Speaker 1: M. The Around the League Podcast works nights at the
Speaker 1: Factory of Sadness. Welcome back to another edition of the
Speaker 1: Around the League Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and
Speaker 1: I'm joined as always by a room full of heroes.
Speaker 1: Chris Westling, Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler. What up? Boys,
Speaker 1: Hey damn good of you to come in on your
Speaker 1: day off, like much earlier than planned. Well, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what this morning. Thank you for bringing that up,
Speaker 1: because this morning I was I went to the third
Speaker 1: floor of my gym, which is not a place i'm
Speaker 1: at a lot. It's where the weights are, and I
Speaker 1: did some lifting And I just want to say a
Speaker 1: lot of this goes back to if we're really going
Speaker 1: to brawl with the Damash X show, guys, I understand
Speaker 1: that my role is to become stronger and take down
Speaker 1: I don't know, like the way I look at it
Speaker 1: is Greg and Damashek. What do you think, Greg? Can
Speaker 1: you take down Damashek? I think we'll just sit on
Speaker 1: the side and crack jokes or whatever. Okay, Mark, who
Speaker 1: do you think you would be best to take down?
Speaker 1: I would have had no problem taking down Rank before
Speaker 1: he turned into honestly, he looks sort of like a
Speaker 1: semi chiseled superhero's, like like one of those Chippendale's dancers.
Speaker 1: And yeah, he concerns me. So I I'll go T
Speaker 1: D T D and then you know, Wes, I, I
Speaker 1: don't have any doubts about you, because I do understand
Speaker 1: that in your days on Tybee Island that you used
Speaker 1: to take care of frat boys in the parking lot
Speaker 1: outside hucka poose And Uh, as far as I'm sern
Speaker 1: Rank as a frat boy, he's going down. We're all
Speaker 1: just gonna attack Rank. Well, I got t d um
Speaker 1: all right, So let's let's all start thinking about that
Speaker 1: that battle. It's it's heating up with the damn Check
Speaker 1: football program. Uh. Today is Wednesday. We are on the
Speaker 1: precipice of week five action. Where do you guys want
Speaker 1: to start today? Let's start with the news. Start with
Speaker 1: the news. K Ridge, how you doing, I'm great? How
Speaker 1: are you guys? We're doing okay? Or what do you
Speaker 1: think about our chances in that fight? By the way, um,
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, how come no one's taking on Check?
Speaker 1: Do I have to be the one to do it? Now?
Speaker 1: We're we're on the side. I don't think Damna Chek
Speaker 1: wants to be involved in this, really, you don't think so.
Speaker 1: He's more of the don king of this promotion. Or
Speaker 1: we could we could get k Rich involved as well,
Speaker 1: and then maybe they can get Elliot Harrison. But then
Speaker 1: you have to understand there will be no hits to
Speaker 1: the face. The problem is Damna check and Elliott's strategy
Speaker 1: would they would just talk everyone to death, They would
Speaker 1: just not stop talking, and then eventually they sneak attack.
Speaker 1: All right, k Rich hit the news. It has been
Speaker 1: a while since you've heard my interview that Bonker Sacks
Speaker 1: was especially bonkers today for something. Now to the news,
Speaker 1: Oakland Raiders demote Matt Flynn to the number three quarterback
Speaker 1: behind mclod and always prior to start. I can't say
Speaker 1: I'm surprised by this. Poor Matt Flynn. The gig is up.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, this guy has been getting a big
Speaker 1: fat paycheck for years based off one decent performance against
Speaker 1: the Lions. Well it was it was one game that
Speaker 1: didn't matter to You don't see a coach come out
Speaker 1: after the game right away and say he didn't play
Speaker 1: very well too often, like like Dennis Allen did. And
Speaker 1: you don't see a coach bench a six million dollar
Speaker 1: acquisition in the off season that you traded a draft
Speaker 1: pick for behind an undrafted rookie in Matt mcgloyan. And
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm reading too much into it to
Speaker 1: wonder what the issues are here between Dennis Allen and
Speaker 1: the front office, because he's basically saying, Hey, Reggie, Reggie mackenzie,
Speaker 1: general manager, the guy that you traded for and tried
Speaker 1: to give me the start isn't good enough to beat
Speaker 1: out Matt mcgloyn. Oh. And by the way, I cut
Speaker 1: your fourth round pick Tyler Wilson, Thanks Buddy Well And
Speaker 1: two years in the job, the best quarterback Reggie McKenzie
Speaker 1: has come up with is Mike mcgloyd, Mike mcgloyne or
Speaker 1: Matt mcgloyn. Can we can we get a ruling on Irish?
Speaker 1: It's Matt mcloy and that that tells you everything you
Speaker 1: need to know right now. Because Cliff Clayven to my right,
Speaker 1: right the mail man, if he doesn't have the name right,
Speaker 1: that's not a good sign for the Raiders. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: and big game this Sunday night, late night on the
Speaker 1: West Coast is gonna be on NFL network. Raiders and
Speaker 1: Chargers with Prior back, I think this is a big
Speaker 1: one for the Raiders to to get that second win
Speaker 1: and to get closer to West of softball pans. And
Speaker 1: one other thing, I know, the funny thing about this,
Speaker 1: especially or maybe tragic, is that Terrell Prior now is
Speaker 1: being viewed as, you know, the savior of that organization.
Speaker 1: We're not even sure that he's any good. I know
Speaker 1: he's shown things and he surprised us all this season,
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, if that if that the train
Speaker 1: goes off the tracks there it is, oh man, it
Speaker 1: could get even worse for the Raiders. Uh and we'll
Speaker 1: have to see, Okay, Rich, what else is in the news,
Speaker 1: all right? Next up, we have two interesting trades. The
Speaker 1: Jags trade offensive tackle Eugene Munroe to the Ravens for
Speaker 1: draft picks, and the Cards trade offensive tackle Levi Brown
Speaker 1: to the Steelers for a conditional draft pick. These trades
Speaker 1: say to me that the traditional a f C North
Speaker 1: powers The Ravens and Steelers say the Bengals missed their
Speaker 1: chance to running away with the division. We know we
Speaker 1: have a chance now, Yeah, I mean, the division is
Speaker 1: certainly up for grabs. I think that the you know,
Speaker 1: it's hard to just to package these together because the Ravens.
Speaker 1: It was another very successful move by Ozzie Newsome. I
Speaker 1: look at what the Steelers did, and I just simply
Speaker 1: cannot understand what after watching Levi Brown this season, what
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh's front office sees in this guy. I heard people saying, oh,
Speaker 1: this is a win now move. Anyone who's watched Levi Brown,
Speaker 1: that's hard to sell that. You can't sell that to me.
Speaker 1: They're trying to win now with him, Him and Mike Adams.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter which one of them is in there.
Speaker 1: They're in trouble with that. And what happened. So the
Speaker 1: Jaguars on Tuesday night trade the trade Monrote of the
Speaker 1: Ravens and I and I agree. I think that's a
Speaker 1: great trade. I think it's a good trade for both
Speaker 1: sides because the Jags get some draft picks and they
Speaker 1: open up that left tackle spot for Joko, but especially
Speaker 1: for the Ravens because Monroe is a very very good
Speaker 1: left tackle. Was this the Steelers almost panicking and saying,
Speaker 1: now we have to do something, and a little late
Speaker 1: to the party. Now, these trades to me have nothing.
Speaker 1: You can't compare him. Levi Brown was gonna get cut.
Speaker 1: It's probably a conditional draft pick that's a seventh round
Speaker 1: pick if he starts a bunch of games, So who cares.
Speaker 1: It's basically a guy that was gonna get released. Hey,
Speaker 1: we'll pay his salary for you. Uh. And the Cardinals
Speaker 1: were apparently done with Levi Brown. Doesn't mean it was
Speaker 1: a good trade. I think wes Leyan's right. It shows
Speaker 1: that they're they're not giving up on this season. But
Speaker 1: the Ravens move is a huge move. I mean, he
Speaker 1: could be Joe Flacco's left tackle for the rest of
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco's career and they've been looking to fill that
Speaker 1: spot for years. Michael Or couldn't do it, so they
Speaker 1: moved to the right side. Bryan McKenney wasn't doing well
Speaker 1: this year, and they'll try to give Monroe a lot
Speaker 1: of money in the off season, I assume. And it's
Speaker 1: so hard to find a decent left tackle at this
Speaker 1: time of the season that they went out and got
Speaker 1: a fourth fifth round swap for this guy is a
Speaker 1: victory by the Ravens because it patched up what is
Speaker 1: a genuine hole for them without losing much fourth and
Speaker 1: fifth round pick. If he if he's a guy that
Speaker 1: can keep around for a while, that's a victory. And
Speaker 1: then if this is the beginning of the end of
Speaker 1: Bryan McKinney, you can make the argument that sweet Pea
Speaker 1: played a role. I think she did. She did, There's
Speaker 1: no doubt an iconic figure in the NFL. Okay, rich,
Speaker 1: what else is in the news? Alright? Last up? This
Speaker 1: actually made me laugh a lot downstairs in the office
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty nine or safety Dante Wittner says he's
Speaker 1: changing his name to Dante Hittner. No, I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, guys, but I'm smelling the remnants of Ocho Sinko,
Speaker 1: who went back to chat Johnson lurking in the Niners
Speaker 1: locker room. I don't know you want to be smelling
Speaker 1: the remnants of Otio Sinco necessarily, But I'll let someone
Speaker 1: else coming on. And how about this, How about the
Speaker 1: idea of ever changing your name where it's it's close
Speaker 1: to Hitler under any circumstances. Hittner way too close to Hitler.
Speaker 1: Terrible idea. You don't want to do that. Somebody's got.
Speaker 1: Maybe he doesn't have a grasp on history. Maybe he
Speaker 1: doesn't know that the ultimate tyrant of the twentieth century
Speaker 1: had almost the identical last name. Just something to think about, Donna, Dante.
Speaker 1: I'm a fan of any move that allows us, like
Speaker 1: a temporary relief from the knowledge that sports are all
Speaker 1: a business. If this allows us to have just a
Speaker 1: little bit of fun and Dante Whitner's not taking himself
Speaker 1: too seriously, I'm on board with that. But you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know about this Hittner thing with him. He
Speaker 1: seems like he didn't knock out Pierre Thomas with a
Speaker 1: helmet helmet the helmet hit in the playoffs a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago. He about knocked himself out of the
Speaker 1: game two weeks ago against the Colts with a hit.
Speaker 1: This guy's leading with his helmet too much, and maybe
Speaker 1: you ought to they ought to have a talk with
Speaker 1: him about this little change. Does this team do the
Speaker 1: right thing and do a jersey swap. Well, there's where
Speaker 1: the business side comes in, because the NFL requires any
Speaker 1: name change for the player to purchase all remaining inventory
Speaker 1: of those jerseys that they made this season. So the
Speaker 1: only way it could be Hittner on the back is
Speaker 1: he has to legally change the name and he has
Speaker 1: to buy all those jerseys, which is not going to
Speaker 1: happen because Matt Flint there's a shadowy league proud of himself.
Speaker 1: Kevin Patra had a good idea that we should all
Speaker 1: take the first letter off of our last name just
Speaker 1: in solidarity, and then my my name would be Greg Osenthal,
Speaker 1: which would be kind of like a cool Irish Jewish thing,
Speaker 1: like the oh what the apostrope. I'm just saying, you
Speaker 1: are extremely Irish. I have always thought you're This is
Speaker 1: the first time Cessler and I would have almost the
Speaker 1: same name, then Hessler and Essling. You are kindred spirits
Speaker 1: on some level. I don't want to talk about and
Speaker 1: and this that that doesn't that almost sounds that's actually
Speaker 1: depressing to think about. I don't want to lose the
Speaker 1: h I like my age. Um, alright, anything else can
Speaker 1: rich guys take it away? Thank you, Crystal. Alright, So
Speaker 1: we are officially at the quarter pole. We're four weeks through,
Speaker 1: well we're not official leaks, there's seventeen weeks, so that
Speaker 1: kind of throes a little bit of a ranch into this,
Speaker 1: but you know, just play along society. We are one
Speaker 1: quarter through the regular season, so I think of this
Speaker 1: would be a good time to maybe revisit some of
Speaker 1: our picks for the you know, different awards for the
Speaker 1: end of the year, and also maybe decide whether or
Speaker 1: not it's uh too early to get off that train
Speaker 1: or to stay on it. We'll start at the biggest spot,
Speaker 1: m v P. We're not gonna dwell on this. Greg,
Speaker 1: you had Roethlisberg. We've talked about that. I'm sure you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to change that. Uh. I had Andrew Luck,
Speaker 1: Cessler had Tom Brady, and Westling had Aaron Rodgers. None
Speaker 1: of us picked Peyton Manning, which seems like it was
Speaker 1: a strange decision. I did explain though that I felt
Speaker 1: something would happen. It was a feeling, well, yeah, during
Speaker 1: the season. That's why I went with Brady, that something
Speaker 1: eerie was going to happen in Denver. And that's why
Speaker 1: when with someone else that hasn't happened. No, No, who
Speaker 1: is the m v P right now though, other than
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning. Let's say that. Amazingly, I think it's Philip Rivers.
Speaker 1: I think it's Drew Brees, But I really want to say,
Speaker 1: I we do a post. I did a post on
Speaker 1: the site where we go where I went through all
Speaker 1: the awards. We're gonna do that weekly on the site.
Speaker 1: And I had Breeze too. I had Jamal Charles number three,
Speaker 1: because he's second in the league in yarch from scrimmage.
Speaker 1: He's their entire offense. Wesley mentions he closes out every game.
Speaker 1: Had Jimmy Graham fourth, who's more dominant right now catching
Speaker 1: the ball than Jimmy Graham. Nobody he's you can't stop it.
Speaker 1: I'd go Rivers because I think Breeze. Listen, that team
Speaker 1: is on the radar. After that Monday night game, Everyone's like,
Speaker 1: oh wait, this potentially is a super Bowl team. We
Speaker 1: forgot how good they were under Payton. But Breeze is
Speaker 1: doing what we expect Brees to do. Rivers was left
Speaker 1: for dead by the side of the road. Can you
Speaker 1: be an m v P if you blew the first
Speaker 1: game of the season and then you lost to the
Speaker 1: Titans because you couldn't close them out. I think he's
Speaker 1: on track. Yeah, I think that's a little hard. He
Speaker 1: was flawless in that Titans game. You could he played
Speaker 1: better in that time. How many points did they score
Speaker 1: against the Tennessee Titans. They moved the ball up and down.
Speaker 1: He score what they asked him doing that game, they
Speaker 1: didn't have the ball. He played great. There's nothing more
Speaker 1: you could do if they runs not an m v
Speaker 1: P performance. How many points did they score? Not much?
Speaker 1: In the teens, Drew Brees would had thirty game. They
Speaker 1: wouldn't let Drew Brees throw the ball in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter or in the first three really in that game
Speaker 1: because he Drew Breese m VP candidate. Hey, let's move
Speaker 1: on to Defensive Player of the Year. Uh, let's see
Speaker 1: Greg had Clay Matthews. Uh West and I both had J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt Cessler at Patrick Peterson, who did we miss? I
Speaker 1: think this award is one that if it's not off
Speaker 1: of sacks, it's off of a lot of word of mouth.
Speaker 1: I think Cameron Jordan's if they continue to do what
Speaker 1: they did and that defense turns around and stays to
Speaker 1: where it's at, Cameron Jordan's going to be a real
Speaker 1: candidate for it. Probably J J. Watt. I think it's
Speaker 1: playing at justice high of the levels last year. One
Speaker 1: guy we should talk about is in Dominican Sue who
Speaker 1: is playing great, and uh Greg mentioned Richard Sherman. I
Speaker 1: threw in Jason Hatcher too, because I've watched every Cowboys
Speaker 1: game and I have a hard time believing there's more
Speaker 1: than five guys playing better right now than Jason Hatcher.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's been such a factor, so through a
Speaker 1: quarter of the season, I think, what for defensive player
Speaker 1: of the year, it should be as almost as big
Speaker 1: a you know, blowout as Manning for envy. We better
Speaker 1: mentioned justin Houston or the new whiniest fans in the country,
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs will come after us. I smell
Speaker 1: a rant coming. There's a rant coming. You have beef
Speaker 1: with I've getting all these Chiefs fan or been out
Speaker 1: of shape every week since the beginning. I have mentioned
Speaker 1: how great their defense is. I've made it a point
Speaker 1: to mention this because they're playing great, and I pick
Speaker 1: against him a couple of times, and apparently they're hanging
Speaker 1: on my my picks. Like for a game, if I
Speaker 1: get a Sessler and I d feeling that another team
Speaker 1: might beat them, it's disrespectful to the Chiefs. Can't you
Speaker 1: just enjoy your four and four and oh? Start with
Speaker 1: your boring quarterback. I'd rather watch grass growth and watch
Speaker 1: Alex Smith play quarterback. How many people have you blocked
Speaker 1: on Twitter? Roughly half of Twitter actually know what should do?
Speaker 1: We should have West check and then maybe well we'll
Speaker 1: take a guess and we'll see what whoever comes closer.
Speaker 1: How do you know? How can you can you to
Speaker 1: sum up this rant? You're four and oh, who cares
Speaker 1: what anyone else thinks about your team? Enjoy your team's
Speaker 1: hot start well, if you really want to get Chiefs
Speaker 1: fans mad. It's funny you say this. I do this
Speaker 1: quarterback index thing where I rank them all, and I
Speaker 1: figured quarter pole. I decided to go one to thirty two. Uh,
Speaker 1: this week, had Alex Smith might have been a little
Speaker 1: harsh And yeah, I got about thirty or forty people
Speaker 1: just saying they'll never read me again. I'm a joke.
Speaker 1: You know why why after Dalton? He was after Andy Dalton? Right,
Speaker 1: isn't he? I don't know. It's still in its nascent form.
Speaker 1: Can you explain what a D after Dalton means? After
Speaker 1: Dalton is the point at which your quarterback is no
Speaker 1: longer the solution. He's a problem and it's meant to
Speaker 1: be a ranking of quarterbacks. We consider your quarterback to
Speaker 1: be worse than Andy Dalton. I think alec it almost
Speaker 1: could be after Alex Smith because he's kind of that
Speaker 1: guy too. You could do worse than him, and you
Speaker 1: can win games with him, but you should want to
Speaker 1: do better. I think it works for Dalton because he
Speaker 1: is a problem, whereas Alex Smith could be a trent
Speaker 1: for a type of game manager. Dalton turns the ball
Speaker 1: over too much to be a game manager. All right,
Speaker 1: let's steer back towards our conversation. Um. By the way,
Speaker 1: Kevin Patrick, well, you got such a stickler. Listen, we're
Speaker 1: talking defensive player of the year and we're talking about
Speaker 1: a d I just you know, and I know I
Speaker 1: played a part in that, but you know, we got
Speaker 1: to get the train back on the tracks. Kevin Patrick,
Speaker 1: by the way, chose Alden Smith as defensive player of
Speaker 1: the Year. That might not happen prediction. That's a rough pick. Okay,
Speaker 1: Moving on Coach of the Year, Ceciler, you had Mark
Speaker 1: Tressman mostly because he spells his name with a C.
Speaker 1: Right's largely uh west sid Mike Tomlin, yikes, uh Dan
Speaker 1: had Rob Rob chad Zinski feeling decent about that, and
Speaker 1: Greg had Chip Kelly, Oh, I thought I had Andy Reid,
Speaker 1: Chip Um. Andy Reid is the runaway favorite right now.
Speaker 1: Right this isn't a word that it's really hard to do.
Speaker 1: None of us take Andy Reid. This is award that
Speaker 1: it almost is meaningless to pick after four games because
Speaker 1: as everyone is a favorite. I mean, if Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: keeps us up hill Wain, if Sean paid keeps it,
Speaker 1: they're not all gonna keep it up at this rate.
Speaker 1: I think they would be right in the mix. Can
Speaker 1: Sean Payton win? I don't with with everything that happened,
Speaker 1: is it tougher for him to win to be seen
Speaker 1: as a positive narrative. I think he's coached the year material.
Speaker 1: If they turn around and go he would be because
Speaker 1: I think we've already seen what he's done in game.
Speaker 1: I take him over Read personally. I just don't know
Speaker 1: if that will happen. And I think you should get
Speaker 1: credit for your hires. I mean, that's what we're giving
Speaker 1: Read credit for because their offense is better, but it's
Speaker 1: not great. It's really what he's done and the organization. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's give Jim Schwartz a little love too, how about that?
Speaker 1: What about this? And Greg, you might be able to
Speaker 1: help with help us with us. I'm not sure. Uh
Speaker 1: two thousand seven, did Belichick get Coach of the Year
Speaker 1: sixteen or a yeah he did? Alright, so John Fox
Speaker 1: has to be thought about, certainly coaching that offense. Well,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of teams on pace to go sixteen
Speaker 1: and oh the Chiefs are yeah, but come on, there's
Speaker 1: a difference, just like no one Yeah, nobody bought into.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins is an undefeated team and they showed it
Speaker 1: on Monday. So you're right. Good, that's analysis. Stand that
Speaker 1: is sharp, Thank you, Moving on, moving right along. Rookies
Speaker 1: of the Year. Greg had Eddie Lacey and alec Ogletree.
Speaker 1: I had Eddie Lacey and uh, honey, Badger Cessler had
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins and Star Lootelali and Westling had Eddie Lacey
Speaker 1: and also Tyron not too wow this going on. I
Speaker 1: would pronunciation. I would probably picko Bernard is my offensive
Speaker 1: rookie the year through four games, but I'm not changing
Speaker 1: my pick. I think Lacey still has a chance to
Speaker 1: be that guy the rest of the way. Defense. Honey
Speaker 1: Badger's played great, I have I have no problem sticking
Speaker 1: with that pick um. I do like Sessler's boy star Littula.
Speaker 1: Though I changed in any picks. It's only four weeks.
Speaker 1: You're not allowed to change. Yes, we are. We are
Speaker 1: allowed to do whatever we feel like. Basically, Well that's
Speaker 1: the Jim Harbaugh. We can do what we want. Well,
Speaker 1: that was the exercise. I thought we could jump off
Speaker 1: the train that we boarded initially. So we can't get off,
Speaker 1: But it's just a matter of, you know, could we
Speaker 1: if we had that open it doesn't matter. I would
Speaker 1: knock it off. I will say I'd like I think
Speaker 1: Hopkins to win, this kind of thing needs to string together.
Speaker 1: He seems a little up and down to me, and
Speaker 1: in that offense. Yeah, he had that great Week two game,
Speaker 1: but he still seems to be finding a role in
Speaker 1: that offense. Star to me, if he I think he
Speaker 1: could get Kiko kikoed here by Kiko Alonso Alonso, But
Speaker 1: I'm going I'm going star. I think that honestly, he
Speaker 1: he doesn't look like a rookie to me. That's the
Speaker 1: big difference between him and Alloga. He just looks like
Speaker 1: he's been in there for three or four years. There's
Speaker 1: a lot more good defensive candidates. Zegians has played well,
Speaker 1: not saying he's the guy right now, but he could
Speaker 1: get there. Uh, Sheldon Richardson's played well. You mentioned Alonso.
Speaker 1: I think I think Star is the pick right now
Speaker 1: for me. But there's no runaway. I think it's it's interesting,
Speaker 1: but you know, but mingo Is is down at the
Speaker 1: five six seventtery and that shows how long, how how
Speaker 1: strong this list is. If he's down that far, I'll
Speaker 1: be annoyed. And I know Westvill too. If Manual, if
Speaker 1: he doesn't sharply improve, wins offensive player because he's a quarterback,
Speaker 1: because he hasn't played well exactly, He's been okay, he
Speaker 1: hasn't been that much worse of an NFL player than
Speaker 1: Jeo Bernard or DeAndre Hopkins, necessarily because he's helping them.
Speaker 1: I think you have to judge quarterbacks on a different level.
Speaker 1: He's made plays to help them win. And well, right,
Speaker 1: it's not a great class for offensive because you know
Speaker 1: what it's We would have thought, oh, Tavon Austin could
Speaker 1: potentially be running away with this thing. He's not even
Speaker 1: on the radar, which what are you going to say something, well,
Speaker 1: I mean that's a sliding scale. You can say that
Speaker 1: about anybody. Is Sam Branford an MVP candidate because helped
Speaker 1: the Brams to a win? I think a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 1: I think quarterbacks do end up getting extra credit for
Speaker 1: a good reason because it's Jael Bernard hasn't been that
Speaker 1: huge of a factor relative. He would be my pick too.
Speaker 1: I think that's like I'm saying, because other people do
Speaker 1: it this way, we're going to do it this with no.
Speaker 1: I think quarterbacks shouldn't get extra credit if they're not
Speaker 1: playing well. He's played okay, he's played about what he's
Speaker 1: played what you would want out of a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 1: I think they're happy with him. Not what I would
Speaker 1: want out of a rookie quarterback. You're tough. Maybe I am,
Speaker 1: but I like quarterbacks pluck and I are gonna excuse
Speaker 1: ourselves from the room so you guys can have some
Speaker 1: real heat here today. Um how about this? How about okay?
Speaker 1: So those are the awards biggest surprise this year either
Speaker 1: a player or team or coach? Mark, why don't you
Speaker 1: start things off? I have to go Cameron Jordan's I
Speaker 1: did not watch enough of him last year too, on
Speaker 1: anything that he had done, predict he would get off
Speaker 1: to the strong start. Frankly, the whole defense, you know,
Speaker 1: outside of Greg, no one saw this coming. And uh,
Speaker 1: he's my pick at he just he's looked dominant consistently. Oh,
Speaker 1: if you did watch him, it wouldn't have helped you
Speaker 1: because he was a great run stopper. He kind of
Speaker 1: seemed like one of those three four defensive ends that
Speaker 1: stopped the run, can't rush the passer, and he's it's
Speaker 1: like he's a new player. Here's the juicy stat courtesy
Speaker 1: of Pro Football Focus. Cameron Jordan's has sixteen QB hits
Speaker 1: through four games, which is better than J. J. Watt.
Speaker 1: So to say who has thirteen? So to say that
Speaker 1: he has improved as a pass rusher is really almost
Speaker 1: an He was a run defense specialist last year, and
Speaker 1: I wonder how much you credit Rob Ryan for turning
Speaker 1: him into a pass rusher. I can't stop that Saints defense. West.
Speaker 1: I know I'll never bet against them against you don't bet, No,
Speaker 1: it's not legal, West. Who is your biggest surprise? You know,
Speaker 1: I'd love to say Reggie Bush, but we had seen
Speaker 1: signs that maybe the USC Reggie Bush was coming back.
Speaker 1: I'll take the quarterback whom I compared to Carson Palmer,
Speaker 1: And in all I thought Philip Rivers was washed up.
Speaker 1: I thought his arm was gone, and it's not. I
Speaker 1: he made some of the prettiest passes last week. And uh,
Speaker 1: we should all recognize that Bruce Carter cannot cover Danny Woodhead.
Speaker 1: So if any Chargers fan has listened to the extent
Speaker 1: of this podcast, they're no longer seating at you for
Speaker 1: your earlier comments. Hey, to their credit, they don't see
Speaker 1: they don't show that hatred on Twitter. You know. The
Speaker 1: thing with Philip Rivers too, is if you remember how
Speaker 1: he was a complete afterthought by a lot of people
Speaker 1: that are considered experts. Um, you know the way he
Speaker 1: was throwing the ball the way and even in preseason
Speaker 1: people described his passes as balloons. I mean, what happened?
Speaker 1: I know it can't be just there has to be
Speaker 1: a reason why he became this guy again if there
Speaker 1: were signs to the contrary for two straight years. What
Speaker 1: has changed with Philip Rivers obviously is his talent isn't
Speaker 1: great around him. I think we see this with quarterbacks
Speaker 1: a lot, and we as as often as we see it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I remember the first time I noticed it
Speaker 1: as a utball fan when Brett Farve was surrounded by
Speaker 1: tons of talent, great offensive line with Frankie Winners and
Speaker 1: those guys. He had Antonio Freeman, he had Robert Brooks,
Speaker 1: he had Sterling Sharp, and then towards the tail end
Speaker 1: of his Packers career, all that talent was gone and
Speaker 1: you saw his play suffer and everyone just started burying him.
Speaker 1: This there's this whole generation of American football fans who
Speaker 1: think five was overrated because they missed his MVP years
Speaker 1: and only saw the years where he had bad surrounding talent.
Speaker 1: And that's the kind of thing that Big Ben is
Speaker 1: dealing with the first few weeks this year. Rivers is
Speaker 1: dealing with it. Dealt with it last year. When your
Speaker 1: offensive line is terrible and then guys like Antonio Gates
Speaker 1: have to stay in the block, it just you're not
Speaker 1: gonna play as well. It wasn't that bad last year.
Speaker 1: It's public perception gets to a point with quarterbacks where
Speaker 1: a story's written and you just believe it. He played
Speaker 1: great at the end of last season. He made a
Speaker 1: lot of good throws on a weekly base, made a
Speaker 1: lot of interceptions too, but he wasn't ever that bad.
Speaker 1: More turnovers than any quarterback in the league, including Mark Sanchez,
Speaker 1: but like Eli Manny has more turnovers than anyone in
Speaker 1: football the last three years, and we don't think he
Speaker 1: told A big part of this discussion is pressure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you fall into bad habits. You know. Greg Costel used
Speaker 1: to say that Philip Rivers is the best quarterback in
Speaker 1: the NFL with defenders in his face. By the end
Speaker 1: of last year, he was saying he was one of
Speaker 1: the worst defenders in the NFL with with defenders in
Speaker 1: his face. And I think, you know, Sam Bradford, this
Speaker 1: has happened to him because he started his career with
Speaker 1: no offensive line. He's developed bad habits. Is it interesting
Speaker 1: also that we see Ryan Matthews looks refreshed to me,
Speaker 1: and Antonio Gates looks like a completely revived younger player.
Speaker 1: You know, there was so much bad energy in that organization.
Speaker 1: I think they kept the coaching staff in the GM
Speaker 1: around a year, if not much longer than they should
Speaker 1: have out of the gate last year. There were so
Speaker 1: many problems in that organization. It's like this change, this
Speaker 1: coaching change, has been good for them along with him
Speaker 1: growing as a pastor. He looks, he looks, he looks
Speaker 1: like a different guy in the pocket. But I also
Speaker 1: think that they just simply said the Chargers are starting
Speaker 1: over and it's worked. Um, okay, moving on, Mark, you
Speaker 1: had Cameron Jordan's I will go with Jordan Cameron of
Speaker 1: your Cleveland Browns. I mean, I didn't watch the Browns
Speaker 1: close enough to see this guy as a rising star,
Speaker 1: but he arrived fully for him this year as a
Speaker 1: stud through four games, thirty catches, three d sixty yards,
Speaker 1: five touchdowns. Uh, that's Jimmy Graham like production. The only difference,
Speaker 1: of course, is Jimmy Graham Is catching passes from Drew
Speaker 1: Brees and Jordan Cameron's catching passes from a combination of
Speaker 1: Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer. Well, in real quick it's
Speaker 1: funny that we norv Turner was the problem one place.
Speaker 1: He certainly has a pedigree with tight ends. He goes
Speaker 1: to Cleveland. I think he has a big role along
Speaker 1: with Chud in Jordan Cameron's development. But it's an indictment
Speaker 1: of Pat Shermer's regime too. Because they could not make
Speaker 1: anything of him last year and they needed him. There
Speaker 1: was space for him to contribute. He wasn't a blip
Speaker 1: on the radar. This staff just found a way to
Speaker 1: get his talent out there on the field. I would
Speaker 1: be surprised, too, except I read making the Leap, which
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler featured, you know did not? You know we
Speaker 1: I did? At No, it's and it goes both ways.
Speaker 1: And you know, I never would have seen what he's
Speaker 1: done over four games as a possibility for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's been really amazing. Greg, who's your pick for
Speaker 1: surprise of the early going. I'm gonna go with the
Speaker 1: Indianapolis Colts in terms of how they've played. I never
Speaker 1: thought this defense was gonna be any good. Their fourth
Speaker 1: in the league and scoring defense. Robert Mathis is tied
Speaker 1: for the league in sacks. They're running the football. They've
Speaker 1: turned into a totally different team and they're better. And
Speaker 1: this is a team I thought Andrew Luck was gonna
Speaker 1: just have to carry them, and I think they've got
Speaker 1: a really good team. I think they have a good defense.
Speaker 1: Maybe we didn't give Pogano enough credit for getting his
Speaker 1: program together because on paper, the players don't seem like
Speaker 1: they're they're on the sense and they're dangerous. They're turning
Speaker 1: into the Seattle Seahawks on us they are, which is
Speaker 1: not as much fun to watch, but it might be,
Speaker 1: you know, their way to make the Super Bowl. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think this is this week's game against Seattle is
Speaker 1: fastening because I think you have to take the Cults
Speaker 1: really seriously with that quarterback in that defense. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: move on to biggest disappointments and I'll start this one.
Speaker 1: This is somebody we've touched on a couple of times now,
Speaker 1: Tavan Austin St. Louis Rams. This is a guy that
Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of people got excited
Speaker 1: during the draft process, uh in what he could do.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people got excited during the
Speaker 1: draft process, Uh the ramp up to you know what
Speaker 1: he could be. I think it was Mike Mayack has
Speaker 1: said he could not be covered in small spaces. Turned
Speaker 1: out he's been very easily covered in small spaces, and
Speaker 1: a lot of that has to do with, uh, the
Speaker 1: game plan around him. Um. So we have not seen
Speaker 1: anything from Tavon Austin to tell us that he could
Speaker 1: transform the Rams offense. But again, maybe this is more
Speaker 1: a game plan scheme situation. I don't think we should
Speaker 1: be surprised when a rookie wide receiver struggles. But but
Speaker 1: don't we remember this was a little different. The way
Speaker 1: this guy was being hyped up, that he was being
Speaker 1: he louted is something different. He was compared to a
Speaker 1: smaller version of Percy Harvin, who did come in and
Speaker 1: take the league bust storm as a rookie. There was
Speaker 1: a and it was in house, a lot of hyperbole
Speaker 1: surrounding tavan So I think it's hard not to call
Speaker 1: him a disappointment. It may not be his fault, but
Speaker 1: his numbers. No one would have said, oh, this is
Speaker 1: where we think he'll be a first right now. I
Speaker 1: was draft Robert Woods over Tavon Austin. I think Woods
Speaker 1: is great, wouldn't you at this point? No? No, because
Speaker 1: when we talk about my biggest disappointment, I'll make that point, Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk about your biggest Well let's stay right there
Speaker 1: in St. Louis, and I'm going to wrap biggest disappointment
Speaker 1: Gabbert Zone and after Dalton into one big award. Brian
Speaker 1: Schottenheimer and Sam Branford can share this award. This team.
Speaker 1: All we heard all offseason, how they have so much
Speaker 1: young talent there gonna spread the field. They haven't done anything.
Speaker 1: This is one of the most boring teams in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Will watch, and they have so much talent. They should
Speaker 1: be operating in space well, and they're not doing any
Speaker 1: of that. I think Bradford has regressed. I think it's
Speaker 1: it's on Schottenheimer to use Tavon Austin better, and he
Speaker 1: hasn't done it. So they are my biggest disappointment. I
Speaker 1: couldn't agree more because the one thing about them, so
Speaker 1: you know, let's say one or two weeks and they
Speaker 1: find out, hey, we're not we haven't cooked up something
Speaker 1: in offense that's really worked here. They go into the
Speaker 1: third and the fourth game, nothing looks different, no adjustments,
Speaker 1: exactly the same thing that they did the week before. Right,
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll prove us wrong to play the devil's advocate.
Speaker 1: I guess on on one. One part is, you know,
Speaker 1: I did see some some writing this week and analysis
Speaker 1: that Brian Schottenheimer is now taken to first round quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in Sanchez and Bradford, and neither of them look any good.
Speaker 1: But I really think that's more about the quarterback talent
Speaker 1: on its own. I don't think you could put that
Speaker 1: on on Schottenheimer. But at the same time, this guy
Speaker 1: now has a reputation as somebody that maybe is not
Speaker 1: a side the box thinker on offense. Well, listen, you
Speaker 1: take into considering his pedigree. I mean, some of some
Speaker 1: coaches do take middle of the road quarterbacks and get
Speaker 1: the most out of them. I don't think anyone's saying, hey, listen, Sanchez,
Speaker 1: and from what we know of Bradford, these are you know,
Speaker 1: Hall of famers waiting the wings that that's Shottenheimer ruined.
Speaker 1: He just doesn't even really get them to do what
Speaker 1: they possibly could the best they can. I mean, Bradford
Speaker 1: looks like a complete disaster whole team. That was the worst.
Speaker 1: That was one of the worst games of his career
Speaker 1: that we all watched. Though I think that's fresh in
Speaker 1: our minds. He he hasn't been that bad every week.
Speaker 1: I think if you pulled league executives, they would put
Speaker 1: Sam Bradford among the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL. Still, yes,
Speaker 1: I think they would say that, And I think to
Speaker 1: that point, you heard the Rams say just a year
Speaker 1: and a half ago they said that we think this
Speaker 1: guy can be the best quarterback in the NFL. That's
Speaker 1: why we're giving up the chance to draft r G three.
Speaker 1: He seems good, just good enough to get you beat
Speaker 1: and get you fired. Here. I think I think that's
Speaker 1: who he is, but I think his talent is higher
Speaker 1: than that. Cecily your disappointment, you know, for me, it's
Speaker 1: more a response to what I heard some people saying,
Speaker 1: Oh that, you know, this year's quarterback that everyone thinks
Speaker 1: is nothing, who's going to prove everyone wrong with the
Speaker 1: super Bowl title? As Andy Dalton never bought it. So
Speaker 1: I guess I'm not even that disappointed because this is
Speaker 1: what I expected. But Andy Dalton to me as flatlined
Speaker 1: and Greg Greg said it best. This is a guy
Speaker 1: that essentially he came into the league at his ceiling.
Speaker 1: I find him is boring to watch Sam Bradford, and
Speaker 1: I'll tell you why, because the Bengals actually have done
Speaker 1: a nice job, like the Rams, of surrounding him with
Speaker 1: a number of skill players that even an average game
Speaker 1: manager could do a lot with. You go watch that
Speaker 1: game against the Browns. It's not just Cleveland's defense, which
Speaker 1: I think is a good defense, Dalton does nothing to
Speaker 1: make the players around him better, and he did nothing
Speaker 1: to lift them out of a dark situation they were
Speaker 1: in that game. It's like, if they don't roll in
Speaker 1: with the lead at some point midway through, he can't
Speaker 1: do anything to excute him. He's a very disappointing quarterback.
Speaker 1: Here's Andy Dalton's two in one quarter year career in
Speaker 1: one sentence. If a J. Green isn't open, the Bengals
Speaker 1: offense does nothing, and they those that fan base hates
Speaker 1: hearing that, but it's true. It's happened over and over.
Speaker 1: It happened against the Texans in the playoffs, it happened
Speaker 1: against Cleveland. You get a cornerback that can shut down
Speaker 1: a J. Green, there's nowhere for that team to go.
Speaker 1: Greg your disappointment, Well, I'm not gonna try to get
Speaker 1: too cute here. The New York Giants have given up
Speaker 1: more points than any team in football. If you didn't
Speaker 1: know Tom Coughlin was coaching this team, you would think
Speaker 1: it was coached by one of the You know, this
Speaker 1: is not just a team going oh and for like
Speaker 1: the Bucks, let's say have with some draba. This is
Speaker 1: a team that does nothing. Well, they can't run at all,
Speaker 1: they can't operate on offense at all. Their offensive line
Speaker 1: is performing at a worst level than any offensive line
Speaker 1: I can remember. Oh and they have the worst defense
Speaker 1: in the league. So this is a team if you
Speaker 1: did know it wasn't the Jaguars. They've been worked. They've
Speaker 1: been just as bad as the Jaguars. And to see
Speaker 1: an organization like that struggle to that degree, you know
Speaker 1: they have time to bounce back. But if it, if
Speaker 1: this kept up, this is the type of thing that
Speaker 1: actually hurts Tom Coffin's Hall of Fame Candasy, I'm serious
Speaker 1: to coach, if he goes down with a two and
Speaker 1: fourteen team like that's that embarrassing, it's gonna hurt him.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that. He's got the two rings,
Speaker 1: and they were very memorable games, especially the first one.
Speaker 1: It would have to I would think, So it would
Speaker 1: have to be multiple poor seasons. If he goes one
Speaker 1: and then he's tired of it and walks out the door,
Speaker 1: I think he's he's safe. Two rings automatically get you
Speaker 1: in the Hall as a coach. Now Tom Flores has
Speaker 1: two rings. Yeah, I don't know. Jimmy Johnson has two rings.
Speaker 1: He's not even close, and he's had a had a
Speaker 1: better I would take Jimmy Johnson over Tom Coughlin any
Speaker 1: day of the week. I'd love to be the sculptor
Speaker 1: that gets just to create that Jimmy Johnson. Oh, I
Speaker 1: thought you would say, Tom Coughlin, like you have to
Speaker 1: throw in some rouge. Well, who would you rather craft?
Speaker 1: Would you rather craft Jimmy Johnson's hair or Tom flores
Speaker 1: Is hair? I'm going to Johnson, both pretty pretty nice.
Speaker 1: We're never going to find out. So imagine though, if
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan was coaching this Giant's team, what the reaction
Speaker 1: would be in New York. I mean, it is the
Speaker 1: biggest catastrophe you can imagine so far. Well, that's maybe
Speaker 1: because Tom Coughlin doesn't promise things before he delivers them.
Speaker 1: Well no, but that's that's that's a fair That's is
Speaker 1: one of the more humble coaches around there. He's aid
Speaker 1: dif from a different time than Rex Ryan. I don't
Speaker 1: even know what that means. All right, So that's where
Speaker 1: we're at. Those are that's our look at the quarter
Speaker 1: point of the season. Before we go, we should do
Speaker 1: a little talk about Thursday Night Football, mostly out of
Speaker 1: respect for Mark Sessler. It is the Buffalo Bills are
Speaker 1: heading to the dog Pound. They still call it the
Speaker 1: dog Pound. Don't you don't need to talk about this
Speaker 1: game on my behalf. They just have to go in
Speaker 1: and take care of business. Talk about it, I mean,
Speaker 1: and just got to go in. I'm scared of business.
Speaker 1: I'm scared to death of Derrick Anderson versus Trent Edwards
Speaker 1: Park two. Listen. This is Brian Hoyer, who I am
Speaker 1: still juries out. But Brian Hoyer, as a fan, was
Speaker 1: in Cleveland Stadium when they played that last game before
Speaker 1: they moved, ripping the ripping the stands out of the
Speaker 1: dog pound and throwing in the ground. I'll take him
Speaker 1: over Brandon Whedon's now he's the starting a crime of
Speaker 1: the heart. They could be in the first place. I'm
Speaker 1: excited about this game. I like it when the random
Speaker 1: teams you don't see as much are on national television.
Speaker 1: And maybe Chris Wesley and only likes watching you know,
Speaker 1: the greatest teams on earth every week. But I think
Speaker 1: this is a pretty intriguing match. You could stick me
Speaker 1: with that reputation. I don't care. I like to watch
Speaker 1: good football. At the Expensive Band Football. This is my thought,
Speaker 1: my thought on the game. I said it to Mark
Speaker 1: down stairs. I'll say it again. If we want to
Speaker 1: take the Browns seriously on any level, as a Cinderella
Speaker 1: level team that can make some noise in the a
Speaker 1: f C this year, at least in the wild card
Speaker 1: race or who knows division. It's not a good division,
Speaker 1: win this game. You're at home, you you should win
Speaker 1: the game. Buffalo is not a very good team, especially
Speaker 1: on the road. They're pretty terrible. Why do we Why
Speaker 1: are we sure Buffalo is not a good team. H
Speaker 1: do you think Buffalo is a good team. They're not
Speaker 1: a great team. My point is it's not like Cleveland
Speaker 1: is facing a team that that's better than them or
Speaker 1: superior on some level. I think this is a winnable game.
Speaker 1: And then the reason I say that is if you
Speaker 1: take care pauses this game. You've got a tough schedule
Speaker 1: coming up for the Browns. You got first lines at Packers,
Speaker 1: at Chiefs versus Ravens into your by if you want
Speaker 1: to if you want to take a run at this
Speaker 1: and try to get to nine wins, you gotta win
Speaker 1: on Thursday. I think we need to be careful of
Speaker 1: assuming too much that we know anything. After two weeks
Speaker 1: we all were making jokes about the Browns, how stupid
Speaker 1: your prediction was to have them at nine wins. Now
Speaker 1: it looks like maybe it'll be okay. We don't know
Speaker 1: if the Bills are good or not. They have they
Speaker 1: have a pretty good defense. I think we don't know
Speaker 1: if the Browns. I mean, this could be an eleven
Speaker 1: win team. It's so early in the year and there's
Speaker 1: so much we don't know. I'm excited about this game
Speaker 1: because I do think the Browns have a chance to
Speaker 1: be really good, because they have a top five defense
Speaker 1: and they have a pretty good quarterback. These Thursday night
Speaker 1: games all maybe I'm getting carried away, but they they
Speaker 1: have a quarterback that's given them a spark and it's
Speaker 1: an upgrade for them, and they have a really good defense.
Speaker 1: These Thursday night games have been to West's point, Well,
Speaker 1: I don't care who it is that's playing some of
Speaker 1: the worst football that we've seen. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's the short practice week, but there was someone out
Speaker 1: there that has a stat that over the last something
Speaker 1: like nineteen Thursday night affairs, there have been forty touchdowns
Speaker 1: and forty interceptions. That it's the team that can run
Speaker 1: the ball better. That's one. And if that's the case,
Speaker 1: if Spillers healthy, Cleveland's got really essentially nothing at running
Speaker 1: back Buffalo. If it's a grinded out type thing, that's
Speaker 1: not a good game for Cleveland. Wait wait, wait, The
Speaker 1: Browns can run much easier against the Bills run defense
Speaker 1: than the Bills can run on the Browns front seven,
Speaker 1: which has shut down everybody's in fear. Are you're right?
Speaker 1: I hope that you know Cleveland's defense is the reason
Speaker 1: there too. And two, we'll see it's a lot of
Speaker 1: defensive talent on both of these teams. Real quick, let's
Speaker 1: go around and pick that game, Greg, I'm taking the Browns. Mark,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go Browns too. Jee a coin flip game
Speaker 1: for me, I'm taking the Browns. Zero emotion from West
Speaker 1: refuses to refuse Nick when it comes to this, and
Speaker 1: I will take the Browns as well, so that if
Speaker 1: Patrick listens to the podcast, he has a setup for
Speaker 1: a hero pick if this will be a good litmus test. Yet,
Speaker 1: I can still pick the Bills. No, you can. You
Speaker 1: can if you're really playing the game in terms of trying,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to just beat each other at picks
Speaker 1: that you would definitely want the bills here because I
Speaker 1: agree it's kind of a coin flip game. Okay, so
Speaker 1: that is Wednesday's podcasts. On Friday we will be back.
Speaker 1: We will talk about that game. Hopefully Cessler will be
Speaker 1: in good spirits. Um. We will also go over all
Speaker 1: the week five games until well. Then. This is Dan
Speaker 1: Hansons signing off for the Mailman, the Sizzler, the Boss
Speaker 1: came Ridge behind the glass, and of course Lyle the
Speaker 1: Intern still frieda