Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast is a figment of Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler's imagination. Welcome to another edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast. Dan haf here froom filled with heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal, A little Bunker Cast action today on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: How big Tuesday it is? Because Mark Sessler. It's not
Speaker 1: gonna admit it, because he's already on some level that
Speaker 1: he's thrown into talent this season. But he's noivous Huge
Speaker 1: Brown's matchup coming up on Thursday. He's noivus. I'm annoyed,
Speaker 1: is what I am. And I mean if this is
Speaker 1: a figment, I'd like to also is my I'm having
Speaker 1: a bad hair day? Um? Is that a figment of
Speaker 1: my imagination? I'm wearing a shirt that my parents sent me.
Speaker 1: You know that was too It's about two sizes too
Speaker 1: large for me. But one of the Bunker casts um benefits,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you notice some degree, is that people
Speaker 1: can't see any thing other than this little box and
Speaker 1: so the shirt looks presentable. Um, they can't see my
Speaker 1: hair from other angles. So why is it that when
Speaker 1: moms send shirts and it's adorable and moms are amazing, Um,
Speaker 1: but they always send them like seven sizes too big, Like,
Speaker 1: what is up with that? I think that's what they
Speaker 1: what's the what they maybe want us to be? Like?
Speaker 1: I always are you eating well? Are you eating enough? Well?
Speaker 1: It's like you've sent me a shirt that I could
Speaker 1: fit three of me in. It's like this is a
Speaker 1: shirt for a five hundred pound man. Man, mother, what
Speaker 1: is happening? Mother? I just appreciate that Mark, you know,
Speaker 1: doesn't have to go into work. He's kind of put
Speaker 1: it in the most comfortable thing he he owns a
Speaker 1: button down, you know, checkered, two sizes too big polyester. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm trying. I've never worn this on our show before,
Speaker 1: so I'm premiering it right now. All right, this is
Speaker 1: a good one, good good pod, good Tuesday pod, Like
Speaker 1: the Tuesday Pod during the season, Chop it Up a
Speaker 1: little bit, has some fun. Arif Hassan, who covers the
Speaker 1: Vikings for the Athletic I'm I would love this Vikings team.
Speaker 1: I've always had a soft spot for the Vikings, but
Speaker 1: the complete stupidity of their two thousand twenty one season.
Speaker 1: It's just a big, stupid, dumb, fun season so far.
Speaker 1: And as they hit their bye week, at three and three. Um,
Speaker 1: this feels like a good time to check in with Minnesota.
Speaker 1: And a Reef is a fund into the show, and
Speaker 1: I feel like he's gonna give us some answers trying
Speaker 1: to figure out this team. So that's coming up. We also,
Speaker 1: the off fore mentioned Cleveland Browns have a very important
Speaker 1: football game, a monumentally important football game, uh, coming up
Speaker 1: on Thursday, and we're gonna get into that. We're gonna
Speaker 1: preview that game against the Denver Broncos. Two teams, uh,
Speaker 1: sitting at three and three and trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what happens next in their season. But before that, well
Speaker 1: before that, how are you? Greg? I'm great? Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's nice. I'm good. Uh. Devin Keith, I picked him
Speaker 1: up at the airport today, so I got my parents
Speaker 1: in town so my mom could give me a triple
Speaker 1: XL shirt size shirt in person, So I'll be nice. Um,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna have a couple of tetoes with the
Speaker 1: old Man and UH and enjoy the marksess on Thursday
Speaker 1: night recap a little later this week. I'm just mom.
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like my mom stopped giving me shirts.
Speaker 1: I don't know, fifteen years ago because I was because
Speaker 1: I was a jerk to her. I was, you know,
Speaker 1: I was just like, stopped giving these shirts. Greg. We've
Speaker 1: positive that you were born fifteen years ago, so it's
Speaker 1: you know at some point, um no, but I think
Speaker 1: what's what for me? Regenerated? Um My mom sending me
Speaker 1: shirts as an adult male was being on the television
Speaker 1: and she's like, you look sharp and shirt, you look handsome.
Speaker 1: I want more. Here is my mom. By the way,
Speaker 1: here's deep hands is just wanted to get her purse.
Speaker 1: That's Debbie, she's a legend. Did you bring me a shirt? Actually,
Speaker 1: I can't tell you what I brought? All right, all right,
Speaker 1: we ruined the surprise. All right, let's do some Monday
Speaker 1: night football. Alan under center, sneak make that I do
Speaker 1: not know. Let's see where they spotted. We did not
Speaker 1: make that, but the Titans stick. They have stopped it.
Speaker 1: Let's wait, Alan tried to sneak he got nothing or
Speaker 1: so it up? We got it? I got it. I
Speaker 1: did it. I did it? Yes not yes, not yes,
Speaker 1: pill yes, Dade the radio call. Those guys are amazing homers,
Speaker 1: especially Mike Keith and Dave McGinnis or w g F
Speaker 1: X Titans with what a victory. What a victory for
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans, who you know, a few weeks back,
Speaker 1: you know, fell on fell on their butts against the
Speaker 1: Jets of all teams. And now in Monday night they
Speaker 1: go to to toe with the Buffalo Bills. Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: goes mad running for a buck forty three and three
Speaker 1: touchdowns and they get that goal line stopped at the
Speaker 1: end of the games and a lot of hype to
Speaker 1: talk around that game and the decision Sean McDermott made
Speaker 1: to go for it there, greg Um, your thoughts, let's
Speaker 1: start there. Let's start at that fourth down. It's fourth
Speaker 1: in less than a yard. The Bills have a chance
Speaker 1: to tie the game. Instead, Sean McDermott leaves his offense
Speaker 1: on the field. Uh, the execution obviously wasn't there. But
Speaker 1: what did you think about the decision? Yeah? I like
Speaker 1: the decision, you know. I I don't love Josh Allen's
Speaker 1: decision to kind of veer left there necessarily look like
Speaker 1: it's maybe a bigger hole on the right, but he slipped.
Speaker 1: I mean, a game comes down to navigating the QB
Speaker 1: sneak strategy. I like it. I mean, it's up to
Speaker 1: the QB where he goes it. It looks like there's
Speaker 1: a bigger hole there. Jeffrey Simmons is sitting there. They
Speaker 1: kind of won. It wasn't a typical of the night.
Speaker 1: I thought the Titans defensive line, even though they gave
Speaker 1: up a ton of ards and points, played pretty well
Speaker 1: on the interior. You know, it very much was a
Speaker 1: Mike Rabel, our guys are bigger than your guys type
Speaker 1: of game, which worked on when the Titans were on offense,
Speaker 1: did not work when the Titans were on defense, except
Speaker 1: in a couple of spots. They went up front and
Speaker 1: they got a little lucky there. That's what you need
Speaker 1: to do to beat the best team in the league.
Speaker 1: I mean, in the fact that Josh Allen, he's he's
Speaker 1: twenty nine of thirty two on third and fourth down sneaks.
Speaker 1: Career wise, I like the decision personally, I think for
Speaker 1: me coming out of this game, you know, it doesn't
Speaker 1: change how I feel about the Bills. There there, four
Speaker 1: and two. They easily could be, you know, with a
Speaker 1: few things different. Five and one. That's they fit right there.
Speaker 1: They're still for me, the class of the A f C.
Speaker 1: But I you know, Mia culpa, because on our Friday
Speaker 1: around the NFL broadcast show, UM, and I'm getting killed,
Speaker 1: um by some people in the Tennessee area for this.
Speaker 1: I said that this game would be a prime time
Speaker 1: embarrassment for the Titans, and you're getting put into one
Speaker 1: of those little um mash up films of every talking
Speaker 1: head loser that you know, pretty to doom for Tennessee. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's like I think that Week one
Speaker 1: crushing by the Cardinals, uh, was a poison pill for
Speaker 1: a lot of people that just kind of wondered what
Speaker 1: Tennessee was going into this season. But it's Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: and just watching him run. I feel like his touchdown,
Speaker 1: his early touchdown run that made it seven six was
Speaker 1: it's just sort of a thundering announcement every time he
Speaker 1: barrels down the field that way. And I made this
Speaker 1: comparison before to you guys. I'm trying to figure out,
Speaker 1: like how to describe what I see when I watch
Speaker 1: him run, And the closest thing I can come to
Speaker 1: is like a gigantic um steel front door being dropped
Speaker 1: off the top of a building towards like you know,
Speaker 1: eighty eighty. Uh you know stories below onto crushing four
Speaker 1: or six cars. That's what he's cases. Something you're making
Speaker 1: my mind do like inception level, like gravity turns. Try
Speaker 1: to figure out the comparison. But I get what you're saying,
Speaker 1: that he's a monster and a beast and pretty much
Speaker 1: unstoppable like gravity. I you know, the Titans aren't like
Speaker 1: a great team. Well, they might not even be a
Speaker 1: good team. They have j Brown and Julio Jones on
Speaker 1: the field there. However, However, the one thing that the
Speaker 1: Titans are are battle tested over the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: and they are afraid of no team. And I think
Speaker 1: we saw that if you put them. And this is
Speaker 1: why Mark, I don't even remember you making that disparaging
Speaker 1: comment about their chances in this game. Um, but that's why,
Speaker 1: when you think about it, you take a step back,
Speaker 1: you realize the pedigree of the team and what they've
Speaker 1: been able to do the last couple of years. The
Speaker 1: fact that they're playing at home, the fact that it's
Speaker 1: under the lights and that crowd was gonna go mad
Speaker 1: not that's stunning in retrospect. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: it's the Bills who have been a much better team
Speaker 1: this season. So you just gotta give the Titans a
Speaker 1: ton of credit. And it really changes the shape of
Speaker 1: their season because I think they go from a team
Speaker 1: that a lot of people have questions about, whether it's
Speaker 1: the coaching staff or whether the roster is as good
Speaker 1: as it needs to be. Well, now I feel like
Speaker 1: this is gonna be similar to a lot of the
Speaker 1: other Titans teams where yes, they're not gonna go you know,
Speaker 1: fourteen and three here, but they'll go ten and seven
Speaker 1: or eleven and say, and they could be trouble in
Speaker 1: the playoffs because they have And I was thinking about this, boys,
Speaker 1: I'm curious where you come down on this. I'll start
Speaker 1: with you, Greg Um. In my football fandom, uh, my
Speaker 1: choice for best running back of the century is Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson and when he was but both before the knee
Speaker 1: injury and then that especially that first year after the
Speaker 1: knee injury, I just thought he was special to the
Speaker 1: point where he was at all time great. And this
Speaker 1: Derrick Kennedy, it wasn't just yesterday obviously, but this run
Speaker 1: that he's been on for three years. If he stays
Speaker 1: healthy this year and puts together a record breaking season
Speaker 1: in two thousand yards again, Is he the best running
Speaker 1: back of the last years? Is this who we're watching
Speaker 1: in these games? I don't think so. But he's gonna
Speaker 1: have the best numbers over a three year stretch, the
Speaker 1: most dominant three year stretch any runner has ever had.
Speaker 1: But I don't. I don't think he's That doesn't mean
Speaker 1: I don't think he's he's the best. Like success rate
Speaker 1: matters to me. He has so many unsuccessful plays and
Speaker 1: it's worth it. He's obviously a great runner um, but
Speaker 1: the fact that he piles up those one two yard
Speaker 1: runs before he ends up breaking him I personally would
Speaker 1: take a guy like a Peterson or La Dainian Tomlinson
Speaker 1: if we if we throw falk into this century, uh,
Speaker 1: certainly him ahead of him, because they're winning in so
Speaker 1: many different ways to play after play. Now that said,
Speaker 1: if he stays healthy right now, he's on pace for
Speaker 1: five touches, he's unpaced, so he's breaking new bounds even
Speaker 1: for the big dog four and fifty carries. If he
Speaker 1: can keep up that pace and he can lead the
Speaker 1: league and rushing, rushing, touchdowns and attempts for the third
Speaker 1: straight year, I mean that it's never been done so
Speaker 1: that part of its unquestioned that like, statistically, no one's
Speaker 1: ever had a three year dominant stretch. I went and
Speaker 1: looked for this, like O J was pretty close. Um,
Speaker 1: Tomlinson was was pretty close. Uh, and Peterson certainly, but
Speaker 1: but never never this dominant. I would take Adrian Peterson
Speaker 1: along with Greg on that. But I love the idea
Speaker 1: of what Darre Henry is accomplishing during this span in
Speaker 1: one not back when Peterson played, when there were a
Speaker 1: you know, a laundry list of featured backs back then
Speaker 1: that you could count on, fantasy wise or whatever to
Speaker 1: get a certain amount of carries. I mean, it is
Speaker 1: just an atypical age for Derrick Henry to subsist in
Speaker 1: and like I love game, like they would have they
Speaker 1: I think they would have been blown out in the
Speaker 1: first half. Tanneh helped played one of the worst halfs
Speaker 1: he's played all year. Um. Did the Bills get stopped
Speaker 1: two times inside of ten? You know, one time Josh
Speaker 1: Allen miss is a pretty open receiver in the end zone.
Speaker 1: Another time Titans make a you know, good stop. Um.
Speaker 1: But for the most part, the Bill's offense is doing
Speaker 1: what they wanted. And if Henry doesn't pop off that
Speaker 1: run and Henry doesn't keep them afloat in these games
Speaker 1: like they're done. Like I want to see what this
Speaker 1: offense looks like with and with the A. J. Brown
Speaker 1: and Julio healthy and together. And I don't even think
Speaker 1: we got that last night because they're going. You know,
Speaker 1: Julio is the last three plus years without there. But
Speaker 1: this is extra because the offensive line to me, is
Speaker 1: a lot worse protecting Tannehill and the defense is still
Speaker 1: showing very little signs of life. They had. They had
Speaker 1: a couple last night, but not not many. Taylor Luwan
Speaker 1: got hurt in this game. Two more quick things on Henry. One, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the the long touch gener run changed that game too. Um,
Speaker 1: his straight line speed on the touchdown run was the
Speaker 1: fastest according to the next Gen stats. And he running
Speaker 1: back has reached the season. So when we're talking about
Speaker 1: a unicorn one of one, a guy of his size,
Speaker 1: that is the fastest running back this season as well
Speaker 1: on a play, yes, that would be the speed of
Speaker 1: an iron door being dropped off the building. It's the same,
Speaker 1: accidentally speed. And how about this. I know that this
Speaker 1: will be completely left out of the lineup because it's
Speaker 1: an ill it landed in an ill way for the
Speaker 1: two of you. Um Buffalo special? Why are we not
Speaker 1: trying for an helmet catch on that play there? I mean,
Speaker 1: as are we just going to continue to get that
Speaker 1: sensation under the road. There's nothing unique about it. It's
Speaker 1: not it's it's ironic. The Philly Special actually isn't really
Speaker 1: special because everyone hasn't there, but it was when it occurred.
Speaker 1: It has been copied. That something is copied does not
Speaker 1: mean that it wasn't initially a an original site. I'm sorry, Mike,
Speaker 1: you'll never get those sandwiches coming at it. Um. And
Speaker 1: here's my last note on Buffalo Boys is for all
Speaker 1: and you check under the hood and all the advanced
Speaker 1: analytics says this is the best team in football. There
Speaker 1: four and two record. That's fine. They're gonna be fine
Speaker 1: in the a f C East. I think this is
Speaker 1: a eleven twelve win team. Uh they will be in contention,
Speaker 1: I think for the bye. Uh So everything's I think
Speaker 1: good for Buffalo, but it is. It's interesting to note
Speaker 1: that there number one are close to it and almost
Speaker 1: every major offensive category except for red zone conversion, where
Speaker 1: there twenty six. Now I think they're too good to
Speaker 1: not get that straightened out. And I would imagine that
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott is gonna be working hard on that to
Speaker 1: figure that out. But we saw in this game, Greg
Speaker 1: you noted it, including their game ending on a stall
Speaker 1: inside the ten yard line. That's something that they need
Speaker 1: to get better at. Right. They lost the fourth order
Speaker 1: ten and nothing they they It felt like they could
Speaker 1: have put up about forty five fifty points. They didn't,
Speaker 1: and I think this is a bad matchup for them.
Speaker 1: They got you know, the Titans put up a forty
Speaker 1: burger on him last year too. They are a lightweight,
Speaker 1: faster flowing defense, and the Titans aren't that complicated. They
Speaker 1: are just big, especially on offense, they are trying to
Speaker 1: bully you and it seems to work. It's just another
Speaker 1: reminder like, no matter how good your defensive stats are,
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna be mediocre if you play against a
Speaker 1: really good offense who's playing well. Because every stat was
Speaker 1: that they're the best defense, you know, the league, But
Speaker 1: it's really just they've played pretty lackluster offenses and when
Speaker 1: they got up against a team that was playing pretty
Speaker 1: well in the second half, uh and they got a
Speaker 1: few a little help by their defense keeping them in there.
Speaker 1: They got run over this go ahead, no no, go finish.
Speaker 1: Now mine was I was going to veer off into
Speaker 1: some game broadcast criticism, which is, you know, my special
Speaker 1: circle ahead. I was just gonna say that. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have to love where the bills are set up.
Speaker 1: I mean after the bye they played the Dolphins, Jaguars,
Speaker 1: and Jets, so they're about to be seven and two. Greg,
Speaker 1: please on your broadcasting tips. Let's hear some Greg game
Speaker 1: broadcast honking. But we we've been gone back and forth
Speaker 1: about this crew, and all I've got to say is
Speaker 1: they didn't discuss whether that was a good decision or
Speaker 1: not to go for it in the moment, Like literally,
Speaker 1: it didn't come up. They didn't They didn't explain the situation.
Speaker 1: They had a time out to work with two in
Speaker 1: there that ended up being taken, I believe by the Titans,
Speaker 1: didn't come up, just sort of overwhelmed by the moment.
Speaker 1: I put that on the play by play more to
Speaker 1: set it up for the thing. But it's crazy to watch.
Speaker 1: It's a crazy situation. Overwhelmed by the moment feels a
Speaker 1: little strong, but I see what you're saying. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe this isn't just like happened. It literally just happened
Speaker 1: like the conversations happening on Twitter, but it's not happening
Speaker 1: in the broadcast. And that was one of you know,
Speaker 1: that is a moment that like coaches would have never
Speaker 1: gone for that in the past, right, he didn't with
Speaker 1: no hesitation. Here it decides the whole game, and it
Speaker 1: took until after the play of being like like to
Speaker 1: your point on that it is the job of one
Speaker 1: of those three dudes to bring it up, um. And
Speaker 1: also the reason why you bring it up is not
Speaker 1: just to say, oh, by the way, you can kick
Speaker 1: a field goal here, because the audience knows that. But
Speaker 1: I think it does speak to a larger shift, as
Speaker 1: Greg notes there in the way head coaches, or at
Speaker 1: least the smart ones now operate, which is, if the
Speaker 1: game's on the line, or I need a huge play
Speaker 1: and I could choose the conservative route, or I could
Speaker 1: put the game in the hands of my best player.
Speaker 1: You're seeing that more and more now, and that's what
Speaker 1: McDermott did. And maybe it's becoming so common that the
Speaker 1: guys didn't think to bring it up rather than they
Speaker 1: were overwhelmed. But um, I think it's worth, it's worthy
Speaker 1: bring it up. I think if I don't know if
Speaker 1: McDermott got killed for it after the game, if he did,
Speaker 1: shame on whoever did it, because that's just I I think.
Speaker 1: If you're the Bills and you're walking on that tunnel,
Speaker 1: you're thinking to yourself, Man, eight or nine times out
Speaker 1: of tend we win this game. Uh, and it just
Speaker 1: didn't come up our way. Because man, these these these
Speaker 1: primetime games, and it happened last week with Baltimore and Indie.
Speaker 1: They're weird. These are strange games, and they're like what
Speaker 1: I do with the powering And sometimes I'm trying to
Speaker 1: figure out, like do you have to add like that
Speaker 1: weird like Monday night voodoo when trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what it means for a team and what does it
Speaker 1: say about them, because just weird stuff tends to happen
Speaker 1: in these games. Here's what it says that the Bill's
Speaker 1: defense didn't get a stop, literally no stops in the
Speaker 1: second half with a chance to win on the road.
Speaker 1: So that's that was a little surprising to me. Count
Speaker 1: the truly dominant defenses in football, right now, Like who's
Speaker 1: out there truly dominant even the once we talked up
Speaker 1: like we talked about I think there's some that can
Speaker 1: create problems, but that there's no there's no truly dominant one.
Speaker 1: I mean the Browns. The Browns are defense that have struggled,
Speaker 1: the Chargers, the Rams have had their struggles, like all
Speaker 1: the teams that you kind of circled, even the Bucks.
Speaker 1: I know it's a lot of injuries here too. Um
Speaker 1: I put the Bucks in that. I trust the Bucks
Speaker 1: to figure out whatever issues they encounter. I don't think
Speaker 1: the the Bill's defense is a total mirage, by the way.
Speaker 1: It's just you know, they got beating, they got beaten,
Speaker 1: a bad matchup. The Titans need, um need Julio to
Speaker 1: to stay out there. I feel like to them for
Speaker 1: them to realize there. But then it seems it's getting
Speaker 1: harder and harder to do as he gets older. Um
Speaker 1: A j Brown also is you know, I had some
Speaker 1: chronic health issues, so there's you know, with the Titans,
Speaker 1: everything has to be I'm very happy for Grave Digger.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that was a thrilling win. It must be
Speaker 1: cool when that happens for your team. Um, but also
Speaker 1: a lot of things are gonna have to go right
Speaker 1: for the Titans to make a deep trip into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was a heroic performance by A J.
Speaker 1: Brown by all accounts. Derrick Henry said after the game,
Speaker 1: He's just glad that they had enough toilet paper uh
Speaker 1: in the facility, uh to to deal with the food
Speaker 1: poisoning that A J. Brown was dealing with. And and
Speaker 1: how much um he was pooping. I guess uh, I
Speaker 1: think that's what he was suggesting. Yes, he got it
Speaker 1: from Chippotle. He said he will not be getting a
Speaker 1: any sponsorship probably, you know, calling Chippotle out, but it was.
Speaker 1: It was Chippotle and he goes seven his best game
Speaker 1: of the year. Turned my stomach a little bit. Some
Speaker 1: graphic toilet paper talking a big spot right as if
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry is in charge of the toilet paper supply
Speaker 1: inside the Titans building, he had he was whoever supply
Speaker 1: and all that toilet paper. The great toilet paper stories
Speaker 1: ever in NFL history was the last time the Jets
Speaker 1: went to London against the Dolphins. They they said, you know,
Speaker 1: we've heard stories about the quality of the toilet paper
Speaker 1: in England, so they shipped three and fifty rolls of
Speaker 1: toilet paper to London, UM to take care of their
Speaker 1: hig niece in a big spot. And they won. So
Speaker 1: let's focus on what matters from the Jets organization. So
Speaker 1: they got the w that game. UM, all right, that's
Speaker 1: Monday night football. Let's talk Vikings and to do that,
Speaker 1: we will welcome back certified friend of the show listen
Speaker 1: not a member of the hit It and Quit It
Speaker 1: brigade and our live shows in London. People are asking
Speaker 1: who are the guests that are on the hit It
Speaker 1: and Quit It list? Maybe we shared, maybe we didn't.
Speaker 1: You'll never know one person who's back because we like
Speaker 1: him as a Reef Hasan who covers the Vikings for
Speaker 1: the Athletic and Uh a Reef welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Round the NFL podcast. It's been a couple of months. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me back on. I mean, we have
Speaker 1: to be the only like national podcast is just like, man,
Speaker 1: we haven't talked to any kind of team reporters in
Speaker 1: the in the country in a long time. Like where
Speaker 1: do we go first? It's Vikings. It's car beautiful is
Speaker 1: like it is fascinating. It is a fascinating team. Weirdly though,
Speaker 1: I love the Vikings, I've enjoyed watching them really for
Speaker 1: the balance of the Kirk Cousins are. There's just all
Speaker 1: sorts of stuff going on around this team. And and
Speaker 1: you've been covering a Vikings team this year that has
Speaker 1: been all over the map where they've looked terrible, they
Speaker 1: looked great, they've had late game meltdowns, late game heroics.
Speaker 1: So three and three, I guess, is about right from
Speaker 1: where from where they are right now. But where do
Speaker 1: you see this team in terms of like a ceiling
Speaker 1: and a floor, because it's kind of hard to figure
Speaker 1: that out where we stand. Yeah, Like sometimes it just
Speaker 1: feels like judging teams by records leave so much information
Speaker 1: on the cutting room floor, right, because there's like three
Speaker 1: three teams that are average, right, and then there's three
Speaker 1: and three teams that are completely all over the place
Speaker 1: that you could just be anything, right. And and that's
Speaker 1: exactly what the Vikings are. Uh. You know, when the
Speaker 1: offense is rolling, it's a really good offense, your top
Speaker 1: eight you know, maybe offense maybe even better than that. Uh,
Speaker 1: and the defense has looked really good. You know, Patrick
Speaker 1: Peterson's not healthy anymore. But you know when he was healthy.
Speaker 1: It's looked really good at the past, you know, a
Speaker 1: couple of games, and so you know, if that happens
Speaker 1: at the same time, it's a really good team that's
Speaker 1: got a shot to make the playoffs. But you know
Speaker 1: that hasn't happened at the same time. Either the defense
Speaker 1: scaring them, the offense is scaring them. Hasn't been both, uh,
Speaker 1: and so when those things kind of collapse, you know,
Speaker 1: they're they're bottom tier team. You know, the offense can't
Speaker 1: get going, play actions not working, deep shots aren't there,
Speaker 1: defense is giving up, you know, big plays. So you know,
Speaker 1: I kind of wish I had an answer to kind
Speaker 1: of what trajectory the vikings are on. But like it
Speaker 1: is a it is a wide band of outcomes. I mean,
Speaker 1: I could I could see them pulling off a run
Speaker 1: of like five straight wins. A tough part of the
Speaker 1: schedule to do that, but you know I could see that.
Speaker 1: Um I could see them doing five straight losses. I
Speaker 1: could see them losing by multiple scores. I could see
Speaker 1: them winning by multiple scores. Anything is on the table
Speaker 1: with this team. Total chaos. Yeah, I think it's got
Speaker 1: to be the best. Kirk Cousins has looked to me
Speaker 1: in Minnesota, and that's a reasonably high bar. But I
Speaker 1: just feel like he's playing so well right now and
Speaker 1: he's playing a little freer. I mean, he keep putting
Speaker 1: him in positions to set up a game time or
Speaker 1: game winning field goal. And if if I'm right, I
Speaker 1: think he's four for four. Uh, you know, Joseph isn't
Speaker 1: four for four, but I think he's gotten him. And
Speaker 1: they had the Browns game that was the only time
Speaker 1: that he wasn't able to do it right and that
Speaker 1: was like a delin Like, yeah, that was a little different,
Speaker 1: but like when you when it was just like he
Speaker 1: was not right and didn't and at the end of
Speaker 1: that game last week, Actually, I want you, since we've
Speaker 1: talked about this so much on the TV show, to
Speaker 1: break down the shove with Zimmer, because I'd like to
Speaker 1: talk about cousins is play, but the interpersonal dynamics between
Speaker 1: the shove and the moment that Zimmer's face appeared to
Speaker 1: be truly angry at Kirk Cousins or just like what
Speaker 1: is happening I'm getting shoved? Yeah, Like what do you
Speaker 1: think is going to just up for the audience that
Speaker 1: might not know. This was the conclusion of the Week
Speaker 1: five game, when Greg Joseph hit the field goal to
Speaker 1: save them from absolute horror home loss to the Lions.
Speaker 1: Reef take it away. Yeah, I think I think Cousins
Speaker 1: is just like trying to be a He's just a
Speaker 1: guy trying to be a dude. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know that he's got a lot of experience in that department,
Speaker 1: so you know, he initiates contact. Zimmer I don't think
Speaker 1: likes it when other people initiate context. I think like reflexively,
Speaker 1: you know, he's reacting to that. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: they're kind of enjoying the moment and they're caught up
Speaker 1: in the emotions and Zimmer's got a reflective response. It
Speaker 1: doesn't help that like the one guy is holding Zimmer
Speaker 1: back and that makes everything look like ten times more
Speaker 1: like dynamic than it actually is. Like Zimmer's about to
Speaker 1: like throw one on Cousins. And the course the next week,
Speaker 1: there's a there's a shot obviously taken by the Vikings,
Speaker 1: but there's a shot of them coming out of of
Speaker 1: of Panther Stadium into the tunnel where they're like waltzing
Speaker 1: or something. I don't know, but I feel like that
Speaker 1: is like a direct response to the to the weird
Speaker 1: coverage surrounding which I'm entirely deserved, weird coverage, by the way,
Speaker 1: surrounding the you know, Cousins and Zimmer's reaction to the
Speaker 1: game winning field goal. I would ask you this. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like the I think there's these camps that you
Speaker 1: know now everyone is in love with Kirk Cousins over
Speaker 1: the last for weeks. That's fine, but it's been long
Speaker 1: stretches of time where it's the Kirk Cousins is the
Speaker 1: reason the Vikings can't go from kind of good to great.
Speaker 1: I would ask you, though, is maybe you know, you
Speaker 1: look around the league and we've got all these young,
Speaker 1: aggressive coaches, And I listened to your pod Norse Code,
Speaker 1: which I think is a great name for a Vikings pod,
Speaker 1: and you talked about even watching last night's game, where like,
Speaker 1: oh wait, there are fans out there like a Titan
Speaker 1: fin that has the experience of just watching their team
Speaker 1: go in and do what they do well, focus on
Speaker 1: their strengths and man handle someone else the way that
Speaker 1: you'd hope, and you're looking at the Vikings and it's
Speaker 1: it's like this hot and cold thing. Is it actually
Speaker 1: maybe Zimmer, who is the guy who's on my radar,
Speaker 1: is holding this whole operation back because to me, it
Speaker 1: feels like someone who's stuck in like while the rest
Speaker 1: of the league is evolving and changing. And he's also
Speaker 1: very cantankerous. I don't know, like, is he happy, happy
Speaker 1: with him? What's going on here? I get it? And
Speaker 1: thanks for the podcast blog. I means I don't have
Speaker 1: to do it. Yeah, No, Zimmers like really weird because
Speaker 1: you know, in some aspects of football, he's like way
Speaker 1: ahead of the curve. He's like a really innovative defensive mind.
Speaker 1: He's very flexible when it comes to that defense. I
Speaker 1: mean they've changed and shifted their coverage rules, their covered shells,
Speaker 1: what they like to do on defense so many times.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of people know him for the
Speaker 1: double a gap look, but there was like a period
Speaker 1: of time in the middle of his tenure with the
Speaker 1: Vikings he didn't do that very much at all. He
Speaker 1: just found other ways to create one on one matchups,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people are taking what he does
Speaker 1: from a front perspective and applying it, you know, to defenses. Nowadays,
Speaker 1: and so, um, there's some areas where he's very innovative,
Speaker 1: very adaptable, and there's some areas where he's just like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta run the ball to win. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just how football is, and so he just kind of
Speaker 1: have to like figure out where he is in some respects.
Speaker 1: In that last year they were one of the more
Speaker 1: aggressive teams on fourth down. If you take a look
Speaker 1: at you know, the various bots out there about you know,
Speaker 1: is it good to go for it or not? The
Speaker 1: Vikings were like a top ten team on fourth down,
Speaker 1: and rest of this this year they're like third to last. UM.
Speaker 1: So sometimes it's just like very weird to figure out
Speaker 1: kind of where the Vikings are. UM. I don't know
Speaker 1: that that Zimmer is directly holding back the offense from
Speaker 1: being kind of a pass forward, innovative offense, but I
Speaker 1: know that his presence kind of does that because the
Speaker 1: only types of offensive coordinators that he's ever gonna hire
Speaker 1: or bring on board the types of offensive coordinators that
Speaker 1: agree with him in the running game. So I don't
Speaker 1: think he's like interfering with like the way the game
Speaker 1: is called and asking for them to do this in
Speaker 1: the game plan. He tried doing that with John d.
Speaker 1: Filippo and that did not work out, so we just
Speaker 1: fired him. Uh, And so he brings in offensive coordinators
Speaker 1: that and you take a look at like what Pat
Speaker 1: Schirmer did after he left, You take a look at
Speaker 1: what Kevin Spanski has done after Zimmer's left, and they're
Speaker 1: doing the same stuff that they did, you know, with Zimmers.
Speaker 1: So it's entirely about kind of who he's bringing to
Speaker 1: the building and the culture that he's trying to establish,
Speaker 1: which is I think from an offensive point of view,
Speaker 1: a little bit backwards. Now Clint Kubiak comes from that tradition,
Speaker 1: he's doing some kind of newer stuff. The Vikings are
Speaker 1: doing motion a little bit more. I think they've hit
Speaker 1: league average and pre snap motion rates. Um they're much
Speaker 1: more willing to have three receivers on the field at
Speaker 1: a time, which, like what an innovation that is, but
Speaker 1: like it is a little bit more modern. The Vikings
Speaker 1: are getting rid of the ball really quickly now, Like
Speaker 1: I think Cousins is one of the faster times to
Speaker 1: throw the first time in his career that he's ever
Speaker 1: been in the top ten in that category. Um, So
Speaker 1: they are doing some new stuff, but within that framework
Speaker 1: of yeah, I mean, Devin Cook gets the ball thirty
Speaker 1: times you win the game. That's just math. Like, that's
Speaker 1: the framework that sometimes that they're still operating under it.
Speaker 1: But you know, back to the shove, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: kind of like the main reason I wanted to reef
Speaker 1: on the show to deck. I'm sorry, um, but the
Speaker 1: Zimmer and Cousins they like each other. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1: Let's like they can has any quarterback that's played for Zimmer, like,
Speaker 1: has he like really like mmer close, like like like
Speaker 1: Teddy and Zimmer were like father and honestly, yeah, um,
Speaker 1: Like Zimmer was real broken up about the fact that
Speaker 1: they had to move on from Teddy, which I mean,
Speaker 1: did they have to? I don't know. I think he's
Speaker 1: kind of maybe transferred that resentment onto cousins, Like I
Speaker 1: think that's kind of been unfair, Like, you know, son
Speaker 1: in law is sort of like you have to live
Speaker 1: up to these expectations sort of thing. Um. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we asked because the Broncos held joint practices
Speaker 1: with the Vikings this year, and we asked him, were
Speaker 1: about Teddy? Because of course we did. Why wouldn't ask
Speaker 1: about that, and he just like went off like about
Speaker 1: how much he loved the kid, which is great. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're right, everybody loves Teddy, but it's like very much
Speaker 1: like when when when Cousins gets hit like in the
Speaker 1: head when he's sliding or something like that. Yeah, Zimmer
Speaker 1: will be mad and you'll yell. But like when that
Speaker 1: happened to Teddy, especially, I think against the Rams a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, Uh, Zimmer went onto the field.
Speaker 1: He was ready to fight some players. He yelled at
Speaker 1: reps three different times in the same game. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is poetry Gregg here, so just you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is such a Kirk Cousins storyline though, because this
Speaker 1: was his thing in Washington. Yeah, like the coaches and
Speaker 1: the players, they don't really like love the guy has
Speaker 1: his love full of play helped change that. I think
Speaker 1: think in Minnesota because they obviously like Jefferson and Oz like,
Speaker 1: they obviously must respect him. He's delivering some dimes right
Speaker 1: now and he's pretty big and big moments. I think
Speaker 1: Osborne especially right like a guy didn't even get an
Speaker 1: offensive snap last year, had like less than six yards
Speaker 1: in his final year of College. Like, yeah, no, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Osbourne I think is probably on board what Cousins is
Speaker 1: doing right now. Um, but yeah, like I I think
Speaker 1: that he's earned their respect, but I think respect earned
Speaker 1: through solely through level of play. He's like fairly thin ice, right,
Speaker 1: because that can just fall off if your play falls off.
Speaker 1: Whereas like you know, Teddy won a locker room right,
Speaker 1: like he just like he's not even playing all the
Speaker 1: well and people love him right and so um that
Speaker 1: that's I think a little bit harder to lose that
Speaker 1: kind of respect. Um. So that's kind of the question,
Speaker 1: right if if Cousins kind of folds right and he's
Speaker 1: a streaky quarterback, like you're right, especially the beginning of
Speaker 1: this year, Cousins was on this incredible hot streak. Um,
Speaker 1: now it's like a little bit less true, but he's
Speaker 1: still kind of up there in terms of like a
Speaker 1: lot of statistics and like you said, clutch moments. But
Speaker 1: if but if, but if the streak turns the other direction,
Speaker 1: which historically it has, you know, is he gonna be
Speaker 1: able to maintain that respect? I mean, justin Jefferson his
Speaker 1: rookie year, um, and these were just field outbursts that
Speaker 1: they might not mean much, but there was like a
Speaker 1: time where you got caught on the mic, you know,
Speaker 1: yelling that he was open and Kirk didn't throw it
Speaker 1: to him. Right, Um, I believe you know he cursed
Speaker 1: a little bit of a blue mention as well. But
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins was actually a bad quarterback. He'd be like
Speaker 1: the most hated man in NFL history. He's out, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Well I think that's the problem. I think you have
Speaker 1: to be like exactly that good too, like create that
Speaker 1: level of resentment, right because you get the feeling that
Speaker 1: you're like because people didn't like hate Christian Ponder, they
Speaker 1: were just like I would like to move on. But
Speaker 1: he's a good guy. It's not his fault with Cousins.
Speaker 1: It's like, I know you can do this, Why aren't
Speaker 1: you doing this? I see a new Kirk like and
Speaker 1: that that touched on Osbourne. His underneath receiver was open,
Speaker 1: and it's like Kirk Kirk went, oh yeah, he went
Speaker 1: for the he went for the kill shot. He's like,
Speaker 1: I'm not leaving this up to Greg Joseph for or
Speaker 1: Lettin Zimmer run the ball on third and long to
Speaker 1: set up a fifty yard field go I'm like, gonna
Speaker 1: go for the win right now, not take the first down.
Speaker 1: I do feel like he's he's playing like a little
Speaker 1: scrambling more here, he's scrambling. I would just say let's
Speaker 1: talk in a month. But okay, I mean, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, I like being part of this
Speaker 1: because I said, like, you know, Kirk Cousins is like
Speaker 1: a you know, Baker Mayfield's future if he's lucky right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, at this point, he would want he should
Speaker 1: want to be Kirk. Now you're just starting fights with
Speaker 1: a guest on the show. We don't have time for this.
Speaker 1: We get it, I I get I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of Cousins in the league. Right, there's there's You've
Speaker 1: got your Garoppolos and your Mayfields and your Tanne Hills.
Speaker 1: Right they all have various degrees of how much they're
Speaker 1: willing to play kind of looser with the rules. Like
Speaker 1: Mayfield and tann a little bit looser. Grappolo is a
Speaker 1: little bit tighter. But yeah, no, I get it. I'm
Speaker 1: on board. It's just like it's a tough thing to say, Well,
Speaker 1: Bakers like plugging through an injury, probably shouldn't float through
Speaker 1: um diag. We're gonna talk about Baker in a minute
Speaker 1: with our TNF preview, but before we say goodbye to
Speaker 1: a Reef, I'm gonna do it. I know you just
Speaker 1: said they're capable of winning five in a row, the
Speaker 1: kid will of losing five in a row, and that's
Speaker 1: certainly true. But at the end of the day, we
Speaker 1: come to you for the bottom line, and I'm setting
Speaker 1: the vikings over under final win total at nine and
Speaker 1: a half. Where you coming in it was like six
Speaker 1: more games with okay, um, Yeah, I see it, I
Speaker 1: see it. I'm gonna take over and half I'll take
Speaker 1: I'll take the over. I don't know, it's more fun
Speaker 1: if I take the over, So I'll just take it over,
Speaker 1: right Because the NFC it's very murky. You know, you
Speaker 1: have those superpower teams at the very top, and then
Speaker 1: there's a lot of room for you to win. You know,
Speaker 1: nine nine games might get you in a wild Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you're lying numbers like the Packers are not that great,
Speaker 1: Like there's a there's an opportunity. I'm not saying they're
Speaker 1: better than the Backers, but there's an opportunity they have.
Speaker 1: They have five more division games, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: a big chunk of the schedule. But they also have
Speaker 1: the Cowboys at the Ravens and Chargers at the forty niners.
Speaker 1: The Rams are They're like, this is just like a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot more insanity to come. I do
Speaker 1: feel like this was a good choice stand like the
Speaker 1: Vikings are just gonna be a great supporting character in this.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know for sure. They're such
Speaker 1: a jug head team and this is good for a
Speaker 1: reef as as the beat guy. But like, doesn't it
Speaker 1: feel in the stars that this particular and the Vikings
Speaker 1: are infamous for having crushing losses across the spectrum regular
Speaker 1: sets in the playoffs, This more than any other Vikings team,
Speaker 1: seems like they're built for some type of Greek tragedy
Speaker 1: of epic proportions come January. I hope it doesn't happen,
Speaker 1: because Vikings fans don't deserve more of that. But I'm
Speaker 1: a little worried about this team in particular. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: they're setting up all kinds of b plots. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: for sure, all right, yes. Check out North Code Reefs
Speaker 1: podcast on the Minnesota Vikings. Also that Wide Left podcast.
Speaker 1: This guy's got content all over the place, A refa son,
Speaker 1: thank you buddy for joining us, and UH, enjoy the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. Thanks for having me. Thank you
Speaker 1: enjoy it. See Ari bye week, little bye week check
Speaker 1: in on the Minnesota Vikings. Who are they talking about
Speaker 1: one team? We want to talk about all the teams. Relax,
Speaker 1: We enjoy it, and we feel like not just Viking
Speaker 1: stands enjoy it as well. It's good to get a
Speaker 1: little get a little deeper. We literally talk about all
Speaker 1: thirty two teams except for the bye week teams um
Speaker 1: three different times every week on the Thursday preview, on
Speaker 1: the Sunday recap and UH on the Friday Around the
Speaker 1: NFL broadcast. Possibly too much, I you know, to be
Speaker 1: fair depending on who the listeners, we should to spend
Speaker 1: Tuesday just like talking officiating and TV broadcast teams. Just
Speaker 1: to save that sounds like sounds like Greg Solo pod.
Speaker 1: Not something that we that we're choosing to be on.
Speaker 1: But now what you're really here for. Brown's talk on
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL podcast Thursday Night for Baul Denver
Speaker 1: Broncos at Cleveland Browns to three and three teams. Once
Speaker 1: upon a time, the Browns were three and one, the
Speaker 1: Broncos were three and oh, but both squads have fallen
Speaker 1: on hard times. It was announced on Thursday that Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb will not play on Thursday Night. We already know
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt who suffered that calf injury late and Sunday
Speaker 1: Sunday's loss. Uh he is on the shelf for an
Speaker 1: extended period uh weeks. He'll be out unfortunately. And then
Speaker 1: you have the saga Mark Sessler of Baker Mayfield, who
Speaker 1: um revealed to the media this week that he had,
Speaker 1: you know, he suffered the labor m tear. It's a
Speaker 1: complete terror of the labor m he's now telling us,
Speaker 1: and of the you know, the injury that he suffered
Speaker 1: on Sunday against the Cardinals is added complexity to what's
Speaker 1: going on. And yet he had a quote today that
Speaker 1: I'm the one who decides if I play or not,
Speaker 1: and I am playing. Uh pet paraphrasing a little bit.
Speaker 1: There is there somebody that might need to step into
Speaker 1: protect Baker from Baker. I don't know if I'm if
Speaker 1: I need to go there. Um well, I mean, well,
Speaker 1: I mean but I don't because I because I think
Speaker 1: it's spinning it like Baker's being reckless and out of control.
Speaker 1: I think he just desperately wants to play the same
Speaker 1: the medical profession can stop him from playing if they
Speaker 1: if they believe he shouldn't play, they will stop him
Speaker 1: from playing. So I would want that out of out
Speaker 1: of a quarterback that you know you're gonna need people
Speaker 1: to drag him off the field to not get in there.
Speaker 1: And I don't think every NFL quarterback is that way.
Speaker 1: Um do I think he should? I mean, I guess
Speaker 1: you know that's up to them, But I think that
Speaker 1: he's been hindered. I mean, you saw much he was
Speaker 1: in severe pain after he reinjured it in that last game.
Speaker 1: I think it does um affect what you could ask
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield to do on things like rollouts and certain
Speaker 1: you know, some of the stuff that I think he
Speaker 1: was more effective at last year, like the percentage of
Speaker 1: those plays they've run has gone down a bunch in
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. Um, And you know he's
Speaker 1: in a tough spot. You look at the Browns and
Speaker 1: you know, if the both teams are three and three,
Speaker 1: there's no question that you know. I'm seeing stuff already
Speaker 1: on Twitter that the Browns were the most disappointing team
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I mean injuries. You cannot blame everything
Speaker 1: on injuries, but in this game, they've been stripped of
Speaker 1: the identity we've latched onto all off season and through
Speaker 1: last year, which is the best offensive line in the league,
Speaker 1: which may not have either tackle we'll see. They haven't
Speaker 1: put either of those guys on I R. Which I
Speaker 1: think is notable that they're going to be playing soon.
Speaker 1: But this Thursday, we don't know. Best backfield in the
Speaker 1: league completely gone. Uh you know, you just you got
Speaker 1: white outs that are banged up. So who's gonna step up?
Speaker 1: Is it gonna be the defense that was completely overwhelmed
Speaker 1: and flamed by the Cardinals against this Teddy Bridgewater Broncos offense. Maybe,
Speaker 1: but they've got plenty of weapons too. I don't like
Speaker 1: the set up for the Browns at all. I think
Speaker 1: the Browns after last year, coming out of that season
Speaker 1: saying that Kevin Stefanski, outside of a couple wipe outs
Speaker 1: early on by a f C North foes, was the
Speaker 1: coach of the year and someone that you could trust
Speaker 1: implicitly with game plans week after week. Has had some
Speaker 1: issues up in this season up and down. I mean
Speaker 1: they I love them going forward on fourth downs, but
Speaker 1: they have been terrible on these fourth down attempts. It's
Speaker 1: cost some points. Um, you don't veer away from that strategy.
Speaker 1: I get it. You'd be absolutely removed from the media
Speaker 1: to suggest as much everyone wants to go for it
Speaker 1: on fourth and everything, and that's who they are. But
Speaker 1: they've not been successful and a lot of that is
Speaker 1: on Baker Mayfield, and Baker Mayfield has not played well
Speaker 1: in three weeks. The Chargers game, he played well, but
Speaker 1: like he did not do what you need at quarterback
Speaker 1: to do. At the very end, I'm with you with
Speaker 1: on that guy's I'm not trying to stick up for
Speaker 1: him left and right. Um, this is a very tough spot.
Speaker 1: And von Miller before you know today, basically announced that
Speaker 1: he is going to destroy whoever, whatever human being. The
Speaker 1: attempt to put it left is directly correlated to how
Speaker 1: long his monologue is. Well, no, because you know you
Speaker 1: got you get one shot on this show to talk,
Speaker 1: so then it's over. But I'll tell you something else,
Speaker 1: Like it's not nerves. It's not nerves, it's like they are.
Speaker 1: If anything, I feel I feel honestly and make you.
Speaker 1: Guys may deal with your fandom differently like my My
Speaker 1: move is typically to start to detach emotionally because I
Speaker 1: I don't really like where this is going. The vibe
Speaker 1: is ill right now. I don't like the vibe of
Speaker 1: the Browns at all. I told you that going into
Speaker 1: the Cardinals game they don't stack up, and now they're
Speaker 1: completely depleted. Well, this, this matchup sets up perfect because
Speaker 1: the Broncos are, if not the worst, among the worst
Speaker 1: teams in terms of pass rush, in terms of pass
Speaker 1: rush win rate. So you would think you don't get
Speaker 1: after Baker too much. I'd love to see, you know,
Speaker 1: if those tackles are playing. I think they both might.
Speaker 1: We we don't know. That's a huge factor. The issue
Speaker 1: with Baker's injury though, and saving him from himself is
Speaker 1: he's the one that keeps getting himself hurt. His number
Speaker 1: one fault as a player is getting sacked. He is
Speaker 1: second worst than the NFL in like a staff PFF has,
Speaker 1: which is like converted press sure into sacks. He's one
Speaker 1: of the most sack quarterbacks in the league, and yet
Speaker 1: he's one of the least pressure quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 1: You can see it. He thinks he's Russell Wilson. He
Speaker 1: thinks he's Aaron Rodgers. The play he got hurt on
Speaker 1: was a play he just held it forever. And he
Speaker 1: thinks he's gonna make these plays and he does sometimes.
Speaker 1: I mean, he couldn't have made that Hail Mary without
Speaker 1: great escapability and incredible arm. But more than those great like,
Speaker 1: he doesn't make them at a rate that it's worth it.
Speaker 1: And he gets sacked a lot and a lot of
Speaker 1: the time it's on him, like they have protected him
Speaker 1: well and in the calibration of when to let go
Speaker 1: of the ball has not been there this year, especially
Speaker 1: on Sunday against the Cardinals, like those sacks were on him.
Speaker 1: And so that's It's it's a lot of things. It's receivers,
Speaker 1: it's the it's the offensive game plan. But like that's
Speaker 1: the number one thing I think he needs to fix.
Speaker 1: And I think the Broncos are a great team to
Speaker 1: do it against because they're really struggling to do anything defensively.
Speaker 1: We thought they'd be a good defensive team and they're
Speaker 1: giving up thirty a week right now. They're big. Denver
Speaker 1: has lost three straight games, and uh yeah, they they're
Speaker 1: not getting after the quarterback. They're struggling to protect Teddy Bridgewater.
Speaker 1: Bridgewater when he's pressured, is making mistakes. Uh. He had
Speaker 1: three interceptions, one of them in garbage time. But he
Speaker 1: didn't play well at all. Last week. He was sacked
Speaker 1: five times. They're missing opportunities. So it's like my take
Speaker 1: on the Browns because yes, they are banged up. A
Speaker 1: lot of teams are banged up. The Browns are especially
Speaker 1: banged up right now. But you just no showed against
Speaker 1: the Chargers. You're in your building, it's a short week,
Speaker 1: You've got a struggling Denver team. Miles Garrett, clean up,
Speaker 1: kick ass. Win this game on your own, Baker, if
Speaker 1: you're playing, find a way to get Odell Beckham involved,
Speaker 1: make some big plays, get a couple of splash plays.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna score ton of points to beat the
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos, but you're gonna need to score a couple
Speaker 1: of touchdowns. And I think there are there's still star
Speaker 1: talent intact in Cleveland and at home on a short
Speaker 1: week against the struggling team, win game and then get
Speaker 1: to take the many by and and try to get healthy.
Speaker 1: I think that's that This is like a survive in
Speaker 1: advance because I think if Cleveland doesn't win this game,
Speaker 1: all the things that you're saying mark about kind of
Speaker 1: the bad vibes in the bed juju around it, it's
Speaker 1: going to amplify. And there's they're gonna be really if
Speaker 1: you're hearing buzz now about the Browns being one of
Speaker 1: the most disappointing teams, if they lose at home on
Speaker 1: Thursday of the Broncos, it's gonna be amplified times too.
Speaker 1: So they gotta find a way in this game. And
Speaker 1: and to your point with Myles Garrett, I mean Teddy
Speaker 1: was sacked five times. He took thirteen hits against the Raiders.
Speaker 1: Um the Raiders blitzed on three point six percent of
Speaker 1: the time that game, So you know that's another quarterback
Speaker 1: that's taking punishment. And this defense, for all, for how
Speaker 1: stacked their secondary is, they have given up twenty three
Speaker 1: pass plays that are twenty plus yards, which is worse
Speaker 1: than all but seven other teams in the league. So
Speaker 1: there should be opportunities. This defense has not become what
Speaker 1: we thought it would be in August, not yet. Uh.
Speaker 1: And their offensive line is not is not perfect by
Speaker 1: any stretch of the imagination. So Miles Garrett does need
Speaker 1: to show up. He has to have one of those
Speaker 1: games where you questionable look at him as a defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year type candidate. Even last weeks. Even
Speaker 1: last week, though I thought their defense kept them competitive
Speaker 1: in a in a in a way that you know
Speaker 1: the offense couldn't stack up. There was a stretch in
Speaker 1: that game where they they they forced a couple three
Speaker 1: and ounce in a row, and they stopped the Cardinals
Speaker 1: from scoring touchdowns on short fields either two or three
Speaker 1: times in row. And that was like a five drive
Speaker 1: set there, And that's where the offense needs to, like,
Speaker 1: your offense needs to take advantage during that stretch. You
Speaker 1: can't ask for that much more against the Cardinals if
Speaker 1: you throw away the Chargers game when they didn't have
Speaker 1: Clowney reward and they really were injured on defense or
Speaker 1: getting healthier. And now I think they've generally shown they
Speaker 1: can they can beat some bad teams, or that they
Speaker 1: can make a difference. It's right now, the Broncos offense
Speaker 1: is mediocre at best. Your county on Tim Patrick in
Speaker 1: Courtland Sutton to make place Jevanti Williams is absolut really
Speaker 1: a good running back. But this is a mid level
Speaker 1: offense that was counting on their defense to be very good.
Speaker 1: Instead the defense is as bad or worse than the offense.
Speaker 1: I do think the Browns have more players. I think
Speaker 1: they have more ways that they can beat you. I'd
Speaker 1: love to know that the tackles are playing, or even
Speaker 1: one of them. That certainly would help the pass the
Speaker 1: game against Denver. But I do think it the matchup
Speaker 1: works out okay because Denver right now they just can't
Speaker 1: get after the passer, and I think the Browns will
Speaker 1: be able to score enough to win. They gotta win
Speaker 1: this game. They are favored, not not by a ton,
Speaker 1: but if Baker is playing, you gotta win this game.
Speaker 1: You can't go three and four, you know, when you're
Speaker 1: really honestly playing a team in Denver that is beatable,
Speaker 1: no matter why. The injuries are one thing. I'm not
Speaker 1: putting this all on the injuries. I mean you're right
Speaker 1: there in that like there are five or six teams
Speaker 1: that are scattered on that. For the well, the Ravens.
Speaker 1: You know they have seventeen players in I are that
Speaker 1: leads the league. They're not all premier players. But you're right,
Speaker 1: like their position groups were wiped out going into the year. Right,
Speaker 1: the Broncos are very similar and Teddy Bridgewater showed the
Speaker 1: strain of it last week, like he collapsed in that game.
Speaker 1: He played an awful game by far. His words on
Speaker 1: the team of uhe of th h A L. I
Speaker 1: mean they're not playing well. I thought the defense would
Speaker 1: be a lot better there, hurt um that you know,
Speaker 1: they're gonna get Jerry Judy back, which I think will help,
Speaker 1: but it's not going to be for this game. It
Speaker 1: doesn't look like and that that was what was gonna
Speaker 1: make them special, like all of these guys to throw
Speaker 1: to plus a good defense. The defense like isn't good.
Speaker 1: That surprises me. I think Fonio maybe can figure some
Speaker 1: things out. They're still healthy in the secondary. They shouldn't
Speaker 1: be this bad. Uh, But they need to win this
Speaker 1: game too. This is kind of a you know, boats
Speaker 1: sailing and direct different you know, yeah, that's right. Questions
Speaker 1: about his job future A right, right, I which is
Speaker 1: not surprising. If the Broncos could win this game, they
Speaker 1: get to four and three again, they hope they get
Speaker 1: Judy back, and like you hope that this is a
Speaker 1: bad threat of the season. If their defense doesn't get
Speaker 1: better than this, I mean they're cuke there. Pinch yourself, Greg,
Speaker 1: you got Geno uh in prime time like three or
Speaker 1: four weeks in a row. Here Gino versus Jamis in
Speaker 1: prime jais you got? And now you're gonna get um
Speaker 1: the team of fall Um in prime time against Marks Brownies.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Mark is I'll be uh listening
Speaker 1: in like the rest of you. Mark says he has
Speaker 1: a special guest joining him for the Thursday Night recap,
Speaker 1: So I mean, I feel like win or lose, you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to check out and see, uh get Sessler's temperature. Well,
Speaker 1: I By the way, there wasn't some sort of power
Speaker 1: move where I removed you from the TNF recap. This
Speaker 1: was something you know behind the scenes. You have family there,
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping that you know you you said you
Speaker 1: will take a seat and I will make a power move.
Speaker 1: Those are your exact words. That sounds like something i'd say, right, yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: I hope it works out for you. Mark. Oh, isn't
Speaker 1: it better for you if it goes terribly, terribly poor?
Speaker 1: And then I know we wanted to go Well, I
Speaker 1: just you're really building up this special guest. Well now,
Speaker 1: I think though now maybe too much. Like I mean,
Speaker 1: they are a very special, you know, individual, but I
Speaker 1: think they would be annoyed that I'm pumping them up
Speaker 1: to this degree. Possibly very interesting. Alright, good stuff. Check
Speaker 1: it out and Connie fox Um will be of course
Speaker 1: anchoring the coverage on NFL Network, so make sure you
Speaker 1: watch that as well. All right, good stuff, Tuesday show
Speaker 1: in the books. Anybody have any final thoughts? Greg, get
Speaker 1: your expenses done from our trip to London. I have
Speaker 1: not done that now. Oh, people should know that we
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to address it on UM Sunday night,
Speaker 1: and I'm afraid that I'll forget Thursday and then people
Speaker 1: will just be confused. But I got him, you know,
Speaker 1: breaking news here, Ricky. This was the the terms of
Speaker 1: the trade um between Greg and I. Greg, of course, famously,
Speaker 1: last Thursday got jumped in the draft because of a
Speaker 1: hesitation like two thousand seven Viking style. Um. I swooped in.
Speaker 1: I took his beloved Chargers Ravens ball game. Greg came
Speaker 1: to me privately, pat in hand, he said, listen, we
Speaker 1: gotta make this happen. We gotta we gotta make a
Speaker 1: trade here. I need that game. And I saw leverage
Speaker 1: and I um exercised it and I said, okay, you
Speaker 1: can have that game on Sunday. That will be your
Speaker 1: game that your primary watching. And I get to jump
Speaker 1: you at any point in the season going forward in
Speaker 1: drafts three times on three occasions. So I have three
Speaker 1: jumps of Greg Rosenthal, uh, starting in Week seven through
Speaker 1: the playoffs for really week seven or week eighteen. So
Speaker 1: keep an eye on that because I'm hoping to make
Speaker 1: the jumps really really hurt quite frankly, I want to.
Speaker 1: I want it really to stick in Greg's side. And
Speaker 1: I knew you were and the Chargers and Ravens. It
Speaker 1: wasn't even a good game like the what would be
Speaker 1: the best for the show because I said, you could
Speaker 1: just jump me the whole rest of the season, but you,
Speaker 1: to your credit as a host, realized, like there's not
Speaker 1: as much excitement, uh in that it'll it'll feel more
Speaker 1: more drama with with this setup. I mean, Greg, I
Speaker 1: have to ask, I mean, a you know, your first
Speaker 1: lever poll was in Mike Tice fashion to completely miss
Speaker 1: the pick um and then you turn around and overcompensate
Speaker 1: Dan to an extreme level. The the Greg's inner front
Speaker 1: office is um, you know, I would say at this
Speaker 1: point in turmoil, it's Belichick in It's like I live
Speaker 1: in the moment though, and then ultimately I realized, like
Speaker 1: if you just told me I'm picking third the rest
Speaker 1: of the season every week, I'm fine with that. Just
Speaker 1: give me the game. I wanted to short downplay it,
Speaker 1: you know, downplay it as you as you need to.
Speaker 1: That's fine, Fine with that, alright, good stuff. You do,
Speaker 1: get the turn, you know, you get the you get them.
Speaker 1: What was that? That was the snake? That was a snake?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I can't make it snakes. That's the snake,
Speaker 1: all right. Schedule Thursday, preview show Friday around the NFL broadcast.
Speaker 1: The numbers are we're just doing huge numbers, um both
Speaker 1: nationally and internationally. We're doing big numbers. So if you
Speaker 1: want to get on, it's like getting on the surfboard
Speaker 1: before the big wave, before it's like, you know, you
Speaker 1: want to be on. You don't want to miss the wave.
Speaker 1: That's my surfing analogy. Matt money Smith probably can do
Speaker 1: it better. Get on the board because we're doing huge
Speaker 1: numbers week after week. I think you nailed it from
Speaker 1: a kind of it's a good show. It's a good show.
Speaker 1: We were getting better and it's a good show. Is
Speaker 1: it a good show because it does huge numbers? Or
Speaker 1: does it do huge numbers because it's a good show
Speaker 1: that they ask questions, don't ask questions. We're just we're
Speaker 1: writing that. You know, Sunday Deposit put it right. Thank
Speaker 1: you to her, Arif Hassan. This is Dan handsOn signing
Speaker 1: off for Ricky Hollywood, who I think is alive. I
Speaker 1: don't know. We haven't heard much for her. She's been
Speaker 1: under the weather. Ricky, I'm here. I made it. Are
Speaker 1: you physically in a good place? Yes? Yeah. It took
Speaker 1: about a full week. But no one, no one can
Speaker 1: get sick, no one can get injured. This, these these
Speaker 1: four people together, we must, we mean, we need to
Speaker 1: get on a Cal Ripken like streak starting now. All right,
Speaker 1: hands signing off for Cal Ripken. Is a baseball player
Speaker 1: played many games in a row. You gotta connect the dots,
Speaker 1: especially the international listeners like who's Cal Ripken? Stupid Calvin Riken,
Speaker 1: you say, tail players that he'd gone s