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Speaker 2: My name is Andrews. Siciliano.
Speaker 3: Heavy is the head that wears the crown, the crown
Speaker 3: of the man who does the weekly NFL powererankings on
Speaker 3: NFL dot com. That crown this year has been handed
Speaker 3: from Dan Hanzu's not here to Eric ed Hoolme. It
Speaker 3: is now your responsibility to step into the mailstrom and
Speaker 3: take grief from everybody.
Speaker 2: Eric with the new rankings. Are you ready?
Speaker 4: Yeah? A large throne, a large crown. I'm a little nervous.
Speaker 4: Fans get a little a little prickly about where their
Speaker 4: teams end up every week. But I'm up to the challenge. Man,
Speaker 4: Why wouldn't I be?
Speaker 2: This is exciting, It's a blast.
Speaker 3: Turn off your Twitter, turn off your notifications, close your
Speaker 3: dms on both Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, whatever it is you're on.
Speaker 3: I would shut down Cameo as well if you're doing
Speaker 3: any of those, because people are gonna come at you.
Speaker 3: Are you ready to defend your initial rankings.
Speaker 4: Let's got to do it.
Speaker 2: Here we go.
Speaker 3: If you haven't seen them yet, they're an NFL dot
Speaker 3: Com slash Power Rankings. Or you can scan the screen
Speaker 3: right now use that QR code. You're not gonna be
Speaker 3: charged anybody. It's gonna go right to NFL dot com.
Speaker 3: You're gonna see that. Eric has Kansas City, the defending
Speaker 3: Super Bowl fifty seven champions, as number one, then the Eagles,
Speaker 3: then the Bills, then the Niners and the Bengals.
Speaker 2: Routing out the top five.
Speaker 3: The Cowboys we'll get to them in the second at six,
Speaker 3: because wait until you hear what Eric has to say
Speaker 3: about them.
Speaker 2: Then the Ravens, and then the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: I guess Kansas City is obvious they won, Eric, and
Speaker 3: they still have Patrick Mahomes right, but Chris Jones's status
Speaker 3: is up in there. As we tape this on Tuesday,
Speaker 3: Kelsey has the knee, a hyper extended knee. Are they
Speaker 3: one merely because they did win? Or do you think
Speaker 3: they're winning again?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a question.
Speaker 5: And I think we'll get into kind of how the
Speaker 5: voting is done and how I rank these teams each
Speaker 5: week I'm ranking the Chiefs at number one right now.
Speaker 4: They won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5: Of course, as you mentioned, I think they had a
Speaker 5: really good off season, avoided kind of losing some of
Speaker 5: the key parts, and the ones that did lose found
Speaker 5: adequate replacements.
Speaker 4: You got Mahomes, you got Red, you got a chance.
Speaker 5: Now are they trying to do everything in their power
Speaker 5: to make me look bad? With Jones holding out and
Speaker 5: Kelsey getting hurt on the eve of the game. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm getting a little nervous here, but this is one game.
Speaker 5: They'll have the little mini buy after Detroit on Thursday. Look,
Speaker 5: you can still lose Week one and be fine in
Speaker 5: the long term. But I just think they're firepower offensively,
Speaker 5: and assuming they get Jones back, they should have enough
Speaker 5: on defense to compete with not anybody.
Speaker 4: But that schedule is hard, and it starts in Week one.
Speaker 4: Detroit's legit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that schedule is brutal. You get an early game
Speaker 3: in the heat in Jacksonville as well. Look at the
Speaker 3: second half of the schedule.
Speaker 2: It is brutal.
Speaker 3: But then again, they've hosted three consecutive AFC Championship games
Speaker 3: in their own building, which is absurd.
Speaker 2: Yet the Eagles at two. I get it.
Speaker 3: You have the Bills at three, so you're not really
Speaker 3: taking any stock in the offseason drama with Stefan jis
Speaker 3: or the idea that and I hate the pressure conversation.
Speaker 3: I feel like there's more pressure this team than any
Speaker 3: other team.
Speaker 5: I agree, it's produce or you know what's going to
Speaker 5: happen next year, right, Stefan Diggs, all the drama that
Speaker 5: happened the offseason quietly been pushed to the side.
Speaker 4: Everything's fine, right, Well, we'll see right.
Speaker 5: I mean, there's no guarantee that he and Josh Allen,
Speaker 5: who were very much on the same page last year,
Speaker 5: the year before, et cetera, are going to be there
Speaker 5: at the end of the season. We saw how the
Speaker 5: playoff game unfolded. They didn't really add another weapon, so
Speaker 5: that pairig has to be superb again. Also got to
Speaker 5: worry about the defense too. I mean, look, Sean McDermott
Speaker 5: is really your you're head coach and your coordinator now
Speaker 5: our colleague Leslie Fraser now joining us at the NFL Network.
Speaker 4: But it's a lot of responsibility for.
Speaker 5: One guy to oversee the entire team, a team that
Speaker 5: did kind of flame out at the end and also
Speaker 5: run the defense. So it's a little bit of a
Speaker 5: leap of faith by being putting them this high, especially
Speaker 5: after the Bengals looked like they were a better team
Speaker 5: at the end of last season than the Bills.
Speaker 3: I just think this that if they don't win this year,
Speaker 3: they're going to be massive changes. Seann Dermott says, it's
Speaker 3: all on my back right here. If I'm going out,
Speaker 3: I want to do it my way calling the defense.
Speaker 3: Vonn's not ready yet. If they don't get to the
Speaker 3: AFC Championship Game, if they don't get to the super Bowl,
Speaker 3: I do think they're massive changes here. But that's just
Speaker 3: me and we're sitting here. In the first week of September, Eric,
Speaker 3: you were telling me off there that for some reason
Speaker 3: you were getting grief for putting the Niners at four.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I was shocked.
Speaker 5: If there was one team the Steelers fans definitely chimed in.
Speaker 5: But if there was one fan group or one, I say,
Speaker 5: one team that people kind of single doubt as being
Speaker 5: way too high on my list, it was the forty
Speaker 5: nine Ers, and I thought, Okay, this came at the
Speaker 5: time when we didn't know Purdy's status. There were some
Speaker 5: questions about what was going to happen with Trey Lance.
Speaker 5: Those have sort of since been answered, even if Brock
Speaker 5: Purty only has this.
Speaker 4: Small sample size. So I'm shocked at people who say,
Speaker 4: you got to put him.
Speaker 5: Down at twelve, you got to put him at thirteen whatever,
Speaker 5: almost outside the playoff picture.
Speaker 4: I'm not doing that. Look, I get Demiko Ryans moving on.
Speaker 5: That's a big loss Steve Wilks running the defense now.
Speaker 5: Purty questions about the sample size only eight games if
Speaker 5: you count the playoffs, but a number of weapons they have,
Speaker 5: Kyle Shanahan's history of making quarterbacks look better, the defensive
Speaker 5: talent didn't just suddenly get sucked up into the void.
Speaker 5: So this is a good football team. They don't play
Speaker 5: in the strongest division. In my opinion, I think they're
Speaker 5: going to be just fine, and I think Purdy's going
Speaker 5: to at least carry on the way he did at
Speaker 5: the end.
Speaker 2: Of last season.
Speaker 3: And I think the division certainly factors here. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm kind of a rams homer here, but we know
Speaker 3: they they may have some issues this year, particularly defensively,
Speaker 3: and Kyle Shanahan has had Sean mcvay's number. I don't
Speaker 3: know what the Cardinals are doing, so I think the
Speaker 3: division is in their favor. I still think the Seahawks
Speaker 3: are a good team here, whether or not they could
Speaker 3: make it to the postseason healthy, which is always their issue.
Speaker 3: When they are healthy, then they're good. When they're not, obviously,
Speaker 3: it's been a mess, but that's the biggest thing for
Speaker 3: me for the forty nine ers. All Right, we showed
Speaker 3: you what number five was. Let's get to number six
Speaker 3: if we could. Here in time for Future champ presented
Speaker 3: by Fan Duel, as we look at the odds.
Speaker 2: To win the Super Bowl. Yes, we're doing this right now.
Speaker 3: Kansas City and Philadelphia, who are in it last year,
Speaker 3: are plus six hundred and plus eight hundred. The Bills
Speaker 3: and this is your one two three really are plus
Speaker 3: nine hundred. The Cowboys, and I think this is a
Speaker 3: sucker bet are plus thirteen hundred because the Cowboy are
Speaker 3: great in August and they haven't done anything in twenty years.
Speaker 3: In January, you have them at number six in your
Speaker 3: power rankings in Eric your initial power rankings, but you
Speaker 3: have them winning the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: How in the world does that make sense.
Speaker 5: I was prepared for this. I was ready for the
Speaker 5: onslaught here. Okay, explain it to us at home. Here's
Speaker 5: the way I look at it.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 5: The power rankings represent where I would slot these teams
Speaker 5: right now. What happens right now is going to be
Speaker 5: a lot different from what happens in January. Injuries, hold
Speaker 5: out developments. Take Dak Prescott last year got on kind
Speaker 5: of an interception streak. There way too careless with the football.
Speaker 5: I think that ends, and I think Mike McCarthy you
Speaker 5: pointed out right pressure may be an overrated word, but
Speaker 5: there are a lot of folks in Dallas who understand
Speaker 5: it's now or never.
Speaker 4: Cherry Jones certainly feels that way. But I think they're
Speaker 4: going to put.
Speaker 5: Some of their offense to issues behind them, and I
Speaker 5: think that defense is going to be one of the
Speaker 5: best teams in the NFL. So I think by the
Speaker 5: over the course of the season, you're going to see
Speaker 5: this team really develop. I've hedged a little bit, but
Speaker 5: I'm just outside the top five.
Speaker 4: But that doesn't mean they don't have.
Speaker 5: The upward mobility to be one of the best two
Speaker 5: or three teams. Plus, you know, the best team in
Speaker 5: football doesn't always win the Super Bowl. So they have
Speaker 5: maybe a few more questions than the Eagles do.
Speaker 4: But can they beat them next year? I think they can.
Speaker 3: By the way, I said, you know who five is?
Speaker 3: Five is Buffalo six? Here is Dallas Again you have
Speaker 3: them winning the Super Bowl. But this kind of if
Speaker 3: we get backpedal here go back to Kansas City at
Speaker 3: one and the Cowboys at six, this kind of opens
Speaker 3: up people to question, I think, and lets you explain
Speaker 3: how you do these hansus And I'm going to reference
Speaker 3: them a couple of times here in the first couple
Speaker 3: of weeks, always just to say, these aren't the power standings,
Speaker 3: they're the power rankings.
Speaker 2: Why do you have a team at six that you
Speaker 2: say will win the Super Bowl?
Speaker 3: And how does your Super Bowl math factor? What's your
Speaker 3: overall philosophy with doing these?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is just
Speaker 5: going to be how much room for improvement do these
Speaker 5: teams have from within and right? And how many unanswered
Speaker 5: questions currently exist?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 5: If you want to factor in the idea that hey,
Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy's taken over play calling, you know, some people
Speaker 5: thought that his decision to can the OC last year
Speaker 5: or at the beginning of this year was a bad decision. Right,
Speaker 5: he's putting too much on his table. He's got a
Speaker 5: new fangled or an old fangled offense. I guess that's
Speaker 5: a question mark, right. I don't think it'll be as
Speaker 5: big an issue as everybody else does, But at this moment,
Speaker 5: I think it's fair to bring it up until we've
Speaker 5: seen evidence that they can move the ball and move
Speaker 5: it consistently. You've pointed it out too, right, one year
Speaker 5: doesn't have to do with the next. But how do
Speaker 5: you have faith in a team like the Cowboys or
Speaker 5: Chargers when historically they seem to always kind of let
Speaker 5: us down and crunch then?
Speaker 2: And it's funny how they're both kind of linked here.
Speaker 3: I was at Cowboys camp at Oxnard a couple of
Speaker 3: weeks ago, and all I heard from anybody, Oh, man,
Speaker 3: Kellen Moore is gone, we are gonna throw the ball deep.
Speaker 3: All right, this offense, this offense is going to get unleashed.
Speaker 3: Right But with the Chargers, you know what they're saying, Man,
Speaker 3: Kellen Moore is here. Now, we are gonna throw the
Speaker 3: ball deep. Now that Joe Lombardi's gone, Man, we're really
Speaker 3: gonna open up that.
Speaker 2: Offense, and it's it's look, it's August.
Speaker 3: Everyone's optimistic, everyone's gonna say it's gonna be different from
Speaker 3: last year. But for my money, until the Cowboys prove
Speaker 3: that they could do anything in January, it will never
Speaker 3: be different than last year because we know what they are.
Speaker 3: They are last year and the year before that, and
Speaker 3: the year before that and the year before that. Coming
Speaker 3: up next, however, what will the Jets be and where
Speaker 3: will they be on Eric at Holmes Week number one
Speaker 3: NFL Power Rankings.
Speaker 2: That's coming up next Twitter.
Speaker 3: NFL Power Rankings presented by energizer Eric at Holmes Week
Speaker 3: one numbers which are on NFL dot Com, which you
Speaker 3: could find by scanning the QR code right there on
Speaker 3: your screen. When you go to dot com. You'll see
Speaker 3: the Jaguars are nine, America's darlings. The Jets are ten,
Speaker 3: followed by the Lions, Chargers, Seahawks, Steelers at fourteen. Get
Speaker 3: to them at a second, the Vikings at fifteen. Remember
Speaker 3: fourteen teams make the playoffs. Consider the imaginary bar right there,
Speaker 3: and then the Saints. I told you Eric at Holme
Speaker 3: puts these numbers together. It's Eric at Holmes job now
Speaker 3: to defend them and defend why after the Jets were
Speaker 3: the darlings of hard knocks, right, they get the hard
Speaker 3: knock bounce, don't they. They get Aaron Rodgers Broadway erin
Speaker 3: because all he does is go to Broadway.
Speaker 2: These days seemingly ten says to me, Eric that.
Speaker 3: You believe in them, but you're not entirely sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: It kind of has like a first wild card type
Speaker 5: of feel, right, but you could also see them after
Speaker 5: We've seen other teams like the Colts last year with
Speaker 5: Matt Ryan bringing a veteran to kind of bring the
Speaker 5: whole thing together and it falls apart. Right, We're assuming
Speaker 5: that Aaron Rodgers not only is going to play a
Speaker 5: little bit more consistently than he did last year, but
Speaker 5: he's going to go to a new offense. Yes, with
Speaker 5: some familiarity Nathaniel Hackett his buddy running the show, but.
Speaker 4: Just step right in and gain this confidence.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I think we have to kind of pull
Speaker 5: back a little and say, look, he's not America Worker
Speaker 5: at age thirty nine. There are offensive line issues that
Speaker 5: plague this team in the preseason.
Speaker 4: We didn't just wave a magic wand and fix all
Speaker 4: of them.
Speaker 5: But they are trending in the right direction, and they
Speaker 5: do have Dalvin Cook. Now, they have Brice Hall back
Speaker 5: from injury. That defense was phenomenal, So there was enough
Speaker 5: positivity there outside of Rogers that I felt like, I
Speaker 5: think on the back end of the top ten is
Speaker 5: a pretty good spot for them, saying, look, they could
Speaker 5: win a Super Bowl or they can also miss the playoffs.
Speaker 3: These running backs on the screen, I think are going
Speaker 3: to be a huge part of this story as we
Speaker 3: tell the Jet story this year, because Breesaw's coming back
Speaker 3: from the knee, as you said, and any running back, really,
Speaker 3: any skill position player will tell you that year one
Speaker 3: coming back from the knee, and his was mid season, right,
Speaker 3: it wasn't like last summer in June.
Speaker 2: You're not the same. Oh he's activated, he's ready, But
Speaker 2: is he the same?
Speaker 3: Unlikely, because that's just not how these things work. Dalvin
Speaker 3: Cook's coming off surgery as well on that shoulder. Finally
Speaker 3: allegedly that thing is fixed. But you mentioned the old line, right,
Speaker 3: does that O line open up holes for those two backs?
Speaker 3: And can that old line protect Aaron Rodgers and what
Speaker 3: happens if and when it does not.
Speaker 2: We kind of got a.
Speaker 3: Glimpse of what goes wrong or what it looks like
Speaker 3: when it goes wrong.
Speaker 2: During hard knocks with that one.
Speaker 3: Explittive filled episode where he was getting on the O line.
Speaker 3: You know, I know it's the Aaron Rodgers think different
Speaker 3: of me tore right now, But how does this team
Speaker 3: look when it hits hardship? And I think that hardship
Speaker 3: comes on the old line.
Speaker 4: It absolutely does. That's what I'm worried about.
Speaker 5: Right, even if Rogers is great, right, he still has
Speaker 5: to have that protection in front of him, and you know,
Speaker 5: not having Dwayne Brown most to training camp. He showed
Speaker 5: up late, Makai Beckton, there was a point and you't
Speaker 5: even know if he could practice, so putting him at
Speaker 5: right tackle a largely unfamiliar position. He's mostly played on
Speaker 5: the left side, and you're just hoping that that really
Speaker 5: strong interior holds up.
Speaker 4: But look, that's a lot.
Speaker 5: Of finger crossing and you got to maybe get some
Speaker 5: help from the backs and tight ends too. So yeah,
Speaker 5: without that offensive line flourishing, I don't see how this
Speaker 5: Jets offense is much better than last year when they
Speaker 5: cycled through three different quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: I think it's perfect that they're right next to each
Speaker 3: other here the Jets and the Lions. Jets are ten,
Speaker 3: Lions are eleven. I was at Lions camp earlier this summer.
Speaker 3: I'm believing that all. I totally believe in Ben Jonson,
Speaker 3: Jared goffin this offense. I think Jamior Gibbs and David
Speaker 3: Montgomery give them a different look. I think Samuel Port
Speaker 3: is going to have the big year thing eric with
Speaker 3: the defensive All they have to do is kind of
Speaker 3: get the middle of the pack right.
Speaker 2: They were worse than football last year.
Speaker 3: If they can just get into the teams somewhere, I
Speaker 3: am buying this team.
Speaker 5: I'm with you hundred perssett that I'm not worried about
Speaker 5: them scoring points, right, even if it isn't that a
Speaker 5: completely prolific unit that we saw, especially down the stretch
Speaker 5: last year.
Speaker 4: They're gonna get there as on offense, and that doesn't
Speaker 4: concern me.
Speaker 5: It really is all about I think, improving by some
Speaker 5: measurable amount on the defensive side of the ball, and
Speaker 5: for me, it's really hard to picture them not being
Speaker 5: better on that side. Look at the unit or that
Speaker 5: they put together in the secondary, not an impressive group
Speaker 5: last year.
Speaker 4: They add Cam Sutton Emmanuel Moseley, CJ. Gardner, Johnson, Brian Branch,
Speaker 4: which I thought was a stealing Round three. That group
Speaker 4: feels better.
Speaker 5: Linebacker, they're kicking Malcolm Rodriguez to the bench kind of
Speaker 5: and with Jack Campbell the first rounder, and I think
Speaker 5: the defensive line around is dear.
Speaker 4: They have guys, it's like Josh Pascal coming off injury,
Speaker 4: leve On Zerique.
Speaker 5: I just think they're gonna be better at not only
Speaker 5: pressuring the quarterback, which we saw teases of last year,
Speaker 5: but also covered that was the coverage.
Speaker 4: Breakdowns drove everybody nuts last year. I think they've got the.
Speaker 5: Chops to kind of solve it and good versatility defensively.
Speaker 5: To all of a sudden, they have twenty nine players
Speaker 5: on their opening fifty three on the defensive side of
Speaker 5: the ball. That's a lot that's trust in your offense,
Speaker 5: but also faith.
Speaker 3: That you have plenty of talent on DA and pretty
Speaker 3: much a brand new secondary. Brian Branch, can you have
Speaker 3: a second round slot guy be in conversation for dpoy,
Speaker 3: I think he could here potentially.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Defensive rookie of the Year.
Speaker 3: I think Brian Branch, along with Chauncey Gardner, Johnson Mcmanuel Moseley,
Speaker 3: all the other moves Camp Sutton they made in that
Speaker 3: secondary I think truly helped turn that team around. Now
Speaker 3: there's a conversation to be had here with the power rankings,
Speaker 3: and you did them another version right at the beginning
Speaker 3: of camp, maybe a week into camp, about what the
Speaker 3: preseason actually means. Eric for the Steelers, it meant something
Speaker 3: for you. You had them go from nineteen to fourteen
Speaker 3: after seeing what they did in the preseason. Was this
Speaker 3: from what you saw in these by the way, are
Speaker 3: power moves. Let's get that in here, power moves presented
Speaker 3: to you by energizer Or is this only a reaction
Speaker 3: to shut the Steelers fans up on social media as
Speaker 3: they hammer you.
Speaker 5: I would never cater to the Steelers fans that directly,
Speaker 5: but you know, they made a good point.
Speaker 4: I probably did.
Speaker 5: Have them a little too low at nineteen. I definitely
Speaker 5: heard from their contingent there. But you know, the more
Speaker 5: you look at this steam and I may have been
Speaker 5: more of a Browns fan in that division two months ago.
Speaker 4: As time has gone on, I kind of will get
Speaker 4: in the light a little bit. Oh sEH, I know,
Speaker 4: we will.
Speaker 5: I know you've got ties, but I just have kind
Speaker 5: of seen the light as far as targeted acquisitions this offseason.
Speaker 5: They needed to get better on the offensive and defensive lines.
Speaker 4: I think they did.
Speaker 5: The secondary a little bit of worry with Sutton gone.
Speaker 5: You mentioned who left for Detroit, but you get Joey
Speaker 5: Porter Junior in Troth and they still have some playmakers
Speaker 5: like Fitzpatricks, so you know they lose.
Speaker 4: They lost TJ wat for what seven eight games last year.
Speaker 4: That was a big deal. That's half the season.
Speaker 5: So I think there's also improvement from within that I
Speaker 5: maybe didn't account for. But five for five touchdowns and
Speaker 5: five drives with the first seam offense, that 'dit looked great.
Speaker 3: Kenny Pickett looks like the dude, and I get like,
Speaker 3: I think it's the best division football top to bottom.
Speaker 3: I don't know that there is a second. And know
Speaker 3: the AFC East is good good. I think you could
Speaker 3: make a case for every team in the AFC North
Speaker 3: winning that division. I don't know that there is a
Speaker 3: similar argument in any other division. And that's me saying
Speaker 3: I don't believe in the Patriots winning the division. Really
Speaker 3: in essence, that's what I'm saying there. I think the
Speaker 3: Steelers are that good. I think they could surprise a
Speaker 3: lot of people. Also, wouldn't eastunt if they're seven and ten?
Speaker 3: And can he pick ittt as you know, typical second
Speaker 3: year regression. But really he came on late and they
Speaker 3: look good. And yeah, in that final preseason game they're ones,
Speaker 3: beat the snot out of the Falcons threes that everyone wins.
Speaker 3: All right, coming up, what about the Broncos? Is Russ
Speaker 3: going to cook? Or dare I say? And I try
Speaker 3: to hype him? Here is Russ cooked?
Speaker 2: That's next?
Speaker 3: On NFL Power Rankings presented by Energies Week one power
Speaker 3: rankings Here. NFL Power Rankings presented by energizer Eric at
Speaker 3: Holme has the Falcons at seventeen, the Browns at eighteen,
Speaker 3: followed by the Giants, Broncos, Packers, Titans, Commanders, and then
Speaker 3: the Patriots at twenty four. Listen, Eric, I do think
Speaker 3: that the Falcons are a lot better than here, like
Speaker 3: the changes they have made.
Speaker 2: I think you're putting a lot of stock in faith.
Speaker 3: However, in Desmond, Ritter that you have the Falcons ahead
Speaker 3: of a team led by Deshaun Watson, who admittedly did
Speaker 3: not play well last year, but it's got to be
Speaker 3: better than last year. Falcons ahead of the Browns.
Speaker 4: I hear you right.
Speaker 5: I think a lot of it has to do with competition.
Speaker 5: You mentioned in the previous segment just how tough the
Speaker 5: AFC North it is, and I think that that factors
Speaker 5: in in terms of what what this team might be. Right,
Speaker 5: and you start out slowly. If Watt doesn't show a
Speaker 5: little bit of a pre twenty twenty one form, then
Speaker 5: we get nervous. We ask questions, is he a good
Speaker 5: fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense. Listen, they were my summer crush.
Speaker 5: I thought Deshaun has to play better. They added front
Speaker 5: seven health, they added wide receiver health, and the kicker
Speaker 5: issues started cropping up, other health stuff, rumors of questioning
Speaker 5: whether Watson and Stefanski truly are on the same page
Speaker 5: as far as improviser versus structured play calling.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I still like him, I don't love them as much
Speaker 5: as I did, And that's why you've seen the Steelers
Speaker 5: essentially take their place in my rankings.
Speaker 3: I think the early leader in the clubhouse for New
Speaker 3: Coordinator of the Year is going to be Jim Schwartz, Right,
Speaker 3: you give him Miles Garrett, Zadarius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, the
Speaker 3: talent they have at corner here. I think this defense
Speaker 3: is going to be the story for this team more
Speaker 3: so than the offense. And maybe I'm just being a
Speaker 3: fanboy here, but I do think they're a far better
Speaker 3: team than they were a year ago.
Speaker 2: The question is, what are the Broncos do?
Speaker 3: Speaking of new head coaches or new coaches, they're Sean
Speaker 3: Payton and he's going to try to fix I guess
Speaker 3: Russell Wilson.
Speaker 2: But how much patience is he going to have? Eric,
Speaker 2: You have them at twenty.
Speaker 5: Yeah, this is a big head, right, I mean obviously
Speaker 5: Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, these are two big time names.
Speaker 5: You would imagine them peering up. Maybe great things could happen.
Speaker 5: It could, but I'm.
Speaker 4: Still a little bit leery.
Speaker 5: I saw what Russ did last year, and I remember
Speaker 5: twenty twenty one in Seattle that was kind of the
Speaker 5: start of Russ's kind.
Speaker 4: Of downslide a little bit here, and I don't think.
Speaker 5: Sean Payton is gonna pull any punches when he comes
Speaker 5: in here.
Speaker 4: I doubt he has to this point.
Speaker 5: I think He's going to demand that Russ play the
Speaker 5: kind of ball that he wants to play. Yes, explosive,
Speaker 5: but we've got to take care of the football.
Speaker 4: We've got to be more accurate on these balls.
Speaker 5: He saw in that first preseason game he was frustrated
Speaker 5: they couldn't get in the end zone. He was going
Speaker 5: to will his way to get that first team in
Speaker 5: offense in the end zone. There will be some patches
Speaker 5: that are ugly. The defense has not been fixed yet.
Speaker 5: So there's a lot going on in.
Speaker 4: A division that has the Chiefs, the Chargers, and maybe
Speaker 4: even the Raiders. Maybe they're a better football team. Look,
Speaker 4: so lot going on here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sorry, With Jerry Judy out early here, I think
Speaker 3: the offense is going to struggle and then what how
Speaker 3: do they fix those issues without Jerry Judy with that
Speaker 3: wide receiver room in transition again, I mean, they've never
Speaker 3: been healthy since we got all those guys together there.
Speaker 3: That's going to be fast stating. I should note that
Speaker 3: you have them at twenty and the Giants are at nineteen.
Speaker 3: They were a playoff team a year ago. Again, fourteen
Speaker 3: teams make the playoffs, so you have them far below
Speaker 3: the line there at nineteen.
Speaker 2: Let's get the other teams in here from twenty.
Speaker 3: Five on down in our initial power rankings, the Panthers
Speaker 3: and the Bears back to back, the two teams that
Speaker 3: traded with that number one overall pick then the Raiders,
Speaker 3: the Bucks, the Colts, the Rams, the Texans, and not
Speaker 3: surprisingly the Arizona Cardinals tie for the best of the rest.
Speaker 3: We go rapid fire and roll through those eric starting
Speaker 3: with number twenty five and the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 5: What do you think, Yeah, obvious optimism with Bryce Young
Speaker 5: coming in new coaching staff.
Speaker 4: People have raved about what Frank Reich.
Speaker 5: And Josh McCown could do for young interesting weapons to defensively,
Speaker 5: a lot of young talent. But Brian Burns, what's his
Speaker 5: status with the contract?
Speaker 4: Lock to question there? Chicago at number twenty six.
Speaker 5: You see why there's optimy too, right justin fields and
Speaker 5: they take that Jalen Hurts like jump.
Speaker 4: That's the big question mark here.
Speaker 5: But they've got to also get the better defensively, even
Speaker 5: with Aaron Rodgers out of the vision, that front seven
Speaker 5: has to be much better than we saw a year ago.
Speaker 4: And number twenty nine of the Colts.
Speaker 5: I get why there's optimism and as far as like
Speaker 5: Anthon Richardson, maybe the line is healthier than it was
Speaker 5: a year ago. But you know all the questions, Jonathan
Speaker 5: Taylor's situation, the backups to him, unknowns, the defense, so
Speaker 5: many things to answer. That's why they're still very close
Speaker 5: to the bottom and number thirty. The rams you kind
Speaker 5: of referenced it earlier. You've got the top heavy guys,
Speaker 5: the Sean mcvays and obviously the Aaron Donalds at Cooper
Speaker 5: Cuffs cup hurt Donald is it his final season?
Speaker 4: We don't know.
Speaker 5: Matthew Stafford situation, no names on defense, A lot to
Speaker 5: figure out, Andrew for a team that two years ago
Speaker 5: were champs and right now headed into an unknown void.
Speaker 3: I think every Tuesday the brand new Power Rankings drop
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Speaker 3: the Power Rankings, presented by Energizer.
Speaker 2: For Eric at home, I'm Andrew Siciliano. See you NEXTPUE.
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