Armando Salguero | NFL Senior Writer, Outkick

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. We are pleased to welcome Armando Salguero from Outkick who was there sampling the churros at halftime. I need to know whether or not you put whipped cream on your churros, Armando. No, I did not use the whipped cream on the churros, especially the whipped cream that comes out of a can like an aerosol spray. And I definitely didn't use the chocolate either, if that's what you're asking.

So I kept the calories down to 5 billion. Well you had to have something to keep you entertained. I thought it was really funny that people kept asking the Giants what went wrong, when one I really wanted to know from Brian Dayballs what went right. So seriously, did anything go right for the Giants? Not much. I mean, you fumble it five times.

Let me put it to you this way. Let's find the thing that went right. They fumbled it five times. They only lost one, the first one.

So they steadily improved in not fumbling it to the point of losing possession. Oh my gosh. How's that? Alright, that's good.

I like the creativity. So what impressed you the most about the Cowboys then? Well their defense is just, it comes at you in waves. You know, they've always had playmakers in Demarcus Lawrence and Diggs has been now a three or four year veteran and someone that they count on. But now Steve, you know, they've got Stephon Gilmore there and he had an interception and Micah Parsons is getting better if that's possible.

They're coming at people in multiple waves. They had seven sacks tonight by five people. So it's not like it's a one man show. It's pretty impressive. Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator, had been talking about how that is a defense that was steadily improving throughout training camp.

Micah Parsons talked about how he could see it in training camp where every day there was tangible improvement. Yeah, okay. I get it.

You know, I get it. It was ugly and I'd rather not be Daniel Jones tonight. No doubt he's got some bumps and some bruises. Now on the flip side for Dallas, I know the offense wasn't necessary, I guess. They didn't really have to be great on offense, so kind of a soft place to land.

There was a great margin for error. But no turnovers, no sacks, a couple of rushing touchdowns. Man, that offensive line also looks really good.

Yeah, and that's the thing. It was crappy weather for everybody, right? And so the Giants are fumbling the ball. The Cowboys weren't.

The Giants are throwing it to the wrong color uniform. The Cowboys weren't. There was no real mistakes by the Cowboys that you could just go, aha, aha. That's going to be a problem going forward if they don't address it.

I don't see a problem going forward if they don't address it. I mean, new problems may crop up, but there weren't a lot that showed themselves tonight. They ran the ball late in the game when they needed to run the ball, and the Giants knew that they wanted to run the ball. Tony Pollard finished with 70 yards on 14 carries. Let me keep doing quick math. That's five yards a carry.

That's pretty good. And the whole deal with Dak has been don't throw interceptions. Dak, don't throw interceptions. Dak, don't throw interceptions. Dak didn't throw an interception.

He didn't. So, you know, one down, 16 to go. Just out of curiosity, Armando, are you staying for the Monday night game between the Bills and the Jets? Absolutely. I'm double dipping in New York, rather, you know, East Rutherford, but whatever.

I'm going to call it New York. I wonder if they'll recycle the churros that didn't get eaten tonight. Well, I can guarantee you, and I know firsthand, they all got eaten.

Oh, okay. You were monitoring. You had nothing else to watch, so you were monitoring churros. Armando Salguero is in the New York City area, actually not that far from our CBS Sports Radio headquarters, and will be there for Bills and Jets on Monday. He's covering the NFL for Outkick again this year.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. The San Francisco 49ers definitely flexed their muscles. Also, a lopsided affair against Pittsburgh. What stood out about the Niners who just got Nick Bosa back and just got Brock Purdy back? Right, so what stood out is that the preseason doesn't matter. Except if you're the Bengals.

Yeah, seriously. It was a non-factor in this game. All preseason long, we heard that the Pittsburgh Steelers were having a great camp. Obviously, TJ Watt, not injured, not unsigned, having a great camp. Kenny Pickett actually had a perfect preseason. I believe his quarterback rating for the preseason was 158.3.

Come on! And it doesn't get better than that. That's the max. That's the perfect quarterback rating. Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, the 49ers are dealing with the Trey Lance saga. Is he happy or not? Is he going to be the backup or not?

What's going on there? And then he's traded and they're dealing with the Brock Purdy injury situation where he's on a pitch count. Up until last week, by the way, on a pitch count because he had the UCL surgery in the elbow and he was still in the middle of the whole program. And they had Nick Bosa unsigned up until Wednesday. And so they were team drama and stuff not all fully together in the preseason. The Steelers were 3-0 in the preseason and perfect quarterback guy. And the 49ers just demolished them today.

It was like an early version of tonight. I did like the fact that TJ Watt, though, had three sacks. I mean, serving notice that he is ready to go. He and Nick Bosa actually may end up vying. Well, maybe Micah Parsons, too, could end up vying for that Defensive Player of the Year award just the way that they came out of the gate roaring was really impressive.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We had three rookie quarterbacks make their debuts. I'm not sure how much you saw of them, Armando, but is there one that impressed you or is there one that you think maybe got his rookie mistakes out there? Well, I mean, they kind of all got their rookie mistakes out there and I don't believe they're done. You know, it's going to be a long season in my estimation for those three guys. And that's not because they're not good players. It's because they're rookie NFL quarterbacks and they all have a lot to learn. Even, you know, the number one overall pick, Bryce Young, even the third of them that only played 13 college games, Anthony Richardson, all those guys are going to have some moments that are going to make you cringe this year. And I don't believe that the Indianapolis Colts or the Carolina Panthers or the Houston Texans are thinking, oh, my gosh, our quarterbacks are not winning games for us.

We're we made a mistake. What they're looking for is a little bit of development and a little bit of improvement. And this year is about, you know, getting your your foundation under you as a rookie quarterback and then mattering and doing those other things like thinking about winning games for teams, you know, in the coming years.

I know that you are a Florida guy and you spent time covering the Florida teams previously now without kick, of course, as a senior NFL writer. But the two story lines since he got into the NFL is fascinating. It's had some highs.

It's had some lows. He spent this off season trying to make sure he could withstand hits, but also to learn how not to get hit so he wouldn't suffer more concussions. And then he goes out in week number one and chucks the ball for, oh, my gosh, nearly 500 yards. Just amazing performance by him and the connection with Tyreek Hill.

How confident are you into in 2023 Armando? Well, I'm really confident when he's throwing the ball to Tyreek Hill because Tyreek Hill is just, you know, he's vying for you know, he's already the fastest guy in the NFL. He's trying to be the best wide receiver in the NFL, and it's going to be hard to argue against him. I know that there are a lot of great wide receivers in the NFL.

I understand that. Justin Jefferson and 15 other guys. But Tyreek Hill is just, he's another level of fast, another level of dynamic. And I think he went off for 215 receiving yards today. And the thing about Hill is that when he gets open, he gets open immediately. And that is very important to the Miami Dolphins offense because they don't have a great offensive line. They do rely on a lot of timing, and a lot of it is two-step and throw. And that's the way that the Chargers were not able, you know, to get to Tua. That's the way that they want to run their offense. And with Tyreek Hill, he's a perfect fit because do what you will, but he's going to get open and he's going to do it in a blink of an eye at the snap of the ball.

And that protects Tua Tonga-Wailoa. Everybody says that, you know, the Dolphins will be fine if Tua is durable and plays all the games. And that's true because in the past, he hasn't been able to do that. And that's been the biggest question mark about him going all the way back to Alabama. Well, if he's taken two steps and throwing the football, chances are pretty good that he's probably going to not get hit nearly as often as, you know, most quarterbacks.

And that raises his chances of not getting hurt. We have seen a bunch of quarterbacks change teams, not just the rookies who are now starting, but Baker Mayfield in Tampa. Obviously, Aaron Rodgers, who you will see. I love this AFC East.

It's stacked, too. It's going to be so dramatic this year. But how about Jordan Love? Do you think they've forgotten about Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay already? No. They haven't forgotten about Aaron Rodgers.

Not yet! Let's wait until maybe next week. OK? I mean, that was 17 years of pretty good, you know, quarterback play by Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. One game by Jordan Love does not erase it all. But how annoying is it going to be for the rest of the NFC North if the Packers go from Hall of Famer to Hall of Famer to now Jordan Love off on a great footing to the start of his career as the starter?

It's like, what? I mean, it's been 30 years. Can they find a bad quarterback and play that guy for a while?

Maybe. We'll see. You told me just to pump the brakes there on week number one, so fine. Maybe I'll pump the brakes just a little. Armando, before I let you go, is there something else?

I won't say is there. What else jumps out at you about week number one? Well, I mean, we're going to we're going to see the master tomorrow, right? We're going to see if the master is actually the master when he's playing at 39 years old. And I'm talking about Aaron Rodgers and his left tackle is 38 years old and his right tackle is young, but has hasn't played.

But maybe two games in the last two seasons. That's that's a question mark because 39 year old quarterbacks don't like to get hit. And 38 year old left tackles and durability problem right tackle is not the formula for keeping your 39 year old quarterback from getting hit. So my guess is that the Buffalo Bills will decide, let's see if Aaron Rodgers likes to get hit or not, and they'll do things that might, you know, put Aaron under some duress.

And either he'll respond by just, you know, destroying their blitz like he has been able to do in the past or he'll shrink from the from, you know, the problem because he's getting hit. That's the way you beat old quarterbacks. Oh, you hit them. That's how you beat the old dude. You beat them. You actually beat them like like like a drum like a drum. Yeah, that's it.

I was going with the racehorse thing. Oh, yeah. No, don't do that. That's politically incorrect.

Yeah, don't do that. Well, I would like you to know I just checked the forecast because I live about 15 minutes north of MetLife Stadium. I know it's been soggy, but the rain is supposed to be gone by the time Monday Night Football kicks off. So maybe you'll have churros and dry weather or maybe the Jets will come up with a different snack like cupcakes at halftime.

Oh, goody. So my walk from the parking lot to the press box will be, you know, dry instead of, you know, me arriving there like a wet dog. Give me a towel.

Give me a towel. Well, just make sure you take the stairs if you're going to be eating all these halftime snacks. No elevator. I'm going to take the stairs up to the press box which is like in the third ring of heaven. It is.

It definitely is. I tell you what, the last time I went to MetLife, it was the 2020 season and there were no fans as in not even one. It was so eerily quiet.

It was like Armageddon had happened or the rapture, one or the other. Yeah, it was not something I ever wanted to experience again, but I'm glad that there'll be a lot of fans there in a fun atmosphere on Monday night. So Armando is sticking around. You want to find him on Twitter at Armando Salguero and he is one of our favorites. He staying up late with us tonight covering the NFL for Outkick.

You can also see him on Fox News. Always good to catch up with you. We will talk again soon, Armando.

Happy NFL season. All right, Amy. Always a pleasure talking to you.

Always your pleasure talking to me. Absolutely. I wouldn't doubt that. I wouldn't dispute that or doubt that.

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