rotation perfectly. Considering all the moves they made at the Tread deadline and the fact that it took a while for them to settle into the new lineup, once they clicked, they really took off.

You know, they did. And, you know, Machado really led the way. But it's funny, I mean, a guy like Trent Grisham, you know, this series, he would have been the MVP of a series if they had it for division series, you know, when he hit, you know, close to 500, you know, two home runs, three or four ribbies, just, you know, just on fire. And, yeah, fun team to watch, you know, Juan Soto, you know, really disappeared when he got to San Diego, and he started to show, you know, a little bit more, you know, what he was in Washington during this postseason series where, you know, the past couple months in San Diego, same with Josh Bell, you know, just, you know, weren't the same guys. Bob Nightingale is with us from the road.

He'll be on the road for about five weeks around the end of the regular season and on through this blitz of October. We're always excited to talk to him about baseball. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. You were in St. Louis for the Cardinals series, and man, talk about a stunner, the way that they gave up those six runs in the ninth inning on Friday night and then really couldn't hit on Saturday. What was it like at Busch Stadium? Yeah, I mean, the first game when they coughed up the six runs, it got so quiet there, you could actually hear the Phillies bench cheering and clapping, that sort of thing.

It was that quiet. You know, they kept, you know, starting to get excited on, in game two, every time Pohols came up and Yadi Molina came up. You know, they had their chances.

They could just never capitalize. You're not going to win a series when you have Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. You'll go one for 15 with six strikeouts.

It's just not going to happen. Obviously, the end of two Hall of Fame careers with Albert Pohols, who had an incredible second half, and then Yadi or Molina, who had a hit in the ninth inning when they were attempting to rally. What did they say, and how did the fans treat them at the end? Well, Yadi Molina's last at bat. Pohols got pulled for a pinch runner in the eighth inning. He had a nice ovation, but with Yadi getting the last hit, you know, that kind of saved the season, you know, a lot of chance of Yadi, Yadi, Yadi. So, it was pretty cool.

And even though, you know, I mean, Pohols obviously, you know, much better player, Pohols left. Yadi stayed. Yadi spent, you know, all 19 seasons there. So, yeah, it was special. You know, neither, what's funny in the clubhouse, neither really, you know, sad or expressing tears, but some of his teammates were, but not those two guys. How would you describe the last two months with Albert Pohols and his chase for 700?

Well, just phenomenal. I mean, you know, what he did the last two months is what he did for 11 straight years, you know, with St. Louis. It kind of reminded everybody just how great he was, and I think with the Cardinal fans, all they saw, you know, was greatness. They didn't see those years, you know, nine and a half years you struggle with Anaheim.

So, yeah, it was very cool. You know, steady ovation every single time he came to play. And, you know, everybody's buying new Pohols jerseys. You know, they had a closet full of the old ones, but they weren't the new ones. They are a great fan base there in St. Louis, obviously disappointed, but the Phillies have been in playoff mode for a couple of months, right?

Fighting, scratching, clawing. They've been living on the edge. They were the last team to get into the postseason field, and, of course, they fired their manager, Joe Girardi, going back earlier in the season. How did they turn it around, Bob? Yeah, I mean, they love Rob Thompson. He'll certainly be back, but give him a, you know, two, three-year contract here. You know, maybe a little bit of what happened with Girardi, who knows, but I think they wanted a new voice in there, see what happens.

And, guys, who's funny to Thompson? They really did. You know, Cal Swarber, you know, kind of led the way.

He was the most studied guy with all the home runs. Harper was hurt for a while. You know, you got Wheeler and Nola, who kind of led the way as far as the Pidgey staff.

But, yeah, just hung tough. I mean, they were there for a while in September. Looked like they might blow this thing.

You know, they're playing so bad and just got, you know, got hot again at the right time. Bob Nightingale of USA Today is with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Spent the weekend in St. Louis. And what series are you headed to for the divisional round? So, I want to see the Dodgers and Padres. So, a little I-5 World Series, go up and down the freeway. Very, very easy travel.

Easiest travel ever since the 2000 World Series with the Yankees and Mets and Subway Series. So, yeah, it'll be interesting. We'll see what happens. I mean, in the last 28 games, the Padres will play the Dodgers.

They're a, you know, 5 and 23. So, something's got to kick at some point. You imagine the Padres are like, not again. We have to see them again?

Exactly. The big boys on the block will kick sand in the Padres' face. We'll see if that happens again. Dodgers finished with 111 wins. Obviously, for them, a franchise record. Also, the first National League team to hit that mark in a century. But is there something to be said for not playing meaningful baseball over the last, my gosh, five weeks maybe?

Yeah, I'm also, you know, sitting up for five, six days, Amy, and the fact that, you know, you're not playing any games at all. I'd be very curious to see how it affects, you know, the other teams. You know, whether it's the Yankees, you know, Astros, you know, Dodgers, that sort of thing.

We'll see. You know, the Dodgers have a lot of question marks. You know, after Tershon Uriots, you know, who's going to pitch game three?

Who's going to close out games in the bullpen? I still think in the National League, it's not all baseball. The World Series goes through Atlanta. I just think Atlanta's that good once again.

Right. The Braves surging at the end, catching the Mets where they did not hold the lead in the National League East for only but a handful of days during the regular season. And they also get a familiar foe in the Phillies, so that's interesting, right?

Because we have two series in which they are divisional matchups. In the American League, the Mariners, they are a team that has a flair for the dramatic. With the back-to-back walk-offs to make their first postseason in 21 years. Then the way they rally against Toronto, which was just phenomenal. What makes this team tick like they do?

Yeah, they sort of believe themselves as a young team. Like you said, a great pitching staff. I mean, so in the business series against Houston, I think they're going to give the Astros fits.

I really do. You know, where this team's going to go five games. But, you know, in game one, you're going to have Logan Gilbert, who's been unbelievable, you know, first full season. Then you come back with Luis Castillo, who was easily the best pick at the trade deadline. You know, team's missed out by not grabbing him. The Mariners got him. And then, you know, you go Robbie Ray, the fitting Cy Young Award winner.

So, yeah, they can cause a lot of problems. I know the Astros beat them up during the season. But, you know, Seattle didn't have Luis Castillo all season. They had him at the trade deadline. They were a team that obviously last year got so close to the playoffs, so maybe not unexpected that they would finally punch their ticket in 22.

The Guardians, though, they kind of come out of nowhere. Youngest team in Major League Baseball. They've got the management of Terry Francona. I mean, he's been around baseball forever.

He's a lifer. The dude still gets nervous and anxious around games like this. They have to walk off in the 15th inning to be able to move on to the next round. What do you like about that ball club and the way that they've carried themselves this year? They play, you know, old school baseball. They don't hit home runs, but they don't strike out either. Put the ball in play.

Play great defense. You know, you're right, Amy, with the, you know, Francona. It's going to be the Hall of Fame one day.

You know, it's fun. You know, he talks about because he lives right downtown there by the ballpark. He'll ride a scooter, you know, to and from work.

Fans are stopping and, you know, give me a pizza. A great dude. So, yeah, it's good for him. And, you know, just a great character for the game and really one of the best manager boost teams by the last 50 years. Yeah, of course, guiding Cleveland to a World Series appearance in 2016 after winning the AL pennant. The Yankees didn't end up allowing the rest of the East to get super close, but obviously had some angst over the course of about the six weeks or so after the All-Star break. What are their what are the elements that might make you nervous about them actually capitalizing on what was a real strong season? You know, a little bit like the Dodgers, you know, I mean, who's going to close the game? I mean, obviously, Chappie is having a playoff roster. Clay Holmes is, you know, struggle them and banged up. So, yeah.

Yeah. You wonder how that's going to work rotation wise. You know, a lot of questions, too, after Garrett Cole and in Cortez, you know, Nestor Cortez.

You know what happens there? So I think similar teams. I mean, it's a very good team, but it's very flawed. You know, I think, you know, if they get to the World Series, it'd be a big upset because Houston Nationals would be very favored. Bob Nightingale with us here after our CBS Sports Radio. Before I let you go, we did this fun show last week in which we asked the fans the best and brightest of baseball in 2022, whether moments, whether memories, whether milestones. Bob, you've watched the whole thing, man. We put one hundred and sixty two games in the rearview mirror plus wildcard weekend.

So what would you say are the best and brightest of 2022? Well, I still got to go to the old school, though, just a home run chase. I'm going to see, you know, be in Arlington, Texas to watch Aaron Judge at that sixty second home run. Just so much relief on space.

The way the teammates react, you know, jumping over the railing, you know, very cool. And then on the other side, you know, Albert Pohol sitting, you know, seven home run. Nobody thought that was going to happen. You know, he only had six home runs the first half. You know, looked like he might even retire.

And then he does that, which, you know, months or second half. So I think the home run races, both of them really kind of made baseball fun again. You know, other guys, young guys, whether they're Rodriguez, you know, Bobby with those guys, you know, kind of electrified bands. But in the end, it was the home is the old school home run stuff that I think made so much news and was so popular. You know, what I really loved is seeing how the Yankees and the Cardinals respectively were so energized by the chase of those iconic number 62 and 700. It certainly seemed like just those individual pursuits really electrified their clubhouses and certainly propelled them to a bunch of wins. Oh, absolutely. I mean, Pohol spent the world to the Cardinals, you know, what he did on the stretch.

Stay with Judge. I mean, Judge, you know, when the Yankees were struggling, he was the only guy hitting. I mean, he carried that team. That's why I think, you know, he's a runaway winner for the MVP award. There's, you know, 30 ballots. I bet he gets 25 or 26 of the 30 votes.

You take him away. You know, they may never make the playoffs. They totally don't win the division. There might be a wildcard team at best. All excited now for what's to come. The division series start in all their glory.

Four of them on Tuesday. And Bob Nightingale, our Odyssey baseball insider, as well as USA Today columnist, will be in Los Angeles for the Dodgers and the Padres. It's always great to catch up with you. Thank you so much.

You can find Bob on Twitter at B Nightingale. All right. My pleasure.

Thank you so much, Amy. It's interesting that three of these four series are divisional matchups or rematches, both in the National League, as we kind of pointed out. And then the fact that in the American League, you've got one from the A.L.

West. It's crazy. But three of the lower seeds, quote unquote, ended up advancing out of wildcard weekend. So whether or not home field advantage matters, do you think it was notable that the Mets did not sell out Citi Field on Sunday night? And as Bob points out.

The Guardians didn't sell out their stadium either, even though they actually ended up advancing. So we'll hear more and we'll look at those series a little more as we head through this show. We're going to get back to football, though.

So much still to pick apart. There was a relatively controversial call from the Tampa Bay Atlanta game in the NFC South. Now, I don't want to hear one word about how the officials stole the game from the Falcons. You don't automatically assume touchdowns, right? They were still down by six points. You can't just assume that if they get the ball back, they're going to score. But as a rule.

We've talked about this for the last few years. Quarterbacks get protected like nobody's business. And the reason why people complain about the NFL going soft is because of some of these roughing the passer penalties. And the one that was assessed against the Falcons late in this game.

It was soft and suspect, to say the least. You can find me on Twitter, a law radio will get that poll up. Which teams and fan bases are the most mortified on Monday? Because football doesn't take a holiday.

So, again, on Twitter or on our Facebook page after out. You're the one who protects the flock. And that requires an eye for detail, because when safety and well-being are on the line, it's the details that can save lives.

Even when no one else is watching, you see everything. Grainger gets you. And we're here for you. And all the ones who get it done with a wide range of safety products and solutions. Plus board certified safety consultants here to answer your questions.

Call. Grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. You're the one who protects the flock. And that requires an eye for detail, because when safety and well-being are on the line, it's the details that can save lives.

Even when no one else is watching, you see everything. Grainger gets you. And we're here for you. And all the ones who get it done with a wide range of safety products and solutions. Plus board certified safety consultants here to answer your questions. Call. Grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger.

For the ones who get it done. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Brady working for the gun. Brady retreats. Looky, looky. Here comes Grady Jarrett.

You shall not pass. Surely they didn't call slinging him down. This will be a horrendous call. This is going to be a horrendous call. They're going to call Grady Jarrett for slinging down Brady on this sack. This is a horrendous, this is not the intention of the call. You will not see a worse play than this. Call.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Well, as much as I appreciate the hyperbole from the Falcons radio network, let's be honest, this happens a lot. Over the past few years, there have been a lot of very soft, questionable roughing the passer penalties. And come on, it happens all the time. Like clockwork.

Every couple of weeks, there's one that people cannot believe. Why are we protecting the quarterbacks? We can't actually hit the quarterback anymore. We need to put the quarterback in bubble wrap because you're not actually allowed to touch him.

So this happens to be the latest one that draws the ire of football fans. And I would agree it wasn't roughing the passer. But this is what referee Jerome Boger said. Grady Jarrett unnecessarily threw Brady to the ground. So that was his explanation for the roughing the passer flag on that key third down late in the game as the Buccaneers are trying to run out the clock in Tampa.

So the situation is this. Falcons have scored a couple of times. So they were down 21-0. They scored a couple of times to pull within six points.

They're about three minutes to go. It looks like they've stopped the Bucs dead in their tracks at midfield because Jarrett is able to get to Brady and throw him to the ground or wraps him up in the midsection and kind of throws him down. Boger throws the flag, though, and with the roughing the passer penalty, the drive continues.

Tampa's able to run out the clock. So he wraps Brady up around his midsection and then kind of rolls down to the ground with him. And the quarterback obviously gets pulled down as well. So Boger says in his postgame report. What I had was the defender grabbed the quarterback while he was still in the pocket and unnecessarily throwing him to the ground.

This is what I was making my decision based on. He was actually asked whether or not he threw the flag because it was a takedown relatively similar to the one that injured Tua-Tango Valoa a couple weeks ago. I guess it was last week, last week, last Thursday Night Football on national TV.

And Boger said not necessarily. But you may have noticed over the course of the last few days. That now there's no messing around, there's no wiggle room, and the NFL and the NFLPA have even agreed to change the concussion protocols.

They went into effect this weekend. Now, Brady's head hit the ground. Nope. Did he get checked out? Nope. Was he in concussion protocol?

No. But Boger was asked the question about whether or not that was a consideration. Teddy Bridgewater actually was knocked out on the first drive for the Dolphins against the Jets on Sunday. And even though he went through concussion protocol and had no symptoms at all.

He actually was complaining about his elbow, so similar to Tua, going back a couple weeks initially, was telling doctors he had back pain. And that's what made him unsteady on the field. According to an independent spotter, though, Bridgewater looked unstable.

And I think the word was wobbly. So that independent spotter, no doubt, all over the league, those spotters have been told to err on the side of caution. And I don't know that I saw the wobbly with Bridgewater, but either way, passing concussion protocols is no longer good enough. Instead, if a spotter believes there's any reason why a guy should be held out of the game, if he looks wobbly from up top, usually in the press box or in the coach's area, if that spotter believes that an athlete looks wobbly, he can hold him out. He can declare him out.

That's the new protocol. Any type of unsteadiness or wobbliness, even if it's not due to a head injury and the player passes through concussion protocols, that's now an automatic no-go, meaning the player cannot come back and will have to go through concussion protocols all week. And that is in direct response to what happened with Tua. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So Arthur Smith on that flag thrown against Grady Jarrett, he freaked out on the sidelines, by the way, meaning Coach Smith.

Guys, I'm not commenting on that. I got to worry about what I can control. So I just need to see what I can do to coach those situations better. The one sack at the end of the game, they call him for roughing the passer, you know, so it extends the drive, you're able to get off the field. What did you think of that play?

Have you been lobbying or asking for some late hits there? I don't throw the flags. He got that from Bill Belichick. He absolutely did. Tampa was up 21-0 in this game, as I mentioned. It was the TD drive to start the third quarter.

Leonard Fournette hauls in the one-yard pass from Tom Brady. They tackle in the two-point conversion, and they're up three touchdowns. But Atlanta pulls within six, not only because the Falcons were able to capitalize on a few more opportunities, but because the Buccaneers were doing nothing in the second half offensively, as in nothing. The Buccaneers and the Packers both looked hideous in the second half. Now, this was a home game, and they know how important it is to win these home games, especially if you're talking about trying to stay first place in the NFC South.

It's not concerning. I don't think we executed in the third quarter. You know, the first half, we kept their defense on the field. Second half, our offense was going three and out, and they kept our defense on the field, and fatigue set in for both sides, I think. It was a tough ball game. Wins are hard to come by in this league. We were playing for first place, and we're happy we got it. How funny. Even as we're listening to Todd Bowles, I look up and Bowles is on my TV.

It's crazy how many times that happens. So the Buccaneers are three and two. The Saints and the Falcons are two and three, and the Panthers are one and four. We're going to talk about the Saints. Again, superstar platform for a longtime member of the New Orleans franchise. Just mention the Falcons. And Marcus Mariota is at least proud of his team for the fact that they didn't lay down.

Lie down would be the grammatically correct term. They didn't lie down after being behind 21-zip. It says a lot about our team. We've got a great group of young players, a great group of guys, really. It's kind of been the tale of our season. We've found ways to make it close and have a chance to win. So for Marcus Mariota and the Falcons, Arthur Smith, they were without Cordarrel Patterson.

He's on IR, so that hurts. They're competitive, which I appreciate. The defense is a lot better, finally. You know what's always so nutty about the NFL, and probably other sports do, but specifically about the NFL, because there's so many coaches and coordinators that are recycled and that go to other places. And we, a lot of times, see coaches and coordinators take the fall for a unit or a team that's terrible.

And then that guy goes somewhere else and has all kinds of success. Dan Quinn is the perfect example. Maybe he's not cut out to be a head coach. I just know that the Falcons hired him because the Seattle Seahawks defense was so damn good. He was the D coordinator in Seattle when they hired him to be the head coach in Atlanta. And it actually turned out to be more of a nail in the coffin with him that the Falcons defense never could become a force to be reckoned with his entire time there. So he gets fired, lands in Dallas, and now the Cowboys defense is one of the best in the NFL under Dan Quinn, to the point where Quinn even agreed to stay around. I'm sure Jerry Jones paid him handsomely. Quinn even agreed to stay in Dallas as the DC, as opposed to getting a head coaching job somewhere else. According to NFL insiders, he would have been a head coaching candidate, a top candidate in other places. But he wanted to stay with Dallas. Mike McCarthy believes in him. So a lot of times it's about your personnel.

It's not so much about the fact that you can or can't coach. He's been the leader of two very successful defenses, but not in Atlanta. All right, coming up, we'll talk about the Saints and the Panthers to round out the NFC South. Saints playing the Seahawks, Panthers, they were taking on the San Francisco 49ers. And if possible, are the Panthers actually having a worse start to this year than they had an end to last season? Oh, my gosh. Is it possible that the Panthers have fallen off even more than at the end of last year?

Remember the Cam Newton experiment? We've got your four candidates. Wait, right? Thumbs up, thumbs down. Not yet. We're working on your four candidates who should be the most mortified on a Monday. We've debated even, including a baseball team or two.

I mean, there's plenty of candidates in baseball, but we've got to give you the best candidates. They wake up on Monday. They're miserable and mortified. Fan bases, too.

Dragging everybody down. So we'll put the poll up on Twitter after our CBS and then also on our Facebook page. If you have your holiday weekend, three days. Mom does.

She's off school Monday. Well, then I don't want to seem jealous because this is a great time of the year, but. A little a little envious, maybe not quite green. You just. Some great. You're the one who protects the flock, and that requires an eye for detail, because when safety and well-being are on the line, it's the details that can save lives.

Even when no one else is watching, you see everything. Grainger gets you. And we're here for you and all the ones who get it done with a wide range of safety products and solutions. Plus board certified safety consultants here to answer your questions.

Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Anywhere fans go to cheer on their team. There are behind the scenes MVPs ensuring everything is game day ready. We see you, Joe, fixing seats so every fan can enjoy every game.

And Ali, who keeps her stadium running smoothly from the moment the first game starts to the last play of the season. At Grainger, you're our MVPs and we're always here for you with supplies and solutions for every industry and 24 seven customer support. Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Nice. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. In motion, no, Taysom will run it up the middle, two, three, and that is going to be a touchdown touchdown. Taysom is going to throw it across the middle and that is going to be a touchdown to Adam Troutman, Taysom to Troutman for the touchdown.

Sorry, no power right on that one. That's a touchdown pass from Taysom. He's run for two and thrown for one. From the right hash mark, Taysom Hill keeps it, looks for first down and he's got it. And he's got room to run.

50, 40, 30, 20. Will he get caught from behind? That is going to be a touchdown. Taysom Hill, Taysom TD, 60 yards.

It's a football feeding frenzy after hours with Amy Lawrence. Taysom Hill is a beast, the kind who can do everything. And we've known this about Taysom Hill. We also know he wants to be a quarterback. I was thinking about him today as he's going off for four touchdowns and I'm thinking, I wonder if he's frustrated that Andy Dalton got the start instead of him. I wonder if he takes it personally or he's discouraged because he feels like he's never going to get a chance to be the starting QB.

Maybe he thought when Sean Payton left that Dennis Allen might give him a chance to start. Except in back to back weeks without Jameis Winston, it's been Andy Dalton. But the Saints do not win this game on Sunday without a healthy dose of Taysom Hill and that extra.

Sometimes I salt my food and then I decide, you know what, I'll take a little more of that. That was Taysom Hill. Mike Haas with the calls on Saints Radio.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Listen to these final numbers for Taysom. Nine carries for 112 yards and three touchdowns.

Are you kidding me? Nine carries for over 100 yards and three touchdowns. Plus, the only pass he throws is a 22 yard touchdown.

The Saints don't win without Taysom Hill. And he actually said that he kind of figured out as they went throughout the week of game planning that he was going to get more opportunities on Sunday against Seattle. Every week is a little bit different. And, you know, Jameis has been a little banged up. And so that kind of limited me in what I think the plan was supposed to be at the start of the season.

And so, look, I think every week I just go in and I prepare for what I'm going to be asked to do. I don't know that you ever really know exactly how many snaps somebody is going to get. It just depends on how the game is being played out, you know. But I thought we were able to do some things in the running game and utilize him in those areas. And then obviously with what they were doing defensively, you know, trying to stop the run game, we felt like there was an opportunity in the passing game. Pete and I were talking and he felt like, you know, some of the run game stuff that we could do with Taysom in the game could be really good against this group. And he was right. You know, Taysom was really effective.

He's such a weapon and there's nobody else like him. And if you're a defense, you have to prepare for so much with him because you never know where he's going to line up. So Taysom Hill, star of the show as the Saints get win number two. So it's Saints and Falcons, a game back of the Buccaneers in the NFC South. And that leaves the Panthers as the fourth member, excuse me, of that South division.

And I'm starting to wonder if it's actually worse. One more year of Matt Ruhl and there's a chance it's getting worse. Now, the fact that the Niners and Panthers were playing this weekend is interesting. Right, because we just heard from Jimmy Garoppolo that the Panthers were a team that were interested in trading for him. But when he had his shoulder surgery, they backed off. They got Baker instead.

Oh, it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Very first half. San Francisco has a fumble and a block field goal. But it's the defense that is able to spark them with a pick six. It's amazing what defense and special teams can do to light a fire under your offense.

This is another example. San Francisco has got guys banged up on both sides of the ball, but specifically the defense. It feels like they've always got guys who are hurt.

Every other week, Nick Bosa's got some kind of an ailment. He plays so hard. And yet, when you watch them play, they leave it all in the field. Blood, sweat, tears, everything.

They put everything into it. Jimmy in the shotgun again this time. Taven Coleman to his left.

Kittle goes right with Ayub. They stack Ray Ray behind Debo left. Jimmy back. Jimmy time. Jimmy throws and is caught. Touchdown San Francisco Debo. Jimmy under center.

Use check ahead of Wilson. They give it to Wilson off the right side. Touchdown San Francisco. So the first half, it's Debo Samuel with a four yard touchdown catch and Jeff Wilson with a rushing TD. But again, it was the defense of the special teams that set the tone initially. Emanuel Moseley with that pick six. And then later in the game, when there was maybe a glimmer of hope for Carolina. A San Francisco punt. So again, special teams pins the Panthers inside their own 10 and the defense doesn't allow a first down.

Oh, hello. And they tried to go forward on fourth down because at this point they've got nothing to lose. So the defense doesn't give up a first down. And then they've got a short field as in really short field. And Tevin Coleman goes the five yards for the touchdown.

That is the dagger. Nearly 400 yards of offense for the team that now has Jimmy Garoppolo starting again. I think we still got room for improvement.

There were some drives where we just killed ourselves and, you know, simple, simple things we could fix. But yeah, today was it was a good day. We were rolling pretty good. So he has a couple of touchdowns.

Jeff Wilson, 120 yards on the ground, plus a score. And Debo Samuel actually says, hey, the run game is so critical to what we want to do as an offense. It's just come with a play calling with with Kyle having the trust and ability. You know, I'm saying we was coming out and we wanted to run the ball first. That's just what we do being a physical group and just let everything else just fall in place.

Four for four. The red zone helps when you can punch it in with your running backs. Baker Mayfield had a banged up ankle. So in the first half, he kind of tweaks it and then he's in a boot after the game. And that's not good for the Panthers, although nothing's really good for the Panthers right now. It's a little painful right now.

Not not real sure what exactly it is going to, you know, examine that tomorrow to find out. So right now I'm managing the pain and yeah, preventing that stuff in the boot. Pick six right before the half really was a gut punch. I thought the guys came out and answered in the second half with the kick return and leading to a touchdown.

But in the end, you know, unfortunately just wasn't enough. The gut punch. That was the pick six right before halftime. Emmanuel Mosley off Baker Mayfield and you hear Matt Ruhle pointed out.

You put yourselves in a hole like that. And against a defense like San Francisco's. It's very difficult and challenging to come back, which is why we have included the Carolina Panthers who are now one and four. But you remember they had lost nine in a row before they got their first victory. In the last in the first month of the season, they managed one win. Otherwise, what did they lost?

Ten of their last eleven? Brutal. So who should be the most mortified on Monday? Check out the poll on Twitter, After Hours, CBS or on our Facebook page.

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