2023 Week 3 Preview

00:00:00
Speaker 1: They Around the NFL podcast feels like the game it's slowing down for them. From the Chris Wessel podcast video It's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hansi's heroes here, Greg Rosendal, Mark Sessler. It is the Week three preview show. I mean, isn't it funny? It's already starting to pick up momentum this season.

00:00:28
Speaker 2: I was waiting for the first time this season when Dan said, it just goes so fast. It just keeps going a lot does the season. We're here week one through twelve like a flash.

00:00:39
Speaker 1: Weeks thirteen through about seventeen eighteen literally feels like you're stuck in molasses, which is stuck within Quicksand yeah, I.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: Got our friend Wes used to always talk about you get into that sort of thick of November where it's like this feels a little bit like a you're walking through a dark forest. There are some longer days during.

00:01:00
Speaker 1: There are outliers like the man in between us is like every week's beautiful child. And I love football.

00:01:05
Speaker 2: I think Thanksgiving is big to get to, but then actually I do, I feel like I feel differently.

00:01:10
Speaker 4: Then it just feels like a downhill. So I'm with you.

00:01:12
Speaker 2: I think that that pre Thanksgiving November is when we grind.

00:01:17
Speaker 3: In this week, let's go. They've done something uh slightly hazardous nine games in the early nine nine.

00:01:25
Speaker 4: I would like to balance it out a little bit.

00:01:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's leading to another Sessler apocalypse. What a tough week for Mark. You have the first overall pick, which is always great because you get to pick any game you want from the nine non prime time UH slate, but it also gives you three early games, so the man who.

00:01:45
Speaker 2: And you can't really pick any game you want because Shok has some games. It's uh your you have three games too.

00:01:52
Speaker 1: I don't even know what Shook has. I don't care what Shook has. There's too much what does Shook have? Talk in this studio? What do you want to watch on Sunday?

00:02:01
Speaker 5: That?

00:02:01
Speaker 3: No, I think that's the right way to look.

00:02:03
Speaker 1: My concern is, Yeah, you were talking about having an ear, the earphone in each ear.

00:02:09
Speaker 3: I'm watching two games three maybe.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: What hat where do you put the third bud?

00:02:14
Speaker 3: There is no human answer today. I have an idea. I, like I told the people behind the glass, I just want to be taken out by bow and arrow, like Mid Mid game. I mean it's like, I don't you.

00:02:25
Speaker 1: Know privately, I'm going to tell you where to put the third bud.

00:02:29
Speaker 3: I can think of one place.

00:02:30
Speaker 1: All right, we are going to get to the draft again Wednesday show with Colleen wolf Banger. Check it out, and we covered Giants at San Francisco Thursday Night Football, which we will have tonight. Mark and I will have the recap of that game Thursday night for you. We already hit Pittsburgh Raiders Sunday Night Football, Eagles Bucks Monday Night and double Monday Night Sissler Rams Bangles. So let's talk now, Yes, all the Sunday non primetime content starting with Pick one and Mark Ceesler. And by the way, one last thing we this program. If you want to watch this on fast which is what Channel three Television nailed it on the NFL channel, just search NFL and you'll find us and you can watch this Thursday show every week. There's the plug, Mark the first overall pick. Does this show up on YouTube as well? I believe it does. Yeah, and you can also on YouTube. But these are the options you have to watch us.

00:03:30
Speaker 3: You don't really have an excuse not to check it out visually.

00:03:33
Speaker 1: Got another tweet this morning, Hey, watching you guys on television. Not what I thought you'd looked like. And again, never a compliment, never a compliment.

00:03:45
Speaker 3: We've jarred them some day.

00:03:46
Speaker 1: How about how about take the listeners if that is your impression, take the little comment, put it back in your back pocket. Don't need it unless unless it's Wow, you guys, handsome, pial you know, for your age and everything and not that, and haters, you aren't popping the pressures you face as fathers living in a major urban center. Yeah uh. And and a career with a lot of pressure and eyeballs upon you, and it's it's always coming down on you, and there's always a practice and games, and you're.

00:04:15
Speaker 3: Getting judged by your own like friends and family members.

00:04:18
Speaker 1: Life made you, and you have a mortgage and your dog maybe got hit by a car and maybe Aaron Rodgers Blue's achilles in the fourth play of the season. It's gonna affect your physical appearance. Yeah, okay, it is considered you're handsome. Once upon a time, maybe we were better looking, just younger. But Mark, when you got leve ion and you're living in Hollywood, maybe you're the exception. I don't think.

00:04:42
Speaker 3: So I look at it when I see video of us from like three or four years ago, it's like, what the hell happened in the last nine hundred thousand days.

00:04:50
Speaker 2: Right now though, because we will see that video in three or four years and think, wow, we were looking pretty good back.

00:04:55
Speaker 1: Yeah. The answer, by the way, what happened life in a major urban center. That's right, It's just it's collapsing on you all right. Time now for the number one Pick of the Week, presented by Draft Kings.

00:05:07
Speaker 3: All Right, it is kind of a strange slate. I feel like this week it's the first one. I felt like whether they're on like five or six, like ooh, we're you gonna go with this? Like I have my fascinations. I'm going Falcons. Who at Detroit Falcons are getting three points going into Michigan to try to battle the Lions. We talked a lot about the about the Falcons on our NFL Plus Monday recap of their game with the Packers, and this matchup to me is kind of fascinating because I was thinking about, like this the history of our entire show, and like you had that Falcons Matt Ryan super Bowl type team, but has Falcons Lions ever been taken as the number one pick ever in the history of our show. I don't think on any level. Probably haven't played that often, but yeah, right, It's just like it kind of tells you that a lot's changed for these two teams pretty quickly. And I think for me, like what I want to watch is two things, like the growth of Atlanta's offense. Really, I feel like with Jon Robinson, you have a bit of a cheat code where you're gonna produce every week. On the ground, he looks about as unstoppable as any rookie running back that I can recall, and he seems to his role is growing. We've seen his snap count jump up last week, as it should, and I think, if you're like Tyler Algio are still a very talented player, like your role is gonna diminish. I really trust them on the ground. I'm a little concerned about Detroit's defense, like I thought in Week one against the Chiefs held him to six points in the second half. That probably lose that game if you don't have Kadarius Tony having a complete meltdown though, and now you've lost CJ. Gardner, Johnson, James Houston, is out, and even with James Houston, the pass rush has really essentially been Aiden Hutchinson and not much else. They have one sack on the season. That maybe not be the biggest concern in this game because Desmond Ritter through the ball more than you'd think last week, like is a real hot and cold operate. I think it's fair to look at him and say he's a complete wait and see under center and probably kind of like the one factor that could sync that offense. But against last week against Green Bay, they ran for four point seven yards per rush and ran the ball forty five times, And I just think if you can do that kind of thing to Detroit or on a weekly basis, you're gonna be in these games late no matter what.

00:07:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a real test for this Lions defense, whether they've changed at all, because they were disappointing a week ago and they are really banged up. It goes back to the whole pre can't can't lose anyone in the preseason, like it'd be a tragedy, and then we start the season like half these teams I feel like lost like eight starters and the Lions are really high up there. The Gardner Johnson injury, which we mentioned Monday night but we didn't linger on it is massive there at safety really improve their team. They're hopeful he can maybe come back at the end of the season with the tornpector, which sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't. But beyond that, Taylor Decker is injured, Emmanuel Moseley, their their cornerback is injured by Tie. Their offensive lineman who's who's kind of a lynch pin who really improved things is out, and so there's just a lot of injuries that they're dealing with throughout the roster. A mon ran So Brown is missing practice, but I assume that's not going to be like too serious. And I think they the Falcons, will ask questions to your defense that other teams just don't. And yet I have my doubts that Desmond Ritter can make you pay for the one on one matchups that that Arthur Smith can create with some of those playmakers when they do throw the ball. But they did ask him Danny last week to be a little different. That was the most aggressive Desmond Ridder passing game ever and it was ugly and it was pretty great on a few throws too. He made some great throws and he made some big mistakes, but they decided to put a little more on his plate and it was way more of a roller coaster than other Desmond Ridder starts.

00:08:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, we got to take some off his plate. Yeah, I'd agree, And I think.

00:09:01
Speaker 1: If people just look at the stat line, he'll be like, oh, he was okay in that game, and maybe this room for group, but he was dreadful in that game. He hit some throws and had some a nice goal line run for a touchdown, and so it wasn't like a total one of those wipeout games where there's nothing to take from him. But he gave the Packers every chance to win that game with throws that were right in the chest of defenders, a really suspect early red zone pass that was floating there for the taking. And I'm just curious. Didn't love Arthur Smith's game plan in week one. I didn't love it in game two a week two either, just because of how much was put on the plate of Ritter. And you have this guy now in Jean Robinson that I want. I wish I could give the credit to the person an X who put it out there, but they had that view that went around the viral view of the from above of Bijon juking and spinning and just putting anyone in his area in the blender. And this person said, this is what we thought Reggie Bush was to be coming out of college into the NFL, like this absolute dynamo. Rogie Bush had a fine NFL career, but the.

00:10:06
Speaker 4: Top was like Fadrick, Reggie Bush was twenty five pounds heavier too, Right.

00:10:10
Speaker 1: But just in terms of like this guy, it's gonna what he did in college is gonna translate, and it absolutely has. So I would like to see Desmond Ridder putting better positions, throwing the ball less. And I know it's not gonna be great news for some of these pass catchers, but make this all Bijon with some more running game. I'm not saying like.

00:10:29
Speaker 4: He had twenty he had twenty five touches last week.

00:10:32
Speaker 1: Right, Banco Moore, But just take a little off Desmond's plate because I don't think he's ready for it. And Arthur Smith obviously is confident enough to give him that much of an assignment in Week two when he got away with it by sheer luck. Quite honestly, they got away with how much was given to Desmond Ritter. I'm interested to see what Arthur Smith puts on the quarterback's plate after watching the game tape and seeing what happened from the sideline.

00:10:54
Speaker 3: It's interesting because I think like one of the consistent frustrations for fantasy player or Falcons fans in generals, it's like the Kyle Pitts thing, and like he and Drake London last week combined for eight catches and two of them were for Pits. London a year ago had one hundred and seventeen targets. Now he had a drops issue and had only seventy catches. But it's like he was featured a ton last year and now they're in a situation where it's like I kind of am with you, like have Ritter do less because it's such a variance of what he's going to give you. And they're lucky they didn't have two pick sixes last week, and that would have changed the whole way that game ended.

00:11:29
Speaker 1: That one goal line setup. We talked about it on the on the Monday Plus show, where you're asking Dozen Murder to make passes and you're only giving bees on the ball once give him the Rock by the goal line.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: I could see that easier. I mean, do I feel like Ritter seems to get law like down in those red zone that one sequence you talked about, We're just like missing Falcons wideouts high and by a lot like He's. It's not what you'd expect with the weapons they have in the red zone.

00:11:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they're going to be a limited offensive team. They would ended up trailing in that game and had to come back. I just think the Falcons defense is in better position this year to keep these games under control in a way that they weren't a year ago. But they haven't totally been tested either. I mean, the Packers were missing people last week and Week one they got to play the Panthers. But I've really been impressed with what Ryan Nielsen has done. Their new coordinator came from the Saints, and all their pickups are working, Like Onya mad has really made a big impact for them at defensive tackle. Cayden Ellis has made a big impact for them at linebacker. And this is a huge test where the Lions offense really tests you in the middle of the field. I know they're without David Montgomery, but to me, they still have enough weapons to make this an offensive type of game, and I think Atlanta's defense is at least respectable enough now that they can keep the score down.

00:12:50
Speaker 4: This is a fun one.

00:12:51
Speaker 1: I had said that a few weeks back, Greg, if the Lions came into this matchup undefeated, maybe some team of ATN run it back. They didn't do that, but if they, if they spank, doesn't ryder in his little Adams maybe maybe still don't.

00:13:08
Speaker 4: Want anyone to be about they have not.

00:13:11
Speaker 1: Running against the Falcons. I just want us to have an open eyed look at what's going on with If you're.

00:13:15
Speaker 3: The Lions, like you need to say this is a game we win, Like this year's version of the Lions doesn't.

00:13:20
Speaker 1: Should here and go one.

00:13:21
Speaker 2: And feel a lot of team of atl momentum for for any team, it's possible.

00:13:26
Speaker 4: Sometimes happened, or sometimes it takes until later.

00:13:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. By the way, the over under on this game is forty six and a half fhy I.

00:13:35
Speaker 6: That was the game of the week presented by Draft Kings Sports Book. New customers can bet us five dollars and get two hundred in bonus bets. Instantly download the Draft king Sports app and use code ATN that's code ATN only a Draft King sports Book. Draft Kings sports Book an official sports betting partner of the NFL.

00:13:51
Speaker 1: All right, let's move to the second pick with Greg Okay.

00:13:54
Speaker 4: I want to watch Chargers Vikings early.

00:13:57
Speaker 2: They're two to zero to two teams in a weird way that makes this game feel more important. And I find these two teams very intriguing despite their record. And I have noticed that the Chargers offense is totally different, Like Keenan Allen is making plays deep down the field.

00:14:17
Speaker 4: When was the last time you saw that?

00:14:19
Speaker 2: Twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, Like Herbert's adat you know, his average depth of target is higher than it's been throughout his career. They're third in offensive DVOA through two weeks. I think Herbert's taken some sacks in is taken a little while to process in spots. You'd love him to make a little quicker decision. But they're last in defense. So it's it's to me, it's all on the defense. And this is a matchup where you think that the offenses are both gonna win. But I'm confident that the Chargers offense and I know that's going against Brian Flores and he's he's cooking up some new things here.

00:14:57
Speaker 4: But I like watching this Chargers offense so far.

00:14:59
Speaker 2: It's sounds like Austin Eckler is going to be back, and I think the Vikings are going to have to score a lot to keep up.

00:15:05
Speaker 1: In this one. By the way, Vikings minus won in this game, so Vegasy is a close.

00:15:10
Speaker 3: It just feels like the Chargers are going to be in these games that come right down to the end and allowing teams like the same way that you know Minnesota crawled back against the Eagles last week, because I think with Justin Jefferson, with their passing game in general, they're just they're they're never too far away from like making an impact, making a game close. And the Chargers just opened the door to that. Like, I mean a week ago we were wondering if Ryan Tannehill's career might be over, and he goes twenty for twenty, Well no, but it was like he looked like off a cliff.

00:15:38
Speaker 2: But I always said that, Yeah, I guess I hadn't And you came into the season saying he's underrated, and so we didn't even flip so fast.

00:15:45
Speaker 3: But it's like, I guess I'm more saying that the Chargers don't want to operate when your head coach is this defensive specialist, You're you're in year three. It's their clear achilles and they just opened the door and allowed teams to get right on that side of the ball.

00:15:59
Speaker 2: Well, the whole point to the Brandon Stalely defense, remember, is that, oh, well, we prevent big plays.

00:16:04
Speaker 4: Like That's the whole idea, the whole Vic Fangio thing.

00:16:06
Speaker 2: It's why there's articles written about the deep ball is dead in the NFL, and it's basically because of the Vic Fangio defensive tree, of which Brandon Stalely is won. But who gives up more deep balls than any team in the league. It's the Chargers. They're worse defending the past than any team. And this is a tough team. This Vikings team are better going deep than they've ever been because they don't just have Jefferson, they don't just as Osborne.

00:16:28
Speaker 4: They now have Jordan Adison, who's a ballplayer.

00:16:30
Speaker 2: Danny and I think there could be a lot of fantasy points here for the Vikings.

00:16:34
Speaker 1: I think the I think if you drafted Kirk cousins. If you drafted justin Jefferson there is now we got cam akers in the building. I don't know what they're running. I really need to see the Vikings running game. Well, nothing to see and if they can. I'm not out on the Vikings yet. I know that they're owned two as well, and but I think in their division they absolutely got can get back on their feet and be a player here. But they got to win this game, and you've got to defend your home turf. It's a really tough poll for the Chargers, and we mentioned that letting both of those games slip away put you in such a bad spot because Minnesota is not going to be a team that's going to be easy to beat at home in this situation and owe to two team at home need in the W that's mostly healthy, That is going to be a very difficult ask for the Chargers. I think Minnesota is going to put up a lot of points in this game. Now it's another test for Herbert. Herbert's going to be tested all season unless something changes here on Los Angeles' other side of the ball, where he's going to be asked to keep scoring, stay healthy, put up points every week, and yes, come up with some of these drives to bail out the defense and win some of these games late, which hasn't happened ye yet.

00:17:48
Speaker 3: And it's two weeks in a row where there was another narrative where Justin Herbert comes out as the hero and it's not just him, but like they didn't answer that. They didn't answer it last week at all, and it's like there was a chance for just and Herbert's write a different type of story. I like the cam Akers pick up because because.

00:18:04
Speaker 4: It was free, it was eight round swap.

00:18:06
Speaker 3: I was just kind of thinking, like, who's gonna actually go after.

00:18:11
Speaker 1: It's such a silly trade. It shouldn't be allowed a swap of late round draft picks in three years. Just who are you fooling here?

00:18:20
Speaker 4: It's just that the Rams don't have to like feel ashamed that they.

00:18:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I mean, don't waste their time, like we don't need. The insiders don't even sleep because the bosses tell them they're not allowed to miss any scoops. So you got rap sheet his wife, you know, shoving his shoulder at four a m. Yeah, to say, oh, there a trade just went down. Your your phone's blowing up. How about how about cam Akers? How about how about the Rams have to take the yel that because cam Akers did not what was it called again, the culture? Culture did not adhere to the culture in the Los Angeles. The Rams have a culture. You do not adhere to the culture, you must leave.

00:19:00
Speaker 3: Is that like less Sneed's assistant or something? Who's like who's it's mostly? But yeah, so I don't know, just stupid trade, go ahead, No I like it. Vikings thirty one yards against the Bucks, twenty eight on the ground against the Eagles, like and they said it wasn't a Alexander Madison like lack of confidence, Well it is a little bit, I mean bad, one of the.

00:19:21
Speaker 2: Worst backup running back situations in the lead. I mean the two of them will share, we'll see. Acres has been very up and down as a pro, but I think has always been a little overrated.

00:19:31
Speaker 1: Uh isn't it? Quickly? How how it changes? It went from all summer everybody being like, well, no, I'm not saying Dalvin Cook has been great shakes in New York so far, but it was like, oh, yeah, Madison, he'll be fine. And I know Dalvin Cook has average fifteen hundred yards from scrimmage for six straight years. But they got Madison. He's fine, and that happened.

00:19:49
Speaker 2: That line is brutal, and they were missing Christian Darrisaw just saying sometimes we just beside Dolphins. Riser, I think Dearisa's back for this game.

00:19:56
Speaker 3: I'm so with you.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: We do a little summer plug and play sometimes as analysts and in our industry, and it's like, well, we got to see.

00:20:02
Speaker 3: It, I mean, but we're also we're playing along with the whole thing because it's like we all know, realistically, you get to week three, half these rosters are shredded. So these people that you're talking about the.

00:20:12
Speaker 4: Team around him.

00:20:13
Speaker 2: And look, there's certainly no one in Minnesota that wish is they had Dalvin Cook right now. So whether whether Madison was good enough to fill in.

00:20:21
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's I totally disagree. There's no one in Minnesota.

00:20:25
Speaker 2: I mean, they would love to have Dalvin Cook from three years ago. But if they're watching Dalvin Cook's tape this year, who's in a similarly bad situation, I think they'd have to say, like, we're not missing him right now?

00:20:36
Speaker 4: Maybe I mean my crazy I mean.

00:20:37
Speaker 3: They willingly moved on, So I mean not everyone in Minnesota.

00:20:41
Speaker 1: I guess I'm not. I know it's gonna sound because he's a Jet, but I'm not. I'm still not ready to say Dalvin Cook is washed right now, like totally washed. He was expensive.

00:20:50
Speaker 2: I'm not ready to say that either, But I don't think they're They would think he would be solving what is going on there.

00:20:55
Speaker 1: That's all I understand that. Now Madison play the guitar. That's all I'm saying. There was an assumption that he obviously.

00:21:02
Speaker 2: Could Joey Bosa give me more than nineteen snaps this week. This is a guy who hasn't played more than five hundred and seventy five snaps only three times in his career.

00:21:11
Speaker 1: For you to say in your podcam jail.

00:21:15
Speaker 2: Last week, I know it so good when he plays, but they really need him on the field because Coleil Mack is not given them much.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: Now there's a guy that maybe it's time, you know, maybe it's time time to what to not view him as an impact player. Well, I think I think we reached that location. All right, where are we at? I'm up here? We go first game? It should it should be gone, guys, it should be gone at Buffalo at Washington. I like the Bills the way they looked in Week two. It showed again that that's a stable operation with good leadership that after a pretty harrowing Monday night with your franchise star just setting himself on fire, basically, they were able to look like the Bills we expect and Western New York expects them to be, and they hammered the Raiders. Now let's talk about the commanders. Though. Let's have a little conversation about the commanders, because there's a couple of different ways you could look at the Washington Commanders. You could look at it they are a team that almost got beat by Arizona and needed a comeback in Week one one twenty to sixteen, okay, And then you could say, well they won last week two, but they were down twenty one to three to the to the Broncos, and so the opponents have been soft, the schedule's been soft. However, they did come back against the Cardinals, and that second half performance of the offense, again by the offense against Denver was really nice, and the defense as well. Quite honestly, like you, there was a hail Mary at the and that put a little lipstick on the pig there for Denver. But Washington's play on both sides of the ball and closing out the these two games is notable one. And Sam Howe has made some big time eye opening throws in these games. And he has my curiosity.

00:23:09
Speaker 2: He's feisty, he's I mean, everyone is welcome to enjoy Sam Howe. I think they should, but I feel like he'd be in my stable of boys right now. I'm loving my little Sam.

00:23:21
Speaker 1: How do we want to put this team on the radar team of ATM.

00:23:24
Speaker 4: I'm down.

00:23:25
Speaker 2: I knew I'm not sure before the season. They might lose this game and be two and one, But that doesn't bother me.

00:23:30
Speaker 1: I you were throwing it. No, you were talking about the Lions as the team of ATN.

00:23:34
Speaker 4: Well, just as a team that we like.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: It is intriguing, I said, it, wouldn't it be very I forget what the word was, transgressive to go Commander's team of it right in the total.

00:23:45
Speaker 1: Maybe a year ago or the past twenty years, it would never happen. But considering the changing culture there, culture, the culture is different.

00:23:52
Speaker 3: No, it's it's very different.

00:23:54
Speaker 1: If Sam how is going to be kind a bit of a young gunslinger type here, and young and sweaty is back, and Deron Payin is making plays, and Terry McLaurin might have a guy that could actually sling him the rock, and Curtis Samuel do this little fun stuff and Brian Robbinson.

00:24:09
Speaker 4: It also feels like a.

00:24:13
Speaker 2: Gesture at Dan Snyder to pick them now too, which I always eased you.

00:24:16
Speaker 3: You wouldn't You wouldn't enjoy that, And I'm not against that concept. I know they're in that. They'd be in that running because I think how we'll just he's not perfect, and I don't only have a problem with some of their up and down nature over the first couple of games when you're going in there with a quarterback that's so inexperienced, but like he just makes things happen, and like it's kind of like the quarterback I like to watch, just like I don't know how Ron Rivera stumbled across this, because it's like he seemed to intentionally try to not find a quarterback over the course of half a decade and hold on to his job and going to get into the playoffs with like nine wins, but it's.

00:24:46
Speaker 2: Take steadfast though, like to start this off season, we're gonna ride how No, they've said that all along, and like they it was funny they don't.

00:24:52
Speaker 1: His quote right before the season, Like if I would have known he was that good, I would have played him sooner. So like Ron was gassing up Sam before the season started.

00:25:01
Speaker 3: By the way, that also tells you that Ron Rivera was closer to Sam Howel than anyone else on earth all of last season. And like Colin Kaepernick and San Francisco when they're like this guy's too hard to keep off the field, we're watching him in practice, it's like you didn't self scout the entire what.

00:25:16
Speaker 1: It means Sam Howe's brother, like Terry Howell.

00:25:19
Speaker 3: Well, I'm saying from is Terry Howell at every practice? Like Ron Rivera's like, oh, I should have You shouldn't be telling us that.

00:25:25
Speaker 1: Maybe do you know if Terry Howell is at every practice?

00:25:28
Speaker 3: I don't know for sure.

00:25:29
Speaker 2: Terry's a good, good guy, a good football mine.

00:25:32
Speaker 1: You know who's not in how Vegas the desert right now, six and a half points of wood being laid to the visiting team. So the idea here is that Washington's not ready or the Bills are that good?

00:25:46
Speaker 3: Well, like for the from a team of atl standpoint, Like let's say a bomb is dropped on Washington, Uh, the football team on a football field, not the city, like by the Bills, and it's like we start, we start to not believe.

00:26:00
Speaker 2: Fully, it's a long process and they're fun and to me, a ten win fun, you know, just different sort of season is perfect for temy At and I think that's what samhow it could provide. I mean, watching that game, it was hard for me not to think like he's young russ I mean, that is his comp in the NFL. He's got the same sort of body type, the same sort of runner, the same sort of deep ball, the same sort of I'm gonna hold the ball forever and it's gonna be too long sometimes and bad things are gonna happen sometimes because of that, but good things are gonna happen because of that too. He I'm not saying he's has the ceiling of young Russell Wilson necessarily, but he's the same type of player. And they've really looked sharp on offense in a way I don't think they were last year. And Eric Bienemy needs to get credit because he'd be getting buried if he went to Washington and they stunk and the Chiefs office offense is rolling, and yet know how many people are really talking about like, oh wow, your screen game is really on points to me, that's coaching, that's offensive line. That's like, that's coaching. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are, you know, stinking on offense. And Eric b Enemy's gone, so he's had a nice start. I'm not saying they're like rolling it, but this is a much different test to play.

00:27:11
Speaker 1: The Bills team. They were rolling in the second half a mile high.

00:27:15
Speaker 4: I guess I can't remember the last time I yeah, I.

00:27:18
Speaker 1: Mean maybe there's a football head will point out that, like the twenty seventeen week fourteen through sixteen window or something. I can't remember the last time that I enjoyed watching Washington.

00:27:30
Speaker 3: They made it tough. They made it tough for a long time, and the and the organization had a stink that was unappealing as well.

00:27:37
Speaker 2: And then the Commanders have four defensive line And We'll get to your Bills fans quickly because I know we but look their offensive line. If there's any question about the Bills. It's their offensive line. Now they got to go against this young and sweaty Dron Payin and j Jonathan Allen. Those four guys had twenty five pressures last week.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: Not the team.

00:27:53
Speaker 4: That's a big number for a team, just those four guys.

00:27:56
Speaker 1: So that's a nice don't worry. Josh Allen has a plan. He's going to jump over them. They're set.

00:28:02
Speaker 2: Bills want to be physical like they have. Their two tight ends are starting to run the boss. That's a really nice test when they have Dawson Knox.

00:28:07
Speaker 3: Was not a practice on Thursday though with a back issue.

00:28:10
Speaker 1: Uhatomy. Hey, Eric, producer, very important. If the Washington Commanders win on Sunday, that's a major major development and team of ATM potential. Can we have can you get in touch with Terry Howell just in case they win, so we can have him on the Monday maybe the Monday night show, even the Sunday flagship show.

00:28:30
Speaker 3: The brother of would be a great guest.

00:28:32
Speaker 7: Yeah, definitely, we're not hearing you, Eric, Yeah, he had his moment there, lots.

00:28:38
Speaker 1: Of buttons back here, can you hear me? Now?

00:28:40
Speaker 4: Gotcha?

00:28:40
Speaker 1: I got him lined up? There you go.

00:28:42
Speaker 3: It's also a bill.

00:28:44
Speaker 1: I see, I don't know if he has a brother, and if his brother's name is Terry, or if brother named Terry, they close.

00:28:50
Speaker 7: I don't know that hinges on the Bills losing, though correct, there's a.

00:28:53
Speaker 3: Number of tank I mean, well that primarily would.

00:28:56
Speaker 1: Be hopefully I'm not making that casse. We're in a Bill's hat, so he can't imagine all that would being laid and then being burned. All right, kind of a widespread All right, let's take a break, and then we'll continue with the draft. Now right, we are back and snakes back to me in the old week three draft, and I will take Oh, we have some demons to slay in the swampsa Jersey. Because the New England Patriots are coming to the Meadowlands to face the Jets. This is not the ideal set up on a number of levels. Obviously, like Aaron Rodgers be playing for the Jets. I also would rather the Pats not be in a desperate place at oh and two. That does not fill me with a lot of confidence because I know obviously teams play different. There's an urgency level. The Patriots cannot lose this game. Statistically, the data tells you that almost every oh to three game is cooked. It's such a big hole, even with an added game to the schedule. So now the Jets have to Now here's the positive side, Greg, and for a Patriots fan, it's the flip side. Jets can bury the Patriots in week three. They could send that organization and fan base into a tailspin before the calendar flips over to October. Now they have to do it, and they have to do it with their defense and their running game. The Jets got away from their running game. Now the Cowboys played a big role in that. And you saw how the Cowboys had answers for everything the Jets were doing in week two. I thought it was a masterclass from McCarthy and company. B Reesaw needs to get the ball more than four times. Breesol needs to get the ball like the Falcons need to give John Robinson the ball, quite frankly, because you can't put too much on Zach Wilson's plate. You need to dash of Zach Wilson and keep guys like Garrett Wilson a playmaker in the mix. But you win the game at the running game and the defense. After being humbled by the Cowboys in Week two has to take it gregy to mac Jones and an offense for the Patriot that has to work very hard to manufacture, and you have to get after mac Jones and punish him in this game.

00:31:08
Speaker 2: The two quarterbacks in this game are in a tough spot. These are the two worst offensive lines in the NFL, the Jets and the Patriots in terms of pass block win rate, So they're just losing over and over. There is certainly not a worst tackle combination when Trent Brown is out of the lineup than the Patriots. Calvin Anderson was like a journeyman and didn't touch the field in training. Gim He's just been a turnstyle left tackle. They actually are starting. They started last week. The Vikings sixth tackle was their life, and they came in and they brought their guards in who were injured and drink them and they were terrible. So that matchup against the Jets is just a brutal mismatch. And it's why I'm actually impressed with how mac Jones has played this year. On balance, like he's six in the league in completion over completion percentage over expected. I think he's done well enough with what he has and they don't have an explosive element.

00:32:00
Speaker 4: I would say it's almost as big of a mismatch.

00:32:02
Speaker 2: The other way, maybe it's bigger because, yeah, the Patriots aren't quite as good upfront, but they're good, and the Jets offensive line is struggling. And more importantly, they have Zach Wilson as their quarterback, who against Belichick has just been a total disaster fifty percent completion percentage, two touchdowns and four starts, seven interceptions, and he just hasn't gotten it done. So it's gonna be a defensive game. It's hard to imagine it won't. It's a very Belichick game. We're here at the end of Belichick's career. You can get the greatest hits of all of this, his Browns game. I'm just saying, like his Brown's career, his Jets defensive coordinator, his Patriots, it's just like ugly defense.

00:32:44
Speaker 4: That's what we'll see.

00:32:45
Speaker 1: They like.

00:32:46
Speaker 3: If the Patriots were to fall to zero to three, I would spend a morning listening to WEEI because I think that they're gonna have a meltdown situation like you just don't. We're in New territory. If that were to happen to them that said, I mean, this is a good spot, I think for the Patriots because Bill Belichick feasts on quarterback situations like this where you're just hoping and it's like it gets dull to just keep talking about Zach Wilson's inefficiency and inability. It's like, I'm not trying to go down that road. But it's just that outside of Breese Hall and maybe like you can get two games in a row. There's been a scoring strike to Garrett Wilson last week that was like mainly the only positive thing that Zack Wilson did for the most part. You get one of those and you get a ton of Breese Hall. Like this game feels like fourteen to tend to me or something like that, and I really I think this thing. You still have the strength of the deep Jets defensive line that comes at you in waves, and it's like they kind of got it taken to him on defense last week. That was as surprising as anything else that's happened in the Jets this season, was that, you know, Dak Prescott opens I think thirteen for thirteen. They're totally efficient and everything you thought you could count on from New York on that side of the ball didn't really show up. It was more like the big plays they didn't make on defense that kind of separated that game early. So I don't know. The Jets are in a tough spot. You got to be almost you gotta hope that this quarterback doesn't make a key mistake. Except it's one of the most reliable things happening on a weekly basis in the NFL.

00:34:13
Speaker 1: I think last year's matchups, it could be something similar, and that still sits. It sits with me in a way that annoys me. That they had a pick six of mac Jones late in the first half in their first matchup of the medalands yea last year that would have had him up seventeen to three at a halftime. It got taken off the board on a bogus roughing the passer call. The Patriots ended up winning that game. Then the next time they meet in Foxborough, it's a defensive stalemate, Neither offense can move a yard and the Pats went on a walkoff hunt return at the end of regulation. And I think you're gonna see it again. I think both quarterbacks will struggle. I think we're gonna have a low scoring game. But now this is where the Jets in you know, year three of Sala, year two of this young nucleus on d they gotta win a ball game. Like I talk about about Justin Herbert, this Jets defense needs to make the plays because I think the Patriots, even their running game the Pats, which we we look at Ramandra Stevenson like that hasn't gotten going yet.

00:35:10
Speaker 6: It is.

00:35:11
Speaker 1: It is the Jets defense. After again getting humbled by Dallas, they this week. They You could not have more boltin board material for a Patriots team that's won twenty two of the last twenty four meetings in this quote unquote rivalry. You got to kick the ass of the Patriots offense and score score on defense and win seventeen to three. That's it's time to show. That's if this is a team that's gonna survive and be matter in December. There is no messing around here. You beat a very mediocre Patriots team and you keep moving the checking.

00:35:46
Speaker 2: If it was the lowest over under of the week, it is Patriots two and a half points on the road.

00:35:52
Speaker 1: Does that surprise? But I know that everyone's out on the Jets now, and I get it. But Pat's favored on the road.

00:35:59
Speaker 2: It's like a little surprising, but I think that's reflecting, Like I don't know if the numbers totally say it yet or not, but I think it's might be reflecting. Yes, the Patriots are zero and too, but you still think they're a better team than they were a year ago. And that team was able to beat Zach Wilson twice. So I think it's just that feeling of Zach Wilson. I'm really looking forward to Christian Gonzales on Garrett Wilson. We'll see if he actually travels with him. But Christian Gonzalez off to a really nice start as approach. Not saying he's like Sauce Gardner or anything, but we got they got a first round cornerback.

00:36:35
Speaker 4: He looks like a good pick and that'll be a fun match.

00:36:37
Speaker 1: All right, let's keep moving. Greg gets back to you.

00:36:42
Speaker 2: I am gonna take the late game that I want. It's not a great late slate, but I'm gonna take Panthers at Seahawks just because I want to watch my boy Gino live and in person. That won't be in person. I'm excited. The Seahawks are favored by six. Now you want to do a second take that line moved up, I mean four h five.

00:37:04
Speaker 4: That's a disappointment too. I don't care.

00:37:06
Speaker 2: It's the game I want to watch. I want to watch the Seahawks against this Panthers defense. I think it's a game the Seahawks, if they have taken any steps forward from a year ago and certainly from week one, should be good enough to slow down a Panthers attack that's probably starting Andy Dalton. And it's maybe it's just me, but personally as someone who wants the Seahawks to win this game because I'm locking them up, I'm not.

00:37:34
Speaker 4: Gonna building up.

00:37:38
Speaker 2: I actually feel less good about this with Andy Dalton starting than Bryce Young. I don't think that's that crazy to say. I just think at this point in their careers, Andy Dalton will get the ball out a little quicker with a bad offensive line in front of him.

00:37:50
Speaker 4: He's just been in the NFL a long time.

00:37:51
Speaker 2: And Bryce Young, I don't think it's been bad, but he's been out with his ankle injury, and there's just a lot to ask of a rookie quarterback. I actually give Dalton a better chance, kind of like when he played for Justin Fields when Fields was a.

00:38:02
Speaker 4: Rookie a couple of years ago in Chicago. It's like, oh, actually they were a little better with ault.

00:38:06
Speaker 1: What's the spread on this one?

00:38:07
Speaker 4: It's six now.

00:38:11
Speaker 1: And the other one you were hunting was maybe at the Bengals were starting their backup quarterback.

00:38:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, although the Rams are understand how Craig's winning these trophies, who's starting?

00:38:21
Speaker 4: Are we really counting this?

00:38:22
Speaker 6: Like?

00:38:22
Speaker 2: You took the Chiefs in week one and you got a big freaking out on it.

00:38:26
Speaker 4: You took the Seahawks in week one.

00:38:27
Speaker 2: We were the exact same favorites that I took a lower Falcons three point favorites.

00:38:31
Speaker 1: Very brain, you were honking there?

00:38:35
Speaker 3: Have you taken both Super Bowl teams back to back week one? In week two?

00:38:39
Speaker 5: Yeah?

00:38:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, so let's come down.

00:38:41
Speaker 1: So I don't know what have you done besides lous relentlessly and I've lost.

00:38:49
Speaker 3: I've been just it's been one l out to the next. I'm not really critiquing. I was more asking a question.

00:38:53
Speaker 1: But maybe maybe none of us have covered ourselves in glory so far. But Greg, we see how taking these trophies home.

00:39:01
Speaker 4: What are you talking about?

00:39:01
Speaker 2: If we could add up the points spreads in the our three games, and they'd be the samer years would.

00:39:06
Speaker 1: People are very it's very hard to get you mad, Greg, but this, for some reason, I always gets you and I love it well.

00:39:10
Speaker 4: I do.

00:39:11
Speaker 2: It's because it's a game that at first, like didn't have any rules, and I always thought it's a stupid game if it if it doesn't have rules, like you have to look at the mirror, we have a rule, I'd be all four changing the rules and putting the number.

00:39:24
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, I'd.

00:39:25
Speaker 4: Say, you say it's under five or whatever, but if you really want.

00:39:29
Speaker 1: The only thing I'm saying this is smart. It's savvy because the spread will probably go out of the lock zone once they officially named Dalton Starter.

00:39:35
Speaker 4: No it already.

00:39:36
Speaker 2: I was surprised because, like I said, I think Andy Dalton gives them a much better chance to win.

00:39:40
Speaker 4: Maybe not much, but a better chance.

00:39:42
Speaker 5: Uh.

00:39:42
Speaker 3: And I think it went from five and a half to six with that news. Cool Andy Dalton played well last year, Right.

00:39:48
Speaker 1: Cool with your lock, Greg, I'm just having fun that so, I.

00:39:50
Speaker 4: Mean it's fun to get fired up. I think that's good. I will never take it personally it's this game.

00:39:55
Speaker 3: I've bet you'll take it, Barry, you will definitely take if.

00:39:58
Speaker 4: I win four out of five, I'm taking it out.

00:40:03
Speaker 1: The three of us and there's a vote. It's a bad SI, it's a tough all right. Anything else in this game.

00:40:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, come on, let's give the Panther Panthers.

00:40:13
Speaker 2: How about a bad offensive line versus a really bad Seahawks pass rush. So I'm a little concerned about the Seahawks defense. That kind of just erases both, right, So I'm I can't can you get can you get something done?

00:40:24
Speaker 1: Here? One?

00:40:24
Speaker 6: Like?

00:40:25
Speaker 3: I think I feel like Frankie Lulu every time I watch the Panthers. He's doing something, he's.

00:40:30
Speaker 2: Wild and when he misses his tag team partner Shack Thompson, Jacy Horn is still out there. Their front line is good. I thought it was interesting last year. They're the number five overall pick. Devin Witherspoon was very much like the main character of Seahawks Lions for about three quarters in that game. Made a couple of big plays that ended drives, but was relentlessly picked on by Jared Goff and the Lions offense, and really struggled for the most parts I'm just someone to watch.

00:40:57
Speaker 1: I have a wild take. By the way, First of all, this is your chance before we move on, Mark to get a shotgun blast off on the head coach of the Panthers.

00:41:05
Speaker 3: Well, I want to see what he does with with Andy Dalton. I just think their offense has been vastly unimpressive and not very watchable. That's not the calling card.

00:41:13
Speaker 1: I feel like POD's been a little hot last week or so with everything as the coach's fault, Like what is he working with really right now?

00:41:20
Speaker 3: An inexperienced young quarterback who is also the first overall pick, but.

00:41:23
Speaker 1: Like Adam Feelen, is a primary receiver in this offense.

00:41:27
Speaker 3: Like it's not a bounty of weapons. I don't think anyone's saying it is.

00:41:30
Speaker 1: I'm not saying Frank Braich should be absolved if the offense stinks this year or the team is bad. But I don't know. The players play the games.

00:41:39
Speaker 4: I'm with you to I wanted to give it.

00:41:40
Speaker 2: It's my thing with him in this team is I want to evaluate a new situation like this over time. Yeah, and I expected this team to be bad. It's why I mean I was gonna lock. I locked against in Week one. I meant to last week. Remember I was saying Saints, but I flipped off it. But they lost it, and I'm doing it. I'm just as long as they stay in the lock zone Anti.

00:42:00
Speaker 1: Panthers Seattle take by the way, next time Tyler Lockett scores, and trust me, Tyler Lockett's going to score as long as his body is willing because he's a very good, maybe the most underrated receiver of the last ten years. Go it out there. Tyler Lockett watched closely. Doesn't know how to spike it football. Okay, go check out the footage of his first touchdown. He had to walk off. Of course, he grabs it and I imagine his hands are probably larger than average, but when he does the windmill, it's almost like it's coming out of his hands, and then he doesn't. You can't bring it down with any level of ferocity, and it just kind of it underwhelms as a spike. He seems like someone that it would be a value add for him and his brand to change his touchdownsal.

00:42:48
Speaker 3: Have you have you tracked and gone back through previous seasons and campaigns.

00:42:53
Speaker 1: Well, the reason why you know we followed him for his whole career now, and when he did it, when I was watching two days ago, I was like, oh, he's always doing that. It's always kind of an uninspiring spike. Last thing is how many more? Andy Dalton starts a we're gonna get how many? Ever, ever, so I'm gonna enjoy this twelve. I'm always like the glowing ginger man. All right, Mark, you're up. You think there will be twelve more? Yeah?

00:43:18
Speaker 3: I think he'll play beyond this season and do some patchwork. You know, all these half these quarterbacks get lost to the news.

00:43:24
Speaker 1: Perhaps.

00:43:24
Speaker 2: I hope Bryce Young getting hurt is not like a recurring thing.

00:43:27
Speaker 4: But we'll see. It's just an English little weird that they can't have him run the sneaks.

00:43:32
Speaker 3: Into the game.

00:43:35
Speaker 1: Check out that Tyler Locketts spike video.

00:43:37
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna you should you should put that out on You should x that and then like, I'll re.

00:43:41
Speaker 1: Exit for you make an ex video? Yeah, got it?

00:43:45
Speaker 4: You well? Post I believe is their official term.

00:43:48
Speaker 3: I'm reaxting.

00:43:49
Speaker 1: What is it? Repost?

00:43:50
Speaker 4: They cannot have the word tweets on it.

00:43:52
Speaker 1: There we can out it does not adhere to our culture.

00:43:55
Speaker 3: This guy, all right, I'm gonna go tight?

00:44:00
Speaker 1: Is it?

00:44:00
Speaker 3: Browns? I Kareem Hunt signed by Cleveland, pinch me.

00:44:07
Speaker 4: I don't know.

00:44:08
Speaker 3: I think, if anything, he knows that he knows the system in the playbook. I wonder what kind of shape he's in.

00:44:12
Speaker 1: But I had a in my league of record, I had a my buddy Greg, one of the guys. That guy, yeah, the guy who runs the league. Burger spent his entire budget on Jerome Ford. And then Greg, who's had the most championship success in our league historically, went in the back door and got Kareem Hunt, and then and then was patting himself on the back over it, and I said, that is a nice pickup, especially you paid four dollars or whatever, and Burger paid sixty. But Kareem Hunt, there's kind of a reason. Maybe he was unemployed until this point and he didn't put a lot on tape, maybe even the last couple of years.

00:44:48
Speaker 3: I guess I don't hate that he didn't go through a whole preseason and all this stuff. And if he's fresh, it's kind of like it'll work. The same thing happened. I haven't done fantasy in a million years, but I had I got this like waiver, why scenario trying to get to room forward get totally banged on, that didn't get them, And it's like four in the morning, like, oh kareem hunt news, Like I just choped them up for free street smart. That's called strategy. That's a good that's a solid sound.

00:45:10
Speaker 1: For his son Walker right now.

00:45:12
Speaker 4: I believe someone does have it in that in that league.

00:45:15
Speaker 1: No one did.

00:45:17
Speaker 4: He cares about your fantasy.

00:45:18
Speaker 1: Dam they don't.

00:45:19
Speaker 3: But go on, well, I just you know, it's obviously my fanship or fandom with the Browns is you know, a strange place. But I felt something on Monday Night. I felt agitated to watch what happened to Nick Chubb. The way they lost that game. In general, it's kind of like this recurring DNA of like, oh yeah, the worst possible thing will occur and they can't beat Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh and they it.

00:45:39
Speaker 1: Was a lot. It was. It was.

00:45:41
Speaker 3: It wasn't the Monday Night previous. I'm not equating it to that. It had some of the same sort of horrid energy.

00:45:48
Speaker 1: I would say, if you would allow me, Oh yeah, I said, the mask slipped. This was really Monday Night was the first real post mark divorce with the Browns game in a lot of ways, like week ones busy, It's Sunday last year was last year with Watson, Monday night, your quarterbacks on the field against the Steelers, and everything was still there. It's all still there.

00:46:15
Speaker 3: I'm just no, I like it's all still I acknowledge that it agitated me because I see actually more potential in this Browns team than anyone in a long long time. And it's for me, it's stuff they never had before. And it's like the thing that isn't changing or going away is how deep their defense is and how much it seems to be working under Jim Schwartz. And it's like this is a crazy game because they can stop the run. They can make life very difficult for Ryan Tannehill. That offensive line. I think we could go back somewhere. We're not gonna get twenty for twenty four from Tannehill this time around, not with the way the secondar is playing. They're a little banged up here and there Cleveland, but I just trust them to inflict damage. But then you've got this Titans defense that is nasty against the the Chargers, like ran all over the place, on the Dolphins in Week one. They were shut down. Last week they didn't have Eckeler, But like, I don't think that's the only reason that happened. It's because Tennessee remains a nasty, gritty team that's gonna be in close games, and I think it's gonna be a tough test for Cleveland. I do think Jerome Ford the only thing about the cream Hunt is Jerome Ford is a good player. Like, I mean, we saw it last week and it's like I'm over cream Hunt. Repeated they did, and so I think that you've got to It's it's been a tough, tough fantasy situation because you don't want to know what the work will it'll be, but late they can still run the ball, and it's like, hey, Deshaun Watson, it's kind of on you to give us something different of a sample size than what we've seen over like a season.

00:47:37
Speaker 1: He has.

00:47:38
Speaker 3: I heard this on PFF, Like he's been sacked more over the last two seasons than Patrick Mahomes and he missed twelve games.

00:47:45
Speaker 2: Hey yeah, I it's really on him now the rest of the season, but it's really on him in this week because the Titans run defense is so good that you have to throw the ball against them, and they're vulnerable in the back end. They're a little banged up, and this is what you pay for.

00:48:01
Speaker 4: And it's funny.

00:48:02
Speaker 2: I actually think Watson's struggles has been weirdly under talked about. Like to me, it's one of the biggest football stories. Throw everything else out that that like frustrated me, that disgusted me about the Shong warning, Throw all that out just from a football vantage point. He's so incredibly disappointing now, and you've made all these excuses like when are we gonna run out of the always been gone for a while excuse, like he's had two full training camps with this team, Like he was there all last offseason, he was there all this offseason. There are thirty four quarterbacks who've had two hundred and fifty dropbacks over the last two years. He's dead last in EPA per pass, He's twenty ninth in success rate, and he just doesn't look comfortable. I think he looks better this year. There are some quality throws. I don't think he's gonna be the worst quarterback in the league, but right now he's somewhere between twenty and thirty, and it's like we just keep making excuses where guys like Josh Dobbs or Jacobe Prissett they come in and they play around the same level right away, and he has to be frustrated. Everyone has to be frustrated. They have to make the passing game work. I don't know how it's gonna be. But he never looked like this in Houston. Yeah, his never looked this uncomfortable.

00:49:17
Speaker 1: I was, you know, very frustrated if you're a Browns fan. And certainly, as we talked about on the sideline, you could see with Stefanski some of his pocket awareness, and that's an issue. Like the fact that the ball the strip and score that is partly because he was he didn't feel it. He wasn't feeling it taking that late sack when they still had a chance. It was just he's not feeling it. Now. The pick six at started the game, I don't think that was really on him. Maybe the pass could have been better, but that was a drop into a pick six. And week one I think there was some good things, so I'm not like I'm not banging the panic button and and making excuses for him, but that also was a pretty tough setting. You had Chubb going down in that game.

00:49:57
Speaker 4: Eight games like Taylor Heineke would throw in a heater on one.

00:49:59
Speaker 1: But again, game you put a lot more stock into last year, Like I'm saying my excuses and in terms of Watson and saying, what's up with this guy? Give me to the end of the month here, let's see, let's see what he looks like after four games. Give me a little bit more of a sample size. But yeah, he's not he's certainly not carrying the team, and that's what they kind of need now.

00:50:20
Speaker 3: And it is it is like I'm with you, Greg that it's a huge football story because look at how we treated like the sharp decline of Russell Wilson that was like a shocking.

00:50:28
Speaker 4: To Josh was the story of the week because he had a bad week.

00:50:32
Speaker 3: And I mean there's other Rock Purty comes in off the street and plays competent football, and it's like we're not even getting like how when is the last game where a quarterback had two face mask calls against? Like, what's going on with this guy?

00:50:45
Speaker 1: It's like a little man, there's a little bit of a Yeah, you definitely could see it what he's not comfortable.

00:50:53
Speaker 2: No, this Titans, you should talk a little Titans that look the Taji Spears.

00:50:57
Speaker 1: That thing is happening already.

00:50:58
Speaker 2: It's a it's a the eight snaps to seventy eight for Henry tip of the sphere. He's been nice and d Hop Hopkins is not Julio Jones there, but he's also not yet.

00:51:09
Speaker 1: He's a piece.

00:51:10
Speaker 2: He's not yet the hop from Arizona. That might just be a situational think.

00:51:14
Speaker 3: They did get the deep ball going last week. I wonder if that's even possible against Cleveland.

00:51:18
Speaker 1: This this smells this weeks of twenty to sixteen. I'm taking the seventeen thirteen.

00:51:24
Speaker 3: Titans getting three and a half points in this, all.

00:51:26
Speaker 4: Right, I think that's too much.

00:51:27
Speaker 1: All right, Mark, all.

00:51:30
Speaker 3: Right, I'm taking my late game Dallas at Arizona. So that means that stadium will probably be seventy five percent Cowboys fans. That seems to happen to the Cardinals on a weekly basis. Sounds like Brandon Cooks, who practiced Thursday, will finally emerge here. I kind of I've been resistant to the whole concept of the Cowboys because I think there's this part of me that's like, there's no way I can do two weeks of Super Bowl lead up if it's Jerry Jones and that in this cast of characters. But I'm starting just to give in.

00:52:01
Speaker 1: Because why not, it's been They've been in the Super Bowl in twenty seven years.

00:52:06
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, I'm beginning to beginning to give into the concept a little bit because they look so far like the best team in the NFC, like where the Eagles are a little not really fully themselves. Yet it feels like the Cowboys they got it going on and like Dak Prescotte opens thirteen for thirteen last week across the field at the same time Zach Wilson and it's not a Zach Wilson at nine yards, just that the Cowboys came out of came out hot against a pistol, a top three defense. Arizona's been really frisky. I watched that game closely last Sunday, and guys like Dennis Gardak, who has four sacks already, the Barbarian see from like Soux Falls or something like that. I don't know where it's from, but like he's they've been good on defense. They've they've hassled quarterbacks, and Josh Dobbs was frisky that said, I just see this to be. This gets to be the game where it's like these Cardinals close hanging around third fourth quarter. Probably not this time.

00:52:59
Speaker 2: It's a tough ass for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are going to come out of these three games probably with just an outrageous point differential.

00:53:07
Speaker 3: Well, they have the highest one of their entire franchise history since nineteen sixty eight. Right now.

00:53:13
Speaker 2: I thought that Jets game, that first drive was so telling. McCarthy at a nice game. Dak had a nice game. They knew how to attack that defense. They got rid of the ball quickly to kind of mitigate the pass rush.

00:53:22
Speaker 4: But the biggest.

00:53:23
Speaker 2: Play in that game to me was the third and six in the red zone to start the game on the very first drive, where Dak gets back to the top of his drop and the Jets pass rush actually won on that play and Dak so decisively just ran up the middle. He just looks faster and he looked like he made a play he wouldn't have made a year ago. And that leads to a touchdown, and you're seeing good decision making out of Dak, very very professional and you're matching up against some cornerbacks here Kenchroll Clark and Marco Wilson, where it's just you're gonna find some mismatches.

00:53:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I guess you could look at it a couple different ways. But I give credit to Jonathan gan In for this team has been competitive in the first two weeks, but it could kind of weigh on an organization then in the locker room when you have victory stolen away from you two straight weeks and now you potentially have a buzz sausage, was like the worst time to get the Cowboys because they are feeling invincible and I think this game is Yeah, this one's got a grizzly, grizzly final score attached to it. I believe when we talk about it such underdog, certainly.

00:54:30
Speaker 3: Not this week points that's the opposite. Everything is just fast for them, right, It's a college spread.

00:54:38
Speaker 4: I love it. They're moving fast, the tempo like everything's fast.

00:54:41
Speaker 1: I thought they again, and I'm a bigger McCarthy fan than you guys, but I just thought that entire team and Dan Quinn, they were so ready for the Jets on both sides of the ball. And if you if you were you're watching that game, Bob sala And and Nate Hackett, like, man, they just they just took it to us. And they had a quarterback playing at high level. And we don't Speaking of Mike McCarthy, who's a Beyonce fan.

00:55:07
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm a fan. I certainly listen.

00:55:10
Speaker 3: Best super Bowl halftime show I've ever seen that. I don't know if Greg and I.

00:55:13
Speaker 2: Are in the and that was a huge ye know, I was a huge Lemonade guy.

00:55:18
Speaker 4: I am.

00:55:19
Speaker 2: I'm the one person that defends the Carters album, you know, the one person I like, I feel like no one likes. I was like, I feel that's not got a lot of spins, Like I wouldn't say that's.

00:55:29
Speaker 1: High in the streaming. Still, yeah, I'll still I think I think Lemonade is one of the great albums of the last ten years. Which it's bonkers to me. Eric, your your wonderful wife saw Beyonce in Vegas and and she doesn't play Lemonade at all on this tour, which gets me mad.

00:55:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, my wife mainly had she didn't really have a problem with the song selection.

00:55:56
Speaker 1: She had a problem with her the area she was sitting in not hyped enough for the You gotta be hyped up the Beyonce show long way to get to the point that Beyonce is playing at at and T Stadium. And of course you asked the head coach of the Cowboys, you're going to see Beyonce? No, but my family's going. It's a work night. For me. It's a work night, okay. And guess who's doing a lot of work right now leading maybe the best team in football. It's Michael party Zaddy.

00:56:26
Speaker 3: I'm totally with you. Like I think one of the things I like really wondered about.

00:56:30
Speaker 1: Work night Rosenthal focus.

00:56:32
Speaker 3: I don't know what if he could if he would be a better play caller than Kellen Moore, And I think so far it's like there's.

00:56:37
Speaker 1: No I felt that was super overblown this summer, Like the Texas Coast offense is humming right now, baby, I big time.

00:56:47
Speaker 2: If they have a season that goes away, it looks it's going right now. I will really remember how they talked about canceling the joint practices in the training game, and we were there.

00:56:58
Speaker 4: We could see it with our own eyes.

00:57:00
Speaker 2: We saw it, guys, where this is the guys that they're gonna be a great team. When guys they said that, like, we don't want another team to come in here. This defense, in this offense, that's the best competition we could possibly face every day.

00:57:13
Speaker 1: That's pretty good.

00:57:14
Speaker 4: We don't need anything else.

00:57:15
Speaker 1: I was like, whoa, that's pretty good.

00:57:17
Speaker 3: Oh my sir, they're gonna go to the Super Bowl feeling.

00:57:25
Speaker 1: But think about it. I know the Cowboys and a lot of people probably agree with you. It's been almost thirty years, and I'll tell you what, we've been too much of super Bowls. We're very lucky the Cowboys would juice that up and you get the Jarra bus rolling all over Las Vegas.

00:57:42
Speaker 4: I've wanted it for for a long time.

00:57:44
Speaker 2: I really wanted a Tony Romo super Bowl back in the day. I love those Tony Romo teams. But I even that that rookie Dac Year. I thought that would have been fun. Let's do it, all right? Fine, this team of a No, we cannot you cannot do that.

00:57:59
Speaker 4: I'm not really they.

00:58:00
Speaker 1: Read for them, but it would be all right, Greg, you are.

00:58:03
Speaker 2: I see what this little sneak, sneaky guy did over here. But what by taking shiks games? I see that corner in your mouth going up. He took both the ships games three, the two of us are getting three. Such as a bad luck dude.

00:58:17
Speaker 4: I respect. I don't mind.

00:58:19
Speaker 1: He took hold on.

00:58:21
Speaker 3: You gotta take the beat, hold on, hold on number one. There's nothing, there's nothing like entirely genuine that I would pick Falcons Lions, and then I took it and had this.

00:58:31
Speaker 4: He knew I was coming that.

00:58:33
Speaker 1: If you look at it, he has a script replying to the criticism. I'm sure with highlighters and everything.

00:58:38
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna taken because of I'm I'm strange.

00:58:43
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go Broncos Dolphins.

00:58:44
Speaker 2: Actually, that's a fun game Broncos Dolphins on Sunday as my second early game. I want to see if Jalen Phillips is back in this game for the Dolphins.

00:58:56
Speaker 4: Bradley Chubb was great last week.

00:58:58
Speaker 2: That was against the Patriots offensive bad Ginkle like they were much better in terms of their pass rush and their defense. Going up against Russ another, you know, potentially tough matchup where his offensive line doesn't. When I mentioned it wednesday, Mike Muvinchi's really struggled for them. I don't see it with Russ right now. There's some great throws, but he had those great throws last year in the second half of the season two. It's not like he was like the worst quarterback in the league. But last week there was a sequence where he threw potential interceptions on two straight plays. He took two big sacks inside the fifteen yard line with the game running down. His fumble in the first half turned the game around, and it was one of two plays that stuck out with me where he was trying to get to the sideline and he couldn't quite get it.

00:59:44
Speaker 4: We saw the other one late in the game.

00:59:46
Speaker 2: And so he also missed the slant inside the ten yard line with about two and a half minutes ago that was just wide open. He hurried it because of the pressure. And I don't think things are perfect around him. I think the coaching's good, but the protection and the weapons are iffy and right now I don't see Russ being able to overcome that. And and I think the Dolphins could punish him if they have this past week.

01:00:07
Speaker 1: You said he seems like more or less the same. I think he's definitely there's an uptick here. Maybe it's just the play callings better, a little better. Yeah, whole environment.

01:00:16
Speaker 4: I mean it's a lot of negative plays last week.

01:00:19
Speaker 1: Sure, but he also dropped two beautiful dimes to Marvin Mims. He can do that. They you know he is And those are money shots. Those are vintage rush shots. You can't give a lot of credit for a hail Mary. But he put that ball up. He's got, as the great TD once said, a sexy deep ball. But yeah, it was notable. You noticed his inability to get to the sideline. I hated the first fumble. He's like calling it that he was down by contact instead of scrambling to recover the damn ball. That kind of stuff is uh, if you're a Broncos fan, he's driving you crazy. And and then one thing, there's a bit of a snowball thing with Russ in this Broncos air of his career, where you saw that game starting to slip away and instead of him being able to make big plays, you're having those like really ugly three and out drives and danger throws and it's just like really so like, yeah, I think I think he is maybe just not a difference maker at this point. And and that's what they need. And that's why again you look at what's Sean Payton's decision is going to be made at if they're zero and three after this week and they're or they're one and six and a few weeks after, this is russ.

01:01:28
Speaker 3: Long for this offense. I mean, I think that we've talked about this, that it all along. I think Sean Payton is going to be tempted to make a change. I mean, it just seems like the there's a little bit of frustration between them too. There's this whole like I want him to wear the play call in his wrist now Russell Wilson doesn't want to do. It's like every week Sean Payton is creating a verbal a symbol that verbally that there's they're not aligned. And it was like that was obviously like this is Miami's gone to and O by being on the road, they are now in steamy hot Florida and you're taking a team from a high altitude Denver, Like that's a little bit of a rough trip even just in terms of environment. I would say this like Jill and Wattle, a little banged up Tyreek Hill, a little banged.

01:02:13
Speaker 4: Up a concussion in practices.

01:02:16
Speaker 3: That concerns me because, like I think when they're there, everyone else obviously is just so much more utilized around them in the correctly slotted Like you can't have one of those guys go. The Dolphins have been like unsolvable on offense, and it's kind of like they're a fascinating watch to see what team, which defense can kind of come in and make life very frustrating for Tua, like a number happened a number of games last year, but they got out of the gate quickly. The only little thing and we noticed this on Sunday Night, Like Tua, some of the center quarterback snap exchange has been a problem. They fumbled in Week one after a nice long drive and like Connor Williams because it was we were gonna MGD in the screening room, and it's like you went from guard to center, and for us, it's just like cool, that's fine that you just play. You're just playing a different positions. Like it's kind of like asking Dan to come in and not be a podcast host, but like run complex Excel spreadsheets, Like it's like it's a new skill. You could probably do it.

01:03:09
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not your like sitting on this side of the table and in someone else hosting.

01:03:14
Speaker 3: I'm just saying like, it's like you're still part of the company, but we're changing your position entirely. It's not that easy to go play center if you've never done it, and there's been problems.

01:03:23
Speaker 1: Let's see the Dolphins last week against the Patriots, a top flight defense. Yeah, they still still put up almost four hundred total yards and I think this is going to be one of those look out.

01:03:36
Speaker 4: They could have more too.

01:03:37
Speaker 2: I feel like the Patriots is mostly unforced errors by the Dolphins.

01:03:42
Speaker 1: Watch Out six and a half points is the bleeding edge of the lock zone. And yet I have Eric Roberts telling me there's somebody that wants to chime in with something.

01:03:52
Speaker 7: Yes, guys, no video submission this week though, but the Westling broad.

01:03:58
Speaker 1: From Cincinnati very quiet.

01:04:01
Speaker 3: It was Snake's birthday yesterday.

01:04:04
Speaker 4: Been that wasn't quiet. That exchanged.

01:04:06
Speaker 7: There was a lot that was a spicy. There is talk about you know who's actually making these picks. He did say we will be locking.

01:04:12
Speaker 1: Up the Dolphins. Okay, so maybe there's some peace in the zoo.

01:04:16
Speaker 3: I would bet there's the need.

01:04:18
Speaker 2: What it looks like a safe pick on paper, But I would I would, I would hazard to go back to the archives. I don't necessarily think like six point favorites have done that much better than three point favorites in this exercise.

01:04:29
Speaker 1: It's not that big. You would think if the brothers they fight like cats and dogs at the zoo, Yeah, it's a problem. However, they do love each other, and I think after the madness of locking up the Jets on the road, maybe there was a come to Jesus, brother and brother, like give the way.

01:04:48
Speaker 4: It's a cornered animal. Game three. You can't go and.

01:04:51
Speaker 1: Salmon Ary howell when it's time on Thanksgiving a break bread and chop it up, Like, no matter what they don't see eye to eye on they at the end of the day their blood.

01:05:00
Speaker 3: You put the differences behind you.

01:05:02
Speaker 1: Sam's Terry, Nick, Phil, I think it's all peas in the pod. Let's take a break and we'll be right back with the rest of the draft. All right, we're back back to Zeusser. You know, Mark, this is a team at the end of the day. And I'm glad Greg called you on that because the public should know, Like it was one thing to be texting me at the vet when my dog's life was hanging the bounce about football. I've apologized for that that I could, and and Greg trying to earn a living on live television.

01:05:31
Speaker 4: It wasn't so much about what I was doing. It's more of the emotional weight.

01:05:34
Speaker 3: We're not going to be a repeat.

01:05:37
Speaker 1: But here's the thing we we we let you off the hook for that and said we understand you're a complex man and you're an emotional man. But then to turn around twenty four hours later and stab us in the back. That was a little bit of a need.

01:05:53
Speaker 3: To understand what it is you're accusing me of. I would imagine something.

01:05:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, Greg, help help.

01:05:59
Speaker 2: Now we're going to have three games while you don't because because you took chocks games.

01:06:04
Speaker 4: It's it's it's coming.

01:06:05
Speaker 3: Don't you don't you think that I'm addressing the previous issue that we had by creating a more calm uh streamline. Sunday is one of those you get messages from me.

01:06:17
Speaker 2: You're not there in the mornings, uh necessarily, but I'm going to be there and I do want to COMMERRK.

01:06:22
Speaker 1: Did you just hear what the sociopath said? He's now building an entire ecosystem, like building blocks onto See, aren't you actually happy that you're doing more work? So I won't be crazy.

01:06:35
Speaker 3: I mean, from a certain point of view, I think I've made a good point.

01:06:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's been there.

01:06:39
Speaker 1: I mean I'm.

01:06:40
Speaker 4: Impressed the first of all.

01:06:43
Speaker 3: First of all, this is some like.

01:06:44
Speaker 1: Usual suspect stuff going on right now, where like.

01:06:48
Speaker 3: I think there's going to be a you know, a branch of the audience that realizes I was just cunning, Like you could have blocked me from doing what I've done, and I'm not going to apologize for it because it was next level.

01:06:58
Speaker 4: There's also a branch.

01:06:59
Speaker 2: It's actually this guy in Chicago, Larry, and he's listening for the first time.

01:07:02
Speaker 4: He has no idea what we're talking about, well, no idea.

01:07:06
Speaker 3: Fast forward fifteen.

01:07:07
Speaker 1: So I love it. Mark. I have to say, like, oh, old wacky, irreverent Mark. He's doing his own thing.

01:07:15
Speaker 4: But the whole time Falcons lights. First of that, that's interesting, and then the old dirty.

01:07:20
Speaker 1: Dog, old dirty Dog is back.

01:07:22
Speaker 3: I did pick games. I want to watch those, so, but you're not going to be their next We're getting we're getting too far on the weeds here.

01:07:32
Speaker 1: All right, I am up and I will go with I need to grab a late game because I have so many games i'm responsible for now, the way this all happened, I'll grab the Bears at the Chiefs.

01:07:42
Speaker 3: Don't have any other choice. The other two have been taken.

01:07:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's talk about let's talk about the Bears real quick. The Bears. There's some weird stuff going on the Bears. So of course we hit on the Wednesday show. Uh, Justin Fields coming out and more or less pointing fingers and uh and saying that he's thinking too much in the pocket, he's not being himself. And he then was asked a follow up question and said, yeah, it's the kind of the coaching might be the culprit. He obviously walks that back once the media blows up, which, by the way, this is a big part of being same thing happened. If you remember Zach Wilson after a bad game last year. Part of being a young franchise passer is knowing how to handle adversity and saying the right things. It's like an underrated part of the job. And this is a hard lesson. Justin Fields is learning in real time. Here's Justin Field's trying to put some of the toothpaste back in the old tube.

01:08:36
Speaker 5: I love you guys, but you know I get that you guys' jobs are to get clicked.

01:08:39
Speaker 1: So it's like, oh, stop it, wait, stop it right there.

01:08:43
Speaker 2: To get no no, no, no, no no there because the rest of it actually had no context where I think.

01:08:47
Speaker 1: We're gonna play it, Greg, But I don't. I don't like the setup there because right there he's already saying it's the media's fault and you turn this into something no bud like, I'm gonna listen to it, Greg, But when that's the way you set it up, you're saying you're the ones that made this a story. I didn't really do anything now here. I am clarifying the mess that you made. Yeah, and it's again it's an accountability situation.

01:09:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, telling them they just want clicks. It's like kind of also saying their entire trade is sort of figure.

01:09:18
Speaker 1: You said you're not thinking, and then you and a follow up question said, yeah, the coaching is playing a part that was out of your mouth. The media's job is to report upon what you say and then give it context for all right, let's listen again.

01:09:33
Speaker 5: I love you guys, but you know I get that you guys's jobs are to get clicked. So it's like when you take my quote out of context, when when you just say that, if you paint the picture on the inside out, like y'all are trying to split it, split us up as a team.

01:09:46
Speaker 1: I'm not blaming anything on the coaches.

01:09:48
Speaker 5: I'm never gonna blame anything on the coaches, never gonna blame anything on my teammates. I will take every whatever happens in the game, I will take all the blame. I don't care it's a drop past, it should have been a past.

01:09:58
Speaker 1: Put it on me.

01:09:59
Speaker 5: But never will you hear anything come out of my mouth to where I will blame it on somebody else in this organization, my teammates.

01:10:07
Speaker 1: Never will you hear that. But he did, he did do that, and but it's the media's fault.

01:10:13
Speaker 4: I think I think.

01:10:13
Speaker 2: There's something in between though, too, because the question literally prompted him with is it coaching? And and he answered it and he said, I think that's fair to point out. And I did watch that whole press com and he goes on about it, and he says that, and then he takes accountability afterwards with saying I need to do a better job. So I agree, heed, he does need to do a better job answering this question. But it's also he wasn't just throwing the coaches under the bus. Like the context was. They phrased it in a way that said is coaching part of it? And he said yes, and he said and I'm also part of it too, which is the truth. But I think it's also it's like, hey, I think like he should try to get it.

01:10:55
Speaker 1: Take it when you're the quarterback, Greg, I get it, so.

01:10:57
Speaker 4: The franchise in a better way, But I don't think it's.

01:10:59
Speaker 1: Like to take the bullet. Sometimes, even if you don't always have, you don't share everything because it causes more drama for the team. And I just think it's a bad look in terms of accountability to say what he said on Tuesday and then the next day come out and say it's your fault the media, here's the truth.

01:11:17
Speaker 3: It's like, so that's the thing, Like it's like it is fair. I think for some of these players that learn this this way by stepping in it that like most people aren't going to want to read the full entire passage that you said verbally the day before. They're going to see the headline. They're gonna think you're hitting out at your coaching staff. The Bears are a hot mess.

01:11:35
Speaker 1: So for it was, but he was so.

01:11:38
Speaker 4: But from that.

01:11:38
Speaker 3: Angle, I see what he's saying.

01:11:39
Speaker 4: But he just can't. You just don't don't.

01:11:41
Speaker 3: Do this again. You're buying his version of the I'm saying.

01:11:45
Speaker 2: What I'm saying is it's he should have He's it's a learning right moment for a twenty four year old who answered, and that's who answered the question honestly, and also in the same press conference was talking very he's kind of opening in his heart of like I'm being robotic and I'm going through this like he's struggling through it publicly, And you're right, I think you'll learn from it not to not to answer in.

01:12:07
Speaker 3: That there's no like long history of Justin Fields being anything but a good teammate. And like he said stuff like this before, like put it on media, blah blah blah. He just you can't do this every week. You can't be the headline everywhere.

01:12:18
Speaker 1: And I think, but when he's even saying I'm being robotic and there's too much going on in my head. That was coded language for the coaching staffs is putting too much. And then he went out.

01:12:28
Speaker 2: Part of his coaching, which is which matters to me, So that part like does matter to me sometimes the like there's a fake taking blame for everything. That is also as you know, people love it, but when it's fake, it's also not helpful.

01:12:42
Speaker 4: It's not honest.

01:12:43
Speaker 1: When I believe it is helpful sometimes, like if the Bears have a fireway to do it. If the Bears have a fire in their locker room, Okay, I think part of the quarterback's job is not to put gasoline on that fire and make it more of a public situation. Like he needs to do what he needs to do behind the scenes to get on the same page with the coaching staff, not making a story because that is a distraction that causes more drama and that fuels maybe doubt in that locker room when the quarterbacks out telling the media how he truly feels like and.

01:13:14
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna do this every week.

01:13:15
Speaker 1: I'm saying I'm not killing him because he is a he's a kid, and he's learning how to be this way but the thing, I guess you could say it was triggered by but it's just like when he opens his his cleanup by saying, you guys did this not me? I was like, Okay, that's and that's not even the only thing that's going on with the Bears. Because Alan Williams, after some mystery, he wasn't on the sideline for the Bears the defensive coordinator last week, he suddenly resigned as their DC, the team announced on Wednesday, And Greg and speaking of media and how the sport's covered, there's some potentially ugly business about like how people throw things out there without any true sources, and there was some things going on about the law enforcement rating the Bears complex they had to officially deny, and maybe there's more that will come out of the story, but as from where we are right now, that was all bogus. There was some like Dob Kleinman types out there throwing a bunch of junk out there and then it caught viral, and that was just like an ugly learning lesson I think for everyone that just like you got to trust the insiders on stuff like this and not necessarily just what's floating around the internet. All we know right now is it was explained to be a family health issue and he's leaving the team. Nothing more than that.

01:14:28
Speaker 3: Big media lesson day for everyone yesterday. A lot happening right and there.

01:14:33
Speaker 1: There might be class to Northeastern You.

01:14:36
Speaker 4: The more to this story.

01:14:39
Speaker 2: That is a completely different story than the bogus rumors that were out there.

01:14:45
Speaker 4: That wouldn't surprise me.

01:14:46
Speaker 2: It has been a strained situation where the Bears reporters, the ones you can trust, we're given the clear impression it was not a health issue when he disappeared last week, and so we don't know what happened here, but he's gone from the team, and it just is another indication that this organization is spinning its wheels and it's been one of the worst, you know, organizations in the NFL for a minute.

01:15:12
Speaker 4: And oh, by the way, they're left tackle. They're really nice.

01:15:15
Speaker 2: Surprise rookie pick last year is uninjured reserve now like their left guard. So that that, to me, just from a football vantage point, was a pretty massive deal for.

01:15:25
Speaker 1: This It's the Chicago Zoo, or you could call the Chicago Fire right now. Weird that they named like an MLS team Chicago fire because that was a horrific tragedy in the history of that city that I.

01:15:35
Speaker 3: Don't think they're pointing to that necessarily, but you're right, it's hard to eat. They parallel.

01:15:39
Speaker 4: Maybe they got to be pointing to it. They can't be. It's not like they hadn't heard of it.

01:15:42
Speaker 1: But that job by year, it's almost.

01:15:44
Speaker 2: Like they're taking ownership, reclaiming the uh, the fire. Anyway, the Chiefs are in this game. Yeah, the Chiefs are in the game too.

01:15:52
Speaker 1: Uh. And by the way, football Twitter or football Ax does have a lot of videos out there of justin fields with like open Ric is just sitting there and we're talking about that he's not making the reads and he said he's gonna open it up. That's an interesting reason to watch this game. Do we see just I think we're gonna see him runing football a.

01:16:09
Speaker 3: Lot four yards last year to that and hopefully he can stay healthy.

01:16:12
Speaker 1: And the Chiefs, I think there's something here Gregy like the offense week one and so he's a little funky in the Detroit and the drops and missing Kelsey. But week two they could not get it going in Week two either on offense, so they can have a breakout. This seems like a great setup for it.

01:16:26
Speaker 2: If they don't put up thirty plus in this game, something's seriously wrong.

01:16:30
Speaker 4: Yes, it's one of the reasons I love this job.

01:16:32
Speaker 2: Like the Chiefs coming back this year, like you would think there's a lot of carryover, but these teams really do change.

01:16:39
Speaker 4: The defense is different. They've given up twenty three points combined in two weeks against the Jaguars and the Lions. Fourteen against the Lions offense, nine against the Jaguars. Chris Jones looked amazing. Their linebackers are great. Lajerius Sneid weirdly as the one guy struggling. He doesn't look right.

01:16:57
Speaker 2: So their defense, this I think, is going to be the best defense of the Patrick Mahomes era, and yet through two weeks it's clearly the worst offense he started ninety six games. Chiocopatia of The Ringer pointed this out. Last week's start was ninety six out of ninety six in success rate of any start he had, and the first game Week one was ninety second out of ninety six. So two of the worst offensive games of the Mahomes era.

01:17:21
Speaker 1: What's worse about the offense from last year. I think, first of all, like the enemy's gone, but he didn't call the plays.

01:17:26
Speaker 3: I don't think it's to be enemy thing. I mean, I think that's it's going to take time. But they tackled. You were hoping Kadarius Tony was going to be a so called number one wide out. They don't have that guy, like you're You're.

01:17:37
Speaker 2: They didn't have that last year either, right, Juju was valued. I thought it was a little much to put this on Juju.

01:17:43
Speaker 3: It's not so much like the parts they had last year this year, but like he spread it to a different people.

01:17:48
Speaker 1: I think I think we got maybe a fifty Burger's great.

01:17:51
Speaker 2: I think they'll be okay, But I think it's okay to at least believe that by the end of the season, maybe they're not that you of old and that they're trying to win in slightly different ways where they're like the sixth best offense but the ninth best defense, you know what I mean, Like that they're not this unbelievably other worldly offense.

01:18:10
Speaker 4: I don't know.

01:18:11
Speaker 1: So that's kind of what I thought last year was going to be. And then Mahomes put up some of his greatest numbers ever with an otherwise pedestrian offense. So that's what I mean, Like, what has changed? You still have Andy Reid, still have Pat Mahomes, you know. Yeah, the tackles need to be better. I'm you know what, it's a fifty Bokay.

01:18:27
Speaker 3: It's September twenty first, I'm nothing to get too concerned.

01:18:30
Speaker 1: About the Chicago Bears going to Arrowhead to try to fit and the Chiefs are like trying to figure themselves out what a get right spot for that offense? All right? That leads back to me again, doesn't it. It is okay? And by the way, credit to WGN TV on that fields video.

01:18:50
Speaker 4: Did we mention the Chiefs are twelve and a half favorites.

01:18:53
Speaker 1: That is a lot of wood to lay the other game. I gotta grab another one, thanks Mark. The Saints at you after, Yeah, Saints at Packers kind of like it.

01:19:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a fun one.

01:19:06
Speaker 1: Saints getting two in this one. I like the Saints more. I liked our car Moore. I think they're interesting. They're running now, they're there. Depth chart in the is getting tested more because Al mcquarter is one game left on the suspension and now Jamal Williams. I think he's got a hammy that it doesn't maybe look so hot.

01:19:24
Speaker 4: Sounds like it might be a multiple weeks for him.

01:19:26
Speaker 1: Wolf, So you're gonna not have much of a running game here now. The Packers famously struggled mightily stopping the run against the Falcons in Week two, but I don't think that's gonna be as big of an issue. I do want to see the Packers. Are we going to get healthy? Are we having our guys back yet? Christian wattson Aaron Jones, because I think that's gonna make a hell of a dividence. And I've been very interested in the quarterback Jordan Love so far. What would he look like with a full compliment against a defense?

01:20:00
Speaker 3: I guess I guess what like you could say is sort of a quiet positive about not having like Watson in there early on, is that Jayden Reid I thought, has looked really good. Dontavian Wicks is making plays for them, like there's such a young offense. We've talked about that a lot on NFL Plus on Money when we looked at that Falcons game. You're not gonna have to deal with b John Robinson in this situation. I think Green Bay's defense uh got worked over last week by that ground game. But I see things to like and it's like we're in another universe. Kway Walker has like multiple scores this season versus having dropped that what all these their little mistakes last week ritters you know, to two balls that absolutely should have been picked off. One of them should have been a pick six, if not both, Like that game is entirely different.

01:20:46
Speaker 2: Despite missing their four of their best players on offense. I think that, yeah, it's almost been undersold how efficient they've been without those players.

01:20:54
Speaker 3: I think, especially when like the there was a terrible sack on Jordan Love that you can track right back to the absence of David Baktiori. The ground game with Dylan was a mess, and that goes right back to the absence of Jones. So if you get these guys back, and if you get Watson back at wide receiver, it's like, I think we barely even started to see what Green Bay can do. And like I'm on board with Jordan Love, like it's not perfect, but like this is we of all the scenarios we could have gotten with him six months ago. It's like you'd have to be You'd have to say. This is a positive start for him.

01:21:26
Speaker 4: No doubt.

01:21:27
Speaker 2: And this is actually his first Lambeau start, which surprised me, but all his starts have been on the road. I think this is fourth NFL start. I am intrigued watching him because just physically he's he's in the Josh Allen hype and he's not that kind of runner, but just the arm strength and the physicality.

01:21:50
Speaker 4: I love the way he runs.

01:21:51
Speaker 2: He kind of looks like Aaron Rodgers on some of the it's like he's been watching him when he's running to the right and everything. I guess mean he's a you can see why he went in the first round this fite not being the most accurate quarterback. So he's a fun watch and he's been getting protected quite well. We'll see if that happens this week. In terms of things change, I mentioned it with the Chiefs, like this lion or the Saints defensive line to me is much better this year than they were a year ago. You still got Cam Jordan who just refuses to age. It's got a podcast by the way on NFL Media now them.

01:22:26
Speaker 4: And he's still like he refuses to age.

01:22:28
Speaker 2: But the two guys that have been added to the mix in terms of their impact. Brian Bresci, a somewhat surprising first round pick to me, is really playing well at defensive tackle for them, looks like a nice fine anything else. I think both these fan bases are really optimistic and like think their team is much better than the national consensus, and they both might be right, and so I think it's an interesting matchup for that that if you're looking for a surprise team in the NFC to be like what they're in the divisional round or what they're in the conference championship, I think these are two pretty nice candidates.

01:23:02
Speaker 1: Very nice. Okay, Mark, do you want to Yeah, maybe we should talk. Maybe could take one of these early games off my hands so we have the top coverage possible for audience.

01:23:12
Speaker 3: We'll discuss that a later time, because it's.

01:23:14
Speaker 1: About the audience in the end, you know, and the product that we can give them.

01:23:19
Speaker 3: We'll talk, we can discuss that. I'm not sure I fully buy into that concept at all, but don't know.

01:23:24
Speaker 1: This is this is the best part of the show.

01:23:25
Speaker 4: Greg, Greg you're up, all right, I'm gonna take Tech Texans Jags.

01:23:34
Speaker 2: You know, I think that's three out of three weeks that Chris Myers and Robert Smith is calling the third for me.

01:23:41
Speaker 5: Game.

01:23:41
Speaker 4: Slave if you have three games, that's the third one.

01:23:44
Speaker 2: Texans Jags would be better if if the Texans were healthier, But they lost Derek Stingley to a hamstring injury in practice in practice, like these injuries happen in practice too, and it sounds like he might be out multiple weeks.

01:24:00
Speaker 4: Jalen Petree still has that chest injury.

01:24:02
Speaker 2: They might get Justin Reid back, but that secondary I was so excited about they gone their offensive line.

01:24:09
Speaker 4: Marks talked about plenty.

01:24:10
Speaker 2: They gone like they've just had They've been hurt by injuries as much as any team in the league, and they're not a team that can afford that. But I'm still excited to watch the two quarterbacks in this game. I want to see Trevor Lawrence bounce back from from a down week from him and really that whole offense, and I want to see if Stroud can keep it going. Because you talked about lipstick on a pig earlier. Dan, if you've got a rookie quarterback that's showing some promise, it's like, oh, it's fine if you're the one of the three worst teams in the league again for the third straight year under Nick Cassira, Like it almost all doesn't matter if CJ.

01:24:43
Speaker 3: Stroud's looking good and he does, I mean he if anything, is just producing, Like I'm not in love with Like I was so high on Damian Pierce coming into the year, and like their ground game has been a mess. Laramie Tunzel practice Thursday. Has that knee situation that's needed. I mean, their offensive Linechlok's strength has been hit by that injury bug in a huge way. Jacksonville, Man, they should have beaten the Chiefs a week ago, Like it's that.

01:25:08
Speaker 1: Those A lot of people said that the last five or so.

01:25:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, but those two but those two like end zone passes where it's like an inch difference, and you've beaten the Chiefs and it would have been a massive victory for the franchise. I still think they're one of the AFC's better teams. Uh, Like it was a bit of a down performance for Trevor Lawrence, but like their defense, which I thought was a massive weak spot, did pretty well against the Chiefs. They should have won that game.

01:25:32
Speaker 2: You gotta take care of business here. It's like a division matchup. Is this the one where the Texans would always beat the Jaguars again and again and they finally ended that I believe late last year because it doesn't really make any sense.

01:25:44
Speaker 1: Here, right What have we got for the spread on those.

01:25:47
Speaker 3: Nine points for the Texans. No one's buying into that concept.

01:25:51
Speaker 2: It's disappointing because you wanted to see what Demigo Ryans' impact could be, and I think it's a little hard to evaluate based on the injuries that they've had for him to be asked to do it with all these backups. Offense will be though. I think I like their coordinator so far. Bobby's look like it looks like an offense. It makes some sense.

01:26:12
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay. By the way, if you're that's your game, Greg, count how many times when Fox goes to commercial break if they play a classic rock song. Okay, clock how many times Rob Robert Smith goes, oh yeah, a little lead Zepp or oh little zz Top on a Sunday.

01:26:34
Speaker 2: You are not into his performance on the I mean it's I gotta be listening to it on my my third earbud.

01:26:44
Speaker 4: I don't know where I'm putting it.

01:26:44
Speaker 1: I'll tell you where to put it.

01:26:46
Speaker 4: But so we'll see if I hear that or not, or if that one's un mute.

01:26:52
Speaker 1: Little Steven Tyler Boston's own. It's like, all right, Rob, we get it. You listen to Q one O four, all right, one more games.

01:27:03
Speaker 3: Colts are Ravens. We got here, Ravens, Colts getting eight points.

01:27:09
Speaker 1: Watch this game.

01:27:10
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm gonna be zone.

01:27:14
Speaker 4: He watched it is watching some of Marcus actually only has one game on.

01:27:18
Speaker 3: I mean you have to say that if I knew this morning and I could do literally anything that would get under your guys skin to this degree, it's been an absolute win, huge victory, great draft.

01:27:29
Speaker 1: Chicken farms just farming things out. Arthur Perdue over here.

01:27:33
Speaker 3: We're feeling good about our draft. The organization is feeling good.

01:27:37
Speaker 4: Kaiser.

01:27:38
Speaker 2: So I think was the better analogy because it's like I suddenly looked back at Knicks games and I was like, oh, I'm matching, and then I look at him and he's just got this.

01:27:48
Speaker 1: To Chaz Promonary dropping the coffee cup shattering on the ground, it's it's David Eely dropping the coffee cup.

01:27:57
Speaker 3: I think you need to, you know, take a look in the mirror on how you strategize.

01:28:03
Speaker 4: What we needed to block you on that. Yeah, okay, let's go.

01:28:06
Speaker 1: Now we know all right, we go, Greg, Now we know we know there's treachery afoot every Thursday after you can do the same to me next week.

01:28:13
Speaker 3: You know, you do know?

01:28:14
Speaker 1: Now I know. I for so long it was wolf pulled over my eyes, But now I understand.

01:28:20
Speaker 3: No Anthony Richardson in this potentially no practice.

01:28:24
Speaker 1: That's such a bummer. I'm so bummed out about that, because God, you watch those first two quarters and it's like, this is happening. This guy is going to be the rookie of the year, and the cults are cults are going to hang around and be a fun watch. And Gardner Minshew's one of the very best backups in the league. So I think the Colts can still hang around. But Richardson adds that element of there's a certain qua sure, you're.

01:28:50
Speaker 3: Just not going to get from me, and you you just against them two games in a row to start his career where you're exiting with don't want potentially disturby situations, and it's like it's a their offensive line's been better. I would say like that was sort of an X factor coming into the year because they completely melted down, like good players along the offensive line played completely not up to their ability a year ago, and it's like it's they look better coached. I think they're pretty well coached in general. Like I think the stiking thing is working, but this game, I'm kind of surprised is still here at the end because I think the Ravens are one of the more intriguing on offense, one of the more intriguing kind of week to week viewings and propositions, And like Lamar Jackson looked good to me, just looked really good, and like Zay Flowers is absolute difference maker. Odell is not practicing this week, We'll see what happens with that, but Zay Flowers makes all the difference.

01:29:43
Speaker 2: Is by Lamar to just put that fifty five yards on a dime, like without much elevation. He looks so good right now. That is what every Lamar fan has been asking for. I don't know if it's gonna last, but what I mean by that is like this is a more of a normal NFL offense, for lack of a better word, it's like it's not the Greg Roman offense, which worked well and got Lamar on MVP. I'm not saying that was like a bag of trash or anything, but he's getting rid of the ball quickly. He's being patient in the pocket when he needs to. He's mostly playing from the pocket and making good decisions, but then he scrambles when he needs to. He's scrambling plenty, but there's not a ton of design runs and that's just a nice balance. And you can kind of see how he's more mature than he was and he has weapons around him.

01:30:41
Speaker 4: So it's it's what we've been asking for. And so far as week it was just the Bengals and you were like, wow, this is a nice game.

01:30:49
Speaker 1: What you want now? Because Lamar was awesome in Week two and he was shifty and he kind of tied up the defense and knots and picked up big play and the touch on his ball was great. You just want to see it week after week.

01:31:03
Speaker 3: I do think so, because it's like this thing, it's post Greg Roman, like, oh, they weren't gonna run the there was you know, concept that he was going. He's talking about throwing for six thousand yards they ran the ball for one hundred and seventy eight yards and.

01:31:13
Speaker 4: They didn't have to at the end of a Wig game, which was impressed.

01:31:16
Speaker 3: With thirty seven carries and he still had twelve touches on Mark Andrews is a huge difference.

01:31:21
Speaker 1: They weren't even on the same page a lot last week, but he had the big red zone touchdown. Nelson Aguilar is a player on that offense. Nelson Aglar is gonna end up with better numbers than Odell.

01:31:30
Speaker 4: That's fine and it and it shows you what a.

01:31:32
Speaker 1: God according to the pay grades. But no, but I thought Odell was.

01:31:36
Speaker 2: I don't bit of a stretch, but yeah, this might be a good Nelson Aguilar season.

01:31:40
Speaker 4: Pops up every now.

01:31:41
Speaker 2: And they were missing their left tackle, Ronnie Stanley and their center Tyler Linderbaum, which was such a huge concern going into that game. And then he faced the lowest pressure rate of his entire career. So that's that's some good coaching, that's some good backups and left tackle with Patrick McCarry.

01:31:55
Speaker 4: I here's a hot take.

01:31:56
Speaker 2: Maybe Gardner Minshaw gives the Colts just as much of a chance to win better just because the Ravens are so thin at cornerback. They lost another one last week. They're they're starting slot. Their cornerbacks on paper should be really poor, and so could Gardner. Min should take advantage. I don't know, Joe Burrow didn't really so I guess probably you also, Marcus. I'll just saying that's their weakness right now? Is that cornerback and kind of a more accurate quarterback take advantage?

01:32:21
Speaker 1: Well?

01:32:21
Speaker 3: See, I don't think Minshew is a is a big step down from a rookie quarterback outside of what.

01:32:26
Speaker 4: Right is totally different, but he's he's played well.

01:32:28
Speaker 1: Like, do you think the Colts would give up a conditional third for Gardner Minshew?

01:32:33
Speaker 4: Would they? Would they give the Jets.

01:32:37
Speaker 1: Conditional third? Well?

01:32:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, because he.

01:32:40
Speaker 1: Comes a second rounder. If the Jets reached the AFC title.

01:32:43
Speaker 3: You've gone and gotten the future at the positions. So I think he'd be more sellable than in other situation.

01:32:49
Speaker 2: Come back, come back to us and we'll give us a second now, flat up, we'll do it.

01:32:55
Speaker 4: What about us at leach six or seven? Let's just see what's shaking up.

01:32:58
Speaker 3: What about Jameis Winston?

01:32:59
Speaker 1: You know, maybe we'll stick a pin in this for you're the GM coming up down the line.

01:33:03
Speaker 3: Sure, but I think if you get a Jets meltdown this week about Kirk Cousins, I feel like we're the only show on Earth that hasn't brought that one up there.

01:33:11
Speaker 1: H and three.

01:33:13
Speaker 3: That you had dreams about Cousins being on the Jets way back when I did.

01:33:18
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe all right, that is that's it? All right? Do we get the spread in there. Gotta get the spread in there.

01:33:28
Speaker 3: We mentioned that it was the Ravens are giving up eight points.

01:33:31
Speaker 1: I love to know every game. I need that spread. Give me that spread every game, all the spreads. We are going to be back tonight with the Giants forty nine Ers recap Thursday Night Football and then also it's Thursday, which means NFL Plus with special guests Colleen Wolf. Oh yeah, that's a funny.

01:33:55
Speaker 2: Make sure thanks for covering up big, big, big twelfth birthday to Ellis Rosy.

01:34:01
Speaker 1: Happy birthday, Elie. Well I know you old be the call. M m

01:34:15
Speaker 2: Mm hmm