I’ll never skip it when it’s on.
“You can’t win!”
Adrian Balboa at the top of that long wooden staircase in “Rocky IV,” her voice echoing through their mansion as her husband prepared to fight the Russian machine, Ivan Drago. (It’s the best Rocky; don’t blow up the comment section, please.)
Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers wasn’t standing on any staircase, but his words after New York’s Week 3 loss to the Chiefs carried the same sting.
“We can’t win.”
Those three words told us exactly where he thinks this 0-3 team is right now: not built to go pound-for-pound with the league’s heavyweights. It doesn’t help that the schedule ahead may be scarier than a steroid-pumped Drago: The next six opponents include the red-hot Chargers, the defending champion Eagles (twice), the Broncos and the undefeated 49ers. Enter rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, not only to get the Giants into the win column, but to attempt to save head coach Brian Daboll’s job in the process.
More on that later.
Speaking of movie favorites, there’s always been something very Hollywood about Baker Mayfield. Maybe it’s the charm. Maybe it’s the swagger. Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s the only quarterback who ever looked completely at home starring in what felt like 43 commercials before his rookie contract was even up. (He’s really good in all of them, too.)
After one of Tampa Bay’s recent chaotic wins, a Bucs front office executive texted me: “We have Clint Eastwood playing QB.” I shot back: “Are you 87 years old? There’s gotta be a better comparison for Baker in 2025.” But after some quick Googling and a call to my 71-year-old dad for some explaining … turns out? It’s perfect.
Baker really is the gunslinger rolling into town with that “go ahead, make my day” look — and a huge chip on his shoulder. He remembers every rejection, every slight, every team that cut him, and then he goes out and punishes them on the field. He’s been described as an “elite leader” who stepped in after the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady and is just doing it his way.
It’s wildly entertaining — and the Bucs keep winning because of him.
Now, here’s the good, the bad and the ugly of what I’m hearing this week on:
- Houston’s problems
- The Pats fumbling it away
- Brian Daboll’s big call
- Charging into change in L.A.
- Why Kirk Cousins is still in Atlanta
- Jerry Jones opening his wallet
- Coffee talkin’
The Texans’ biggest foe is themselves
While Baker’s 3-0 Buccaneers are stealing wins in the final seconds, the 0-3 Texans keep finding ways to give them back. Week 1 against the Rams? A fumble with under two minutes to play. Week 2 vs. Tampa Bay? Three failed cracks from the 1-yard line, plus a missed sack on fourth-and-10 that set up a Bucs touchdown with six seconds left. Week 3 against Jacksonville? Two fourth-quarter turnovers in scoring range, including an interception with 27 seconds on the clock. Three games, three gut-punch endings. What is going on in Houston?
This was supposed to look different.
After two straight division titles with 10-7 records, Houston reshuffled its offense in the offseason, with a new coordinator, four new starters up front and fresh weapons in Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins and Woody Marks. But through three weeks, it’s been a mess. Communication is an obvious problem and the offense looks out of sync. Other teams see a leaky line and a team struggling to run the ball because it can’t protect. I’ve been told “give it time” by many close to the situation, but it’s hard to ignore that the Texans rank dead last in offensive success rate, which is somehow worse than the Giants. Worse than Joe Flacco-led Browns. Worse than the Titans (who the Texans play Sunday).
And somehow, they still don’t have a red-zone touchdown — the only team with that distinction.
The shock isn’t that the Texans are struggling. It’s that they appear to be regressing. The roster has talent that could help Houston get through this September slump. Nico Collins is one of the best wideouts in the league, the running back room has depth (Joe Mixon remains on the non-football injury list with a foot/ankle issue, but there should be clarity by mid-October) and C.J. Stroud is a good young quarterback. The fix isn’t complicated: Take care of the football. The problem is that’s also the hardest thing for them to do right now.
At some point, Houston has to stop co-starring with the Patriots in that Spider-Man meme, both tripping over themselves on offense.
Pats protecting the rock
Sorry for the strays, New England, but fumbling and throwing a pick inside the opponent’s 5-yard line in the same game is gross, especially when young QB Drake Maye appears to be improving every week. The good news for the Patriots: Cornerback Christian Gonzalez is expected to make his season debut this week against Carolina. I’m told Gonzalez has worked hard on his hamstring recovery to get back on the field and is ready to roll. He and the Patriots were in agreement on not rushing his return, and he should bolster a defense that badly needs him. Panthers QB Bryce Young has only one career road win, so it’s a good spot for Gonzalez’s return.
But the bigger question for New England is about ball security. The Patriots have already lost four fumbles, the most of any team that has played just three games. How do they clean that up this week? They have been drilling it constantly. Every practice period had some element of ball security, with ball carriers hammering on technique and everyone else hammering on protecting the guy with the ball. Now it just has to show up.
All on Daboll
The Giants actually considered turning to Jaxson Dart after their Week 1 loss to the Commanders, but they instead stuck with Russell Wilson, who had a vintage performance against the Dallas Cowboys. Wilson kept his job, but it was just one epic showing before he fizzled against the Chiefs. Now, sitting at 0-3, Daboll’s calculation is simple: Go down swinging with your guy. Ask fired head coaches what they regret most, and you’ll hear the same answer: not doing it their way. Daboll is making sure he does.
This was his decision, for better or worse. Giants ownership doesn’t typically force these kinds of moves, and I’m told they didn’t this time either. It wasn’t GM Joe Schoen’s mandate. The call belonged entirely to Daboll and he wants everyone to know it.
Only a handful of people inside the building even knew the switch was coming. Some raised objections, but in the end, Daboll pulled the trigger, and now the entire organization is backing him. So why not stick with collaborative messaging, saying “we decided on this,” or “as an organization, we believe Dart gives us the best chance?” Daboll wants to own this decision, and inside the building, his approach has been “put everything on me.”
Daboll broke the news face-to-face with both Wilson and Dart. Wilson was disappointed but was the ultimate professional. Since signing with New York, the veteran has earned respect across the locker room for his energy and maturity as a leader. While many around the league assumed the Giants would cut him, the team chose to keep him on as the backup because he’s fit in so well in the QB room.
For Dart, the conversation went a step further. After FaceTiming his parents to share the news, he and Daboll sat down for a long film session Tuesday afternoon, breaking down Josh Allen’s highlights from Buffalo — Daboll once tutored Allen there — alongside some of Dart’s best plays from Ole Miss. The good news for the rookie is that the offense he ran in college has plenty of overlap with what Daboll runs now. They spent hours talking through it before hitting the field on Wednesday. “Dart’s a sponge,” a Giants source said.
And inside the Giants locker room, I’m told, they’re fired up. Several players on both sides of the ball, including team captains, reached out right away with calls and FaceTimes to let Dart know they’re behind him.
“He has moxie. He has a legit chance of being great,” another Giants person texted.
This was always Daboll’s guy, and the staff has been preparing him all summer. And while backup QB Jameis Winston already gets plenty of praise for being a great teammate, he’s lived up to that reputation here, spending hours with Dart and running through scripts over and over after practice until the rookie had them down cold.
When Dart met with the media, he didn’t play the savior. He said he’s been preparing, he’s ready and he’s excited for the opportunity. For the Giants, turning to Dart is the right call. For Daboll, it’s the only call.
And if you want to know how deep Daboll’s belief runs? Just look at the end of their exchange on draft night:
Dart: “I appreciate you.”
Daboll: “All right buddy, I love you, man.”
Dart: “Yeah, I love you, too.”
Daboll: “I’m banking on you. Ya got me?”
Dart: “Yes, sir. Smart man.”
For the Giants, this is about the future. For Daboll, it’s about survival. And for Dart, it’s the chance to prove those final two words true.
Let’s just hope, for his sake, that the offensive line shows up on Sunday.
Is the real Greg Roman standing up?
Justin Herbert really does look different, and that’s because the Chargers under Jim Harbaugh look different.
So does veteran offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
“Who is this guy? This is not the Greg Roman we know!” one NFL head coach told me over the phone while running through the league’s top offenses. “The approach is not the same on offense.”
Justin Herbert has been unleashed for the L.A. Chargers this season. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
And he’s right. It’s a dramatic shift. Think back to last year, when the first 10 games were all about pounding the ground game, with Herbert barely getting to show off his arm. When they finally unleashed him, the offense opened up and they played their best football, carrying that momentum into the playoffs.
This year, it’s flipped.
They’re passing early and at an enormous rate, setting the tone through the air, with the sense they’ll lean heavier on the run later as this young group grows together.
A leopard might not change its spots, but if Roman keeps evolving like this, the Chargers could have a whole new beast of an offense on their hands.
Wilson and Cousins staying put … for now
As mentioned above, the Giants are keeping Wilson as their backup, and while the team could always decide to cut him down the line, the thought is that Wilson has done a great job of bringing energy and guidance to their QB room. He wants to be in New York, even if he’s not starting.
As for Kirk Cousins, he is sitting in Atlanta right now as the backup quarterback, and because of his no-trade clause, it’s not as simple as just shipping him somewhere. He’d have to sign off, and that’s only going to happen if the situation is right.
Even then, the math isn’t easy. Any team thinking about taking a swing would need cap room and budget space to absorb what’s left of his $27.5 million base salary for 2025. They’d have to give up a draft pick or two on top of that.
That said, desperation usually gets deals done in this league. If a playoff contender loses its starter midseason, Atlanta could flip the script. If the Falcons are willing to eat some of Cousins’ money, they’d essentially be buying themselves a better return: a higher draft pick from whichever desperate team picks up the phone.
Jerry Jones opens his wallet
The Cowboys are clearly on a mission to squash the narrative that Jerry Jones is stingy or drags his feet when it comes to paying his stars. Ever since shipping Micah Parsons to Green Bay, Dallas has been on a full-blown spending spree to lock down the rest of its core.
Cornerback DaRon Bland got a $22 million signing bonus. Fullback Hunter Luepke pocketed $1.5 million, and guard Tyler Smith signed a four-year, $96 million deal, which makes him the highest-paid guard in football.
Put those three deals together, and Dallas went from ranking 26th in 2025 cash commitments all the way up to eighth. Jones closed the door on Parsons in Dallas but has opened his wallet for the future.
We’ll see how he feels about that approach on Sunday when his team hosts the Packers.
Coffee talkin’
Lions head coach Dan Campbell doesn’t shy away from being himself or from fueling his body with outrageous amounts of caffeine. Every time he pops up on TV, I can’t get his coffee order out of my head. Beyond the tremendous job he’s done keeping Detroit on track on both sides of the ball, his coffee routine is legendary: two 20-ounce Starbucks cups, each with two extra espresso shots. After every win, he and his wife, Holly, post his “victory coffee” on Instagram (probably with a shaky hand).
Curious about other coaches, I asked some plugged-in baristas around the league about caffeine quirks. Sean Payton stirs in a single sugar with a splash of 2 percent— but only drinks half because he hates lukewarm coffee. Kevin O’Connell keeps it simple with black coffee or a straight espresso. Mike Vrabel goes for a quad espresso — which sounds more like a dinosaur than a drink. Dan Quinn likes a large coffee with a little half-and-half. Brian Callahan, Mike Tomlin, Shane Steichen and Ben Johnson all take it black. Daboll opts for cream and sugar. And then there are the abstainers: Kyle Shanahan, Todd Bowles, Aaron Glenn, Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni are among those who don’t touch the stuff.
I’m sure someone could chart a direct correlation between these coffee orders and win totals. Until that happens, enjoy your cup however you like it. (For me? Two sugars and a splash of half-and-half. My editor, Dan? Whiskey.)
(Top photos of Jaxson Dart with Brian Daboll, and C.J. Stroud: Bryan M. Bennett, Harry How / Getty Images)
Source link
