2026 NFL Schedule Release Reaction

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are ready to break down week one.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: We have printouts in our hands.

00:00:15
Speaker 1: We don't have graphics on the show because we are taping this before the official schedule release. Don't tell them, Grid, I'm just saying, this can't even be broadcast throughout the building.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: People cannot know. It is highly secretive.

00:00:27
Speaker 1: I've got Patrick Clayband and Jordan Rodrigg in the Chris Westling Podcast studio. Are you ready for the schedule to be released?

00:00:34
Speaker 3: I'm so ready. This is my first experience doing it this way where we know an advance. Okay, what's happening, and it's like very very very very very very top secret. I mean, I'm pretty sure they've even changed the glass paneling to just one way glass so nobody can see in but we can see out. It's kind of a wild day here at the Chris Westling Podcast Studio.

00:00:54
Speaker 1: And yet there's more leaks than ever most of the schedule. If you're into that sort of thing and we're on Twitter, you have it. Because I was very curious, Hey, are all these leagues gonna be right?

00:01:03
Speaker 2: Yep? They were basically all right.

00:01:04
Speaker 4: Oh there were that I saw I didn't get into the league scret check because despite my shield status.

00:01:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, protective Greg same. Here's what we're gonna do on this show. And by the way, we're gonna get to a little bit of news at the end of the show. Little Thelak neighbors just devon a CHANTALKI, oh, hey, we cover news on this show. We're going to go through what I think is the most important aspects to the schedule. It's the holidays, it's week one. Maybe maybe some revenge game talk and then and then we're on our way. This this studio is named for our friend Chris Westling, famously for old around the NFL. Listeners hated the schedule release show with a burning passion. So I will try to make this show as good as possible and make it happen. They did not mess around with the holidays. That's my number one takeaway. Or the International Games. We talked about the International Games lank checkout Wednesday show with Ali Connolly and so I don't want to repeat myself there, but I did kind of notice. I thought they went out of their way to send teams they expect to be good with superstars, good games for all these international which hasn't always been the case, and then like multiply that when you talk about the holiday games, let's talk about Thanksgiving. Yes, they're playing a game on the night before Thanksgiving. I refuse to call it Thanksgiving Eve. It's not a thing Packers rams, that's a Netflix game. They also announced a Netflix contract extension with the NFL through twenty twenty nine. They're getting more games, including that night before Thanksgiving, and that's a banger of a game, and then the triple header on Thanksgiving.

00:02:42
Speaker 2: Jordan Bears, Lions.

00:02:43
Speaker 1: It's like the almost the best possible team you could have face the Lions. There, Eagles, Cowboys, we knew about that one. And then this one really caught my eye. It's the annual Chiefs Bills Mahomes By that point, Josh Allen is the nightcap on NBC, and then you wrap it all up on Black Friday with Broncos Stealers. What strikes your fancy there about just that Thanksgiving schedule other than on paper, I think it's the most loaded Thanksgiving schedule we've had.

00:03:13
Speaker 3: I would agree with you, and I actually think that this is the NFL making its statement extremely clear and a bold statement at that it has decided to directly as a conglomerate take on big Turkey and big stuffing, because good luck paying attention to anything else that's going on on Thanksgiving Day with this entire lineup. I love in the prime window, they give us a game that it's already a storied rivalry and the Eagles and the Cowboys, but this year both teams made it a little bit more interesting. I love that it is going to be a team both teams that I expect to actually be quality teams this year, teams that I expect to be good and know their identity by the time they face off. In this game, it's Vic Fangio and his protege Christian Parker on the other side in an overhauled Cowboys defense against one of the better teams we've seen is dominant over the last decade or so in the Philadelphia Eagles and a Cowboys team that's trying to prove it's made us some real stuff Like this is poetry, man. I love this in the in the in like the meaty window of Thanksgiving.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: What do you think about them using one of the games of the year mahomes Allen in that Thanksgiving Night spot there.

00:04:18
Speaker 5: Patrick Well because It gives you a backstop.

00:04:21
Speaker 4: It gives you backstop in the in the event that things don't necessarily go right in the Cowboys Eagles game, Let's say that one of them falls off the face of the earth, and it's like, oh, we're subject to these teams once again. You have faith in the fact that that's going to be the first time that will get Lions and bears. To me, that should be the middle game. You start the day with the Cowboys and the Eagle.

00:04:42
Speaker 1: Not how it works. So they have the little parade. Yeah, in Detroit, you gotta you gotta keep the traditioning. But you do get the Ben Johnson.

00:04:47
Speaker 3: And know this, if you mess up the Thanksgiving meal, you know, you order pizza and it the pizza always satisfies. So this is this is on theme.

00:04:55
Speaker 2: I have a theory about all this.

00:04:56
Speaker 5: Wait, what's the theory?

00:04:58
Speaker 1: Okay, in terms of that the Christmas is a little extra, that the holiday games are a little extra. We'll get to the Christmas h These TV deals are up this year and it's just like, show us what you got. You know, they haven't finished those contracts out and it's like, we got to juice this thing at whatever levers we have to pull. You would think they would do that just every year, maximize, maximize, maxim but it's not.

00:05:21
Speaker 2: It's not always that way.

00:05:22
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have some teams in these in these spots that aren't like the primium of prime time teams, and I think they like went over the top just trying to get those numbers as big as possible for that that those contracts.

00:05:34
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:05:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, the theory that they enjoy money, I think it is one that we could we could lean into and kind of do some analysis on that.

00:05:44
Speaker 5: The trouble is.

00:05:45
Speaker 4: Projecting which tough which of these teams, because there's gonna be a worse the first team, it's gonna be a first to worst team. There's gonna be teams to go through all sorts of circumstances, injuries and all that, and so I would hope that the schedule makers would base it on football, but.

00:06:02
Speaker 2: I think so.

00:06:03
Speaker 1: But these are these are football, and these are franchises that are great year after year. On Christmas and Christmas Eve, we've got Texans at Eagles on Amazon. Christmas Eve happens to fall into Thursdays, so that's just the TNF broadcast. But despite it being on a Friday, they go tripleheader Christmas Packers Bears always awesome. Was with two of the best games. Obviously last year Bill's Broncos that actually ended up being the most stream game of all time was the Middle Window game, and it wasn't even that great a game. It was the Vikings who were out of it at the time, although it was a spicy performance by that by that defense. But they go Bill's Broncos in that spot and then it's a tripleheader, now potentially the game of the year. We're doing a show on on the Fast Channel Patrick and they were like, well, what's what's your matchup of the year, And it's like, I'm not going to overthink this. The best two teams in the NFL last year or the Rams and the Seahawks. So that to me is the matchup. And now it's on Christmas Night on Fox. Ram Seahawks. This is what I'm talking about when I'm talking about like they are going about as hardcore as they can with the holidays.

00:07:10
Speaker 5: And where it can.

00:07:11
Speaker 4: You know, we had to come down to a play last year to ultimately determine I think who would go on and win the Super Bowl and now we get these teams fresh off of back to back to back streaming games, one on Christmas Eve, two on Christmas Day.

00:07:24
Speaker 5: Then we get back to broadcast TV.

00:07:27
Speaker 4: You know, if you want to go, get grab your tuner and get that game on Fox to wrap up Christmas. I think that's the perfect gift to open up to the American public.

00:07:36
Speaker 1: Well, the the overarching theme that just wasn't the case a few years ago was Okay, Now Thanksgiving is a four out of five day NFL or five out of six day NFL sleep right, It's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you get Saturday for college or rather it's not even at that point, and then and then Sunday Monday, and it's and now it's because of how it falls on the schedule this year. Partly, although I'm sure they're going to try to be loading up Christmas and Christmas Eve whenever they can, it's Christmas Eve, a banger of a game, and a triple header on Christmas, and then it's just like one one day off and then you have the Sunday slate again.

00:08:10
Speaker 3: I've noticed that they the Christmas games, especially whether it's Eve or Day. They have also picked home teams where you know that fans will a this will be like an entire this will be the event of the holiday season for a lot of these fans. I think I really want like a snow game in one of these places on Christmas Day. I look at Packers Bears, I'm like, man, I hope it's a snow game. And you know that Mile High will be packed to the gills and Luminfield too. I just they could not have matched I think occasion with environment better. I don't know that they think that closely about it. I'm not sure about all the machinations of what happens with the schedule makers. But and it's not just a formula, but I just think it's really cool. And I would also say, like just my advice to like the streamers or whatever they care about, my advice like no gimmicks. Can we just not Let's say they're they're giving us really really good, good freaking football games.

00:09:08
Speaker 1: These are going you don't like the jackets. They're doing the jackets, they're doing the steaks. How dare you does the Netflix crew? I mean, they're not going to go away from them. They're getting the jackets in the stakes.

00:09:20
Speaker 3: I just I just want good football games, that's all I want.

00:09:22
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna get them. I mean as good a chance as possible. And it is crazy to just think how recently none of this was really happening on Christmas, like the the first you know that that Broncos Rams game back in the day, like that was one of the first real Christmas games, not the first the Rams. By the way, while we're on the Rams, it is a crazy little slate there late in the season, and this is going to be happening for the teams that play on Friday, which is Christmas.

00:09:57
Speaker 2: First of all, they start the season in Melbourne, you know.

00:10:00
Speaker 1: Then they go back to back primetime games after that at or hosting the Giants in week two. Just since we're talking Rams, I just thought this was interesting. And then at Denver it has been confirmed from our research staff, first team ever to start three straight games in primetime.

00:10:19
Speaker 3: Technic, what could go wrong?

00:10:20
Speaker 1: Now, technically the Australia game is on Friday afternoon in Australia, but it's primetime for US, and so for our purposes, three straight primetime games and then four out of five because they host the Bills in Week five on Monday, night football in a rematch of what was the kickoff game a few years back. And then you think like, okay, wow, they've really loaded up primetime early. But I mentioned the Friday Christmas game. Just in the back half of the season, they have the Wednesday game before Thanksgiving, and then the following week is one of the games of the year Chiefs and Rams Patrick kind of a rematch of that famous you know, the game that changed football forever. It's just they are on every single day the week, and it's just a lot.

00:11:02
Speaker 2: Yes, this is my Rams thought.

00:11:03
Speaker 4: On more almost more days of the week than they have games that aren't after eight o'clock PM.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: And and I should have mentioned Saturday in week seventeen. What they do is they block out four games and I four different games, and they choose three out of the four. Very likely Rams and Buccaneers will be a Saturday game in Week seventeen too, so that that's another day.

00:11:27
Speaker 2: It was just like that. That is just absolutely wild.

00:11:31
Speaker 5: All right.

00:11:32
Speaker 1: I think that's all we got for the Thanksgiving holiday games.

00:11:36
Speaker 4: I did want to run instead of Thanksgiving Eve, which I know you hate. What about what about Defrosting Day?

00:11:42
Speaker 2: Okay, ooh, I like that defrosting day is good.

00:11:45
Speaker 3: I like that.

00:11:45
Speaker 5: Remind everybody, and you go ahead and put that burg that you.

00:11:47
Speaker 1: Can't say it, but just every everyone's just starting to say it, as if that's a thing we've always said. No one's ever said that. We ever said Thanksgiving Eve. Nice, this is the day before day for Thanksving.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: That's fine with me, otherwise known as it's Wednesday.

00:12:00
Speaker 2: Right Wednesday.

00:12:01
Speaker 1: And you mentioned that's going to be like the centerpiece for a lot of families like these holiday types of games. I think that's going to be the centerpiece for my family. To go to a RAMS game. There's no school that day, there's no school the next day. We try to take my daughter to one game every year. Usually has to be on like a Monday or a Thursday because of our work schedule. So I'm excited for that one.

00:12:20
Speaker 3: Ding ding ding ding ding. Okay, you have officially filled your RAMS quota for the show.

00:12:24
Speaker 1: Okay, that's it. Week one is the other thing I go to first. When we open the schedule, I will throw it to you. Patrick. Just look at the Week one slate and I can go through them all eventually, but I don't want to just read them off and just what strikes your fancy that's happened in Week one.

00:12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, we get a chance because Week one is all about newness, It's all about the start.

00:12:46
Speaker 5: And I love all these teams.

00:12:47
Speaker 4: Obviously, we just talked about all these teams to get to play on Thanksgiving, a lot of them playing on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, we've seen them playing Super Bowls all that. I want to see what the Halfley Dolphins look like going on the road to take on the Law Vegas Raiders. This is the second time today you've laughed at me about this. Well, that's nice different. I'm laughing now because you're you're I like that. You know they were doing it on a NFL channel and they want you to just go with the big hitters, and then you immediately think like Halfley versus Cousins. But I'm with you because Week one to me is more about like what teams are new. I'm actually a little less interested in the teams, like I know the Rams have a couple of new players, but like about teams that look similar to a year ago.

00:13:25
Speaker 2: So I'm with you.

00:13:26
Speaker 1: I I like the one PM like spurodidas games in Week one. That's what I'm going to sign myself. Well, I gotta give you that game it in advance.

00:13:36
Speaker 2: You can't.

00:13:37
Speaker 1: Well, this case, you can. I will officially give Patrick.

00:13:41
Speaker 3: Such a generous guy.

00:13:43
Speaker 2: It could be Mendoza, it might not be cousins versus Willis. That's fine.

00:13:47
Speaker 4: I hope, I hope that's Fernando. You know, I don't like this idea that, oh, well he's gonna get better by not playing.

00:13:55
Speaker 5: I like whatever.

00:13:56
Speaker 1: So we already knew, you know that the season was opening, uh internationally in Melbourne, but I married the lead here that it's Patriots at Seahawks for the opener. So for I just thought the NFL wasn't gonna go there, but they did go there. That's I guess the kind of the biggest headline of the entire day is that that's how they're going to open it. What do you what do you think about them going back to that Super Bowl?

00:14:21
Speaker 2: Jordan?

00:14:21
Speaker 3: Right off the bat well, First of all, it's really nice of you to not rub some dirt in my face right now for my premature victory lap earlier, misring a prediction that I made. And then you know, you do have a nice selective memory, Greg, but only for your wins.

00:14:35
Speaker 2: So that was what you did there.

00:14:37
Speaker 1: You Yes, you sent us a text bragging that you correctly predicted the kickoff game.

00:14:42
Speaker 3: I did not narrator's voice.

00:14:43
Speaker 2: You did not. You didn't even have like the same wasn't even the right category.

00:14:48
Speaker 1: I don't think any of us got it right because I said Bears and I think I think Patrick might have said Cowboys, and so none of us got the first game right. Maybe it was because we thought this was distasteful. Who needs to see this blow out again?

00:15:00
Speaker 3: Jordan, Yeah, it's it's interesting that you know the absolute embarrassment that the Seahawks handed the Patriots offensive line. I am really curious about what this is going to look like in especially in the opener, because it is the freshest memory that NFL fans have of both of these teams, and then obviously the second one of the Seattle Seahawks hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. That defensive line did not get worse, and I am actually not sure if the Patriots offensive line got any better. So we'll see. There's a lot of weeks months to go before this kickoff game, but it's gonna be it's and it's also by the way, it's at Seattle, so you're like, you're setting this up for another butt kicking, and you know, good luck, good luck to everyone.

00:15:43
Speaker 4: But you also have the part where the Seattle Seahawks, they won the Super Bowl, they're trying to retool be generally improved versus the team that got exposed. That can directly address and has I believe, directly addressed some of the aspects that led to the pantsing in the Super b going it up against them, and so yeah, it's I mean, they replayed the game today, It's like, man, is that is a beatdown?

00:16:07
Speaker 2: It is?

00:16:08
Speaker 1: And yet I sort of forget because I because we were like in the bowels of the stadium not even locked in at that point that the Patriots had the ball driving down twelve after just scoring a quick touchdown and forcing the three and out with like nine minutes left in the game, which is if you just heard that alone, you're like, actually, like, they have a chance in that game, and then Drake May throws an interception and the final score reflects, not even accurately, what a big beat down it was. The reason I guess you feel good about this if you're you know, NBC and everything. It's like, this could be aj Brown and Romeo Dobbs and that's exciting. And the reason that it's a little awkward is just going going heavy on Vrabel after his offseason in Week one. But I was curious if they would avoid that at all, and the answer is no. They still have five primetime games and they're going to Munich and they're basically living in primetime in the post Thanksgiving window.

00:17:02
Speaker 3: The fact that it's in Seattle, I mean there's going to be a banner. I assume that they'll do. They'll probably do some ceremonial things as well that they You know, most teams who are repeating early hosting after a championship, they'll try to get in the other team's head a little bit pregame. So I understand the NFL really leaning into the storyline of these two teams. Were just in the Super Bowl.

00:17:22
Speaker 1: What an honor for the for the Seahawks. Week one, some other some other games that strike my fancy to me. I like, I like Buck Spengals, that's an early window game. You have the DJ More revenge game. Oh no, you don't have that. I'm thinking of the two teams that DJ Moore was not on, but you do have the Caleb Williams, Bryce Young Bull recent number one overall picks. That's a fun Week one Bill's at Texans. That's kind of been the worst matchup for Josh Allen throughout his career. You have Ravens at Colts, Like Colts could be a team where you want to catch them early, perhaps before Daniel Jones is healthy. Who knows there any other Week one thoughts Jets at Titans come on?

00:18:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, an opportunity where we see the improvement there.

00:18:15
Speaker 5: Week one though is Packers Vikings.

00:18:18
Speaker 4: M gets a chance to see like what if the Minnesota Vikings can win because of their quarterback and not in spite of their quarterback for the first time in a while, since since Cousins has been there. You know, I don't want to you know, cast donald dispersions, but that's the there's a reason that Sam Donald was playing for the Seattle Seahawks, and so excitement to see there. And you know, how are they going to rush Micah back bo Nicks making a move in the pocket. Did Mike's kne or they're going to have him chasing Tyler around? In Week one? Interested to see we.

00:18:48
Speaker 1: Haven't gotten to the Sunday Night football schedule, but I didn't note that they put the Micah versus Packers matchup in week six on Monday Night and Sunday Night football, So like a little bit of confidence there that Micah would be back. But there also was a report by Adam Schefter just on Thursday that they're thinking about starting the season on the pup list for mic which wouldknock them.

00:19:08
Speaker 3: Out for Yeah, and it's it's tough because this is obviously it's an NFC North matchup Packers Vikings in week one, so with either team, whichever team wins, is going to have a very early advantage over you know, the rest of the NFC North. So I think that's interesting. I wonder if maybe they thought he would be back in time and then now you know the schedules set, so maybe now not so much. I know they do this with quarterbacks at times. Broncos Chiefs is an example of this. The Monday Night football game. I'm very excited about that one personally. Not only is that Joe and Troy, but also we pretty much are expecting Patrick Mahomes to be back at that point. We assume bo Nix will be back, although there's some mixed signals coming out of that building. Seems like every couple of weeks that one, to me is going to be outstanding.

00:19:50
Speaker 1: Well, then putting the Chiefs, and we talked about this, you know, because this game was revealed a little earlier this week. Them putting the Chiefs in primetime in week one and then doubling down and doing it again in week two is notable to me. I mean, the Chiefs Colts is a game in prime time in week two. I believe it's a Sunday night football game, so that could either be Daniel Jones versus Patrick Mahomes or it could be Riley Leonard versus Justin Fields.

00:20:22
Speaker 2: Do you think Anthony Richardson has any chance to slide in there?

00:20:25
Speaker 4: No, I don't. I think he should. I think that there should be an opportunity for the guy.

00:20:30
Speaker 1: Isn't that weird that there's a chance Riley Leonard and Justin Fields is the week two Sunday night football game.

00:20:36
Speaker 4: I understand having the Chiefs in there. The Colts seem like an interesting choice, but I think, as you mentioned, with regards to the holiday schedule and the opener and other things, I don't necessarily think the Colts schedule kind of factored into things and just had to put the Colts in sir and not to be you know, diminished the folks in Indianapolis. But there's some games in here that are like wait what and.

00:20:57
Speaker 5: That's one of them.

00:20:58
Speaker 3: They were sort of like maybe they were like the base teams to get the math equations.

00:21:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Colts, let's talk about the primetime games, have two primetime games. There are five teams with no primetime games. The Dolphins, Jets, Titans, Raiders, and Cardinals have no primetime games. Now this does not include necessarily like a Saturday afternoon game, or it does not include the international games. For instance, the Browns and the Saints our next closest to the bottom here, with only one primetime game each. Browns have a Steelers Thursday night game. The Saints and the Falcons play each other. I think it's a Monday night game pretty early in the season. Saints are also in Paris. And then the Colts, despite you know that having a great start last year, are the next lowest on the list with only two primetime games. And so the majority of the league does go three and up. But yes, the Rams have the most with seven. It's the Bills, Cowboys, Packers, Chiefs, and Seahawks next with six, and some of the teams that are at five like they could get flexed into them or it's not including some of the windows, like the Patriots, for instance, only have five, but they have like the Munich International Window that could be another Saturday thing they can get flexed in. So those are kind of the teams that the NFL feel are like the primetime teams. Is there anything that stood out to you with the primetime schedule in general, Jordan, Well.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: The fact that it was so front loaded for just a couple of teams. It typically is, but for some reason to me, it feels a little bit more exaggerated this year. Maybe that has something to do with the Super Bowl being back in Los Angeles as well. It just sort of was a end to end fit for the league to do something like that with the Rams, who are going to be, you know, going for a Super Bowl this year. But I really like a lot of this slate. The one that I'm really excited about actually is the Week twelve Patriots versus Chargers in Los Angeles. That's going to be one where you know, maybe we free up Greg to maybe attend that one. Yeah, find see his two beloved teams. And that's on Sunday Night. And I'm excited about that because by then we'll know are the Chargers going to be for real this year or not with all those guys on the offensive line coming back from injury. And by then we'll also kind of really know and understand what this Patriots team is actually going to be and look like after a lot of questions both on and off the field this year.

00:23:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of things stand out, but the Sunday night scheduled to me, you got the Ken Walker revenge game versus the Seahawks.

00:23:29
Speaker 2: That's Week seven. That's a good one.

00:23:30
Speaker 1: That's a week after the aforementioned Micah Parsons Kenny Clark Rashaan Gary revenge game in Week six. In general, the Sunday night football games, aren't you know that surprising? They get the cream of the crop.

00:23:46
Speaker 3: Eagles forty nine, the revenge game. When you went won a Super Bowl with the team and then went out and got a game, you.

00:23:51
Speaker 1: Seemed a little salty that they didn't really value him this offseason when he talked about it, salty, but no, I don't know if it's really a revenge game.

00:23:58
Speaker 2: Is a revenge game a thing?

00:24:00
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I think people talk about it and sliding scale, it does like if you have an opportunity to agitate people who you feel have slided you, I think you take advantage of that, and it's something you talk about. Does it grant and imbue players with certain powers that you know allow them to be more successful? I don't know, but it's certainly something fun to talk about.

00:24:20
Speaker 3: How about sneaky one on here is Baker Mayfield versus Kevin Stefanski of that our research department just snuck that one in there because it's kind of getting overlooked. Remember they Baker Mayfield came out on social media earlier this offseason and said some very strong comments about Kevin Stefanski and and that's going to be that's going to be spicy in my opinion.

00:24:39
Speaker 1: Fortunately, the schedule makers didn't agree enough. They just put that at one pm.

00:24:43
Speaker 3: I will already I want to call DIBs on that game.

00:24:46
Speaker 2: Well, it's a week eight game.

00:24:47
Speaker 4: There is a Baker prime time game that jumps out to me because like that Week nine game, the Bucks and the Bears on Sunday Night, where I think there's big wild card implications.

00:24:58
Speaker 5: Okay, that one.

00:24:59
Speaker 4: Like the games, it aren't necessarily like, oh, you know, that's a game to mention. But I think when all said and done, I think we look back at that one and we learn a lot of these teams.

00:25:10
Speaker 1: Spot, how about you get your first Trey Hendrickson versus the Bengals in Week seven That also doubles, of course as Joe Burrow versus Lamar Jackson, the best in division quarterback matchup potentially of all time. Made the case for that last year on the show. But then what really stood out to me is that's a Week seventeen game.

00:25:30
Speaker 2: Two. That is a.

00:25:32
Speaker 1: Really fun, I believe, primetime game in Week seventeen.

00:25:36
Speaker 2: See, we're checking these things, we're doing it.

00:25:39
Speaker 3: That one I think does qualify as a revenge game too, because of how openly disappointed Trey Hendrickson was about how the Bengals operated during that sort of brief contract period.

00:25:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a New Year's Eve Thursday night game. Patrick will be seated fireworks or he might turn volume around.

00:26:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that that would be a no volume game, and you know, setting maybe optional I would like this.

00:26:09
Speaker 2: You also as prompt volume game. Oh yeah, you.

00:26:13
Speaker 1: Also mentioned earlier in the week the Bills opened their stadium on Thursday Night Football, you also have a Caleb versus Drake May on Thursday Night Football.

00:26:24
Speaker 2: That that's a pretty fun one. And then the close.

00:26:27
Speaker 1: I really noticed to the TNF season back when Amazon first got this package, I got the feeling that they did not have the best slate. I think they got the feeling that they did not have the best slate. I think they have made efforts to even out the slates. This is how Thursday Night Football closes. You have Chiefs Rams in there at some point. Then you close with Flores versus the Patriots, which for me is delicious. Forty nine Ers and Chargers, Texans Eagles, and then as I mention, and Ravens Bengals. Just that's just a great, a great closing slate. I feel like for Thursday.

00:27:05
Speaker 3: Night Football, Texans Eagles maybe my no volume game.

00:27:09
Speaker 2: Why I just love it.

00:27:11
Speaker 3: I already love it. I don't even know why. It's just it's it's setting something in my soul a light, you know.

00:27:16
Speaker 4: And is there a I know they have their their glorious feeds on Amazon. Is there just a stadium no commentary feed?

00:27:24
Speaker 1: No. No, you can get the maybe take us to NRG state. You can get the Spanish language see let us here. You can get the next gen feed, which has lots of cool stuff on it.

00:27:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, if it was just Sam all about it.

00:27:36
Speaker 1: It's it's not just Sam. But yeah, that that Drake May versus the Bears, I mean in Kayleb Williams and class of a couple of years ago, twenty twenty four.

00:27:45
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:27:46
Speaker 1: How about the disrespect The Broncos go to the AFC Championship only three primetime games, the Chargers only had three times. I mean, I'm saying quote unquote only that's That's okay, but it's a little surprising, for instance, that the Panthers and the Falcons have the same the amount of primetime games as the Broncos and the Chargers, so not quite as many big spots for them.

00:28:07
Speaker 3: The Panthers exciting highs were so fun that I mean, I feel like you have to take that into account.

00:28:13
Speaker 1: At least they got and this does show some growth from them. A Thursday night game, a Sunday night game, and a Monday night game, so they are represented on each and every night.

00:28:23
Speaker 4: Another thing about the Broncos notes like those primetime games are more games for the other team. The other team is being featured in. They're probably now, let's be honest, the Kansas City Chiefs is a Monday night football matchup for the Broncos. The Super Bowl champions are on the road at the Denver Broncos. They play at the Steelers on you know, it's an Amazon, it's a Friday game, it's the Friday app the Black Friday Game where it's more probably more of a Steelers focused thing. And then it's the revenge game where people are going to tune in to see Josh Allen in that one?

00:28:56
Speaker 2: Is that a Broncos on Christmas?

00:28:58
Speaker 5: Is that more of a Bills game? Owner?

00:29:00
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up. And then they also have the rematch of the AFC Championship game.

00:29:04
Speaker 5: The Broncos give the Broncos a layup for a prime time game, right, but.

00:29:08
Speaker 1: That we're not giving layups in primetime anymore. It's like it's all gas all the time and there is no disrespect. And this is why I guess we should categorize these things a little differently, just the way it fell. They got a Black Friday game, they have a Christmas game. Those happen to be Friday, not during primetime, and then they have what is very likely a Saturday game that week seventeen, three out of four games will be on Saturday. So they're in a lot of solo windows the Broncos, and I take it back, no disrespect to the Broncos.

00:29:37
Speaker 4: And that's the solo window versus Like, the reason Prome is important to me is because it's the only game that's on at that juncture.

00:29:44
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know.

00:29:45
Speaker 3: I like Patrick's point because they want you to think by putting them in the solo window, there's no disrespect there. But when you dig into the layer, yeah.

00:29:52
Speaker 4: I would just like to see the Broncos be the marque focus of a I think.

00:29:57
Speaker 5: So you know Netflix, the Steelers went, Yeah, they got that one.

00:30:01
Speaker 3: I don't know, man, because Aaron Rodgers is going to find some way to make that week about him, and it's just going to be just a vortex moving toward that news cycle. I just you know, God forbid the Broncos get more attention. You know, the.

00:30:13
Speaker 1: Farewell game, I don't know, if you guys have any other major thoughts about this schedule release, We're going to have months to talk about it. While you think about that open ended question. It's just been bugging me this whole time that I didn't say all the Week one game Brown's Jags, I'm getting ready for that. I do like these teams when they're at their absolute freshest and newest. We get the Commanders and Eagles a little less Commanders and Jaden in primetime and big spots this year, which is not a huge shock, but they did get a London game of course against the Colts, and some primetime games with Jaden Daniels.

00:30:55
Speaker 3: It's an early game, but I'm very much looking forward to Week thirteen Jags. At these are two sophomore head coaches, two guys who kind of took the league by storm, and they're in their initial season, and two teams where you know there's there's a very high ceiling for both of them, but you never know what if the league catches up. You just don't know.

00:31:16
Speaker 4: Greg, As you look at this Week one mm hm. And I'm going to steal the reins from you here please, because I looked back September seventh, twenty twenty five, the New England Patriots, who were the ac representative in the Super Bowl, lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, who.

00:31:30
Speaker 5: Were Travis shamackery.

00:31:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, what week one game on that schedule, It could be an absolute lie. The result would be non indicative of anything worthwhile over the course of the season. I love so they sent that that. That is a really good question.

00:31:45
Speaker 3: I love this prompt.

00:31:47
Speaker 2: I do too.

00:31:48
Speaker 1: I think two A tongue of Iloa comes out Week one in Pittsburgh. It's not like it's the craziest upset ever. Yeah, but him and Stefanski take it back to McDaniel and too. They don't go to seventy, but they get to like forty two, and it's just they're playing this They're playing.

00:32:06
Speaker 2: This quick strike offense.

00:32:07
Speaker 1: The Steelers look old, and everyone's like, holy cow, are the Falcons gonna be amazing. It's like, now they're gonna go seven to ten. But that was a great Week one game.

00:32:15
Speaker 3: I got mine. Okay, New Orleans Saints ooh at Detroit Lions, because I would think the Saints are gonna come out and try to make a big pop, especially in the passing game against that secondary immediately really test to see whether Detroit's fixed its pass rush, fixed its secondary, and that could be a little bit of an upset. However, down the stretch, I trusted Detroit Lions to be a great football team, and.

00:32:39
Speaker 2: I think about these Week one games.

00:32:40
Speaker 1: Sometimes you come out with like a little schematic advantage people haven't seen before. The Saints were the most fast paced team in the NFL last year. Do they just do they turn that turbo button up to like a twenty eleven Patriots or nineteen eighties Bengals level and they're just running up and down that fast track.

00:32:57
Speaker 5: That'd be fun.

00:32:58
Speaker 3: Maybe Kellen Moore, we'll have a different facial expression he turns the turbo.

00:33:03
Speaker 2: All the way up.

00:33:05
Speaker 1: It's time for the off season ride Along, presented by Toyota. A couple just quick items of news, and then we're gonna say goodbye for the week. Milik Neighbors had another surgery on his knee, and this actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but it is continuing what has been maybe a slow recovery. Like if you're a Giants fan, not necessarily the news that you want to be hearing about Malik neighbors. If we go through everything that's happened with him. He had to wait about a month to get the surgery, and that was because there was so much swelling, and then there was a kind of a report he was like on crutches a little late in the mix. They're saying this won't, you know, necessarily affect his timeline. But they were saying before they expected him at the start of training camp and now they're quote hopeful for a week one. So I do take that as a setback. You obviously hope for the best from Elak neighbors, but just thought a little disappointing for him, certainly that he's going through such a long recovery.

00:34:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel for him. I always say I think that when we see initial timelines, the swelling before surgery is often actually not taken into account. I mean, Patrick would probably be more of an expert. How you doing, by the way.

00:34:22
Speaker 4: Great having recently had a cleanup done, albeit mine comes about twenty two years after the initial.

00:34:30
Speaker 3: Service swelling finally went down.

00:34:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I.

00:34:32
Speaker 4: Think the silver lining we can take out of this is they're being proactive for Malik's long term health, not necessarily having mobility where he would like to with regards to scar tissue from the previous surgery and instead of saying, hey, let's work through this, get you back out there, play football. Football guy, it's a long term approach, which is good for all parties involved. I understand that we would like to see the Laik neighbors play football as soon as possible, but the timeline needs to be the timeline and.

00:34:59
Speaker 5: Then glad they did it.

00:35:00
Speaker 3: And the Giants shouldn't have any urgency this season anyway. They need to build, They need to build blocks, they need to build a progression into what their new identity in their team is actually going to be for the longer haul. And I just don't think there's any urgency here and there shouldn't be.

00:35:14
Speaker 4: There's one guy up there in the brothers say hey, may we can win now. I don't know necessarily what my job is right now.

00:35:20
Speaker 3: I can fix him.

00:35:21
Speaker 1: The front office, yes, does not want to start slow. And they look, they got the cow They got the Cowboys on Sunday Night week one. Then they're in Los Angeles against the Rams week two, and then on paper one of the easier two game home stands of the season in the NFL Titans and Cardinals back to back three and four. But that Titans game, I mean you're saying there's no pressure to him. You know that the Giants do not want to be losing to Brian Dable and the Tennessee Titans in week three.

00:35:51
Speaker 2: Now that's a revenge game.

00:35:53
Speaker 4: And revenge I think for the number one overall pick, where if people weren't paying attention, they would think Jackson Dart was the guy that was taking number one overall. Considering the mounted discussion with regards to these guys, maybe maybe Cam Goes.

00:36:05
Speaker 1: I also love that Robert sala is hosting the Jets in week one, just those you know, in terms of the Tennessee Titans, that's that's.

00:36:14
Speaker 2: A fun little matchup. Yeah.

00:36:16
Speaker 1: One thing about the neighbors injury that we maybe never hit on the show either was after the fact it was also reported as a meniscus and ACL repair, so it was it was just a big cleanup there. That was the off season ride along presented by Toyota. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at toyota dot com and find the vehicle that fits your people. Final item of news is more positive. It's about one of those teams that did not get a primetime game this year. It is the Miami Dolphins, and is Devon a chan who got better and better, became a more complete player, a big explosive player, and now is according to average value, one of the top five running back in terms compensation in the league and is going to be a pillar for this Dolphins team long term.

00:37:04
Speaker 2: You're Jeff Hafley, Dolphins, Jordan.

00:37:06
Speaker 3: A weight bearing wall. I don't know why they're not you know, they're not listening. I keep giving up. I keep tan them up. To use the vernacular, what this blueprint is sprint rebuild, guys, Yeah, I like this. I am. I have one foot in both camps. In terms of the running back conversation overall, I think every player should get paid what they would like to get paid, just as a personal belief, But in terms of the team building infrastructure, I can understand why the league doesn't shift dramatically toward paying a position that it would prefer to draft quite frequently year over year in the middle rounds or upper middle rounds of the draft. At the same time, I believe you should pay outliers and Devon a Chan is an outlier player. He contributes in the run game, you know, passing game, after the catch. He's behind one of I think a little bit of a sneaky good offensive line at least a couple of players who could really continue to be something special for them. I like it. I like it for them, and he's and he's one of their Like I said, I joke about it is they're weight bearing wall. They're trying to be better than expected in a year where they're having to reset a ton through the draft, and they've they've already checked a lot of boxes, and getting him extended was one of them.

00:38:12
Speaker 1: Thirty two million dollars guaranteed. It's a four year, sixty eight million dollar extension. The devil will kind of be in the details. It is probably more like a two max, you know, three year deal in terms of the guaranteed money. And yeah, running backs don't make as much as other positions, but they do make significantly more Patrick and it's nice to see then five years ago it has caught up where if if you're a James Cook Devon H Chan level player, these contracts that they both signed are actually quite similar. You do get paid a like a like a starting defensive lineman, not a not an elite edge or anything like that. But you do get a much more representative salary than when we kind of hit the bottom of this position six seven, maybe even five years.

00:38:55
Speaker 4: Ago, and you'd like for it to go up. I have a couple of first round running backs in the past few years. Obviously, Jamiir and Bijon are going to get paid, and so that's going to bring the number up. But like the team had five thousand, right around five thousand yards last year and Chan had almost five hundred, receiving thirteen hundred. When a guy is doing that much of your offense production, you should be paid according and I'm glad he got closer to that. I don't think, you know, for a guy that's five to nine, well south of two hundred pounds carrying what he does for that team, I think it should be more.

00:39:28
Speaker 5: But yeah, and he will be I think.

00:39:29
Speaker 1: Don't happen a big part of the Mike McDaniel returned to Miami. That's Week sixteen, when the Chargers head to the Dolphins. That will not be a revenge game for those two men, because I think they were productive together and helped each other Devana chan and Mike mcdanner. How about the Dolphins though, starting on the road back to back weeks, almost no teams, you know, get stuck with that. It's like you really got to give the team with on paper, maybe the hardest schedule in the league the Dolphins two straight road games, I know, ones in Vegas which is a winnable game, and then ones in Sanford discoverant.

00:40:00
Speaker 2: It's not nice starting on the road two straight weeks.

00:40:02
Speaker 3: You know, always compete.

00:40:04
Speaker 1: But when I used to be in the content writing minds for these schedule we would do harder schedule, easiest schedule, and I would try not to do the strength of schedule, which it's hard to predict that it's not that meaningful, But I did look for stuff like that. You know, starting the year for with a couple straight road games, it was never fun. I know, you get back the but you want you want to start well fun.

00:40:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, the Bengals want to start well.

00:40:28
Speaker 4: I wonder what the story is this year going to be about them trying extra hard at the start.

00:40:32
Speaker 3: That's oo, Joe, Joe, you got everything you ever wanted.

00:40:35
Speaker 5: I got that we're playing in the preseason.

00:40:37
Speaker 1: I mean they treated this offseason like they were on the hot seat, and I applaud them for that. And they have struggled at the starts of the season. That's what all like all last offseason. That's all we heard this year. The Bengals. They opened with the Buccaneers, one of my favorite Week one games. Let's just go out and assign one Week one game to everyone. I'm taking Bucks, Bengals. You've got Raiders, and who do they play?

00:41:00
Speaker 5: You just talked to the defense.

00:41:01
Speaker 3: Disrespect continues, Raiders already erased them from his memory. And then I wanted Bears Panthers.

00:41:07
Speaker 1: Okay, you got Bears Panthers. They open with the Bucks Week one. They're at one pm. The Bengals for the first eight weeks of the season, pretty surprising. But then they're at Houston at Pittsburgh home for Jacksonville. That's that's the first quarter of the season. It's pretty challenging. No, certainly, no gimme's there, and uh, maybe a game or two where you're you're an underdog, just saying watch out, Zach.

00:41:36
Speaker 2: That's it for our schedule release.

00:41:38
Speaker 3: Just waiting for I knew what was going just waiting for it. Greg, you are the most consistent person I've ever met.

00:41:47
Speaker 1: That's what this show is all about. It's in the name NFL Daily. It's our schedule release extravaganza. That's it for this week on the show. We will be back on Monday. It's going to be myself and Nick Shook recapping everything that we missed over the weekend.

00:42:02
Speaker 2: Will see that