Speaker 1: They are around the NFL podcast. What the hell's going
Speaker 1: on out here?
Speaker 2: Seriously?
Speaker 3: What time?
Speaker 2: From the Chris Westling podcast studio, It's around the NFL.
Speaker 2: I am Dan hansis heroes here, Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Yes,
Speaker 2: we are back kind of and we plan to do
Speaker 2: two shows this week, but things changed. It's been a
Speaker 2: tough week. Not at total liberty to get into all
Speaker 2: the specifics, but please consult our social media profiles for
Speaker 2: more on what has been a very tough week for
Speaker 2: the podcast. And you know, the show is no stranger
Speaker 2: to adversity, and we will regroup and march on. We
Speaker 2: always have. And I would say the only request I
Speaker 2: have for the listeners is just bear with us as
Speaker 2: we figure things out. And other than that, at Mark,
Speaker 2: how was the play? The play?
Speaker 1: Which play Little Lincoln ref? Come on, Little Lincoln ref?
Speaker 1: Come on a Little Lincoln raf. Well, you're dressed for
Speaker 1: like a Lincoln play in the eighteen.
Speaker 2: It is the off season, Mark, We do not need
Speaker 2: the suit jacket at this judge.
Speaker 3: You know, if we want to reference on first of all,
Speaker 3: the play was great, memorable. If we want to reference
Speaker 3: the stylings of our friend Chris Westling, that a lot
Speaker 3: of times when you dress up, it's because there's a
Speaker 3: dearth of clean clothing in the dressed down scenario on
Speaker 3: and we're not we're not.
Speaker 1: Buying that you wear that. You always wear the jacket
Speaker 1: even at home.
Speaker 3: You yeah, but because it's it's it's stationed and it
Speaker 3: looks it's stationed in the locker downstairs. So I come
Speaker 3: in in like a sweat or a T shirt and
Speaker 3: then change into this, then change back up here.
Speaker 2: Here's the difference in Chris Westling, I'm gonna hear from
Speaker 2: Wes in a second. When Wes said it, it was
Speaker 2: very much true because Wes would, you know, five out
Speaker 2: of six days or like I'd say, if we did
Speaker 2: a show three times, or in the office five days week,
Speaker 2: four to the days, he'd be wearing like an NFL
Speaker 2: Network polo and jeans maybe pre Lakisha, and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden he would show up in like a
Speaker 2: button down shirt with a pullover sweater and khakis and
Speaker 2: brown dress shoes, and it'd be just so like what
Speaker 2: is going on? He'd be like, I literally don't have
Speaker 2: any other clothes. They're all dirty. It was like I
Speaker 2: buy it, Hold on, I don't know if.
Speaker 3: I buy your So you're saying my laundry, you're you
Speaker 3: are estimating that my laundry situation is untrue. Come, how
Speaker 3: come investigate my laundry firsthand, and you'll see that there
Speaker 3: are truisms attached to what I've.
Speaker 1: Said as a longtime critic of men's fashion. I think
Speaker 1: you are being the change you want to see in
Speaker 1: the world, and I respect it.
Speaker 3: I just that's a nice bridge building attempt, Greg, I
Speaker 3: appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yes, so, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Weird week,
Speaker 2: but the NFL schedule marches on. The NFL schedule literally
Speaker 2: was released on Thursday, and we're gonna dig into it
Speaker 2: in our loan show this week. Everything from primetime games
Speaker 2: to holiday games to international games. Highlight, Greg, ye, some
Speaker 2: team schedules that caught your eye, per okay, But before
Speaker 2: we dig in, we'll start with week one. Just for fun,
Speaker 2: I would like to hear from the great late Chris Wesling,
Speaker 2: who always hated this time of the year. It is
Speaker 2: the last league tenth pole event or the first, depending
Speaker 2: how you look at it, and he was never really
Speaker 2: about it. I always kind of agreed with him, But
Speaker 2: since he's been gone. There's been something about this particular
Speaker 2: thing that I agree with even more here is Chris
Speaker 2: and Eric behind the scenes did a great job digging
Speaker 2: it up, speaking on his general issues with people getting
Speaker 2: overly into this time of year.
Speaker 4: You want to race to this schedule and find out
Speaker 4: your road trips, plan all that, put a W and
Speaker 4: L next to every team on your schedule. I get
Speaker 4: all of that. Just don't ask me to analyze it
Speaker 4: five months. There's no analysis necessary. Just enjoy the schedule
Speaker 4: being released.
Speaker 2: I miss Wes, I miss West this week, and I
Speaker 2: love hearing his voice in it. I agree.
Speaker 1: This was always yeah the time of year, and it
Speaker 1: used to be before the draft actually, so it almost
Speaker 1: was like interrupting draft season. But Wes would hate all
Speaker 1: the secrecy that we'd have to have with the schedule.
Speaker 1: We would black out the podcast studio so no one
Speaker 1: in the building could hear it, and he would just
Speaker 1: think this was the biggest, colossal waste of time. But
Speaker 1: the NFL smartly realized, actually we could blow out that
Speaker 1: classic waste of time more after the draft and kind
Speaker 1: of extend the season a couple more weeks. And I'm
Speaker 1: with Wes though. The first thing I did looking at
Speaker 1: the schedule. The only thing I really cared about personally
Speaker 1: was are the Rams playing on Thursday or Monday night?
Speaker 1: Because it's it's very hard to take my family to
Speaker 1: a game on a Sunday, and at this point that's
Speaker 1: my daughter's favorite thing to do in the world is
Speaker 1: to go to a Rams game. And I didn't deliver
Speaker 1: that for last year, and we got when we got
Speaker 1: a Thursday night or December twenty.
Speaker 2: First, excellent. It is your daughter equally flummixed by the
Speaker 2: Rams general yes, game planter franchise's direction.
Speaker 1: She asked me, A yes, she talks about Jalen Raby often.
Speaker 1: She doesn't understand it and it's hard to explain salary
Speaker 1: cap considerations and that there really is no explanation that
Speaker 1: it's not a daddy.
Speaker 2: What's a long range plan with Matthew Stafford given the
Speaker 2: rest of the roster.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's going to be very long range.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think like eleven now. The thing that
Speaker 3: Wes mentioned that makes sense, it's like if you're a fan,
Speaker 3: because I was hanging out with a Steelers fan yesterday
Speaker 3: in the minute like this the schedule came out. It
Speaker 3: was like Bang planning trip to Las Vegas for week three,
Speaker 3: Like that makes sense. Wes mentioned that, But I love,
Speaker 3: I always love just take on this because analyzing it
Speaker 3: and we're about to go do that. So it's not
Speaker 3: like turn off the show. We're going to do a
Speaker 3: great job with it. But like, why not your if
Speaker 3: you want, I mean, why not stare like a farmer's
Speaker 3: almanac that tells you it's going to be a nice
Speaker 3: season to grow corn in twenty twenty nine. Well what
Speaker 3: if your village is bombed by invaders in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: It's like that unpredictable where we're going to be in
Speaker 3: week seventeen or eighteen, But we're about to tell you
Speaker 3: why all that matters.
Speaker 1: Well, it's like Kyle Shanahan says, you know, there's no
Speaker 1: guarantee we even make it to Sunday.
Speaker 2: I find it us Week seventeen especially a fool's errand
Speaker 2: to predict like the easy part of the schedule because
Speaker 2: you never know, like what teams will rise up and
Speaker 2: be frisky or even good. You kind of I feel
Speaker 2: a little more comfortable looking at a schedule and saying, oh,
Speaker 2: these this is going to be a difficult stretch based
Speaker 2: on certain superpowers that you don't expect to fall off.
Speaker 1: Well, this will be entertaining, especially early. It's like I'm
Speaker 1: willing to guess, although I guess injuries happened, that that
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes Chiefs will provide me entertainment and be in
Speaker 1: some big situations this year.
Speaker 2: Which is a nice seg Greggie to Thursday, September seventh,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three for Week one. Let's kind of go
Speaker 2: through it here. We'll start with the primetime games and
Speaker 2: shout out to the team of around the NFL of
Speaker 2: the Detroit Lions, who who turned last season's feel good story,
Speaker 2: a season that ended with a winning record correct correct,
Speaker 2: and no playoff just missed the playoffs, but a winning
Speaker 2: record nine to eight into a Thursday night opener showcase
Speaker 2: on the road in Arrowhead against the defending champion Chiefs.
Speaker 2: That's Thursday night football. Pretty saucy. I gotta say, Greg,
Speaker 2: I was a little surprised, as much as we love
Speaker 2: the Lions, that they were the team that was selected
Speaker 2: there to be the opener, which is kind of hollowed
Speaker 2: ground for the people that plan this stuff. At three
Speaker 2: forty five, I was shocked.
Speaker 1: I mean, basically, the NFL is deciding not to burn
Speaker 1: the Bengals or the Bills or these games that feel
Speaker 1: or the Eagles for that matter. Uh, these games that
Speaker 1: feel Titanic.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: In terms of AFC playoff seed and then a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl rematch is really unique. Talk about that, you don't
Speaker 1: you don't know get that they decide and I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that they saved those games until the end
Speaker 1: of the season. So Okay, everyone's gonna watch Kickoff anyways,
Speaker 1: let's put in everyone's favorite dad, Dan Campbell and uh oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, NBC, But I mean, maybe don't mention
Speaker 1: all those Lions that were suspended for gambling.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: I mean, like if you look at their home, you
Speaker 3: can ask that well.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I was a little surprised at
Speaker 1: that because that was an embarrassing story for the NFL
Speaker 1: to put that team.
Speaker 2: By September, nobody will be.
Speaker 3: No, it's gonna I mean like even now we're talking
Speaker 3: about it, people have forgotten about it.
Speaker 2: I have no idea what Greg's talking about it.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think like there weren't a lot of
Speaker 3: options other than Bills or Bengals. If you pick about
Speaker 3: if you pick who Kansas City played at home. But
Speaker 3: it totally threw me in a wonderful way because it's
Speaker 3: like we were onto the Lions. I think a lot
Speaker 3: of people think they're gonna be fun and frisky, but
Speaker 3: it's a team that has been essentially shielded from the
Speaker 3: public eye outside of mostly embarrassing Thanksgiving game for eons,
Speaker 3: and it's like they're recognizing that this is a team
Speaker 3: on the brink. It's a bit of a risk because
Speaker 3: part of me thinks, well, it's the Chiefs. It could
Speaker 3: be forty to ten. But if we get the version
Speaker 3: of the Lions we had last year, you trust them
Speaker 3: to keep it kind of frisky. And it's a big
Speaker 3: spot for Jared Goff.
Speaker 2: It's too the top five offenses by many metrics in
Speaker 2: the league last year. You expect points and you hope
Speaker 2: for points. It could go sideways. Absolutely, that's like a
Speaker 2: big assignment for Campbell and it's still a young roster.
Speaker 1: And defense and that in that week one game. Sometimes
Speaker 1: the kickoff game is a total snoozer and you're just
Speaker 1: still so happy with it. Like I'm thinking of the
Speaker 1: last kickoff game we did with with Chris you know
Speaker 1: that was Texans Chiefs. We were at Chris's house for
Speaker 1: that and that could it was like Clyde Edwards Lair
Speaker 1: had a halfway. It could not have been a bigger snoozer.
Speaker 1: But everyone's happy because football's back.
Speaker 2: So that stars. And by the way, I think the
Speaker 2: power of hard knocks, as much as people sometimes denigrated
Speaker 2: at this stage, check it out, check it out, the
Speaker 2: lines that put them on the national radar.
Speaker 5: Winning, man, there is nothing like winning. And I'm telling
Speaker 5: you right now, it doesn't matter if it's freaking dominoes,
Speaker 5: it's stage, it's Blu ray, it's croquet, it's chest, it's
Speaker 5: preseason ass kicking. It does not matter.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 5: Winning is winning and it feels good.
Speaker 2: Man. So when George McCaskey of the Bears is openly
Speaker 2: shooting down the idea of being on hard knocks, look
Speaker 2: what happened to the Lions and you. You could I'm
Speaker 2: drawing a direct line, all.
Speaker 3: Right, You could suggest that your actual you're in Colleen's
Speaker 3: coverage of that hard knocks, uh journey that potentially led
Speaker 3: to this. So maybe the Lions, you know, should should
Speaker 3: think of you.
Speaker 1: And to some degree he does not know what Boo
Speaker 1: Ray is.
Speaker 2: By the way Sunday Night Football, Week one, Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 2: at New York Giants, and I know, speaking of West again,
Speaker 2: there might be some deep sighing there, like how many
Speaker 2: times does America need to watch a spotlight game between
Speaker 2: the Cowboys and Giants?
Speaker 3: But I'm here, I don't think he's alone in that.
Speaker 1: Twice a year and very often in this kickoff spot.
Speaker 1: It's got to be at least three or four times
Speaker 1: they've had a primetime Week one game and.
Speaker 2: Then on Monday Night football another New York team, this
Speaker 2: the Jets. The Jets, Oh, the Jets. The Jets, who,
Speaker 2: as expected, getting a lot of primetime love in this schedule.
Speaker 2: And we'll get to them in a little bit, but
Speaker 2: they got Bills at Jets opening up the season on
Speaker 2: the shoot on the we'll just call it the anniversary
Speaker 2: of nine to eleven. So there they'll have that big
Speaker 2: game in a primetime spot, which is wild wild.
Speaker 1: I also like that they don't do the doubleheader week one,
Speaker 1: but the double header is not gone. The Monday night
Speaker 1: doubleheader for the second straight year is part of the
Speaker 1: Week two coverage. But in Week three and Bill's Jets
Speaker 1: Bills Jets. To my what I really want to say,
Speaker 1: is like that deserves its own spotlight. I don't like
Speaker 1: it when it gets a cut up for a big.
Speaker 3: Game week two and Week three, and then week like
Speaker 3: way down the road they have the old weeks. I
Speaker 3: think it's week fourteen. They have the double Monday night
Speaker 3: football starting at the same time scenario, which to me
Speaker 3: is unpleasant, but I understand that they just want to
Speaker 3: simply fill our lives all the time with games NonStop.
Speaker 2: You got to be a modern man in a world
Speaker 2: that's moving very quickly. You got to have two screens.
Speaker 2: You've got to be computing everything. You have to have
Speaker 2: your socials open and be interacting with society as well.
Speaker 1: I'll need that, Trank Dart, Is that like an experiment
Speaker 1: to instead of flex teams, you just put two games
Speaker 1: on it at the same time late in the season,
Speaker 1: it's like one of the two.
Speaker 2: The schedule akers probably just messed up and they're like
Speaker 2: just to put two of it. Let's do just for
Speaker 2: fun the rest of week one, like we do during
Speaker 2: the season and all our preview shows. Let's do a
Speaker 2: mini mock draft here. I love it one, Greg, you
Speaker 2: won the title last year, you got the strap. Why
Speaker 2: don't you make your first pick.
Speaker 1: That's damn right. I'm gonna take Dolphins Chargers. I don't
Speaker 1: know why, but I really want to see this Dolphins
Speaker 1: team like play again. Shortly. We got the to Herbert thing,
Speaker 1: we got the Jalen Ramsey Vic Fangio thing. That's my game.
Speaker 2: Yes, I would go with ooh interesting.
Speaker 1: The top two to me were at the same time.
Speaker 5: It was.
Speaker 1: That was a tough choice.
Speaker 2: M mm hmmmm.
Speaker 3: I guess Dan your next, because you came in second in.
Speaker 2: The Yes, I was the silver medalist, you know it.
Speaker 2: Just for fun, I do want to see the opening
Speaker 2: of the Jordan Love era against Justin Fields and the
Speaker 2: improving Chicago Bear. It's a bit of a reach, but
Speaker 2: I gotta be honest with you, like, I didn't see
Speaker 2: anything that is a home run. Picked two for me,
Speaker 2: and I I am legitimately kind of fascinated by both
Speaker 2: of those teams.
Speaker 1: They take it back.
Speaker 3: I love this. How about this the defending NFC champion
Speaker 3: Eagles going into New England where they're going to have
Speaker 3: like celebrate Tom Brady Day, which you know brings a
Speaker 3: lot of thorny potential. You know, he left in a
Speaker 3: strange way but that stadium is going to be bonkers,
Speaker 3: absolutely lathered up, especially.
Speaker 2: If Tom Brady buys the Raiders or something whatever.
Speaker 3: The latest a little bit of a sideways approach to it,
Speaker 3: but kind of a weird place for the Eagles to
Speaker 3: start their season. And you know, I think New England's
Speaker 3: sort of a middle of the pack team obviously, but
Speaker 3: I don't love that for Philly, and their schedule in
Speaker 3: general is a little thorny. So it gets off the
Speaker 3: rough start.
Speaker 2: Check out how Bill O'Brien reinvents the Patriots offense.
Speaker 1: I pitch me, so I think it. It just it
Speaker 1: seems like an obvious point to make, but it's probably
Speaker 1: a bad sign that the number one thing about like
Speaker 1: schedule releases is Robert Craft being so excited that Tom
Speaker 1: would come visit the stadium, and then they released their
Speaker 1: schedule release video and it's all a bunch of retired
Speaker 1: Patriots players in a retirement home, including Devin mccordy, and
Speaker 1: it's like, don't think about the actual team that's playing
Speaker 1: football anymore. Let's just think about like past glory. That's
Speaker 1: pretty much our main.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's move on. That's good.
Speaker 1: That's it. That's the top.
Speaker 2: I mean you want to keep going No, I guess
Speaker 2: that's fine. Is there another throw out? One more game
Speaker 2: that really interests you? Greg Well.
Speaker 1: I want to see the start of the Anthony Richardson era,
Speaker 1: and I think he's going to be starting Week one
Speaker 1: against the Jags. I know that's it. That might be
Speaker 1: drafted a little later. Week one is my favorite week
Speaker 1: of this season. This is the best week of the seasons.
Speaker 2: Fun.
Speaker 3: I like this Niner Steelers. I want to see who's
Speaker 3: playing quarterback for San Francisco. I kind of think the
Speaker 3: whole year or two of Kenny Pickett. It's in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: Weird start for the Niners. Trey Lance could be brock
Speaker 3: perty Is.
Speaker 2: It weird, Mark that you're the coach that you love
Speaker 2: more than any coach? Kyle Shanahan is gassing up the
Speaker 2: Donald hive now calling him a franchise.
Speaker 3: I saw you tweeting about that, and I think it
Speaker 3: for you, it's a nice fever dream. It's a failed
Speaker 3: experiment that I like. If Sam Donald starts more than
Speaker 3: three games for that, they are in big trouble.
Speaker 2: Fully let it.
Speaker 3: It's May is the best time of year for Sam Donald.
Speaker 2: Primetime games four teams have six primetime games Kansas City, Buffalo,
Speaker 2: Dallas Chargers. That's that's a little rich for me. I
Speaker 2: would agree the Chargers getting that many private games. But whatever.
Speaker 2: The Packers, Raiders, Giants, Jets, Eagles, Vikings, and Niners all
Speaker 2: have five primetime games. The Bill. This is, by the way,
Speaker 2: good info from the NFL Research Department, who do killer
Speaker 2: thing right.
Speaker 1: But that doesn't even count like that Black Friday game
Speaker 1: for instance, for the Jets, or the Thanksgiving Spotlight. You
Speaker 1: have some spotlight games.
Speaker 2: That the Bills and Patriots will play each play. This
Speaker 2: is with all due respect Greg the Pats continue to
Speaker 2: get so much primetime love. The Bills and Patriots will
Speaker 2: each play three straight primetime games, which is interesting.
Speaker 1: In it's weeks fourteen through sixteen, and you can flex
Speaker 1: some of that out of time only the Monday night
Speaker 1: game because the other ones are NFL Network and Thursday Night.
Speaker 1: I did notice though they only had one Sunday night
Speaker 1: game Dan and that's the difference. And that's week two,
Speaker 1: and that's to me very much a sign of like
Speaker 1: Robert Kraft has sway with the broadcasters, but they're like,
Speaker 1: we got to get the Patriots their one Sunday night
Speaker 1: game to keep them happy. But we're going to get
Speaker 1: it out of the way early before they potend.
Speaker 3: You know what is offensive about this, like the primetime alone.
Speaker 3: I get to these other Island games. You're giving the
Speaker 3: Raiders five primetime games. They could be they could be
Speaker 3: an ugly operation to begin with. You're giving the Vikings five.
Speaker 3: I'm not sold on the Vikings in general. And the
Speaker 3: Bengals aren't even on this list. Hm, that's a good
Speaker 3: Bengals aren't even on this list. They have four. That's
Speaker 3: not the worst. But it's like, how on earth are
Speaker 3: the The Bengals have been recognized more than an any
Speaker 3: other season in a long long time as a team
Speaker 3: that's getting a lot of these games. They have four
Speaker 3: primetime and a couple other things happening here and there.
Speaker 3: But how are they not? How do the Chargers have six?
Speaker 3: The Raiders have five, the Vikings have five, and we
Speaker 3: don't know who the Packers are and you're giving the
Speaker 3: Bengals four.
Speaker 2: I have a theory, because the league is always trying
Speaker 2: to push the product that they are very much in
Speaker 2: conjunction with the Chargers themselves trying to get the Chargers
Speaker 2: to really get a foothold right here, and they see
Speaker 2: a Justin Herbert as a superstar quarterback. They want the
Speaker 2: Chargers to be a thing. And sometimes when like someone's
Speaker 2: really trying hard to make something a thing, there will
Speaker 2: be football fans or anamals are like whoa like it
Speaker 2: makes you actually be like repel the thing even more like,
Speaker 2: don't make them a thing. The Raiders getting a lot
Speaker 2: of primetime love. That makes sense to me because they're
Speaker 2: a great vibe. To me, they're a great home stadium
Speaker 2: experience in primetime. I like the Raiders, even though I'm
Speaker 2: not a Raiders fan, just watching them, they're to me
Speaker 2: they're pretty good theater, so I'm not.
Speaker 3: But I would also argue that that's, hey, we've just
Speaker 3: put out this massive effort to create this incredible new
Speaker 3: stadium in a new venue, and.
Speaker 2: That's part of it.
Speaker 1: So they're not using out how good your team is.
Speaker 1: They're not using it for the Rams much in primetime.
Speaker 1: So you got to use the Chargers. The Rams, who
Speaker 1: you know, did win a Super Bowl only a year ago,
Speaker 1: and they're in primetime twice. Neither one of them is
Speaker 1: on NBC, which to me is like the number one
Speaker 1: spot where they they put the team's part of it
Speaker 1: and we'll get to it later. Is just though the Chargers' schedule,
Speaker 1: the West play the Easts, and the Easts are where
Speaker 1: all the juices going into this season. They're the two
Speaker 1: best divisions. They play each other, but they also play
Speaker 1: the two West teams, So there's just like a lot
Speaker 1: of spicy Chargers, you know, out of division masters. I
Speaker 1: think that's part bye weeks.
Speaker 2: See, this is some of the stuff that's more interesting
Speaker 2: to me in terms of trying to figure out trajectory things.
Speaker 2: There's always teams that get banged with the bye week
Speaker 2: that's too early. This year, the first bye week is
Speaker 2: week five. The Browns, Bucks, Charger, Seahawks have the early
Speaker 2: by the last bys week fourteen, which is a little
Speaker 2: too late. Cardinals and Commanders.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are the one on a team out of
Speaker 1: thirty two that I'm not looking for to in week one.
Speaker 1: Other than that, I'm like, I'm intrigued enough, like at
Speaker 1: some point they have teams fall off. They have the Commanders,
Speaker 1: who I still that's you know, not that's not going
Speaker 1: to be drafted high, but I am curious to watch
Speaker 1: that little no, I'm curious the Commanders. I think could
Speaker 1: be kind of interesting.
Speaker 2: That's got nick Shook written all over.
Speaker 1: They've got a lot of offensive firepower. And I'm curious
Speaker 1: about Howell. But that's not a great.
Speaker 3: I hate these these teams getting stuck with it. It's
Speaker 3: the Browns, Chargers, Seahawks, and Bucks. Week five bye. I
Speaker 3: think it's good for a team if you had like
Speaker 3: a rookie quarterback and it's like, let's reorganize, let's see
Speaker 3: what we've done over the first month or so and
Speaker 3: get that extra time to come back out firing. But
Speaker 3: I mean the Chargers, like this is a team that's
Speaker 3: dealt with injuries year after year. They're getting a Week
Speaker 3: five by.
Speaker 2: That stinks. All Right, let's take a quick break and
Speaker 2: we will continue to dig in upon our return. All Right,
Speaker 2: we're back, mark. Uh. Something that jumps out to you
Speaker 2: upon the release of the twenty twenty three NFLS well.
Speaker 3: Greg mentioned it that the AFC East has the NFC East,
Speaker 3: and it's just like, you know, we're a year removed,
Speaker 3: and I mean I think months removed. If you haven't
Speaker 3: really been following, paying attention to what's happening to the Jets,
Speaker 3: the Dolphins, and even to some degree the Patriots, Like
Speaker 3: it's easy just to look at the Buffalo Bills, is, well,
Speaker 3: they're gonna win thirteen games, and we're gonna see them
Speaker 3: fourteen times. They have. We have ten games this year
Speaker 3: against last year's playoff teams, including both Super Bowl teams.
Speaker 3: One of their home games is a Jaguars game in London.
Speaker 3: They play four of their final six on the road
Speaker 3: to end the season, and three of the road games
Speaker 3: are against the Jets. That's gonna be thorny. Obviously, they
Speaker 3: play one game against the Jets on the road, but
Speaker 3: they get the Bengals on the road and the Chiefs
Speaker 3: on the road. And if I just look at last
Speaker 3: year's Bills team, I mean, they went through so much
Speaker 3: adversity and you found out that Josh Allen was this
Speaker 3: absolutely wonderful leader, and the whole team to me is
Speaker 3: really they're a true team. But I mean, they're gonna
Speaker 3: be put right through the crucible all over again. And
Speaker 3: I think their schedule speaks to me as a team
Speaker 3: that's gonna fall off a little bit in terms of
Speaker 3: where they'll be in the seeding in the end. In
Speaker 3: the AFC, it's about as tough as a slate as
Speaker 3: Sean McDermot could have dreamt up.
Speaker 1: Wait, so that Tottenham game is a Bills home game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's interesting.
Speaker 3: Because they're not making the Jaguars take two home games for.
Speaker 1: That right, and we haven't taped since they announced the
Speaker 1: international You want to go through those game?
Speaker 2: Sure, all right, let's go through the international slate. By
Speaker 2: the way, shout out. I was actually did a little
Speaker 2: FaceTime because phone calls with Henry Hotchin on nough to
Speaker 2: see that beautiful the folks broad man. Yeah, and HD
Speaker 2: is what it's all about. We're catching up and he
Speaker 2: is now the general Maan and longtime listeners know Henry Hodgson,
Speaker 2: that's hands of Hank from the Check days, many many
Speaker 2: appearances on our show. Now is the general manager of
Speaker 2: the uk NFL experience and he was all over television
Speaker 2: radio in England for the schedule release, which is nice.
Speaker 1: I mean, they don't mess around. I saw the clip
Speaker 1: on Sky Sports where they got the whole Tottenham you know,
Speaker 1: Hotspur stadiums empty and they put it up on the
Speaker 1: big screen. They got Henry there and then they do
Speaker 1: a roulette wheel to reveal the Tames though, like if.
Speaker 3: You're like men would enjoy watching Henry or eight like
Speaker 3: women would enjoy watching Henry speak about anything. He's a
Speaker 3: full audience, full crowd, adult pleaser, broad broad appeal, no
Speaker 3: physically broad, A lot on his shoulders. He fills out
Speaker 3: the telephon physically and professionally.
Speaker 2: Anyway. International games, the NFL will host five regular season
Speaker 2: games outside the US, three in London, two in Germany.
Speaker 2: I guess the Stadio Azteca and Mexico is still undergoing construction.
Speaker 2: I would guess because that's a great scene and ready
Speaker 2: for the year. That won't be involved, but I'm sure
Speaker 2: it will be down the line. So Week four and
Speaker 2: a big headline coming out of this. The Jags, who
Speaker 2: have forever been connected to London. Ownership is very They
Speaker 2: have a very vision that has been unshakable to make
Speaker 2: the Jaguars. I think the dream, I don't even think think.
Speaker 2: Uh Shad Khan wants the Jaguars to be the home
Speaker 2: team of England.
Speaker 1: Well that's his goal.
Speaker 3: There is this little side thing. I don't think it's
Speaker 3: gonna morph into more, but they may not be able
Speaker 3: to play in their actual stadium down the road. A
Speaker 3: bit because of repairs for a stretch almost two seasons.
Speaker 1: So he owns Wembley right at this well, they're.
Speaker 2: Jacksonville Stadium, so right is there issues with the chlorine
Speaker 2: tank there the I will report back are So the
Speaker 2: Jags this year have taken it to the next level.
Speaker 2: Are now playing two games in England. Won a home game,
Speaker 2: one designated a road game Falcons versus Jaguars kicks off
Speaker 2: the International Games in week four from Wembley and then
Speaker 2: in week five, so the Jags just stick around. Atlanta
Speaker 2: gets on the plane. We saw Atlanta play the Jets
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago, so the Falcons obviously like this
Speaker 2: scene as well. The Falcons go home, the Jags stick
Speaker 2: around in London and then play the Bills at Tottenham
Speaker 2: Hotspur Stadium, the big Top, Big Totti.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Wembley one week, Toddy the next.
Speaker 2: So you got Jags back to back and you get
Speaker 2: Josh Allen in England, which is very nice. Shout out
Speaker 2: by the way to our overseas listeners in the UK
Speaker 2: and Ireland. In Scotland, Scotland is part of the UK. Correct.
Speaker 3: He's looking at Greg for that answer. I think it's
Speaker 3: it is it is. I don't I'm not answering.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and only part Many, only pirate part of Ireland.
Speaker 1: But you know it's more than you know. We we
Speaker 1: love all of our listeners overseas Australia. How about you
Speaker 1: shout out.
Speaker 3: To Australia icelmony Scotland. By the way, the firm that
Speaker 3: Scotland is part of the Kingdom.
Speaker 2: And Ireland very much not part, but northern Ireland is anyway,
Speaker 2: we know sort of except for Scotland. We didn't we
Speaker 2: were to learn about that anyway.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Let's see Ravens versus Titans week six from the Hot
Speaker 2: Toddy uh and then week nine we head to Germany
Speaker 2: Dolphins versus Chiefs, Ham and Ham and Ham and a
Speaker 2: week nine from Frankfurt Stadium, and then Colts versus Pats
Speaker 2: week ten, also from the big.
Speaker 1: Frank Deutsche Bank Park. So it'll be a different stadium
Speaker 1: than a year ago, but it'll be I suspect an
Speaker 1: amazing atmosphere that used to be one of the best
Speaker 1: rivalries in league. Colt Pat's not as much juice. But
Speaker 1: to get Dolphins Chiefs in Kansas City, I mean, I
Speaker 1: mean in Frankfurt. To me, that's one of the games
Speaker 1: I'm most looking forward to this season, just because you
Speaker 1: can't imagine a scenario with Tyreek Hill going against his
Speaker 1: former team. And it's almost a shame that it's not
Speaker 1: happening in Kansas City, but you can't imagine a scenario
Speaker 1: where that thing is not in the thirties or the
Speaker 1: forties and not like a really important entertaining game so
Speaker 1: that they're not messing around. Those are NFL Network games.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the in general, if you look back
Speaker 3: to half a decade ago and Frankly, like you know,
Speaker 3: Handsome Hank has something to do with this. The games,
Speaker 3: the teams have gotten better, Like you've got star quarterbacks,
Speaker 3: You've got Patrick Mahomes, you've got Josh Allen, the Ravens
Speaker 3: with Lamar Jackson, and Frankly, it really just helps at
Speaker 3: the Jacksonville are intriguing and I I you know, this
Speaker 3: is the first time in history where a team stayed
Speaker 3: there two weeks in a row. I want I just
Speaker 3: want to hear I want to see a think piece
Speaker 3: about what's it like for I think coaches in general
Speaker 3: don't love the concept of having to pick up camp
Speaker 3: and go somewhere else and do everything somewhere else. And
Speaker 3: I mean the Jaguars are more practiced at that than others.
Speaker 3: But Doug Peterson's you know, I've done it five times
Speaker 3: in a row. So how do you prepare for the
Speaker 3: bills in London in a completely different environment than your
Speaker 3: home base. I just that intrigues me for some reason.
Speaker 1: You would think it'd be an advantage, but we were,
Speaker 1: We've been We go there for a week and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously we work at a at a level that NFL
Speaker 1: players can't comprehend.
Speaker 3: But I would say, I mean, like we spend half
Speaker 3: the time at like the hotel bar there.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like, well, yeah, it's sarcasm. Yeah. They
Speaker 1: at the end of that week, I feel like we're
Speaker 1: ready to go home. Our great friend Rachel Bennetta, I
Speaker 1: felt like she was there for two weeks. By the
Speaker 1: end of that second week, you know, you might be
Speaker 1: running out of gas. Maybe maybe it's a disadvantage for
Speaker 1: the Jaguars.
Speaker 2: Else see good way to look at it, A good
Speaker 2: opposing view.
Speaker 3: Does not care.
Speaker 2: It's time to pivot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the part that Wes was talking about.
Speaker 1: What are we talking about?
Speaker 2: I don't care. Let's move back to the Homeland Thanksgiving games.
Speaker 2: All right, here's the slate Packers at Lions, the customary
Speaker 2: slot for those teams. Well, it's not always the Packers
Speaker 2: right against the Lions, but thank god, the Lions are
Speaker 2: now a highly compelling team and hopefully will remain that way,
Speaker 2: so you get the Jordan Love experience. The Packers are
Speaker 2: total unknown, so we won't know what's going on, but
Speaker 2: we have a much better idea where they're at by Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: And remember decision doesn't start till after Thanksgiving. The Commanders
Speaker 2: at Cowboys in the middle game, that's a big old
Speaker 2: meh for me, But that well.
Speaker 3: We'll see where the where the Commanders are.
Speaker 2: I'm with you, yeah, I mean, who could be If
Speaker 2: Sam Howell doesn't work, we're getting Jake brisket On.
Speaker 3: You could have done a lot there with the Cowboy.
Speaker 1: That's that's very often the two matchups Packers Lions and
Speaker 1: Commanders Cowboys. I'll always remember RG three's rookie season sort of.
Speaker 2: Plighting up Dallas. And then the game that is always
Speaker 2: a different teams is forty nine Er. There's the late game,
Speaker 2: the NBC game forty nine Ers at Seahawks and NFC
Speaker 2: West tilt and a damn good one.
Speaker 3: And they've done that before. That's been a matchup before.
Speaker 2: I mean, I love that excellent And that is just
Speaker 2: for a little background. That's the eleventh time Washington and
Speaker 2: Dallas play Cowboys of one, eight of two, and the
Speaker 2: Seahawks and Niners are playing on Thanksgiving for the first
Speaker 2: time since they played each other on Thanksgiving pill in
Speaker 2: the year. It was a nineteen to three Seahawks win.
Speaker 2: Sounds boring, twenty fourteen got it? Wait?
Speaker 1: Really he got it?
Speaker 2: I bang, good job, Gregy.
Speaker 1: That was totally random.
Speaker 3: I went to your home, I believe during that game.
Speaker 2: I believe probably the Teeto's was probably flown at that point.
Speaker 2: So that's it's a hazy memory.
Speaker 3: That's the only time I ever ate macaroni and cheese
Speaker 3: because your wife at a moment.
Speaker 1: Deffinitely a grown man who's only eating macaroni and cheese
Speaker 1: once in his life.
Speaker 2: That was the the There are three big U my
Speaker 2: three favorite Mark Sessler food moments. One, I know what
Speaker 2: number one's number one, Number ones most recently the cheeseburger incident,
Speaker 2: which is still incredible and shocking. Two is the mac
Speaker 2: and cheese Thanksgiving incident, and three is after you and
Speaker 2: I had a rollicking night out about ten years ago.
Speaker 2: We were on the streets of Culver City and there
Speaker 2: was a food truck outside and we got some street
Speaker 2: meat burritos. I got the regular like meat brito. You
Speaker 2: got the veggie but they were cooking the veggie burrito
Speaker 2: like with the meat, and you got some meat. And
Speaker 2: all of a sudden I couldn't find you, and you
Speaker 2: were in the bushes and you had to let go
Speaker 2: some of that.
Speaker 3: I was wondering, we're gonna go with number three, But
Speaker 3: I do remember that, and it was like seven or
Speaker 3: eight dollars that went totally to the wrong place because
Speaker 3: there's a big piece of steak in the middle of
Speaker 3: it or something.
Speaker 2: It banged you on a big spot. Good memories, Good memories.
Speaker 2: Let's see what else. There's a Black Friday Game. A
Speaker 2: Black Friday Game, so Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: It's a shopping thing. Amazon not anymore. It is as
Speaker 2: a massive investment at the NFL to air Thursday night football.
Speaker 2: But they also get the Black Friday Game, which is
Speaker 2: available to everybody, and it will be the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 2: and New York Jets from the Meadowlands and Mark, I
Speaker 2: think you have some no opinions to share on that.
Speaker 3: I I want to take the attitude of I get
Speaker 3: what's happening here, likes sometimes your company, this is our company.
Speaker 3: They're just gonna do what they do and you got.
Speaker 2: To roll up. Oh sometimes that's what happens.
Speaker 3: That is what happens sometimes, and they I get it.
Speaker 3: We want a game on every day of the week,
Speaker 3: and if there is an American holiday being celebrated, it
Speaker 3: will be celebrated with, if not a trio of games,
Speaker 3: at least one and on you know, in what if
Speaker 3: I wanted to go downtown and stare at cakes and
Speaker 3: a window on Black Friday, which is like you can
Speaker 3: go out and be a consumer, Well, I will be
Speaker 3: chained to a chair. And I'm hoping at that point
Speaker 3: that the Jets, who are on about twenty seven Island games,
Speaker 3: are actually a viable team at that point because if
Speaker 3: things my one feeling about this thing in general is
Speaker 3: a little jetsy and we can get into it later
Speaker 3: if one but like if the the Browns had this
Speaker 3: happened number times where it's like you have a positive season,
Speaker 3: they give you six Island games and then a nuclear
Speaker 3: bomb drops on the reality of your team.
Speaker 1: And the Jets.
Speaker 3: Schedule is a load. It is a rough situation, and so.
Speaker 2: You want to so you don't really have any more
Speaker 2: Black Friday thoughts. You want to pivot that you can
Speaker 2: do that.
Speaker 3: I decided to go down Company Man Avenue here because it's.
Speaker 2: Like, oh, that's why you're wearing the jackets.
Speaker 1: What have you been doing on this Black Friday? Anyways?
Speaker 1: I don't remember you cake shopping.
Speaker 2: We were so excited you told us on text yesterday
Speaker 2: you were going to share. I was all the things
Speaker 2: that you wouldn't be able to do on Black Friday.
Speaker 2: Because now you have to watch a football game.
Speaker 1: I will.
Speaker 3: I'll send it out on and now you're going.
Speaker 2: To get a what if the Jets sucks, We're gonna get.
Speaker 1: In check my it's not too light, we want it.
Speaker 1: The game will be over by three pm.
Speaker 3: That gives you a check Twitter by eight pm tonight,
Speaker 3: and I've anything that includes our actual real thoughts about life.
Speaker 2: Check our social media right now, Zach. Yeah, let's let's
Speaker 2: check out the Jets schedule. If that's a natural transition, Uh, listen.
Speaker 2: The Jets are a major storyline around the league this year.
Speaker 2: Jets fans are like soaking that in. It's it's a
Speaker 2: great feeling. However, we're gonna learn a lot about this
Speaker 2: team quickly, and to Mark's point, they could be in
Speaker 2: a lot of trouble if they don't come out of
Speaker 2: the gates with the offense humming and the defense playing
Speaker 2: at a high level, because I think they have as
Speaker 2: tough a schedule as any team in the league. Out
Speaker 2: of the gate. You got open up in primetime against
Speaker 2: the Bills. So that's a team that they've played well
Speaker 2: against overall. But that is the Bills. That's Josh Allen,
Speaker 2: that Sean McDermott, that is a superpower. Week two, they
Speaker 2: get on a plane and they go to Dallas to
Speaker 2: face the Cowboys, which the NFC is weaker than the AFC,
Speaker 2: no doubt, but that is enough. They're very difficult matchup
Speaker 2: for the Jets. They come home and I think this
Speaker 2: is like the breather game early on for them. It's
Speaker 2: the Patriots, and you say, Okay, that's doable. Greg, you
Speaker 2: knows as much as any of the Jet's never beat
Speaker 2: the Patriots. On fourteen years they need to. That's just
Speaker 2: something a beast. They're still trying to slay. Even last
Speaker 2: year they got swept and then they welcome in the
Speaker 2: Chiefs in Week four. So as a Jets fan, the
Speaker 2: schedule does appear, and again we never know to soften
Speaker 2: up in the back nine. But you can't sleep on
Speaker 2: a potential car crash early on get out of it.
Speaker 2: For me, and I have high hopes about this team,
Speaker 2: as I've said, if I can get out of there
Speaker 2: Greg two and two, I'm feeling really good about the season.
Speaker 2: But it's tough. There's no gimmes there.
Speaker 1: I think that's the way to look at it. You
Speaker 1: got the Broncos two Week five, and then you got
Speaker 1: the Eagles again, so you got six. That's I know,
Speaker 1: you have one game. You know the Broncos and the
Speaker 1: Patriots in there look easier, but they're not total patsies
Speaker 1: and before you by get to three and three there.
Speaker 1: But that's sort of the case with the entire division.
Speaker 1: I really think the AFC East Division schedule is the toughest.
Speaker 1: The NFCS isn't far behind, but the fact that out
Speaker 1: of division you have to play, uh the AFC West,
Speaker 1: which I think you're guaranteed that the Chiefs are gonna
Speaker 1: be legit. I think the Chargers will be in the mix,
Speaker 1: and the other two games are competitive. Then you have
Speaker 1: to play each other, and you have to play the
Speaker 1: NFC East. It's just tough. So you're gonna you're gonna
Speaker 1: get buried somewhere. The Patriots are the other team I
Speaker 1: think that have the toughest schedule in that division because
Speaker 1: they don't get to play the Patriots, right they're the
Speaker 1: only and in their start is Eagles Dolphins, both at home,
Speaker 1: so you get the two home games to start, and
Speaker 1: the way.
Speaker 2: They do play the Patriots because the robber craft against
Speaker 2: Bill Belichick, Yeah, Bill bellug within that building at this
Speaker 2: point every week is Patriots against Patriots.
Speaker 1: That's that's very well said. Eagles, Dolphins, Jets, Cowboys is
Speaker 1: a pretty tough first four opponents, uh, the second two
Speaker 1: of those on the road. All four of those teams
Speaker 1: seem seem like teams that want to win double digit games.
Speaker 1: But that's the thing in the A even saying that
Speaker 1: the Patriots they're over under it'll be what seven and
Speaker 1: a half or something like that, I don't know what
Speaker 1: it is. One of the Bills, Jets, and Dolphins, who
Speaker 1: are all over the primetime schedules because to me they're
Speaker 1: all fascinating. One of those three teams is more than
Speaker 1: likely going to have quite a disappointing season, and I
Speaker 1: don't have a feel. I think they're all really good.
Speaker 1: I think the Jets deserve to be in the top
Speaker 1: eight or nine of the powering and I think the
Speaker 1: Dolphins do two. And just like something has to give
Speaker 1: though there that Austins.
Speaker 3: Too, because we are wanting to watch them, and I mean,
Speaker 3: I just that that could get rough by December. But
Speaker 3: it was a year ago everyone was saying like, oh,
Speaker 3: the AFC West probably, if not four playoff teams, at
Speaker 3: least three. Two of those teams didn't win more than
Speaker 3: six games. So it's like someone in this division is
Speaker 3: going to take an excitingly dangerous dark lotle dirt nap.
Speaker 2: You look at the AFC West with the benefit of hindsight,
Speaker 2: of course, some of that felt a little artificially inflated.
Speaker 2: We didn't know what was gonna happen. With Russell Wilson
Speaker 2: that made sense on paper, and the thing with the Raiders,
Speaker 2: we saw DeVante Adams, we said, oh, now they're gonna
Speaker 2: be good and that didn't work out with the East
Speaker 2: AFC East. Which is so interesting is we know the
Speaker 2: Jets have a top defense and now Aaron Rodgers is there,
Speaker 2: so I feel really good about them being a competitive team.
Speaker 2: The Dolphins, who everyone's kind of sleeping on in this division,
Speaker 2: they as long as they the quarterback stays on the field,
Speaker 2: and now they even have a more confident backup quarterback
Speaker 2: and Mike White, the Dolphins I think absolutely have a
Speaker 2: chance to win ten or eleven games.
Speaker 3: I mean, their schedule is ugly, like just like these other.
Speaker 2: Sures they all it's a very as correctly saying like
Speaker 2: you're playing a lot of top teams. But the Patriots
Speaker 2: are not going to roll over and go four and thirteen.
Speaker 2: They're gonna I think the Patriots are gonna do what
Speaker 2: they do and they're gonna hang around and be an
Speaker 2: eight to ten win team. And then I trust the
Speaker 2: Bills unless they take a step back, which they could
Speaker 2: because the division has caught up to them a little
Speaker 2: bit here. So this could be a division where there
Speaker 2: if it plays out, where no team bombs out, where
Speaker 2: the win total could be a little deflated because of
Speaker 2: the war that's going on in this division, and maybe
Speaker 2: eleven and six wins it.
Speaker 3: Or ten and seven, but you'd be you'd be a
Speaker 3: more dangerous complete playoff team record record side.
Speaker 1: And on the flip side, I think the North Division
Speaker 1: in the AFC especially benefits because they get to play
Speaker 1: the AFC South. It's not easy. You know, in NFC
Speaker 1: they played the NFC West and like that. That's a
Speaker 1: media an average division, I would say, because you got
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, but you also the forty nine ers. But
Speaker 1: you look at like the teams like the Ravens or
Speaker 1: the Browns or the Steelers, like there is opportunity I
Speaker 1: think for the AFC North teams to end up racking
Speaker 1: up surprising records. One of the reasons why we think
Speaker 1: the Easts are so good is because they had easy
Speaker 1: schedules last year. Like to me, the Patriots were not
Speaker 1: an eight win team last year. Did they even win
Speaker 1: eight or did they only get the seven? Either way,
Speaker 1: their schedule helped. And the Jets, especially you know against
Speaker 1: all those back and of course their schedule helped artificially
Speaker 1: inflate that division just a bit. But I'm not worried
Speaker 1: about the Jets being stinkers.
Speaker 2: But there probably will between especially.
Speaker 1: Stinkers would be like they're eight and seven going into
Speaker 1: week seventeen for the I could.
Speaker 3: Be in Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night football. Wouldn't that
Speaker 3: be juicy? The Jets and Dolphins. Jets fans don't want
Speaker 3: to say Dolphins fans don't want to say it. One
Speaker 3: of them will probably flop, probably the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And it's all like, like we said, it's really hard
Speaker 1: to know, but early in the season that Dolphins having
Speaker 1: at Chargers at Patriots, I hate starting on the road
Speaker 1: for two games. First of all, you have at Bill's
Speaker 1: week fours, at Eagles week seven, So that's four very
Speaker 1: difficult road games, and the Chiefs and Frankfurt all before
Speaker 1: you're by, Like, I'm looking at that, and there's a
Speaker 1: couple easier games home home games to the Jet you know,
Speaker 1: the Broncos, Giants, Panthers. It's like, if you're five and
Speaker 1: four looking at that schedule, I'd feel fine, Like, and
Speaker 1: that's the thing, there's such high expectations, but five and
Speaker 1: four might not feel that great.
Speaker 2: Let's take a break and then wrap up our schedule preview.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back. There's a portion of again, the
Speaker 2: NFL media research team. You know, bring it on, Bristol.
Speaker 2: Whatever your research group is, right, what was the one
Speaker 2: that always used to get brought up for for decades?
Speaker 2: Elias whatever? Elias Sports Bureau. I'm trias Elias because we've
Speaker 2: got NFL media.
Speaker 3: Are we still operating as a bureau at this point?
Speaker 2: I know, I don't know. We probably swallowed them up
Speaker 2: in some corporate supermerger. There you go, a lot of
Speaker 2: blood spilled schedule inequities.
Speaker 1: It's still a leader in historical research, and yeah, it's
Speaker 1: his service right in the world of professional sports.
Speaker 2: Love Elias. That's been a huge part of mine.
Speaker 1: I mean they are literally the official statisticians for the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Showed up the NBA and uh oh,
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball never heard of it winning Olias. So
Speaker 1: they're still doing well. Shout out to Elias.
Speaker 2: Love you man. What they did. They had cornered the market. Now,
Speaker 2: I don't know, Elias cornered the market for about twenty
Speaker 2: years or anytime any historical thing was sighted they said, oh,
Speaker 2: according to the Elias Sports Bureau I think it was called.
Speaker 2: And since then a lot of leagues have built out
Speaker 2: their own research groups. But as Greg is represented for
Speaker 2: the company, points out, we still hear dog, We still.
Speaker 1: Hear hey, Elias, love you brother.
Speaker 2: You try to get a job. Schedule inequities is within
Speaker 2: our research packet here, which I like. So five teams
Speaker 2: will have three game road trips during the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: three season. That's rough. Back to back to back road
Speaker 2: games is rough. The Ravens four through six get Cleveland,
Speaker 2: Pitt Tennessee. That's in Tottenham in England. The Giants weeks
Speaker 2: nine through eleven get Vegas, Dallas Washington. The Titans nine
Speaker 2: through eleven get Pitt, Tampa Bay Jacksonville. The Panthers twelve
Speaker 2: through fourteen get Tennessee, Tampa Bay, New Orleans. And the
Speaker 2: Broncos thirteen through fifteen get Houston, Chargers Detroit. I want
Speaker 2: to point out also when those teams I just read,
Speaker 2: you'll notice how much work goes into the schedules that
Speaker 2: these the schedule akers will say, Okay, if we're gonna
Speaker 2: bang these teams they get three road games, we're gonna
Speaker 2: make sure we don't give them three monster contenders in
Speaker 2: a row. But there's gonna be some breathing ruin there.
Speaker 2: Like not everything is thought through, but sometimes teams still
Speaker 2: get banged a little bit of the way it works out,
Speaker 2: and four teams start with back to back home games,
Speaker 2: which is very nice. Broncos Falcon. Broncos have Raiders Commanders
Speaker 2: Falcons who I think should be in the running for
Speaker 2: team of Falcons.
Speaker 3: In general, their schedule is favorable.
Speaker 2: How about the Falcons getting out out of the gates
Speaker 2: against the Panthers and the Packers without Aaron Rodgers interesting?
Speaker 2: The Patriots greggy opened back to back home games, but
Speaker 2: they ain't easy. Eagles, Dolphins, and Steelers get Niners versus Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Back to back road games for Packers, Raiders, Dolphins, and Niners.
Speaker 1: I think. And you mentioned the Falcons having the you
Speaker 1: know that nice start that division to me, and I
Speaker 1: mentioned the AFC North, but even more than the AFC North,
Speaker 1: there will be opportunity for those NFC South teams for
Speaker 1: one of them to win ten or eleven games even
Speaker 1: when they're not very good. I think they have the
Speaker 1: easy like all of them combined have the easiest schedules
Speaker 1: in the league because a they get to play each other.
Speaker 1: That's nice. Be you get to play the AFC South,
Speaker 1: I'll take it and then you play the NFC North,
Speaker 1: so there are no world beaters in all that. I
Speaker 1: feel like that entire team, I'm doing projected starters now,
Speaker 1: that entire division. I know the Bucks are quite a
Speaker 1: bit behind in terms of Vegas in terms of the odds,
Speaker 1: but the other three teams are close. Like all those
Speaker 1: teams are good enough and probably should win six to
Speaker 1: seven games, and they're just hoping they get a few
Speaker 1: breaks to win nine or ten. And I feel like
Speaker 1: that describes the entire division. Someone's gonna end up like
Speaker 1: being one of the stories of the season winning eleven
Speaker 1: just because the schedule's too easy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just to drill down, like a little bit, like
Speaker 3: the Saints, so they have seven other first eleven games
Speaker 3: on the road, yet those games are like Carolina, Green Bay,
Speaker 3: New England, Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Atlanta. That's serviceable. And the
Speaker 3: Panthers don't cross more than a single time zone after
Speaker 3: Week three. So some of it is like they are
Speaker 3: clumped together regionally in a way where like you're not.
Speaker 3: Some of these teams are traveling insane amounts. Others barely
Speaker 3: seem to leave home.
Speaker 1: Though, Yeah, I always see the teams make a big
Speaker 1: deal about the time zones and the traveling, and I
Speaker 1: get it, but it's.
Speaker 3: Like out of the numbers, your numbers show you're.
Speaker 1: In a private jet. It's once a week. I guess
Speaker 1: I'm partly thinking as a tennis fan. It's like, uh
Speaker 1: oh Anna Callan Sky has got to play in India
Speaker 1: on Sunday and then she's on the West coast of
Speaker 1: America on Tuesday. No one's crying for her. She's not
Speaker 1: in any private jet. And if these tennis players could
Speaker 1: handle it, I'm just saying, yes, they're like going like
Speaker 1: eleven time zones week to week and they're I'm sure
Speaker 1: it's help.
Speaker 3: You Look like the look at the numbers on a
Speaker 3: West Coast team starting at once all Eastern, like it's
Speaker 3: they're horrible.
Speaker 2: I was going to get to the Thursday night schedule,
Speaker 2: which is always compelling because it's a source of great
Speaker 2: intrigue and consternation. Or did you guys have any other
Speaker 2: teams you wanted to highlight before.
Speaker 1: We Well, just two little things on the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: teams from a year ago, because I think they're both
Speaker 1: well positioned to be favorites again. I noticed how the
Speaker 1: NFL ended the chief season with Bengals on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 1: To me, that's like the number one rivalry and the
Speaker 1: number one most important game if I had to pick
Speaker 1: one in the entire schedule, just because look, they've been
Speaker 1: the last two AFC Championship games. We know the quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: they've played these great games. That's Week seventeen. And then
Speaker 1: the Chiefs go from Bengals Week seven team to at
Speaker 1: Chargers Week eighteen. That's just like a spicy finish. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's the Chargers number one goal here to
Speaker 1: make that game matter and still be in it. And
Speaker 1: then I noticed with the Eagles, who on paper in
Speaker 1: terms of strength to schedule just opponents winning percentage, have
Speaker 1: the toughest schedule and it's brutal after theirby It starts
Speaker 1: pretty cake for them to start out with a nice
Speaker 1: schedule at New England, then Minnesota at Tea, but Washington
Speaker 1: at Rams, so I feel like like a soft start
Speaker 1: for them, and then maybe the toughest stretch of anyone's
Speaker 1: season on paper in the middle of the season Cowboys
Speaker 1: Chiefs Bills forty nine, Ers at Cowboys at Seahawks. If
Speaker 1: you want to throw that into that, that is crazy.
Speaker 1: So the Eagles got to eat early to set up
Speaker 1: for that.
Speaker 3: I got one for you because I think we think
Speaker 3: the Falcons can make a leap based on their schedule.
Speaker 3: The Bears, it's hard not to make a leap. They
Speaker 3: had the fewest amount of wins in the league last year,
Speaker 3: but they play only four playoff teams, and for all
Speaker 3: these how many playoff teams, one of them is the Bucks.
Speaker 3: With that minus Tom Brady, different situation. They get Jordan
Speaker 3: Love in his second career start. They get either Baker
Speaker 3: Mayfield Kyle Trask in week two, week five, it's gonna
Speaker 3: be Sam Howell or Jacoby Brissett. So I think it's
Speaker 3: a nice It's a good situation for Chicago their schedule.
Speaker 3: I think the North is manageable. You could look at
Speaker 3: the Lions or the Bears as teams that could compete.
Speaker 3: I think the Packers have a chance. Anyone could win
Speaker 3: that division. I mean it's sort of a wide open deal.
Speaker 3: And the Bears with you know, if you get it
Speaker 3: from Justin Fields, who has a if you went and
Speaker 3: had one of those big leaps, which I think is
Speaker 3: very possible, They're a team that could like go from
Speaker 3: worse to first.
Speaker 2: Are the Jaguars of this year. If their young quarterback
Speaker 2: can take that step up and everything's lined up for them,
Speaker 2: whe were they three and fourteen last year? They could
Speaker 2: be a team that all of a sudden they're in
Speaker 2: playoff contention in the middle of December. And it helps
Speaker 2: at the conference, is what it is. It helps.
Speaker 1: They're actually favored right now to compared to the Packers.
Speaker 1: They're the third favorites in the division. It's the division
Speaker 1: that's closely most closely bunched. Lions are favorites, Vikings next, Bears,
Speaker 1: next in Packers not too far behind. But they're all
Speaker 1: pretty Bikings fans. I'm a little surprised that the Packers are.
Speaker 1: I would not put them forth and put them second.
Speaker 2: I mean the Lions fans. It must be a little
Speaker 2: bit uncomfortable for people just bustling them in to be like, oh,
Speaker 2: this feels like the favorite that feels ominous for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: And it might feel especially ominous after you have to
Speaker 2: go to Arrowhead In week one, Friday Morning hot Takes
Speaker 2: could be spewing a bit of a wake up call
Speaker 2: Thursday night football and Al Michael's legend that he is
Speaker 2: is back for another season. He said in an interview
Speaker 2: last year, and I talked about it when he when
Speaker 2: he did it, that the Thursday night football schedule was
Speaker 2: quote a little leaky. And this is a major partnership
Speaker 2: between the NFL and Amazon and UH for instance. Uh, Mark,
Speaker 2: and we're still excited to hear about your Black Friday plans.
Speaker 3: By the way, I don't have any now.
Speaker 2: I think a big part of that game showing up
Speaker 2: even first of all, it makes sense logically as a
Speaker 2: football fan, not even factoring the Jets a noon start
Speaker 2: on the West Coast on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Nice
Speaker 2: division battle penciled me in. It also gave Amazon another
Speaker 2: bite at the Apple.
Speaker 1: That's also maybe their best, one of the best games
Speaker 1: on their schedule.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And and it wouldn't surprise me if that's the most
Speaker 1: you know, streamed game of all time, just because that's
Speaker 1: essentially gonna be a holiday right in the middle.
Speaker 3: Let's see where we are with those teams there were Well,
Speaker 3: I love saying it now.
Speaker 2: I think you do love saying it, Mark, But I'm.
Speaker 1: Saying, like the Lions playing the worst team in the
Speaker 1: league is.
Speaker 2: The watch saying it. I know the Jets could be
Speaker 2: bad Mark. It's certainly I am, I am. You have
Speaker 2: stayed repeated that's to be successful. I know you are,
Speaker 2: I know you are. I love it clearly. Thursday Night
Speaker 2: Football Week two, the Vikings Eagles start things off. Uh.
Speaker 2: Week three, Giants, Niners. I'm just gonna go for it,
Speaker 2: go through it, Lions, Packers, Week four, Bears, Commanders five, Broncos,
Speaker 2: Chief six, Jags, Saints seven, Bucks, Bills, Titans, Steelers, Panthers, Bears, Bengals, Ravens, Dolphins, Jets,
Speaker 2: Black Friday, Seahawks, Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, Raiders, Saints, Rams, Jets, Browns.
Speaker 1: It's good, it's it's still though, including teams that aren't
Speaker 1: getting much primetime elsewhere. Just put it down still serving
Speaker 1: as that, Yes, Saints are there twice. Do they have
Speaker 1: any other primetime games? You know, the Broncos have been
Speaker 1: down shifted quite a bit in terms of their primetime appearances.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that's got to be the Bucks's only spot.
Speaker 1: But the good thing about this schedule is they didn't
Speaker 1: have to force primetime games this year as much. The Cardinals,
Speaker 1: for instance, are not in primetime at all. I would
Speaker 1: be curious to see the Colts and Texans in primetime
Speaker 1: because of their rookie quarterbacks. Because I'm a dork, but
Speaker 1: those teams aren't really getting primetime love. The Colts get
Speaker 1: it zero for Anthony Richardson. Same thing with the Texans,
Speaker 1: and so normally that might have been put into this
Speaker 1: TNF schedule and they're not there, And so overall it's better.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 3: The thing that worries me about it a little bit
Speaker 3: because there are some good matchups in here.
Speaker 1: I Seahawks Cowboys is really good. Jets Dolphins.
Speaker 3: Obviously you got the Rams in week sixteen. Why, like,
Speaker 3: from what we know, get ready to a game. What
Speaker 3: did we talk about.
Speaker 1: Beyond your there If you're listening to me and you
Speaker 1: work for the Rams.
Speaker 2: You say self interest or selfish interests.
Speaker 3: It has nothing to do with the larger population. Just simply, Greg, you.
Speaker 1: Gotta give it twenty twenty one champions one primetime game, Come.
Speaker 3: On Tennessee Titans Week nine. I mean, we'll see. It's
Speaker 3: just that some many are fine now, but like they
Speaker 3: could be a odorous problem.
Speaker 1: But you know what they could wait, they can't. They
Speaker 1: can't flex the TNF. They wanted to flex late season
Speaker 1: TNF but that's not happening, at least not at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I get that's it. That's okay. I can't anymore.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's enough, schedule talk anything left.
Speaker 2: We took it to we took it to the max.
Speaker 1: We did it. We did it for the listeners. I
Speaker 1: did miss this week, and as you mentioned at the top,
Speaker 1: yeah you can. You can check our socials. You do
Speaker 1: miss connecting with the listeners about football. We just love
Speaker 1: we love our connection with it, and it doesn't feel
Speaker 1: right when that's ruptured. But that's that's why we do it.
Speaker 1: We do it for each other, we do it for
Speaker 1: the listeners. So it's good to be back, even if
Speaker 1: it's one of the sillier shows of the season.
Speaker 3: I thought it was very serious and taken very seriously.
Speaker 2: Greg.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's all football, so I guess
Speaker 1: it's never too serious.
Speaker 2: Yes, a very tough week. We are not strangers to adversity,
Speaker 2: not of our own invention, and we always carry on
Speaker 2: this podcast. There are no reverse gears in this tank.
Speaker 2: You guys know that. I'll just add again and give
Speaker 2: us time to get things wrong.
Speaker 1: Now, we just got to come up with what we're
Speaker 1: talking ouver the next two or three months.
Speaker 3: Oh that, I'm sure we will.
Speaker 2: All right, body, have a nice weekend with back next week.
Speaker 2: He the call