guys you mentioned the ravens there and they lost the browns despite another sort of late run by deshaun williams he's having a great season but that is the height the commentator tells the highest position for the browns in 12 years wow

And that whole division is amazing right now.

The AFC North, so you've got the Browns, the Steelers, who are coming to Paris next week.

We'll talk about that game, I know.

You've got the Ravens, you've got the Bengals.

All teams have a winning record.

Everyone's 4-2 apart from the Bengals, who have had a bye week, so they're 3-2.

Had to be taken off on the medical cart, didn't we?

The Hawksby and Jacobs Daily Podcast.

To right.

Hands it off to Jonathan Taylor.

Tips over a man, and he goes untouched into the painted burgundy and gold.

Reds are off to our right-hand side.

And make that now five for Jonathan Taylor.

Three in Berlin, two here in London, as the Indianapolis Colts, off the back of that huge turnover, extends their lead 16 to six, with the extra point to come.

Andy and I are just gonna do the donkey work.

Do you think London could support that? And do you think there are other cities where you could bring in two European cities or even four? I

think if you'd asked me this originally, like when the games here first really blew up.

Because they've been coming here since 2007, but really it was like 2011, 2012-ish that the sport started to really grow, that you really started to see a proper foothold here.

And I genuinely believe if there was a franchise here, they would get season tickets, it would sell out.

You get a lot of British fans who will claim that they would never root for another team.

Because they like the Steelers or the Packers or whoever.

And we are, as a sporting nation, very tribal.

When were they last here? I have no empirical data to support this, but I think Jonathan Taylor went for like 250 here one

So, Will, I'm really curious on this because I think it's pretty clear Roger Goodell is interested in putting together an international package with 16 games, basically a full season, that he can sell to Netflix or Apple TV or whoever that might be, right? Do you think though, because we've heard about expansion to Europe, like an actual expansion team, do you think London could support that? And do you think there are other cities where you could bring in two European cities or even four?

I think if you'd asked me this originally, like when the games here first really blew up, They've been coming here since 2007, but really it was like 2011, 2012-ish that the sport started to really grow, that you really started to see a proper foothold here.

And I genuinely believe if there was a franchise here, they would get season tickets, it would sell out.

You get a lot of British fans who will claim that they would never root for another team.

Because they like the Steelers or the Packers or whoever.

And we are, as a sporting nation, very tribal.

Like the football, soccer football, it's incredibly tribal as a sport, right? But at the same time, if you're telling me that some guy who is an Eagles fan, who has never been to Philadelphia, never been to the link, like has no direct experience, is suddenly watching the same team eight, nine times a year and is having a better time if they're winning, right? That you're not going to at least start rooting for him.

When were they last year? I have no empirical data to support this, but I think Jonathan Taylor went for like 250 here one

So, Will, I'm really curious on this because I think it's pretty clear Roger Goodell is interested in putting together an international package with 16 games, basically a full season, that he can sell to Netflix or Apple TV or whoever that might be, right? Do you think though, because we've heard about expansion to Europe, like an actual expansion team, do you think London could support that? And do you think there are other cities where you could bring in two European cities or even four?

I think if you'd asked me this originally, like when the games here first really blew up, They've been coming here since 2007, but really it was like 2011, 2012-ish that the sport started to really grow, that you really started to see a proper foothold here.

And I genuinely believe if there was a franchise here, they would get season tickets, it would sell out.

You get a lot of British fans who will claim that they would never root for another team.

Because they like the Steelers or the Packers or whoever.

And we are, as a sporting nation, very tribal.

Like the football, soccer football, it's incredibly tribal as a sport, right? But at the same time, if you're telling me that some guy who is an Eagles fan, who has never been to Philadelphia, never been to the link, like has no direct experience, is suddenly watching the same team eight, nine times a year and is having a better time if they're winning, right? That you're not going to at least start rooting for him.

When were they last year? I have no empirical data to support this, but I think Jonathan Taylor went for like 250 here one

Do you think London could support that? And do you think there are other cities where you could bring in two European cities or even four? I

think if you'd asked me this originally, like when the games here first really blew up.

They've been coming here since 2007, but really it was like 2011, 2012-ish that the sport started to really grow, that you really started to see a proper foothold here.

And I genuinely believe if there was a franchise here, they would get season tickets, it would sell out.

You get a lot of British fans who will claim that they would never root for another team.

Because they like the Steelers or the Packers or whoever.

And we are, as a sporting nation, very tribal.

When were they last year? I have no empirical data to support this, but I think Jonathan Taylor went for like 250 here one

How does a British boy in the UK become a fan of the 49ers?

So I started following the NFL when I was a teenager.

And it was right around early 2000s.

It wasn't a great 49ers team at that point.

In the first seven or eight years, I followed them.

We didn't go to the playoffs once.

So, you know, no glory hunting here, as we would call it in the UK.

What makes the MCG so special compared to other stadiums?

All right [laughs] give me the three biggest issues.

[laughs] I could wax lyrical about this for a while.

Listen, there were plenty of issues in terms of the players on the pitch.

He's not wrong in those terms.

Uh, in a half an hour stretch from when England scored to when Argentina equalized, we only completed 25 successful passes.

There was a 20-minute stretch, or about an 18-minute stretch of that, where we completed just two successful passes, and that was John Stones and Jordan Pickford passing it between each other in our own box.

So the players are not, you know, uh, uh, culp- not, not culpable for this in any way, shape, or form.

How will this English national team be remembered, and World Cup 2026 be remembered by the English?

So, you know, what does, what does England need to improve upon? How are you feeling about this matchup as it approaches?

Yeah, no goals conceded.

Eight scored in their four games, and we've heard all those Azteca stats, right? Only two losses there in 89 competitive games.

D- you know, 10 World Cup games there with never losing in 90 minutes.

It is going to be a huge atmosphere on Sunday.

I mean, our, our guys were in the stadium this past few days, and they said that lightning delay only meant that more tequila was drunk, more beer was drunk, and the atmosphere was even rowdier by the time they got to kickoff.

So Lord knows what it'll be like when England are in town.

Yeah.

Yes, of course.

And it was always one of those things to me where if Jack Campbell had been a second round pick and performed as he'd done and, and had the career he had, everyone would've heralded it as a sensational draft pick.

Uh, he's such a great guy.

He's such a great fit for the scheme.

He's such a great fit for the locker room and, and for Dan Campbell.

They absolutely love him in that building.

He's very no-nonsense football.

I, I'm curious of, of your thoughts of where Caleb kinda fits in the landscape and this idea from the coaching staff of they want him to be a little more of a consistent, safer Caleb.

What have you thought about his kind of development as a pro so far?

Oh, he's a joy to watch.

And, you know, we saw just how dominant he was through that playoff run.

But this is, you know, when the Seahawks based their whole offseason, when they had money and they didn't have a lot of draft picks, but they elected not to keep their own guys around in a lot of cases, obviously, The most obvious example of that being Kenneth Walker, but a lot of their guys on the back end and the pass rush as well.

They made big choices to let the guys who had got them to where they got going.

And a lot of it was based off these two extensions, off JSN and off Devin Witherspoon.

So I think Witherspoon probably knows, or his agent knows more than that, that he is in a pretty strong negotiating position here.

It'd be good for our bodies.

Is it really going to be that much different? All right, give me another one.

I'd quite like them to work him less hard, to be honest.

I'd quite like him to not be on the field for every single down.

I had a kind of similar one, and it's something you mentioned earlier about the Chargers.

Similar one to my first one, but different in terms of position.

And actually, James Gladstone spoke... about for the Jaguars that they are being cat conscious and that they are thinking about those comp picks and that's how they are approaching this offseason.

They don't want to do anything splashy.

And I know you'd love to have that third round pick, but just in terms of the player, I'd rather have Osa Odigizua.

I'm sure you're not looking forward to that trio, uh, as a 49ers fan.

Yeah, the, the ultimate, uh, FM picks move would be to then go and throw a first rounder at A.J. Brown, which is supposedly what they want, that plus.

And that, for me, that's the thing that's, that's been putting me off, I think, most teams going for this deal, particularly when we started free agency.

And somebody threw up the question, and actually it was in relevance to the 49ers who end up going and getting Mike Evans, but they were talking about the guys at the very top of the market.

And the question was, would you rather pay Alec Pierce $27 million a year, or would you rather pay A.J. Brown $25 million a year and pay a first round pick for him? And right now, I, I was leaning towards Alec Pierce all day long, and I think now that it's settled down pre-draft, do we see something happen? I think unless it is this Rams making a decision that they are just gonna go absolutely all in, that it is all about this season, it might be the last season of Matt Stafford.

I think outside of that, I think this is something that's much more likely to happen around the draft itself or even-

Hmm

... exactly what the real money is.

Mm

... which picks up that first down, which ends the game, basically.

We spoke to a number of guys about that, Michael Onwenu we spoke with, uh, Ashton Grant, the quarterbacks coach, and with Todd Downing as well, and for all of them, they're like...

I didn't really realize, there was all that conversation about the fact that the lineman didn't know he was gonna do it, but apparently, he and Josh McDaniels discussed it on the sideline.

He said he wanted to do it.

Josh gave him the autonomy to do it, and it was his decision-

Any thoughts there?

Yeah, I have to say, like, opening night in previous years, there's always been like...

Should I be worried about my guy?

No, no, I don't think you should be worried about your guy at all.

You talked about him being young, but the maturity I think he showed in both that moment and then in the moment that's been much talked about, the naked boot on the fourth down, which picks up that first down, which ends the game, basically.

We spoke to a number of guys about that.

Michael and Wendy, we spoke with Ashton Grant, the quarterback's coach, and with Todd Downing as well.

And for all of them, they're like...

I didn't really realize there was all that conversation about the fact that the lineman didn't know he was going to do it.

What have you seen out of the

Yeah

... and we all know each other.

And so Olivia came out and started working with Sky and, and she's really lovely, really good people, as is Kevin when I've had a chance to speak with him.

Um, and so yeah, it's ...

I think my experience of this really has been, like, it's been so lovely getting all the response and the reaction to the, the clips of our commentary that have gone out there and gone viral and done so well.

But- Actually, like, sp- speaking to, like, uh, all the people who do this, uh...

I was speaking to Bob Suchy, the Patriots, uh, play-by-play guy last night.

And I'm thinking, "Well, the pubs are full here, too." [laughs]

Where is the NFL from a popularity standpoint? Has it surpassed? I mean, is it getting closer to cricket or rugby? Is it fourth place, fifth place? How would you describe it and how do you quantify it?

think it's a really good question and i think like depending on what metric you want to take and how you're looking it really people's answers to this vary but what i would say is that the most obvious thing is how much it's grown in the last 15 years when i started a talk sport in 2012 there was like me my buddy ollie hunter who i do our podcast with across the formation and basically almost nobody else like one or two of the presenters who like the nfl now we've got like two separate 12 team fantasy teams running and we run it like english football where there's relegation and promotion between the two fantasy leagues uh we've got like like i went in today and we were doing having meetings about the super bowl and even like the the most casual person's like oh we've got to make sure we cover off shadur sanders being in the pro bowl because that's doing really great traffic for us on the website and stuff like it's amazing how much you can see it's become much more part of the culture day to day and i can just tell you from the radio perspective right Rugby and cricket are very, very big internationally.

When England are playing, when Wales or Scotland or Ireland are playing in the rugby, it's a huge deal.

We've got a tournament coming up called the Six Nations, where all the British teams plus France plus Italy all play each other over the course of two months.

That's huge, and that'll do really big numbers.

But domestic rugby, just like you would go and watch at a local stadium, I'd say the NFL is bigger than that at this point.

I think it does bigger TV numbers, does bigger numbers on the radio for us.

And then do you offer commentary during commercials instead of commercials? Refresh my memory

even when you're playing an undermanned team.

Yeah, and like you say, short week, going on the road against a team who, yes, they are falling apart at the seams, but, you know, Travis Kelce, probably his last game, which I'm sure we'll get onto.

There was a lot of emotion on the day.

The- the interception, right? Christian Fulton gets across and just makes an unbelievable play on the ball, and Nick Bolton in full tip drill mode.

Like, that can't be on Bo Nix.

The throw is placed exactly where it needs to be to pick up that first down, particularly when he's scrambling, uh, outside the pocket to his left.

And it- it's interesting what you said about the blitzing, because what I thought about this game, watching those long dinky-dunky drives that we're talking about, is that actually Bo Nix, 25 of 34, 176 yards and a touchdown when playing in structure.

But yeah, they completely dominated this Commander's defense all day.

Mm.

... is 10.

Because 17 of those points came off turnovers, seven off that huge punt return.

The three of their touchdown drives started from the three, the five, and the 20-yard line.

Like, you are not putting your defense in a position to win.

And when you consider the injuries on the Minnesota Vikings line, if Brian O'Neill is ... seems like he's gonna be out for significant time.

Ryan Kelly with a second concussion in, in the space of three weeks.

Mm.