After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

throughout the sixties and seventies, throughout the sixties and seventies, two hours to the weekend, whatever it is that you've got planned for this weekend.

I hope that it's exactly what you need and it gives you joy and laughter and fun with friends and family, whether it's Halloween activities. I'm actually going to see a concert with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and they're playing Jaws. It's this really unique set up. I love it with the NJSO and they play in Newark, but they play in other places around the state and I've had these tickets since May. I've never seen Jaws. First time ever.

Never seen Jaws. They're going to play it on the big screen at this arena. They have incredible acoustics. So they play it on a big screen and then they play the music live underneath it. So the audio or the music is turned off.

The score is turned off. You obviously can hear the dialogue. But it was such a cool experience when I did it with Return of the Jedi in early 2020 and I've never seen Jaws. It seems perfect for Halloween. I don't know if I'll be scared. Maybe I will, but it's going to be an epic weekend for me and I can't wait for that.

Plus some other fun fall activities planned. So I hope that you also have a great weekend, but don't check out yet because we've got two hours to go on what is now a football Friday morning. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from 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. Thursday morning, former Giants and Browns offensive lineman Sean O'Hara, Super Bowl champion Sean O'Hara, NFL Network analyst Sean O'Hara was up for good morning football. Now he's with us early in the morning and we're so pleased to have him, especially with the Giants sitting on a six and one record.

Tied with the Eagles for the most wins in the NFL. Sean, it's been so long for this organization, for this Giants fan base. What's it been like for you as a former giant, but also someone who lives in the New York city area and understands how important Giants football is to so many people. Yeah, I mean, listen, Giants fans have been through the ringer in the last couple of years. I feel like I've been part analyst, part shrink, you know, and kind of easing Giants fans off the ledge. And every single time I'd go to an event or, you know, I do the post game shows for the Giants as well. And it's like, man, Giants fans, it's not just that their team was losing.

The team at one point last year became dysfunctional and embarrassing. And, you know, that like does not fly in New York. You know, New Yorkers, they want the best of the best. You know, nobody ever says, Hey, you know, where can I get a decent slice?

Or, you know, where can I get a decent Italian sub? Like they want the best and they demand that out of their sports. And so this has been a phenomenal season. I think everybody was looking for progress with, you know, Brian Dable and Joe Shane and this new era. But the way that these guys are finding ways to win games in the fourth quarter, it's, you know, it's what the NFL is all about right now.

This is kind of how this is kind of the way the league is. I think Giants fans are just so ecstatic right now that they have a legitimate team. They've got guys that are, that are playing tough. They kind of represent the core of Giants fans, the blue collar, lunch bucket guys, you know, the union laborers, the guys that just kind of show up and grind it out every single day.

So I think there's been an immediate attachment to this team. When you talk about that, I hear identity, right? And every team needs an identity, needs to understand who they are. How are you seeing that reflected on the field with these Giants?

Yeah. I mean, you hear coaches talk all the time about, you know, our identity and establish, you know, what we want to be. You know, it's funny because when Brian Dable was hired, it was, you know, Dable is going to come in and fix Daniel Jones. And that was the focus with the passing game and how, you know, can Daniel Jones grow into what Josh Allen has grown into for them up in Buffalo. And the byproduct of that has been fixing St. Gomes Barkley. And I think that's, you know, the Giants organization has always been, you know, a great defense, you know, all the championship teams are built on great defense and the ability to run the football.

When you're in the NFC East, you better, you better be able to close games out in November and December with a ground game. You know, any quarterback that's throwing a ball in MetLife Stadium will tell you that that wind is tough. It's gusty. It's not consistent. It's swirls.

And you know, fall ball and winter ball, you know, you've got to be able to do it. So Saquon has been, you know, everybody has seen the improvement from him as a runner. Obviously he's healthier now than he's ever been, which is good. Um, they're, they're actually blocking people up front. So he's not dealing with unblocked offenders in the backfield. You don't see the negative runs that we've seen the last couple of years from this offense. Um, but they've also just, they're taking care of the football. And I think those are, you know, that's the formula for success. The players have all bought into it. Um, and I think the identity of this team is they're going to get the game in the fourth quarter and they're going to, they're going to make plays. They're like, they're a smart football team. They understand how to win games at the end. You know, I, am I saying is you can't win a game in the first three quarters, but you can sure as hell lose it in the first three quarters. So get the game in the fourth quarter and find a way to win.

And they're doing just that. And they lead the league now with four fourth quarter comebacks. And as you point out, not turning the ball over in those critical moments late has been huge. And I don't love it when the quarterback is the leading rusher. And so just for that reason, it's so great to have the compliment and the runner in Saquon Barkley, who can take some of that load off of Daniel Jones.

Yeah, they've been the ultimate one, two punch. And you know, look, Saquon's banged up, you know, he hurt his shoulder in the London game. And, um, you know, he's kind of been battling through that. So I think that's why you've kind of seen Daniel Jones take on a little bit more kind of shoulder of the load, if you will, of the run game.

You know, the interesting thing with Daniel Jones is it's taken Brian Dable and Mike Kafka to really bring about his best attributes. And, you know, he's not just a scrambling quarterback. And I think, you know, if you've got a quarterback that's leading your team in rushing, and it's because he's scrambling, you know, I feel like Justin Fields is scrambling right now. Um, these are designed runs. This is, we're using Daniel Jones as a weapon. His legs are a weapon. He's a legitimate runner.

Um, and, you know, I think the only question mark you really have as a coach and as a giant fan is, is it sustainable? You know, DJ has really not played 16 games in his entire career. So can he hold up on that? Um, I think he's been smart with it too. Even the designed runs, you see him sliding a lot.

He's not taking the hits. So, um, he's playing, he's playing smart football, but they no doubt have impacted each other. They've helped each other out. Um, and I think when you just kind of look at what that's done to the rest of the team, you know, you've got some receivers that are willing to block.

Um, you know, the off of the line has been, has been much better at the point of attack. Evan Neal was a big part of that. So, uh, they lost two guys in the Jacksonville game.

Ben Brederson, the left guard went down and Evan Neal, the right tackle went down. So, um, they're kind of facing the little battle of attrition right now. Uh, good news is Nick Gates just got activated.

Um, and so did Matt Parrott. So, uh, they've got a little bit of, uh, the cavalry kind of coming back for reinforcements, but, uh, these, this will be a big stretch right here. Obviously with Seattle and then they've got the bi-week.

So hopefully they can get some of those guys back. Always a good opportunity to catch up with Sean O'Hara when we have it. He's a Super Bowl champion, former Pro Bowl offensive lineman, and with us here after hours on CBS sports radio, uh, you mentioned offensive lines and there are some that we can see around the league that are struggling. Um, I always enjoy asking this of guys who played on the line.

How long does it take a group to come together and how does that happen? So we see that there are many around the league that are not on the same page yet. Yeah, it's, it's gotten tougher. Amy, you know, really with the limited reps in training, they lost a pre-season game. You know, you can't, you know, you can't microwave your offensive lineman.

You know, they've got to be in the slow cooker. And so it takes, it takes time. It takes reps, but I really feel like it takes game reps. You know, you can practice all you want together and, um, you know, walk through things and try to, you know, scheme things up from a scout team standpoint. But until you've gone to battle and you've played with guys and you've adjusted things on the fly and learned how to work, you know, through a game and through some certain adjustments, you know, that's always the, um, you know, the litmus test for these offensive linemen. That chemistry is so big. It's so huge. Um, and, you know, you look at the teams every year that are in the playoffs, the teams are in the Super Bowl.

You know, two things. They usually have one of the healthiest O-lines and they have the best unit, the best group. So, um, it's definitely something that, that takes time. Um, I think it's the challenge is really on these O-line coaches who, who have those limited reps, um, to help these guys improve. And, you know, it's also, you know, offenses have changed. You know, there's so much now at the line of scrimmage and, you know, it's become such a passing league that, you know, a lot of these offenses are kind of abandoning, abandoning the run. Tampa's doing, you know, they basically have given up on the run game.

Um, so that, that makes it tough as well. What's your reaction to the Giants trading away Kadarius Tony? I know he's missed the past five games and was a first round draft pick. Yeah. I mean, I, I'll be honest with you, I was disappointed when I saw it, you know, because I, I felt like there's so much potential for Tony. And especially in this offense, um, you know, he's electric with the ball on his hands. And I think my calf has done a great job with Wandell Robinson coming back and finding ways to get him the ball and quick little throws, get him in space.

They've run a couple of jet sweeps. Um, that was kind of going to be, you know, the way that Kadarius Tony was going to be used. And I think, you know, maybe drafting Wandell Robinson kind of put him on notice and, um, you know, the fact that he's been hurt, you know, that's, it's tough. I think that that's probably been, it's not his skill and it's not his impact as a player that really impacted this trade. It was just, you know, got somebody similar in Wandell Robinson who we drafted.

Um, you know, Wandell Robinson obviously was drafted by the previous regime with David Gettleman. And so, you know, it's safe if they're able to get something for him now. And, you know, um, I feel like it was, I don't think they were shopping him, but they got an offer. And it was like, you know what, we're ready to move on. So hopefully he can get a fresh start, uh, in Kansas City at the heck of an offense to go to.

And, you know, I'm sure he's excited to be there. But, uh, if you had told me what position group could, could the Giants least afford to trade a guy? I would say receiver. So I think we're all a little bit missed by that one.

Listening to you answer that question. I'm thinking who, who is the number one wide receiver for the Giants? It seems like they've had a bit of a revolving door at that position and had a hard time keeping guys healthy at the receiver spot.

Yeah. I think the first six games of the season, there was a different leading receiver every game, you know, Daniel Bellinger one week, it was, you know, shepherd one week when he had a couple of big games, then various slate and burst onto the scene. Um, you know, sake one has been a big part of it. Um, they just lost Daniel Bellinger, um, to an eye injury as well.

So that's a tough blow. They're down to just two tight ends now. Um, so, you know, I think that they're all hoping that Kenny Gala, they can get healthy and provide some sort of production. Um, but really Wanda Robinson, I feel like has kind of been the go to guy. David Sills, uh, has been Mr.

Consistent. Um, so, you know, who knows they may not be done with, you know, the trade deadline is coming up on Tuesday at 4 p.m. So, um, you know, they may not be done gathering some talent, but the tough thing for the giants is they're just, they're, they're up against the cap and then, you know, they only have money to buy a big Mac right now.

So, um, you know, it's kind of tough sledding for Joe Shane. Sean O'Hara is a former Giants offensive lineman and super bowl champion, and you can see him on NFL network and really enjoyed, uh, seeing you on the game day coverage. So 1 p.m. Eastern time, uh, to kind of provide some insight as those games are going on. That's on NFL network on Sundays.

It's after hours here on CBS sports radio. So Daniel Jones is still the big question, obviously, because he's in the final year of his rookie deal. And I can only imagine the number of times you get asked, ah, so should they give him a new contract? And what should they do with Daniel Jones?

And maybe the jury's still out, Sean, but where are you, uh, in that particular debate right now? Yeah, I mean, that's a tough one because I've always been a Daniel Jones fan. I look at what he did in his body work down in Duke, um, you know, and very similar to what he's gone through with the Giants.

He didn't have a lot of great linemen down in Duke, and he was finding ways to win ball games and win bowl games. So, um, I feel like we're seeing the best version of Daniel Jones. This is the best he's looked really since his rookie year.

You know, do you kind of throw away years, you know, 2 and 3 and, and just say, all right, this is who he is. I think in this offense, he's going to continue to grow. You know, look, I mean, if he had a guy like Stefan Diggs and Gabe Davis, you know, I think we would be looking at his numbers in a different light. So, you know, I think all those things play a factor, but whenever you're going to assign a quarterback to a long-term deal, you know, the production is a part of it. It's a big part of it.

I think the help is the other aspect of it. So he's got to prove that he can play all 17 games this year. And then really, when you look at it, you know, what type of leader is he? Quarterback is unlike any other position. So if you're going to pay a guy, you know, 20 to 25% of your salary cap, like he better be a leader. He better be a guy that's, you know, cares more about the team than himself.

And I think those are all of the intangibles that Daniel Jones has. You know, when it comes to quarterback contracts, though, it's funny money. You know, it's like playing Monopoly. You know, I kind of cringe when I see the amount of money some of these guys are making, not because I don't want them to make the bread, but it just, it can handcuff you so much with regards to the rest of your roster. And, you know, if you're paying a guy $40 million a year and, you know, he gets hurt in one play and he's out for the year, that's a tough blow.

It's tough to replace all that. So the Giants, you know, I think it's a good problem to have. You know, if Daniel Jones is having a great year, Saquon's having a great year, I think those are problems that they, you know, they would relish to have. But I think, you know, the tough thing is going to be, where does Daniel Jones market? Like, what does his market look like with other teams?

You know, I don't think the Giants want to get into any kind of bidding war, but I think it's maybe one of those things where, for him, it may be more valuable to stay and be in a system that, you know, he could finally be going into a second year of and really feel confident and feel good in. You played with Eli Manning. I swear sometimes when I hear Daniel talk, I hear Eli. They seem to have similar personalities. What qualities of Eli do you see in Daniel?

Yeah, they are clones. You know, I feel like DJ, just like Eli, does a great job of just, look, I'm going to be consistent, you know, whether I threw four touchdowns or three picks, like you're going to get the same guy. I'm not going to waiver.

I'm not going to be, you know, up and down that emotional roller coaster. And, you know, I think that's what teams want out of their leader. You know, you don't want a guy that, you know, is going to say something and then everybody has to answer questions about later on. But I think Daniel is mentally tough. And I don't think he gets enough credit for, you know, you think about everything he's gone through the last two years. I mean, I'm sure he hears what has been said about him over the last couple of years. You know, fans turned on him pretty quick when they started losing games, and that's life as a quarterback for the New York Giants. You know, you can ask Eli about that.

He's gone through it as well. But I see the same kind of competitive fire, too. You know, Eli, he was competitive. And, you know, he never wanted to miss a game, never wanted to miss a play. He always relished, look, the whole point of football is to get the game in the fourth quarter and find a way to win. You know, I used to tell you all the time, like, you don't have to throw two picks, you know, and have us rally back in the fourth quarter.

You know, we can try to put the game away early and not make it so dramatic. But I think, Daniel, just like Eli, you know, people forget, we won the division, Eli's second year. His third year, we went 8-8. His fourth year, we started out 0-2, and people are saying Eli's a bust. And then we went on a run, and we won the Super Bowl that year. That was Eli's fourth year.

People, you know, get it twisted. They didn't fall in love with Eli in years 1, 2, or 3. You know, they fell in love with him after he won the Super Bowl ring.

So I just kind of keep that perspective out in front of the Giants fans because, you know, this is DJ's fourth year, and we're kind of finally seeing all of the fruits of his labor over the last few years. I am such a huge fan of Peyton and Eli on Monday Night Football, though they are very distracting. He might even be funnier than his older brother. Has Eli always been that funny?

Always. He's always been, you know, he's always been a chop buster. And I think that comes from having two older brothers that just, you know, they took pride in making him cry and making fun of him and giving him atomic wedgies. And, you know, now this is kind of his opportunity to get to pay back. You know, it's like, hey, you got me when I was in third or fourth grade, but now I get you on a national audience. He does not miss on any opportunities to make fun of Peyton.

No! And whether it's a pit sting, whether it's the size of his forehead, whether it's his eating habits, you know, he unleashes it. And, look, I think it's fun. I think it's – people like the Manicast. I watch it, too. You know, it is tough sometimes when you're trying to watch the action of the game and you want to kind of hear about, you know, what happened, what went into all that. But you kind of get to see the game as the way that they see it, which I think is cool for fans. And they make it fun. You know, they're not, you know, tuning each other's horns. And, you know, they're teasing each other. They're kind of, you know, making some fun banter. But that's the side of Eli that anybody that's ever played with him in high school, in college, in the NFL level, he was – he's that guy in the locker room, too.

And they have two totally different personalities. You know, Peyton was one of those guys at a teammate where if you ran the wrong route, he was going to cuss you out, and he was going to yell at you, and you were going to hear it right away. Eli was kind of more the fly guy, and he'd kind of say, hey, look, I'm trying to throw you touchdowns. If you don't want them, I'll throw them to somebody else.

But, you know, I'd like to throw them to you if you're going to – so just, you know, run the right route, and I'll throw them to you. You know, they've just got different demeanors, but yet they still found ways to win. Sean O'Hara is with NFL Network now as a former Pro Bowl offensive lineman, Super Bowl champion with the Giants as well, and Eli Manning, one of his former teammates. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio.

Cussing out a reference that you just mentioned kind of popped something in my brain. I had a chance to talk with Kurt Warner last week about Tom Brady yelling at his offensive line, but he's a quarterback, right? So I'd love to get your perspective about that type of interaction on the sideline.

How often does that happen? Well, I think, you know, on game day, you know, look, people get fired up. And, you know, I don't think anybody ever said like, hey, you know, somebody's, you know, barking at you or trying to motivate you. It's, you know, I don't know what was said. I don't know what, you know, what led to, you know, Brady, you know, firing everybody up. But sometimes guys say that because they're just – they're trying to be the leader. I think the one people – thing that people are missing with this whole Brady on his own lines, you know, people are saying, well, he missed this and he doesn't practice and that.

I forget about that. Like we're talking about the Michael Jordan of the NFL. Like Michael Jordan was very hard on his teammates. He would cuss them out in practice. He would yell at them. He was hard on them. You know, he would even fight with some of them because he wanted to win. Brady wants to win. He's like, look, I don't have to be here. I could have, you know, I could have, you know, been, you know, in Cabo right now, you know, with my feet in the sand. But I came back to win.

I need your best. So I don't have any issue with him yelling at those guys. And I think the other thing that people are forgetting is Bruce Arians is not there. Guess who was, who would have been over there barking at the O-line?

It would have been BA, but he's not there now. And that's not Todd Bowles. Todd Bowles is not the kind of guy that's going to go over and start yelling at the offense. Like he's a defensive guy.

Byron left, which is not that guy either. So somebody's got to like the fire. And without BA being there, I kind of feel like Brady has kind of had to, had to grab that torch and say, you know what?

I got to be the one to do it. But I think people also forget that Brady is not above being yelled at as well. I mean, Bill Belichick used to, used to ride him in practice. He used to get on him in meetings.

He used to call him out. BA, you know, last year, I remember people were saying, well, BA and Tom Brady's not getting along because BA, you know, he was, he was blunt with Tom in the media and with, you know, how he talked about his performances at times. So I don't think anybody is over there saying, man, I can't believe Brady's yelling at us.

Like what's wrong with this guy? I think that it's all in the spirit of winning. Before I let it go, Sean, we've seen the NFC East go from being the least to an actual beast. Honestly, in your wildest dreams, did you ever think we'd see the first almost two months of the season produce three of the best teams in the NFL?

No, no, I don't think anybody saw this coming. You know, I mean, the NFC East has been laughable. You know, I think Philly, you know, with the roster that they've built and they clearly continue to build, they've been pretty impressive. You know, I don't think anybody expected them to be on the field at this point, but they're definitely at the top. I think Dallas, you know, losing Dak, but still winning games the way they did was pretty impressive. And their defense, as everybody knew, was going to be, you know, a tough out and they have proven to be just that.

But certainly the Giants are the surprise of the division and with where they're at. But I think it's great. It's great for football. It's great for the NFL.

I mean, this is what it's all about. You know, last year was the Bengals that kind of came out of nowhere. And so, you know, I think for the NFC East now to kind of be that division that has flipped everything upside down is kind of fun. Yeah, some great rivalries, certainly some passionate fan bases, as you know, well. So Sean O'Hara is an NFL Network analyst, won a Super Bowl and was on the offensive line.

You can see Sean on NFL game day live on Sundays at one o'clock Eastern time as the games are unfolding on Twitter at Sean O'Hara 60. It was so good to catch up with you. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. All right. Thanks, Amy. Appreciate it.

Go big blue. What do I tell you about offensive linemen? They are the best talkers, so smart usually. And because they're not supposed to be talking much during the course of their careers, generally, they have a lot to say after the fact. Great stuff with Sean O'Hara and not just about the NFC Beast, but also about Tom Brady and about the situation in Tampa.

In light of them falling to three and five, I think some really insightful comments there. And then Daniel Jones, Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley, just good to talk about a team that's now six and one and stop asking if the Giants are for real. Start asking why and what impact Brian Dayball on those New York Giants. We've actually got the Giants and the Seahawks as part of our game of the week poll. So find it on Twitter after our CBS or football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows, follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show. Jump back to their awesome rewide feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football live and on demand wherever you are, whenever you want. And do we mention it's all free?

Download the Odyssey app today. Throughout the sixties and seventies or on our Facebook page, what is the after hours game of the week? You are listening to the after hours podcast. Here on after hours, we like you as much as you like us.

Hey, what's going on? I love the show. Thanks for having me on. Hey, I'm enjoying your show. I mean, I'm normally not up to hear you, but you got a hell of a show.

Thank you. Hi, Amy. I remember talking with you when you very first started on CBS. You're such a superstar. Amy, thank you for such a much call.

First time calling, looking at you so every morning as I travel in the Boston. First time taller than any sports show ever. So you are kind of taking my sports over Jamie right now.

Okay, that's not creepy at all. This is after hours with a Lawrence. We told you one of our candidates for after hours game of the week is the giant on the road at the Seahawks. What both of those teams are at this point flying high and also in unexpected positions.

And I love it. I love the fact that the NFL never makes sense. And that very often, regardless of what point we are in the season, it throws us for a loop. And that's the NFC beast. It's the Giants at six and one and they're on the road at the only team in the NFC West that is above 500.

Yeah, right. Raise your hand because you knew it was going to be the Seahawks going into week eight who were alone in first place in a division that produced three playoff teams last year. And hint, hint, one of them was not Seattle. That's not really a hint.

That's more just a reminder. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio inside the NFC West. The Rams and Niners have a very healthy and active rivalry right now. They're both at three wins. The Niners just pulled a move out of the Rams book. They just took a page out of less needs book by trading for draft picks to the Falcons. Falcons, sorry, to the Panthers in exchange for Christian McCaffrey. Maybe we should have put the the Panthers and the Falcons into our game of the week poll because that's a battle for first place coming up on Sunday.

She just rolled his eyes at me. It's true, though. The winner of that game is in first place. I'm not going to fall for that trap in the NFC South. Thanks, Tampa.

Thanks. Look what you've done to us. Look what you've left us with. So we didn't go Tampa. We didn't go Atlanta, Carolina.

We didn't go Tampa, Baltimore. We did go Rams, Niners. And the Rams last year brought in a bunch of transplants to help them win the Super Bowl. The Niners are now doing their best to kind of copycat that and to add weapons.

And Christian McCaffrey is one of them. And he actually says, I got a chip on my shoulder because I was traded to a team that has Super Bowl aspirations. Now, what he said was, I got a chip on my shoulder because I was traded. I understand this is a business, but anytime, you know, somebody gets rid of you or something happens, you know, it's taken personally.

I'm so happy to be here. But yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I take it personally. They actually thought that they could replace me. They actually decided for draft picks, unknown players. That was better than having me on the roster. Good for you, Christian. Who cares if the team was winning or losing?

Fact is, they didn't feel like I was worth keeping. Absolutely big old chip on his shoulder, the size of Charlotte. As for Jimmy Garoppolo, he now had a week of practice to get used to, Christian, and what he can do when he's out there on the field. It's been good. It's been good.

You know, trying to get as much time together as we can, just talking, trying to get on the same page. But he sees the field very similar to a quarterback. I'll say, you know, he just has a good feel for space, as all our backs do. I think all those guys do good on choices and things like that.

But it's really just when you can feel that zone and feel that space in there, it's always a nice thing. The Rams offense is not anywhere that it was at the end of last season. They're really scuffling. The Allen Robinson piece just hasn't worked. They've had some injuries, the Cam Ager situation. They were actually in the running for Christian McCaffrey as well. Matthew Stafford's had extra pick sixes this year.

It's very disjointed. Definitely missing Odell Beckham Jr. But that's not the only thing. And so the Rams are vulnerable. The Niners have seemingly had their number, though it doesn't make up for the NFC Championship. But can now they get the upper hand? Niners are the other team that I feel like have more available weapons on offense, which makes it a challenge for the Rams D. Aaron Donald, of course, Bobby Wagner, how do you contain one Christian McCaffrey?

They didn't show everything they could do with McCaffrey this last game. And so we're going to get different personnels with him. And so it's always fun. It's chess.

So you sit there, watch film and figure out what they're going to do. I don't love that we get both Rams Niners games in the first two months of the season. So we got it in week number four where the Niners had no trouble holding the Rams at Bay and putting twenty four points on them. And now we get the second game that takes place at SoFi.

And then we don't get it again until they would meet in the playoffs. So I don't love the way some of the schedule has you know, schedules have stacked up for different teams. Like, for instance, the Colts have played all but one of their conference or their division games already already. We're through week seven and they've already made a quarterback change and played all but one of their AFC South Division games.

Just odd. But at least we got Baker Mayfield and the Panthers against the Browns in week number one. At least we got Russell Wilson and the Broncos against the Seahawks in week number one. Both those quarterbacks are part of QB news as we set that up.

Throughout the 60s and 70s. Download the Odyssey app today. It's you ready for week eight in the NFL. It's time for QB news on after hours. I was thinking we were going to be able to jam all this QB news and all your quarterbacks into one quick segment here before the top of the hour as in bang bang. But that's not going to happen because well, it's football Friday morning and we want to spread the wealth.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Man, there's a lot to get to some really intriguing storylines as we get deep into week eight that started off with the Ravens and the Buccaneers. And man, initially the Bucks were running the ball and stopping the run. But in the second half, the Ravens dominated the football.

They dominated time of possession. They dominated the Tampa defense and they rushed for two hundred plus yards in the second half alone on three touchdown drives. Lamar Jackson only passed the ball eight times. He was a perfect eight for eight on three touchdown drives. That should indicate to you how well they were running the ball and also keeping the ball away from Tom Brady. And it was another game in which they had to come back from double digits down or from multiple. Yeah, multiple scores down.

But they were able to do it methodically and Lamar likes what the offense turned out Thursday night. I feel like we're very close. We're right there, but still room for improvement. A little mistakes we're still making out there.

We changed those and I feel like the sky's the limit for us. Meanwhile, for the Buccaneers, it's back to the drawing board. They scored the ten points on their first couple drives and their defense was great. A fourth down stop in the red zone. They also blocked a field goal and special teams. But then five empty possessions, five consecutive punts.

And at that point, the Ravens had taken command of the game and put the Bucks back on their heels. So the offense for Tampa still is not able to put together three quarters or four quarters. I think we struggled pretty much at everything. You know, we're just struggling red area, struggling third down, struggling run game, two point plays. Get your yardage, back up, start first quarter, start of the third quarter. Not very good offense football.

Yeah, that's pretty much everything, isn't it? Tom Brady is going to bear the brunt. He's used to that. He's a quarterback in this league for a long time. It's not all him, but he definitely missed a bunch of throws. And there were a couple of times where I couldn't believe how long he held on to the ball. The Bucks were five of 14 on third and fourth down.

They were two for five in the red zone. And of course, Todd Bowles was asked about his quarterback following the loss. I got to look at the tape, but anytime we don't win a ball game, nobody plays well. You know, nobody plays well. Nobody plays well, but Tom Brady is the one who people think should retire or he's old. All of a sudden, he looks like he's 55 and not 45. Mike Evans is his favorite target. They've looked out of sync at times this season.

Evans had six catches for 123 yards and he was asked about his quarterback. He's the best to ever do it. I mean, he hates losing. That's all he knows is winning and being three to five is not good enough.

So we got to turn around and soon. Is it fair for people to only point the finger at him? Nobody's pointing a finger at Tom Brady. The whole team is a team game. The ultimate team game is not just one player.

It never has been. Thank you, Mike Evans. I appreciate that because the idea that Brady's getting special treatment or that he's not working as hard as everybody else in that team or that somehow the team isn't responding to him.

All of those things are so unfounded, but it's true that the Bucks are three and five. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio in that same division. Baker Mayfield is healthy, but he's not playing.

Instead, PJ Walker gets the start for Steve Wilkes and the Panthers against the Falcons this weekend. I mean, obviously I want to play. I'm a competitor.

We all want to play. That's the nature of this business. That's the nature of playing sports. But my role right now is to help us win in any way I can. And that's practicing helping out in the QB room and doing scout team stuff and just trying to get under their skin on defense. It's just one of those things.

It's one of those new things that you just have to roll with the punches. It's not my plan, obviously. Like I said, I'm a competitor, but rolling with the punches helped us team out in any way I can. I came here to win, and my role is to help PJ out from the sideline and help this defense out in scout team stuff.

I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it with everything I can. First time since the first three games of his rookie year with the Browns that he has not started when he's been healthy. So a different role for Baker Mayfield.

But he's not alone. Jamis Winston has been benched by the New Orleans Saints, and Andy Dalton is now the starting quarterback. And this comes on the heels of Alvin Kamara, delivering a speech to the locker room about how this offense has got to find its confidence again. For me, it's your preparation. Everything stays the same. And so, yeah, I mean, I've been playing the last several weeks and get another opportunity to play again.

So, I mean, it's not like anything changes for me. The years we've been good, it's been like a certain swag and a certain confidence, you know, about the offense. Like even when we were down, it was never like it was never like we were looking at the score. It was like, all right, well, let's go.

Let's play football. It wasn't a score thing. It wasn't like what the other team was doing. The other thing is like, let's go out, execute, and we're going to like the result. And I feel like just honestly, I feel like we haven't really been playing like that. It's been like we kind of it's just a little bit of a panic, a little bit of like, oh, we down. And we don't play like that.

I still don't have that mentality. So, you know, I think I saw something about like somebody talking about like my body language like that. I'm just you know, I'm always analyzing, always trying to say 10 steps ahead in the game. So, you know, a blank look for me is not frustration. It's more so like, what can we do? What's next? What can we do to put ourselves in position to win or put ourselves in position to sustain the drive? Or what can we do to eliminate the mistakes that have been going on? So, that's really what my temperament is.

My demeanor is it's never a frustration. The NFC South has become the soap opera of the NFL. It used to be the NFC East. But did you know the winner of Falcons Panthers on Sunday will have first place in that division? Now, the Falcons could end up at four and four, but the Panthers would be three and five. But since they have the initial tiebreak against the Buccaneers, meanwhile, the Saints are two and five. But with a win could also have the same record as the Buccaneers. Okay, that's a little bit crazy.

Makes zero sense. The Vikings are coming off a bye week. They're sitting on top of the NFC North.

They're the only team above 500 in that division. And Kirk Cousins and the Vikings offense have got the Cardinals defense in their sights. This is an aggressive defense.

And I think it's a defense that you have to be aware of a lot of moving parts at all the different levels of defense. I think they're smart players. I think they understand the importance of them trying to take the ball away. And they do a good job with the way they execute the defense. It was a good test against us last year as well. And I think they've continued that over all of last season and early into this season. Kirk Cousins isn't flashy.

We all know that. But he is passing for 240 plus yards per game. And right now the defense certainly doing its part for the Vikings, only giving up 19.7 points per game.

So it may not be flashy, but it's steady. And they're five and one. And Cliff Kingsbury has got the unenviable position of figuring out how to game plan against Justin Jefferson and against Dalvin Cook and some of the other weapons for the Vikings. He's played at a really high level for a long time. Yeah, Kirk Cousins. When I watch a great decision maker, a very accurate thrower has played a bunch of schemes and been successful in every one of them. So I think he's a really, really good player.

And for the reason, you know, people want to give him a bad rap. Yeah, no one wants to rave about Kirk Cousins except for Cliff Kingsbury. Meanwhile, Kyler Murray knows that defense has got its hands full with Jefferson. Obviously saw him, his last year at LSU, what he was doing. And then now in the league, I mean, he's obviously he's one of the best shooters in the game right now, youngest.

So I mean, he'll continue to be great, continue to do his thing. But we know the challenge we have is, you know, as a unit, as a team. Yeah, that defense is going to have to be good until the offense for the Cardinals finds a rhythm not that different than a bunch of teams around the NFL, right? The Buccaneers being one of those. At times the Ravens being one of those, though, they have the ability to run the ball and run it over pretty much any team out there. It's crazy. Offense is not what we expected through seven weeks.

We'll see whether or not week eight shines a bright light on that side of the football. One hour to go. Good morning to you. It's after hours. CBS Sports Radio. Throughout the 60s and 70s, throughout the 60s and 70s.