Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast is still.
Speaker 2: Working on the theology podcast from the Chris Westling podcast studio.
Speaker 2: It's Around the NFL. I Am Dan hansis Heroes here,
Speaker 2: Greg rosehal Mark Sessler.
Speaker 3: Part two of our season preview Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Around the AFC in exactly forty eight minutes Today, Around
Speaker 2: the NFC in exactly forty eight minutes and plus time outs,
Speaker 2: plus time outs and TV timeouts at the chort least
Speaker 2: one and then NFL media sanctioned timeouts.
Speaker 3: You're gonna notice when it lands in your feed.
Speaker 2: Wait, why is this one hour and twenty seven minutes
Speaker 2: not really our fault?
Speaker 3: It's out of our hands.
Speaker 1: Well, there's the top of the show, there's the ads,
Speaker 1: there's the NFL plush Reid.
Speaker 2: You know who's gonna be super mad live local games?
Speaker 2: Scott Hanson.
Speaker 4: Well he'd know, or he may find it delightful that
Speaker 4: it's going on longer than that.
Speaker 2: Scott is a straight shooter, an honest man. And if
Speaker 2: it's gonna say in forty eight minutes in the title
Speaker 2: and then it's one twenty seven, we might lose Hanson.
Speaker 1: No, well, no, I think so. I mean to him,
Speaker 1: what's an hour and a half. That's that's nothing. He
Speaker 1: also seen.
Speaker 3: I mean in terms of pe breaks.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, just in terms of like a length
Speaker 1: of a show. He's used to nine ten hours. But
Speaker 1: he also seems like someone who would listen on two
Speaker 1: point twenty five speed. I don't know why that is,
Speaker 1: but I just imagine him on like on a treadmill
Speaker 1: lifting weights, listening to us on two point twenty five
Speaker 1: to be like.
Speaker 3: This is a fit test. Did a Hanson test?
Speaker 2: Yeahah, because Hanson famously reached out to me privately asked
Speaker 2: about these episodes specifically, and we've been constantly talking about
Speaker 2: him ever since. Will he hit me up with a
Speaker 2: text about, Hey, guys, here's the speed I listened to. Hey,
Speaker 2: I was offended by the lengthy episode or I wasn't. Hey,
Speaker 2: I haven't pee since you we texted four to eight.
Speaker 4: I think I think I would imagine that he peas
Speaker 4: regularly when not on that show.
Speaker 5: I don't think I never saw that one. That's not
Speaker 5: a life thing.
Speaker 4: I says, a life thing that's a certain day of
Speaker 4: the week during a certain part.
Speaker 2: Of the year.
Speaker 3: Doesn't need it. Ben doesn't even have indoor plumbing.
Speaker 5: Not necessary, it's not necessary at all.
Speaker 2: All right, So we're gonna get to the NFC in
Speaker 2: just a moment, and we're gonna bring in our buddy
Speaker 2: Shook to help us out as the fourth just like
Speaker 2: Clayban was a mensch for the AFC. But before we
Speaker 2: get to that, the NFL world lost a giant, a
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer Gil Brandt, passed away at the age
Speaker 2: of ninety one on Thursday. Gil is seen as the
Speaker 2: godfather of modern scouting. He was the guy before the
Speaker 2: Jarra era in Dallas that built up America's team, the
Speaker 2: Roger Staubach Cowboys of the seventies and eighties and kind
Speaker 2: of seen as a forefather of the scouting combine and
Speaker 2: the using using data and he was like he kind
Speaker 2: of introduced, shepherded in the idea of using computers and
Speaker 2: data mining in a different way.
Speaker 1: It was like the original Draftnick the.
Speaker 2: Original Draftnick Well said Gregi and also in later years
Speaker 2: of his career was at NFL Media and we can
Speaker 2: get into it Mark and Greg. But Gil was kind
Speaker 2: of a major presence around this media group when we
Speaker 2: started at the company, and we had a lot of
Speaker 2: back and forth with Gil. So yes, Gil leaves us
Speaker 2: this week and it's very sad. But what a life
Speaker 2: for Gilbrandt.
Speaker 4: I mean, because there's the historical Gilbrandt and everything you mentioned.
Speaker 4: There are some incredible NFL films documentaries about how the
Speaker 4: Combine came to be, and he's obviously front and center,
Speaker 4: and like I learned a lot from that because we
Speaker 4: just got plopped in, you know, a decade plus ago
Speaker 4: where the combines going full steam and even has grown since.
Speaker 4: But it was an unusual situation for us because we
Speaker 4: would at the Combine, like he'd come over to our table,
Speaker 4: you know, he's essentially his coworkers, and just talk shop.
Speaker 4: And it's like other people were like, holy crap, Like
Speaker 4: gil Brandt's walking around like he was a mythical figure
Speaker 4: to some you know, beat reporters that had been around.
Speaker 5: For a long time.
Speaker 4: But he'd come up to us and just sort of
Speaker 4: talk shop, and like I always found him delightful. At
Speaker 4: the Combine, there were two things happening. So in the
Speaker 4: lead up to the Combine, we'd be in the newsroom
Speaker 4: here in LA and he'd call up from some pro
Speaker 4: day you know, Texas Northern Texas Tech or something and
Speaker 4: just start rattling our job was to take note verbal
Speaker 4: notes from Gil Brand over the phone and you know,
Speaker 4: put together a back then a blog post that described
Speaker 4: what happened at Northern Texas Tech. And he'd just rattle
Speaker 4: off names and forty times. And I remember being like,
Speaker 4: I don't want to take this phone call because he's
Speaker 4: just going he's unhinged with information.
Speaker 5: So it's like someone else will take the call, but.
Speaker 2: Like, well, the problem was and I think an in
Speaker 2: the early days on the desk for Mark and I,
Speaker 2: that was a call that you would get. And it
Speaker 2: would be like if you grew, if you kind of
Speaker 2: did newspaper reporting like I did part time in early days,
Speaker 2: you would never want the track and field coach to
Speaker 2: call in and get that when you were in the bullpen,
Speaker 2: because your agate would be a forty minute reporting of
Speaker 2: every event. Gil was so thorough and what happened was
Speaker 2: and it happened to you too, Mark. But I think
Speaker 2: in retrospect I look back on it with fondness because
Speaker 2: I think about where we started the company, where we
Speaker 2: are now. He would ask for us, He would start
Speaker 2: calling and ask for his marketer, his Dan there for
Speaker 2: us to do because he liked our write ups and
Speaker 2: in general. I always thought he was a very nice guy.
Speaker 2: Every time I spoke with him, he was very friendly.
Speaker 2: He would always be at the Super Bowl in the
Speaker 2: press box. I always remember hours before the game and
Speaker 2: I'd be looking at Gil. What is Gil doing? And
Speaker 2: I'd ask Gil, what are you doing? As the guys
Speaker 2: are warming up on the field. Gil'll be like, I'm
Speaker 2: tracking the quarterbacks completion percentage in his warm ups. I'm like,
Speaker 2: that seems insane. But Greg, he a system and that
Speaker 2: maybe didn't make sense to us. But you know what,
Speaker 2: way back in the day, what he was doing probably
Speaker 2: didn't make sense to people, and he became kind of
Speaker 2: a legend in the industry.
Speaker 1: He like took ownership of the Combine in the draft.
Speaker 1: I remember I was writing one thing and going to
Speaker 1: the draft in twenty thirteen, I think early in NFL days,
Speaker 1: and I had a piece of information about a guy
Speaker 1: surgery and he calls me up and he explains it
Speaker 1: all to me so I can correct it and everything.
Speaker 1: And he felt that way about the Combine. But I
Speaker 1: think of him not primarily, but like the reason he's
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame is the way that he
Speaker 1: changed scouting in terms of using computers and using data
Speaker 1: was massive, but also in how he looked for players
Speaker 1: and specifically black players. And I think about the Legacy
Speaker 1: Bawl which is happened in at my old Alba Mada
Speaker 1: to laying this weekend, Steve Weisch is announcing that and
Speaker 1: that's the HBCU Legacy Bowl, And like, who did more
Speaker 1: from a team perspective in bringing in black players from
Speaker 1: historically black colleges into the NFL then Gil Brandt. Now
Speaker 1: he was doing it because it was in the Cowboys'
Speaker 1: best interest, but it was at a time when it
Speaker 1: just wasn't thought of. And he found so many players
Speaker 1: that became Hall of Famers late in the draft, middle
Speaker 1: of the draft using this data. And you really see
Speaker 1: a lot of it. Bill Belichick said, like when it
Speaker 1: comes to scouting and the methods he used, Gil would
Speaker 1: be the first person he would have been put in
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame. So it is fascinating because how
Speaker 1: many other Hall of famers did we like work with closely?
Speaker 1: That's not something we did.
Speaker 2: So no rest larger than life figure mark. And another thing,
Speaker 2: if he would call and he'd be looking for us,
Speaker 2: so you'd have to call him back and you'd call
Speaker 2: him at his house in Texas and his wife would
Speaker 2: pick up. Yeah, you'd call it. It's a landline. I
Speaker 2: think his wife, her name was Sarah. She would pick up.
Speaker 2: You could even hear it. It was like an old
Speaker 2: rotary phone. You'd ask for Gill, you could hear it.
Speaker 2: Kind of put the phone and then you hear hell
Speaker 2: out and then he just there's your twenty five minute
Speaker 2: conversation with Gil. So like looking back on it now
Speaker 2: now knowing what the figure he is, it's cool that
Speaker 2: we had that interaction.
Speaker 4: Oh I no, I treasure it now because it's like,
Speaker 4: you know, we haven't seen it. We hadn't seen him
Speaker 4: in a while, and you know, it's so those memories
Speaker 4: are are from a different period of time in our career.
Speaker 4: I one other little thing that he used to do,
Speaker 4: and this would probably tweak other Beat reporters, but he'd
Speaker 4: come up to our table, like when Mantiteo was at
Speaker 4: the combine and it was like an absolute like mob
Speaker 4: trying to get me, like, hey, Mantitayo is gonna be
Speaker 4: here in a five minutes. Did you never know where
Speaker 4: they're gonna ride? They don't tell anyone, so you can
Speaker 4: tap me on the show, He's like, you go get a
Speaker 4: front row seat. So I just like go Trallo up
Speaker 4: to the front row and be like how look, like
Speaker 4: what are you waiting for him?
Speaker 5: Like I don't know?
Speaker 2: Then like bang mantitaio. That reminds me of the other thing.
Speaker 2: I mean, he was a figure with major clout at
Speaker 2: this media group. Like with the NFL draft, he would
Speaker 2: be the one who you learned from, like who was
Speaker 2: being invited.
Speaker 3: To the draft, He's pick me there, he would select them.
Speaker 2: And as Gil passed away at ninety one, this is
Speaker 2: he was in his eighties and he was still kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, steering things around, and you know he caught.
Speaker 2: There was some controversy later.
Speaker 1: And I never forgave him for that first day him
Speaker 1: in that no joke. Everyone thought Aaron Rodgers is going
Speaker 1: top five.
Speaker 2: There was some controversy later in his life and even
Speaker 2: in the past year or so about some comments he
Speaker 2: made on the radio. And I remember thinking myself, like,
Speaker 2: Gil should have never been even in that spot because
Speaker 2: he knew he was getting older and slowing down. And
Speaker 2: I remember thinking he shouldn't have said that.
Speaker 3: But I kind of thought to.
Speaker 2: Myself, shame on them for putting him in that position,
Speaker 2: and you didn't really hear from him much after that,
Speaker 2: And I kind of that bums me out a little bit.
Speaker 3: That was like his final, like public spotlight moment.
Speaker 1: He did get to make the Hall of Fame. It
Speaker 1: was only four years ago to have that moment. I
Speaker 1: even remember thinking at the time, felt like eighty seven
Speaker 1: years old to have that sort of moment. Not many
Speaker 1: people get to have that, especially someone that loves a
Speaker 1: good way to look at it, That is kind of
Speaker 1: the legacy. In the PostScript on his career, gil Brandt
Speaker 1: passes away at the age of ninety one.
Speaker 2: Rest in peace, friend. All Right, with that said, let's
Speaker 2: bring in a man that we also enjoy, another friend,
Speaker 2: another friend. It's amazing he could even make time for us,
Speaker 2: the way he builds that physique. And actually I watched
Speaker 2: that Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary on Netflix, which is wonderful.
Speaker 4: Just a body double of of Shuck in some some respect.
Speaker 4: But like you would think, Schwarzenegger, how did he do it?
Speaker 4: How was he able to be mister Universe and then
Speaker 4: become the biggest movie star in the world and then
Speaker 4: become the governor of California.
Speaker 2: It's just drive. It's relentless drive. And that's what's got
Speaker 2: Nick in the position he is with this media group.
Speaker 3: What's up, Shook?
Speaker 6: I did the push ups, I did the curls, I
Speaker 6: did pilates. Yeah, it was a great documentary. Pilates, by
Speaker 6: the way, underrated training method.
Speaker 1: I suggested, did you do.
Speaker 2: This entire episode in your Schwarzenegger impression that that would
Speaker 2: be fine with me?
Speaker 4: At least do at least one team fully in that voice.
Speaker 2: It's you know now that I'm looking at Chuck and
Speaker 2: he is a striking presence. Shook is from Cleveland from
Speaker 2: his home office. Right now. You're a little too young
Speaker 2: for the old Nintendo game Mike Tyson's punch out right, Shook, Yah,
Speaker 2: I mean I dabbled, Okay, if Shook ever wanted, And
Speaker 2: this is for the image for people, because some of
Speaker 2: these people are like not as much anymore. But before
Speaker 2: we were doing a lot of videos to be like,
Speaker 2: I can't I didn't think you guys looked the way
Speaker 2: you look at all.
Speaker 5: Yeah, which I never took as a compliment.
Speaker 3: No, it never was. But Shook, if you ever wanted
Speaker 3: to do with a deep pull costume soda Popinske from
Speaker 3: if you have a certain age, you know what I'm
Speaker 3: talking about, and and maybe Shook if you ever go
Speaker 3: to like a Halloween party with a bunch of old's
Speaker 3: popinske is.
Speaker 2: The way to go.
Speaker 5: I thought you were going to go with that. Who's
Speaker 5: the hippo guy that you have to punch in the stomach.
Speaker 3: King hippo hippo? Yeah, the man was morbidly obese.
Speaker 5: I'm not saying that that's what Shook looks like.
Speaker 4: I just didn't know what which you know, boxing opponent
Speaker 4: you were gonna reference.
Speaker 3: Shoo cutting, I mean that shook king hippo.
Speaker 2: You had to know when he lifted up the arm,
Speaker 2: you think you just go stomach right, left and then
Speaker 2: he doesn't get up.
Speaker 1: Do you know Sodake's original name in the arcade version,
Speaker 1: before they had to he was a Rusky pc it up.
Speaker 1: His name was called the vodka Drunkinski.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 5: What is it not pc to suggest that Russians.
Speaker 1: Like well, and I guess they also just didn't want
Speaker 1: kids asking the question of what does that mean?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: It does?
Speaker 2: As someone with Irish heritage, I always find it strange
Speaker 2: that it's it's okay to like talk about Irish people
Speaker 2: love to drink in their drunks. But then Soda Pepinske
Speaker 2: has to get his name changed, right, you know, well,
Speaker 2: it doesn't feel right, It doesn't feel fair. Anyways, next episode,
Speaker 2: we'll see you Monday.
Speaker 6: I had nothing further to that.
Speaker 2: You've said it all, all right, let's get into it
Speaker 2: real sea around the NFC in exactly forty eight minutes.
Speaker 2: We start with the defending conference champion Philadelphia Eagles and
Speaker 2: Mark Sessler.
Speaker 4: All right, nobody has repeated as NFC East winners in
Speaker 4: twenty years. Okay, But ever since he escaped that shed
Speaker 4: to win his power struggle with Chip Kelly, Howie Roseman
Speaker 4: has operated as a five foot eight magic user.
Speaker 5: The Eagles always find a way.
Speaker 4: They're offensive and defensive lines or this defense had seventy
Speaker 4: sacks last season. They're one of two teams to rank
Speaker 4: top six and both offensive and defensive EPA per play.
Speaker 4: When most top heavy teams coming off a Super Bowl
Speaker 4: would have lost guys like Darius Slay, James Bradbury, Fletcher Cox,
Speaker 4: they kept them all and stole Jalen Carter in the draft.
Speaker 4: Sam Monson at PFF noted that the entire Eagles backfield
Speaker 4: DeAndre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, Rashad Penny, and Boston Scott costs
Speaker 4: less than the Jets paid Dalvin Cook. No other team
Speaker 4: in the NFC operates with such cunning who or what
Speaker 4: stops them?
Speaker 1: Just like bad luck? I mean, because they did win
Speaker 1: a lot of close games. Bill Barnwell brought that up
Speaker 1: on the over Under podcast that we did injuries. They
Speaker 1: were a healthy team. Although one of the reasons I'm
Speaker 1: so confident in them and I agree with everything you say.
Speaker 3: I love them.
Speaker 1: I think their weaknesses are not that important golf ball linebacker,
Speaker 1: maybe secondary depth. Their backups are great, and I think
Speaker 1: the thing that I'm most excited about is can the
Speaker 1: guys in their prime continue to get better? Can aj
Speaker 1: Brown actually go up another level? Can DeVante Smith continue
Speaker 1: to improve? Is this Dallas Goddards All Pro year? Can
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts show that he's like the Super Bowl Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts like that is all possible? That they get better
Speaker 1: on offense and maybe that makes up for a little
Speaker 1: defensive decline.
Speaker 6: Shookie, I mean, the one thing I worry about last
Speaker 6: year down the stretch, I know they had injuries, Jalen
Speaker 6: Hurts miss some games, but I worried at the time
Speaker 6: did they peak too early? And then they ran through
Speaker 6: most of the playoffs and got a little bit of
Speaker 6: luck in the NFC title game. Can you sustain that?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 6: It's great that they draft well, and it's great that
Speaker 6: the majority of their key players are back, but I
Speaker 6: get that sophomore slump five. I worry about the sophomore slump.
Speaker 2: Five.
Speaker 6: I'm not necessarily saying that they're gonna slump, but it's
Speaker 6: hard to get back there. It's very difficult, and this
Speaker 6: is a very strong team. I feel fairly confident, but
Speaker 6: I back of my mind worrying about that slump is
Speaker 6: going to hit them.
Speaker 2: This year, it felt like such a special season for
Speaker 2: the and it was, and as we talked about, you
Speaker 2: kind of get the feeling of Jalen Hurts gets that
Speaker 2: ball back in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: They probably are the defending champions right now. Maybe that
Speaker 2: works in their favor and against the idea of a
Speaker 2: sophomore slump. Shook that they didn't get to the mountaintop.
Speaker 2: They're still hungry and angry how that game turned out,
Speaker 2: but I'm with you, guys. I feel like and credit
Speaker 2: to Howie Roseman escaped the Pocono's and has built this
Speaker 2: studley roster and they are locked and loaded and ready
Speaker 2: to go, and short of a Jalen Hurts injury, it's
Speaker 2: hard to imagine any team, like picking any team with
Speaker 2: more confidence to win twelve games in this conference.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and people point to like two new coordinators, Sean
Speaker 4: de sci who A lot of people say this guy
Speaker 4: is a total m effort behind the scenes, so a
Speaker 4: great gotta egos.
Speaker 1: Fans are happy they don't have Jonathan Geint.
Speaker 5: I think so too.
Speaker 4: But Brian Johnson, they're QB coach who's now the OC
Speaker 4: has known Jalen Hurts since he was a youth, So
Speaker 4: I don't think this transition is a problem.
Speaker 3: He called timeouts earlier.
Speaker 2: Wow, I got it.
Speaker 3: I gotta call it early.
Speaker 5: Time did this yesterday.
Speaker 2: I think it's important because you who did you just
Speaker 2: refer to as an mfor Sean de Saie, I think
Speaker 2: it's important.
Speaker 3: Distinction.
Speaker 4: Do you mean like a bad I think he's like
Speaker 4: a like a guy's guy, and he like he commands
Speaker 4: like a bad M.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, good, A good way if you just.
Speaker 3: Call someone an mfort it's almost like the worst insult.
Speaker 5: This is a good time out to clarify the language.
Speaker 3: But maybe you mean he's a bad like a terrible guy.
Speaker 5: I just heard that he is talented and commands.
Speaker 4: He's a bad Yeah, that it's not like a step
Speaker 4: down that it's like this guy is going to come
Speaker 4: in and the Eagles who had seventy sacks a year ago,
Speaker 4: who knows what the sky what the limit is of it?
Speaker 3: You know why I didn't want to leave our audience
Speaker 3: at all confused with what you were saying.
Speaker 1: Mother, I forget who it is. Is it McCarthy like
Speaker 1: someone loves taking like an early first quarter timeout? It's
Speaker 1: just like a trademark. That's dance thing.
Speaker 3: Now, that's me Greg. The Dallas Cowboys, all right.
Speaker 1: I was putting together the NFL dot Com predictions and
Speaker 1: I struggled with, well, maybe the Cowboys are that team
Speaker 1: that doesn't make it back to the playoffs, just thinking
Speaker 1: of their history of ups and downs and not being consistent.
Speaker 1: And then and then I was like I kind of
Speaker 1: slammed myself out of it and thought, on paper, this
Speaker 1: is their best team since twenty sixteen, and maybe better,
Speaker 1: maybe the best defense in the NFL. It's not just
Speaker 1: Parsons and Lawrence. They're deep at edge rusher in terms
Speaker 1: of their backups like Sam Williams. I love their safety group.
Speaker 1: I love what they did add in Gilmour like, I
Speaker 1: don't know what this team's problem is other than the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys. It's kind of crazy that I was even
Speaker 1: thinking to keep them out of the playoffs, and yet
Speaker 1: they are the Dallas Cowboys, so that feels like it's
Speaker 1: still somehow possible with this schedule. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know what to do with this team. They look so
Speaker 1: good on paper.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you what a thing that that disappoints is
Speaker 6: Dak Prescott. You can look at the interception total from
Speaker 6: last year and talk about that, but really I think
Speaker 6: there is a little bit of riding on the wall
Speaker 6: or maybe just an underlying theme there with the whole
Speaker 6: acquisition of Trey Lance. They're gonna deny that, They're gonna
Speaker 6: you know, it doesn't matter what they informed Dak or not.
Speaker 6: I think that the confidence in him is a little
Speaker 6: bit rattled from last year. I go back to the
Speaker 6: one game they lost to Jacksonville late in the season
Speaker 6: where I was like, there's their weakness, there is their
Speaker 6: fatal flaw, and did that come back to bite them
Speaker 6: in the playoffs. Not necessarily, but if you're talking about
Speaker 6: getting to a super Bowl, you got to have consistent play,
Speaker 6: turnover free play from your quarterback. They just didn't get
Speaker 6: that last year. And at this point, it feels like,
Speaker 6: you know, Dak's debut season, which he's set the league
Speaker 6: on fire, feels pretty far away, even if they are
Speaker 6: super talented.
Speaker 4: And I would say also when he has to come
Speaker 4: out and say, you know, I'm gonna only throw this
Speaker 4: many interceptions, I don't like the idea of that, you know,
Speaker 4: counting that stat as you're going along and it reducing
Speaker 4: your desire to make fiery throws. That if you've become
Speaker 4: too conservative. And I also wonder with Mike McCarthy calling plays,
Speaker 4: did they get more conservative? I mean I thought that
Speaker 4: Kellen Moore was a tend to be quite aggressive and
Speaker 4: Mike McCarthy clock management issues were always an issue in
Speaker 4: Green Bay.
Speaker 2: So I says positive or not well depends. I mean,
Speaker 2: it was more behind the is the way these two
Speaker 2: seasons ended. So who knows, But like I don't know.
Speaker 2: I thought you made a good point the other day,
Speaker 2: Mark that there does seem to be a heaviness around
Speaker 2: Prescott and a weariness almost like it's toughy in the
Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys quarterback, especially when the years start to pile
Speaker 2: up and you haven't done anything substantial as a team.
Speaker 2: I think it's a big year for Dak and I
Speaker 2: do think Greg that as much as like everyone just said, Okay,
Speaker 2: they got Brandon cook so they addressed that, the missing playmaker.
Speaker 2: That's the only thing. I like this team a lot,
Speaker 2: and I think they're going to give the Eagles a
Speaker 2: real run for their money potentially. But I don't know
Speaker 2: if Cooks was the upgrade that made me feel like, Okay,
Speaker 2: they've addressed that.
Speaker 1: Now he's looked good. But it's partly Jalen Tolbert look
Speaker 1: good in camp, like Gallup is another year who we
Speaker 1: talked to on the podcast away from surgery. I just
Speaker 1: think they have answers at almost every position on the
Speaker 1: depth chart. Running back worries me a little bit, but
Speaker 1: if that's your biggest worry and you still have Tony Pollard,
Speaker 1: it's not that bad.
Speaker 2: The New York Giants, it was impossible even for Greg
Speaker 2: not to have some begrudging respect for what the Giants
Speaker 2: pulled off. The g Men finished the DUMA and finished
Speaker 2: the regular season with a negative point differential negative DVOA,
Speaker 2: but they still had a winning record.
Speaker 3: They claimed a wildcard.
Speaker 2: Spot, they took out the paper Tiger Vikings in the
Speaker 2: first round of the playoffs, and then reality a bit
Speaker 2: hard with the Eagles.
Speaker 3: But you know that happens even with that slice of
Speaker 3: humble pie.
Speaker 2: The season was a success and few teams were coached
Speaker 2: up as well as New York A year ago. Day
Speaker 2: Ball and DC winker back Daniel Jones signed long term.
Speaker 2: Darren Waller joined Sakwe Barkley. It's a nice little NBA
Speaker 2: jam style one two punch. The consensus theory here is
Speaker 2: that the regression monster will bite hard. Greg's about to
Speaker 2: say that, But if Dable and company are building something here,
Speaker 2: is it possible the Giants get better that that was
Speaker 2: a stepping stone year and they are in the mix
Speaker 2: once more.
Speaker 1: I think they could be better in the record wouldn't
Speaker 1: be better just because the division. I think that's the
Speaker 1: same with the Eagles too, and the Cowboys just because
Speaker 1: of the schedule. I am torn because I think the
Speaker 1: coaching staff is really good and on paper, I think
Speaker 1: they are a better roster you're seeing now in year
Speaker 1: two under Joe Shane some development. I am curious they're
Speaker 1: starting two rookie corners on the outside. Deonda Banks first
Speaker 1: round pick not a surprise there, Trey Hawkins sixth round pick,
Speaker 1: who they just love. Those are your starting players in
Speaker 1: a defense that puts a lot on their cornerbacks.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the back seven on defense is a
Speaker 4: bit of a concern. I here's the thing though, like
Speaker 4: how can they be better? Well, the reports on jail
Speaker 4: At Hyatt are have been great, that he's been lighting
Speaker 4: up camp like there's a different there's multiple there's multiverses
Speaker 4: you could have gotten with Darren Waller, and all the
Speaker 4: reporting on him is that he and Daniel Jones have
Speaker 4: been fantastic together and Waller looks like the old Waller,
Speaker 4: And I think it comes down to, like you know,
Speaker 4: they were they were trying to focus on Daniel Jones
Speaker 4: the pass or more at the end of last season
Speaker 4: and they still is that running ability in that floor,
Speaker 4: but do you get that Brian Dable Josh Allen type
Speaker 4: of bump where you get more touchdowns and you keep
Speaker 4: the ball safe, which has not been true of Daniel
Speaker 4: Jones before last season. If he improves, I think this
Speaker 4: team is a playoff team. I picked him as a
Speaker 4: wild card team.
Speaker 2: Spoiler spoiler for who.
Speaker 1: For the people that are waiting for that Monday season predictions, I.
Speaker 3: Mean the people who listen to the show for Nick.
Speaker 5: All right, well, guys, that's too Mark.
Speaker 6: All right, Well, I'm putting myself in line for a
Speaker 6: dart here, and that's fine. But I feel like Johnny
Speaker 6: Raincloud in this in this episode so far.
Speaker 1: But Cleveland, this is gonna test eric'ssonic darts, right, I
Speaker 1: just wasted ten seconds.
Speaker 6: Basically, I'm gonna tell you this. I agree with everything
Speaker 6: you guys just said. I think you have a great
Speaker 6: coaching staff or roster on paper is better. They should
Speaker 6: be better than they were last year. And yet for some reason,
Speaker 6: I just feel like they're not going to be any
Speaker 6: better and could be slightly worse. And it all comes
Speaker 6: down to Daniel Jones. Maybe in a couple of years
Speaker 6: you regret paying him. It's just I'm not inspired by
Speaker 6: his play, even though they figured out how to kind
Speaker 6: of get more out of him.
Speaker 2: Than any other staff did time out?
Speaker 5: What talk about clock management?
Speaker 2: It happens, so it happens sometimes.
Speaker 5: Is anyone else allowed to call it time out?
Speaker 1: By the way, right, But you have to have no
Speaker 1: when it got to do he turned it into a
Speaker 1: TV timeout which never even had exactly real or I'm
Speaker 1: not giving you this.
Speaker 3: What is there an injury on the field or something,
Speaker 3: that's the timeout?
Speaker 2: We get three and at the end of each division
Speaker 2: is a quarter break, there's a halftime break.
Speaker 3: It's just these things you.
Speaker 1: Have to know, all right, what is this for? What
Speaker 1: do you need it for?
Speaker 3: Finally, now I forgotten, shook. I forgot because you guys
Speaker 3: don't let me focus.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll let you focus. Will I say something?
Speaker 1: It is a good sign if we're going to keep
Speaker 1: talking giants that they were able to cut Jamison Crowder
Speaker 1: and Cole Beasley out of camp. That actually felt to
Speaker 1: me like, ooh, that's progress. Your receiver room actually stayed
Speaker 1: healthy enough. Your young players are looking good enough that
Speaker 1: you didn't have to keep the progress stoppers Cole Beasley
Speaker 1: and Jamison Crowder were at this point a year ago,
Speaker 1: those guys would have made the team.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The point I was gonna make was that Daniel Jones
Speaker 2: one of the big story. And this is an example
Speaker 2: of how great the coaching was for the Giants last year.
Speaker 2: And I Thinkdable got Coach of the Year. He deserved it,
Speaker 2: he did right.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, fumbling was a thank you.
Speaker 2: Bumbling was a major issue for Jones in his for
Speaker 2: initial three years in the league.
Speaker 3: They changed the way they used him to protect him
Speaker 3: just like Josh Allen struggled initially and then Brian da
Speaker 3: will figure that out, and they said, all right, if
Speaker 3: the first reason not there, get out of the pocket,
Speaker 3: scramble and use your legs, pick up first downs that way,
Speaker 3: and then you know when the pressure's coming, you're not
Speaker 3: gonna hit the blindside hits as much. All that was
Speaker 3: just so well done.
Speaker 2: And my final point, I guess was just shook coaching
Speaker 2: matters and the jump from Judge to Dable, the idea
Speaker 2: that they can continue to build something because they might
Speaker 2: have unlocked Jones.
Speaker 6: We'll see perhaps or that bump you get from good
Speaker 6: coaching was what got them to where they were last year.
Speaker 6: And now it's about personnel. And that's why I'm not confident.
Speaker 6: It's just the fact that he boosted them to that point.
Speaker 2: They totally should never give you guys. But I just
Speaker 2: think someone has to say because it's such a kind
Speaker 2: of boiled in take now to everyone's preseason conversation with
Speaker 2: the Giants are not rolled.
Speaker 1: Well, he's got him in the playoffs, Jody Batista. I
Speaker 1: just who wrote the great bit of Gil Brandt on
Speaker 1: the site, She's got the Giants in the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: heard tweet that too, See Giants. So two people that
Speaker 1: believe they give me twenty eighteen bills vibes. If you
Speaker 1: remember Joe Shane who was there in Buffalo, they made
Speaker 1: the playoffs that first year with Tyrod Taylor. They set
Speaker 1: the foundation. They had Josh Allen. The next year they
Speaker 1: actually almost seemed better, but they didn't make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They were under five hundred.
Speaker 3: The Washington commander is Nick Shook.
Speaker 6: Ron Rivera has hitched his wagon despite my concerns about
Speaker 6: a month ago, to a second year quarterback with only
Speaker 6: one start under his belt. So we commenced to prove
Speaker 6: it year where Sam Halle has to prove he deserved
Speaker 6: the responsibility of being QB one. Chase Young, who played
Speaker 6: in just twelve games in the last two seasons combined,
Speaker 6: has to prove that he can stay healthy enough to
Speaker 6: be worth paying or even pursuing next year, and right
Speaker 6: now he's dealing with a stinger. In fact, Ron Rivera
Speaker 6: today said, I have no idea what the doctor is
Speaker 6: going to do, but I do know right now that
Speaker 6: he's told him that he can continue to progress and
Speaker 6: get himself ready to go. So he may not even
Speaker 6: be ready for week one at this point. And speaking
Speaker 6: of Ron Rivera, he has to prove to new ownership,
Speaker 6: but he's still fit for the job. Hell, the franchise
Speaker 6: might even change its nickname again. Everything's up in the
Speaker 6: air right now. So I asked this question, is this
Speaker 6: the start of a beautiful new era in Washington or
Speaker 6: the final chapter of what could be Washington's great prelude
Speaker 6: the Ladder?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I think Ron Rivera's in a tough spot.
Speaker 4: And one of the reasons he's in a tough spot
Speaker 4: is that the Commanders have had twelve starting quarterbacks since
Speaker 4: twenty eighteen. I mean twelve different passers. Like, that's how
Speaker 4: you don't make progress. They've not found a guy. I
Speaker 4: think though, if you have Sam Howell and he ends
Speaker 4: up being as spicy as you know, hints and suggestions
Speaker 4: say he might be that can change everything. I mean,
Speaker 4: I'm not sure that saves Ron Rivera's job though. It
Speaker 4: kind of feels like when Doug Collins got fired by
Speaker 4: the Bulls because they knew they had this star in
Speaker 4: Michael Jordan and you get someone real in there to
Speaker 4: coach him up.
Speaker 5: Well, different sports though very different, but you.
Speaker 1: Know what I mean, it's the Jordan in this scenario.
Speaker 1: Sam Howell, Well, we don't know speak. I don't think
Speaker 1: not Michael Jordan. I'm not making that comparison.
Speaker 2: Ron spoke with Bert Breer about the Week eighteen hal game,
Speaker 2: and here is the Ronaverta quote. I kept saying, if
Speaker 2: I would have known this, I would have played him sooner.
Speaker 2: When you only have so much time to show it,
Speaker 2: it's hard. I keep thinking, God, But after the game,
Speaker 2: everything told me this kid. Give him the opportunity to
Speaker 2: see what he does with it. Well, you wait until
Speaker 2: week eighteen.
Speaker 5: But that's what bugs me.
Speaker 2: It's like, Okay, let's let's see if Rivera's eyes are right.
Speaker 2: But that seems taking too much out of a one
Speaker 2: game at the end of a season.
Speaker 1: I think I think he looked good in the priests.
Speaker 1: I think it makes sense to give him a shot
Speaker 1: and Sirian sure where they were. But to me, it's
Speaker 1: not about him. It's about this defensive line. This is
Speaker 1: year four for Ron Rivera. This defensive line has a
Speaker 1: chance not just to be the best defensive line in
Speaker 1: the league, but to be a defensive line that like
Speaker 1: Commandos fans remember forever. The first year post Snyder, we
Speaker 1: have Montes sweat who, to me, his power, his first step.
Speaker 1: He's one of the most underrated players in the league.
Speaker 1: To Ron Payin, a great player coming off a franchise
Speaker 1: tag his best season. Jonathan Tate Allen a literal All Pro.
Speaker 1: And Chase Young, the fourth best player on their defensive line,
Speaker 1: was the number two overall pick and maybe now he's
Speaker 1: healthy again. Like that group alone can be special, can
Speaker 1: make them worth watching. And I'm pretty high on them.
Speaker 1: We'll have to tell you how high on the next
Speaker 1: show if they get rid of Young. At some point
Speaker 1: Young and Sweaty is gone.
Speaker 3: Oh he got it in.
Speaker 5: I thought, that is absurd. I got it in by
Speaker 5: the buzzer.
Speaker 1: Let's go back then, you gonna let him talk back
Speaker 1: to you like that?
Speaker 2: That's what happens with the producers.
Speaker 3: They shoot, they pull the trigger once and then they
Speaker 3: can't stop.
Speaker 1: I think we need back.
Speaker 5: I can look at the clock like the tape on
Speaker 5: that one.
Speaker 2: I mean, pay attention America. That was a little social
Speaker 2: commentary from the old Seussir. All right, that was the
Speaker 2: NFC East.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: Let's now move to the NFC North. Right back to
Speaker 3: you next shock with the Vikings.
Speaker 6: All right, well, Minnesota. You called them a paper tagger earlier,
Speaker 6: and I agree because last year's surprise certainly isn't getting
Speaker 6: very much love this time around. Rightfully so. But it's
Speaker 6: also hard to love a team with so many replacements.
Speaker 6: Eric Kendricks is gone, Zadarius Smith get out of here,
Speaker 6: Adam Feeling go enjoy the syboard because you ain't retiring
Speaker 6: in Minnesota. Dalvin Cook probably the most, the highest profile
Speaker 6: of them all, Haye, life sounds like a Christopher Cross
Speaker 6: song from the eighties when you get cut between Minnesota
Speaker 6: and New York City, WA. He liked the bright lights
Speaker 6: of the Big Apple because you ain't see in the
Speaker 6: northern vits anymore. My friend thirteen wins last year, thirty
Speaker 6: first in total defense. There's a problem something here. Doesn't
Speaker 6: match up out goes ed Donna tell In Brian Flores,
Speaker 6: is his mastery of defense enough to propel them keep
Speaker 6: them really afloat. I think after losing so many key
Speaker 6: veterans on both sides of the ball, the offense will
Speaker 6: be okay even without Dalvin Cook. He still got Justin Jefferson, TJ.
Speaker 6: Hockinson just got paid. But I just feel like this team,
Speaker 6: we knew it wasn't what.
Speaker 1: Was the bad move though there. I loved all of
Speaker 1: those moves. I think that was what a smart team
Speaker 1: does is get rid of every single one of those
Speaker 1: players you just mentioned. Yeah, but they all sounds positive.
Speaker 6: It doesn't necessarily mean you win game.
Speaker 1: But who was good out of that group that like
Speaker 1: at their current salary? Maybe Cook, maybe that's it, but
Speaker 1: he was making thirteen million dollars.
Speaker 2: Dookaris.
Speaker 5: I like Darius Smith's a good player.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I think the Vikings are clearly they're building
Speaker 4: something different, and yet this is sort of like this
Speaker 4: was the worst defense a year ago. Obviously there's not
Speaker 4: a lot of evidence will be much better. They still
Speaker 4: Harrison Smith, Byron Murphy can play. I think the thing
Speaker 4: is that Flora is though uniformly. Everyone has talked about
Speaker 4: how much they love his system, how much they love
Speaker 4: playing for him. So if you can keep them around
Speaker 4: after this year and you get into that second part
Speaker 4: of the rebuild, I kind of like that from Minnesota
Speaker 4: a lot.
Speaker 5: I think Brian Flores should be a head coach.
Speaker 2: I think they were smart, and the salary cap played
Speaker 2: a role in this too, but I think they were
Speaker 2: smart not to get sucked in by what happened last year.
Speaker 2: Thirteen wins, You'll never see anything like that.
Speaker 4: Well, eleven and zero in one score games, Yeah, that's
Speaker 4: that is about as an anomaly show.
Speaker 2: They're turning things over, figuring things out, letting Kirk Cousins
Speaker 2: play out his contract.
Speaker 3: I think these were all wise moves.
Speaker 2: Why am I still though, kind of feeling in this
Speaker 2: division they're laying in the weeds.
Speaker 3: Yes, they could be in first place at the end
Speaker 3: of November.
Speaker 1: I just don't rule them out because I love the
Speaker 1: Jordan Addison pick. I think that offensively they could be
Speaker 1: pretty dynamic and defensively a lot of times it's less
Speaker 1: about just pure talent and more about energy and coaching,
Speaker 1: and Flor's to me, is the perfect coach for an
Speaker 1: under talented D. There's different coaches. It's like you want
Speaker 1: with talented players, like he can scheme up a bad
Speaker 1: group to be decent. I don't know if like he's
Speaker 1: the guy you want, like doing all this crazy stuff
Speaker 1: with the most talented group, But I think he could
Speaker 1: do a lot with this one. I'm with you, young young secondary.
Speaker 1: Though the worst team it was last.
Speaker 5: Year, it's not like they're how they can't be that.
Speaker 3: Lars is there, that's good, and they have justin Jefferson.
Speaker 2: He'll win three games with them alone.
Speaker 3: Detroit Lions.
Speaker 2: I love teams that enjoy a successful building block season
Speaker 2: and then they retain their brain trust. The Giants sime thing.
Speaker 2: The Lions won eight of their last ten games, became
Speaker 2: the talk of the league, and they returned this year
Speaker 2: with Dan Campbell at head coach Ben Johnson and OC
Speaker 2: Aaron Glenn running the d.
Speaker 3: The draft was funky.
Speaker 2: Jamiir Gibbs with twelfth twelfth overall seen as a reach
Speaker 2: middle linebacker Jack Campbell at eighteen was seen a slightly
Speaker 2: deranged and a clear Dan Campbell special, but other less
Speaker 2: heralded moves were made. They overhauled the secondary that was
Speaker 2: necessary for a d that improved as last year went along,
Speaker 2: but still needed work offseason. Hype and the Detroit Lions
Speaker 2: don't go together, but the logic here checks out that
Speaker 2: projects them as the best team in the NFC North,
Speaker 2: the most complete team ready to take that leap and
Speaker 2: get to the playoffs. So why can't I see it?
Speaker 3: I could see it here.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think, like, I think it's sort of natural to
Speaker 4: when we talk about these teams for so long in
Speaker 4: the offseason that like you're on board and then suddenly
Speaker 4: you're like, I might be flipping her here into the
Speaker 4: other thing. And it's like you could point to Jared
Speaker 4: Goff and say, would there be a regression? But here's
Speaker 4: the thing I think they have that they carried over
Speaker 4: from last year. A really mauling, talented offensive line, so bang,
Speaker 4: that's nine or ten wins right there in my book.
Speaker 5: And a really good pass rush.
Speaker 4: And I think you've got these this talent upfront on
Speaker 4: both sides that kind of reminds me of the Eagles.
Speaker 4: I just think they're a team that can go beat
Speaker 4: people up and shore over some of their weaknesses.
Speaker 1: I love what they did defensively, and I think that's
Speaker 1: what stops the regression is. Yeah, I don't expect their
Speaker 1: offense to be as you're not gonna get as good
Speaker 1: as season out of golf. Your number two receiver is
Speaker 1: who exactly? I mean, it's it's like Josh Josh Reynolds.
Speaker 1: Eventually it's James and Williams maybe, but I mean I
Speaker 1: don't necessarily that's.
Speaker 2: How they'll view him, I think, but whether he can
Speaker 2: play the guitar.
Speaker 1: But I think in the secondary, adding CJ. Gardner, Johnson,
Speaker 1: Emanuel Moseley is going to be back there. Brian Branch,
Speaker 1: I really think they could improve from one of the
Speaker 1: worst defenses shook to an asset to a better than
Speaker 1: average defense and then you're then you're cooking with gas.
Speaker 1: But to me, this division's wide open. It's nice to
Speaker 1: have a division that's wide open. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: many divisions are like that. Anyone could win this division.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that this is a team that's not
Speaker 6: going to need the offense to carry it so much
Speaker 6: this season. It's going to be a team that is
Speaker 6: more balanced, is going to take a bit of a
Speaker 6: step back offensively, just because you're not going to replicate
Speaker 6: that year by year with Jared Goff, who we know
Speaker 6: what his ceiling is. But I totally agree with what
Speaker 6: you said about the secondary. I think it's improved. And honestly,
Speaker 6: everybody crapped all over the first round picks, and even
Speaker 6: Sam Laporta that pick too. If come on, he caught
Speaker 6: some strays too, because he's an Iowa guy. You know whatever,
Speaker 6: Jack Campbell, if that's your guy that could be your
Speaker 6: guy for ten years at middle linebacker, and if that
Speaker 6: helps your defense get better along with the additions you
Speaker 6: made in the secondary, then go do it. You knew
Speaker 6: that was your weakness. Go get the guy that you
Speaker 6: think will make you better. I honestly, you know, we've
Speaker 6: talked about this team so much, and I agree that
Speaker 6: we're tired of it. We want to pick somebody else
Speaker 6: and go away from Chalk because the Lions should not
Speaker 6: be chalk, right, But I'm sticking with them. I think
Speaker 6: they're going to be solid.
Speaker 4: I do worry about them a little bit a week
Speaker 4: from now against that Chiefs team and what happens if
Speaker 4: they don't, if they get slaughtered.
Speaker 3: I'm taking the dart third year for Dan Campbell.
Speaker 1: We have a rule totally.
Speaker 2: I respect well Mark came in with the Chiefs are
Speaker 2: a hard team to beat.
Speaker 3: Take and that was my Dan Campbell opening. He took
Speaker 3: my opening.
Speaker 4: I'm we're saying psychologically, if they were if they were
Speaker 4: dissembled on national television in the kickoff opener, like that's
Speaker 4: I wonder what happens to that kind of team from there.
Speaker 4: They've not been in this place.
Speaker 3: We think they're mentally tough, though.
Speaker 4: I don't question their mental toughness at this point, but
Speaker 4: if they were to lose forty five, they're not going
Speaker 4: to They're gonna.
Speaker 1: Mark like grudgingly brought through that like six game winning
Speaker 1: streak at the end of line.
Speaker 5: No, it was because it's like.
Speaker 4: Hits on this show when you're when you're amped up
Speaker 4: to like through the ceiling, it's like what am I
Speaker 4: gonna just sit here and just absorb it, Like there's
Speaker 4: nothing you can do to be more energetic than Greg
Speaker 4: about the Lions all last season.
Speaker 5: So it's like, I.
Speaker 1: Also be you bury them in the middle of the season,
Speaker 1: so they were like a bad pick essentially, so that
Speaker 1: you know they came back.
Speaker 5: I thought they were fine. I enjoyed the experience as
Speaker 5: much as I chose.
Speaker 3: To Dan Campbell. This is his third year.
Speaker 2: If we if we subscribe to the thing that coaches
Speaker 2: don't get a fourth year if they don't make the
Speaker 2: PLAYFFS first thre years.
Speaker 3: Is he an outlier?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: There is pressure, though.
Speaker 2: This will be seen as a disappointment if they don't
Speaker 2: make it. Apologies to the academy breaking the rules. Give
Speaker 2: me a trick, give me right in the face.
Speaker 3: Cheek, taking it right out of my cheek. The Green
Speaker 3: Bay Packers, Greg.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about this team. I don't know what's going
Speaker 1: to happen in this division. I think they had one
Speaker 1: of the best camps of any team in the NFL.
Speaker 1: The Green Bay Packers Bactiari's healthy, Jenkins's there. That might
Speaker 1: be the best left side of an offensive line in
Speaker 1: the league. The offensive line in general looks fantastic. I
Speaker 1: think they gave up one quarterback hit in three preseason games.
Speaker 1: I know it's a preseason. I think Jordan Love checked
Speaker 1: all the boxes. I think the two rookies that are
Speaker 1: going to play a lot, Musgrave and Jade Reid had
Speaker 1: nice camps and checked some boxes. I hate that they
Speaker 1: didn't make a change of defensive coordinator, but there is
Speaker 1: a lot of talent on the defense side. I just
Speaker 1: think they had a really perfect camp, and I do
Speaker 1: think there's a little bit of post Aaron Rodgers, Matt Lafleur,
Speaker 1: Jordan Love. Let's show them what we can do without
Speaker 1: the old gunslinger around.
Speaker 4: I'm so with you because I think as much as
Speaker 4: we have on a national stage, seen a transform Aaron
Speaker 4: Rodgers in terms of added happiness, contentment like the Packers,
Speaker 4: and I think Packers fans should embrace this completely new,
Speaker 4: mysterious leg of the journey. I mean, you're kind of
Speaker 4: freed from the expectations that were there with far. I
Speaker 4: think they have Rogers, but I think that's something about
Speaker 4: them is I feel I'm refreshed. I'm more excited about
Speaker 4: this division and this team in a long time because
Speaker 4: I think actually Love is going to succeed. I mean,
Speaker 4: it's like, I don't think it's a bad thing for
Speaker 4: some of these quarterbacks to sit and learn for a
Speaker 4: couple of years. I know that's no now you to
Speaker 4: throw him out there in Week one as a rookie,
Speaker 4: but it's like he may have benefited from being behind
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers mentally for a.
Speaker 2: Com he needs some help. I mean, Christian Watson really
Speaker 2: balled out as the season went along, so I feel
Speaker 2: good about him as a developing star. Romeo of Dobbs,
Speaker 2: you're gonna want him to take that next step. I
Speaker 2: think that's certainly possible. You have Luke Musgrave there. But again,
Speaker 2: I just can't get I have too much recent history.
Speaker 2: I can't get excited about rookie tight Ends. I just can't.
Speaker 2: But maybe he develops quickly. I like the idea of
Speaker 2: the theory of it that Matt Lafleur and Jordan Love.
Speaker 2: They're putting their heads together. Let's let's stick it to
Speaker 2: the football cognates Anti.
Speaker 5: With a clock.
Speaker 2: That pause is even worse. But you have to have
Speaker 2: the goods if they don't know yet. We don't know
Speaker 2: what Lafleur is like without Aaron Rodgers, and we don't
Speaker 2: know who Jordan Love is yet.
Speaker 1: Sure, but I think the line in the running game shook.
Speaker 1: Maybe it'll make the quarterback look better.
Speaker 6: Yeah, although I thought it was strange that they, you know,
Speaker 6: kick the tires on Jonathan Taylor. That was kind of
Speaker 6: interesting considering who they have it running back. But that's
Speaker 6: neither here nor there. What's more important to me is
Speaker 6: I got that feel good vibe through the TV on
Speaker 6: a preseason game, and usually preseason games are sleepy. It's
Speaker 6: just all right, we're gonna come out and see the
Speaker 6: starters for a couple series and then it's just gonna
Speaker 6: kind of peter out to the end. It was not
Speaker 6: the case in Green Bay. The young kids are now
Speaker 6: in charge. They've taken over this team. Do I think
Speaker 6: Jordan Love's gonna go be an all pro?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 6: But do I think that the release of the pressure
Speaker 6: with the departure of Aaron Rodgers can kind of invigorate
Speaker 6: this team that has a talented defense, It has a
Speaker 6: good running game, that has a good offensive line. Yeah,
Speaker 6: the young kids at receiver, you look like they're starting
Speaker 6: starting to take the next step with Jordan Love. I
Speaker 6: like this team, sneaky good team.
Speaker 3: Did you know the Cults in exchange for Jonathan Taylor
Speaker 3: asked for lambeau Field and the blood of the firstborn
Speaker 3: children of Milwaukee. That was what the trade offer was.
Speaker 4: I did not, But what what are they like the
Speaker 4: rules and regulations of this show.
Speaker 1: I mean, the man who started show business the two
Speaker 1: day ex let's respect, let's respect the trend very solemnly,
Speaker 1: you said that, and then it overrode.
Speaker 3: It was a good bit, so I had to get
Speaker 3: it out and I'm taking.
Speaker 2: The l And you guys are so stuck in your
Speaker 2: ways with your rules that you couldn't see a good
Speaker 2: bit when I was staring right in the face.
Speaker 1: Are you the first born? No one was questioning the bit.
Speaker 1: We all liked the bit. We just have respect for
Speaker 1: the game. We all like the bit. I'm not following
Speaker 1: any rules in great bit. I'm just gonna keep talking
Speaker 1: as much as I want to. I mean, Milwaukee is
Speaker 1: are from Green Bay. They're sort of in there, like
Speaker 1: a little bit of a rivalry. Hey, we're not Milwaukee.
Speaker 2: Oh far is Milwaukee from green Well?
Speaker 5: They used to play in Milwaukee like they used to
Speaker 5: play split home games.
Speaker 3: I have no ideas.
Speaker 1: It's pretty far.
Speaker 2: It's a major metro area. It's it's the closest major
Speaker 2: metro area from Green Bay, which is kind of a sleepy.
Speaker 3: Area of Wisconsin.
Speaker 5: You could still be still be a packer stockholder down there.
Speaker 2: Like I could have said the first born children of Appleton. Yeah,
Speaker 2: which is much closer but doesn't hit as hard as
Speaker 2: a bit Milwaukee's nice.
Speaker 4: Now you nail the bit not I don't think anyone's
Speaker 4: questioning that aspect of it.
Speaker 3: Dan one of the.
Speaker 1: Bits of the year.
Speaker 3: In Cleveland, Chicago, the Bear is mark. All Right.
Speaker 4: We have someone here at NFL Media, Michelle Magic. She
Speaker 4: is in our research department and one of the hosts
Speaker 4: of the ball Blast podcast, and she was the only
Speaker 4: one of all of NFL media who picked Matt Eberflus,
Speaker 4: who's just been a for those verbally taken down all offseason,
Speaker 4: to win Coach of the Year.
Speaker 5: And here's why. Let's hear from.
Speaker 7: Her now that he finally has a real wide receiver
Speaker 7: one in Dj Moore. Bears quarterback Justin Fields is ready
Speaker 7: to take that Jalen hurts us third year leap this year,
Speaker 7: and opposing defenses have already struggled to stop the bears
Speaker 7: dominant rushing attack, and now they're also going to have
Speaker 7: to worry about their passing game.
Speaker 6: That is brutal for them. But most importantly, they play
Speaker 6: in the.
Speaker 7: Very weak NFC where a wildcard spot is a very
Speaker 7: easy path with the Bears if they can put it
Speaker 7: all together, and I'm predicting just that, I think the
Speaker 7: Bear sneak into the playoffs this season, and if head
Speaker 7: coach Matt Eberflus can transform the worst team in the
Speaker 7: NFL last season to a playoff team in just one offseason,
Speaker 7: he is going to be a top candidate for Coach
Speaker 7: of the Year, no doubt in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 5: All Right, does it check out?
Speaker 2: If you speak with passion on a topic, you will
Speaker 2: sell me most of the time. Yeah, could be easily
Speaker 2: misled by a charismatic leader, and I think we just
Speaker 2: saw them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I liked you giving up your time. Also, there's
Speaker 1: a history. It's less work for me. Love somewhat underwhelming
Speaker 1: Bears coaches winning Coach of the Year Matt Naggi ever
Speaker 1: recent one, Dick durn two time winner. I believe am
Speaker 1: I making that up? At least won once. Lovey Smith,
Speaker 1: who is a better coach, but he won Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year too. It's a fine tradition.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I understand the idea there, because the because
Speaker 2: they're so down bad last year, that helps relentlessly losing
Speaker 2: that If Fields makes a leap and these additions prop
Speaker 2: up the roster, they're gonna end up doubling their win total,
Speaker 2: maybe tripling their win total, and that's how Coach of
Speaker 2: the Year awards are handed out.
Speaker 1: I have my doubts about the Bears, but I think
Speaker 1: if you're trying to see what Eberflus and Polls are doing,
Speaker 1: it's in the secondary. I think that's the one area
Speaker 1: of the team that has a chance to be special
Speaker 1: other than justin Field's running. You know, they drafted Brisker
Speaker 1: and Gordon last year. Gordon's in the slot, Brisker was
Speaker 1: pretty spicy. Tyreek Stevenson was a guy that drafted this year,
Speaker 1: and then they still have Jalen Johnson in a free
Speaker 1: agent year, they still have Eddie Jackson. Like that, to
Speaker 1: me shook a sort of their vision is in that secondary.
Speaker 1: That's Ryan Poles's guys. Like if they have a special secondary,
Speaker 1: the defense can get a lot better.
Speaker 6: That's that's the part of the team I love the most.
Speaker 6: And I was I raised an eyebrow when Yanni kin
Speaker 6: Goakway signed with them, because I was like, don't you
Speaker 6: want to go play for a team that's that you
Speaker 6: said would be a contender. This is not a team
Speaker 6: that is necessarily that on paper. But I love that
Speaker 6: back end of the defense. I think it can be
Speaker 6: a lot better than it was last year. I'm not
Speaker 6: going to put them the playoffs. I'm not going to
Speaker 6: give Matt Eberflus to Coach the Year. What I am
Speaker 6: going to say is that I think we were just
Speaker 6: introduced to the cult of Mark Sessler. Now they say
Speaker 6: best coast, West Coast, best coast. I think best coast
Speaker 6: is Sess Coast. You know, let's just gather it all
Speaker 6: around right now. It doesn't have to be senter on
Speaker 6: the Bears. But you want to make that argument for
Speaker 6: any team or any belief, I'll probably follow you right
Speaker 6: in line. As for the Bears gonna be better, but
Speaker 6: the bar was low.
Speaker 3: What an interesting direction there.
Speaker 4: I well, it's Brett Zieros. So I guess I'll just
Speaker 4: keep talking because that's what we do in the show.
Speaker 4: Apparently get him drank your ace. It hit me right
Speaker 4: in the butt in the buttocks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year. Stuff.
Speaker 3: Gotta be careful now it's half time.
Speaker 5: What do you not care?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: Just like, remember that Mike mccagnin once was the pro
Speaker 2: Foball Writers Association Executive the Year. That's the same guy
Speaker 2: that passed on Patrick Mahomes because he had Bryce Petty
Speaker 2: and Christian Hackenberg already on the roster's developmental quarterbacks sound move.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you get sucked in by one year, and I.
Speaker 4: Think it's I want to see a study on these guys,
Speaker 4: because a lot of times you win Coach of the
Speaker 4: Year because your roster was, you know, a one win outfit.
Speaker 4: Then you win nine and everyone's excited, but then you
Speaker 4: you know, you go back down and it's like when
Speaker 4: you win these awards, I think the year after, it's
Speaker 4: almost like an s I jinx. Like a lot of
Speaker 4: times they kind of crater or vanish and to your point,
Speaker 4: like mccagnin, like that couldn't have been a more disastrous,
Speaker 4: Like you know, he's celebrating too hard off his little trophy.
Speaker 1: Has Dickon, by the way, only one one coach because
Speaker 1: he had only one winning season out of five.
Speaker 2: Before we take a break, Greg, I know you do
Speaker 2: another podcast with a successful comedian, but just want to
Speaker 2: add a little more context on.
Speaker 1: Jessel Nick and Rosenthal Vandy project. Yeah, people should check
Speaker 1: that out.
Speaker 2: Yes, the bit from earlier, the context there was that
Speaker 2: the Colts are asking for a lot in these Jonathan
Speaker 2: Taylor faux trade talks. So me, I was me coming
Speaker 2: off the top rope and saying, send lambeau Field and
Speaker 2: the firstborn.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: See it's all the payoff of it, Yes, but the
Speaker 2: football context is so important.
Speaker 1: That's one of the most important things about jokes. Are
Speaker 1: explaining him ten minutes later, I thought you needed I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't need it. We all got the joke. It
Speaker 1: was a great it was a great joke, but ground
Speaker 1: so I understand that we all analysis, we all we
Speaker 1: all got it. And and I think I think it
Speaker 1: was trenchant. I think the Colts are up to no
Speaker 1: good with these asking.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes in this world people are afraid to laugh.
Speaker 5: Now you're poking.
Speaker 2: I like what you're doing, and I think it's okay
Speaker 2: to laugh when a bit comes off the top rope
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 4: I hope we can have a fourth conversation about this
Speaker 4: in a roughly eighteen minutes.
Speaker 2: All right, it's halftime. Let's take a break, and then
Speaker 2: we'll get to the back half of the NFC And
Speaker 2: exactly two twenty four minutes.
Speaker 3: And we're back.
Speaker 2: Before we get to the back half, we gotta talk
Speaker 2: about NFL plus next Thursday, the debut of Around the
Speaker 2: NFL and NFL Plus. It's about what twenty minutes of
Speaker 2: fun breaking down the week that was, the week that's
Speaker 2: coming up in that classic ATM style, kind of old
Speaker 2: school bits that we enjoy some new school flavor. Talked
Speaker 2: about it on the previous show. We're going to have
Speaker 2: the fan engagement as well by getting involved in sending
Speaker 2: us sub missions of questions, comments that we can react to.
Speaker 4: Mark I spoke with someone up on the third floor
Speaker 4: who said that, you know, since we've started to send
Speaker 4: the message out that this is going to be happening
Speaker 4: all season long, that the subscriptions are going crazy, because
Speaker 4: those are the people that understand what reality is about.
Speaker 4: If you're someone that thinks like I'll skate by this
Speaker 4: campaign this year, this season without being a part of this,
Speaker 4: you're that again. You're that person floating, floating through your society,
Speaker 4: your community, probably getting dumped left and right. You know,
Speaker 4: no traction in any sort of career.
Speaker 2: To borrow a Sessler is a floating trash bag.
Speaker 5: You're a floating trash that what you want.
Speaker 1: To be one and oh, by the way, you get
Speaker 1: football game. My good friend Dave best man of my weddy.
Speaker 1: He texted me and because he heard a stocking ENVI them.
Speaker 1: He's like, I didn't even realize because he doesn't have
Speaker 1: YouTube TV. Yeah, it's great if you do. He doesn't
Speaker 1: have any cable. He has no way to watch football games.
Speaker 1: You get your live local you know, you get the
Speaker 1: local games, to get the primetime games, he's just watching
Speaker 1: it on NFL bus. He goes to bars.
Speaker 2: How many jobs does Greg have?
Speaker 3: Can you peel off a couple of ben.
Speaker 1: He's doing fine, but he's, you know, a public school teacher.
Speaker 1: They're not paying them as much as they should. And
Speaker 1: he's got a million different services. So he goes out
Speaker 1: and he watches and he or he gets the illegal streams.
Speaker 1: A lot of people do that. Oh, a lot of
Speaker 1: young people do that.
Speaker 5: He's sort of backed into this whole.
Speaker 1: Now you've got NFL Plus and you get your games.
Speaker 2: So not only tells that Dave is not able to
Speaker 2: buy all these things, he's also stealing that's illegal.
Speaker 1: He was now he doesn't have to.
Speaker 2: He's he's signed up now star his last name and
Speaker 2: a social security He was like, I.
Speaker 1: Was surprised by the local games. I'll subscribe he's in.
Speaker 2: So if you want to as some mid videos ATM
Speaker 2: Fan of the Week at gmail dot com, NFL Plus
Speaker 2: plus at M. All right, let's get back into it.
Speaker 2: The NFC south Mark, Tampa Bay Buccanets.
Speaker 5: Okay, thank you, I will do Tampa Bay.
Speaker 4: I think the most casual fan understands that Baker Mayfield
Speaker 4: has played well in spurts in his career.
Speaker 3: Shook.
Speaker 4: You've seen that he played pretty well this preseason, but
Speaker 4: his overall sample size, I think it just spells out
Speaker 4: this defined ceiling that was tough for me to come
Speaker 4: to grips with in the past as a Browns fan,
Speaker 4: but you see it. I think three two three very
Speaker 4: big of me. Three teams have moved on from Mayfield.
Speaker 4: That is not a great lore there, and Kyle Trask
Speaker 4: is really nothing more than a project. So it kind
Speaker 4: of leads me to this more general question about the Bucks, like,
Speaker 4: why would any NFL team with a relatively attractive roster
Speaker 4: go into a season with such little juice under center?
Speaker 4: Because don't tell me like they're out of moves or
Speaker 4: they can't find anyone. Because creative front offices in twenty
Speaker 4: twenty three are finding a way to make almost anything
Speaker 4: happen in the draft on the open market to get
Speaker 4: that guy. There aren't many teams with this quarterback situation.
Speaker 4: So where do the Bucks think this will lead? When,
Speaker 4: like Bobby Joe, sixth grader knows, this light leads to disaster.
Speaker 2: I have a take. You know, it's the rage now
Speaker 2: post pandemic life. A lot of people are quiet quitting.
Speaker 2: Bucks are quiet tanking. It's quiet tank. It's a quiet tank.
Speaker 2: It's not an outright They have a lot of veterans.
Speaker 1: They actually went out of their way to keep those.
Speaker 2: I understand that, but they also don't intend to keep
Speaker 2: those guys, probably beyond this year. In many cases, I
Speaker 2: don't think they intend to keep the head coach or
Speaker 2: the quarterback. It's a quiet, quiet surrender.
Speaker 1: I hear you. And there's some guys who you write
Speaker 1: I think will be in there last year, maybe Mike Evans,
Speaker 1: maybe Shaq Barrett, Levante David came back on a one
Speaker 1: year deal, but they also gave like long term deal
Speaker 1: to Carlton Davis. They like Shaq Barrett is still there,
Speaker 1: Vita Vea is still there. They I don't think they're tanking.
Speaker 1: I think they have a huge cap hit with Tom
Speaker 1: Brady who's making thirty or and he's not making it,
Speaker 1: but he's thirty six million dollars. And at quarterback, they
Speaker 1: thought they could get by if the rest of the
Speaker 1: team is good enough, which it's not. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: be good enough.
Speaker 6: Yeah, they sold their soul and they attached themselves to
Speaker 6: a gamer of a quarterback who has more teams from
Speaker 6: the last year than than well most other things. So,
Speaker 6: uh did that did fall flat?
Speaker 3: You know it?
Speaker 6: But what I will say about the Buccaneers, the.
Speaker 1: Problem is the one minute warning stepped on it. You
Speaker 1: want to redo the bit?
Speaker 6: No, no, not at all, because it was terrible.
Speaker 5: You're the only one that doesn't.
Speaker 6: I would say the Buccaneers are this. They're a team
Speaker 6: that is in transition, that is, you know, paying for
Speaker 6: their title from a few years ago. And then they
Speaker 6: know that they don't have much room to operate, and
Speaker 6: they went with Baker, who you know is gonna potentially,
Speaker 6: you know, lead them to a few gritty wins. And
Speaker 6: it's gonna be that there's gonna be a lot of turnovers,
Speaker 6: there's gonna be a inn accuracy and inconsistency, and they're
Speaker 6: gonna have playmakers outside. They're gonna hope for the best
Speaker 6: and maybe their defense will be good enough to keep
Speaker 6: them in some some games. But it's a wide open division,
Speaker 6: so they feel like they don't need to be an
Speaker 6: elite team to win the division. I just don't think
Speaker 6: they're gonna win the division.
Speaker 5: When do we see Kyle Trask?
Speaker 6: I don't when the season is lost.
Speaker 1: I think I do like sixth round rookie Trey Palmer
Speaker 1: looked pretty spicy. I think he's gonna get Snap's kind
Speaker 1: of a fun guy to watch.
Speaker 3: The Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1: Greg Roseenhal, I feel like I've been negative about the
Speaker 1: Panthers here. They were my number one pick as the
Speaker 1: under so let's let's spin it positive. I thought Bryce
Speaker 1: Young in the preseason actually looked exactly like you would
Speaker 1: think Bryce Young would look like. I do think he's
Speaker 1: gonna be someone do you have to watch. You're gonna
Speaker 1: have to watch him, maybe even on the All twenty
Speaker 1: two each week because his surroundings are gonna make it
Speaker 1: difficult for him. But I think there's a way for
Speaker 1: him to be successful. For Frank Rake to set a
Speaker 1: foundation for what he's gonna be without having incredible numbers,
Speaker 1: but he sees the field he can be that point guard.
Speaker 1: They're asking him to do a lot, I do. I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna ask him to do more than maybe
Speaker 1: any rookie quarterback since Burrow, at least in terms of
Speaker 1: really running that offense. And he's shown some anticipation, so
Speaker 1: he's gonna be someone be patient, but watch it. I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna look better on film than he will
Speaker 1: probably in the box score. What else matters with the Panthers.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, they to compete, but all that matters
Speaker 1: is Bryce Young.
Speaker 6: I mean, the vibes are high because of Bryce Young
Speaker 6: and because they spend a ton of money in their
Speaker 6: coaching staff. Greg I mean, run down the list, Josh McCown,
Speaker 6: QB's coach. You got a number of other notable guys
Speaker 6: on this staff. Frank Reich's here to change the culture,
Speaker 6: and they do have some leftovers and a defense that
Speaker 6: is sneaky good. I think was their best aspect the
Speaker 6: last three years was that defense, because the offense was
Speaker 6: just so lost with the number of quarterbacks that they
Speaker 6: switched in and out. Again, this division is wide open,
Speaker 6: so I don't think it's going to take all that much.
Speaker 6: All have to do is kind of string a few
Speaker 6: together and kind of figure it out. It's just that
Speaker 6: this team is attaching himself to a quarterback. He's gonna
Speaker 6: have a little bit of growing pains, but like you said,
Speaker 6: they're going to ask him to do a lot and
Speaker 6: I think he's equipped to do it as long as
Speaker 6: he can see down the field. That's the biggest issue
Speaker 6: that everybody's made a big deal out of, is this height.
Speaker 6: We're not height shaming here, but he is a solid player.
Speaker 6: Bryce Young is who I think is going to be
Speaker 6: doing a quality job with this team. It's just again,
Speaker 6: how high can they really go. It'll be better than
Speaker 6: where they were with Stam Darnold Baker Mayfield last year,
Speaker 6: and to me, that alone is an improvement in the
Speaker 6: first year of new regime.
Speaker 4: Well, and it's a point of departure, and there's hope
Speaker 4: because this is a different player than Sam Darnold or
Speaker 4: Baker Mayfield, and you've got a different coaching staff and
Speaker 4: there that's not gonna get fired a month into the campaign.
Speaker 4: My concern though, because it's like you don't want to
Speaker 4: attach too much to the limited tape that we saw
Speaker 4: coming out of the preseason. But it's the offensive line
Speaker 4: because I think their strength is there is their defensive front.
Speaker 4: They got to, like you said, under the radar defense.
Speaker 5: But you've got to keep him protected.
Speaker 4: This is one quarterback because if it's its size and
Speaker 4: it's like, look at he can take hits. It's not
Speaker 4: that he's the first time he gets smacked, he's going
Speaker 4: to be out of there. But like some of this
Speaker 4: is a different situation than where you were in college,
Speaker 4: and that that offensive line spooked me the entire month.
Speaker 2: I think that in the next team we get to,
Speaker 2: I'll spell it out more. But like Tampa Bay and
Speaker 2: even like Atlanta who's trying to figure out their quarterback situation,
Speaker 2: this is a team in transition, and yeah, I think
Speaker 2: maybe they could hang in the division here if some
Speaker 2: things go their way, but I don't. I struggle to
Speaker 2: take them seriously as a team that matters this year.
Speaker 2: And that doesn't mean that this year doesn't matter if
Speaker 2: you're a Panthers fan, because there's an important building block season.
Speaker 2: There's not a lot of heat to me a host,
Speaker 2: not right now. The one team that's different is the Saints,
Speaker 2: and I think they are set up well for success
Speaker 2: this fall. In terms of what success means for the
Speaker 2: New Orleans Saints in the post Breeze and Peyton era,
Speaker 2: they have a solid defense with the veterans like Cam
Speaker 2: Jordan to Mario Davis, rush On Lottimore, a respectable offensive
Speaker 2: attack with an upgrade of QB. In my opinion, they
Speaker 2: have the very good fortune of playing in a highly
Speaker 2: mediocre and developing NFC South Division. You don't have to
Speaker 2: love the Saints to see them winning nine or ten
Speaker 2: games this year. In a way, Derek Carr was the
Speaker 2: perfect addition for this team, GREGI, because the Saints are
Speaker 2: the Derek Carr of NFL teams to me, good enough
Speaker 2: to be relevant, but not substantial enough to actually matter.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I think the Falcons and the Saints will matter
Speaker 1: because they have a chance to rack up wins in
Speaker 1: this division just based on the schedule. The Saints are
Speaker 1: feeling themselves. I'm a little wary of it, but the
Speaker 1: Saints and their fans are feeling themselves after this preseason.
Speaker 1: The hopes are much higher locally than I would have.
Speaker 1: But they look at Carr, and the line is pretty
Speaker 1: healthy right now, and Thomas and Olave and Shaheed and
Speaker 1: the deep backfield and kamaras back and they think with
Speaker 1: this defense, like we could win eleven or twelve games,
Speaker 1: we could be a top five to ten offense. That's
Speaker 1: what they're thinking. I'm not thinking that not.
Speaker 4: I mean, they play the weakest schedule that matters. I
Speaker 4: think you can, you can compile and add wins that
Speaker 4: you wouldn't in in a different part of the league.
Speaker 4: Their offensive defensive line not really impressed with either, not overly,
Speaker 4: but you have parts all over the place. I mean,
Speaker 4: to me, it's like any team with Derek Carr and
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm so negative on car. Like the
Speaker 4: floor is there, it's higher, it's higher than it would
Speaker 4: be with some quarterbacks, but the ceiling just feels shaky
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 5: And it's like, I but That's what I'm talking about. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm with you though, Yeah, that that.
Speaker 2: I think he'll help them and stabilize their offense in
Speaker 2: a way that Jameis and Winston and company haven't Jameis
Speaker 2: Winston and company haven't been able to do.
Speaker 5: Is he better than Jameis Winston? One?
Speaker 3: Oh, I think that a doubt person Jameson Winston will play.
Speaker 4: Oh, look, I think some of the highs with Jameis
Speaker 4: Winston are just like pretty phenomenal, and obviously there's the lows.
Speaker 2: It's way more variance with Winston.
Speaker 4: Carl living up car last year was not a good
Speaker 4: quarterback like you can in the league for ten years.
Speaker 5: The same size is bigger than that. But like he
Speaker 5: was a mess last year.
Speaker 4: He lost them games and so it's I always want
Speaker 4: to see where these Saints fans are two months from now.
Speaker 1: What do you think shook about the fact that the
Speaker 1: Saints punter was a professional scaffolder then owned a tattoo
Speaker 1: shop in Bali and Indonesia, and he's once played Australian
Speaker 1: his football, never American football until just like four years
Speaker 1: ago in his mid twenties. What do you think about that?
Speaker 6: That's great, that's appreciation. That's a little bit extra boost,
Speaker 6: a little bit extra energy into every punt. Maybe it'll
Speaker 6: even hit the roof of the of the Super Dome.
Speaker 1: Rookie, this is a movie waiting to happen.
Speaker 6: Yeah it is, and uh, I have nothing further to
Speaker 6: add on it.
Speaker 3: Bakers and Bryce Young are the quarterbacks of this division.
Speaker 6: This team is going to be last year's Vikings team.
Speaker 6: They're gonna win thirteen games and we're gonna realize they
Speaker 6: weren't that good.
Speaker 3: Real. Oh that's a good take. That's worth taking a
Speaker 3: trank for.
Speaker 5: I hope he picked the SA Division winner.
Speaker 2: Give it to him again.
Speaker 3: Oh he got him in the eye. Outfit him with
Speaker 3: a patch.
Speaker 2: Like when you see in modern times the guys that
Speaker 2: got the patch.
Speaker 5: It's like, how often are you encountering that bully?
Speaker 3: To you, my man?
Speaker 2: Because you look like a bad effort.
Speaker 5: It's a choice.
Speaker 3: Then you gotta grow out to go to you at
Speaker 3: that point, could.
Speaker 4: Go glass eye if you need it too. So it's
Speaker 4: it's definitely, it's it, but only if.
Speaker 3: It's like the contact with like the eight ball or something.
Speaker 2: Let's close out the South with the beloved Falcons.
Speaker 6: Nick Schook, Well, the hot topic in Atlanta is b
Speaker 6: Jeon Robinson. He's the new face of all things Atlanta
Speaker 6: that aren't related to the Braves. But I love the
Speaker 6: Falcons for some different reasons. One Arthur Smith is the
Speaker 6: coaching embodiment of the acronym that the kids love to use.
Speaker 2: D G A F.
Speaker 6: Don't give a you know what. He's gonna do it
Speaker 6: his way, And even if you criticize him, He can't
Speaker 6: hear you throw all that FedEx money. And reason number.
Speaker 2: Two is the NFC sound rich to Arthur Smith.
Speaker 6: Exactly can't hear you? I got the money phone up?
Speaker 3: What too?
Speaker 6: Rich? The NFC South is wide open, which we've spoken
Speaker 6: about plenty at this point, So why not the Falcons?
Speaker 6: Desmond Ritter might be why. I mean, you know, he
Speaker 6: had a nice little four game stretch last year, but
Speaker 6: you know there's not a huge sample size on him
Speaker 6: and a ton of comment at this point. But can
Speaker 6: he prove Arthur Smith correcting? Going with him? They added
Speaker 6: some veterans in the offseason, Jesse Bates klays Campbell. That
Speaker 6: tells me that these guys see a little bit of
Speaker 6: potential there. And they won seven games despite finishing twenty
Speaker 6: fourth in offense and twenty seventh in defense. And these
Speaker 6: changes in the offseason mean they have to be a
Speaker 6: little bit better, right. I mean, it could be much
Speaker 6: worse than Marcus Mariota quarterback, who is so bad last
Speaker 6: year that you just flat out committed to the run.
Speaker 6: And they have the easiest strength schedule in the NFL,
Speaker 6: so chances are they might be better than that seven
Speaker 6: win mark they've hit.
Speaker 4: They are going to be better. They had sixty eight
Speaker 4: sacks over the last three seasons. They've added some pieces.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying their defense will completely flip the switch
Speaker 4: out of the gate, but they added parts, reliable players.
Speaker 4: I just think this offense is going to be the
Speaker 4: one of the stories of the season. We've talked about
Speaker 4: it a ton on the show. I think other teams
Speaker 4: better get ready to pay the price. Their little front
Speaker 4: lawns are going to get burned down by the Falcons
Speaker 4: because I think this is a different type of team
Speaker 4: and Arthur Smith, you know what, I'll say one thing.
Speaker 4: I think he's tried to completely blow away the idea
Speaker 4: that he's some sort of Nepo baby.
Speaker 5: He's gone his own route.
Speaker 4: I don't know how much money coming into the bank
Speaker 4: account from FedEx, probably not a small amount, but I mean,
Speaker 4: he's his own guy, and I think he's in year three.
Speaker 4: This is an Arthur Smith team. It looks a lot
Speaker 4: like the way the Titans punished teams. It went out
Speaker 4: and it got the parts quickly and right now. I
Speaker 4: think they're so different than any other team out there,
Speaker 4: but I cannot wait to see them.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm in on Smith because he brings something
Speaker 1: to the table. When he arrived there, they were known
Speaker 1: as the worst offensive line in the league for like
Speaker 1: five plus years. Right now, certainly in run blocking and
Speaker 1: mostly with the same guys, you can look at them
Speaker 1: and say that might be the best offensive line in
Speaker 1: the league in terms of run blocking. He completely transformed
Speaker 1: their energy and that's something to build off. We'll see.
Speaker 1: We haven't mentioned Ryan Neil Sin's name once this offseason.
Speaker 1: That's their new defensive coordinator. He came from New Orleans.
Speaker 1: The talent's better on defense, Dan. I don't know if
Speaker 1: they're gonna be any better. That's a mystery. But you
Speaker 1: gotta mashers up front because of Arthur Smith in that mustache.
Speaker 2: You guys have warned me down. I can't do it anymore.
Speaker 2: I'm just it's time for the season to start. I
Speaker 2: think Taylor Heineke starts six games for this team. Ooh,
Speaker 2: maybe you still win ten because the division is dogs.
Speaker 2: But you guys can be very excited. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to say any anything negative other than.
Speaker 1: Disagreement's good.
Speaker 3: Last division.
Speaker 5: See what you did here, you snake draft?
Speaker 2: Snake draft.
Speaker 3: Last division is the San Francisco NFC West. Here is
Speaker 3: the San Francisco forty nine ers. Here is Nick Schuck.
Speaker 6: Back to back we go. The hottest topic in the
Speaker 6: Bay Area remains the same as it's been for most
Speaker 6: of the Kyle Shanahan and John lynch earrow, which is
Speaker 6: quarterback half the discussion retired officially when San Francisco traded
Speaker 6: Tree Lance to Dallas. I think we're all tired of
Speaker 6: that narrative. Anyway. The other half headed out to the
Speaker 6: beach house because turns out Rock Perty's gonna be fine.
Speaker 6: He's gonna be the quarterback week one, right, So what's left?
Speaker 6: Bosa still not with the team. He's still awaiting a
Speaker 6: look at the contract.
Speaker 1: Some weird whispers there, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: And Kyle Shanahan even said he can imagine a scenario
Speaker 6: which Bosa misses games because of this.
Speaker 2: Timeout last time out, stop the clock.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about the Nick Bosa thing. What are you
Speaker 3: hearing whispers?
Speaker 1: I just I suspect these are the types of whispers
Speaker 1: that actually happened before the two sides come to an agreement.
Speaker 1: But I think there's some conversation in league circles, is like,
Speaker 1: is Nick Bosa definitely on this team could get a
Speaker 1: could we get a surprise move?
Speaker 2: Before this season, Kyle Shanahan insisted there's no chance they
Speaker 2: are trading him, But you hear coaches say that all
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 1: I think he was responding to these whispers to be fair.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And one thing I'll point out is his older brother,
Speaker 2: Nick Bosa, had a highly contentious beginning of his pro
Speaker 2: career with the Chargers over money. So the Bosa boys
Speaker 2: and the Bosa family are not afraid to get their
Speaker 2: hands dirty and dig in. This is not the same
Speaker 2: team without Bosa. They need this man to be anchoring
Speaker 2: their line.
Speaker 4: I always tend to think this stuff will get worked out.
Speaker 4: But this is a team that you know, has given
Speaker 4: up a lot of draft picks that turn into nothing,
Speaker 4: and if you cannot make it work with this player,
Speaker 4: you could get a bounty.
Speaker 5: But I just don't see that happen.
Speaker 1: I don't either. I can't quite imagine, because the only
Speaker 1: way it makes sense is if you get veteran players back,
Speaker 1: which is just like a wild thing to do right now,
Speaker 1: Like this team doesn't wild things, it doesn't make sense
Speaker 1: for first round picks. I don't think in early September,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe maybe, I don't know, it'll be wild. Here's
Speaker 1: the Shanahan how about how about Chris Jones for Nick
Speaker 1: Bosa trade. Let's just do that.
Speaker 2: Fun now we're talking. Here is Kyle Shanahan's exact words.
Speaker 2: By the way, a little while ago you said this
Speaker 2: is the Bosa thing was going as you expected, would
Speaker 2: him designed.
Speaker 8: By right now, I thought it would come probably to
Speaker 8: this time, just looking at the history of those things,
Speaker 8: and I'm really hoping it gets done. I know they're
Speaker 8: working tirelessly out of John hamp Prague. I know there's
Speaker 8: their teams, but hopefully we can get him in here
Speaker 8: sooner than later.
Speaker 2: Anyway, you can imagine this team not having him on
Speaker 2: the team, saying that if this thing goes on into.
Speaker 8: The breakless season, yeah, I can imagine anything. Doesn't mean
Speaker 8: I like that picture, of course. Now, you guys know
Speaker 8: how we feel about Nick, and we all know how
Speaker 8: good of a player he is, so hopefully we can
Speaker 8: come to terms soon and get him here as as possible.
Speaker 6: I mean, it sounds like he's starting to get a
Speaker 6: little bit nervous, just because it's a little nervous hearing
Speaker 6: his voice a little bit there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he expected him back. All right, time in Eric Robins.
Speaker 6: All right, we're back to what we're down this list
Speaker 6: of things, all right, Steve Wilkes replaces Demiko Ryans as
Speaker 6: the defensive coordinator. Another defensive coordinator. They've done a great
Speaker 6: did a great job in San Francisco, heads off to
Speaker 6: head coaching job Elsford. Can Steve Wilkes be the latest
Speaker 6: to maintain their league best defense? That is a question.
Speaker 6: If he doesn't have Nick Botha, it's gonna be a
Speaker 6: little bit more difficult. They did get Javon Hargrave in
Speaker 6: the offseason and probably paid him too much for too long,
Speaker 6: you know, based on the fact that he's already passed thirty.
Speaker 6: But you know that's neither here nor there. Are they
Speaker 6: gonna be good enough without Bosa? And when they get
Speaker 6: him back, is brock Perty gonna match the hype that
Speaker 6: he created for himself with his tour run through the
Speaker 6: playoffs all the way to the NFC title game last year?
Speaker 6: Those are the big questions. But this conference is ultimately
Speaker 6: not that strong. The Seahawks are their greatest threat in
Speaker 6: this division. I still expect them to be. There is
Speaker 6: just how good can they be?
Speaker 5: I think on the Steve Wilkes front.
Speaker 4: Like this, the Niners under Shanahan have just become accustomed
Speaker 4: to being the coaches being plucked so often, and the
Speaker 4: train keeps moving. And I think Wilkes, by the way,
Speaker 4: is not like a step down from anyone either. I mean,
Speaker 4: players love Steve Wilkes and we've seen that everywhere he goes,
Speaker 4: and I think that's a good thing for the Niners.
Speaker 4: It is hard to duplicate that year after year, and
Speaker 4: I think it's probably tough if you're a player to
Speaker 4: have to get accustomed to a new style of coach
Speaker 4: and new all of it.
Speaker 5: But maybe not.
Speaker 4: I mean, this guy's been around, and don't I just
Speaker 4: think the Niners are a team that I trust from
Speaker 4: perty do everything to keep going.
Speaker 1: I do too. But it's amazing how little we've talked
Speaker 1: about Purdy's ceiling and potential this offseason. This is a
Speaker 1: second year quarterback who played at an extremely high level
Speaker 1: for a rookie. If a top ten picks played that
Speaker 1: well as a rookie, imagine if Trevor Lawrence played like that.
Speaker 1: I know they're very different. I'm just saying he played
Speaker 1: at a very high level as a rookie. We haven't
Speaker 1: really talked about what Party turns into. Is he just
Speaker 1: that guy forever? I think that's where our mind goes.
Speaker 1: But there's a chance it was a mirage. There's also
Speaker 1: a very realistic chance he continues to improve like most
Speaker 1: young quarterbacks do, and then forty nine has really got something.
Speaker 3: I think what we.
Speaker 2: Saw from Jimmy Garoppolo in that offense helps inform me
Speaker 2: not to get too noivous about Rock Party, because I
Speaker 2: think Garoppolo is an average quarterback. Maybe he's looked great
Speaker 2: high and maybe it's higher. So I think because of
Speaker 2: the offense he's in, I think he's going to be
Speaker 2: good to maybe very good, maybe not quite great.
Speaker 3: The Seahawks, I like it. I like a lot of
Speaker 3: what I see here with the Seahawks. You know.
Speaker 2: I love their wide receivers. I like that Jackson Smith
Speaker 2: and Jigba is on track after suffering that injury.
Speaker 3: I like their running game if they can stay healthy.
Speaker 3: I like their defense.
Speaker 2: I like Bobby Wagner's back, and Tarique Woollen in year
Speaker 2: two can only get better. And there's even hell, I'll
Speaker 2: say it, Jamal Adams is back. What does he give them?
Speaker 2: Maybe he can juice them a little bit more. There
Speaker 2: is a Geno Smith question here. There's a little bit
Speaker 2: hot and cold as the season went on. But I
Speaker 2: think as long as Gino is somewhere in between there
Speaker 2: and I think it right around the Dalton line, I
Speaker 2: think it's as a playoff team, so he doesn't have
Speaker 2: to be the monster he was at the beginning of
Speaker 2: last year that kind of shocked the league. He just
Speaker 2: can't fall off a cliff and I think he'll probably
Speaker 2: be okay, too good, and that will be good enough
Speaker 2: for ten games.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about and enough passers, But when it comes
Speaker 1: to Geno, I am curious, like can he stay that aggressive?
Speaker 1: He was extreme, He goes for it and he did
Speaker 1: not have as many interceptions last year. I'll even admit
Speaker 1: as he as he should have. So to me that
Speaker 1: that creates a high variance. Is he is gonna go
Speaker 1: for it. He is going to try to fit that
Speaker 1: ball into tight windows, and that that's risky. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think, like with with with Geno Smith, I I'm
Speaker 4: at the point where I trust that the first like
Speaker 4: three quarters of the season was really strong and it
Speaker 4: did tail off at the end. I mean it was
Speaker 4: kind of concerning to see, like how the Seahawks crumbled
Speaker 4: against the Niners. That defense just turned Geno Smith and
Speaker 4: the entire operation into a hot mess. But John Schneider,
Speaker 4: after making that Jamal Adams deal, which felt a little
Speaker 4: desperate back then, two of the best drafts potentially, like
Speaker 4: last year's draft was phenomenal and he's done. And again,
Speaker 4: if you keep doing that, you're gonna keep supporting Geno Smith,
Speaker 4: You're gonna support the whole operation. The Seahawks to me,
Speaker 4: are a sneaky Like throw him into the NFC title game,
Speaker 4: I would not be surprised. Like they could upset Dallas,
Speaker 4: they could upset potentially Philadelphia, they could beat the Niners
Speaker 4: at some point in the playoffs.
Speaker 5: They're right there. I think they're just on the outside.
Speaker 5: Look at that eight tier.
Speaker 1: I think they have a Niners problem, though tier point
Speaker 1: they do.
Speaker 2: They might have a Niners problem, but they you might
Speaker 2: get four wins out of the other two division opponents.
Speaker 6: Shook, Yeah, that's gonna boost you right out of the gate.
Speaker 6: But you know, I think as much concern as there
Speaker 6: might be or worry that Gino can't replicate that, I
Speaker 6: think that Pete Carroll's got the opportunity to go back
Speaker 6: to what he does best. We love to do the
Speaker 6: most is run the football. Look at their running back,
Speaker 6: I mean Kem Walker, they draft Zach Charboney, they still
Speaker 6: got DJ Dallas back there. They have enough guys to
Speaker 6: just continue to keep pounding the ball on the ground,
Speaker 6: which will open things up for Geno and allow him
Speaker 6: to do these things that he did so well last year.
Speaker 6: You know, they tied for eleventh and passing last year
Speaker 6: they were eighteenth and rushing. I think you see those
Speaker 6: maybe even flip this year. And defensively they can be better.
Speaker 6: But because of what like Mark just said, two really
Speaker 6: great draft classes, a ton of young talent on the
Speaker 6: defensive side of the ball, they're really rounding out this roster.
Speaker 6: And like you guys all said, this division is not
Speaker 6: that good outside of the forty nine ers. So I
Speaker 6: expect him to be in the conversation and probably be
Speaker 6: another wild card team. Maybe they won't be any better
Speaker 6: than they were last year. We'll see. I mean, I
Speaker 6: still think they'll be right where they were last year.
Speaker 2: If not. I had one more kind of negative Geno
Speaker 2: thing there, but I ran out of time, So Greg congratulations.
Speaker 5: Big congratulations for the game.
Speaker 1: I mean they're not respecting the game. I don't know
Speaker 1: where this trenk is. I should be getting it.
Speaker 5: That was a voluminous one.
Speaker 1: That was aggressive Greg the Rams, Okay, you asked me,
Speaker 1: I think last week Dan at one point like what
Speaker 1: young player? I think you asked about, like what young
Speaker 1: players have been stepping up? What are who are? I
Speaker 1: felt like it was a missed opportunity. We talked about
Speaker 1: the Rams so much, don't remember I I I have
Speaker 1: a couple of thoughts. One, Matthew Stafford's the reports in
Speaker 1: camp are out of this world. That like, he's looked
Speaker 1: really good. So that's at least intriguing.
Speaker 4: Me outside of communicating with the all these so called
Speaker 4: younger players like like five years, big.
Speaker 3: News, smile, he's got too, got those gleaming choppers.
Speaker 1: But number two, I think success this year is about
Speaker 1: these young players. So they have an edge rusher Byron Young,
Speaker 1: a rookie who's gonna start who I thinks look pretty good.
Speaker 1: They have a guard Steve Avila, what they believe is
Speaker 1: gonna be a foundation piece. In terms of a guard,
Speaker 1: Puoka Nakua is gonna play what a name Pooka nakoua
Speaker 1: slot receiver in the Cooper Cup Mold We'll see how
Speaker 1: good he is. And then they have a very young
Speaker 1: secondary couple second year players, including Darien Kendrick. They have
Speaker 1: Trey Tomlinson, the small cousin Ledanian like developing these guys
Speaker 1: in Stafford playing well to me, that success. We've talked
Speaker 1: so much about the Rams shook. I feel like I've
Speaker 1: we've talked, we've overextended ourselves on RAMS talk. I want
Speaker 1: to hear you talk about the Rams.
Speaker 3: Have we No.
Speaker 1: I feel like we've had a lot of RAMS talk
Speaker 1: this offseason just as a weird team.
Speaker 3: Uhh.
Speaker 6: I mean it doesn't help that you're right next door
Speaker 6: to the bat they play, But I think this is
Speaker 6: a team where you just lower expectations. I mean they
Speaker 6: they basically did that for themselves with the letter they
Speaker 6: sent the fans in the off season. Look, we're not
Speaker 6: going to be active in free agency. We are going
Speaker 6: to trade Jalen Ramsey or we just did we have
Speaker 6: to do this to be decent in the future, in
Speaker 6: the near futures to completely.
Speaker 5: Tearing it down.
Speaker 6: And that because you went all in, everybody saw you
Speaker 6: go all in and they got on board, and it
Speaker 6: got you a ring. And now you're just paying the
Speaker 6: price for it in a more straightforward way than the
Speaker 6: Buccaneers are doing, and that's perfectly fine. A successful season
Speaker 6: for them this year is staying healthy, is improving the
Speaker 6: offensive line, is helping Matthew Stafford develop a rapport with
Speaker 6: his younger teammates. Maybe, although how often are you really
Speaker 6: going to see that visualized on the field, I don't know,
Speaker 6: But I do like what they did, the minimal moves
Speaker 6: that they made in the off season. I love Steve Avila.
Speaker 6: I think that offensive line was their biggest need last year,
Speaker 6: very obviously, and I think he's gonna end up being
Speaker 6: there for a long time.
Speaker 3: That story from Stafford's wife maybe kind of sad.
Speaker 5: It is, but I would.
Speaker 4: I think it's just I think it's probably could have
Speaker 4: been like a bad day he had with or like
Speaker 4: a one day's sort of observation.
Speaker 3: Nobody plays cards anymore.
Speaker 4: We're all people are on cell phones. Guys and girls
Speaker 4: are staring at their cell phones all day long. A
Speaker 4: decade plus ago. This is not a new This is
Speaker 4: not just happening to the Rams locker room now. I
Speaker 4: mean I get to So.
Speaker 3: You're calling Matthew Stafford's wife a liar.
Speaker 1: Okay, No, not at all.
Speaker 4: I'm just saying that, Like, I think he's probably all
Speaker 4: older players have had to deal with this for a while.
Speaker 5: He's the second oldest quarterback in the league. That's kind
Speaker 5: of crazy.
Speaker 1: I think it was all kind of tongue in cheek,
Speaker 1: and Sean Jean McVay definitely uh took issue with it.
Speaker 1: It was just saying, like, look, he's a leak. I
Speaker 1: think this happens to any older players, right, you think
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and uh Nikhil Harry we're yucking it up.
Speaker 3: I like that you you said.
Speaker 1: That Pooka Poka.
Speaker 3: Was in the Cooper Cup mode. He's not a white guy,
Speaker 3: and that's that's good growth by.
Speaker 1: Everyone inside outside. How about pook especially, Well, what what.
Speaker 3: A time.
Speaker 6: Poka's brother and or cousin Kaiakula? That's worth it. I'll
Speaker 6: take another one. What is it kai Nakula?
Speaker 2: Okay, he's kind of kolah Arizona Cardinals. A fitting way
Speaker 2: to end things. I note, Mark Sessler, you.
Speaker 5: Gave me the jackpot here.
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, you've moved on from the heart
Speaker 4: and soul of the organization called McQuay. Uh you now
Speaker 4: mind through a deep lost in outer space. Good laughter,
Speaker 4: All seems lost, I think if you're a Cardinals fan.
Speaker 3: But bit good laughter.
Speaker 5: Here's the thing. I think people are too down on
Speaker 5: what's happening in Arizona. I really do.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I think there is a light on
Speaker 4: the horizon. Okay, it's like one calendar year from now,
Speaker 4: we're very likely or very possibly talking about a team
Speaker 4: armed with a complete new like solar system in Caleb Williams.
Speaker 4: And then everything changed, and it's like I kind of
Speaker 4: think you got to get on board in this. But
Speaker 4: I would say, is there anyone here that is like
Speaker 4: morally opposed to the here no evil see no evil
Speaker 4: tank job? Because that's what they're doing, and no one's
Speaker 4: talking about it. No one, I mean they're talking about it.
Speaker 4: It's like we're just gonna this stuff just happens in
Speaker 4: the league does nothing about it. It's not what the
Speaker 4: NFL wants. But it's like when you cut Colt McCoy,
Speaker 4: you're only reliable.
Speaker 1: Veteran, like you're thirty eight years old, and what world
Speaker 1: was he reliable or necessarily better than Josh Stapp.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying he's an all pro. I'm just saying
Speaker 4: that the Cardinals are clearly going to this direction. I
Speaker 4: am saying I kind of don't care because if the
Speaker 4: if the ransom for this or what comes on the
Speaker 4: other side is the best quarterback coming out of college
Speaker 4: and you reset everything, I'm cool that to think there's
Speaker 4: some people that are getting like morally morally up, you know,
Speaker 4: thrown about.
Speaker 5: But because of the whole.
Speaker 2: Thing, well, just you know, if you're gonna charge full
Speaker 2: ticket prices and full parking and and ask your fans
Speaker 2: to you know, buy into the team and then not
Speaker 2: try which slashing prices would.
Speaker 5: You rather go?
Speaker 4: Like like a soft six win terrible team, not fun
Speaker 4: to watch it.
Speaker 1: They mightn't know that way if they overachieved and if
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray actually came back. But to your point, there
Speaker 1: is light at the end of the rison. If you
Speaker 1: get Caleb Williams or Drake May and you get picks
Speaker 1: for Kyler Murray, we'll see if they bring him back
Speaker 1: or not. I mean, it's kind of easy to try
Speaker 1: to lose games. It's hard to do something with it.
Speaker 1: After that. They're over under now shook I saw is
Speaker 1: down to three and a half. Wow, which is the
Speaker 1: lowest for any team. I believe, like THEE tied for
Speaker 1: the lowest ever along with the expansion teams that have
Speaker 1: been added to the league, like Panther.
Speaker 6: Well, this roster isn't much better than an expansion team
Speaker 6: right now. I mean, that's that's basically what we're looking at.
Speaker 6: At the quarterback situation and beyond. On both sides of
Speaker 6: the ball, there is just they lack talent and Mark
Speaker 6: you said you don't have a problem with this right
Speaker 6: Well you'll have a problem. I know when you'll have
Speaker 6: a problem week six, when you pull it up on
Speaker 6: replay and you're like, oh my god, I gotta sit
Speaker 6: through forty minutes of this team playing terrible football. I
Speaker 6: can't believe their fans have to do this.
Speaker 4: No doubt, but I think, like you, if you float
Speaker 4: through the wilderness with no quarterback year after year and
Speaker 4: they have Kyler Murray, but like I think they're clearly
Speaker 4: moving on from him at some point.
Speaker 1: It's the NFL. Though they could stumble into four wins,
Speaker 1: the difference between the medium teams and the bad teams,
Speaker 1: even a team this bad isn't that huge.
Speaker 4: And I would take a terrible season for the best quarterback.
Speaker 4: Like coming out of the college draft in years.
Speaker 3: Kyler Murray is one of the highest PID players in
Speaker 3: the league. Is on the roster.
Speaker 5: It's Kyler Murray.
Speaker 3: It's kind of beside the point to me.
Speaker 5: It's like, I think they're post Kyler Murray.
Speaker 2: This team is such a disaster. The decision making behind
Speaker 2: the scenes is a disaster. Every week there's a new story,
Speaker 2: like look into what there we just heard about Steve
Speaker 2: Kim and what's going on, and now we're talking about, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's okay to go one in sixteen because we could
Speaker 2: look forward to a new quarterback next year. You already
Speaker 2: had the guy Kyler Murray last year, you gave him
Speaker 2: a massive contract, and now we're already looking past him
Speaker 2: getting traded away. Hold on, no, wait a second, Why
Speaker 2: should I trust as a Cardinals fan that next year
Speaker 2: is gonna be any better based on the way this
Speaker 2: team has been run for half a decade.
Speaker 4: Okay, so, first of all, I don't disagree that the
Speaker 4: Cardinals organization has issues. I mean, in fact, they've basically
Speaker 4: like tampered to get their current coach. You probably will
Speaker 4: be fired after this year, So it is, it is messy.
Speaker 4: I'm just saying any any football team around your football
Speaker 4: team got Aaron Rodgers, everything's changed.
Speaker 5: If the Houston.
Speaker 4: Texans were in another world and now they've gotten a
Speaker 4: hope because they've got the young quarterback. It's like Kyler
Speaker 4: Murray was attached to the last coach in the last GM,
Speaker 4: in the last regime.
Speaker 5: It's all all new now.
Speaker 4: And if they want to move on from a guy
Speaker 4: that maybe football is not the most important thing on
Speaker 4: the planet to culinary or they're done with the experience,
Speaker 4: I get it. If you can get Caleb Williams, tell
Speaker 4: me Cardinals fans won't have a They'll they'll be fine
Speaker 4: a year from now.
Speaker 5: If that's the end result.
Speaker 1: I hear you. But I to Dan's point, the Cardinals
Speaker 1: are basically a lesser version of the Browns and Lions
Speaker 1: in terms of a team that's been as dysfunctional as possible. Now,
Speaker 1: they've had some higher moments in sans in this century
Speaker 1: that sort of make you know, make you overlook that,
Speaker 1: But the way they've been moved around it's been the
Speaker 1: same ownership. I hear that. And when you have Steve
Speaker 1: Wilkes and that's what you were referring to, testifying a
Speaker 1: very trustworthy source that ownership, and Steve kind like directed
Speaker 1: him to use this burner phone and use this It's
Speaker 1: like it's bad. And ultimately, yeah, you can change the
Speaker 1: GM and the coach and maybe that'll lead to better.
Speaker 1: But you know, they are not a fan base that
Speaker 1: has a lot of faith in the organization.
Speaker 2: And I I hate outward tanking because the one thing
Speaker 2: I think, and I've said it on the show before,
Speaker 2: don't take hope away from a fan base and just
Speaker 2: say sit through this year, pay us to take bad
Speaker 2: medicine here, and then everything's gonna be better next year
Speaker 2: with a shiny new toy under the Christmas tree. I
Speaker 2: just I'm not buying it that that's gonna be enough
Speaker 2: for Cardinals fans that are smart to feel like, oh,
Speaker 2: everything's gonna be okay if we just get through these next.
Speaker 4: Well maybe if you're smart, you're not a Cardinals fan
Speaker 4: to begin with, but you know, well.
Speaker 1: We're Jason Zumbaldt.
Speaker 2: Any of us were born into it, and that's what
Speaker 2: makes it so hard.
Speaker 4: Let me but during the whole Browns journey and shook,
Speaker 4: I wonder where you're this, like they try to do
Speaker 4: this and it doesn't work necessarily, Like they end up
Speaker 4: getting Miles Garrett and Baker Mayfield. It's like one of
Speaker 4: those players is excellent, the other is gone. So yeah,
Speaker 4: it's a total it's a total wild card move. But
Speaker 4: if you ended up getting like a top three quarterback,
Speaker 4: I'm just saying for me, it's a long distance journey
Speaker 4: of being a fan. I could accept this if you
Speaker 4: got a absolutely organizational altering Peyton Manning two point zero
Speaker 4: and then.
Speaker 2: But now we're talking a lotto ticket because how many
Speaker 2: Peyton Mannings are there?
Speaker 5: I know, but this is the way to swing to
Speaker 5: the defenses.
Speaker 2: How many bad teams? And as a Browns fan you
Speaker 2: knew this. As a Jets fan, I know this. You
Speaker 2: get the next great hope at quarterback, but then you
Speaker 2: give them a bad offensive line. Sure, don't give them
Speaker 2: good weapons, you give dysfunction behind the scenes. It's like
Speaker 2: you do not get the trust Cardinals for me to
Speaker 2: think you're gonna be okay if you just go through
Speaker 2: this bad year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but typically functional teams don't pick number one overall
Speaker 4: unless they've done something insane to get up there. So
Speaker 4: it's like you like, it takes this kind of a
Speaker 4: player or a quarterback to come in and save and
Speaker 4: change organizations. When Brett fav came to the Packers, the
Speaker 4: Packers were an absolute disaster.
Speaker 5: They had been a disaster for a long long time.
Speaker 1: And all the same media. Okay though, because like the
Speaker 1: Cardinal and I think Cardinals fans are having this flashback
Speaker 1: after that four and thirteen and how embarrassing Kingsbury was.
Speaker 1: They had it a little bit with Steve Wilks, but
Speaker 1: for the most part since arians they've been in wizen Hunt,
Speaker 1: they've been fun. They've been frisky. From nineteen eighty five
Speaker 1: to two thousand and eight, that's a long time, same ownership.
Speaker 1: The Saint Louis slash Phoenix slash Arizona Cardinals had one
Speaker 1: winning season and that was a nine and seven Jake
Speaker 1: Plumber year. I mean that, and it's the same ownership.
Speaker 1: So you suddenly get these flashbacks that's like, oh, I
Speaker 1: remember when we were the old Cardinals and you're hoping
Speaker 1: those days don't come back.
Speaker 6: I feel I think it's it's dependent on the quarterback.
Speaker 6: Like Mark said, Caleb Williams could be that type of player,
Speaker 6: and I think that's why it's different. But I agree
Speaker 6: with you, Dan, because so many times you say, let's
Speaker 6: get the next great guy. But it changes based on
Speaker 6: is there.
Speaker 3: Really a Foeground conclusion with no Kyler Murray?
Speaker 1: Oh no, that so Drake may could be the number
Speaker 1: one overall pick for all we know.
Speaker 6: Ye, it's a good class.
Speaker 3: Is what is the consensus opinion right now that Kyler
Speaker 3: will be moved?
Speaker 4: Well, that's why it's a soft like tank. They're not
Speaker 4: like I think the way they treat that. And as
Speaker 4: the months go on, that story is going to grow.
Speaker 4: If if Kyler Murray clearly, you know, he says he's
Speaker 4: not ready himself, but if you get to the point
Speaker 4: that three months from now he's healthy and he's not
Speaker 4: playing now if they want, if they have one win,
Speaker 4: you kind of get that on some level, but like
Speaker 4: you've got to it's it's sort of unspoken that this
Speaker 4: team is clearly trying to get the number.
Speaker 1: I think if they got the one pick, Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: is more likely to be elsewhere than they are. Absolutely
Speaker 1: to put the pick up for sale, but you never know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd be surprised if Kyler Murray as the quarterback
Speaker 4: you're not very surprised.
Speaker 2: Um, and just looking at their schedule because I've mentioned
Speaker 2: over watch a couple of times. If they don't find
Speaker 2: a win in those first twelve weeks, ending with a
Speaker 2: home game against the Rams, they close at Pittsburgh by home,
Speaker 2: San Francisco at Chicago, doable at Philly home Seattle, So wow,
Speaker 2: playoff rount.
Speaker 1: You gotta get it. They have a game at Houston.
Speaker 1: You got to get a win in the division. You
Speaker 1: know those teams, Well, you just gotta. You gotta beat
Speaker 1: the Sea Extra the Rams.
Speaker 2: Probably all right, shook, You've said it all. He said
Speaker 2: so much, said so much, you can't even speak anymore.
Speaker 3: It's over.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 6: It was a bad time for the Cardinals to introduce
Speaker 6: new uniforms.
Speaker 1: Check out the grid Iron podcast, the only podcast I
Speaker 1: believe in America that the world that Chok host. That
Speaker 1: is an F one slash football podcast.
Speaker 2: No one ever thought to try this before Versatile.
Speaker 6: Luckily, my physical therapist suggested it and we were rolling.
Speaker 2: It's one of those ideas once you hear about it, like,
Speaker 2: I can't believe I never thought of that F one.
Speaker 1: I can believe it because I don't know anything about
Speaker 1: F one, but it's fun.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: Thank you Shook, Thank you guys, everyone behind the glass mark,
Speaker 2: thank you, what a.
Speaker 5: Week well, thank you and thank your bit which.
Speaker 1: Was one of the best weeks of the year and
Speaker 1: it's leading to the actual best week of the year
Speaker 1: Week one.
Speaker 3: Go back and listen to that bit.
Speaker 1: We all liked it.
Speaker 3: Open ears heed the call.