Speaker 1: The Around the League Podcast doesn't trust men in fedoras.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition or the Around the League Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined by
Speaker 1: a room full of heroes, Chris Westling, Mark Sessler, and
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. What up boys? Hey Dan, what's up with you?
Speaker 1: How are you feeling today? Well? I think you're referring
Speaker 1: to the New York Jets thirteen to ten loss. I
Speaker 1: believe it was yesterday. That was tough, That was not
Speaker 1: fun at all. I like that You're not hanging your
Speaker 1: head in any shame whatsoever. Dan walked into the office
Speaker 1: a few minutes ago. This is his off day. He
Speaker 1: came in just for you guys to do the podcast.
Speaker 1: He walked in with his Jets hat, and Lindsay Rhodes
Speaker 1: immediately said, is somebody making you wear that? Yeah? And
Speaker 1: she didn't say it with a smirk or anything like
Speaker 1: it was an actual question, dude, Like I lost a bet.
Speaker 1: It's clear that she has never read a word of
Speaker 1: your writing or listen to this show ever, because she
Speaker 1: would clearly know that you are a life long Jets
Speaker 1: fan for better or worse. That was a bit of
Speaker 1: a giveaway for Lenz, but I explained to her that
Speaker 1: my father gave me this curse of being a Jets fan,
Speaker 1: and that's something I deal with. Can't be that disappointed
Speaker 1: lose by three points in Foxboro, this you know, season
Speaker 1: where you're supposed to be rebuilding your one and one
Speaker 1: not bad, not bad, And I do. I do take
Speaker 1: some umbrage and the fact that I have a lot
Speaker 1: of friends because I went to school in Boston that
Speaker 1: we're texting me. They were at Foxborough and they were like,
Speaker 1: you know, talking trash about how it was gonna be
Speaker 1: a wipe out, and I just knew. I knew they
Speaker 1: were not gonna I was not gonna be how it
Speaker 1: played out. I thought it was gonna be a close game.
Speaker 1: It was. We will get into that more Thursday Night Football,
Speaker 1: but uh, we have we have a lot to get
Speaker 1: to today. This is our super show, right, super has
Speaker 1: not taken Supersize show. Supersized has been used in America. Okay,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna do a little We're gonna go hopefully,
Speaker 1: you know, forty minutes or so. We're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: a week two obviously some headlines, but yeah, we should
Speaker 1: start with Thursday night Football. We we were talking about
Speaker 1: the jet just now, Greg, I want to talk to
Speaker 1: you as the Patriots man. Are you nervous about this
Speaker 1: Patriots offense? No, I wouldn't say I'm nervous. It's week two. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's a different team. I even said going into the season,
Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna have to be a more
Speaker 1: defensive team. I think what you saw last night was
Speaker 1: a short week, and you went into the season with
Speaker 1: so many questions on offense, all these new guys, and
Speaker 1: then on top of those questions, you lose Verene, you
Speaker 1: lose Sudfeld. Dobson missed the first week and then he's back.
Speaker 1: Uh for this week, you miss a Mondola and you
Speaker 1: only had three players to throw to. I mean literally
Speaker 1: only three players had more than one target last night,
Speaker 1: Ken Brel, Tompkins, Dobson, and Julian Edelman. And it doesn't
Speaker 1: shock me that a good defense that has always played
Speaker 1: the Patriots well slowed them down. I think if you
Speaker 1: take any team and say we're gonna we're gonna remove
Speaker 1: of your passing game, but you're gonna start the season
Speaker 1: two and now be in control of your division, and
Speaker 1: you get the best tight end in history coming back
Speaker 1: the next week. You have to take that. How lucky
Speaker 1: are the Patriots though? You you have all these issues
Speaker 1: you're dealing with, and you get the gift of two
Speaker 1: division games against teams that may not be good, against
Speaker 1: two rookies. I mean, if they had a tougher schedule,
Speaker 1: they could easily be owing two right now. And and
Speaker 1: they have another Tomato can next week with Josh Freeman.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's like they just line them up. You know,
Speaker 1: who are they playing the week after that? Might as
Speaker 1: well be Kristen Ponder, maybe Achilles Smith will come out
Speaker 1: of retirement for Week four. I mean, it's been ridiculous
Speaker 1: their schedule. You're right, but the defense has played well well.
Speaker 1: On the flip side, though, the Jets possibly got New
Speaker 1: England at the at the best time they could right,
Speaker 1: I mean, rugged weather, bizarre game, New England completely still
Speaker 1: figuring out who they are on offense. The Jets aren't
Speaker 1: going to see the same Patriots team later on the scene.
Speaker 1: This was their chance to beat them. But you know,
Speaker 1: one more thing I want to say about the Patriots
Speaker 1: and Julian Edelman. I know he was making the candidate
Speaker 1: for US, and he's pretty decent player, but eighteen targets.
Speaker 1: He thirteen catches for what was it, seventy eight yards,
Speaker 1: six yards and six yards a catch. They're not gonna
Speaker 1: win a lot of I know when gron comes back
Speaker 1: that should be different. But it's terrifying that Julian Edelman
Speaker 1: was targeted eighteen times in a game that counted. They
Speaker 1: didn't have a tight end catch up pass for the
Speaker 1: first time in four years. They had more punts than
Speaker 1: first downs for the first time in the Bill Belichick era.
Speaker 1: They had the fewest first downs of any game in
Speaker 1: the Bill Belichick era. So this wasn't just a bad performance,
Speaker 1: it was the worst performance of Tom Brady's career. That's
Speaker 1: your question as a Patriots fan, because you're in a
Speaker 1: room with Wes, who holds no allegiances, but you're alleged
Speaker 1: a Jets fan and a Browns fan who that game
Speaker 1: would have meant the world to Dan to win last night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for you, as a Patriots fan watching essentially nothing but
Speaker 1: success for ten years, do you feel anything when they
Speaker 1: win a game like that? Yeah, you're happier than than
Speaker 1: if they lost. But if they lost, your not that worried.
Speaker 1: You're thing it really is that you only get juiced
Speaker 1: up for the big games and for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season, and you have such faith that they're going
Speaker 1: to be a different team in December than they are
Speaker 1: in September. And that's the same every year that you're
Speaker 1: not really freaking it out. I mean, christ will tell
Speaker 1: you I was kind of rooting on This is where
Speaker 1: I've changed a little bit over there. I was kind
Speaker 1: of rooting on the Jets at certain points in terms
Speaker 1: of I wanted a close game. I kind of wanted
Speaker 1: them to take the lead just to make it more interesting,
Speaker 1: spice it up. Yeah, I think if you are a
Speaker 1: fan of football, you want to see a good game,
Speaker 1: and that game set football back about Yeah, but it
Speaker 1: was good to see it actually competitive for ones between that.
Speaker 1: It's been a couple of years since that happened. I
Speaker 1: thought for Rex Ryan, this early season has gone rather
Speaker 1: well for him compared to what many designed it to
Speaker 1: be for him before it started. It could have been
Speaker 1: an under disaster. A lot of question marks. But and
Speaker 1: Dan Dino, why Julian Edelman had eighteen targets that Tom
Speaker 1: Brady completed over seventy of his passes to Julian Edelman
Speaker 1: and under thirty of his passes to all the other
Speaker 1: targets combined. Oh my god, can anyone on that field
Speaker 1: catch the Patriots sky struggled Clyde Gates for the Jets
Speaker 1: is just cut him down. Absolute abject tire fire and
Speaker 1: Steven tannin Bomb's folly. When Ramiro Mendoza went from the
Speaker 1: Yankees to the Red Sox, I know this is a
Speaker 1: baseball reference here. He was the embedded Yankee that was
Speaker 1: sent sent to Boston to ruin their team. I think
Speaker 1: Clyde Gates is doing the same thing. Sent from Miami
Speaker 1: to Tony Sperano and the Jets. He's still there and
Speaker 1: he's just taking them down and speaking to your point, Uh, Cessler,
Speaker 1: I really I think that Rex is still It's curtains
Speaker 1: for Rex, because one thing you see there is Gino
Speaker 1: is not ready. He's not I know, he made some
Speaker 1: plays early on, and all the same guys on Twitter
Speaker 1: that we're praising Sanchez too and a half years ago,
Speaker 1: in the first quarter, we're tweeting things like, oh, this
Speaker 1: Geno is the real deal, you know, but let's watch
Speaker 1: the whole game and see what happens. He had three
Speaker 1: interceptions and three completions in the fourth quarter. He he
Speaker 1: doesn't He has no awareness in the pocket. And this
Speaker 1: doesn't mean he'll never be good, but he's simply he's
Speaker 1: undercooked right now, and they have to go through a
Speaker 1: whole season of this with Sanchez. Who knows what's going
Speaker 1: on with Sanchez, but I got a feeling that he's
Speaker 1: going to go through some serious, almost Jimmy Clausen like
Speaker 1: struggles this year, and that's gonna lead to double digit
Speaker 1: losses and goodbye Rex Ryan. I think he's being damaged
Speaker 1: because he was put into this lineup before he should
Speaker 1: have been, and I think that's gonna They're gonna live
Speaker 1: to regret this decision. I agree that he's the kind
Speaker 1: of quarterback who needs a really good supporting cast to
Speaker 1: do well, and the Jets are the opposite of that,
Speaker 1: right and they were able to do it with Sanchez
Speaker 1: in two thousand nine because they had a great defense
Speaker 1: and a great running game. They don't have. The defense
Speaker 1: is pretty good, the running game is suspect. Although Chris
Speaker 1: Iby looked better. This is this is not a good
Speaker 1: spot for Gino, and I think it could set him back.
Speaker 1: It bothered me most on Twitter to see all these
Speaker 1: people asking Gino Smith to take off with the ball
Speaker 1: as if he's a running quarterback. He averaged one point
Speaker 1: four yards to carry at West Virginia. Yeah, but basic
Speaker 1: pocket awareness is what it was. That's not what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. But people seem to think this guy is
Speaker 1: some sort of scampering passer. No he isn't. That's just
Speaker 1: not the off. But you have to know when to
Speaker 1: run as a quarterback, and he did a great job
Speaker 1: of that in Week one. I think he picked up
Speaker 1: five first downs running. Uh. And he's fast enough to
Speaker 1: do it. There were just sometimes where he stands back
Speaker 1: there and kind of and just looks forever, and he's
Speaker 1: got to have that internal clock. And then one other
Speaker 1: thing about the Pats, Greg and I tweeted this that
Speaker 1: I had never seen Brady more frustrated in the game,
Speaker 1: and I thought, in some level was him realizing, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I'm in trouble until Granket's back. And then
Speaker 1: I got a bunch of Pats fans that tweeted me back,
Speaker 1: including Greg, that they had seen him worse. Uh. Is
Speaker 1: that fair to say that he's been more frustrated in
Speaker 1: the game than Thursday night. I think he's known for
Speaker 1: getting fired up and angry at receivers during the game.
Speaker 1: He did it to his offensive coordinator. He's done it
Speaker 1: um to some of his players in the past. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's kind of his m O. Now it's young players, though,
Speaker 1: and he even said after the game, you know, he
Speaker 1: has to be more patient with them. If they get Sudfeld, Gronkowski,
Speaker 1: a Mandola back, you know, and Vereen, eventually, I think
Speaker 1: they'll look better. I got a big kick out of
Speaker 1: all the sports writers on Twitter last night trying to
Speaker 1: start some great debate why there's a double standard that
Speaker 1: Brady is allowed to brate his receivers but Jake Cutler isn't,
Speaker 1: or Genius Smith isn't. And I'm thinking, come on, are
Speaker 1: you are we really going to go down this road
Speaker 1: and act like Brady's not one of the best quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in NFL history and hasn't earned that right. He could
Speaker 1: do whatever you want. Absolutely, It's like Dan Marino at
Speaker 1: the end of his career was always salty and if
Speaker 1: he and if you ever played any sport, you know
Speaker 1: that some of your teammates are natural leaders who can
Speaker 1: get away with that, and some of your teammates you're
Speaker 1: nobody's ever going to listen to him because they haven't
Speaker 1: earned that. Yeah. And I guess one more point I
Speaker 1: had was, you know, all the fans in Foxboro calm
Speaker 1: down a little bit booing when the Jets had some
Speaker 1: injuries at the end of the game, as if the
Speaker 1: Patriots had such a dangerous high hockey in offense roll
Speaker 1: in that the Jets needed to slow things down. The
Speaker 1: Pats were little league on offense. These were genuine injuries,
Speaker 1: I'm sure because the Jets could not have been guessed.
Speaker 1: In fact, the Patriots lost time of possession thirty twenty six.
Speaker 1: So calm down, fox Borrow that took it could be
Speaker 1: a big loss for them. Mohammed Wilkers and ankle injury,
Speaker 1: huge player for them. Yeah. Um, okay, unless we have
Speaker 1: anything else to say about this game, I think it's
Speaker 1: time to check in with the great ky riche who
Speaker 1: looks healthier. It's up, boys, I'm feeling a lot better today.
Speaker 1: You sound better. I think it's because of my theme music.
Speaker 1: It's a big fan of the theme music. You know,
Speaker 1: we love the theme music. We haven't heard the whole
Speaker 1: thing yet, and we decided next week we're gonna tease
Speaker 1: us a little bit. We're gonna hear hear the full version.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a around the League podcast listening party,
Speaker 1: k Rich's theme song, and we're gonna offer not maybe
Speaker 1: not a critique, but it's more just the celebration. I
Speaker 1: love the backup singers the most. Our budget was so
Speaker 1: much bigger than I expected to hear the Little chan
Speaker 1: Chancing My Name and Chris loved that Sacks. I did.
Speaker 1: I was a big fan of the Sack. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love the Sacks to West compared to to uh
Speaker 1: the Sax solo and jungle Land by Springsteen, I think
Speaker 1: is it Avenue Freeze Out? Maybe? Yeah. We had Van Morrison,
Speaker 1: Did You Get Healed? And Jerry Rafford's Baker Street some
Speaker 1: some other great second some other that was huge on Twitter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and when the when the Sacks kicks in, it goes bonkers.
Speaker 1: So let's let's next week. We're gonna we want to
Speaker 1: build up to that because it's almost like we have
Speaker 1: too much going on today. We want to give that
Speaker 1: the proper time. Alright, alright, So now we're gonna head
Speaker 1: up with the headlines and we have something so significant
Speaker 1: today that that's the only thing that we're going to
Speaker 1: concentrate on that's the only thing that but we do
Speaker 1: have coming up. No, I think she's speaking of the
Speaker 1: amount of news content today. Yes, so starting up Indianapolis cult,
Speaker 1: Vick Ballard suffers a freak knee injury and will miss
Speaker 1: the rest of the Colts season. Have we oversold this
Speaker 1: item of news as the most important thing? I mean
Speaker 1: it is, though a key player for that offense because
Speaker 1: Brad shot was not given complete full time last year.
Speaker 1: That are easing him into the schedule in week one,
Speaker 1: and he's the best pass protector out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: But Ballard played a balanced role in that offense. Brad
Speaker 1: Shaw has a built in a reminder for coaches. Every
Speaker 1: time you settle him up for twenty carries, he's on
Speaker 1: the injury report for the next six weeks. Uh so
Speaker 1: that's a problem. The guys had at least a half
Speaker 1: a dozen surgeries on his feet and angles. Ballard's a
Speaker 1: good player, right, I mean he Isn't he a pretty
Speaker 1: good player? He is? I would say he's he's about
Speaker 1: a league average running back, but he's more versatile. I mean,
Speaker 1: he can play every down he gets, he gets what's blocked.
Speaker 1: He he doesn't make mistakes. I think he might be
Speaker 1: even a little better than that. And he ran well
Speaker 1: last week. And you always talk about Gregg Cosell is
Speaker 1: a good saying that you know, you talk about you.
Speaker 1: You know, running backs aren't that important until you need one.
Speaker 1: And now you have a mod Bradshaw and Donald Brown
Speaker 1: as the only two guys on the roster. They call
Speaker 1: up a guy Crew and Williams from the practice squad.
Speaker 1: So suddenly Donald Brown is playing a big role for
Speaker 1: your team. You know that's a problem. How about the
Speaker 1: Colts call up the Giants, you know, give up a
Speaker 1: conditional draft pick, get Brandon Jacobs, and then we have
Speaker 1: the Jacobs Bradshaw you know where they had their Super
Speaker 1: Bowl glory only two years earlier. I like, what would
Speaker 1: happen in New York The front office signs Jacobs and
Speaker 1: then basically gets a draft pick for them two days later.
Speaker 1: Masterful will never happen. I think they would take like
Speaker 1: a blimpy sub for Brandon Jacobs. They would be happy
Speaker 1: to anything. I think. I know Greg touting like the
Speaker 1: fourth largest subway so dealership in the country. Speaking of Jacobs,
Speaker 1: I love the fact that he was like three d
Speaker 1: pounds a month ago, and then he's like, I decided
Speaker 1: don't want to play football a game. He lost thirty
Speaker 1: five pounds. His body must be in complete chaos right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's gonna run for a hundred yards and that sound
Speaker 1: healthy losing thirty five pounds in a month. I think
Speaker 1: the issue here isn't that Bradshaw and Donald Brown can't
Speaker 1: get it done. The issue is that they are two
Speaker 1: of the most injury prone running backs in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So even if even if they play well for a month,
Speaker 1: they could go down at any point and then you're
Speaker 1: left with Kerwin Williams and nothing behind. Well, maybe this
Speaker 1: will disabuse Pep Hamilton, their offensive coordinator, from going with
Speaker 1: a more run heavy, conservative offense and just play to
Speaker 1: your strength and throw the ball around. Well said. I'm
Speaker 1: officially nervous though about my eleven and five prediction, because
Speaker 1: if these guys, if and when they go down, and
Speaker 1: then they don't have that option. And brad Shaw when
Speaker 1: he gets hurt, when he gets moved too much, get
Speaker 1: used too much, he was a great blocker. I worry.
Speaker 1: And we didn't see a lot mark. You know, you
Speaker 1: notice the offensive line for the Colts. Well, I think
Speaker 1: Jim Mercy was right to tweet what he did. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's not the best channel to air. You're gripe, but
Speaker 1: leave the mad tweeter alone. Yeah, when you watch that team,
Speaker 1: luck is under duress constantly, and if you weren't, if
Speaker 1: you had a quarterback there, they couldn't just stand make
Speaker 1: the throw under pressure. They would be a disaster. And
Speaker 1: that that left side of the line left him in
Speaker 1: chaos more than more than once in that game against
Speaker 1: the Raiders. Kay, Rich, thank you for the headlines. And
Speaker 1: we're getting ready. We're getting ready for that theme song,
Speaker 1: ready for next week Bonker's sacks hashtag um alright, so
Speaker 1: we said, all right, so let's do let's get into
Speaker 1: week two. This is Greg. Why don't you set this
Speaker 1: up because this could be one of the best weeks
Speaker 1: of the year. I think so. I mean, on paper,
Speaker 1: we already had a nice Thursday night. On paper didn't
Speaker 1: play out that way, but it was close. Uh Seriously, though,
Speaker 1: how many weeks do you have? Forty nine or Seahawks?
Speaker 1: I think? Am I? Am I wrong to say that's
Speaker 1: the game that we like the most in the NFL?
Speaker 1: Right now? Yes, you're not wrong. You're wrong. So we've
Speaker 1: got that on Sunday night. We've got Eli versus Peyton,
Speaker 1: which you've done a few times before, but it's still
Speaker 1: pretty cool when you think about it. We have the Packers,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers against r G three and the Redskins. You know,
Speaker 1: that's a nice little one to three punch for a
Speaker 1: week to set up. So why don't we go around
Speaker 1: the room, because why don't each of us take ownership
Speaker 1: of one of these top games this week? Um? Greg,
Speaker 1: why don't you start with the game that you opened
Speaker 1: with their Seahawks and forty Niners. To me, this is
Speaker 1: a referendum a little bit on what where their defenses
Speaker 1: are at right now, and do we think that San
Speaker 1: Francisco has enough to go up there in Seattle and
Speaker 1: get a win in the toughest home field advantage in football.
Speaker 1: I think, as as confident as I am in Kaepernick
Speaker 1: and the coaching staff, I think the Seahawks are literally
Speaker 1: unbeatable at home. They didn't get beat all of last year,
Speaker 1: and they're too good to get beat at home this year.
Speaker 1: They play like they play like they're breaking out of
Speaker 1: jail when they're up there. By the way, the Packers
Speaker 1: would disagree. Last season, they probably think they won in
Speaker 1: that building, but they didn't. They didn't, And that was
Speaker 1: kind of a four the Seahawks where the Seahawks Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson was Russell Wilson, And how lucky are we? Just
Speaker 1: I love the Wilson Kaepernick thing because it's just starting,
Speaker 1: and you know that there's gonna be eight to ten
Speaker 1: more years of this, and yet they both seem to
Speaker 1: be playing at such a high level. If one of
Speaker 1: those two guys is going to have a huge game
Speaker 1: on Sunday, do you think it's Wilson or Kaepernick. I
Speaker 1: think it's Wilson, And I've got a mind blowing step
Speaker 1: for you. In the game last year at Seattle, Seahawks
Speaker 1: win thirteen and a blowout while facing pressure, Russell Wilson's
Speaker 1: quarterback rating was one point three. Colin Kaepernick's was a
Speaker 1: big fat zero. Really. Yes, that was a game though,
Speaker 1: where Old Smith did not have Justin Smith pair next
Speaker 1: to him. He will this time. I think that that
Speaker 1: forty Niners bring more pressure than they did that game.
Speaker 1: I watched that in a tavern not far from our workplace,
Speaker 1: and well, I'll never forget that night because ers usually
Speaker 1: when I watch the game in Tver, and not forget
Speaker 1: the whole nights, you know, but the forty Niners fans
Speaker 1: in there, and there were a number of them who
Speaker 1: just I don't think they were quite on board with
Speaker 1: where Seattle was at that point in the season. They
Speaker 1: had not even watched A couple of these guys watched
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson play the way he was being used. They
Speaker 1: were stunned and they were angry, and I remember them
Speaker 1: just like raising arms saying, who is this Russell Wilson guy?
Speaker 1: That game was as dominant a performance as I saw
Speaker 1: last season, and I don't think the forty Niners could
Speaker 1: possibly play that bad. But I would not bet against
Speaker 1: Seattle at home. The one thing I'm a little worried
Speaker 1: about we all picked the Seahawks in this room. Kevin
Speaker 1: patra Our fifth eighth TL member, actually picked the forty
Speaker 1: Niners to win on the road. Is the pass rush.
Speaker 1: Comparing the two Seattle's offensive line I think has questions,
Speaker 1: and they got to Russell Wilson last week. I think
Speaker 1: forty and I can get some pressure. We're on the
Speaker 1: flip side. Seattle, you know, stopped Carolina, but they had
Speaker 1: no pressure on the passer last week, and if you
Speaker 1: give Kaepernick time, I'm I'm afraid I wake up in
Speaker 1: the middle of the night worried about what Colin Kaepernick
Speaker 1: is gonna do to me Like this guy. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just saying this guy. Guy is a frightening quarterback,
Speaker 1: is what I'm trying to say that. I just think
Speaker 1: at this point his ceiling and I just don't know
Speaker 1: where it is with Colin Kaepernick. And if you don't
Speaker 1: get any pressure on him, well, the Seahawks offensive line,
Speaker 1: aren't they the exact same as they were last year?
Speaker 1: They have continuity? Yeah, and that wasn't an issue last year.
Speaker 1: Maybe that was just all about how good the Panthers
Speaker 1: pass rushes. They don't have John Moffatt around anymore. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have John Moffat to kick around anymore. With As
Speaker 1: an aside, with this causing you sleeplessness, are you kind
Speaker 1: of on board with Jaws saying this could we could
Speaker 1: be watching the greatest quarterback of all time. I know
Speaker 1: what he was, what he meant in that way, and
Speaker 1: that if you're just if you just think about everything
Speaker 1: he does at the best level, his accuracy, his arm, strength,
Speaker 1: his speed, his intelligent, his running bit. He is just
Speaker 1: kind of like this robo quarterback. And I think his ceiling,
Speaker 1: if you want to put it that way, is as
Speaker 1: high as anyone. I agree with that. Alright, let's move on.
Speaker 1: I will. I'll take the next game Denver Broncos and
Speaker 1: New York Giants. The manning ball as we alluded to earlier,
Speaker 1: I can't remember have these games? How many are that?
Speaker 1: Have there been? Now? Were the first? I know? One
Speaker 1: of them was a blow out? Was the other one close?
Speaker 1: I don't remember. I think it was fairly close. It
Speaker 1: was Sunday Night football. I remember covering it from my
Speaker 1: old employer. But yeah, um, that's beside the point. My
Speaker 1: my feeling on this is and this was one of
Speaker 1: my hero picks actually, and uh, everyone's counting out the
Speaker 1: Giants here in this room anyway. And then there was
Speaker 1: plenty of not to be excited about, especially with David Wilson,
Speaker 1: who is supposed to be a lynch pin in this offense,
Speaker 1: and he imploded. But just when you know this is
Speaker 1: a Coughlin trap game where you think the Giants are
Speaker 1: gonna get beat and then they have a big win.
Speaker 1: And I think that happens. I think Manning after seven touchdowns,
Speaker 1: he has to come down to earth a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I think the Giants are in a good spot,
Speaker 1: even though people don't think that. I look at the
Speaker 1: Giants defense and I cannot agree with you, Dan, I
Speaker 1: just stopped. Unless the Broncos really really dissemble from what
Speaker 1: we saw last week, I'm not sure where you're seeing
Speaker 1: the lack of production or what's what the Giants are
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do to turn it around. I
Speaker 1: don't New York. New York is a type of team
Speaker 1: that when their backs are against the wall, that's when
Speaker 1: they surprise you. You're right, I don't see it happening
Speaker 1: this week. Giants have a lot more holes on their
Speaker 1: defense and the ravens they have on theirs. I think
Speaker 1: it's problematic for for them. And I just want to
Speaker 1: say how much I'm looking forward to the absurd arguments
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear all week that Eli is a better
Speaker 1: quarterback or is even in the same discussion with Peyton.
Speaker 1: This will be great for everybody who likes to make
Speaker 1: up storylines this week who is saying that Eli is
Speaker 1: a better quarterback than Peyton. People said it in the offseason.
Speaker 1: They're going to say it this week. You know they're
Speaker 1: going to say that second ring is what did it?
Speaker 1: People try as a platform to say that Eli is better,
Speaker 1: which is just it's postures. They always make the argument, well,
Speaker 1: if you could have a guy for the whole game,
Speaker 1: it's Peyton Manning, but in the fourth quarter it's well
Speaker 1: Peyton mann you don't need the fourth quarter comeback because
Speaker 1: he's Peyton Manning the rest of the game. I think
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. So you guys don't think that you think
Speaker 1: this will be a blowout. It sounds like we all
Speaker 1: pick the Broncos except for you. Correct. Yeah, but the
Speaker 1: Giants even gonna be competitive against the mighty Broncos. I
Speaker 1: think the case for them is that they move the
Speaker 1: ball really well on Dallas. They can throw for a
Speaker 1: lot of yards. They have a good third receiver in
Speaker 1: Reuben Randall. At home, they're at home. They have a
Speaker 1: good running back too, right, David Wilson. He is a
Speaker 1: good running back. He's gonna play. He's not gonna be
Speaker 1: there's a lot of overreaction to Wilson in general. He's
Speaker 1: gonna be fine. I think the Giant secondary is hard
Speaker 1: to overcome. Not only were they bad going in this season,
Speaker 1: they're going to be without Prince and Mukamara in this game,
Speaker 1: so that's another starter. I think the only way the
Speaker 1: Giants win is if it's forty to thirty seven, and
Speaker 1: I think there's enough questions about the Broncos d means
Speaker 1: that that could happen. Alright, West, you want to give
Speaker 1: us your game. I have the Bengals Steelers, and I
Speaker 1: actually picked the Steelers to win this game for the
Speaker 1: for two reasons. One, when the whole country is jumping
Speaker 1: on how bad they are, that's usually as signed that
Speaker 1: the whole country is wrong that they're overreacting to one week,
Speaker 1: and there's this still this little uh. There's kind of
Speaker 1: a big brother a little brother uh feature, but in
Speaker 1: this rivalry, the little brother can't beat the big brother.
Speaker 1: And maybe we're gonna see that turn and the Bengals
Speaker 1: are gonna grow up and finally put the smack down
Speaker 1: on the Steelers. But there's a psychological thing there where
Speaker 1: For years, the Bengals did not believe they could beat
Speaker 1: the Steelers, but they did beat them to essentially make
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. If not because of anything, the
Speaker 1: Bengals did except for Geno Atkins. The Steelers lost that
Speaker 1: game more than the Bengals one. When you take out
Speaker 1: that win and the Bengals against the Ravens, and the
Speaker 1: Steelers have done nothing in the a f C North
Speaker 1: to prove that, as people said, did the most talented
Speaker 1: team in the a f C. If they don't take
Speaker 1: care of business, the Bengals are oh in two after
Speaker 1: two weeks, which has to be one of the bigger surprises.
Speaker 1: I and I know, Greg, you took Roethlisberger's your m
Speaker 1: VP pick. I know it's only week two, but if
Speaker 1: he is an envy m v P type player, he
Speaker 1: needs to come up big and basically carry this team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. And on paper it doesn't
Speaker 1: look great like Westley and I picked the Steelers kind
Speaker 1: of going against the stream because of that, the offensive
Speaker 1: lines already injured. They need him to be that type
Speaker 1: of player that just carries them. And I'll take my
Speaker 1: chances with him versus Andy Dalton. And this is a
Speaker 1: big early game in the division. I think this division
Speaker 1: is going to be close when it comes down to it,
Speaker 1: and you don't want to start owing two. There's that
Speaker 1: stat eleven only eleven percent of teams that start oh,
Speaker 1: and to make the playoffs, it's a tough hole to
Speaker 1: climb out, especially if you're going for a wild card.
Speaker 1: I think we see the real Steelers defense come out
Speaker 1: and and it's a defensive type of game. That game
Speaker 1: against the Titans. Though I've watched a lot of Steelers
Speaker 1: games in the a f C North, I have never
Speaker 1: seen look as lifeless as they did against Tennessee. It's
Speaker 1: like when that first drive ended in a fumble, it's
Speaker 1: like they never came back from that. And the penalty injury.
Speaker 1: I think that deflated them to Yeah, but the one
Speaker 1: troubling sign I saw for the Bengals, as great as A. J.
Speaker 1: Green was last week, their offense doesn't move unless he's involved.
Speaker 1: He had both touchdowns and had a long passing or
Speaker 1: feeling fearance penalty to get the ball to one yard line.
Speaker 1: It led to the other touchdown. They need more Geo Bernard,
Speaker 1: more Tyler effort. Yeah. They went into the off season
Speaker 1: thinking we need some big time playmakers. Maybe these rookies
Speaker 1: solve it. It didn't happen in Week one, and during
Speaker 1: this segment when we were talking about this game. I
Speaker 1: actually accidentally reached my foot and stretched my foot and
Speaker 1: touched Greg's foot tenderly. He didn't even break stride. It
Speaker 1: just shows what a pro he is. I didn't even notice.
Speaker 1: I'm just he he has no feeling throughout his body.
Speaker 1: This is when we found out that Greg has a
Speaker 1: wooden foot. Um all right, um, Mark, give us a game.
Speaker 1: I have green Bay Washington and for me, I guess
Speaker 1: the question I have and I and I was the
Speaker 1: guy that picked green Bay to not win this division
Speaker 1: and not go on to the super Bowl, like a
Speaker 1: couple of people around here did. I don't like at
Speaker 1: all what they did. Well, now they're they're a popular
Speaker 1: pick to go to the playoffs. I think that was
Speaker 1: a bit of an upset sit down, Greg. Greg's standing
Speaker 1: up like he's trying to front me. That's not gonna
Speaker 1: end well, sit back down in that chair. But so
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about this last week. Green Bay
Speaker 1: spends months and months preparing for the read option. Greg Roman,
Speaker 1: like we knew he would, counters by doing nothing. Go
Speaker 1: spend as many hours as you want. I'm gonna unleash Kaepernick.
Speaker 1: He fries green Bay for four hundred plus yards passing
Speaker 1: now with Washington, you're not gonna see you read option there.
Speaker 1: I don't think either. Because r G three looked rustier
Speaker 1: than many thought he would. He's gonna have to throw
Speaker 1: the ball against the Packers and they know that. I
Speaker 1: want to see how they respond to the red Sessler sizzle.
Speaker 1: I know he's fired up. Who are you picking again?
Speaker 1: I am picking. I believe I picked for the Packers,
Speaker 1: So you know what, listen, I really do not see
Speaker 1: green Bay being the team people think they're an incomplete
Speaker 1: football team. I think so. I think so too well.
Speaker 1: I think Green Bay is gonna be fine this year,
Speaker 1: and I and I kind of feel bad for the
Speaker 1: Redskins because this is a tough way to start the season.
Speaker 1: You know, if they if they got out of the
Speaker 1: first two weeks one and one and let r G
Speaker 1: three start to get healthy, everything's fine. But uh, I
Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna win this game. I think they're
Speaker 1: going into a buzz saw and they're gonna give up
Speaker 1: thirty five and they're gonna be owing to going into
Speaker 1: week three. I just want to say, I always enjoy
Speaker 1: a great rant, and that was how Howard beal X.
Speaker 1: It's not quite as effective when you go ahead and
Speaker 1: then pick the Packers. You're right that you shouldn't have
Speaker 1: asked me that question, Dan, because it's it's sent that
Speaker 1: whole thing off the rail. I got to google Howard
Speaker 1: deal in Mark's defense, the Washington Redskins are counting on
Speaker 1: the return of Brandon Merryweather at some point to make
Speaker 1: a difference in their defense. I kept hearing this narrative
Speaker 1: and I don't get it. I'm hearing this from Redskins
Speaker 1: fans in the news. I heard it from Greg Colla.
Speaker 1: Think wait until they get Merry Weather back. I mean
Speaker 1: he's played six games in the last three years, all ineffectively.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is not a good defense, and top
Speaker 1: to bottom. You know, they have a couple of pass rushers,
Speaker 1: but I think the secondary is one of the worst
Speaker 1: in football. And I think on offense, you're seeing what
Speaker 1: r G three's injury, what kind of effect that could
Speaker 1: have on the team's running game. No one really talked
Speaker 1: about Alfred Morris and the holes he wasn't getting and
Speaker 1: the fact that when they do the play action to
Speaker 1: Alfred Morris and the read option defense is freeze and
Speaker 1: that wasn't there last week and I think the Packers
Speaker 1: defense gonna be good this year. It's not a good
Speaker 1: matchup the Packers. The Packers front seven played great against
Speaker 1: the run last week, and I think that you're right.
Speaker 1: The Redskins do one of stablish Albert Alfred Morris this week.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's quite as easy as that. Like
Speaker 1: you said, without the threat of RG three, those lanes
Speaker 1: aren't as big. And for our younger listeners, Howard Beale
Speaker 1: is a fictional character from the nineteen six film Network,
Speaker 1: played by the late Peter Finch famous line on mad
Speaker 1: As Helen Epically, that's a film that basically is the
Speaker 1: number one broadcast journalism rant film of all times. So
Speaker 1: he's one of the best rants and entertainment history. Boom.
Speaker 1: You know. That's why Wes is he's the Cliff Claven.
Speaker 1: He's just he's the mailman um alright, So those are
Speaker 1: those are the maybe the four marquee games on Sunday.
Speaker 1: But let's go through our hero picks. Uh what are
Speaker 1: we calling this segment? We decided to I think it's
Speaker 1: defend your hero, defend defend your hero like hero picks segments.
Speaker 1: So hero picks are when one of us chooses a
Speaker 1: game and the rest of the group goes against them.
Speaker 1: A chance. It's really the chance for all of us
Speaker 1: to take some some you know, lead in the picks competition,
Speaker 1: which unfortunately has Dan in the basement again. I suffered.
Speaker 1: I won eight and eight in week one, and I
Speaker 1: suffered one of the worst hero defeats ever. On Monday night,
Speaker 1: I took the Chargers. They were up seven. I was
Speaker 1: feeling good. I texted everybody gloating, and of course what
Speaker 1: happens the Charges below it? And and just amazing, almost impressive,
Speaker 1: how how amazingly badly they played down that stretch. And uh,
Speaker 1: I wrote in our by the way you could see
Speaker 1: all our picks on the Around the League blog? Um
Speaker 1: where we uh And and by the way you could
Speaker 1: see all our picks on the Around the League blog,
Speaker 1: we we post them every Wednesday. Uh So check that out.
Speaker 1: But uh yeah, I wrote, because the loser of the
Speaker 1: picks for the week has to write the intro. I
Speaker 1: wrote that I will never pick the Chargers again this season.
Speaker 1: That is their penalty, and I'm sure they're really torn
Speaker 1: up about it. It's week two and Dan's already on
Speaker 1: tilt mode. Um so why don't we, Yeah, why don't we,
Speaker 1: like we did last week, go through uh the hero
Speaker 1: picks of the week? Wes, you had two of them,
Speaker 1: so why don't you start out um going through them.
Speaker 1: I was shocked that I was the only person who
Speaker 1: picked the Lions to beat the Cardinals. Not because I
Speaker 1: don't think the Cardinals are a decent five football team
Speaker 1: and maybe the Lions are too, but from what I
Speaker 1: saw on tape in week one, I think the Lions
Speaker 1: are a good team. They're not just an average team.
Speaker 1: And I fear for Carson Palmer's life this week. I
Speaker 1: do at that front four from Detroit is just so ferocious.
Speaker 1: And then we saw what Quinn did to Levi Brown.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be ugly. Shouldn't be defend your hero pick.
Speaker 1: It should be we should be defending the fact that
Speaker 1: no one else took the Lions. It's true, By the way,
Speaker 1: to to use a Bill Simmons theory is sue now
Speaker 1: and DOMI con su is he in the Tyson zone
Speaker 1: where anything he did on the field would not be surprising,
Speaker 1: Like you come up with any scenario and it wouldn't
Speaker 1: surprise you. That's a good call. What else you got
Speaker 1: was I also have. This is another one that surprised me.
Speaker 1: After one week, everybody has forgotten that the Raiders have
Speaker 1: the least talent of any team in the NFL. Everybody
Speaker 1: kind of agreed in the preseason the Jaguars have a
Speaker 1: better roster than the Raiders. After one week, because the
Speaker 1: Raiders showed a little bit better than we expected, they
Speaker 1: are now favored to beat the Jaguars. I think the
Speaker 1: issue there is because they're playing in Jacksonville. You line
Speaker 1: up the Raiders against anyone else, you wouldn't have gotten
Speaker 1: four guys picking Oaklands. I think, um, Jacksonville looked really bad,
Speaker 1: and the two reasons for that. Gabbett was awful. Now
Speaker 1: we have Handy starting. He's not much better, but I
Speaker 1: think he can move the offense better. And people are
Speaker 1: underselling how great the Chiefs played in Week one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this might be the only time I picked the Raiders
Speaker 1: all season. They are at home against the bad Jacksonville
Speaker 1: team that just lost two, which is one of the
Speaker 1: more humiliating final scores you could lose by. Um, so
Speaker 1: I took Oakland, but I don't know. I mean the
Speaker 1: Jaguars are they are they the worst team in the league. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll find out this week. This is a for endom.
Speaker 1: Well this decide who gets their defense is not the
Speaker 1: worst defense in football. This this game could change football
Speaker 1: history if if Teddy Bridgewater changes the NFL or whatever
Speaker 1: this is. This is a big game for that pick.
Speaker 1: But but I think we might be underselling how well
Speaker 1: the Raiders played last week. I think they played well defensively,
Speaker 1: and I think Terrell Prior was better. Maybe even then,
Speaker 1: you guys gave him credit for saying they couldn't repeat it.
Speaker 1: Thought he made some nice third down throws. He made
Speaker 1: some nice throws in rhythm. I'll take my chances. But
Speaker 1: West is playing the game very well. Because if you
Speaker 1: can get a hero pick against the Raiders or a
Speaker 1: hero pick against the Cardinals, you know that's that's how
Speaker 1: you want to play the game. And you know we
Speaker 1: want to call West great strategist. But he's also taking
Speaker 1: the Jaguars two weeks in a row. This could looks
Speaker 1: very bad in a couple of days. Um, okay, I'll
Speaker 1: throw out my hero pick. I picked the Bills to
Speaker 1: beat the Panthers. Um this, I thought E J. Manuel
Speaker 1: did some things that look good. I think the Bills
Speaker 1: in Orchard Park. That's gonna that's that helps them obviously,
Speaker 1: And until I see the Panthers prove that they know
Speaker 1: how to, you know, go on the road or win
Speaker 1: a close game, especially in the front end of the season,
Speaker 1: I'm always going to assume they find a way to lose.
Speaker 1: So I feel pretty good about the Bills this week.
Speaker 1: This is my game. Where what we thought about d
Speaker 1: J Manual in the praise that we heaped on him,
Speaker 1: which was not out of place last week, I thought, well,
Speaker 1: against the Patriots, we're gonna be singing a different tune
Speaker 1: after Carolina's defense utterly erupts in Buffalo. I think that
Speaker 1: is and you know West has talked about this too.
Speaker 1: The Jets have an nice front seven, the Lions have
Speaker 1: a beautiful one. Carolina is gonna damage some quarterbacks. And
Speaker 1: when the Bill's offensive Lions struggled last week, it was
Speaker 1: on the interior line. I think they're pretty good. They
Speaker 1: played well against the Patriots, but chance Corty Glenn had
Speaker 1: a really good game at left tackle. But now the
Speaker 1: Panthers can't just get you on the outside with Hardy
Speaker 1: and Johnson, but then get you on the inside with
Speaker 1: their two rookies, and we both look good again in
Speaker 1: the regular season opener. And they they just stuffed Marshaw
Speaker 1: Lynne last week. And if they can stop the Bills
Speaker 1: running game, I think they win that game going away.
Speaker 1: And let's not forget about the Panthers struggles on offense
Speaker 1: in Week one. UM so I'm not completely convinced that
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to put up enough points to
Speaker 1: put distance. But perhaps I'm underestimating how good Caroline is
Speaker 1: front seven. It bothers me that Ron Rivera says, Hey,
Speaker 1: you know what, I don't really get this whole thing
Speaker 1: with fast paced offenses, up tempo, creative offenses. I don't
Speaker 1: see why we need to change what we're doing. You
Speaker 1: better change what you're doing because you have one of
Speaker 1: the more talented quarterbacks in football. You've got them hemmed in.
Speaker 1: I don't think Cam through a pass or he threw
Speaker 1: three passes over ten yards last week. That's not how
Speaker 1: you went in today's NFL. This is not meant to
Speaker 1: be condescending in the least, but it doesn't surprise me
Speaker 1: that Ron Rivera doesn't get that well. He sees it
Speaker 1: from the defensive side. That's what he's seeing. That's the
Speaker 1: kind of philosophy he has. And I don't think that
Speaker 1: it works in three NFL. It doesn't work in two thousand.
Speaker 1: It works when you're a member of the Bears, like
Speaker 1: Ron Rivera is, but they're not. The Panthers aren't going
Speaker 1: to be that team. Um Wes and I are in
Speaker 1: a great spot to pick up some ground with our
Speaker 1: hero picks. For shame, Cessler and Greg so much chalk
Speaker 1: that they didn't have a hero pick. So how about
Speaker 1: the fact that we both had hero picks last year?
Speaker 1: Last week we're also the co hero pick champions last year.
Speaker 1: You don't get anything, Dan, But I'm gonna let do you.
Speaker 1: Let you know here're losing a hero pick doesn't get
Speaker 1: you anything. If losing to hero pick was a category,
Speaker 1: you know, Dan would be the twenties seven Yankees mighty defensive.
Speaker 1: They sound a little complacent, still coasting on their hero
Speaker 1: last week. This is what I will throw to you, guys.
Speaker 1: I will give you Patra's hero pick. Well, you have
Speaker 1: the Niner Seahawks. We talked about that. I will toss
Speaker 1: to you guys that he took the Rams over the
Speaker 1: Falcons and you could fight it off Who gets to
Speaker 1: talk about that. I don't think that's hard to defend
Speaker 1: at all. The AM's pass rush on turf and Atlanta
Speaker 1: it's a tough place to win, But I think that's
Speaker 1: as smart as hero picks go. I could definitely see
Speaker 1: the Rams being a big problem for Atlanta. Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: three sacks last week, Chris Long against you know, the
Speaker 1: on the other side against the Falcons line that we've
Speaker 1: talked about is a mess on some level. It's not
Speaker 1: a crazy upset on on any level of what were
Speaker 1: you gonna say. I've picked the Falcons to win, and
Speaker 1: I don't feel good about it at all. Um, the
Speaker 1: Rams are really fast on turf offensively, defensively, Quinn is
Speaker 1: going to match up against Sam Baker, who hasn't even
Speaker 1: practiced this week and was one of the worst left
Speaker 1: tackles in the week last week. Roddy White is not
Speaker 1: the same. Jonathan Babineau hasn't practiced this week. That's three
Speaker 1: of the falcons most important players. The Rams offense is
Speaker 1: one of the groups I haven't gone back to watch.
Speaker 1: What what did Sam Bradford look like last week? Do
Speaker 1: you guys that took a closer look, he looked like
Speaker 1: Sam Bradford. He still makes throws that you say, Wow,
Speaker 1: he's got one of the best arms in the league.
Speaker 1: Jared Cook looks extremely fast, and it's just gonna be
Speaker 1: a matchup problem with everybody. I heard Greg Cosell say
Speaker 1: that he is absolutely used the word gushing over Jared
Speaker 1: and Tavon Austin not yet. Didn't make a huge impact
Speaker 1: in Week one, but I guess it's just a matter
Speaker 1: of time before that guy goes off from him. Everything
Speaker 1: with Patrick Peterson took Chris Gibbons out of the game. Sneaky,
Speaker 1: great game here, I could see this being a really
Speaker 1: fun one to watch. Okay, so let's go over the orphans.
Speaker 1: These are the rest of the games that either were
Speaker 1: not highlighted by us and there were no Hero picks involved. Um,
Speaker 1: so we'll go down the list. Why don't we start
Speaker 1: with Cleveland and Baltimore. We got it. We always got
Speaker 1: to go to Mark Sessler to get his Cleveland thoughts
Speaker 1: coming off a disastrous opener at home. Any chance in
Speaker 1: Baltimore this game really can This is a perfect Storm
Speaker 1: Brown's game that I've seen play out probably twenty seven
Speaker 1: other times following this team where the Ravens are agitated.
Speaker 1: They didn't get that home opener like every other defending
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champion. They now get their home opener. It's
Speaker 1: against the Browns team that right side of that offensive line.
Speaker 1: Let Cameron Wake just walk through a barnyard door last week.
Speaker 1: Now you got Elvin Stumerville. I don't like what Cleveland
Speaker 1: did on offense at all last week, and I have
Speaker 1: a bad feeling this could be one of these forty
Speaker 1: three to ten type situations. Mars lost all confidence. Ville
Speaker 1: is no Cameron Wake. It's it's not even close. Cameron
Speaker 1: Wake is one of the Mitchell Swarts. Is still Mitchell Sworts.
Speaker 1: That's true. It doesn't set up well because the Broncos
Speaker 1: couldn't run on the Ravens last week. The Browns, as
Speaker 1: much as they want to get Trent Richardson involved, are
Speaker 1: going to go against the raven strength run defense, and
Speaker 1: then they're gonna have to pass with Weed and and
Speaker 1: then the wheels fall off. I think the Ravens offense
Speaker 1: could be really bad though this year. I mean, we
Speaker 1: might find out last week that that was a good
Speaker 1: performance for them. So I think it could be a nice,
Speaker 1: low close game that filled. Oh wait, Phil Dawson isn't
Speaker 1: in Cleveland. By the way, I desperately need. Maybe asking
Speaker 1: for a win is a little much, But for my
Speaker 1: nine and seven Browns, number six seed pick and my
Speaker 1: brand and weed in four thousand yards thirty touched now
Speaker 1: need this to happen. I need something positive to come
Speaker 1: out of this game, Mark, can you give it to me?
Speaker 1: Maybe Jason Campbell can throw for four thousand yards. I'm
Speaker 1: reversed so that when it happens, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: call a win here. And I don't see a win
Speaker 1: because I haven't. I've never I've known you now for
Speaker 1: I guess three and a half years. I've never seen
Speaker 1: you so down on this franchise. And just a month
Speaker 1: ago you were reading a written statement changing your pick
Speaker 1: from them going four and twelve to seven and nine.
Speaker 1: You realize I've been in, I've been in essentially an
Speaker 1: abusive relationship since. Keep coming back. Okay, um Minnesota Chicago.
Speaker 1: Who wants to jump in with some thoughts on that
Speaker 1: Greg does well, it's the Christian Ponder Special. Uh No.
Speaker 1: I think I think this is a good test of
Speaker 1: where these two teams are at early in the season
Speaker 1: because I don't know what I took away from their
Speaker 1: first two games, whether we really think that the Vikings
Speaker 1: are gonna fall right back down to the end of
Speaker 1: that division. If you're asking Christian Ponder to win games
Speaker 1: for you, you're gonna be in trouble. He's going to
Speaker 1: have to win it. I mean, this is a good
Speaker 1: Bears team. He didn't last year and they won ten
Speaker 1: at six. He had started the he started the season well,
Speaker 1: won some games, and finished the season won some games.
Speaker 1: It's in the middle. He was an abyss. If he
Speaker 1: plays terribly, you're gonna that will be one of the
Speaker 1: big storylines heading into Week three. Is is Ponder the answer?
Speaker 1: So we'll see. Uh, Tennessee Houston, Mark, I think Tennessee Houston.
Speaker 1: I went back and watched that game, and you know,
Speaker 1: Jake Locker through twenty passes, fewer than any other quarterback.
Speaker 1: And I understand they want to establish a run heavy offense.
Speaker 1: But my takeaway, and you guys can tell me if
Speaker 1: you think differently, I think that they realized Jake Locker
Speaker 1: is not gonna beat you any other way, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna hide him in an offense that Frank, honestly, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure it works over the course of the season.
Speaker 1: I could see this team going eight and eight. Their
Speaker 1: defense impressed me, but you cannot just do what they
Speaker 1: tried to do against Pittsburgh fifteen more games. My takeaway
Speaker 1: was that the Titans went out of their way to
Speaker 1: say that Jerry greg called that game on defense, and
Speaker 1: if you watch it, it was clearly Greg Williams. And
Speaker 1: they're much better than last year. Are making elite candidate.
Speaker 1: Zach Brown was great. Jurrell Casey, who was the best
Speaker 1: defensive player on the field for them during the preseason,
Speaker 1: had a great game against the Steelers, tore up the
Speaker 1: interior of their line. Having said all that, the Texans
Speaker 1: are a better team. Uh, here's a sneaky potential game
Speaker 1: of the week from a competition standpoint. Miami goes into Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: That was such a great game last year. I mean
Speaker 1: Tannehill quietly had one of the best games of his season. Uh.
Speaker 1: It was kind of a gun slinger, you know, rookie
Speaker 1: type of game where they're just throwing it all over
Speaker 1: the field. I don't know if these two teams are
Speaker 1: set up to do that right now, though, I think
Speaker 1: it's more of a defensive type of game. Well, one
Speaker 1: of those teams has a defense, a very good one,
Speaker 1: the other one doesn't. So do we think Tannehill goes
Speaker 1: goes on the road and win. I took the Dolphins
Speaker 1: to win this game. I took the Colts, and I
Speaker 1: think this might be the referendum on Pep Hamilton's will
Speaker 1: they open it up and let and let Andrew Luck
Speaker 1: win the game instead of trying to control the tempo
Speaker 1: with uh this running game that probably isn't good enough
Speaker 1: to do it. I think Luck through for four something
Speaker 1: yards against Miami last year. I'm not sure that's going
Speaker 1: to happen again this time around. I picked the Cults too,
Speaker 1: I'm sticking with it. Defense could be really good this year.
Speaker 1: And I also think, like last year, the Cults playing
Speaker 1: a lot of close games that go down to the wire.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see that again. But I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's gonna work out for them as often
Speaker 1: if they play that way again. All right, here's another
Speaker 1: good game. This is a really good week. Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 1: coming off a very nice opening win against the Giants
Speaker 1: at home, head to Kansas City to play Andy Reid
Speaker 1: in the Chiefs Mark Sessler. This feels like a trap
Speaker 1: game potentially for me, for the Cowboys when they when
Speaker 1: we look back at an eight and eight Cowboys team,
Speaker 1: If that's what happens, this will be one of the
Speaker 1: games where you say, you know, listen, they they are
Speaker 1: more talented football team. And I agree with West Kansas
Speaker 1: City did. I watched that game on Sunday last week.
Speaker 1: Did a really, really nice job. That's masked by the
Speaker 1: fact that everyone just says it's the Jaguars. I think
Speaker 1: that Alex Smith, in the positive way, was exactly what
Speaker 1: Alex Smith wanted Andy, what Andy Reid wanted him to be,
Speaker 1: and he can he can operate that offense, and if
Speaker 1: they're efficient, I think Dallas could see, uh a stumble
Speaker 1: here trap game. They're not good enough to have a
Speaker 1: trap game, I mean their version of a trap game.
Speaker 1: I think that Chiefs were more impressive in Week one,
Speaker 1: but this is not a great matchup for them. The
Speaker 1: weakness of the Cowboys is in the secondary, and Alex
Speaker 1: Smith isn't testing defenses down the field. He's dinking and
Speaker 1: dunking over the middle, which I think the Cowboys is
Speaker 1: the wrong defense to do that against. And then on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball. As great as the
Speaker 1: Chiefs were on defense last week, the Cowboys have so
Speaker 1: many weapons, it's gonna it's not gonna be like playing
Speaker 1: against the Jaguars. Up next, let's go to Philadelphia the
Speaker 1: Chargers and Eagles. Greg Rosenthal, I mean, just Chip's Chip
Speaker 1: Kelly's world where I'll just living in it. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is this is must see TV every week now,
Speaker 1: and we see if the first half Chargers were a
Speaker 1: sign that this team is going to be a little
Speaker 1: better this year or whether they're just kind of gonna
Speaker 1: be a disaster. Can I tend to take out of
Speaker 1: that money night game that maybe the Texans and Chargers
Speaker 1: are a little closer than people think. It was a
Speaker 1: little flukey what happened. Uh, And I mean, I'm just
Speaker 1: I can't wait to watch it. I think as much
Speaker 1: as we talked about tempo with the Eagles, the most
Speaker 1: important thing was that they were picking up huge chunks
Speaker 1: of yardage in the first half. And Uh, the Chargers linebackers,
Speaker 1: especially Bird filling in for man Tito, was taking advantage
Speaker 1: of last week. And I think that's going to be
Speaker 1: a hole in the middle of the field for the
Speaker 1: Eagles to exploit such a big game for Philip Rivers
Speaker 1: because this is a tough matchup for him, but this
Speaker 1: could be his final season in San Diego. I think
Speaker 1: if he doesn't show the coaching staff that he's got anything,
Speaker 1: they can hang their hats on. Well, there is this
Speaker 1: crazy statu the team that plays the Eagles and the
Speaker 1: home opener, Philly's home opener has won the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: four straight years. So that would mean that the Chargers
Speaker 1: would have to win the Super Bowl this year to
Speaker 1: keep that's that going. But that's a that's a pretty wacky.
Speaker 1: If I had to make one pick for a game
Speaker 1: on this this slate, that will be a blowout this week.
Speaker 1: I think this is it. I think we're talking Eagles,
Speaker 1: have people all excited again, and the Charges that in
Speaker 1: a tank after costing me on Monday night. All right,
Speaker 1: let's you wrap it up for US West while I
Speaker 1: get some water Weekly impersonation of Mike mad that's a
Speaker 1: bad job by you, Charges, bad job by you, good one,
Speaker 1: mikey Um New Orleans at Tampa Bay. What's the story
Speaker 1: of the game here? To me is Josh Freeman. He's
Speaker 1: under fire. They ripped the Sea office Jersey. He played
Speaker 1: terribly in the first game. Siano is basically setting him
Speaker 1: up for failure right now. Uh, he's he has to
Speaker 1: play well or he's gonna be even more under the gun.
Speaker 1: In Christian ponder, I like that you said rip the
Speaker 1: Sea office Jersey run through like a wrestling move. Yes,
Speaker 1: it happened symbolically, they ripped the Sea off figuratively. It
Speaker 1: is a terrible sign that the moment that this players
Speaker 1: only meeting leaks out into the media, that then there's
Speaker 1: another report right after that saying how Josh Freeman missed
Speaker 1: the team meetings. That leaks out to the media like
Speaker 1: as a response, and then Siano comes out and talks
Speaker 1: about it publicly. I mean, that's throwing Your players don't
Speaker 1: like that when you when you put them on blast
Speaker 1: like that, and it just shows there's a schism right
Speaker 1: now between the players and Siana. And how about Siano
Speaker 1: volunteering the information that yes, he overslept through that team photo,
Speaker 1: but this is not the first time he's been laid either.
Speaker 1: That you don't even need to say that. It's just
Speaker 1: it's almost transparent what's going on here. He's building his case.
Speaker 1: I wrote this long overly long, overly winding report on
Speaker 1: why I thought the Bucks would make the playoffs this season,
Speaker 1: and possibly a good fodder for why I should be
Speaker 1: at Whole Food about a month from now stocking fruits
Speaker 1: and vegetables. Are we saying that Greg Siano took a
Speaker 1: metal folding chair to Josh Freeman's knee. That's h that's
Speaker 1: kind of accurate, I think. Um, all right, that's a
Speaker 1: week two we did it. This is our longest podcast ever.
Speaker 1: I think steam is coming out of care Rich's ears,
Speaker 1: but I feel like it was fun. I thought everybody
Speaker 1: got made some great points. So as as you know,
Speaker 1: we now do a Sunday podcast, So make sure you
Speaker 1: check out whatever device you use to listen to this show.
Speaker 1: You'll have something ready to go on Sunday night. UM
Speaker 1: next week, besides listening to k Rich's theme song, the
Speaker 1: Listening Party UM hashtag Bonker Sacks, We're also going to
Speaker 1: play when West's Toaster next week and the people are
Speaker 1: talking about it. People are excited. Wednesday is a big
Speaker 1: show because you're gonna have both of those things. But
Speaker 1: we should probably get out of here. UM. Signing off,
Speaker 1: The Mailman, the Sizzler, and the boss and Lyle the intern.
Speaker 1: Let's go up in the of love. We'll see you
Speaker 1: on senday M