After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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All lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash odyssey podcast now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash odyssey podcast. We're through our first show of the work week. I've only got three this week.

I am definitely in countdown mode. Two and a half more shows, 1700 mile drive, a rehearsal, and then wedding day. What, what? Actually, lot of family and friends. Well, I shouldn't overemphasize. All of my family and friends, except for my mom, are flying into Texas because of the fact that we're doing the wedding in Texas.

The other side doesn't have to fly, which is cool, but my side does. And so we've got a lot of people who are showing up on Saturday. Some people even showing up before that Friday. Be kind of cool to see so many people I haven't seen in a really long time and to have them all in the same place. My friend Julie said to me on Sunday in a text, I know you and what you're going to want to do is greet everyone. Let everyone know how much you appreciate them being there. You want everyone to have a good time.

You want to check in with everyone. That's what you do. Please try to forget about doing that on Sunday and just recognize that we all want you to have a good time. And this is about celebrating you so you don't need to make the rounds and check on everyone. I'm like, ah, that is kind of what I would be doing. I would be going around to make sure we spoke to everyone that everyone was having a good time. And the number of people who've said to me, you aren't going to remember everything or either that or you're not going to remember anything has been disconcerting. I will remember if there are no flowers at my wedding.

So that countdown is definitely on. Thank you because so many of you have asked both on Twitter and Facebook and you've offered help. Some of you have even said, if you tell me where they are, I'll go get them for you. Ah, well, therein lies the problem. I have no idea where they are. The United States Postal Service either doesn't update its tracking or doesn't care to update its tracking, one or the other. But the boxes have no new tracking information.

I mean, we're talking four days now with no updated tracking. So I have no idea where they are. I am working with our friend who's decorating on a backup plan and we're going to be minimalist when it comes to flowers if these do not show up. So disappointing.

Also, my mom's birthday present is in one of the boxes. Certainly disappointing. And I've spent a fair number of days being sad slash anxious over it. However, I've chosen to focus on everything else around the wedding.

There's the last few phone calls and payments, of course, to make and seating chart to design and all of that. So I'm focusing on the positives and just waiting for those flowers to make their fashionably late entrance. But thank you because so many of you have written to me and reached out to me and asked and offered prayers and support. You're very kind. There's so many other more important things in this world. And I appreciate that you care about this little detail for me and my wedding. And I love flowers.

I keep reminding God, you know how much I love flowers. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. On Twitter, A Law Radio, we've got your chance to weigh in and vote for Monday MVP. But also, in light of what happened on Sunday Night Football, do you believe in the Cowboys now? Now do you think they're legitimate?

Some of you drive a hard bargain. One guy on Facebook says not until they win multiple games in the playoffs. Oh, OK. Then you believe in them.

Gotcha. So you'll believe in them essentially when they get to the Super Bowl. At the very least, the NFC championship. But some of you are saying, yes, they're in Fuego.

They've they're locked in all those things. And we knew the defense was there. But to have the complementary offense, in fact, an offense that right now is in this mode where you just expect two touchdown passes from Dak Prescott least. One of them must go to C.D.

Lamb. I mean, this is now where you can see that people actually do believe because the expectations are higher. So that to me is an indication that the Cowboys are selling people because the expectations are higher.

Not across the board. Some of you are hesitant. I can understand that.

But many of you, you're raising the bar for these Cowboys, which is a dead giveaway. So you can answer that question. And take our Monday MVP poll again on our Twitter, after our CBS or my Twitter, and then also on our Facebook page, our phone number 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I hope you don't mind just going to get off the beaten path a little bit here. L.A. sports certainly the center of attention this weekend. And we had just spoken with Michael Duarte of NBC L.A. on Wednesday night when he joined us.

This was my last show of last week. And we kind of hit the gamut with him. So the Lakers do end up finishing as the inaugural champions of the in-season tournament. So the Lakers fly high and LeBron James is the MVP.

I didn't even know they had an MVP of the in-season tournament. But the Lakers capitalize on their trip to Vegas. The Rams are still in playoff mode. They're still right there in contention for a playoff spot, which is more than we could say for the Chargers. So a lot going on with L.A. sports.

We'll get to that coming up. And then the big news, Shohei Ohtani chooses the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani goes from the Angels to the cross town big brother. And the Angels do have a World Series championship in their past. And they do certainly have a history of spending a lot of money. They've got some big time free agents and athletes who've gone through their organization. But we know the Dodgers right now are the team to beat in L.A. It's a little bit like Lakers Clippers.

That dynamic, though, maybe not as far back. So Ohtani and his camp announce it in a post on their social media. And the eye popping numbers, even though he will not pitch next season.

Probably even gaudier than what many people expected. So Shohei uses his Instagram page to announce this decision on Saturday. And he writes to all the fans and everyone involved in the baseball world. I apologize for taking so long to come to a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team. And how about this, Will Smith, member of the Dodgers himself, reacts the next day on Sirius XM MLB radio. Crazy, obviously. You know, I think everybody on Twitter has been waiting for his decision and all that. You keep seeing it.

Yeah, I was just at home, you know, just kind of pops up on this pop up on my phone breaking news thing. And I was, you know, I was excited. You know, any chance you get to add, you know, great talent around you to make your team better is is fun and it's exciting. And, you know, he's he's the best player in baseball.

So no doubt, you know, we got better as a team yesterday. You know, I'm just kind of looking forward to this year and, you know, playing alongside of him and all the other good teammates we have. Will Smith, the Dodgers, you've got to imagine they're ecstatic. Now, before we let you hear from Jim Bowden, who has some insider intel on Otani to the Dodgers, couple of things to note. Probably one thing you did not know about his contract. But the first thing is there are no opt outs, no club opt outs, no player opt outs, no early exits. So many contracts these days in pro sports, especially these large ones. Like, for instance, the Giancarlo Stanton has one built in, though probably not as early as the Yankees would like. There are no opt outs in this deal.

And I'm going to use my air quotations here. It's only 10 years that actually I think is significant, considering the number of 12 and 13 year deals we've seen. This is not a 12 year deal like the one given to his former teammate Mike Trout. It's not a 13 year deal given to, gosh, name one, besides Giancarlo, Manny Machado. Doesn't Bryce Harper have one that's 13 years? So that's become all the rage, lucky number 13 in Major League Baseball, but this is quote unquote only 10 years. And yet it's still the largest contract in baseball history by more than a quarter billion dollars.

I don't even think you have a pulse if you don't react to that, some kind of a reaction to that. Now, if you take it and do the simple math. It's 10 years, 700 million dollars and yes, fully guaranteed. Absolutely every last penny of that money is fully guaranteed.

Deshaun Watson, eat your heart out. But here's the here's the part that maybe you didn't know. According to multiple sources, if you read, do some reading. And I'm going to use the term that's been used by the different reports out there. The majority of the contract, which is what, more than 350 million of it. If it's the majority, that means it's more than half. The majority of it, which generally doesn't mean half, right?

Like usually if you're saying half, you would say half. But at least 350 million dollars of the contract is deferred. Meaning he's not actually making 70 million dollars a year.

He's not. Instead, a lot of it's pushed back either toward the end of the contract or after he's done playing. So that the Dodgers have flexibility.

So that they can spend money elsewhere. Did you know that Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman also have contracts that feature largely deferred payouts? It's a staple for a lot of teams that are willing to pay the bulk of the money. But need a little flexibility in the beginning.

So it's not as punitive early, but it hammers you late. But here's the trade off though. The Dodgers are going to make money hand over fist by having Otani in their uniform. The Dodgers are going to make enormous amounts of money on Otani. His jersey sales, the ticket sales, not just home but on the road. Now the Dodgers obviously don't get a cut of the gate on the road.

But he's that popular. All of a sudden you've got millions of Japanese baseball fans and Japanese citizens who are fans of the Dodgers. If you will, this is a little bit like Taylor Swift making a legion of her fans new Chiefs fans.

A little bit like that. Now the majority of people in Japan, or the majority of baseball fans in Japan are probably familiar with the Dodgers. But this makes them root for the Dodgers. Which means they also buy jerseys. Maybe they even buy plane tickets and come to the United States for games.

Right? Think about how Americans go to London and to Germany to watch their favorite teams play. If you're a fan, and I get it, it's across the ocean, a very large ocean, a cavernous ocean.

But it is still the easiest metro to get to from Japan. And so I could see there being Japanese tourists who go to LA simply to watch Otani play. So you're talking ticket sales, you're talking jerseys, you're talking about the Dodgers making money by being able to market Otani.

Right? Did you know he also makes $40 million a year in endorsements? I mean that's Tom Brady type money. That's Phil Mickelson type money.

Tiger Woods in his heyday. He made more money, believe it or not, in endorsements than he did on the PGA Tour. I don't know if it's Peyton Manning money, but it's $40 million a year in endorsements alone. And so he is going to earn a ton of cash for the Dodgers. And then if they win a World Series, oh, they'll actually make more money on Otani than they're paying him.

That's how it goes. It's lucrative. Not to mention the number of times they're going to be on national TV. The money that they can now charge extra for their own regional TV network advertising. They're going to make plenty of money on Otani. According to USA Today baseball insider Bob Nightingale, already the cheapest ticket for Dodgers opening day at Chavez Ravine is $359 bucks. There's going to be no way to get in there unless you fork over a ton of cash.

It was already an expensive ticket because of how popular it is. They're going to make beaucoup bucks on Otani. Now, let's get a little more of the inside story from Jim Bowden. Jim Bowden, Jim Bowden. I go back and forth like Bobby Bowden, Florida State member. Anyway, Sirius XM MLB radio, the former front office executive. They were never two teams in this race. I think all along he wanted to be a Dodger.

I do. There really wasn't another option for him that I think checked all the boxes he was looking for. Number one, I know his number one goal always was to win world championships. He wants to play in the World Series. That's what Shohei wants to do. He looks at the long history of the Dodgers under this leadership and he knows you have as good a chance with the Dodgers of any team in baseball.

And so they check that box. Number two, he loves Southern California. He loves the West Coast.

He loves living in in the Newport Beach area, which he could still live there if you want to buy another home near Dodger Stadium, Pasadena or whatever he wants to do. But geographically, it checked the box. Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes checked the box of great leadership. The farm system is loaded with trade pieces that they can trade and get whatever they want.

They are committed to the farm system and they and Andrew Friedman knows how to trade with the best of them. So that was checked. The his doctor, Dr. Neil Eletresh is based out of L.A. The closest ballpark to Dr. Neil Eletresh's office is Dodger Stadium and he goes to the ballpark often. So he's right there. I like the way that Jim Bowden breaks it down.

Why do I keep doing that now? Sorry, Jim. Jim's actually been on the show. It's like one of those things you get in my head and it's Greg Kittle.

Actually, I'm so proud of myself every time I say George. He makes a great case for the Dodgers and no doubt the Dodgers did the same thing with Shohei Ohtani. All the reasons why. Last year, was it 100? Well, 2022 was 111 wins, right? 21, it was 106 wins. They won the World Series in the shortened 2020 campaign, but 106 wins the year before that in 2019. Can you remind me how many they won in this past season? I believe it was 100.

Let me double check. OK, so they've had triple digit wins in four of their past five seasons and the season they didn't, they end up with the World Series rings the championship. It was 100 this past year, yeah. And they won the NL West again. We're talking a decade of dominance in the NL West. They've been to multiple World Series and they won in 2020.

Now, I get it. The last two years, they flamed out early and that's why they won Ohtani. But think about that lineup.

Holy cow. And like Jim was saying, they have the pieces and the front office that will only go improve it if it needs to be improved. Do you wonder if Cody Bellinger feels left out? He's going to get probably a nice contract himself. $700 million fully guaranteed for Shohei Ohtani. And trust me, in the economic world that the Dodgers and Major League Baseball inhabit, he is worth every penny.

We'll talk more about that coming up in the next couple of shows, and I'd love to get your reaction to it. But on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, coming up we'll hit the other LA football team, the Chargers who may have lost their quarterback again. Raise your hand if you knew Easton Stick was the backup QB for the Chargers. They used to play hockey with an Easton Stick. JIC, your hand.

It's probably not the same one. That was the company. And then we're going to get to Lions and Bears and. Oh, Lions and Bears and Falcons. Oh, my. Well, it's really more about the Bucks, but the Bucks didn't fit in that sequence.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us on what is rapidly morphing into your Monday morning. Oh, ow. I know you like my sound effects. I just I can't do it like Patrick Mahomes. Did you see him slam his helmet to the ground on Sunday afternoon? That was sweet. Actually, he was ticked.

Don't let him fool you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Ball now at the charger, 46 yard line as Wilson has him at the line of scrimmage, Humphrey inside of Sutton slot right. It is Trotman inside of Judy slot left. Russ takes the snap. Luxury's left now looks he's right forever to throw the ball steps up now throws a deep ball. He wants Cortland Sutton in the end zone. Cortland goes up and makes the catch. Touchdown, Denver penalty flag thrown. Michael Davis will get a pass interference call as Cortland, much like an NBA power forward, just blocked out. Davis caught the ball from here.

It looked like with one arm. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Dave Logan on Broncos radio, 10th receiving touchdown of the year for Cortland Sutton, courtesy of Russell Wilson.

Quite the connection those two have. I'm not sure anyone's going to compare it to Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey just yet, but 10 touchdowns among the best in the NFL this season. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. This a game between the Broncos and Chargers in L.A. at SoFi Stadium and Justin Herbert not looking quite like himself.

Here's the question. What does this mean for Kellen Moore? The Chargers are so bad. And I know Austin Eckler has not been the same. Keenen Allen's had a couple of injuries.

I get it. They've got guys who are on and off the field. But Kellen Moore was brought in as the new offensive coordinator for the express purpose of helping Justin Herbert and the offense get to the next level.

And it has been the exact opposite. So as they lose to the Broncos, 24 to 7, not only does the tenure of Brandon Staley get shorter by another week, but Herbert is out late in the second quarter because of what was reportedly a dislocated finger. I think it was after the throw, you know, I can't remember whether it got hit on a helmet or whether it hit on someone's shoulder pads.

But I just remember coming up and, you know, it wasn't feeling right. We're taking it one week at a time. You know, obviously not the result that we want today, but we're going to know more as the week goes on. And whether I can play or whether I can't, I know the team has full faith in Easton Stick. And, you know, I thought they battled today.

So we're looking forward to the next matchup. Easton Stick, not a rookie, not a first or second year guy. He's been there for quite a while, as long as Herbert has, as a matter of fact. And so he knows the Brandon Staley offense well.

He goes nine of 17, throws a pick, gets sacked four times, got thrust into action with very little notice. I haven't played in a while, but that's part of the job. And look, I've been here for, this is five years, and I've got to watch Justin, I've watched Phillip play and play really well. And that's the standard.

And so, you know, just went in there and went out there and tried to compete, do the best I can. How about that throwback to the Phillip Rivers era? Remember that one? And the Chargers, they do not look like that offense anymore. I mean, it's unfortunate because Herbert is one of the great talents in the NFL. He's had some injuries this year that he's dealing with. But man, the man could chuck a football.

He's so talented. And yet this offense is so bad. Brandon Staley, can you please explain that? It's just been a combination of things. You know, our guys have competed the whole way. You know, certainly today when you lose Justin, that's going to affect, you know, the outcome.

But we've just been a little bit off and, you know, today wasn't good enough. You know, and our guys are going to have to dig in. You know, we still have games left to compete. You know, we're not out of it yet. And we're going to have to dig in and compete on Thursday night.

I will say this. The Broncos defense gets a ton of credit. They are dynamic right now.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. They hold the Chargers to 0 for 12 on third down. 0 for 12?

I kind of feel like you get to 0 for 10 and you should just give up the ghost. 0 for 12 on third down. 1 of 6 on fourth down. So how about this? Combine the two, third and fourth down.

1 for 18. It might be as bad as Vikings and Raiders dueling to the death and the 3-0 finish. The Broncos also get multiple turnovers, two takeaways, and six sacks of these Chargers QBs. So as the Chargers fall to 5-8, wait, wait for it, wait for it. The Broncos are a game back in the AFC West. This was supposed to be Chiefs, Chargers, maybe Raiders, though I'm not sure anybody was super sold on them. And then Broncos bring it up the rear because Sean Payton's a jerk, right?

Isn't that what everybody was talking about pre-season? Except they have won six of their last seven, they're above.500, and it's like sunshine and roses in Denver right now. You've got to finish the last quarter strong. I think the best thing that we can do is stay focused on us and playing our best football.

I think that's really key. I think the best thing, too, as well as I told you guys at the beginning of the week, painting a picture that the truth is in our season, we're 5-1 over the past six weeks now, now 6-1. Remember how they started out 1-5? Could you imagine if the Broncos make the playoffs after starting out 1-5?

It's just, and they're not the only team, right? I can't remember exactly what the Jaguars started out last year, but they were in a pretty big hole. The Texans did it not that long ago, where they started out 1-4, 1-5.

This was pre-D'Amico Ryans and CJ Stroud, obviously. I'm trying to think of another team. Oh, well the Bengals the last couple years started out 1-3, 2-3, so they also, now who knows if they'll make the playoffs this year. They've got some pretty stiff competition in their own division, but it's possible now. It just seems so unlikely with this team, because there are still so many times when they leave points on the field, they don't capitalize on their offensive opportunities, but that defense is a buzzsaw. With takeaways and sacks and pressure on the quarterback, Justin Herbert knows it all too well. So in the AFC West with the Chiefs' loss on Sunday afternoon at home against the Bills, they're 8-5 and the Chiefs have lost 3-4, right?

So they're going the wrong direction. And the Denver Broncos are now hot on their heels. And remember, they've beat them once already this season. So the Broncos are 7-6 and just a game back, and you maybe didn't think that the games remaining on their schedule would be all that interesting, but they've got the Lions coming up next. Ooh, speaking of the Lions, segue! Lions. Oh, Lions. Between the Packers game on Thanksgiving and now this one, I'm feeling a little bit of anxiety over Dan Campbell and the Lions.

And that's fine. I'm not sure what that says about us. Alright, we're asking you this question. After a convincing win over the Eagles, do you believe in the Cowboys now? I love how much you qualify your answers.

And then when you're answering on either Twitter or Facebook, you can also vote for Monday MVP. We are getting to Lions and Bears and oh, a new leader in the NFC South because it's a new week. And that's just how it goes. The NFC is goofy.

It's just, it's laugh out loud funny. I need to come up with a good metaphor in the animal world for the NFC. I came up with a great metaphor for the end of the Ravens game, right, because Lamar Jackson said Tylan Wallace showed us his butt. And I immediately thought of an orangutan, that monkey that shows us his butt. Oh, he's so proud of his butt, too. You ever go to the zoo and not see an orangutan flash through his butt?

Probably not. They love it. They do love it. No shame. Good for you. And so I came up with an animal metaphor there based on Lamar's comments.

So now I need one for the the wait. Oh, the the NFC South. Hmm.

A chameleon changes the spot and works a turtle because everyone's hiding away from the lead. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Lions showing blitz. Bears have their, Lions have their safeties back deep. Awaiting the snap, Justin Fields moving off the left side. Free play for Justin, works it down the left side.

He's got D.J. Moore in the five. Looping into the end zone for the touchdown. Touchdown Bears and they're back in front. 38 yard strike. D.J. Moore the catch.

Wow. There's so much wow in these last 30 seconds that it's hard to comprehend. Free play touchdown of 38 yards. Running away from the defender.

Caught him in strike. It's time to pull on the pads and hit somebody. On After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Jeff Joniac and company on Bears radio. Chicago doesn't allow the Lions to score in the second half and instead the Bears put points on the board on three straight possessions, including D.J. Moore going 38 yards with that ball. And then after a fumbled snap by Detroit, Justin Fields himself rushes into the end zone from 11 yards out. Shorter field of course with the turnover and the Bears, even though they saw the Lions rally in the first half, they slammed the door decisively in the second half and win this one by double digits. Chicago with three takeaways.

So that's a bugaboo, if you will. It sticks in the craw of Dan Campbell about the Lions turning the ball over. And they also sack Jared Goff four times. And so Justin Fields gets close to 300 yards in total offense, a couple of touchdowns.

And you could imagine he's thrilled, especially considering all the conversation, the talk, the speculation about his future with Chicago. We know as a team that they're going to be ups and downs during the game. And, you know, we try to stay even-keeled throughout the whole time. So I think the guys did that. You know, I think personally we did leave a lot on the field. I think we could have been better in some areas.

But, you know, at the end of the day, we got the dub and that's all that matters. I mean, yeah, there were multiple plays during the game where we could have executed better. I think third and short, we won the moon, could have executed that better. That was a great play call. Got exactly what we thought we were going to get. I mean, yeah, but just the third downs and just, you know, throws downfield.

Of course, there were a couple back that I wanted back. Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears move to five and eight. Now, remember, they not only have their pick, their first round pick in the NFL draft, they've also got the Panthers' first round pick in the NFL draft. And right now, the Panthers are still the worst team in the league, though they are no longer the only team to be officially eliminated from the playoffs. The Patriots have joined them after Sunday's action.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. No, we're not going back to talk about the Patriots and the Steelers on Thursday night. Sorry, you'll miss my analysis on that one. The Lions miss the chance to keep up with the Niners, the Cowboys, the Eagles in the NFC. They fold to nine and four, and we haven't said this very often about Jared Goff and the Lions getting shut out in a half. They did a great job on defense, a lot better job than we did on offense. Simply execution and beating ourselves quite a bit there throughout the game.

And, yeah, you got to tip your cap to them in some ways. They did a really good job on defense, and we didn't hold up our end at all. I've been waiting all night to share Dan Campbell with you. See, now, I wasn't here for Spicy Mike Tomlin on Thursday night, but I heard it was fantastic.

Dan Campbell, can you match? Can you go toe-to-toe? You get in this type of game with that type of win, and you don't want to be living in these passing downs, these second and longs, third and longs. That's kind of where we end up having to function because we weren't good enough on some of our first-down efficiency. That's where we've been good, and so that's tough. I thought we played hard. I thought we did some really good things at times. But, honestly, it was the discipline.

I mean, the penalties cost us today, and that's really the story of the game. All right. Not nearly as spicy as I thought. Producer Jay, was he as spicy as what we got from Mike Tomlin on Thursday night since you were here? No, he wasn't. Tomlin was a little more fiery.

That's unfortunate. You've got a really strange NFC North, though. The Lions haven't locked up this division. They're now 9-4. And as I say, thinking about that Packers loss on Thanksgiving in which they give up 20 points in the first quarter, you want to talk about shooting yourselves in the foot.

So there was that game on Thanksgiving. They beat the Saints by five last weekend, and now they lose to the Bears by double figures. They are only two games up in the NFC North on the Vikings, which is crazy because the Vikings managed exactly three points. One field goal. And they beat the Raiders a few hours ago, but I'm telling you, three points, and it didn't come to the final two minutes of the game. And so here you've got a 9-4 Lions team that's leaving the door open for the Vikings, who right now are in the playoffs. They are.

Isn't that crazy? They lose Justin Jefferson. They don't have their starting quarterback.

They bench Josh Dobbs in favor of Nick Mullins. They do almost nothing offensively. Now, credit the Raiders and the Vikings' defenses, but come on, it wasn't just that. So Kevin O'Connell, loud and proud, about a 3-0 win. We all can do better on offense, but you win the turnover battle and your defense plays the way they did. You've got a chance to win a football game in this league.

Addressing the quarterback position, I just came in today with a plan to try to do some things to run the football and have Josh be a part of that, whether it be zone read or some design to what we wanted to get done. They've used four different quarterbacks, and they would be in the playoffs right now. And they're above.500. So yeah, give them credit. Give Kevin O'Connell credit.

And certainly Josh Dobbs is part of the story. They just couldn't do anything against the Raiders' defense. But you know what, Raiders couldn't do anything. Aiden O'Connell was a disaster as well. Well, disaster.

He wasn't a disaster. He threw a pick and he had four different sacks. But it was the first 3-0 game in the NFL since 2007 and only the seventh overall in the Super Bowl era. Now, Bucks and Falcons, this one had a lot of points. And even though the two teams are below.500, it matters because there is a battle going on for first place in the NFC South, NFC South. I mean, there's, I suppose, a battle going on for first place in the NFC as well.

But that's not what I meant to say in that moment. Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they've shown flashes. The defense has been good as well at times. But this feels a lot like last season.

And I'm not at all saying that Baker Mayfield is Tom Brady's will stop it. What I'm saying is that it feels a lot like last year where they never could quite get both sides of the ball on the same page. And where they would have a really good offensive game and then a crappy defensive game or the opposite. And most of the time last year, the offense was so bad. I've seen more from the offense this year.

And you can imagine a game like Sunday or let me clarify, a finish like Sunday gives them confidence. So the defense was able to produce a couple of turnovers. So an interception off Desmond Ritter in the first half that leads to a Baker rushing touchdown and then a safety also in the first half.

Rashad White had a brilliant game. Not just a 31-yard catch and run touchdown, but he goes over 100 yards on the ground. And this is kind of a fun back and forth. You wouldn't know these two teams were below 500.

But a fun back and forth. A pair of Atlanta touchdowns in the fourth quarter. But Tampa also able to score on its final possessions. And they were extended drives helping Baker Mayfield and his guys to settle in. And so the final drive starts with about three and a half minutes to go on the clock in the fourth quarter. It's a lot of Rashad White because he's your safest option.

At that point he's your safest option. But there's also a 32-yard strike to Chris Godwin to get the Buccaneers in the red zone or close. Second down and six from the 11-yard line.

Good snap. Mayfield looking. Throws the ball left. There's a caught ball. Caught ball. Touchdown.

Tampa Bay. Cade Otten makes it over the shoulder catch. And the Bucks retake the lead. Yeah, one-on-one coverage and you could tell by the body language of Mayfield he was going to Otten the whole way. Before the pass was thrown holding defense number 27.

That penalty is declined. Touchdown. That's the guy that Cade Otten beat on the corner route. And a tremendous throw by Mayfield to put it in a perfect spot. It's a big play. So yeah, Baker was moving the team up and down the field as they say he also had a rushing touchdown. That one happens with 31 seconds to go as you hear on Buccaneers radio. And Baker knew.

I mean he's a veteran this league. After Desmond Ritter had led the Falcons down the field there was only so much time and they were desperate for a W. Just excited. You know, the fact that exact situation. Needed a field goal to go down and tie the game the first game at home. But this time different outcome. So we learned from our mistakes. Made the plays when we needed to. So that's what you look for. You look for growth.

You look for the improvement. And our guys did that today. We played them tough the first game. We lost it. We came back this game. Offense came down. Had a heck of a drive. You know, held them out of the end zone at the end. Can't say enough about these guys fighting. The competitiveness they had coming in here.

Huge win. It's going to be like that every week for the next four weeks. Todd Bowles about the Buccaneers. And okay, this is.

It's a little bit ludicrous. But the Buccaneers, the Falcons, the Saints all have the same record. There's a three-way tie atop the NFC South. I feel like we said this last year about this division. But they're tied at six and seven. There's no teams in the division above 500. They're tied.

All three of them. Bucks, Falcons, Saints at six and seven. And right now, by virtue of the multiple tie breaks, the Buccaneers have the division lead. So yeah, remember last year where the Bucks won the division at eight and nine with Tom Brady? I don't know. Baker Mayfield and the Bucks. It's like a reboot.

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