Matthew Stafford & Rams IMPRESS in Loss + The Dallas Cowboys are still GREAT - Lunch Break

Intro all right welcome back to the lunch break as always Dylan Mel talking NFL football to you guys Monday through Friday I want to open up today's show Rams Impress in Loss talking about the Los Angeles Rams and I get it the Rams lost last night Dylan why are you hyperfocusing on the Rams when they lost that was one of the more impressive losses that I can remember in the NFL in a regular season game the Los Angeles Rams in this game lost their starting left tackle their backup left tackle their starting right tackle we're missing a starting quarterback lost pukan nakua star wide receiver and were missing their starting left guard yet they went into Detroit on the road a team who in Detroit that I picked to go to the Super Bowl and represent the NFC and forced an overtime game and had it not been for a coin toss landing on Tails instead of heads we could be sitting here talking about the Los Angeles Rams as 1 and0 as Matt Stafford throwing for potentially 350 yards as Cooper cup potentially having 16 17 18 receptions could have been 140 yards could have been two touchdowns and we could have been talking about the Rams as perhaps the best team in the NFC because not only would they have won that game but they would have won it without their starting left tackle their backup left tackle star wide receiver pukan nakua the starting Corner that they acquired in for agency yes travius White's big name but Darius Williams that's the best corner that this team brought in in free agency without a doubt that is the best corner that they brought in starting left guard and with losing all of these offensive line weapons they weren't able to run the ball Karen Williams ineffective Blake km didn't even see the field they could not run the ball against this Detroit defensive line and yes in part credit goost to Detroit's defensive line they were dominant all night but of course they were dominant they were playing against backups and in some cases third stringers yet through all that sha McVey Matt Stafford and Cooper cup gave one hell of a fight and very much so impressed me in week one and this is a Rams team who I thought it was going to take a little while to get going I thought you know new defense you lose Aaron Donald a Mount Rushmore defensive player in the history of the sport you're not going to be able to just bounce back from that you're not going to be able to just be a good team immediately hukan nakua got hurt and I thought uhoh this game's over I thought the Rams they were struggling in that first half I mean both offenses were but the Rams they have struggled in the Red Zone against the Detroit Lions not even just in this game but even gold going back to the playoff game they have struggled their red zone offense Cooper cup a little motion finds the end zone the Rams started to figure out and this goes back to a theory that I told you guys all throughout the offseason and it's not a new Theory I'm not out here claiming that I invented this Theory but if you have the right head coach and right quarterback youve done 65 to 70% of the battle and Shawn McVey and Matt Stafford might be the best head coach quarterback combo not just in the NFC but outside of Reed and momes it really might be yeah you got Harbaugh and Lamar and now you have Harbaugh again and Herbert but I don't know man Stafford continues to be one of the more underrated players in the game a lot of you laughed at me when I dropped my quarterback rankings and I had Matt Stafford at number five but I'll tell you what I think he's the second best thrower of the football if we were if quarterbacks were just graded on the ability to throw the football he'd be number two in my rankings a lot of y'all need to learn Matt Stafford was making the throws that Mahomes is making before Mahomes was in the league I get it he was on a Lions team that was in an NT organization and could never build a roster around him yes they give him Megatron but that was about it and Megatron's Megatron so but Matt Stafford's that guy and Matt Stafford is continuing to be that guy when healthy and even when a little banged up in Los Angeles I didn't even mention that Matt Stafford was dealing with a little bit of an ankle injury last night on top of it all for the Rams and the Rams still showed out still showed fight and we'll see how the 49ers look tonight but if there's a Super Bowl hangover a little bit of a Super Bowl rust there believe you me we could be talking about the LA Rams winning the NFC West easily we could easily be talking about that let Darius Williams get back let this offensive line get healthy let pukan AA make it through a full game let them actually be able to have a rushing attack because the Rams were a running team last year K Williams had what was a 1500 rushing yards and now the whole offensive line gets hurt in one game and then then they have to abandon the run against a good Detroit Lions team and that defense on Detroit I could have opened up this video talking about them because they were impressive without a doubt Detroit you know this is that's why I picked them to go to the Super Bowl because I thought they improved on that defense and they did Carlton Davis was excellent they uh Ami Robertson not only is he good in the nickel but he allows Brian Branch to play a little bit more true safety Terry arold the rookie he got picked on a little bit by Cooper cup but Cooper cup went healthy and you know Cooper cup wasn't healthy last year but Cooper cup went healthy as case to be a top five wide receiver in the NFL and he's a guy that a lot of people including myself you know I'll be first to say it slept on going into the season I dropped my top 10 wide receivers he didn't even make the list I don't even think I put him on as an honorable mention and shame on me for that because Cooper cup is legit Cooper cup is one of the better route runners in the NFL and Cooper cup is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL at finding the open space in a defense and sitting and getting to a spot where his quarterback Matt Stafford can get him the ball you know you remember 2021 when we heard all about those breakfasts that the guys were having in the morning watching film and then Cooper cup and Stafford went on to have that excellent season cup was the Triple Crown cup you know gets the Super Bowl wins the MVP and the Rams Bo the Lombardi they still do that those guys are still having breakfast together and you saw it last night all the chips are down half the team's hurt on the road in Detroit tough environment probably even tougher for Stafford to be there you got nothing put McVey Stafford and cup in you freaking battle until the end and if it wasn't for a coin landing on Tails I genuinely believe today I'm talking about the one and0 Los Angeles Rams and saying this team's a Super Bowl contender and you know what despite being 0 and one I still feel better today about the Rams than I did going into the season I think they are going to be better quicker than I thought and I think that they very much show have a shot to win the NFC West and Hoist the Lombardi at the end of this year let's move into Cowboys blowout Win talking about the Dallas Cowboys yes Cowboys fans I I've tried to say it said it once I said 100 times on this channel I am not biased most biased thing about me is my backdrop when the Cowboys play a good game I'm going to be up here the first one to admit it the first one to say it and damn it yesterday the Dallas Cowboys played a damn good football game okay so before the game let's talk about this rewind before the game Dak Prescott gets his historic contract extension four years $240 million $231 million of it guaranteed that money is going to Dak without a doubt 60 million per year the highest average ever Dak crosses that threshold the six zero Mark and 80 million of it signing bonus in about two weeks time direct deposit into the account Dak Prescott's going to see an extra $80 million was it the right choice was it the wrong choice you could have that debate all you want September through December you're not going to get your answer January football that is when we will see if it was worth the money and listen here's the thought process on it if you don't have Dak who do you have maybe Sam darnold he had a pretty good game in Minnesota versus the Giants maybe you could bring him in K cousins could you trade for him do you even want to after what you saw in Atlanta Justin Fields Rosell Wilson will Levis another shot maybe Titans are done with him it's not it's not a good pool of guys to pick from when it comes to ragent or even tradeable assets at the quarterback position you go to the draft how Shor Sanders look this past weekend and then what did he say after the game blamed his offensive line was just throwing it on the other team listen you know could you potentially trade up in the draft go get a a Quinn yers a Carson backck maybe but who's to say they're going to be good who's to say even if you take the number one quarter off quarterback off the board you're not ending up like Carolina losing 47 to 10 with the number one overall pick starting at the end of the day Dak gives the Cowboys stability and at the end of the day the NFL is as well a business how many of them number four jerseys get ripped off the shelves and worn in the game how many Dallas Cowboy fans pop out show out to home games because they're going to be a good team they're gonna be competitive Dallas Cowboys playoff tickets at Jerry World AT&T Stadium how much do those Bad Boys sell for all these decisions go into Jerry Jones mind I promise you Dak Prescott being the quarterback of this team and them being competitive and good over the next four years going to make Jerry Jones a hell of a lot more than $240 million let's talk about the game yesterday let's talk about the game yesterday the Cowboys won 33 to17 in Cleveland Cleveland was two and a half Point favorites no idea why no idea why because neither team really made incremental differences to their roster except I would argue the Browns got worse at quarterback from Joe Flaco to deshun Watson and I get it I got some push back previously on some of the things I've said about Watson and I'm you know flowers to the Cowboys defense we could start there flowers to the Cowboys defense this is a defensive team that is what this team's going to be this year as a defensive team you have Dak you have sidd that'll hold down your offense enough but this is a defensive L team they bring in Mike Zimmer Dan Quinn goes to be the head coach of the commanders absolutely gets shocked in his debut yeah maybe he's missing some of that roster I guess but Demarcus Lawrence Micah Parsons those guys on that defensive line they CAU they're a problem michah Parsons in this Mike Zimmer defense this is what I was talking about when I said that the Michael Parson's Defensive Player of the Year this could be the year because Zimmer going to move him around and to use him like a Swiss army knife and when he finds a spot that oh m is working here Micah is absolutely working there what was his what was his stat line he had three tackles only a tackle for loss and a sack but he had five quarterback hits in this game so yeah you know the counting stats weren't crazy for Micah but if you watch that game you saw Micah Parson absolutely dominated absolutely dominated and the Cowboys defense as a whole absolutely dominated Trayvon Diggs gets an interception Eric Kendricks had an interception there was what is this like eight pass deflections in this game we even saw a forced fumble from Demarcus Lawrence uh you know Demarcus Lawrence with two sacks Eric Kendricks with two sacks this defense absolutely loaded Eric Hendricks by the way one of two people the eagle or excuse me the Cowboys brought back in for agency one of two people him and Zeke that's about it for notable offseason editions for the Cowboys and Eric Hendrick's bald out nine total tackles a tackle for loss two a an interception and a pass deflection have a day Mike Zimmer came in the Cowboys defense didn't skip a beat the Cowboys defense still played absolutely Elite the Cowboys defense traveled well to Cleveland put Cleveland on their asses and made a statement and that's all you could really ask for from your defense and the Cowboys offense was fine listen the counting stats aren't going to say it Dak 19 of 32 179 yards a touchdown yeah 85.3 passer r fine game right Zeke 10 10 rushing attempts for 40 yards D eight for 26 CD lamb had five catches for 61 yards no touchdown Brandon Cooks four for 40 in a touchdown the game was over at halftime the Cowboys were up 20 to3 and they had a punt return for a touchdown do not judge the Cowboys offense on what you saw statistically in this game the game was over I mean for all my people out there that play mad and if you don't I think you'll still understand the analogy the Cowboys turned chew clock on in the second half the Cowboys wanted to get home they were up 20 to three they said this game's over the defense is so good you know they're not going to be able to score on us they get the last I mean this game was really 33 to 10 they get a end of game Garbage touchdown to Jerome Ford because the Cowboys are just like take your time get down the field you know you're not going to make it a game is what it is we're fine giving up one score that that was that was the brown best drive and it was because the Cowboys defense let them have it but make no mistake despite all the offseason chatter despite all the oh the Cowboys are all in and then they aren't despite all the is Dak good should they pay Dak despite CD lamb hold out he's not playing until he gets a contract are they going to pay m is Dan Quinn going to be a big loss Jerry Jones is going crazy on Dallas radio right now talking some nonsense all the offseason chatter whatever it may be the Dallas Cowboys are still a great football team the Dallas Cowboys are going to be battling with the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East all season and when we get to December around January they're going to feel like a team that can contend for the Lombardi they're going to feel like a team that can make it out the NFC but as always with the Cowboys in recent years and for good reason we will no longer judge them on what they do in September through December this is a team that'll get judged based on January football the Baker's Buccs last topic I want to cover on today's lunch break is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and how they have control of the NFC South before I hop into this if you guys love the NFL and you're new to the channel hit that subscribe button news shows like this podcast tier list videos you name it it'll be coming live on the channel uh if you've made it this far in the video hit the thumbs up button it's good for the algorithm let's talk Tampa Bay Buccaneers because one the Atlanta Falcons absolutely crapped the bed and we could talk about them but instead I'm going to talk about the better team in that division at least as of week one the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they might go and win this NFC South again and I get it New Orleans had a good game against the Panthers let me see it against somebody that's not the Panthers before I put stock in the New Orleans scenes I'm not I'm not just going to fall into that trap immediately but I will tell you what if the NFL season ended after one week Baker Mayfield your league MVP he had the best week of any quarterback in the NFL and going into the Sunday Night Football game I'm not sure exactly what where we're at statistically here after that game so bear with me but the average passing yardage game for a quarterback in week one was 185 yards that's it 185 yards Baker Mayfield 24 of 30 for 289 yards four touchdowns no interceptions and a 146.4 passer rating oh oh bait show Baker Mayfield said he heard all the noise some of it for myself I I mean I wasn't predicting they could May Fable to fall off but I thought a little regression could be on the way with the loss of Dave Canales and he said no I'm still here and it was spread the wealth season for Baker Mayfield listen to the these receiving stats for the Buccaneers Chris Godwin 8 for 83 in a touchdown Rashad white 6 for 75 Mike Evans 5 for 61 in two touchdowns Jaylen McMillan the rookie he has a 32 yard touchdown that I'm telling you what the Buccaneers offense looked good now I did correctly call this in the offseason everybody was hyping up Washington wow with Jaden Daniels this is a sleeper playoff team you better watch out for those commanders Dan Quinn going to have that defense right oh this is an all new roster the offensive line isn't good the defensive line mediocre and their Corners are not good in turn you can't block for your quarterback Terry McClaren I believe he had zero catches in this game J have the time to get him the ball and on the other side you can't guard Godwin you can't guard Mike Evans and you couldn't even guard Rashad white out of the back field Tampa Bay put on a clinic and I think their offense deserves all the credit in the world for that but that Washington defense it's got some work to do you know this is not a flip it around in one-ear thing for Washington but Tampa Bay they they did what they do I mean that is the best way to put it right Tampa Bay everybody was selling the stock on them the Falcons are going to be so great Kirk Cousins is in town they just got judon and uh Justin Simmons with Jesse Bates and Grady Jared on that defense and the Falcons defense was good you know I don't want to come for that defense but the offense was Dreadful it was bad it was a bad offensive showing and maybe that's Pittsburgh maybe it's not but Tampa Bay showed you that they are still true contenders in this division Baker Mayfield showed you that hey I'm still a guy that was number one overall pick and I tell you what the Browns are looking at Baker Mayfield like holy what did we do trading that guy for now this and Baker Mayfield saying stable organization in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that's that's where Brady chose to go remember Brady chose to go to Tampa with these weapons stable organization and the Buccaneers give me good weapons Godwin Evans McMillan Rashad white draft Bucky Irving a running back iy averaged 6.9 yard per carry nice but Aver 6.9 yards per carry now they got a rusher behind them good offensive line Tristan wors could be the best tackle in football you can make the case well top five a good defense Antoine Winfield Jr best safety in football perhaps lantto David linebacker good culture in Tampa Bay they keep the team around Todd BS get that defense right this team has to bring in a new offensive coordinator because theirs was so damn good he got hired as a head coach and they don't skip a beat another good offensive coordinator things are looking like the play calling was excellent the ball was spread around Baker felt comfortable Baker made the plays Baker actually should have had another touchdown pass to McMillan little rookie woes he dropped it he'll get better the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are real players in the NFC South and the NFC as a whole you know I think sometimes in sports we can get so caught up in what we believe to be the truth and it just becomes the norm and we don't ever step back and say maybe we should reassess and I'm not saying that we should do it off of week one give Baker some time but is it possible we graded him too soon is it possible that Baker Mayfield is a top 10 quarterback in football is it possible I think it is possible the guy went to the playoffs last year won in a wild card game against my Eagles torched him tore him apart picked him apart and then went into Detroit and battled with a Lions team who was one half away from going to the Super Bowl and now Baker gets a second year with these weapons gets a contract cuz they believe in him and falls out in game one Baker in Cleveland you talk about the definition of A Dysfunctional franchise I think Baker had more head coaches than seasons in Cleveland then he goes to Carolina because the only team with a quarterback opening and we're looking at Carolina right now you talk about dysfunctional they had brought him and darnold in though talk about never feeling comfortable goes to the Rams plays three games with Shawn McVey immediately gets picked up by Tampa starts last season Off to the Races has a good year gets the team to the playoffs and now they're looking like the NFC South favorites Aker Mayfield man I think he's legit I do think he's legit we'll see how high up these quarterback rankings he get but hey you can't have much of a better week one than what Baker Mayfield had in this game but I appreciate you guys joining me on the lunch break or whenever you're watching this I'm going to be doing this Monday through Friday nowadays I think it's a fun series I think it's a good way to just talk about football and get a little different videos on topics out there while talking about as many teams as possible let me know what teams you want me to talk about in tomorrow's episode of the lunch break I'm already thinking maybe Chargers Titans I don't know it's teams that certainly interest me if you like football if you love the NFL hit the Subscribe button I got a podcast with my guy Javon from stats over feelings dropping today on the channel at 400 p.m. Eastern we talked for about 40 minutes about everything week one so if I didn't talk about your team in this video make sure you check out that podcast I will catch you guys tomorrow for another episode of the lunch break peace oh