After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. I kind of feel like the question of will the real fill in the blank please stand up can apply to most of the NFL. Not all, but most of the NFL at this point. And even as we review Monday Night Football and moving forward know that the Cleveland Browns won't be the same and whatever prospects they had for the season now look different. Don't know how different, but along the same lines as the New York Jets losing Aaron Rodgers and all the build up, all the excitement, all the hype, all the anticipation.

It has to be tempered now. And I would say it's the same thing for the Cleveland Browns. Nick Chubb is a premier running back in the NFL. We know the impact he's had on the Browns since he joined the team. While they may be able to plug and play Jerome Ford who had over 100 yards rushing in his absence or stepping in. And they can bring in someone, not a secret, to mention the name Kareem Hunt and he was trending on Twitter right after Nick got hurt.

Still not the same. Can they pick up the slack with an offense that becomes a little more efficient as the game wears on? Probably. But will they end up in the same place as they would have with Nick Chubb?

It's unlikely. Can't remove a superstar like that from a roster and expect that everything will be the same. It's the reason that Nick Bosa got a deal right before the season started because the Niners recognize when he's on the field they are a different animal. Nick Chubb is one of those running backs that has war, if you will. And I'm using the baseball term. Wins above replacement.

He has a significant war. Will this bring the locker room together? Will they figure out a way to make it work? Will the motivation be there for other offensive players, specifically Deshaun, because more will fall on him now?

Those questions are ones that do not have answers yet. But two weeks in, there's a whole lot of inconsistency around the NFL. It was a conversation that Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner were having post-game about the teams that are still undefeated in the league. And the fact that the AFC only has three of them. Whereas the NFC has seven teams that have not yet lost. And isn't the narrative around the NFL this year how much more competitive, how much more the AFC can offer up Super Bowl contenders than the NFC?

Now you are what your record says you are. And so no one crowns a champion in September. But they were going on about, is this overestimating the AFC? Is this people believing more of the AFC than what the conference is capable of? Or is it about the fact that they have to face each other?

Right? You're going to get more of these AFC teams going toe to toe and taking each other out, if you will. So the records won't be as bloated as maybe a couple of NFC teams because the competition is not a significant week in and week out.

Now it's hard to know that after two weeks, but that was one option that was offered up by Kurt Warner. The other being the AFC is just not as good. But I don't think you can judge a conference after two weeks. I certainly don't think you can judge a division or even the league as a whole after two weeks. It's always fascinating to see where these teams start and where they end up. But in case you're keeping score at home.

Actually, if you're not, that's why you would need us. You've got Miami at 2-0, Baltimore at 2-0. Did I say three? There's two teams in the AFC that are undefeated.

Sorry about that. I said three, I think, before. The Dolphins and the Ravens. That's it.

That's all she wrote through two weeks. In terms of teams that have yet to earn their first win, didn't we do this as a show topic going back, say, two weeks ago? Which would be the last team in the NFL to earn a win? Many of you said Arizona.

Still a candidate. Arizona is, in fact, 0-2. Carolina Panthers also 0-2.

We'll get to them coming up. Because, funny enough, the rest of the NFC South, which is supposed to be this, well, wide open for sure, but a work in progress with all new quarterbacks and all new head coaches in the last couple years. Three teams are 2-0. So much for them, Apples.

Hello. And then three teams in the NFC Beast are also 2-0. Now, as far as the 0-2 teams, along with Carolina and Arizona, Chicago, Minnesota is a huge surprise there.

Denver, not so much a surprise. The Chargers, though, were a playoff team last year, and they're 0-2. The Texans, they're definitely still in rebuilding mode. The Bengals, also a surprise, except that they were 0-2 a year ago. Right, so when Joe Burrow says he's not panicking, we've been here before, yeah, he's right.

Twelve months ago. And then the Patriots are also 0-2. And a lot of you finding our social pages, whether Twitter, ALOL Radio, or our Facebook page, worried about the Patriots. The fact that they're 0-2 to me, well, it's a relatively common thing for a team to rally from 0-2 to make the playoffs. It happens essentially every year.

It's not an easy way to start. It's a more difficult road, especially in the AFC East, because the Dolphins and the Bills we know are good. And because the Jets, even with Zach Wilson at quarterback, will give teams trouble.

The defense, the run game, even the receivers, the defense and some of the skill players will give other teams trouble. So the Jets are not a cupcake or a cream puff, and I don't really believe there exist many of those in the NFL anyway. That's why survivor pools never work out, right?

Well, never. That's why many people are out of their survivor pools or off Survivor Island, in our case, in the first month. It's why you have roughly half the playoff bracket turnover every year. It's why it's so rare that a team goes 0 for whatever.

0 for 16 previously, now 0 for 17. It's only happened twice in the NFL. And it's also extremely rare for a team to even get to 15. Well, it would be 16-1 now. We've never had a team go 16-1.

15-1 or 14-2 or anything like that. I mean, it's tough to rack up these wins. Not impossible, but tough to put together a win streak like that.

You got to stay healthy, number one. Number two, so many factors that go into winning every single week. But at this point, it's a free-for-all. It's messy, and it's ugly, and it's inconsistent, and sometimes it's downright confusing.

Messy, messy, messy, messy, messy. The football that we're seeing on the field. So, don't put too much stock in early season records.

If you can get the wins now, take it and get the heck out of Dodge. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Between the Saints and the Panthers, which was the earlier game on Monday Night Football as part of the doubleheader, it was tough sledding for both offenses in the first half. There was a big play late in the second quarter with Carolina in the red zone. Maybe you didn't realize how good the Saints' defense is. But Bryce Young got chased down, sacked by Carl Granderson, stripped for a fumble, and it's recovered by the Saints to prevent any points. They were knocking on the door, and the Saints' defense slammed it shut and probably caught Bryce Young's finger in the door.

Maybe more than one. That Saints' defense is also fierce. So it's 6-3, because Derek Carr threw an interception in the first half, too.

6-3 at the break. But coming out of the halftime locker room, the Saints were able to put together a couple significant drives, and I love the mix of Taysom Hill. That's just part of the deal, Derek Carr. You want to be the quarterback here? Well, Taysom Hill's going to be grabbing some of those snaps. Third down, fourth down.

He's a bull in a china shop, and that's an absolute compliment. One of the things we know about Derek Carr is that he loves to fling it. And he can throw it three-quarters the length of the field. And in New Orleans, he's got a couple of different guys who are speedy, who can run under those throws, including the second-year receiver Chris Olave. Third and seven looking, now throwing down the sideline.

And that ball is wild in, I believe. Chris Olave, you're not touched. You're not touched.

You're not touched. It's out of bounds, but Olave caught it. What an amazing catch by Chris Olave.

Assumed he was down, and he got up and spiked it. Just with that slow start, I mean, it's still a close game. We're still leading most of the game. We know our defense is going to hold it down. They've been holding it down all year. And we just got to stay patient and stay patient and wait for the ball to come. And when your numbers call, you got to make that play. So somebody had to make a play, and I'm glad they threw it to me. It was a one-handed juggling catch deep up the left sideline.

And yeah, may not have been down, but downed himself. Forty-two yards it goes, and it sets up an easy or simple two-yard rushing touchdown for Tony Jones. Who, while we're talking about injuries and talking about guys having to step up and step in, we know Alvin Kamara's got one more week left on his suspension. And Jamal Williams was out pretty early in this game. And so Tony Jones ended up getting a dozen carries for 34 yards and two touchdowns, both of them coming in the second half.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. I didn't realize this or hadn't even thought about it. The Saints had not given up a touchdown until the very end of this game to the Panthers. So through seven quarters of the season, the Saints had not given up a touchdown.

And their defense, while maybe not as high profile as, say, the Steelers, also making some noise. Four sacks of Bryce Young in this game, another seven QB hits. And then when it comes to rookie quarterbacks, they giveth and they taketh away. And so for the Saints to try to get to him and try to, maybe not, not that you have to chart all the mistakes with turnovers, right? Maybe not necessarily strip the ball, flip the field, that type of thing, but for us to make him rush, make him hurry, confuse him. A lot of veteran defenses, they can disguise their coverages. And while rookie quarterbacks are still trying to figure it out at the speed at which it happens, they can create some chaos. Though we know Bryce Young can hurt you a variety of ways from the QB spot. Young is in the shotgun. Mingo slot left, Marshall wide left. Thielen to the right, high snap, corralled by one hand. Young steps up. He'll run. He's got the 40.

Still going. He's got midfield. He's got the 45 and slides down at the 40 of New Orleans. Oh, we've got some new help in our newsroom. I've noticed this the last few weeks when we get the football highlights, they're clipped. It's almost like we're not allowed. It's a rule.

Not allowed to hear the crowd react to anything that happens. No, I mean, you've got to cut it so close that the announcer barely can get his final word out. And the calls here are both the Panthers and the Saints radio network. In that fourth quarter, once the Saints head, there are two touchdowns on the board. Well, then maybe the defense loosens up a little bit. And late, it's a 75 yard drive that's culminated with the Adam Thielen touchdown pass from Bryce Young. So they do get in the end zone. Otherwise, though, tough sledding against that New Orleans defense.

And according to Derek Carr, that's exactly why he picked New Orleans as his destination. Any team that I talked to was a team with a defense, you know? And, you know, when I played these guys, you know, I knew DA, you know, I know what it's like and how difficult it is. And all I want to do is win, you know?

And so I was like, shoot, if I can go there and have a day like today. Didn't play my best in the first half, come back, play good in the second half and win a game. Like, I didn't have to be perfect for four quarters and we won. Interesting because the Jets also have a pretty sweet defense. And yet he picked New Orleans. The Panthers don't even get over 250 yards total offense. 414 on third down.

Limited to one of three in the red zone, which is always important. And especially with that big takeaway by the Saints defense. So, yeah, believe it or not, the New Orleans Saints, who haven't played great, are now 2-0. Certainly it wasn't as clean as we still would like it to be. But yet at the same time, you know, I saw some improvement in a few areas. And, you know, look, we're just going to have to keep working and keep grinding to keep, you know, continue to get better. But as we do that, to be able to get wins going along the way is a good problem to have. There's so much that we have to clean up, but it feels so good to clean it up when you win. You know, like I said outside, like we're 2-0. And I don't think that we've played at the level that we're all expecting to play at yet.

But we're going to keep striving, we're going to keep working and make those corrections. But it feels good to do it with a win for sure. Yeah, Saints are 2-0 along with the Atlanta Falcons. Along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because Baker's back, baby. I enjoyed reading through your overreactions through two weeks of the NFL season.

That's mine. Baker's back and better than ever. So if you want to find us on Twitter, After Hours CBS, you can still vote for Monday MVP. You may want to write in a TJ Watt. You may want to write in the Steelers defense.

You can also head to our Facebook page and neither place you can answer. Your temptation to overreact after two weeks of the NFL season, two weeks in the books. It goes quickly. Weirdly enough though, as I'm waiting for the three months to pass quickly until I get married, that seems like it's going really slowly. And yet we're already through two weeks of the NFL season.

How could there be such a dichotomy in my brain over how time is passing? We'll hear from Frank Reich, Bryce Young, a little more from this NFC South battle. Did you like the double header on Monday Night Football? There were no Mannings. I checked.

No Mannings. It was kind of weird. It felt a little bit like NBA playoffs where the games are straddled, but there's still more than one going on at the same time and it's hard to keep up with two. Or maybe March Madness where the games are straddled. And at one point, ABC, who is essentially ESPN, the same company in all of the events, the sporting events that are put on ABC, those are produced by ESPN. So it is really ESPN essentially. They had a split screen and they're showing the Saints and Panthers on one half and the Steelers and Browns on the other half. I know it's largely promotional.

They want to remind you there's another game out there. I will say it's smart to put Monday Night Football on ABC for a couple of reasons. Once we get deeper into the fall, there are very few original TV series that will be on network TV because of the writer's strike and also the actors and performers who are still on strike. It's a lot of reality TV and it's a lot of sports. It's a lot of reruns.

For those of you who love Yellowstone, I've actually heard some very mixed reviews about the debut of Yellowstone on Sunday night following 60 Minutes. I watched it on DVD. So I'm stupid.

Well, not stupid. I'm just old. I went to the library and got the first two seasons on DVD because I started late. It was going back a couple of years, of course. Now I can get it on Paramount Plus, the replays. And so I didn't watch it. I binged it.

I didn't watch it when it was airing on TV initially. But if you go back and you watch it in any shape or form, you hear the profanity. And there's some pretty gruesome scenes.

A lot of vulgar talk. They took a lot of that out on CBS. As you can imagine, they took a lot of it out. And so I saw people on social complaining about the fact that it's not the same series.

And that a lot of the spicier scenes and, of course, the talk, some of the conversation, it was either watered down or completely removed. But back to my original point, because of the writer's strike and the performer's strike, some of your favorite crime dramas or comedies are not airing on TV this fall. Instead, it's a lot more sports and reality TV. And that does include moving a bunch of football games to ABC.

But I don't know why the doubleheader. I didn't stop to research that. 855-212-4227 on Twitter, A Law Radio. Also on our Facebook page. Always good to connect with you once we survive not just a Monday, but a football weekend. It wasn't just football that we'll do a little more, but a milestone for one of the elder statesmen in baseball.

Pretty sweet moment for him that we'll get to following the update. It's after hours with Amy. Imagine you're looking at a balancing scale with everything you do for other people on one side and everything you do for yourself on the other side. If it isn't balanced, maybe it's time to spend a little more time on you. And therapy is a great place to start. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can help you find that balance and stick to it. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10 percent off your first month.

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It's your quinceañera. With all the excitement, it may be easy to overlook COVID-19. It's still a risk, and that's why it's important to get this season's COVID-19 shot ahead of time. It helps protect against COVID-19, which can cause severe illness and hospitalization. So let's set the date, vaccinate and celebrate.

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At the two. Brings Foster Morrow in motion. Tony Jones has it, cuts back, and Tony Jones scores his second touchdown of the game.

As he finally, the cutback works. He cuts it back, takes it in for the touchdown, and that is huge. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Defense to offense for the New Orleans Saints. Same thing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, both winners on Monday Night Football. Doubleheader week two and doubleheader in week three as well. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

The call is there on the Saints radio network. Chris Olave and Tony Jones and Michael Thomas even with another solid performance. You've got different guys who are stepping up around Derek Carr.

Love the Rashid Shaheed component, the speedster. We saw him in action with a big gain down the sidelines for 45 yards. He's got a lot of different guys he can work in. And then think about adding Alvin Kamara back into the mix. It's not perfect.

It's not pretty. There have been very few teams that have settled into that aesthetically pleasing brand of football. But at this point, you can tell the Saints are a different team than they were a year ago because of Derek Carr. He just has a calm composure through all that. We know he's not going to panic. We know he's not going to do anything bad or turn against us.

He's been in the league as a veteran and he's a great leader even when things are bad. So when things get down or things get hectic, we can't turn against each other. We've got to lean on each other more. And that's what we did today and we came out with a W. As I was listening to Chris Olave say that I thought, did he have a quarterback that turned against him? That seems like an odd thing to say unless you've had an experience with that, right?

Can we hear it again? So he's talking about Derek Carr's leadership. Now I understand in concept, in theory, what he's saying because losing can exacerbate the friction. Any type of relationship. Well, not really relationship. Any type of personality conflicts.

Any type of, yeah, anything between teammates. And it's tough. They don't all get along. You're talking about a travel party that's probably close to 100 people. If not more when you factor in players or active roster, practice squad, coaches, training staff, support staff, managers, all that kind of stuff. We're talking about a lot of people. But just the players themselves. You're talking about 53-man roster and practice squad.

So close to 70 people. They're not all going to get along. And they all have different styles. Some of them are alpha males. Some of them a little quieter, more soft-spoken.

Away from the field, of course. They all have different interests and backgrounds. Yeah, there's going to be clashes. There's going to be conflicts.

Winning covers that while losing exposes it. And I don't know if that's what Chris was talking about, but it was interesting that he said he's not going to turn against us. He just has a calm composure through all that. We know he's not going to panic. We know he's not going to do anything bad or turn against us.

He's been in the league as a veteran. He's a great leader, even when things are bad. So when things get down or things get hectic, we can't turn against each other. We've got to lean on each other more. And that's what we did today.

We came out with a W. Maybe he means pointing figures, placing blame, kicking people under the bus or whatever it is that you do. Also keep in mind, too, it's not like last year there was a quarterback that was Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston. Winston's still there and Dalton's kind of a consummate professional that's all over the place.

So I find it hard to believe. Didn't Dalton go into the game tonight on fourth down? He's with the Panthers, is he not? I think he was in the game on a fourth down earlier tonight.

But a veteran that's bounced around the league and kind of known as... And a guy you want there to help groom Bryce Young, who's the top overall pick. So I don't think... I think it was just poor wording.

Meaning like turning against each other? The point of the fingers, yeah. And I think it was just poor wording. I don't think he meant it as something that he's come across and that the Saints had issues with in the past. Maybe not with the Saints, but maybe when he was in... Ohio State, that's definitely possible. Yeah, maybe when he was in college. You know, who knows? I mean there's a lot of quarterbacks at Ohio State. So who knows what happens at college or what is...

Even in high school, who knows? I find it hard to believe with the Saints that he came across that. Because again, if it was Jameis Winston, he wouldn't be on the roster right now. There's no way he would be the backup. And did you watch him? I mean the guy's involved in everything and he still does the ritual after the game is over with every guy that comes through.

He has to give him a high five going into the locker room. Guy doesn't even play. So I don't buy that. He's got issues. It's not leadership. It's, you know, reading defenses. That's the problem with Jameis Winston. And Andy Dalton doesn't strike me that way. Nor would he have a job with his level of play since he's left the Bengals. He would no longer be in the NFL if he had issues like that. So I find it hard to believe that for the Saints. Yeah, no, I agree with that.

Just wonder what his experience was. But again, maybe he meant pointing fingers, placing blame, not taking responsibility, not being accountable. Definitely, we've all been in locker rooms where the losing becomes the, I guess you could say the kindling that lights the, that really lights the fire.

And it can be very combustible and explosive. I look good and I know it. On Twitter, ALawRadio, and then on our Facebook page too, we'll have the TD of the Week candidates coming up before the show is done. Man, it's going to be tough. Even in a loser, loser, no one's calling anyone a loser around here. See, that's how you point fingers. That's what we're talking about. Even in a losing effort, yes, I'm definitely not the type of leader that Derek Carr is.

I'm going to blame you, actually. See, there you go. Even in a losing effort, we saw a Hail Mary touchdown for the Denver Broncos on Sunday. So there were some pretty impressive touchdowns that weren't for winning teams. It's hard to narrow it down to TD of the Week.

I'm trying to think if there's one. Does one stand out for you? I do love the defensive touchdowns we got from the Steelers. Those were pretty impressive.

Nine seconds in. Yeah, I mean, hard. I'd have to go through them all. I don't have the mental Rolodex right now. You can name every starting quarterback for every Super Bowl going back to the very first one. But you can't come up with a couple impressive touchdowns from Week 2 that were not even, what, 24 hours old? Those are kind of important moments. Those I remember.

Every touchdown from yesterday, I struggle with that. I'm not going to deny. My recent memory, not exactly good.

I'm more of, you know, I can remember stuff from 50 years ago. Listen to the excuses. This is what we're talking about, right? Chris Olave was right. Turn on people. I'm not the guy leading the locker room. Who's the guy leading the locker room? I don't know. Apparently, we have no one here. I'm the guy leading the locker room.

If you must know. They were throwing me under the bus about five minutes ago and about 30 seconds ago again, so I don't know. Do you believe? Yeah, I got to question that. Well, I mean, there's the door. And again, there you go.

That's not exactly leadership. That's, you know, let's not bring it together. Let's get the hell out. You know, that's not what we're looking for. You're dragging us all down. That's not what we're looking for.

You're the weakest link. Goodbye. I'm just pissed off. And there you go. There you go. You gave me an opening large enough to drive a semi through.

I had to try it and see what happens. I could have gave you the Russell Wilson touchdown. Talk about pointing fingers. How about Russell Wilson and Sean Payne pointing fingers back and forth with each other. See how that thing's going to go after they're 0-2 to start the year.

I mean, it's two games and there's already a lot of conversation. That thing had a problem going in. They needed to get off to a decent start and they need to stabilize things.

The further that thing goes, the more that's going to be a disaster written all over it. Because what do you do? You pick the overpriced quarterback that you mortgage your future for or the overpriced coach that you mortgage your future for. You've got to pick one because they're not going to get along.

Everybody has to have an altered ego. Mr. Unlimited. All right. Coming up, a milestone for one of Major League Baseball's elder statesmen. And I guess it's time we catch up on the playoff picture too. So we'll get to that. Also, did you see what Phil Mickelson put on social media on, was it Monday?

Yeah. Today was Monday. Plus, we'll get back to the impact of the loss of Nick Chubb. Also, some other injury updates too.

So there's a lot happening. The fallout from week number two in the NFL. When you need to know what's happening, it's time to get hit in the huddle. And nobody's picking the Colts to win the Super Bowl, so let's just go learn, right? Well, this was always going to happen. Jim Irsay's calling all the shots there.

And the hunky-tonk man didn't draft this kid where they drafted this kid to have him look great in practice and look awesome running the scout team. You know what I mean? But yeah, let's play this Minshew Cat or whatever on Sunday.

No way! Today was a big step getting there. You know, I have three starts left, so not much time. And I knew today would be a really important win for me if I could get it like what we did. I'm just taking it day to day, but I definitely need to start pitching deeper in the game because watching the game is so much more nerve-wracking than playing in the game. You know, it's just like I'm going to run out of fingernails here. Too long if I just keep pitching five innings.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Adam Wainwright always had a sense of humor. And now at 42 years old, he is in his final few weeks as a Major League Baseball pitcher. Final few weeks with the St. Louis Cardinals. Running out of time, he said, to earn career win number 200.

And the reason he was running out of time is because he sat on 198 for nearly three months. It's been a really tough season. A lot of people question why he would return anyway.

You came back for this with an ERA north of seven? Not only dealing with injuries, but just short starts, short outings, a lot of consternation and frustration and adversity. And yet, he is one of the classiest in Major League Baseball. And like Albert Pujols, this time last year, I was rooting for him to get win number 200. And so last week, when he earned 199, he was appropriately grateful, but also unsure if he would earn win number 200.

Considering how long it took him to get to the cusp. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. He said he needed to start pitching deeper into games. Wouldn't you know, on Monday night, his longest outing of the season.

Now everybody's on their feet. Everybody's behind Adam Wainwright. The 2-2 delivery curveball and that's hit in the center field. On the move is Knutbar and he makes the play in left center field. And this crowd is loving it. Adam Wainwright, seven zeros on the board. Terrific performance so far here tonight.

They're calling Cardinals radio. I saw this quote from Adam Wainwright after the fact. For at least a night, I was a real pitcher out there.

The guy that I want to be. Does that put a stake in your heart? Now granted, he's pitched a lot of baseball. He's got World Series rings.

He has seen the highest of the highs in this game. No one needs to feel sorry for Adam Wainwright. He could have retired before this season. But he did go 0 for 10 with an ERA of 10.72 before his last outing in which he was the winner. But this was different. This was everything Adam Wainwright had left in the tank. This was his last best chance to win number 200.

And it was tense. Because his offense only gave him a single run. So he goes seven innings. Again, his longest outing of the year. Throws 93 pitches. Only allows four hits in a couple of walks. Strikes out three. But importantly, even though there was just one run of offensive support, he was up for the challenge because he pitched seven scoreless innings.

This was vintage Adam Wainwright. And then he had to stop chewing on those nails and watch his bullpen try to close it out. Helmsley tugs on the bill of the cap. Leans against the first base side of the rubber. Dangles the right arm. By way of pitch comm from Wilson Contreras. The 2-1 pitch with two outs.

Here comes to Adamus. A swing and it's popped up. Short right field. Tommy Edmond goes out. He's under it.

He makes the catch. It's a Wayno Radford winner. 200 career victories for Adam Wainwright. Joining Bob Gibson and Jesse Haynes as 200 game winners in the Cardinal organization.

Light up the night for Wayno. 1-0. The Cardinals win on a home run by Contreras. And Wainwright has won back to back starts to gain 200 career wins.

Sounds real good. It took me a little while to get there. But it made me savor it even more. I'm so glad I got to do it here in front of our home crowd. So glad these fans were unbelievable for me tonight. There was times where, you know what, just being honest, I was tired out there.

And they got me through it. And just, man, what a night. What a night, you know? I was glad I got to deliver for the guys tonight. Again, longest outing of the season. Wainwright dug down deep and gave it absolutely everything he had. And he got to do it in front of the Busch Stadium crowd, which is so cool.

He wasn't the only one who was on edge about it. The fact that Wilson Contreras wasn't emotional the entire time was kind of fun. And yet this is the relationship that a lot of these guys have on the Cardinals roster. I mean, even going back to before Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina retired, they were this triumvirate there in St. Louis, especially once Albert returned to the Cardinals. There's such a tradition there.

They're one of the most... They're one of the best run franchises in all of sports. And even though they're going to miss the playoffs and this is a real down year for them, they've been, for the most part, consistent, established. They're a model franchise when it comes to or it has been about dealing with their players.

The fans, of course, bought in. So a really neat moment for not just Wainwright but for his teammates like Wilson. He's been grinding through this season. I'm really glad that he pitched this year to reach those 200 wins. I've been emotional the whole game. I'm pretty sure that I felt that tonight was a night for him to go out here and do his job and personally against a good team like the Brewers.

And man, it feels so good that... And I'm proud of him because I know he's doing his best and that showed me how much he loves this team and how much he loves this city. This team has been... They've had my back all year. They've been with me through thick and thin. They've always encouraged me. These guys never stopped encouraging me when I was going through my worst patch. These guys kept hugging me, kept patting me on the back, kept lifting me up, and I just couldn't have done it without them. I would have stopped playing if it wasn't for my incredible teammates. But yeah, man, what a blessing. What an incredible night.

Thank you, guys. You want to know why Adam Wainwright continued, why he not only decided to return for one more season, but why he pushed through despite an 0-10 stretch, despite an ERA that, as producer Jay told me, would have gotten him booted from the starting rotation had the Cardinals not been nowhere near the playoffs in October? Because of his teammates and Wilson Contreras taking it personally, emotional for him. And if you haven't seen the video after the final out there that you hear with John Rooney on Cardinals radio, they're all excited and emotional for Adam. So congratulations to Wano. It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio.