Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast, Can rock a Pocket Square?
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast,
Speaker 1: presented by the United States Marine Corps. My name is
Speaker 1: Damned hangs Us and I'm joined in a room full
Speaker 1: of zombie heroes, Dark Cess, Layer, Crypt whistling, No Wessel
Speaker 1: Thing and Greg Rise and Google. What's up Demons? Hey, Dan,
Speaker 1: Crypt Wessel Thing. I like this kind of you know,
Speaker 1: halfway there Halloween theme here. None of us actually dress up,
Speaker 1: but Ricky's dressed come up with a little names. Ryan
Speaker 1: Bartlett's dressed up behind the glass, and obviously the studio
Speaker 1: we've done a really nice job getting with the season here.
Speaker 1: Look at that we are moving to what will be
Speaker 1: named or is named Sophie Adium. It's on the complex
Speaker 1: where the Rams and Chargers will call home. That's happening
Speaker 1: in a little while. You get the sense that there's
Speaker 1: a bit of a give up going on around here,
Speaker 1: because everyone's like, I wouldn't want to put too much
Speaker 1: work into this building at this point, and and the
Speaker 1: product when we got a shiny new facility that we're
Speaker 1: heading towards, as you know, as the fetuses that might
Speaker 1: seem well, I've certainly noticed that to be true, and
Speaker 1: I don't go as often to the huddle our commissarias
Speaker 1: in days past. But what they've the trend that they've
Speaker 1: taken with the salad bar, which I've had issues with before,
Speaker 1: they have totally given up. We don't even They got
Speaker 1: Gronk off the wall pretty quickly. Outside they put they
Speaker 1: put up Jamal atoms. Yeah, that might not work out
Speaker 1: too much longer. I mean they put up Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: and he went into a epic slump. So let's check
Speaker 1: in with Ricky behind the glass. What's up, Erica? How
Speaker 1: are you guys? I had to take off my mask
Speaker 1: because I can show the people that watch our show
Speaker 1: and this is live on YouTube and on NFL dot com.
Speaker 1: I look at that and Starlett Ryan Bartlett almost looks hot, like,
Speaker 1: you know, like a sneaky look at me. I might
Speaker 1: have been hot to be good. Look. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: we have as Christie over there, she's a mini mouse.
Speaker 1: We got we got a nice team behind the glass. Um.
Speaker 1: So happy Halloween everybody, And this is the week nine
Speaker 1: preview at Mark. You're feeling better? I I am. I was.
Speaker 1: I had one of those human days where I didn't
Speaker 1: really move until about three pm. It was a very
Speaker 1: odd setback physically. And if I recall from last year Halloween,
Speaker 1: you hate Halloween, so I don't have a tough day
Speaker 1: for you. Well, wait, where are we kids happy getting
Speaker 1: dressed up? I'm totally on boarded it. I think I
Speaker 1: think people go a little bit overboard on Halloween, especially adults.
Speaker 1: But I mean the kid aspect I'm saying. You're saying
Speaker 1: the dad that showed up to the eight thirty am
Speaker 1: Halloween party at my daughter's elementary school in full hull
Speaker 1: Comania gear with very little clothes on was like going
Speaker 1: too far? You see? To me, that's fun. It was
Speaker 1: kind of fun. But I mean he had the tight
Speaker 1: you know, he had the whole outfit, the whole thing
Speaker 1: at eight thirty in the morning, and our whole state
Speaker 1: is on fire and that's a bummer. Um. But the
Speaker 1: one thing, one of the things I do love about
Speaker 1: Californians is that like have fun. You like to have fun.
Speaker 1: They enjoy the lighter things in life, and Halloween qualifies. Alright,
Speaker 1: So what do we gotta get into? Greg? Thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us. So are you're doing a hit on
Speaker 1: NFL Network gloating about your fifteen and o record, like
Speaker 1: I didn't say anything about it, that money Smith brought
Speaker 1: it up, and then you're the only one the reason
Speaker 1: it got brought up on this show. And by the way,
Speaker 1: that's impressively what a disgrace. And this is such a
Speaker 1: Patriots fan thing. Greg picks against the Patriots this week.
Speaker 1: He has the Ravens winning by a field goal, I believe,
Speaker 1: or a touchdown. It's a reverse jinx obviously, first of all,
Speaker 1: the second of all, like, where do you get off?
Speaker 1: You know what's going to happen here? I am allowed
Speaker 1: to pick with my my head, which I think they're
Speaker 1: They're not a sixty no team, and uh, we'll get
Speaker 1: to that game. But I think the Ravens are a
Speaker 1: great matchup for them, and I think the Ravens can win. Well,
Speaker 1: West is pounding the table. Nothing's gonna happen to you. Well,
Speaker 1: we are working on a back to back lock sweep.
Speaker 1: We all picked the Niners last week and got the win.
Speaker 1: We picked our own teams the week before, So who
Speaker 1: knows how this will happen, whether organically we go across
Speaker 1: the board again or with separate tea. You've had some discussions,
Speaker 1: have you Okay, good, all right, Now let's get into it.
Speaker 1: Week nine. We have four teams on by the Bengals,
Speaker 1: so they sit with that, oh and eight for another week.
Speaker 1: By the way, everybody's like, oh so savage, Oh so
Speaker 1: savage to bench Andy Dalton on his thirty second birthday,
Speaker 1: but you know you benched him when A. J. Green
Speaker 1: is back. Now that's savage. I mean I would have
Speaker 1: benched him on his birthday. But that's so. I feel
Speaker 1: like they've been quite kind. Um okay. Also the Falcons,
Speaker 1: the Rams, and the Saints all on buy. So let's
Speaker 1: get into a draft style West again. This is all
Speaker 1: a process that is thought through and it's just about
Speaker 1: you know, realizing where you should be picking. And sometimes
Speaker 1: you get more games, sometimes you get less. Greg just
Speaker 1: pure luck. We're gonna draft eleven games. You have only
Speaker 1: two to pick. It's gonna it's gonna snake to you
Speaker 1: and then you're done. Nice for you. The rest of
Speaker 1: us have three games West, get us gone. I am
Speaker 1: going with uh the Tony Romo Aaron Jones matchup here
Speaker 1: Packers and Chargers. Wow, those are the two key figures
Speaker 1: in this til A bit of a reach, but okay,
Speaker 1: a little bit in the Packers first any time I
Speaker 1: get a chance, probably could have gotten on the way
Speaker 1: back maybe though probably have been gone, probably not, probably not,
Speaker 1: probably would be gone. Let's talk about the game. This
Speaker 1: to me, I know it's at San Diego or at
Speaker 1: l A, but that's not a home field. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't trust the Charges at all, and the Packers
Speaker 1: fans will travel well, Oh my god, that place is
Speaker 1: gonna be eight not an exaggeration. So we get the
Speaker 1: first game of Shane Steikins career as a play caller.
Speaker 1: I don't there's nothing about this Chargers team that's fun
Speaker 1: or exciting to me. They won last week by default,
Speaker 1: and I don't think they haven't played well all year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The word that I put down watching that Bears Chargers
Speaker 1: scheme from week ago, it was lifeless. I just don't
Speaker 1: see a lot of what's the stamp of this Chargers team.
Speaker 1: They do some things pretty well, but they feel like
Speaker 1: to me a seven win operation that should be an
Speaker 1: eleven win team. They've underachieved. They they have some great players,
Speaker 1: and I know they've had a lot of injuries, but
Speaker 1: I mean they have Joey Bosa, who's up there. I
Speaker 1: think in terms of defensive players this year, you have
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers playing pretty back, or you have Key up
Speaker 1: now and you have Damien Square showing up last week
Speaker 1: and playing like I don't think this is an unwinnable
Speaker 1: game for them, But that's why the firing of Ken
Speaker 1: Wizzenant was so strange. It's the defense that I'm much
Speaker 1: more worried about, and their secondary that I don't have
Speaker 1: any faith. I think Rivers can put up some points
Speaker 1: against the Packers defense that has been rather beatable. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I feel like the Packers because they surged
Speaker 1: out of the gate with a pass rush that was
Speaker 1: that looked dominant early on. That's kind of flittered away
Speaker 1: in recent weeks. They're not that defense right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's about first impression. Over the last month, they've been
Speaker 1: a below average defense basically. When and we talked about
Speaker 1: this early in the season, a lot of offenses were
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to play a functional football
Speaker 1: and I think that may have played into some people
Speaker 1: thinking certain defenses were better than they really were. They
Speaker 1: have They have enough talent though that I'm not worried
Speaker 1: about their defense. They'll be fine. I think defense, for
Speaker 1: the most part, there's a couple of difference making. Deference
Speaker 1: is good and bad, and they're not. They're certainly not
Speaker 1: in the bad category, and they're playing the right offensive
Speaker 1: line this week too. Arder's offensive line has been terrible
Speaker 1: all year. The Packers, on the other hand, I really
Speaker 1: think that the protection and you know, Aaron Rodgers mentioned
Speaker 1: in every press conference to make points with his buddies,
Speaker 1: but to a ridiculous extent at this point. But but
Speaker 1: it's actually true though. I think the protection he has
Speaker 1: has set up everything. I mean, his mobility and his
Speaker 1: ability to move outside the pocket has set up everything
Speaker 1: he has this year. He has one of the best
Speaker 1: tackle duos in the league. He's got a good center,
Speaker 1: and they love this rookie guard uh Jenkins, who's coming
Speaker 1: off maybe his best game. It's one of the best
Speaker 1: offensive lines. And if if that's why the wide receivers
Speaker 1: are overrated, ultimately they're replaceable. If you have a great
Speaker 1: line and a great quarterback, you're gonna have a good
Speaker 1: passing game. Speaking of wide receivers, Davante Adams practiced in
Speaker 1: pads on Thursday, first time in about four weeks since
Speaker 1: that turf toe injury. UM and Aaron Rodgers. One thing,
Speaker 1: because there was a lot of offseason talk is had
Speaker 1: we already seen the best of Aaron Rodgers? And then
Speaker 1: you now you look back gun you see how well
Speaker 1: he's moving in the pocket. He moves like a thirty
Speaker 1: year old, not a thirty six year older or whatever
Speaker 1: he is. He suffered ligament damage in his knee in
Speaker 1: Week one last season and was never the same. What's
Speaker 1: so funny? I just thought you, I appreciate how dismissive
Speaker 1: you were about his age. He's thirty six or whatever,
Speaker 1: and I like that, Well, he could be thirty five
Speaker 1: or thirty seven. I meant, I think he's thirty five.
Speaker 1: He is okay. So that's why whatever you will, because
Speaker 1: if I just said thirty six, then there there's a
Speaker 1: statement being made. Whatever opens the door up for thirty
Speaker 1: five and thirty understood. You did a nice job with that. Anyway,
Speaker 1: So he's moving great, and and we we did never
Speaker 1: We never see saw him move like this last season.
Speaker 1: This is the week I think if the Chargers lose
Speaker 1: and they're going into Thursday night football that the Philip
Speaker 1: Rivers is he leaving what's going on with the Chargers
Speaker 1: conversation takes a little you know, bigger national stage. I
Speaker 1: feel like, if you this is a future Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer in my mind, who they just fired his offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: who's only played with one team his whole career, who's
Speaker 1: unsigned going in to next year. If this was Eli
Speaker 1: Manning or some other team people, this would be a
Speaker 1: bigger story. There were strange whispers about Tom Brady becoming
Speaker 1: an l A Charger next year. Did you see that.
Speaker 1: I'm following the Tom Brady is leaving New England thing
Speaker 1: very closely. I'd imagine that would be something you'd be
Speaker 1: I haven't dismissed that out of hand because I think
Speaker 1: there's uh, I think your exact quote when I brought
Speaker 1: it up, like a week goes stop, the all the
Speaker 1: all the house stuff and all this. The thing that
Speaker 1: people uh never mentioned though, is he would cost seventeen million,
Speaker 1: Like there are huge financial reasons why that are discouraging
Speaker 1: him the Patriots from letting him go. They would have
Speaker 1: to eat a massive cap hit for him to go
Speaker 1: somewhere next year. So it's like it's it's not like
Speaker 1: they're gonna cut him. Why are we talking like this
Speaker 1: conspiracy theory is a real thing. You know, we'll see
Speaker 1: what happened like house people are into the houses retire. Also,
Speaker 1: you know that Paul Red vehicle of the cameo that
Speaker 1: was a little alright, pick number two. This is an
Speaker 1: easy one for me. Um. I know Patrick Mahomes is
Speaker 1: probably not playing this weekend, but the Chiefs at Arrowhead
Speaker 1: with three losses at Arrowhead before Halloween. Who would have
Speaker 1: predicted that kind of need to win here? So I
Speaker 1: and I like the way Matt Moore played. I like
Speaker 1: kind of like watching Matt more play a little bit.
Speaker 1: Is that weird? Um? So you have the Chiefs, But
Speaker 1: that's not the main reason I'm picking this team this game.
Speaker 1: I'm picking him because the Vikings. This is it West
Speaker 1: Now we're starting to get into it. Kirk Cousins now
Speaker 1: with a five, six and two Vikings team, everyone is
Speaker 1: now forgotten about him being the problem, and the Vikings
Speaker 1: have reaffirmed themselves as an NFC power against a top
Speaker 1: opponent on the road in a game people are paying
Speaker 1: attention to. This is the setting where Kirk Cousins folds
Speaker 1: up like a suitcase throughout his career and does it
Speaker 1: happen again or is this the year where he put
Speaker 1: that narrative to rest. Well, here's the first test right here,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see how he plays in
Speaker 1: this game. Well, I know everyone wants to talk about
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, but this offensive line that was so maligned
Speaker 1: for the past, you know, eighteen months, is playing really well.
Speaker 1: And they have one of the best ground attacks in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Find a better toosome than Delvin Cook and
Speaker 1: Alexander Madison. That one to punch I believe is leading
Speaker 1: all running back duos in yards and touchdowns um. And
Speaker 1: then Garrett Bradberry, the rookie center who we killed early
Speaker 1: in the season, is playing pretty well now that this
Speaker 1: is really throwing the rookie class. Without this rookie class,
Speaker 1: where would they be on offense? B C. Johnson, if
Speaker 1: Smith uh, and then brad Berry too. I think this
Speaker 1: is the rookies are really driving this offense in a
Speaker 1: way that they didn't they weren't able to do last year.
Speaker 1: Offensive line point, and you could say it for any
Speaker 1: position group. These things change. Sometimes sometimes you write off
Speaker 1: an entire team their offensive line is so bad they'll
Speaker 1: never figure it out. But sometimes with good coaching and
Speaker 1: players getting more comfortable or some play is getting healthy,
Speaker 1: these things do correct themselves, and maybe that's what's happened
Speaker 1: here in Minnesota. I think they're the perfect team to
Speaker 1: look at September as figuring things out, not that it
Speaker 1: was their preseason, but what they do well and what
Speaker 1: they don't do well and change what they do. Offensively,
Speaker 1: they're really good on screens. You know, Dalvin Cook's great
Speaker 1: on screens. They have an athletic offensive line and that's
Speaker 1: what that's why they drafted Brad Berry. That's kind of
Speaker 1: Kubiak system. You're learning a new system. You have Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins on the move. That's what I've really noticed is
Speaker 1: him throwing running to his left. He's got to be
Speaker 1: one of the best quarterbacks in the league doing that.
Speaker 1: That is a tough throw and usually you think only
Speaker 1: guys with a big arm can pull that off. And
Speaker 1: yet he's rolling out and defenses haven't been able to
Speaker 1: stop it too well. You're not getting that Cousins rolling
Speaker 1: to the left analysis anywhere else. I mean, that's where
Speaker 1: you're getting a lot of those big plays. Nine point
Speaker 1: three yards per attempt for Kirk Cousins and it is
Speaker 1: a lesson that, you know, we can cling to certain
Speaker 1: narratives earlier in the year, and the Cousins thing took
Speaker 1: on a life of its own. But a month later
Speaker 1: or he is, his numbers right now are comparable to
Speaker 1: where Patrick Mahomes was a year ago on his m
Speaker 1: v P journey. I mean it. I do think there
Speaker 1: was a power struggle at some point or a come
Speaker 1: to Jesus moment inside that building where they decided to
Speaker 1: change the way they play offense. It's something decide decisively
Speaker 1: coach about a month ago. Flexible, though you need to
Speaker 1: be flexible. That wasn't Zimmer a year ago. So much
Speaker 1: of it's coming off a play action they This isn't
Speaker 1: a game that is gonna tell me much though these
Speaker 1: going I don't think it's a big spot for them.
Speaker 1: It's not an easy I'm not saying, you know, lock
Speaker 1: it up. Although actually this wouldn't this wouldn't be a
Speaker 1: bad one. Uh, But they're playing a team that's lost
Speaker 1: three straight at home, that's a below average defense, and
Speaker 1: it's starting Matt Moore. You should beat the Chiefs. I
Speaker 1: mean the Chiefs are a testament to Andy Reid's coaching
Speaker 1: that they can put up a lot of points, you
Speaker 1: know with Matt More, but it's still a bad defense
Speaker 1: that's banged up. I expect, I expect. I think I
Speaker 1: agree at home the NFL Mrs Mahomes. That's I really
Speaker 1: started thinking about how how much work, like, because these
Speaker 1: last two weeks have had kind of you got the
Speaker 1: Ravens Patriots this week, but in the early slates you're
Speaker 1: kind of missing those defining games like and Vikings Chiefs.
Speaker 1: To me with Mahomes would be the defining game of
Speaker 1: this week before Sunday Night. Yes, the Vikings, even with
Speaker 1: that slump, they have their third and total offense right
Speaker 1: now and fifth in total defense. So this is team
Speaker 1: playing very well in West. I know you hate, you
Speaker 1: hate when there's too much focus on Kirk Cousins, But
Speaker 1: to me, he's just one of those guys that's fun
Speaker 1: to track his career. He just got like a fun,
Speaker 1: soapy career. Well, quarterbacks always get too much blame and
Speaker 1: too much credit, but Kirk Cousins is like the quintessential
Speaker 1: blame versus credit quarterback. Right, all right, let's move on
Speaker 1: to the third pick. It is what's his name? Dark Sesslaer. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you for that struggle with that one a little bit,
Speaker 1: because the dark with a sea is a no brainer.
Speaker 1: Love it? Uh, Cessler, was there somewhere else you could
Speaker 1: have gone there? But that I like is then he
Speaker 1: got dark layer and I feel like it kind of
Speaker 1: came in. Layer is like like scary things live in layers,
Speaker 1: so it's dark that works. I think, you know, again,
Speaker 1: another nice job by you if that's if you came
Speaker 1: up with me. Did a nice job there. So it's
Speaker 1: my pick, and I you know, I I like to
Speaker 1: get the late I don't want to come have this
Speaker 1: thing circle back around and I'm stuck with no late
Speaker 1: game because you got four of them this week. And
Speaker 1: it also is the Cleveland Browns playing the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1: A couple of things happen. I think Cleveland, I think
Speaker 1: this is a game. Everyone just thinks Cleveland's gonna get
Speaker 1: right here and whip up on a Broncos team that
Speaker 1: has Brandon Allen who's twenties seven years old and has
Speaker 1: never taken a snap in a real NFL game. Why
Speaker 1: not just runaway with the thirties six victory. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's that easy. I just don't see Cleveland to me,
Speaker 1: when you talk about what is the stamp of this team,
Speaker 1: the most undisciplined club in all of football. They they
Speaker 1: completely what happened against New England. I think when I
Speaker 1: was watching in real time, it was just like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this game is happening and it's all tumbling down watching
Speaker 1: in a second time. They had a chance to win
Speaker 1: that thing had they not made those mistakes. They ran
Speaker 1: the ball really well against New England. That's the one
Speaker 1: thing they can do week after week with Nick Chubb,
Speaker 1: who I thought Tony Romo made the right comparison of
Speaker 1: calling him a Jamal Lewis type runner, but I see
Speaker 1: little miniature shades of Jim Brown at times. Two. He
Speaker 1: is just such a tough, physical back and he's absolutely
Speaker 1: what they need and what they should ride. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you need Kareem Hunt. I don't have a
Speaker 1: problem with him coming back on the rosters game in
Speaker 1: the past game. I just I wouldn't take any workload
Speaker 1: away from Cleveland at this point. He's He's all they have.
Speaker 1: I I the storyline coming out of that game should
Speaker 1: have been against that defense. Baker Mayfield at one point
Speaker 1: completed ten straight passes and Nick Chubb was well over
Speaker 1: a hundred yards on the ground, and instead it was
Speaker 1: look at all the penalties and turnovers because they're a
Speaker 1: poorly coach team, right that both both the Patriots can
Speaker 1: give up yards and then they let They're they're great
Speaker 1: at letting teams lose games. Belichick says that all the
Speaker 1: time that more and NFL games are lost than one,
Speaker 1: and the Browns are a great example of that. This
Speaker 1: year they're minus nine and turnovers and their minus two
Speaker 1: fifty three and penalty yardage differential, which I didn't even
Speaker 1: know as a stat but that's last place by a
Speaker 1: long shot in the NFL. So those are the two
Speaker 1: things that's just killing them week after week. I just
Speaker 1: don't believe that it's it's gonna be, you know, magically fixable.
Speaker 1: There is a coaching issue in Cleveland, and it's a
Speaker 1: it's a it's hard for us to know why this
Speaker 1: happens to a team. But they weren't this undisciplined a
Speaker 1: year ago. They've had penalty issues, you know, dating back
Speaker 1: for a thousand years, it seems like, but this is extraordinary.
Speaker 1: Then you do, but the Broncos defense I could see
Speaker 1: them giving Cleveland a ton of issues. The Broncos def. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's a top five defense. And to the credit of
Speaker 1: Broncos fans and shout out to the listeners who support
Speaker 1: that team. It's a great fan base that is going
Speaker 1: to fill up that building. And whether they're six and
Speaker 1: two or two and six, they will be cheering and
Speaker 1: cheering loudly. It's not an easy place to go and win.
Speaker 1: Now you're against a quarterback that you know you might
Speaker 1: have another Luke Falk on your hands here, a guy
Speaker 1: that maybe doesn't even deserve to be in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and he ends up getting the start because of and
Speaker 1: that could work out to your favorite with a turnovers.
Speaker 1: But yeah, win the turnover battle on this game with
Speaker 1: the quarterback with no experience, and go win a ballgame.
Speaker 1: Because this is a dirt net game for the Browns,
Speaker 1: it is. They don't get this done and they fall
Speaker 1: to two and six, they're not coming back from that, No,
Speaker 1: they're not at all. And at this point, like the
Speaker 1: concept of them making a push for the playoffs and
Speaker 1: all this stuff is is absurd. Just actually put stringly
Speaker 1: some games together where you look at all like what
Speaker 1: we thought we'd see this season. But I'll tell you
Speaker 1: what they are going to win this week, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna lock it up me too. All Right. We don't
Speaker 1: even get a sound effect for that. There we go. Well,
Speaker 1: West and I discussed this previously and we decided that
Speaker 1: we're going to ride on the similar train either into nervous. Well,
Speaker 1: they're nervous. I'm nervous about the Sunday night show off
Speaker 1: the Browns. I'll win. I love the matchup. You know,
Speaker 1: John James, the Broncos right tackle, came back last week
Speaker 1: and immediately reinjured his knee. This tackle combination of Garrett
Speaker 1: Bowls and Eli Elijah Wilkinson going up against Olivier Vernon
Speaker 1: and Myles Garrett who destroyed the Patriots offensive line last week.
Speaker 1: This is a great matchup. And Dan, who is Fred Brown?
Speaker 1: I don't know the Broncos number two receiver now, Jesus,
Speaker 1: some guy named Fred Brown. Not the It's not the
Speaker 1: guy who played on the eighty two Georgetown team and
Speaker 1: through the pass away and we've kind of skipped over
Speaker 1: the fact that Brandon Allen is their starting quarterback in
Speaker 1: Week nine. Brandon Allen, who was I believe a sixth
Speaker 1: round pick of the Jags, and then he was with
Speaker 1: the Rams last year. I did ask they thought, though,
Speaker 1: you know, the Rams had him as their backup last
Speaker 1: year and he chose Bortles over him, that that he
Speaker 1: could be a little feisty. He's done some things in
Speaker 1: the preseason. I don't think it's a Luke Fox situation.
Speaker 1: I think they're hopeful that he might, you know, have
Speaker 1: a little spark and give him a little something. But
Speaker 1: the matchup is tough in this surrounding. What's the desert
Speaker 1: saying here? Um, the Broncos are underdogs at home, but
Speaker 1: not by myth that crazy amount. Cortland Sutton scares me,
Speaker 1: but Denzel Awards back, Greedy Williams is back. Sutton's done
Speaker 1: something every week. I think rightly looks at the Browns
Speaker 1: as a team that can't be huge favorites against any
Speaker 1: good defense on the road, no matter what's going on
Speaker 1: with Brandon out. I do like that Joe Flacco unfurled
Speaker 1: that emotional speech about the offense and needing to be
Speaker 1: guts here and more daring dow shown on the field,
Speaker 1: and then he's gone. He's out for That's a great
Speaker 1: way to go give it nice to six, fire everyone up,
Speaker 1: then you're out. He's going to five to six weeks.
Speaker 1: He'll be out with that neck issue. In Baker, Mayfield
Speaker 1: had that a testy exchange with Tony Grossy, the long
Speaker 1: time Brown's um beat reporter. You have that, Ricky, it
Speaker 1: seems like there was lack. There's a penalty, so we're
Speaker 1: a negative yartist. There was a lot of time between well,
Speaker 1: when the penalty happened, then we're behind the chance. No,
Speaker 1: no, no no, stop saying, but I just told you the
Speaker 1: clock was running and we had a penalty. Do you
Speaker 1: want to give them the ball back? No, you don't play.
Speaker 1: You don't know it. That's just plain and simple. Was
Speaker 1: I happy with the drive? Note we didn't score points.
Speaker 1: That's the dumbest question you could ask. What Jesus that?
Speaker 1: I mean, that's pressure. He's there. They're under a lot
Speaker 1: of pressure to win this game, and I think Mayfield
Speaker 1: will be a guy that will play really well in
Speaker 1: this game. I love the Browns in this game, but
Speaker 1: I also they've they've been so disappointing that I can't
Speaker 1: lock them up. But I do. I'm with you, guys.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna take Mayfield right now is passer
Speaker 1: rating his twenty four point six points lower than Eli
Speaker 1: Mannings was a year ago. And I think that. I
Speaker 1: think you're right, he's feeling the pressure because of the
Speaker 1: expectations and everything else. I have no problem with him
Speaker 1: going off occasionally in a press conference. And I'm not
Speaker 1: just saying that because he's far to his relationship with
Speaker 1: Tony gra that's been bubbling for a while back and forth.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's also a very big deal. Uh,
Speaker 1: you have these reporters that you sort of it seems
Speaker 1: like it's a it's like a bro it's like a
Speaker 1: friend of me type of situation. Hey, can I get
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty yard game with a touchdown or
Speaker 1: two from Dell Beckham at some point? I'm not sure that.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. Question not on command?
Speaker 1: You can't all right up next? Oh yeah, I got
Speaker 1: two picks right, snake action because that you know that
Speaker 1: that impacts the strategy. But I'll take the Bears Eagles
Speaker 1: off the board. It does because I know one of
Speaker 1: Greg's teams, right, I'm just saying, you know, I want
Speaker 1: one at each time. So the Bears in the Eagles.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I'm picking the Bears to watch
Speaker 1: two straight weeks at at ten am, but I think
Speaker 1: the Eagles are your team. They are a team I'm
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated by, I'm interested in, and you do wonder
Speaker 1: if they can rely on what they found in the
Speaker 1: second half against the Bills, which was a lot of
Speaker 1: running behind the right side of the offensive line. Brandon Brooks.
Speaker 1: Throw him in your comeback player of the Year conversation tours.
Speaker 1: Achilles might be the best guard in the league. You
Speaker 1: have Lane Johnson the Eagles, and Sheio Capatti on The
Speaker 1: Athletic wrote about this this week. Are one of the
Speaker 1: run heaviest teams in the league in neutral situations. They
Speaker 1: have been all season. It's surprising because they're not great
Speaker 1: at it. And this is a franchise, you know that
Speaker 1: has a lot of analytical background and there they should
Speaker 1: be good at throwing the ball with Carson Wentz. You
Speaker 1: do get DeShawn backs DeShawn Jackson back this week. But
Speaker 1: I think this is what Doug Peterson wants to be,
Speaker 1: is kind of a ground and pound team. We'll see
Speaker 1: if that keeps working. This is the last time, the
Speaker 1: last time I get all in on the Eagles because
Speaker 1: I've been pumping since August, and then every time they
Speaker 1: have a big win and my stupid power rankings, I
Speaker 1: get over excited and I put them back in the
Speaker 1: top ten, and then they lay a total egg and
Speaker 1: I have to drop them back down to purgatory, and
Speaker 1: I get angry with them, and yet I still believe
Speaker 1: that the Eagles are going to go on a run
Speaker 1: and not only be a playoff team, but really, actually,
Speaker 1: why do you think? Because I just think it's all
Speaker 1: still there, and I I do like I like the
Speaker 1: Eagles so much that I will be locking them up
Speaker 1: in this game, uh, even against a Bears team that
Speaker 1: is the classic uh cornerdown. I mean, this is a
Speaker 1: this is a potential dirt knap situation because the Bears,
Speaker 1: in addition to being in last place, are also in
Speaker 1: the NFC North. They're in twelfth place in their conference.
Speaker 1: So to even think about getting back into the playoff race,
Speaker 1: they need. They need to win now, as in Sunday.
Speaker 1: Then they need to win next week against the Lines,
Speaker 1: another wild card helpful hopeful, and then they need to
Speaker 1: go to l A and beat the Rams, another wild
Speaker 1: card hopeful the next week, and I don't see it
Speaker 1: happening all those things. So yeah, So the Eagles, uh,
Speaker 1: to me, are a team that's feeling good about themselves
Speaker 1: now that I think they're going to um, they're going
Speaker 1: to score points. I think the Bears defense hasn't been
Speaker 1: as good as it was last year, and we know
Speaker 1: what's going on with Mr Drobiski in the Bears offense.
Speaker 1: I think this is an offense that's more likely to
Speaker 1: crack and then complete collapse rather than pulled together at
Speaker 1: this point. So that's why I'm banking on the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Do not let me down. Eiggles Fly, Eiggles Fly. Roster
Speaker 1: is stronger. They got their number one and number two
Speaker 1: cornerbacks back in the last two weeks, and it showed
Speaker 1: in the Bills game. Their their secondary is not nearly
Speaker 1: as leaky as it was a few weeks ago. Where
Speaker 1: to Sean Jackson, is he getting good sounds like sounds
Speaker 1: like ll play? Although I said that last week and
Speaker 1: it couldn't have been more wrong. So alson Jeffrey made
Speaker 1: a couple of plays last week. You know Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: under center. I am also locking them up? How about that?
Speaker 1: So we got the Browns, over the kissing cousins and
Speaker 1: over on this side of the table. It doesn't have
Speaker 1: a name. Greg and I both have the all right
Speaker 1: with us? Hey guys, yeahs, yes, good, good call. Because
Speaker 1: I'm right now and in the YouTube and I'm answering
Speaker 1: some of the comments and we're getting a lot of
Speaker 1: people like, no, that does not pass the mirror test.
Speaker 1: It's four versus three and four. They are two locks.
Speaker 1: Greg and Dance. You're you're locking up against the broken quarterback.
Speaker 1: You're locking up against the guy shouldn't be. I have
Speaker 1: no issues the Eagles versus the four three. I just
Speaker 1: go by the by the Vegas thing and this it
Speaker 1: started as a three point just letting you know what.
Speaker 1: I never believe in the pipe down there, but it
Speaker 1: is for me. It is less about picking for the
Speaker 1: Eagles than it really is picking against against the Bears.
Speaker 1: It's and it's not just Drabinsky, but it's mostly Drabinsky.
Speaker 1: It's that the defense is good, but it's not. It's
Speaker 1: not going to change the world defense. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: get six turnovers every week. It's there and it's okay,
Speaker 1: and I think the Eagles offensive line could win the
Speaker 1: battle upfront against the Bears defense. So if you're just
Speaker 1: a good but not great defense, what are you really
Speaker 1: If you're the Bears, you're counting on Mitchell Drabinsky too much. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like the Bears need a gigantic special teams
Speaker 1: play and typically a bunch of turnovers or defensive touchdown
Speaker 1: to win games, like we saw that from Cordarrel Patterson
Speaker 1: against the Saints, where that was one of the only
Speaker 1: reasons they were even in that game. One thing I
Speaker 1: thought that they schemed pretty well last week against the
Speaker 1: Chargers was getting guys open down the field easy throws
Speaker 1: for Trabisky to make. And there were some bigger games
Speaker 1: for quarters. Didn't play terribly, but the coach doesn't trust
Speaker 1: him in If you're gonna keep playing him, you gotta
Speaker 1: show some trust. I thought they crumbled in the red
Speaker 1: zone over and over. That's the thing is like Ferris
Speaker 1: fans were like, I don't think he played that bad,
Speaker 1: and he had two killer turnovers in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and they had the ball inside the ten for twelve places.
Speaker 1: The bar is low. Okay, let's move on Greg Snake
Speaker 1: a Ricky we're snaking like that. I'm taking two of
Speaker 1: the most dynamic and surprising passing games in the league,
Speaker 1: the Lions and the Raiders at four oh five. They
Speaker 1: do it in different ways, but this is the number
Speaker 1: five and six most efficient passing games in the league.
Speaker 1: According to Football Outsiders. The Lions kind of look like
Speaker 1: an old sixties AFL team these days. They're just throwing
Speaker 1: up bombs to Marvin hall And and Marvin Jones, whereas
Speaker 1: the Raiders are like an early eighties West Coast team
Speaker 1: with tight ends and fullbacks and endless seven yard throws.
Speaker 1: I can't say it's my favorite style, but you've got
Speaker 1: a good running back and it's been really working that
Speaker 1: they moved the ball up and down the field. And
Speaker 1: I don't blame John Gordon if he's trying to keep
Speaker 1: his defense off the field, because this is a matchup
Speaker 1: of two pretty bad defenses, and the Raiders are worse.
Speaker 1: The Raiders defense is slow and they don't get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback. Cleveland Farrel has not sacked, hit or pressure
Speaker 1: a quarterback since Week one. Like Max Crosby, their fourth
Speaker 1: round pick is playing more than him. Benton Maoia, My
Speaker 1: I never know how to say his name. He's better
Speaker 1: than Farrel. He's playing a little less. It's a little
Speaker 1: under the radar. The defensive players never get picked that.
Speaker 1: It's like Quentin Williams is not doing anything this year.
Speaker 1: He doesn't get picked on. No, he's fine. Now he's
Speaker 1: been banged up. You gotta give him a pass. And
Speaker 1: the Jets that there's anything. Oh, I can always count
Speaker 1: on you to go off topic on a Jets burn,
Speaker 1: but wow, uh, let him get right, let him get
Speaker 1: healthy with the new coaching staff, and it will see
Speaker 1: what happens. Save that for the Jets. Dolphins banger. I
Speaker 1: think Josh Jacobs is one of the most enjoyable backs
Speaker 1: to watch in the league right now. And the Darren
Speaker 1: Waller experience, to me, is a sign of good coaching
Speaker 1: because you know, Gruden picked him out because of his
Speaker 1: physique across the way. That's how they unearthed them on
Speaker 1: another team. And he's been he's been an awesome story.
Speaker 1: They are they do you look at their weapons. I
Speaker 1: thought Tyrolle Williams showed up last week and played a
Speaker 1: good game for them, and they need that. They need
Speaker 1: some more wide receivers. Your boy Hunter Renfrew, nice touchdown. Greg.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys cover that. I thought he's coming around.
Speaker 1: I thought that was one of Derek Carr's best passing
Speaker 1: performances in years. Absolutely, and I've been killing him and
Speaker 1: I and he's starting to make those comments look utterly foolish.
Speaker 1: It's the hit on the deep balls though, I agree,
Speaker 1: But that was that game was kind of Carr in
Speaker 1: a nutshell. He was twenty two I think it was
Speaker 1: twenty two, ten yards and in one of six twenty
Speaker 1: and up and so he hit one. But they still
Speaker 1: and I think it's more about the receivers that he
Speaker 1: has car They're not going deep. Almost three quarters of
Speaker 1: his passes. I he's either he's either on pace to
Speaker 1: break the Drew Brees record will be right there. They're
Speaker 1: easy passes. Yeah, which I understand that, but still there.
Speaker 1: Their offense has been functionally high, highly functional this year,
Speaker 1: and he's been a part of it. The offensive minds
Speaker 1: the biggest reason why. But Rodney Hudson is their center,
Speaker 1: their leader, and he's out for a while, so was
Speaker 1: the and yeah, and they might be starting Richie Incognito
Speaker 1: at center. He's never played the position before, so that's
Speaker 1: been their number one strength as a team, and that
Speaker 1: you know, might not be the same as it used
Speaker 1: to be this week. Alright, Mark, you're up now. I
Speaker 1: know I will be laughed at for this pick. But
Speaker 1: if you know anything about me, you know why this
Speaker 1: game is one of the most potentially enjoyable uh games
Speaker 1: I've seen. It is not a Dolphins, It is the
Speaker 1: Redskins at the Bills. Because I'm telling you why not
Speaker 1: unlike the Niners. Not unlike the Niners Redskins games of
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. I got to watch two
Speaker 1: quarters and then I could move my mind to something else.
Speaker 1: I think it may be over before some games get
Speaker 1: through two quarters. That's what I love about it. I
Speaker 1: want to see just how quickly this goes. I will
Speaker 1: say one thing about the Bills, and you're you're not
Speaker 1: gonna get it this week because they're just gonna They're
Speaker 1: gonna deal with Dwayne Haskins and probably it's in Buffalo,
Speaker 1: just beat up on Washington from wire to wire. Fifty
Speaker 1: two points given up in the last two weeks by
Speaker 1: the Bills. Their defense has not been. It kind of
Speaker 1: reminds me a little bit of Chicago. They are they
Speaker 1: have not been the defense we thought over the past
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, and that team scares me if they
Speaker 1: don't get that kind of performance from their defense because
Speaker 1: Josh Allen and I know that we were rough on him.
Speaker 1: He just he had a terrible fumble that turned that
Speaker 1: game around last week for Philadelphia, and I thought maybe
Speaker 1: was the turning point of the game. Every game you
Speaker 1: can count on two killer turnovers by Josh Allen, and
Speaker 1: it's typically when he's running the ball and loses it.
Speaker 1: If he's gonna run the ball as much as he does,
Speaker 1: we need better security. I don't even have faith that
Speaker 1: they're gonna run away with this game because they haven't
Speaker 1: done it before. I mean, they played the Bengals and
Speaker 1: they played the Dolphins another episode of Greg Hates Josh Allen. No,
Speaker 1: I'm saying, I'm basing it that they've struggled at home.
Speaker 1: They struggled to beat the Bengals, they struggled to beat
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. They got wiped out by the Eagles who
Speaker 1: were struggling. They haven't had that home to home field advantage,
Speaker 1: uh that you would expect. And yes, it is partly
Speaker 1: because of Allen. Jim Schwartz pointed out a play last
Speaker 1: week where his coverage completely busted, and he was making
Speaker 1: the point, Yeah, we were better, but we made a
Speaker 1: couple of mistakes. And I went back I watched that play.
Speaker 1: Alan has a receiver wide open, no one's there, and
Speaker 1: he's got perfect protection on the play too, and he's
Speaker 1: back there, but at one point he just starts and
Speaker 1: starts running and he misses it could have You know,
Speaker 1: that's the type of play I think that you don't
Speaker 1: see necessary. And it happens a lot with Alan. This
Speaker 1: team needs to run the ball more. They need more
Speaker 1: Devin Singletary going on. You can probably get away with
Speaker 1: suspect decision making and no touch, but probably not both
Speaker 1: and and Josh Allen has both right now. There is
Speaker 1: a sense, especially how poorly the Bills played at home
Speaker 1: against the Eagles last week, an Eagles team was struggling
Speaker 1: mightily at the time, that the Bills now we're going
Speaker 1: to go into a tail spin or they have been
Speaker 1: found out. And I don't know if that's true. And
Speaker 1: I still think their schedule is so soft over across
Speaker 1: November for the most part, that they're going to be
Speaker 1: in very good position to be a playoff team. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, Bills fans who get angry, who
Speaker 1: think that, you know, we or certain people should be
Speaker 1: viewing them as like a real a f C contender.
Speaker 1: We you just need to see more from them, you like,
Speaker 1: we've been nice to the Bills. Yeah, but they want
Speaker 1: to be seen as a team that could take out
Speaker 1: the Patriots, and they'll point to the Patriots game where
Speaker 1: they gave him a real uh contest for four quarters,
Speaker 1: but went to the Dolphins game. But how about this.
Speaker 1: They've trailed in six of the seven games they played
Speaker 1: in this year, and to their credit, they still have
Speaker 1: five wins. This is a perfect game. Just destroy the Redskins.
Speaker 1: I mean, kill the Redskins. And it doesn't mean everyone's
Speaker 1: going to then say, oh, the Bills are fine, but
Speaker 1: it will get it will pump some energy and confidence
Speaker 1: into that offense. You know, light them up, Josh Allen
Speaker 1: have four total touchdowns. Give us that type of game,
Speaker 1: and then the least make it, make it feel like
Speaker 1: this is an offense that's going to improve. In the
Speaker 1: section mention Adrian Peterson, which is about the only thing
Speaker 1: the Redskins seemed to want to involve on offense, uh
Speaker 1: did not practice Thursday. Well, we should also mention, we
Speaker 1: don't know whose quarterbacking for the Redskins. Well, Haskins has
Speaker 1: been taking first team reps two days in a row,
Speaker 1: so I would be surprised at Keenam as the starter
Speaker 1: if healthy. But he's still in the concussion protocols, so
Speaker 1: it sounds like it's Haskins time with Callahan said Thursday,
Speaker 1: Keenum could still play if he feels better on Friday.
Speaker 1: They'll just need a little more out of Ed Oliver,
Speaker 1: another top ten pick who has really not been making
Speaker 1: much of an impact for them. Um and made a
Speaker 1: nice nice pick there, actually ominous that welcome. Dwayne Haskins
Speaker 1: was allowed to throw the ball five times in the
Speaker 1: second half last week. Ominous. Well, you know, the Washington
Speaker 1: Post came out with a story this week quoting several
Speaker 1: sources that he doesn't know the playbook. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: they should, you know what they should do? The the
Speaker 1: old JaMarcus Russell trick that the rating the DVD given
Speaker 1: the DVD make it blank. And then three days later
Speaker 1: it's like, hey, how was it, And JaMarcus Russo was like,
Speaker 1: oh it was great, and every play like okay, we
Speaker 1: know you're not doing any work at all. I think
Speaker 1: gil Brandt pulled that one in gil brand from the
Speaker 1: Future with the DVD. Alright, let's move on it is
Speaker 1: it's my pick, all right? Uh this you would think
Speaker 1: this is me stepping in a bear trap, but no, listen,
Speaker 1: I got two young sons. They're gonna be hopped up
Speaker 1: on sugar all weekend because the Halloween. Uh so I'll
Speaker 1: be up. I'll be up close to sixty am. I
Speaker 1: probably be up at seven. I'll DVR the game and
Speaker 1: catch up. So I'll take Texans against the Jaguars from
Speaker 1: Wembley Stadium. Interested in the final, Um, the final game
Speaker 1: of this year's London series. And um, we were of
Speaker 1: course at the final game at Tottenham Stadium, Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium,
Speaker 1: excuse me, Spurs Stadium, the big tot hot Totty Toddy House,
Speaker 1: Totti House. So they've done an incredible job over there
Speaker 1: with these games and they close it out at Wembley
Speaker 1: with a nice one. Here are the Texans who we
Speaker 1: talked about this, and I talked about this all week
Speaker 1: in various like NFL programming that they pushed all the
Speaker 1: chips into the twenty nineteen center of the table for
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Now J J. Watt's gone. What does that
Speaker 1: mean Are the Texans a team we should still see
Speaker 1: as a contender in the a f C. I don't know,
Speaker 1: But what I do know is they're in a dog
Speaker 1: fight just to win this division and get in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Because the Colts, whether you like them or not, UM
Speaker 1: are five and two and they in first place. So
Speaker 1: the Texans need to keep pace. And now they get
Speaker 1: a Jaguars team. And this is kind of like a
Speaker 1: home game because although there's a ton of fans from
Speaker 1: all different UM for all different teams in the UK
Speaker 1: that flocked to these games, as as we recall, you
Speaker 1: saw all sorts of jerseys at the at those games,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars have the biggest fan base UH in England.
Speaker 1: So there's gonna be a nice It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: nice home game for the Jaguars and the Jaguars team
Speaker 1: that played very well last week against the bad Jets team.
Speaker 1: But still Gardner means Chew the second uh playing with
Speaker 1: a lot of confidence. I did, Mark, You'll be happy
Speaker 1: to know that I did put some thought. We had
Speaker 1: to do our NFL dot Com mid season picks about
Speaker 1: making him the offensive Rookie of the Year choice. I
Speaker 1: didn't go with it, but if he kept if he
Speaker 1: keeps playing like this, yeah, he's gonna be hard to play.
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray was, well, it's a prediction for the end
Speaker 1: of the season. I think so far. To me he
Speaker 1: would be the runaway winner with Jacobs as as kind
Speaker 1: of distance. Kyler Murray's improvement over the last few inches
Speaker 1: played stay far far better. People love the head band
Speaker 1: and the mustache, and not enough people are watching this
Speaker 1: guy actually play football. He was a third down conversion
Speaker 1: machine last week and this. There are only three quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the NFL with a better touchdown to interception ratio,
Speaker 1: and they're all either Super Bowl winners or former m
Speaker 1: v p s Mahomes, Russell Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers. They
Speaker 1: are the worst team in the NFL in the red zone.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if that's been their story. Like,
Speaker 1: I don't think total blame for that. I do think
Speaker 1: sometimes I put a little too much on touchdown to interception.
Speaker 1: But he's done everything else well. He he does avoid mistakes,
Speaker 1: he does throw down the field all he does make
Speaker 1: good decisions. This is one of the biggest Jaguars games
Speaker 1: they've had in London. I mean, the Jaguars are sneaky
Speaker 1: up there in terms of the losing this franchise, not
Speaker 1: to their fans. They have one winning season in the
Speaker 1: last twelve one and they have a chance here. And
Speaker 1: this is the week because they have to buy and
Speaker 1: Folds is eligible to come back after the bye. Minshew
Speaker 1: wins this week, there's no chance that they're gonna bench him. Yep.
Speaker 1: I think they've got to find a way to get
Speaker 1: to Deshaun Watson, who I went going back and watching
Speaker 1: that game. I just and it's it's redundant at this point,
Speaker 1: but he does stuff every week that is just unbelievable
Speaker 1: to the eyes. And they the Texans. I don't think
Speaker 1: that they're the kind of team that can go and
Speaker 1: beat New England. I just don't. But I think they
Speaker 1: can go and beat almost any team in the league
Speaker 1: because of their quarterback and he I I you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to find a way to punish him early and
Speaker 1: often for the Jaguars not to get in a hold,
Speaker 1: because I don't think Jacksonville is the kind of team
Speaker 1: that can really if they they're good when they have
Speaker 1: the lead and they can start to pound you with
Speaker 1: the run. And I don't love Leonard four Nette, but
Speaker 1: he's had a good season for them. Overall. They're not
Speaker 1: a team that, if they get down by seventeen points,
Speaker 1: has a shot in this game. Houston, we've talked about
Speaker 1: as top heavy all season, and it doesn't get more
Speaker 1: top heavy than that defense losing why he's been double
Speaker 1: teams more. According to it was a CBS broadcast last
Speaker 1: week than anyone in the league by a massive amount.
Speaker 1: Second place in that standings was Jadevan Clowney, a guy
Speaker 1: that could use right about now because they just don't
Speaker 1: have a lot and it was a defense that was struggling.
Speaker 1: I like the Jaguars in this game, if you know,
Speaker 1: if I have to pick one, I like it. I
Speaker 1: think it's a field goal game. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a very good game. That's why I picked it,
Speaker 1: and I'm feeling great about it. I thought that would
Speaker 1: be kind of like one of those prime time things,
Speaker 1: but you took it. I like it West. It's snakes
Speaker 1: to you, baby, Well. I got a grass field game here,
Speaker 1: and this is gonna be a rock fight. The Colts
Speaker 1: at the Steelers. I'm not sure boring Colts got fifteen
Speaker 1: points out of their offense last week, and the Steelers
Speaker 1: don't have a quarterback. You have the Colts a lot
Speaker 1: for someone who doesn't think the first time I had him? All, yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought you had him last week. No, I don't
Speaker 1: think I ever. Colts brocas Ricky reports that James Conner
Speaker 1: is not playing as of now, as now that he
Speaker 1: has not been ruled out, though he's not been officially
Speaker 1: ruled up, but he didn't show up again. And but
Speaker 1: breaking news Patriot to release a wide receiver Josh gordon Off,
Speaker 1: I r thank you for that, but that that is
Speaker 1: just a matter of bookkeeping. We were aware of that, right.
Speaker 1: But I'm just letting you know you're going to break
Speaker 1: do breaking news. You know here, I think you'd say.
Speaker 1: Trent Williams just said he had cancer and he's had
Speaker 1: it for six years and the Redskins misdiagnosed. Why are
Speaker 1: you like pull like saying you gotta like the wow? Okay, Greg,
Speaker 1: do you want to which is well that let's talk
Speaker 1: about that. Wait, what what's going on? Is he okay?
Speaker 1: Fred Williams told reporters that he was diagnosed with cancer
Speaker 1: over the summer and that he had had it for
Speaker 1: six years, and that's part of the reason why he's
Speaker 1: been up so upset with the Redskins training staff. He's
Speaker 1: also making it clear um that he's it doesn't look
Speaker 1: like he's going to play for the Redskins, even though
Speaker 1: he did pascific he said, quote, I almost lost my life.
Speaker 1: He had cancer in his body for six years before
Speaker 1: it was diagnosed. Didn't we know that he had a
Speaker 1: tumor removed in the offseason, Yes, but but we didn't
Speaker 1: know it was year. It was a growth on his head,
Speaker 1: which also connects with the that the helmet was giving
Speaker 1: him discomfort. That wasn't good. Totally out of it. It
Speaker 1: feels like a good excuse not to play. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would say so this is not a Jalen Ramsey situation.
Speaker 1: Sorry to bring the you know, it's it's fine, just
Speaker 1: you know, kind of help you guys when I can, Um,
Speaker 1: I let you know that James Conner has it's going
Speaker 1: to be it's big. He's miss practice. Coach Domin did
Speaker 1: say earlier in the week that he could practice Friday.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the key day for him. But it's
Speaker 1: trending towards him being sel that is huge. Uh. If
Speaker 1: they don't have Connor, I don't think you know, they're
Speaker 1: pretty mediocre team to begin with. Then he snails out
Speaker 1: for two to three weeks. This whole. Like the Steelers
Speaker 1: fan and beat writer, confidence that this team is gonna
Speaker 1: win nine or ten games is really on my radar.
Speaker 1: I don't understand it. They're a good not great defense,
Speaker 1: similar to they have every year. I think their defense
Speaker 1: is better than that, and they've improved throughout the end.
Speaker 1: The quarterback has a problem, that's the bigger quarterbacks a
Speaker 1: huge problem. Game manager. Hey, if the Ravens lose against
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots, which is highly possible, and the
Speaker 1: Steelers win, there one game out for his place in
Speaker 1: the North. Now with you. I'm with you. I don't
Speaker 1: think the Steelers are a real deal team, but I
Speaker 1: I understand why there would be some excitement that the
Speaker 1: season is not over and when you start three, Uh,
Speaker 1: that that's a great thing to feel like you have
Speaker 1: some hope. Greg has suggested the Ravens will beat the Patriots,
Speaker 1: and his picks columns the cot the cults. Uh. The
Speaker 1: problem is they have played seven games. All seven have
Speaker 1: come down to one score, almost every all seven have
Speaker 1: come down to the last possessions. They're sixteenth in passing,
Speaker 1: fourteen and defense there's between fourteen and sixteen and every
Speaker 1: possible stat that's just kind of all their wins have
Speaker 1: been seven points or less. Three of them have been
Speaker 1: by three points or less. They're the only team in
Speaker 1: the league that has not had an offensive lineman miss
Speaker 1: and in a single snap. And that's the recipe for that.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what they are. And we talked about
Speaker 1: the teams with the good offensive lines like the culture
Speaker 1: going to hang aroun until the end because of it.
Speaker 1: Two things happened last week that provide hope that they
Speaker 1: might get a little more exciting. Paris Campbell finally came
Speaker 1: back from his hamstring injury. Didn't do much, but they
Speaker 1: really need to start featuring him. And Niah Hines was
Speaker 1: used more in the passing game. He's one of the
Speaker 1: few running backs in the league who actually runs routes.
Speaker 1: They need to use him. Alright, West's give me. I'll
Speaker 1: take my Titans if you're gonna just give them to
Speaker 1: h me, you know, I mean we are going to
Speaker 1: just I mean, that's the best, best team, best game
Speaker 1: left on the board here Titans at Panthers. Uh Mark
Speaker 1: and I talked about this a little bit. I have
Speaker 1: lost all trust in Kyle Allen. I think he's broken
Speaker 1: and they need to play Cam Newton as what I think.
Speaker 1: It sounds like he's legitimately just not ready though, and
Speaker 1: that they think next week would be the first week
Speaker 1: that he's healthy. Because I'm with you, I really don't.
Speaker 1: I know there's been weird stuff around Cam Newton, and
Speaker 1: I still think there is. But I do believe that
Speaker 1: they just don't think he's ready to play. I I
Speaker 1: think they would want him in this lineup for this game.
Speaker 1: Their their favorite pretty significantly they are. I'm surprised. Yeah,
Speaker 1: who do you think is the better team in this game?
Speaker 1: I don't know. The one thing watching that Niners game,
Speaker 1: they were eaten up by for the Panthers like just
Speaker 1: make it forget about it. But I understand why you
Speaker 1: watch and you're like, well, the Niners have done that
Speaker 1: to every team basically anybody. Like the Panthers offense against
Speaker 1: the Bucks in London. Now their offense is worse. It's
Speaker 1: mostly that I just like their players better. That they
Speaker 1: just have more players that can make a difference. As
Speaker 1: you know, the Titans are on a two game winning
Speaker 1: streak where they've you know, Tannehills look good, but he's
Speaker 1: played two of the worst defensive backfields in the league.
Speaker 1: They've won both of those games essentially because they stopped
Speaker 1: the other team on like a fourth and short comes
Speaker 1: down to one play. I mean, these are coin flip games,
Speaker 1: and this is kind of what the Titans are. This
Speaker 1: is the John Robinson experience. He's put this team together
Speaker 1: and I think it kind of looks good on paper,
Speaker 1: but when you roll it out there, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no reason to think this is anything about an eight
Speaker 1: or nine win teams. When we saw the Panthers in London,
Speaker 1: the Bucks shutdown Christian McCaffrey for the most point up apart.
Speaker 1: And when you do that, I mean, Kyle made a
Speaker 1: couple of plays in that game, but they really won
Speaker 1: the game with their defense and their ability to create turnovers.
Speaker 1: Last week obviously was a total wipeout. So yeah, I'll
Speaker 1: be interested to see I mean, even even last week,
Speaker 1: somehow McCaffrey ended up with a hundred fifty yards a
Speaker 1: touchdown or but I gotta ruin my sandwich prop. I
Speaker 1: had Dalvin Cook, you know, beating everyone in yards from
Speaker 1: scrimmage right now, Cook is up by about forty yards,
Speaker 1: but he's played one extra game. McCaffrey is just he's
Speaker 1: got to carry him. Were two of them are way
Speaker 1: ahead of the entire league. Though. It's a good matchup
Speaker 1: because the Titans young inside linebackers are really good. Jayon
Speaker 1: Brown is one of the best players in the league
Speaker 1: that nobody knows about in Rashaun Evans is playing pretty
Speaker 1: well too. Tannehill, this is a week where I think, well,
Speaker 1: we'll see if he's always a beat late on throws.
Speaker 1: You you talked on Tuesday's show about quarterbacks that need
Speaker 1: to see it or the ones that he is definitely
Speaker 1: someone that needs to see it, and you saw it
Speaker 1: last sweet he's just a beat late a few times.
Speaker 1: And the Panthers playing the zone that they do, maybe
Speaker 1: they make them pay. Um, all right, I will take
Speaker 1: the Gaze Bowl, the toilet Bowl, the Jets at the Dolphins. Um,
Speaker 1: is this game being televised? Are we certain? I don't
Speaker 1: know if I not gonna be like the CBS sent
Speaker 1: a crew there or believe I believe that's in the works.
Speaker 1: But you're it's a fair. I'm just because I'm getting
Speaker 1: a third game here because Dan uh took the London
Speaker 1: game and messed the whole thing up. I want to
Speaker 1: see which announcers that's supposed to be. You know, we're
Speaker 1: all gonna watch that. We're all gonna watch that. That's cheating.
Speaker 1: It's certainly not cheating. I just I thought that that
Speaker 1: should be uh open seasons and some people might want
Speaker 1: to sleep in. Well, you just got me all excited
Speaker 1: about that. This is we only have two games now
Speaker 1: we have to later. It ruined the whole strategy. Spirodidas
Speaker 1: and Adam Archoletta drew this one. I Um, I've been
Speaker 1: talking to some Sparrows about the Jets because people take
Speaker 1: pity on me, so people that have connections to the
Speaker 1: organization they're telling me things, which is good, it's fun, um,
Speaker 1: but I'm hearing some very bad things behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: We know what's going on with the Jets above ground,
Speaker 1: but underground it doesn't sound a lot better. Right now,
Speaker 1: I think this is a team that's really um in
Speaker 1: a bit of a tail spin. And if they do
Speaker 1: not win in Miami, and maybe this is a good
Speaker 1: thing for the for the team long term. Because not
Speaker 1: only is to put them in the running for the
Speaker 1: number one pick overall, but also the firestorm will build
Speaker 1: about Adam Gates being a one and done guy in
Speaker 1: New York if if they lose so Um, if you're
Speaker 1: a Jet fan, that's and you hate being this type
Speaker 1: of Jet fan because it seems to happen too often
Speaker 1: where you're basically looking ahead to next year and okay
Speaker 1: with them being just absolutely dreadful. I hope that's not
Speaker 1: the case. I'm still rooting for the Jets because I
Speaker 1: do think at the end of the day, Um, Sam
Speaker 1: Donald is a guy that I want to see progress
Speaker 1: from this year. And if if you do go down
Speaker 1: that road of I hope they go one in fifteen,
Speaker 1: well that means that Donald probably struggles for the rest
Speaker 1: of the season or gets hurt or something terrible. So
Speaker 1: I want to see Donald um put this little turnover
Speaker 1: binge behind him, because as good as he was on
Speaker 1: a first drive against the Jaguars, they did nothing as
Speaker 1: an offensive chance and he was getting absolutely snowed under
Speaker 1: by the offensive. I like how other teams are being
Speaker 1: able to fix things as the season go go along.
Speaker 1: It seems like the Jets offensive line is somehow getting worse.
Speaker 1: That was a jail break situation for three quarters and
Speaker 1: so yes, m don't get this kid hurt. I swear
Speaker 1: to guy, I will bail on this team. I will
Speaker 1: get out and I will take my two sons and
Speaker 1: all the money that they'll pump into your organization with me.
Speaker 1: If you get this kid hurt because you can't get
Speaker 1: the offensive line figured out. This is new ground for you.
Speaker 1: You've never threatened to bail on the jump. I've never
Speaker 1: been this disillusioned as I am in the Adam Gates era.
Speaker 1: And I just need them to not get Donald hurt
Speaker 1: or mess him up emotionally or physically, get through the
Speaker 1: season and see some growth. I'm obviously not going to
Speaker 1: get an exciting December and January even or November, but
Speaker 1: let me see Donald have a chance out there, because
Speaker 1: he certainly didn't the last couple of weeks. I wonder
Speaker 1: if this has ever happened in the history of the NFL.
Speaker 1: But let's say, let's say they lost to the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Gaze is out, uh, sooner than we think. And
Speaker 1: Greg Williams has made interim head coach for two different
Speaker 1: teams over the course of two seasons that did fix
Speaker 1: Cleveland's offensive line last year somehow down the stretch with
Speaker 1: the same cast of characters. Not saying that that's going
Speaker 1: to happen to the Jets, but it's more likely from
Speaker 1: what's been heard. We don't need to hear. I'm not
Speaker 1: preparing a speech similar to Jove. It was an interim.
Speaker 1: It might be more years. It might be more likely
Speaker 1: that Greg Williams gets fired in season. I'll leave it
Speaker 1: at that. I think, yeah, a lot of times his coaches,
Speaker 1: his head coaches, don't seem to love whatever he's doing,
Speaker 1: either behind the scenes or talking to media. Good job,
Speaker 1: all right, we don't need to talk about thoughts. Have
Speaker 1: no pass. I don't know. I hope this week, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's out for the year. I believe right he's an
Speaker 1: I r um. But this game doesn't need anymore analysis.
Speaker 1: But I will say that the Dolphins have steadily improved,
Speaker 1: and they even had a fourteen nothing lead, of course
Speaker 1: last week before that awful play call by Brian Floores
Speaker 1: at the end of the second quarter. Um, this is
Speaker 1: a field goal or touchdown game. This is there's no
Speaker 1: blowout happening here. This team shout out to Ryan Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: for playing with joy in what should be terrible situation.
Speaker 1: He really is the right man for this job, because
Speaker 1: I think I think they'd be the worst team in NFL. Hell,
Speaker 1: he's gonna We're gonna beat someone. They're gonna beat someone
Speaker 1: one of these weeks. You know, me and she was
Speaker 1: killing the shots on third down. Everyone's on this jet
Speaker 1: defense on third down this year, and watch fits Magic
Speaker 1: do the same thing all right up next, Mark Seiler, Well,
Speaker 1: I don't like this at all because now I'm stuck
Speaker 1: with this four pm game right across from the Browns,
Speaker 1: Broncos Bucks at Seattle. I will say this that I
Speaker 1: filed we filed our revised Super Bowl picks this year,
Speaker 1: and I know everyone just picked the page in the Packers.
Speaker 1: I know, why are we allowed to do that at
Speaker 1: the midway point? But I picked Seattle just to win
Speaker 1: the whole thing because there's something about this team. I
Speaker 1: enjoy watching them week to week. They are not the
Speaker 1: best team in the NFL. They have some issues, and
Speaker 1: for me, this is a game where the Seahawks are
Speaker 1: a team that I dramatic. I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: know because what I'm looking at on papers. It is
Speaker 1: as much as I enjoy watching Seattle on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball, I do not enjoy watching Jamis Winston
Speaker 1: in the Bucks on offense outside of Mike Evans, and
Speaker 1: I just I think if you're Seattle, you have no
Speaker 1: excuses losing this thing, no excuses. What do the Bucks
Speaker 1: do better than the Seahawks right now? This has rushed
Speaker 1: the seventeen. I like the fuel of this one, although
Speaker 1: they're not too different to me. The difference is one
Speaker 1: it has an m v P candidate and Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: the other as Jameis wins Well, that's a big difference
Speaker 1: saying the rest of the Seahawks aren't very good. I mean,
Speaker 1: Lockett and Carson are good, but they don't really do
Speaker 1: much well as a team other than throw that questions
Speaker 1: getting you a hundred twenty carries every week these days.
Speaker 1: You mentioned on Sunday Show, Greg, so I'm not breaking
Speaker 1: news here, but I didn't I didn't love the look
Speaker 1: at that second half. I know they were up twenty
Speaker 1: four nothing over the Falcons. Uh And you mentioned also
Speaker 1: that there was a goal line turnover, so that was
Speaker 1: garbage time A lot of time, A lot of times
Speaker 1: I just don't like, go kill a team, go put
Speaker 1: them to bed instead of just letting them hang around.
Speaker 1: And maybe that's what's gonna happen in this game too.
Speaker 1: But I do like the idea of of Seattle at
Speaker 1: home against the team that's, you know, so up and
Speaker 1: down with the Bucks. This feels like a I don't
Speaker 1: think so. I actually think these two teams are pretty similar.
Speaker 1: I think the Bucks, if you are a Bucks homer,
Speaker 1: which maybe I still got that in me a little bit,
Speaker 1: had some things go well for them last week where
Speaker 1: they can feel good. It's two straight teams. I think
Speaker 1: they've held under three hundred yards. Lavanti David's playing really
Speaker 1: well for them. Jamis Winston had It's funny that one
Speaker 1: of his best game, probably his best game of the year,
Speaker 1: came out of game where he turned the ball over
Speaker 1: whatever three times, but he threw the ball really well.
Speaker 1: And these two teams have the same amount of two
Speaker 1: score wins on the season. One. I mean, the Seahawks
Speaker 1: don't beat anyone easily. The difference is the Seahawks win
Speaker 1: close games and the Bucks lose him. I think the
Speaker 1: Bucks front seven is way better than Pierre Paul. That's
Speaker 1: sort of what I he adds to that he had
Speaker 1: is having a pro Bowl year. I just I can't
Speaker 1: trust the quarterback to note completely sink the ship week
Speaker 1: got the week. I mean, you say they're very similar,
Speaker 1: but that is that's the finding trait of Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: right now, right, I just don't see that they are
Speaker 1: huge favorites in this game. And uh taking it rain.
Speaker 1: It's like I like the Bucks to keep it close,
Speaker 1: you know, I take Peek Carroll over Bruce Arians please,
Speaker 1: I said, if we were, I thought he was forced
Speaker 1: into retirement from now practice. And by the way, I
Speaker 1: don't know because not many people. Um. Oh no, this
Speaker 1: is a prior Thursday night. It wasn't the train wreck
Speaker 1: we had to deal with last week. This is two
Speaker 1: weeks ago. Um Mark and I Mark officially took your
Speaker 1: place on Seahawks Corner. He moved right into your old room.
Speaker 1: And remember you left a voicemail I did, I did.
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to you about it, but you
Speaker 1: didn't pick up. Um screening, it's very clear that you
Speaker 1: obviously have regrets about leaving the corner. So now you're
Speaker 1: trying to convince yourself that Seattle is only a little
Speaker 1: bit better than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and all these things.
Speaker 1: It's because there's some regret here. That's what I I
Speaker 1: I you know, I contain multitudes. I can enjoy many teams.
Speaker 1: I'm not on the owner claims he has multitude. You're
Speaker 1: not gonna stop me from enjoying the things I enjoy
Speaker 1: about the Seahawks, But I'm not. I'm not convinced they're
Speaker 1: gonna be I've told you on NFL dot com that
Speaker 1: Seattle's going to the Super Bowl, all right, might be
Speaker 1: an opportunitey time to jump back on the bandwagon. So
Speaker 1: that is the draft. And Greg, if you want to
Speaker 1: kind of tag team Texans Jaguars together, why don't you
Speaker 1: know Bucks Seattle? Because I have no interest to watch
Speaker 1: it happening and wasted our listeners time twenty minutes ago.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about some prime time alright, prime time football.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's time for a little road to victory talk.
Speaker 1: I have a Road to Victory presented by the United
Speaker 1: States Marine Corps. Yes, this is the game of the week. Uh,
Speaker 1: it is the New England Patriots eight and oh at
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens who are five and two. So the
Speaker 1: game's in Baltimore, We've gotten I mean, how many times,
Speaker 1: mark have we had an otherwise great prime time matchup,
Speaker 1: but they just stick it up in Foxborough and take
Speaker 1: all the edge out In this case they I don't
Speaker 1: think New England's ever played a game away from New
Speaker 1: England at night, so I think this is the first
Speaker 1: time this has ever happened. Um. So, now we have
Speaker 1: the Ravens, who are feeling real good about themselves obviously,
Speaker 1: and the Patriots. And this stat jumped out to me,
Speaker 1: um that the Patriots leave the NFL and scoring This
Speaker 1: is the highest scoring average, uh than any of the
Speaker 1: other six Super Bowl winners in the bellcheck era. And
Speaker 1: the points allowed the fewest points they've allowed that beats
Speaker 1: any other the six Super Bowl winners. So this is
Speaker 1: statistically the best Patriots team ever. From that one metric,
Speaker 1: can I put a huge asterisks on the offense. Their
Speaker 1: offense ranks the league in yards per play and in
Speaker 1: big plays. Yes, well, they're getting points from defense, stating
Speaker 1: points from defense and special teams in short fields and
Speaker 1: you score points. But there was a stat showing that
Speaker 1: they like their opponent, could have scored. They could have
Speaker 1: scored no points on offense and still won a couple
Speaker 1: of their games with defensive special teams. I think it's
Speaker 1: like both things can be true. Their's schedule can have
Speaker 1: been the one of, if not the primary, reason for
Speaker 1: these outrageous stats, especially the one that they've out their
Speaker 1: defense has scored more they've given up. That's that wouldn't
Speaker 1: happen without the schedule, and they can be the best
Speaker 1: or the second best defense in the league. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be at an historic level. And I
Speaker 1: do think Lamar Jackson presents a unique challenge because they
Speaker 1: play a lot of man coverage, more than any team
Speaker 1: in the league. It's what they do well, and Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson eats up man coverage because when you play man coverage,
Speaker 1: you have your back to the quarterback and the guys
Speaker 1: scrambling all over and they're slow. If they if they
Speaker 1: have any weakness, it's that they don't have great team speed.
Speaker 1: That's very often the Patriots is, you know, defensive weakness
Speaker 1: and Lamar I don't think that's gonna be a high
Speaker 1: scoring game. I don't think the Ravens defense will get
Speaker 1: off or anything, but I do think he presents a
Speaker 1: pretty unique challenge for them. You picked, as we said
Speaker 1: at the top of the show, you picked the raven
Speaker 1: to hand the Pats their first loss. Yeah, how does
Speaker 1: it happen? I think it's a defensive game. I think
Speaker 1: that's two groups where the Patriots offense. I think we'll
Speaker 1: have their stuff together by the end of the year.
Speaker 1: Isaiah win win returns check Mason. You get some new
Speaker 1: they figure out their problems, the running game gets a
Speaker 1: little bit. The running game is so bad, it's the
Speaker 1: worst running game they've had in again since since two
Speaker 1: thousand one probably, and he got it going at the end.
Speaker 1: And the Ravens defense similarly started poorly. But I think
Speaker 1: they're really coming together. And so I think the Ravens
Speaker 1: defense is a little ahead of where the Patriots offense is.
Speaker 1: And it's a low scoring game that the Ravens find
Speaker 1: a way to win. A much better special teams uh
Speaker 1: in Baltimore two ranked number one by Football Outsiders, and
Speaker 1: it's the worst Patriots special teams in fifteen years. And
Speaker 1: if the Browns can run on your defense, then surely
Speaker 1: the Ravens can run on your defense. I mean, don't
Speaker 1: get carried away. I think it's it should be a
Speaker 1: good game, But I don't see them as a sixteen
Speaker 1: and old team. So where are these losses going to
Speaker 1: come from? A tough opponent on I was surprised with
Speaker 1: how well Cleveland ran on New England last week because
Speaker 1: that's not been the case with them at all. I
Speaker 1: think this is a Belichick fever dream. The chance and
Speaker 1: the challenge of going up against Lamar Jackson. I'm sure
Speaker 1: he's put in in the extra homework. I just trust
Speaker 1: if if they if it's if man coverage is gonna
Speaker 1: get them fried, then they're gonna shift out of that
Speaker 1: and do different things. He's he's spyproof because there's no
Speaker 1: linebacker out there fast enough where it even matters. Look
Speaker 1: what he did to Bobby Wagner. Yeah he made that's
Speaker 1: that's he made Bobby Wagner look insane on some of
Speaker 1: those plays where he was, you know, three steps behind.
Speaker 1: They don't have the guy maybe to do that. They
Speaker 1: also get Hollywood Brown back, which is they really missed him,
Speaker 1: and they get Jimmy Smith backs And now I don't
Speaker 1: know how big of a role he's gonna play, but
Speaker 1: he's not even one of your top two cornerbacks anymore.
Speaker 1: I just think these are two of the best teams.
Speaker 1: And all I can pictures Chris Collinsworth crowing about how
Speaker 1: incredible the game plan was by the Patriots, how they've
Speaker 1: confused Lamar Jackson and they they have taken away what
Speaker 1: he does best. Because there's one every bill bill check
Speaker 1: the team can do is they find who your best
Speaker 1: player is and they neutralize them. Can we get tight
Speaker 1: on this is my analysis of the game. Can you
Speaker 1: see that? Can you see that camera three? Maybe? Can
Speaker 1: you get in on that? That's the score of their
Speaker 1: final record audio that's gonna say that that feels like
Speaker 1: New England's and uh and I think it's this will
Speaker 1: just be another uh skip Merry skip through the forest
Speaker 1: of glory. As I don't think this offense is good
Speaker 1: enough to go sixteen. I don't either with the next
Speaker 1: five weeks, and I don't find I don't think they
Speaker 1: want to. I mean, of course they would want to,
Speaker 1: but I think of course they would want to. But
Speaker 1: I think as a Patriots fan, a loss is good.
Speaker 1: The weight of trying to get there, that's that's you know,
Speaker 1: I think you as a fan, though Patriots fan, not
Speaker 1: wanting them to go six I just think that it
Speaker 1: might be better off for them, and that's what the too.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were, I mean that is, but they all
Speaker 1: say I talk about first world issues. I mean like that,
Speaker 1: you know, it's better if the team goes fifteen and one.
Speaker 1: He's saying, he can imagine the scenario of concerts. I
Speaker 1: can more imagine the scenario of Belichick going have these
Speaker 1: these bye week You know, articles from all the Patriots
Speaker 1: beat writers just about how Belichick is putting them back
Speaker 1: in pads and saying how miserable they are because they
Speaker 1: just had their loss and this is their perfect Like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Belichick's dream to have a loss before
Speaker 1: a bye week in the middle of the season. This
Speaker 1: is great. We've been doing this. We've been watching these
Speaker 1: Patriots for twenty years, and all the narratives just keep
Speaker 1: coming up over and over and over. There's only one
Speaker 1: There's only one thing left for this team to do this,
Speaker 1: this era, this Belichick Brady era, is to go nineteen
Speaker 1: or no. So I think it's incredibly important to this team.
Speaker 1: And they don't want a little loss to like take
Speaker 1: off the pressure or whatever you're saying. Well, they want it.
Speaker 1: They want they see theory. I guess that would be Belichick.
Speaker 1: Every man on that roster, and especially the big man
Speaker 1: with the hoodie. I do think he and he has
Speaker 1: to be in the QB. The turned back the clock
Speaker 1: element to this season. Not only that the defense is
Speaker 1: the dominant one, but they're very similar like a veteran
Speaker 1: linebacker group. Uh. You got the star player at cornerback
Speaker 1: in Gilmore. Uh, and I don't know, you've got a
Speaker 1: team that just figures out, like wayte of what he
Speaker 1: loves that they're not losing. This guy. Let's pick the
Speaker 1: game Mark Patriots nine, Ravens fourteen and Ravens twenty three,
Speaker 1: Patriots seventeen, Patriots sixteen, raven zero. Oh, that's the score
Speaker 1: of the games. And it's an and scenario. I have
Speaker 1: the Ravens winning by a field. All right, that was
Speaker 1: the road to victory presented by the United States Marine.
Speaker 1: All Right. Monday Night Football and old NFC East clash
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and Giants. It's been a while since we
Speaker 1: have Cowboys and Giants in prime time. He here it
Speaker 1: is again and uh, the Cowboys coming off the bye week.
Speaker 1: The last time we saw them also in primetime Sunday Night.
Speaker 1: They absolutely hammered the Eagles, and now they go to
Speaker 1: the meadow Lands to face the Giants. Mark Sessler, you
Speaker 1: tracked our last Giants contest and Daniel Jones uh lit
Speaker 1: it up statistically. Uh So, I guess the hope here
Speaker 1: for the gimon There's two things that Jones continues to
Speaker 1: trend in the right direction, and now with another week off,
Speaker 1: that se Kwan Barkley is all the way back from
Speaker 1: that ankle spring. Yeah. I mean, Jones also made a
Speaker 1: few killer errors in that game, which he's done week
Speaker 1: after week. But you know, I think it's funny. There's
Speaker 1: polls popped up on the on Twitter this week about
Speaker 1: which team would you rather which quarterback would you rather have?
Speaker 1: Sam Donald or Daniel Jones? And I can't believe anyone
Speaker 1: would pick Daniel Jones at this point, just based on
Speaker 1: what I believe one of my least favorite like Twitter sports,
Speaker 1: it's predictable, whoever is I When you're at the absolute
Speaker 1: lowest point the guy that would usually you win the poll,
Speaker 1: you just throw the pole out there and then well,
Speaker 1: I mean this is a fair question, all right, Look,
Speaker 1: what's one of the worst quarterbacks in the league on
Speaker 1: the so called potential of Sam I think, yeah, Donald
Speaker 1: in theory has more potential. But if you flip his
Speaker 1: rookie season with the second season. Same thing with Mayfield.
Speaker 1: People would be gotten crazy about uh their starts to
Speaker 1: their career, but they look they've shown so much as
Speaker 1: rookies that you're not as worried. I think Dania Jones
Speaker 1: has shown a lot. I am not. If I was
Speaker 1: a Giants fan, I would not be worried at all
Speaker 1: about him. I like what I've seen out of him.
Speaker 1: How about your boy? Your boy Darius Slayton. Greg beat
Speaker 1: Rashaan Melvin twice for touchdowns last week. They have playmakers
Speaker 1: and they're getting Sterling Shepard back. This is not an
Speaker 1: easy matchup for the Cowboys, and yet the Cowboys came.
Speaker 1: I mean that Eagles game. We kind of didn't spend
Speaker 1: too much time on it, but that's one of the
Speaker 1: best games any teams had all year because you had
Speaker 1: your star players like Lawrence and vander Ess really show
Speaker 1: up at that. Zeke at his best game of the year,
Speaker 1: and then you all of a sudden get healthy in
Speaker 1: the bye where the tackles are back in Cobb and
Speaker 1: Cooper are back. It's like this team should be ready
Speaker 1: to go roll. Look what this team has. Check all
Speaker 1: the boxes. Franchise quarterback, all pro running back, top five
Speaker 1: auto offensive line, legit, number one receiver, promising number two receiver,
Speaker 1: reliable slot guy. You got a gadget guy in Tavon Austin.
Speaker 1: Change a pace back and Pollard. Go over to the defense.
Speaker 1: They've got bookended edge rushers with Lawrence and Robert Quinn,
Speaker 1: deep interior linebacker, crew, veterans, secondary, and then you throw
Speaker 1: in a kicker with a sixty yard leg. This team's
Speaker 1: got everything. And you know coaching, okay, maybe the head
Speaker 1: coach you're not excited about. And they did have a
Speaker 1: three game losing streak. However, I'm sure you'll point to
Speaker 1: the injuries that they were beat up and that explains
Speaker 1: most of that slump. Well, the injuries, and they played
Speaker 1: close games. This team isn't getting blown out. They weren't.
Speaker 1: They weren't playing up to their catalibar on defense. No,
Speaker 1: that's true, but this team is still number four in
Speaker 1: in d v O A total d v A. They're
Speaker 1: one of the top five teams in the NFL. Michael
Speaker 1: Bennett could be a huge addition. We didn't hit that
Speaker 1: trade really just because it was a strange timing. He
Speaker 1: can still play, I mean he did last year, and
Speaker 1: he didn't fit with what Belichick wanted to do because
Speaker 1: they suddenly changed to a three four. That's another thing
Speaker 1: where they're turning back the clock. They wanted him to
Speaker 1: occupy blockers. He wasn't having that. The few snaps he played,
Speaker 1: he had some quarterback hits, he had a sack. Like
Speaker 1: he played great last year. I think he could be
Speaker 1: a pretty big addition. Fits he fits on the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: I that Jets loss for Dallas, to me was all
Speaker 1: about injuries. I mean they were as banged up as
Speaker 1: any team in the NFC for a couple of weeks there,
Speaker 1: and then you get your you have no offensive line,
Speaker 1: you get that back, and I just think Dallas still
Speaker 1: leads the league in weekly yardage. I know yardage just
Speaker 1: gets we don't care about yards, and it's relatively means,
Speaker 1: but it's four hundred and thirty nine yards a week.
Speaker 1: They are a productive offense. And Kellen Moore's name vanished
Speaker 1: off the buzzy radar because of that losing streak, but
Speaker 1: wealthy again. They look phenomenal against Philadelphia. Not just total
Speaker 1: yards and number one in offensive d v o A.
Speaker 1: Give us a good game, Danny Dimes, give us some
Speaker 1: some pop, some fun on Monday night football. You don't
Speaker 1: have to win, but let's keep this interesting. Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: and DeMarcus Lawrence have been among the most double team
Speaker 1: players in the league. So have Bennett. You know, keeps
Speaker 1: his head on straight and gets a lot of snuffs.
Speaker 1: Maybe he can. I like the double team statue bringing
Speaker 1: to the table. Got some numbers for You've got some figures,
Speaker 1: got some data thanks to Jeff Greenholds in his team.
Speaker 1: He does a great job. Jeff Greenholtz and the NFL
Speaker 1: research team. Not only do they unexpected late show shout out,
Speaker 1: not only does the Greenholders Bang do great work, and
Speaker 1: week after week they do it some fun. There's a
Speaker 1: little bit of mirth in there the research analysis, which
Speaker 1: sinks up nicely with our program. I think they hired
Speaker 1: some funny men along the way, because that wasn't the case,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of seasons back. I mean, most importantly,
Speaker 1: Jeff Greenholtz has listened to our podcast from the beginning,
Speaker 1: and that's why we're butter. Also, NFL Media is arguably
Speaker 1: most eligible bachelor that just was. It wasn't aware of
Speaker 1: that handsome man mats to go skiing, athletic type. All right,
Speaker 1: where are we going? I don't know. We'll be back
Speaker 1: uh tonight, Westling, Westling, Jam, Lakisha and Chris will handle
Speaker 1: Thursday night football recap Niners Cardinals, and then we'll all
Speaker 1: be back on Sunday Night and God willing to recap
Speaker 1: all the games we just previewed, so there might be
Speaker 1: as much analysis of us handing out candy as there
Speaker 1: is of the game. Do I like that? Well, that's
Speaker 1: something to look forward to. All right, Ricky, let's get
Speaker 1: out of here. Stand hands a signing off four quiet storm,
Speaker 1: the mailman, the old Boss, Ricky Hollywood. Is Greenholts available?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm gonna check in with him. Maybe
Speaker 1: he's off the mark. You've announced it already, Phil, Sunday
Speaker 1: Night s