Speaker 1: Lee again, Harry's at this time and there is an
Speaker 1: official touchdown. Schmid wind Up goes deep down feeling getting
Speaker 1: British irek Hill to get key insa city the league
Speaker 1: man Smith. He fires deep and that's gonna be caught
Speaker 1: on the run by Kareem Hunt inside the twenty, inside
Speaker 1: the ten, all the way for a Kansas City touchdown
Speaker 1: to tie the games on one now and off the
Speaker 1: west and West bights Tree into the end zone. He
Speaker 1: goes and Coora touchdown down six points early in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs ripped off twenty
Speaker 1: one on answered points to stun the defending Super Bowl
Speaker 1: champion New England Patriots the final forty two to seven,
Speaker 1: in a game in which Alex Smith badly I played,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and rookie Kareem Hunt announced himself as an
Speaker 1: instant star whoa Dan has is here joined by as
Speaker 1: luck would have it for me anyway of the biggest
Speaker 1: Patriots fans I know, Erica Tamposy behind the glass gets
Speaker 1: top belly. Now give me a break. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: you're not a dead supporter, Greg, Come on, I'm fine, okay,
Speaker 1: cool and to my right, Greggy Rosetalo, Greggy, what happened tonight? Well,
Speaker 1: I I heard all off season that you know, save football,
Speaker 1: you know, it's so boring, nothing surprising ever happened. So
Speaker 1: this is what happens. This is why football, professional football
Speaker 1: is the best sport because you don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And so many different things happened in this game. But
Speaker 1: but the number one was that the Chiefs showed up
Speaker 1: and the Patriots aren't unbeatable, And something that I talked
Speaker 1: about a lot on this show coming into this game
Speaker 1: and really in the off season that their front seven
Speaker 1: and their defense has some things that are gonna need
Speaker 1: to be worked out, came up in in a big,
Speaker 1: big way in this game. This was a grizzly performance
Speaker 1: by Ma Patricia's defense. Five and thirty seven total yards
Speaker 1: for the Chiefs. That is the worst performance by a
Speaker 1: Belichick era defense forty two points, also the worst ever
Speaker 1: for a Belichick team. The only time they were close
Speaker 1: to this bag was, of course, a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago against the Chiefs in Casey, when they gave up
Speaker 1: forty one loss. Of course, Greg, before we get too
Speaker 1: excited about the Throne of sleeves, crashing down. That Patriots
Speaker 1: team figured it out and never lost another game after
Speaker 1: September twenty nine. There's gonna be a lot of talk
Speaker 1: in New England. I'm sure it's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of panick in New England about this game, but also
Speaker 1: the same type of reasoning that makes sense. All Right,
Speaker 1: Bill is gonna figure this out, he always does. Tom
Speaker 1: will play better and things will get back on track.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't change the fact that this is a
Speaker 1: disturbing loss to open the season. Absolutely, and the defense
Speaker 1: really struggling, is gonna somewhat overshadow Tom Brady, you know,
Speaker 1: completing less than of his passes. And I think the
Speaker 1: worst narrative that came up over the last week or
Speaker 1: two was that they're not gonna miss Julian Edelman that much. Now,
Speaker 1: that could have been a little more true if they
Speaker 1: didn't also lose Malcolm Mitchell for the season. But suddenly
Speaker 1: that's two of your top four. Malcolm. They don't win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl without Malcolm Mitchell. Suddenly that's two of
Speaker 1: your top four, and you're running Amndola out there more
Speaker 1: than you want to. Hogan is kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: working as a disappeared and Cooks, and it's just it's
Speaker 1: not enough depth and they're just figuring out timing. It's
Speaker 1: weak one. It's not anything to go too crazy about.
Speaker 1: They didn't lose this game because of their offense. They
Speaker 1: lost because their defense and because they couldn't pick up
Speaker 1: short yardage two fourth downs, fourth and once they pick
Speaker 1: up those two plays. A different games, totally different game
Speaker 1: on the Kansas City side of things. First, the bad news,
Speaker 1: Eric Berry suffered and achilles injury UH late in the game,
Speaker 1: and from all indications it looks like it could be
Speaker 1: a season ending injury, which is a terrible, terrible set
Speaker 1: back for that defense. He is the heart and soul
Speaker 1: of that defense. So well, that is expected to be official,
Speaker 1: but we'll see. But the good news is Alex Smith, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Brady had UH not a good statistical game, sixteen of
Speaker 1: thirty six, no touchdowns, no interceptions. But Alex Smith, I mean,
Speaker 1: this guy has taken a lot of knocks, both in
Speaker 1: this room and UH and the football cogniscenti. But today
Speaker 1: thirty five three sixty eight, ten and a half yards
Speaker 1: per attempt, four touchdowns, no picks. That's a one forty
Speaker 1: eight point six passer rating. And you combine that type
Speaker 1: of Alex Smith performance with what Kareem hunted, who went
Speaker 1: two hundred two hundred fifty total yards, which is all
Speaker 1: rookie record for NFL debut. I mean that's out rageous,
Speaker 1: literally the best debut of all time. What a showing.
Speaker 1: I mean it it was the perfect perfect game for
Speaker 1: Kansas City. And and and it's an important one. Is
Speaker 1: the biggest win in the Andy Reid era for the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: and it it is a statement win, and you know
Speaker 1: I love statement wins. Greg, But Kansas City says, we're
Speaker 1: starting the season going into Foxborough on opening night when
Speaker 1: we were supposed to be the sacrificial lambs, and we
Speaker 1: embarrass the Patriots in their billy Oh where can they
Speaker 1: embarrass the Pats in their building? Oh, Tam Post, he's
Speaker 1: learning a little lesson in professionalism. I learned this back
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl when they blew the eighteen and oh
Speaker 1: whin and had to write immediately afterwards to get on
Speaker 1: camera that that was tough. So, Tam Post, he's taking this.
Speaker 1: You got to enjoy it as a as a football fan.
Speaker 1: What the Chief said, I like when people prove you wrong.
Speaker 1: And he quieted the Patrick Mahomes talk Alex Smith and
Speaker 1: Cream Hunt to me was the bigger factor because we
Speaker 1: we know who Alex Smith is overall. I don't think
Speaker 1: one game changes him as a quarterback. But Kareem Hunt
Speaker 1: is a guy that can be a star, a foundation
Speaker 1: piece of the offense, who can break tackles, who can
Speaker 1: make you miss in the hole, and showed on that
Speaker 1: touchdown catch a seventy eight yard or that he can
Speaker 1: be a good receiver too. And and it was a matchup.
Speaker 1: This is not a normal matchup for Bill Belichick. It's
Speaker 1: going against one of the best offensive plate callers of
Speaker 1: the last twenty five years. And Andy Reid has had
Speaker 1: some great games as Chiefs coach, calling plays and and
Speaker 1: he dialed up some beauties tonight. And it was it
Speaker 1: was really and what we watched this over at west
Speaker 1: Manor with uh with the sizzler and the paramour and
Speaker 1: the paramore's mom and just to see the Patriots basically
Speaker 1: break down at the end of the game, not saying
Speaker 1: they quit, but clearly at the end of the game
Speaker 1: they were just they had been beat and they and
Speaker 1: and they scored the final touchdown for the Chiefs. It
Speaker 1: was like to play seventy nine yard drive with just
Speaker 1: two runs, and then Brady took two sacks in the
Speaker 1: subsequent drive, and then they punted it away from their
Speaker 1: old own goal line. It was so uncharacteristic, and it
Speaker 1: is ironic because the last time you saw the Patriots
Speaker 1: looked as bad besides three in February, I guess would
Speaker 1: be against the Chiefs um three years ago. A couple
Speaker 1: of things on that. Chris Collinsworth kept saying, you know,
Speaker 1: they're not playing the guys that there used to having
Speaker 1: out there now. That's true because they have a lot
Speaker 1: of new players on both sides of the ball. But
Speaker 1: it wasn't like there was a day luge of injuries.
Speaker 1: They lost Donte high Tower and we'll see if that
Speaker 1: knee injuries significant. He is the most irreplaceable player on
Speaker 1: the defense. But the rest of the problems were really
Speaker 1: just from guys that that are new to the team
Speaker 1: or you know, Stephan Gilmour maybe got mixed up on
Speaker 1: that Tyreek Hill touchdown Piers that he thought he was
Speaker 1: gonna have help, So that was communication. But these are
Speaker 1: guys that are going to be important parts of their team.
Speaker 1: It wasn't because the injuries that they were falling apart.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned the Super Bowl. I mean this was
Speaker 1: a This was like the reverse of the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: not as dramatic, but twenty one to nothing in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter for the Chiefs and the Patriots offensive drives.
Speaker 1: Their offensive really was not bad for most of the night.
Speaker 1: Their offensive drives in the fourth quarter four drives, two
Speaker 1: first downs, three punts, and a turnover on downs. So
Speaker 1: that was exactly like the Falcons in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: And it's just gonna help old Billy Belichick who loves
Speaker 1: to give the message this isn't last years team. We're
Speaker 1: not defending every anything. You're starting from scratch. And he
Speaker 1: has some great proof after this game. Stunning stunning stuff
Speaker 1: by the way, and we got we have a hole.
Speaker 1: We haven't get out to all the games in a second,
Speaker 1: with Mark Susser joining us as well. But Erica, this
Speaker 1: is a hard lesson about working at the NFL. Um
Speaker 1: that happened. I remember when the Jets lost to Rex
Speaker 1: Ryan in Week seventeen a couple of years ago to
Speaker 1: cost us the playoffs, and then I had to come
Speaker 1: into the studio and do a whole show when I
Speaker 1: just wanted to curl up in a ball and just die.
Speaker 1: And I know you feel that way right now, but
Speaker 1: don't worry. She's wearing next will be better the next day.
Speaker 1: This is not a She is wearing a Danny Danny
Speaker 1: Ammondola Jersey who unfortunately had excepted a concussion in this game.
Speaker 1: A lot of injuries he's doing. Okay, Yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's cool. Can I read my Can I say my facts? Now?
Speaker 1: You got facts? I got I got facts? Okay? The
Speaker 1: last we got Yeah, the last three times the Patriots
Speaker 1: lost the season opener in two thousand one, two thousand three,
Speaker 1: and two thousand fourteen, we won all three Super Bowls.
Speaker 1: So I'm just saying, you're saying the sun will come
Speaker 1: out tomorrow tomorrow unless it doesn't. Who all right? And
Speaker 1: post going with the big Wei the Royal weed a
Speaker 1: big spot alright. So yeah, that's it. Seven Chiefs win.
Speaker 1: Let's get into the rest of the game. It's our
Speaker 1: Week one preview episode the Around the NFL Podcast. He's
Speaker 1: expected to be ready to start Week one. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast, brought
Speaker 1: to you by Headed Shoulders. My name is Dan Hansas
Speaker 1: and I'm joined by a room filled with some heroes.
Speaker 1: Mark Cessler to my left, Greg rosehal tim I right,
Speaker 1: what's up? Boys? Hey? Now it is here finally and
Speaker 1: you just heard at the top of the show, we
Speaker 1: recapped the Patriots chiefs opener on Thursday night, and um,
Speaker 1: we're gonna go through the rest of the games. Now
Speaker 1: that's what today's show. This is the Thursday show on
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL podcast. We'll go through each and
Speaker 1: every game in the schedule and let's figure it out. Okay,
Speaker 1: Chief some Patriots, plate, Dolphins, and Bucks postponed thirty two
Speaker 1: minus four equal divided by two four teen games to
Speaker 1: talk about. Nailed it. That's I'm sharp because I'm ready
Speaker 1: for a new season. Are you feeling nervous at all
Speaker 1: to do this? Shown Thursday preview show? In quite some time,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling a little little feeling some nerves. We've done
Speaker 1: this for so many years now, we're just like hamsters
Speaker 1: on a wheel here. That's on some level, I guess
Speaker 1: you know I have. I have no nerves. You feeling
Speaker 1: a little nervous, so well, that's not that's not a
Speaker 1: bad thing. That that's how you should feel. I think
Speaker 1: once that doesn't happen. It just means you're like phoning
Speaker 1: it in. Were you the guy that was a little
Speaker 1: bit of a shot at you, Dan? Yeah? I know.
Speaker 1: Were you one of those guys that before the big
Speaker 1: football game you'd be thrown up in the trash can?
Speaker 1: Typically not, because I mean unless waves of humans were hurt.
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to be playing the old Weren't you
Speaker 1: on the offensive line? Almost than possibly? No. I was
Speaker 1: a running back actually in Pop Warner, but as soon
Speaker 1: as I attempted high school football, which lasted for about
Speaker 1: a year and a half, they made me a cornerback
Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't do defense. I like
Speaker 1: to know what the play is and they try to
Speaker 1: please respond and react to other people, and it was
Speaker 1: a disaster. I don't you know. I love you, Mark,
Speaker 1: but the one thing I don't see you as was
Speaker 1: like a quick twitch corner. Well, I think that's accurate
Speaker 1: that I've never achieved that at all. You're gonna say athletic,
Speaker 1: you know, and he doesn't like the parlor games, but well,
Speaker 1: we want to As a running back, I scored. I
Speaker 1: was I would be what you'd call a short yardage
Speaker 1: back in the pop Warner circles. Speaking of, I mean,
Speaker 1: we might as well throw the popping. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: playing a little parlor games on NFL Pick Them. The
Speaker 1: Pick Them show is back. Damnit check is on the
Speaker 1: show his whole program. Yeah, move the sticks, but you're
Speaker 1: really watching for the round the NFL pipe A couple
Speaker 1: of and one of them were playing some corn hole. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be on Friday and Saturday. Check your check
Speaker 1: your local listings, and uh, it's an hour long this year.
Speaker 1: So if you liked the show last year and it's
Speaker 1: twenty two minute version with commercials, uh, you'll like this
Speaker 1: was even better. We're gonna be outside, We're gonna be
Speaker 1: out and about. We're gonna be playing some corn We're
Speaker 1: gonna be at the bar. Uh, around the NFL podcast
Speaker 1: things happening. We're getting some measure of respect inside the building.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go that far, but this is a
Speaker 1: nice ob I mean, if you're one of the people
Speaker 1: that liked it at twenty two minutes and didn't need anymore,
Speaker 1: well we can't help you there either. Okay, So do
Speaker 1: we have anything to get us to or should we
Speaker 1: just get into the game let's get into the game.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. Let's get into the rest of the games Erica.
Speaker 1: Let's let's fly. Professional football in America is a special game,
Speaker 1: a unique game, lay nowhere else on earth. It is
Speaker 1: a rare game. The men who play it make it
Speaker 1: so crazy. I'll say this shot. I'm not nervous about
Speaker 1: a new season. But in spite of my favorite teams
Speaker 1: complete inability to compete this year, most likely the Jets,
Speaker 1: I'm very excited about a new season, best season of
Speaker 1: the best week of the year. I make this point
Speaker 1: every year, so I'm not gonna keep saying it. But
Speaker 1: it's like, you don't know what's gonna happen. You don't
Speaker 1: know what these teams are going to be. Like, It's
Speaker 1: a great way to pitch our preview show, right, none
Speaker 1: of us know what's gonna happen in news drop to
Speaker 1: by Tom Posey. When we're back in good standing, you know,
Speaker 1: I will say that that I'll heat ascenda right there.
Speaker 1: I mean, football is played outside the United States. Just
Speaker 1: a hot just a hot tip for you, though, John.
Speaker 1: But I mean that was probably recorded for years. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying for people to think that was recorded currently
Speaker 1: he's incorrect. It's totally ascend though, because football was not
Speaker 1: being played elsewhere when he recorded that. Yeah, that's my
Speaker 1: take to attack a guy that can't defend himself. The
Speaker 1: man's in the ground. Um, yes, circumstances. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe Erica will play it after the show and you
Speaker 1: could hear the fight between Erica tampose, loose cannon and
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal come broke out right before the show. I
Speaker 1: loved it based largely on Greg being I would say
Speaker 1: slightly rude to Erica. I was gonna say Greg being
Speaker 1: Greg a little bit. He was a little bit disrespectful
Speaker 1: and and tampose. And we didn't need to be told
Speaker 1: that this was going to happen, even though we hadn't
Speaker 1: seen it yet. You knew it was in her because
Speaker 1: you got the fire in her eyes, got that fire
Speaker 1: she went right back. Of course. That's why I feel
Speaker 1: comfortable with Erica, you know, being myself, not around these
Speaker 1: delicate flowers over here. I don't know hashtag manners in
Speaker 1: terms of treating you know, a fellow co worker. There
Speaker 1: is an HR department in this building. Thank you for
Speaker 1: the support. I talked to Greg a lot that sometimes
Speaker 1: doesn't realize the way he talks to people, the way
Speaker 1: it comes off. Erica put him right in line. So
Speaker 1: I enjoyed that. All right, let's get to the games
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, all right, we mentioned the Jets. Let's
Speaker 1: knock it out. We're just gonna go straight down the list,
Speaker 1: uh that we have in front of us. Uh, in
Speaker 1: in accordance with oh yeah, the week one research notes
Speaker 1: that is exciting. The research notes are back. In fact,
Speaker 1: it's a weekly ender Round feature this year. Every Wednesday,
Speaker 1: Old Daddy Zeuser combs through the research note and and
Speaker 1: then share some of his favorite tippets in it. Check
Speaker 1: it out NFL dot com slash under Round now the
Speaker 1: first game to talk about. Yeah, let's go to Western
Speaker 1: New York, guys, where the Jets and Bills. Uh. To
Speaker 1: be clear, we are going left to right off of
Speaker 1: NFL dot Com. Don't don't honk on us that we
Speaker 1: started with the Jets. This is where did we do this?
Speaker 1: Every week? We're taking care of business because we're starting
Speaker 1: with the two potentially worst teams in football could play
Speaker 1: out that way, uh, potentially two teams clearly rebuilding. The
Speaker 1: Jets coming off of five and eleven season last place
Speaker 1: finish in the a f C East and now in
Speaker 1: a total rebuild. The Bills were a little later to
Speaker 1: the rebuild party, but now that effort is in full
Speaker 1: bloom for them. They went seven or nine last year.
Speaker 1: It's the No Rex Bowl and Rex Ryan by the way,
Speaker 1: we coached these two teams. Um told ESPN, look what
Speaker 1: he's left in his what's like, I've left your team
Speaker 1: worse than when I got there. For what it's worth,
Speaker 1: he did an interview with Rich Smini of ESPN dot com.
Speaker 1: He doesn't really seem to Harvard ill will against the Jets.
Speaker 1: He clearly hates John Zick the Glacier, but the Jets
Speaker 1: not so much. But he clearly is on bad terms
Speaker 1: with the Bills, who he believes uh didn't give him
Speaker 1: a fair shake. You take that however you want and
Speaker 1: believe him or not. But anyway, no Rex, no hope
Speaker 1: for these teams. You can make the argument, Mark, what
Speaker 1: would be something to take away from this game if
Speaker 1: you were looking for something compelling about this matchup? I
Speaker 1: think this is a fascinating game for one reason, and
Speaker 1: it's for me. We have spent hour upon hour on
Speaker 1: this show talking about new York's front office what they're
Speaker 1: attempting to do, and if you want to spin it positively,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a tough year. But they are basically saying,
Speaker 1: enough with the four five win seasons, we are going
Speaker 1: to rebuild from the ground up. You dumped a collection
Speaker 1: of players that accounted for a hundred and nine starts
Speaker 1: last year, and so this is almost a must lose
Speaker 1: game for New York out of the gate. You have
Speaker 1: to lose this game to show us. And I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that in a snarky way. I really am not
Speaker 1: sounds like because I know that the coaches and players
Speaker 1: are not. But honestly, the problem with New York in
Speaker 1: terms of always missing on that quarterback in the draft
Speaker 1: is you've gone with these five six win seasons. You
Speaker 1: have to get you have to achieve your goal. When
Speaker 1: I look at the game itself, though outside of Lashawn
Speaker 1: mccoy've addressed that this offseason by the way, they they're
Speaker 1: different than those other teams. In fact, they've stripped this
Speaker 1: down to the studs and it could end with the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns esque ending from two thousand and six. It could.
Speaker 1: I just outside of Lashawn McCoy. I don't know. When
Speaker 1: I'm watching these two offenses, who do you point to
Speaker 1: that you can count on to deliver on Sunday. I
Speaker 1: cannot find more than one or two people. It couldn't
Speaker 1: be a better matchup for the Jets and their defense,
Speaker 1: which might be not so bad. They look pretty good
Speaker 1: in the preseason. I know they've traded Sheldon Richardson since then.
Speaker 1: They are in love with this young safety group. That's
Speaker 1: a thing to get excited about. Jamal Adams looks like
Speaker 1: a stud and Marcus May who was the second round pick,
Speaker 1: reportedly outplayed just about anyone including Jamal Adam Jamal Adams
Speaker 1: in the preseason, So that's something to get excited about.
Speaker 1: And then you look at the opposition. Tyrod Taylor was
Speaker 1: not two thousand sixteen Tyrod Taylor in practices in the preseason,
Speaker 1: I would say they were the worst looking offense I
Speaker 1: would say in the NFL, including the Jets. Uh, they
Speaker 1: really struggled. And so I think the Jets probably look
Speaker 1: at this matchup like we got a shot. We got
Speaker 1: a shot to win this game. Absolutely, who will win
Speaker 1: the game? Mark? I think it's gonna be very weird scoring,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to if we're feeling it, I'm just scarious.
Speaker 1: So you do have the Bills. I think the Jets
Speaker 1: are gonna hang in this game, lose by three to
Speaker 1: seven points, that's I think. Yeah, I agree, I think
Speaker 1: it'll be a close game. It's it's weird, like no
Speaker 1: one's talked about Marcel Darius. He's been a disappointment, but
Speaker 1: he's there, Jerry Hughes. They still have some players, but
Speaker 1: their secondary, which we we thought of as one of
Speaker 1: the Bill's strengths last here, it's all gone. They got
Speaker 1: rid of everyone. I mean, they got rid of Derby,
Speaker 1: they got rid of they even traded Kevin's Kievan Seymour
Speaker 1: than you have this preseason. Surprised people. It's like a
Speaker 1: totally different second must lose game for the Jets. Is
Speaker 1: it must lose game? Is that is that building is
Speaker 1: gonna be sold out? The Bills copy. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: great fan base. Okay, great fan but I mean, but
Speaker 1: at a certain point, this rebuild better work. Those those
Speaker 1: fans snuck off on Bills fans in the last month
Speaker 1: or two, and they they it's a bigger game for
Speaker 1: them because you do not want to start out oh
Speaker 1: and one with a home loss to the gets right, exactly,
Speaker 1: all right? Moving on, alright, let's talk about those are
Speaker 1: bad teams. Here's a good team, the Atlanta Falcons. Uh,
Speaker 1: coming off obviously the worst Super Bowl Lawson of all time,
Speaker 1: but that shouldn't completely overshadow how great they were last year,
Speaker 1: especially on offense. They opened up a new season in
Speaker 1: Chicago against the Bears. The Bears were dreadful last year
Speaker 1: three and thirteen team, which led to them getting uh,
Speaker 1: Mitch Trobinsky. But we're not gonna see Mitch greg We're
Speaker 1: gonna see Mike Lennon. We are, and he's not playing
Speaker 1: with the stack deck. He is throwing to Kevin White,
Speaker 1: Deonte Thompson, who's bounced around the league without really doing
Speaker 1: a lot, and who I believe um their third receiver
Speaker 1: at kendall right, probably their number one receiver. That's the
Speaker 1: worst receiving group in the league. So even if Mike
Speaker 1: Lennon plays well, it's like the ceilings low. And I've
Speaker 1: been talking about how much I like this young Falcons defense,
Speaker 1: and this is a great first matchup for them to show, hey,
Speaker 1: we can we can win some games for the team
Speaker 1: this year. We can be a little more balanced. I
Speaker 1: have been impressed with Chicago's front seven in their past rush.
Speaker 1: I know the fourth preseason game means nothing, but there
Speaker 1: were a couple of frontline guys playing in that game,
Speaker 1: and they detonated Cleveland. They played well in other weeks,
Speaker 1: and so I don't think the Bears are going to
Speaker 1: be some sort of raging hot mess. But I think
Speaker 1: you're in trouble in this game against the Falcons, team
Speaker 1: that essentially returns its entire roster on offense from last season.
Speaker 1: What what are we pointing to that would suggest that
Speaker 1: they're going to take a major or step back. Because
Speaker 1: the defense, if anything is cord and points that is better.
Speaker 1: That's that's the the X factor. But just they just
Speaker 1: that they were so good that it's impossible to repeat. Right.
Speaker 1: But you're right, but even if they take a step back,
Speaker 1: you still have so many proven production elements in that
Speaker 1: offense that I don't see how you suddenly, you know,
Speaker 1: collapse in that division. They're not gonna It's a very
Speaker 1: busy week at NFL Media. There's a lot everyone it's
Speaker 1: a who's who everyone that is tied into this company.
Speaker 1: H is around the campus right now. I had a
Speaker 1: nice conversation with someone that's in the know, that has
Speaker 1: connections and and is plugged into the teams and not
Speaker 1: a name dropper. Won't say who it is. It's a
Speaker 1: deep source. That's why. That's why I'm the a t
Speaker 1: N media insider. By the way, haven't been breaking um.
Speaker 1: In fact, that's bad job by you because I broke
Speaker 1: big news that I won't even share on this podcast.
Speaker 1: Uh yesterday about devastating news over a text. I nearly
Speaker 1: got in a car accident. It's all coming together because
Speaker 1: I know who's in town anyway. Figuring that is such
Speaker 1: a bad look. Greg on you because you just you
Speaker 1: see this. You want my corner. My My point is
Speaker 1: the guy that that he said watch out for Tarik Cohen.
Speaker 1: That's just keep an eye on this guy. Jordan Howard
Speaker 1: is the number one guy. He was he ran very
Speaker 1: well last year. But apparently this guy is like and
Speaker 1: looked awesome. This is a Darren Sproles guy that he's
Speaker 1: going to have a big impact UH this season, So
Speaker 1: something to young big time players. Leonard Floyd is someone
Speaker 1: if you're looking for the longest of long shots to
Speaker 1: be in the mix for a Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year that I think they really believe he is a
Speaker 1: superstar level talent. We'll see if it shows up this year. Alright,
Speaker 1: moving on, Oh yeah, Justin Tucker's back, Baby. Why I'm
Speaker 1: so excited because Justin Taka gona bank some field goes.
Speaker 1: The Ravens travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals. Ravens
Speaker 1: eight and eight last year, UH Cincinnati down season, a
Speaker 1: tough season, six nine and one. But Greg, you and
Speaker 1: I have are on are on the same page with this.
Speaker 1: We just had a sandwich prop where West also believes,
Speaker 1: uh Cincinnati's returning to the playoffs. I think this is
Speaker 1: a good Bengals team, and I think we're gonna see
Speaker 1: it immediately in this game. I think they're in a
Speaker 1: great position at home, healthy and getting the Ravens frankly
Speaker 1: at the right time because Joe Flacco is playing. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna say Joe Flacco's back injury was a fluco.
Speaker 1: But he is ready for Week one. But is he
Speaker 1: gonna be able to was it? Is he gonna be
Speaker 1: any good? No keeping that going. Hey Flacco ain't no fluco.
Speaker 1: He's got a Super Bowl m v P. But how's
Speaker 1: that back? That back is good enough to practice, It's
Speaker 1: it's a huge jump for all these teams to jump
Speaker 1: up to seventies snaps. So if you're Joe Flacco or
Speaker 1: your Breshade Perriman who by the way, missed all of
Speaker 1: uh August before returning practice, Danny Woodhead who missed most
Speaker 1: of August, there's a lot of this offense that has
Speaker 1: not played together. So you're right, from a defensive standpoint,
Speaker 1: the Bengals have to be loving this week one matchup. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean Andy Dalton has He's really struggled against the
Speaker 1: Ravens more than almost any other team in the league,
Speaker 1: and they've had his number in the past. But the
Speaker 1: reason to be excited about Cincinnati is I think Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: You want to see a lot of him right away.
Speaker 1: He can kill you in the passing game. On the ground.
Speaker 1: John Ross, We're not gonna see him this week, but
Speaker 1: he's already practicing again, so maybe next week. But that
Speaker 1: this offense has a lot to offer. I could see
Speaker 1: this being similar to Bill's Jets, not a lot of
Speaker 1: touch that like. I like the Bengals offense long term,
Speaker 1: but this Ravens defense is coming into this season. I
Speaker 1: believe guns blazon, tons of depth, just the type of
Speaker 1: team that can succeed in Week one. You don't need
Speaker 1: guys to play sixties seventies because you've got so many
Speaker 1: young players. And I think they believe in their building
Speaker 1: that they can be one of the top two or
Speaker 1: three defense, and like that's what they're gonna have to be,
Speaker 1: bold school. I think they have a chance. I really do.
Speaker 1: I think they have a chance because this is a
Speaker 1: toss up game for me. I I don't feel too sick.
Speaker 1: I like the Bengals because they're but not by much.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, if the Baltimore defense isn't very
Speaker 1: good this season, it's gonna be a long year. It
Speaker 1: needs to be old school defense carrying the day. Because
Speaker 1: even if Flacco does stay on the field this season,
Speaker 1: who First of all, he's never been a dynamo despite
Speaker 1: that one playoff run. He's a very coming off one
Speaker 1: of his worst season, especially last year. He's offense. Last year,
Speaker 1: I would like to have Joe Flacco as my quarterback,
Speaker 1: but to expect even if he was healthy to act like,
Speaker 1: oh Flaccos, they're they're okay. Because because if we talk
Speaker 1: about Atlanta saying, well, listen, not a lot's changed. Not
Speaker 1: a lot is changed for Baltimore's offense either, And I
Speaker 1: don't like the ground game. And if they can't run
Speaker 1: the ball, what what they're gonna get caught caught in
Speaker 1: these bad passing situations? Will sit You're replaced, you know,
Speaker 1: Steve Smith, that Jeremy Macklin, you're not too exciting running back.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, um alright, moving on the alright market
Speaker 1: excited because it's a new era for the Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 1: who after last year's complete tear down and the one
Speaker 1: in fifteen, uh, the offseas in spending and all the
Speaker 1: first round picks. Now we get to see are the
Speaker 1: Browns actually any better? And they get a test right
Speaker 1: away in their own building against their old nemesis, the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, to ramp up the drama
Speaker 1: a little bit, there's a certain cornerback, Joe Hayden, that
Speaker 1: is now playing for the they called the Silver, No
Speaker 1: they call what do they call it? The Black and Gold?
Speaker 1: They call you know, it's something famous Whiz Khalifa song
Speaker 1: in honor of yes how come No? But I think
Speaker 1: it was about Pittsburgh Sports though it was about the Steelers,
Speaker 1: but he gotta go gold blocking gold blocking gold. See
Speaker 1: that would have been better. Yeah, that's exactly how Whiz
Speaker 1: Khalifa sounds. By the way, this is our you know,
Speaker 1: we've got some test research back. They wanted us to
Speaker 1: reach out more to the young market. This is this
Speaker 1: is it. Well you've achieved that, guys. A few more
Speaker 1: hip hop and R and B refs, and you're ready
Speaker 1: to go to the next level, despite the fact that
Speaker 1: we're not going to allow you to sample any of
Speaker 1: that music on any of your shows. So we've just
Speaker 1: we just kind of correctly talked about a six year
Speaker 1: old wrap song. So we're on the right track. We're
Speaker 1: flying high. But will the Browns. A couple of times
Speaker 1: you know, I I tet We were in texting about
Speaker 1: this Miles Garrett high ankle sprain. He's gonna cost him
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks at least. Uh and high ankle sprain. Uh.
Speaker 1: I'm not a doctor, but what that means is he
Speaker 1: tore some legaments in his in his lower leg, and
Speaker 1: so we don't know, um how long he'll really be out.
Speaker 1: But it was almost I don't know with the Browns.
Speaker 1: It just feels like it was you were waiting for
Speaker 1: the other shoe to drop with this guy. At least
Speaker 1: I was, because it was too good to be true.
Speaker 1: How great he was looking. And now he's out of
Speaker 1: the picture. How frustrating for you, Mark, It is frustrating.
Speaker 1: At the same time, I think that you have to
Speaker 1: look at the season as not one where Cleveland's chasing
Speaker 1: the playoff spot. I want to see development and Garrett
Speaker 1: will be back. I think de Sean Kaiser makes the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns a much more interesting team to watch than
Speaker 1: they've been probably since I've worked here, and I mean
Speaker 1: dating back to their ten wins season in two thousand seven.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you could have asked for a
Speaker 1: more vicious matchup out of the gate, outside of the
Speaker 1: outside of the Patriots, or maybe you know the Packers
Speaker 1: are certain I don't. Well, here's the problem. I mean,
Speaker 1: this will change if they begin to win. But Cleveland's
Speaker 1: home field advantage has meant very little, and it's meant
Speaker 1: nothing against the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger has made mincemeat of
Speaker 1: Cleveland from the minute he hit You're absolutely right, not
Speaker 1: much home field tough matchup plain of Steelers that said,
Speaker 1: if you're gonna play the Steelers offense, this might be
Speaker 1: the week to do it. This was one of those
Speaker 1: offenses that barely played in the preseason. I mean barely,
Speaker 1: and that's not even counting Levian Bell. Everyone's expected Marvin
Speaker 1: Martavis Bryant to be back like he was. We haven't
Speaker 1: seen that yet, you know, Roethlisberger brat like. I could
Speaker 1: feel them having a bit of a rough start, like
Speaker 1: we've seen that offense have slumps throughout different seasons. And
Speaker 1: Greg Williams defense, I think they're kind of ready to
Speaker 1: go if nothing know. Well, that's what makes the Garrett
Speaker 1: missing Garrett in this game specifically disappointing because it would
Speaker 1: have been great to see him make a play out
Speaker 1: of the gate. But Cleveland, you gotta they have to
Speaker 1: find a way to keep up. If Pittsburgh does find
Speaker 1: the groove, there's easily the Browns easily have seven or
Speaker 1: eight weeks. But before the defense tunes out. Greg Greg
Speaker 1: Williams right now, we're bed period where he will get
Speaker 1: results out of this team. Uh Mark with the Deshaun
Speaker 1: Kaiser era here over undertime, ready over under, through the
Speaker 1: whole season, just this game. Well, I think this game
Speaker 1: is gonna be under territory and okay, let's do the
Speaker 1: whole season. Ready, thirty four passing yards under, eighteen touchdowns
Speaker 1: under not by much, nineteen interceptions over m M. That
Speaker 1: wouldn't be a great fun season. I think I think
Speaker 1: his numbers be better than you think because their offensive
Speaker 1: line is should be really good. We have to see
Speaker 1: it like this is a game where you could argue,
Speaker 1: maybe they're offen who's which offensive line is better? Obviously
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh has done it before, but they got a lot
Speaker 1: of money in that Brown's offensive line and that could
Speaker 1: make and that killed them last year. So that was
Speaker 1: the right the right group to improve. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's weird and I could kind of see it. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to predict it. I think we'll probably all
Speaker 1: take the Steelers. I don't know, Mark, but um a
Speaker 1: scenario where Kaiser makes some plays and Greg's prediction about
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh's offense being a little rusty, the Brown steel game
Speaker 1: at home, and all of a sudden people are flying
Speaker 1: about the Cleveland Browns and it's a weak straight of
Speaker 1: saying how they figured it out? They turned around the
Speaker 1: ship Um, for what completely far fetched to me? It's
Speaker 1: not totally far fetched. They almost did it in the
Speaker 1: opener in two thousand fourteen after being down, like to
Speaker 1: something in halftime. For one second while you were making that,
Speaker 1: for instance, I saw marks just heart and face glow
Speaker 1: up in a way that I that I hadn't seen
Speaker 1: since when we visited West. You are very happy to
Speaker 1: see West just like a glow Well, I mean honestly
Speaker 1: that the rivalry has not been a plugged in real
Speaker 1: rivalry since I was probably in the fifth or sixth grade. Kaiser,
Speaker 1: by the way, is the third youngest starting quarterback since
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy in the NFL. He's twenty one years old,
Speaker 1: so we'll see how he handles us. That is a
Speaker 1: lot to put on a kid's plate. Um, Good luck
Speaker 1: to the kid. Moving on, the Arizona Cardinals travel to
Speaker 1: Detroit to face the Lions. Um, Greg, what is the
Speaker 1: real Lion team that we're gonna see this year? It
Speaker 1: is the team in the back half of last season
Speaker 1: that was really one of the worst teams in the NFC,
Speaker 1: or the first half when they were falling behind but
Speaker 1: had some moxie and comeback wins. The line is gonna
Speaker 1: be a push over this year or a team that's
Speaker 1: gonna be in the race like they were last year.
Speaker 1: I think closer to the team that was in the
Speaker 1: race because I think their offense will be solid. Their
Speaker 1: defense is nothing to get excited about. That. I guess
Speaker 1: if you're asking me which they're closer to, it's the
Speaker 1: second team because that the offense is not a playoff
Speaker 1: type of defense. You saw the Patriots really take advantage
Speaker 1: of their first round pick Jared Davis in the preseason,
Speaker 1: and that that got me thinking that David Johnson coming
Speaker 1: out of the backfield against this group zeke Zicky answer
Speaker 1: route rather hasn't practiced like we haven't seen him on
Speaker 1: the field. I just think they're gonna give up too
Speaker 1: many points. And and David Johnson is a guy I'm
Speaker 1: watching in this game for a guy that could be
Speaker 1: one of the greats. I mean, we're talking all time.
Speaker 1: We'll see you've got to have another season like he
Speaker 1: did a year ago. And I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 1: he did put up two back to back season that
Speaker 1: we've rarely seen out of running backs. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: gonna give him the opportunity that's for sure. On the
Speaker 1: other side. Uh, yeah, with the Cardinals, we talked about
Speaker 1: this throughout the second half last year, how much better
Speaker 1: Carson Palmer looked. Uh, But when you looked at them
Speaker 1: from statistical angle, big picture for the season their first
Speaker 1: in yards per game on offense in two thousand fifteen,
Speaker 1: they dropped all the way to ninth last year. Palmer
Speaker 1: might have looked better at the end of the year,
Speaker 1: but he's still a year older now. Uh. The wide
Speaker 1: receiver group is a question mark. Johnson's amazing, obviously, but
Speaker 1: is anybody a little secretly worried that Arizona's offense is
Speaker 1: gonna have problems this year? I think it could take
Speaker 1: them time to jail because John Brown has not really
Speaker 1: been able to be out there with the team. I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, Jeron Brown and J. J. Nelson did not
Speaker 1: really build great chemistry with Palmer in the preseason. But
Speaker 1: you know, Fitzgerald, I think he could have a big
Speaker 1: game in this big, big, big game this week. Because
Speaker 1: Darius Slade does not move around, He's not gonna be
Speaker 1: covering Fitzgerald. They need to be a more balanced team,
Speaker 1: and they could have been last year. Their defense was
Speaker 1: was a playoff defense, and I think arians came out
Speaker 1: of training, came actually feeling better about their cornerbacks, which
Speaker 1: has long been a problem, than than he has in
Speaker 1: a long time. I think he likes that secondary, he
Speaker 1: likes the defense overall. You mentioned your boy Kim d
Speaker 1: J might be back on the field as early as
Speaker 1: this as early as this week, so I think they
Speaker 1: might not need to score forty points. Honey, badger looks awesome.
Speaker 1: What is that? Oh no, Kim d Ch Kim d
Speaker 1: ch our hopes rest with you. Kimdych Kim d Ching.
Speaker 1: You fell out that window, but now you're the window
Speaker 1: of opportuna d he is he? That was like an effect,
Speaker 1: very effective remix of the original that we heard for
Speaker 1: many seasons. I gotta keep you there are no a
Speaker 1: lot better than that Taylor Swift song. You and Tim
Speaker 1: post here, you know, talking about girl. We're in on that, right,
Speaker 1: I'm so in. Yeah, I'm a Swifty. Yeah, we're teams
Speaker 1: Swift all the way. We're in the squad. All right, bro,
Speaker 1: do listen if you just you guys are ready to
Speaker 1: take the next step as a podcast. Now you gotta
Speaker 1: start working in the pop references Taylor Swift's hot right
Speaker 1: now bring them up in your first preview show. That
Speaker 1: will get the kids boxed checked. Um. Anyway, I think
Speaker 1: the Lines win this game. Actually, I think it's a
Speaker 1: close game. I don't know if it's gonna be. It
Speaker 1: could end up being another Matt Stafford come back at
Speaker 1: the end, or it could be Carson Palmer need to
Speaker 1: go down the field. But I think the Lines win
Speaker 1: a close When I'm I'm looking forward to this game,
Speaker 1: they get a sneaky Game of the week potential. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this could be a lot of fun. I'm taking the cards.
Speaker 1: I'm going card and before we before we move on,
Speaker 1: I just want to give you a little update about
Speaker 1: one of our favorite professional football players and now another
Speaker 1: of keeping wide receiver, Maurits Boringer, the German product who
Speaker 1: landed with the Vikings last year. UH drafted in fact
Speaker 1: very organic draft day event. Um he did. It's stick
Speaker 1: with Minnesota. But this a direct report from Henry Hotson,
Speaker 1: handsome Hank inside our own office, who works with the
Speaker 1: a lot of the overseas players internationally is another term
Speaker 1: people use. UH Henry reports. Actually, let's go breaking on
Speaker 1: this that the Lions worked out Maurice's Boringer. Uh this week,
Speaker 1: that's the starting end of it. It's a very casual
Speaker 1: use of breaking in terms of news, you know, value
Speaker 1: and the fact that came out a day ago. The
Speaker 1: Lions have worked out more Bowringer and that was another
Speaker 1: addition of keeping up with trying to explain. Henry gave
Speaker 1: me kind of a little bit of guff, like, you know,
Speaker 1: I know what you're trying to do with that. No,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting story and we're tracking it where I thought. No,
Speaker 1: it was just pure total respect in class. And it's
Speaker 1: it's art is what it is. That songs delightful. It's
Speaker 1: like the German cold Play if you ever like, what
Speaker 1: would cold Play sound like if they were born and
Speaker 1: raised in Berlin. That basically moving on, the Jacksonville Jaguars
Speaker 1: travel to Houston to face the Texans and uh, of course,
Speaker 1: Hurricane Harvey UM devastated Houston. But the good news is
Speaker 1: that UM it's moved out of the area and and
Speaker 1: Houston is trying to regain a sense of normalcy and things.
Speaker 1: It's a good sign that things are okay enough at
Speaker 1: least that they were able to say we can have
Speaker 1: eighty thousand people get together at an RG stadium and
Speaker 1: play a football game. So that's what they're gonna get.
Speaker 1: And to me, Greg, this is a great opponent, uh
Speaker 1: for we're gonna have a uh. It's gonna be an
Speaker 1: emotional game for that city. J J. Watt, who is
Speaker 1: now raised I think over seven trillion dollars in a
Speaker 1: hurricane relief. Nice job by Justice outrageously. I think it's
Speaker 1: over thirty million. Well with what he started as a goal,
Speaker 1: it's incredible what he's done twenty seven as of eight
Speaker 1: hours ago. That J. J. Watt is incredible. Um. But
Speaker 1: the emotional scene in Houston and now the Jaguars with
Speaker 1: Blake Boardles slash Chad Henny a quarterback, feel like a
Speaker 1: perfect team to roll in there, and then the city
Speaker 1: of Houston persevers with a blood bath like crazy, I
Speaker 1: feel like this could be the blow out of the week.
Speaker 1: It's possible, but I tend to believe that both of
Speaker 1: these defenses should and maybe the emotion changes this, but
Speaker 1: should be way ahead of both of these offenses. So
Speaker 1: like the Ravens game or the Bills game, this should
Speaker 1: be a game where the Jaguars defense is thinking what
Speaker 1: we get? We get Tom Savage. We get an offensive
Speaker 1: line that's missing Dwayne Brown that's kind of been under
Speaker 1: the radar there. Tom Savage is real, so is Dwayne
Speaker 1: Brown's hold out. He's not coming back anytime soon. Dayne.
Speaker 1: What are you doing? Bro? Their their line is bad.
Speaker 1: Their receiver group is thin enough that Bruce Ellington, who
Speaker 1: bounced around a couple of teams this month, including the Jets,
Speaker 1: he jumps on that team and he's kind of playing
Speaker 1: in the root Patian like. They don't really have a
Speaker 1: number two receivers. So I think the Jagguers defense is thing.
Speaker 1: We can shut this team down. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: low scoring game. I'm with you. It reminds me a
Speaker 1: little bit of when the Saints came back to the
Speaker 1: Superdome and just there is a lot of human energy
Speaker 1: attached to this and this could be if it got
Speaker 1: off well for the Texans, maybe you just ride into
Speaker 1: the sunset in this game. I am concerned though with
Speaker 1: Jacksonville defense is there, but this whole thing where Leonard
Speaker 1: four Nette is going to get the ball eight billion times,
Speaker 1: by the way, defenses know that, and there's zero threat
Speaker 1: coming from Blake Bortles in the passing game. This could
Speaker 1: be an easy offense to diagnose and figure out week
Speaker 1: to week. And I don't see good things for Jacksonville
Speaker 1: at all. And no matter what's going on with defense,
Speaker 1: this is how I kind of imagine a playing out.
Speaker 1: Houston makes a big special teams play, uh, Jacksonville a
Speaker 1: lot of three and outs, and as good as their
Speaker 1: defense is, they're gonna be on the field too much
Speaker 1: and eventually they'll get worn down. And before you know,
Speaker 1: I just you know, twenty four six something. What happens.
Speaker 1: You can convinced me I'm now a great with you
Speaker 1: because what happens when J J. Watt and this is
Speaker 1: gonna happen on the first drive drop sportals for like
Speaker 1: a fourteen yard sack in the place, and and it
Speaker 1: doesn't take much to turn a football in. Houston deserves
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for their crowd any year or
Speaker 1: any game. I think it's one of the most underrated
Speaker 1: home crowd home field advantages in the league. They're an
Speaker 1: outstanding crowd. And it's the first game of my old
Speaker 1: buddy Mike Rabel as defensive cord. There's gonna there might
Speaker 1: even we might have Steve Gleason moment. Remember after Katrina
Speaker 1: the punt block. It feels like that game that started
Speaker 1: a whole era of Saints football. I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: that the Texans are poised for some type of run
Speaker 1: that ends up with the super Bowl, but uh, that's
Speaker 1: the type of emotion that's going to be going on
Speaker 1: in that building. And all will take is one bit
Speaker 1: and one last thing. And this is the Texans know
Speaker 1: better than anyone about this. But if you're the Jaguars
Speaker 1: and you live and reside in Jacksonville, Florida is getting
Speaker 1: hit with their own hurricane, you have that on your
Speaker 1: mind as well. Um. Moving on, gentlemen, to the Oakland Raiders.
Speaker 1: What a season last year, but a better sweet season.
Speaker 1: They went well ben four, which was not enough to
Speaker 1: win the division. And then to top it off, Derek Carr,
Speaker 1: who and in in addition to being uh a great
Speaker 1: football player, is a god fearing man and just a
Speaker 1: heck of a guy, as we know because he came
Speaker 1: on our show. Well, I love that Derek Carr. Erica
Speaker 1: Temposy just love him. What a I mean, what a dude.
Speaker 1: She makes you work for that belt sometimes. Um. Anyway,
Speaker 1: so yeah, they got knocked out in the playoffs because
Speaker 1: they didn't have a quarterback. Now they get a fresh
Speaker 1: start with Marshawn Lynch and they go to Tennessee to
Speaker 1: face the Titans. Mark this has potential game of the
Speaker 1: week written all over at one pm Eastern, Start your thoughts.
Speaker 1: Absolutely does, and it's I can't think of another matchup
Speaker 1: where just a couple of seasons ago, this would have
Speaker 1: been at bottom three or four game that someone would
Speaker 1: have been in our office stuck monitoring to write up
Speaker 1: some sort of what we learned. Now. I think it
Speaker 1: was me. I think it's the third straight here. I'm
Speaker 1: taking this game now. It's good what I want to
Speaker 1: see because Oakland's defense, you know, yes, we've seen them struggle.
Speaker 1: I think they have issues, especially in the secondary, and
Speaker 1: so does Tennessee. Come out Week one, Tennessee was one
Speaker 1: of the stories of the week because of the way
Speaker 1: that they that offense, which was made fun of the
Speaker 1: exotic smash mouth, absolutely looked incredibly fun to watch and
Speaker 1: they were powerful and it showed you their vision. Do
Speaker 1: you go out an attack a team like the Raiders
Speaker 1: the same way this year because you have Marcus Mariotta
Speaker 1: advancing as a pastor. They've got more weapons in the
Speaker 1: passing game, not counting on Corey Davis much this year
Speaker 1: or this week, but you have a lot of other guys.
Speaker 1: Do you maybe try to get up and not just
Speaker 1: run the ball and shove it down Oakland's throat, but
Speaker 1: move it through the air as well. I think so.
Speaker 1: And this is a tough matchup for the Raiders, who
Speaker 1: are starting a fifth round rookie Marquel Lee at middle linebacker.
Speaker 1: The two linebackers next to him, uh, not a lot
Speaker 1: of great experience in the NFL. And this is a
Speaker 1: tough team to stop, not just in terms of the
Speaker 1: running game, which is linebacker responsibility, but the short passing game.
Speaker 1: That's what Marcus Mariota does better than anyway. And that's
Speaker 1: why I think this is a game where the Titans
Speaker 1: are kind of stealing the old Raiders identity, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Like it's like a face off situation, like, oh,
Speaker 1: you were that you were the cool rising team before
Speaker 1: you've got the cool third Uh your quarterback coming out, No,
Speaker 1: that was Now you're now your old news we're that
Speaker 1: team now We're it's taking your identity. I like the
Speaker 1: fact that you know New England can be a game
Speaker 1: build another beverage. By the way, Luckily it did not
Speaker 1: go on to his computer for another electronics disaster for
Speaker 1: the Patriots. When they succeed, it lasts for fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years. Oakland had a six month strover. They're
Speaker 1: just not the cool new young actor, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. They're just They've been there now I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be now. I'm gonna get the Titans fans mad at
Speaker 1: me because I'm on their radar, which I enjoy. You
Speaker 1: show it to me this season. I don't want to
Speaker 1: hear it about your nine and seventh season and your
Speaker 1: special quarterback. To me, you're still the Titoons until you
Speaker 1: win a big game in a big spot in your
Speaker 1: building against the twelve and four team, You're not the
Speaker 1: tight Tuns anymore. When this ball game, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: what couldn't disagree anymore with you. It's gonna happen this
Speaker 1: week that I didn't pick. I didn't pick the Titans.
Speaker 1: I am picking your transition that was forget the Raiders.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be Tennessee's march to the a f C. Championship.
Speaker 1: Whoa there it is is Zerka's first preview show. She's
Speaker 1: doing great. Always gotta be ready, Erica, because when when
Speaker 1: one of us locks it up, it's it's a volcano, right,
Speaker 1: It's one of those on every page because just to
Speaker 1: switch around and really quick keep you know, you caught
Speaker 1: me off guard that, yeah, that might one. Well, the
Speaker 1: combination lock on that vault changed over the off season,
Speaker 1: so that took a little bit. That. Yeah, we got
Speaker 1: it the first lock of the season. Very interesting. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna yeah, you know what I will pick. The
Speaker 1: Raiders shall be Titoons. You think you're so special this season?
Speaker 1: You don't got Derek Carr. That guy is a good
Speaker 1: Christian and a good football player. Moving on, by the way,
Speaker 1: so is Marcus Mariotte on both accounts. Yeah exactly. You
Speaker 1: have no proof of that, all right, No, I'm just
Speaker 1: slinging arrows at the man's character. You know, when you
Speaker 1: run your own business, boys, that's probably never gonna have it. Maybe. Sorry.
Speaker 1: You know, the time equals money. It's not just an
Speaker 1: old saying, it's a fact. So why waste valuable time
Speaker 1: dealing with issues that legal Zoom can help with? Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: You may already know that over two million people have
Speaker 1: used legal Zoom to start their businesses. But legal Zoom
Speaker 1: services don't end there. Running a business comes with taxes, contracts,
Speaker 1: hiring employees, basically a lot of fine print. That's why
Speaker 1: legal Zoom built a network of independent attorneys licensed how
Speaker 1: many states mark, I'll give you a multiple choice, twelve
Speaker 1: at seven see nine d I. I don't know why
Speaker 1: you you'd advertise the stat if it wasn't fifty. These
Speaker 1: guys feel business savvy to me. I'm going fifty A
Speaker 1: fifty states baby. They can provide the advice you need
Speaker 1: to get through the daily grind of running your business,
Speaker 1: and you don't have to worry about billable hours, which
Speaker 1: is substantial talk about a headache. A headache avoided since
Speaker 1: legal Zoom isn't a law firm. Instead, you can count
Speaker 1: on upfront pricing and clarity. That's what I look for.
Speaker 1: Look me in the eye like a man. Invest your
Speaker 1: time and money and growing your business and let legal
Speaker 1: Zoom help out with the legal stuff. For special savings,
Speaker 1: be sure to enter promo code NFL and the referral
Speaker 1: box at checkout. That's that's promo code NFL for special
Speaker 1: savings only at legal zoom dot com. Legal Zoom. I
Speaker 1: think their message essentially is, hey, business guy, your life sucked,
Speaker 1: Now it's good thanks to us legal zoom dot com.
Speaker 1: We got I feel like at some point one of
Speaker 1: us are all of this is gonna need a very
Speaker 1: good lawyer. Legal zon that works well. It's sort of
Speaker 1: saying that we're replacing lawyers. So I don't I'm not.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't need to get deeper in
Speaker 1: a little bit hazy. Yeah, read the ad. Yeah. Moving
Speaker 1: on the Philadelphia Eagles, uh seven or nine last year
Speaker 1: with their rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. Year two for Wentz
Speaker 1: begins with a division matchup against the Washington Redskins, coming
Speaker 1: off an eight seven and one Kirk Cousins. Uh. Still,
Speaker 1: I mean we're doing it again. He's in another proven year.
Speaker 1: I'll be at a proven year where he's making like
Speaker 1: twenty four million dollars. Nice little set up you got
Speaker 1: going there, buddy boy um, but this will be a
Speaker 1: nice test right out of the gate. Mark your thoughts.
Speaker 1: I just couldn't have been less impressed with the Redskins
Speaker 1: over the course of the preseason and maybe you just
Speaker 1: turn it on now, but they're Terrell Prior brought in
Speaker 1: no overt chemistry with with Cousins. The defense, to me,
Speaker 1: has been an issue under Jake Gruden from the very
Speaker 1: beginning and one thing I watched with the Eagles was
Speaker 1: their defensive front looked as good as any teams in
Speaker 1: the league. And so how is Washington gonna come in
Speaker 1: and have a balanced attack against this? I think Jim
Speaker 1: Schwartz is going to look be looked as a coordinator
Speaker 1: of the Year by the time this thing is over.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if Carson Wentz, you know, it's
Speaker 1: not all on him. Definitely a suspect end of his
Speaker 1: season last year. But I think Philadelphia takes this game.
Speaker 1: I I think what you saw in the preseason was
Speaker 1: seen by a lot of people. The Eagles are favored
Speaker 1: in this game, surprising league on the road, a lot
Speaker 1: of disrespect for a Redskins team with winning records the
Speaker 1: last two seasons while the Eagles have been struggling. This
Speaker 1: is not necessarily an easy matchup for the the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Passing game I heard I heard from someone I might
Speaker 1: even got call it a league source that pointed out
Speaker 1: they thought maybe the Washington cornerback group about as good
Speaker 1: as any cornerback group in the in the league right now.
Speaker 1: Not a popular opinion, but if Brissad Brilon plays his
Speaker 1: potential with Josh Norman, they've got a good underrated slot
Speaker 1: cornerback and Kendall Fuller, and then they drafted two guys
Speaker 1: who looked pretty good in the preseason. They actually could
Speaker 1: have a nice secondary. We've been looking for this defense
Speaker 1: to happen, some sort of identity. Maybe it's there. The
Speaker 1: numbers paid an ugly picture about this defense last year.
Speaker 1: They ran overall thirty second lesson league on third down
Speaker 1: getting off the field, and they were thirtieth and giving
Speaker 1: up big plays. So the secondary was a major issue
Speaker 1: last season. So they they're gonna need to get better
Speaker 1: on that front, and the offense is gonna have to
Speaker 1: be just as good there was. They were a third
Speaker 1: ranked offense last year. These new parts twelve prior, I
Speaker 1: mean expecting for them to lock in. With the amount
Speaker 1: of limited snaps Kirk Cousins is gonna get I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna put too much stock into that, but he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to hit the ground running, and they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to make plays well. I mean, there are there are
Speaker 1: teams that looked completely in sync in the preseason, and
Speaker 1: there ares that that there's something that didn't and then
Speaker 1: you don't know how much to put in that either.
Speaker 1: But Cousins did not look like even a top quarterback
Speaker 1: in the Presea Josh stats, and we didn't really see
Speaker 1: outs on Jeffrey. There's been various reports about how well
Speaker 1: he's catching up on that offense. So these are two
Speaker 1: teams that you you kind of don't know what you're
Speaker 1: gonna get out of their offenses going into the season.
Speaker 1: But I mean, honestly, though, even with the struggles in
Speaker 1: the preseason, would you be stunned if Kirk Cousins. No,
Speaker 1: not at all, because because I was almost surprised by
Speaker 1: how poor they looked. Because this is a team that
Speaker 1: I thought last year had one of the more intriguing
Speaker 1: offenses in the entire NFL. And the Eagles they got Darby,
Speaker 1: great move, but they did that because they were desperate,
Speaker 1: because their cornerback situation was among the league's worst. They
Speaker 1: had to do that. So it's not like one guy
Speaker 1: is suddenly going to make them a great cornerback. At
Speaker 1: least he he has, like individually looked very good for them.
Speaker 1: So a different offensive coordinator, a different situation entirely, but
Speaker 1: once upon a time the same franchise pulled the ultimate
Speaker 1: preseason ropa dope with RG three, showing nothing in the
Speaker 1: preseason and then blowing everyone away. That's what Redskins fans
Speaker 1: are hoping that they'll see that real offense in Week one.
Speaker 1: It's the it's the Wade Phillips curse. The minute that
Speaker 1: Jay Gruden thought that he was so great he could
Speaker 1: not hire Wade Phillips for defensive coordinator and bringing one
Speaker 1: of his old buddies who no longer is even there.
Speaker 1: How good were the Greg's radar well, because if you
Speaker 1: if in Wade Phillips's book, if you if you read
Speaker 1: it's like Jake Gourden sort of was disrespectful, like in
Speaker 1: the the interview he had him like watch a bunch
Speaker 1: of like tape where Gruden handed him his lunch and
Speaker 1: then just never talked to me and moving on. Very weird.
Speaker 1: The Indianapolis Colts without Andrew luck out at least week
Speaker 1: one and perhaps several more weeks beyond that, travel to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles to face the Rams. Okay, boys. There is
Speaker 1: buzz that the Rams are gonna be a better team
Speaker 1: this year. Uh, and I I feel they'll be better.
Speaker 1: Do I think they're gonna become a Cinderella's story in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Maybe I'm not gonna go that far, but
Speaker 1: I think, thanks good. I think they have a good
Speaker 1: that's true. They have a good chance. And hold that thought.
Speaker 1: They have a good chance to me to double their
Speaker 1: win total, which would make them a five hundred team
Speaker 1: this season. And I think it gets off to a
Speaker 1: great start. You cannot ask for a better situation for
Speaker 1: a Rams team really trying to get the city excited
Speaker 1: after what was a difficult first season back in l A.
Speaker 1: You get the Colts coming to your building with Scott
Speaker 1: Tolzine at quarterback. And let me say something about this.
Speaker 1: If you're looking, if you're playing knockout pools, uh, If
Speaker 1: you are just someone that likes to head out to
Speaker 1: the desert, my advice to you is get behind the team,
Speaker 1: play against Scott Tolzine as long as this lasts. And
Speaker 1: that's why, and you don't see this typically, but that's
Speaker 1: why I'm looking at a four and twelve team, and
Speaker 1: you know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna oh, he's
Speaker 1: that going to thank you, Chris Wesley. I'm locking this
Speaker 1: one up. Let's go Rams. Wow. I was gonna lock
Speaker 1: it up too, but now I don't want to. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna push it through another game. I don't like the
Speaker 1: double lock it up on the same game, but I
Speaker 1: love this. I love the thought behind it because I
Speaker 1: I just like Robert Quinn being unleashed. We haven't really
Speaker 1: seen this defense. They they set seven of their best
Speaker 1: starters in the third third preseason game, which an odd move.
Speaker 1: But Sean McVeigh has gotta be licking his jobs because
Speaker 1: it's not just a great matchup against Scott Tolzine, it's
Speaker 1: a great matchup against Avante davis less defense. And I
Speaker 1: know they like their defensive line. They say this is
Speaker 1: the best looking defensive line they've had in a few years. Well,
Speaker 1: that's damning with faint praise. This is a league average
Speaker 1: defensive line, I would say, And overall, the talent and
Speaker 1: the continuity, it's just not there for Indiannaples. I think
Speaker 1: they're one of the worst teams in the league. And
Speaker 1: I'm with you. Yeah, if there's a if there's a
Speaker 1: week where you don't have Aaron Donald and you're gonna
Speaker 1: get him back potentially next week. If they can solve that,
Speaker 1: who knows, this would be the week because I just
Speaker 1: don't see how the Cults get anything done against the Rims.
Speaker 1: And I do think that you have you have Sammy Watkinson,
Speaker 1: Cooper Cup against cornerbacks for Sean Melvin, Quincy Wilson. I
Speaker 1: just the Colts don't have a strength in this game.
Speaker 1: It's a bad sign when the Colts put their depth
Speaker 1: chart out and the reporters thought it was a TYPEO
Speaker 1: because they had made so many change is on their
Speaker 1: offensive line that they had never actually done in practice.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on. This is uh I believe
Speaker 1: Is it the first late game we're gonna talk about? No,
Speaker 1: it's not, but it is the Fox game. The Seattle
Speaker 1: Seahawks traveling to Green Bay to face the Packers. Gentlemen Um.
Speaker 1: In the afer mentioned um research guide post that I'm
Speaker 1: writing this week, I wrote about Aaron Rodgers this week
Speaker 1: because in the research guide he has looked great against
Speaker 1: the Pack against the Seattle Seahawks in their last two matchups,
Speaker 1: both at Lambeau where the game is again but It's
Speaker 1: important caveats here is that Camp Chancellor missed that first matchup.
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas missed the one last year, which was a
Speaker 1: blowout in December. Now you have a fully stacked defense
Speaker 1: for Seattle, and prior to uh those two games Rogers
Speaker 1: had fair poorly against the Legion of Boom Uh. Do
Speaker 1: you see that happening in this game? I don't. I
Speaker 1: think Aaron Rodgers in the offense set up well, the
Speaker 1: play well, and this is the best. Really, these next
Speaker 1: two big NFC games we're talking about are the two
Speaker 1: best offenses in the NFC, Green Bay and Dallas, who
Speaker 1: are going up against the two best defenses in the NFC,
Speaker 1: Seattle and the Giants. I think it's strength and strength.
Speaker 1: They both do well, and I think it's Seattle really
Speaker 1: really would love to get this win because it's it's
Speaker 1: another week one game. This keeps happening with them hitting
Speaker 1: them against that you feel like it's gonna make a
Speaker 1: big difference late in the season in terms of seating.
Speaker 1: Couldn't agree more. I mean, eight Pro bowlers on Seattle's defense,
Speaker 1: and when you look at like the next gen stats
Speaker 1: for how teams attacks Seattle when Earl Thomas specifically was
Speaker 1: not on the field. It's just a vast difference. And
Speaker 1: so you've got a healthy defense. You've also got Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: who they're They're finally acknowledging basically that all of last
Speaker 1: season is so attributed to attributed to his injuries. He
Speaker 1: looks better than ever. He lost weight, he looks extremely athletic,
Speaker 1: and I think that Russell Wilson's, you know, gonna put
Speaker 1: together a fantastic season. The Patriots get a lot of
Speaker 1: credit for beating the free agency system. These two teams
Speaker 1: have been in the divisional round of the playoffs in
Speaker 1: the NFC six out of seven years each, So this
Speaker 1: these are the teams every year, and I look at
Speaker 1: the NFC again and these are the two teams that
Speaker 1: I that I like, And Yeah, I think Russell Wilson's
Speaker 1: my pick for m v p uh And that's why
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna go. So I would be really
Speaker 1: surprised if this team is not playing is in the
Speaker 1: final eight teams in the NFL this season, And I
Speaker 1: could go out on a limb and say I would
Speaker 1: be surprised if they're not in the NFC title game.
Speaker 1: That's not which I like Seattle with this offense looking
Speaker 1: like it's ready to take the next step, and this defense,
Speaker 1: which could be back to two thousand two Seattle, you
Speaker 1: know handles the running back committee and also with green Bay.
Speaker 1: I mean time Montgomery, I I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: if I fully trust that yet. Is your your plug
Speaker 1: and play running back week to week. No, they're not
Speaker 1: gonna lie in the running game. But this isn't gonna
Speaker 1: be a Percy Harvard situation. They know what to do
Speaker 1: with defensive players and the options that they have in
Speaker 1: terms of how they can line up Sheldon Richardson who
Speaker 1: can play inside it out, Michael Bennett who can play
Speaker 1: inside out, Frank Clark who can move around Cliff Ever,
Speaker 1: it's like Pete Carroll. I trust him to figure that out.
Speaker 1: And this is a great match up against a very
Speaker 1: good offensive line. But you gotta trust the Seahawks defense.
Speaker 1: Um one. One other thing to note about this game
Speaker 1: that the Seattle Seahawks are now also part of a
Speaker 1: greater national story that has nothing to do with this game.
Speaker 1: Michael Bennett uh was at the Big Fight in Vegas
Speaker 1: last week and there was an incident where there was
Speaker 1: understanding or a belief that there were gunshots at a club.
Speaker 1: He went running out of the club, got tackled by
Speaker 1: a police officer and cuffed and held against his will.
Speaker 1: He he called it racial profiling. A lot of support
Speaker 1: from around the league, players getting behind Benett and people
Speaker 1: in general, and the NFL even went as far Greg
Speaker 1: releasing a statement on the matter, which is shows you,
Speaker 1: uh tells you a lot of things, but really just
Speaker 1: what's going on in this country right now? How things
Speaker 1: There's so much attention right now in this country. And
Speaker 1: this is kind of a mike that the statement from
Speaker 1: Roger Goodell surprised me partly because you know, when Colin
Speaker 1: Kaepernick started his protest last year, there really wasn't a
Speaker 1: statement from the NFL, not against or in support. They
Speaker 1: kind of were letting it play out. And now I
Speaker 1: think that the police they kind of messed with the
Speaker 1: wrong you know, there's video of it. They messed with
Speaker 1: the wrong guy here because Michael Bennett was eloquent and
Speaker 1: emotional and and has really strong beliefs. It's like they
Speaker 1: messed with a guy like the wrong person in this case.
Speaker 1: And you give him a lot of credit for coming
Speaker 1: for and our country is in a completely different place
Speaker 1: than when Colin Kaepernick began that. I just think that
Speaker 1: it's all reaching ahead at this point. It's a great point.
Speaker 1: Bennett literally is the guy if you didn't want someone
Speaker 1: to be getting on you and making these statements like
Speaker 1: he is the voice, he has the platform, and he's
Speaker 1: always been kind of plugged in and woke as the
Speaker 1: kids say. That was the other thing I was told
Speaker 1: to say. So, if you use slang terminology that millennials use,
Speaker 1: you'll go up two points in your market. Are there
Speaker 1: more pop culture references coming now and into the show.
Speaker 1: The game is gonna be let now see now litt
Speaker 1: was on my list of words that are out. Let's
Speaker 1: keep let's keep moving. The Carolina Panthers UH travel to
Speaker 1: San Francisco to Faces were dreadful last season two and fourteen,
Speaker 1: But they have a new regime in town UH led
Speaker 1: by John Lynch of course, and Kyle Shanahan and a
Speaker 1: lot of people think they're ready to improve. The thing
Speaker 1: that I'm most excited to see Mark And we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out pretty quick. Does Cam Newton look like Cam
Speaker 1: Newton after his shoulder surgery? We don't know. We don't know.
Speaker 1: They don't know. I mean Ron Rivera has made it
Speaker 1: very clear he doesn't know. They do feel like that.
Speaker 1: He's looked better and better in practice, doesn't look limited anyway.
Speaker 1: You've got Christian McCaffrey on that team. Now, I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be a player that everyone's watching, you know,
Speaker 1: from beginning to end. On Sunday, I'm picking the Niners.
Speaker 1: Is my upset of the week? Is that a new
Speaker 1: segment to I don't know. It feels like something shotguned
Speaker 1: out of the but you got the Niners taken down
Speaker 1: the Panthers. Okay, that's an upset because it's people are
Speaker 1: excited greg about the Niners being an improved team this year,
Speaker 1: But knocking off the Panthers that would be an, I
Speaker 1: think statement. I think that would be a huge upset.
Speaker 1: And the forty Niners are gonna be dramatically better, and
Speaker 1: they would prove to me offensively that they are really
Speaker 1: different if they can move the ball against this Panthers defense.
Speaker 1: And I think people are kind of sleeping on this
Speaker 1: Panthers defense. They weren't even in the top twenty in
Speaker 1: the league last year. But if you look at the
Speaker 1: depth of the defensive end and the pass rushers in
Speaker 1: the line, and then you got Keith Lee and Davis
Speaker 1: and they love James Bradberry. They like Daryl Worley at cornerback.
Speaker 1: Like this, this is a sneaky upset pick for the
Speaker 1: best defense in the league. I don't think it is.
Speaker 1: But if you're looking for one that's not mentioned among
Speaker 1: the top three or four, usually the Panthers could be
Speaker 1: in that group. I think it's gonna be hard for
Speaker 1: the forty two things on the Panthers side. Also that
Speaker 1: first of all, I'm excited to see what kind of
Speaker 1: impact Christian McCaffrey has. Is his first game, you kind
Speaker 1: of get the feeling he's gonna be a meeting a
Speaker 1: big part of that offense. We'll find out. Is he
Speaker 1: a twenty touch of a game guy right out of
Speaker 1: the gate, and uh more like kind of fingers crossed.
Speaker 1: You want to hope that Luke Keickley h both this
Speaker 1: week and through the season, is gonna be okay because
Speaker 1: of the scary head injury related things that that are
Speaker 1: going on in his past. Is one of the best
Speaker 1: linebackers in the league, and you just hope he's able
Speaker 1: to make it through this game in the season, and
Speaker 1: he's going up against the guy who reminds me a
Speaker 1: little of him, Reuben Foster the forty Niners has that
Speaker 1: same sort of range and and just like love of
Speaker 1: the game that you can just flat and just jumps
Speaker 1: off the screen. Yeah, the Niners defense is stacked. I
Speaker 1: think that you're watching Brian Hoyer in the preseason. You
Speaker 1: see that he again works in Shanahan system, and he
Speaker 1: did in Cleveland first stretch and he does now. But
Speaker 1: every seventh or eight throw, there's always he's gonna give
Speaker 1: you two throws a game that are disastrous. Moving on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night football, Baby, the New York Giants travel to
Speaker 1: Dallas to face the Cowboys. Uh. Cowboys on thirteen and three.
Speaker 1: Last year, I don't think this has probably ever happened.
Speaker 1: They went, they had three losses, two to the same team.
Speaker 1: The Giants beat him twice last season. Uh, and now
Speaker 1: they get them again. And you know, I really I
Speaker 1: think this is a close game, Greg, I think this
Speaker 1: is gonna be I know this room sometimes gets down
Speaker 1: on how many Giants Cowboys games there are and probec
Speaker 1: especially in Week one. We've seen this week. Why don't
Speaker 1: always but you know what, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: are they good games fun to watch? They almost always are,
Speaker 1: and I expect another close game, but I really want
Speaker 1: to make sure before I say, oh, the Giants have
Speaker 1: a chance and win this game. Is Odell Beckham playing
Speaker 1: because he hasn't practiced as of this podcast, and it's
Speaker 1: an ankle injury, and and it's a guy whose game
Speaker 1: is predicated on speed and quickness. If Beckham is not involved,
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys take care of business, especially with
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliot playing, which he will. The sixth game. Suspension
Speaker 1: has been upheld on appeal but through the nature of
Speaker 1: the proceedings and this story is not over yet, but
Speaker 1: for now he gets to play in Week one. It's
Speaker 1: an incredible Bowl matchup to this Giants defense is talented
Speaker 1: enough to keep this game close whether they have Odell
Speaker 1: Beckham on the field or not. This is a more
Speaker 1: fun Giants team to watch than I can remember in
Speaker 1: a long time, because of that defense, because of JPP,
Speaker 1: because of Vernon, because of the secondary, and because I
Speaker 1: think Sterling, Shepard, Nevi and Ingram are gonna do some
Speaker 1: things offensively. So this isn't the same Giants team as
Speaker 1: the past, not the same matchup like this is about
Speaker 1: as good as it can get for a week one game.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm out. You know, it's tough. We tape
Speaker 1: some of the podcast during Sunday Football. I know what
Speaker 1: I don't know. This is one version of Giants Cowbuss
Speaker 1: game pass Giants Cowboys to me this time around. I
Speaker 1: I am excited for this one, and I think that
Speaker 1: you look would happened last year. It's not a fluke
Speaker 1: like the New York shut down. Does Bryant could be
Speaker 1: a new could be a new des Bryant though, or
Speaker 1: as Briant looks different. But I mean, I don't I
Speaker 1: think the Cowboys in a weird situation. You have Elliott
Speaker 1: this week, and then you don't know what's gonna happen
Speaker 1: next week, or what's gonna happen in general. I just
Speaker 1: I think Dallas going thirteen and three again is not
Speaker 1: going to happen. Something that wrote about this week on
Speaker 1: the old QB Index NFL dot com that is a
Speaker 1: little old, did the Dak? The Dak Prescott buzz is
Speaker 1: surprisingly low because Ezekie Elliott's the biggest stories. But in
Speaker 1: every time you mentioned Dak Prescott you mentioned, well, you
Speaker 1: know the offensive line, you know, oh, well, you know
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott. It's like, no, he he had literally the
Speaker 1: greatest rookie quarterback season in NFL history. There's not even
Speaker 1: any comparison statistically Dan Marino if you adjust for the time, Okay,
Speaker 1: that that's in the mix. But in terms of stats,
Speaker 1: it was the best. He did some next level stuff.
Speaker 1: He scored eighteen fourth quarter points, going toe to toe
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers. This guy, if he steps up, could
Speaker 1: be right there among the best quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 1: And so that can make up for Zeke Elliott. Like
Speaker 1: I want to see, is this Dak Prescott gonna take
Speaker 1: it to another level? And this is about as tough
Speaker 1: a matchup as you're gonna guess. So, Darren McFadden looked
Speaker 1: great in the preseason, and when Dak was on the field,
Speaker 1: he was lights out. Greg is Dak Brestcott in m
Speaker 1: v P sleep Absolutely absolutely? Okay, moving on, So we're
Speaker 1: excited about this game and now the two Monday night games.
Speaker 1: This is the best Monday night doubleheader ever in my opinion. Uh, listen,
Speaker 1: let's calm down. Like there's been so many great options
Speaker 1: through the years, we've got like the forty Niners and
Speaker 1: Chris Berman in the last six years. It's true, there's
Speaker 1: been some Chris Berman this year, folks. There's been some
Speaker 1: dark days of the Raiders. One yes, didn't treat that.
Speaker 1: Second second. Both of these games are I think are
Speaker 1: gonna be competitive, good games. The first one the Saints
Speaker 1: at the Vikings. The Vikings are tough in their building.
Speaker 1: They had the third ranked defense in football last year. Well,
Speaker 1: what happens, folks, when a team in its building with
Speaker 1: a good defense faces the Saints, football's best offense statistically
Speaker 1: last year. I like it a strength against strength matchup, uh,
Speaker 1: and I like the Vikings chances. To be quite honest
Speaker 1: with you your thoughts, I I going Saints in this game.
Speaker 1: I I just not impressed with anything I saw from
Speaker 1: the Vikings to offensive line looked like a complete liability.
Speaker 1: And New Orleans, which I think it's easy for just
Speaker 1: assume that New Orleans is going to roll out another
Speaker 1: stink bomb defense. They actually look pretty improved on defense.
Speaker 1: And I six and O for the Vikings that start
Speaker 1: last year feels about a million years away. This is
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna be tough. You're you're on the road,
Speaker 1: You're playing five rookies in significant roles, four of them starters,
Speaker 1: including their left tackle Ryan Ramchek, Who's who's stepping in
Speaker 1: for an All Pro. Right Now, you've got Alvin Kamara.
Speaker 1: People are wondering what are they gonna do with Willie
Speaker 1: sneed suspend. It not a topic we've talked about on
Speaker 1: this show, but he's a valuable player. I think Kamara
Speaker 1: ends up being, uh, they're slot guy in some way.
Speaker 1: They move them out there with Peterson in the backfield
Speaker 1: and Mike Zimmer. There's just been a bad vibe about
Speaker 1: this Viking team. He hasn't been happy about the depth
Speaker 1: of their secondary and the defense, and you know he
Speaker 1: I just not really feeling the Vikings, whereas I'm feeling
Speaker 1: this Saints team. And that's why this isn't the same
Speaker 1: Saints defense, Dan. And that's I don't know if you
Speaker 1: know where I'm going with this yet, because I am thinking,
Speaker 1: even though it's on the road in Minnesota and you
Speaker 1: got your beautiful sunlight coming in, Oh, that's great, We're
Speaker 1: gonna have the super Bowl there. Well, your home team
Speaker 1: is not gonna be in that super Bowl because they're
Speaker 1: starting out and one because I'm gonna lock it up.
Speaker 1: See now Erica has got it. It's the tone, the inflection,
Speaker 1: the build of it. That's when you know that. You
Speaker 1: hover it over the vault, all right, Greg, locked it up? Road,
Speaker 1: lock updown a road underdog lock up. Here's here's a
Speaker 1: it's a it's a gutsy lock up. The onions are hanging,
Speaker 1: but part of it you blocked me. As always, Greg,
Speaker 1: your excitement about the Saints is is definitely tied to
Speaker 1: and we all have it. There's nostalgia within us, the
Speaker 1: this longing to go back to a more innocent time
Speaker 1: before kids, before wife, before the bills and responsibilities, when
Speaker 1: you were just free and you you were boozing and
Speaker 1: you were going to the clubs. There was a lot
Speaker 1: of things. There was pretty South wrap and you were
Speaker 1: hanging out with your best friend who would go on
Speaker 1: to become a famous comedian. It was just you and
Speaker 1: your boy Tony gentle Nick, just friends hanging out of
Speaker 1: two Lane. You want to go to the mess hall? Sure?
Speaker 1: After that, maybe we'll go to the gym, get a
Speaker 1: run in. Yeah, great times. Oh another party, Oh Saints football?
Speaker 1: Two Lane slaughter Like that's that's a lot of your
Speaker 1: Saints love is that need to go back in time,
Speaker 1: which is understandable. Well, I can tell you there was
Speaker 1: not a lot of it. There was not a lot
Speaker 1: of innocence. There was no innocent. It's a lot more
Speaker 1: innocent now. I brought the kids to you know, kindergarten preschool.
Speaker 1: That's innocent. There wasn't a lot of mess hall, and
Speaker 1: there definitely wasn't a lot of going to the gym
Speaker 1: mess hall. Greg Wants claimed that he's never been to
Speaker 1: a gym, correct, right, And you've never been to a gym.
Speaker 1: I've never I've never lifted weights, alright, So yeah, I
Speaker 1: have men at a gym. I've never gone worked out
Speaker 1: at a gym like that. Finally, the final game of
Speaker 1: the week. It is a ten twenty pm Eastern start.
Speaker 1: Keith Kansas is retired now, so maybe he'll he'll stay
Speaker 1: up for it. But that's a tough ask for everyone
Speaker 1: on the East Coast for a game that's an end
Speaker 1: like one thirty in the morning. But that's the way
Speaker 1: the schedule is in week one. Uh, no one's ever
Speaker 1: explained to me why we do this, but it's just
Speaker 1: the way it's done. So the Chargers go to Denver
Speaker 1: to face the Broncos, and by the way, Keith Hansas
Speaker 1: will be back in Week one sharing his thoughts about
Speaker 1: the opener. He's gonna be doing the Lord's work this
Speaker 1: year this season, Yes he will. Um, Okay, let's talk
Speaker 1: about this game, Mark Sessler, the Chargers are your super
Speaker 1: Bowl pick in the a f C saw I assume
Speaker 1: you believe they'll get off to a hot start on
Speaker 1: the road at Mile High. Actually, what I picked them
Speaker 1: to do was to get into the playoffs is the
Speaker 1: a f C second wild Card and have a sort
Speaker 1: of a Cinderella trip from there to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I don't see them winning this game. I think it's
Speaker 1: I think when we when we've discussed this before on
Speaker 1: NFL Network show that this idea that Denver at home,
Speaker 1: one of the toughest places to play, is gonna lay
Speaker 1: down drop an egg in this opener. I don't see
Speaker 1: it happening. I think Denver is gonna take care of
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers this week because Philip Rivers has struggled against
Speaker 1: the Broncos more than any other team in the league
Speaker 1: had to moments last year against them, and it's a
Speaker 1: really good strength on strength matchup. If you think about
Speaker 1: the scale position guys of the Charges, which we talked about. Alright,
Speaker 1: Tyroy Williams, all right, Keenan Allen, all right, Hunter Henry.
Speaker 1: Let's let's do it against the best three cornerbacks, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe the best secondary in the league. That's about as
Speaker 1: prime time and matchup as you're gonna have. Um. I
Speaker 1: will share this nugget, mark Um that you know, people
Speaker 1: a one game, no big deal. You get off in
Speaker 1: Week one, you win, you lose your fine either way.
Speaker 1: History doesn't tell us that folks get off to a
Speaker 1: one or o start, you have a fifty three percent
Speaker 1: chance of making the playoffs. You lose that first game,
Speaker 1: mark chance, you're dead. And that's your super Bowl team.
Speaker 1: So I just want you to like think about that
Speaker 1: four point nine percent of the teams that lose Week
Speaker 1: one don't go to the playoffs in the last seven
Speaker 1: seasons of the NFL. I'm confident that they will write
Speaker 1: their own story. Did you pick them to beat the Giants? No?
Speaker 1: One to thirty eight overtime law double overtime loss in
Speaker 1: the longest game in NFL history. Uh, Because if you go,
Speaker 1: if you start owing one, you have a one point
Speaker 1: seven percent chance of winning the Super Bowl. How about
Speaker 1: when the Cowboys started oh in two with no Emmett
Speaker 1: Smith and they won the Super I mean, listen, Patriot,
Speaker 1: good teams figured out Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram against
Speaker 1: that Bronco's offensive line is trouble. That is that is
Speaker 1: one reason I like the Chargers to go on the
Speaker 1: road and go win this. This is where the sentimental
Speaker 1: journey that Mark is on, that I'm on. That everyone
Speaker 1: should be joining the Philip Rivers final ride. Like, let's
Speaker 1: get him a ring ride. It's starting now, all right,
Speaker 1: how about my sentimental journey. I love the city of
Speaker 1: San Diego, and I don't want the first game where
Speaker 1: they don't get to have a team representing the league,
Speaker 1: you know, having a NFL representative anymore, to be some
Speaker 1: you know, glory boy win up at Mile High against
Speaker 1: a long time rival. That's why I'm picking the Broncos
Speaker 1: because I'm thinking about you people of San Diego. So
Speaker 1: you you've already feered away from what you did on
Speaker 1: our NFL never our presentation of this game. Maybe I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't remember that one. I'm paying it
Speaker 1: that I picked the Chargers on. You absolutely did and
Speaker 1: then buried me for suggesting otherwise. So you've got all
Speaker 1: bases coming. It is to the coin game. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: Week one, Casey Hayter Word was talking about this on
Speaker 1: the radio with our guy Matt money Smith. Week one
Speaker 1: playing in mile high seventy snaps out of nowhere. That's
Speaker 1: a tough Week one assignment in general, to play the
Speaker 1: many snaps and to go to Denver, that's tough. All right.
Speaker 1: That's it for the Week one preview. Before we go
Speaker 1: real quick, we're gonna go around the horn. Is our
Speaker 1: fifth season together, boys, um, and now we're gonna lean
Speaker 1: on our wisdom of being plugged into the league as
Speaker 1: long as we have now and share one big thought
Speaker 1: as we enter mark get us going. I need to
Speaker 1: see total uprising in the a f C this year,
Speaker 1: a complete change. I feel like since we've been doing
Speaker 1: this show and for years previous to that, it is
Speaker 1: the same. This is league wide, but I'm focusing especially
Speaker 1: on the a f C. It's the same handful of
Speaker 1: teams insert one surprise team every season, and I am
Speaker 1: exhausted with the concept of the assumption and the knowledge
Speaker 1: that this thing just goes right to New England and
Speaker 1: an f C championship. I want to see a season
Speaker 1: that is different, with young teams that had already begun
Speaker 1: their team building process like Oakland and Tennessee absolutely paying
Speaker 1: off on some of that. And I want to see
Speaker 1: Tennessee host the a f C Championship game, a game
Speaker 1: with no New England Patriots team involved. Well you know
Speaker 1: how long? How long does the same cookie cutter scenario
Speaker 1: need to repeat itself? It becomes tiresome. It's healthy for
Speaker 1: the NFL to see some new teams rise up. I mean, yes,
Speaker 1: they've had new teams in the Super Bowl, but they
Speaker 1: have the same group year after year. We need what
Speaker 1: the Patriots were a long, long time ago in two
Speaker 1: thousand one. Uh that type of season, a team to
Speaker 1: rise up out of nowhere. I like it. Mark and Posty. Well,
Speaker 1: while I went off on that, little Jack said, I'm
Speaker 1: going to mute your mic, and she's excited about the
Speaker 1: amazing My one big thought, boys, um here it is
Speaker 1: I even prepared it. Okay, So running a franchise comes
Speaker 1: with responsibility. Alright, boys say boys a lot today. I
Speaker 1: don't know what that was. Slightly condescending and yesterday and yesterday,
Speaker 1: and so the greatest fundamental foul you could you could
Speaker 1: have is to steal hope from your fan base, to
Speaker 1: just remove it from the equation, you know. And the
Speaker 1: Jets have had twelve ten plus lost season since that's
Speaker 1: kind of when I started following the team, So I'm
Speaker 1: used to disappointment. And the Giants have been four Super
Speaker 1: Bowls and one three and that time. The Patriots have
Speaker 1: been to what eight since eighty nine and one five.
Speaker 1: So I've seen other teams close to the Jets thrive
Speaker 1: and that's always been disappointing. So you know, chronic but
Speaker 1: chronic disappointment is one thing hopelessness. And that's where the
Speaker 1: Jets are right now. That's where the forty niners were
Speaker 1: last year, the Browns as they were beginning that rebuild.
Speaker 1: That that that kills me. The Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly
Speaker 1: Niners like uh. And the whole thing is you want
Speaker 1: to avoid one of the jobs I think of a
Speaker 1: front office and ownership is you want to avoid at
Speaker 1: all costs ever putting your fan base in the situation
Speaker 1: where it's Week one and you're just like checked out already.
Speaker 1: You almost it's almost as important to avoid putting your
Speaker 1: fans in that position as it is to really win
Speaker 1: a Lombardi. You just want to give the fans something.
Speaker 1: So this is just my my big thought. You never
Speaker 1: want to be a New York Jets fan right now.
Speaker 1: You never want any franchise and fan base have to
Speaker 1: go through this type of season, because that means you
Speaker 1: did something very wrong, and frankly, it's not fair. It's
Speaker 1: it's antithetical to what the NFL is. I think one
Speaker 1: of the reasons the NFL has done so well over
Speaker 1: the years is that more than any other sports, certainly
Speaker 1: more than like our British listeners who follow the Premier
Speaker 1: League and all that, it's like every team does feel
Speaker 1: like you have a chance. That's what they tried to
Speaker 1: build this league into. That's why they share the revenue
Speaker 1: and everything. And when some teams slipped through the cracks,
Speaker 1: it's a slip through the crack season. Do not be
Speaker 1: a team that slips through the crack. I talk with
Speaker 1: someone last year first story about team building, a league source,
Speaker 1: and he basically said, look, if you don't see major
Speaker 1: results by the end of year two of any specific rebuild,
Speaker 1: it's not the right rebuild. Now there are examples against that,
Speaker 1: but he's typically right, and so if you're the Jets,
Speaker 1: this needs to take hold very soon after this because
Speaker 1: it can't be endless dark night of the soul material.
Speaker 1: And that's it's for the Jets. It's year one of
Speaker 1: the rebuild in year three of the regime, which is
Speaker 1: very unusual, but that's the type of stuff the Jets do. Finally, Greg,
Speaker 1: the floor is yours. My final thought, as one big
Speaker 1: thought as we enter this season is I am so
Speaker 1: excited for football to be started. But in my heart
Speaker 1: it is tempered a little bit, and it's because we're
Speaker 1: not whole as a podcast yet. Chris Westling has not
Speaker 1: been with us, and I am so like our our
Speaker 1: podcast is not as good without Chris Westling. We we
Speaker 1: all know that he has such a big, big part
Speaker 1: of it and such a big part of my football
Speaker 1: life in general football work experience from Rhoda world to hear.
Speaker 1: And the great thing is he's through the worst of
Speaker 1: it and you guys, I believe you guys are gonna
Speaker 1: go watch the game, which is cool, Like it's all
Speaker 1: it's all good that he's past past the worst of it.
Speaker 1: But I'll feel like this season is fully a hole
Speaker 1: and started when when West is in here telling me
Speaker 1: I'm an idiot about something and we're previewing the games
Speaker 1: with him, so you know, we we miss him as
Speaker 1: this season starts. And the good thing is he will
Speaker 1: be back. He'll be back before we know it. Preach,
Speaker 1: preach very We can't wait for West's return, and I
Speaker 1: hope it's sooner rather than later. Okay, the next time
Speaker 1: you hear from us, it will be. And how exciting
Speaker 1: is this the flagship show on Sunday night. Uh, we'll
Speaker 1: tape it after after the game. It will go up,
Speaker 1: you know, hour or so after we finish up, and uh,
Speaker 1: that will go on for the entire season, twenty three weeks.
Speaker 1: I think it is Mark All told, long time, lots
Speaker 1: of football, only three weeks ahead of his market, just
Speaker 1: like I am ready this time. What did RG three
Speaker 1: say it's about? It's not at the grind, it's the find?
Speaker 1: Well do are we closing out on that quote? I
Speaker 1: haven't forgotten about you, RG three? Wherever you are. This
Speaker 1: is Dan Hanson's signing up for the Quiet Storm. Uh
Speaker 1: and Pepper Spray and of course Erica behind the glass.
Speaker 1: She's firing, tell Sunday it's football time. Greg with the
Speaker 1: let's go what is you gotta go? Greg? Sometimes with
Speaker 1: his words, I don't think even realized. Sometimes. Okay, so
Speaker 1: if you're gonna give me attitude, don't you can download
Speaker 1: the what do you want? Then you're gonna look at
Speaker 1: me like I'm an idiot when I'm not playing the
Speaker 1: drop that you don't don't don't what's the baby phrase?
Speaker 1: I'm just leave me out of this. It's your phrase.
Speaker 1: I apologized to Erica, said this happens sometimes, but it's
Speaker 1: important to happen in the show, and I understood. I
Speaker 1: put her in a tougher spot. You got into a
Speaker 1: separate situation with Erica. As far as I'm concerned. What
Speaker 1: did I do? Yeah, I'm not in anything. You called her?
Speaker 1: She and then she let's get going. Mark's totally in
Speaker 1: her usual We're ready to go. They never get the bait.
Speaker 1: Don't tell me about the baby. It's called called manners.
Speaker 1: Uh it is. Don't tell me about the labor. Show
Speaker 1: me the baby. All right? We ready? Yeah? Greg? Are
Speaker 1: you ready? I've been ready? Wow? Hashtag Greg's good for
Speaker 1: you