Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast you can drop mad bars
Speaker 1: on a rap verse. Maybe. Welcome to another edition of
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL Podcast, presented by the United States
Speaker 1: Marine Corps. My name is Dan and is coming to
Speaker 1: you from a room called the Some Heroes. Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenhal, What is up, my boys? You know, on
Speaker 1: the list of hosts on this show, I'd like to
Speaker 1: hear rap Mark, you would you would top the list.
Speaker 1: I want to hear what you would do. We've heard it,
Speaker 1: I mean, I you know that's true that you forgot
Speaker 1: about my smash hit from what feels like seventeen years
Speaker 1: ago but really only a couple of months ago about
Speaker 1: a foreign kingdom. Yes, that that was stellar. Please look
Speaker 1: it up. If you haven't heard it yet, go dig
Speaker 1: through our archive until you find Mark rapping. This is
Speaker 1: the Week nine preview edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: It happens, um, you know, the ring a very interesting
Speaker 1: time in our country, uh, during the election process, as
Speaker 1: is that it continues to unfold, and we're you know,
Speaker 1: we're here to to put your focus somewhere else. Of course,
Speaker 1: now there's a global pandemic also going on that has
Speaker 1: caused wreaking havoc in the NFL. So even that even
Speaker 1: this bastion that we are supposed to have is somehow
Speaker 1: affected by these serious real world problems. But listen, Greg,
Speaker 1: we don't need to dwell on the negative side of life.
Speaker 1: Let's let's skew positive. No taping this show, I could
Speaker 1: use ninety minutes or whatever it's gonna be of not
Speaker 1: refreshing the internet, so hopefully the listeners can do the same.
Speaker 1: I don't know what you guys are talking about. Things
Speaker 1: feel light and airy. Um. I think that there's a
Speaker 1: you know, the burgeoning sense of freedom and optimism, so
Speaker 1: you know, and I know my party line. There are
Speaker 1: some you know, conspiracies out there floating around, which I
Speaker 1: know you love conspiracies, Mark, I don't know if you
Speaker 1: love the ones that are prominent right now in our culture.
Speaker 1: But my conspiracy is like, when's the last time I
Speaker 1: had e NN on my TV for nineteen hours a
Speaker 1: day for three straight days. This is being dragged out
Speaker 1: in a way that is really helping certain networks, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know that's the thing I'm keeping my eye on.
Speaker 1: Who's really involved. Still has Greg still has NFL network
Speaker 1: lockdown in his house. I mean, who who can be
Speaker 1: Andrew Siciliano. He's not touching. I like that Dan is
Speaker 1: going the the Aisha Curry route, throwing, throwing the conspiracy
Speaker 1: that you know, lengthening the things for the ratings. Come on?
Speaker 1: Is that a Curry is out there dropping those? Yeah?
Speaker 1: She had a famously terrible tweet when the Warriors weren't
Speaker 1: getting some calls in the finals. Oh oh yeah, now
Speaker 1: I do remember that. Yes, good call, Greg. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get into Week nine action and start with the
Speaker 1: game of the week Sunday Night Football. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: Saints and Bucks. What a showdown between the Bucks team
Speaker 1: that everyone is loving, uh, even though they even look
Speaker 1: so hot against the jihnts of Monday Night. But you
Speaker 1: give him a little bit of a pay us uh
Speaker 1: and the Saints, who are on a winning streak and
Speaker 1: they look like a team that's ready to take control
Speaker 1: of the division potentially. What are you thinking about in
Speaker 1: this game, Greg, I'm looking at when the Bucks have
Speaker 1: the ball, when they go on one of their long
Speaker 1: drives and that's what they do inside the ten yard line.
Speaker 1: Is there any chance the Saints stopped them? The Stints
Speaker 1: Saints have the very worst red zone defense in the
Speaker 1: entire league, and Tom Brady and these Bucks are twenty
Speaker 1: two for twenty two when they get inside the ten,
Speaker 1: which is just an absolutely outrageous stature. And to me,
Speaker 1: that tells you you have an amazing offensive line. I
Speaker 1: just I know I've mentioned it on the show, but
Speaker 1: I just don't think people appreciate how it's the key
Speaker 1: to this entire Bucks team. It's why they can survive
Speaker 1: with Chris Godwin out of the lineup. Maybe they get
Speaker 1: him back this week, probably not, but they do get
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown. I trust their running game and if Tom
Speaker 1: Brady has time, he's gonna carve you up. When he's pressured,
Speaker 1: he hit. The numbers say he's literally a below average
Speaker 1: starting quarter back. So right now, I don't necessarily trust
Speaker 1: the Saints to get pressure on him. I know my
Speaker 1: guy Marcus Davenport to first. I don't see here Saints
Speaker 1: Twitter honking about him anymore now that he's playing outstanding,
Speaker 1: But I don't think he's quite enough. You need more.
Speaker 1: You need Cameron Jordan, you need the other guys to
Speaker 1: step up, and I think it's a mismatch. When Tampa
Speaker 1: has the ball near the end zone. Mark. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean we saw the Giants get to Tom Brady a
Speaker 1: little bit. I mean they had to work themselves out
Speaker 1: a little bit of of a funk against New York.
Speaker 1: But I just start to trust this team more and more.
Speaker 1: And you know, Greg, you mentioned like the metrics, love
Speaker 1: the bucks. What's not to love. I feel like they
Speaker 1: are morphing into something bizarre and wonderful week after week.
Speaker 1: And they are they are. This is a this is
Speaker 1: an interesting battle. I mean because Rob Gronkowski back in
Speaker 1: Week one, this team was not ready for not ready
Speaker 1: to go against the Saints the same way. This is
Speaker 1: not the Rob Gronkowski that fought in the Andre the
Speaker 1: Giant Memorial battle Royale. Okay, this is this is the
Speaker 1: Rob Gronkowski We've seen a bold to some degree. And
Speaker 1: you talk about the red zone. He was a threat
Speaker 1: against New York. He's becoming a threat week after week.
Speaker 1: I think it's three games in a row with touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: Scottie Miller is starting to become juicy. Mike Evans I
Speaker 1: could see a little bit more of him, But you know,
Speaker 1: and I don't like this. I don't like that this
Speaker 1: is happening. But Antonio Brown is getting dished into the mix.
Speaker 1: I mean, these guys, they're all starting to contribute. It's
Speaker 1: the Tom Brady aura. And they've talked about it that
Speaker 1: the offensive line, the way that they win games that
Speaker 1: they a year ago would have lost, that's the Tom
Speaker 1: Brady factor. And I think that if you're Bruce Arians,
Speaker 1: you're thinking right now these Saints, you can unferl an
Speaker 1: error arrow into New Orleans and you can separate in
Speaker 1: the NFC South. And I'm telling you this is this
Speaker 1: is something that the Bucks have not done, Greg since
Speaker 1: I think you were in that experimental phase back at
Speaker 1: two lane. You had an experimental phase in two lane,
Speaker 1: Greg guess or no, I mean at two lane. After that,
Speaker 1: I'm still still experimenting. Uh. I want to see Drew
Speaker 1: Brees with his actual compliment of wide receivers. I don't
Speaker 1: know if if it's ever gonna happen, but he's happened
Speaker 1: this week. Okay, let's let's see. I mean, I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm conditioned at this point just to always assume
Speaker 1: Michael Thompson is going to be ruled out at some point, uh,
Speaker 1: several minutes before the game. But Michael Thomas no Marcus
Speaker 1: Callaway last week. No Emmanuel Sanders last week, and yes,
Speaker 1: and we talked about this last week. I understand he
Speaker 1: again did not attack the attack Chicago downfield. It was
Speaker 1: his first outdoors game, So that's gonna feed into this
Speaker 1: narrative that Drew Brees can no longer play the guitar
Speaker 1: at a high level when it really counts. But also
Speaker 1: it's like, maybe not enough as made of the fact
Speaker 1: that Drew Brees beat a good Bears team without any
Speaker 1: of his wide receivers essentially, and it's basically just leaning
Speaker 1: on Alvin Kamara, who is absolutely I think in the running.
Speaker 1: I know you hate this award, Greg Offensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year. I mean, it's a silly award. Why Why
Speaker 1: what's the difference between m v P and offensive player here?
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I guess it's just like to
Speaker 1: give a running back some love because we know they're
Speaker 1: not as valuable as quarterbacks, except for on the Saints.
Speaker 1: It's like all, uh, like, running backs don't matter except
Speaker 1: Alvin Camara. He has nine eight seven yards. No one
Speaker 1: else on the Saints has more than four hundred yards
Speaker 1: receiving a rushing I mean, he's more than Duffle, it's
Speaker 1: outrageous and I actually think it's a tricky matchup when
Speaker 1: the Saints and Bucks play, because I know you beat
Speaker 1: the Bucks by going over the top. That's not Drew
Speaker 1: Brees thing. But you can see them going on a
Speaker 1: lot of long drives against this team. Because like you said,
Speaker 1: I think Sanders is back, and I think Thomas and
Speaker 1: maybe Callaway are back to this week. Then I mean
Speaker 1: in Bruce Arians, he looked at Alvin Kamara and said,
Speaker 1: I see someone more fierce than Marshall Falk. Now that's
Speaker 1: that's saying something. I know these coaches like to pump
Speaker 1: up like the main player on the opposite on the
Speaker 1: opposing team after week after week. Who's fallen for that?
Speaker 1: But it's not it's legit with Alvin Kamara, he has
Speaker 1: played beautifully. He is a Hall of Fame level level player,
Speaker 1: just like Marshall fuck is a Hall of Famer. So
Speaker 1: I don't think he's one of those guys where you're
Speaker 1: you're building a guy up so you can chop him
Speaker 1: down with a game plan that's key to beat him.
Speaker 1: I think when Kamara is right, and I know he's
Speaker 1: had a little bit of a foot issue, this week,
Speaker 1: But it seems like everything is all systems go. When
Speaker 1: he's right, he's just he's gonna make plays. And he's
Speaker 1: basically a lock now for for a hundred yards from scrimmage,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna beat you in the passing game a
Speaker 1: couple of times. Uh. He's just really fun to watch
Speaker 1: and it reminds you how tough it was to watch
Speaker 1: him last year when all those injuries had slowed him
Speaker 1: to the point where he wasn't making guys miss. Let's
Speaker 1: pick this game. Yeah, and the offensive line deserves a
Speaker 1: lot of credit too. And and that's why I do
Speaker 1: wonder if this I think the Saints are going to
Speaker 1: keep this game close. I know the Bucks are heavy favorites. Um,
Speaker 1: it's the biggest game in the NFC South all year.
Speaker 1: It's one of the biggest games that we have for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year because whichever team wins has
Speaker 1: a significant advantage. Either the Bucks open up some distance
Speaker 1: or the Saints just swept the Bucks. And that's a
Speaker 1: huge advantage for them too. And if there's one little
Speaker 1: fly in the appointment for the Bucks, it's actually their
Speaker 1: past rush like JPP and Shack Barrett. They got the
Speaker 1: big names. They're not quite getting it done this year,
Speaker 1: and so if you give Drew Brees a little time,
Speaker 1: you could have those long drives. I would expect a
Speaker 1: very close game. Seems like each week Devin White makes
Speaker 1: up for a little bit of the pass rush with
Speaker 1: some sort a phenomenal play that blows up quarterback, running
Speaker 1: back or somebody. And you'll do it again to you.
Speaker 1: Dan the Desert says they're high on the Bucks, which
Speaker 1: surprised me. Let's pick the game here, Greg, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: going Bucks, but just by three points. All right, Mark,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Bucks. I think they'll
Speaker 1: win it by a touchdown. There's no way to come
Speaker 1: out of is swept by New Orleans. I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I like the Bucks in this a lot. I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna take care of business at home, with all
Speaker 1: due respect to the Saints, who are gonna be around
Speaker 1: in the end. All right, Sunday night football in the can.
Speaker 1: Now we start our draft for Sunday, the late and
Speaker 1: early games. Mark, you get us going the precious first
Speaker 1: overall pick. And I like a little bit of NFL
Speaker 1: history with my top overall picks, so I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: Baltimore Indianapolis. Anyone who isn't five years old should know
Speaker 1: that the Indianapolis Cults were once the Baltimore Cults and
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. Well, they came from somewhere else, Cleveland,
Speaker 1: and they came to Baltimore, So this is there's there's
Speaker 1: a lot of that going on. I like that this
Speaker 1: game has another special appeal that if you know me,
Speaker 1: I am tracking this as what should be the quickest
Speaker 1: game of the week. Uh. Baltimore ranks in the bottom
Speaker 1: ten of plays per game. They like to run the ball. Obviously,
Speaker 1: they are air challenged right now. The Cults ranked twentieth
Speaker 1: in that category. They can't run very well, but they
Speaker 1: like to eat up the clock as well. So I
Speaker 1: see a methodical game between two teams that really it's
Speaker 1: strength on strength. Because the Cults, I know, I think
Speaker 1: their defense was a little inflated early in the year
Speaker 1: against some weaker opponents. I'm not ready to call them
Speaker 1: like a top five defense. But with Darius Leonard back,
Speaker 1: they are completely different. Last week against Detroit he had
Speaker 1: he had a game changing strip sack. I think he's
Speaker 1: a big factor against the Ravens. Team that has offensive
Speaker 1: line issues right now. They are missing their left tackle,
Speaker 1: Ronnie Stanley. Tyree Phillips is on I are the right guards,
Speaker 1: so they've got issues there. They've got a bunch of
Speaker 1: linebackers dealing with Corona stuff and having them hopefully, you know,
Speaker 1: get in maybe a Saturday practice before the game. That's
Speaker 1: a little messy. But if there's a team I trust
Speaker 1: to come out ready to go, it's the Ravens and
Speaker 1: and probably furious after that Steelers game. They did run
Speaker 1: the ball in the second half against Pittsburgh really well,
Speaker 1: two hundred plus yards. That's who they are. I trust
Speaker 1: them to go and challenge Indian every way on that front.
Speaker 1: Darius Leonard might be the secret sauce for the Colts
Speaker 1: to slow that down. Am I crazy to think that
Speaker 1: the Ravens are a team that I'm gonna lock up
Speaker 1: right now? I'm going to the producer for a little
Speaker 1: bit of a loop because something else. But I just
Speaker 1: got that feeling Ravens They're not gonna lose two weeks
Speaker 1: in a row here. And the reason that that happens
Speaker 1: because I could feel I could sense you getting more
Speaker 1: and more animated and excited, and then when you do
Speaker 1: end you're a point was saying, Am I crazy? That
Speaker 1: means you're really strongly So it was all there. All
Speaker 1: the bread crumbs are there. I kind of all the lock.
Speaker 1: I like it. I I thought about it myself because
Speaker 1: the Ravens, obviously they're coming off a game where they're
Speaker 1: really upset. They blow a ten point lead to their rival.
Speaker 1: Lamar plays poorly with the four turnovers, and you and
Speaker 1: Marcis Brown is upset, and you know you lose your
Speaker 1: left tackle and now your your star corner Marlon Humphrey
Speaker 1: obviously he tests positive for the coronavirus. There's a really
Speaker 1: bad week, but good teams, uh that are well coached
Speaker 1: tend to bounce back well for really bad weeks. And
Speaker 1: can I say Greg that I am totally on board
Speaker 1: with the Indianapolis Colts. I'm starting to get there, mostly
Speaker 1: because Phil Rivers is playing a lot better than the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks in my opinion. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, that game against the Lions, that's a team
Speaker 1: game with the lines driving for the go ahead score
Speaker 1: late in the third quarter before Darius Leonard makes that
Speaker 1: big time play. But so this team hasn't been dominant
Speaker 1: really all season. No, I'm not all the way there.
Speaker 1: I picked them to win the Super Bowl just has
Speaker 1: a bit of wish casting, and I don't really feel
Speaker 1: that confident in them. This is a show me something
Speaker 1: game though, for both teams. I mean the Ravens they
Speaker 1: lost last week, but they have to feel good that
Speaker 1: they played their best half of football by far of
Speaker 1: the entire season against Pittsburgh in the first half, and
Speaker 1: uh made some mental errors. They've had some injuries go
Speaker 1: against them. It's to show me something game from Philip
Speaker 1: Rivers though, more than anyone. Like we know now after
Speaker 1: the last two games against some pretty bad teams who
Speaker 1: can't rush the passer, who plays zone defense, the Bengals
Speaker 1: and the lines. Okay, uh, Philip Rivers can still carve
Speaker 1: up bad defenses and we didn't know that like that.
Speaker 1: That is important Canny carve up the Ravens because the
Speaker 1: Ravens defense is better on balance this season than they
Speaker 1: were a year ago. They have not fallen back defensively,
Speaker 1: and they're not gonna let Philip Rivers just sit back
Speaker 1: there and pick them apart like he did the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. So it's a big time test for
Speaker 1: their offensive line, their protection issues, because it worries me
Speaker 1: as a Philip Rivers backer that they've got no running game.
Speaker 1: Their fourth in the league UH in net yards per
Speaker 1: tempt passing, they're dead last in yards per carry rushing.
Speaker 1: So Philip Rivers is really carrying this team in a
Speaker 1: way offensively I did not expect and I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: think it's very sustainable. So I'm with you on this lock.
Speaker 1: I'm not making it my lock, but like Dan I
Speaker 1: I it was kind of my backup lock. So there's
Speaker 1: a little info. And know they lost Marlon Mack obviously
Speaker 1: early in the season to that achilles injury, and that's terrible.
Speaker 1: But you know, when you have an offensive line that
Speaker 1: the Colts have. We we talked about this offensive line
Speaker 1: in hushed tones. You would think the running game would
Speaker 1: be able to get going. May have Jonathan Taylor, who
Speaker 1: a lot of people like as a prospect. There should
Speaker 1: be guys that are able to make plays, but it
Speaker 1: just hasn't happened. And I'm I kind of on the
Speaker 1: same page in the sense that like, all right, Philip
Speaker 1: Rivers playing better and he's been a lot more efficient
Speaker 1: and it's cutting down on the mistakes the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. But do you want uh, nearly thirty nine
Speaker 1: year old Philip Rivers, like anchoring your offense at the
Speaker 1: stage that doesn't seem like a Super Bowl recipe. Wasn't
Speaker 1: that supposed to be the whole thing? They weren't gonna
Speaker 1: do to Philip Rivers. You know, we we're gonna, We're
Speaker 1: gonna put you in this great environment. I would ask
Speaker 1: from the other side, because there's just as much pressure
Speaker 1: on Lamar Jackson, and I think he was pretty down
Speaker 1: on himself after that game, you know, with what happened
Speaker 1: through the air, and you've got Markue's Hollywood Brown tweeting,
Speaker 1: and then you know the coach is going out to
Speaker 1: Mark's Hollywood Brown saying please delete that tweet. Not helpful,
Speaker 1: you know, talking about I need to be a soldier
Speaker 1: and be involved in the in the whole process. Like
Speaker 1: do we see some forced passes? Maybe two Brown out
Speaker 1: of the gate? Um. I just can see that that's
Speaker 1: the way the NFL works sometimes, unhappy player, squeaky wheel,
Speaker 1: We address it, we get that out of the way.
Speaker 1: We move into what we are, which is a run
Speaker 1: heavy team. That's what they are. Very well to go
Speaker 1: deep against. Right it's a tough team to go deep
Speaker 1: against too, this Colts team, and in Lamar right now,
Speaker 1: the you know the book on him coming into this season.
Speaker 1: Can you get better outside the numbers? Right now he
Speaker 1: is second to last and completion percentage outside the numbers
Speaker 1: only better than Mitchell Trobinski. So that's partly skewed because
Speaker 1: they go deep so often, it's not going to be
Speaker 1: a high percentage. But he needs to be more consistent.
Speaker 1: This is one of the toughest matchups he has had
Speaker 1: against this cold step So we all like the Ravens,
Speaker 1: but yes, show me something game and Lamar, what does
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson have after what happened against Pittsburgh? This is
Speaker 1: a good one. You know. I'm thinking about it a
Speaker 1: little bit more because I get it right. The offensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year things annoying. What about if you
Speaker 1: made it playmaker of the Year and then it's wide receivers,
Speaker 1: tight ends, running backs all in the grouping thing. I
Speaker 1: don't like it. Sometimes the quarterbacks win both and it's
Speaker 1: the same quarterback, and then some years it's not. It
Speaker 1: doesn't really have any rhyme or reason. I just see
Speaker 1: it as like Best Picture, Best Director, and it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: we kind of like to so we're gonna give one
Speaker 1: to one of you and one to the other, and
Speaker 1: it's quarterbacks probably getting MVP. Um all right, I am
Speaker 1: up next in the draft. There's a no brain for me.
Speaker 1: I was hoping I would get the chance to take
Speaker 1: Seattle at Buffalo. Uh. Seahawks obviously coming off a win
Speaker 1: where you saw some progress on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: which they kind of needed. And the Bills, listen, they
Speaker 1: beat the Patriots, and uh, that's important for that franchise.
Speaker 1: It was the first time they beat New England in
Speaker 1: their building in Orchard Park in nine years, which is insane.
Speaker 1: But that just tells you the dominance of the Patriots
Speaker 1: over the past two decades and how that's changing. However, however,
Speaker 1: are the Bills okay right now? That's a very honest
Speaker 1: question to ask. So I will set this game up
Speaker 1: for you, gentlemen, with an old game that we like
Speaker 1: called who do you Trust? And here you go, who
Speaker 1: do you trust? Josh Allen and the Bill's offense right
Speaker 1: now against what's been a historically bad Seattle defense for
Speaker 1: most of the year or a Seattle defense that now
Speaker 1: is getting back Jamal Adams most likely UH to string
Speaker 1: together a second straight solid performance after doing the thing
Speaker 1: against the Niners in Week eight. Mm hmmm. It's a
Speaker 1: tough one. Who do you trust. I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Josh Allen and the Bills, But
Speaker 1: I don't I don't feel great about it last week.
Speaker 1: I think you can kind of throw away UH in
Speaker 1: terms of their deep passing because the winds were so crazy.
Speaker 1: I actually think that was the s offensive game against
Speaker 1: the Patriots for a while. This matchup UH sets up
Speaker 1: very differently. I think you attack Seattle through the air.
Speaker 1: The weather is gonna be fine in Buffalo. I I
Speaker 1: see the Bills as kind of finding their level that
Speaker 1: they were never a top five offense. People we got,
Speaker 1: we got a little over excited. They are also aren't
Speaker 1: like the twenty eight ranked scoring offense, which if you
Speaker 1: do the numbers over the last month, that's what they are.
Speaker 1: I think against Seattle, even with Jamal Adams and Carlos
Speaker 1: dunlop back, I think they're a solid passing team. I
Speaker 1: trust them a little more, and I need more than
Speaker 1: one game out of Seattle. Being good against three quarters
Speaker 1: of a hobbled up Jimmy Garoppolo to go, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: give them any lollipops? What about you, Mark Well? I mean,
Speaker 1: I think the Bills offense has just kind of changed.
Speaker 1: They started as a top ten, you know, pass heavy attack,
Speaker 1: you know, through the first month of September four games
Speaker 1: or so, and they're now, you know, top ten in running.
Speaker 1: And I know last week was you know, weather impacted,
Speaker 1: but I think that's a positive to the Devin singletary.
Speaker 1: And you've got Zeke Moss back. He played really well
Speaker 1: last week. And Josh Allen, I mean they piled up
Speaker 1: two hundred yards against a Patriots defense that we used
Speaker 1: to like. I don't think that is the same defense
Speaker 1: right now. So I trust Seattle's defense with Jamal Adams
Speaker 1: back because it's environmental to Seattle is gonna go score
Speaker 1: a ton of points on a Buffalo defense that isn't
Speaker 1: the same either. I mean, basically, at this point, we've
Speaker 1: said it week after week. You know, there are like
Speaker 1: twenty five defenses in the NFL that I don't trust,
Speaker 1: and there's those teams are still winning games. So do
Speaker 1: I trust Josh Allen to suddenly turn it back and
Speaker 1: catch on fire and hang with Seattle. No, I do not.
Speaker 1: So you trust the Seattle defense here. I trust Seattle's
Speaker 1: defense to do enough to keep Buffalo at bay. Buffalo
Speaker 1: is not gonna explode here and be the story of
Speaker 1: the game offensively. So for the reasons Greg said the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: they deserve credit because I've been waiting all year for
Speaker 1: them to have a game where the defense plays an
Speaker 1: active role in a win. So you get it against
Speaker 1: the Nineties. But it's also like, you know, we saw
Speaker 1: there was a an apocalyptic situation for San Francisco where
Speaker 1: Garoppolo reinders his ankle, George Kittle goes out, uh and
Speaker 1: you had him on the road and they just basically
Speaker 1: folded up ten. So I'm not there yet where I
Speaker 1: could trust them, even with Jamal Adams there, because Adams
Speaker 1: is a gifted playmaker, but he also was playing defense
Speaker 1: for the Seahawks the first three weeks when they were
Speaker 1: getting torched at that stretch of the season as well,
Speaker 1: So I'll go with the I trust the Bills and
Speaker 1: Josh Allen maybe not so much, but I trust the offense.
Speaker 1: The running game was a real problem for the Bills
Speaker 1: and UH in the first few weeks maybe not a
Speaker 1: problem because they were just leaning so heavily on the
Speaker 1: past with Josh Allen, but they were entered. They were
Speaker 1: twenty nine in football and rushing entering week eight. But
Speaker 1: they put together back to back season best performances now
Speaker 1: with that running back tandem. So I'm expecting them to
Speaker 1: continue to run the ball well and maybe that sets
Speaker 1: Josh Allen up to bounce back and have a nice
Speaker 1: statistical game. I kind of like the Bills here. M hmmm,
Speaker 1: I do, okay, I disagree. I'd say like there's a
Speaker 1: little fact are called Carlos Dunlap. I know that people
Speaker 1: think maybe he's not the same guy. I think he's
Speaker 1: a good fit for Seattle. Brings a little pass rush
Speaker 1: you throw that the pass frus comes through Jamal Adams
Speaker 1: on that team. So it's just it's two players that
Speaker 1: they didn't have a week ago, and who is who
Speaker 1: is stopping Seattle's offense. I know that's not either or here,
Speaker 1: but it's just that Seattle can withstand all sorts of
Speaker 1: influx inflictions to its defense, right, That's the thing. I
Speaker 1: trust Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. It's
Speaker 1: like an experiment right now, how far can three players
Speaker 1: carry the other fifty that are on the active roster.
Speaker 1: It's Russ, it's Locket, it's DK Metcalf against Bill's defense
Speaker 1: that hasn't showed me much of anything. I know, you've
Speaker 1: got Matt Milano back. You guys think that he's just
Speaker 1: gonna save everything, but it's just one player that's not
Speaker 1: gonna change everything. And that's why I'm locking up the
Speaker 1: Seahawks on the road. I like it. That's where I
Speaker 1: almost went. And this is notable because Greg has started
Speaker 1: the season with eight consecutive locks, which is ah It's
Speaker 1: history for our podcast. So when he bets, it doesn't
Speaker 1: bet when he picks a team right now, you better listen.
Speaker 1: And now I'm not feeling so good. But remember, people
Speaker 1: of Western New York, that the old Zeuser has got
Speaker 1: your back. I picked the Bills all right. Up next
Speaker 1: in the Old Zeus with the Jets fan, He's got
Speaker 1: your back, Buffalo. But no, it even shows more than
Speaker 1: I'm all about picking what I like, uh in a game,
Speaker 1: and I think the Bill's got it all right? Greg,
Speaker 1: you're up all right? I'm so glad to be watching
Speaker 1: a little Cardinals versus Dolphins in the late afternoon window.
Speaker 1: Was hoping this would be available for me because too
Speaker 1: much of the season and it's one of the most
Speaker 1: surprising things about in the NFL has been predictable. If
Speaker 1: you go look at the preseason predictions, all the teams
Speaker 1: that were supposed to be good are good. All the
Speaker 1: teams that are supposed to be bad pretty much are bad.
Speaker 1: It's been kind of a chalk year, you know, except
Speaker 1: these two teams. These two teams are very different than
Speaker 1: they were in twenty nineteen, and there are a lot better.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins, I'm I'm fascinated by even before they went
Speaker 1: to t a tongue of viola, because Brian Flores is
Speaker 1: a rare defensive coach now who gets wins with his scheme.
Speaker 1: I mean, he cooked up Jared Goff. He was so
Speaker 1: aggressive in that game. It reminded me also of the
Speaker 1: forty Niners game, where at their very best, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: can look unbeatable. It's kind of like a Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 1: type of edge on offense, where there's some weeks where
Speaker 1: he just brings the heat and there's nothing you can
Speaker 1: do about it, at least if you're Jared Goff. Now,
Speaker 1: is that approach gonna work against Kyler Murray. Probably not.
Speaker 1: But if you if you watch one game a year
Speaker 1: ago against the Cardinals where Kyler Murray really struggled with
Speaker 1: the blitz, he's also a guy who wants to have
Speaker 1: get rid of the ball quickly, wants to know what
Speaker 1: he's looking at, and you're gonna have to run the
Speaker 1: ball if you're Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. So to me,
Speaker 1: it's a fascinating matchup, especially when Arizona has the ball.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's like they gave up four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty yards to the Rams, but they also like
Speaker 1: caused complete and total havoc. To your point, Greg, I
Speaker 1: think that if you're facing the Rams for the rest
Speaker 1: of the season, you look at what Brian Flores and
Speaker 1: that defense did and you copy it because you gave
Speaker 1: basically instructions on how to neutralize the Los Angeles quarterback.
Speaker 1: In Miami is a mentally tough team. They won that
Speaker 1: game with Jachem Grant on special teams. It was their defense,
Speaker 1: it was their past rush, and it kind of overshadowed
Speaker 1: the fact that to uh, you know, and we want
Speaker 1: to see more. It's not you don't You don't judge.
Speaker 1: After one game their offense was flat. Their offense didn't
Speaker 1: cross a hundred yards till midway through the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: They have issues at running back right now, I just
Speaker 1: don't trust this offense at all, But I'm not sure
Speaker 1: it matters if they continue to play the way they can.
Speaker 1: The thing is what you can do to Jared Goff.
Speaker 1: You can't do to Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray invites the
Speaker 1: blitz because then it takes off into open spaces and
Speaker 1: tortures you. But the Dolphins have this sort of no
Speaker 1: name defense of guys that most people have never heard
Speaker 1: of who are making plays week after week. Emmanuel Agba
Speaker 1: has been basically a top ten player when it comes
Speaker 1: to pressuring and call seen nuisances and havoc for quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: This Dolphins team is growing more dangerous by the week.
Speaker 1: I love what's how this week is shaping up, because well,
Speaker 1: maybe I won't after the games are played, but I
Speaker 1: am on the opposite side of the fence of the
Speaker 1: Sizzler and the old Boss with a lot of things
Speaker 1: this week. I love the Cardinals in this game, and
Speaker 1: all due respect to the Dolphins, and they're on a
Speaker 1: winning streak, and and they played really well well. They
Speaker 1: played well, getting a pick six and putting some pressure
Speaker 1: on Golf, and they got a punt return for a
Speaker 1: touch and the first punt return for a touchdown that
Speaker 1: we've seen all season. How weird is that. I feel
Speaker 1: like that used to happen once a week, but it
Speaker 1: hasn't happened until last Sunday. Anyway, like the Cardinals a
Speaker 1: lot here, I think they're at home to a did
Speaker 1: not do anything in his debut. We have no we
Speaker 1: have no reason to suspect he's gonna now hit the
Speaker 1: ground running and light up the Cardinals on defense, which
Speaker 1: is not a very good defense, and they don't have
Speaker 1: a great pass rush, and there's no Chandler Jones. But
Speaker 1: they did get after Russell Wilson in their last game
Speaker 1: before the I at the end of that game to
Speaker 1: help force the win. So maybe get a little bit
Speaker 1: of that. Whoda Baker makes a play and then Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray goes nuts against the Dolphins defense. That is fine,
Speaker 1: but we're not talking about the five Bears here. I'm
Speaker 1: locking up the Cardinals and I'm doing it confidence. I
Speaker 1: feel good about very good. I actually picked the Cardinals
Speaker 1: to win this game. To be clear, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: Like the run game that that well, I was. I'm
Speaker 1: excited to watch it because I don't know what's gonna
Speaker 1: happen in. These two teams are so different, but the
Speaker 1: running game, that's the way to beat the Dolphins. They're
Speaker 1: dead last in in rushing defense and uh Kyler on
Speaker 1: the ground, Kenyan Drake on the ground. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: it should be fun. I expect more out of to it,
Speaker 1: though I don't. I think they played to the score
Speaker 1: a little bit. And and we'll see what he does
Speaker 1: in his second start. Time now for Road to Victory,
Speaker 1: presented by the United States Marine Corps. For this game,
Speaker 1: we're gonna go back to the prime time Slate Monday
Speaker 1: Night football Jets Patriots, who these usually don't turn out
Speaker 1: very well From my Jets, Uh, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: different set up than past years because the Patriots are
Speaker 1: no longer the Patriots, but the Jets are no longer
Speaker 1: the Jets either. The Jets went from being, you know,
Speaker 1: a bad team to a middling team. Pretty Jets to me,
Speaker 1: but yeah, potentially historically bad team. You shush, Greg, your
Speaker 1: team is no good anymore either. So that's why the
Speaker 1: game is different. The Patriots went from good to the
Speaker 1: mediocre the bad. The Jets went from bad to historically awful. Uh,
Speaker 1: still seems like advantage in New England that say, you're
Speaker 1: not buying Dan the Belichick quote that they're significantly better
Speaker 1: the Jets are they they were a year ago, which
Speaker 1: was like a sneaky shot and Belichick, but I kind
Speaker 1: of get what he's saying on some level. First, maybe
Speaker 1: he was talking about that first meeting where the where
Speaker 1: the Jets were totally a mess and it was the
Speaker 1: scene ghost game. Um, a lot of the Jets last
Speaker 1: year felt like a mirage. And I think even when
Speaker 1: they were winning game games, you didn't see Sam Donald
Speaker 1: really correct some of the mistakes that the Patriots exposed
Speaker 1: on this Monday night football game in terms of seeing ghosts.
Speaker 1: And you're still seeing that. And I know he's a
Speaker 1: little banged up right now, but Sam Donald is expected
Speaker 1: to start, and it's a game that in theory matches
Speaker 1: up well for the Patriots defense, who are good in
Speaker 1: the back end and are just the worst Patriots run defense. Ever.
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's supposed to be a defense that
Speaker 1: stops to run, and they just have no one up
Speaker 1: front right now, no one in their front seven. And
Speaker 1: is Frank Gore and le Michael p Ryan gonna expose
Speaker 1: that maybe because it's just like bad on bad and
Speaker 1: the Patriots run defense. Is that bad right now that
Speaker 1: I'm not assuming anything with this Patriots team in terms
Speaker 1: of having a comfortable win. I mean hold on the
Speaker 1: I mean Belichick week after week and he's done this
Speaker 1: every week this season. He goes and glows over one
Speaker 1: player that they're facing. We just talked about this on
Speaker 1: a previous game, and this time he just pointed to
Speaker 1: the entire Jets team because there isn't really one player
Speaker 1: to pick at this point. Let's be honest. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got Adam Gaze, whose main skill, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: is basically lighting the house on fire and walking out
Speaker 1: the back door. I'm not sure what is going on
Speaker 1: with this team, but I I look, you know, the Patriots.
Speaker 1: If we want to say that they lack this and
Speaker 1: that they do, I mean they had four undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent wide receivers starting the game last week, with Julian
Speaker 1: Edelen out. They still took the Bills to the final
Speaker 1: minute and that Cam fumble. Had that not happened, I
Speaker 1: think they would have won that game or taken it
Speaker 1: into overtime. So they find a way. I don't trust
Speaker 1: the Jets to find a way. And Dan, I hate
Speaker 1: this because I went through this as a Browns fan two.
Speaker 1: But you almost need to just go into the darkest
Speaker 1: farthest reaches and not have them go on some lame
Speaker 1: winning streak and have them beat the pay I'm telling
Speaker 1: that happened last year was because the schedule was extremely soft,
Speaker 1: and that is simply just not the case of the Jets.
Speaker 1: I'm just concerned about one thing, and this is this
Speaker 1: is a conspiracy theory, separate of all the other ones
Speaker 1: that our country is offering at the moment. This scenario
Speaker 1: that if Belichick found a way to allow you know,
Speaker 1: Gaze and Donald to sneak a little win here, and
Speaker 1: then they played them again in a week seventeen, you
Speaker 1: look at the rest of New England schedule. This is
Speaker 1: weird scenario. It's way that I'm saying, this is my scenario.
Speaker 1: This the New England could mind its way and mastermind
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick fashion to outbid the Jets for that number
Speaker 1: one pick, and then meanwhile you've got Adam Gays telling
Speaker 1: his grandchildren, I'd beat Bill Belichick twice in one season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you totally took the organization out of out of
Speaker 1: the offering for the great quarterback in this is I
Speaker 1: don't know, because the Jets, that would be the most
Speaker 1: Jets thing you could do is to beat New England
Speaker 1: when you've got to essentially go oh for for the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. Come on, Jets, not necessarily over.
Speaker 1: I'd like them to get one win, honestly, so if
Speaker 1: they because I still think that will get them the
Speaker 1: number the rest of the year. If you're looking at
Speaker 1: on paper, this is it. This is the best chance.
Speaker 1: That's what I want. I want the Patriots to go
Speaker 1: down in flames in primetime against the Jets, and then
Speaker 1: the Jets can lose out or Sam Donald could play
Speaker 1: well the rest of the year, and then you have
Speaker 1: a different decision to make. I do have a concern, Okay.
Speaker 1: My concern here is that the Sam Donald era is
Speaker 1: on the ropes right now. Uh, and he's banged up.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a shoulder issue. I think it's a
Speaker 1: little bit more than a minor issue, but it's something
Speaker 1: he's trying to play through and he's showing some toughness,
Speaker 1: but I think it's not gonna help his play this season,
Speaker 1: and I'm concerned that Bill Belichick is gonna have the
Speaker 1: right scheme here and it's gonna be another very embarrassing performance,
Speaker 1: not just for Adam Gates and the Jets as a whole,
Speaker 1: but Sam Donald. And then it's officially game over for
Speaker 1: the Donald arre. Either he plays terribly and then gets
Speaker 1: hurt and he's out for another six weeks or something,
Speaker 1: or he's just so bad that it's becoming it becomes
Speaker 1: increasingly clear it's Trevor Lawrence time or whomever. So that's
Speaker 1: as a Jets man, that's what I'm assuming is gonna
Speaker 1: happen here, and then anything that doesn't happen in that
Speaker 1: realm will be a pleasant surprise. I I think he's
Speaker 1: been there, and there's there's been some reasons to at
Speaker 1: least he's gonna be with Adam Gates. We're never gonna
Speaker 1: see him with the Jets um without Adam Gates until
Speaker 1: after the season, and I think it's gonna be too late.
Speaker 1: Because I don't think he's regressed that much. I think
Speaker 1: he was playing as one of the worst quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: league late last year and and that he's still there.
Speaker 1: And and this is a game where I'm also curious
Speaker 1: um to watch to see if what the Patriots found
Speaker 1: in the second half was anything, you know, permanent, because
Speaker 1: Damien Harris is running really well. Uh that they did
Speaker 1: pick up. You know, Cam Newton I thought played pretty
Speaker 1: well in that game. And so can they get anything
Speaker 1: together against the Jets. This is the week to do it.
Speaker 1: Look at Damien Harris breaking tackles. Cam Newton fought hard
Speaker 1: in that game. Yeah, he's not gonna give up. I've
Speaker 1: loved his attitude. It's kind of funny how you know,
Speaker 1: he's gotten some criticism over the years about his attitude.
Speaker 1: And that's the one thing I think everyone in Boston
Speaker 1: kind of loves about Kim Newton. But it's his play
Speaker 1: that that has been erratic, to say the least. Maybe
Speaker 1: you're thinking of the last couple of games last year, Greg,
Speaker 1: but Darnald was making progress for stretches of last year.
Speaker 1: They were throwing, they were going on touchdown drives to
Speaker 1: start games, none all that stuff. On. I think he's
Speaker 1: undeniably regressed with the rest of the Jets this year, um,
Speaker 1: and I just hope it doesn't lead to more embarrassment
Speaker 1: in prime time. We'll see that was the road to
Speaker 1: victory presented by the United States Marine Corps. All right,
Speaker 1: back to the draft now, and it's snakes to you, Rosie. Alright,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Bears tight ends in the early
Speaker 1: games on Sunday. I think this is a sneaky fun
Speaker 1: game because it's strength on strength and weakness on weakness.
Speaker 1: When when the Bears have the ball, like this is
Speaker 1: their week to get off and I know they have
Speaker 1: offensive line issues and maybe that's just gonna be fatal
Speaker 1: for this team, whether it's injuries or COVID. They're not
Speaker 1: right up front, they haven't been great, But they're playing
Speaker 1: a Titans defense where Nick Foles can finally, hopefully for him,
Speaker 1: get a little bit of time in the pocket. For
Speaker 1: all the criticism false has taken, he has played a
Speaker 1: brutal slate of good defenses. And I actually thought he
Speaker 1: made a lot more good throws against the Saints than
Speaker 1: people gave him credit for. Escaped a couple of fourth
Speaker 1: down situations is ate the third and fifteen, a third
Speaker 1: and nineteen, and Mitchell Drabinski now has a shoulder injury,
Speaker 1: which sounds serious. So it's gonna be full as the
Speaker 1: rest of the way. And this is a chance against
Speaker 1: one of the worst third down, red zone defenses of
Speaker 1: all time. They cut Vic Beasley, which is wild. They
Speaker 1: had given him nine million dollars. That's the bigger disaster
Speaker 1: of a signing that that was. And then when you
Speaker 1: flip it around the Titans when they have the ball, uh,
Speaker 1: the best red zone offense, third down offense in the
Speaker 1: league against one of the best red zone defenses that
Speaker 1: we've seen in a long time. So it's like strength
Speaker 1: on strength no matter who has the ball. I mean,
Speaker 1: these strength on strength games though they look awesome to
Speaker 1: us when we're previewing the games, and then something goes
Speaker 1: wrong and one of the strengths don't show up when
Speaker 1: they actually play them, and I and I have to
Speaker 1: say which team which overall? You know, operation do I
Speaker 1: trust right here? You know I know what happens. Well, well,
Speaker 1: I'm just telling you that will be clear to you.
Speaker 1: I trust the Titans more here. You're not dealing with
Speaker 1: you know, Joe Burrow. This time you're dealing with Nick
Speaker 1: Foles and he's been growing, you know, under seven yards
Speaker 1: per attempt for like six games in a row. And
Speaker 1: so I do think they fought hard against New Orleans
Speaker 1: and it becomes a board or just pile on Chicago's
Speaker 1: attack week after week. We can all see that they're wanting. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I feel bad for guys like Allen Robinson
Speaker 1: in the middle of that whole thing, who you know,
Speaker 1: you put them somewhere else in the whole situation is
Speaker 1: different for him to me, the Titans. He if you're Tannehill,
Speaker 1: you can deal with pressure. He can deal with it.
Speaker 1: He's one of the better in the league at unfurling
Speaker 1: a beautiful pass with someone right in his face. So
Speaker 1: that's a little bit of a different edge against Chicago's
Speaker 1: defense that keeps teams in these games. I trust Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry in this game. I just to me, Tennessee is
Speaker 1: not gonna want to lose two in a row here,
Speaker 1: and that factors in. They're just gonna come in here.
Speaker 1: There is bully. There is bully centric as the Bears
Speaker 1: could ever wish to be. The Bears don't want to
Speaker 1: lose three in a row. But if you all right,
Speaker 1: so put it, they may not be in control of that.
Speaker 1: If we're boy, if we're bored of piling on the
Speaker 1: Bears offense, and let's start piling on the Titans defense more,
Speaker 1: because like, what a mess. It's a it's a mess
Speaker 1: right now. And I think it's been covered up because
Speaker 1: the Titans offense has been fun and they've been winning.
Speaker 1: But now when you you throw a lass in there,
Speaker 1: you start to really get concerned because how do you
Speaker 1: how does this happen? You're playing a Cincinnati offensive line
Speaker 1: that is missing four of their five starters to injury
Speaker 1: from the prior week, and you do not get a
Speaker 1: single sack of Joe Burrow. You you hit him twice
Speaker 1: the entire game, and that obviously that's the impetus. That's
Speaker 1: why Vick Beasley, they finally said, get out of here.
Speaker 1: If you don't want to be here and you can't
Speaker 1: make a play, we don't want you in the buildings,
Speaker 1: So take our money and get out of our life forever,
Speaker 1: the old Truemayin Johnson treatment. But now, how about your
Speaker 1: David Clowney steps up? Make a play. Clowney, you are
Speaker 1: I don't know, if you're aware of this, Jadave and
Speaker 1: you're in a contract here again, and if you go
Speaker 1: through this season not making any impact, uh, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna get paid. And I don't want to pile on
Speaker 1: him either because it seems like I do, but he's
Speaker 1: he's a part of the issue. So hopefully you know,
Speaker 1: you get secondary help from Desmond King. I don't know
Speaker 1: what an immediate impact he can make, but that side
Speaker 1: of the defense needs to improve to This is a
Speaker 1: unit that is not going anywhere unless they get fixed.
Speaker 1: And that's Unbrable, who's technically the de coordinator, and and
Speaker 1: they're counting on their offense to be one of the
Speaker 1: best in the league, and it is, but we haven't
Speaker 1: seen a long stretch here without their tackles. It's a
Speaker 1: totally different tackle starting group right now after Taylor Lawan
Speaker 1: got hurt. So you have the first round pick Isaiah Wilson,
Speaker 1: who was on the COVID list forever. He's back, and
Speaker 1: you have Tysonbrella. Like the early returns last week against
Speaker 1: Cincinnati were not impressive, and I think if you're looking
Speaker 1: for a bit of a weakness on Tennessee's offense, it's
Speaker 1: definitely upfront and here come the Bears. Acheam Hicks, Khalil
Speaker 1: mac Robert Quinn's up and down, but like these guys
Speaker 1: can keep it close. The Bears have maybe as many
Speaker 1: impressive wins this year as the Titans were. Almost I've
Speaker 1: almost slept on the Bears too much because if you
Speaker 1: just look at the results, they're they're pretty solid results,
Speaker 1: and the Titans haven't really put together a complete game
Speaker 1: all year other than that one builds game. They let
Speaker 1: everyone in these games. They never blow teams out, whether
Speaker 1: they're good or they're bad teams. If if the Bears
Speaker 1: won this game, I'd have to I'd have to personally
Speaker 1: look at them a little differently. I think part of
Speaker 1: it is that we all see them as a team
Speaker 1: that's trying to get through an NFL season with a
Speaker 1: completely different makeup than thirty one other teams. For the
Speaker 1: most part, they're trying to play like it's nineteen seventy two,
Speaker 1: and it's not just that's not fun to watch. I'm
Speaker 1: fine with that if it works, except I think that
Speaker 1: the offense leaves this defense a very good defense. It
Speaker 1: holds them hostage week after week, and you're like, at
Speaker 1: some point someone's going to break through and score twenty
Speaker 1: points against you, and it's a fatal blow. You're done.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to the next game. Way
Speaker 1: to put a punctuation on that, Sessler. I loved it,
Speaker 1: classic Sissler. There, I'll go with the let's see the
Speaker 1: Raiders at the Chargers. Pretty good, pretty good value by
Speaker 1: with the with the UH six pick here. I like um.
Speaker 1: I like the Raiders how they went about their business
Speaker 1: against the Browns. That they in terrible conditions, thirty five
Speaker 1: mile per hour wind, rain, sleep, you're on the road,
Speaker 1: it's just nasty. And they said, Okay, we're just going
Speaker 1: to run the football. We're gonna control time and possession.
Speaker 1: We're gonna whack you when you catch the ball. It
Speaker 1: was just like a nice physical effort from the Raiders
Speaker 1: that showed me a little side of their personality that
Speaker 1: I wasn't quite aware of entering Week eight. So, yes,
Speaker 1: the Browns, as we've talked about, Mark, they're very up
Speaker 1: and down. They're good, they're bad. So maybe they caught
Speaker 1: the Browns in a bad week, so it shouldn't be
Speaker 1: too impressed, but I was. I like the way they
Speaker 1: played that game. And now you get the Chargers, who
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what to say about
Speaker 1: the Chargers after they blow a twenty four to three
Speaker 1: second half lead. I would say, if it happened to
Speaker 1: another team, maybe you show up angry here and you
Speaker 1: just whip up on the Raiders. That's certainly possible, because
Speaker 1: justin Herbert has been a revelation, But it's also equally possible.
Speaker 1: They're up twenty eight to seventeen with three minutes to
Speaker 1: play and they lose, so I can't trust them. The
Speaker 1: trust is becoming a major theme of today's episode. Well,
Speaker 1: I like what you said about the Raiders. I think
Speaker 1: the grout and I know that I know that you
Speaker 1: know they've been more aggressive through the air, and that's
Speaker 1: because you know they've had to win games where they
Speaker 1: are being scored on, and so that's going to force
Speaker 1: you to be more aggressive. They're almost the flip of
Speaker 1: the Bears in a way where it's like, I found
Speaker 1: it offensive that they that they allowed Denver back into
Speaker 1: that game. The defense you cannot count on, while the
Speaker 1: offense is one of the most watchable, enjoyable passing attacks
Speaker 1: I can remember of the past five ten years. I
Speaker 1: mean they simply are gonna will their way two points.
Speaker 1: And Justin Herbert has been absolutely unbelievable to the eyes,
Speaker 1: and he's making throws and doing things that I mean,
Speaker 1: I I don't you know, I can't really even find
Speaker 1: a comparison for him at this point. He's his own guy,
Speaker 1: and so I like the idea that the Charger is
Speaker 1: gonna be in every single game the Raiders, though, That's
Speaker 1: what Gruden wanted to be against Cleveland, I think, and
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs woke up. It was his best game of
Speaker 1: the year. They were the tougher team in bad weather.
Speaker 1: It's said a lot about the Raiders. It made me
Speaker 1: think about them very differently. And they're coming off a
Speaker 1: few weeks of beating the Chiefs as well. This team
Speaker 1: is this team is a real threat for a wild
Speaker 1: card spot and they you never know what can happen
Speaker 1: at that point. They are a weird, tough team. It's
Speaker 1: so impressive what Herbert's done. I think he's he's having
Speaker 1: the best rookie quarterback season of the last decade so far,
Speaker 1: and and one of the reasons is because of the
Speaker 1: matchups that he's had. He's played really tough opponents. He's
Speaker 1: played some of the best defenses in the league and
Speaker 1: then find now he finally gets a matchup where he
Speaker 1: should be protected much better. I mean, it's a cupcake
Speaker 1: matchup against the Raiders usually most weeks, and there's no
Speaker 1: reason to think he won't bomb them out and like
Speaker 1: that they have the edge. But there's something more going
Speaker 1: on with the Charges. It's cosmic. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: where I'm sounding more like Sessler. You can't you can't
Speaker 1: measure whatever the Chargers have. It's a crazy disease, it's
Speaker 1: a variance, it's an up and a down thing that's
Speaker 1: you can't do it. And the Raiders are sort of
Speaker 1: the opposite to me. They're kind of this steady, mature
Speaker 1: team that's built up over the last week. Like I
Speaker 1: just trust them more as a tougher mental team, whereas
Speaker 1: the Chargers, I don't know, whatever they have going on
Speaker 1: they need to get rid of. It's yeah, the Charger
Speaker 1: it's been happening for years. But sometimes you could also
Speaker 1: argue that when otherwise level headed analysts like a Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal blames it on the Cosmos, he's covering for the
Speaker 1: fact that he likes the head coach but the head
Speaker 1: coach actually isn't that good and he plays a role
Speaker 1: in these collapses as well. Fair or no, that's that's fair. Defensively, sure,
Speaker 1: Anthony Lynne, I give him credit because Anthony Lynn probably
Speaker 1: wanted to win games sixteen fourteen and run the ball,
Speaker 1: you know, forty times a game you lose Austin Nichola,
Speaker 1: and he's been flexible to allow the team to be
Speaker 1: what they are with their great quarterbacks. So that's that's
Speaker 1: points earned with me. But the defense has been a
Speaker 1: wild hot mess on fire in all the wrong ways,
Speaker 1: and so you know, there's a lot of work to
Speaker 1: make up for that, and it leads to these It
Speaker 1: is coaching, you don't. It isn't. It can't believe. It's
Speaker 1: not all mysticism. Uh, it can't be. It has to
Speaker 1: be the fact that some teams learn and get into
Speaker 1: the groove and know how to close games. That's what
Speaker 1: the Bucks said about Brady. We would lose these games
Speaker 1: if we didn't have him, his presence, the whole aura.
Speaker 1: So it's mysticism, player coach, the whole thing mixed together.
Speaker 1: Dan a wild hot mess on fire, all right, We
Speaker 1: keep going. Mark Sasler up next in the draft. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go Carolina at Kansas City, and you know,
Speaker 1: I you gotta be real with with these teams. And
Speaker 1: I love my Matt Rule. But my thing with the
Speaker 1: Panthers they have they have struggled to close games of late.
Speaker 1: They're they're pretty good, they don't What I like about
Speaker 1: them is they don't get blown out, They hang around,
Speaker 1: they do a lot of things pretty well, and they're
Speaker 1: there in the fourth quarter. But they've lost three in
Speaker 1: a row by what would be one score if you
Speaker 1: had a touchdown, a two point conversion. So I feel
Speaker 1: like at that point they're just one of these teams
Speaker 1: that might be, you know, a year away from really threatening. Um.
Speaker 1: To me, I look at I know that I know
Speaker 1: what happened last week against the Falcons, but I point
Speaker 1: to the Saints game two weeks ago, which is a
Speaker 1: really interesting contest for the Panthers, where I thought Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater battled in that game. There was one play where
Speaker 1: he escaped a blitz and hit Curtis Samuel on this
Speaker 1: beautiful throwdown field. There was a beautiful shot to d J. Moore.
Speaker 1: Robby Anderson is there every week. Their offense is watchable
Speaker 1: and interesting, and again it's like you're gonna get Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey back in this game, it sounds like, And that's
Speaker 1: a nice X factor. I think that that this is
Speaker 1: an offense to can compete and hang around, but and
Speaker 1: their defense is down. You can't really rush the passer
Speaker 1: right now and income the Chiefs. And if you can't
Speaker 1: really get to Patrick Mahomes and make life uncomfortable, which
Speaker 1: we've seen week after week, what how do you hang
Speaker 1: around in a game like this? I think this might
Speaker 1: be the one where the bow breaks um for Carolina
Speaker 1: unless something really strange happens with turnovers or whatever. I
Speaker 1: don't love the set up, but I think it's an
Speaker 1: interesting test for a very young team still figuring out
Speaker 1: who they are. And it's always good to go up
Speaker 1: again against a team like Kansas City and find out
Speaker 1: you know no offense in are you last week's Jets
Speaker 1: or are you the Raiders? Are you? Can you hang around?
Speaker 1: What are the Panthers? We'll see you mentioned turnovers. That's
Speaker 1: like the cherry on top of the Sunday for Kansas City.
Speaker 1: Right now they lead the NFL and turnover margin so on,
Speaker 1: on top of everything they take the ball away. Steve
Speaker 1: Spagnola's defense is especially good against the past, which is
Speaker 1: the way you want to stop Carolina. Christian McCaffrey is
Speaker 1: going to be back for this game. That's big, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. I think this is like the start
Speaker 1: of the Patrick Mahomes like, oh yeah, maybe he can
Speaker 1: win the m v P Award this year too. By
Speaker 1: the end of it, it feels like like that had
Speaker 1: been ruled out. I'm just saying, yeah, that was four
Speaker 1: or five weeks. I still think it's a little early.
Speaker 1: But what I would say is, like, you know, they're
Speaker 1: talking about it in the you know, in the desert.
Speaker 1: I feel like no one's paying attention to Mahomes. Now
Speaker 1: might be the time to get in. He's thrown twenty
Speaker 1: one touchdowns in one interception this year, you know, on
Speaker 1: a team that right, on a team that has a
Speaker 1: very easy schedule. Uh, and it's gonna continue being easy
Speaker 1: moving forward for the most part, especially against opposing defensive
Speaker 1: So I think he's just gonna have more games like
Speaker 1: the Jets game a week ago, and this would be
Speaker 1: the week to do it. Yes, the Panthers get back
Speaker 1: gross Matos upfront, which is good. I liked how he
Speaker 1: looked early in the year. But there's no reason to
Speaker 1: think the Panthers defense, who hasn't forced to punt since
Speaker 1: Week six, is gonna do anything against this team. It
Speaker 1: smells like a forty burger. Yeah they didn't. I mean
Speaker 1: the Panthers didn't close in the sense that they weren't
Speaker 1: able to go down the field on that last drive
Speaker 1: on Thursday night against the Falcons. But they got outplayed
Speaker 1: straight up by the Atlanta team that played so poorly
Speaker 1: earlier this season that they got their coach fired. And listen,
Speaker 1: I was I was mocked on the show three weeks
Speaker 1: ago for saying, Oh, the Panthers aren't the greatest gift
Speaker 1: to football. Uh, this is gonna be This is an
Speaker 1: up and down. This is gonna be an up and
Speaker 1: down team just like I thought. And they were gonna
Speaker 1: hanging games and maybe be ready next year. I'm glad
Speaker 1: you guys came around to the old zooser on this one.
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, and ay you were not mocked. Is
Speaker 1: like absurdly strong, and you know that you you like
Speaker 1: now you set up you have to like, oh you
Speaker 1: like you're like you guys think that I don't love
Speaker 1: Matt Rule, like blah blah blah. It's like we we
Speaker 1: we we are correct. Lombardi that no, Matt Rule is
Speaker 1: a great coach. You have to say that the Panthers,
Speaker 1: No one's saying that they playoff team. They have overachieved,
Speaker 1: they have over than like Matt rule, because the Jets said, no,
Speaker 1: we won't let you guy or your own coaching staff.
Speaker 1: We're gonna control your coaching staff. And if Matt Rule
Speaker 1: was in New York right now, Sam Donald would not
Speaker 1: be one of the worst league. I really had a chance.
Speaker 1: My team had a chance to hire Vince Lombardi at
Speaker 1: age thirty eight, and I let him out, get out
Speaker 1: the door. So I'm dealing with that. You're right, What
Speaker 1: am I gonna do without Matt Rule around for the
Speaker 1: next twenty years? See you are you're the one mocking.
Speaker 1: We're not mocking. You're the most all right, Teddy. I
Speaker 1: want to see how Teddy plays in this game. That
Speaker 1: was a nasty hit. Also also against the Falcons to
Speaker 1: the head and neck area was an illegal hit. Um,
Speaker 1: it sounds like he's okay. I'd like to see him
Speaker 1: have a nice week here. And and maybe I know
Speaker 1: but you're not gonna hang with Mahomes, right, You're just
Speaker 1: not gonna hang out with Mahomes and a shootout. And
Speaker 1: I'm with you, Greg, like he is going to continue
Speaker 1: to have monster weeks because he was held down by
Speaker 1: some things that were out of his control earlier in
Speaker 1: the season. And I think its just take off time.
Speaker 1: I think this game is gonna get ugly. I think
Speaker 1: we're on the same page. I'm with you, all right, Mark,
Speaker 1: It's snakes to you, my friend, Well it snakes to me.
Speaker 1: And I'm not claiming that this is where like a
Speaker 1: like a bona fide GM would go next with his selection.
Speaker 1: But we have to look at our Sundays and how
Speaker 1: we organize them. There's one more four o'clock our game.
Speaker 1: If you live on the East coast, it's a one
Speaker 1: o'clock to us. I'm going Pittsburgh at Dallas. This has
Speaker 1: all Sometimes I like to just see, you know, ugliness
Speaker 1: on furl and great measure, and Pittsburgh is a team
Speaker 1: that is set up to absolutely roping atomic bomb on Dallas.
Speaker 1: It's not fair to Cowboys fans because I think about
Speaker 1: a month ago, they thought we have issues on defense,
Speaker 1: but we have one of the most electrifying offenses in
Speaker 1: all of those everything. They were totally fun. In fact,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think, if you want to look at
Speaker 1: the fantasy angle, if you haven't been dumping Cowboys players
Speaker 1: off your roster the past couple of weeks, what are
Speaker 1: you doing. I have a bunch of them and you
Speaker 1: gotta move them. You gotta move them off that roster.
Speaker 1: And now you're looking at Cooper Rush or Garrett Gilbert
Speaker 1: at quarterback, and I would imagine, you know, they talked
Speaker 1: about it being a decision they'll make as late as possible.
Speaker 1: Cooper Rush has been part of the organization in the past.
Speaker 1: You know, Kellen Moore knows him well, not so much
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy, but they signed him for a reason. They
Speaker 1: seem to like him in the past. Garrett Gilbert was
Speaker 1: pulled off of Cleveland's practice squad. So I'm thinking, unless
Speaker 1: you want to do something really weird, like play both
Speaker 1: of them series after series, that's what I would do.
Speaker 1: Throw everyone off, get really funky, maybe run the single wing,
Speaker 1: and you know, just do something that no one's expecting.
Speaker 1: Other Wise this sets up as total destruction. Pittsburgh's pass
Speaker 1: Rush versus this offensive line. This could be like a
Speaker 1: fifty two seven type of breathe easy game for the Steelers.
Speaker 1: I mean, in in Dan's old words, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't they can't protect. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: it is that quarterback. It'll probably rush, And what does
Speaker 1: it matter? They chose Ben de Nucci over rushed to
Speaker 1: start this year, though, So I mean that kind of
Speaker 1: shows you where Cooper Rush was at. He was on
Speaker 1: the game in my building forward Denucci. I mean, hey, hey,
Speaker 1: maybe it's not his fault that your offensive line they
Speaker 1: can't block three, they can't block four. When the Steelers
Speaker 1: want a blitz, you're definitely not gonna block five. It
Speaker 1: really doesn't matter. The Steelers defense will be able to
Speaker 1: do whatever they want. I am curious. I guess if
Speaker 1: the Cowboys defense is gonna build on what they did
Speaker 1: a week ago where they had by far their best
Speaker 1: game of the year. I mean, vander esh did look
Speaker 1: a little spicy. Uh. DeMarcus Lawrence has definitely come on
Speaker 1: in a couple of the last couple of weeks. So
Speaker 1: you know, can the Cowboys defense get respectable because otherwise,
Speaker 1: you're right, it's gonna be a thirty forty point margin
Speaker 1: in this I was gonna you know, every year, there's
Speaker 1: always gonna be obviously one game that's the biggest blowout
Speaker 1: of the year. Everyone kind of circled Jets at Kansas
Speaker 1: City last week, which was ugly, but didn't get to that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, apocalyptic level. This could be it because of
Speaker 1: everything that's going against the Cowboys right now, the amount
Speaker 1: of bad vibes in that building. Uh, the quarterback situation
Speaker 1: where this is depending how you look look at it,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be their fourth or fifth string quarterback starting
Speaker 1: against arguably the best defense in the league. You put
Speaker 1: all that together, uh, and the fact that the Steelers
Speaker 1: can score points of their own on offense, we could
Speaker 1: be staring at a fifty burger game that you know,
Speaker 1: maybe takes Mike McCarthy one step closer to the coaching graveyard.
Speaker 1: I don't know, We'll see. But the only thing I
Speaker 1: guess I would say from the Steelers end of things
Speaker 1: is that Ben Roethlisberg in the passing game can go
Speaker 1: to sleep for stretches and maybe maybe us maybe the
Speaker 1: only thing that keeps us from a blowout is that
Speaker 1: the offense, the passing offense is a little out of sink,
Speaker 1: and it keeps the Steelers from just going absolutely mad here. Well,
Speaker 1: if I'm the Steelers, I'm resting my players that are
Speaker 1: a little banged up. Tyson a la lalla. That's one
Speaker 1: of the reasons they didn't you know, protect uh, you know,
Speaker 1: stop the run last week is hurt. There's a couple
Speaker 1: other players that are heard. It's like, sit them down
Speaker 1: this week. They should have gotten Romo out of here though,
Speaker 1: hashtag save Romo. I mean, I tend to draft a
Speaker 1: Romo game. I think I've had it five or six times.
Speaker 1: It's like, I can't even take it this week. Why
Speaker 1: why do they have Romo in this game? Give me
Speaker 1: a break? Fair? I guess it's like the one rating
Speaker 1: matchup possible, but forget it. Well, before we move on
Speaker 1: to Mark's original point, the fantasy point, all the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: all the people that had Cowboys. You had one week.
Speaker 1: It was after DA's leg broke and before Dalton started,
Speaker 1: when there was a sense that maybe they could continue
Speaker 1: to be a functional offense with Dalton. But then one
Speaker 1: Stalton went down in flames in that primetime game. It
Speaker 1: was basically lights out. So now you're going down with
Speaker 1: the ship. You're it's the band from the orchestra from
Speaker 1: the Titanic. At this point, if you still have Cowboys
Speaker 1: skill players and your roster, all right, that brings us
Speaker 1: to the old zeus Er. Oh God, I loving the
Speaker 1: old Zusters up in the draft. Uh. He does such
Speaker 1: a great job with his picks. What is going on
Speaker 1: all right? Detroit at Minnesota is my pick? I like
Speaker 1: this game, like it Minnesota, little feisty. They made me
Speaker 1: look bad earlier this season because I liked them a lot.
Speaker 1: I said they had a very high floor. I thought
Speaker 1: they were close to a lock to ten and six
Speaker 1: as any team in the NFC. Obviously ignored what were
Speaker 1: major issues on their team, which was first and foremost
Speaker 1: the defense. What I didn't see was Kirk Cousins turning
Speaker 1: into uh. As Gregg pointed out last week Jameis Winston
Speaker 1: Part two, he still don't really know how that happened.
Speaker 1: I guess the loss of Stefan Diggs played a role,
Speaker 1: But just justin Jefferson has been awesome as a rookie.
Speaker 1: So all this stuff going on in my head swimming
Speaker 1: in my head about the Vikings, I can't totally put
Speaker 1: them to bed I. I don't want to give up
Speaker 1: the dream that this is the team that is gonna
Speaker 1: be in the mix. Maybe they're not going to get
Speaker 1: to the floor that I thought, which was ten and six,
Speaker 1: but they'll be playing relevant football in December. It starts
Speaker 1: right here, though. Go beat the Lions in your building.
Speaker 1: I don't have any faith in the Lions, and they're
Speaker 1: dealing with COVID related issues this week. The top things off,
Speaker 1: So the Vikings have a chance now to build off
Speaker 1: what was a really nice win against the Packers at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field where Davin Cook went absolutely mad. I don't
Speaker 1: think they're gonna have trouble moving the ball again this week,
Speaker 1: and I like them a lot in this game. What
Speaker 1: do you boys think that you think that you're gonna
Speaker 1: lock it up? There? You sounded passionate. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that the win over Green Bay was the kind
Speaker 1: of win to shut someone like me up because I've
Speaker 1: been the opposite of you, Dan, obviously, I've been down
Speaker 1: on the Vikings for a long time. Um and it
Speaker 1: looked good, but I have to I have I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think that there's some fight here and in any
Speaker 1: team that can run the ball the way they are
Speaker 1: right now. You know, let Cook cook. How about let
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook just keep doing this down the stretch. Forget
Speaker 1: about this Kirk Cousins business. The two games they've won
Speaker 1: with Kirk Cousins, he has passed the ball twenty two times,
Speaker 1: and last week and going against Green Bay fourteen times.
Speaker 1: I think that's what they want to do. And why
Speaker 1: not because that's paired with really really great performances on
Speaker 1: the ground, and there's no reason you can't do that
Speaker 1: with Detroit and with the Stafford thing. You know, it
Speaker 1: adds to the layer of mess that so many teams
Speaker 1: are dealing with right now. And I would I like
Speaker 1: a better answer from certain players and coaches on you know,
Speaker 1: if you don't practice all week and you're you know,
Speaker 1: you're just attending meetings over zoom, I don't know how
Speaker 1: much of an impact does that have in Week nine
Speaker 1: if you're a quarterback or a skilled position player, I
Speaker 1: still think it matters a lot. I mean, we don't
Speaker 1: have these practices from nineteen eighty five where it's full contact,
Speaker 1: but it's chemistry, it's it's scout team, it's the whole situation.
Speaker 1: So to me, that's an impact and that's a big
Speaker 1: advantage for the Vikings, right. I think that like the
Speaker 1: for instance, the Broncos last week, it's like they never
Speaker 1: practiced their red zone and third down plays. And you know,
Speaker 1: the NFL is kind of dancing through the rain drops
Speaker 1: right now trying to get these games happening. Ten teams
Speaker 1: this week have COVID related issues. Stafford's starting quarterback, that's
Speaker 1: that's out um of practice. But to be clear, you know,
Speaker 1: the timeline that we've seen in terms of being out
Speaker 1: five days because he was a close contact, means he
Speaker 1: could start in this game, and at this point, I
Speaker 1: think it's cautiously expected to start. But I'm with you, Dan,
Speaker 1: I had the Vikings winning regardless. Uh. I think these
Speaker 1: two teams have two Jenga pieces. One of them is
Speaker 1: Kenny Golladay and he's out with a hip injury. This
Speaker 1: Lion's offense is just mediocre without Galada stretching the field.
Speaker 1: He is such a great receiver. They just don't have
Speaker 1: enough juice otherwise. And then Dalvin Cook's the other one.
Speaker 1: He's the other running back that matters. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: just a different offense. You guys have spelled it out,
Speaker 1: but I think that Gary Kubiak like zone running scheme
Speaker 1: has kind of taken hold quietly. They just need to
Speaker 1: be in game situations, game scripts where they're not trailer
Speaker 1: by twenty, which has happened to them a few times.
Speaker 1: Because the Cousins, this should not be one of those weeks.
Speaker 1: We like Mike Zimmer here at the A T N podcast.
Speaker 1: He's good coach. I give him credit because when you
Speaker 1: trade Yannick and Gokway, that's sending a message to the
Speaker 1: locker room that your organization is quit on the season.
Speaker 1: Team didn't quit on the coach against the Packers, and
Speaker 1: the stat of there gonna go seven and nine, don't
Speaker 1: you think they're gonna go seven nine? I'm not giving
Speaker 1: up the ghost. I think seven and nine is good
Speaker 1: for him right now. But I think we probably because
Speaker 1: I think Kirk Cousins, the way he's playing that ye
Speaker 1: will probably kill them one or two more times and
Speaker 1: that could be the difference between seven and nine and
Speaker 1: the nine and seven. Uh come back. But Dave Cook
Speaker 1: a hundred and eleven of his a hundred sixty three
Speaker 1: rushing yards were after contact last week against the Packers.
Speaker 1: He is a superstar alright, Greg, you're up alright, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna surprise you here. I'm going with Jake Lewton's first start.
Speaker 1: Who really knows he's playing for the Jaguars and he's
Speaker 1: playing against the Texts, and my strategy is to get
Speaker 1: the game. I don't really want to watch that much
Speaker 1: in my backup window early. That's how I do it,
Speaker 1: and that is a strategy. It's like, I don't I
Speaker 1: don't need to watch Luton on game pass. Proved me wrong.
Speaker 1: Maybe they will. Maybe he will because they really liked
Speaker 1: him in camp. They talked about him in the same
Speaker 1: way they kind of talked about Minshew last year, and
Speaker 1: they were right about Minshew being better than you'd ever
Speaker 1: expect a late round rookie to be. I believe in
Speaker 1: my soul more than anything that Luton was starting this game,
Speaker 1: whether Minshew got hurt or not. If you saw that
Speaker 1: Ian Rapp report report a couple of weeks ago, how
Speaker 1: they were thinking of benching Minshew, it only makes sense
Speaker 1: to do it for another young guy. Uh. And then
Speaker 1: Morone said early in the bye in their bye week,
Speaker 1: that we're gonna shake some things up. I mean that
Speaker 1: to me, telegraph that you're making a change at quarterback,
Speaker 1: and so they were curious enough to see Luton play.
Speaker 1: Despite Minshew playing Okay, I don't think anyone saying that
Speaker 1: he was a disaster, so I think they're thinking this
Speaker 1: is a great matchup here. They're playing the Texans. Texans
Speaker 1: have more COVID issues than anyone. They're gonna be without
Speaker 1: Jacob Martin, their linebacker. They're gonna be without Whitney Merciless,
Speaker 1: who on Thursday was deemed a close contact. He's out.
Speaker 1: So this game of all the games, is one I
Speaker 1: think you have to watch to make sure it even happens.
Speaker 1: But if it does, there should be a lot of
Speaker 1: points defensive. I'm really rooting hard here for the Jags
Speaker 1: for Jets purposes. I need the Jags to get that
Speaker 1: second w Houston has Deshaun Watson, so they're gonna stumble
Speaker 1: into three or four wins, so I'm not worried about them,
Speaker 1: So go Jags. I'm also gonna get all in Sessler
Speaker 1: on Lutanity because you know the Gardner Minshew thing. I
Speaker 1: missed that train and that seemed like it was a
Speaker 1: fun ride. Walt lasted. Well, I'm gonna be the first
Speaker 1: one on the Jake the Snake Lutanity train. I'm all
Speaker 1: in on his abilities to be like the second coming
Speaker 1: of Minshew Mania. Uh, it's like when Johnny Doe replaced
Speaker 1: Dirk Diggler and Boogie Nights. It's like that. Feeling like this,
Speaker 1: he's the same guy. He's a late round pick that
Speaker 1: had a spunky college career and uh, you know what,
Speaker 1: why not get on the train and see where it
Speaker 1: takes me? Well, you know, so I'll play your role
Speaker 1: in this relationship and you know, throw little jabs at
Speaker 1: Lutonity and Luton every chance I get. I think that
Speaker 1: Greg number one, you're absolutely right when when Ian is
Speaker 1: putting out a report that you know they want to
Speaker 1: see what they have in Minshew's you know, heading towards
Speaker 1: the bench for another six rounder. To me, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's hey, maybe we have a future starter. It's hey,
Speaker 1: we have a chance to go get Trevor Lawrence, So
Speaker 1: let's get Minshew out of here. Who is you know
Speaker 1: they're losing with him, but he's a little too frisky
Speaker 1: and for all this heat has a great arm. Jake
Speaker 1: Luton business. I went and looked at some stuff scouting
Speaker 1: reports coming out of Oregon's six foot six is one
Speaker 1: of these. Well no, because because I wanted to find
Speaker 1: all this's going on here, it struck me as suspicious.
Speaker 1: He was basically labeled as a non depasser game manager,
Speaker 1: good ball security, not a guy who can scramble or
Speaker 1: lays with the run. No, but Minshew can at least
Speaker 1: give you Like on the ground, Minshew is has escapability,
Speaker 1: he can move a little bit. He's probably created stuff
Speaker 1: when nothing's there more than people would expect. I don't
Speaker 1: think that's the case here. I think that they're going
Speaker 1: with a lower wattage quarterback, and I think the Jet
Speaker 1: that Dan, they are looking at your Jets team and
Speaker 1: saying we want the Jets to sneak a few wins here,
Speaker 1: because you this is two teams saying we can change
Speaker 1: our franchisees if we get Trevor Lawrence. And they're right
Speaker 1: in that zone, So you go with the lower watted
Speaker 1: You think they're trying to I definitely do. I definitely do.
Speaker 1: But I think maybe the way they operate. They even
Speaker 1: told Marone it's you're not on the hot seat, you're
Speaker 1: part of this, or maybe they just said it with
Speaker 1: their eyes. Maybe it's not done for not maybe it's done,
Speaker 1: you know, done with if it's maybe it's not you
Speaker 1: know something that there's no words, there's no it's not
Speaker 1: been overheard by anyone bugging the building. Greg. I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to be a go down conspiracy avenue again. I
Speaker 1: just think that Minshew was a little too dangerous for
Speaker 1: them not to get at this case. Maybe I'm maybe
Speaker 1: I think they want to see this guy. I think
Speaker 1: they liked him. They want to see him. Jay Gruden
Speaker 1: whenever there's wherever Jay Gruden goes, little whispers to the
Speaker 1: media follow you kind of notice these things. I think
Speaker 1: he likes Jake Luton for whatever reason. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the Texans are the worst run defense in the league.
Speaker 1: James Robinson might go off. I know the Texans are
Speaker 1: heavy favorites here, but I'm not trusting the Texans uh
Speaker 1: as heavy favorites until I feel like this is a
Speaker 1: coin flip. Yeah, all right, we've done a lot of
Speaker 1: talking to one in six teams. Let's move on Snare
Speaker 1: Oh baby, um, not totally ready for that. But I'll
Speaker 1: pick a game that I truly love that I love
Speaker 1: it so much I almost wanted in my number one slot.
Speaker 1: It's the Falcons and the Broncos. There's just sometimes sometimes
Speaker 1: teams are just like my team, like teams I'm like
Speaker 1: surprisingly enjoyed watching The Dolphins would be one of those
Speaker 1: teams this year. The Broncos and the Falcons qualify. The
Speaker 1: Falcons drive you crazy. They have really turned their season
Speaker 1: around since firing Dan Quinn and getting Julio Jones back.
Speaker 1: They've won two out of three. If Todd really had
Speaker 1: just fallen down, we'd be talking about a three game
Speaker 1: winning streak. The Browncos have won two out of three.
Speaker 1: A little bit lucky last week since Drew Lock returned,
Speaker 1: but I do think they're frisky and this is a
Speaker 1: big game for them. They can get back to five hundred.
Speaker 1: They can get back to relevant. Uh. Drew Lock had
Speaker 1: seven absolutely miserable quarters and I think he fell into
Speaker 1: that win. Uh. And I think the Charges collapsed a
Speaker 1: little more than he made consistent plays. Um, But this
Speaker 1: is a beatable matchup against Atlanta. Go on the road,
Speaker 1: get a win with your solid defense, get these playmakers
Speaker 1: involved on turf against a bad defense, and go get
Speaker 1: to five hundred. I mean, Albert KOI buonum, I think
Speaker 1: I got it right. There. He looks like one of
Speaker 1: the best young Titans we've seen come out in a while.
Speaker 1: He's a fourth or fifth round pick, and him next
Speaker 1: to Fan who's who looks a little banged up to me,
Speaker 1: doesn't have the same explosiveness. But that's that they got
Speaker 1: a fun little team. If they can just get locked
Speaker 1: not blowing it. That's my big with Albert. I go
Speaker 1: with Albert Oh because I know that that is infallible,
Speaker 1: and I know that that is correct to some degree
Speaker 1: as well. I mean that to me, you know, Greg,
Speaker 1: I like what I like what your lock did at
Speaker 1: the end of last week. But they have had some
Speaker 1: slow starts. They are thirty and d v o A
Speaker 1: on offense. That has to do with, you know, the
Speaker 1: junk that was going on when Locke was hurt as well.
Speaker 1: But if this is your game, the Falcons are twenty
Speaker 1: nine against the past in d v o A, So
Speaker 1: it's like, come out firing for once. Be the sum
Speaker 1: of your parts. Because the thing about Denver that interests
Speaker 1: you is they have all this young talent, They have
Speaker 1: this speed. A guy like Albert Oh, who we weren't
Speaker 1: even talking about in August, is a huge factor. So
Speaker 1: let's put it all together against a team that you
Speaker 1: should be able to beat. Here if we should take
Speaker 1: you seriously. I struggled to take Denver seriously, but I'm
Speaker 1: with you. They're fun to watch, and so I'd like
Speaker 1: to have them hang around for the sake of not
Speaker 1: another team that goes into the trash compactor as we
Speaker 1: head into mid November. I don't need that. Falcons could
Speaker 1: easily a foray are we. Falcons are this team that
Speaker 1: should be easily dispatch They're playing hard. We just saw
Speaker 1: them beat the Panthers. Pulled a poll on Thursday night,
Speaker 1: and I'm with where I'm out of the Broncos. Show
Speaker 1: me yeah, show me it again. That's all you're You're
Speaker 1: in the third quarter and then the charger is gonna charger.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to take away from the Broncos
Speaker 1: because that was a great fourth quarter for Lock in
Speaker 1: the offense. Lock went fourteen of eighteen for a hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty five yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. That's exactly the type of like quarter you
Speaker 1: want to see from a young quarterback you believe in
Speaker 1: because he's showing you something. He's flashing but if he
Speaker 1: goes to Atlanta and follows it up with another, you know,
Speaker 1: performance that is a man or worse performance, then you
Speaker 1: lose that juice. But yeah, so what you're gonna saying,
Speaker 1: build off that win? Uh, and then maybe we could
Speaker 1: start getting a little excited Greg's earlier there. I get it, Greg,
Speaker 1: Greg and West and other people in the football gagnets
Speaker 1: anthy that's a bit said a bit differently that time.
Speaker 1: Have been excited about the Broncos for weeks, and you've
Speaker 1: got your little cookie against the Chargers. Well, now, let's
Speaker 1: see if this is going to go next level. Let's
Speaker 1: get a whole cake, a whole bunch of desserts. All right,
Speaker 1: one game, right, one one remaining game on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna, hey, Nick, gonna need you to grab
Speaker 1: giants at at Washington. But and he's gonna shrug his shoulders,
Speaker 1: and it's like, all right, man, I love Nick Shook.
Speaker 1: He assaulted the earth. He'll he'll say, yes, but I
Speaker 1: wonder if inside he's slightly annoyed. Man, what a year,
Speaker 1: What a what an ad Shook has been unfortunately without
Speaker 1: West for long stretches of the season, as he continues
Speaker 1: his cancer fight and we love you wes Uh and
Speaker 1: we hope to get him back soon. But Shook has
Speaker 1: been a huge value add He's done great job. Every
Speaker 1: Sunday night read his weekly top ten columns. He goes
Speaker 1: through a variety of you know, positional rankings, and this
Speaker 1: week it was like the most disruptive players on defense,
Speaker 1: not like in the locker room, not personality wise. I
Speaker 1: mean he did. He does a great job with these,
Speaker 1: So you know and go find Allen of this season.
Speaker 1: You know, just brings the media energy, might fumble the
Speaker 1: ball a couple of times, but you know, it brings
Speaker 1: some fun to it there about. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: I just want to get a text from Shook that's like,
Speaker 1: why are you calling me? Kind Shooks like one, remember
Speaker 1: like every every once in a while you see some
Speaker 1: viral thing of like a seven year old that has
Speaker 1: as a bodybuilder. I'm convinced that there's photos of Shook
Speaker 1: when from like nine and he's completely jacked. I think
Speaker 1: that's a thing. I think you're right because his dad
Speaker 1: is a jacked gentleman as well, so I think it's
Speaker 1: been in the family like for a while. I don't
Speaker 1: think joke just started lifting weights like two months before
Speaker 1: he showed up in Los Angeles. Jack bros. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get into Giants at Washington. Greg, what do you
Speaker 1: think about this game? I like Washington watching the Washington
Speaker 1: football team more than I anticipated because I think Scott
Speaker 1: Turner's offense is pretty creative. They've been better with Kyle
Speaker 1: and he's definitely gonna give you a chance to you know,
Speaker 1: turn the ball over a couple of times, but at
Speaker 1: least the ball moves, and Antonio Gibson is just a
Speaker 1: powerful runner. They have guys who can make plays. Terry
Speaker 1: McLaurin I think is a future star if he's not
Speaker 1: there already. They have Chase Young, they have Montes Sweat,
Speaker 1: you know, their secondary. Their defense is it's a pretty
Speaker 1: good defense, and so I kind of trust them in
Speaker 1: this game. I know they lost the Giants a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago. Uh it was really based on the turnovers
Speaker 1: that Alan had it that was his first start. But
Speaker 1: they at least have some players that can win one
Speaker 1: on one. The Giants, to me, just don't have the juice.
Speaker 1: They're well coached, but they don't have the players. You know,
Speaker 1: one thing on Antonio Gibson and Scott Turner, and we always,
Speaker 1: you know, I always talking about Kyle Shanahan, son of
Speaker 1: a coach, but Scott Turner obviously the son of Norv Turner,
Speaker 1: and he's been around for a really long time. And
Speaker 1: he was the one, if from what I read, that
Speaker 1: really pushed for Antonio Gibson, and it was someone with
Speaker 1: not a large sample size as a running back in college.
Speaker 1: It wasn't the same way with Bryce Love, who you know,
Speaker 1: had massive carries and tempts and touches. They projected him
Speaker 1: as sort of a Christian McCaffrey type, and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that's the case, but he has been impactful. And
Speaker 1: you're right, Washington has pieces that you can look into
Speaker 1: the future and if they right get that they find
Speaker 1: the right quarterback, there's something going on there. I I
Speaker 1: don't think the Giants, though, are a gigantic mess there
Speaker 1: to the sense of their defense, to me, is playing
Speaker 1: above water better than what I thought. And I know Greg,
Speaker 1: I know that, you know, I know that Daniel Jones
Speaker 1: at some point burned down like your childhood home. And
Speaker 1: they might need to find a new quarterback at some
Speaker 1: point here. But they have other things going on that.
Speaker 1: I was a fan. I'm frustrated, and I just thought
Speaker 1: that that performance, granted it's an island game, the whole
Speaker 1: country's watching. I just thought people were kind of under playing.
Speaker 1: How is one of the worst games any quarterbacks played
Speaker 1: all year, maybe the worst. And it's coming off the
Speaker 1: It was coming off the game where he did the
Speaker 1: trip and it's like your problem for him is like
Speaker 1: you start to play yourself out of the beholder business
Speaker 1: on national TV right right? The trip game was an
Speaker 1: island game as well, and that's just I think, now
Speaker 1: it's over and he did I know you didn't like
Speaker 1: that last drive against a very good defense. Was it
Speaker 1: was lock? Whatever? I mean? Well, I mean I don't
Speaker 1: want to pull the you never played card, But he
Speaker 1: he made the throws and he made the plays and scored.
Speaker 1: But he say they had they called the perfect play
Speaker 1: on the two point conversion. I think all thirty one
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks it was his first read. Just throw the
Speaker 1: ball and that and that was emblematic to me of
Speaker 1: the whole night. I get it. And if you have
Speaker 1: doubts about Daniel Jones, it is totally fair. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the Giants defense has been okay. It's been pretty good
Speaker 1: this year and the Washington These are two teams, like
Speaker 1: who's going to potentially catch the Eagles in the NFC East.
Speaker 1: It's one of these two teams. Most likely, I think
Speaker 1: it's neither of them. I think it's the Eagles that
Speaker 1: are gonna limp to a division win. But I guess you,
Speaker 1: if you squint, you can make a case for one
Speaker 1: of these teams. I would to pay if I had
Speaker 1: to pick between two of them, would be Washington because
Speaker 1: the defense is a little higher ceiling and if Kyle
Speaker 1: Allen could be okay, maybe they can get on a
Speaker 1: little run there. But I don't know. This is a
Speaker 1: hard game to get excited about. At the end of
Speaker 1: the day, it is there's one little nugget from this
Speaker 1: Washington team. But I don't think we mentioned in our
Speaker 1: show that Ron Rivera last week appeared to have his
Speaker 1: last treatment for his cancer. Suits he's awesome. I mean
Speaker 1: for him to go through what he's gone through, and
Speaker 1: for our show, we all know that that means a
Speaker 1: lot more. But um, I mean, this is a guy
Speaker 1: that never once complained about it, and being a head
Speaker 1: coach already shuts you out from your family from regular life,
Speaker 1: from everything. I mean, these guys already do these hours
Speaker 1: that are insane. So to put to tack that on
Speaker 1: and get through it and have us talk about Washington
Speaker 1: as a team that is still maybe has a chance
Speaker 1: in this division is impressive. Well. Rivera brings good vibes,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think that's important for Washington. This
Speaker 1: has been one of the most depressing franchises for a while.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, not a team that seemed like they
Speaker 1: were to other happy Like this team seems to be
Speaker 1: like pulling for each other. They like playing for Rivera
Speaker 1: all of his teams do. I think that matters. I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna help him this year. Good call, well said, gentlemen.
Speaker 1: There you go. That is the preview of week nine.
Speaker 1: Make sure you tune in on Sunday night where we
Speaker 1: recap each of the games we just laid out here
Speaker 1: and um, that's what we call the flagship show mark.
Speaker 1: That's that's how we branded it. I mean, that's you
Speaker 1: you tweeted about the other day. I put out a
Speaker 1: tweet with an actual flagship um that A bunch of
Speaker 1: people came at me saying listen, that's some Some video
Speaker 1: taken from a video game. I'm forty seven. I don't
Speaker 1: care where it came. I don't know what video game
Speaker 1: it came from, but I do know what a flagship
Speaker 1: is historically. Please all right, good and check out our
Speaker 1: mini pod recapping Thursday night football Packers Niners. Until then,
Speaker 1: this is Dan Hanson signing up for a quiet storm
Speaker 1: the Old Boss or Ricky Hollywood in the Whole Gang
Speaker 1: until Sunday s