After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

throughout the 60s and 70s. All right, sometimes I do it on purpose. Just let the music run because I feel like you might freak out a little bit. You might start to think, holy crap, where is she? What happened? What's going on? Is there an equipment malfunction? Did she get fired?

I know that's where your mind jumps to right away. Did she get fired? Did it happen? Did she get let go?

Did she not make it into studio? Did she die in New York traffic? There is always that possibility, though thankfully I've guardian angels that make sure I get through the zoo safely every single night. I was thinking about this on my drive into work a few hours ago or two hours ago or whatever it was.

They all blend together. This has been 10 years of a commute that as much as I try, as much as I say it's not going to happen again, gives me road rage at least four times a week. Maybe five times a week, but at least four times a week. After 10 years, you would think I would breathe and I would calm down, but really the only thing that keeps me from freaking out in traffic, because it's just so frustrating, the only thing that keeps me from freaking out is talking on the phone. There are times when I have friends either on the West Coast or my mom's up late and I can talk on the phone, but for the most part, I'm usually thinking about show topics and fleshing out ideas or listening to the radio, news radio, or maybe listening to the end of a game, a late event that's still going on as I'm in the car. So I don't usually have the opportunity to be on the phone, but that seems to be the only thing that keeps me from freaking out just because I have this switch in my brain, I suppose, that keeps me from acting like a complete and total idiot when I'm talking to someone else. Although mom has heard me get really frustrated about traffic and she does the same thing when she's stuck behind a school bus on her way home from school.

Oh yeah. She starts talking to the school bus. Hey mom, I'm not driving the school bus, mom, but maybe I got it from her. I'm going to blame mom. I blame her for most of the bad stuff, but I also give her credit for all the good stuff too. Like she's the only one I know who talks more than I do. She hates it when I say that, so I don't actually say it to her much, just about her when she's not listening.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It is that time of week again. We made it and yes, I'm giddy and also goofy. In fact, I'm going to need some more coffee, I think, because giddy and goofy is a good spot to be when it's almost Friday. Come on.

It's so good. It's another football and baseball weekend on tap and it's also Halloween weekend. I know most people probably are thinking about costumes, maybe parties, trick or treating, whether you yourself or with some kiddos, maybe we do have some kiddos and young people listening to the show. I did have this one guy who posted on my Facebook page that if I didn't have enough candy, us young people will take cash. That might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I have a hard enough time giving away my well-earned money in the form of candy because I like candy. I don't really understand the tradition of me having to give it away to other people just because they knock on my door. But the idea of giving away money for what?

Why? Is that really a thing that people would do on Halloween? I've never heard of that ever. That young man on our Facebook page, now he said us young people, so I'm just using his phrase.

I don't have no idea how old he was. Maybe he was just trolling me. That's always a distinct possibility. But whether you're looking forward to that, I just say if you want to score some loot or some cash, definitely don't come to my house. I don't even have a pumpkin in front of my house anymore.

Josephine has been retired unceremoniously. I actually have plans that have nothing to do with Halloween. Maybe, maybe they have nothing to do with Halloween or maybe they do have something to do with Halloween.

I don't actually know because I've never seen this movie, but I'm going to see it this weekend. It's a special event that I'll have to tell you about. For those of you who listen, you know that I've had the tickets for this special event for months and months. Actually going back to May, I bought the tickets because I was so excited and now it's finally here and a friend, my friend and I were kind of geeking out about the whole thing. My weekend's got a little bit of everything.

It's supposed to be gorgeous weather again in my neighborhood after about, oh gosh, four and a half days of not seeing the sun, it finally reappeared in all of its glory on Thursday afternoon. Princess Leia got an oil change and I did a yoga class, which was awesome, except sometimes she does this goofy stuff. We had to sit around a little campfire at the end tonight. I'm thinking, oh my gosh, can we hustle up?

My stomach's growling and football starts in an hour, please. I'm the worst yoga student ever. I could do most of the poses and I work really hard at it and I always feel like I've run five miles after I do it. But when it comes to this quiet meditation, I'm generally thinking about football or what I'm going to eat for dinner. It's a good thing she can't see what's happening in my head, but I do love my instructor. I've been going to Lori's classes for about, man, probably five, six years now. So yoga plus a fantastic conversation with an offensive lineman.

You know what they say, they say, and it's been proven. Offensive linemen are the best talkers in any locker room and we prove that over and over here on the show, which is why I've spent over a month now, still with no success, but over a month now, trying to secure a time to talk to former Rams and Super Bowl champion offensive lineman, Andrew Whitworth, still going back and forth with his people. You saw him on Thursday night football, Amazon prime. That's one of his new gigs and I am determined to wait. I told his personal assistant today, I don't care what time of the day or night he's available.

I will make it work. So anyway, offensive linemen, they're fantastic. And since we haven't yet, this is now nearly eight weeks into the NFL season and we haven't yet talked about the New York Giants. It was time.

It was definitely time. It's way beyond the point at which we should be asking if the Giants are quote, for real. We're past that point now. In fact, you're into week eight. There's no more for real.

No, you are what your record says you are period. So it's time to start asking why not if, why are the giant six and one? Why are they one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season?

And how did the coaching change make an immediate impact? And so in order to speak to that, he was a Super Bowl champion and a three time Pro Bowl offensive lineman played with Eli Manning, Sean O'Hara of NFL network on this edition of the show. We are 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. You can find me on Twitter, a law radio, excited to hear from you as we say farewell, fairly well Thursday, fairly well work week, full steam ahead, full speed and full steam ahead into a football Friday and another NFL weekend on tap to that end. We've got our poll up already. Producer J is on it.

What is the after hours game of the week? So I'll retweet, but it's on our show account after hours, CBS or on my Twitter, a law radio. And then we'll get it posted on our Facebook page.

A couple of things about social media that I just am delighted by. Number one, you all flooded our timelines, both Twitter and Facebook with reaction to our Bo Jackson conversation. It's the author, Jeff Perlman, who's a bestselling author who's just released a book on Bo Jackson. And I haven't read all the way through it because it's a real thick book. It's about 400 pages, but to get a chance to talk to him already, the stories I've learned about Bo Jackson, this folk hero that I didn't know before, amazing. And so many of you heard the interview or caught it on podcast. We've had dozens and dozens of responses.

I know he has as well. His publisher sent me an email. She was thrilled with it. So thank you. Thank you for letting us know how much you enjoyed that interview with Jeff Perlman. If you missed it, the link is on both Twitter and Facebook. And of course it's on our podcast after hours, amylorence.com, similar to what we got when we talked to Jean Steratore earlier in the week. Really proud of the interviews we've had lately, Kurt Warner last week, and then Brian McFadden going offense defense and looking at some of the major storylines and challenges to come out of the first seven weeks of the NFL season. But yes, this is one of those conversations that I didn't really know what to expect, but you all were thrilled with it and are still sending us tweets and Facebook messages.

So thank you for that. We're really excited. A lot of you have already said that you're going to buy the book, which can I tell you that's great for Jeff and I'm happy for Jeff, but it's also great for us because it's a good Testament and a good promotion way to promote our show. It's a good promotional step for us too, because the fact that so many of you are active listeners and you're engaged and you care about what we're talking about, you care about our guests, that's awesome.

That's all I ask for. I've worked on radio shows where there are three, four guests a night or a day. I've worked on shows where they do multiple guests per hour. I've also worked on show, in fact, here when I first started, we would have two and three interviews and guests and it got to the point where I didn't feel like it was good for the show. I didn't like the way that I felt like we were cramming the interviews in at times just for the sake of having guests. So I ended up stopping that and going back to the days of doing shows, Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights, producer Tom and I had a conversation and then we started the five nights a week and I just realized I wasn't interested in quantity anymore. I was interested in quality and really proud of the interviews that we do here on the show. This is another good one that I wasn't expecting, but you all have just flooded us with fantastic feedback.

So thank you for that. So you can go and you can vote for our Game of the Week poll. It's up on both of our social media sites and maybe we would have included Bucks and Ravens on Thursday night.

Maybe. Now there's a pretty good smattering of games amongst either division rivals. Oh dear, Patriots, Jets, boy, that one's juicy, or games with teams that have winning records or just games that have some real high profile storyline.

So maybe it wouldn't have made our Game of the Week poll, plus it's a Thursday and you know what happens on short work weeks and how there's less time to prepare. But I tell you when this game started in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium, just a couple hours ago, I kept seeing the two things I needed to see from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Run the ball, stop the run, run the ball, stop the run. The Bucks have the ability to run the ball and stop the run.

And they started out in that place where they were able to do both. And lo and behold, they jumped out to a lead, they scored on their first two positions. He ran right over the back of, see if he runs left again, they stack up on that side of the line. Again, four net running left.

He gets a touchdown this time. No doubt about it. A big block on that left side. Was that leverage that opened the door?

I think it was fired. The candidates box lead six to three. Brady has time. Those of all deep downfield. He's caught by Evans at the 41 yard line still on his feet to the 39 first down 10 bucks tied into motion. Here's a quick pass to the right, left side caught by Godwin, runs behind his feet, beat a guy missing. He's snagged to the 31 yard line, a gain of nine. Rashad Pereman is wide to the left now.

Bucks using the entire wide receiver arsenal. The staff, they again go to Godwin, finds a little crease inside the 35 to the 33. He's bulldogged down at the 22 yard line. Good snap by Hainsey, pass to the right side.

This time to Godwin again, inside the 50, Pereman Pereman, Rashad Pereman. He's got a first down at the 10 yard line. Tampa Bay scoring on its first two possessions, Gene Deckerhoff on Bucks radio, and so it's 10 to three at half. Not only does Tampa initially show interest in running the football, but they stopped the run. The Ravens found no space to run and furthermore, didn't even try. And then you had late in the second quarter, an opportunity for the Bucks defense to come and kind of match what special teams and offense were doing.

And like I say, initially in this first half, I felt like it was all hands on deck for the Bucks. Jackson takes a snap, looking left, pocket collapsing, pumps once, fires back in the end zone, broken up, incomplete. He was looking for Demarcus Robinson and Jamel Dean got a hand on the ball and broke it up. In addition to stopping that fourth down attempt deep in the red zone, Jerry Sandusky on Ravens radio, there's a block field goal.

That's the only way to stop Justin Tucker, right? Is a long block field goal. If I remember correctly, it was a 61 yard attempt.

And so he's, it's not that he isn't good enough for that, but there are much higher percentages that your kick gets blocked when it's going at that low trajectory because of how far out it is. And so there's the stop on fourth down that keeps the Ravens out of the end zone. There's the block field goal right before half, and even though the Buccaneers offense didn't score after those first two possessions and honestly, to start the game, they should have had another possession, but there was a botched punt. And so the Ravens immediately had instant red zone because a Buccaneer, well, that was like the personal protector, right? He ran into the guy who was feeling the kick. It's so strange. We've seen that twice in the last three weeks.

We don't often see that, but it's really just a lack of communication. So there should have been an extra possession in there. There wasn't. And so you had bucks defense, bucks, special teams after that initial gaffe and the offense all pitching in. I don't generally have high hopes for offense when it comes to Thursdays, but I felt like the bucks out of the gate on a short work week at home, we're doing what they needed to do to put themselves in position to win this game. But it was definitely a tale of two halves. I mean, it was a tale of two very different halves. It's after hours here on CBS sports radio after Tampa scored on those first two possessions, then came not one, not two, not three, not four, but five consecutive punts.

And don't quote me on this. I think three of the five did not produce a first down. So three of the five were three and outs, quick possessions as in rut row defense time to get right back on the field. And here is where you saw the seesaw tip in favor of the Ravens offense, yes, but away from the Buccaneers defense. So after putting those 10 points on the board, the bucks then go five empty possessions and they're short possessions. And because of that, the defense gets tired. Meanwhile, the style that the Ravens chose in the second half, this should always be their style.

In my opinion, I don't know why they get away from it. Now give credit to the Tampa defense, but when you have the ability to run the ball, you should be running the ball because not only is it your strength, not only does it wear out of defense, but it's ball control. And I don't care how old Tom Brady is.

He's still one of the best quarterbacks in the league. And if he's got the ball, there's always the chance he's going to make you pay. So in the second half, we see two things happen. The bucks still can't put any extended drives together initially and the Ravens start running the ball, which means time of possession is completely out of whack and the Ravens now are picking up steam by smashing the football down the throats of the defensive line and down the throats of the defense.

And so you can see the whole balance of power shift. So as I say, tail of two halves, we'll take a break. We'll tell you what the Ravens did so well in the second half to be able to put their nose in front in first place in the AFC North. And of course you're going to hear from John Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson, Ooh, the rookie tight end Isaiah Lively, sorry, Lively, likely who it's likely that he's thrilled after tonight's game because of the way he performed.

And then Todd Bulls and Tom Brady, we've heard this before, but they have dropped now five of six games. Thanks for hanging out with us. Our poll is just now live. It's the after hours game of the week on Twitter, a law radio on our Facebook page. It's good to connect with you this week.

It's been a good week. Now she, if I was superstitious, Jay's actually superstitious, uh, he would tell me, people would tell me not to say that because there's still three plus hours where things could go horribly wrong, but I have faith. I don't believe that there are weird, ghostly spirits who are controlling my radio show radio.

Although I suppose that would fit on Halloween weekend throughout the sixties and seventies. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio. You are listening to the after hours podcast. First and goal. Ravens at the buccaneer five.

Do her name, record stack to the right and our card comes in motion to the left. Jackson rolls to the right, throws the Drake at the four turns of course. Touchdown Ravens.

Canyon Drake untouched in for six. Jackson takes the snap. Bakes the hand off, drifting backwards, running to the right, fires back at the end zone. And the rookie tight end when his first NFL grab in the end zone, his first NFL touchdown gives the Ravens their first lead of the nights and the Ravens go to a passing formation to receiver stack to the right. And listen to the Ravens fans off the field on the money.

And after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence. Tale of two halves, a tale of two very different halves to completely different personalities for the Baltimore Ravens. And I'm not sure what they were doing in the first half, but whatever it was, it wasn't working.

They had opportunities to be able to capitalize inside the red zone multiple times, couldn't get it done. And coming out of the halftime locker room, they look like a completely different team. They looked more like the Ravens.

Just after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio, Jerry Sandusky is the play-by-play voice on the Ravens radio network. So as I say, they only had three points at halftime and they had a block field goal. They were stuffed on fourth down deep in the red zone. They failed to capitalize, well, they had a field goal, but they failed to get into the end zone after the Buccaneers botched a punt in the second half, run the ball early and often. Do you know in the second half alone, the Ravens rushed for more than 200 yards. They scored on four straight possessions in the second half and the first three were touchdowns.

Devin DuVernay getting into the end zone gave them a sizable lead in the fourth quarter. And while the Buccaneers did have a little something, something left on offense, the fact that the Ravens had worn down the Bucks defense with all of the run plays, all of the pounding, all the ball control, that really became a factor in the end stages of this game. And so when the Ravens were up and had scored on those, those three consecutive touchdowns, it was 24, 13, obviously a two possession game if the Buccaneers can get a field goal, a touchdown and two point conversion, which is not their cup of tea this year.

And also here's the other part of it. It's not just, Hey, we need 11 points. It's Hey, we need 11 points and we can't let the Ravens score. And so right away after DuVernay gets into the end zone, the Buccaneers are able to answer with one of the scores they need. So they get a field goal and they give the ball back to the Ravens. They need a defensive stop.

And you know, the very first snap is a 40 yard run for Kenyon Drake. The Buccaneers defense was worn out because they were getting pounded and because they were on the field a long time, a lot of minutes in the second half. So yeah, it's not just the fact that the Buccaneers went the midsection of this game without scoring. It's also that they couldn't stop the Ravens.

You can only ask your defense to do so much. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio. They did keep going until the very end fourth down and go from the eighth grade, those a dark hot ball, three, two, one, tons down Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a flag throw Julio Jones makes the catch, but a flag has been thrown. Forty nine seconds left and let's see what number four, first time we've called Jason Pierre Paul's name tonight, former bucketeer and the Buccaneers score a touchdown.

You hear the cannons fire. Twenty seven, twenty two. You got to go for two three point ball game. Here's the snap inside handoff Rashad white will be stood up and stopped and the bucks will go. Oh, and three on two point conversion hips in twenty, twenty two, twenty seven, twenty two, two point try fails.

Crazy, right? Two point conversions are sometimes a mental block there or maybe they're just not creative enough. Forty nine seconds to go. They come up short. But I kind of felt like it was over when they gave up that field goal and allowed the Ravens to answer once they pull with an eight.

Then it doesn't really matter if you get a touchdown two point conversion as much because you also need the onside kick and there just wasn't a lot of time left. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio on Facebook and Twitter and you can vote for the game of the week. We've got two New York teams in it.

It's not my fault. This is what's happening in the NFL as we head into week number eight. Meanwhile, in the AFC North, which we know is really not only up for grabs, but really this split personality. The Ravens and Bengals are trending upward. The Browns and Steelers are stuck in the muck, but would like to be able to grasp for brighter days ahead.

I know I'm so melodramatic. For now, week eight, the Ravens are five and three. The Bengals play the Browns.

Is that Monday night? It's a Monday night football game. Bengals play the Browns.

But the Ravens have the nose in front in what is a very tough division. The depth Isaiah stepping up, Nick Boyle stepping up the way he did. Josh stepping up the way he did. Offensive line was tremendous defense. I mean, defense played really well the whole game.

I'm really proud of the guys because it was it was, you know, at the end of the game, our guys just. Had a little bit more left, you know, and you could see it in terms of execution. You think they had a little bit more left because their defense was hanging out on the field or on the sidelines. While the Ravens were running for two hundred and thirty one yards, most of those coming in the second half. Lamar Jackson, he did throw the ball a bunch, but a lot of that was in the first half now on their three touchdown drives. So they came out and they had three consecutive touchdown drives in the third and fourth quarters.

He was a perfect eight for eight. But doesn't that tell you something? If you're only throwing eight passes on three touchdown drives, the majority of the damage, the majority of the movement is coming in the run game. And that is who the Ravens are. And so this definitely was a shift in philosophy, a shift in perspective and a shift in playing at halftime. Our coach earlier was just on the ball, you know, saying what he was going to give us. And we had opportunities, you know, just came up short and second half, you know, just called a lot more run plays and those guys bought their tail off and our running backs were hitting the holes and doing what they're supposed to do. And actually, in the second half, the Ravens were able to score on those four straight drives without their uber tight end, Mark Andrews. So he was already playing with a shoulder injury and he aggravated it in the second quarter. And then they also lost receiver Rashad Bateman because he was dealing with a banged up left foot. He he'd missed a couple of games already and he was unable to finish. And so into that void or into those holes, steps and other players.

Right. It's about the next man up always in professional sports. As much as we hate the injuries, there's an opportunity because there's other guys on the roster that have been waiting for their shot.

And the rookie tied in Isaiah likely not only scored his first NFL touchdown, but was able to kind of fill that void. It really shows you a family atmosphere and shows you how hungry you are. I mean, when they both went down, you know, they're a big piece of our offense. So you look at your brother and you look how, you know, they want to be out there with us. So you really want to lift their spirits up and show them that we're going to do it for them, whether whether they're in the game or not, we don't we don't bring this home for them. I feel like we're very close, you know, we're right there, but still room for improvement and little mistakes we still make making out there.

We change those and I feel like the sky's the limit for us. So the Ravens get the win and always when you're on a Thursday night football schedule and then you get the victory and have the mini buy, it's glorious. Completely the opposite, though, for Tom Brady, Todd Bowles, you'll hear it. And I like what I heard from Mike Evans, too, because the standard line right now is Brady should have retired or Brady should retire. I don't agree with that.

First of all, somebody's paying you to play a sport that you love. I don't know why you would walk away from it, but also it is not accurate to say that Brady is the number one problem. Is Brady playing his best football?

Hell no. It's just like Aaron Rodgers isn't playing his best football ever for the Packers either. But come on, it's you. If you pay any attention to football whatsoever, you know that it's never as simple as one guy. It just isn't. And to say that Brady looks old and should retire because the Buccaneers have fallen to three and five is just too black and white and nothing in life is ever that black and white.

Actually, though, it's kind of crazy. Marco Belletti is here in studio. Did you hear the stat that for the first time since Tom Brady was is in the NFL and actually starting for his team? So not when he's like he was injured that year he tore his ACL with the Patriots. His team is two games below 500. That has never happened before in his 20 plus year career that a team that he was playing for and was quarterbacking was to two games. We're not talking about five games, six games, seven games. We're talking about two games below 500. I would love to say that I'm stunned by that, but I'm not.

It's amazing that it's ridiculous is what it is, but I can't like I didn't know that I saw the stat and I was like, huh. And then you think for a second, like, well, yeah, what was their worst season 2002? They were like nine and seven. I mean, they mean, how do you remember that? They knocked the Dolphins from winning the division last game of the season.

Marco is a football encyclopedia. I was the year after they won the Super Bowl the first time. So it was like that was and that was it. And then it started the dynasty right after that. So it makes sense because they won the division every year had it wrapped up by what Halloween. So it makes sense.

It's just you didn't realize that because it's been so long. But, yeah, it's a ridiculous stat. It really is its consistency.

It's longevity. It's not just Tom Brady, but it certainly is a testament to his leadership. But also the guys that want to come play for him or with him, I should say, not for him. But with him, I mean, he's generally a free agent magnet and has been for a good portion of his career. But, yeah, the first time that a team he's quarterbacked is two, two whole games below 500. That's Wowsers.

It really is. And you said, I mean, look, he's not their biggest problem. They've got a lot of them. But I will say last night, he missed a lot of throws. Well, he's under pressure a lot, too.

Yeah. But there were some that I mean, he had chances to be able to get the ball in the end zone. I want to say on three occasions where he had a clean pocket and just flat out missed a receiver.

That's not something we're used to in 20 plus years. He looks human. He absolutely looks human, as does Aaron Rodgers. Again, is it is it awful when you look at it and you're like, it's not like you're watching a quarterback that can't run an offense.

That's nonsense. But you're not used to seeing him with a clean pocket with a receiver. I mean, he missed what Mike Evans in the back of the end zone. I don't know how the hell he missed him. I mean, that's a throw that he can make in his sleep. Oh, the one the one where Evan it was just it led him too far.

And there's many things to get through it into the stands. He had Kyle Rudolph wide open again on a cross. Easy seven points missed it. Those are not throws that Brady misses ever.

Never mind twice in one night. So those are the little things that you just look at and you're like, wow, it's he's just not something's not clicking. And I don't know exactly the reason as to why. But something's not right with that entire offense. Oh, yeah. And it includes Brady. It does.

It's strange. Brady. It does include Brady. Last week, it was all these drops by Godwin. And it was just balls that were right into the bread basket. And they seemingly can't score from two yards out on two point conversions. It's very strange. They make the simple mistake and they line up wrong, like, you know, pre-snap stuff.

Like they're just they're not crisp. Is it a chance that it's the coaching change? And I'm not saying blame Todd Bulls, only that Bruce Arians is a different personality to be sure. And and he had a lot of input in that offense. And now it's a little bit more just Byron left, which completely on himself.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Now, again, not to throw it all on Brady. It's also him that he's not there as much. I mean, he's what, taking a day off a week from the that doesn't help.

A lot of quarterbacks do that or a lot of veterans do that. You know that, right? Yeah. When things are not sharp, you point to those things, give obviously something in practice is not working. So something in the whatever it is in the game, planning in the coaching or whether or not you need more reps. Something's not there. Yeah, it's definitely everything.

So all these things, you throw it all into a big giant pot and you get three and five. In a division where the Panthers could be first place after Sunday, it's embarrassing. I love the NFL. That's embarrassing. Although the Falcons may end up being first place and not the Panthers, but that's still embarrassing.

Will's might throw a party if all this is embarrassing. I mean, when you're two and five left for dead, you find your head coach. You traded people left and right.

Christian McCaffrey. And you're one went away from first place. That's an embarrassment for that division. That's usually the end of the East that we're making fun of. Now you're up NFC South. All right.

Take our throughout the 60s and 70s, throughout the 60s and 70s. Oh, after hours game of the week on Twitter and Facebook. You are listening to the after hours podcast, fourth down and go from the eighth grade.

Those are dark hot ball. Three, two, one, touch down Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A flag throw Julio Jones makes the catch, but a flag has been thrown. Forty nine seconds left. Let's see what number four defense. First time we've called Jason Pierre Paul's name tonight. Former Buccaneers and the Buccaneers score a touchdown.

You hear the cannons fire. Twenty seven. Twenty two. You got to go for two three point ball game. Here's the snap inside and offer shot.

White will be stood up and stopped and the Bucks will go. Oh, and three on two point conversion tips in twenty twenty two. Twenty seven. Twenty two.

Two point try fails. This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. If you are looking for darkness, if you are looking for shadows over Halloween weekend, there are plenty in Tampa, especially when it comes to the Buccaneers football program, the Buccaneers football prospects, the Buccaneers direction. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The body language indicates it, the voice, the expression, you can hear that as well. I don't even think they have the answers. They know they've got to keep working at it. No one's giving up, but this is a really it's really perplexing. It's a really perplexing stretch for them and the defense again, you can only ask the defense to do so much. The defense can keep you in it until they're completely worn out and then you've got to have some balance and that's where they have failed over and over, right? The defense got run over in the second half by the Ravens, but eventually that's going to happen. If you never give them a break on the field, I didn't have a chance to check time of possession.

I'll actually check it right now just to look at it. But I do know in the second half that the Ravens rushed for more than two hundred yards. Yeah. Listen to this time of possession.

Holy cow. Okay, time of possession, meaning this is how long the offense for the Ravens was on the field. Thirty eight plus minutes, meaning the Buccaneers weren't even on the field.

Twenty two minutes. It's really difficult to score when you don't have the ball. A, B, the defense was out there so much longer and there's just, they're human beings. Eventually they are going to run out of gas and that they did plus they had the added bonus of keeping Brady and his offense on the sidelines.

So why? Why Coach Bowles has this offense struggle to find any kind of rhythm? Shooting ourselves in the foot, whether it's mentally, whether it's penalties, whether it's missed assignment, you know, we got to play better. You know, we got to play better all the way around. It's not just the offense, it's the special teams and the defense. I think we struggle pretty much at everything, you know. We just struggle in the red area, struggle in the third down, struggle in the run game, two point plays, short yardage, backed up, start the first quarter, start of the third quarter, not very good offense football. Still dark, I mean, until you win ball games consistently and play four quarters consistently, it's going to be dark. You know, that doesn't mean we can't get out of it, I mean, we just have a lot of work to do as coaches and as players.

We've got to go earn it, we've got to go, you know, I think you can, you know, erase what happened the last eight weeks, you know, we got to, we got to dig deep, see what we're all about, come to work, try to improve, and like I said, give ourselves a better chance to win. And that is the issue, right, they haven't been able to put together a full game in which they're all playing on the same page, in the same rhythm, where you've got the receivers catching the ball and Tom Brady throwing accurately, the offensive line giving Leonard Fournette and others room to run, and that to me is a major, major problem. Something that we are seeing that's so different from these Bucks last year or the year that they won the Super Bowl is that they're not running the ball. I don't know how much the numbers have changed going back, I'm sorry, now including this game, but I do know that when I was looking at it earlier, and when we talked about it earlier in the week, that the run game, the rushing attack for the Buccaneers was last in the NFL, in yards per game, last in the NFL. You know who doesn't run the ball successfully? Losing teams. And there's a direct correlation between running the ball and stopping the run, and they're now down to just barely 61 rushing yards per game, which is dead last in the NFL.

So that is one major issue, and that has not just to do with the play calls, but it also has to do with the offensive line, and maybe the latter more than the former. So Justin Houston, linebacker for the Ravens, big veteran in the NFL, how do you make Tom Brady less effective? I think anytime you can put pressure on him and make him hold the ball, that's the biggest thing Tom, he's a coach on the field. So he sees everything before it even happens, so anytime you can adjust and make him think just a little bit, that's what you want.

Well, they certainly were able to do that. They did get some pressure on him. There were a couple of times though, when I was watching the game that I was yelling, throw the ball, get rid of the ball, because that's what Tom Brady has made a killing on his entire career, is going through his progressions quickly, is getting rid of the ball. And if it happens to be that he checks down or takes the easy option, sometimes that short passing game also serves as a, it has the same effect on a defense as a run game does. And so that's been a major staple in Brady's career, is not getting hit, getting rid of the ball early. And there were times the night where I was watching thinking, what, that's just not what you see from Brady, is for him to have an option, cock to throw the ball, and then bring it down. And on one of those particular occasions, he did in fact get sacked because he did not let go of the football, again, rare with Tom Brady, just dubious distinction, although it has more to do with his longevity.

With the sacks on Thursday night, 555 sacks in his career, the most in NFL history. So congratulations, it's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. Throughout the sixties and seventies, 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.

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