Speaker 1: Only fifteen to ten touched up Sucker. What's up? Guys,
Speaker 1: welcome into a schedule release edition of Chargers Weekly. Pay
Speaker 1: them this a day late because we wanted to make
Speaker 1: sure that schedule came out so we could break it
Speaker 1: down as always, joined by Matt Money Smith Money. It's
Speaker 1: always a big day on the calendar. We always know
Speaker 1: the who, but the one and the where is important.
Speaker 1: The videos that come out the anime release Part two
Speaker 1: did not disappoint. We could start in a number of directions.
Speaker 1: You want to start there? Sure, Sure, I look, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty amazing. We don't need to say it. We're biased.
Speaker 2: It's the best digital and social media team in the NFL.
Speaker 2: They outdo themselves regularly, whether it's all in through digital
Speaker 2: and the YouTube stuff they put together, the breakdowns, the
Speaker 2: people they bring in to host those you know, that content,
Speaker 2: and the social media team and everything that goes into
Speaker 2: the anime. We'll still be finding Easter eggs and that
Speaker 2: thing for the next three weeks. Some of my favorites
Speaker 2: wildly underrated. I thought was Week one and just Mike
Speaker 2: McDaniel being accused of vapin you know, and having all
Speaker 2: the vape cloud. I think was one that perhaps snuck
Speaker 2: by a handful of people. As someone who's been in
Speaker 2: football as long as I have to see miniche Meda,
Speaker 2: I'm the missing mister for the Jets was exceptional. So
Speaker 2: there's let's see if I'm just going through.
Speaker 1: So we two Week two it looked very like, just
Speaker 1: all right, Derek Hennery, your robot on the right of
Speaker 1: him is is an old banana in the mao in
Speaker 1: a can of mao. For will levels, that was great.
Speaker 2: The next level, of course, was week fifteen Raiders loss
Speaker 2: of seventy two million bucks for Garoppolo. You click the
Speaker 2: QR code and it takes you are you a Charger fan?
Speaker 2: Are you a Raider fan? You click the Raider fan
Speaker 2: and it takes you to how to get a job.
Speaker 2: It's they did great. They did really.
Speaker 1: You know the fact that it's not redeemable for a
Speaker 1: wedding invite.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've read oh that's so great,
Speaker 2: so great, And that they started it out with some
Speaker 2: self deprecation I think set the tone of hey, we
Speaker 2: can make fun of ourselves as well with the twenty
Speaker 2: seven zero ticket that they stepped on.
Speaker 1: So well done.
Speaker 2: Of all the other ones, and I didn't see all
Speaker 2: of them, but I kind of tried to watch all
Speaker 2: the other teams videos until I got bored, and I
Speaker 2: got bored pretty quickly with most of them. The only
Speaker 2: one that gave the Chargers a run for its money
Speaker 2: was Tennessee's. So you did not check out the Titans
Speaker 2: schedule release that. I don't ever want to take the
Speaker 2: crown from the Chargers because of all the greatness that
Speaker 2: goes into it, But well done, Tennessee. That was as
Speaker 2: good as anyone we've seen in a while. If you
Speaker 2: have not seen that, make sure you go seek it
Speaker 2: out and watch. They went down to Broadway, which is
Speaker 2: the main drag in Nashville where all the bars are,
Speaker 2: and just got a bunch of drunk people, showed them
Speaker 2: the logos the mascots of the teams, asking them what
Speaker 2: team they were playing. So make sure you seek that out.
Speaker 1: It's great. That was great. I forgot what they did.
Speaker 1: Lightning McQueen I think was the Chargers Lightning McQueen cars,
Speaker 1: Lightning McQueen's who the Chargers were. It's a pretty great.
Speaker 1: Oh god, all right, let's get into this schedule and
Speaker 1: you know, let's just go game by game, because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at each game and we again we knew
Speaker 1: the opponents, But I think what a way to start
Speaker 1: Week one, right, Herbert two Staley, Fangio, Ronaldo Hill. It's
Speaker 1: a it's kind of a rematch of that that Sunday
Speaker 1: night game last year, Dolphins Chargers kicking it off in
Speaker 1: so far money.
Speaker 2: Look, we know Vic Fangio is nothing against Brandon Staley,
Speaker 2: but you know Vick was his guy, so he's arguably
Speaker 2: the brightest defensive mind in the NFL. We know how
Speaker 2: tough those Broncos games were, no matter who was on
Speaker 2: the roster. Every time the Chargers went to playing when
Speaker 2: Fangio was the coach, it was a nightmare. And I
Speaker 2: dug in a little bit, you open up. It's so
Speaker 2: there's two sides to that, right. Mike McDaniels sort of
Speaker 2: called the running game genius the special sauce to Kyle
Speaker 2: Shanahan's offense when he was in San Francisco. We know
Speaker 2: how good he is with the run, So I'll start there.
Speaker 2: Week one. You're still waiting for Austin Johnson to get healthy,
Speaker 2: Tito Abonia to get healthy. You didn't really get any
Speaker 2: reinforcements for the interior of that line in free agency
Speaker 2: or the draft. So you're talking about going up against
Speaker 2: one of the best run game coordinators and run game
Speaker 2: play callers in the league without full health, because we
Speaker 2: don't know, and maybe those guys will be ready, But
Speaker 2: that's a concern. Two Fangio and what he has been
Speaker 2: able to do no matter who his opponent is. I
Speaker 2: dug in. In twenty twenty one, Kellen Moore and the
Speaker 2: Cowboys faced Vic Fangio and the Broncos with the number
Speaker 2: one offense in the NFL. They had won six games
Speaker 2: straight and at the eight minute mark of the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter they were losing thirty to zero. So just to
Speaker 2: kind of put that in perspective, and what Vic Fangio
Speaker 2: was able to do to Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliot
Speaker 2: and Tony Pollard And although Mariy Cooper all those guys
Speaker 2: with Kellen Moore callin plays, he's really good. He is
Speaker 2: really really good. So it is a tough way to
Speaker 2: start the season. Having said that Miami was a buzzsaw
Speaker 2: offensively last year, coming into that Sunday night football game,
Speaker 2: Brandon Staley had a brilliant game plan pressing those receivers,
Speaker 2: pushing his guys up a little bit to the middle
Speaker 2: of that field and taking away what had been working
Speaker 2: so well for them and to it just couldn't overcome it.
Speaker 2: The the offense stalled out big time. And and that's
Speaker 2: a tip of the cap to Staley for coming up
Speaker 2: and because remember after that, everybody emulated what Staley did
Speaker 2: moving forward, and that was how they tried to thwart
Speaker 2: that offensive attack of Jalen Waddle and and Tyreek Hillen.
Speaker 2: Just to put a button on it. The I don't
Speaker 2: know what the corner situation is gonna look like, is it.
Speaker 2: Is it gonna be just here in the slot. Is
Speaker 2: it gonna be j. T. Woods being asked to do
Speaker 2: a lot up high? That's a lot for week one.
Speaker 2: If it's gonna be those two second years, second year
Speaker 2: players because J. C.
Speaker 1: Jackson also was not ready yet.
Speaker 2: You know, going into into that context, it's a it's
Speaker 2: a tough way to start.
Speaker 1: It is. And you know, as far as Kellen Moore's
Speaker 1: offense is concerned, is it gonna be hot out the gates?
Speaker 1: Is it gonna take a few weeks? Right? It kind
Speaker 1: of gets you get your legs under you and understand
Speaker 1: the playbook and understand what they're doing. So it's it's
Speaker 1: a fascinating matchup in an AFC that's absolutely loaded, a
Speaker 1: game that you may need down the stretch in terms
Speaker 1: of tyber Baker situations based on what Miami does this year.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, we got sixteen more to go,
Speaker 1: but obviously Dolphins at home, that's a great way to
Speaker 1: start the season for the Chargers. Make a statement. Weeks
Speaker 1: two and three, money you go on the road, We're
Speaker 1: going to Nashville. Where was that barbecue place we went
Speaker 1: to in Nashville that had the band Martin's Martin's, So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put in the reservation for Martin's after the
Speaker 1: podcast Nashville. Is it gonna be Will Levis starting? Is
Speaker 1: it gonna be Ryan Tannehill starting? It seems like Tennessee
Speaker 1: is is closer to rebuild than contender at this point.
Speaker 1: First road test for the Chargers. Time to get your
Speaker 1: first road win of the year.
Speaker 2: So I would say, instead of kind of going game
Speaker 2: by game just because we've known our opponents the whole time,
Speaker 2: I think it's a perfect time to sort of zoom
Speaker 2: out and go big picture because you just said it.
Speaker 2: Back to back road games, right, Chargers. The schedule makers
Speaker 2: could not have done the Chargers more favors. You can't
Speaker 2: control the opponents. The opponents are what they are. It's
Speaker 2: tough schedule. It's a really tough schedule. But when you
Speaker 2: look at the way this schedule lays out, here's a
Speaker 2: couple of things that jump out to me and I
Speaker 2: took a ton of notes, so the strength of schedule.
Speaker 2: Understand this, when you look at strength of schedule, we're
Speaker 2: going to be the AFC West and the AFC East
Speaker 2: are going to have the toughest schedules because one look
Speaker 2: at the participants in each of those divisions, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, Chargers, Patriots, Dolphins, Bills, Jets.
Speaker 2: Those are eight good teams. Those are eight really good teams.
Speaker 2: You can make a case for any of those eight
Speaker 2: teams to make the postseason. The Raiders maybe come to
Speaker 2: mine or the Broncos because of how poorly it went,
Speaker 2: but Sean Payton's in there. They still have an absolutely
Speaker 2: dominant d If they can get that offensive right, we
Speaker 2: know how good that team could be. Raiders lost a
Speaker 2: ton of close games last year, and personally, I think
Speaker 2: they upgraded at quarterback, and a lot of that was
Speaker 2: quarterback driven as to how they were coming up short
Speaker 2: late in those games. When you talk about the AFC East, again,
Speaker 2: easy to make a case right for any of those
Speaker 2: four teams. Jets with that defense, Bills are one of
Speaker 2: the best teams in football, the Dolphins made the playoffs
Speaker 2: last year, and the Patriots are the Patriots. So strength
Speaker 2: of schedule. Understand, you're going to see the AFC West
Speaker 2: and the AFC East because they also play each other.
Speaker 2: So you're talking about ten of seventeen games for the
Speaker 2: teams in the AFC West to be against, six against
Speaker 2: each other and four against the AFC. Same thing for
Speaker 2: the AFC East. Right, you've got six against each other,
Speaker 2: four against the AFC West. So strength the schedule is tough.
Speaker 2: Nothing you can do about that. But what you can
Speaker 2: look at is, in fact, the Chargers only have one
Speaker 2: back to back road trip. That's it. You've got the
Speaker 2: Giants with two three game road trips back to back
Speaker 2: to back. Think about the Chargers only happened one and
Speaker 2: it's right at the start of the year when you
Speaker 2: hope health is at a premium, So that is a
Speaker 2: After those two back to backs Raiders at home, then
Speaker 2: the bye. Look at the schedule, home away, home away,
Speaker 2: home away, home away, home away, home away home, they
Speaker 2: alternate every week. Yeah, that's a huge advantage, an absolutely
Speaker 2: huge advantage. And when you look at the rest of
Speaker 2: the division, Chris, the Chargers have that one back to
Speaker 2: back roadie, the Broncos, the Raiders, and the Chiefs, they
Speaker 2: all have three back to back road game situations. So
Speaker 2: that's a big net advantage for the Bolts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a great point. And you know, again, Hope
Speaker 1: health is that are premium in September, and it's two
Speaker 1: teams that did. Frankly, the Chargers could beat and should be.
Speaker 1: You know, I think Minnesota maybe a little bit tougher
Speaker 1: than Tennessee. It's September. You got an Eric Kendricks reunion,
Speaker 1: you got a Ryan Ficken reunion early in September. But listen,
Speaker 1: we'll go through, you know, different chunks of the schedule.
Speaker 1: If we worked backwards to money and I said this
Speaker 1: last time I was looking at the schedule. After Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: is when the season starts with the Chargers, they could
Speaker 1: be five and five going into that game against the Ravens.
Speaker 1: You have the Ravens on Sunday night, then you got
Speaker 1: to go to New England, and then you have four
Speaker 1: of your six division games to close the year Broncos, Raiders,
Speaker 1: Broncos Chiefs, with the Bills sandwiched in between there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean those are all teams that you're going to
Speaker 1: be competing with for either a division title or a
Speaker 1: wildcard spot. So you could be four and six, five
Speaker 1: and five, six and four, whatever. The season doesn't really
Speaker 1: start until after Thanksgiving, and you got to hope, you know,
Speaker 1: and this is where you know, we don't know, Hopefully
Speaker 1: you're healthy, you're playing your best ball. That Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: offense is humming in December and January. But I just
Speaker 1: found it interesting because you know, sometimes teams have their
Speaker 1: divisional opponents up in September and October when maybe you're
Speaker 1: not the team that you're going to be in December
Speaker 1: and January. So I think it's a great opportunity for
Speaker 1: the Chargers if they're going to ascend throughout the year
Speaker 1: with a new offense and some of some new players
Speaker 1: and some rookies that may contribute, to have those division
Speaker 1: games at the back half of the year. That was
Speaker 1: the one thing that stood out to me. You don't
Speaker 1: have like Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos to start the season. You're
Speaker 1: going to get those teams late.
Speaker 2: So think about last year. They clinched in Week sixteen
Speaker 2: at Indianapolis day after Christmas. So when you look at
Speaker 2: week sixteen, you're coming off you get the mini buys.
Speaker 1: So that's the hell.
Speaker 2: We can get into little bit of that stuff because
Speaker 2: I dug into the rest and who's coming off of
Speaker 2: buy or the Chargers coming off of buy, who's got
Speaker 2: more rest going into that game, who's traveling further? All
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff we can touch upon. But since
Speaker 2: you brought that up, I think that's the toughest stretch
Speaker 2: of the season sixteen seventeen eighteen. Now, I know Charger
Speaker 2: fans don't want to hear it, but the Chiefs have
Speaker 2: owned this division. Chiefs have owned the best record in
Speaker 2: the conference or very close to it, seemingly year in
Speaker 2: and year out. Right, So you get the Chiefs in
Speaker 2: Week eighteen. If you're not in contention for the division
Speaker 2: at that point, like you said, say they're coming in
Speaker 2: fighting for that wildcard, Well, now you might be taking
Speaker 2: a Chiefs team on that's resting everybody, and that's a
Speaker 2: benefit for you and nothing against the Chargers, but this
Speaker 2: is just recent and the last five years that we're
Speaker 2: talking about that the Chiefs have dominated the AFC. So
Speaker 2: just looking at it realistically, that's a benefit. I would
Speaker 2: rather have the Chiefs in Week eighteen than in Week fourteen, fifteen,
Speaker 2: or sixteen, So that's a plus. But when you're talking
Speaker 2: about Buffalo on Saturday night at Denver, we know how
Speaker 2: good that defense is. They lost to them in Week
Speaker 2: eighteen and they needed overtime and an incredible special teams
Speaker 2: play to beat them at home last year. That defense
Speaker 2: is good. So that's week seven that you cannot lose
Speaker 2: that game because then you got Kansas City. If you're
Speaker 2: fighting for the division, that's a really top There's a
Speaker 2: number of tough stretches in I look at you mentioned Baltimore.
Speaker 2: Baltimore having to go to New England again, Denver's an
Speaker 2: issue that's a bit of a tough and plus you
Speaker 2: know just Detroit having to go to Green Bay. I
Speaker 2: think weatherwise they caught a break. You got to go
Speaker 2: to New England first week of first week of December
Speaker 2: and then Denver. Cold has never really bothered me. I
Speaker 2: don't feel like it bothers the guys either, But that
Speaker 2: East Coast cold is a different level cold. So when
Speaker 2: you're talking about New England first week of December, that
Speaker 2: can be a little bit tough. January's a little rough
Speaker 2: in Denver too, that could end up being cold, so
Speaker 2: you get a little bit of cold weather in there
Speaker 2: as well. It's a rough. It's a rough close to
Speaker 2: the season. That Buffalo game, just since we're already on it,
Speaker 2: to bring it up. The Buffalo game, the Chargers get
Speaker 2: a mini by because Buffalo will be on a short week.
Speaker 2: The Chargers are coming off the Thursday night football game
Speaker 2: against the Raiders, so the Bills are playing on Sunday.
Speaker 2: The Chargers are playing all the way back on Thursday,
Speaker 2: so you're talking about extra rest versus short rest for Buffalo.
Speaker 2: So that's a bit of an advantage. And they're at home,
Speaker 2: so Buffalo's the road team having just played on Sunday,
Speaker 2: the Chargers of the home team, having played the past
Speaker 2: Thursday night. So you get that ten days of rest
Speaker 2: going into what could be a slobber knocker against one
Speaker 2: of the best teams in the league. Slide advantage Chargers there.
Speaker 1: Just remember last year though, exactly a year ago, We're
Speaker 1: looking at the schedule and we said, oh my god,
Speaker 1: Sunday Night football against Sean McVay and the Rams. Wow,
Speaker 1: Monday Night football against the Colts team that we thought
Speaker 1: was going to be a contender. Jeff Saturday was the
Speaker 1: head coach on Monday Night Football, and the Rams are
Speaker 1: way out of content change. All we can do is
Speaker 1: all we can always is.
Speaker 2: All we can do is take the information we have
Speaker 2: right now exactly exactly. We can just project based on
Speaker 2: what we see right now. And let's not forget Chargers
Speaker 2: lost pretty much their entire defense. They lost their high
Speaker 2: priced corner, they lost their entire interior defensive line. Joey
Speaker 2: Bosa was out for eleven games. They lost their left tackle.
Speaker 2: Like the Chargers were part of that as well. They
Speaker 2: just happened to overcome it. Then put it this like
Speaker 2: the one thing to look at if you want to
Speaker 2: go down this road. DraftKings has the Chargers favored in
Speaker 2: twelve of seventeen games.
Speaker 1: That's good.
Speaker 2: So that's good. Yeah, they think they're gonna win twelve
Speaker 2: of seventeen. They think they've got them at twelve and
Speaker 2: five in terms of how the line's set up right now.
Speaker 2: We know that'll change based on performance, could get better,
Speaker 2: could get worse, But at least going into it with
Speaker 2: this schedule, I feel pretty good about how it lays out,
Speaker 2: just in terms of travel. Fact that they don't have
Speaker 2: with all of these East Coast with all of these
Speaker 2: Midwest and East Coast games, Green Bay, Minnesota, Tennessee, New England,
Speaker 2: New York, like, it could have been gnarly. It could
Speaker 2: have been a gnarly schedule based on a lot of
Speaker 2: those trips and the fact that they are alternating every
Speaker 2: other week, and even the one that we have a
Speaker 2: back to back, Minnesota's two and a half hour flight,
Speaker 2: that's nothing. That's one of the shorter trips that you're
Speaker 2: gonna make. Tennessee's not bad. Tennessee's three hours to get there,
Speaker 2: you know, three and a half four to get home.
Speaker 2: So that's another easy one. And that's the only back
Speaker 2: to back. So that really helped the way to schedule
Speaker 2: laid out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean New England is the furthest trip. Before
Speaker 1: that you host the Ravens, and then after that you
Speaker 1: host the Broncos, and then you have a Thursday night
Speaker 1: game against the Raiders. That's a you know I can
Speaker 1: get talk about a win. Yeah, I mean, come on, like,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get a full week of practice California. It
Speaker 1: takes longer than to get to Vegas.
Speaker 2: Right, So remember what they always talk about being a
Speaker 2: road team on Thursday, and at football, you lose it.
Speaker 2: You lose a day of practice because you have to
Speaker 2: travel on Wednesday. Not the case here. You're gonna get
Speaker 2: a full day of practice in because you have to
Speaker 2: be in town eighteen hours before kick.
Speaker 1: So kick is at five o'clock.
Speaker 2: You don't have to be in Vegas until ten o'clock
Speaker 2: if you want, you can get there that late and
Speaker 2: get a full day of practice, have a regular you
Speaker 2: can have the exact same practice week that the Raiders have,
Speaker 2: save that forty minute flight and a bus ride to
Speaker 2: a hotel.
Speaker 1: Muddy. That's last year we were on the bus to
Speaker 1: the hotel longer than we were in the air, right,
Speaker 1: That's like how quick it is? So right, So that's
Speaker 1: a huge win. The fact that you have a road
Speaker 1: Thursday night football game and it's the shortest trip you
Speaker 1: could possibly take, save if you played the Rams at home.
Speaker 1: But it's the shortest trip you can take. And so
Speaker 1: there is no that the home team has such a
Speaker 1: big advantage over the road team on Thursday at football
Speaker 1: because they get an extra day of practice. They don't
Speaker 1: have to take that Wednesday to trial, Monday's recovery day,
Speaker 1: Tuesday install Wednesday practice.
Speaker 2: Well, now you get that as a road team. You know,
Speaker 2: the road team normally would not get that. Maybe they
Speaker 2: have to condense a little bit and they don't have
Speaker 2: to do that. They will be on the exact same
Speaker 2: schedule as the Raiders. So that's a huge advantage considering
Speaker 2: you had a road Thursday night football game for it
Speaker 2: to be in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: The buye came into me last year. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: not that's the one negative. Yeah, I mean it's it's early.
Speaker 1: It's week five, but the earliest it can be, it's
Speaker 1: earliest it can be. But you know what, the first
Speaker 1: four games, right, Miami, Tennessee, Minnesota and the Raiders, wouldn't
Speaker 1: it be awesome for the charge you get like three
Speaker 1: and one reset and play the rest of the schedule.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that you're gonna get mini buys that you know,
Speaker 1: the mini buy from Thursday night football to the following
Speaker 1: the way that the schedule lays out as you beautifully outlined.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like it's gonna be a tough
Speaker 1: road to hoe without a bye coming in like week
Speaker 1: nine or week ten. So I think that's the one
Speaker 1: advantage that's like, all right, we're gonna give you the
Speaker 1: buye in week five, but we're not gonna make you
Speaker 1: go back to back road road trips, and especially in December.
Speaker 2: I think it lays out nicely if you told me
Speaker 2: that's the trade off. The bye stinks. There's I'm not
Speaker 2: going to try to put lipstick on that pig. It's
Speaker 2: a it's a crappy buye. You don't want to buy
Speaker 2: in week five. It's just so early. Last year they
Speaker 2: had one. They had it right in the middle. That's
Speaker 2: what you want, man, right in the middle. Get that
Speaker 2: week refresh, get some guys healthy that got banged up.
Speaker 2: But I will trade this schedule for that bye too
Speaker 2: early any day of the week. The fact that you
Speaker 2: are alternating home after that buye, that you are alternating
Speaker 2: home and away games all the way through the Thursday,
Speaker 2: and at football against the Raiders, you get set the Chargers,
Speaker 2: we've been traveling on Christmas or We've been gone on
Speaker 2: Christmas three years in a row. Now they give you
Speaker 2: the twenty third. So the guys get to spend time
Speaker 2: at home or get to do something with their families
Speaker 2: on Christmas Day, on Sunday or on Monday, I should say,
Speaker 2: you know, Christmas Eve on Sunday. We play on Saturday
Speaker 2: night at home. So that's nice for the staff, for
Speaker 2: the coaches, the coaches who have families, for the players
Speaker 2: that have young kids to have been gone these last
Speaker 2: three years. Indianapolis, Houston, Houston, that's nice. I'm happy to
Speaker 2: see that the league perhaps recognized what the last three
Speaker 2: years have been like.
Speaker 1: And I think that's emotionally. It's late in the year.
Speaker 2: You're looking for little victories, right, So that to me
Speaker 2: is that's that's something that can make you feel good.
Speaker 2: Put a little pep in your step, you know what.
Speaker 2: We're going into a game at Denver. We just played
Speaker 2: the Bills, and I get to spend Christmas, even Christmas
Speaker 2: Day with my family, well all these other guys. We
Speaker 2: got three games on Christmas Day, We got a full
Speaker 2: slate on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and we got to play
Speaker 2: on Saturday with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati on the twenty third, and.
Speaker 1: We get those two days.
Speaker 2: That's to me, that's an emotional lift that when you're
Speaker 2: that late in the season, you're absolutely beat to hell.
Speaker 2: I think that's that's something that it's tiny, but at
Speaker 2: the same time, I know what it felt like, at
Speaker 2: least for me, and I felt like you could you
Speaker 2: could feel it in snack and in catering in Houston
Speaker 2: and Indianapolis these last few years. Like, man, it's it's
Speaker 2: Christmas Day and I'm sitting in a hotel ballroom eating
Speaker 2: steak and fish and having a smoothie maid and there's
Speaker 2: the omelet bar, and it's just it's the same. It's
Speaker 2: a rinse repeat, and I think it's a little depressing,
Speaker 2: just to be fully honest. So to have that this year,
Speaker 2: I think it's a big that's great. It's a great
Speaker 2: way to have the schedule having laid out that way
Speaker 2: for these guys.
Speaker 1: YEP six primetime games will take a quick break and
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Speaker 1: money we talked about that week five. By coming out
Speaker 1: of that is Cowboys Chargers on Monday Night football, Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore gets to face his former squad. And you know
Speaker 1: this is about as marquee as it gets. You get
Speaker 1: the Cowboys coming to Sofi Stadium. And again, if we're
Speaker 1: gonna go any silver lining with the buy, you get
Speaker 1: two weeks or to prepare for your first nationally televised game.
Speaker 2: It's big advantage teams coming off of buy versus teams
Speaker 2: that aren't big advantage and they get it. They're coming
Speaker 2: off the buy. The Cowboys are coming off Sunday night
Speaker 2: football for Monday night football, so they get full rest
Speaker 2: even though they play late on Sunday. Slid advantage chargers,
Speaker 2: no doubt about that. You mentioned six primetime game before
Speaker 2: you took the break there, Chris. That's I know that
Speaker 2: the spanos Is and Tom aren't going to want to
Speaker 2: hear this, but why do you think we got six
Speaker 2: primetime games. That's why that guy's gonna make the amount
Speaker 2: of money he's gonna make, and he's worth every cent.
Speaker 2: When you talk about being in a group with the
Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen, the Kansas City Chiefs and
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes and America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, and you're
Speaker 2: the only one in that group, You're the only other
Speaker 2: one in that small group, guess what you got yourself?
Speaker 2: A superstar quarterback that everybody wants to watch play football.
Speaker 2: He plays an exciting brand of football. Everybody knows that
Speaker 2: no lead either way is safe, and they always play
Speaker 2: exciting games in primetime, and that's that's why the amount
Speaker 2: of money that that is worth to have. You know,
Speaker 2: we were talking I'm going to out you Greg before
Speaker 2: we started this, and he's it's funny when you're a fan,
Speaker 2: you look at those primetime games and you're like, this
Speaker 2: is awesome. When you're inside, it's like the suck because
Speaker 2: you're sitting around all day waiting to play. It's always
Speaker 2: when you're on the road for the primetime you know
Speaker 2: we're gonna leave, We're gonna leave New York City somewhere
Speaker 2: around one am, two am New York time. We're gonna
Speaker 2: land in La somewhere around three thirty four AM from
Speaker 2: that Monday night er, and you got a Tuesday workday
Speaker 2: the next day. It's not ideal, it's rough, but the
Speaker 2: fans love it, so you are talking about Premium. Four
Speaker 2: of those six are at home. We only have two
Speaker 2: road games in primetime, Thursday night in Vegas and Monday
Speaker 2: night in New York. Everything else Saturday night against Buffalo,
Speaker 2: Monday Night Football with the Cowboys, Sunday Night Football with
Speaker 2: the Bears. These are Marquee National Fan Base games. Baltimore
Speaker 2: Sunday Night Football, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert. That's for
Speaker 2: the Charger. You you mean to tell me that place
Speaker 2: ain't gonna be packed with football fans. Every one of
Speaker 2: those four home games of the nine we have are
Speaker 2: going to be packed with people. It is gonna be
Speaker 2: juice to the nines. And thank you number ten, because man,
Speaker 2: that's that's how you get into group with the Bills,
Speaker 2: the Chiefs and the Cowboys. Is the most primetime games
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: The next four games out of the bye. Baby, you
Speaker 1: know what, maybe the bid did come at the right
Speaker 1: time money, because you got you got Cowboys, Chargers, Then
Speaker 1: you got a short week. You gotta go to Arrowhead
Speaker 1: and that's the that's the lone day game of the
Speaker 1: next four and that's probably the most marquee Mames Herbert
Speaker 1: at Arrowhead. Then you got Bears, Chargers and then Chargers
Speaker 1: Jets Monday Night football. So again a little bit of
Speaker 1: a disadvantage that you gotta go to Arrowhead on a
Speaker 1: short week.
Speaker 2: A short week and they have a mini bye. By
Speaker 2: the way, they're coming off Thursday Night football, so it's
Speaker 2: a double whamming. So Chiefs git ten days, Chargers coming
Speaker 2: off Monday night football and traveling. That's if we're just
Speaker 2: talking about the advantages, there's one of the disadvantages and
Speaker 2: hiccups in the schedule.
Speaker 1: So okay, so we got we got Chargers, Cowboys, Charge Chiefs, Bears,
Speaker 1: Chargers and Chargers Jets, And you know you were talking
Speaker 1: about the AFC East and the AFC West. Listen, the
Speaker 1: Bears are gonna take a leap this year. I don't
Speaker 1: know how big of a leap, but Justin Field's I
Speaker 1: think proved last year that he's got some juice and
Speaker 1: we'll see where that goes with guys like DJ Moore
Speaker 1: and Clay Pool and trying to build that offense. So
Speaker 1: you know, I'm looking at some of these NFC North
Speaker 1: teams and last year you're like, oh man, NFC North
Speaker 1: maybe down a little bit. Lions are opening the season
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs. You got the Lions at home going
Speaker 1: to Green Bay. I don't care if it' Zara Rodgers Geordan.
Speaker 1: I mean, you go into Lambeau. Lambo is not gonna
Speaker 1: be the easiest place to get a win. We talked
Speaker 1: about the Bears Vikings early in the season going to Minnesota,
Speaker 1: so we knew how tough this schedule was gonna be.
Speaker 1: I think the way it lays out to your point earlier,
Speaker 1: it does work out for the Chargers. But some of
Speaker 1: these games that you like look at in May and
Speaker 1: you're like, oh man, Charger should get that one. They should.
Speaker 1: But you know, everybody's got a squad this year, and
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a little bit more difficult
Speaker 1: when we talk about teams like the Lions and Bears,
Speaker 1: teams that maybe last year and the year before, you're like,
Speaker 1: oh man, those are those are wins. So I'll I'll
Speaker 1: disagree with you a little bit. On the Bears.
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna stink. Just I to me, they're
Speaker 2: they're in like the middle of a two or a three. Now, look,
Speaker 2: you can say that and I'll be completely wrong. But
Speaker 2: when I look at that offensive line still needs a
Speaker 2: lot of work. The getting DJ Moore, I don't know
Speaker 2: what Chase claypool is, you know, giving them an opportunity
Speaker 2: to redo that trade. There's no question they don't give
Speaker 2: up a second for Chase clay But I'll believe it
Speaker 2: when I see it. With Justin Fields, I'll believe it
Speaker 2: when I see it. Just there there were a lot
Speaker 2: of issues throwing the ball and again didn't have the weapons.
Speaker 2: Terrible offensive line. Are they going to be better in
Speaker 2: there is Cody white Hair and Tevin Jenkins and these
Speaker 2: young guys Darnell right at right tackle, are they going
Speaker 2: to be better in front of him? We know the
Speaker 2: threat he.
Speaker 1: Is using his feet. They didn't do that.
Speaker 2: It's not a good defense. It's not a good defense.
Speaker 2: So that's one that the Chargers should be able to
Speaker 2: I would love to see them get a big lead
Speaker 2: in that game. And on the Sunday night football going
Speaker 2: into a trip to New York City to take on
Speaker 2: a gnarly Jets team, I'd love to see them be
Speaker 2: able to get some rest in that game. It's asking
Speaker 2: a lot. There are very few blowouts in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Typically the games are tight. But of all the opponents
Speaker 2: they have next year, that's the worst one to me
Speaker 2: that they are, on paper, the worst team that the
Speaker 2: Chargers will face next year. And look, they have the
Speaker 2: number one overall pick in the draft. Yeah, they were
Speaker 2: the worst team in the NFL in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2: So it's not like I'm sticking my neck out and
Speaker 2: saying that they're gonna play five of the top seven
Speaker 2: DVOA defenses Football Outsiders dot Com from twenty twenty two Dallas,
Speaker 2: New England, Buffalo, the Jets, Baltimore five of the top
Speaker 2: seven defenses in the league. They're gonna play five of
Speaker 2: the top six offenses in the league, the Chiefs twice.
Speaker 2: So Chiefs, Chiefs, Buffalo, Detroit, Miami. I bring that up
Speaker 2: now because it speaks to your point about the Lions
Speaker 2: and people that might see the Lions on the schedule
Speaker 2: and say that's the Lions. Let's I forget that team
Speaker 2: close strong, that team was a sniff away from making
Speaker 2: the playoffs, and they booted Aaron Rodgers and the Packers
Speaker 2: from the playoffs when they had nothing to play for.
Speaker 2: Because so that's that, I think something to to your point.
Speaker 2: It's when you you can't base everything on the year before.
Speaker 2: Green Bay still has a really good defense. That defense
Speaker 2: probably the best defense, it's probably the best defense in
Speaker 2: the in the NFC North. And you're playing in green
Speaker 2: Bay outdoors mid November shouldn't be too cold, but it's
Speaker 2: sure is heck is gonna be Southern California. So yes,
Speaker 2: each opponent presents a challenge and Detroit. We know, man,
Speaker 2: they can put it on you offensively. That is a
Speaker 2: really good offensive team. They have invested heavily on their lines.
Speaker 2: It's one of the probably it's gonna be one of
Speaker 2: the best offensive lines. They see Taylor Decker, ragnow vay
Speaker 2: Tai Sewel that it's gonna be in it and we
Speaker 2: know they love to run the ball.
Speaker 1: He'll be back for that one too. I think he
Speaker 1: misses the first six games. Oh, that's right, you have
Speaker 1: to deal with James and Williams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're talking about the and not to mentioned,
Speaker 2: it's a physical It's a physical offense. They want to
Speaker 2: run the heck out of the ball. It's why they
Speaker 2: drafted Jamier Gibbs and signed David Montgomery. So it's it's
Speaker 2: a it's an offense that can beat you up a
Speaker 2: little bit.
Speaker 1: When we look at the draft, and we talked about
Speaker 1: this when Quentin Johnson was drafted. Uh, I think Zay
Speaker 1: Flowers and Jordan Addison. You know, this is just the
Speaker 1: kind of the storyline part of the season. We're gonna
Speaker 1: see Zay Flowers so close, that's a great call. We're
Speaker 1: gonna see Jordan Addison early against the Vikings. So to
Speaker 1: those those wide receivers that were drafted right after Quintin, Uh,
Speaker 1: they'll they'll get a chance to to go toe to
Speaker 1: toe against the Chargers. Uh, let's see here, we got
Speaker 1: Bears Bears. Actually, the Bears have four primetime games this year.
Speaker 2: Money, like justin Fields was exciting last year running all
Speaker 2: over the place.
Speaker 1: But I'd be very surprised.
Speaker 2: Let me see, I have not taken a look at
Speaker 2: when those primetime games are up there. So there's Thursday,
Speaker 2: then the Chargers. Then yeah, that that Monday night football
Speaker 2: against or actually, no, that's not let's see that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it is that Monday night football game against Minnesota week twelve.
Speaker 1: I'd be very surprised if that stayed there. So that's
Speaker 1: just my projection. Football can flex.
Speaker 2: They can flex this exactly. They can flex this year.
Speaker 2: So that would not that that would that one would
Speaker 2: surprise me if that's not one of the first flexes
Speaker 2: of the season.
Speaker 1: So I kind of win here and we can just
Speaker 1: kind of close the podcast on this is just this
Speaker 1: back half of the year when you have the Ravens
Speaker 1: coming to town. Then you have to go face Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick in the Patriots. Mac Jones and then four of
Speaker 1: the last five are in the division and the other
Speaker 1: one is the Bills. I mean, we touched on it
Speaker 1: at the top, money, but like, that's not an easy
Speaker 1: way to close. But I'll tell you what, if the
Speaker 1: Chargers can be ascending, Like that's quite the momentum shift
Speaker 1: going into January. If you can take care of a
Speaker 1: lot of those games and make yourself or at least
Speaker 1: put yourself in a position to win the division or
Speaker 1: get one of those wildcard spots.
Speaker 2: We said at the top, it's a tough it's a
Speaker 2: tough schedule. So Miami's tough going to Tennessee. We know
Speaker 2: how tough they are defensively. Remember what McCurry did last
Speaker 2: year and how tight that game was and needed a
Speaker 2: game winning field goal. So Minnesota had the best record.
Speaker 1: I think. Did they end up with the best record
Speaker 1: in the NFC?
Speaker 2: I feel like they did, and I know they lost
Speaker 2: in the playoffs to the Giants, right, but oh no,
Speaker 2: they had the second best record too, Philadelphia. But I
Speaker 2: mean you're talking about a team that won twelve games
Speaker 2: last year, thirteen and whatever it was. So Minnesota's a
Speaker 2: very good team. I'm interested to see if Dalvin Cook's
Speaker 2: going to be on that team. Sounds like they were
Speaker 2: at an impass and there's some people saying they may
Speaker 2: just cut them. So that would be a huge win
Speaker 2: for the Chargers not having a deal with Dalvin Cook.
Speaker 2: We know Justin Jefferson's in the conversation is the best
Speaker 2: receiver and the league. Kirk cousins been wildly underrated. Kevin
Speaker 2: O'Connell's a great play caller, So that's going to be
Speaker 2: a tough game. We talked about the Raiders. You know,
Speaker 2: those games were tight last year, so there's I'm trying
Speaker 2: to think of there's anything else. I dug up the
Speaker 2: who are the Raiders? Who are the Raiders this year?
Speaker 1: Money? Like you know, we talked abou all the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in this division. Garoppolo was not one of the quarter quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: How good is Tyree Wilson? Is he?
Speaker 2: Is he over his Liz Frank injury? And is he
Speaker 2: going to be opposite Max Crosby in a three man
Speaker 2: rotation with Chandler Jones. That's going to go a long
Speaker 2: way when you've got to contend when you can't double
Speaker 2: both those guys. If Tyree Wilson's as good as people say,
Speaker 2: he is, there are people out there talking about him
Speaker 2: and Miles Garrett just his length and his explosion things
Speaker 2: like that. So that's yeah, So that's a big one.
Speaker 2: Is he going to be ready to go? And if
Speaker 2: he is, there were some people that had questions about
Speaker 2: taking place up.
Speaker 1: Whatever.
Speaker 2: Guy's a nightmare. So you still have to deal with
Speaker 2: Devontae Adams. We know they built it a lot like
Speaker 2: the Patriots where they got rid of Darren Waller and
Speaker 2: brought in Michael Mayer. We know that most tight ends
Speaker 2: don't really make an impact rookie seasons for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: so that that part doesn't work. But when you're talking
Speaker 2: about Jacobe Meyers, Hunter, Renfro, Devonte Adams, that's built a
Speaker 2: lot like Josh McDaniels has put his stamp on this team,
Speaker 2: it is it has now built a lot like what
Speaker 2: he was doing with the Patriots. Even brought in Yakob
Speaker 2: Johnson at full back. You know, you got Josh Jacobs,
Speaker 2: who's an absolute hammer. He's got Garoppolo who knows the system.
Speaker 2: Haven't been with him for a few years. So the
Speaker 2: one the one thing about the Raiders the O line.
Speaker 2: They did not draft OH line, which was really surprising.
Speaker 2: They needed o Ligneman and they drafted none. So that's
Speaker 2: early in the season. Joey's healthy Week four, Toy Polo
Speaker 2: two was a little bit more comfortable. Thirty two year
Speaker 2: old Khalil Max is still feeling pretty good, so that's
Speaker 2: an advantage there. But that to me, it'll come down
Speaker 2: to how good is Tyree Wilson, because we know Max
Speaker 2: Crosby's been nothing short of an absolute, complete and total nightmare,
Speaker 2: or the Chargers since he came into the league, and.
Speaker 1: Then the Patriots. We've listed all those quarterbacks in the division.
Speaker 1: Mac Jones is one of them either, but again they're
Speaker 1: coached by Bill Belichick, and you go onto these coast
Speaker 1: I think Bill's gonna have them in the conversation for
Speaker 1: a playoff spot. Again, I look at guys like Mike
Speaker 1: Tomlin with Kenny Pickett and Bill Belichick with Mac Jones.
Speaker 1: You don't have the top tier quarterback in the division,
Speaker 1: but you could coach and those are the types of
Speaker 1: teams that I think the Chargers will be competing with
Speaker 1: for a playoff spot. And it's sometimes it's not just
Speaker 1: a quarterback. If the quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo or mac
Speaker 1: Jones can keep you in games, and you could win
Speaker 1: it with your defense, like you said with Tyree Wilson
Speaker 1: and Max Crosby, or with the Patriots are packing Bill
Speaker 1: O'Brien's a new offensive coordinator there. Those are just the
Speaker 1: teams that you have to be a little wary of.
Speaker 1: They may not have the eight plus quarterback, but they
Speaker 1: have a lot of other things. They lost to Mac
Speaker 1: Jones's rookie year at home two years ago. You could
Speaker 1: make a case them out of the playoffs, the missed
Speaker 1: payoffs by one game. They lost to Matt Jones his
Speaker 1: rookie year. Bill Belichick destroyed Herbert forty five to zero
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty his rookie season, So we know that
Speaker 1: Bill can be a headache, an absolute headache for And
Speaker 1: let's not forget what her and I bring that up,
Speaker 1: because Herbert had an incredible rookie season.
Speaker 2: It was the only hiccup on the whole schedule. Everything
Speaker 2: else was, Yeah, this guy is the next great quarterback
Speaker 2: and he's going to be in the conversation.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest of his era.
Speaker 2: And Bill Belichick beat him forty five to nothing with
Speaker 2: Cam Newton out there, So that's how good he is,
Speaker 2: and you're going Foxborough's a weird place to play out
Speaker 2: there on the sticks. You're on your bus. It's a
Speaker 2: long commute because you can't stay in Foxborough. So whether
Speaker 2: you stay in Boston or in Providence, you're talking about
Speaker 2: an hour drive by bus to get the Foxborough, which sucks.
Speaker 2: It's a one lane road. You feel like you're in
Speaker 2: Salem and there's which trials happen in somewhere two hundred
Speaker 2: eat outside your bus. It's just a creepy place. And
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden you make a right next
Speaker 2: to like some weird looking house and you're at Foxborough
Speaker 2: and you're just it's eerie. It's I hate that place,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure players do too. And it's the first
Speaker 2: week of December, so there's not gonna be any leaves
Speaker 2: on the it's gonna be it's gonna be snow, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be cold, it's gonna be overcast, it's gonna be
Speaker 2: Creepy's that's a tough one.
Speaker 1: You pretty much just described that divisional game in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Yeah, you know, it was the coldest. It
Speaker 1: was the coldest game. I think i've been a part
Speaker 1: of Yeah, it's it was. It was a nightmare.
Speaker 2: So they've got let's see what else do I have left?
Speaker 2: Two short road weeks at Kansas City up Monday night football,
Speaker 2: at the Raiders Thursday night football, four games of less
Speaker 2: rest than their opponent Minnesota, they're coming off of Mini
Speaker 2: buy with Thursday night football. They got a handful of those.
Speaker 2: They got kind of hosed on those. Kansas City coming
Speaker 2: off Thursday night football. Detroit is on a short week
Speaker 2: coming off They're actually Detroit's coming off of bye, and
Speaker 2: the Chargers are coming off of Monday night football that stinks.
Speaker 2: And Baltimore coming off many buy a Thursday at football,
Speaker 2: So that's a negative. They got four of those that
Speaker 2: they've got to overcome where they've got considerably less rest
Speaker 2: than their opponent.
Speaker 1: So you know, hey, man, they will have earned it.
Speaker 1: They try to make it fair for everybody. They will
Speaker 1: have earned it if they make the playoffs this year,
Speaker 1: if they somehow can dethrone the Chiefs. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is a this is a beast of a schedule, especially
Speaker 1: down the stretch.
Speaker 2: But so I tell you, Chris homer Road, you're a
Speaker 2: fan homer Road, you get to pick a game of
Speaker 2: the seventeen Homer Road all expenses paid, all that sort
Speaker 2: of stuff, or you don't even have to travel. I've
Speaker 2: discovered teleportation, so oh my god, the riggers of travel
Speaker 2: aren't even involved. Do you just snap your fingers and
Speaker 2: you're there? What game do you want to go to?
Speaker 1: Dude?
Speaker 2: There's like or is it at home? Could be one
Speaker 2: of the home games? We got four prime time games
Speaker 2: at home?
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is like the one place I
Speaker 1: have not been that it's like it's almost like a
Speaker 1: bucketless place as Lambeau. But the game is in. It
Speaker 1: doesn't have the bigness of some of these, not as
Speaker 1: much sizzle as some of the others. So I'll take
Speaker 1: that out of it. I will say I will say Monday,
Speaker 1: November six in New York because justin Herbert in the
Speaker 1: Big Apple against Aarah Rodgers. I think that that's going
Speaker 1: to be fantastic. You know, I think that would be
Speaker 1: And you don't get that every year, right, you can
Speaker 1: easily say Mahomes versus Herbert and going to Arrowhead or
Speaker 1: Vegas Cowboys. They charged played the Cowboys a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago. I think this is a unique opportunity for
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert to face Aaron Rodgers, maybe for the last
Speaker 1: time in his career.
Speaker 2: Up In, so I would say, Chargers Jets, what about you,
Speaker 2: It's a great one. I'm gonna go Buffalo at home
Speaker 2: on Saturday. To me, that's I believe both of these
Speaker 2: teams are gonna be in the thick of it. It's
Speaker 2: week sixteen. Holiday vibes, Josh, it's the It's December twenty third.
Speaker 2: It's an early Christmas present, you know, son, daughter, We're
Speaker 2: going to the game Saturday night, and we're still gonna
Speaker 2: be at Grandma's for Christmas Eve, and you're still gonna
Speaker 2: wake up Christmas morning and open all your Star Wars figures.
Speaker 2: That Saturday night Buffalo, I just I feel like the
Speaker 2: stakes are gonna be so high, much like Monday Night.
Speaker 2: I would want the standalone game, knowing that the eyes
Speaker 2: of the football nation are upon me and the game
Speaker 2: that I'm watching. So it's it's one of the primetime games,
Speaker 2: no doubt. And it's gonna be the first game ever
Speaker 2: broadcast on Peacock as we continue to move towards streaming
Speaker 2: and away from over the air broadcasts, So they're going
Speaker 2: to pull out all the stops to try to make
Speaker 2: this a real spectacle.
Speaker 1: And I think it's a potential playoff preview.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's a potential AFC championship game, potential divisional game,
Speaker 2: potential wildcard game. And that's a really good Buffalo team,
Speaker 2: and it's a really good Chargers team, and it's late
Speaker 2: in the season.
Speaker 1: So give me all that.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, if you told me, if you guaranteed
Speaker 2: me that it's for the division Week eighteen at home
Speaker 2: against the Chiefs, now.
Speaker 1: That it's a no.
Speaker 2: It's obviously a no brainer. Sunday night football. It's another
Speaker 2: playoff game. Yeah right, they'll end up making that the
Speaker 2: Remember they always do that with one game, right, So
Speaker 2: that's what that game would become. It would become the
Speaker 2: standalone Sunday night football game for the AFC West. If
Speaker 2: you told me that that's what that game means, then yeah,
Speaker 2: that's the no brainer. But I'll take Buffalo.
Speaker 1: I like it. I like Buffalo, and you know you
Speaker 1: can't go wrong. I mean, like the the home fans
Speaker 1: be spoiled this year. You got you got a Chicago Bear.
Speaker 1: You know, when a team like Chicago, like a big
Speaker 1: market team comes in and it's a big game. It
Speaker 1: just it feels like a big game Baltimore with with
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, a team you're gonna be competing with for
Speaker 1: a division. Uh. You know we talked about Chargers Jets
Speaker 1: on the road. Uh, I think Cowboys Chargers on Monday
Speaker 1: Night football, Joe and Troy coming to so far Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore versus Mike McCarthy. It's is Tony Polly gonna run
Speaker 1: the ball forty five times? Is justin gonna throw it
Speaker 1: sixty five times? You know what's gonna what's gonna happen
Speaker 1: against against the Cowboys And then you know some of
Speaker 1: these some of these games in the afternoon. Man, like
Speaker 1: you said, like the Lions are opening the NFL season
Speaker 1: at arrow hit. That's what they think of the Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions this year. You know, so this is this is
Speaker 1: a fun schedule. There's been a fun podcast, uh kind
Speaker 1: of breaking it down. And it's always fun to look
Speaker 1: back at, you know, what you thought in May versus
Speaker 1: what happens with with injuries and teams get off to
Speaker 1: a slow start and maybe making changes. You know, the
Speaker 1: season always takes on a life of its own. But
Speaker 1: it's fun to talk about. The NFL has remarkably made
Speaker 1: this one of the biggest off season dates on the calendar. Man,
Speaker 1: you know the opponents.
Speaker 2: It's it's weird you already know the opponents, but the
Speaker 2: way a lot does war If you're not familiar and
Speaker 2: you're on social media, be sure to follow Warren Sharp.
Speaker 2: He does a great job, Warren Sharp. And I think
Speaker 2: is it Brian Burns? Is the name of the guy
Speaker 2: at ESPN. I want to say that does a lot
Speaker 2: of schedule and logistical Let me just type it in
Speaker 2: to make sure I give credit where credit is?
Speaker 1: Do? I feel like it's Brian Burns? Is his name?
Speaker 1: Darn it?
Speaker 2: He's at ESPN, But he and Warren Sharp do a
Speaker 2: great job of breaking all this sort.
Speaker 1: Of stuff down. Maybe it's not Brian burn Is it
Speaker 1: Bruce whatever? Sorry, my great apologies. Hold on, Greg's here?
Speaker 1: Who is it? Brian Burke? There? You go? See.
Speaker 2: I probably didn't say Brian Burke because he was the
Speaker 2: former general manager of the Anaheim Ducks. So is it
Speaker 2: Brian Burke?
Speaker 1: Is that who it is? I see now I feel terrible.
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful thing about podcasts. Yeah, okay, it's uh.
Speaker 1: I think it's Brian Burke ESPN. Yep, it is. But
Speaker 1: the first Brian Burke, Okay, thank you ch for me
Speaker 1: was the guy that that you were referring to, Hockey
Speaker 1: exec author proud Dad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there we go, there you go. Yeah Brian, that's
Speaker 2: why I was. I couldn't get the Burke thing right.
Speaker 2: But he's great to follow. Warren Sharp is great to follow.
Speaker 2: They do things they They've got years and years of
Speaker 2: data they break down to say, oh, back to back
Speaker 2: road games, three in a row, road games. These are
Speaker 2: the winning percentages that more rest than your opponent. These
Speaker 2: are the winning percentages home prime time versus road prime time.
Speaker 2: They break all of that down. So go through their timelines,
Speaker 2: dig into those things because it's really cool. And if
Speaker 2: you haven't seen it yet, if you're listening to this podcast,
Speaker 2: obviously you saw it. But keep hitting pause and keep
Speaker 2: picking up all those Easter eggs. Green Bay in the Darkness,
Speaker 2: that was great, The little light in the light that
Speaker 2: the lighter to get out of the darkness, New England,
Speaker 2: The Spygate stuff with Bill Belichick watching overheads of all
Speaker 2: the practices in the NFL stadium's phenomenal, so good, trying
Speaker 2: to think we already talked about the Raiders called Sean
Speaker 2: Payton taking Russell Wilson's office back.
Speaker 1: Love that you gotta pause it because that's where all
Speaker 1: the easter eggs are, you know, hundred percent like the darkness,
Speaker 1: the darkness retreat when when the light comes on, there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of like all kinds of post notes on
Speaker 1: the stuff in the background. Oh, I forget that. I
Speaker 1: wanted to mention this too. J C. Jackson said, it's
Speaker 1: a revenge game for me. I'm excited to go back
Speaker 1: and pick mac Jones off and show them why they
Speaker 1: should have never let me go. So there we go.
Speaker 1: JC calling his shot against against the Patriots in December,
Speaker 1: so hopefully he'll be back in one hundred and ten
Speaker 1: percent by then.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm hopeful it was a deep cornerback draft.
Speaker 2: And the only thing I can think of as to
Speaker 2: why the Chargers didn't take a corner is because JC
Speaker 2: is well on his way to be ready for Week one.
Speaker 2: That's the only thing I can think of. Yeah, So
Speaker 2: let's hope once you get out there, JC and pick
Speaker 2: off Mac Jones three times. Absolutely, let's get after that.
Speaker 2: That would be fun, all right, guys, always appreciate it.
Speaker 2: We'll be back normal time. I think next week. I
Speaker 2: think that'll that'll be the cadence moving forred. We'll get
Speaker 2: this thing out on Thursdays for money.
Speaker 1: I'm Chris. This has been charges weekly, all right, guys.
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