Jaxson Dart to Start and Takes We're Holding On to

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where, let's just admit it, we knew it was Jackson Dart all along.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal here in.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: The Chris Wesleyan podcast studio, one of my favorite places to be with one of my favorite people.

00:00:18
Speaker 2: Top five at least that's pretty high. Actually, I don't know.

00:00:22
Speaker 1: It's Jordan rodrig big show today. This is NFL Daily, by the way, without Colleen Wolf. She's on her way to Dublin now. I will be joining her in a couple of days. But we have two big shows Jordan before that happens, including one where you're putting on your executive producer hat here.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: I know.

00:00:39
Speaker 4: I'm so excited. I'm excited for this. I'm excited to see what you guys do over there in Dublin. I'm excited to be on the Thursday night show Reco with Nick Shook, the Great Nick Shuck, the Humble Nick Shook. This year, this is going to be really fun. This would be a fun week. You will be missed by some people, and I'm very excited for you.

00:00:59
Speaker 1: Little distance isn't bad and you're not gonna miss me that much because you know I'll be on the shows with you.

00:01:04
Speaker 2: Talking through a box throughout the trip.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: And yes, your segment are takes that I can take with me to Dublin and London, like takes that we believe in enough that we would take them. We would bring him overseas, we would talk a lot about him. We have some news to get to today and then we have a very Jordan Codd TNF preview Seahawks and Cardinals, a game that I'm really excited to watch, although I'll probably watch it the next morning and listen to your recap while i'm doing so.

00:01:33
Speaker 2: But you mentioned the humble Nick Shook.

00:01:35
Speaker 1: I'm still coming down from that Lions Ravens game, and I just am amazed that Nick Shook made it through an entire show and we went deep on that game, and he didn't mention the fact that he was practically the only person in all of media to pick the Detroit Lions to win that game. And the reason that I know that he did it is because Dan Campbell's wife, Holly. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see her Instagram story given it to Nick Schuk, the only one to.

00:02:02
Speaker 2: Pick them one out of ten for the NFL.

00:02:04
Speaker 1: OH for five on ESPN with our old colleague Pete Schrager there and he believed and he didn't even mention it. And maybe she maybe she's a fan of Shook because he kind of looks like.

00:02:15
Speaker 4: Dan Campbell, Nick Schuck drinks for free and Detroit here too forward.

00:02:19
Speaker 1: He really is the best, So good job by him, and good job by everyone that's overreacting and burying the Ravens.

00:02:27
Speaker 2: We'll have more to talk about that on the previous show.

00:02:30
Speaker 1: I think people are overreacting a little, but there are concerns. We're at the point of the season where it's like, Okay, it's early, but it's not that that early. It's actually late enough to make a starting quarterback change in New York, as I alluded to late Monday night, but we wanted the official news. Russell Wilson is benched. This is being reported by Ian Rappaport and Tom Pelisero at NFL Network. I'm sure it will be confirmed officially sooner than later, and Dart is expected to start Week four against the Chargers. Russell Wilson is expected to be the backups, which means Jameis Winston would be number three.

00:03:09
Speaker 2: What do you think, duh?

00:03:12
Speaker 4: No, I mean it really this is like this has been coming since they drafted him.

00:03:16
Speaker 3: We knew this.

00:03:17
Speaker 4: It just it was a matter of win and you and I I think we're driving the train here for probably sooner rather than later. This is no slight to Russell Wilson. Obviously he had really really great Week two.

00:03:28
Speaker 2: Week three, Oh, it's a little bit of a slight Week.

00:03:31
Speaker 3: Three far less.

00:03:32
Speaker 4: So this offense really is struggling and Brian Dables clearly feeling the pressure. My colleague at the Athletic, Dan dug In, he put it really well, it's like if he's gonna if Brian Dable's gonna go down, he's going down with the guy he chose. And I think that this offense especially has been waiting not just to get through at least part of this brutal start to the schedule where they're facing these extremely tough defenses. And we thought this before, you know, the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons, so we still counted them back at the time when the schedule came out. Well, but then not having Andrew Thomas has clearly affected this offense as well. And there was sort of this delicate dance that they were playing of do we get the rookie on the field. When Andrew Thomas, who makes such a statistical significant change for the positive in this offense, do we wait until he's back. Do we get him on the field sooner? I mean, it's just been time. We knew this right from the second they called his name in the draft.

00:04:21
Speaker 1: If he struggled in the preseason, if he hadn't even average preseason for a rookie quarterback, it would have been different.

00:04:27
Speaker 2: This was not a normal preseason. Doesn't mean that it's all going to work.

00:04:31
Speaker 1: Everyone likes to put point out the Kenny Pickett preseason where he was hitting open receivers and he went like twenty for twenty five. And I thought about that preseason. First of all, that was his second year. But Jackson Dart played more than double the amount of snaps that then Picket, for instance, or more than most even rookies play in the preseason. He put up a lot of tape. And I'm not saying like he's in advanced calculus in terms of quarterback, but he looked more ready and comfortable, and that his strength showed faster and over a long enough stretch. There three games where he was getting a lot of work that I was higher on Jackson Dart after that preseason, partly because I saw the light just come on and Brian Dabeles eyes and the offense changed. They ran a totally different offense with Jackson Dart. So it's like, why wait around the Giants beat reporters were always weird to me that they thought this was going to be week eight, Week nine, Week ten, and it just not.

00:05:30
Speaker 4: Dan. Dan has been pounding this drum and he has vindicated Dan and Charlotte over there, and I.

00:05:36
Speaker 3: Will say too, this is like.

00:05:39
Speaker 4: Some of this is definitely logical and has been for some time.

00:05:45
Speaker 3: Just because you sign.

00:05:47
Speaker 4: The veteran who is a very well known brand who has accomplished incredible things in his career in Russell Wilson over time, just because you sign him to the deal and make him sort of the forward facing element of your franchise early in the spring and into that whole team building period of the year doesn't mean you have to keep forcing it when it's clear that it doesn't work, and so pivoting from that into what they hope who they hope is the future of this franchise. I don't know if Jackson Dart is going to save the Giant season. At this point, I do think that Brian Dable wants to show his work, wants to remind people that he can build an offense around a quarterback that he is hand picked, because he's watching a couple of other guys who he coached have incredibly successful outings, and for Daniel Jones to look this successful on another team with another coach has to sting them a little bit, has to sting everybody in that franchise a little bit to the point where, yeah, you got to show the new guy. You have to at this point reputationally and logically, right.

00:06:50
Speaker 1: The Chargers are a tough matchup this week, although pass rush wise not great. Right now, then you have a game at New Orleans. The schedule is brutal, having the Eagles ice in three weeks at Denver forty nine. Ers defense is playing well, the Packers are on the schedule. You know, this is all before a very late buy, so it's an uphill battle. But he will have Andrew Thomas back, who played limited snaps last week, and will ramp up and it just makes the Giants more interesting. So that's what I selfishly care about, Like I'm more excited to watch them.

00:07:21
Speaker 4: This view it's Camp Scataboo too, So I got to ask you this question because it's it's Jackson Dart, who's very Brian Dable coded in terms of like they like Brian Dable sees himself a little bit, it seems like in Jackson Dart in terms of the personality and how fired up they can get. And you've heard stories come out of Camp all summer and into the even the fall of at least like quiet moments of bonding that they had.

00:07:42
Speaker 3: With each other.

00:07:43
Speaker 4: And Camp Scataboo is like if Brian Dabile currently played running back in the NFL in terms of like the level of fired up miss and willingness to like sacrifice your entire body to get another yard even.

00:07:55
Speaker 3: If it makes no sense.

00:07:57
Speaker 4: So it's it's kind of like this is the most Brian coded, you know, quarterback running back tandem for him personally that he's had. It's like, if this doesn't work, Brian Dable, what.

00:08:08
Speaker 3: Are we doing?

00:08:09
Speaker 1: He's got He's got to make it work, and Scattaboo will get all the chances in the world.

00:08:13
Speaker 3: So much rage, right, there's just so much rage.

00:08:15
Speaker 1: You know, it fits New York table does fit New York in that way. Tyrone Tracy, by the way, is out two to four weeks with that injury, so it's gonna be all scattaboo. Also with the Giants, I noted that Young Waykup signed to the practice squad. Graham Gano always hurt the most. You know, he's always he's always kicking hurt. Let's give Young Wayku another chance in New York. What could go wrong? Some other news to get through. Michael Evans is full name, usually called Mike. I don't know why I went Michael here. Suffered a low grade hamstring injury, so he will be out for a couple of weeks. A similar injury knocked him out three weeks last year. Ian Rappaport said that this one might not be as severe, but you know, we're saying it's going to be a couple of weeks here. This team is just so banged up, oh hurt. They might get Tristan Wurf's.

00:09:04
Speaker 4: Back, but Chris Godwin's on his way back to October was kind of always the time and they have what I love about this Bucks team, even though they're so banged up, but they're making it work. Despite all of that, is being three and zero right now and having at least two games up on every other NFC sou team. There's never a right time to be as hurd as they are, but this would be the right time to be as hurd as they are.

00:09:25
Speaker 1: True, except the schedule is so hard. So but that's why these games have been so big. They could lose three of their next four very easily, and they're four and three, And that's fine. If you can get healthy all your best players back and you're at four and three, the season is in front of you. But yeah, they have Philadelphia, then at Seattle, San Francisco, then at Detroit, So that is a tough stretch. I'm going to put you on the spot.

00:09:47
Speaker 2: You just have.

00:09:48
Speaker 1: It's just a great I love with you. Just an answer here Sunday. You know we're going to sign out the games and doing it early. If you can choose between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay as your game, are the Rams and the Colts as your game?

00:10:02
Speaker 2: WHI where you're.

00:10:03
Speaker 1: Choosing and they're not at the same time, to be clear, but you probably are only going to get one of those two.

00:10:07
Speaker 3: Can I have both?

00:10:08
Speaker 2: No? I mean because of them. I just I'm just I just put you on the spot.

00:10:13
Speaker 3: Ah, that's my all my teams.

00:10:16
Speaker 1: You want to you want to strategy, I'll tell you afterwards. I think there is a right way to approach this in your mind. In my mind, I just want to watch all of it. It would be taking the Eagles early. And since there's less games late and you only have one assigned late, you can kind of you know, have the Rams on on your second screen still even if it's not your game.

00:10:33
Speaker 2: We'll move on, Brian, I mean, you didn't answer a question.

00:10:36
Speaker 1: Let's talk about some weird coaching situations going on. First, the Falcons fired their wide receiver coach i Killard, who was with their team last year as Drake London's you know, having a career year after week three.

00:10:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, you wonder what's going on there.

00:10:53
Speaker 1: And then they also announced that they're moving Zach Robinson, their offensive coordinator, from the booth to the sideline.

00:11:00
Speaker 2: Just yeah, this little panicky.

00:11:01
Speaker 4: That tells me that he wants more direct interaction with the quarterback on the on the screen and on the board, if you know, with Mike Pennix, you know, with Zach Taylor or excuse me, Zach Robinson.

00:11:13
Speaker 3: A lot of Zach's in the Sean mcvatree.

00:11:15
Speaker 4: It turns out with Zach Robinson being up in the booth, you can talk to the guy obviously in the headset, and you can communicate into the head coach's headset, who can then communicate with the quarterback. And it's all telephone essentially, but you really want to be able to if you're seeing something defensively, if the quarterback seeing something defensively, you have to have that two way communication.

00:11:35
Speaker 3: It's a shock to me that he was.

00:11:36
Speaker 4: Up in the booth to begin with, with a younger I mean, I know Mike Pennix has seen a lot of football, but like this, I'm stunned he was even up in the booth.

00:11:42
Speaker 1: Anyway, you lose thirty to nothing to the Panthers and Man Falcons fans are feeling it this week and just feels a little, a little panicky and a little worrisome, just overall something to keep an eye on for that staff. Brian Callahan hired in the same cycle as Raheem Morris. Brian Callyhan and of course, the Titans head coach announced Tuesday that he is giving up play calling duties. It's gonna be Bo Hart agree calling plays for the Tennessee Titans.

00:12:12
Speaker 2: Actually had a random take.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: I remember a couple of years ago, is hard degree calling plays late in the interim head coaching Antonio Pierce Raider season.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: I thought he did a good.

00:12:22
Speaker 1: Job they and then they didn't keep him, and I was like, hey, why didn't you keep him? I thought he did a nice job at the end of that season, So maybe it is an upgrade. Let's listen to Brian Callahan asked about the decision.

00:12:33
Speaker 5: It's a pretty pretty easy thing to do when it comes to trying to help the football team win and do the best thing for you know what the job is. I got hired to be the head coach, you know, and part of that process was being involved on offense. But my job is to be the head coach of the football team, and I think that this allows me to do that job a little bit better. It's more about you trying to get more of a big picture feel for yourself as it is to kind of a disappointment in your play calling. Is that Yeah, I have zero disappointment in my play calling. I mean, I don't have any disappointment in that at all, But it's just more just so I can see the rest of it, see the big picture better, and do a better job of it.

00:13:13
Speaker 1: I'm always hesitant to trust anyone who said that they have like zero disappointment in something that they did almost about anything yoo, but definitely definitely someone that said they have zero disappointment in play calling that's not working.

00:13:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think this is a big focus on the game management to you know, sort of a spin of Okay, I'm going to delegate so that I can focus more on the thing that I am messing up every week, at least in.

00:13:46
Speaker 2: That maybe ownership is getting on me for.

00:13:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's also a big headline.

00:13:50
Speaker 4: It's not necessarily even you know how great can Ward looks and how they're figuring it out with some of these younger receivers.

00:13:57
Speaker 3: It's more so Zach me another Zach.

00:14:00
Speaker 4: Brian Callahan has been in the news for these specific things. So it wouldn't surprise me if there's some pressure coming from that direction.

00:14:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I am surprised. Maybe I shouldn't be at the degree to which Titans fans are totally over Brian Callaghan. I listened to our old friend justin Graver's Titans podcast, and they do a great job. But I also also just follow you know, on social media different and they are just over this guy. And it's true, like he needs to show his work, what he actually brings to the table, and you just haven't seen it. The offensive line is struggling. The game management is the most obvious thing that he struggles with. When I broke down one of his mistakes on Sunday's show, I had missed what was truly like horrible about the situation, which was that, you know, he couldn't decide what to do, whether to take whether to call a play or take a you know, whatever he was going to do. They ended up taking a five yard penalty because he took so long to make his decision before kicking the ball sixty three yards at the end of the half and setting up the colt. So there's been a lot of groaners from Callahan. And yes, I'm looking at that late season with heart degree here. That was the game I feel like this slipped under the raider. That was the game where they put up sixty three on the Chargers. Wow, hard degree was in the mix. They got a win over Patrick Mahomes. That ended another career and the Chiefs it did. He ended the career of your boy, Brandon Staley there in Kansas City. He beat helped, you know, to beat They only two hundred yards offense, but they beat the Chiefs late that season. They beat the Broncos late that season. So I just thought, Okay, let's have a little heart degree time.

00:15:46
Speaker 3: Why not better than hard? Disagree?

00:15:48
Speaker 4: Right? I feel like this is something I haven't seen the answer to yet is does he have who is in the helmet doing game situational stuff every team in the league as a coach in the headset or an assistant or someone specifically especially hired to not just be running analytics in the booth, but as specifically And I wouldn't say every team to leave, but this is a huge trend over the last couple of seasons and something that he certainly will have been aware of. Who is the person in the headset who is trying to run those that game theory essentially in real time and so he doesn't have to pause for so long to tell him what to do, so that he doesn't have to Especially if you're the play calling head coach, you talk to these play calling head coaches all over the league, offense or defense. That is the number one thing that it takes them forever to dedicate actual time and resources to. Is that game management. To the point where they go out and hire the John Strikers, the Carter Crutchfields. You know that they have people in their ear doing this the entire time.

00:16:47
Speaker 1: I just love thinking all the Striker fans out there being like.

00:16:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was in Tennessee.

00:16:53
Speaker 2: They mentioned us.

00:16:54
Speaker 1: I also just remember when they hired Mike Borgonzi, and I was like, how long ago?

00:16:59
Speaker 2: Was that? Pretty recently? Right, it's their new GM.

00:17:01
Speaker 1: It was just January, and I just went through all the different power struggles between the GM and ownership and the coaches ever since, like Mike Rabel got there, ever since John Robinson got there before Rabel, and then Rabel lost the power struggle to Ran Carthon, who lost the power struggle to Brian Callian, and now Borganzi's there and Callahan's not really their guy. Like this is how organizations keep losing. Unfortunately, the Texans have been doing a lot of losing, and I wear my emotions outwardly. Sometimes I root for CJ. Stroud, so I have not enjoyed him looking so disappointed so often on Sundays. The other CJ, though on the Texans, is no longer on the Texans. They released Chauncey Gardner Johnson on Tuesday. This came out of nowhere.

00:17:50
Speaker 3: It surprised me.

00:17:50
Speaker 4: I'm curious your reaction, Greg, because when I saw that, I checked it like three times to make sure that it wasn't coming from like a f He was playing really relevant snaps for Are you starting for them? Yes, they invested resources into bringing him on board. I mean, what, what was your reaction to him?

00:18:05
Speaker 1: My reaction was that I might owe Dennis Allen an apology for crushing him, for how they handled him and Mickey Loomis the trade of Chauncey Gardner Johnson all that why it seems like a long time ago now. I think they handled it poorly. They could have gotten more in a trade for him. But let's be real, every team that's gotten Chauncey Gardner Johnson since has gotten sick of him pretty quickly.

00:18:26
Speaker 4: But it's always it's getting shorter and short, it's getting shorter.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: The Eagles had him for a year and then they let him go to the Lions who had him for a year, and to be fair to you know, CJGG, the Eagles took him back, but then they kind of got sick of him again and because they traded for Kenyon Green, but that was that looked like a trade where they were going to cut Gardner Johnson. Anyways, Kenyon Green didn't even make the Eagles roster initially. I think he's on the practice squad and then got elevated. Aaron Wilson, who reports out there for kp RC, used to work with him back at Pro Football Talk way back in the day, said there was friction behind the scenes of him complaining about his role, wanting to blitz more, and even communicating that he didn't he wanted to be traded.

00:19:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not going to fly with Tomiko.

00:19:12
Speaker 1: This keeps happening, and yeah, I think quicker than ever this time. Yeah, so what we'll see where he lands next year.

00:19:18
Speaker 3: Week two.

00:19:19
Speaker 1: One of my favorite guys to watch on the field, but he struggled to stick with teams because of some things off the field. MJ. Stewart is the next man up, and they are pretty deep in the secondary overall. Before we take a break, I did want to just say rest in peace to Rudy Johnson, the former Cincinnati Bengals running back dead at forty five by suicide, and the Bengals remembered Rudy today, saying he was a fine person and excellent running back, dependable, productive, Everyone liked him as a dear friend. And I remember the joy that Rudy Johnson played with. I always think about that two thousand and five Bengals team. For me personally, it is like a formative team. I learned how much you could enjoy and like teams that you didn't grow up rooting for. They were the first team. And he was just a Chris Westling favorite Bengals fan favorite, And just rest in peace to him. And look, I've been affected by, you know, people who have lost their lives to suicide, whether it's family members, close friends, like it's in my family. And I do just say to everyone out there, like, if you need help, go get help.

00:20:32
Speaker 2: Talk to people.

00:20:33
Speaker 1: And I do like if there's any silver lining about like how this is reported and the way it was talked about, it's just I do think people are more comfortable talking about that now. So rest in peace. Rudy Johnson passes away at forty five years old. The NFL International Games return to NFL Network on Sunday. Six games, four cities, Dublin, London, Berlin in Madrid, snooze off game on for Sunday Morning Football only on NFL Network and also streaming with NFL Plus. Subscription is required for NFL Plus visit Plus dot NFL dot com. Four terms. I love this time of year. I love the fact that we get another broadcast window.

00:21:19
Speaker 2: Oh you got to wake up early to watch football? Like that's great, give me another window.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: Like it's not going anywhere people by the way, like there is only going to be more international games.

00:21:28
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:21:29
Speaker 1: I can't wait to go overseas. I've started the packing process, Jordan.

00:21:33
Speaker 4: It's such a good crowd too. I'm so excited for you. That'll be super fun. I think it's really important that you brought up that you started packing, Greg, because we have a pretty fun segment today. And before you introduce the segment, I really want to make sure that listeners and viewers, if you're checking us out on YouTube, and you should for this part at least, are aware of Greg's suitcase that is comically large, that is walker for scale, so it's the suitcase that a small child could definitely fit in. He could fit in that, Yeah, for sure, Walker, maybe Ellis could separately fit into that.

00:22:12
Speaker 3: Greg could make you made.

00:22:13
Speaker 1: Fun of me because I brought a massive suitcase to the super Bowl, which it wasn't necessary, I would say, I guess for that long of a trip. But it's like, why not If you're going to check your suitcase anyways, why not have as much room it is as possible? And then you're gonna buy gifts because I'm a giver.

00:22:30
Speaker 4: It's like maybe the biggest suitcase I've ever seen a human own.

00:22:35
Speaker 1: Definitely, Yeah, the one, the one my wife bought so that she could, you know, bring it overseas on her trips to Tokyo. And that that picture, by the way, if you are checking out, is just my excuse to show my favorite thing in my house, my bookshelf.

00:22:47
Speaker 2: So your son, he's fine, he's fine.

00:22:51
Speaker 1: It's like, how's that Texans fandom like working out for you, buddy? Problem locker?

00:22:58
Speaker 2: Okay, let's good about that one. I love it. I love this idea.

00:23:05
Speaker 1: So you're going to present some takes, Yes, this is your idea, and I'm going to take them with me. I'll choose the one that I choose to take with me.

00:23:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we'll debate. We'll debate them a little bit.

00:23:14
Speaker 4: But it's important to see that picture of the suitcase, Greg, because you can only as large as it is, as absurdly large as it is, you can really only fit three to four takes with you when you bring yourself and you're with you to Ireland to share everything with the good people in Dublin.

00:23:31
Speaker 2: Well, I have a lot of clothes too. I've got some.

00:23:33
Speaker 4: You have a lot of shackets and you need to make sure those fit too.

00:23:37
Speaker 2: I do.

00:23:37
Speaker 1: It's different weather there, and also I'm thinking of bringing and this is a little tease, there's still some tickets available for the Friday night show I'm doing with the Irish NFL Show, where Neil Reynolds is going to be there, Michael mcquaid's going to be there. We might have a special guest from the NFL media family.

00:23:54
Speaker 2: We'll see.

00:23:54
Speaker 1: Working on that, I'm thinking of bringing all my NFL Network polos that I didn't open this year that they gave me for inside training team. I have like five NFL Network polos, Tommy Bahama and I'm thinking of bringing them, and they're just throwing them out into the crowd like Oprah Winfrey. I don't know that they just smack someone in the sun come. So I need to make room for that. But that means less room for takes. All right, Let's get to it. Let's get to it.

00:24:17
Speaker 4: For me on the way back. Okay, So we are going to go between a couple of takes. The first one that I want you to pick? Which take?

00:24:24
Speaker 3: Which? Which of these would you pick? You can only pick one?

00:24:27
Speaker 4: Yes, which offense is still good in December? Okay, battle Seahawks or the Indianapolis Colts.

00:24:33
Speaker 1: Okay, So the take would be this, the Seahawks are still a good offense. Like, is it top five? Is it top ten? You gotta be specifically whatever takes, it's important, it's.

00:24:43
Speaker 4: Whatever you think good. Okay, pelifies as including the quarterback.

00:24:46
Speaker 1: I would go let's go top eight because I feel like that's the top quarter of the league that you know you're you're excelling. I I know that the Colts have the top offense in the league right now by a decent margin. I mean they're you know, through three games, it's one of the greatest offenses in NFL history. They've basically been perfect. The Seahawks have been good. This is tough. You're throwing these out there, maybe having an opinion, so I'm curious, Yeah, what are the factors you're looking at?

00:25:15
Speaker 4: You know what, I tend to gravitate toward like non outliers. So I think the Colts are going to stay really solid. I do think that once you get into November December, there's a lot of tape out there. There's a lot of defenses adjusting to how they they play the Colts. There's a lot of defenses adjusting to how they contain Tyler Warren for example. Of course, you got a factor in the receivers as well, a lot of defenses that it will be playing Daniel Jones differently similar to what the Seahawks are doing. You know, there's going to be teams to try to ramp up the pressure on Sam Darnold. But I think in the case of the Seahawks, this offensive line is only going to get better a week over week because I think the way that they're playing with Clint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator and running like a real throwback version of the QBAC offense. I think they sustain specifically into December because of what they've put on tape so far and their commitment to running the ball the way that they do, specifically out of these heavy personnel, heavier personnel packages, using the full back, using these guys to really settle the quarterback, and running sort of a timeless version of this under center play action that they're doing with Sam Darnold, which will help him and settle him. And this defense is only going to get better as it already is really good, it's only going to get better. So that's that's what I think is it's the Seahawks.

00:26:26
Speaker 1: Comparing the two, the Seahawks have the big advantage at quarterback. Yeah, even as good as Daniel Jones is, plain No, it's fine. He's been very efficient, very similar in almost every way to how he played with Minnesota. Now we're going to talk about the Thursday night game. But it's amazing that he's thrown the ball the least of any starting quarterback in the league. But his per row numbers are incredibly efficient, and I think he's making some difficult plays. Like you mentioned the old school Kubiak offense, like it's a lot of like bootleg lefts and he's good throw across his body and that's great. Okay, So to the big edges that quarterback and that that's a huge one. I think every other edge is with the Colts. So it's tough defense. I'm not putting in because you said offense, and I'm like, yes, they'll be in more favorable positions, but just offensively, coach, I would give to Shane Steichen at this point a body of work with some quarterbacks that aren't great. I mean, he's running RPOs out there with Gardner Minshew and was a pretty easy pass away from making the.

00:27:30
Speaker 2: Playoffs and winning that division.

00:27:32
Speaker 1: And yeah, I just I think I would give the edge at this point to the play caller in the coach and you just see him creating offensive line I think is the Colts. I think they they deserve the benefit of the doubt of keeping these young guys, re signing Braden Smith.

00:27:50
Speaker 2: They've played really well.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: And I know it's only through three weeks, but the Seahawks running game, like, I'm not there yet totally with it.

00:27:58
Speaker 2: It's been okay, it hasn't been.

00:28:00
Speaker 3: It's been okay.

00:28:00
Speaker 2: It's been good.

00:28:01
Speaker 3: Bistically you see.

00:28:03
Speaker 4: This reminds me very much of Sean McVay rams twenty twenty three, where they were super inefficient relatively to what they ended up becoming. But they stuck with the plan, and they put the blueprint out there, and they stuck with it over and over and over again. And part of that was a big piece of the install in overturning that identity that they had. That's what I think the Seahawks are doing right now.

00:28:22
Speaker 1: I love that because that's looking at it long term. I think if you look at the players on their offensive line, there's probably a higher ceiling They've got, you know, the high picks at the tackle position, they have young players in the middle. They keep grayz Abel the first round pick. They could keep getting better and better. But some of these colts haven't played too much either. And the Seahawks like running stats are a little uneven, like even in that big Ken Walker game, Charboney's ten for fifteen. So they've had some great plays, some okay plays. The passing is very good.

00:28:50
Speaker 4: So that's why I'm saying I'm going off of I'm watching their the blueprint be installed. This is it that they're installing it. This way now because they think they're going to be badass in December.

00:29:00
Speaker 1: Where I'm gonna take the Colts are still a top eight offense in December taking Ireland. Taking it to Ireland is everything else is the depth of the weapons. Jonathan Taylor might be the best pure running back in the league right now. I mean that, I don't know how you can be any better than he is. And then you have Jackson Smith and Jigba we'll talk about more in the preview, who to me is easily better than any weapon on Indianapolis.

00:29:25
Speaker 2: He's that good.

00:29:25
Speaker 1: He might be a top He's a top ten receiver right now, which is crazy, like he's getting to the Nico Collins' breakout year, top five type of level. But man, after that, it's just not as deep, whereas the Colts just can hit you with so many different things. You want some physicality, we got Tyler Warren. You want some physicality, we got Michael Pittman. You want a slot that can run you like the prime hunter renfro routes, but also can go up the seam kind of deep like that's Josh Downs for you. You want a little wild card on the outside with Ady Mitchell they got, they got a lot of players.

00:30:00
Speaker 2: I'm going Colts.

00:30:01
Speaker 1: The last last reason to man, I have too many reasons is they've already stacked these great stats now, so that'll they get to keep those. And then the and then the schedule. The schedule is easier for the Colts, and they're they're hard. Part of the schedule is late. They have Seattle, San Francisco and Houston very late again. And so for the most part, I'm gonna I'm going to Indianapolis.

00:30:23
Speaker 4: So Greg is taking the take that the Indianapolis Colts will be a top eight defense.

00:30:30
Speaker 3: I hear that offense in the December.

00:30:32
Speaker 1: All right, well we'll put that on our document. We're actually keeping track of. Yes, these takes this year.

00:30:37
Speaker 3: I love that.

00:30:37
Speaker 4: Okay, second take option to pack, pack or no pack? Okay, which one is real? You're packing? Whichever of these is more real? Okakay, the Rams first half against the Eagles last week or the Eagles second half against the Rams?

00:30:52
Speaker 3: Which one are you packing?

00:30:56
Speaker 2: And this is unfair because I believe in them both.

00:31:00
Speaker 3: Well, you can't have both.

00:31:00
Speaker 4: Your suitcase is only so absurdly large.

00:31:04
Speaker 2: I have to pack the Eagles.

00:31:07
Speaker 1: I have to pack the Eagles, because it's all there, We've all seen it before. There's no particular reason to think that it's going away. But I believe in them both. I don't believe that's a game that the Rams should be holding their head about.

00:31:21
Speaker 2: We're talking about the entire team, right, yeah.

00:31:23
Speaker 4: But I'm saying which is more real both as a harbinger for the entire season, the Rams first half against the Eagles, which also factors in the Eagles first half against the Rams, okay, or the Eagles second half against the Rams, which also factors in the Rams second half against the Eagles.

00:31:39
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really pret I'm really breaking my brain because the reality is, I do believe if I had to choose three teams that I think are most likely to be in the divisional round of the playoffs, these would be two of my three teams.

00:31:55
Speaker 3: That's not the question.

00:31:56
Speaker 1: It would be the Eagles, the Rams and the Packers. There's only so much space, though, you need a bigger.

00:32:04
Speaker 2: Suitcase the concept here.

00:32:08
Speaker 3: I wish you guys could. If you're watching on.

00:32:09
Speaker 2: YouTube, it's hurting.

00:32:10
Speaker 4: Gregg's gotten more and more frazzled. He started because I was filling up his hair in a very eccentric way.

00:32:17
Speaker 1: The first half of that I guess you could look at each half, especially the first half of that game is as dominant as a team could possibly be. So the Rams, to me, to live up to the billing of that first half would have to be the best team in the NFL, because if they didn't settle for a couple field goals where Matthew Stafford misses a couple passages, it was everything. It was complete domination against the defending Super Bowl chance where the second half against the Eagles, to me is repeatable.

00:32:46
Speaker 2: I've seen it in the biggest of spots. I have my doubts.

00:32:50
Speaker 3: Think that's more real, that's what you think is more real.

00:32:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have my doubts about how their regular season is going to go. The Philadelphia Eagles like overall, but when we get to December, all the compos are there for them to round into shape and be the team that they started to be around December last year.

00:33:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, So Greg has taking the Eagle second half against.

00:33:09
Speaker 1: The ruler as you clearly are leaning ring, I'm just here to in the debate. What what did you see from that?

00:33:16
Speaker 4: What I think is more real is how the Rams looked because the Rams did not look great in some spots, including finishing drives with touchdowns right and Stafford looking old and missing throws and not picking up key laid down situations.

00:33:30
Speaker 3: That's what I think looked real.

00:33:32
Speaker 4: As dominant as they were in the box score, other than you know, scoring touchdowns, I think that's pretty reflective of who the.

00:33:38
Speaker 3: Rams have been.

00:33:39
Speaker 4: I love their run game right now, and their run game especially is the backbone of this team, and it's finally there after a couple of years of trying to do that. I also think it's more real that the Eagles will start slow many games this season, but that but that's why I'm sort of looking at it in a different lens than you. It's not that I'm saying they're the most dominant team, It's that I think that was actually pretty reflective of what the Rams are going to be this year.

00:34:01
Speaker 1: I agree, I agree, and I and I think right now, like there, I that's why I picked them to win that game. I ended up being wrong. I think right now they're ahead of where the Eagles are overall. The big caveat with both the Colts and the Rams. Takes, by the way, are that I worry about the quarterbacks' health. Daniel Jones is taking way too many big hits, and then Matthew Stafford. It just goes without saying. With the Eagles, though I'm the resourcefulness with which they had got themselves out of trouble, they will dig themselves holes at times this year in games, and I think in the season overall, But I think what is real is the overall talent and ultimately the backbone of the organization that they figure things out over the course of the season.

00:34:45
Speaker 2: So I'm saying they're real.

00:34:46
Speaker 3: Do you know?

00:34:46
Speaker 4: My favorite part of that game was was around the NFL as used to that the tropes, ye season tropes, And what I really loved is that the trope of I'm in the best shape of my life coming out of training camp, yeah, actually proved to be true for Jordan Davis, who hit eighteen miles an hour. Oh my gosh, everyone's like always in shape. He's in shape, and like, oh my gosh, we've heard this a million times, but actually look at him go like barreling down the field with Rams players in pursuit, no chance of even catching him, realizing what was happening in front of their very eyes, poor Bo Limmer in the mix of that block field goal with Kevin Dotson injured out out of the field, just like the Rams. Oh no, that happened to them last year in the postseason. I mean god, there was some there was some sick poetry in that game.

00:35:34
Speaker 1: It's why sometimes it is important to check out the local coverage because so on the All Phoy podcast the first two weeks of the season, they were really talking about fran Duffy does a great job breaking down the film. You know, they thought it was Jordan Davis's best two games of his career back to back weeks one and two.

00:35:51
Speaker 2: Don't think that was a national conversation.

00:35:53
Speaker 1: Don't think it totally all showed up in the box score, but they thought, like week two, man, he looked amazing, and so this is not a fluke like seeing him having this breakout, and they've needed it because they need some people to step up. All right, I'm taking that the Eagles are going to be fine.

00:36:05
Speaker 4: Okay, you're running out of room and you're absurdly luck suitcase you do have room for a quarterback. Okay, Okay, so this is the caveat you have to pick a quarterback who is not currently on Quarterback Island to pack into your absurdly large suitcase and take with you overseas.

00:36:24
Speaker 3: Who would it be.

00:36:26
Speaker 1: Not on Quarterback Island. We haven't talked to any quarterback Island in a while. And for the listeners out there, for the fans, We're going to wait till till I'm back. So it's going to be a little bit of a longer gestation period. People proving themselves. Guys like CJ. Stroud who are on the island and not feeling great about it, they have some time to rebound a little bit. Rock Perdy, who's not healthy, has time to do so it's really interesting to look at our list. Okay, some options here. Drake Mays look good for through a couple of weeks.

00:37:01
Speaker 3: Why was that going to be your first one first game?

00:37:05
Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't have been, But then I was like, looking at you're back, You're all the way back. At all the advanced metrics, the PFFS, the EPA's basically every qbrs. It's like, Drake May is pretty high up there, but you know it's ahead of them in everything is Daniel Jones. It would be fascinating if he is playing well enough. Yeah, but I can take someone. Now you're saying in the suitcase.

00:37:26
Speaker 3: You're you're packing this person with you to Ireland.

00:37:29
Speaker 1: Okay throughout who else is even that's not on the island that is in this discussion.

00:37:34
Speaker 3: I'm taking Caleb Williams.

00:37:36
Speaker 1: What.

00:37:37
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm taking cayleb Jams.

00:37:39
Speaker 2: Yes, just because you think it'd be fun.

00:37:42
Speaker 3: Currently number eight in the NFL and epeople.

00:37:43
Speaker 2: Going like the Guinness Tour with him or so.

00:37:45
Speaker 4: Yes, it is very skewed and uh played a near perfect game, definitely the most perfect game a quarterback has played in Chicago in a very long time. This is crazy this last week, but I actually, I really think that you're seeing week over a week like a steady trajectory with him, because I'm thinking about, hey, quarterback island. We're not really doing it for the next until you know you're back in the next two weeks. Who is on that incline in improvement? Who is somebody who? Man, we really wished we could have put him on the island during his rookie season. He obviously did not get there for many reasons, including his own play. Wow, watching his improvement, I thought he actually was pretty good in week two, made a couple of mistakes that that interception was really bad, but you could see improvement. He's seeing it better in another trope. It's slowing down for him. Clearly his receivers are on a better page with him. His offensive line is playing better. And also, I definitely thought you were going to pick Daniel Jones, which is another reason why I picked camb.

00:38:41
Speaker 1: Okay, no, that's fair, and I haven't made my final decision. Yeah, I was amazed that you threw that out there.

00:38:48
Speaker 2: That's spicy.

00:38:49
Speaker 3: I have to still surprise you.

00:38:50
Speaker 1: So it's like it feels premature, but it's it's just off a couple of weeks and it's just taking him, you know, it's not putting him on the island. If he continues this trajectory for the next couple of weeks, it will be a really interesting conversation because, like, that's what I'm counting on Daniel Jones. Yeah, that and the matchups aren't that tough relatively. I think he has Las Vegas this week. Okay, Darnold would be another name you could throw out there. I mean, he's playing really well. He's going to be part of the conversation. Jordan Love is not coming off a great game, but is playing at a pretty high level. That's why it gets it's hard for me to get there a little bit with Caleb right now. I am, you know, I am factoring that Cowboys defense in quite heavily into the Caleb conversation. I guess it has to be Daniel Jones right now.

00:39:45
Speaker 4: I feel like it has to be Daniel Jones that you that you take with you, and it's like a good opportunity for some bonding, you know, asking him about what he went through.

00:39:53
Speaker 1: It would be like the most feelings and all that you know, and a lot of its first read. And people are going to get on him that it's like schemed up, and I think there there is some truth to that. But there's a lot of dimes too, Like they're not easy throws and he's making them under pressure.

00:40:09
Speaker 2: Will he continue it?

00:40:10
Speaker 1: The number one thing that worries me about the entire Indianapolis Cold season is if you are watching each and every one of these games, he takes three or four massive hits every game. Yeah, sometimes he invites them, not just inviting the pressure, because he's a little oblivious to it. At times, although his pocket presence is better. But he's got that Cam Newton thing where he just stands there and gets crushed. But when he's running, there's one hit a game running where he just gets his clock cleaned and like that. That worries me. You know.

00:40:40
Speaker 4: Yeah, So you know that's and that's fair. And again I'm projecting over the next couple of weeks continued trajectory, and I think it's fair. I think it's fair for you to pack Daniel Jones because first of all, you know, let him see the world.

00:40:54
Speaker 2: They would be more fun.

00:40:55
Speaker 1: May would be more just like we could play some pickup hoops. You know, I don't know at this point now I'm hanging out.

00:41:00
Speaker 4: I feel like you'd like, this is a good thing for you to do for Daniel Jones. Let him see the world a little bit, and you know, spread your wings and flocks.

00:41:08
Speaker 1: Okay, Daniel Jones is the guy. Although I'm only not taking Drake made because it would seem like I'm being biased.

00:41:13
Speaker 2: I do think they.

00:41:14
Speaker 4: Seem seem like you're being biased.

00:41:16
Speaker 1: Oh he he just played an incredible two weeks of football here the last two weeks.

00:41:20
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm aware, but I'm Also, there's no seam about your biases here.

00:41:25
Speaker 1: That's why, Yeah, I would put him. Darnold love all of them right now they're in the mix. It's going to be an interesting conversation. By the way, yet, because I mentioned CJ. Stroud is on the list right now, I'm looking at it. Yeah, and you know it's other than that, there's not many obvious ones that would get bumped off.

00:41:40
Speaker 2: Rock Perty would probably be the other one.

00:41:42
Speaker 4: I think one thing too that Daniel Jones has going f him in terms of taking this trip with you is he will be inside your suitcase. But he's pretty used to like the cargo area by now after his time in New York.

00:41:52
Speaker 3: You know, just in the belly of an impossible situation. Wow, the dark crammed in two.

00:41:57
Speaker 2: It's wondering where you're going there, terrible.

00:42:00
Speaker 1: There will be open spots, Joe Burrow, I kind of forgot we'll unfortunately get booted off because.

00:42:04
Speaker 3: And we don't know, and brock Perty might not be there either.

00:42:07
Speaker 2: There could be some availability.

00:42:08
Speaker 4: It's the suitcase. He's a massive human being. Greg, Yes, he's a massive human So I feel like we've got to unpack a take at least for you to feel like your suitcase will hit the weight limit and you can actually take it with you with all these takes. Also, Daniel Jones, what is a preseason take that you had that you are willing to leave behind.

00:42:27
Speaker 2: As you that we're done with, We're done with the take?

00:42:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, that you're that you cannot once it's gone, it's gone.

00:42:34
Speaker 2: It's there's so many to choose from.

00:42:36
Speaker 3: I was wrong about so many things.

00:42:38
Speaker 1: Because we have a daily show. Yeah, that gives me a little time.

00:42:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:42:41
Speaker 4: Mine is the Houston Texans. Like God, I see this defense, and I see how professional they are.

00:42:48
Speaker 2: I'm not ready to leave him behind, but they make.

00:42:50
Speaker 4: You know they've they've been strangely like penalty full and undisciplined and I think frustrated and kind of playing like that. Their defense is so physical and they just they hurt people and they're so I think they're well coached at the head position. And on the other side of it, it's like an absolute disaster on offense. And I don't care how good your defense is if you are not at least at the median of the league offensively in success rate, in the ability to even like get the ball off you know, snapped and off the line of scrimmage because your offensive line is getting beat so much so fast, they're not moving people. It's the same stuff over and over again. And yes, there are some things where you would like to see CJ. Stroud continue to progress and not hold the ball in some cases. And there are health that there had been health issues and a couple of really inexperienced receivers in the in the mix as well, and that's part of the problem. But like you fired your offensive coordinator, you hired Nick Cassario's guy as your new offensive coordinator. Yeah, and now you and you have a similarly terrible offense of line.

00:44:01
Speaker 1: Like everyone's coming for Casario, It's like Demiko Ryans is the coach there, so he, to me, gets the most responsibility.

00:44:08
Speaker 2: H I don't care.

00:44:09
Speaker 4: Nick Cassario hired a John Carroll guy who also worked with him in New England.

00:44:15
Speaker 1: So did Demiko Ryans has no saying on who's the offensive coordinator.

00:44:19
Speaker 4: That's saying he has no say. We don't know what the power balance was for that hire.

00:44:22
Speaker 1: And I'm saying if he didn't hire he'd be one of the only head coaches in the league that isn't able to hire his.

00:44:28
Speaker 2: And I'm coordinator.

00:44:29
Speaker 4: I'm not saying he didn't hire him. I'm saying I don't know what the power dynamic was. I don't know what the conversations were, neither to you. And what I think the case is here is like, I actually don't think that Nick Kyley will will be a bad coordinator. I understand what he wants to do, and I also know what he wants to try to get this offense to, especially with CJ. Stroud's very specific skill set that is elite, has elite.

00:44:52
Speaker 3: Potential, but they don't have the offensive line.

00:44:55
Speaker 1: I'm not willing to leave this one behind, though. I'm not giving up on them. Well, I think it'll work out. Mine was that they were gonna win the Super Bowl. So I am leaving that take behind. I'm scrapping it. I'm not backing that anywhere. We're leaving it, We're burning it.

00:45:07
Speaker 3: That's it.

00:45:07
Speaker 1: I had them winning the division, but like with a ten and seven record, like kind of like last year, but it just looked a little different. They are twentieth defensively in DVOA right now. I'm shocked by that. I think it's because they are giving up a lot of successful plays and a lot of long drives because I'm trying to do the math and they're not creating enough turnovers right now. Situationally, they have given up big drives in the biggest moments of each one of those games. That's not baked into those numbers where they overweight like the fourth quarter. But I'm shocked by that. Their defense is also ranked that.

00:45:39
Speaker 3: When you watch them, it's not that low, Like.

00:45:41
Speaker 1: No, it doesn't. They're gonna be Yeah, I think they're gonna be okay. So so many options of what I could wash my hands.

00:45:50
Speaker 3: Of, unpack it. Greg.

00:45:51
Speaker 1: The Cowboys takes were all made before Mica trade. Like, I wouldn't have made those takes, you know. I tried to hold on to it, just be like, okay, maybe they'll still be a fun intereen offensive team, you know.

00:46:02
Speaker 2: So I don't.

00:46:02
Speaker 1: I don't feel bad about that, Like I guess I'm leaving that behind, But I don't. I don't even count those takes right they made before the Parsons trade. The ones that stand out to me is the Colts were my number two pick in our over underdraft, taking the under on the Colts, and yeah, that was seven and a half.

00:46:20
Speaker 2: I'm leaving.

00:46:21
Speaker 1: I'm leaving that behind. I'm embarrassed by a take that was so bad I didn't even remember it. And Eric brought it up before the show. He says, I called Keenan Allen a slouch? Is that possible? But I definitely know that I dismissed the potential impact of Keenan Allen to this Chargers team. And I've been stunned out.

00:46:40
Speaker 4: Good and to the recap show, as you predicted I would. And uh, Eric had a lot of very specific receipts.

00:46:48
Speaker 2: We have Eric's microphone here. What did I call him? I called them a slow I want to say you called them a slouch.

00:46:54
Speaker 1: I'm digging for transcripts right now for like the exact quote, because.

00:46:57
Speaker 2: I don't want to throw that out to you.

00:46:59
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter either way. That's horribly wrong. And Keenan when it was announced, that's horribly wrong. So I'm leaving both that and.

00:47:05
Speaker 3: The Colts who was pro Keenan Allen, Daniel Jeremiah.

00:47:09
Speaker 2: That it was going to work out.

00:47:10
Speaker 1: And yeah, they are actually splitting the ball three ways, like Quintin Johnston is like the number one right now, Lad McConkie actually has fewer yards on the season than Keenan Allen, who's looked great. So that was a horrible take. The Colts take I'm leaving behind as well. We were opening up room. I'm leaving up multiple takes.

00:47:27
Speaker 2: That was fun.

00:47:27
Speaker 3: Let's go have room to bring me back presents, Yes.

00:47:30
Speaker 1: And buy some buy some stuff. I feel like I don't have enough clothes. I buy some there, which is a bad always a bad plan. Let's talk about the TNF preview before we get out of here. It's Seahawks at the Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by one and a half in this game in Arizona.

00:47:49
Speaker 2: That's flipped.

00:47:50
Speaker 1: I happened to look on Sunday and the Cardinals were favored back then, and so that indicates that all the regular Joe like me out there like, well, the Seahawks have clearly been better, and they flip that by by going to Seattle.

00:48:06
Speaker 2: I just think they have looked a lot better.

00:48:08
Speaker 1: I think if the two teams play how they've played so far this season, it'll be an interesting matchup when Seattle has the ball offensively, and it'll be a mismatch in Seattle's defense's favor when Arizona has the ball. That's that's how I see this, at least in terms of how they've played.

00:48:29
Speaker 2: Through three weeks.

00:48:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it was horrible to see James Connor and go down the way that he did, and Trey Bentson. Obviously, we'll step up and take the workload there, and you know they'll get you know, Paris Johnson back. You know, he'll be sounds like he'll be playing. They're still you know, it's you're very unsure about what this Cardinals offense is beyond what it was last season. And they're they're sometimes they're really trying to get the ball to Marvin Harrison Junior. Sometimes it doesn't seem like they're really trying to get the Baldemrves and Harrison Junior. Sometimes he's making mistakes. He spoke at length after this loss in San Francisco to reporters about just how disappointed in himself he was for his own errors throughout throughout the game, his own mistakes, and just frustrated. I think that it's not coming together enough the way that they needed more from everybody going.

00:49:22
Speaker 2: Putting a lot of pressure on himself.

00:49:23
Speaker 3: Putting a lot of pressure on himself.

00:49:25
Speaker 4: And again it's like it's almost like unnecessary in my mind, because this is always this is just a team that should continue the etho, should not bend into the external pressure of the media pressure or whatever. To have a true X receiver right away, you need this guy to be your ex and your you know, your first round pick and your high.

00:49:42
Speaker 3: Pick and all that stuff.

00:49:43
Speaker 4: This offense runs through Trey McBride, Okay, so go throw what you know, go to what you know. And I would just love to see this young man put less on his own shoulders on this, and I think he plays a little bit more free and things things just go faster and just make more sense. And it just seems like there's there's just a tightness to this offense you were used to seeing, like the heavy personnel and them just try to run through you and put a hurt on you and load up in heavy personnel. The team that's doing that more successfully another like og Kubiak offense because ru Petsing is from the Kubiak tree. Well, this is literally Kubiak who's running this offense right in Seattle. And they're loading up in heavy personnel. They're running like we mentioned earlier in the show a lot of under center.

00:50:26
Speaker 1: Let's stay with the Cardinals offense though, because like they can't run the ball. They're one of the worst rushing teams in the league. That to me is like everything that is a problem with them. When I look at like their offense, they just seem very condensed, explosive. Kyler is throwing the ball to the middle of the field, which he's like famous for not doing. It's almost like he's over corrected. I feel like that's the story of Kyler Murray's career. He's always like correcting whatever the criticism is about him. Actually, their entire offense is like that's exactly the middle of.

00:50:58
Speaker 3: The field, all of them right now.

00:51:00
Speaker 4: Though it's like okay, you know, the entire offseason, it's like, you know, especially from a fantasy football perspective, it's like Marvin Harrison Junior needs to get all more. But really this offense was at its most functional when it's running through the multiple tight ends and you're not putting that pressure on his shoulders. You understand, Yeah, he's a first round he's a high draft pick for trun pick, but it might take a second especially within the structure of what this offense is and to get the you know, the gelling with the quarterback and all of these things, and so okay, like go be loose with what you know and go play free with what you know. And the same thing with the running game, and same thing with the.

00:51:37
Speaker 1: Running game is just bad though the same thing with that's the most concern.

00:51:40
Speaker 3: Of the field. It's like, oh, he never does this.

00:51:42
Speaker 4: Okay, now, it's almost like they're listening too much to what we're saying.

00:51:45
Speaker 1: Right, And he is scrambling a lot. They said that all offseason he was going to scramble more. He is on pace for the most scrambles and the most scrambled yards and it has helped them since I think a twenty twenty for him. He did have that one year where he ran quite a bit. But they are thirtieth in rushing d VA and they are they're dead on arrival if that continues. And it's and that's including Kyler scrambles, which have been effective. So they are one of the worst. And that's been the secret sauce for them is that the run blocking. It was Clayton Adams who's now in Dallas helping to scheme it up, but they're their offensive line was greater than the sum of their parts. And then here comes Seattle, just these monsters up front who you don't know who's going to step up in a given week. They are the number one rush defense in the entire league. According to DVA, they are like third in EPA per play, and so you almost have to assume going into this game the Cardinals are not going to be able to run the ball, and then the matchup really becomes, you know, can Kyler get enough time and make some things happen in this matchup because Seattle they're getting production and this is coaching like from surprising places. Josh job is playing well at cornerback for that.

00:52:58
Speaker 2: Is playing well.

00:52:59
Speaker 4: Ter Spoon and playing really well for them, had an interception two weeks ago that was absolutely crucial in that when over the Steelers, this is this is a team that is physical and tenacious and smart and fast. Which is funny because Darren Kendrick, respectfully speaking, like never really quite looked like a fast player. Tenacious one hundred percent, especially when he was playing in the slot and closer to the line of scrimmage, like would make plays on the ball was especially red screens really smartly.

00:53:28
Speaker 3: But in every level, you've got.

00:53:30
Speaker 4: Ernest Jones in the middle of the field still playing well, and certainly I'll need him against the run. You've got, you know, this front that just is coming more and more alive every single week, like you would expect it to do under a Mike McDonald defense. At every single level, there's this like tenacity and just a savviness and like a smart brand of football that they're playing, and I think that does not bode well for the Cardinals.

00:53:54
Speaker 1: Jay Harbaugh also has his unit playing well, the special teams coordinator for the Seahawks doing his thing.

00:54:00
Speaker 3: Can we relatives are on the Seahawks, right, could we Harbaugh? There's a couple of Kubiak.

00:54:05
Speaker 1: Could we get could we get another Harbass special teams coordinator to head coach Pipeline? I mean, the last name will definitely help him. We talked about the Seahawks offense earlier. I don't think the Cardinals defense has been able to be quite as creative this year. It is start, you know, it is the better part of the team. One stat I didn't get into Sunday Show was how Klayus Campbell had the fastest get off time you know, which they record for next gen stats like getting off the ball of any defensive tackle in the league. He also forced the safety that should.

00:54:39
Speaker 2: Have won them the game.

00:54:40
Speaker 1: He is playing great, Josh Wett is playing well, but overall they have some disappointing players up front. They're not getting anything from Darius Robinson, their their first round pick. They've had some injuries, they've just been okay. It's a very okay team. They're like thirteenth and this is all dv A and it was a pretty easy schedule. Thirteenth in defense, teenth and offense, and then you look at other than that. The rush offense is really bad. Everything else is just in the middle. And Cardinals fans are sneaky, sick of it. I'm kind of shocked how annoyed they are with Petzig and this whole team. There's a lot of anger about a two and one Cardinals team. But that's why, you know, division matchups are so big. You go win this game and you're three and one and you're tied for first place potentially in the NFC West. If the forty nine ers happen to lose this week or you get the you know, it's big. This is a tough division, though, and every division game is going to be big. I am leaning Seahawks, as you probably could have guessed.

00:55:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm picking the Seahawks in this one because I just think they they are able to overwhelm you in more areas than the Cardinals are able to sustain. And maybe if they were fully the Cardinals were fully healthy at different positions, and maybe if they weren't sort of stuck in neutral with what this offense is supposed to be versus what it's trying to be, then like maybe we're talking having a completely different conversation. But because Jonathan Gan and Nick ar Alice are not able to do exactly what they want to do on the defensive side of the ball, injuries that started even back in training camp, even in the spring, that sort of have had this ripple effect for them, And because they're just sort of neutral on offense when they should be one of the more smothering groups in the entire league based on the talent that they have available in the personnels they like to deploy.

00:56:20
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, Seattle's doing all those things right.

00:56:22
Speaker 4: They're creative on defense, they're smart on defense, They're playing a lot of different interesting things. They're getting pressure, they're stopping the run, they on offense. They are the smothering team in every area almost it, probably except for the depending on the day, the quarterback. The Seattle Seahawks are able to smother and suffocate teams more so than the Cardinals.

00:56:44
Speaker 2: They're a little further ahead.

00:56:45
Speaker 1: They're in year two of their program with Mike MacDonald, but I think they have better players ultimately. And then, yes, the Cardinals are missing at least three cornerbacks in this game, probably four. I mean two have been gone for the season for a while. But Max Melton is out there playing. He did not look good in that forty nine game. I don't know if he is one hundred percent. Will Johnson is probably not back for this game, so I'll take the Seahawks on the road. You're going to be covering this game with Patrick on Thursday night, And uh yeah, I'm really looking forward to our Wednesday previews show.

00:57:15
Speaker 2: We'll have Steve.

00:57:16
Speaker 1: Weisch for real, this time in the studio with both me, you and Patrick. We will be back for that preview show before I headed overseas. And yes, we got some fun shows, some extra stuff this week, gonna connect with the Ringer fantasy guys, Danny Kelly, Danny Heibitz, Greg Quarterback. They're going to be picking games with me this week. That's all coming up. But before that, we got to get ready for a really fun week for Slate. We will see that.

00:57:47
Speaker 3: Don't forget to pack a breathing tube for Daniel Jones