“He is insane in the membrane right now.” – Chris Simms on Russell Wilson
“When the Patriots are (successfully) running the football, you cannot beat them.” – Rodney Harrison
“That tells me that Matt Nagy doesn’t really believe he has a franchise quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky.” – Tony Dungy on Nick Foles replacing Trubisky today
STAMFORD, Conn. – Sept. 27, 2020 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Week 3 of the 2020 NFL season began tonight from Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., with Football Night in America leading into coverage of Packers-Saints on Sunday Night Football on NBC.
Liam McHugh hosted FNIA from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn., and was joined by Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms. Due to COVID-19 precautions, two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison and NFL Insider Mike Florio joined Football Night remotely from studios in their respective homes. Jac Collinsworth co-hosted the show on-site from Mercedes-Benz Superdome and was joined by Sunday Night Football analyst and his father Cris Collinsworth.
In addition, FNIA featured the new film Black Boys, which is executive produced by Saints S Malcolm Jenkins. Dungy said of Jenkins, “What I love about him is action. They’re registering voters in New Orleans, feeding the homeless, job programs for young people. I just really commend him for doing things in the community.”
Jac Collinsworth also interviewed Packers RB Aaron Jones, who wore a sombrero.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Collinsworth (analyst), Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s Patriots-Seahawks game. Al Michaels has the night off.
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Following are highlights from tonight’s edition of Football Night in America on NBC:
ON PACKERS
Simms on QB Aaron Rodgers: “We are not seeing him coach receivers and saying go this way or looking over at the sideline like, what kind of play is that? He is very comfortable there and they are more aggressive. That is the biggest thing I look at. 18-for-30 last week, I love it. It means they are taking shots down the field…he is comfortable, the communication is right and that is allowing him to throw to the first read in the offense a lot. And I think (Matt) LaFleur has added some nice new wrinkles to the offense in general.”
Dungy: “Always a lot to love when you score 40 points a game.”
ON SAINTS
Cris Collinsworth: “You watch Alvin Kamara play the game, he is just one of the most electric players in football, not only as a runner, but as a receiver.”
Harrison on Taysom Hill: “He’s the best athlete on the field…He is a threat…Right now there’s a sense of urgency, you have to play your best players.”
ON SEAHAWKS
Simms on QB Russell Wilson: “He is insane in the membrane right now…Buying time, throwing perfect throws all over the place. Very impressive.”
Dungy: “I have not seen a quarterback play better than this…I am worried about that Seattle defense. Russell Wilson is playing out of his mind and they are winning on the last play of the game every week.”
Simms on Wilson: “He’s amazing, so maybe he can continue to do this, but I would like to see a little run game and defense to help him out.”
ON BEARS
Harrison on QB Nick Foles replacing Mitchell Trubisky and leading the team to a win: “It is Nick Foles. He came in and absolutely broke the Falcons heart. The former Super Bowl MVP came in and played well. He had three touchdowns, and if you are Matt Nagy don’t overthink it, keep it. Keep it Nick Foles.”
Florio: “I spoke to Matt Nagy after the game, he said he made a gut-feel type of decision to go with Nick Foles. And the coaching staff when they get back to Chicago are going to get together and make a decision going forward. Nagy said he doesn’t want to go back and forth on this. He wants to make a decision and stick with it.”
Dungy: “Let me tell you about those gut feelings, I had some gut feelings in Tampa, and I changed quarterbacks a few times. I never had a gut feeling in Indianapolis with Peyton Manning. That tells me that Matt Nagy doesn’t really believe he has a franchise quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky.”
Simms: “How can they not go back to Nick Foles the way he looked? … He has great presence in the pocket. He throws under pressure. He has got to start like Rodney said.”
Harrison: “It has nothing to do with gut feeling, it is the smart thing to do. Nick Foles should be the starting quarterback. He has experience. The guys in that locker room respect the fact that he is a Super Bowl MVP. Mitch Trubisky had three years and three games to prove himself. He is entirely too inconsistent, and I think the most important fact is his teammates lost confidence in him. When Nick Foles came in you saw, and coach talked about, how they rallied around him and they brought a lot of energy and it actually affected the defense as well.”
McHugh: “It’s not a gut feeling, it’s a brain feeling.”
ON BILLS
Simms on QB Josh Allen: “They’re never out of it because of this guy right now.”
ON PATRIOTS
Harrison: “I thought the Patriots did a great job of rebounding from last week, protecting the deep part of the field. When the Patriots are (successfully) running the football, you cannot beat them. As far as Cam (Newton) is concerned, he is talking about the preparation and the confidence that you go into a game with when you know that Coach Belichick has prepared you for that week.”
ON TITANS
Simms: “Ryan Tannehill has injected himself into the conversation for one of the best deep-ball throwers in the game.”
ON WASHINGTON
Simms on QB Dwayne Haskins: “He didn’t have the best day. Made a few plays but made some second year-type mistakes at the quarterback position. He’ll have better days.”
ON BROWNS
Simms on RB Nick Chubb: “They are at their best when Nick Chubb and this offensive run game get going. Nick Chubb is one of the best backs in the game right now. When they feed him the ball, they are a dangerous offense.”
ON CHARGERS
Dungy on playing QB Justin Herbert over Tyrod Taylor: “I say put him in there. He’s got so much talent. He’s going to play better as the season goes on.”
ON BENGALS
Simms on QB Joe Burrow: “They’ve got to do something a little more to protect this guy. It’s a lot of big hits through three games.”
Simms on the Bengals-Eagles tie: “Nobody wanted to win this game. They refused it. I think they were very happy with a tie.”
ON EAGLES
Harrison: “I feel bad for Carson Wentz because I think he is really playing behind a garbage offensive line. He looks scared to death when he is behind the line and it is forcing him to hold on to the ball, trying to force it in between two people. But I also look at some of the veteran players that they have. DeSean Jackson came in, he is old, you can’t depend on him, he stays hurt. I look at a guy like Zach Ertz, he looks like he is still upset about the contract situation. He seems like he is playing like he is pouting or something like that. These guys need to get on the field and become a lot more productive.”
ON JETS
McHugh: “As for the Jets, their fans might be looking ahead to the 2021 Draft.”
Simms: “Worst team in football.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–