Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast wishes it was New Hampshire Royalty.
Speaker 1: Ricky Robot, Welcome to another edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to
Speaker 1: you from a Virgil room filled with some heroes, Mark Cessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Rose. What is up, buoy He now feeling good feeling?
Speaker 1: I felt like last Thursday we were a little tense.
Speaker 1: There was a lot going on in the country. Now
Speaker 1: we're cool, you're rolling. Now we're getting the version of
Speaker 1: Greg where he's sort of loose, easy, kind of like
Speaker 1: two thousand and two New Orleans vibe, Greg, a special vibe?
Speaker 1: Is that true? Greg? Is this what you were like
Speaker 1: eighteen years ago? I mean that I would have been
Speaker 1: graduating from if I did go back there quite quite
Speaker 1: a bit. Yeah, I'll buy it. I'm just you know,
Speaker 1: you sold it. You've sold it with it with effect.
Speaker 1: Way to paint a picture, Greg. Everybody, this is Week
Speaker 1: ten double digits now as we give you a comprehensive
Speaker 1: look ahead at the football to be played this weekend
Speaker 1: and on Monday night. And what we do you know
Speaker 1: what we do around these parts. First of all, we
Speaker 1: have a controversy Lock of the Week controversy right now,
Speaker 1: Ricky Hollywood really stumbling through this season. We don't get
Speaker 1: the lock of the week from her until after the fact,
Speaker 1: and she guess what she says, Oh, I took the Raiders. Oh,
Speaker 1: the same Raiders that had a miracle win. Ricky come
Speaker 1: in here a second, had a miracle win. Now you
Speaker 1: get your second lock of the year. A little bit
Speaker 1: suspicious when you're talking about the lock standings, Erica Temposse,
Speaker 1: You know I picked the Raiders. You didn't have me
Speaker 1: on the show to to vocally state it. I would have,
Speaker 1: and I asked you on Twitter for one before, you know,
Speaker 1: well before the game a couple of times, you know, I, Greg,
Speaker 1: I have so many people MU did like you. I
Speaker 1: didn't see the tweet. Yeah. So are you saying, are
Speaker 1: you saying that everything was counted properly when it comes
Speaker 1: to our competition? Yes? No fraud. I actually I would
Speaker 1: have never thought that Ricky actually would have cheated, because
Speaker 1: what's the point. Um. But then Dan brought it up
Speaker 1: and she made it clear, Oh actually she did. She's
Speaker 1: such a bad And I was like, oh wow, how
Speaker 1: about that. I mean, you're you know, your lock standings
Speaker 1: mirror your fantasy football team standings which were in a
Speaker 1: league with you. So I don't I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: quite get what the strategy was this season. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna stop talking because you'll probably prepare something for social
Speaker 1: media that destroys me twelve minutes from now. It's like, hey, Erica,
Speaker 1: remember that time you lost? Like it's irrelevant to everything
Speaker 1: we're talking about in fantasy football. It's irrelevant as soon
Speaker 1: as you have a losing record. I get how this works. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get you on the record this week later in
Speaker 1: the shop. That's what we need. We need Ricky on
Speaker 1: the record before the games are played. Okay, handled that
Speaker 1: I was just on my mind. I don't you know.
Speaker 1: We want everything to be above the board here at
Speaker 1: the Round the NFL podcast, all right, As we do
Speaker 1: every week, we do this straft style where we pick
Speaker 1: games and then we follow them on Sunday the games
Speaker 1: that we pick, and it's quite fun and competitive, and
Speaker 1: I the old zeuser, have the first overall pick, and
Speaker 1: I am very excited to talk about what's going on
Speaker 1: in the desert. The Arizona Cardinals hosting the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: and listen, the Bills needed that Josh Allen performance. They
Speaker 1: needed it because they were still doing okay, they were winning. Uh.
Speaker 1: There were six and two going into last week's UH
Speaker 1: game against the Seahawks. But if you looked at Alan's
Speaker 1: statistics over the four weeks that started the season then
Speaker 1: compared him with the second UH quadron of the season,
Speaker 1: it was night and day, and you were thinking to yourself, Oh,
Speaker 1: this is a problem because we know that the Bill's
Speaker 1: defense is and it's good this season. If Alan's going
Speaker 1: to revert back to his up and down UH level
Speaker 1: of play in the first two seasons, they're probably cooked.
Speaker 1: And then what does he do? He lights up the
Speaker 1: Seahawks who blitz them to death, and it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: because he keeps his eyes downfield and makes good plays. UH.
Speaker 1: So now he goes to the desert to face a
Speaker 1: Cardinals team that, while I still like them and they're
Speaker 1: in good position in the NFC, at five and three, UH,
Speaker 1: they two came to town, put thirty four up on him,
Speaker 1: beat them. So I would think that Josh Allen should
Speaker 1: be able to do some business here as well. Alright,
Speaker 1: look at this, I look at this Bills team and
Speaker 1: it's like you are if you take care of business
Speaker 1: against the Cardinals, and then you then you knock out
Speaker 1: a low level Niners team. You swept the NFC West,
Speaker 1: and not every win needs to be pretty. That Patriots
Speaker 1: victory a couple of weeks ago, you know you're eking
Speaker 1: out an opponent, opponent that has like a psychological hammer
Speaker 1: over you for two decades. So you get out of
Speaker 1: that one closely. The Seahawks game made everything right. I
Speaker 1: mean he I can't remember a game or a quarterback
Speaker 1: with sacks seven times with less effect. I mean he
Speaker 1: found guys over the middle over and over. Stefon Diggs
Speaker 1: is working in this offense. But you look at the
Speaker 1: Cardinals and I think Leslie Frees with the defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: Buffalo said it right. Kyler Murray is tough to diagnose
Speaker 1: obviously in games, but all week long you run these
Speaker 1: scout teams. You can't really run a scout team that
Speaker 1: shows you what Kyler Murray can do on the ground,
Speaker 1: and you go into games pretty raw, wondering what you're
Speaker 1: gonna deal with and it doesn't work out with So
Speaker 1: I think this is an incredible matchup between two unorthodox quarterbacks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are a great running team. A lot of
Speaker 1: that's just from Kyler Murray scrambling. There's no way to
Speaker 1: stop that. I think it's the most unstoppable playing football
Speaker 1: right now. And the Bill's defense has been especially bad
Speaker 1: against the run. But I think they're gonna get better.
Speaker 1: I was never that concerned about Josh Allen Um relatively.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's gonna be like an M V. Pelot.
Speaker 1: I'm saying in that four game stretch, if you listen,
Speaker 1: I said, I don't think he was playing that well.
Speaker 1: He played the best game of his career last week.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're under selling what he did.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just the numbers, it was the accuracy, was
Speaker 1: the way that he did it. And I think you
Speaker 1: mentioned the first four games and then he bouncing out
Speaker 1: last week. A lot of that is John Brown. I mean,
Speaker 1: John Brown to me is so important. If you line
Speaker 1: up their top four receivers with John Brown being number
Speaker 1: two behind Diggs, but then you have Beasley and Gabe Davis,
Speaker 1: is for real. I think that's the best one through
Speaker 1: four in the league. And I think Diggs and Brown
Speaker 1: might be the best one too in the league. And
Speaker 1: what a perfect week to have them on the field
Speaker 1: against this Cardinals defense, who's got one good cornerback, Patrick Peterson,
Speaker 1: but they've been rather banged up at cornerback. They might
Speaker 1: get some players back this week, but either way, it's
Speaker 1: not a good deep cornerback group. And I love that
Speaker 1: the Bills can change who they are depending on the week.
Speaker 1: You can either go pass heavy or run heavy, and
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna go pass heavy. And I'm not
Speaker 1: sure this Cardinals defense, who has great numbers, is nearly
Speaker 1: as good as their numbers. I don't really trust their numbers.
Speaker 1: If you look at the quarterbacks that they've done well against,
Speaker 1: what about well, what about Kyler Murray not getting enough
Speaker 1: credit for being this good in year two. I feel
Speaker 1: like it's flown under the radar just a little bit
Speaker 1: this sea and everybody knows he's great. And if you
Speaker 1: play fantasy, which I'm sure most people watching this show
Speaker 1: and listening to this show do, uh, Kylin Murray has
Speaker 1: been a godsend for you. But man, he does it
Speaker 1: every week. And I found this interesting that Josh Allen
Speaker 1: and Kyler Murray both account for twenty four touchdowns at
Speaker 1: this uh state of the season. Of course, Murray's doing
Speaker 1: it in his second year Alan and his third. I
Speaker 1: think we're in a we're in an environment where we
Speaker 1: are learning to be less impressed with quarterbacks because they're
Speaker 1: showing up as fully formed h starters. I mean the
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes situation, Deshaun Watson, and Kyla Murray has been
Speaker 1: absolutely incredible to watch. But he's he's in the sea
Speaker 1: of other quarterbacks that are all doing remarkable things. It's
Speaker 1: not happening in year four and five, So I think
Speaker 1: it's fair to say that he's he's I don't think
Speaker 1: he's under the radar because he's probably like a top
Speaker 1: five illuminary in terms of quarterback you know, que rating
Speaker 1: where you want to get him on primetime. But I
Speaker 1: think that more people have to be exposed to the
Speaker 1: Cardinals that just our team that's not been on you know,
Speaker 1: they don't get all the night games and stuff. Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray is a raging star in the making. Here's we
Speaker 1: talked about how early in the year he wasn't as
Speaker 1: good throwing the ball as they were a year ago.
Speaker 1: They've fixed that. So I feel better about the Cardinals
Speaker 1: offense right now than any time in the season that
Speaker 1: the passing game is kind of in sync right now.
Speaker 1: And Kyler Murray has more rushing yards and Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 1: I mean, he is one of the best pure runners
Speaker 1: in the entire NFL running back or quarterback. There should
Speaker 1: be a ton of points in this game. Let's pick it.
Speaker 1: I just want to pay. I'm picking the Bills three points.
Speaker 1: High school. Let's pick it, Greg, it's so excited today.
Speaker 1: Uh I uh poo, this is a tough one. Give
Speaker 1: me the Cardinals in this game. I think, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: I just got on board with Kyler Murray saying he's
Speaker 1: as special as they get. How about this for a number.
Speaker 1: We all went nuts, and Mark, don't worry, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get your pick two. We all went nuts last year,
Speaker 1: as we should have, with Lamar Jackson winning the m
Speaker 1: v P. But Kyler Murray's on pace to become the
Speaker 1: first player in NFL history of the four thousand passing
Speaker 1: yards and a thousand plus rushing yards in the single season.
Speaker 1: Lamar just had thirty last year passing, So I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what I'm saying. Mark ohead So I got the
Speaker 1: Cardinals by a field goal? How about you, Mark Well?
Speaker 1: I loved that. I think Buffalo by going run heavy
Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks, Lord Pete Carroll and the
Speaker 1: Seahawks into thinking they were gonna go run heavy in
Speaker 1: seventy degree weather in Buffalo week ago, so you don't
Speaker 1: kind of know what they're gonna do. I like that
Speaker 1: about the Bills, but for me, the Cardinals, we just
Speaker 1: did our mid season picks. I put the Cardinals in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. I kind of rolled the dice there,
Speaker 1: so they're not going there if they don't win this game.
Speaker 1: I think they'll win it by ten points. So you're
Speaker 1: making your pick based on your insane Super Bowl half
Speaker 1: prediction that includes the Dolphins, I think. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just the Dolphins, the car It's just this sort of
Speaker 1: world that I live in where all these things finally
Speaker 1: need to sync up. It makes literally no sense in
Speaker 1: terms of what the viewer is watching right now. All right, well,
Speaker 1: good luck to you. Mark up next in the draft,
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal, alright, I'm going to the NFC West again.
Speaker 1: It is the Seahawks facing the Rams. This could be
Speaker 1: one of the biggest games in this division all year long.
Speaker 1: If the Rams win it, they are tied for first
Speaker 1: and show face kinda owned Pete Carroll in this matchup
Speaker 1: so far, winning four out of six. They gave him
Speaker 1: trouble even last year when the Rams were at their worst.
Speaker 1: The Rams beat him last December. And uh, I think
Speaker 1: it's a chance for Brandon Staley, who we haven't really
Speaker 1: talked about that much, the Rams defensive coordinator, to let
Speaker 1: everyone know in a big time game that he matters
Speaker 1: and that he can cook up this Seahawks offensive line.
Speaker 1: That that was my big takeaway from the Seahawks loss
Speaker 1: to the Bills is that the Seahawks offensive line started
Speaker 1: reminding me of what they look like when Tom Cable
Speaker 1: was back there some bad memories, I mean, the interceptions,
Speaker 1: the turnovers, the fumbles were largely on the line largely.
Speaker 1: I'm not picking up blitzes. And Staley has been pretty creative.
Speaker 1: The Rams defensive definitely uh improved. You have Donald, but
Speaker 1: I think Staley is gonna give this line a lot
Speaker 1: to think about. And if they're not good, it's like
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson's carrying this team a little too much. Then
Speaker 1: he's carrying the line. The running backs are hurt. We
Speaker 1: know the defense is very good, and that's like a
Speaker 1: little too much weight to carry Mr Sessler. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I love the fact that the Rams who have
Speaker 1: been kind of hot and cold, I you know, I
Speaker 1: I feel sometimes they're not the some of their parts.
Speaker 1: But they have five division games left and so they
Speaker 1: have a chance to make as much of an impact
Speaker 1: inside the West as anyone. Um. And when I look
Speaker 1: at Seattle and I watched that but Buffalo game, I
Speaker 1: just want to say, hey, you know, Seahawks defense, Uh,
Speaker 1: this is not a dress rehearsal. This is real life.
Speaker 1: This is happening before your eyes. Um, let's, you know,
Speaker 1: let's buckle up and play some defense for a change.
Speaker 1: But I mean the aberration aspect to me. And you're
Speaker 1: right about the offensive line, Greg, but Russell Wilson has
Speaker 1: experienced playing behind hot and cold offensive lines. This wold careers.
Speaker 1: Two interceptions, two fumbles. That's the worst Russell Wilson game
Speaker 1: we're gonna get in years. That's that part's not gonna
Speaker 1: happen again. So you're gonna have to come back and
Speaker 1: deal with the Seahawks offense that's still had DK Metcalf
Speaker 1: lighting it up last week. I mean, the pieces are
Speaker 1: still there to win shootout. So I'm not handing this
Speaker 1: over to a RAMS team. You know, Jared Goff, that
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins team, like their cover zero scenario made life
Speaker 1: terrible for Jared Goff before to buy. I don't like
Speaker 1: the teams are able to unspool Jared Goff that way
Speaker 1: and put that kind of stuff on tape. I think
Speaker 1: this is a big game for both teams. I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna learn something about these teams because the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's historic what's going on here with
Speaker 1: their defense. They are giving up the most passing yardage
Speaker 1: by anyone in the history of the league. They're giving
Speaker 1: up thirty points a game. And now you get a
Speaker 1: Rams team coming off a bye, which gives Sean McVeigh,
Speaker 1: one of the great offensive minds in the league, two
Speaker 1: weeks uh to game plan and figure out how to
Speaker 1: attack Seattle. And I want to see what Ken Norton
Speaker 1: and Pete Carroll have in store with their defensive game
Speaker 1: plan here, because we saw what they did against the
Speaker 1: Bills where frankly it didn't work, where they just blitz
Speaker 1: and blitz and blitz, and they set a season high
Speaker 1: with seven sacks, but they just got carved up in
Speaker 1: the secondary. So you know, on that side of it,
Speaker 1: it's like, what can the Seahawks do? Do you? Are
Speaker 1: you really gonna put Russell Wilson in a situation every
Speaker 1: week where he has to be perfect? And the Rams
Speaker 1: Robert Wood said it going into their bye week when
Speaker 1: about where they're at as a team, he said, We're good,
Speaker 1: We're not great. And that's where I have That's why
Speaker 1: I have them in my Power rankings at number thirteen,
Speaker 1: which is where I stick teams that are like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, they seem pretty good. Well, we'll see if
Speaker 1: they do here. We'll see what they do here. Where's
Speaker 1: the Seahawks? To me? Like that describes the whole NFL,
Speaker 1: though outside of maybe Kansas City Baltimore, I would even
Speaker 1: throw in there. But I know I'm higher on them
Speaker 1: the most, Like everyone's good but not great. And I
Speaker 1: do look to the division matchup, like you can look
Speaker 1: at the Buffalo game and okay, that that's interesting, But
Speaker 1: these are two teams that know each other so well.
Speaker 1: And mcveigh's always had answers for Carol's defense even when
Speaker 1: Carol's defense was playing pretty well. And to me, that
Speaker 1: is significant when I look at this matchup that he's
Speaker 1: got to know how to get passing yards against the
Speaker 1: Seattle team. Yeah, I do. I do want to know. Sometimes,
Speaker 1: like the communication between Sean McVeigh and Jared Golf. Golf
Speaker 1: doesn't strike me as a big bend figure is going
Speaker 1: to go and call his own plays. And at some
Speaker 1: point I wonder what's going on there. Maybe you know,
Speaker 1: in the downtime they're asking, Hey, you know, Jared, what's
Speaker 1: your favorite type of soup? And it's MINNESTRONI But like,
Speaker 1: I mean, what what I want to hear the whole thing.
Speaker 1: There's got to be I want to see Golf take
Speaker 1: a leap, I really do. I want to see him
Speaker 1: take over games. I got to go back to that
Speaker 1: Dolphins game. He looked completely out of control in that
Speaker 1: game and they made life so difficult. And it's it's
Speaker 1: a script for other teams to follow. No reason to
Speaker 1: think the Seahawks can do anything remotely close. But someone
Speaker 1: will at some point, maybe not the Seahawks, and it's
Speaker 1: it's like it little it lessens my faith in the Rams. Overall,
Speaker 1: Jared Goff doesn't need to like lift his game to
Speaker 1: a heavenly level because he's a limited guy at that point,
Speaker 1: I think he just needs to be good enough. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's ever going to be overall the superstar. Well,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. I mean we're five years out from that. Now.
Speaker 1: He is who he is, which is, when things are
Speaker 1: going well, he could be very good, too great, And
Speaker 1: usually he's kind of this. What is he the thirteenth
Speaker 1: best quarterback? There's the number thirteen again sometimes so maybe
Speaker 1: he's a perfect match for who the Rams are. Mark,
Speaker 1: you are up next? Well, I love I love sitting
Speaker 1: in this third spot. And to see what's come to me? Uh,
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay at Carolina two very fascinating teams coming off
Speaker 1: a last week one the Bucks that basically produced like
Speaker 1: the lowest rushing yards of any team in NFL history,
Speaker 1: rushing rushing attempts, and basically had their worst loss of
Speaker 1: their franchise lore. And that's this is a franchise that started,
Speaker 1: oh in twenty six, way back in the day. Uh.
Speaker 1: Not what Tom Brady was expecting. I understand. The week
Speaker 1: one tumbled to the Saints, you thought that they would
Speaker 1: have come out and looked like a completely different team.
Speaker 1: They were schooled. They could not. That slow start to
Speaker 1: me was concerning that said, I think the Bucks team
Speaker 1: is a team that's gonna give you a game like
Speaker 1: this here and there, and I'm not overly concerned. What
Speaker 1: I want to see, though, is how they respond against
Speaker 1: a Carolina Panthers team that went into Kansas City with
Speaker 1: zero fear last week. I thought that they're they're The
Speaker 1: keyword for them was aggression. They dialed up a fourth
Speaker 1: and three play that led to a touchdown. They did
Speaker 1: fake punt that was very successful. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: sort of what Matt rule. I think it is about
Speaker 1: he's gonna coach in situations. Uh, there is a play
Speaker 1: a point in the game where they kicked an on
Speaker 1: site kick with ten minutes to go. That's when you
Speaker 1: can catch people off guard. Now you were playing Andy Reid,
Speaker 1: not Tara Reid, so you didn't catch Andy Reid off guard.
Speaker 1: But the Panthers come prepared, and I think this is
Speaker 1: this is not this is the potential trap game scenario
Speaker 1: for the Bucks. Lose this one and they're in a
Speaker 1: bit of hot water. That is the first read reference
Speaker 1: since two and I just don't know how many reads
Speaker 1: there are, but she would not be prepared for on
Speaker 1: side kick action. Dan, I'm assuming I mean, was that
Speaker 1: because terror Read and Tom Brady, you know that they
Speaker 1: had it going on for a little bit, so it all,
Speaker 1: it all connects. It was a darker period in Tom
Speaker 1: Brady's personal life. Dark It was great. Professionally, it's pretty
Speaker 1: dark right now, because, like you can break down that
Speaker 1: game last week. I think we tend to overrate what
Speaker 1: happened last week in general. Um, but in this case,
Speaker 1: I don't think we can because they play the Bucks.
Speaker 1: The offense that is a very similar team in the Panthers,
Speaker 1: The Joe Brady Teddy Bridgewater offense in so many ways
Speaker 1: mirrors what the Saints like to do. I think Teddy
Speaker 1: right now is playing very much like a younger, slightly
Speaker 1: more mobile Drew Brees, the way that you don't know
Speaker 1: what's gonna come and get you. Uh. That's what surprised
Speaker 1: me most in that Buccaneers loss. It really wasn't the
Speaker 1: Bucks offense, because they've been pretty sporadic all year. They
Speaker 1: were bad against the Giants. It was the Bucks defense
Speaker 1: being so tepid, kind of playing back and waiting to
Speaker 1: see what the Saints did, and it just didn't work
Speaker 1: at all. And so seeing a team like that move
Speaker 1: the ball up and down the field is a big
Speaker 1: time concern. And I think Todd Bowles, who gave up
Speaker 1: a lot of yards in this first matchup when these
Speaker 1: two teams plays, has has to be concerned. They got
Speaker 1: turnovers in that game early, they were a little flukey.
Speaker 1: But I think it's the defense that kind of needs
Speaker 1: to take charge because Tom Brady in the in the
Speaker 1: Bucks offense, I think has shown they are not a
Speaker 1: top five type of offense. Is this a top five
Speaker 1: type of defense? Stand? Is it a top five type
Speaker 1: of defense? Yeah? I think it is. I think people
Speaker 1: are putting too much into one bad week for the Bucks.
Speaker 1: And I know I'm on a show that it also
Speaker 1: doubles as the Panthers teenage fan Club, and that's good.
Speaker 1: And you make a good point. Uh, you make a
Speaker 1: very good point, Greg about the similarities between what Joe
Speaker 1: Brady is doing and the Saints are doing. However, I
Speaker 1: don't think the Bucks are a team that is just
Speaker 1: gonna nose dive here. And I'm actually gonna go the
Speaker 1: other direction and say, I think you're gonna get a
Speaker 1: very good Bucks team that's angry and annoyed and embarrassed.
Speaker 1: And I think it's you're catching if you're a Panthers
Speaker 1: fan or you're the Panthers, I think you're catching tamp
Speaker 1: at at a at a very bad time, and you're
Speaker 1: catching them probably without Christian McCaffrey. So all due respect,
Speaker 1: I loved what the I loved with CAROLINEA did there
Speaker 1: in Kansas City, and they competed, and if they were
Speaker 1: a little sharper down at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: I think they might even stolen that game. But I
Speaker 1: think the Buccaneers are more likely to deliver a bounce
Speaker 1: back performance as an elite team, uh than continue to
Speaker 1: go down a worm hole of doom and sadness. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would just say that, you know, I I if
Speaker 1: I am part of a teenage fan club for the
Speaker 1: Panthers and that ruled and not, you know, guilty as charged.
Speaker 1: That's fine, But I mean they're hanging around in these games,
Speaker 1: and I thought that their game plan was really good
Speaker 1: for Kansas City. They're just well coached and so I
Speaker 1: don't see, you know, this is the thing. They come
Speaker 1: close every week. You gotta get into a situation where
Speaker 1: you're not lining Joey Sly up for an eight yard
Speaker 1: field goal to tie it at the end. I hear
Speaker 1: you on that front. But for year one of this experience,
Speaker 1: to do what they did to Kansas City, Kansas City team,
Speaker 1: that just blows the doors off of people. Um, I
Speaker 1: would think that would get on Bruce arians radar is like,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to come in with a really solid
Speaker 1: scheme ourselves here. Maybe no doubt. I mean rematches, I
Speaker 1: think favor the better coaching staff. So I think there's
Speaker 1: an open question who's the better coaching staff. But I'm
Speaker 1: not that worried either. I thought Dan was really building
Speaker 1: up to something here. I thought it was up to
Speaker 1: something I'm gonna do. And uh, and that's lock up
Speaker 1: the Bucks right now because he's I thought you're a
Speaker 1: lot up the Panthers. You got us all excited that
Speaker 1: you're gonna really hang some onion. Now Brady retreating from
Speaker 1: pressure week after week. That's not gonna happen when you
Speaker 1: play the Panthers. They they barely forced any points, they
Speaker 1: got no pass rush. And I think that's a game
Speaker 1: Tom Brady can be very comfortable with alright, looking forward
Speaker 1: to that one. That's a good game. Mark six snakes
Speaker 1: to you in the draft. I mean look at this.
Speaker 1: I'm going Chargers at Miami. This is you know, the
Speaker 1: one thing is when you have two in the league.
Speaker 1: You've got Justin Herbert, You've got Kyler Murray. We're getting
Speaker 1: these incredible quarterback matchups week after week, and last week
Speaker 1: Murray Tua did not disappoint. Um. I'm even more excited
Speaker 1: about this one because I think Justin Herbert is one
Speaker 1: of the most beautiful pure passers I've watched in decades.
Speaker 1: It's just incredibly fun to watch and play. And I
Speaker 1: know all this business about you know, the Chargers in
Speaker 1: the last second losses. Uh. Daniel Popper of The Athletic
Speaker 1: made a great point. He talked about how the sort
Speaker 1: of Groundhog Day effect that Chargers fans are suffering through,
Speaker 1: but that in the real movie groundtog Day involving Bill Murray, um,
Speaker 1: the actual director now that it seemed like, you know,
Speaker 1: he solved his problems and went through the same issue
Speaker 1: over the course of two hours. Good for Bill Murray.
Speaker 1: But in real life, the film's director said that he
Speaker 1: thought that that actually lasted thirty to forty years. So
Speaker 1: that's concerning for Chargers fans. They gotta get out of
Speaker 1: this funk, and I think with Justin Herbert, you're gonna
Speaker 1: get to the point where you're gonna go on a
Speaker 1: run and win some of these games. My concern here
Speaker 1: is what we've already talked about on this show, what
Speaker 1: Brian Flores and his defensive crew are able to do
Speaker 1: to quarterbacks. They won that last game with five assistant
Speaker 1: coaches out of the commission because of the Corona situation,
Speaker 1: So they can do it like Belichick staff with four
Speaker 1: or five coaches on the whole staff and still make
Speaker 1: an impact. Can we put some respect on Harold Ramos name?
Speaker 1: He is not just the director of ground Day, he's
Speaker 1: egon Harold Ramoss. People told me not to mention his
Speaker 1: name on NFL network. So you've just created a lot
Speaker 1: of problems for me. Yeah, so I'm totally I'm totally
Speaker 1: with you on Herbert. He's so fun to watch. And
Speaker 1: if you are a fan of a team that's waiting
Speaker 1: for a quarterback to blossom, like me with Sam Donald
Speaker 1: or you Mark with Baker Mayfield, when you see guys
Speaker 1: like Justin Herbert who hit the ground running, you're thinking
Speaker 1: to yourself, Oh, we don't have our guy. We gotta
Speaker 1: find one of these guys, we gotta keep looking. So Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's exciting to watch, it's fun to watch. Is a
Speaker 1: great value pick in the draft, Mark uh and the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are. This is a great test because I I
Speaker 1: put some disrespect on the Dolphins last week. I locked
Speaker 1: up the Cardinals and some of it. You're not gonna
Speaker 1: get a defensive touchdown every week, and I think there's
Speaker 1: a that's a big reason why they've won each of
Speaker 1: these last two weeks as because the game script changed
Speaker 1: in an outstanding way for them. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I'm past the point where thinking they're a fluke. I
Speaker 1: think this has worked out perfectly with tah especially coming
Speaker 1: off that performance. Uh is second start where he did
Speaker 1: he has he has raised the ceiling of this team
Speaker 1: and they're not just some plucky underdog. I think they
Speaker 1: have a chance to actually make noise and even hang
Speaker 1: in the a f C East race. I mean, the
Speaker 1: thing is, would you rather take Herbert or to a
Speaker 1: long term I mean that's fair. I guess you can
Speaker 1: based it on the car. I mean, I'm I'm taking Herbert,
Speaker 1: and I think Herbert's got more help. It's kind of crazy, uh,
Speaker 1: right now, if you look at to a situation. They're
Speaker 1: down to their you know, fourth and fifth string running backs.
Speaker 1: They just lost Preston Williams to an a c L.
Speaker 1: I think that that's a pretty big loss. It's not
Speaker 1: like their offensive line is great, the defense is good,
Speaker 1: and so this game to me comes down to like
Speaker 1: situational football coaching and special teams. That the Chargers special
Speaker 1: team is like the worst running act in the entire league.
Speaker 1: It's it's terrible every year, and the Dolphins special teams
Speaker 1: win them gate each and every week. They might be
Speaker 1: the best special teams in the league. But Herbert's got
Speaker 1: more support. Joey Bosa looks like he's gonna be healthy.
Speaker 1: That's huge. Brian Bulaga looks like he's gonna be back
Speaker 1: for the Chargers. So I this was the game I
Speaker 1: had the hardest time I'm picking because all the mojo
Speaker 1: is for Miami, and yet part of me still thinks
Speaker 1: like they're they're skating there a little over their skis
Speaker 1: and the Chargers are due one of these games. One
Speaker 1: little thing about Anthony lynn Is punted on fourth and
Speaker 1: one five times in the last eight games. To me,
Speaker 1: that's just like that's not football, and you have the
Speaker 1: quarterback in the pieces on offense to attack versus playing conservative.
Speaker 1: I agree. I just think that's let's just go for it.
Speaker 1: If you're the Chargers, slay these ghosts through your actions.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've got they have got to go on
Speaker 1: a run at some point. That's what we were talking
Speaker 1: about on Sunday night, when you could say, oh, there's
Speaker 1: something cosmic going out with the Charges. Maybe they want
Speaker 1: to be being put in these positions to get beat
Speaker 1: in the last second if they were a little more
Speaker 1: aggressive and and really took the bull by the horns,
Speaker 1: as they say earlier in the game. So Anthony Lynn
Speaker 1: is very make no mistake, as as exciting as they've been,
Speaker 1: as as great as Justin Herbert has been, Anthony Lynn
Speaker 1: is coaching for his job right now. And you might
Speaker 1: need a win like this, or you know, a few
Speaker 1: wins like this to be back in time now for
Speaker 1: Road to Victory presented by the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm taking Joey Burrow against these Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: The last time we saw Burrow, he was lightening up
Speaker 1: the Titans and getting better each and every week. And
Speaker 1: you know, when it comes to the n f C
Speaker 1: North Mark. I kind of think about you, you know,
Speaker 1: because I feel like you don't so much root for
Speaker 1: the Browns as you do just like route against other
Speaker 1: things that could pain you in the future. So I'm
Speaker 1: asking you, like, which result would you are you more
Speaker 1: afraid of? Basically that that the Bengals took the number
Speaker 1: one overall pick in Joe Burrow. That's just gonna haunt
Speaker 1: you for the next fifteen years. And it's gonna be
Speaker 1: better than your number one pick Baker, or the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: Steelers winning another Super Bowl this year with Big Ben
Speaker 1: A lot of assaults in that set up towards There's
Speaker 1: there's a lot happening. I mean, it's a no win situation, Uh,
Speaker 1: the Steelers winning the Super Bowl, that that pain would
Speaker 1: be over three months from now. Um, and I think
Speaker 1: that that's where they're probably heading on some level. I mean,
Speaker 1: Joey Burrow is going to be around for two decades,
Speaker 1: so I you know, if I had to pick a reality,
Speaker 1: I'd have, you know, have Pittsburgh and win their little
Speaker 1: trophy and dance around and have a nice time. But
Speaker 1: Burrow is for real and the little Steelers, well, the
Speaker 1: Steelers have beaten them thirteen out of fourteen times and
Speaker 1: ten times in a row, and then in the in
Speaker 1: the two teams from Ohio know this story well about
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and the reason that Burrow is exciting
Speaker 1: is that he can change all that this narrative of
Speaker 1: Cincinnati unable to accomplish anything against its two real rivals.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Cleveland or Cincinnati have too many
Speaker 1: rivals at this point, but Pittsburgh has put it to
Speaker 1: him over and over and it kind of reminds me
Speaker 1: of last week, where you know, the Steelers probably would
Speaker 1: have lost that game in other Mike Tomlins seasons. Uh,
Speaker 1: they pulled it out there a little bit of a
Speaker 1: different team, but this is a this is a different
Speaker 1: type of challenge against the team that you've beaten up
Speaker 1: for years. Steelers are coming off an interesting week. They
Speaker 1: almost get beat in Dallas by a fourth string quarterback,
Speaker 1: but they get the job done. Big Ben injured both
Speaker 1: his knees, not just one, both his knees, we learned
Speaker 1: this week, so he's dealing with that. Uh. Then he
Speaker 1: heads to the COVID list for close contact. Reason. It's
Speaker 1: just been one of those weeks that can only happen
Speaker 1: in But I still I trust the Steelers. Why why
Speaker 1: wouldn't you? I mean, they they're the only undefeated team
Speaker 1: in the league. And I think what we've seen week
Speaker 1: after week with the Bengals this season, with the exception
Speaker 1: of one week against the Ravens, they're gonna hang in games.
Speaker 1: They're gonna give team scares. But I don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna do it to the Steelers at home because I
Speaker 1: think Pittsburgh knows full well that Cincinnati is no longer
Speaker 1: this laughing stock that you're gonna roll over. And assuming
Speaker 1: everyone's healthy and able to play, I think Pittsburgh's gonna
Speaker 1: put up a lot of points, and I think they're
Speaker 1: going to win. Maybe not going away, but I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna get another W with a schedule that continues
Speaker 1: to stay pretty soft. Uh Mercury Morris getting nervous. I
Speaker 1: I looked at this at the weather though, little little
Speaker 1: rain perhaps in the forecast. So that makes Joe mixons
Speaker 1: of ailability important. These teams are kind of similar in
Speaker 1: some ways that they don't really go deep too much.
Speaker 1: You know, Ben Roethlisberger has fewer plays over fifteen yards
Speaker 1: than any quarterbacks in the league that don't play in
Speaker 1: MetLife Stadium. It's Daniel Jones and Sam Donald are the
Speaker 1: bottom two, and then it's Roethlisberger, and then Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is really interesting because he's a number one overall pick
Speaker 1: we're so excited about that has a below average, you know, arm,
Speaker 1: and and isn't really pushing it down the field. He's
Speaker 1: still got to prove that he can do that. And
Speaker 1: it's a fascinating matchup because I don't think you can
Speaker 1: underscore the Ben knee factor because he they were already know,
Speaker 1: somewhat limited as a passing game when he's healthy. Now
Speaker 1: he's out of practice all week. The Bengals are the
Speaker 1: best team in the league, and I gotta be careful
Speaker 1: how I say this, Dan, I know you like to
Speaker 1: talk about the desert. Sometimes they are tied for the
Speaker 1: best record in the league at beating expectations, so they
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people a lot of doubt
Speaker 1: on the Bengals this year, but they always keep it
Speaker 1: close even if they I mean, how about Zach Tayler
Speaker 1: wins the division game? Just outright though, I mean, at
Speaker 1: some point this has to happen. You've got the quarterback
Speaker 1: now overdue, overdue it. I'm with you, and I believe
Speaker 1: the Steelers, believe it or not. A ranked in the
Speaker 1: league in offense right now, but have you gotten the
Speaker 1: first of all, they've won every game they played number
Speaker 1: two most weeks. I don't come out of the game thinking, Wow,
Speaker 1: this is a really bad offense, and more seems to
Speaker 1: me that it's maybe not as explosive as an old
Speaker 1: big ben offense used to be. And you're not seeing
Speaker 1: like we predicted a potential fifty burger at least I
Speaker 1: did last week in Dallas that didn't happen. So maybe
Speaker 1: not hitting high levels. But also the floor is pretty
Speaker 1: high with this offense. To me, it's okay. It's like
Speaker 1: it's okay, gonna be enough to win three playoff games.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna need to get better as the
Speaker 1: season goes along, but they have the people to do it.
Speaker 1: Do you think they do better than what the desert
Speaker 1: thinks and actually win a game? Here? Come on, anybody,
Speaker 1: I think I think they got a shot. But you know,
Speaker 1: I I think the uh the Steelers on my game picks, Colm,
Speaker 1: check that out, but I picked a close game. But
Speaker 1: there's a little Um, I really kind of want to
Speaker 1: lock the Bengals up, but I do. The only reason
Speaker 1: where I am in this because because in the past,
Speaker 1: of course you want me to, because in the past
Speaker 1: I would fall for these little rushes of emotion and
Speaker 1: suddenly Sunday night, you know, I'm I'm in the l column,
Speaker 1: so I'm staying away. But if they did business, I
Speaker 1: might have to lock the Bengals up down the down
Speaker 1: the road. That means nothing. I might know, its literally nothing,
Speaker 1: But you know what, I think it works out for
Speaker 1: Greg and I because if Mark locks up the Steelers,
Speaker 1: I mean the Steeler's opponent and then Pittsburgh wins Sunday
Speaker 1: Night is not fun for anybody, but when Sessions in
Speaker 1: the chair, So you know, let's just be grateful that
Speaker 1: was road to victory presented by the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a break from the draft to
Speaker 1: dig into the primetime games. We'll start with Sunday Night football. Man.
Speaker 1: You know, Al was so angry. Al Michael's was so
Speaker 1: angry about the blowout last Sunday Night that I you know,
Speaker 1: I was always hard to watch because you could just
Speaker 1: feel the anger coming off him. And now we get
Speaker 1: a Ravens Patriots game, which at least at least the
Speaker 1: Patriots found a way to beat the Jets, the lowly
Speaker 1: Jets on Monday Night, so they're not dead in the
Speaker 1: water by the time they get to Al Chris Michelle.
Speaker 1: But still you feel like, despite the win, New England
Speaker 1: could be in a lot of trouble here. What do
Speaker 1: you think, Greg, Wow, this is this is one for you.
Speaker 1: It's one for the haters, you know, a toast to
Speaker 1: you know, Um, I just you gotta enjoy it about
Speaker 1: our failed presidential candidate. Kanye thought better of it. And
Speaker 1: I I think if you're watching this game and you've
Speaker 1: been rooting against the Patriots like a ghoul like Dan
Speaker 1: for all these years, like this is hero going going
Speaker 1: to play Baltimore and I know it's in Foxborough, but
Speaker 1: there's no home field advantage anymore. Home teams have a
Speaker 1: losing record this year across the NFL, and and the
Speaker 1: Patriots are going to add to it. Because Cam Newton
Speaker 1: might be playing better, and Cam Newton might be fine,
Speaker 1: the run game might be fine. This is a brutal matchup.
Speaker 1: You can't run on the Ravens. The blitz is gonna
Speaker 1: get to cam new and and the offense is not
Speaker 1: the point in New England. It's the defense. It's the
Speaker 1: defense that is least capable of stopping this Baltimore rushing attack.
Speaker 1: Do you remember last year when everyone thought the Patriots
Speaker 1: are one of the best defenses of all time? They
Speaker 1: were all always a little overcooked. There the Patriots ran
Speaker 1: all over them then there. This is the thirty first
Speaker 1: best defense in the league right now, accordion d V
Speaker 1: O A. And they have no talent upfront. I would
Speaker 1: expect the Ravens to run for about four hundred yards
Speaker 1: in this game and a blow. It's been a weird
Speaker 1: couple of weeks for the Ravens though. You had Marquise
Speaker 1: Hollywood Brown complaining about the aerial game a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago and then dropping a pass last week. So sure,
Speaker 1: but we have Lamar Jackson on the Rich Eyes and
Speaker 1: Show basically saying the teams are calling our plays out
Speaker 1: before we before we snapped the ball. Um. There's just
Speaker 1: frustration and I and you know, I, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: someone that I've always been a Greg Roman guy. We
Speaker 1: won some as you know. We shared a pizza at
Speaker 1: the airport after the combine. I was, you know, now
Speaker 1: you shared a pizza, was the story. Originally I had
Speaker 1: I had a piece of his pizza because he was,
Speaker 1: you know, he couldn't eat the whole thing, didn't want
Speaker 1: the whole thing, so he said, do you want a piece?
Speaker 1: So I had a piece. But my thing with Greg
Speaker 1: Roman a little bit. And it seems like at every stop,
Speaker 1: like he starts out taking over the league, like with
Speaker 1: the Niners. They do fourteen fifteen formations. At once, it
Speaker 1: was amazing, Baltimore revolutionary. But year two, year three, things
Speaker 1: start to change a little bit. I'm a little concerned
Speaker 1: about this raven So maybe not in this game, but holistically,
Speaker 1: who are they this year? Yeah, I don't care about
Speaker 1: anything else. I just want to talk about you eating
Speaker 1: the leftovers of the offensive coordinator of the Ravens. It
Speaker 1: wasn't like he gave you half a piece. We had, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: We had a wonderful conversation and he actually told me
Speaker 1: a couple of things about the Niners that got on
Speaker 1: my radar. Nice guy. And then he said, look at
Speaker 1: I can't eat this whole pizza. They made the whole thing.
Speaker 1: And once in a while, not recently, I mean, let's
Speaker 1: say that the relationship feels, you know, slightly one sided.
Speaker 1: But I'm he's happy talking about this, that this is
Speaker 1: on television right now. Listen. I I want to bring up,
Speaker 1: since you brought up the desert, uh, that the people
Speaker 1: in the desert for the first time, and it's got
Speaker 1: to be in twenty years. I think that the Patriots
Speaker 1: can't even keep this within a touchdown that in their building,
Speaker 1: that that has not happened since the nineties or maybe
Speaker 1: two thousands, so things have obviously changed. No one is
Speaker 1: no one that follows the sport closely was tricked by
Speaker 1: that win over the Jets. So yes, if you want
Speaker 1: to say that the ghouls that have been waiting for
Speaker 1: the Patriots to lose get a chance to celebrate, Okay,
Speaker 1: but let's not totally overlook the fact fact and I
Speaker 1: know we haven't some of our conversation here, although it's
Speaker 1: been mostly Greg Roman Pizza based, that the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: are still dysfunctional on offense. So going on the road
Speaker 1: in byme time do what would I'd be totally stunned
Speaker 1: if the Patriots are hanging around in this game, because
Speaker 1: they're well coached and well prepared and and make a
Speaker 1: couple of plays. Now I'm not I'm not like getting
Speaker 1: ready for the party. I mean, you say dysfunctional. They
Speaker 1: It's funny how the bar changed, and I get it.
Speaker 1: They're coming off a historic season, their number one in
Speaker 1: the league and rushing Lamar Jackson is still the best
Speaker 1: running quarterback of all time, and they still have a
Speaker 1: great running game, and they're playing a team that can't
Speaker 1: stop anyone on the run. I mean, they make Zack
Speaker 1: Moss look like Walter Payton. So the matchup is perfect
Speaker 1: and I'm not that worried about the Ravens. I think
Speaker 1: if I was doing the power ranking stand I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to come you know, for your spot here, I
Speaker 1: would have the Ravens number two. To me, they're still
Speaker 1: the second best team in the league because they could
Speaker 1: run the ball, they're a great defense, they have Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson and everyone else I can poke a few more
Speaker 1: holes in. So the Steelers going to their building two
Speaker 1: weeks ago and be they dominated that game. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know they lost it. It's significant, but to me
Speaker 1: that if anything, that game made me feel more felt
Speaker 1: me made me feel better about the Ravens than almost
Speaker 1: any game, because they made the Steelers look like they're
Speaker 1: little little brothers for a while. Your point, some turnovers
Speaker 1: to your point in the second half against the Colts,
Speaker 1: they were dominated in the first half and we all
Speaker 1: know fifty five yards, but they played with tempo and pace,
Speaker 1: a bunch down the stretch in the second half, and
Speaker 1: they looked a lot better. It might have been the
Speaker 1: best half that Lamar Jackson has had. I think through
Speaker 1: ten ten straight completions through the air. So I don't
Speaker 1: I'm not selling them short or anything. I just think
Speaker 1: that they're not last year's Ravens. They have a little
Speaker 1: bit of things that we got. When the players start
Speaker 1: talking it, that's you know, that's a bit of a
Speaker 1: different aura than last season, which I find it weird
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of excuse making on Lamar Jackson's
Speaker 1: part in the national media. I just think call call
Speaker 1: it what it is, which is they maybe they're not
Speaker 1: a dysfunctional as a whole, but as a passing game offense,
Speaker 1: they haven't been right this year, right, But you said
Speaker 1: dysfunction as an offense, he is the key to the
Speaker 1: best rushing attack in the league. If you depends on
Speaker 1: how you want to measure it, maybe one of the best,
Speaker 1: one or two, but in total yards they're the best.
Speaker 1: Their offensive line is by far to me, their biggest
Speaker 1: concern because they lost Marshal Yonda, a future Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: They're totally banged up. They were struck mean before they
Speaker 1: lost Ronnie Stanley. It's they lead the league in negative plays,
Speaker 1: which is a sign of a bad offensive line. And
Speaker 1: I think when they played better teams that's gonna hurt them.
Speaker 1: They're not playing one of them this week. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on to the other primetime game this week.
Speaker 1: It is Monday Night Football, an NFC North battle between
Speaker 1: the Vikings and the Bears, and seems like two teams
Speaker 1: going in opposite directions. And you said it, Greg, and
Speaker 1: it's true, and it's a crazy stat and it's totally
Speaker 1: connected to the COVID nineteen world that we live in
Speaker 1: right now that there is no home field bump in
Speaker 1: the NFL right now. So even if if this was
Speaker 1: any other year, I'd say, I know the Bears are
Speaker 1: you know, they're on a three game losing streak and
Speaker 1: they're now that this is an offense that is dysfunctional.
Speaker 1: We could all agree on that, but you're in this
Speaker 1: Island game, the lights are up, you have sixty fans
Speaker 1: going nuts. Maybe they find a way to keep their
Speaker 1: season in decent shape. But I don't, I just don't
Speaker 1: see it. I think the Bears are one of those
Speaker 1: teams that no one bought into them off the five
Speaker 1: and one start. And usually when we all the football
Speaker 1: Gagne sent day, when we all decide that a team
Speaker 1: has done, they make us all looked done. But not
Speaker 1: with the Bears. They they have absolutely played to what
Speaker 1: we all expected. They're going in one direction, and the
Speaker 1: Vikings mark this is a team going in the opposite direction.
Speaker 1: Where Davin Cook is an m VP level player right now,
Speaker 1: back to back two yard games from scrimmage four games
Speaker 1: this season already, where he's had at least two touchdowns
Speaker 1: in a game, and Kirk Cousins is playing a lot
Speaker 1: better as well because his running back is a super duperstar. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, my one concern. You know, Chicago's still has
Speaker 1: that defensive strength, and they have held Cook to eighties
Speaker 1: six yards rushing in his past three games against Chicago,
Speaker 1: So it's sometimes you know, you can forget the past.
Speaker 1: But because he's playing like a completely different type of
Speaker 1: human being. He's the best running back in the league
Speaker 1: right now, so you'd like to think on prime time, Uh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna figure that out and get him yards and
Speaker 1: get him yards to the airs. Well, Kirk Cousins is
Speaker 1: thrown thirty four passes over the last two games. That's
Speaker 1: how I like Kirk Cousins. We don't need too much
Speaker 1: of him. This offense is functional because they want to
Speaker 1: be a run first attack. I'll tell you what. I'm
Speaker 1: a little suspect about this, but I'm gonna do it
Speaker 1: because I have changed. I've I've turned the tide on
Speaker 1: the Vikings. I think they're going to hang around Mber
Speaker 1: to lock them up because of my lack of belief
Speaker 1: in the Bears to some degree as well. Wow, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's confident one. I think you should
Speaker 1: have gotten Bengals. I hope you know, don't uh don't
Speaker 1: you don't switch out of it. But you know, Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins has never beaten this Bears team. I do think
Speaker 1: the vision matchups are instructive at least that Matt Nagy
Speaker 1: has owned Mike Zimmer for whatever reasons. Defense of Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins in prime time. I did, I did, you know what.
Speaker 1: It's a new day, it's a new era. They changed
Speaker 1: what they did coming out of the bye. So yes,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook is obviously the key to it. But one
Speaker 1: thing they've done is they stopped throwing deep so much,
Speaker 1: but they have thrown a ton on first downs, even
Speaker 1: though they're so run heavy. They've actually flipped the script
Speaker 1: where Kirk Cousins is throwing a lot on first downs.
Speaker 1: That's the best down to throw on. Of course, with
Speaker 1: play action, they've been very effective and the defense has
Speaker 1: changed what they've done to that. The matchups have helped,
Speaker 1: but they're playing a little more cover two. They're less aggressive.
Speaker 1: They're just trying to kind of you prevent the big play,
Speaker 1: keep the offense in the game because it's an offense
Speaker 1: first team. They are third in the league since week
Speaker 1: three the Vikings in expected points on offense and that
Speaker 1: that's pretty impressive. I mean, they are very good run game.
Speaker 1: They are great when the Kirk Cousins doesn't make a mistake.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to root against Kirk Cousins though in primetime
Speaker 1: now that you have locked him up there, Mark greg
Speaker 1: I mean, if anything, Greg, I can you can feel me?
Speaker 1: You know I'm on your heels. I'm only behind you.
Speaker 1: So I'm right inside the Greg Rosenthal mind, and that's
Speaker 1: where I want to be in his mind. Kirk kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins is he's funny because everybody likes that fun with
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, and and we're we're doing that as well
Speaker 1: right now with his issues when it comes to playing
Speaker 1: at nighttime in prime time. But I will say that
Speaker 1: he's not a quarter ick you have to hide either.
Speaker 1: I know he was really bad for a stretch this season,
Speaker 1: but Kirk Cousins is pretty good. He's maybe never gonna
Speaker 1: be great, and he's probably never gonna be hoisting a
Speaker 1: little trophy as as Mark called it earlier today. He's
Speaker 1: probably not gonna be that guy. But he's pretty good too.
Speaker 1: That's why he got paid thirty plus million dollars a year.
Speaker 1: So I think the way they are now and why
Speaker 1: that number doesn't surprise me, and why I thought earlier
Speaker 1: in this season that the Vikings were gonna be good
Speaker 1: is because it's all there on offense. I know you
Speaker 1: lost Stefan Diggs, but now you have Justin Jefferson in
Speaker 1: there and he's stepped in and become a Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: level player. It's all there for them to be a
Speaker 1: top five offense, and we've been seeing it for the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. So I like the vikings of
Speaker 1: this game. I'm with you, Mark, I just couldn't lock
Speaker 1: it because I don't know. Weird things happen, Weird things
Speaker 1: happen with Kirk Cousins of Prime Time. I'm I'm already
Speaker 1: concerned with my decision, which is usually not a great
Speaker 1: um a great look. All right, let's move on the
Speaker 1: old zeuser. You know, when you pick first overall, it's
Speaker 1: a little bit of a drag because you have to
Speaker 1: wait a long time for your next pick. I will
Speaker 1: pick another late game here, the Denver Broncos at the
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Raiders. I am into the Raiders. I'm in.
Speaker 1: They've crashed the top ten of the Power rankings for
Speaker 1: the first time in my two years on that beat,
Speaker 1: and I'm it's it's for reasons that go beyond uh
Speaker 1: surface stuff like John Gruden school and now they're in
Speaker 1: Vegas now. It's because the team's identity is different. It's
Speaker 1: not it's not the Raiders that I believe we're seven
Speaker 1: and five last year and then trailed off down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I think this is just a better all around team.
Speaker 1: And that's especially so on offense, where what we've seen
Speaker 1: the book on Derek Derek Carr, he doesn't like uh
Speaker 1: to throw downfield. He looks immediately to his check down
Speaker 1: whenever possible, and we're not seeing that as much right now.
Speaker 1: I like Nelson Agilar when he brings to this offense.
Speaker 1: How about that for a pickup by Mike Mayock. He's
Speaker 1: given a downfield element. Hunter Renfroh Gregg doubted initially in
Speaker 1: his career. He's become a nice, little um complimentary player
Speaker 1: in the slot. Henry Ruggs is a future star, and
Speaker 1: you see it. He's having a more customary type season.
Speaker 1: We're starting to get used to this world where guys
Speaker 1: hit the ground running his superstars. But what we're seeing
Speaker 1: with Rugs like he's dropping some breadcrumbs and then he's gonna,
Speaker 1: I think explode a little later maybe next season. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then you have Darren Waller of course, and a
Speaker 1: running game that they move the ball and they could
Speaker 1: beat you up. So I like the Raiders and the Broncos.
Speaker 1: The Broncos. I don't like the Broncos. I don't like
Speaker 1: So that's that's why I feel very good about the
Speaker 1: Raiders in this game. Because the Broncos are making things
Speaker 1: look better with fourth quarter rallies. But I think the
Speaker 1: Raidors just an all around a stronger team. The Raiders
Speaker 1: sort of showing us that they can win different types
Speaker 1: of games. Uh, they can win the nail biter last
Speaker 1: week where they've got to keep up and and also
Speaker 1: you know, basically take charge in a in a higher
Speaker 1: scoring game. Um. They went into Cleveland, and I thought
Speaker 1: that was more of a John Gruden type game than
Speaker 1: some would say, where I know they didn't you know,
Speaker 1: it was terrible weather. Uh, the air attack was muted
Speaker 1: to some degree. I think Gruden would happily pound people
Speaker 1: with the run game all day long. And Josh Jacobs
Speaker 1: showed up that day. Uh. You know, Josh Jacobs is
Speaker 1: interesting these third and rushing but forty four yards per
Speaker 1: carryus so it's not quite the Josh Jacob's experience from
Speaker 1: last year, but he stepped up in a couple of
Speaker 1: big operations. Um, I'm with you Dan that if I
Speaker 1: were to rank these a f C teams, right now.
Speaker 1: The Raiders, to me, barring some sort of collapse in
Speaker 1: their defense, is a question. There are legit wild card
Speaker 1: team that I think could win a playoff game. They've
Speaker 1: beat in the Chiefs, so I don't know what other
Speaker 1: questions would linger about their potential ceiling. I thought about
Speaker 1: locking this game for the ray Ters too, I didn't.
Speaker 1: I do expect them to win. It'd be more of
Speaker 1: a pick against the Broncos, though, because the Broncos are
Speaker 1: just showing you very little um. I don't give them
Speaker 1: any credit for the for last week's garbage time um stuff.
Speaker 1: Drew Lock didn't even really play that well uh in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. I mean he had that terrible interception
Speaker 1: they had, they had a turnover on downs during that comeback.
Speaker 1: It was really about the Falcons offense, uh, retreating into
Speaker 1: a shell and giving them chance after chance, and they
Speaker 1: just haven't moved the ball like they were a great
Speaker 1: collection of talent and I was so high on them.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to give up the ghost a little bit.
Speaker 1: They lose uh a Koe Buonum, who I loved to
Speaker 1: a torn e c l. So he's out for the year.
Speaker 1: And you see, you see the individual talent like Jerry
Speaker 1: Judy's popping love love what he showed last week. kJ
Speaker 1: Handler is good, but lock Had just has that thing
Speaker 1: that maybe Derek Carr had early on in his career
Speaker 1: where he's just he's just scrambling at the first sign
Speaker 1: of pressure, rolling to his right, a little bit of
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield two thousand nineteen disease, and and after that
Speaker 1: it's just like anyone's guess what's gonna happen next. His
Speaker 1: mechanics seem a little bit off. He does that thing
Speaker 1: where he takes a snap and he just starts going
Speaker 1: backwards and backward and backwards. So that gets on your
Speaker 1: radar a little bit. Uh. You mentioned the tight end
Speaker 1: going down, and you did a nice job with his name,
Speaker 1: so I'll just call him Albert his A C L Tare.
Speaker 1: He's the seventeenth Denver player put on the I R
Speaker 1: either Boomerang or three week I R. Is there boomerang
Speaker 1: I R this year? Is it? Just like? Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Greg I had not announced that I have locked up
Speaker 1: the Raiders, but I will do a lot of the Raiders.
Speaker 1: They are my selection. I'm gonna get behind this team.
Speaker 1: While also I like it just twist the night a
Speaker 1: little bit on all those Broncos fans that think I
Speaker 1: hate your team. I don't like this particular team. The
Speaker 1: franchise is fine, l A. You know, I just like
Speaker 1: the twisting on l A. I s had everything his
Speaker 1: whole life, uh fall to him. So now he's got
Speaker 1: to deal with a little bit of adversity. So coronavirus
Speaker 1: risk right now. But other than that, you're right, it's
Speaker 1: you know, you got a man with the rohona. Did
Speaker 1: you just hit me a little COVID nineteen shame? All right,
Speaker 1: I'll take it. Well, you know it wasn't my intent,
Speaker 1: but it's factual. And we're you know we are we're
Speaker 1: journalists and reporters here. This is a fork in the
Speaker 1: road game though, this is a or a fork like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna fork you if you lose game when it
Speaker 1: comes to Broncos, because if you are one of those
Speaker 1: Broncos homers, you can look at their schedule and still
Speaker 1: say like, well, if they win this game and then
Speaker 1: they gotta I forget. You know, they have a pretty
Speaker 1: easy schedule moving forward, it's like, then get in the mix.
Speaker 1: So this is it, like this is their last stand.
Speaker 1: I thought one of the reasons they were so bad
Speaker 1: defensively last week was A. J. Boyer and Bryce Callahan,
Speaker 1: their two best quarterbacks were both out, and they're both
Speaker 1: back for this week, so I think that makes their
Speaker 1: defense more competent. But they haven't. They haven't showed me much.
Speaker 1: I'm mad. Like you know, you put yourself out there
Speaker 1: as a team that you believe in, and then and
Speaker 1: then and they turn your back on you. I'm stupid.
Speaker 1: I mean, Greg, you you are. You are someone that
Speaker 1: I am surprised put a ton of faith into a
Speaker 1: Hatch Shermer uh led offense. I mean that, that's my
Speaker 1: one concern was not not being some of your parts.
Speaker 1: That's a Patch Schremer staple, Isn't It Also funny Mark
Speaker 1: that Greg described what it's like to be an actual
Speaker 1: fan of like a normal franchise or struggling franchise. That's
Speaker 1: what it's like to be a Jets fan or or
Speaker 1: a Browns fan. You put your faith in them and
Speaker 1: then they turned their back on you. As a Patriots fan,
Speaker 1: you haven't had much of that for half of your life.
Speaker 1: But it's coming. In fact, it's here now. I don't
Speaker 1: have any faith in them. But yes, all right, I
Speaker 1: it snakes to me and Mark, I'm not gonna do
Speaker 1: it to you because I think I did it to
Speaker 1: you last week. I'm not going to take the Browns again,
Speaker 1: although I think they're the best game on the board
Speaker 1: at this point. But I'm gonna leave it to you
Speaker 1: because I know they're special. Uh They're they're your special
Speaker 1: little flowers. So I'm gonna stay out of that realm.
Speaker 1: And oh, Piggins are slim, So let me go and
Speaker 1: get there's some rough games. Let me check in on
Speaker 1: this NFC East dump dumpster fire. How about that Philadelphia
Speaker 1: Eagles at New York Giants. The Giants are two and seven,
Speaker 1: but guess what, boys, if they win this game, they
Speaker 1: are a half game out in the NFC. STA's where
Speaker 1: we're at this is, this is an historic dumpster fire situation.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, I I, as I often do
Speaker 1: on this podcast, I think back to life and growing
Speaker 1: up in the cold town, and uh, on Sunday mornings, Uh,
Speaker 1: my mom would take my sister and my brother and
Speaker 1: myself to church and we go to St. Margaret's and
Speaker 1: we'd go through Mass and that was you know, it's
Speaker 1: tough to get through a forty five minute mass when
Speaker 1: you're a seven year old boy and you know there's
Speaker 1: sports and football to come. So after church we would
Speaker 1: go drive from St. Margaret's down to Kardian Place to
Speaker 1: my grandparents house. And there's Poppy. You know where to
Speaker 1: find Poppy. It's one pm on Sunday. He's sitting in
Speaker 1: the big brown chair and he's got his pretzels and
Speaker 1: he's got his He had like a big handle of
Speaker 1: root here that he used to drink and it was
Speaker 1: eventually had to be moved to diet root here. Uh,
Speaker 1: and that would be his spot for eight hours. And
Speaker 1: you know what, he was a Giants fan. Poppy resting piece.
Speaker 1: And when the Giants and Eagles are playing back in
Speaker 1: the eighties when I was growing up, it was Bill
Speaker 1: Parcels and it was Buddy Ryan and maybe if it
Speaker 1: was another NFC's game, it would be Joe Gibbs would
Speaker 1: be involved. You know, you had the Cowboys, I mean,
Speaker 1: you have the Landry in the final years, it was
Speaker 1: a great place. So we're not there now. We're in
Speaker 1: a dark place for the NFC's But I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: watch it and think about when times were I'm gonna
Speaker 1: think about the good old days. Bob Glauber, our good
Speaker 1: friend from Newsday. He wrote a great book about the
Speaker 1: NFC East. The good old days were not there. These
Speaker 1: are the bad old days. This is when a two
Speaker 1: and seventeen in the middle of November can win and
Speaker 1: be a half game out of first. Wow. This is um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's tough to top. Tough to father that you're thinking
Speaker 1: back to them. I'm thinking way back to two games
Speaker 1: ago for the Eagles. Do you remember back then when
Speaker 1: they played the Giants. Wow, to get this matchup twice
Speaker 1: in three games for the Eagles, I thought it was
Speaker 1: the game that might turn their season around. And we'll see,
Speaker 1: maybe it has. You know, they they look terrible beating
Speaker 1: the Cowboys a week later than they have a buy
Speaker 1: Now they get Lane Johnson back, they get Miles Sanders back.
Speaker 1: I mean those are significant, uh players for them to
Speaker 1: get back onto the field. Just make it easy on yourself,
Speaker 1: win a game, show your talent because the the NFC
Speaker 1: S doesn't have to be like this. The Eagles can
Speaker 1: still be frisky. Uh. You know, as a wise woman
Speaker 1: once said, be best, you know, be be your best self.
Speaker 1: You know that I don't know if that really Angela No, Um,
Speaker 1: if you don't know, you know you don't, but there
Speaker 1: are I certainly have no idea who you're talking about.
Speaker 1: It was, you know it was. It was a really
Speaker 1: it was a national platform, um to just be best.
Speaker 1: It's like probably like Tina Cash or like Tina hot Loote,
Speaker 1: like some sort of singer that you're into our our
Speaker 1: our listeners will absolutely. I'm sure the only thing that
Speaker 1: the Giants do well right now is they've actually established
Speaker 1: a little bit of an idea to speak in during
Speaker 1: the show. I bet Ricky know it. Ricky would know.
Speaker 1: I have no idea what you're talking. I mean it
Speaker 1: came from our highest levels of government. That's that's all, um.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know why I'm teasing this out.
Speaker 1: Greg really connecting with the audience on that one. If
Speaker 1: you just got if you just let it go, then
Speaker 1: it would have been you dropped too many like curiosity
Speaker 1: bread crowns. I couldn't. I couldn't help myself. And I mean,
Speaker 1: this is it. This is it for the Giants. Though
Speaker 1: they win this, they're in the race, they lose. It's over.
Speaker 1: They got a nice little power running game lately they
Speaker 1: actually are changing. As as the season's going along, you
Speaker 1: somehow found a way to top Dan's beautiful nostalgia dips
Speaker 1: NFC East Uh, Dan, I grew up in the same
Speaker 1: world as you, watching the Giants and sometimes the Jets.
Speaker 1: But yes, the shine is off. But I do think
Speaker 1: that there is incredible interest around this stretch for Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1: Between now and next season. You used the second round
Speaker 1: pick on Jalen Hurts, and if this thing continues to
Speaker 1: nose dive, I mean it's gonna be a rough offseason
Speaker 1: on Philadelphia Sports Talk radio. But you got the Giants.
Speaker 1: They play Washington in Dallas. All three of those should
Speaker 1: be considered winnable games. Washington to me seems like the
Speaker 1: biggest challenge of that group because of their defense. You
Speaker 1: win that and you're in the playoffs, essentially barring like
Speaker 1: mathematical nightmares. Um, but I'm with you, Greg, like this
Speaker 1: Giants team this is not and I don't want to
Speaker 1: keep dropping a bombs on Pat Shermer and previous Giants coaches,
Speaker 1: but they have a different feel to me. They're spicier,
Speaker 1: their situational football is a little bit different. Their defense
Speaker 1: is rising up so the game is intriguing on that front.
Speaker 1: I would rather actually see the Giants sneaking of the
Speaker 1: playoffs than the Eagles, basically for the reasons that Dan
Speaker 1: mentioned about childhood um not logical one. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: the Joe Judge thing. The defense has improved, There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about that, especially where where we were. You know,
Speaker 1: how we were talking about them entering week one is like,
Speaker 1: name one guy that can do anything on this defense,
Speaker 1: and you know they they've been able to, They've been
Speaker 1: able to have a good season. They had some nice
Speaker 1: pickups James Bradberry, Leonard Williams, although it's still you know,
Speaker 1: pretty high price tag and also there for them, I
Speaker 1: don't know if they're going to give him a huge contract,
Speaker 1: but he's played well this season, definitely better than he
Speaker 1: played with the Jets. It's it's so weird with wins
Speaker 1: and we will move on because we I know, we
Speaker 1: spoke with bow Wolf at at at at length about
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz and the Eagles on Tuesday show. Please check
Speaker 1: that out. I actually it's gotten to the point where
Speaker 1: I went on spot rack dot com and looked out
Speaker 1: when the Eagles can get out of this Carson Wentz contract.
Speaker 1: That's how bad it's been this year. Potential out in
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty two. So Jalen Hurts is on the roster. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we'll see where it all plays out in Philadelphia. But
Speaker 1: it's been a strange season. Greg, you're up in the draft,
Speaker 1: all right. I'm gonna take the Lions versus the Washington
Speaker 1: football team, and I am excited for this game because
Speaker 1: of Alex Smith, because of what I saw last week.
Speaker 1: I think the coverage around Alex Smith has been understandably
Speaker 1: like in awe of what he's done, but there's like
Speaker 1: a little bit of condescension that's that's come with it,
Speaker 1: of like we're all just afraid he's gonna get hurt,
Speaker 1: and like, what a nice job that you returned, almost
Speaker 1: like he didn't like earn his spot back on the team.
Speaker 1: And look, he has a guaranteed contract that I think
Speaker 1: played a big factor, uh into that. I watched him
Speaker 1: last week, and you know what he looked like. He
Speaker 1: looked like I would expect Alex Smith to look at
Speaker 1: thirty six, which is an NFL quarterback that I think
Speaker 1: would be in the end that I think would have
Speaker 1: a job now he'd be a backup. Like, but that's
Speaker 1: what I would like, a guy who can come in
Speaker 1: as a backup. Um, make the right decisions in terms
Speaker 1: of your offense, make some good plays, make some bad
Speaker 1: plays at the end when you absolutely need a touchdown
Speaker 1: and get picked off. That that happened too. But he
Speaker 1: moved the ball pretty efficiently, and I was like, this
Speaker 1: might not be it for alexmth he might be in
Speaker 1: the league another couple of years if he wants to
Speaker 1: go to Josh McCown mentor and breaking classic you know,
Speaker 1: in case of emergency type of route, and you know
Speaker 1: what would make this comeback story even better as a win,
Speaker 1: this is a very winnable game. I think for Washington,
Speaker 1: their defense can can do some damage. And uh, I
Speaker 1: think Washington could could move the ball, and I think
Speaker 1: they could get a win. I'd love to see Alex
Speaker 1: Smith get a win. Yeah, I mean, I I feel
Speaker 1: like any time anyone faces Detroit, you'd have to say
Speaker 1: this could be a win because um, they've not built
Speaker 1: any you know, and it becomes trite and tired to
Speaker 1: say this stuff, But I mean they feel like kind
Speaker 1: of most people, um I knew or myself in your
Speaker 1: twenties where you kind of give yourself look like the
Speaker 1: next five or six years, I'm just gonna like discover
Speaker 1: who I am and put in a lot of like
Speaker 1: self care and self exploration, and you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure what I'm about or what I'm gonna do. It's like, Lions,
Speaker 1: that's cool that you feel personal like your time, but
Speaker 1: I mean I look back and I enjoyed that time,
Speaker 1: and I hope that it amounted to something. Even then,
Speaker 1: why did you do your voice when you mimic someone?
Speaker 1: You have this one? You're like Twitter middle school or
Speaker 1: oh you're twenty and finding First of all, Twitter middle School.
Speaker 1: I am a part of that middle school. So I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that I'm looking through the window. I mean
Speaker 1: that school and equally annoying at times, but I find
Speaker 1: it an annoying environment. Um, the Lions I find highly annoying.
Speaker 1: Do I need to defend that to anyone? I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it's and I love matching to me depressing
Speaker 1: and it's like it's like, you know what, it's late November.
Speaker 1: It becomes for me a chore just to keep dumping
Speaker 1: on some of these teams like the Bears and the Lions.
Speaker 1: It's like, we get it. I am very close to
Speaker 1: just simply saying goodbye to you for this year, and
Speaker 1: I don't feel bad about doing it. Is wait a second.
Speaker 1: By second, they've annoyed me because sandwagon, you got off
Speaker 1: the bandwagon, you hyped on the brow and you were
Speaker 1: chasing after the bad wagon. You said you got back on.
Speaker 1: Are you back off again? I got in. I got
Speaker 1: in the bandwagon. And remember I was stuck in the
Speaker 1: back with the you know, all the all the people
Speaker 1: like you know, we couldn't get nice seats. I saw
Speaker 1: Mina Kimes up in the first class area with a
Speaker 1: nice cocktail and like having a wonderful discussion with the
Speaker 1: you know, the driver of the vehicle. I'm in the back.
Speaker 1: I've got like I'm sitting next to a horse. Um.
Speaker 1: I jumped off that thing and I'm walking back home
Speaker 1: and I'm a little annoyed by the entire experience. I
Speaker 1: fell for this um like a rub in August. I'm out,
Speaker 1: all right? Someone answered me. This what I know. Alex
Speaker 1: Smith is an incredible football story. But where's Dwayne Haskins? Weird?
Speaker 1: Smith is an incredible comeback story. He's what he is
Speaker 1: he almost died. He almost suffered an injury on a
Speaker 1: football field that killed him. Uh, and he was able
Speaker 1: to make it back. And his leg is not the
Speaker 1: same leg it was. It's a miracle of science as
Speaker 1: much as it is human spirit. But he's thirty six
Speaker 1: and he's much closer to just being a Josh McCown
Speaker 1: type mentor figure in the NFL than being a guy
Speaker 1: that can lead a team. Are you really cashing out
Speaker 1: your chips on Haskins to the point where in this
Speaker 1: season where you're obviously not winning a Super Bowl, but
Speaker 1: somehow you're in the mix in the NFC East to
Speaker 1: just get one last look at this guy before you
Speaker 1: completely kiss him off. Is it is there? I think
Speaker 1: they think that Alex Smith gives him a better chance
Speaker 1: to win a understand how back to Haskins when they
Speaker 1: have to, and they've already given up on Haskins on
Speaker 1: some level, Like it seems personal, you know, the way
Speaker 1: that they've talked about it. It seems personal. They didn't
Speaker 1: draft him, and Uh, I think there's a little bit
Speaker 1: more and I think it's gonna come out because usually
Speaker 1: these things do UH with Haskins, maybe behind the scenes
Speaker 1: and there were whispers that he's not a guy who's
Speaker 1: been working hard enough. There's gotta be a little bit
Speaker 1: more to the story to to really explain how deep
Speaker 1: in the dog doghouse he got. Rivera said this week
Speaker 1: that Haskins can learn what it means to be a
Speaker 1: real NFL starter by watching Alex Smith. So it's not
Speaker 1: a fit, but it is an outlier to your point,
Speaker 1: and a fifteenth overall pick to be treated this way,
Speaker 1: and you're too No, no, I'm washing their hands exactly.
Speaker 1: But it's like like the like you know, and and
Speaker 1: I feel bad for these quarterbacks to come in regime change.
Speaker 1: And Ron Rivera probably would be happier even in this
Speaker 1: offseason um signing a veteran he trust. He just seems
Speaker 1: like I do that wants veteran leadership at quarterback versus
Speaker 1: experimentally working with a young guy. And Haskins probably did
Speaker 1: himself no favors. But it's an outlier in terms of
Speaker 1: how he's being treated. When he missed, when he missed
Speaker 1: his first victory, neel down taking selfies with fans, I
Speaker 1: guess that that was when it was over. Let's let's
Speaker 1: just face it. Uh. In Washington, all right up next, Mark,
Speaker 1: all right, well you know this, this will come as
Speaker 1: no surprise. UM, thank you Dan and and Greg by
Speaker 1: uh by proxy for leaving Houston at Cleveland out there
Speaker 1: in the open. I mean that was the big solid
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, Mark, I didn't have to do it,
Speaker 1: and I did, and I was out of respect and
Speaker 1: love for you know. It's no Honestly, I'll spend the
Speaker 1: entire weekend, Um thinking about this act of kindness that
Speaker 1: you've bestowed on me. I want to see what this
Speaker 1: Browns team can do because this game, like this game
Speaker 1: scares me because I I kind of felt like Cleveland
Speaker 1: made it very clear what they are, not just with
Speaker 1: the Baltimore and Pittsburgh games, but losing to the losing
Speaker 1: to the Raiders in Cleveland and terrible weather. They were
Speaker 1: really banged up. They've been really banged up. Like you know.
Speaker 1: I also give them credit for hanging around with no
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb, with Wyatt Heller their star guard out of
Speaker 1: the mix. Austin Hooper has been gone. Um, They've had
Speaker 1: defensive guys in and out of the lineup. Their defense
Speaker 1: is a lost cause. And when Myles Garrett, well, no,
Speaker 1: I think it is I mean it's you're gonna score
Speaker 1: points on them every week. When Myles Garrett was not
Speaker 1: on the field during long portions of that Raiders game.
Speaker 1: I mean, they became what they were average though, I
Speaker 1: mean they not You're right they are, but for this
Speaker 1: year that's sort of normal. Like for me, I think
Speaker 1: they were they were like a C minus um deep
Speaker 1: D plus if D plus is still grade um defense
Speaker 1: and then to sixty nine. I know, but that feels
Speaker 1: that feels like a slap in the face of a child.
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're saying. What is the plus
Speaker 1: to get It's known as the gentleman's F. Well, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know how many of those people
Speaker 1: turn out to be gentleman either. But um, that's a
Speaker 1: whole different conversation. It's health structure of the grading. It's
Speaker 1: not a reflection of whoever gets the grade. It's just
Speaker 1: like the gentleman's F is a D. But there are
Speaker 1: right but that that also is a phrasing from like
Speaker 1: the seventies, and there are no gentleman anymore anyways, Cleveland,
Speaker 1: like you're you're getting nick shell back. Come on, I'm
Speaker 1: saying I need the Browns to take care of business
Speaker 1: here against a bad defense. But you know I'm not
Speaker 1: locking it up. I already locked up another team. But
Speaker 1: I'll say this, Deshaun Watson um scares the life out
Speaker 1: of you if you have to go up here. I
Speaker 1: think he's playing as well as he has ever played.
Speaker 1: Will Fuller after a week of you know, trade gossip
Speaker 1: came out inflame the Jaguars, which I mean, I think
Speaker 1: the three of us could probably put up a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty yards as a trio against the Jaguars defense.
Speaker 1: But still, um, you could do that against Cleveland too.
Speaker 1: So this is a trap game in every sense of
Speaker 1: the word. And if Cleveland wants to be taken seriously
Speaker 1: with the Raiders and with frankly even like the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and some of these all those five and three type teams,
Speaker 1: you've got to take care of business here and take
Speaker 1: care of it decisively. And then these teams aren't They're
Speaker 1: not to me, it's not a trap game because they're
Speaker 1: even record wise, I know, I know, but well, I
Speaker 1: think if you've watched both these teams this year, you
Speaker 1: think they're about even. And and like I checked out,
Speaker 1: like the e p a por play that you know,
Speaker 1: Texans are ahead of you know, the Browns in terms
Speaker 1: of that, they're ahead of them in terms of d
Speaker 1: v O A. And that doesn't surprise me because I
Speaker 1: just think they're they're close. The Texans have faced the
Speaker 1: hardest scheduling league, and they find a way to lose
Speaker 1: close games. And the Browns have won some close games.
Speaker 1: I think they have a better situational coaching staff. I
Speaker 1: think they've got a little more um, you know, mojo
Speaker 1: in the bank right now. And that's why I tried,
Speaker 1: like I picked them to win this game in a
Speaker 1: close game. But it's not an uneven matchup to your point,
Speaker 1: we're kind of burying the lead though. You know. The
Speaker 1: undercard here is the Duke Johnson revenge game. You know,
Speaker 1: he has a primary guy. It's getting so much attention,
Speaker 1: and then Johnson is rushing for like two point eight yards.
Speaker 1: P thought he left okay this week. Now he's gonna
Speaker 1: make the Browns pay for prevention. But more importantly, it's
Speaker 1: the Jack Easterby versus Sessler game. This guy, this guy
Speaker 1: took over in Houston. He infuriated Mark so much that um,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe some shadowy link figures even noticed how
Speaker 1: obsessed Mark and um. And then he's back in the
Speaker 1: news this week because you know, we got J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt and like Deshaun Watson talking on Sports Center about
Speaker 1: how mad they are essentially at Easterby for firing uh,
Speaker 1: an award winning PR director that everyone loved, the only
Speaker 1: woman PR director in the league. So if the tech
Speaker 1: since we're looking for like a little more bad PR
Speaker 1: this year, Easterby gave it to him. Wait what lets
Speaker 1: your pride take over? Like Bill Simmons attacking Goodell on ESPN,
Speaker 1: just go just fire with two barrels? No, because I
Speaker 1: I like, well, I don't want to get too deep
Speaker 1: into it, but um, I feel like I've said a lot.
Speaker 1: I think that I think that this time around, I
Speaker 1: don't need to say anything now the players are doing
Speaker 1: it for you right that they like to and to
Speaker 1: fire you know, Amy over what they called, you know,
Speaker 1: a cult non cultural fit um and to see the
Speaker 1: response that came out from every corner of journalist world,
Speaker 1: because you know, when you have to work on these
Speaker 1: stories or or deal with these teams, not all PR
Speaker 1: staffs are created equal. And when you have a bad experience,
Speaker 1: and we've all had that, if you've tried to write
Speaker 1: features and stuff. Um, it makes life feel difficult. And
Speaker 1: when someone goes out of their way and does a
Speaker 1: great job like it puts a great face on the organization,
Speaker 1: and it put a great face on the text and
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, he was verting out. The
Speaker 1: enemy is in the the Dwayne Haskins novella like that
Speaker 1: sticks on the shelf. I want to read this novella
Speaker 1: when we find out what's going on here. When you
Speaker 1: get when you irritate J. J. Watt Um, we know this. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's not good for you. Yes, save that for the memoirs. Also, yes,
Speaker 1: bad optics for the Texans. Mark here's a stat from
Speaker 1: the NFL Media Research Team. Cleveland has either scored thirty
Speaker 1: plus points or seven or fewer points in every game
Speaker 1: this season. Five and oh when they score big, oh
Speaker 1: and three when they try up on offense. They are
Speaker 1: the picture of a hot and cold team. But however,
Speaker 1: this post by schedule shapes up nice for you, buddy, Texans, Eagles, Jaguars.
Speaker 1: The next three weeks. Just just just be okay, you
Speaker 1: should be. They gotta win tho. If they can win
Speaker 1: two out of three, that's fine. Win all three because
Speaker 1: it gets tough. And what we've seen though, what we've
Speaker 1: seen is that they're hot and cold. So I don't
Speaker 1: think they'll win all three. Never know, but even if
Speaker 1: they went two of three, Man, you're seven and four
Speaker 1: in December and you you with an expanded playoffs. All right,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a fun final month of the year.
Speaker 1: Brian Howyer and Cleveland Memorial record seven and four right
Speaker 1: before that, thank you, because like I just feel no, Um,
Speaker 1: I think younger fans of any of these teams that
Speaker 1: have gone through like you know what we've been through,
Speaker 1: Dan and not you know, listeners are like with YouTube,
Speaker 1: please shut up about this, but um, you know they
Speaker 1: have more optimism. I just I'm waiting for the other
Speaker 1: shoe to drop in, to drop on my head from
Speaker 1: the top of a building, so understandable. All right, it
Speaker 1: snakes to you, Well it's snakes to me. So I
Speaker 1: guess I will go. I mean, how many high octeam
Speaker 1: games do I need here? I'm gonna go. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go Jacksonville, Green Bay. Well, we've reached the part of
Speaker 1: the proceedings for the games that are getting shipped shook,
Speaker 1: so don't get stressed out about this. Well shook will
Speaker 1: go Jacksonville, Green Bay. How about that just to be
Speaker 1: the blowout of the year. It's I Actually, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna start this with a question for you, Dan, because
Speaker 1: you know, having watched uh Jake Luton in his well,
Speaker 1: I I was impressed. And number one, I like, I
Speaker 1: read all these scouting reports where he's, you know, game manager,
Speaker 1: like okay arm but I think he throws a nice
Speaker 1: ball um deep and he I know he made a
Speaker 1: few mistakes, but I am refusing just to sign up
Speaker 1: for these late round quarterbacks at this point because I
Speaker 1: think it's just part of a larger sham where they're
Speaker 1: going to try and go what is it, Lieutenant City.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm asking Dan. You started that fit. When
Speaker 1: you start a fan club for these fringe players, it
Speaker 1: takes a lot of dedication. Uh, it can't be just
Speaker 1: you know, it's not just you're not riding a rainbow.
Speaker 1: You've got to you've gotta dig in for the tough times,
Speaker 1: the positive times, and but you have to be the
Speaker 1: guiding force. I have not heard a word, seeing a tweet, um,
Speaker 1: not even a shred of publicity around this fan club.
Speaker 1: It does it still exist? Um, yes, absolutely, now absolutely
Speaker 1: of the show. You know, the old Juicer was a
Speaker 1: bit of an active subversion to start off this fan
Speaker 1: club because Mark is obsessed with anyone drafted outside the
Speaker 1: sixth round, that's a quarterback. So I wanted to beat
Speaker 1: him to the punch, and I did with Jake Lutanity
Speaker 1: and I, uh, you know, the things started off incredibly
Speaker 1: with a seventy yard touchdown. A little hot and cold,
Speaker 1: but that's what usually I think it's the Tom Brady
Speaker 1: disease where we expect these guys. Usually, these guys fall
Speaker 1: late in dress for a reason. They're limited, uh physically
Speaker 1: in many cases, and uh it means they're gonna get
Speaker 1: exposed eventually in the NFL. So I am mom more
Speaker 1: about this is where I'm at. Honestly, my team is
Speaker 1: oh and nine the Jaguars or one in eight, right
Speaker 1: is that where they are? In one and seven? One
Speaker 1: and eight, They're gonna have the tiebreaker because they have
Speaker 1: an easier schedule in the Jets there one and seven
Speaker 1: right now? Uh, so I need the I need Lieutanity,
Speaker 1: I need mean shoe. I need one of the one
Speaker 1: of these guys to have one of those scrappy games
Speaker 1: that gets the Sesslers of the world excited and steal
Speaker 1: a game or two to get the Jaguars out of
Speaker 1: the mix. Because this feel us to me like a
Speaker 1: team in a state of suspended animation where they don't
Speaker 1: have their head coach in the building, they don't have
Speaker 1: the quarterback, and I don't want them to flame out
Speaker 1: to one in fifteen because that makes the Jets have
Speaker 1: to go winless to get the number one overall pick,
Speaker 1: which I don't want. And they have the toughest schedule
Speaker 1: in the league coming up. They I think the only
Speaker 1: team they play with the losing record the rest of
Speaker 1: the season is the Vikings, who is probably the best
Speaker 1: team that has currently has a losing record. I didn't
Speaker 1: think about that though, Greg could. I guess they conceivably
Speaker 1: could catch the Jets of the strength of schedule. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's early to project to the schedule picnic either, by
Speaker 1: the way, Yeah, it can change. It can change a
Speaker 1: lot um On paper, you would think, well, maybe this
Speaker 1: would be a game that they could do some damnit
Speaker 1: James Robinson against this Packers rush defense. Jaire Alexander's the
Speaker 1: key to the Packers defense. He's been out of practice
Speaker 1: Wednesday and Thursday. We don't know what his status is
Speaker 1: gonna be, but you know he would be able to
Speaker 1: shut down DJ Shark. If not, you know you got
Speaker 1: Miles Jack back. He makes a big difference in All
Speaker 1: Pro type of season. Out of Miles Jack there's something
Speaker 1: for the Jaguars, but otherwise, uh, it feels like it's
Speaker 1: a steam train for your boy, Aaron Rodgers, and it
Speaker 1: really is starting to look like you might get those
Speaker 1: sandwiches for him making All Pro that means he has
Speaker 1: to be a top two quarterback. I did notice how
Speaker 1: no one out of thirty voters predicted Rogers would win
Speaker 1: the m v P on NFL dot Com. I mean
Speaker 1: I was part of that, but I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: like half of the people went my homes half when
Speaker 1: Wilson and uh the car contingent went car. Wilson had
Speaker 1: those has had two messy games where he's piled up turnovers.
Speaker 1: Rogers give it to Rodgers right now. If I had
Speaker 1: a vote this very second, I think I would give
Speaker 1: it to Rogers. It's close, but he's he's unbelievable. He's
Speaker 1: a lot of fun, and I know Davante Adams missed games. Uh,
Speaker 1: that might be the only thing that separates him from
Speaker 1: having an historic like Jerry Rice nineteen season. He would
Speaker 1: still up. That's a good point. He should run sixty
Speaker 1: again and rack it up. He's Uh, it's unbelievable the
Speaker 1: chemistry they have and how the offense all runs through. Uh.
Speaker 1: Davante Adams, Alan Lazard. I don't know if he's on
Speaker 1: the horizon yet, but he when he comes back, he'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to watch too. I love this Packers offense
Speaker 1: all right. Final game, Greg slash Shook. I think the
Speaker 1: only game left and this really shows how far it's
Speaker 1: fallen is the forty Niners Saints. Can you believe it
Speaker 1: that that's happened here in week ten after where we
Speaker 1: would have guessed this game would have probably would have
Speaker 1: let off the show if we were taking bets back
Speaker 1: in September, Well, Shook. If if this is what he
Speaker 1: ends up watching it, it's not a bad game as
Speaker 1: it shook games because you know, I do think the
Speaker 1: forty Niners will be more competitive. Everyone remembers that what
Speaker 1: happened on Thursday night. Look, they found out they lost
Speaker 1: their left tackle and number one receiver the day before
Speaker 1: the game. They found out they lost their quarterback and
Speaker 1: George Kittle two days before the game. They're on a
Speaker 1: short week coming from Seattle to play the Packers. It's
Speaker 1: all a disaster. I mean, this is a very tough
Speaker 1: matchup two against a Saints team that you know, it's
Speaker 1: coming off their best game and is very complete. And
Speaker 1: I think the defense upfront is definitely playing better and
Speaker 1: it's going to give a lot of problems to kind
Speaker 1: of the zombie forty Niners. But I kind of think
Speaker 1: the forty Niners will be a competitive team down the stretch,
Speaker 1: for instance, Like I don't think they'll be like the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Uh that who I don't expect to compete against the
Speaker 1: best teams. I it wouldn't surprise me if you have
Speaker 1: a nice game playing here by Shanahan, it's close in
Speaker 1: the third quarter in the Saints, you know wind up
Speaker 1: pulling away. Yeah. I'm so impressed with what the Saints
Speaker 1: did last week. And I I hear what you're saying
Speaker 1: about like from the Bucks angle, not um overrating one
Speaker 1: week performance because there are a lot of these aviation
Speaker 1: games and if you want to knock out the Bucks um,
Speaker 1: well they also beat the Packers, and then you know,
Speaker 1: the Packers beat the Saints. So it's like all these
Speaker 1: teams are kind of registering punt punches and body blows.
Speaker 1: But um, to me, it was more like what they've
Speaker 1: been through this season, the Saints have had to be
Speaker 1: one of the more resilient teams. It starts with the
Speaker 1: whole Michael Thomas thing. It starts with basically having the
Speaker 1: Bucks come into your division and be touted as this
Speaker 1: team that's gonna come and just supersede you. It continues
Speaker 1: on with what the fact that the Saints have had
Speaker 1: three utterly crushing playoff losses in a row. We we
Speaker 1: look at the Falcons team that lost one Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and never recovered from it. Um, we're looking at the
Speaker 1: Niners team that lost a Super Bowl and they're really struggling.
Speaker 1: A lot of that has to do with esoteric stuff
Speaker 1: that has nothing to do with the core team, But
Speaker 1: the Saints are always hanging around, always there. It goes
Speaker 1: back to Sean Payton, and for me, I'm just sort
Speaker 1: of sad that the Niners are out of this because
Speaker 1: the coaching matchup alone, um is one for the ages.
Speaker 1: I know, I don't want Falcons fans to get mad
Speaker 1: at us. So yes, we are aware. They went to
Speaker 1: the divisional playoffs the year after the collapse. So the
Speaker 1: one throwaway for beating the champion, the Eagles, if Jonas
Speaker 1: I believe, is what happens, and that's part of it.
Speaker 1: And Matt Ryan, I always think of the first down
Speaker 1: play in that series. He had Julio and he overthrew
Speaker 1: him in the end zone. That's it's sort of an
Speaker 1: overlooked sliding doors moment. And we were at one of
Speaker 1: their playoff wins, so I probably should have recalled that.
Speaker 1: I just think they were just a little psychologically bro.
Speaker 1: I don't think that you could say, hey, they really
Speaker 1: returned from that um and showed us all that they are.
Speaker 1: You know, A long term answer, The Saints have been
Speaker 1: this team forever because of Sean Tayton, because of Mickey Loomis.
Speaker 1: You know, I got you, buddy so talented. It doesn't
Speaker 1: matter how many teams he's running team. It's a nice
Speaker 1: time for Mark right now. He taysom Hill, you know,
Speaker 1: just well it's no but I I how I haven't
Speaker 1: you know, sung a bunch of poems about him this year.
Speaker 1: I think that's not worked out two great games in
Speaker 1: a row. He looked good the forty Niners. This is
Speaker 1: how you make a case for This's why I think
Speaker 1: I shooks watching this game because be better. And actually,
Speaker 1: now I'm having second thoughts. I probably should have taken
Speaker 1: the game because it is the last stand for the Niners.
Speaker 1: They're the defending conference champions and their season is done.
Speaker 1: They're just gonna be too deep ahole if they lose
Speaker 1: this game. So maybe Kyle Shanahan has these guys ready
Speaker 1: to roll in. The Saints have a real challenge on
Speaker 1: their hands. We shall see. All right, there you go.
Speaker 1: That's uh the full Week ten preview, and of course
Speaker 1: Sunday night we have the flagship show or recap every
Speaker 1: game we just preview. Ricky, come on back. You know
Speaker 1: we had a little dust stuff at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the show. I thought you cheated. I still believe that.
Speaker 1: With the lock standings, we're telling us, uh Tuesday afternoon,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I locked the Raiders. Okay, cool, Um, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna lock you in right now so we can't
Speaker 1: have any Uh, there was no fraud. We don't want
Speaker 1: any fraud. Uh tell us who you're locking up this
Speaker 1: week at two and seven for the year. Yes, I am.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm putting a lot of effort into this,
Speaker 1: you know, top six pick rookie matchup between the Chargers
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins, and I'm really excited to see them.
Speaker 1: You know, they're both two of the three highest passer
Speaker 1: ratings for rookies going in to this game, and it's
Speaker 1: gonna be really, really exciting. I feel like the Dolphins
Speaker 1: are on fire the Chargers, I mean, Justin Herbert is
Speaker 1: playing lights out right, so I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a really good matchup. But I'm going with she's so nervous,
Speaker 1: she's deciding right now. He's a tough one, all right.
Speaker 1: Before she says who it is, everyone realized whoever she
Speaker 1: doesn't pick is winning on Sunday Erica, Tah and the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are gonna take you in. Oh wow, I like that, right,
Speaker 1: is a street your first street legal lock of the year,
Speaker 1: because you took the Jets against the Jets once and
Speaker 1: then you've at this point you're just admitting to cheating.
Speaker 1: You could keep you know, we know it's one one
Speaker 1: were my other one, grig. Since you're so confident about
Speaker 1: you know, street legal stuff. No, no, I'm saying, this
Speaker 1: is your chance to be to get a street legal win.
Speaker 1: I think I think you're gonna get because there was
Speaker 1: basically last week. This is your chance to earn his respect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well that's never this happened. Yeah, this wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1: You know, after the last time you locked up the
Speaker 1: Dolphins was on my behalf with brock Osweiler starting and
Speaker 1: they won. So I think there's a little bit of
Speaker 1: what a memory, a little bit of magic to that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if you guys have been seeing
Speaker 1: the story books I've been putting out for the nfl
Speaker 1: up series, But this week I wrote a nursery rhyme
Speaker 1: for to a versus justin Herbert, So keep an eye
Speaker 1: out for that because it's excellent. Check that out and
Speaker 1: tell us, uh, if anyone is not seeing the dump
Speaker 1: off yet with a great Emma did she I know
Speaker 1: she goes by a different last name yet that I
Speaker 1: haven't learned how to pronounce Somaki Emma v p uh
Speaker 1: and Ricky doing their thing the dump off. Tell the
Speaker 1: people about that. Yeah, the dump off is our um.
Speaker 1: You know, we give you real, real information going into
Speaker 1: the week with no absolute analysis whatsoever. So it is
Speaker 1: fun and Kurt Warner retweeted it, so that's pretty cool. Wow,
Speaker 1: he definitely knows you exist, not not us, not you guys. Alright,
Speaker 1: good stuff. Check it out, check out the dump off,
Speaker 1: check out the to a nursery rhyme over on up
Speaker 1: Funds stuff. Um okay, this Dan Hanson signing off for
Speaker 1: Quiet Storm. The old boss, Ricky Hollywood behind the virtual
Speaker 1: glass until Sunday Night. S