ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, it's week two of FOX NFL Sunday. Today, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Burrow, Jay Glazer, Charissa Thompson, Michael Strahan.
>> Let's go.
(Music.)
>> Charles Woodson, Chandler Jones, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long. And now, your host, Curt Menefee.
CURT MENEFEE: "FOX NFL Sunday" starts now. How cool was that? This is special today. Off to a flying start, if you will, for Hollywood's football team. The Rams quarterback, Matthew Stafford. L.A.'s leading man takes the show on the road today after a spectacular Rams debut which earned him the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week award. You could argue Jameis Winston deserves five touchdown passes and the most lopsided win of any quarterback in the league in his first game as the new man in New Orleans. How does he follow that up? In the division game on the road at Carolina.
The only team to get a win in week one in AFC East, was led by this year two quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, which sets up a key early season big game, hosting last year's division champs, the Buffalo Bills, in less than an hour.
Also today on FOX, a couple of 1-0 squads. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers. And then later it's the electrifying Kyler Murray and the Cards versus the Vikings, while seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady faces off against the Falcons. Many marvelous match-ups for you today all across the country as the FOX NFL Sunday Pregame Show gets powered up by Ford and their lineup of electric vehicles, including the all-new, all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning, the only EV that's an F-150.
Come on in here and stay a while, folks. I'm Curt Menefee. Thanks for letting us be a part of your football Sunday.
Of course, you know these guys, Terry, Howie, and Michael and Jimmy Johnson will join us in a moment. We did that all live. That was so smooth, with that drone, that was a great shot there. It was one take. Great job by the drone operators.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Great job by the drone operators.
HOWIE LONG: Jimmy loved it so much he stayed home.
CURT MENEFEE: But he will be with us in just a minute. Before we get to Jimmy, we need to check out the buzz on social media, with our hashtags. Why don't we start it off with the 44-year-old GOAT.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Can Tom Brady play until 50 years old.
>> I think I can play and then glide into retirement.
CURT MENEFEE: 50? Can you imagine that? He and the Bucs look to go 2-0.
Right now Giants fans are probably aging quickly, following Big Blue. Within a four-day span New York suffered a blowout loss to the Broncos. To make it worse, on Thursday, they did everything they could to lose to Washington and succeeded. They started 0-2 for the fifth straight season. Washington social media department also trolled New York and Daniel Jones, declaring Taylor Heinicke the new "Taylor Dimes." What a mess for this legendary franchise.
One of the legends of late night TV is now here on FOX. Jay Leno hosts a revival of the old game show "You Bet Your Life." Guess who's one of the first celebrity topics he had on the show?
>> Who is this legendary Pittsburgh Steeler now a sportscaster on FOX? That goofball is a friend of mine.
>> I believe that's John Madden.
>> No, Terry Bradshaw.
>> I can't wait to tell Bradshaw, nobody knew who he was.
CURT MENEFEE: We all know you and we love you, T.B.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Oh, shut up, Curt.
CURT MENEFEE: I got your back, don't get mad at me.
Let's talk about the football games today, why don't we start with the beat-up Cowboys taking on the Chargers here as we look at the NFC East.
TERRY BRADSHAW: After the first week's loss to Tampa Bay, the first thing that came to my mind: You can't do this to your football team again, Mike McCarthy, you have got to not throw the ball 40-45 times a game. You're gonna get Prescott killed. You have got to lean on Ezekiel Elliott, you have got to run the football. You keep this up, chances you are going to lose your quarterback again. You have to learn how to run the football.
And if you run the football, all you're going to do is take time off the clock, rest your defense, who by God, from what I've seen they need some rest.
JIMMY JOHNSON: The team up in Philadelphia looks like the competition for the Cowboys.
TERRY BRADSHAW: You didn't watch Washington?
HOWIE LONG: Well, I wasn't blown away by Washington. I was impressed by Philadelphia in week one. We talked about it last week when they made their runs in the playoffs and won a Super Bowl was the offensive line and defensive line. Both will get tested significantly this week against the Niners. Mailata is going to have his hands full at left tackle.
And then the weapons. You talk about Jalen Hurts, you talk about Sanders, Reagor, Smith, both first-round picks, Goedert. I think Jalen Hurts is the story. He played with poise after an offseason of rumors. Played for poise, pulled it down, ran for 62. Word is the Niners have worked against that kind of an offense all during training camp, and Trey Lance took 80% of the look team reps on offense, trying to simulate Jalen Hurts.
CURT MENEFEE: Anything else you want to throw out there?
TERRY BRADSHAW: No.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I'm supposed to talk about the Giants, it could be quick or a long time. Real quick, you know, no team has lost more games than 2017. 0-2 five straight seasons. We know all these things, it's like Groundhog Day, Giants. "This is our problem in the offseason." Then the season shows up, they haven't fixed any of those problems. I think it's frustrating. Usually puts so much on the quarterback, Daniel Jones.
Daniel Jones has been playing really well, protecting the ball as of late. The Giants got hot last season, they need to find that confidence. When you watch this team, it looks like a team that has players here and there, but they don't make the big plays when they need to make the big plays. The little mistakes, especially on special teams, when your coach is a special teams coach is frustrating for fans as well.
The Giants have to get it together in one way, shape or another, Curt, and figure out how to win games and not find a way to lose.
CURT MENEFEE: That's the psychiatrist I see. Maybe he'll help you.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: But he wrote it like a 5-year-old. I mean, Jesus. What is that?
CURT MENEFEE: Let's go to Florida, and for the first time today say hello to Jimmy Johnson there. I don't know if numbers matter. Tom Brady and the Bucs have never lost to Atlanta. Is there anything this man can't do?
JIMMY JOHNSON: You know, Curt, people might debate if he's one of the greatest players of all time. They can't debate how great a leader he is. He gives all of those players such confidence. He holds all of them accountable. Every player, every fan knew last Thursday night, when he got the football back, he was going to take them down for the win. He's a pied piper, they didn't lose any of their starters in the offseason. They wanted to play with Tom with him and Gronk says, I want to play with Tom. Antonio Brown, I want to play with Tom. Fournette, I want to play with Tom.
And Terry, I'll be there next week, because I want to play with you.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Oooh. You may want to button that shirt one more time before you come out here. He's doing some advertising.
CURT MENEFEE: We say hello to Jay Glazer. Jay, congratulations are in order to you.
JAY GLAZER: Thank you, buddy.
CURT MENEFEE: You were named the Power Player of the Week, not only for your great week as an insider but for all you do for the veterans and the community all across the country.
JAY GLAZER: Thank you. And FOX gives me a great platform to help people. I appreciate it.
CURT MENEFEE: We appreciate you doing that good work and I'm sure they do as well.
Let's get to football here. What about the Saints. They have had to deal with so many challenges this season already, how are they dealing with losing eight coaches to COVID?
JAY GLAZER: Sean Payton says we have to multitask. So a guy like Sean is multitasking. He's the head coach, he's coaching receivers and running backs. He said we have to think outside the box. He took their assistant, the guy who does their travel, and made him a coach today, put him up in the booth. Took an ex-player named Jermon Bushrod from personnel, he's helping out the coaching staff as well today. They're just going to have to multitask and do a lot of things.
Talking about multitask, Sean Payton, like he doesn't have enough on his plate, he sends me this this week: We're like the Ted Lasso for the NFL, that's our coaching staff. Not only is he multitasking, he's a social media influence and apparently the head of their social marketing team.
CURT MENEFEE: I'm afraid to ask who the Roy Kent is on that crew.
All right, let's move to the Eagles and Jalen Hurts. They were hesitant to name him the starter even through training camp. Is it his team now, though?
JAY GLAZER: Howie talked about him this morning. And talked about him this morning. And talked about him this morning.
HOWIE LONG: I missed my exit.
JAY GLAZER: There was a lot surrounding whether or not the team was going to go after Deshaun Watson. They were one of the teams who were interested. This team has fully put themselves behind Jalen Hurts. The locker room loves him. The players and coaches I've talked to said, he does a lot of things that the guy last year wasn't willing to do in Carson Wentz. He goes and has dinners with the backups, with the starters. Every different position, Jalen Hurts has the support of that locker room, he's their guy.
CURT MENEFEE: Thanks, Jay. We'll have more from him later. There's much more to come on "FOX NFL Sunday."
ANNOUNCER: Coming up, new Hall of Famer Charles Woodson shows us how hard defending a quarterback with options can be. Then it's black and gold versus silver and black, Steel City versus Sin City, Terry versus Howie. We preview an old rivalry still going strong today. Later, Charissa Thompson sits down with Joe Burrow after a wild week one win. And after a five-sack game last week, Chandler Jones catches up with Howie Long. Next on "FOX NFL Sunday."
(Commercial.)
ANNOUNCER: This week's Lightning Strikes Player is brought to you by the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. Kyler Murray did it all, electrifying the Cardinals to the win with five total touchdowns, proving again that lightning strikes.
>> He's a dual threat type of guy. Winning the game with his feet and his arm.
(Music.)
CURT MENEFEE: We saw it last week, Trey Lance came in and did it, Justin Fields came in and did it. It's called the RPO, or the run pass option, and it's taken the NFL by storm. To break it down and talk about how to stop it, we bring in a couple of special guests. You see them each week on FOX NFL Kickoff, the great Michael Vick, and over there, the man in black, the new Hall of Famer, Charles Woodson.
This has been a busy week for you. I saw you Monday night celebrating that Raider victory.
CHARLES WOODSON: Just hanging out with the owner.
HOWIE LONG: Just looking around and counting that money.
CHARLES WOODSON: I just want people to have a good time. It's not about the money.
CURT MENEFEE: You certainly had a good time there. I'll tell you what, a lot of these offenses around the league are really enjoying themselves. This is an offense that probably would have been built for Michael Vick. I want you to take us through some of the young guys we see running the RPO and how you try and stop it.
CHARLES WOODSON: This is a quarterback-driven league. We've heard that a thousand times. But now these offensive coordinators are trying to get these young talented quarterbacks in space, Get them matched up against linebackers, safeties, defensive ends.
We watch this game here, watch Justin Fields here, he runs that zone read fake. It really just turns into a sweep. Their end plays it well if it's a zone read option. That play with the sweep, he needs to drive that blocker, so he can declare the run fit for the defensive back.
So it was a little bit different, that play was, but they all play the same. Get that quarterback in a position to make a play. Here you have Jalen Hurts, man to man. You got the defensive back's back to him, so they're not going to see him. That defensive end cannot lock his hips. Once he locks his hips, Jalen Hurts knows to pull that ball out, run it up the back of the defensive back, that's a first down.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: You just can't crash down here.
CHARLES WOODSON: My indication is Strahan is my running back, he's a step behind Michael Vick, that's telling me I might get that zone read option. As the defensive end, I know once Michael Vick runs this fake, as the defensive end, I can't lock my hips and crash down on this running back. I must keep my outside hand free. Once Michael Vick pulls this ball, I slide, slide, and now I can redirect and get to Michael Vick this way. And so the safety was way back deep. But I want him to play a little closer, so that he has a chance --
HOWIE LONG: And if you're a hybrid backer, let's say, and that run game is working, all of a sudden, the defensive line is froze up on the run protection, and then the backer gets sucked up, and there's a void behind the backer, and that's when Mike takes advantage.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: You can tell pretty much what play is coming from the formation when they come out of the huddle. The four defensive end is all about your hips. If you lock, he's going outside; if you shuffle, you could make that play. Even if I shuffle, he can get around.
CHARLES WOODSON: Yeah, I got your back.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: When you line this up, you say, Strahan's a step behind Michael Vick, I'm going no more than a step.
TERRY BRADSHAW: My man here, Curt, he's too big, he cannot run that offense.
CURT MENEFEE: Well, back in '93. You could do a little bit of everything. Or I could but not everybody is me.
Speaking of doing everything, these guys have done everything we need them to do right here on the field. We thank you, Michael Vick and Charles Woodson.
TERRY BRADSHAW: The great Michael Vick?
CURT MENEFEE: The great Charles Woodson. The great Raider legend Howie Long has a big show for us today. First he goes mano a mano against Terry to debate today's Raiders-Steelers showdown. Meanwhile, Charissa Thompson chats with Joe Burrow.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: So how much stronger do you feel now in spite of the injury?
JOE BURROW: All my lifting numbers are the same.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: What are we benching, bro.
[ Commercial ]
TERRY BRADSHAW: Hey, Curt.
CURT MENEFEE: I'm sorry, who are you?
TERRY BRADSHAW: It's me, Terry. The folks at Alter Ego hooked me up with my own avatar?
CURT MENEFEE: I take it you're backstage in one of those motion capture suits?
TERRY BRADSHAW: You know it, big guy. This is my second chance, I'm a whole new Terry. Check this out, Curt. I'm so happy, I could sing. I'm singing.
CURT MENEFEE: I'll just wait for the real thing.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Hey, Curt. You're just jealous of the hair. My wife's going to love this.
CURT MENEFEE: Oh, my God.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: That's great.
CURT MENEFEE: That's your alter ego?
TERRY BRADSHAW: I have no comment. Why is it always me that looks ridiculous?
MICHAEL STRAHAN: You having no comment says a lot.
CURT MENEFEE: It begins premiering this Wednesday and Thursday, right here on FOX.
Let's get to the real Terry Bradshaw. He threw arguably the most famous pass in NFL history, the Immaculate Reception. It was in a playoff game that allowed the Steelers to beat the Raiders, coached by the great John Madden. A memory the old coach says that even video game royalties can't erase.
ANNOUNCER: Last chance for the Steelers. Bradshaw.
JOHN MADDEN: When a guy crosses a goal line. It's either a touchdown or not.
ANNOUNCER: His pass is broken up.
JIM MADDEN: They didn't call a touchdown. They didn't know if it was a touchdown.
I said, I know you don't know, I'll tell you, it's a double touch.
Now, the referee is on the phone, he's calling someone. He comes back out of the dugout, and the signal is a touchdown. Not that I carry old grudges.
It bothered me then, it bothers me today, it will bother me until the day I --
ANNOUNCER: You talk about Christmas miracles, here is the miracle of all miracles.
CURT MENEFEE: That's a great documentary, it premieres on FOX, Christmas Today. The reason we have these jerseys here with the Raiders and Steelers playing, Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long are going to go at it mano a mano to talk about their teams and maybe answer a few questions.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I want you to touch that.
HOWIE LONG: Can you get into that?
TERRY BRADSHAW: I can get into it. You worry about getting into your jersey.
CURT MENEFEE: I'll separate you guys. You can just throw it here on the floor, first question.
First question: Both teams had big comeback wins last week. Double digits down, came back to win. Which was more impressive and why?
HOWIE LONG: Easy: Opening a new stadium to fans in Vegas, they come from behind. Versus a league MVP, a team that's supposed to go to the Super Bowl, Raiders win on the final play of the game.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Pittsburgh goes into Buffalo, Buffalo heavily favored to go to the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh a team people very seldom talk about now, because --
HOWIE LONG: Stop it.
TERRY BRADSHAW: They go up there and upset the Buffalo Bills.
HOWIE LONG: Woe is me.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Question No. 2: Which quarterback do you trust to make a play this season and why?
HOWIE LONG: This season, not career.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Ben easily.
HOWIE LONG: Carr. Carr. Zero blitz, under pressure. One man route, makes the play, dropped the mic, big win.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I know you wrote it, you studied it, you got it down. But Ben Roethlisberger has won Super Bowls.
HOWIE LONG: Isn't that the idea?
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I'll be honest with you, I'm not going to bring it up, I'm going to watch.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Ben has done it time and time and time again. It's not even a question --
HOWIE LONG: Has done it.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: The has-been, that's what you call it?
Better chance at a playoff run.
HOWIE LONG: Is our offense --
TERRY BRADSHAW: Pittsburgh!
HOWIE LONG: You walking up on me. I ain't no easy white boy.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Old man fight.
HOWIE LONG: I was going to say you walk over here and will limp back, but you limped over here.
CURT MENEFEE: Stop the fight, it's over.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: That is funny.
CURT MENEFEE: It's over, right there. No need to continue.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Nobody wrote that for you, he did that on his own.
CURT MENEFEE: One more question: You both have legendary fan bases, which one is the best and why?
HOWIE LONG: That's easy, they're local. Fans weren't from Oakland to Los Angeles, back to Oakland. We're the southwest Raiders, we're national.
TERRY BRADSHAW: It's amazing how people love losers. That's what the Raiders have been. Steelers travel better than anybody.
I will say this, there's no harsher fans than yours. Yours are ruthless. You thought they changed your name when you went to Oakland.
CURT MENEFEE: I don't think we'll top what he said earlier. Let's finish there. We'll declare you the winner right now. We want to get it over to Jay. Jay Glazer.
JAY GLAZER: Get some peace over there.
CURT MENEFEE: There's fighting in Chicago about who the starer will be. When will Justin Fields, if at all, take over as a starter?
JAY GLAZER: Fans are clamoring for Justin Fields. The original plan for the Bears was not to have Justin Fields come in until after their bye week, which is a couple of months into the season. I don't think they're going to be able to slow this train down at all. I want you to understand one difference here in this situation, as opposed to Matt Nagy was in Kansas City. They said well, Alex Smith was there to help with Pat Mahomes. That's what Matt Nagy does but that's not the situation here for Andy Dalton.
Andy Dalton got to Chicago, he was told, you're here to be the starter. He has, however, taken Justin Fields under his wing, but it's not the same situation as Kansas City. What I'm told by players and coaches in that locker room is every week, Justin Fields does something to make us go, wow, we need to speed this process up.
Do I see it happening after the bye? No, I think it's going to speed up an awful lot. I think you're going to see Justin Fields in the starting lineup in the next few weeks.
CURT MENEFEE: Up next in the show, Charissa joins us for her interview with the guy seen as the savior in Cincinnati, quarterback Joe Burrow. Today he goes up against the QB he replaced who's now at Chicago, starter Andy Dalton.
Meanwhile, we'll preview Josh Allen and the Bills against their division rivals, the Dolphins. And the top running back in scrimmage yards this season, Christian McCaffrey and the Panthers will be hosting the Saints. We'll talk about that, just hang around.
(Commercial.)
CURT MENEFEE: As we welcome you back to "FOX NFL Sunday," today's Sleep Number screen pass is all about the Bengals. The last time they won a playoff game, Joe Burrow wasn't even born, "Goodfellas" was in movie theaters, and Vanilla Ice, of all people, was topping the charts. The year was 1990. Of course, the last time we saw Vanilla Ice, he was doing one of those home remodelling shows, much like Burrow, Charissa Thompson, who's trying to help rebuild the Bengals these days.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: I mean, Ice, Ice, Baby. Thank you, Curt. Up until week 11 of last season, Joe Burrow was well on his way to staking claim as the best rookie QB of 2020. He was living up to the dreams of the tortured Bengals faithful, but then a nightmare as the first-round pick was carted off the field with a brutal knee injury.
Now, just nine months since reconstructive surgery, Joe Cool is back under center and bringing hope to Cincinnati.
Joe, who's your karaoke song?
>> I don't think I've ever done karaoke before.
>> Do you like interviews?
>> Not really. Not my favorite.
>> What don't you like about them?
>> I'm just not a camera guy. Got to make sure the hair's right. Got to do all that stuff.
>> There's not a hair out of place. It looks great, I'm telling you.
>> Biggest nightmare for Bengals fans was an injury to rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, and he --
>> Let's go back if we can to that moment on the field when you got hurt. Take me through that.
>> My knee hurt, that's all I could think about at the time, on the field. I mean, there was quite a bit of damage. Kind of hit me when I got to the x-ray room that my season was going to be done. And so I got a little emotional, but then after the game, tried to focus on the plays that I did play and where I could get better in that area.
>> You were thinking about that, in the moment that you recognized your rookie season in the NFL is over, you're already thinking about the plays you could have done better?
>> Yeah, I mean, it's -- you don't want to sit and dwell on all the games you're going to miss. So you try to focus on the reps you had, and get better.
>> You're a much better person than I am. I stub my toe and I think about that for the rest of the day, let alone what I did well during the day. The Bengals lost you, but you lost football. How good does it feel to have it back?
>> It feels great. A lot of work went into this. That was my first major injury of my entire sporting career. It's just a matter of how you respond to it.
>> Here comes Joe Burrow.
>> Burrow drops straight back to throw again. He's going to fire it long. Come on. Over the shoulder catch, at the 15, he runs --
>> How much fun is this game for you?
>> It's a lot of fun, especially when we play the way we did on Sunday. Losing isn't fun.
>> Losing isn't something you're used to. When they brought you in, you're going to be the savior of this, you're going to save this organization. Is that pressure you like?
>> I think pressure is more of an outside word that people use. If you don't let the environment, and if you don't let the situation get to you, there's no pressure. It's just a matter of how you prepare and perform.
>> I love it. You've seen "Top Gun."
>> I don't think I have seen "Top Gun."
>> Joe, you stop it right now. You've never seen "Top Gun"?
>> No.
>> Tom Cruise, Maverick? Val Kilmer? I was going to say you're Iceman. Nothing affects you. There's ice in your veins.
>> Never seen it.
>> Okay, you have homework. You need to come up with a karaoke song, and you have to watch "Top Gun."
>> You got a deal.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: That's when you know you're old, when your interview subject has never seen "Top Gun." But guess what? He hasn't lost that lovin' feelin' in Cincinnati, Michael.
I had to.
CURT MENEFEE: That's good.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I like that, Charissa.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: It was too easy.
>> That's unbelievable.
CHARISSA THOMPSON: What a guy, Mike. What do you love about him?
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I love everything about him. He's accurate, competitive, and he's what that team needs because they needed a quarterback like that who can step in and turn this franchise around.
But they have Chicago. The question for Chicago, Andy Dalton or Justin Fields? And you saw last week, Andy Dalton had -- he only completed -- not completed a pass over 10 yards. Justin Fields goes in, only plays five plays, 2 for 2, only for 10 yards, but then a rushing touchdown. He adds a different dynamic. Between Fields and David Montgomery, rushed for 108 yards this week, those were the two most exciting things to have for the Bears.
Other than that, defense did not play well, gave up 34 points, 0 turnovers, 8 yards per play. That's not what you're used to, when you know you have a Khalil Mack and some of the other players they have there. They're facing an accurate passer in Joe Burrow. Their going to have their hands full. You cannot have some of the busted coverages, and you're going to have to put pressure on the quarterback.
HOWIE LONG: You missed your exit too, huh?
MICHAEL STRAHAN: No.
CURT MENEFEE: That's coming up at the top of the hour. Another game we've got, Jimmy Johnson, in the NFC South, the Saints at the Carolina Panthers.
JIMMY JOHNSON: Every off season, I have general managers and coaches come down and visit, they do a little fishing, talk a bunch of football. This past offseason, Matt Rhule came down, brought his son. By the way, Terry, I kept those little fish for his son Bryant.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Okay.
JIMMY JOHNSON: And Matt Rhule, I was really impressed with him. He's a motivator, a very smart football coach. But a head coach can only do so much. You've got to have great assistants. I had Dave and Tony and Butch, and I had a great quarterback coach, Norv Turner. He helped develop Troy Aikman.
Matt's got Joe Brady. Joe Brady worked under Sean Payton at New Orleans. And on top of that, he helped develop Joe Burrow at LSU. I think Brady's going to be able to put Sam Darnold back on track if they can protect him, Howie. That New Orleans pass rush is pretty good.
HOWIE LONG: I agree, that defense played really well last week in the opener. It looks like it's going to be a fascinating division. What else could happen in New Orleans? Ida, and now COVID. Sean Payton has done a remarkable job.
The big question is Jameis. What Jameis brings to the table is the 5,000 yards, the ability to stretch the field. The new Jameis under Sean Payton played under Drew Brees for a year, doing the checkdown, taking what was there, protecting the football, understanding the singles and the doubles lead to the home run as it did at the end of the football game.
If he continues to play like this, New Orleans is going to be a team that has to be reckoned with in the NFC South.
CURT MENEFEE: Another intriguing game we have at the top of the hour at TB is Buffalo needing a win after losing to your Steelers last week, taking on Miami.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Pittsburgh got them ready and got them bad. Buffalo and Miami, there's some teams you play against some, certain players, you go: Not a problem, I'll handle business.
I believe that's exactly what's happened. Josh Allen, quarterback for Buffalo, has lit up this Dolphin defense, the six games he's played in. He's won five of them, throwing 17 touchdown passes. Don't give up on Singletary, your running back. They gave up against Pittsburgh, and you have to do that, run the ball so you can do play action. It's going to be a helluva -- I'm sorry, Mom -- heck of a game.
CURT MENEFEE: I know, when he asked if he said it, then you said it again. Heck of a game.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I got emotional.
CURT MENEFEE: We have a heck of a conversation between two great pass rushers, two great defensive linemen, Howie Long and Chandler Jones.
(Commercial.)
ANNOUNCER: This is arguably the best division in football.
>> Touchdown, San Francisco.
>> The best quarterback, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks.
>> Touchdown L.A.!
>> Kyler Murray does some things on the field we haven't seen before. The Arizona Cardinals, home of the Titans.
>> The NFC West is terrifying.
CURT MENEFEE: All four teams in the NFC West won in week one. 4-0 as a division. The most dominant was probably the Cardinals. You take a look at Kyler Murray, five total touchdowns. And defensive lineman Chandler Jones, five sacks. He beat up Tennessee's offensive line so badly, right after the game the Titans Pro Bowl tackle Taylor Lewan tweeted and acknowledged his domination.
Lewan didn't give up all those sacks. But they weren't able to stop Jones at all. You had a chance to talk to the young man this week.
HOWIE LONG: Yes, it was a great conversation, Terry is willing to pass on his therapist's number to him also.
What's all the more impressive about is Chandler Jones went out in week five last week. He hasn't played football since last October. Word was he was dominant in camp, he change his diet; he's down 10 pounds. Five sacks in game 1; he's on pace for 85.
(Music.)
HOWIE LONG: NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Congrats.
CHANDLER JONES: Thank you.
HOWIE LONG: Who the hell were they going to give it to? Five sacks on opening day. That's like somebody in the NBA scoring 70. Walk me through what you were thinking as the game's going on.
CHANDLER JONES: The first sack, that was --
HOWIE LONG: Naked boot.
CHANDLER JONES: Naked boot. That was all film study. Didn't bite a bit. As soon as they lined up, I went straight for the quarterback, steps, hands, eyes, all those things, and all that was happening, came to me on the field, and they were working for sure.
HOWIE LONG: It's like you're a praying mantis. The big jump step, and you're all arms and legs.
ANNOUNCER: Chandler Jones is all over the field.
CHANDLER JONES: The chips and double teams, I didn't get as much as I thought I would.
HOWIE LONG: This week, look for the peanut vendor. The guy showing people to their seats, they're going to hit you with everything.
Michael and I have been saying it for years, We think you're the best player in the league that for whatever reason is not on the national radar. Does that bother you?
CHANDLER JONES: It doesn't bother me. I remember when I was younger, I think it went heavy on me.
ANNOUNCER: Chandler Jones has been doing this for a long time.
CHANDLER JONES: Where I am at this point in my career, winning is the most important.
HOWIE LONG: The perspective at 31 is much different than at 24.
CHANDLER JONES: Totally different. Ten years in the league.
HOWIE LONG: 2017, 17 sacks. 2019, 19 sacks. I see a pattern here. Are we looking at 22.5 and my guy gets a little queasy?
CHANDLER JONES: I don't know.
HOWIE LONG: Do you think about that?
CHANDLER JONES: No. I spoke to Mike my fifth or sixth year in the league. He called me. I remember him saying, the difference between me or you, it took me five or six years to get it, to learn how to rush the pass. You know how to rush the pass already.
That meant so much to me. I don't know if he remembers that phone call.
ANNOUNCER: Chandler Jones making some money.
HOWIE LONG: I'm sure he does. That call meant a lot to him, Mike, it was nice of you to do. It's interesting, I tried to figure out who he reminds me of. He's such an unorthodox pass rusher. I was on the phone with my son Kyle, who plays offensive lineman in the league. He said, Have you ever seen his brother Jon "Bones" Jones fight? I forgot his brother was Jon "Bones" Jones, who may be the best fighter in the MMA ever, in the history of the sport. He's such a violent pass rusher with his arms and legs. He's all over the place.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I do remember that call. I've got to say, just like all of you, if you get a young player you respect, you love the way he played the game, you want to encourage him. That's my thing with Chandler. He will be a nationally known name now. He'll be known whatever stadium he shows up because the other team is going to show up to try to block him.
They're in the division that's a tough division, especially with the Rams. The Rams are the most balanced team, possibly in that division, but possibly in the league. Because you have Aaron Donald, this guy needs one half sack to be the franchise record holder for career. Even though I know my late great friend Deacon Jones would argue with that. Deacon would be proud of this young man, because he respected those guys that go out there and play the way that he plays. With Raheem Morris putting Jalen Ramsey in different positions in the secondary, nine tackles last week, he's mixed it up on defense. Whenever you have a great defense for years and your offense is almost there, not quite there, but then you get that piece that makes them go like they did with Matthew Stafford, it gives you so much more hope on defense just to get that offense the ball as much as possible. Matthew Stafford looks like a big win so far for the Rams.
CURT MENEFEE: What about the 49ers in that division?
TERRY BRADSHAW: They lose Raheem Mostert, their running back. He goes out. In comes a six round pick, a kid by the name of Elijah Mitchell. There's something about Kyle Shanahan, we've all said --
CURT MENEFEE: And Mike Shanahan.
TERRY BRADSHAW: Yeah, they're able to identify running backs and get them in the late rounds. So this kid goes in and rushes for over 100 yards. Key to this game is always going to be Jimmy Garoppolo, the quarterback. He needs the running game because Shanahan likes the play action. He has Samuel, he George Kittle, he has weapons, but they're most effective when they have play action. When you have play action, folks, you've got to have a running game.
CURT MENEFEE: Jimmy, Tennessee at Seattle?
JIMMY JOHNSON: Seattle really played well last week beating Indy. Russell Wilson, who I think is best deep thrower in the entire league, he hit some bombs to Lockett and to Metcalf, had four touchdowns. Plus Carson running the football.
And the shocker of the week was Tennessee. Tennessee didn't show up. You know, Tannehill, he didn't play well. Of course, he got sacked a bunch of times, and the big beast of a running back, Derrick Henry rushing for three and a half yards a carry. The defense didn't show up. The receivers were invisible.
I'm going to tell Seattle, they better not overlook this bunch. They were embarrassed, they will play better. If it gets to be a physical game at the end, they don't want to see that. Russell Wilson better hit some bombs early.
CURT MENEFEE: He's going to have a chance. And Seattle gets to play in front of the home folks for the first time this season. Jay Glazer is back to tell us who's in and out.
JAY GLAZER: We're going to start with the Dallas Cowboys, their defensive line got banged up this past week during practice. The Cowboys are going to take their first round pick Micah Parsons, they're going to move him linebacker to defensive end. They're going to use him a lot today as a pass rusher, this is not a plan to be a permanent move. Expect him to play a lot of pass rushing in this game.
Next I want to talk about are big in the fantasy world. Ronald Jones, he was told by Bruce Arians he will be the starter in this game. Is he going to be the feature back? Arians doesn't even know that. It's going to be by committee, a running back by committee, between him and Leonard Fournette.
And now the 49ers, T.B. talked about Elijah Mitchell, everybody in the fantasy world said, what about Trace Herman. A third-round pick, he is active today, but it's going to be Elijah's job.
For the Colts, Michael Pittman Jr., Parris Campbell, both those guys are banged up, Campbell is out, Pittman is in. Honey Badger, Frank Clark were both out last week; they are in.
Breaking news at the end, Joe Haden and Devin Bush, both those guys are out for their defense.
CURT MENEFEE: That's a big loss. Thanks, Jay. When you look at it historically, 90% of the teams that start off 0-2 don't make the playoffs. Is it time for the teams who lost to panic? That question inspired a new game show for us.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome back to your new game show. Don't freak out. The show where we question fans. Here we go. Browns, you're on the hot seat. You seem pretty calm for a Browns fan.
>> I've been a Browns fan my whole life.
>> Sorry to hear that. Here we go. Your team blew a half time lead against the Chiefs. How are you feeling?
>> The chiefs are really good, and we played well. I'm not freaking out.
>> Yeah, but if you can't beat them with a 12 point lead, how do you expect to ever win the super bowl?
>> That's a good point, but we'll get there.
>> Plus your quarterback threw a game changing interception. Maybe your quarterback he is too distracted with all the commercials he's doing?
>> Okay, now I'm freaking out. I've been a Browns fan all my life and this always happens I give up. This was supposed to be our year. Where's Odell? Where is he?
>> Hello Ravens, you basically gave your game away against the Raiders, making you 0-1. Freaking out?
>> No, it's only week two. I'm not freaking out.
>> Okay, but your top to running backs are on IR, not to mention Lamar Jackson lost two fumbles, and you play the Chiefs today. Which could make you 0-2. Last year, no 0-2 teams won the playoffs.
>> Okay, maybe the critics were right about our offense. I'm freaking out. What kind of sadistic show is this?
>> Okay, Packers, time to play don't freak out? Aaron Rodgers looked awful.
>> That's fine, he had one bad game.
>> No, no, no, I'm talking about his hair. Okay, Giants, welcome to the show?
[ Screaming ]
CURT MENEFEE: Could have gotten Michael to do that role, he's been freaking out all day long about his team.
TERRY BRADSHAW: That's true.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: That's good.
CURT MENEFEE: Let's keep it rolling with the FOX bet super six contest. Because you at home can win $1 million of Terry Bradshaw's money.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I'm loaded, folks.
CURT MENEFEE: All you have to do is download the FOX super six app, play for free. And this is exactly what the app looks like when you download it. Fans have already won $5 million playing FOX bet super 6. As far as our picks this season, well, Michael was the only one to correctly pick a winner last week.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: I picked the winner?
CURT MENEFEE: The rest of us are tied for second, only one point out.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Wow, didn't realize.
CURT MENEFEE: We will start with Jimmy Johnson with this week's pick, Jimmy?
JIMMY JOHNSON: Well Curt, for the first time in years, I didn't win the pick contest last year, and Michael, I'm only one point behind you, I'm going to pick the Rams by 7.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: That was hard Jimmy.
HOWIE LONG: If history tells us anything, Jimmy's picks in Miami are not good. I'm going to go Kansas City on the road at Baltimore by 5.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I am going to pick the Saints, who I love, by 6 over Carolina. How is that?
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Like it. Well, I know it's going to be tough, they're on the road, on the east coast. The 49ers, I'm going to pick them by 3.
CURT MENEFEE: Buffalo Bills on the road to bounce back and win, beating the Miami Dolphins. That will do it for us. Jimmy Johnson, we'll see you live in person next week.
JIMMY JOHNSON: Okay.
CURT MENEFEE: For those of you sitting back at home like Jimmy, if you're getting a late game, come back with us, everyone else, your kickoff is next. It's week two in the NFL, and the FOX schedule is loaded. Thanks for watching "FOX NFL Sunday" powered by Ford F-150 Lightning.
Later today we have plenty of excitement as Kyler Murray and the Cardinals host the Minnesota Vikings. And it's an NFC South matchup between Matt Lyons Falcons and the defending champion Buccaneers. Don't miss it, all starting here at 4:00 Eastern, 1:00 Pacific on FOX. And speaking of Tom Brady against Matt Ryan. Everyone knows the super bowl a couple years ago, 28-3, Atlanta had the lead in the third quarter. Patriots came back and won it. Tom Brady, who's become a social media God lately, trolling the Falcons this week, look at the computer behind him. 3, 28. That happened.
HOWIE LONG: These quarterbacks have a little bit of edge to them, don't they? You saw Payton's comments about Tom not being able to recognize the defenders. Tom doing that. You can't have too many quarterbacks in the same room. They're like leading ladies.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Who can really say much to Tom Brady?
CURT MENEFEE: Right.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: You really can't.
CURT MENEFEE: No.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Seven rings.
CURT MENEFEE: You think he can play until he's 50?
He said it.
HOWIE LONG: He's good. He's 44. If someone could say something to Tom Brady, you're about the only one.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: No, if somebody can say something to Tom Brady, it's his wife, Gisele. He's not playing until he's 50. I'm telling you that right now. But the thing is, 44 and 50, six years is a long time.
HOWIE LONG: Will he or can he are two different questions, though. Can he? I don't know what he can't do.
TERRY BRADSHAW: We know Matt Ryan's not going to.
HOWIE LONG: Would you ask to get out of there?
TERRY BRADSHAW: That's not who I am. I felt bad for him --
MICHAEL STRAHAN: You asked to get out of here.
TERRY BRADSHAW: I did not. You're the only one who asked to get out of here.
CURT MENEFEE: You're going to have to drag him out of here. Right now, they're dragging us off. We are done, we will see you again. Late games 4:00 eastern time, 1:00 p.m. We'll see you at half time.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports