Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast. Can't fight this feeling anymore.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hanzas and I am joined by
Speaker 1: a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Westling and
Speaker 1: Greg Rostal. What is up, boys? Dam are you a speedwagon?
Speaker 1: West That must be bringing you back to your days
Speaker 1: at the old Junior High. Now that was way before
Speaker 1: my junior Huh. What was Matt money Smith have to
Speaker 1: do to get a laugh for a smile out of
Speaker 1: you two guys in the morning. I mean he's out
Speaker 1: there bearing his soul the old constern Nation corner over here. Hey, look,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do some fake smile. Who do you
Speaker 1: think I am? Cam Newton in the pre draft process?
Speaker 1: Whoa mcginha um not laugh when I feel like it?
Speaker 1: I wait, that was Nolan the Rocky. Yeah, Nolan Nolan Rocky,
Speaker 1: the most hated man on the Internet. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast. You know we are getting close, gentlemen.
Speaker 1: It is Wednesday, September two at the time of taping,
Speaker 1: eight days away from football that matters, and you know
Speaker 1: that it's getting serious when Greg gets a hair cut
Speaker 1: did you get it from the makeup room or did
Speaker 1: you actually pay for it? I paid for this one night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my boy, Camille, we've alread you know. I didn't have
Speaker 1: a word of conversation between us the whole time. I
Speaker 1: didn't even do you when you go there, do you
Speaker 1: tell them him what to do? You just sit down
Speaker 1: and he cuts your hair. I pointed a picture of
Speaker 1: one of like he cut what Camille does. Camille is
Speaker 1: a barber on Spaulda here in Culver City that many
Speaker 1: of us use. We point he has he cuts pictures
Speaker 1: out of magazines and paste them money and then sometimes
Speaker 1: like he if you don't say anything, he'll give you
Speaker 1: the regular Sure, But like I like to point out
Speaker 1: one of the one, one of the hotties on the
Speaker 1: mirror and say something like that's okay, Yeah, hey there's
Speaker 1: Josh Hartenn. Let's get hire. I like hard from the
Speaker 1: set of Pearl Harbor. I like not having to talk
Speaker 1: to Lar at all. Oh, I love it. I don't
Speaker 1: like the pressure of oh, how are you doing? What's
Speaker 1: I don't They don't care, and I don't care. I
Speaker 1: might care, but generally why I don't go That's why
Speaker 1: I go back there instead of your brotastic place where
Speaker 1: they like serve you a drink and this phony nonsense
Speaker 1: with some guy, I mean, Kamil and I were on
Speaker 1: the same way and like play a little classical music
Speaker 1: hymns in the background. Something you should listen to the
Speaker 1: boss who just show some respect, because you wouldn't even
Speaker 1: know about Camille if not for me. I did try
Speaker 1: out another one of those like fancy places that give
Speaker 1: you a drink. But then I really that was it
Speaker 1: was like a hipster from you know, Echo Park talking
Speaker 1: to me too much, and I was like enough of this,
Speaker 1: and I went back to Camille. Keeps it tight. Life
Speaker 1: too short for hipster haircuts exactly all right, right, we
Speaker 1: can get his hair cut over there at the makeup room.
Speaker 1: But there was some drama. Maurice Jones Drew was badgering
Speaker 1: Greg about not loving football enough. Well he he was
Speaker 1: just saying, in general, this entire news organization needs to
Speaker 1: love football a little more. So I stuck up for
Speaker 1: you know, us as as footballs and lovers, and said,
Speaker 1: you know you can't don't come to us. He asked,
Speaker 1: at one time, how you learned about football? Was it
Speaker 1: like somebody being taught math and science. But that is
Speaker 1: I mean, we didn't play. Most of us for many years,
Speaker 1: some of some of us played. The three of you
Speaker 1: didn't play, does it I mean, do you feel more
Speaker 1: qualified haven't played backup center? I think it shows you know,
Speaker 1: you've been in a puddle, you've been to the pressure
Speaker 1: of a two minute Sure, I don't see that showing
Speaker 1: up in your analysis to open. Well, that's poor analysis
Speaker 1: on your part. We need to get m J. D
Speaker 1: in here at some point because he has brought a
Speaker 1: little energy to the NFL media. Conglomerate Mark Rees yesterday
Speaker 1: he ducked his head into the newsroom and said what well,
Speaker 1: he came around grilling various you know, like bewildered figures
Speaker 1: with a camera behind him, like your favorite team can
Speaker 1: go the Super Bowl. And then he came to Dan
Speaker 1: and I and he got very tough on us about
Speaker 1: the Browns and the Jets. Right, but then but then
Speaker 1: after he walked away, then he as he was leaving,
Speaker 1: he announced the ping pong tournament for the entire news
Speaker 1: room and we better be good if we want to
Speaker 1: play with him. Apparently so he means business. That's that's
Speaker 1: my kind of party. So that's what's happening. He's on
Speaker 1: your list, though he wants Ray Farmer fired immediately, if
Speaker 1: not sooner sooner. That doesn't get on my list. I
Speaker 1: just I want to hear about his analysis when he
Speaker 1: says that it feels kind of warmed over, have a
Speaker 1: chat about it. So here we go, big show today,
Speaker 1: coming up, eight days away from the start of the
Speaker 1: regular season. We're gonna hit our NFC preview, division by division,
Speaker 1: team by team. We're gonna hit um All sixteen on Friday,
Speaker 1: will will turn our attention to the a FC, but
Speaker 1: today is the National Football Conference. We're going to uh.
Speaker 1: Then pick our division winners as part of this exercise
Speaker 1: and our wild card teams. We'll also we're gonna check
Speaker 1: in on the latest episode of Hard Knocks, the penultimate
Speaker 1: episode of Hard Knocks Season ten with the Houston Texans.
Speaker 1: Another entertaining show. Uh and then we will do some
Speaker 1: news as we always do. So that I mean that
Speaker 1: feels like a good show. It's stack stack show, and
Speaker 1: every show from now until Thursday will be stacked. We
Speaker 1: have so much good stuff to get to. This is
Speaker 1: the fun stuff. This is why you lift all them weights.
Speaker 1: That was Gandhi. That's his quote. All right, before we
Speaker 1: get to the news, We'll check now behind the glass.
Speaker 1: He is a man, he has a headset. We don't
Speaker 1: his name is TD. What is going on, guys. I
Speaker 1: love the idea of m j D is and you
Speaker 1: around the NFL villain. I like that. I don't know,
Speaker 1: playing him as a villain, you always immediately get negative.
Speaker 1: That's what he was speaking against. I'm sorry. I love heat.
Speaker 1: Oh so you and I, all of you, guys, we
Speaker 1: have very different barbershop experiences. Clearly, what's going on? What's
Speaker 1: your shop experience? Man? Talk about what's movies? That's cultural?
Speaker 1: You know, you can talk to that about you know.
Speaker 1: H m j D is kind of like a worthy foil.
Speaker 1: I look at him that way. He'll be a fun
Speaker 1: guy to mix it up with. Let's get him in here.
Speaker 1: Let's this some news. That's two sacks trim in the quarterback,
Speaker 1: the great Bully Brian Cushing right there from Hard Knocks
Speaker 1: Episode two. Kush grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey,
Speaker 1: by the way, right over the border from Pearl River,
Speaker 1: New York, the old Zeuser's hometown. I kind of do
Speaker 1: there is that sort of New Yorky, you know, and
Speaker 1: you spell better than he does. All right, let's just loose.
Speaker 1: We'll start with the Jacksonville Jaguars. You know, not, not
Speaker 1: often did the Jacksonville Jaguars lead our news, so it's
Speaker 1: usually not a good thing. Julius Thomas there, high priced
Speaker 1: tight end. They signed to a huge deal Uh in
Speaker 1: the off season to really lift their offense to a
Speaker 1: different level. We knew that he had this finger issue.
Speaker 1: He hurt himself in the first game of the preseason.
Speaker 1: It's gonna cost him a significant amount of time, about
Speaker 1: a month. He's gonna need surgery. After having a second
Speaker 1: consultation with a doctor on Tuesday, Mark Sessler Uh out
Speaker 1: of the picture. How big a setback is for Blake Bortles,
Speaker 1: who needs weapons to grow in year two. I think
Speaker 1: it's a big setback out of the gate. I mean,
Speaker 1: we we've seen another nice preseason from Blake Bortles. He's grown,
Speaker 1: and they went out and got Julius Thomas to be
Speaker 1: his go to target, a friendly tight end that he
Speaker 1: can use. I look at this team and the bad
Speaker 1: luck that happens to teams that can't get out of
Speaker 1: the basement. You know, you look back and what happened
Speaker 1: with Justin Blackman. Imagine an offense where Blake Bortles comes
Speaker 1: in and this season you've got Justin Blackman and Julius Thomas. Instead,
Speaker 1: you've got neither. Allen Robinson's probably your number one. Marquise
Speaker 1: Lee hasn't even seen the field yet. Yeah, the O
Speaker 1: C of the Jaguars called uh called him a albino
Speaker 1: tiger Marquis Lee because he's a guy that if you're lucky,
Speaker 1: when you go to the zoo, you see him peek
Speaker 1: out of the cave. But a lot of times he's
Speaker 1: not going to be there. So you just you have
Speaker 1: to get some people like that in our newsroom. It's
Speaker 1: been a brutal off season for the Jaguars. They lose
Speaker 1: the number three pick in the draft on they foul
Speaker 1: here and they lose Julius Thomas. I mean, those are
Speaker 1: the two guys, along with Bordles, that the fans are
Speaker 1: probably most excited about. And you mentioned Borders looking good.
Speaker 1: He's Mr August at this point, he's proven he can
Speaker 1: take care of the preseam. He looked great again. But
Speaker 1: now now I'm looking forward to all Right, so here's
Speaker 1: some good news. Jaguars fans, your owner announced that you'll
Speaker 1: be playing games in London through two thousand thirty, potentially
Speaker 1: get excited. Not really. Why don't you call Julius Thomas friendly?
Speaker 1: By the way, why is he a friend? Quarterback? Has
Speaker 1: their like go to targets tight and play that role. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Security Florida Florida Times Union called Julius Thomas the best
Speaker 1: player on the field and nobody's even close in training game.
Speaker 1: When I hear friendly, I think personality and or there's
Speaker 1: someone that's approachable. It's about looking at things from more
Speaker 1: than one layer down. They can't do that. That's the
Speaker 1: issue that where we run into here, you can't do it.
Speaker 1: Let's hit some a little cuts, run down. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of cuts going on right now. They're cutting down
Speaker 1: the rosters. Greg help me. That is right, that's already
Speaker 1: held it. And then it gets down to fifty three
Speaker 1: by Saturday afternoon, and men, any of us will be
Speaker 1: on typing away on Saturday and get excited. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: can't wait. Trent Richardson, Mark Sessler, Uh, you know, let's
Speaker 1: talk about it. Let's get right to it. Oakland Raiders
Speaker 1: signed Trent Richardson to a two year deal in March
Speaker 1: gave him six undergrand and guaranteed money. Uh he has
Speaker 1: been released. He was among the first cutdowns by the
Speaker 1: team after doing nothing in three games, three preseason games,
Speaker 1: showing none of the births that made him, once upon
Speaker 1: a time the number three overall picked by your Browns
Speaker 1: and the two thousand twelve draft. Um. First off, let's
Speaker 1: start with Greg here. Your thoughts on Richardson? Are we
Speaker 1: going to see him again in the NFL? Well, the
Speaker 1: most amazing thing about this is that not that he
Speaker 1: didn't make the team, he was on our list of
Speaker 1: possible cuts, but that he didn't make it to the
Speaker 1: fifty three man cut down. That he is one of
Speaker 1: He's not even one of those guys that's close to
Speaker 1: making the team, whereas guys like Taiwan Jones, who's not
Speaker 1: a natural running back, Michael Dyer, George Atkinson, those are
Speaker 1: all guys that are still on the roster and did
Speaker 1: make that first cut down. Here's the rest of Pete
Speaker 1: getting cut. By the way, as a running back in
Speaker 1: the NFL average less than three yards to carry in
Speaker 1: multiple carries in the preseason, and don't play special teams,
Speaker 1: there's no there's no need for you. You You don't have
Speaker 1: a role. The three best transactions involving Trent Richardson are
Speaker 1: are Cleveland trading him for a first round pick, the
Speaker 1: Colts finally realizing he's out, and then the Raiders forget
Speaker 1: the guaranteed money. When you're that bad, you gotta go,
Speaker 1: And and every other running back on the roster has
Speaker 1: shown more than Richardson, and at some point the experiment
Speaker 1: is up and it's it might be now what went wrong?
Speaker 1: The entire football industry whipped on this guy. Guys respected
Speaker 1: an analyst like Mike Mayock and Greg Cosell called him
Speaker 1: in the draft the number one player in the draft
Speaker 1: and the best running back since Adrian Peterson. Somebody like
Speaker 1: Ryan Griggson's when he trades for him, a respected scout says,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a great trade. I have no
Speaker 1: qualms about it. He's gonna be awesome. And Jay Glazer
Speaker 1: at the time of the draft called Trent this is
Speaker 1: the most bizarre thing to me. Called Trent Richardson the
Speaker 1: most impressive human being I've met in the past two
Speaker 1: draft classes. And there's nothing like There's nothing about Trent
Speaker 1: Richardson's that seems impressive as a human being. The last
Speaker 1: few years, he seems like he has no driving, investing
Speaker 1: in Glazers, tybo classes or something. I don't think Glazers
Speaker 1: the type to just throw that out there. I think
Speaker 1: he really liked Trent Richardson had a series of knee operations.
Speaker 1: They weren't major, but there was that adds up. And
Speaker 1: I think the one thing on the field as a player,
Speaker 1: he you look at who he was at Alabama, he
Speaker 1: is not that guy. Well he's a startling lack of
Speaker 1: vision when when there's a hole, he just doesn't see it.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how that's fixable. Reggie McKenzie wasted
Speaker 1: a lot of money. Six hundred thousand dollars for a
Speaker 1: signing bonus is a lot for a guy who got cut.
Speaker 1: I mean that pays for a lot of Mark Davis
Speaker 1: track suits. You know what I'm saying, and you want
Speaker 1: to you would look on the bright side. Only one
Speaker 1: player in history has a lower yards per carry average,
Speaker 1: Clark Hinkle, the inimitable Clark Hinkle, played in the thirties
Speaker 1: and is in the Hall of Fame. In my my
Speaker 1: in my experience, as sightings of Mark Davis, it's usually
Speaker 1: white jeans and a white long sleep T shirt. But
Speaker 1: maybe there's a lot of tracks. Oh, there's some track.
Speaker 1: There's some track track. It's always, you know, always light
Speaker 1: white colors or stone washed garments. You know, a very
Speaker 1: interesting character if you want to put it that way. Mark,
Speaker 1: should we settle up right now, because I think we should. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, let me just set it up. Back in
Speaker 1: March after the signing, Um, I was convinced Trent Richardson
Speaker 1: was awful and despite getting guaranteed money, he wasn't gonna
Speaker 1: make that team and he would never see a snap again.
Speaker 1: Everyone laughed at me. You laughed at me, Mark you,
Speaker 1: I don't remember laughing. Gregg chuckled. But the truth was
Speaker 1: his moment. The old Zeuser got it right, because Trent
Speaker 1: Richardson is not starting the season with the Raiders, and
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to see a snap. And Mark,
Speaker 1: you and I we had a sandwich on this, a
Speaker 1: sandwich we did well, the actual sandwich bet. The reason
Speaker 1: I took you up was you said he would never
Speaker 1: another snap again in the NFL, Forget the Raiders, whether
Speaker 1: making the Raiders have a chance. That's right, So the
Speaker 1: bet is ongoing. But if feels like a Google the
Speaker 1: wager of the proposition, it feels like a good time
Speaker 1: to pay up because read a pause point where we
Speaker 1: might not see them until December of some teams in
Speaker 1: the train wreck, and they bring them back. So at
Speaker 1: this point I think it's still take trains to their game,
Speaker 1: all right, so you have a there's the thing. It's
Speaker 1: very early while we're taping this. I went to the
Speaker 1: huddle the commissary and I have to listen. Can you
Speaker 1: cook up something that Dan Hansis would like? So we'll
Speaker 1: see what it is? Right and in it's some version
Speaker 1: of a sandwich. Here's our version of the Sully coming
Speaker 1: into this studio, right, girl, looking good? Sound Sully? Great
Speaker 1: job we got looks like we got an egg sandwich.
Speaker 1: Who is that some avocado? And well, listen, I said,
Speaker 1: let's keep a little hell little hash browns. This looks
Speaker 1: the lists. I will say that this Mark, you're a
Speaker 1: man of your word. Are you gonna have some? You know? No,
Speaker 1: that's still gross fans on camera. I'm gonna warm it up.
Speaker 1: I'll warn you. I purchased it about an hour ago,
Speaker 1: so it's in a middleealed. Mark your man of your word.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And if if he does play another snap,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be a man of your work. I will.
Speaker 1: But I feel pretty confident about this because if he does,
Speaker 1: I will. I will give him everything he needs. But
Speaker 1: three teams are now quit on this guy in three years.
Speaker 1: It's over come on all right, Let's move on to
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans Hard Knocks Episode four on HBO, which
Speaker 1: stands for what wes Home Box Office nailed it home
Speaker 1: run uh the uh second to last episode of the series.
Speaker 1: This one, uh, GREG was an episode that showed us,
Speaker 1: first of all, Vince Wilfork um one of the all
Speaker 1: time characters on the show and every season. I've been
Speaker 1: writing these for four years now for NFL dot com.
Speaker 1: There is a Hard Knocks m VP. What he did
Speaker 1: and TV. I don't know if we have this to
Speaker 1: put on video or on on the screen. What he
Speaker 1: what he showed up in the work in Tuesday's episode
Speaker 1: is incredible. They were overalls and and cowboy boots and
Speaker 1: nothing underneath them at all. Um glorious. The best comment
Speaker 1: from a teammate came from Kareem Jackson, who said, you
Speaker 1: had to get that special made. I haven't seen the
Speaker 1: shorts like that in a while, except for on Babies.
Speaker 1: Has been pounds listed as five pounds. He has gotta
Speaker 1: be got over. This was performance art. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: he had everybody rolling. He knows it's a dog day
Speaker 1: dog days of August. You gonna come in and lighten
Speaker 1: the mood. He's got the coach Dan laughing. This was
Speaker 1: This was art and that's what I and that's what
Speaker 1: I wrote in the recap. I don't know if Vince
Speaker 1: Wilford can play anymore. We're very close to the end probably,
Speaker 1: But just this alone, I get why the Texans have
Speaker 1: give this guy million. It kind of sneaks up on
Speaker 1: Brian here doesn't even know he's there to be with
Speaker 1: the Patriots for a decade, that you're it's time to
Speaker 1: let your hair down and have some flour. Oh, you
Speaker 1: get a lot. You'd be like in scientology where they
Speaker 1: put you in a basement making scrub the floor for
Speaker 1: three days. That's what would happen if you did that
Speaker 1: on Patriot Way. Greg. Any other takeaways from episode four
Speaker 1: of Hard Knocks. I thought the moment where Charles James
Speaker 1: and this is why Hard Knocks is so great. Return
Speaker 1: or came in at running back. He's a cornerback that
Speaker 1: they've tried here and there, running back. Very likable personality,
Speaker 1: so likable. Aaron Andrews comes up to him before the
Speaker 1: game and tells him she's a big fan and they
Speaker 1: put him in a running back and let's just try
Speaker 1: last couple of minutes of the game. And he busts
Speaker 1: out a seventy seven yard touchdown on his first carry.
Speaker 1: Like I was genuinely like excited. I didn't. I didn't really,
Speaker 1: I was genuinely excited, like my favorite team won the game.
Speaker 1: They called it back by penalty, but didn't. He's keeping
Speaker 1: that ball. He kept the ball. And the funniest moment
Speaker 1: for me, besides Wilford dressed as a giant baby, was
Speaker 1: a slow motion shot of James hoisting up the football
Speaker 1: in front of Bill O'Brien sitting on the team bus,
Speaker 1: and then O'Brien giving him the finger and then signaling holding.
Speaker 1: All this added effect an incredible episode. And I would say, West,
Speaker 1: did you see the episode? I saw about the first
Speaker 1: thirty five minutes on my way into work. You can
Speaker 1: watch it on your phone in the car. Did you
Speaker 1: say that I did? Did you. What was your takeaway
Speaker 1: from the Ryan Mallett and miss ade. I don't think
Speaker 1: Ryan Mallett and you wrote it up perfectly. Didn't help
Speaker 1: himself on this show in general. But it's sort of
Speaker 1: like a time to come back and own up your mistake.
Speaker 1: He just he didn't do that. And I think that's
Speaker 1: where Bill O'Brien's decision making to go with Hoyer maybe
Speaker 1: Seesawyer is a war mature leader. You saw, you saw
Speaker 1: why some teams, maybe the Patriots and and now the
Speaker 1: Texans going with Hoyer. Maybe the things they aren't so
Speaker 1: sure about Ryan. Now, what would you suggest he say
Speaker 1: to Rick Smith when he was in the office not
Speaker 1: making any I think that I don't backtrack and try
Speaker 1: to explain yourself. Sometimes when you just make a mistake,
Speaker 1: just down up to it, so you just walk in
Speaker 1: and say, I messed up. It will never happen. What's
Speaker 1: wrong with that? I messed up? Never? I mean, he
Speaker 1: went on this long rant about technology, but I bought him. Right,
Speaker 1: you're not even missing. I bought a battery powered along clock.
Speaker 1: It will never happen again. Bill O'Brien said, he's right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like the parent that's just exactly. They're just exacerbated
Speaker 1: by the kid that is still living at home and
Speaker 1: it's like he's twenty seven. He's right. The best head
Speaker 1: scratching part was he he kept saying, I'm not even mad,
Speaker 1: Like you're the one who best up. Why would you
Speaker 1: be mad? Yeah? And finally we had Odell Beckham Jr.
Speaker 1: Somehow Made his way into the episode. I listen, he
Speaker 1: is the most overexposed professional athlete in this country right now.
Speaker 1: But I have to hand it to him squeezing in
Speaker 1: a cameo on the show and the training camp that
Speaker 1: takes place miles away, and also plugging the video game
Speaker 1: franchise for which you are the cover boy. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy knows how to market himself sales big time
Speaker 1: interception to win the game, right, Yeah, clutch pick six.
Speaker 1: He also gave Charles James heat for letting Eli Manning
Speaker 1: tackle him on an interception on back you let Eli
Speaker 1: catch you? Anyway. There's our Hard Knocks recap and that's
Speaker 1: it for the news and now it's time to talk
Speaker 1: about our NFC preview. Maybe it's gonna do it two
Speaker 1: thousand NFC preview and we're gonna go do this, he
Speaker 1: will do it. Get excited, society. We're gonna go division
Speaker 1: by division, team by team, and each of us will
Speaker 1: take turns, one guy per team per division. Thrown out
Speaker 1: a question, A big question, one big question, all Caps
Speaker 1: facing each team, and then we will discuss and then
Speaker 1: it will be informative and Murphy and we'll start with
Speaker 1: the NFC East and uh, there's a lot to get
Speaker 1: to at the NFC East. Who do we want to
Speaker 1: start with here? I think we're starting with Mark, start
Speaker 1: at the bottom. Alright, let's do it. I see major
Speaker 1: seismic shifts ahead in Washington, in our nation's capital, because
Speaker 1: I'm wondering right now will r G three, who obviously
Speaker 1: they don't want to play a coach Gruden, will they
Speaker 1: even be around by Christmas? I really wonder if they'll
Speaker 1: both out of here, because how does this coach and
Speaker 1: this owner get along? At this point, it's all on
Speaker 1: the table. I just don't I see it as a
Speaker 1: mid season five. I think RG three will be gone
Speaker 1: in the next week. Sure do you think they move him?
Speaker 1: Do you take the chance of him getting injured and
Speaker 1: you have to pay sixteen million to him next year?
Speaker 1: You don't play him. He can still get injured on
Speaker 1: the practice field. Well, that's people have mentioned that, and
Speaker 1: that's true. It's it's possible that could happen, but you
Speaker 1: would probably have to tear your achilles or something. It's
Speaker 1: not that if he's hurt right now, it's if he's
Speaker 1: not healthy by March. So you're right. I mean you
Speaker 1: could risk that he tears his achilles or tears his
Speaker 1: A c L. And I mean this could happen at Thanksgivings.
Speaker 1: He tears his a c L. He tears his m
Speaker 1: c L, he tears his achilles? What about the bust shoulder?
Speaker 1: Does any team want him? Though? But you just you
Speaker 1: just release him maybe by the way, you gotta you
Speaker 1: gotta move on. One of the problems with that Gruden
Speaker 1: has is they already have a possible interim head coach
Speaker 1: in house, Bill Callaghan. That just seems like an interim
Speaker 1: head coach if there ever was one, if they if
Speaker 1: they're really gettn't there an interim head coach on every
Speaker 1: coaching staff. Probably, But it's a good It helps to
Speaker 1: have someone like that who has had experience. You're not
Speaker 1: going to I think Gruden's fine now that he's not
Speaker 1: starting RG three. This is the best decision you could
Speaker 1: have made. At least give yourself a shot here. Don't
Speaker 1: go down with the RG three ship. Wes your question, Well,
Speaker 1: the Eagles that we have them as the favorites, we
Speaker 1: like their defense, we like the running game. Are we
Speaker 1: making too much out of Sam Bradford's ten passes in
Speaker 1: preseason Week three? Is this guy going to carry them
Speaker 1: to the division title? I say no, and not because
Speaker 1: he looked great in Week three, but because we've seen
Speaker 1: two years of evidence of what Chip Keilly system can do.
Speaker 1: And I don't think there's anyone that believes Bradford is
Speaker 1: less talented than Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez. We've seen
Speaker 1: the yards that they can put up, So why not Bradford?
Speaker 1: I say yes, I think we're I think he's been
Speaker 1: amazing and he deserves all the credit in the world
Speaker 1: and people should be optimistic about this offense. But it's
Speaker 1: not going to be this easy. There's gonna be a
Speaker 1: time where he's gonna take a hit and maybe he
Speaker 1: won't get back back up, and maybe the knee doesn't
Speaker 1: hold up. You never know, and he'll have struggles. I mean,
Speaker 1: right now, it seems like he's going to have a
Speaker 1: Payton Manning season. I don't buy that. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's that good. Well, I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: are all of a sudden getting on the bandwagon that
Speaker 1: this offense is completely unstoppable. But Sam Bradford is still
Speaker 1: a guy with a trick kneed that's missed the last
Speaker 1: two years. One thing, though, we can call it as
Speaker 1: much as any offense in the league as we have
Speaker 1: a quarterback proof offense. So now you actually have the
Speaker 1: best quarterback the Chip Kelly's ever worked with in the NFL.
Speaker 1: From that angle, I do believe it. I think Bradford
Speaker 1: is the guy we saw in the preseason because he's
Speaker 1: in a much better offense. The Rams offense was always
Speaker 1: dead on arrival. The question is sixteen games, can you
Speaker 1: stay healthy? Not someone that's shown us he can do
Speaker 1: thatensive line too. There's definite questions throughout that offensive line
Speaker 1: that haven't been there in the past, some changes there.
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson has been up and down. He's not gonna
Speaker 1: be there all seasons, so that could be a problem
Speaker 1: if Bradford gets hit a lot. This is my question
Speaker 1: on the New York Giants. Is this the beginning of
Speaker 1: the end for Tom Coughlin, one of the more celebrated
Speaker 1: coaches and franchise history. Guy's been around forever now, like
Speaker 1: you don't even realize that he's been around since oh four.
Speaker 1: But they haven't made the playoffs in recent season since
Speaker 1: that Super Bowl win. A lot of expectation this year
Speaker 1: with Eli uh there, with Odell Beckham. I know there's
Speaker 1: some holes at the defense, but do we believe that
Speaker 1: this is the last year Tom Cofflin is the coach
Speaker 1: of the New York Giants. I think Greg's fired him
Speaker 1: to August in a row. I mean the defense. He
Speaker 1: said there's some holes. You know. That's like saying the
Speaker 1: Yankees are somewhat obnoxious. It's like, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I was just let that. I'll let that go because
Speaker 1: it was so bad. It was off the cup. You know,
Speaker 1: they can't all be winners. Their defense. There's nothing good
Speaker 1: about their defense. It's one of on paper, I think,
Speaker 1: the worst two or three defense in the league. It's
Speaker 1: a bad sign when you're big move in the off season,
Speaker 1: the big Hey, this is the move we're making. Let's
Speaker 1: bring back Steve Spagnolo and and he's gonna just revive
Speaker 1: our old glory after having a terrible last seven or
Speaker 1: eight years since leaving us. That's all they really did
Speaker 1: this offseason on defense. Yeah, I think Coughlin is at
Speaker 1: the age two or if things go completely south season,
Speaker 1: he himself made deciety wants to walk out. But the
Speaker 1: only problem I have with just firing and when you
Speaker 1: still have a year or two a little bit more
Speaker 1: of Eli Manning is Ben McAdoo is building a good
Speaker 1: offense by all accounts, going back switching into a third
Speaker 1: coordinator in four seasons for Manning and starting over, I
Speaker 1: just stni't think it's a good dynamic. Does anybody think
Speaker 1: Tom Coffin is the problem and the reason why the
Speaker 1: Giants haven't not necessarily, I I don't know, because if
Speaker 1: you don't make the playoffs, you haven't won ten wins
Speaker 1: in a season since two thousand. I mean, you've just
Speaker 1: been mediocre for five straight years. If they do it again,
Speaker 1: then you know, if they go to and fourteen, the
Speaker 1: GM could go to I mean there's a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff there that's been in place for a long time.
Speaker 1: My question is about the team that we had in
Speaker 1: second place in the NFC East. A lot of people
Speaker 1: have them in first it's Dallas cow But I don't
Speaker 1: think their offense is gonna be as good this season.
Speaker 1: But can their front seven now, which has been rebuilt,
Speaker 1: turned into a big team strength for them? Why not?
Speaker 1: I mean, you love ty around Crawford, right, I do.
Speaker 1: We've got Greg Hardy, who will be what's he suspended
Speaker 1: four games? That's right, easy guy to root for too.
Speaker 1: He got Shawn Lee's coming back. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a much better front sum. They took a chance on Gregory.
Speaker 1: I think that looks like it's working out to Marcus Lawrence.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was absolutely depleted group two years ago,
Speaker 1: and Jerry Jones deserves credit along with Steven Jones for
Speaker 1: rebuilding it pretty quickly with some exciting young players. The
Speaker 1: Cowboys took a chance on a couple of guys in
Speaker 1: the draft, and I think it's gonna it's gonna pan
Speaker 1: out for him. I like it. That's very optimistic about
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. I know we've been a little down on
Speaker 1: the Cowboys in this room. Well we didn't talk about
Speaker 1: they just lost their top cornerback right the secondary, and
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask him they handle success. That's part
Speaker 1: of my You know, reasoning with the Cowboys is just
Speaker 1: I've seen it so long over the Jerry Jones era
Speaker 1: that they are generally a mediocre franchise that gets a
Speaker 1: little too full of themselves. But so well, let me play.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm just expected them to fall back it
Speaker 1: let me it didn't. They prove to be the mental
Speaker 1: toughest team in the league last year. They went undefeated
Speaker 1: on the road, and they were always winning games when
Speaker 1: they're back. And I think it's Scarrett. It's not the
Speaker 1: other coaches of the past. When you're right, they have
Speaker 1: a good season and crumble. I like what Garrett is,
Speaker 1: to be honest, much more than a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: He's a piece of vanilla toast. I think he's seen
Speaker 1: that way. But you know what, you have some different
Speaker 1: credit what happened last year. All right, let's start at that.
Speaker 1: Let's move on and talk a little bit about the
Speaker 1: NFC North and Mark, we'll start with you. You're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about one of the darlings of the preseason analysts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, well, the Vikings. For a lot of good reasons.
Speaker 1: They went out and aggressively added talent on offense. I
Speaker 1: think they have a where they had no passing game
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, and now you have Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson back and you've got all these weapons. Charles Johnson's
Speaker 1: growing up. You've got a bunch going on, Mike Wallace,
Speaker 1: But are we annoying john is growing up? And you
Speaker 1: sound like a proud father. I am a proud father.
Speaker 1: We were making fun of Charles Johnson and now look
Speaker 1: at him now a superstar in the NFL. NORV Turner
Speaker 1: called him the best receiver on the roster at the
Speaker 1: end of the last season, and I trust NORV Turner's judgment.
Speaker 1: Don't ever never say one mildly negative thing about a
Speaker 1: player that mark like that turns out to be okay.
Speaker 1: T d Sing get to the question, are we anointing
Speaker 1: though Teddy Bridgewater too soon to be able to do
Speaker 1: something with all this stew of talent. No, we're not
Speaker 1: annointing him too soon. You said you trust NORV Turner.
Speaker 1: He had Mike Zimmer. They have that cheshire cat smile
Speaker 1: on their face because they know this guy is a
Speaker 1: legitr the franchise quarterback where he's going to develop into that.
Speaker 1: There's nothing we've seen from him that we don't like really.
Speaker 1: I love his touch on the ball. He's got great
Speaker 1: pocket presents. He's now got much better weapon. This guy
Speaker 1: was supposed to have Peterson, Rudolph, Greg Jennings last year,
Speaker 1: could have a big year. Now he was throwing to
Speaker 1: Charles Johnson, jerryus Right and Chase Ford. At the end
Speaker 1: of the year, he's gonna have real weapons. Iss And
Speaker 1: and he's a guy who wins so much before the
Speaker 1: snap and with his mental game that that's something you
Speaker 1: can really improve a lot from year one to year two.
Speaker 1: I say we're not annoying to him too soon because
Speaker 1: all he has to do is be Andy Dalton or
Speaker 1: Alex Smith right now for them to win, and I
Speaker 1: think he can be better than that. That feels yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, that feels like a ten win team. If
Speaker 1: Bridgewater is competent. He seems like well on the way
Speaker 1: to competence, and even beyond that, potentially your turn Kim
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford Recapture two thousand eleven form. Remember this is
Speaker 1: a guy who had forty one touchdowns and over five
Speaker 1: thousand passing yards and he has regrets since then. Is
Speaker 1: he consistent enough to take advantage of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate,
Speaker 1: Eric Ebron and and Amir Abdullah, who this offense is
Speaker 1: loaded with weapons. I feel like he's one of the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that I trust the least and I find most
Speaker 1: frustrating to watch on game pass because what you get
Speaker 1: from one week is not the same the next. He's
Speaker 1: been in the league since two thousand and nine, So
Speaker 1: if we're gonna look at a guy like Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: say he can't change, So why are we so sure
Speaker 1: that just because the talent around him increases that Stafford
Speaker 1: as a quarterback is going to change. We have seen
Speaker 1: Stafford do it, though well we haven't seen anyone else
Speaker 1: bring else around him is perfect. I agree with everything
Speaker 1: that Mark says. I think he is who he is
Speaker 1: right now now. If the protection is way better and
Speaker 1: the run game's way better and he has all those talents,
Speaker 1: they're gonna make him look look better, but he's not
Speaker 1: going to be consistent. My feeling on Stafford is that
Speaker 1: the lines are in a little bit of a tricky
Speaker 1: place because I don't think he'll ever become like an
Speaker 1: A level quarterback, and I don't I think he's better
Speaker 1: than a sea level core. He's right at like B
Speaker 1: and and maybe yeah, if you can and if you
Speaker 1: can get the right team around him, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: something clicks. But we don't know what he can do
Speaker 1: for a month, he could, but do we trust that
Speaker 1: to happen. That's not the first guy I say, Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Stafford. And you don't worry about his
Speaker 1: durability anymore. He's been on the field constantly after his
Speaker 1: first couple of years. Next up, my turn, the old Zuser.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about the Packers. You know, are the branding
Speaker 1: with Dan. That's what you gotta do. That's still I
Speaker 1: like it. Part of his contract. Now we have to
Speaker 1: play get your Dan, hansis every single thow I like it.
Speaker 1: Kenvin Packers finally secure home field advantage in the NFC, because,
Speaker 1: let's face it, they were would not have blown that
Speaker 1: game in January if they were at Lambeau. It's it's
Speaker 1: I knew Week one they played at Seattle. When they
Speaker 1: lost that game, you knew they were in a bad
Speaker 1: spot and it could come back to on them. Sure enough,
Speaker 1: they lose the game, the NFC title game at Seattle.
Speaker 1: Can they get out of the out of the what
Speaker 1: do they call that? In racing the blocks nails faster.
Speaker 1: They started one and two, they'll past three seasons. Uh,
Speaker 1: they started one to one and to the past three seasons.
Speaker 1: Get out of the blocks fast, get that number one seed,
Speaker 1: and then take care of business in the playoffs and
Speaker 1: get back to the super Bowl. Because Aaron Rodgers doesn't
Speaker 1: have too much time, I flaly does, but this is him.
Speaker 1: That is absolute peak and this team is loaded as
Speaker 1: we know, even without Jordy Nelson. Massive preamble to your question.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed all of it. Gates out of the gates.
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson's not the field. It's gonna be tougher than
Speaker 1: it was a year ago. The other problem I had
Speaker 1: with green Bait coming out with the best record in
Speaker 1: the NFC that division was cream Puff Central. For a while,
Speaker 1: we just talked about the Lions and the Vikings his
Speaker 1: potential playoff teams. We'd be surprised if they both didn't
Speaker 1: push for the playoffs. Tough out of division schedule two
Speaker 1: and they're not. They're kind of a team like the
Speaker 1: Patriots that starts slow. They're they're not always a very
Speaker 1: consistent regular season team. And the year they won the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, they certainly were. That's why I think the
Speaker 1: Nelson injury is so hurtful, because it puts in perspective
Speaker 1: last year's lost. That was your opportunity. You blew it.
Speaker 1: Your team is not the same this year. One of
Speaker 1: your best players has gone. You might not ever get
Speaker 1: that opportunity again. Yeah, Mark, I didn't give you a
Speaker 1: hard time doing your obligatory Charles Johnson hero worship. Second,
Speaker 1: I knew we were going to come back to my
Speaker 1: preamble comment. I like this, sign me up for now.
Speaker 1: I love Mark, You got me sanguage. My my question
Speaker 1: is about the Chicago Bears, one that I asked every
Speaker 1: morning when I wake up. Why does everyone have so
Speaker 1: much faith in John fox Oh, that's put old Foxy
Speaker 1: in there. Let's put old Foxy. Everything will be fine
Speaker 1: now they'll be more competent. Like why, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Doesn't he have a history of turning teams around only
Speaker 1: to fall shorten the playoffs? Well, I think he'll make
Speaker 1: a good he'll make a great team good, and he'll
Speaker 1: make a bad team good. I think you're never gonna
Speaker 1: get great with him the team, and maybe maybe they'll
Speaker 1: be worse. Look at that, Look at the roster. I
Speaker 1: don't really believe in Adam Gates to turn the offense around.
Speaker 1: I think this could be the worst team in the NFL.
Speaker 1: This is this year's Tytoons. The Bears don't exist to
Speaker 1: me until they cut Jay Cutler. Wow, they're a tough watch.
Speaker 1: It's hard to get excited about them. I understand John
Speaker 1: Fox gets a lot of hate around these parts, and
Speaker 1: I know he got mostly from outclass in the super
Speaker 1: Bowl against the Seahawks. But yes, he took a Jake
Speaker 1: Delme team to the super Bowl, while back he took
Speaker 1: a Tin Tebow team and it happened. Uh no, well listen,
Speaker 1: you stick and that's not there. And then you know,
Speaker 1: the paid man teams are always competitive. Obviously with him,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna give him too much credit for that.
Speaker 1: But this guy is. There are way worse coaches, right
Speaker 1: I get. I have a big theory on coaches. Six
Speaker 1: or seven matter to the it. It could be four
Speaker 1: or five in a given year, could be seven. Six
Speaker 1: or seven matter because they they they're terrible and to
Speaker 1: the bat, and John Fox, to me, is not in
Speaker 1: either one of those groups. He just doesn't matter. He's
Speaker 1: going to get to the record that your roster gets you,
Speaker 1: and that roster is terrible. I think it's telling that Elway,
Speaker 1: who I think we can trust to this point. He's
Speaker 1: built a great team in Denver, looked at Fox and said,
Speaker 1: he can get me most of the way there, but
Speaker 1: he can't get me all the way there. All right,
Speaker 1: all right, let's move on now, Mark to the NFC South,
Speaker 1: where you're gonna ask a big important question about the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcon So I don't want to judge too much.
Speaker 1: I'm actually gonna asking about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I
Speaker 1: don't want to. I don't want to go too much
Speaker 1: off of the preseason on. But no, no, no, that
Speaker 1: was such a simple correction. Let's get back on course.
Speaker 1: We're going to Tampa. Uh. You look at the last
Speaker 1: game against the Browns and it's it's one game in
Speaker 1: its preseason, But the line which wrecked two quarterbacks last
Speaker 1: season last year was all much. We're excited about Josh McCown, remember,
Speaker 1: and we're excited about Mike Lennon. They're both played because
Speaker 1: neither could stay healthy behind that line. And now you're
Speaker 1: putting a rookie out there behind what looks like equally
Speaker 1: as shambles. Are you worried? I thought I thought that
Speaker 1: might have been hyperbole or last podcast when you explained
Speaker 1: how Cleveland's defensive line destroyed Desmond Bryant, as Mark would say,
Speaker 1: fashioned a multi colored clown suit for Ali Marpet. He
Speaker 1: blew him up, pushed him back into the quarterback. Then
Speaker 1: he had Mark Pets so scared that he had a penalty,
Speaker 1: and then he sacked him in the the very next play.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was a's as much as you can
Speaker 1: dominate an offensive line. I brought this up on our
Speaker 1: NFL Now thing last week. We're gonna be part of
Speaker 1: this NFL Now Sunday blitz. Apparently you guys can watch
Speaker 1: every Sunday just throwing a bat plug in there live
Speaker 1: on the offensive lines of problem. And Jamie Dukes said, well, no,
Speaker 1: they've addressed it. They drafted Donovan Smith. He's gonna be
Speaker 1: the Jamie Dukes saying the same thing. Okay, yeah, there's
Speaker 1: no way the guy from Hobart might not work out.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Donovan Smith, who was by the way, he's
Speaker 1: already hurt and they're missing both tackles from a lineman
Speaker 1: struggle like rookie cornerbacks exactly. So just because they drafted
Speaker 1: a couple of guys doesn't mean it's solved. S your question,
Speaker 1: Let's go to the Falcons. You know I'm gonna take them.
Speaker 1: You know what, I made a mistake. I apologize. You
Speaker 1: don't even have tooge, you're in my mind. You are
Speaker 1: pretty much the quintessential host. Oh wow, thanks man? Yeah,
Speaker 1: can I get my music again? Why? Just pretty much?
Speaker 1: Are we killing what's on the Mike Smith era? The
Speaker 1: vestige of the Mike Smith era is that they've had
Speaker 1: the worst offensive line and one of the worst defensive
Speaker 1: lines in the NFL. Are they still inept on both
Speaker 1: sides of the ball in the trenches? Because I don't
Speaker 1: Greg's got them winning the division. I don't think they
Speaker 1: win the division if if Matt Ryan's being pressured all
Speaker 1: the time, and if they can't stop the runk. I
Speaker 1: don't feel good about this prediction. I don't really like
Speaker 1: any of these teams. They're counting on Kyle Shanahan's scheme
Speaker 1: to solve the line, which is asking a lot because
Speaker 1: the talent is not any better. They didn't invest anything,
Speaker 1: and I do trust Dan Quinn though with the defense
Speaker 1: to bringing a scheme that the ever say they love it,
Speaker 1: and it sounds like they feel like they can bring
Speaker 1: more pressure. Now we heard that all last summer, so
Speaker 1: we got to see it. The line could be better.
Speaker 1: You know, they brought in Vic Beasley if he works out,
Speaker 1: you know you signed who did they sign? Clayborne and Brooks.
Speaker 1: It's like, at least they have more people there. They
Speaker 1: brought in a bunch of guys who have averaged two
Speaker 1: sacks per season in their career. They can't be worse
Speaker 1: than last season. And it was it was unbelievable how
Speaker 1: untough they were. After you had to write four articles
Speaker 1: about how tough they're going to be based on hard knocks.
Speaker 1: They sold that real hard. I think they're getting rid
Speaker 1: of Mike Smith. Factor is my is the ticket. I'm
Speaker 1: riding to them winning the division. I think that's a
Speaker 1: huge plus. I will keep things simple with the defense.
Speaker 1: Back to back defending champion NFC South Carolina Panthers, Will
Speaker 1: Cam Newton be doomed once again by a suspect sport
Speaker 1: supporting cast on offense. This time it's not all the
Speaker 1: front office's fault or salary cap issues or what have you.
Speaker 1: They lost Kevin Benjamin obviously the A C l TR.
Speaker 1: We don't know what we're gonna get from Devin funch Is.
Speaker 1: I know we're big on Jonathan Stewart and Greg Olsen
Speaker 1: is a nice player. But is there enough there? Or
Speaker 1: is once again Cam Newton going into a fight with
Speaker 1: a you know, p shooter its caliber gun. Wow, that
Speaker 1: word just jumped into your head. You weren't sure it
Speaker 1: was going to be there. I think he has the
Speaker 1: worst supporting cast, arguably of any quarterback in the league,
Speaker 1: if you count offensive line skill, position talent, and offensive coordinating.
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's any team that's any worse,
Speaker 1: Browns are in the mix. I hate to, you know say,
Speaker 1: I mean it's if Browns have an offensive line though
Speaker 1: that Cam Newton doesn't really have anything. If Mike Shula disappeared,
Speaker 1: by the way, I if I was investigator, I would
Speaker 1: look into Greg's whereabouts. I checked the cell phone towers
Speaker 1: where they're paying off. His phone has got a stable
Speaker 1: of boys. I got the Dungeon of Dungeon of Doom.
Speaker 1: First thing, I go, Greg, what were you doing the
Speaker 1: night of Mike Shula's disappearance? You know what I am,
Speaker 1: I'm Cam Newton. Believer that doesn't like him being saddled
Speaker 1: with this lousy being saddled with a roster full of
Speaker 1: number five receivers. So I think you when you lose
Speaker 1: Calvin Benjamin, the stock on that whole offense went down
Speaker 1: a ton. Dan, I believe you listed Devin Funchius as
Speaker 1: your rookie of the year. Nick, you did. You must
Speaker 1: sleeve it faith. It was a leap of faith, and
Speaker 1: you know, honestly, probably could have put a little more
Speaker 1: thought into it. However, it makes sense when you think
Speaker 1: about it. Let's say, Kem I broke it down in
Speaker 1: my head. Let's say Cam Newton throws about twenty touchdowns
Speaker 1: this year, right, Greg Olson catches eight If he stays healthy,
Speaker 1: someone's gonna have to catch seven or eight bunches. Thinks
Speaker 1: he was one of the most polarizing players in the draft.
Speaker 1: A lot of a lot of guys didn't think he'd
Speaker 1: be good at all. And that I'll say that, like
Speaker 1: and I've said in this podcast before, my knowledge of
Speaker 1: these college guys comes once to get to the NFL.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's not that good. I'm not even sure, but
Speaker 1: I know they invested a high draft pick in him
Speaker 1: and he's gonna have an immediate role in that offense.
Speaker 1: I'm rolling the dice with my pack. One of my
Speaker 1: problem with the Panthers is not everyone around Cam Newton,
Speaker 1: but very often Cam Newton himself, right, and he's not
Speaker 1: good enough to make up for this bad roster. I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to say that he needs to be a
Speaker 1: top five quarterback to make He's not close to that
Speaker 1: right now. Drew Brees is, but how close is he is?
Speaker 1: He in decline or not? To me, that's the question.
Speaker 1: Because the defense already looks like they have big problems.
Speaker 1: Drew Brees needs to be as good as he's ever
Speaker 1: been for them to be good. I thought he wasn't
Speaker 1: declined last year, but we also thought, you know, Tom
Speaker 1: Brady wasn't declined going into last season two, and he's
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP. I think these things can be reversed.
Speaker 1: I think also we've talked about this, you know, at nauseum,
Speaker 1: but they've reshaped the way the team's gonna do it
Speaker 1: this season. It's not just Breeze airing it out NonStop.
Speaker 1: Well that's easy to say until you give up thirty
Speaker 1: points a game. P J. Williams, we just learned is
Speaker 1: out for the season. Cornerback they drafted. Their best cornerback,
Speaker 1: Keenan Lewis, is out for four to six weeks with
Speaker 1: a hip surgery. I mean, there's Jis Bird has not
Speaker 1: seen the fields. Might Jarris Bird might not play, but
Speaker 1: then that changes everything. But let's say it goes. Let's
Speaker 1: see the defense is even midway right mid middle of
Speaker 1: the pack, and they were able to do what they want.
Speaker 1: They're putting Breeze in a better situation because we've heard
Speaker 1: from me in Rapidport two years in a row that
Speaker 1: the Saints themselves think that Breeze is nearing the end
Speaker 1: and they've been looking for other quarterbacks. So I think
Speaker 1: they know better than anyone. I believe the Saints are
Speaker 1: in a tough spot. I don't think they have a
Speaker 1: really well balanced team. And I think Breeze has entered
Speaker 1: the thirty touchdown twenty interception eighties six passer rating period
Speaker 1: of his careers will go for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: which is certainly fine and a guy you could still
Speaker 1: build a team around. But I don't think he's good
Speaker 1: enough anymore at that level to take a bad team
Speaker 1: to the player. You know what, the multiple ones, you know.
Speaker 1: The last seven or eight minutes have raised another question
Speaker 1: with me. Is the NFC South now the worst division
Speaker 1: in football? What do you mean? Now? I would say
Speaker 1: the year I would have said the South still they
Speaker 1: had one team, but they is the division winner? Go
Speaker 1: eight seven and one last year or something? All right?
Speaker 1: I guess yeah. I mean at least the South had
Speaker 1: an a f C championship club in it. Alright, So
Speaker 1: sipping up on those. He's going to replace me the
Speaker 1: rest of the show. You try it is good. I
Speaker 1: like your haircut. Finally, let's move on to the NFC West,
Speaker 1: a division really uh that seems pretty interesting with a
Speaker 1: lot of teams to get into, and we'll start with
Speaker 1: Mark Uh. Well, I got the Cardinals, and I think
Speaker 1: for me, I've automatically kind of just plugged them in
Speaker 1: as a wild card team all off season. I love
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians and I don't see a team with a
Speaker 1: major gaping issue that would prevent that from happening. The
Speaker 1: question for me is are we going to get pre
Speaker 1: injury Carson Palmer, the guy that went what fifteen and
Speaker 1: three overs last so and so starts? He has been
Speaker 1: fantastic for that team. Are we gonna get him, were
Speaker 1: we gonna get a much older coming off an injury.
Speaker 1: Carson Palmer sounds weird to say, but he's like the
Speaker 1: Kelvin Benjamin of quarterbacks, where he's not one of the
Speaker 1: top five at his position, but he's one of the
Speaker 1: most valuable to his team. Because the Cardinals without Carson
Speaker 1: Palmer are not a playoff and I think the preseason
Speaker 1: can't tell you whether he's gonna have a good season
Speaker 1: or not, but it can't tell you he is throwing
Speaker 1: the ball well. I mean, he threw three or four
Speaker 1: beautiful throws in their second game, so he's healthy enough
Speaker 1: to play. To me, he's a he's a boomer bust guy.
Speaker 1: I mean, we would have a Pro Bowl season or
Speaker 1: he could be pretty lousy. If the protections. He'll be
Speaker 1: able to spin it when he's sixty years old, I
Speaker 1: don't doubt that. But can he move anymore and can listen?
Speaker 1: He should have the same death that we have a
Speaker 1: Sam Bradford two A c L reconstructions? Can he hold
Speaker 1: up over? The word out of Cardinals all off season
Speaker 1: is that he's moving better than he did before the injury,
Speaker 1: and whereas his previous a c l Tear was like
Speaker 1: a Grade four. This was the easiest time. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm more worried. I'm actually not that worried about Palmer.
Speaker 1: I'm more worried about his protection because he needs and
Speaker 1: the defense. It's like, Lamar, why are you so worried
Speaker 1: about the mar Woodley and Frosty Rucker and Kevin Minter
Speaker 1: and his defense? Hold on, we're talking about a team
Speaker 1: started a thirty four year old Larry Foot last year
Speaker 1: and and still beat everyone's expectations. They've not changed the
Speaker 1: scheme at all, which is one good thing, and they
Speaker 1: found a way over and over that defense finds. I
Speaker 1: think their defense is better this year. Do we have
Speaker 1: any concerns about Todd Bowls not being there anymore? And
Speaker 1: he was a major part of that defense obviously, Well
Speaker 1: you're the new guy whatever his name is. Yeah, Bruce
Speaker 1: Arians loves that. Arians said, it's the same scheme and
Speaker 1: we've rolled right through it with no issue. You're gonna
Speaker 1: miss Todd. Immediately made me think less of him. That whatever,
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan stuck at the Brady all the time. Just
Speaker 1: know what they're doing. D What was that you had something?
Speaker 1: We're going on to the Seahawks next, right, yeah, we
Speaker 1: are that question for I got it. Oh, I got it.
Speaker 1: I got one serious question. Okay, alright, alright, good to
Speaker 1: know what's going to be the status of Sierra and
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson's relationship, because I think that's a huge don't
Speaker 1: care it was. It survived the year. Now, it's not
Speaker 1: gonna surrect. I mean, it's not real. It's all done
Speaker 1: for Russell Wilson to appear human, which he clearly is not.
Speaker 1: So they'll they'll take it as far as it goes.
Speaker 1: And if there's too much pr back lessers, I think
Speaker 1: there already is. People are kind of seeing through it.
Speaker 1: They'll mutually write up a press release and announced that
Speaker 1: the union is over. It's as bad as real as
Speaker 1: the sandwich assesslor game. To hands us, that's just all
Speaker 1: Hollywood especially, I wouldn't need that, alright, West, your Seahawks question,
Speaker 1: Is this also about a pop star? No? Back to football? Yes?
Speaker 1: Whoa Jimmy Graham one of the biggest enigmas in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I mean, when he's fully healthy, one of the most
Speaker 1: unstoppable players, one of the most unstoppable offense offensive forces
Speaker 1: in the league. When he's not fully healthy, he disappears
Speaker 1: for months at a time. Can Russell Wilson bring out
Speaker 1: the unstoppable Jimmy Graham. Isn't it more about can Jimmy
Speaker 1: Graham stay healthy? Because we've talked about once Jimmy Graham
Speaker 1: gets how he hurt. He's one of those guys that
Speaker 1: does not play through an injury well, and maybe he's
Speaker 1: just not built for this type of this gig. It's
Speaker 1: a fair question. My thinking was more along the lines
Speaker 1: of whenever Russell Wilson is a big receiver, and we
Speaker 1: saw this when he first came into the league, and
Speaker 1: he would throw it up to Sydney Rice really accurately
Speaker 1: down the field and let Sydney Rice's catch radius take
Speaker 1: care of business. Chris Matthews and the Super Bowl last year,
Speaker 1: I think Jimmy Graham is a godsender for Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: They match up so well together. My answer would be yes,
Speaker 1: because Russell Wilson is awesome at throwing between the seams.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's got to be one of the best
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in the league at doing that, and Jimmy Graham
Speaker 1: is right there for him. I see no reason to
Speaker 1: doubt it. I mean, again, forget the preseason, but looking
Speaker 1: at the last game they had, they were just not
Speaker 1: on the same page. That might take a month for
Speaker 1: them to kind of get that chemistry. Russell Wilson had
Speaker 1: like twenty five yards passing at the end of that half,
Speaker 1: and Jimmy Graham couldn't help. I don't think the Seahawks
Speaker 1: are running their offense only that's fair, but it's just
Speaker 1: that even when the regular season comes, if they haven't
Speaker 1: run the real offense and they're finally gonna start to
Speaker 1: do it, just like an offensive line, Graham and Russell
Speaker 1: arena need a little bit of time. All right, my turn.
Speaker 1: Have we been too quick to write off the San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty historic exodus? Of course, a lot of top
Speaker 1: to your talent, but there's still some pieces in place.
Speaker 1: And I think we talked about this on Monday. How
Speaker 1: do you not get a little bit excited about Navarro
Speaker 1: Bowman not just being healthy but the same guy before
Speaker 1: knee surgery. Based on what we've seen in the preseason,
Speaker 1: and there are some guys a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick was a guy we saw is one maybe
Speaker 1: a top ten quarterback in the league. He's still what
Speaker 1: seven years old. You have Vernon Davis, you have Tory
Speaker 1: Smith there. Now there are some guys there have been.
Speaker 1: Jared Haynes is there running through the tackles. Have we
Speaker 1: been too quick to say, oh, this is now a
Speaker 1: five win team. No, there're a five win team. They've
Speaker 1: got major issues. Look at their offensive line. It's a
Speaker 1: disaster area problem. I'm not convinced that Cohn Kaepernis gonna
Speaker 1: have a good year. Nothing I've seen from him suggest
Speaker 1: that he's learned how to be a touch passer. Jeep
Speaker 1: christ is their offensive coordinators. They lost a lot of
Speaker 1: coaching talent. That's a concern. But my answer to you is, yes,
Speaker 1: I think we've been too quick to write them up.
Speaker 1: I think they could be a seven or eight win
Speaker 1: type of team that's in the mix and could surprise
Speaker 1: some teams. That's you writing them off because seven right playoffs. Well,
Speaker 1: let me let me just make it clear what I'm with, Greg,
Speaker 1: because I see people look at them as a laughing stock,
Speaker 1: where I think they could be competitive. It wouldn't shock
Speaker 1: me if they were. It wouldn't totally stunn me if
Speaker 1: they're nine and seven or ten and six, and they
Speaker 1: sneak into the playoffs like that, what's that? What's done me?
Speaker 1: That's a little rich for me. But I think you're
Speaker 1: coming from we were saying, oh, they're gonna be three
Speaker 1: and thirteen. They're an absolute train wreck where them going
Speaker 1: eight and eight eight and eight teams are really a
Speaker 1: lot of times just five and eleven teams in disguise
Speaker 1: where everything went right. So if that happened, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: wouldn't be that surprising to me. Alrightly, Well, we wrap
Speaker 1: up with the most exciting team in the league. Lewis
Speaker 1: rams what a defense this is gonna be. But will
Speaker 1: they be so good all for not because the offense
Speaker 1: is bad? And will Greg Williams then murder Frank Signetti? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because of it? And if it happens, who's gonna solve
Speaker 1: the case problems problem that? Well, No, you need NFL.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is Greg Williams chance to get back
Speaker 1: into the NFL limelight if Signetti doesn't blow it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we really need a Greg Williams redemption story in the NFL. Well,
Speaker 1: he's really caring the torch for the triple G. Greg's
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So I've always been well haven't we
Speaker 1: heard from IF IF, If, the If, the Seahawks and
Speaker 1: everyone else aren't showing their offense and I are the Rams.
Speaker 1: Haven't we heard all offseason from Rams players at this
Speaker 1: offense is much more creative. That guys are getting more opportunities.
Speaker 1: I hope, So, I hope. So that's what I'm remember,
Speaker 1: believing that that Kenny Britt and Trey Watts are gonna
Speaker 1: lead this team. To come on, Trey Watts isn't even
Speaker 1: the best Trey in that backfield. He might be starting
Speaker 1: Week one, and it's Todd Gurley is healthy. All bets off.
Speaker 1: Just say, just get us the seven and nine and
Speaker 1: let's go to Los Angeles. That's all Jeff wants. Jeff
Speaker 1: wants to be sitting in on the show during the offseason,
Speaker 1: just hamming it up with a big old stash. You
Speaker 1: guys aren't really buying into the murderous inclinations. I think
Speaker 1: it's more likely you murder Mike Schuler. Wait, this is
Speaker 1: a coach who once said that if you cut off
Speaker 1: the head, the offense will follow. That shadowy link figure
Speaker 1: is look that that's on tape. He said it. It's
Speaker 1: it's by the way, it's funny you bring up Frank
Speaker 1: Signetti because I do actually have a follow up question
Speaker 1: about the rams and it's related. Uh, let's bring that
Speaker 1: up TV on the Board, Ken Detective Frank Sinnetti clean
Speaker 1: up the streets of St. Louis, over come corruption within
Speaker 1: his own department, and find a way to relate to
Speaker 1: his headstrong teenage daughter from a previous relationship. I don't know. St.
Speaker 1: Louis has been through some ups and downs. You've got
Speaker 1: a lot of cleaning up to do. Uh. The daughter
Speaker 1: part always tricky, A lot of moving parts there. He
Speaker 1: could have saved True Detective season two Frank Signetti if
Speaker 1: he was a character him and Greg Williams, how about
Speaker 1: that as you can't, I mean, and anything you could
Speaker 1: talk about it in our our careers as well, sometimes
Speaker 1: middle management or other figures get in the way of
Speaker 1: what you want. He deals with that with the St.
Speaker 1: Louis p D. Then he's got his daughter, Gloria, who's
Speaker 1: a really nice girl, sweet girl, but she's got the
Speaker 1: old man's stubborn weight. I see you, happy end, headstrong
Speaker 1: girl all right now, and I know about Gloria now
Speaker 1: it's time and it's a shame that marriage didn't work
Speaker 1: out because Frank and Judy. I thought there's still a
Speaker 1: kernel of love between them. You see that. And the
Speaker 1: thing I like about SIGNETI it's like, Okay, she's not
Speaker 1: living with him, but he's still a good fot. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you not. It doesn't mean that you
Speaker 1: can't be a good father and love your daughter. Signetti
Speaker 1: goes ten seasons though the wife, the comeback with the
Speaker 1: wife thing, that is the season five material. You want
Speaker 1: to go to, Brank, are you married to me or
Speaker 1: your career? I mean that was a common refrain heard
Speaker 1: that before. Alright, prediction time now for the NFC. We
Speaker 1: will If Frank Signetti ever actually heard this podcast, he's like,
Speaker 1: what world is going? Where? Where am I? Might be? Right?
Speaker 1: All right, so let's go through our NFC predictions one
Speaker 1: by one. Mark, We'll start with you give us your
Speaker 1: four division winners, your two wild cards. Alright, division winners.
Speaker 1: I go Seahawks out of the West, Packers out of
Speaker 1: the North. I got the Eagles out of the East,
Speaker 1: the Saints out of the South. And my two wild
Speaker 1: card teams are the Detroit Lions, and I do believe
Speaker 1: in them. The Arizona cardinal. This is basically the the
Speaker 1: around the NFL chalk predict not chalk. But these are
Speaker 1: our consensus picks as well. I believe Mark, you are
Speaker 1: our consensus wells many different answers from the group. Let's see.
Speaker 1: Let's see West, your turn. They should keep Marks list
Speaker 1: up there, it's exact same one. I yea, yeah, this
Speaker 1: is the exact same lost in the same order to
Speaker 1: line up. Greg. Greg hates when people put the same
Speaker 1: playoff teams in year. Have to by the way, your
Speaker 1: predictions have always stunt. So one on, I should just
Speaker 1: make up the rams are going to be good so
Speaker 1: I can do something new. Look, teams are good, so
Speaker 1: you make them. You predict that they're gonna be going.
Speaker 1: You have Seahawks Eagles. No, you have Eagles as a
Speaker 1: two seed. Mark doesn't have that. I mean we both
Speaker 1: have the winners. I have the same exactly, I do
Speaker 1: have them as a two seed, though. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: little different. That's different. That's a big difference. Al right, West,
Speaker 1: nice choices, Mark, also nice choices. Let's take a look
Speaker 1: at my choices. I have the Seahawks again with the
Speaker 1: number one seed for the third straight year. I have
Speaker 1: the Packers at number two, the Eagles. I think we're
Speaker 1: all high in the Eagles. It teams winning their division
Speaker 1: with a really nice record at the Saints taking care
Speaker 1: of business and a bad, crappy division, and then the
Speaker 1: Lions and Vikings as them both is double digit win teams.
Speaker 1: I think the Lions maybe even could sneak out of eleven.
Speaker 1: I'm in on the lines Dallas for anyone so far,
Speaker 1: and the Lions are not surprised and for all three teams,
Speaker 1: so you're big changes. The Vikings get in instead of
Speaker 1: the Cards. I'm a little down in the Cardinals, as
Speaker 1: he talked about on Monday show. Greg your picks, uh,
Speaker 1: my picks. I have the same top two teams. I
Speaker 1: have the Seahawks and the Packers in that order, the
Speaker 1: Eagles winning the NFC East. I have the Falcons getting
Speaker 1: out of the NFC South, the Vikings, and then the
Speaker 1: Rams as my six six teams. My theory here West
Speaker 1: is that none of us know anything anyway, There's no
Speaker 1: way to know, and so you kind of look for
Speaker 1: teams that would logically be like a team that fills
Speaker 1: a gap in a bad division, like I know is
Speaker 1: I think it's very bold to put one of the
Speaker 1: worst teams in football in the playoffs, the Rams. Greg,
Speaker 1: you you've just talked about they won seven games with
Speaker 1: Austin Davis and you're like your grandmother. They won. Is
Speaker 1: Nick Foles better than Austin Davis? Yes, you've just the
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, you know, offing the offensive. That would that
Speaker 1: would be a you know, a distraction. If that happens,
Speaker 1: they overcome that. They'd have to overcome that. I said,
Speaker 1: could it could happen if Signetti doesn't you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think you should stop with the Rams. I think
Speaker 1: you should put the Browns and the Titans in the
Speaker 1: a f C playoffs. All right. I knew this was
Speaker 1: gonna go down a bad road when Gregg said to West,
Speaker 1: none of us know anything. The mailman doesn't like to
Speaker 1: be told he doesn't know anything. Malman knows everything. No,
Speaker 1: we I mean, I I agree that preseason is prime
Speaker 1: season for you take a you take a lot of
Speaker 1: conclusions out of stuff that you can't so in that sense,
Speaker 1: he's right. But we can evaluate rosters and say the
Speaker 1: Rams roster just isn't very strong defense. All right, let's
Speaker 1: get out of here. I'm gonna have some of the
Speaker 1: sandwich right now, congealed eggs. It's gonna be a little cold.
Speaker 1: Can you get sick from cold eggs? You can get
Speaker 1: sick from eggs. In general, the avocado looks pretty tasty. Mark,
Speaker 1: thank you and Trent Richardson, thank you for not being
Speaker 1: able to hit a hole. That that was, you know,
Speaker 1: exciting watching Danny eat. That's good. All right, let's wrap
Speaker 1: this thing up. All right, that's it. Let's get out
Speaker 1: of here. This is um right, let me swallow. That's paid.
Speaker 1: When are you gonna get the water for us? T D.
Speaker 1: This is Dan hands Is signing off for the Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: the Mailman, the Boss, TV, and everybody else behind the glass.
Speaker 1: We will be back on Friday with our AMC preview
Speaker 1: and then we roll into the big week, So get
Speaker 1: excited around. The NFL podcast is over.