Speaker 1: Rolling, rolling and running and he's gonna have the floe knock.
Speaker 1: The ball comes out, helmets off, flags her down. It
Speaker 1: was Kiko Alonso who delivered the blow. Placos on his
Speaker 1: feet and Hardbow's yelling at Alonso right now, he's in
Speaker 1: Alonso space. You just lost your quarterback for the game.
Speaker 1: And Hardball is livid, and they're going to roll out
Speaker 1: play action in zone and it's gone for the touchdown.
Speaker 1: It's Watson with the reception, Malon with a touchdown pass.
Speaker 1: The chain gang fell asleep. I wonder why forty to
Speaker 1: nothing the Baltimore Ravens take out the Miami Dolphins on
Speaker 1: a strange night in Baltimore, Thursday night football and a
Speaker 1: strange set up here. Usually here Dan Hansas starting out
Speaker 1: the shows this year, but it's Greg Rosenthal alongside Mark Cessler,
Speaker 1: and we're going to get to the rest of the
Speaker 1: week eight games shortly. But first, Mark, we got to
Speaker 1: talk about a wild night that could have only ended
Speaker 1: in one way with a cat running along the field,
Speaker 1: a cute little cat, even his action unfolded, this little
Speaker 1: cat running darting up and down the field in a
Speaker 1: very symbolic, strange way to end a game that I
Speaker 1: think if we could do any service to the listeners
Speaker 1: of this show, if you didn't watch this game, listen
Speaker 1: to our review and never watch it, potentially, Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's not a bad idea. I was really, you know,
Speaker 1: taken by how Mark's just eyes lit up. He was
Speaker 1: so excited to see this cat on the field. But yeah,
Speaker 1: this game had a little bit of everything, kind of
Speaker 1: not in a good way. We'll talk about the hit
Speaker 1: that took Joe Flacco out of the game. He suffered
Speaker 1: a concussion and was ruled out in the second half though,
Speaker 1: I mean, there was a Endomican sue brief choke of
Speaker 1: Ryan Mallett, which felt like it's something that was just
Speaker 1: inevitable would happened. There was a fumble Rooski touchdown, there
Speaker 1: was someone getting poked in the eye, and then there
Speaker 1: was another Dolphins shutout. This is the third time this
Speaker 1: season that they should have been shut out twice they
Speaker 1: actually were once. They shared they scored a garbage touchdown
Speaker 1: on the last play from scrimmage against the Jets. It
Speaker 1: it's crazy how bad this offense is. And there there
Speaker 1: four and three. Yeah, I tweeted out at one point
Speaker 1: that after the first half, which was an abomination if
Speaker 1: you're a Dolphins fan that it was the sloppiest first
Speaker 1: half I had seen, and at all I got from
Speaker 1: Dolphins fans was please watch the rest of games. And
Speaker 1: I have watched the Dolphins games, but maybe this just
Speaker 1: stood out as I thought Baltimore's defense, which we've seen flashes,
Speaker 1: especially with Brandon Williams back a j G I at
Speaker 1: twenty one yard run out of the gate. His next
Speaker 1: nine runs go for a total of three yards. They
Speaker 1: just completely shut down Miami's run game, and then you
Speaker 1: have Matt Moore getting whacked back there. They had no
Speaker 1: way to operate. I mean, as I ended up with
Speaker 1: twenty three yards in thirteen Carrey, so he basically got
Speaker 1: it all on that first on. And everyone who you
Speaker 1: know spent a week saying, oh, this often is gonna
Speaker 1: be better with Matt Morton, you know so much, so
Speaker 1: much for that, And as bad as Jake Cutler has
Speaker 1: been this year and more certainly looked shaky tonight, I
Speaker 1: think you have to when you see j J I,
Speaker 1: who I think is a talented runner, and these quarterbacks
Speaker 1: struggling this much, I think you have to look at
Speaker 1: it there's deeper problems than just the quarterbacks. It's the
Speaker 1: it's the offensive line, number one, and I guess it's
Speaker 1: the scheme and the coaching and the teaching and all that.
Speaker 1: It's funny because Tony Romo came out of the gate
Speaker 1: praising uh Gaze and Adam Gaze. We all know is
Speaker 1: a talented coach and he's he's got the track record,
Speaker 1: but his ability to scheme in game against the opponent
Speaker 1: and what he's seen, but he doesn't have the tools
Speaker 1: you've got. You've got a second string quarterback, honestly, really
Speaker 1: someone who could be a third stringer behind Jay Cutler
Speaker 1: and Ryan Tannehill. And I just think the offensive line
Speaker 1: is not run blocking and he was a sitting duck
Speaker 1: back there he was. We should talk about the Ravens
Speaker 1: who are now four and four, and who knows this
Speaker 1: is a tough team to get a handle on defensively
Speaker 1: because they've given up so many yards in the running game.
Speaker 1: But now they have Brandon Williams back, they seem to
Speaker 1: be putting it together. But the big news out of
Speaker 1: this game is Flacco takes a hit from Kiko Alonso
Speaker 1: that I I saw a lot of people defending it
Speaker 1: in that he slid late. I don't know. I think
Speaker 1: Kiko Alonso is gonna face a potential suspension for this
Speaker 1: hit for hitting him hard in the head area. That
Speaker 1: even if you hit a guy after he slides too
Speaker 1: to be able to control it, and he really took
Speaker 1: him out with the head and it was just it
Speaker 1: was just such bad, a bad thing for NFL fans
Speaker 1: to see. Yeah, and it was a bad look because
Speaker 1: the helmet comes ripped off and then we find out
Speaker 1: that you know, his ear, he's bleeding from the air.
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco, he's having it stitched in the locker room.
Speaker 1: And that created a wave of other violence where center
Speaker 1: Ryan Jensen, I mean, and knocked Kiko Alonso's helmet off.
Speaker 1: Then the domin ensue, who's pretty he's been a well
Speaker 1: behaved gentleman for quite a while. He popped off tonight.
Speaker 1: But the whole the whole game had a few allien
Speaker 1: of desperation from Miami and it got very violent towards
Speaker 1: the end. Yeah, And and the Ravens should be given
Speaker 1: credit for they had a hundred ninety six yards of
Speaker 1: offense in the first half that was almost all with Flacco. Uh,
Speaker 1: so they were dominating this game. They came out that
Speaker 1: was one of the probably the best offensive game against
Speaker 1: a Dolphins defense who has had some nice moments this year.
Speaker 1: So that's something to feel good about. But now Flacca
Speaker 1: has got a concussion, They've got a game against the Titans,
Speaker 1: and then they have a buy so just doing the
Speaker 1: Matthew wonder if he's gonna sit out that week and
Speaker 1: they just hope they can try to steal a win
Speaker 1: with Ryan Mallett. Meanwhile, we get the Alex Collins national
Speaker 1: TV coming out party a little bit. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: been great this year, hundred and thirteen yards. Crazy week,
Speaker 1: we read, you know, this cavalcade of Seahawks running backs
Speaker 1: that you know, this guy's this guy's trying too hard,
Speaker 1: it's not showing up on the field, this guy's injured,
Speaker 1: this guy is healthy, and we can't find a lead back.
Speaker 1: And Alex Collins has looked like a lead in the
Speaker 1: in the Seahawks defense last preseason and Chris Wesley was
Speaker 1: all over this Alex Collins and even this year too,
Speaker 1: he did not look like a guy that you would
Speaker 1: have ever expected. So you just never know. And he's
Speaker 1: had a really good habit of making the first guy missed,
Speaker 1: and so the Ravens are a team that tend to
Speaker 1: get better over the second half of the year. We
Speaker 1: know that they own these Adam gaze uh Dolphins. They
Speaker 1: also smacked him last year thirty four to six. That's
Speaker 1: seventy four to six over two years. That's ugly. The
Speaker 1: good thing is, for those of you that sat and
Speaker 1: enjoyed this game, you get the Dolphins next week against
Speaker 1: Oakland on Sunday Night Football, and then the NFL has
Speaker 1: done you a triple treat by putting them on Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football against the Panthers the week after. Why do
Speaker 1: they triple stack these teams because you don't know what
Speaker 1: their fate is going to be, and teams change over
Speaker 1: the course of a year. If you lose a player
Speaker 1: at one point and then you have three straight National games,
Speaker 1: you're out of luck. You probably are getting Joe Jay
Speaker 1: Cutler back for that game. But I don't know if
Speaker 1: that makes it. Does that help? I don't know if
Speaker 1: that means. Let's ask Chris Wesley and if he thinks that, yeah,
Speaker 1: anymore Entice and we've spent way too much time on
Speaker 1: this stinker. Let's go to the rest of the week
Speaker 1: eight previews, sending it over to day Cats the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. He's making the world a better place one.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansas, and I am joined by
Speaker 1: room filled with some heroes. Mark Sassler to my left
Speaker 1: and Greg Roads with autom my right. What's up, boys,
Speaker 1: We've gotten a very strange Dan Hansas. Um all afternoon today,
Speaker 1: and I think I know why. Dan is embroiled and
Speaker 1: yet another corporate level battle with a major enemy downstairs
Speaker 1: in our break room. And there's been a signage it's
Speaker 1: been rotating, but it is on the soda machine. And
Speaker 1: Dan is very upset about the fact that the soda
Speaker 1: machine has been either broken or not functioning at proper
Speaker 1: levels for upwards of a month. Now you're you're saying this,
Speaker 1: this has affected Dan so much that it's impacting the
Speaker 1: rest of his life and frankly, his professional I think
Speaker 1: what's impacting him in is is no one seems to
Speaker 1: be doing anything about this. Mark's barking up the right tree. Um.
Speaker 1: I like a good fight, you know, I like I
Speaker 1: like being the underdog. And what's a bigger underdog scenario
Speaker 1: than they're being a soda machine in the break room
Speaker 1: that for six weeks now, no fool in here six
Speaker 1: weeks has been stealing money of the underlings of this company,
Speaker 1: which I include myself in, and no one's doing anything
Speaker 1: about it. And then you wonder how far this goes,
Speaker 1: And Mark, I know you're a conspiracy guy. I'm wondering
Speaker 1: if this goes all the way to the top. I
Speaker 1: think it might because I think one thing that's happening,
Speaker 1: and and and for the for people who are pro soda,
Speaker 1: they are losing out because we have a Starbucks machine
Speaker 1: in our breakroom too, and we'll move on to the
Speaker 1: games very shortly. But where the Starbucks machine to break down,
Speaker 1: our office would melt, there would be immediate people in
Speaker 1: there to fix the right away soda. So the soda
Speaker 1: lovers and they're me, I think the population may be smaller.
Speaker 1: They are being ignored. It's a big coffee You think
Speaker 1: it is big coffee out in a big spot. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to be known that money is going to
Speaker 1: that machine, no goods are being dispensed, and big Soda
Speaker 1: is still taking home the profits. So you tell me
Speaker 1: if that's something I should not be on my radar.
Speaker 1: I think it should be. I think you're you're a
Speaker 1: Justice fighter. All right, thank you, Mark. This again, this
Speaker 1: is the Around the NFL Podcast, presented by Head and Shoulders.
Speaker 1: You heard at the very top of the show a
Speaker 1: little sess and rosy action. Get excited everybody. They talked
Speaker 1: about here's the dude dream team you haven't seen before.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins Ravens one Thursday night game that I was
Speaker 1: planning wholeheartedly to miss entirely and watch maybe five days
Speaker 1: from now the Thursday night till yes, between the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Ravens. But there's so much more to talk about,
Speaker 1: uh here in week eight? Well that's so much because
Speaker 1: I'll tell you something. I want everybody to be completely
Speaker 1: aware of what's going on here. Two teams, six teams.
Speaker 1: I'm buying two teams played is day twenty four teams remaining.
Speaker 1: Divide that by two twelve games to talk about and wow,
Speaker 1: and one of those games that I guess we'll get
Speaker 1: to very quickly is is in that early London spot,
Speaker 1: so it really thins out the whole the Sunday afternoon
Speaker 1: morning schedule lighter. All right, So we'll get to all
Speaker 1: these games, we'll get to our locks and see where
Speaker 1: we are with that. Uh let's start. Yes, in London,
Speaker 1: Oh sweet London, Oh London, You're my town. That's not
Speaker 1: a real song. Oh London, London, Oh London, your motel.
Speaker 1: If you're into a common show tune right there, but
Speaker 1: different words, Greg, a secret show tune head, it's not
Speaker 1: your look how insecure Greg is that he had to
Speaker 1: correct a secret is always trying to say. It's a
Speaker 1: very out there if you if you go to Fleg's house,
Speaker 1: it is a show tune emporium. Every once in a while,
Speaker 1: you know, you're out in the real world and maybe
Speaker 1: like I see you know, it's someone that listens to
Speaker 1: this show, like my cousin, justin whatever, and they'll bring
Speaker 1: up something that from the show, one of the many
Speaker 1: just fictions that you make up as part of like
Speaker 1: you know, your little world that you have on this show,
Speaker 1: and be like, well, no, that's just none of yeah puppeteer, Yeah,
Speaker 1: none of that's actually true. Dan just you know, makes
Speaker 1: up things. This one not a fiction though, so, but yes,
Speaker 1: the London Greg a huge Cats fan at the Winter
Speaker 1: Garden Theater um all right. Let's start with the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 1: who are ride and high. They've won three straight, four
Speaker 1: or five and during this stretch, my goodness, during this stretch,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers exited the picture. So things are going well,
Speaker 1: uh for the Vikings. And now they travel to London. Oh,
Speaker 1: sweet London, London, you're on my town, uh, to face
Speaker 1: face the worst team in football, the Cleveland Browns. And
Speaker 1: mark get us going here with the Vikings. They are
Speaker 1: in a very good position here to play their overseas football.
Speaker 1: I mean, it would be stunning if they don't do
Speaker 1: more than simply handle this game but throttle Cleveland because
Speaker 1: it's an It's an awful matchup for the Browns. This
Speaker 1: maybe the best defense in football right now, and I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's even necessarily close. And you're going
Speaker 1: against a Cleveland offense that is beyond dysfunctional, endless quarterback switches,
Speaker 1: you don't have a lot of wide receiver, you really
Speaker 1: have nothing on that attack outside of Duke Johnson, who's
Speaker 1: quietly having a very nice season. And Minnesota on offense.
Speaker 1: On defense, you know, since Dalvin Cook's been out, Minnesota
Speaker 1: has been able to run the ball just as well.
Speaker 1: I mean with the combination of Jared McKinnon and Latavius Murray.
Speaker 1: So what is it the Cleveland even though they played
Speaker 1: a nice game defensively last week, What what do you
Speaker 1: look at and say, here's their chance against Minnesota. I
Speaker 1: don't see it. Nothing. And you're without maybe the best
Speaker 1: player on the team, Miles Garrett, who's in the concussion protocol.
Speaker 1: You get the Shaun Kaiser back, which I'm surprised about
Speaker 1: that he's back in the starting up that team for now.
Speaker 1: But I do think there's an interesting subtext of this show.
Speaker 1: I feel like hasn't been talked a lot nationally. This
Speaker 1: week is case Keenum playing for his job before the
Speaker 1: bye And maybe that's not like the most intriguing storyline ever.
Speaker 1: He lost his job soon after playing in London last year.
Speaker 1: But I think Teddy Bridge Ruter is getting back to
Speaker 1: the point where he's gonna be ready to play. He's
Speaker 1: fully cleared medically, They're gonna have a bye week That
Speaker 1: kind of makes sense as the time for Teddy to start,
Speaker 1: and Keenum has been fine the last few weeks. He
Speaker 1: gets Stefon Diggs back, but if he doesn't play his
Speaker 1: best or maybe even if he does play his best,
Speaker 1: I could see them yanking him there in the bye.
Speaker 1: It puts them into an interesting position because you went
Speaker 1: out and traded for Sam Bradford last year, you now
Speaker 1: have three if Teddy Bridgewater is healthy, functional quarterbacks, and
Speaker 1: it's a lot to deal with coaching ones their trade
Speaker 1: deadlines coming up. I wonder if you ever would move
Speaker 1: one of these two I would say, or one of
Speaker 1: these three I would say, no. Well, it'd be tough
Speaker 1: because Bradford would be the guy to move, but he's injured.
Speaker 1: He's so injured and stay deep at the position. It's
Speaker 1: a strange spot for him. He's making a lot of
Speaker 1: money and is so unclear. I feel like a little
Speaker 1: bit too much is being made of the vikings Um
Speaker 1: having a an embarrassment of riches at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: They have like three decent quarterbacks and maybe not a
Speaker 1: good one, well maybe Teddy Bridgewater. And it's asking a
Speaker 1: lot for him to be great coming back, but he's
Speaker 1: still got the potential inside of him. I'm kind of
Speaker 1: not I'm kind of expecting Teddy Bridgewater to be starting
Speaker 1: and and I feel like it's about fifty fifty that
Speaker 1: it's in two weeks when they're when they're after the
Speaker 1: One more note about the Vikings offense that may surprise
Speaker 1: you Dalvin Cook's injury. I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: wrote the that wrote the Vikings off after that injury,
Speaker 1: but they're um. They've averaged a hundred and forty six
Speaker 1: point seven yards per games since Cook's gotten injured. It
Speaker 1: was a hundred and five eight yards a game before that.
Speaker 1: So good discycle back to that point. They did that
Speaker 1: come up right? It did, but you hammered at home
Speaker 1: with some did say that, but we got to it.
Speaker 1: But you get, you get, you added some depth. Sessler
Speaker 1: did mention it. Thank you that he hit it with
Speaker 1: the same level of gravitas he didn't. Moving on this
Speaker 1: back for this game, by the way, which is huge
Speaker 1: for that offense. Moving um. The Oakland Raiders um coming
Speaker 1: off what was um A vital necessary when they needed
Speaker 1: to find a way to beat the Chiefs at home
Speaker 1: on Thursday night and they did in the most uh
Speaker 1: spectacular way possible on the crazy ending thirty one thirty.
Speaker 1: Now they got to get some momentum going, so they
Speaker 1: head to Buffalo. Not an easy match up here against
Speaker 1: the Bills. Greg Rosenthal, who continue to impress their defense
Speaker 1: has been good this season. Last week was really nice.
Speaker 1: The way they found a way to win that game,
Speaker 1: which maybe, uh they haven't been able to do that
Speaker 1: in past years was partly explains their long postseason drought.
Speaker 1: The Bills have a chance to make another big statement
Speaker 1: this week. You know I haven't sent Sometimes I'll send
Speaker 1: in a request to our UH Sunday Commandant, David Eally,
Speaker 1: who helps, you know, divvy out the game command sign
Speaker 1: me up for a little Raiders Bills Well, Greg, too bad,
Speaker 1: I've been assigned. But I'll tell you what I will
Speaker 1: trade it. I'll give it to you because I could
Speaker 1: care less in a big spot. I'll give it to you.
Speaker 1: This is intriguing to me. Tyrod Taylor, UH big week
Speaker 1: for him, career high. I think number eight on the
Speaker 1: QB Index. What a season this guy's having. It was
Speaker 1: all offense. It was all offense last week. I mean
Speaker 1: they're asking him to make four or five crazy big
Speaker 1: plays a week where it's really all him, and he
Speaker 1: does it. And I'm intrigued to see if he can
Speaker 1: keep that going or whether the Raiders team that we
Speaker 1: saw last week at the end of the game really
Speaker 1: throughout offensively is gonna stick because I feel like they're
Speaker 1: not every week, So it must win for the Raiders.
Speaker 1: But if they lose this game and they're back to
Speaker 1: three and five, it's like, what was that come back
Speaker 1: even four against Kansas. That's the crazy thing about this
Speaker 1: game is which Raiders team to be get. It's kind
Speaker 1: of imperative that they follow up that great win with
Speaker 1: another win, because, yeah, it feels like they're right back
Speaker 1: where they're start. If they dropped to three and five,
Speaker 1: they're kind of right back where they started. And you
Speaker 1: don't eat can't even that excited anymore about last week's
Speaker 1: when they got to win the game. But that's why
Speaker 1: you know, I like this Bills team. I think they
Speaker 1: I think they are really a team to watch when
Speaker 1: I when you try to figure out those two wild
Speaker 1: card positions, I wouldn't be surprised if both of these
Speaker 1: teams end up getting the spot. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, if the Raiders can't find a way, they're
Speaker 1: gonna really be in an uphill climb in the second
Speaker 1: half of the season. That's why this matchup is so important.
Speaker 1: I mean, Buffalo is they're undefeated, at home. We've been
Speaker 1: saying it all year. They're a tough out at home,
Speaker 1: even when they were an average team, it's a tough
Speaker 1: place to go play. They are dominating the turnover scenario,
Speaker 1: and that's why I think they've been so successful. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're a weird team. Their entire collection of wide outs
Speaker 1: has thirty four catches all year. That's the thing. I mean.
Speaker 1: This Raiders secondary is so vulnerable. David Amerson getting fill
Speaker 1: aid last week. I mean this, this Raider's defense is
Speaker 1: a disappointment. I think it's going to prevent them from
Speaker 1: making the playoffs. But you look at Buffalo and you think,
Speaker 1: how can they really keep moving the ball like this.
Speaker 1: It's been a great coaching job by Rick Dennis in
Speaker 1: their coordinator and Tyrod together kind of making making something
Speaker 1: out of nothing. But the Raiders are so much more talented.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you one thing I've just been uh I
Speaker 1: am Ian with with my supervisor David Eally, and I commented,
Speaker 1: I told him Greg wants Oakland Buffalo. I said, I
Speaker 1: can take a different one, going to announce it on
Speaker 1: pod that he gets it, and David really says, definitely
Speaker 1: make it into a thing that was David Eely's suggestion.
Speaker 1: Definitely make it. That's how That's how David really communicates
Speaker 1: with me. Well, there's two things there. He likes, you know,
Speaker 1: people to be fighting with each other. That's problematic. And
Speaker 1: then two he wants his name mentioned a lot. You know, Well,
Speaker 1: so you have you're covering this game, now, all right,
Speaker 1: we'll be I will do nothing. Still single, right now,
Speaker 1: he's in the dating We might have to check in
Speaker 1: with Dave just to see where he's at. But obviously, famously,
Speaker 1: his girlfriend, his college girlfriend, broke his heart and he
Speaker 1: has not been able to open up since. Well, maybe
Speaker 1: I'll check in with David a little bit, famously like
Speaker 1: that's that's the first thing anyone says about him. That
Speaker 1: got dumped, brutally jumped in a big spot and took
Speaker 1: a piece of him. Let's move on the Indianapolis culture
Speaker 1: two and five. Uh, you know, arguably they got two wins,
Speaker 1: but some people might say they're the worst team in football.
Speaker 1: That's how bad things are going. Andrew Luck shut down,
Speaker 1: perhaps not gonna show up on the field now this year.
Speaker 1: They got shut out last week. Doesn't get any worse.
Speaker 1: Now they go on the road to face Uh, a
Speaker 1: Cincinnati team that was not a on it. We're not
Speaker 1: able to hang with the big boys Mark in pittsburgheen
Speaker 1: loss in Week seven, and they are, like the Raiders,
Speaker 1: in a very difficult spot if they don't win this week,
Speaker 1: and you really figure that could set the stage for
Speaker 1: a blood bath. Yeah, it's the It's a total pivotal week.
Speaker 1: They have two wins, one of them is against the Browns,
Speaker 1: and you know you, I think they're gonna take this one.
Speaker 1: But I am just not totally impressed with the team
Speaker 1: that I watched against Pittsburgh. After this, they go on
Speaker 1: the road against the Jaguars, the Titans, and the Broncos,
Speaker 1: and I feel like when they come out of that stretch,
Speaker 1: this mirage that Cincinnati is going to morph into a
Speaker 1: playoff team will be removed from our mind. Your subtweet
Speaker 1: and hands us right here. No, No, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people know a lot of driving the old
Speaker 1: Bengals come back. The Bengals. I think we're a team
Speaker 1: you looked at before the season and said it is
Speaker 1: logical they could bounce back. But I think at this
Speaker 1: point what I'm seeing, at least, I just don't see
Speaker 1: a playoffs. I thought they look really good for most
Speaker 1: of the first half of that game, and then I
Speaker 1: think the Pittsburgh kind of distanced themselves and show that
Speaker 1: they are a better team, especially at home. So I
Speaker 1: don't know if I learned that much about Cincinnati um
Speaker 1: in that game, but UM, I think that. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: we don't lock up games that are um one sided
Speaker 1: like this, but I would be absolutely stunned if you
Speaker 1: locked this up. I won't do it. I told you
Speaker 1: about integrity. Blocks are about integrity. You gotta look yourself
Speaker 1: in the mirror. I won't do it. I think the
Speaker 1: Bengal is gonna win this game and then watch out
Speaker 1: the next week. I really want to see at Jacksonville
Speaker 1: referendum for both teams, but I don't want to get
Speaker 1: ahead of myself right now. UM Cincinnati needs to show
Speaker 1: an idiot that could be a problem. It's been a
Speaker 1: rough six quarters for Jacoby are Set and the Colts.
Speaker 1: The hey we're kind of punching above our weight storyline
Speaker 1: ended after halftime on that Monday night football game against Tennessee,
Speaker 1: and it's been the absolute disaster of six quarters since then.
Speaker 1: And I think this is a good Bengals defense ranked
Speaker 1: in the top five and football outsiders going into last week,
Speaker 1: I'm sure aboundoun you know, went backwards a little bit.
Speaker 1: They gotta get Joe Mixing going there. Everyone's like, well,
Speaker 1: why don't they just hand the ball off? Why don't
Speaker 1: they give the ballox? Yeah, I know Joe Mixon saying that,
Speaker 1: But you gotta you gotta produce a little more, just
Speaker 1: the whole running game. I don't think it's the fault
Speaker 1: of the running backs, but they don't have a running game,
Speaker 1: whether it's Bernard Hill or Mixican. They don't really have
Speaker 1: had a couple of runs against Pittsburgh early on because
Speaker 1: you're you're right down, and they fell apart in the
Speaker 1: second half they did, they didn't even show up. But
Speaker 1: Mixing had a couple of runs where you saw what
Speaker 1: everyone's been talking about. Why do you why handcuff him
Speaker 1: this way? Just let him? Why not let him freeze?
Speaker 1: He's been a disastrous week, by the way for the Colts.
Speaker 1: I mean, they lose Malik Hooker for the season. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of drama on that Austa and I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just there's tanking articles coming out. Their defense is
Speaker 1: on pace to give up more points than any Cults team.
Speaker 1: They're now the worst defense in the league, so put
Speaker 1: up a forty burger. Bengals moving on the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Chargers out of nowhere and followed a four game losing
Speaker 1: streak to start the season with three straight wins. Shut
Speaker 1: out the Broncos last week at home. Now a big,
Speaker 1: big challenge the New England Patriots. Welcome them uh to
Speaker 1: uh Foxborough. And I'll tell you what, Greg feels like
Speaker 1: another good spot for the path because the Paths have
Speaker 1: figured it out on defense and now everything is clear
Speaker 1: sale into thirteen and three. You gotta face it, I
Speaker 1: am not buying this narrative. Okay, oh yeah, Now they've
Speaker 1: just figured it out. The defense is gonna be well,
Speaker 1: that's what happens every year. That's why I'm saying it. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, they don't have so little pass rushing.
Speaker 1: Literally every year, Danta high Tower is out for the season.
Speaker 1: This is news that broke on Thursday. They have so
Speaker 1: few eyes who are difference makers in that front seven
Speaker 1: or have the potential to be, because I don't think
Speaker 1: we ever saw the real Dante hight Tower this year.
Speaker 1: That his loss is massive because they're so thin at
Speaker 1: that spot. David Harris, I think is going to be
Speaker 1: more in the mix now, like you could he have
Speaker 1: been less in the mix. It's a fair point Chandler
Speaker 1: being friends. I don't know. I mean, even even the
Speaker 1: Falcons game where they're playing smart, they're still giving up yards,
Speaker 1: giving up yards per play. This is not necessarily an
Speaker 1: easy matchup for them. Maybe I should take this game
Speaker 1: forgot this one? Was that was that one? What if
Speaker 1: we switched back? We'll have to figure that. No, I'm
Speaker 1: not getting back into it with really who did confirm
Speaker 1: he's still single? By the way, But I just think
Speaker 1: you've watched Tom Brady weekend. I didn't even need to
Speaker 1: do that. It was out there is a confirmed he.
Speaker 1: I think if you're Tom Brady, I mean, he's taken
Speaker 1: a lot of hits this season, even though I think
Speaker 1: their offense obviously has been stellar, and I just think
Speaker 1: the Melvin Ingram, Joey Bosa, maybe Tom Brady gets knocked
Speaker 1: around a little bit in this. I kind of have
Speaker 1: a strange lean about this game. My a f C
Speaker 1: Super Bowl team starting to get their get their sea
Speaker 1: legs under them again, and I understand this doesn't happen
Speaker 1: a lot in Foxboro, and I'm gonna tell you right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's gonna happen. The Chargers are gonna go
Speaker 1: into fox They're gonna play the Patriots, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: lock it up. You know sometimes when we're said, you know,
Speaker 1: playing along and setting that up, and we're going, oh no, no,
Speaker 1: literally this, I mean, oh no, I don't think it's
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers has never beaten Tom Brady, which is crazy,
Speaker 1: including one and one wonderful playoff game from it. I
Speaker 1: think it's two thousand and nine or so. But I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna happen. All right, how about this, And
Speaker 1: I'll only let one person take me up on the sandwich,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna give Mark right at first refusal since
Speaker 1: it's your lock. The Patriots will be up by double
Speaker 1: digit points midway through the first quarter on Sunday. He
Speaker 1: gotta take me on, and I will take take you up.
Speaker 1: You don't have to, I will. That seems crazy. I
Speaker 1: would take you up on that too. I mean, but
Speaker 1: you can't go to the desert to find I mean,
Speaker 1: he is thinking about he's thinking about Ingram versus Nate
Speaker 1: Soldier who has been a disaster. The rest of the
Speaker 1: offensive line has played better, but someone's gonna be over
Speaker 1: on soldiers side, whether it's Ingram or Bosa. You've got
Speaker 1: a defense playing better, You've got an offensive little getting
Speaker 1: in rhythm. But I do think the Patriots will win
Speaker 1: because if you watch the last week's game and a
Speaker 1: little bit against the Jets, it started to look more
Speaker 1: like the Patriots offense. They were effective early, scoring a
Speaker 1: lot of points, going deep down the field, asking Tom
Speaker 1: Brady to make a lot of crazy throws. Not the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. You're seeing more of the rhythm,
Speaker 1: the timing, the quick passes. You see Brandon Cooks really
Speaker 1: coming into his own. You see the whole Patriots vibe.
Speaker 1: All the different running backs coming in out. Who's in
Speaker 1: it running back? I don't know. They're all working out.
Speaker 1: I can't figure it out. Greg is not even wearing
Speaker 1: clothes about the ways at this point, like Dean Lewis
Speaker 1: is uh is the guy that is really going to
Speaker 1: take their offense now to like that scary level. I
Speaker 1: know they've already been great this season, but he's looking
Speaker 1: better and better every week. He's gonna start scoring touchdowns
Speaker 1: like it's twenty fifteen. Again, that's my prediction. I think
Speaker 1: he is a nasty player and uh is only getting better.
Speaker 1: Not not a good sign for the rest of the Apes.
Speaker 1: Advantage goes to the Patriots in this game. Okay, lock
Speaker 1: that up, alright, Moving on the Chicago Bears. How about
Speaker 1: them Bears? John Fox says, I want to keep coaching
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I don't want to get fired, so
Speaker 1: I gotta figure out a way to win like six
Speaker 1: to eight games. I guess what now, he's three and
Speaker 1: four after a two game winning streak, and uh, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't have said this four weeks ago. But that bad
Speaker 1: news is he's gotta play the Saints. Now. The Bears
Speaker 1: travel to Nola and oh my god, Mark Greg's Greg's
Speaker 1: licking his chops right now. He can't wait to talk
Speaker 1: about the Saints. But you're gonna get us going here.
Speaker 1: Why have the Saints turned into a juggernaut in the
Speaker 1: past four weeks? Well, I gets a couple of things.
Speaker 1: I mean they are right now watching them are running
Speaker 1: one of the most creative offenses league wide. The way
Speaker 1: that they're using Alvin Kamara, guy like Ted Kin that
Speaker 1: in other offenses have been strictly a deep threat is
Speaker 1: used in multiple places all over the field. And let's
Speaker 1: talk about their defense. You know, if you're Mitchell Robinski
Speaker 1: who has twelve completions in two weeks, that was a
Speaker 1: nice que win last week with two defensive touchdowns and
Speaker 1: nothing happening on offense. But you have to do more
Speaker 1: than run the ball. And I just don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know how. I don't know how they match up.
Speaker 1: They don't match up well with the Saints for me.
Speaker 1: And by the way, planning, New Orleans is one of
Speaker 1: the toughest places to play in the NFL. Saints are
Speaker 1: a ball control offense. You know, they tried to go
Speaker 1: deep a few times early. I don't know if Drew
Speaker 1: brees Is. People have been waiting for the end of
Speaker 1: Drew brees Is deep ball for a while. That's ageless
Speaker 1: to me. Maybe maybe it's coming a little this year.
Speaker 1: But he doesn't need to. They're they're a short passing attack.
Speaker 1: You're right with Alvin Kamara, Like to me, he is
Speaker 1: kind of the key to their offense once they got
Speaker 1: to Rown Armstead back their left tackle. I don't know.
Speaker 1: He might be the most valuable skill position guy on
Speaker 1: the team other than than Drew Brees. This rookie class.
Speaker 1: Dan Handon has changed the franchise, Marcus Marshawn Lattimore is
Speaker 1: a franchise changing cornerback. Just to make we did it
Speaker 1: was up for the pickup show. You know what's the
Speaker 1: crossover with the audience. So what you're saying is, maybe,
Speaker 1: like Mickey Loomis, who's just produced fantastic draft class, every
Speaker 1: NFL GM should double up and take care of the
Speaker 1: city's basketball team at the same time. Or everyone should
Speaker 1: take care of the Pelicans together, or he hasn't been
Speaker 1: making the decisions in years, and Sean Payton is, but
Speaker 1: they don't tell us that for some reason. I don't
Speaker 1: really know. Ryan ram Check first round pick, has been
Speaker 1: huge for them at right tackle, Marcus Williams getting good
Speaker 1: snaps at safety a starter there, and then Camara too.
Speaker 1: It's just like it a youth infusion. What lock this up? No? No,
Speaker 1: that is a non edgy lock no um no. Like
Speaker 1: usually I don't condone sports bigamy. But if you break
Speaker 1: up with the Pats and just joined the Saints full
Speaker 1: time as a fan, no, no, I would never do that. Okay,
Speaker 1: I like this Saints team though they're pretty pretty lazy,
Speaker 1: pretty lame the last few years. But this is funny.
Speaker 1: Turned the ball of either Breeze had two early interceptions
Speaker 1: against Green Bay, but they have not. They simply have
Speaker 1: not turned the ball over. And by the way, if
Speaker 1: they if they take care of business this week, which
Speaker 1: I think all of us in the nursing room think
Speaker 1: they will, they get another home game next week against
Speaker 1: the Tampa team they can't see to get it together.
Speaker 1: You could be talking about the Rams on a six
Speaker 1: game winning streak if they just continue to play at
Speaker 1: or near this level. Marktram West's old old guy got
Speaker 1: He is such a good player. I think he could
Speaker 1: have had a better career if he's somewhere else other
Speaker 1: than New Orleans. But he's so valuable. He also seems
Speaker 1: like a leader behind the scenes. And you're playing Trabinsky.
Speaker 1: Last last thing on this game, I know we should
Speaker 1: move people. Got on them for only throwing seven passes.
Speaker 1: He took four sacks. I think he's taken seven or
Speaker 1: eight sacks and thirty two dropbacks. Those sacks have mostly
Speaker 1: been on Trabinsky. He's been holding onto the ball and
Speaker 1: you're not picking up any first down it's hard to
Speaker 1: throw the ball when you're never getting any first downs
Speaker 1: and you're taking sack and you have no one he
Speaker 1: could turn around. I'm just saying some of that's on him.
Speaker 1: And to answer your question, there is no crossover between
Speaker 1: our listenership and our viewership. Oh that's sad. You should
Speaker 1: watch Pick Them. I got you out time. I got
Speaker 1: a card here, and you should. If you like our show,
Speaker 1: you can watch us until we're just DVR in in.
Speaker 1: Mark's amazing right now physically so NFL Pick Them Saturday's
Speaker 1: eight am, three pm and eleven pm Eastern. Sundays six
Speaker 1: pm Eastern, UM and UM. We are part of that
Speaker 1: show with Damna Shack and Move the Sticks excuse me
Speaker 1: shepherding logs and the Game Money and Theory podcast Cynthia
Speaker 1: and Money Money who went out of his way by
Speaker 1: the way on a Damna Scheck show too him and
Speaker 1: Check both. I respect these guys. They went through their
Speaker 1: they cycled through their imitations of each of us. I'll
Speaker 1: just say I would invite you to go find that
Speaker 1: and listen to and find a few if you thought
Speaker 1: it was fair. It might the upshot for me. I
Speaker 1: felt slightly insulted. I have been sending money who hates
Speaker 1: the band Live? Dan and I you know we like
Speaker 1: the band Live to some degree, sending endless music videos,
Speaker 1: pestering his timeline with this. Yes, that has been a
Speaker 1: good way to get revenge against Money. He called my
Speaker 1: voice none to script if I if I'm not. I
Speaker 1: thought he was a little bit. It was a little
Speaker 1: savage towards you personally, Greg, nothing you had heard before.
Speaker 1: Check did like the pizzeria delivery guy for me. Uh
Speaker 1: but I thought Money came pretty hard. I am going
Speaker 1: to give him a pass because in nine interactions previous
Speaker 1: with Money, he's been a gentleman and a scholar. I
Speaker 1: genuinely liked the man, so I love Money, but I
Speaker 1: thought the best revenge I could get would be to
Speaker 1: never listen to That's that's the approach. I'm going, all right,
Speaker 1: enough of that malarkey. Who cares? Honestly, that's the two
Speaker 1: words that I have. Who cares? Money? Is that a
Speaker 1: good impression? Alright? Money, I have fourteen jobs. It's a
Speaker 1: good voice. The Falcons are three and three. They're the
Speaker 1: team that everybody thought was gonna be just cruising to
Speaker 1: another NFC South title. But what happened. They stopped scoring
Speaker 1: poor and they didn't get stops, and then you lose
Speaker 1: three games in a row, including that no show at
Speaker 1: Foxboro UM on Sunday night. So they're now three and
Speaker 1: three and now they go to play the Jets at
Speaker 1: the meadow Lands and Greg the Jets have been feisty,
Speaker 1: but there's a very bad DNA trade that they have
Speaker 1: that is makes a very frustrating watch as a fan.
Speaker 1: As I can attest, they hang with teams, they get
Speaker 1: ahead of teams, but they don't have a killer instinct,
Speaker 1: and when you're not that good, you tend to get
Speaker 1: picked off late in games. That's true. This is the
Speaker 1: game where I think the two teams could be angling
Speaker 1: to be down double digits heady into the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: You know, like neither one. These are the these are
Speaker 1: the two teams that you just don't trust at all
Speaker 1: with the lead late in the game. Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 1: The Jets blew to fourteen point leads the last two
Speaker 1: weeks and now people forget uh they took care of us.
Speaker 1: Their season could be so there, so different. But also
Speaker 1: three and four still feels pretty nice to considering what
Speaker 1: they could have been Jacksonville. They had a ten point
Speaker 1: lead in the fourth quarter almost blew that game too.
Speaker 1: So it's a major problem and it really is on
Speaker 1: Todd Bowls and I thought, I think that Bowls has
Speaker 1: done a really nice job this season and they're one
Speaker 1: of the more pleasant surprises in the league. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, it is kind of on your coach
Speaker 1: to find a way to ensure this stuff doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: I think some of their play calling has been unimaginative
Speaker 1: in these second half that's led to these troubles and
Speaker 1: letting teams back in the game. On the flip side, Mark,
Speaker 1: I mean, at what point do you worry that the
Speaker 1: Falcons are broken on offense? Would you feel like they
Speaker 1: have a major crisis right now in that side of
Speaker 1: the ball. They don't take care of business, and I
Speaker 1: don't think this is an easy game for them. This
Speaker 1: going on the road to play the Jets, who are
Speaker 1: no matter what, they have weaknesses, but they've been frisky
Speaker 1: in every single one of these games. If they dropped
Speaker 1: this the Falcons, they go three to three and four,
Speaker 1: then you have to go play the Panthers, the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, the Bucks, and the Vikings before the Saints.
Speaker 1: Their schedule does not let up and you cannot get
Speaker 1: behind at this point. I'm not sure I like them.
Speaker 1: In this game, I almost locked the Jets, which is
Speaker 1: potentially it's good news for Atlanta. I honestly trust the
Speaker 1: Jets to hang with this team until the end of
Speaker 1: the game, and then one of these games the Jets
Speaker 1: are gonna win in the final five minute. I think
Speaker 1: the Falcons are the gotta turn it around. I think
Speaker 1: they will. They're still leading the league in yards per drive.
Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy. I mean, they are moving. What about
Speaker 1: the last couple of games they've They moved the ball
Speaker 1: pretty well against the Patriots. I mean they had more
Speaker 1: yards for play against the Patriots and the Patriots did.
Speaker 1: It's crazy how poor they are in the red zone
Speaker 1: and being able to finish out their drives. But part
Speaker 1: of it is because they're not getting any drives because
Speaker 1: their defense can't get off the field. And that's the
Speaker 1: most disappointing thing to me. I expected this defense to
Speaker 1: kind of help push up this team. We expected the
Speaker 1: offense to come back to the back. I expected the
Speaker 1: defense to mitigate that, and instead they're worse. I mean
Speaker 1: This is on dan Quinn. These are his players, his
Speaker 1: style of play. The Patriots kind of just ran them over.
Speaker 1: They were like, hey, stop us, we're gonna we're gonna
Speaker 1: test your manhood. Stop you know, stop us against Then
Speaker 1: where's don Terry Poe, Where's McKinley, Where where are these guys?
Speaker 1: There's all that, And then also on offense, like the
Speaker 1: big plays from last season have dried up. I mean
Speaker 1: statistically they have completely dried up. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's Kyle Shanahan thing or if it's Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: kind of regressing back to Matt Ryan world versus last
Speaker 1: year's m v P incarnation to Matt Ryan. It's the
Speaker 1: people around him, but it's not clicking. It is weird though,
Speaker 1: because like, is Matt Ryan really that much different or
Speaker 1: it doesn't look where is it? Just that everything last
Speaker 1: year was was so perfectly made for him. He had
Speaker 1: open wide receivers, the scheme was great, no one was prepared,
Speaker 1: the schedule, a little bit of luck, Like how could
Speaker 1: he be that different? Dan Hansas ut career because he
Speaker 1: was in a comfort zone with his coach and his
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. Still think Sarkisi might be coaching for his job.
Speaker 1: These next couple of weeks. They got to get something going.
Speaker 1: All yards for driving, all that's good. They got to
Speaker 1: score points, and they're just you know, I thought that
Speaker 1: was a very disconcerting effort against the Falcons. Mark, you
Speaker 1: do have the Falcons winning this game. I have the
Speaker 1: Falcons winning. Now, you know what, I had the Jets
Speaker 1: winning this game. I mean it's not on paper anywhere,
Speaker 1: but I'm it's it's it's audibly just been spoken. Well,
Speaker 1: they need a yeah, yeah, come back to get it. Then, Okay,
Speaker 1: moving on these efforts go forty Niners are winless oh
Speaker 1: and seven. Um, that cute narrative. It wasn't even narrative,
Speaker 1: it was reality. They were losing every game by two
Speaker 1: or three points. That ended UH in a big way
Speaker 1: with a thirty point home loss to the Cowboys. And
Speaker 1: guess what your reward for that is? You go back
Speaker 1: on the road and you take on the NFC East
Speaker 1: leading Philadelphia Eagles, who could not be playing Mark with
Speaker 1: more confidence after what they did UH to Washington on
Speaker 1: Monday night. Well, and from the flip side, your reward
Speaker 1: if you're the Eagles for winning perhaps perhaps the most
Speaker 1: memorable game of the year, A game in which your
Speaker 1: quarterback suddenly is national. He's a national talking point. He's
Speaker 1: been crowned. Essentially, is like the greatest young quarterback we
Speaker 1: have right now and m v P candidate, your reward
Speaker 1: is to stay home for six days and deal with
Speaker 1: the Niners. My what I want to see and I'm
Speaker 1: not sure we're gonna see it against this Niners defense
Speaker 1: is the Jason Peters factor that you don't have him anymore.
Speaker 1: That to me is no different than if the Browns
Speaker 1: very good and they lost Joe Thomas. How quickly it
Speaker 1: changes your offense. When you lose one of these premier
Speaker 1: left tackles, there's only two or three or four of
Speaker 1: them in the league, everything can change. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's gonna matter this week, but it's a huge
Speaker 1: loss for the Eagles. It's not gonna matter this week.
Speaker 1: This forty Niners defense is pretty dreadful. This team is dreadful.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know I think it would know. They've
Speaker 1: been on the street. Now they've been playing competitively, and
Speaker 1: that's great, and that's coaching, and but I don't think
Speaker 1: there's any one aspect of this team that's above average.
Speaker 1: I think they should have a running game like some
Speaker 1: and sometimes they do, but that's about it. Like Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan is, we're seeing the limit. I think he's a
Speaker 1: great offensive coach, but we're seeing the limitations of how
Speaker 1: much a coach can do. I think that's fair. And
Speaker 1: I think that one guy we didn't get a chance
Speaker 1: to talk about him Tuesday, that we should for the
Speaker 1: Eagles of zach Ertz and the chemistry, uh that Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz and zach Ertz have is one of those things
Speaker 1: where if these guys stay together and stay on the
Speaker 1: field together, arts can end up being one of those
Speaker 1: guys that's like way up, like Jason Witten, those guys
Speaker 1: that hang around together and end up just getting stats
Speaker 1: year after year after year because they have such a
Speaker 1: great connection clearly, and he's a legitimate playmaker that was
Speaker 1: worth his draft standing, and that's that gives them another
Speaker 1: big time starts he's broken out this year. Well, I know,
Speaker 1: I know people in Philadelphia disdain Chip Kelly and and
Speaker 1: potentially with good reason, but Chip Kelly drafted zach Ertz
Speaker 1: and he loved him coming out of college, and it
Speaker 1: took a while for zach Ertz to become what he
Speaker 1: is now. But he is a He is the centerpiece
Speaker 1: of that. He's the mid If you're doing a mid
Speaker 1: season All Pro team, and I believe our friend Chris
Speaker 1: Wesleyan is doing one for every dot com, I gotta
Speaker 1: imagine Chris is debating it's either Gronk or Arts as
Speaker 1: your first team tight end. Even that, the fact that
Speaker 1: that's the fact that Gronk is mostly stayed on the
Speaker 1: field and is continue to be a major threat UM
Speaker 1: on the Patriots offense and you're talking Earth's in that
Speaker 1: category tells you a lot. I gotta talk to Wesley
Speaker 1: about Seth to Val being a close for all I know,
Speaker 1: you know, Chris, who has his you know, has strong opinions,
Speaker 1: might totally disagree with what I'm saying. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's into Logan Thomas. We'll touch base with West
Speaker 1: down the road on this topic. Moving on the Carolina Panthers,
Speaker 1: Um who Let's be honest this room, we were flying
Speaker 1: high on the Panthers a couple of weeks ago when
Speaker 1: there were four and one and we were talking about
Speaker 1: him about a potential top seed in the NFC. Uh. Well,
Speaker 1: then they got beat by the Eagles, and then they
Speaker 1: got creamed somehow by the Bears. Well not cream but
Speaker 1: they just played terribly um And now they travel to
Speaker 1: Tampa to face another team in the Bucks that is scuffling.
Speaker 1: Greg these are two teams that have been um especially
Speaker 1: the Bucks kind of disappointing on balance, and the Panthers
Speaker 1: of late have been very disappointing. This is just the
Speaker 1: matchup that the Carolina Panthers needed to jump start their offense,
Speaker 1: because I don't think there's a defense in the NFL
Speaker 1: that is more lost than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers right now,
Speaker 1: giving up four plus yards to the Bills, giving up
Speaker 1: thirty eight points and just receivers running wide open against Arizona.
Speaker 1: I still think the Panthers have the guts of a
Speaker 1: team that should be much better. Their negative eight right
Speaker 1: now on turnovers. That's a big reason why they're four
Speaker 1: and three. They like against the Bears, they're moving, they
Speaker 1: were moving the ball, their defense is playing well. I'm
Speaker 1: not that worried about the Panthers. I'm a little more
Speaker 1: worried about you know, Cam Newton's relationship with the media
Speaker 1: and you know whatnot. But it's constant distraction I'm not
Speaker 1: actually worried about that. I don't know why I said that.
Speaker 1: I quite enjoyed um Chris Wessling's tweet mocking Cam after
Speaker 1: he walked off that press conference, and that wasn't a
Speaker 1: big deal. But again it's like, dude, get it together,
Speaker 1: and then the team covering for him, saying it was
Speaker 1: some type of miscommunication. Cam had thought that he had
Speaker 1: fulfilled his media obligation. Yeah, by walking off in mid
Speaker 1: sense shows some accountability, like don't don't cover for the
Speaker 1: guy because it just makes everybody look bad. It's it's
Speaker 1: just it's it seems like it's every week with him.
Speaker 1: And and yet, you know, a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: the controversy seemed to sort of fuel Cam Newton. This
Speaker 1: time around, I mean, we're coming off the game a
Speaker 1: disgraceful offensive performance where they're shut out in the second
Speaker 1: half against Chicago. Nothing happening at all with this team,
Speaker 1: and I was, I, I, this is Cam Newton has
Speaker 1: more turnovers right now. Well, it's more than every quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league, than the Shaun Kaiser. I know he's
Speaker 1: making some plays, but it's like, you know, this team
Speaker 1: to me, is there's something out of whack here. But
Speaker 1: I think it all stems from the running game. That
Speaker 1: it's way too many third intents. Remember the whole like
Speaker 1: Cam Newton is not going to run the ball that much.
Speaker 1: Forget that whole idea. He's their leading rusher. Last week
Speaker 1: when they need a first down when they were on
Speaker 1: the goal line, it's like, let's go to let's go
Speaker 1: to camp. Every three single series, it seems like there's
Speaker 1: a third and twelve and mixed in there because Jonathan
Speaker 1: Stewart and McCaffrey loses four yards on first and ten
Speaker 1: and it's just like, that's not how this team is
Speaker 1: set up. And they lost trade Turner. They did not worries.
Speaker 1: I know Christian McCaffrey has shown flashes um, especially as
Speaker 1: a receiver or solely as receiver, and that's the problem here.
Speaker 1: They did not draft him in the first round pick
Speaker 1: to just be a guy. It's a safety valve and
Speaker 1: a guy that they could put in the slot and
Speaker 1: make some plays in the receiving game. They I think
Speaker 1: they were expecting more from him as a runner and
Speaker 1: that's played into the problem and they take time. But
Speaker 1: it's like I feel like it's a it's a passing
Speaker 1: game that is so reliant in sections of games on
Speaker 1: just dumping off screen passes to McCaffrey, and it's like
Speaker 1: what team goes out and says, that's our goal that
Speaker 1: you know, this is a big game. I mean, these
Speaker 1: are two teams that had very high expectations coming into
Speaker 1: the season. The Bucks cannot go to two and five
Speaker 1: with with another home loss in the division. It's an
Speaker 1: intriguing game. If nothing else, Tampa should feel good. It
Speaker 1: got a little you know, I missed last week that
Speaker 1: that offense. It we kind of we're expecting to see
Speaker 1: for a month. It was there in Buffalo. I mean
Speaker 1: they went up and down in the field on a
Speaker 1: Bill's defense. We've given a lot of credit too. It's
Speaker 1: a big You gotta win this game. Bucks, Go win
Speaker 1: a game. Go win a game. Uh what do we
Speaker 1: like in this game? I'm gonna throw it around, Uh
Speaker 1: Mark you start, I'm thinking right because it's a toss up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a I'm gonna go Panthers. I'm gonna go Carolina
Speaker 1: on the road. Really put a hurting into old Dirk Cutter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I like what's going on in Tampa. Uh,
Speaker 1: with the coaching and everything and that that seems to
Speaker 1: me maybe turning sour that season. I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: the Panthers as well. Mike Smith defense never in ten
Speaker 1: years finished higher than twelve. I just Mike Smith's Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't. I've never seen defense is a bigger personality
Speaker 1: transformation than Mike Smith on Hard Knocks is the coach
Speaker 1: of the Falcons to Mike Smith as a defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: of the Bucks, where basically he was just like it
Speaker 1: was like, guys are ready to blow at all times.
Speaker 1: I can't be going well considering the state of the season.
Speaker 1: I was thinking maybe that was like a game day
Speaker 1: thing that when once the game started, most like a
Speaker 1: totally different human. Yeah. Maybe, all right, let's move on
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans. That was a little Oprah Who was
Speaker 1: the Texans? Very opra esque? They do you get a
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback and you okay, okay, see I was going
Speaker 1: to do something like that, but then I said, well
Speaker 1: that would be bad. I'm not good. Did it? And
Speaker 1: that's cool though, because I like that you embraced your
Speaker 1: silly side. Greg, Well, I'm glad you do that. You
Speaker 1: followed that up by totally burying it. I'm that was
Speaker 1: bad anyway. The Texans, they're coming out of there by,
Speaker 1: they gotta be feeling fresh. But guess what, they got
Speaker 1: a tough assignment because they're going to Seattle to face
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and um Deshaun Watson, um Mark Sessler has
Speaker 1: been so good uh this season and he's the only
Speaker 1: reason why there's hope in Houston despite after the losses
Speaker 1: of J. J. Watt and Um Whitney merciless. But this
Speaker 1: seems like a tough assignment for the kid. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean they've They've got thirty plus points in four straight games,
Speaker 1: which is a franchise record, not surprising for people that
Speaker 1: have watched the Texans over the years, and it's all
Speaker 1: because of him and what he's meant for them. And
Speaker 1: I look at a Seahawks team. Yes, they are the
Speaker 1: number one scoring defense, and that's not an unusual narrative,
Speaker 1: but three of their four wins have come against the Cults, Niners,
Speaker 1: and Giants. So if you can't handle your business at home,
Speaker 1: we talk about the Titans this way. Every team in
Speaker 1: the a f C South basically is constantly in this
Speaker 1: weekly thing. You've got to prove to us that you're
Speaker 1: every week it feels this way. I say this about Seattle.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks are and every team in the league is five.
Speaker 1: That's true, but the Seahawks are three years ago. No
Speaker 1: matter what was coming in, they would have taken them down.
Speaker 1: You want to be team that's taken seriously. I think
Speaker 1: this is your doing your damn Dave damash X impression
Speaker 1: of you right now. Prove it, hey, prove it to us.
Speaker 1: This is a Dan thing. I like prove the guy
Speaker 1: must win, guy must win. I like it. I got
Speaker 1: like must wins, but I really like prove it. I
Speaker 1: liked what I saw a gentleman with an i Q
Speaker 1: of twelve. Maybe I liked what I saw out of
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. I know it was the Giants, and so yes,
Speaker 1: you expect them, yes, yes, yes, and they didn't. Yes.
Speaker 1: But sometimes Mark, even when you're playing a bad opponent,
Speaker 1: prove it. If I even good luck trying to get
Speaker 1: your point out today. Sometimes you know and you're trying
Speaker 1: to prove it. I don't know, Dan. Dan did not
Speaker 1: get his soda today, his diet pepsi or whatever it
Speaker 1: is he drinks, and he's You're upset. That's sweet that
Speaker 1: you know what I drank? That is adorable. Actually go
Speaker 1: ahead a lot of times to the huddle. It's he will,
Speaker 1: he will ask the woman to go get him ice.
Speaker 1: I believe that that was a strange thing. For three
Speaker 1: straight years, Hey, can you go in the back and
Speaker 1: get me ice? They used to not have the ice
Speaker 1: and then should once they put the ice outside. Speaking
Speaker 1: of sandbagging, um, Seahawks fans got they want to hear
Speaker 1: about their every single time, every single time, every day.
Speaker 1: Should have made ice successible. While I, while I quietly
Speaker 1: assassinate you, I also lift you up. You don't You
Speaker 1: don't think that I get my own ice? I I
Speaker 1: certainly do. At this point, this Seattle Seahawks team came
Speaker 1: out of the by looking a little different. First of all,
Speaker 1: when was the last time you could remember the Seattle
Speaker 1: Seahawks being healthy? Like, oh wow, there's a healthy team
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. Richardson's their lock, it's their rawls and Lacey.
Speaker 1: They're not playing that great in process, but they're all there.
Speaker 1: It's a healthy looking team. We always pick on them
Speaker 1: for not you know, just relying on Russell Wilson to
Speaker 1: make some magic well. They moved the ball up and
Speaker 1: down the field on the Giants with plays from the pocket,
Speaker 1: you know, on time, some nice touch throws. It was
Speaker 1: the best their offenses looked all season. I thought Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson has played well. It was the type of performance
Speaker 1: from their defense that you expected to see. I felt
Speaker 1: like this team reset a little bit in the bye week,
Speaker 1: and now they get a match. If you think this
Speaker 1: is a tough match against de Shaun Watson, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson gives up a couple throws every game that
Speaker 1: there's a chance for the other defense to make a
Speaker 1: play on, and other defenses have not been making plays.
Speaker 1: I think he's gotten a little bit lucky, and that
Speaker 1: luck ends when you go up to Seattle. And so
Speaker 1: I'm locking it up Hello, A little concerned, Greg, because
Speaker 1: you're talking about how healthy they are. Last I heard
Speaker 1: Luke Jokels not playing at left guard, and you know,
Speaker 1: just Justin britt Justin Brittett center is not about and
Speaker 1: so you can laugh at it, but this is already
Speaker 1: the worst offensive line in the league, and you're losing starters,
Speaker 1: and if you're a backup offensive lineman on the Seahawks, yikes.
Speaker 1: But he's been out and their offensive line has been terrible.
Speaker 1: That's just like, that's what they are, terrible. They dealt
Speaker 1: with that for a year. But the defense, I feel
Speaker 1: like it's coming into its own and that that that's
Speaker 1: really why I wanted to lock this up is I
Speaker 1: don't think this redskin, this Texans team is getting out
Speaker 1: of the teens in scoring. I just don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna to your point, And I wrote about this in
Speaker 1: the High Flying Adventures and the research notes for this week,
Speaker 1: check it out on the end around. Uh, Steve Polazzo,
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus did a piece where he broke down, um,
Speaker 1: why why he Deshaun Watson in the midst of this
Speaker 1: great season is like a middling too below quarterback in
Speaker 1: their ratings, And a lot of that was pegged on
Speaker 1: his first start, which was very bad, like off the
Speaker 1: charts bad by their grading system. But the first week,
Speaker 1: even just when he came in a halftime. But a
Speaker 1: closer study of the of the tape, Polazzo and I
Speaker 1: guess the entire PFF team saw that he's missed a
Speaker 1: lot of open receivers. He's had a lot of quote
Speaker 1: turnover worthy plays that he hasn't gotten That's what I see,
Speaker 1: and Texans receivers have only dropped two passes all season.
Speaker 1: When Watson's fine, but he's not great. His numbers speak
Speaker 1: to a guy who's playing at an m v P
Speaker 1: level and he's been great, but he had I think
Speaker 1: he's there's due for a correction. You would have grabbed
Speaker 1: the league when at the league would take him right now.
Speaker 1: I came absolutely, But no one's arguing that. I'm saying,
Speaker 1: if if he's if he's just this average guy that's
Speaker 1: throwing up interceptions that aren't getting taken down by the
Speaker 1: not at all. But it's like this guy, I would
Speaker 1: not do that. This guy's like six years, six games
Speaker 1: into his career. I do think I'm going to do
Speaker 1: with I think it's say I think it's fair to
Speaker 1: say that that Ark Sessler takes on PF when we
Speaker 1: when we actually had PFF on our show, I could
Speaker 1: not have been a kinder breaking you in a rank
Speaker 1: how rough people were on PFF. I was easily the
Speaker 1: kindest to them. Give me a break on the breaking
Speaker 1: news Lindsay of the media war, Sessler v p FF
Speaker 1: his columns, wreath go hide under your table. I don't
Speaker 1: even check Twitter at this point until Sunday, so if
Speaker 1: you want to get into with me at that point,
Speaker 1: we can get into it. Moving on, the Cowboys. Oh,
Speaker 1: Dwayne Brown is holdout finally ended class. I forgot class
Speaker 1: as that's a big that's that's huge. They have one
Speaker 1: of offensive lines in the league. Well, if he's gonna play,
Speaker 1: is he gonna play? Well, he's been in mothballs for months, teammate,
Speaker 1: I should all see better than what they have. I
Speaker 1: like where you're coming from on this had a good
Speaker 1: look for Dwayne Brown. Let's be on huge for Houston.
Speaker 1: But this guy's let his team down the entire season
Speaker 1: and the only reported. Let's be honest, it's a business decision.
Speaker 1: But because his contract would have told uh if he
Speaker 1: if he didn't report this week, and we should have
Speaker 1: said it. So we're gonna say unless one of you
Speaker 1: guys did say it, in which case I apologize for
Speaker 1: not paying attention. Again. Luke Keikley could be playing for
Speaker 1: the Panthers on Sunday. That's fresh information. That would be
Speaker 1: a big deal. So track that he's coming back from
Speaker 1: another concussion. Moving on, the cow Boys are traveling to
Speaker 1: Washington to face the Redskins, and uh, this is a game,
Speaker 1: greg Um between the Cowboys team that looked really good
Speaker 1: a lot more like the Cowboys team from last year
Speaker 1: last week, and the Redskins not so hot against the
Speaker 1: Eagles on Monday night. The Redskins defense, I feel like
Speaker 1: has been an overachieving group and maybe that's starting to
Speaker 1: fall apart a little bit because of injuries. Maybe they
Speaker 1: get Josh Norman back. But they got creative last week
Speaker 1: at points early in that game, having Preston Smith, ju
Speaker 1: and your Gallet and Ryan Carrey get all together at
Speaker 1: the same time, and Jim tom Seula is doing a
Speaker 1: great job ammensive line. But ultimately I don't think they're
Speaker 1: that talented. They're just there and they're now going up
Speaker 1: against one of the best offenses in the league in
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys, who are rolling. I think that that
Speaker 1: week off, I don't know, it might have helped Zeke.
Speaker 1: I mean people were saying, like, hey, Zeke, hey here
Speaker 1: he is. He's been fine the whole time. No, he's
Speaker 1: running better now than than he was at the beginning
Speaker 1: of this season. He admitted that he came into his
Speaker 1: rookie season essentially out of shape and worked himself into shape.
Speaker 1: I think the same thing kind of happened this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it was San Francisco and we've already you know,
Speaker 1: taken their defense to town. But last week's performance by
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott was clearly the best game of this season
Speaker 1: and maybe a top two or three performance I've ever
Speaker 1: seen from him. The seventy two yard touchdown reception where
Speaker 1: he basically caught it and galloped down the sideline. Only
Speaker 1: a few players can do what he did. And Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: by the way, I think he looks as good as
Speaker 1: he's looked all season. The offenses is extremely dangerous right now.
Speaker 1: Speaking of qbn X number six on the old QB
Speaker 1: six da Prescott playing, Is that the highest he's been
Speaker 1: this season? Yeah? Who's thirty one? You don't want to know.
Speaker 1: It depends on the week, you know. Not de Benz,
Speaker 1: who's started like Drew Stanton, has to be in the
Speaker 1: mix starting next week. So it gets confusing. What do
Speaker 1: you do with the Browns? Is just the browns helmet?
Speaker 1: Geiser the first two quarters of Kaiser, Greg, You've beat
Speaker 1: the drum on this, but I'll just mention it because
Speaker 1: there was a nice nug in the research and notes
Speaker 1: how important Sean Lee is the Cowboys and uh, and
Speaker 1: the two losses that he missed the average thirty five
Speaker 1: points per game in a hundred sixty four yards rushing
Speaker 1: yards allowed a game. Uh, those numbers have themselves when
Speaker 1: Lee's involved. So he's such a huge part of it.
Speaker 1: And I guess that's part of the the overall fear
Speaker 1: that you should have if you're a Cowboys sand because
Speaker 1: your most important defensive players also also possibly your most
Speaker 1: injury prone player, and your most important offensive player continues
Speaker 1: to have a six game suspension dangling over his head
Speaker 1: like an and next week's the week and this could
Speaker 1: be his last game for for a long time. We
Speaker 1: think next week's the week, and yeah, if we'll see.
Speaker 1: And I will say, because i love the way the
Speaker 1: Cowboys look, and because I'm not so hot on the
Speaker 1: red Skins, and because I believe that the Cowboys understand
Speaker 1: that they need to make Hay when they're all together
Speaker 1: like this, you know what I'm doing. This one for you, Poppy,
Speaker 1: NFC East style lock it up. That's for you, Poppy.
Speaker 1: I think that makes a lot of sense. I think
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is just about the only Redskins offensive player
Speaker 1: playing well right now. Um. And while we're here, Greg,
Speaker 1: I just want to go over the lock standings for
Speaker 1: the season. Um, you do have some ground to make up,
Speaker 1: um so far this season. And I'll just stick with
Speaker 1: the three of us because West has only been able
Speaker 1: to do two games this year. Um. The old zeus, sir,
Speaker 1: first place, five and two, having a nice season. You're
Speaker 1: getting on me a little bit that I was mediocre.
Speaker 1: Five and two is nice, A little disrespectful by Greg.
Speaker 1: I guess I wasn't really keeping track mark three and four,
Speaker 1: three and four, second place, Greg, three and five after
Speaker 1: three and four is terrible. Five and two is like
Speaker 1: the expectation. Two and five is even worse. Five and
Speaker 1: two is what we probably all averaged on last year.
Speaker 1: That's if it's a lock of the week, you better
Speaker 1: be away above five. This is a lock. This is
Speaker 1: like that if you're below five. It's a tone of embarrassing, yes,
Speaker 1: but it's it's we don't gauge the daring level of
Speaker 1: the Listen. This is the gentleman's locked contest. It's a
Speaker 1: game where we respect each other and we make picks
Speaker 1: We're not just going to pick against the Niners every Well,
Speaker 1: I've locked the Jets and Browns this year. Greg is
Speaker 1: two and five for the season and then all time
Speaker 1: standings UM West is ten and nine. Uh, Greg third
Speaker 1: place thirteen and eleven. So you weren't locking it up
Speaker 1: last year too well either. Let's be honest, what are
Speaker 1: you talking about? Do the math? So, yeah, do it
Speaker 1: do It's all right. It's I was then eleven and six,
Speaker 1: which is pretty much the exact same percentages five and two.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. Pretty solid. Thirteen and ten all
Speaker 1: time Mark Sessler, which is second place, half game ahead
Speaker 1: of Greg, and uh, I'll take it. The old Zeuser
Speaker 1: once again. Well, no nothing, Zeus or seventeen and nine,
Speaker 1: the old idiot upstairs while the scientists are down in
Speaker 1: the base. That's that's what you took. That was your
Speaker 1: whole bit. Now you're turning your own bits against us.
Speaker 1: I'm weaponizing them. You've got people to trying to get
Speaker 1: down into the lab and disrupt enemies dands up there,
Speaker 1: punching them out and drinking the security guard smoking cigarettes
Speaker 1: at the door. Yeah, I'm the bouncer upstairs. Okay, Anyway,
Speaker 1: let's wrap this thing up. Let's go to the Steelers
Speaker 1: heading to Detroit to face the lines. Uh, Steelers starting
Speaker 1: to get saucy looking. I like the way they closed
Speaker 1: out that game against Cincinnati. They looked like the best
Speaker 1: team they have seen north and it wasn't close. And now, uh,
Speaker 1: you got the Lions, who you know, they didn't show
Speaker 1: up in their game before the bye. They get a
Speaker 1: chance to get healthy here during the by mark. But
Speaker 1: let us not forget the fifty burger. Fifty burger dropped
Speaker 1: in them, uh the week before. Yeah, I think it's
Speaker 1: easy when these teams going by to kind of forget
Speaker 1: what happened the week before. And that was a game
Speaker 1: where Matthew Stafford strip sack for a touchdown, strip sack
Speaker 1: a second time, twelve passes, batted down, running for his
Speaker 1: life all over the place. And now you're going up
Speaker 1: against the Steelers defense. And every week Ryan Shazier is
Speaker 1: showing up. How about against the Bengals, Mike Hilton laying
Speaker 1: a hit on players, t J. Watt, Bud Duprie. They've
Speaker 1: got guys all over the place and everyone every week
Speaker 1: it's Martavis Bryant itching about his role in Antonio Brown
Speaker 1: give me it's always the Steelers offense. It's the Steelers
Speaker 1: defense that makes them a different team than in years
Speaker 1: past and a truth threat in the a f C. Right,
Speaker 1: they haven't needed. Ben Roth is bigger to play that well.
Speaker 1: I think he's coming off his best game of the season,
Speaker 1: but before that he's just been kind of workman like.
Speaker 1: Whereas the Lions, you expected that this was gonna be
Speaker 1: an offense first team. I just feel like that's where
Speaker 1: their money is. That's what you expect. And then when
Speaker 1: you look at the numbers, I mean, they are one
Speaker 1: of the worst offenses in the league. They feel broken
Speaker 1: consistently gaining yards. I don't think they're that far away.
Speaker 1: Like the running game is a little better than it
Speaker 1: was a year ago. Stafford has some players to throw to.
Speaker 1: I think they have a chance to get better. Uh.
Speaker 1: We've been talking about Levan Bell's workload. Um I looked
Speaker 1: it up earlier today and he is on pace for
Speaker 1: four hundred and sixty one touches that would place him
Speaker 1: second all time if this usage rate continued. The only
Speaker 1: the only guy that's ahead of him would be poor
Speaker 1: James Wilder, which I wish West was here on the
Speaker 1: bus a nice breakdown of his career. In the eight
Speaker 1: four bucks, he had four touches. That feels like it
Speaker 1: should have been a criminal charge against the man um
Speaker 1: And remember the last time we heard this, this idea
Speaker 1: that uh, you know, the football gatness sent d wondering
Speaker 1: if a running back was being maxed out in a
Speaker 1: nefarious way. DeMarco Murray back. He ended up with four
Speaker 1: nine touches for that Cowboys team. So they're using him
Speaker 1: even more than DeMarco Murray and it makes you wonder
Speaker 1: what their long term plans are. Well, and then through
Speaker 1: the air, I didn't he draft James Conner if you
Speaker 1: can't give him five six carries? Again, couldn't have Green more.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's also looked he's looked better than ever,
Speaker 1: So there's that, But but it's also October. You need
Speaker 1: to be fresh. They didn't have him. He went out
Speaker 1: in the what the first quarter of the a f
Speaker 1: C Championship game last year? First half, they didn't have
Speaker 1: him the playoffs a couple of times before that. You've
Speaker 1: got to maximize, like your roster. Heading towards January, as
Speaker 1: a football fan, Patriots hated too, but as a football fan,
Speaker 1: I don't want to see Levy on Bell going out
Speaker 1: of the first half of the a f C title
Speaker 1: game with a hamstring injury or or a balky knee
Speaker 1: that it acts up on him during a first quarter
Speaker 1: run and and then he'll bid just bad luck again
Speaker 1: in January. But no, it's like this idea. You did
Speaker 1: get James Conner in the draft. You love him, you
Speaker 1: love his ability, work them together because it might help
Speaker 1: you in the long run. Even if he's winning you
Speaker 1: games right now. You gotta look big picture. I mean,
Speaker 1: what about Antonio Brown the way that he's being used
Speaker 1: in the passing game. It's like they had these two
Speaker 1: star players and it's very imbalanced. It's it's it seems
Speaker 1: like it's such a top heavy offense. Mark Davis Bryant
Speaker 1: a fit. Sully will be inactive for this game. Not
Speaker 1: a not a huge loss for them, and we'll see
Speaker 1: if it's this final uh week in a Steelers uniform.
Speaker 1: But Mike Tomlin said publicly, I think they would be
Speaker 1: willing to listen to if anyone came calling from mar
Speaker 1: Tavis Bryant. I love that Cowboys fit. Just feels like
Speaker 1: a Cowboys move. Yeah, I could see it moving on finally,
Speaker 1: the So that was the Sunday night game, the Monday
Speaker 1: night football game, the Denver Broncos um who got shut
Speaker 1: out and just looked, you know, pitiful. Now for two
Speaker 1: weeks in a row, shut up by the Chargers last
Speaker 1: week on the road. Now they have to head to
Speaker 1: Kansas City and Greg the Chiefs they have major problems.
Speaker 1: I don't think they could really stop a good team,
Speaker 1: um or desperate team like we saw with Oakland last
Speaker 1: week on defense when it really comes down to it.
Speaker 1: I think that could maybe haunt them if they don't
Speaker 1: figure something out. But right now, the here and now,
Speaker 1: they're angry after last week, they're five and two. I
Speaker 1: think this is a terrible recipe for Denver to get
Speaker 1: back on track. Do you agree? Disagree? Winning in Kansas
Speaker 1: City a team that's just played much better than them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a terrible matchup in a week where you're already struggling.
Speaker 1: The strength of both teams match up against each other though,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Chiefs in football outsiders have the number
Speaker 1: one offense in football right now, and that makes sense
Speaker 1: to me. But they're going up against a very good
Speaker 1: Broncos defense. Who has really been at the level we expected.
Speaker 1: They they have nothing to do with these last two losses.
Speaker 1: I mean, they gave up fourteen points to the Chargers
Speaker 1: on like fifteen drives. They gave up thirteen points to
Speaker 1: the Giants. I'm talking about just to the offenses and
Speaker 1: the Chiefs defense. Though it's twenty five and sinking in
Speaker 1: the league and sinking in football. It's not a good defense.
Speaker 1: So if you can't put up some points against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna do it against anything. They've had injuries,
Speaker 1: and this is the only top five defense that the
Speaker 1: Chiefs will face outside of Pittsburgh. And Pittsburgh we saw
Speaker 1: what happened there. Pittsburgh, by the way, top five in
Speaker 1: offense and defense, and football outsiders ease a the number
Speaker 1: one team in the NFL right now, how about that, Saucy.
Speaker 1: This is a big, big week, though, and that's that's
Speaker 1: off topic. A big, an important game for the Broncos
Speaker 1: who are trying to get their season back on track.
Speaker 1: Speaking of on track, you need the team, trev Express
Speaker 1: to get back to chug along upon those tracks. We
Speaker 1: don't want another derailment three weeks a row. Keep TV
Speaker 1: that feels like a tragedy. I mean, it feels like
Speaker 1: it feels like he's just being asked to make plays
Speaker 1: throwing on the run that he's just not gonna make.
Speaker 1: That They don't even had a running game at all
Speaker 1: the last two weeks. When they try to, you know,
Speaker 1: get those cheap screen yards that Alex Smith gets or
Speaker 1: a lot of quarterbacks get, it's like that doesn't happen
Speaker 1: for the Broncos. It's been it's been tough to watch
Speaker 1: last few weeks, and he's been a huge part of it.
Speaker 1: He's he's owned up to that. I mean, only Kaiser
Speaker 1: and Flacco have a worse QB rating than Simeon since
Speaker 1: Week three. And after this game, you have to go
Speaker 1: in at Philadelphia then played the Patriots. If you're the Broncos,
Speaker 1: season on the bring, they've had a million. It's it's
Speaker 1: not like they've been playing the eight five Bears the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. Either. They played the Chargers and
Speaker 1: the Giants, who have been that Giant lost. He combined
Speaker 1: ten points against the Giants and Chargers. Alright, it's wild.
Speaker 1: He and Simeon's tough. He took two of the biggest
Speaker 1: hits I've ever seen a quarterback take in my life.
Speaker 1: In that game against the Chargers, got right back up
Speaker 1: and I don't know, there's only so many hits. I
Speaker 1: feel like he could take tape a Super Bowl. Jeff
Speaker 1: Hostetler back in his own end zone. Bruce Smith blows
Speaker 1: around the blindside wall ups and he holds out to
Speaker 1: the ball. Giants win twenty nineteen, a game where he
Speaker 1: thought that he had essentially broken a bone early on
Speaker 1: and came back to win. It's a big game for
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, by the way, big game. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: you didn't like Hosts liked it. I liked it. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, remember Jeff Hostellers Raiders Run. He was Raiders. Yeah,
Speaker 1: nice career for Jeff hoste One are the one of
Speaker 1: those quarterbacks with a mustache. From wire to wire, NFL
Speaker 1: pick them once again Saturday's eight am, three pm and
Speaker 1: eleven pm Eastern Sundays at six am Eastern. Check out
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL subreddit, and again please rate and
Speaker 1: subscribe of the Around the NFL podcast. And one last note,
Speaker 1: we are working on the Spotify situation. Everybody getting upset.
Speaker 1: I got a feeling though the people that are coming
Speaker 1: at us on Twitter and are annoyed, and I understand it.
Speaker 1: There are other ways to find the podcast, so please
Speaker 1: don't don't give up on his Dad. You probably aren't listening,
Speaker 1: maybe's the thing. If you're on if you're looking forward
Speaker 1: on Spotify, you've probably not gotten this up. If you're
Speaker 1: grudgingly listening on some type of platform that you're not
Speaker 1: happy with. I checked in personally with the Shadowy League
Speaker 1: figures yesterday on email. We're trying to get this thing
Speaker 1: figured out, and hopefully at the end of the day
Speaker 1: it will be that's it. That's they are moving at
Speaker 1: a methodical pace to fix this problem. All right, let's go.
Speaker 1: Next time you hear from us, it will be the
Speaker 1: Sunday night Flagship show. So uh, don't give us, give
Speaker 1: up on us to add this dand hands of signing
Speaker 1: up for Quiet Storm, the Boss and Lendy fall to
Speaker 1: behind the glass till Sunday h