Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcasts. Welcome back to another edition
Speaker 1: of the Around the NFL podcast. I'm Greg Rosenthal alongside
Speaker 1: of room filled with heroes or not, No Johnny chuckles. Today,
Speaker 1: Dan Hanis is outsick, but Mark Sessler, Chris Wesley and
Speaker 1: Erica tam Posey is a full room in my mind,
Speaker 1: it's going on. Hey, Greg, I mean i'd argue it's
Speaker 1: not a full room without Dan, but that's quite a
Speaker 1: power grabbing statement right out of the gate. I honestly
Speaker 1: didn't even Yeah, I'm just I don't know why I need.
Speaker 1: You need to say the exact say it the exact
Speaker 1: same way every time, So I just messed it up.
Speaker 1: A anarchist, I should never be hosting the show again
Speaker 1: on such a moment. This show. I'll see you later, guys,
Speaker 1: we would have sat if you left. Dan is fighting
Speaker 1: the little ce. So we hope he gets better and
Speaker 1: is back for the Thursday show. But we we four
Speaker 1: John on what uh you know? A big day in
Speaker 1: this room, a big birthday of our guys. Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we're gonna play like a happy birthday this
Speaker 1: song again. You're gonna play a happy birthday song? But
Speaker 1: who needs that when you've got Enya light, I called
Speaker 1: this guy Benya. Well, yeah, no Shadowy League figures can
Speaker 1: come down on this song because Erica sourts this from
Speaker 1: our library. I was attempting to keep this birthday super
Speaker 1: low on the radar, so thank you, but no thing
Speaker 1: I was trying to. Yeah, we were gonna start the
Speaker 1: show a different way. You said no, So let's start
Speaker 1: it with the big day. I want to give you
Speaker 1: the best birthday present I can give you. Mark. We've
Speaker 1: worked together for five or six years, and I told Emmaca,
Speaker 1: my wife today that it was your birthday and how
Speaker 1: old you are. I won't reveal that here, and she said,
Speaker 1: got to admit, Mark looks pretty good, looks pretty good
Speaker 1: for at that age, looks pretty good for Thank you, Emma.
Speaker 1: A bigger gift, which I agree with you are call
Speaker 1: him today. Want to go back down to the something
Speaker 1: write the column that I'm supposed to punch out after this.
Speaker 1: But I appreciate that very much, um from your wife.
Speaker 1: I agree. Remember I liked you first before even meeting
Speaker 1: I met West and Greg a long time ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but just remember I liked you first. I will remember that.
Speaker 1: I thank you. We We tried to find some old
Speaker 1: clips because we've been doing this show now for five years,
Speaker 1: so there's been birth you know, in theory, we had
Speaker 1: your birthday five years ago, which was a big round
Speaker 1: number two. I don't think we mentioned it. That's that
Speaker 1: was the research that we've come along way. We've barely
Speaker 1: mentioned it. You usually try to keep it incognito. I yeah,
Speaker 1: it's I am not. I feel generally lost at this point.
Speaker 1: So yeah, my taking life or just I yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't even know. I don't thank you. Yeah, you can
Speaker 1: talk to I thought that it was gonna be read
Speaker 1: what have you done for the kissing cousin? Brother? Put
Speaker 1: that as here with Mark? What have you done for marketday?
Speaker 1: What have I done? First birthday? Exit? Facebook had really
Speaker 1: hurt my ability to tell when it's somebody's birthday. I
Speaker 1: tweeted somebody else wishing him happy. You did I noticed that.
Speaker 1: That's the only reason I know is because yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you for retweeting that West. Thank you, Louisa Toledo. Thank
Speaker 1: you Louisa who is a listener. Um. At some point
Speaker 1: the song will end and we will joint since Mark
Speaker 1: is clearly uncomfortable, We'll get to the rest of the show,
Speaker 1: and it's a big show. No Dan here, but we
Speaker 1: have some news. We have a t NF preview Eagles Giants.
Speaker 1: That's a big game, and we are going to ask
Speaker 1: some questions Chris Westling that we were not expecting to
Speaker 1: ask this early in the season. But yeah, we're the
Speaker 1: season started. That first Sunday was about a month ago,
Speaker 1: so we're just over a month into the season. There
Speaker 1: are many things we did not expect to be asking
Speaker 1: a month ago that we're going to ask now the
Speaker 1: important questions. But before we do any of that again,
Speaker 1: we mentioned the loose cannon behind the glass. How are
Speaker 1: you doing. I'm doing so good today. It's Mark's birthday.
Speaker 1: I'm just riding high. Well, yeah, it's great to be
Speaker 1: with you, my work wife. Let's do some news and
Speaker 1: we will start in Philadelphia where they'll be watching the
Speaker 1: Thursday night football game this week without j A. G
Speaker 1: i E the Eagles running back hit injured reserve this
Speaker 1: week a surprise that he tores a c l during
Speaker 1: last week's game. Don't know if that happened before or
Speaker 1: after that crushing fumble he had, but he is out
Speaker 1: for the season and an Eagles team that's rather thin.
Speaker 1: It running back using Wendell Smallwood quite a bit heads
Speaker 1: to the meadow Lands this week, thinner than ever. Do
Speaker 1: you think do you think this really hurts the Eagles team?
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler? I do. I mean, that's the one thing
Speaker 1: about the Eagles last year that is not showing up
Speaker 1: right now. Obviously they're tistically, the ground game is not
Speaker 1: as strong, but they were able to use a dosage
Speaker 1: of La Garry Blunt and when they traded for a
Speaker 1: G I. E And get these other guys involved, they
Speaker 1: could hit you in so many different ways with the
Speaker 1: ground game and you and Carson Wentz playing an m
Speaker 1: v P level. None of that is happening right now,
Speaker 1: and they have on paper they have one of the
Speaker 1: thinner back fields around and these guys aren't. Darren Sprowles
Speaker 1: has not been healthy himself. Yeah. I think the difference
Speaker 1: between this year and last year is last year they
Speaker 1: had two power backs La Garrett Blunt and j. G Iu.
Speaker 1: They could run between the tackles, they could shoulder the
Speaker 1: load when they needed to. And now they've got guys
Speaker 1: they've used as role players, complementary pieces, change of pace
Speaker 1: backs Wendel Smallwood, Corey Clement and rookie Josh Adams. Can
Speaker 1: any of those guys carry the load? Can they be
Speaker 1: counted on to establish a chain moving ground attack because
Speaker 1: I know Greg said maybe the efficiency is there this year,
Speaker 1: but they haven't been a consistent week to week ground attack. No.
Speaker 1: The Clement is the guy who I think has the
Speaker 1: characteristics of a lead running back, especially if you're supporting him.
Speaker 1: He's just such a physical guy. I think it's much
Speaker 1: easier to do when you're a role playing You're think.
Speaker 1: I think they call him Swedel Beckham because of that.
Speaker 1: He's he's he can do a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1: He's a big guy. Uh. And as long as you're
Speaker 1: supported by Smallwood, who's played pretty well I think, and
Speaker 1: Darren sprawls, then you're fine. But right now Clement hasn't
Speaker 1: shown he can stay healthy. We used to chuckle about
Speaker 1: Smallwood in this podcast studio back in the day, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, a lot of Eagles reporters did not expect
Speaker 1: him to make the team coming into training camp. Uh,
Speaker 1: and he's played well. Are you a Smallwood guy? And
Speaker 1: you've hold held some sort of against us that we
Speaker 1: mocked you for that? I I believe this. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go speak out of turn about Dan,
Speaker 1: who was suffering um a cold right now, which is
Speaker 1: just a devastating stetback for him. I believe he was
Speaker 1: the one that in why when I had some preseason
Speaker 1: takes about liking Wendel Small that some chuckles came my way.
Speaker 1: My My only mention of their efficiency West was, you know,
Speaker 1: football Outsiders has them twenty fifth and passing eighth and rushing. Uh.
Speaker 1: Their offensive line has really struggled to pass protect. I
Speaker 1: think if they needed one position more than anything, it
Speaker 1: would be defensive tackle. They they're really thin there. So
Speaker 1: just on the list of things that really concerned me
Speaker 1: about the Eagles, J J. I. E's absence is not
Speaker 1: high among them. With that said, they might go pick
Speaker 1: up another running back. There was a radio report and
Speaker 1: Buffalo that McCoy Lashawn McCoy um could be someone the
Speaker 1: Eagles are interested in. Mike Garretfolo and Ian rap report
Speaker 1: did follow that up, that that there could be some
Speaker 1: level of interest. I was reading between the lines and
Speaker 1: that thinking, yeah, they might go after a running back.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Lashaw McCoy would be number one
Speaker 1: on their list, but they always are looking to trade.
Speaker 1: What do you think of the fit of McCoy potentially
Speaker 1: joining the team. I think they can find a better
Speaker 1: human being to put in their locker room than Lashawn McCoy.
Speaker 1: A reigning super Bowl team should not mess with their
Speaker 1: chemistry by bringing in that guy. Is that's my personal
Speaker 1: feeling on it. I agree with you, and they know
Speaker 1: the person so that it feels to me it's always odd.
Speaker 1: I know the Patriots make a bit of a cottage
Speaker 1: cottage industry of bringing guys back that Belichick is familiar with,
Speaker 1: and it works for them, but in general, when like
Speaker 1: an X Star player who was shipped out of the
Speaker 1: building and not a guy that was not somewhat of
Speaker 1: a drama magnet as well in Philadelphia, it's always bizarre
Speaker 1: to me when these teams are these players potentially resurface
Speaker 1: back in that same uniform. I feel like once a
Speaker 1: player is gone that was a big part of the
Speaker 1: team and you've moved on, you don't bring him back.
Speaker 1: It's just too I mean. On our Twitter show, Colleen Wolf,
Speaker 1: Eagles fan, mentioned the same thing where she thought it
Speaker 1: was this was a depressing turn of events and it
Speaker 1: is a weird turn of events energy wise for the
Speaker 1: Eagles to bring them back. Well, if they can look
Speaker 1: good on the ground on Thursday night, maybe that's something
Speaker 1: that would prevent them. I think they might look for
Speaker 1: another type of j AGII like pick up maybe a
Speaker 1: younger guy that you can get for cheap in a trade.
Speaker 1: The argument for McCoy would be, you probably don't have
Speaker 1: to give up anything for him. He'd be free, and
Speaker 1: he looked great last week, and he would just be
Speaker 1: on the team for half of the season and probably
Speaker 1: not back after that. But I'm with you, why bother?
Speaker 1: I think it's been linked to some other names, Jordan
Speaker 1: Howard particularly. I don't know if that one passes the
Speaker 1: smell test even if the Eagles were interested. I believe
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas, who's in their front office, helped draft him
Speaker 1: for the Bears. Um, why would the Bears do that
Speaker 1: if they're in first place and they need I mean,
Speaker 1: you can't turn your whole backfield over to Terry Cohen,
Speaker 1: who's more of a scat. I don't get that at
Speaker 1: all from so I don't know. And Tevin Coleman's name
Speaker 1: has been thrown out there because with the Falcons now
Speaker 1: have Edo Smith to pair with DeVonta Freeman, and and
Speaker 1: can they really pay Tevin Coleman and DeVonta Freeman. That
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense to me because I don't
Speaker 1: think Tevin Coleman is on the Falcons next year. If
Speaker 1: a Edo Smith has looked great, but how much of
Speaker 1: you're the Eagles? Are you really going to give up
Speaker 1: for him just for half of a season? Is it
Speaker 1: worth it? Then? For the Falcon? I mean, you get
Speaker 1: your Super Bowl window, You've got a quarterback on a
Speaker 1: rookie contract. You gotta win. Now, what about like a
Speaker 1: guy like Doug Martin, who would come from very cheap
Speaker 1: and good. I think they'd rather good. Question in their
Speaker 1: perfect world, Corey Clements healthy enough to play Thursday night.
Speaker 1: He looks good, and I think they roll with that
Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks and see if that's enough.
Speaker 1: They could also just look on the street for running backs.
Speaker 1: That's what the Jacksonville Jaguars did this week. I thought
Speaker 1: they signed Jamal Charles, the future Hall of Fame finalist.
Speaker 1: How about that? I don't I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's gonna make it one day,
Speaker 1: But I think he'll be on that list of fifteen
Speaker 1: where they talk about him the all time leader in
Speaker 1: yards per carry among running backs. He I think ran
Speaker 1: for four point three yards per carry in Denver last
Speaker 1: year and he now has a job with t J
Speaker 1: yelled In. The reports from our ian reports are that
Speaker 1: Leonard four Nett not only out this week, might be
Speaker 1: out through their by which I think would be week nine.
Speaker 1: So he that's a few more weeks and Jamal Charles
Speaker 1: gets into the mix. Do you like this, Mark? I mean,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars sort of remind me of the Eagles, where
Speaker 1: the ground game was such a big part of their
Speaker 1: identity last year. They haven't had four net healthy all year.
Speaker 1: I mean, from what we saw of Jamal Charles last
Speaker 1: few seasons, like everyone knows the name, everyone remembers having
Speaker 1: him on their fantasy team at some point. I I
Speaker 1: don't necessarily like it from an on field place in
Speaker 1: right now. I thought he looked good in September last year,
Speaker 1: and then when the Broncos fell out of contention, he
Speaker 1: fell out of the rotation in favor of younger backs um,
Speaker 1: but then nobody wanted him all year. That doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: mean he's washed up. Nobody wanted Adrian Peterson either. They're similar.
Speaker 1: I think it's a guy that you give some carries
Speaker 1: to if you can get a lead to help. You know,
Speaker 1: sought the game away. The reason they're doing this is
Speaker 1: because Corey Grant, who was a good player for them,
Speaker 1: is out for the season. I think that was a
Speaker 1: significant loss, and I love seeing Jamal Charles back in
Speaker 1: the mix. Just one of the most underrated players at
Speaker 1: least ten years. For what it's worth. Doug Maron said
Speaker 1: that t J yelled and will remain the man going forward.
Speaker 1: T J Alden's look good at a pleasant surprise this year.
Speaker 1: Uh not unlike James Conner in Pittsburgh. A isn't surprised
Speaker 1: in this. I mean it Dan feeling a major disturbance
Speaker 1: in the forest that has anything to do with Dan.
Speaker 1: But James Conner has played so well this year that
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger to me, was speaking the obvious and speaking
Speaker 1: the truth this week in the Steelers locker room, saying
Speaker 1: that James Conner has earned the right to be a
Speaker 1: part of this offense even when Levy on Bell returns.
Speaker 1: I know you like James Connor. Chris Wesley. I do
Speaker 1: like him. I'm first of all, he's a cancer survivor.
Speaker 1: Second of all, he looked better last week then he's
Speaker 1: looked at any point this year. He looked explosive as
Speaker 1: a runner and as a receiver, and I haven't always
Speaker 1: liked him as a receiver. He looked a lot more natural, um,
Speaker 1: not just catching the ball, but turning and making a
Speaker 1: move to make guys miss, which is the most underrated
Speaker 1: part of a running back as a receiver. Um. But
Speaker 1: Big benk came out I thought pretty strongly and said,
Speaker 1: in no way, shape or form, should James just take
Speaker 1: a back seat to Levy on bell Um. We've seen
Speaker 1: some great things from him in all phases of football,
Speaker 1: and I will push for James to get as much
Speaker 1: run as we can. To me, that's pretty strong. The
Speaker 1: of course Levan bell when he comes back, he's going
Speaker 1: to play. But I don't I don't think they want
Speaker 1: to forget about James Conner. I don't love everything that
Speaker 1: Big Ben has said over the years or done, but
Speaker 1: I think this one is directed right at the locker
Speaker 1: room that we've gone this far with James Connor and
Speaker 1: he's a he's a good player, that does a lot
Speaker 1: of the same things that Levan Bell can do. You
Speaker 1: don't put him away and then cis Kater the entire
Speaker 1: offense when Levian Bell decides to roll back in to
Speaker 1: deal with his career in a pretty little fashion. I
Speaker 1: love the idea of Connor having a big part of
Speaker 1: a Steelers team that's trying to back themselves out of
Speaker 1: a corner right now. I mean, I think they're a
Speaker 1: better team being able to mix both of those guys.
Speaker 1: James Conner has shown he's what you're looking for and
Speaker 1: running back. He's a three down back, so when they
Speaker 1: go to hurry up, he can just stay on the field.
Speaker 1: So you can just play Levian Bell snaps. You can
Speaker 1: play James Conner snaps. You don't You don't lose that
Speaker 1: that much. Don't you think that Bell probably would be
Speaker 1: on board at this because I think he's looking the
Speaker 1: coast to the end of the year and then hit
Speaker 1: free agency. I do think so until the game store, Like,
Speaker 1: I think in his mind he's okay with it, and
Speaker 1: then the game start and he's like, well, I want
Speaker 1: to be on the field and I want to maximize
Speaker 1: my value by putting up numbers. The Steelers head to
Speaker 1: Cincinnati this week, which is a sneaky big Week six game.
Speaker 1: I feel like with the Levy on Bell return looming
Speaker 1: during their Week seven by and the four and one
Speaker 1: Bengals record, that if the Steelers can't get that road win,
Speaker 1: it's a pretty big deficit that you have in the
Speaker 1: a f C North. But if they can win it,
Speaker 1: then it's like everyone's in one big pile and who knows,
Speaker 1: maybe your brown sneak up and win that fascinating division.
Speaker 1: The Eagles, as we mentioned, are heading to the Meadowlands
Speaker 1: on Thursday night, and there's a lot of people that
Speaker 1: have different opinions of what's wrong with this team. We
Speaker 1: talked about the running game, you defensive tackle position. But
Speaker 1: the Philly news anchor at Fox twenty nine, I believe,
Speaker 1: was that Connie's old station. Well she's she's been all
Speaker 1: over that city and I feel like she worked at
Speaker 1: Fox at one point. Gary Cobb, who is a former
Speaker 1: NFL linebacker but now is a news anchor, said the
Speaker 1: team needed to go to drastic measures. He thinks they
Speaker 1: need to go on a fast, and he said not
Speaker 1: a food fast. He's talking about getting busy in the
Speaker 1: bedroom or not getting busy, not getting busy in the bedroom.
Speaker 1: He thinks that's a problem. He thinks that's what needs that.
Speaker 1: He does not want them making any twins, any any
Speaker 1: anything in Philadelphia, Mark Sessler, do you believe in the
Speaker 1: science behind this opinion? I'll never forget um when I
Speaker 1: when when Sports Illustrated used to arrive at your doorstep
Speaker 1: on like a Thursday afternoon. And millennials will never understand
Speaker 1: what it was like to have Sports Illustrated arrived on
Speaker 1: your doorstep. But what day would to arrive it would?
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess, yeah, Thursday typically right before the week,
Speaker 1: like your only source of sports information. Oh yeah, and
Speaker 1: like those stories like you'd be reading stuff that you
Speaker 1: didn't hear about in your hideous local Newspero, throw it
Speaker 1: on your door from a bike. Now it arrived in
Speaker 1: the magazines, come through normal males, mayle solicits. I was also,
Speaker 1: I mean, we had a we had paper boys. I
Speaker 1: was a paper boy for a little bit TV. That's
Speaker 1: a little paper boy action summer now. So anyways, inside
Speaker 1: of the Sports Illustrated there was a story about John
Speaker 1: Elway with the Broncos were great and they were always
Speaker 1: sort of careening towards new Super Bowls and losing them.
Speaker 1: But one thing that Elway had been talked to about
Speaker 1: or believed in, was he would not have sex for
Speaker 1: weeks and weeks in a row two basically be you know,
Speaker 1: the best version of the player he could be by
Speaker 1: retaining not I guess not like losing O relinquishing sexual fluids,
Speaker 1: and there was There have been multiple studies about this,
Speaker 1: and you can say you buy him or you don't,
Speaker 1: but there are I do buy into it that I
Speaker 1: don't think it's like, by the way, even if your
Speaker 1: life that even some sort of life force that you're yes,
Speaker 1: and if you I would just suggest that if you're
Speaker 1: listening and you're curious, go just go read about it,
Speaker 1: maybe not on a work computer, but on a different
Speaker 1: on your home computer, about this this the science behind
Speaker 1: it or the theory behind it. That Tom Brady married
Speaker 1: to Giselle is dry and still winning all those Super Bowls.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that that's true at all. I don't
Speaker 1: know what he's doing. Right. He thinks maybe Brady would
Speaker 1: be even better if Brady is also doing tons of
Speaker 1: other things. The counterpoint, let's let's not tarnish the words science.
Speaker 1: By using it here, it's science, thank you, and your
Speaker 1: confidence would rise after sex naturally. I think psychologically that
Speaker 1: this goes back to the nineteen forties Paul Brown, who
Speaker 1: basically started modern football. It was forbidden for Brown's players
Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties to have sex that was a
Speaker 1: team role, like seventy two hours before the game. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's the answer to the problems there. I I just
Speaker 1: enjoyed that. This is like a kind of story that
Speaker 1: we would often talk about on the jessel Nick and
Speaker 1: Rosenthal Vanity Project Jerry Juniors President only. But it's great.
Speaker 1: It's great to talk about it here too. The only
Speaker 1: problem I have with this I feel like Greg would
Speaker 1: rather be on the other show right now. But that's fine, No,
Speaker 1: not at all. This is beautiful. The only problem with
Speaker 1: this topic is given this guy credit for Gary Cobb,
Speaker 1: credit whatever for throwing this out there. He did not
Speaker 1: come up with this. He he felt like practiced it
Speaker 1: or around people that did when he played. That's uh.
Speaker 1: I just think we needed to add a little fun
Speaker 1: to a short news. It hails from the Far East,
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Speaker 1: felt like a good like cleansing ad read. I would
Speaker 1: love for Erica just to have your voice in the show.
Speaker 1: It's it's a beautiful thing. We we are going to
Speaker 1: move on from the news to TNF, but before that,
Speaker 1: I think we have to address, uh, the elephant in
Speaker 1: the room, which is Dan's absence, and we we do
Speaker 1: miss him a lot. And Mark, I know you had
Speaker 1: something to say. Yeah, he's probably if he's listening to
Speaker 1: this show, which I guarantee probably not. Um, he's heard
Speaker 1: me ding him on the Wendel Smallwood thing. We're keep
Speaker 1: cascading Greg with compliments about the transitions. He might be
Speaker 1: feeling like we're a little unappreciated, but we do appreciate Dan.
Speaker 1: So I wanted just to read a group prayer for Dan. Basically,
Speaker 1: you know this is a guy that save it for
Speaker 1: the theology part, Well he is. He is battling right now,
Speaker 1: tremendous cold. His Yankees have been swept taken right out
Speaker 1: of the playoffs, which I know nothing about, but I'm
Speaker 1: sure he's down in the dumps. So here we go.
Speaker 1: Dear universal powers that rule overall we live up to you,
Speaker 1: our friend and host, Dan. Please unfold Dan in your
Speaker 1: arms as he battles a cold, nestle him as you
Speaker 1: would a small and innocent child. He is a hard
Speaker 1: worker and often professional in all he does. He is
Speaker 1: also busy operating as a husband to Emily and a
Speaker 1: father to two young boys, Jack and Harrison. We lift
Speaker 1: up Dan and beseech you to grace his physical body
Speaker 1: with newfound health. Let healing waters flow through Dan's internal
Speaker 1: system and remove any disease causing debris. Please also refresh
Speaker 1: Dan's spirit and remind his conscience that he remains connected
Speaker 1: not only to the people around him, but to the
Speaker 1: great flowing universe beyond. We now lift up our connected
Speaker 1: energies in a moment of silence for Dan, who was
Speaker 1: battling a cold. That means nobody in the studio talks
Speaker 1: and the listeners should not fast forward, but also lift
Speaker 1: up Dan and your prayers. Take it away, loose Cannon.
Speaker 1: I felt good. It was really soothing. Yeah, thinking of
Speaker 1: you Dan, I'm feeling at peace now. I hope Dan
Speaker 1: is too, I know. I hope that's better. We should
Speaker 1: I feel like we should stop every show for a
Speaker 1: thirty seconds to centered and relaxed and ready to talk
Speaker 1: about Thursday night football. Yeah, how about that for a transition.
Speaker 1: The Eagles head to New Jersey this Thursday night. Colin
Speaker 1: wilf in the house, Michael Irvin, Carson wentz, a lot
Speaker 1: of players for a big game. The Eagles are trying
Speaker 1: to be the first team to win on the road
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. That's been a historical issue for t
Speaker 1: NF teams, especially this year. And they go to a
Speaker 1: Giants team that is hurting right now that they figured
Speaker 1: out some things defensive offensively last week, got the ball moving,
Speaker 1: pushed the ball down the field in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: ultimately lost to the Panthers, and the Giants are sitting
Speaker 1: there at one in four while the Eagles are at
Speaker 1: two and three. But no matter who when's this game,
Speaker 1: they are right back in the mix. In the NFC East.
Speaker 1: The Eagles would be tied for first at three and three,
Speaker 1: and the Giants would at least feel like even at
Speaker 1: two and four. They are in the middle of the
Speaker 1: worst division in football and they are not out of it.
Speaker 1: How do you see this game playing out, Chris Wesley, Well,
Speaker 1: you mentioned and defensive tackle is a weakness and I
Speaker 1: saw that on Twitter several times this week. Someone's to me,
Speaker 1: how that is their biggest weakness when they keep getting
Speaker 1: pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Kirk Cousins was under pressure throughout
Speaker 1: the game. They shut down their running attack and it's
Speaker 1: their secondary. Even though their front seven keeps getting pressure.
Speaker 1: Their secondary gave up tons of big plays to Marcus Mariota,
Speaker 1: tons of big plays to Adam Feeling and Stefon Digs.
Speaker 1: And I don't think it's the front seven. I think
Speaker 1: it's the secondary that's getting washed right now. And to me,
Speaker 1: that's the matchup of this game. The offensive line for
Speaker 1: the Giants is probably gonna lose the matchup up front,
Speaker 1: but they can exploit this defense down the field or
Speaker 1: can they with a checkdown quarterback? To me, that's the
Speaker 1: matchup to what crazy to me that they scoring thirty
Speaker 1: points against the Panthers last we because the first time
Speaker 1: they've done at the Giant since that is an incredible drought.
Speaker 1: I to me, when I think about this game, it
Speaker 1: just feels like because these things tend to happen on
Speaker 1: national television and Sequon Barkley has already had some fascinating moments,
Speaker 1: but it's largely come on Sunday afternoon on the East
Speaker 1: Coast and people not seeing it. This feels like the
Speaker 1: breakout game for me to come out of this where
Speaker 1: he's done two or three fascinating things. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: great point. He's looked good as an all around player.
Speaker 1: But Philip Lindsay right now, I think is still the
Speaker 1: leading rookie rusher, which is just no shame in that. No,
Speaker 1: just as shocking. Just shows how shocking the draft can be.
Speaker 1: I think if you're an Eagles fan, you're right, the
Speaker 1: secondary is the worst part of the team. I think
Speaker 1: there's a concern, uh for their defensive line west just
Speaker 1: that there they were at their best last year when
Speaker 1: they were rotating all of these guys. Suddenly you're playing
Speaker 1: You're playing destiny, Destiny Viajo every snap of the game.
Speaker 1: His backup is a guy Trevin Hester, and suddenly a
Speaker 1: group that was really thin in your room. You know,
Speaker 1: that was like the story super Bowl week. Every everyone
Speaker 1: you know is coming in and out. That's keeping them fresh.
Speaker 1: Now you're playing Fletcher Cox and a guy like in
Speaker 1: Viejo who's barely played and he's not coming off the
Speaker 1: field whatsoever. Sure, they missed Timmy John again, but this
Speaker 1: is the first world problem. This It's like, okay, secondary's
Speaker 1: an issue. Their quarterback keeps getting hit, that's an issue.
Speaker 1: They run the boat inconsistently, their wide receivers don't make plays,
Speaker 1: and then somewhere down around number eight it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: defensive tackle depth. I find them boring this year. I
Speaker 1: did not expect that they's around this time last year
Speaker 1: where the Eagles became my favorite team to watch, and
Speaker 1: it's what we talked about before, their ability when they
Speaker 1: would get these leads to pound teams down the stretch
Speaker 1: and just put them away. And they lacked that entirely
Speaker 1: right now. And if they don't come out of this
Speaker 1: game with against the Giants on the road with a win,
Speaker 1: I have no confidence in where their season is heading. Well.
Speaker 1: I think they're boring because they're not explosive. They are
Speaker 1: a station the station offense. You get out on Jeffrey
Speaker 1: back and that helps, but he is not a vertical
Speaker 1: receiver necessarily right now, or at least we haven't seen
Speaker 1: it yet this year. But remember he did make somebody
Speaker 1: missing the open field last week. He did that was
Speaker 1: that was surprising. To see. And he was physical and
Speaker 1: great in the game against Tennessee, so you want to
Speaker 1: see more of that, but they haven't been able to
Speaker 1: push the ball down the field. I found it interesting
Speaker 1: that Jason Peters, you know, the they're great left tackle
Speaker 1: hasn't maybe been at his best this year, said we're
Speaker 1: not blocking as well because we have a quarterback who's
Speaker 1: holding onto the ball longer and wants to make plays.
Speaker 1: And you've heard Doug Peterson kind of talk about Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's that he wants to make
Speaker 1: big plays or he's just not making decisions quite as quickly.
Speaker 1: I think Wentz has thrown the ball really well, but
Speaker 1: he's just getting back into the flow. I mean, he
Speaker 1: hadn't played football and forever. He's just that style of
Speaker 1: quarterback who wants to improvise and you know, wait for
Speaker 1: the play to kind of see what happens. And and
Speaker 1: we saw this week Big Ben early in his career
Speaker 1: where a lot of the big sack numbers were his fault,
Speaker 1: not the offensive lines bolt because he's at his best
Speaker 1: when he's waiting for the play to break down and
Speaker 1: then throwing downfield. Don't you admit West, even as an
Speaker 1: Eli Hayter uh that Manning made some good throws last week.
Speaker 1: I actually don't think Eli Manning's his arms looked as
Speaker 1: bad this season. Overall, he hasn't played well. He made
Speaker 1: two bad interceptions last week. The offensive line is still
Speaker 1: a problem. They waived Eric Flowers this week, their former
Speaker 1: first round pick, not that he was even in the
Speaker 1: lineup for them at this point, but I think they
Speaker 1: have problems at center, which could be a problem in
Speaker 1: this game, and certainly on the edges. I think Eli
Speaker 1: threw it fairly well in that game, other than the
Speaker 1: mental mistakes on the interceptions. I I agree that Eli's
Speaker 1: arm to me looks stronger now than it did last
Speaker 1: year in the year before. Um I don't think the
Speaker 1: arm is the issue right now. I think it's consistency
Speaker 1: in giving up on plays. He gives up on plays
Speaker 1: too easily because he's fallen into bad habits where he
Speaker 1: doesn't trust his offensive line. And you even heard him
Speaker 1: say last week, I don't want to take risk downfield
Speaker 1: unless the throw is there. Sometimes you have to make
Speaker 1: the throw, even if it's not that the one part
Speaker 1: of the Eagles offense, I still think they do a
Speaker 1: better job of than most teams. Is the way they
Speaker 1: use their tight end. Zach Ertz has been fantastic. And
Speaker 1: then for the Giants, Evan Ingram not playing. I think
Speaker 1: that that's that's a major loss. It is and they
Speaker 1: I am not impressed by their defense. I think they
Speaker 1: have a good coach in James Betcher. I think they're overachieving.
Speaker 1: Eli Apple's actually played pretty well this year. Uh, they
Speaker 1: haven't had Olivier Vernon and they have very little pass
Speaker 1: rush and Vernon is expected to come back for this game,
Speaker 1: which is a big addition for them. But to me,
Speaker 1: you're only gonna beat the Eagles if you can get
Speaker 1: after Carson Wentz. And this is where the eagles is
Speaker 1: weakness so far this year on the offensive line. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna show up. And I am still
Speaker 1: not that concerned about this Eagles team. I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna go on a run and I feel so confident
Speaker 1: in it. I'm gonna lock it up. Oh, this is surprises.
Speaker 1: I'm just I mean, maybe I'm just gonna lock up
Speaker 1: the Eagles every week that allowed. I think I'm gonna
Speaker 1: lock them up moving forward until proven otherwise, you do
Speaker 1: have a long standing affinity for that franchise. It's just
Speaker 1: like knowing your proclivities with the Desert people to take
Speaker 1: a road team on Thursday night as a Lock, I
Speaker 1: think it's just like you're just feeling it. You're feeling well, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not feeling it. I think the clear uh takeaway
Speaker 1: from the Locks this week is I have no idea
Speaker 1: what's going to happen in the future, so you might
Speaker 1: as well pick something that you can root for when
Speaker 1: you watch the game. Is this you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Is this like a rebuilding here and suck for luck
Speaker 1: campaign or something. I mean, I I never know. I know,
Speaker 1: I never know what's going to happen in the future. Ever,
Speaker 1: I've that's my biggest takeaway. None of us do. Some
Speaker 1: years you get luckier than than others, and I clearly
Speaker 1: don't know anything. Does that extend to women's tennis, Well,
Speaker 1: I think over time you can get an edge. Uh.
Speaker 1: But even then, it's like what good people in terms
Speaker 1: of working with the Desert, it's a long play and
Speaker 1: you women are unpredictable, so you're gonna you know, figuring
Speaker 1: out women's I mean, even the best are gonna you're
Speaker 1: trying to get that edge from to like fifty seven
Speaker 1: fifty eight percent, then you're you're golden. It still means
Speaker 1: you're gonna be wrong. You know, we're talking about the
Speaker 1: giants here though, I mean him walking up the Eagles.
Speaker 1: You guys are like surprised at that, yes, knowing how
Speaker 1: strong that trend is on Thursday nights. Yeah, but it's
Speaker 1: the giants. Why are you more into women's tennis than
Speaker 1: men's tennis, Gregg, I'm not. I I love men's tennis
Speaker 1: right now. I think the women's game Twitter profile suggests otherwise. Well,
Speaker 1: I just thought that was a funny picture of Naomi Osaka,
Speaker 1: who is is my lady? I love him. I love
Speaker 1: them both right now. The women's game a little bigger,
Speaker 1: a little more dynamic, a little more dynamic, a little
Speaker 1: more unpredictable, better personalities, better depth. I would say at
Speaker 1: the top, you know the men's are better. We really
Speaker 1: got tam Post is my favorite tennis player. Thanks. People
Speaker 1: don't know this U n H Division one tennis player,
Speaker 1: Erica tam Post captain. You have that leadership quality to
Speaker 1: you as well. Can you believe that I can totally
Speaker 1: Can you totally imagine tam posse as uh, kind of
Speaker 1: the tennis captain version of Parker posey and dazed and confused,
Speaker 1: just hazing the crap out of some younger play and
Speaker 1: like she's gonna take out. They're gonna have fun, They're gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, they're gonna have a good time out, you know,
Speaker 1: in whatever you do in Hanover, New Hampshire. But you
Speaker 1: you're gonna be yelling at him. Yeah, no, we we
Speaker 1: had some good keggers at my apartment with the Often,
Speaker 1: as an athlete, don't you have to sign these agreements
Speaker 1: where you will not buibe alcohol and do anything that's
Speaker 1: a moral during the Sylvan You're right, yeah, and so
Speaker 1: you just you would go right against that in my instagram.
Speaker 1: That's true. This is low to mid level D one
Speaker 1: college tennis. As someone who is someone who it's serious.
Speaker 1: It's it is, it's but it's not like it's like
Speaker 1: someone who has brought up their high school tennis career
Speaker 1: roughly seven thousand. Okay, I was eleven, ranked eleven in
Speaker 1: the state of New Hampshire. Oh yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 1: legitam defense sometimes is the team leader and captain. Your
Speaker 1: job is to ensure that there's a fun camaraderie and
Speaker 1: there's a atmosphere conducive to winning. Absolutely sometimes despite what
Speaker 1: the coaches wish for, you know better than they do.
Speaker 1: I'm not doubting that you were a leader of women.
Speaker 1: Had to be. We still have to play. I think
Speaker 1: I could beat beat Greg. I think you probably could.
Speaker 1: Like high school, no way, but right now I'm I'm
Speaker 1: pretty terrible. I did not expect to be asking, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the question that whether Tim Possey was a
Speaker 1: legit d one player in the show, and not expecting
Speaker 1: to ask a lot of these questions about the NFL
Speaker 1: coming out this season. But this was an idea that
Speaker 1: we that Chris Wesseling had and uh, just explain it
Speaker 1: basically that, you know, five weeks into the season, our
Speaker 1: world has been turned upside down and we have to
Speaker 1: ask some tough questions about these NFL players and teams.
Speaker 1: This was inspired by the Denver Broncos watching case Keenom
Speaker 1: play and credit to Dan. When we were in London
Speaker 1: at Sky Sports, he blurted out the line Keendom's going
Speaker 1: to be a disaster there during the middle of the
Speaker 1: first game of the year. And honestly, he has been
Speaker 1: he's been outplayed by every he's been between the thirty
Speaker 1: second best quarterback in the NFL this year, he's been
Speaker 1: outplayed by his counterpart in every game this year. Last
Speaker 1: year we saw him with the Vikings, and to me,
Speaker 1: the most impressive thing with him last year was his
Speaker 1: pocket movement, his pocket presence, the authority with which he
Speaker 1: made moves in the pocket to create plays downfield. And
Speaker 1: it's the polar opposite this year. He he's seeing ghosts.
Speaker 1: He doesn't. He doesn't look confident in the pocket. It
Speaker 1: looks like he can't wait to dump the ball off
Speaker 1: and get it out of his hands. And he's a
Speaker 1: major reason why they're not winning right now. The question
Speaker 1: that popped into my head watching them play was win
Speaker 1: are we gonna see Chad Kelly? A guy they drafted
Speaker 1: into seventh round two years ago, would have been drafted
Speaker 1: higher if not for injuries. Um and look good in
Speaker 1: the preseason, and I think, if you're the Broncos, if
Speaker 1: the tailspin continues, and I think it will, you have
Speaker 1: to ask when are we gonna see Jack Hill? You
Speaker 1: have a coach firmly attached to the hot seat. He
Speaker 1: seems like the guy that could go before anyone else
Speaker 1: right now, and that's when you start to take chances
Speaker 1: at quarterback. You want it, you want some sort of
Speaker 1: a spark. And this is a team that under him
Speaker 1: last year, Vance Joseph rotated quarterbacks all year long. He
Speaker 1: didn't he could say one thing all offseason, but the
Speaker 1: minute there was trouble, it was quarterback switches left and right.
Speaker 1: So I totally could see this happening. But it's not
Speaker 1: something we expected to be asking, so it's worth it's
Speaker 1: worth noting. His contract essentially is a two year contract.
Speaker 1: There's significant guaranteed money into next year. I personally don't
Speaker 1: think Case Kingdom has played at the level that you
Speaker 1: would bend him. I don't think he's played well, but
Speaker 1: I think he's been He's been an upgrade from what
Speaker 1: they had a year ago. And I don't even know
Speaker 1: if his struggles are significant. But they're also taking attention
Speaker 1: away from what happened, for instance, last week when they
Speaker 1: turned Isaiah Crowell and Billy Powell into Jim Kick. And
Speaker 1: who was with Jim Kick? Come on West on those
Speaker 1: mid eighties the Butch Cassity and a sun dance kid
Speaker 1: and it's mercury more for the Dolphins of the early seventies.
Speaker 1: What if it? What if it? Though, it's not just
Speaker 1: based purely off of Keenham's isolated performance, but situationally because
Speaker 1: they play the Rams this week. You then have the
Speaker 1: Cardinals that's at Arizona and under advanced Joseph, the Broncos
Speaker 1: have been one of the worst road teams in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They get their doors blown off regularly on the road.
Speaker 1: Then after that you have the Chiefs and let's say
Speaker 1: in Arizona Rose and Josh Rosen plays, well, he's the
Speaker 1: guy you could have drafted at number four. They passed
Speaker 1: on all these quarterbacks for this guy that came out
Speaker 1: of That's when suddenly maybe I could see, you know,
Speaker 1: the wheels are completely off. Maybe you have an interim
Speaker 1: coach and that says we're gonna roll with Check. You
Speaker 1: just never know Check Kelly did was fun wa Kelly.
Speaker 1: I would love to see him. I know he's one
Speaker 1: of your favorites. Marks. I love him. I think he
Speaker 1: gave them reason to take a chance on him and
Speaker 1: some start at some point in this season. I agree
Speaker 1: with that, especially if they fall out of contention. What's
Speaker 1: the question that you have, Mark, I incorrectly phrase these
Speaker 1: as non questions, So on the fly, I'm going to
Speaker 1: turn this into a question. But I did not expect
Speaker 1: to be asking myself at this point, this early in
Speaker 1: the career of John Gruden, why every time he speaks
Speaker 1: and responds to anything that's happened during this ugly season
Speaker 1: for the Raiders, why I'm convinced he is no different
Speaker 1: than a Kardashian about two weeks into a marriage that
Speaker 1: he wishes he never got himself into. The money is
Speaker 1: like Kardashion is not a question I expected to be asking.
Speaker 1: I feel like they asked him about troubles with the
Speaker 1: with the team, and I realized part of it is
Speaker 1: humor and playing with the media. But he's talking about
Speaker 1: he doesn't want to jump on this airplane. He's more
Speaker 1: concerned about the airplane. He he can't get off the
Speaker 1: Khalil Mac thing. He's He's had to circle the wagons
Speaker 1: on Khalil Mac over and over. And I think that
Speaker 1: this could not have gone any possibly worse for Gruden
Speaker 1: and the Raiders. And I don't see someone right now
Speaker 1: that looks like he is fired up to dig them out.
Speaker 1: And I, you know, we look at coaches, and we
Speaker 1: could be we couldn't be more wrong. Sometimes. I don't
Speaker 1: know what's going through Gruden's head, but I just feel
Speaker 1: like I've see someone that sort of is wondering why
Speaker 1: did I do this money? Is? Let me piggyback off that,
Speaker 1: because I also have a question involving that one I
Speaker 1: did not expect to be asking. Will John Gruden's house
Speaker 1: cleaning ultimately extended Derek Carr and Maori Cooper? Yeah, Cooper,
Speaker 1: I think that definitely could happen. In the car is
Speaker 1: the big surprise because of all the wind and hot
Speaker 1: air about their quarterback situation in the off season. He's
Speaker 1: someone in Derek Carr that he's learning this offense, which
Speaker 1: is a very safe offense for quarterbacks, and fifty two
Speaker 1: plays out of fifty seven he looks good. I think
Speaker 1: he looks like an NFL starter. I don't think anyone's
Speaker 1: question that. And then he he tends to have two
Speaker 1: or three kind of bone headed moments, but you're not
Speaker 1: sure what he's thinking, what he's seeing. And now I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's just getting used to the offense
Speaker 1: or what that is. I don't think the Raider should
Speaker 1: get rid of him. There just seems to be a
Speaker 1: lot of whispering and back talk around Raiders channels about
Speaker 1: they're just really frustrated with Derek Carr and they're a
Speaker 1: lot of fans are kind of done with it. That's
Speaker 1: that's Gruden. That's Gruden's m O. As you hear frustrations
Speaker 1: about his quarterbacks behind the scenes, and I think that's
Speaker 1: an unhealthy way to run the team. And that's how
Speaker 1: he ran the Bucks. And uh A question like I
Speaker 1: along the same lines of question with the Raiders to
Speaker 1: me that I feel like he's been answered at this point.
Speaker 1: Is is Amari Cooper a number one receiver? Remember the
Speaker 1: receivers are there every week. I don't think he is there.
Speaker 1: I don't think he is he what's he been under?
Speaker 1: Like thirty yards in three or five games and then
Speaker 1: the other one most of his yards came in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. He's been under twenty Yeah, I mean, Casey
Speaker 1: Hayward has not had his best season. You put Casey
Speaker 1: Hayward on Cooper last week and just shut him down.
Speaker 1: It was over and it's a player again. The Gruden
Speaker 1: kept promising, almost scolding reporters, telling them the offense is
Speaker 1: going to run through Amar Cooper. We're going to turn
Speaker 1: them into what the past coaching staff could not. And
Speaker 1: it's like, well, no, you've actually done the exact opposite.
Speaker 1: My question, uh to to kick it off for me
Speaker 1: will be will the Chiefs can the Chiefs all but
Speaker 1: clinch a bye in weeks six with a winning Kansas
Speaker 1: in Foxboro? Now mathematically, of course that's not the case.
Speaker 1: But they go to Foxboro and they go to six
Speaker 1: and oh, and there two games up on the Jaguars
Speaker 1: with a with a game in hand, their three games
Speaker 1: up on the Patriots with the head to head game
Speaker 1: in hand. What is the route for them not being
Speaker 1: one of the top two teams at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, and what is the route for them not
Speaker 1: being the heavy favorite to be the number one team
Speaker 1: in the a f C at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: I don't I always think that the season can surprise you,
Speaker 1: and I just cannot see a scenario where they're good
Speaker 1: enough to go to Foxboro win that game and that
Speaker 1: they're gonna collapse down the stretch. Because once you're six
Speaker 1: and oh, all you gotta do the rest of the
Speaker 1: way is win half your games in this a f
Speaker 1: C and you're probably getting a bye and if if
Speaker 1: you can, you know, go six and four the rest
Speaker 1: of the way, you might be twelve wins might be
Speaker 1: enough to get the one seed in the a f C.
Speaker 1: And I don't think this team is gonna fall apart.
Speaker 1: I think they have enough on defense that they're gonna
Speaker 1: start having weeks like they did last week where they
Speaker 1: start turning the ball over because they have enough playmakers
Speaker 1: and you give them homes an extra possession or two
Speaker 1: and its lights out. I like this from you because
Speaker 1: it's a typical for you. And weeks after what would
Speaker 1: be six, six and oh, start to basically put a
Speaker 1: team in that position that they're gonna be a by
Speaker 1: they're gonna be a bye that because they'd have they
Speaker 1: have the games over the best teams, and they'd have
Speaker 1: the home the head to head and I just think
Speaker 1: they've proven that they're good. And you have a big
Speaker 1: if games against the Raiders coming up, You've got another
Speaker 1: one against the Broncos, You've got the Cardinals, and you've
Speaker 1: got a Seahawks teams beautible, So it's like it's not
Speaker 1: it's not a murderous road down the stretch for this
Speaker 1: for this not a great a f C West. You know,
Speaker 1: the Chargers are there, They've already won, you know in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, US. I don't. I don't know if this
Speaker 1: is a new trend or just something I've learned about
Speaker 1: the NFL. The most important thing you do for the
Speaker 1: first three months of the season is win close games
Speaker 1: and just build the best record possible. It doesn't really
Speaker 1: matter how you're playing. It matters how you're playing from
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving on or you know, December on, and if the
Speaker 1: Chiefs get that by it's still gonna be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: now show me something in the playoffs. Yeah, I want
Speaker 1: to know that your defense can stop people in the
Speaker 1: playoff games. Yeah, I totally, I totally agree with that.
Speaker 1: But I I think Arrowhead is a huge advantage and
Speaker 1: they would they would love to be at home. I
Speaker 1: don't think this is a team. Let's be a little
Speaker 1: quicker than next time around. Mark Seler I did not
Speaker 1: expect to ask why both of my Super Bowl picks,
Speaker 1: the Steelers and Falcons, have, in my opinion of very
Speaker 1: good chance of both finishing last in their division, which
Speaker 1: would essentially mirror what happened with my Super Bowl picks
Speaker 1: last year. With the Chargers and Giants, which suggests I
Speaker 1: should never do this exercise ever again. Wow that it
Speaker 1: dove sails into a question I was gonna ask two,
Speaker 1: which was could the Falcons consider playing for next year?
Speaker 1: And by that it would be trading Tevin Coleman, maybe
Speaker 1: a couple other moves where you're playing young players if
Speaker 1: they're at a spot where they're one in six, and
Speaker 1: it's not really how the NFL works, but just making
Speaker 1: a couple of little moves and thoughts about next year
Speaker 1: if they don't win a couple of games in the
Speaker 1: next few weeks. Yeah, I don't think they can trade
Speaker 1: Vic Beasley, who has basically not shown up. He's underperformed
Speaker 1: really this year. And I think the Falcons picked up
Speaker 1: his fifth year option for next year, which is over
Speaker 1: twelve million, So that would be one guy who I
Speaker 1: think teams might be interested in, but I don't know
Speaker 1: if they could trade. They kind of remind me it's
Speaker 1: sort of like with San Francisco. If you're a Niners fan,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe Sundays are better to rake the leaves,
Speaker 1: go shopping, hit Costco because it's gonna be a lost
Speaker 1: wilderness this year. But there is hope next year because
Speaker 1: your quarterback comes back, and with the Falcons, it's like
Speaker 1: you've lost all these players, and when you get them
Speaker 1: all back and you add something in the offseason, this
Speaker 1: still is a super Bowl team. I think it's still
Speaker 1: too early to give up on this season. I don't
Speaker 1: think they're done at one and four, but it just
Speaker 1: needs to change fast. They need to win a couple
Speaker 1: of these offensive, shootout close games, and they need Dan
Speaker 1: Quinn to coach his ass off and figure out how
Speaker 1: you shouldn't fall apart this bad just because you'd lose
Speaker 1: a couple of players. You just shouldn't the right to
Speaker 1: West's stacking wins during this time of year. You can't
Speaker 1: be the team that's backed into a one and four.
Speaker 1: Let's say two weeks from now there two and fro.
Speaker 1: They got home games against They've had a really home
Speaker 1: heavy schedule so far, and they have two more home games,
Speaker 1: so they have the Bucks and the Giants the next
Speaker 1: two weeks. They can win those games and then you
Speaker 1: have a bye. Maybe you get a little healthier. If
Speaker 1: we've we've talked up this coaching staff, if they're a
Speaker 1: great coaching staff, you start figuring some things out ugly
Speaker 1: second half. They've got six road games off the back,
Speaker 1: and the Steelers I think could end up in last
Speaker 1: place only because I think seven If they go seven,
Speaker 1: eight and one, that might be last place in the
Speaker 1: n f C North. I think the Falcons coaching staff
Speaker 1: we talked up was involved Kyle Shanahan with dan Quinn.
Speaker 1: I don't think have been talking up the dan Quinn
Speaker 1: coaching staff since Shanahan left. Well, defense has been not
Speaker 1: on the defense, that's fair, but dan Quinton Sarkisian has
Speaker 1: not been talked up by anyone. He's a defensive head coach,
Speaker 1: and offense really, for the most part, at least at home,
Speaker 1: hasn't been their problem. What's your next question, West has
Speaker 1: I did not expect to be asking. Has there ever
Speaker 1: been a time when defenses are less confident in what
Speaker 1: the offenses are gonna do before the snap? Mhmm, that
Speaker 1: all of these jet sweeps, fly sweeps, muddle huddles, all
Speaker 1: of this misdirection and subterfuge, which Andy Reid and Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh and Sean Payton excel at his spreading to other coaches,
Speaker 1: and I feel like defenses this is an underrated reason
Speaker 1: why scoring is up. Of course, quarterbacks are healthy. The
Speaker 1: new rules are helping offenses, but also borrowing from the
Speaker 1: college game, all of that misdirection, all of that trickery.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna take a little bit for defenses
Speaker 1: to adjust it. And to me, that is one of
Speaker 1: the stories of the early season. So I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's now so normal to see teams in empty backfields
Speaker 1: with four or five receivers in any situation down up,
Speaker 1: short yardage, long yardage. It doesn't matter like you get.
Speaker 1: You're getting so used to that. It's a different NFL.
Speaker 1: It looks a lot more like the Big twelve. Is
Speaker 1: it still called the Big twelve? They change the number
Speaker 1: like every probably probably the main and UH teams in
Speaker 1: Florida and teams in Alaska in the Big Twelve. It's
Speaker 1: a different sport right now, and I like it. I
Speaker 1: love innovation, and I love changing and the way the
Speaker 1: NFL works. Defenses will adjust at some point. It just
Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet. Should we do like a speed round
Speaker 1: to start moving or you have one that's a little
Speaker 1: more meaty, I why you throw a few out and
Speaker 1: I'll I have one that I can tack on you
Speaker 1: you want to wrap it up with your well, no,
Speaker 1: I think it would be jarring to then go back
Speaker 1: to spreed. Okay, let's do a speed round just for
Speaker 1: a couple of minutes. I'll ask could could nine and
Speaker 1: seven win the NFC East? That was not a question
Speaker 1: I was expecting to ask. Yeah, I agree with that,
Speaker 1: but I think it could. I we would not have
Speaker 1: said that. We would expected the Eagles, especially, Yeah, who's
Speaker 1: the twelve win team right now? The Eagles would have
Speaker 1: the best chance. I've haven't given up on the Redskins,
Speaker 1: but those are I guess your two chances. Seven might
Speaker 1: be time I'm giving I'm getting close to giving up
Speaker 1: on the Redskins. I save this one for the lightning
Speaker 1: round because I don't want to. I don't want to
Speaker 1: give it too much thought. But I never expected to
Speaker 1: be asking how long can the Browns stay undefeated at home? Wow? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not a question anyone was pondering in August. I
Speaker 1: was like a guy who might lock up the Browns
Speaker 1: against the Charger that I think that's this is a
Speaker 1: sticky one. The Chargers is not. Unlike Dan, I believe
Speaker 1: that the Chargers are a good team. Okay, Okay. I
Speaker 1: also think the Browns aren't you know, the Browns are
Speaker 1: really hard to beat in Cleveland, so I would stay
Speaker 1: away from that game. I like the Denzil Award has
Speaker 1: one Rookie of the Week one week and then he
Speaker 1: because he because you can't politically keep winning that he
Speaker 1: won Special Teams Player of the of the Week this time.
Speaker 1: Isn't winning any Rookie of the week awards. I like
Speaker 1: that he was named after Denzel Washington. Greatness follows greatness,
Speaker 1: like that too. You got a lightning one. Let's let's
Speaker 1: just wrap up with Mark. Okay, why can't the Ravens
Speaker 1: get as much out of Lamar Jackson is the Saints
Speaker 1: get out of Taysom Hill didn't expect to be asking that.
Speaker 1: It's a great point. Here's the Sean Payton, Yes, Sean
Speaker 1: Payton versus Marty Morton wick one of the one of
Speaker 1: It's almost underrated how great an offensive coach Sean Payton
Speaker 1: is because his lack of a defense is hamstrung in
Speaker 1: some of the personnel has hamstrung that team for a decade,
Speaker 1: but he's he might be the best offensive coach of
Speaker 1: this century. If they knew this, would we have committed
Speaker 1: roughly forty to fifty thousand words in August to Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson NFL dot Com. Taysom Hill, also about five or
Speaker 1: six years older, has a year in the Saints system,
Speaker 1: plays multiple positions, can do multiple things. So and he's
Speaker 1: a freak show. I heard something like there's some Twitter chatter.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, they love like pumping up, like you know,
Speaker 1: whenever a white guy is a little bit better as
Speaker 1: an a I'm like, this guy is one of the
Speaker 1: best athletes in the well. There's a reason why. Michael Thomas,
Speaker 1: who is one of the best athletes in the NFL,
Speaker 1: said Taysom Hill is a created player. He's the guy
Speaker 1: in Madden where you just, you know, you add a
Speaker 1: little bit of this and strength. I mean, if you've
Speaker 1: seen him on the punt returns, he's he might. He
Speaker 1: says he's faster than Alvin Camara and I can believe it.
Speaker 1: And he's so physical you just don't see many guys are.
Speaker 1: In one of the broadcasts, they said that Michael Vick
Speaker 1: and r G three are the only quarterbacks ever to
Speaker 1: run a faster forty. He's a big dude. All right,
Speaker 1: Let's wrap it up. And see him start all right,
Speaker 1: I did not expect to be asking why m VP
Speaker 1: Producer Extraordinaire of a different podcast, Dave Damna Sex Show
Speaker 1: is so full of really disturbing surprises. And I recently
Speaker 1: visited the broadcast, which when is that erin Erica that
Speaker 1: drops tomorrow that you gotta get to plug in? And uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean so beforehand, because you know, I like to
Speaker 1: work with various people in the know, uh to source
Speaker 1: letters and text from people run the lead, right, It's
Speaker 1: much easier to do that. Um And I could even
Speaker 1: show you how if you want to track people inside
Speaker 1: our own building. I have personnel inside of I t
Speaker 1: that we think. Oh, we're on on my work phone.
Speaker 1: I'm just texting back and forth. No one's ever gonna
Speaker 1: read it. No, they very easily tracked the stuff and
Speaker 1: I had found um and there are a couple more
Speaker 1: of these on the broadcast. But this is one that
Speaker 1: I did not read because I didn't know if it
Speaker 1: was appropriate for that show or this. But this is
Speaker 1: a text that Emma sent to Erica, and it made
Speaker 1: me think a little bit differently about Emma, who seems
Speaker 1: like a very sweet natured person. Um. Here it goes,
Speaker 1: She writes, Hey, sister of Justice, just a quick update
Speaker 1: on the arms stash. As of this writing, we have
Speaker 1: seven Heckler and Cotch MP five's fourteen Star models the
Speaker 1: eighty four submachine guns. I've also sourced twenty five Iranian
Speaker 1: made anti material rifles, a full stock hate as a
Speaker 1: far anti ship missiles, and we have at least a
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty PC nine semi laser models. We are
Speaker 1: prepared to make a statement the one snag a you know.
Speaker 1: I sourced these through my Syrian contact, I'll call him Zanzibar.
Speaker 1: We were very professional with each other. That said, there
Speaker 1: was one occasion where he took me out to dinner
Speaker 1: when I was on that one month self exploration break
Speaker 1: from Brett. It was mostly fine, but I found him
Speaker 1: to be very strong willed and opinionated, a brute. And
Speaker 1: we went out for this Italian meal and he demanded
Speaker 1: on ordering for me, and he was really annoying, but
Speaker 1: also had this wild male energy I couldn't quite stop
Speaker 1: thinking about. In the following weekend when I was on
Speaker 1: a reacclamation hyke with Brett, it kept haunting my mind. Anyway,
Speaker 1: I probably should find a new arms contact out of
Speaker 1: Syria as we build up our resistance number. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: she texted the wrong stuff. She did not send it
Speaker 1: to Erica. It was meant for someone else, or it
Speaker 1: was someone else, you know with all that you know, No,
Speaker 1: that's Emma's phone, that's all that weaponry involved. You know
Speaker 1: who took who took the stray fire and that one,
Speaker 1: it's Brett. Yeah. I don't know Brett, So I don't,
Speaker 1: but I'm just saying whoever saying yeah Emma, I'm just
Speaker 1: saying that's who I agree with. Brett came out in
Speaker 1: the like there's a winner Losers columns. I was like,
Speaker 1: straight out of Patty. I actually have a clip from
Speaker 1: the broadcast that I'm gonna find with Mark Um. Basically,
Speaker 1: we happened to flash forward to the future where there's
Speaker 1: a chance that the Browns might win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Al Right, it's Atlanta, Mercedes Benz Stadium, Super Bowl fifty
Speaker 1: three night. The clock winds down to a meager three
Speaker 1: seconds as Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Brown's offense line
Speaker 1: up against the ferocious Los Angeles Rams defense at their
Speaker 1: own forty five yard line to score thirty. Los Angeles
Speaker 1: a hush falls over the crowd. Lebron James walks out,
Speaker 1: covering his eyes. He can't handle the pressure. Suddenly, the
Speaker 1: faint sound of a perky, loudmouth named Erica fills the dome,
Speaker 1: shaking bake baby, Oh yeah, get it, because his name
Speaker 1: is Baker. Bake it up, big time, big bake. Check
Speaker 1: out that ass. Emma, a rigid loser girl with adult
Speaker 1: braces kicks Erica, Erica. We're here for the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL podcast, not spring Break and Punta Cut show some respect.
Speaker 1: Dan Hans is a lovable egotist. Greg Rosenthal a short
Speaker 1: tennis nerd, Chris Wesling, a bookish contrarian, and Mark Sussler,
Speaker 1: Brown's fan, an eccentric thank Emma with a synchronized knot
Speaker 1: of the head and watches Baker. Mayfield reaches under the
Speaker 1: center's headquarters for the snap. Yeah. So check that that
Speaker 1: that full script and you can see what happens on
Speaker 1: the broadcast. It's pretty insane. It's your lucky day that
Speaker 1: Dan wasn't here for this, because he would have cut
Speaker 1: that off about halfway through. Yeah, that would not have
Speaker 1: that would not have been sustainable with him. We are
Speaker 1: at the end of the podcast, but what a fun
Speaker 1: show it was. We will be back here on Thursday
Speaker 1: to preview all the week five games and what a
Speaker 1: cat week six games this week or a cast of thousands,
Speaker 1: the loose cannon, the sizzler, the male man didn't get better.
Speaker 1: Let's see your third day m hm.