Tua Tagovailoa

And the reason being is the Falcons quarterbacking situation is really, really in trouble.

Tua Tagovailoa hurt his back yesterday.

The betting line went from getting three and a half to getting five and a half.

So now Cooper Rush, come on down, and he might be a better quarterback than Tua right now.

All right, my first winner is going to be the Pittsburgh Steelers facing, looking at minus three and a half over the Atlanta Falcons, and there's new reasons why.

Not only was I already confident in the Steelers going into this game, but now we have news from Falcons practice today that Tua Tagovailoa showed that he may have aggravated his back.

We are still awaiting some word on that, but we already know Michael Penix isn't involved.

That means that you're down to potentially Cooper Rush.

Yeah.

You know, so- something to note, and I, I don't know if this is more of a Tua thing from Miami or if it was a schematic thing where Frank Smith would come in and have influence, but, you know, the, the, the last year, what, 2000...

I'll, I'll just pull 2024 here-

Mm-hmm

... uh, for a full season.

The, the Vikings starting quarterbacks under Kevin O'Connell have largely been at or near the top of the list in average depth of target, which we've talked about on this show.

Well, 2024, among 36 qualified quarterbacks, dead last on the average depth of target list was Tua Tagovailoa in the 11 starts for Miami.

Now, is that him being just an aggressive checkdown merchant and trying to get the ball out because concussions? Or, you know...

I think the Bears, uh, win week one.

Uh, I think the Steelers even before the Tua injury, like I was really con- I, r- like was Miami going into Vegas and beating the Raiders? No.

Um, and then there's some games where...

Uh, the Giants is another one.

My first winner is going to be the Pittsburgh Steelers facing, looking at minus three and a half over the Atlanta Falcons, and there's new reasons why.

Not only was I already confident in the Steelers going into this game, but now we have news from Falcons practice today that Tua Tagovailoa showed that he may have aggravated his back.

We are still awaiting some word on that, but we already know Michael Penix isn't involved.

That means that you're down to potentially Cooper Rush.

Now, Sean, you're the owner.

of the Atlanta Falcons how do you like hearing Tua tell you I don't have anything to prove and then he's already hurt before week one I mean are we kidding with Tua here first of all they don't want to play Penix they don't want to play him because he's healthy they don't want to play him you're going to start the season you got Tua you got Penix or you drafted highly and you're going to start Cooper Rush in week one I mean what the heck is going on with that franchise Yeah, I'm just

a little different here, Mike.

I would be the one owner that would be honest with my fan base.

If we're going to talk about Stetson, it is a shame that the Falcons, he is not starting for the Falcons this week.

Especially after the second Tua went on the injury report, they should have traded for Stetson.

We're running out Cooper Rush as our week one starter, guys.

Come on.

He left practice yesterday.

Not sure what his status is, but whether it's Tua or whether it's Cooper rush or whether, I don't know, maybe they'll bring Michael panics back.

Maybe we'll see Jack strand who honestly, I think is probably the one of those guys.

I would be the most interested in seeing, um, The Steelers are going to have the better quarterback on the field on Sunday.

But I think the one thing I keep coming back to with this is if they let Bijan Robinson take over this football game, the Seahawks are going to be in trouble.

I mean, that's really the object of this.

If they can slow down Bijan and force Tua, Cooper, Rush, whoever it might be, quarterback, to do third and longs and the Steelers can just pin their ears back and rush the passer, advantage Steelers all the way.

So they have to stop the run.

easily.

It looks like it might be Cooper Rush starting for the Falcons with Tua's injury at practice on Thursday, for crying out loud.

I don't think Tua wants to take the field.

As they take on the Steelers, Mike McCarthy's debut.

I don't think Tua wants to take the field, and I think he's going to get cut.

Oh, my gosh.

Pittsburgh's a five-and-a-half-point favorite home against Atlanta.