After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. That's me! Oh, this is my favorite. You know, for nearly 10 years I have remained on after hours and I have chosen to do so in large part because of Sunday night. And no, I'm not kidding.

This is one of the coolest parts about working overnights. We are the first show of the week. The first weekly show that you get here on CBS Sports Radio has the chance to dive into and pick apart all of the games from an NFL Sunday. We have Monday Night Football to come. Let's see which brand of primetime football we end up with because we've seen the best of times and the worst of times so far in week number one. Right, we got the one point victory by the Lions over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.

That was good to the last drop. But you did not have to watch all of the drops of rain in the second half between Cowboys and Giants. Just a few hours ago, you probably, many of you were like the fans that bolted from MetLife early.

That place was more than half empty. In fact, because I generally drive in to work about the same time that Sunday Night Football is wrapping up, I was a little leery of the traffic earlier in the day. I was thinking about the traffic around MetLife and how I could avoid the mass exodus. Now, I did see a ton of traffic going north out of New York City as I was coming in, but it wasn't the same because so many people had already departed the game long before it was over.

There wasn't nearly the traffic jam that there normally is around MetLife. Monday may be a different story, we shall see. We're off and running in week number one, our Sunday Night NFL Show. We blast you forward into a Monday and then, of course, we wait for the news. Sometimes it's injury news. Sometimes it's just the reaction and the fallout from the Sunday.

Plus, we get a Monday night game and Jets and Bills is still on tap. We've already put a post up on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. What did you think? What did you see? What do you think you know? Just remember it's one week.

And on Twitter as well, you can find me, A Law Radio, or you can respond to our show, Twitter, After Hours CBS. I hope that you did not forget to make your selections and then save your selections for your survivor pool known as, affectionately, Survivor Island. We had to open up a third island, well, we had to purchase a third island for our archipelago and I warned you on Sunday morning before I went to church and taught my kiddos, I warned you all about making your picks and also not forgetting to set your fantasy lineups because how many people do that? I actually had to remind myself with about 30 minutes before kickoff that I needed to check my fantasy lineup, which I did. I hate my fantasy team, all of it.

I may have to start retooling it immediately. But anyway, it's fantasy. It's not real. We've got a lot of real football to talk about. So what did you think?

Again, on Twitter, on Facebook, and then you can also find our latest video up on YouTube, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Mention this with Armando Salguero, who joined us last hour, but yeah, the San Francisco 49ers already look like a Super Bowl contender. Oh my gosh. Okay, so the Niners radio team is led by Greg Papa. They are already in mid-season form. Yeah, San Francisco scores on the first four drives of this game.

And here's the word that came to mind for me. Crisp. The offense was very crisp initially.

Six months after Purdy, comma Brock, had surgery for his UCL tear, he was locked in. Iuke with a pair of touchdown grabs in the first half, as you hear them gloating over. Pittsburgh finally got on the board late in the first half, and it was an impressive drive. A 95-yard march.

Pat Fryermuth ends up with the touchdown. So there at Accra Shore Stadium, you heard the drones of boo-th, not boo, although that might have been appropriate. Did you know there was booing in New England? It's friggin' Tom Brady gets honored day and you're booing.

Anyway, we'll get to that. San Francisco got its touchdown back on the board to start the third quarter because Christian McCaffrey, well, you can't stop him. You can try to contain him.

That's probably not going to work either. It was awesome blocking those guys up front. The whole run game, it's an 11-man job, and they made great blocks.

They got a little spin in there, got sprung, and then, man, I think it was Iuke and Ray Ray downfield. When you got receivers who block like that, it's a special feeling for a running back because you truly feel like you guys have your back, and that's an awesome feeling to have when you're out there. When all 11 are committed to the run game, you got fullback who's the best in the league, you got tight end who's the best in the league at what he does, and all 5-0 linemen just working their ass off all day.

It's fun to be able to go out there and run the ball behind people who are so committed to do it. CMC gives you the breakdown of that 65-yard touchdown skaper, and don't sell yourself short, Christian. He was banging off of bodies and spinning, moving, juking, staying on his feet, which is what he does so well. That lower center of gravity, and he got all the way through traffic for the touchdown.

But he's right. Iuke, not satisfied with two touchdown catches, he is streaking up the field with Christian McCaffrey and throws a block actually had to come at this funny angle. Not that he took the defender out, but that he just ran interference enough and got enough contact that CMC had room to squirt through.

So it was a total team effort and really pretty to see. Of all the offenses that look like they did not have any preseason yet, and this was their preseason, Bengals, I'm talking about you, the Niners were not one of them. Yeah, the defense was really good against Pittsburgh. In fact, only gave up 239 yards to the Steelers and sacked Kenny Pickett five times, but the offense also looked good and more than capable of doing its part with this vaunted D. As for Kenny, he goes 232 yards through the air, has a couple of interceptions, but the stats, as much as I could use them to tell the story, they won't do it justice.

They won't be adequate. Now, this was a defensive statement as well as a statement for Brock Purdy. So first Nick Bosa, who's been back with the team for all of 15 minutes, he's actually saying, and the defense really wanted this to be a strong performance for their new DC, Steve Wilks. To do that for Steve, his first time out here, to set the tone with however many three and outs we had, and I think it's just a great thing to propel us forward. He also had a message for those who don't think that Brock Purdy is the answer or should be a starter, or maybe they still consider him to be Mr.

Irrelevant. Purdy shut some haters up, so it's nice to be on a really good team. I think whenever a guy comes back from an injury and people kind of give him, they don't expect him to make another leap in the second year. I'm just happy for him. He's exactly who we thought he was.

Honestly, at first, no. I thought Brock had a good game. Made some big plays, got some explosives there and some tight windows.

We had some issues in protection, not just issues that we knew that were going in. Hope he can hold on to when those do happen, just so we don't turn it over and fumble. But I thought Brock had a healthy game. Brock goes 19 of 29, 220 yards, and as always with Purdy, his number one strength, his best asset as a quarterback.

Sure, he's accurate, he stays steady. Sometimes he just looks like he's not even playing an NFL game on national TV. Instead he looks like he's out walking the dog, judging by his facial expressions.

So I get much more flummoxed watching the dog because my dog takes forever. But anyway, forget Penny for a second. Brock Purdy, he stays so calm. But his number one quality as an effective quarterback, in my opinion, is that he doesn't need to be the man. He's not looking to pad his stats. What he does is set up his weapons. George Kittle, did I say George Kittle?

Yes, okay. George Kittle, Brandon Iuch, certainly Christian McCaffrey. And this is a guy who wants to use the people around him and is not interested in doing it all himself. That's not the kind of quarterback or the kind of leader that he is. Although he doesn't mind every now and then clapping back in his own understated way when a defender like a Patrick Peterson expects him to screw up. So Peterson said that he would have an interception off Purdy in this game between the Niners and the Steelers. And actually, Peterson was covering Brandon Iuch, who had a couple of touchdowns. So that's kind of funny. First you'll hear from Brock and then Pat P. Honestly, at first, no.

I wasn't thinking about any of that. The VA was open, did a great job on the route and got him the ball, scored a touchdown. And then the second touchdown on the right side, the deep ball. Was that on Patrick Peterson?

Yeah, that one. I was like, all right, that felt good. But it was good, man. He's a competitor.

I have nothing but respect for Patrick Peterson and everything that he does. It was there. I had the opportunity to get two picks.

I just didn't grab it in. But credit to those guys. Those guys did a great job of sticking to their game plan and really getting to their identity, which is running football, missed the restions, hit those bang gates, hit those deep stops.

That's just what they do. We just wasn't in a good enough position to make those plays. So Patrick Peterson says he'll get them next time, essentially, not backing off of it. He said, they were there. I was there.

I could have had two interceptions. I just love Pat P. Actually, it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Carlotta on our Facebook page comments the Steelers have a lot of work to do.

Yeah, they do. But it's also about their opponent. And Sandy says, so happy to see my Niners again and our powerhouse team. But she also cheered for Jimmy Garoppolo and the Raiders.

He looks good. We'll get to that game between Raiders and Broncos coming up. But how about the flip side of this game between Niners and Steelers?

Mike Tomlin and we know how big he is on running the ball and stopping the run, more so stopping the run. This is a guy who believes in a tough physical defense that can take away options, except the Steelers D allowed nearly 200 yards rushing by the Niners. Disappointing day for us. Not how we wanted to perform. And while at the same time, you know, you got to compliment those guys because it unfolded in the manner in which they desired for it to. And oftentimes in games like this, man, the teams that win, the game unfolds more to their personality than the opponent. And no question, the game unfolded in the manner in which we talked about the style of play that they like to play. As far back as I talked to you guys on on Tuesday, I thought they did a really good job of staying on schedule on offense and being in manageable third downs that allowed them to win enough of those third downs that will reduce you in those circumstances where you can't create splash on the other side of the ball. We didn't win enough possession downs to be competitive. That's all very technical. But yes, a disappointing day for the Steelers.

And I charted this because I wanted to make sure that I could bring it back. The Steelers offense, now give credit to the Niners defense, of course, and that's what Mike Tomlin is referring to when he talks about the personality of the team. The personality of the Niners is their defense. Nick Bosa injected back into that D makes a big difference, right? The Steelers offense started the season with four consecutive three and out, or no, three consecutive three and outs, a turnover, and then another three and out. That's how they started the year. Not to mention being in a 20 point hole. Najee Harris didn't pick up their first first down, so they didn't move the chains until just before halftime. They were really stymied. Kenny Pickett, we heard from Armando Salguero last hour, had a brilliant preseason. Well, I guess that's something.

And the more reps, the better. But it did not translate against San Francisco. He gets sacked five times, and he throws a couple of interceptions. You get down behind like that, it puts you in situations where you're forcing things that you shouldn't be forcing, or you're trying to make a play down to get us back. That's why the key is to stay in the game and not get down like that, where you're trying to run and gun and score.

There are so many different ways that I could go from here. We could stay in the NFC West, where the Rams and Seahawks were facing each other in Seattle. We also should talk about how the Cardinals nearly eliminated your host from the Survivor Island pool, but the Commandos pulled it out in the end with Sam Howell, who also got sacked six times. I'm telling you, I'm going to go back and add the number of sacks this weekend. The defensive linemen, the pass rushers, they seem to have a major advantage. It was brutal at times to see quarterbacks getting killed.

So why don't we do that? We'll stay in the NFC West, we'll hit those two games, and then we'll circle back. We've got to get to Dolphins-Chargers, because that was the after-hours game of the week, at least to this point. It was very compelling. In that game, four lead changes in the second half alone. Really, really scintillating, and also producing one of our, well, I guess we could say two of our Monday MVP candidates, but we have to pick one from that game. We also need to get to the Browns and the Bengals and Joe Burrow having the opposite of the preseason that Kenny Pickett did.

In his case, it really translated on the field, also in pouring down rain in Cleveland. Patriots and Eagles in Foxboro, where Tom Brady is a cheerleader now. I don't even know what to do with that. It is so weird. It was so strange to see Tom Brady next to the Kraft family and his mom, I believe, with his kiddos there too. He's clanging the bell, they've got the new bell tower, and he's cheering for the Patriots.

I'm 45 years old, man. Yeah, there's a lot of bleep going on. It was just weird. I'm not sure what was stranger.

Brady as a cheerleader and a spectator, or Jordan Love chucking passes for the Green Bay Packers. Anyway, we'll have a lot to get to. Love to hear from you. Bums.

Oh, you'll get yours. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. What did you think? Week number one, peeps. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Second and goal. From the seven and the left hash. Play clock at four. McVay creeping down the sideline. Stafford gets the play off. Hands off. Kyron left side. Jump cut. End zone.

He's done it again. Touchdown Kyron Williams. Touchdown L.A. Twelve screaming. Rams in the huddle. Fourth and goal from inside the line. Akers the single back. Stafford under center. Brings 2-2 in motion. It's a toss left to Akers. He'll go in untouched. On fourth and goal from the one.

Akers to Paydirt. And the Rams have a double digit lead. That's Matt Smith on Rams Radio. Right? Am I getting that right?

No. JB Long on Rams Radio. I knew that wasn't right the second it came out of my mouth. Oh, see, your host is still working her way back into regular season four when it comes to recognizing my play-by-play voices. But regardless, it was Rams Radio and the Rams had to rally.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, interesting to hear DK Metcalf call this a tale of two halves because it really was. Seattle scored on its first three drives of this game at home. And there was a block field goal on a Brett Maher.

He's now with the Rams. Brett Maher, 57 yard try late in the first half. And so they really did have a bunch of impressive moments in building a bit of a lead. But then in the second half, it was the Rams who scored on all five of their possessions. 2-2 at well without Cooper Cup is a great deep threat for Matthew Stafford.

Man, once Stafford got locked in, he looked like the old Matthew Gunslinger from Detroit really. Career high 119 yards for 2-2 and then the second year running back Kyron Williams with a pair of touchdowns as well. So Stafford was well over 300 yards, most of it coming in the second half. The Rams go 3 for 3 in the red zone and here's the number that blows me away. This is after the Seahawks score three times in the first half. LA still dominates time of possession by nearly 20 minutes. 20 minutes more with the football. Yeah, that's one recipe for success to be sure.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I don't know if these are the Rams who won the Super Bowl, but already even without Cooper Cup, that offense looks a lot better than at any point last season. I think one of my favorite parts about it was things didn't always go perfect in the first half and these guys just stayed steady.

They were even keeled. They just continue to pick one another up and I love the way that we handled the ebbs and flows of the game, which is exactly what occurs in football. And a lot of guys stepped up and made big time plays. I could go through a plethora of people, but I'm so proud of this team. Those guys put in a lot of hard work and I was glad that it came to fruition today.

But, you know, you got 17 opportunities that are guaranteed. And so what I think is really important is that we understand what a great job with the work that was put in, what a great job accomplishing the goal that we had today. And now how do we enjoy it? But how do we understand that what got you in those positions was the work you put in? I've seen a lot of good things at practice. Now we got to translate it on Sunday and we did that. So it's a good first start. We ain't there yet. We got to keep working.

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Keep getting better, don't be satisfied, but it was a great start. Oh, to a man. Everyone seemed to echo what Sean McVeigh had to say. Matthew Stafford, that was Aaron Donald, that it was really, it was not just a benefit, but it was a confidence boost for them to see that the work they put into it.

I would say relative obscurity over the past couple of months has come to fruition, at least in week number one. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio, as for the Seahawks, they started out with some momentum. But Geno Smith ends up under 100 yards passing.

So yeah, DK Metcalf called it a tale of two halves. Pete Carroll, you know, his enthusiasm, his general exuberance was dampened after the loss. That was a really frustrating start for us. The Rams did really well. They took care of the ball and did a nice job.

I have a lot of respect for Sean and the job that he does, and they did a heck of a job today. First half, we had the ball four times, and we got in the scoring position. We didn't get our touchdowns out of the drives. But we missed a field goal, and it felt like we were moving, and we were in control of that part of it. But the second half, we just couldn't get any first downs. We couldn't make the ball go. We just didn't execute when it comes down to it. And I'll be the first to say that, as always, you can put that on me.

You know, it's my job to make sure we're ready, that we're always prepared, we're always competing. Yeah, it was a tough day for the offense after those initial few drives. They just couldn't capitalize on opportunities after that. So the Rams and the Niners are 1-0 atop the NFC West. The Cardinals nearly made it a three-way tie atop that division, and I'm telling you what, I could not believe it. I did not change my Survivor Island pick.

I left it with the Commandos, but the Commandos took a bit to settle in as well. And in large part, it's because Sam Howell, their brand new quarterback, was under siege a bunch. The Cardinals sacked him a half dozen times. So Washington initially was able to use its run game and able to use Sam Howell's mobility to go 91 yards for a touchdown drive.

So that was early on. But then there were three turnovers after that in the first half. Howell had a fumble after a sack. It got returned by Cam Thomas for the go-ahead touchdown late in the second quarter. So yeah, this was one of those moments where the jaw drops open, and I don't think it was just me, around the NFL.

I actually was watching NFL Network at the time. And to see them kind of rave about the fact that the Cardinals were pushing the Commandos to the limit even in that first half. But roles were reversed in the second half because the points off turnovers then became an asset for Washington. And Sam Howell, again, loved the mobility that he brings to the table as quarterback. 12 minutes to go, third and goal at the seven, three wide receivers to the right, one to the left.

Antonio Gibson flares out to the right, Cardinals break four. Howell's got a good pocket, steps up, and now he's going to have to run for it, at the five, cuts back, into the end zone! Touchdown! Touchdown, Washington! Sam Howell, a seven-yard scamper. A little bit of redemption for Sam. It's been a rough game for him. Coming up to see the young quarterback be able to put some points up on the board by his feet. That's the call on the Washington commanders radio network.

So yeah, they're able to get a six-yard rumble. It was a tough run by Sam Howell. And then the D comes up with the final stop to prevent the Cardinals from taking the lead again.

A close call for many in survivor pools. For us, well for me, on Survivor Island, I'm pleased that I made it to week number two. But also pleased that you see the leadership come through there with Washington. So the defense able to make that lead stand up. But Sam Howell, he was bold, he was aggressive, he was taking charge. Even when things weren't going his way, I like that he's not hesitant.

That's not something you see. And they were able to capitalize on Arizona mistakes. Kyler Murray on the sidelines with a headset. While Josh Dobbs is starting for the Cardinals. At least Washington has been sure about its quarterback now since the end of last season.

For about six months, right? They've not wavered with Sam Howell. Remember when Ron Rivera initially said that Howell would be their starting quarterback. Or that he would start the offseason as QB one. There was a lot of head scratching, some eyebrow raising.

But you can see why they like him. He's growing into the position. Two main mistakes. I had some mistakes for sure in the game.

I think everyone was kind of taking their turn of different mistakes. I just think collectively as a group, we've got to be better. He's going to learn and grow.

And that's the thing about this. He's our guy and we're going to support him. But as a whole collective, we could do a better job just staying on track and helping him out.

So Terry McLaurin vouching for his quarterback. And of course he is going to grow. He hasn't had a ton of game reps. A few, right? A couple of starts under his belt. But he's still learning. And the six sacks and being under siege don't help.

But he does have a lot of weapons around him. Brian Robinson with a big game. 19 carries, about 60 yards there. And then was able also to catch one pass for a touchdown actually. And so it was one of those kind of one step forward, two step back games.

Yes. That's what I meant to say. But they avoid the loss which, you know, the win is the most important thing.

As for the Cardinals, I wouldn't say they're treading water until Kyler Murray gets back. But yeah, I mean, they're not looking for the sun, the moon and the stars from Joshua Dobbs. I think they made a couple of plays there. They had a few takeaways, I think. And they scored after the one takeaway.

But, you know, just execution. They made more plays than us. On offense, we got finished drives. We got to score touchdowns.

And that starts with me. So especially with the turnovers. Just executing better situationally.

So maybe we could practice ahead and we'll continue to push forward. Did you notice how much inconsistency we saw in week number one? Certainly not every single team. The Dallas Cowboys were dominant from start to finish. Though their offense really wasn't required to do a whole lot outside of the run game.

Zach Martin looks great, by the way, after getting into camp a little bit late. We know the Niners were able to manhandle the Steelers and that one wasn't real competitive. The Browns had their way with the Bengals. The Bengals had, get this, we'll talk about this game coming up, 300 yards punting in the first half. 300 punting yards in the first half in Cleveland.

That's not supposed to be a thing. They could not buy a completion. They couldn't get away from the pressure.

Joe Burrow could not. So there were some games that were lopsided. But a lot of what we saw was a tale of two halves. Or a good spurt, a positive spurt. As I say, one step forward only to have a bunch of inconsistency following that. And that really is the story of the first month. It's a race to consistency. You have to be able to find a rhythm, find a flow. But there's no shortcut to that.

There really isn't. And with the number of starters that either sit out the preseason or only play sparingly. Only take a few snaps here and there. Well, that's what the first month of the season becomes. Is this kind of de facto run up. It's our intro to the NFL season in 2023.

Alright, what do I want to do next? Straight ahead, you know what, let's talk Chargers and Dolphins. Had four lead changes in the second half. And maybe we'll get to a little more of the AFC West with Jimmy G's debut for the Raiders. Sean Payton's debut as the head coach of the Broncos.

That one boiling down to one point in Denver. Glad to have you with us. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio.

What'd you think of week number one? A lot of you weighing in on Facebook too. It's After Hours. Well, well, well. Shopping for a car? Yep. Carvana made financing a car as smooth as can be.

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get pre-qualified today with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Garoppolo, shotgun snap, fires the slant. It's Tom Myers at the goal line.

He leads in. Touchdown Raiders. Jacoby Myers on the slant with his second touchdown grab and his silver and black debut. And the Raiders with an extra point will take the lead here in Denver. It's a football feeding frenzy.

After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Jimmy Garoppolo wins. Isn't that what Kyle Shanahan has said to us over and over again? Well, his team won its debut. His new team won its season debut. This was actually a first for both Jimmy Garoppolo in a Raiders uniform and Sean Payton in a Broncos uniform. And did you see how Sean introduced himself to the Broncos fans there in Denver?

So crazy stuff. You better buckle up Broncos fans if this is what he has in store. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Let's back up the truck just a little bit. You hear the end of the game where the Raiders were able to take a one point lead and then protect that. And it was because Jimmy Garoppolo threw the ball, had a good connection with another former Patriot in Jacoby Myers and because he was able to scramble for the last first down so the ball never went back to the Broncos to give them another look. But as for Denver's new head coach, he begins the game as in the very first kick of the game. To kick off to your opponent, I didn't even know you could do this. He started with an onside kick as in that's how he started the game. Not after they had a possession, after they scored. No, he actually made the opening kick in which the Broncos, and I don't know if they won the coin flip and deferred, whatever it was, he decided they would kick off but barely they tried an onside kick. It was something we discussed, if we won the toss we were going to defer, then obviously we wanted it kicked over on our sidelines. So, you know, it was just one of those things that we felt percentage wise, we felt pretty good about the odds.

Huh, there's the answer. It was a plan. It was actually drawn up. One of the first 15 plays should they win the toss and defer. Well, Las Vegas didn't mind the short field. A scoring drive right out of the gate because they didn't have to go very far. They were spreading the ball around, they were mixing in the run and it was Jacoby Myers' first touchdown after the onside kick.

I don't know if that makes Sean Payton less likely to do it again but now the entire NFL knows what's in his possible playbook. Russell Wilson looked good. Well, he looked better than what he did all of last year.

Right? He had a 14 play drive that goes 86 yards and get this, I wouldn't have ever considered Russell Wilson to be a game manager, one of those quarterbacks who is a ball possession guy but the Broncos kept the ball for 9 minutes on that drive. It was a monster and honestly that really set the tone for the rest of the game. There were very few possessions in this game compared to say, Dolphins and Chargers. So lots of options for Wilson as well. And considering that they lost so many wide receivers and had so many wide receivers get injured during the preseason, it was good to see different options step up like Lil' Jordan Humphrey who had a touchdown grab. So Denver was actually up by 3 points at the half after Russell Wilson had his second touchdown pass and Jimmy Garoppolo, I bet there were some gloaters out there, throws an interception in the third quarter and it looks like everything is breaking Denver's way except for the onside kick. Once again, the Broncos go the ball possession route, a 16 play drive that goes another 8 minutes, except here's the kicker.

Well, and I don't even mean that as a pun. They end up settling for a field goal after taking 4 snaps inside the 20. This was a problem for them last year was the red zone offense. They could not get the ball into the end zone. And by leaving that door wide open and only taking a 6 point lead, so remember they were up 13-10, they tack on the field goal, they're up 16-10.

But that means that the Raiders can take the lead with a touchdown. And they really use their veterans. So this is what I like about the creativity of Josh McDaniels.

He wants to use a lot of different options. We saw that a ton when he was with the Patriots as their OC forever. And Jimmy Garoppolo can make most of the throws. And so they use guys like Devante Adams.

And you have to pick your poison with them. Devante Adams, Jacoby Myers, Austin Hooper is a veteran. He's the one that gets them into the red zone. And then it's Jacoby with the second touchdown that you heard there on the Raiders radio network.

In those final five minutes, once again, the Raiders are able to move the ball just enough to run out the clock. This was not pretty, but it was effective. And it was a win. And Josh McDaniels will take those. So yeah, a division win at that. And the first one for Garoppolo in the silver and black.

Really proud. I thought a lot of guys stepped up today. Like you said, it wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect by any means. But I mean, it's a division game. We know it's going to be tough. And guys just stuck with it for 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be one of those games.

And it was cool. I liked our mental toughness. I liked how we handled adversity.

You know, we had some things certainly that, you know, we got to clean up and we want to fix and make better. But the fight of our team, I thought we hung together. I thought our leadership was great on the sideline.

So Josh McDaniels, Jimmy Garoppolo, pre-existing relationship. Josh Jacobs had a tumultuous preseason, but was out there on the field. He didn't have a lot of room to run. In fact, neither running game really got going. But 19 carries for 48 rushing yards for him. And most importantly, already picking up one AFC West win. To me, every game is big. But when it's in the division, it just feels like it means a little more.

So, you know, just to be able to come out and get a win, especially the way we did, I think it's a huge confidence booster for the team. So the Raiders now have Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback, who's different than Derek Carr, right? So Derek Carr, we'll talk about his debut with the Saints. Derek is a gunslinger.

Derek is a sometimes throw first, think second. That's not Jimmy Garoppolo. Again, he's a game manager and there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, he's a game manager who generally is on the right side of things. And if he can, he and Josh McDaniels can find that rhythm and they can not only work the game plan, I wouldn't say to perfection because that's not fair in sports, but they can work the game plan to the point where they're able to take what the defense gives them.

It's not flashy, doesn't need to be. It just needs to be effective and they need to not turn the ball over, which has been the crux with Garoppolo at times. Now, as for the Broncos, Russell Wilson looked better. The offense looked better. And you would expect that it would continue to grow from this point forward. And it is a positive that they were still hanging around at the end of the game.

Yet still Broncos fans probably wanted to see a win there at their own stadium. We felt like we had opportunities. We've got to go watch the film and see what we can do better.

I think there's going to definitely be some things. But like I said, I think that we played the type of football we want to be able to play and being versatile and everything else. And, you know, we just got to make one more play.

17-16, the final score. Again, one of those games in which it's inconsistent offense, where you see stretches and kind of flashes of what they can do. And yet very few teams are anywhere close to a nice comfort zone. But I thought it was interesting that Denver, in its defense, while it did hold Garoppolo and the Raiders to just 17 points, you had Randy Gregory admitting that at times they were guessing wrong.

At times they were game planning and didn't see what they expected. We didn't get a lot of, in my opinion, dropback looks from him. And, you know, when you get so used to the run game, run game, play action pass, you're just not ready sometimes for him to drop back. Jimmy Garoppolo, shocking people.

I mean, 17 points. But, yeah, not only did he drop back, but he also stepped up. He had good movement around the pocket and the big first down at the end of the game. That was impressive.

That was cool. What I see with him is he's been through so much in his career, a lot of uncertainty. He's had to handle a lot of adversity that's been thrown at him. Not just the injuries, but the will here won't he start in San Francisco, seeing the Niners go out and get another guy who was supposed to take his place, who is now with the Dallas Cowboys. I mean, Garoppolo, he's had to ride this tumultuous wave now.

I know I used that word for Josh Jacobs when they share a backfield. He's had to ride this wave and never really sure of what was coming next, not to mention rehabbing from the injuries. Except that it's turned him into a mature leader. It's turned him into a guy who is steady and who will take it as it comes and can be effective in that game-managing role. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio.