18 Game Regular Season; Fearless Predictions for October 15th

How you doing, guys, Mark, Welcome back to Welcome back, Mark you, thank you. I have to say that I think I cracked the code on how to schedule summer vacation, and I will literally be doing this next year and every year after that I'm employed. Here is uh. You have to sandwich your to backload your vacation and sandwich it around the July fourth week because it was my intention to be in here that week of shows and

to be plugging away. But then the week previous, when I was somewhere on the East coast, you guys recorded the July fourth episode, so I simply had no responsibilities at all that week and it turned into this epic works stay away. So you were here this we're piecing

some of this together now in real time. Uh. West, And I so you were here that July fourth week quote unquote working, I mean I was here working is stretch because there was there was some thought, Um, and I know you when you're on vacation, don't expect it to be tracking the podcast closely or Twitter. You didn't

seem active on social media. There was some thought on this show and amongst the audience that perhaps you'd finally done it, you had detached from the main frame and gone on to the next thing in life, whatever that may be, including working at a CBS somewhere in Middle America.

I mean I pondered all the possibilities because suddenly, and I West, I would imagine you're the only one that could really even have had this experience where when you were away for three weeks from this show, which we've done religiously outside of being gone or maybe a week here there, I started to forget that I was even on this show. I started to like, I didn't listen

to a lick of it. So you're right, I had no idea what was happening, and you, I kind of I would say that I missed it, but I it was a very strange experience, and I this sounds cheesy, but it made me think. Last night I was like, I kind of missed these guys, Like I have not done a show with these people and so long, and so the three of you and Greg is not here today. But I wanted just to say that it's it's great

to be back. It was very awkward to be so if any of this, if this thing comes to a crashing halt at some point, the transition will be rough for all of us. I predict we felt the same way we said we missed Mark, and it did feel like a long time. We didn't really see her hear from you either, And then you started piecing together other things, like you dropped the NFL from your Twitter handle, very coincidental. Your desk looked more spartan than ever. Uh that's been

the case for a while. But the name drop of the NFL, I've been working on for a long time, and uh, it triggered immediately when I took the vacation. So it is suspicious. And Greg made the good point on our last show that I think we all kind of felt although we would have missed you so much that like ben Affleck's character and goodwill hunting, the best part of his day was walking up to Damon's house and hoping that he wouldn't be at the door to go to the construction site because he he had just

left without saying goodbye. Damon gone on to something that kind of appeased him, fulfilled him as a man. And if that would have but to you, we would all been sad, but we also would have been like, we get it. Greg may be less sad than the rest, But um, I now and I Matt demon has life options that I do not have. So bad, all right, So Mark's back. We're getting there. We're getting close to getting I used the pop culture reference with the Avengers.

There's some type of stones or something. You collect the stones and then when you get them all you win the battle. Yeah, and the monsters in the big glove. Yes, in the glove, oversized glove. It's like a metal glove that fits whoever's hand. I've seen it because I have kids that are obsessed with It's that's what we're going for. We want all the the Infinity stones they are Yeah, in the then the giant power glove. Remember the power Glove and Nintendo. Yes, we're more like Kidney Stones Stones

back that improv class. Ricky's back, She's I love it. I love We're in these conference rooms and Ricky's not behind the glass but right next to us. It feels like a different show and I like it. I also like that every time we go to a new conference room, it reminds me. It brings back bad memories of meetings connected to this show. This was the room where in a it was again, there were probably twelve people here.

We were on one side of the table, all these Shadow League figures on the other being shouted down out. I don't even need to get into what it was about. But being told that we couldn't do something for the show that we wanted to do it was another. It was spearheaded by a bald a bald man, that's all I'll say. Very serious, very serious mind self serious bald man who told us we couldn't do what we wanted to do. Uh. And now he's gone as well. So

that's the other nice little recurring theme. All these uh, evil Shadowy League figures who stood in the way of our great podcast, our humble podcast, uh just being washed away while we survived got a sinister field. I did hear one thing that you two did a show together and people gave it high ratings, which that put me at ill at ease. Also just thought, maybe they've found something better than what we have already. I'm never sure how to figure out where to find these ratings. Wess

and I took note of it. We had a private dinner to discuss um options. Just leave it at that. I don't think the Greg Mark pot would do as well. All right, This is the Monday edition of the Around the NFL podcast. A lot to get to. It is still the quiet season, but things are starting to percolate. Now. Think of it like an old graveyard and the thriller video, you know, during the interlude or all of a sudden,

things start moving, going bump in the night. Because the NFL slowly coming back to life, corpses coming out of the ground. It does sound like a horror show. But it's back, you know, and we we and next week teams will report. Um I think teams we are reporting this week right to training Camper is it next week? So we're getting there and once that happens, not only

is the new NFL season in full swing. Essentially we will go back to three times a week um when that happens, but for now we have one another week of two shows and on today's show July still you know very you know, it's the middle of the summer, so let's not get crazy about like we're in the middle of the league here all of a sudden. Yeah, Money's drop at the beginning was a blatant line we are not ready for the impatient for the season to start,

or something that total fabrication. A couple of weeks we were at west manor what do we call your Westsylvania and Westsylvania over the weekend. Had a great time. I brought the boys and my wife Emily, and uh, you you really have brought the spirit of Tybee to the west side of Los Angeles. You know we've got people, you lepers coming have Uh you have neighbors next door,

you know, friends, family, foes, everyone's welcome at Westsylvania. Well, I like inviting people to things, but also I think when you've been through something like cancer, like to me, one of the reasons I'm into cooking now is one of my life goals is just to surround myself with people. I enjoy being around and totally shun the rest of society. I like that you're bringing foes over the according to Dan,

just neighbors, uh delicious ragu West. Oh yeah, I've made the rag that I talked about making for a dead man, Anthony Bordin. That's right, that's right on our previous show. Check it out. All right? Anyway, So July fift what if we made some predictions three months from today October of two thousand nineteen. That will be the Tuesday, just so you know, after week six completes Monday Night Football the fourteenth, it's a matchup between two teams. I forgot

who the matchup was. It's fine, um, but week six complete, where will we be in the NFL? So a couple of predictions each, But before that we do that, how about some news come back colonels good Barcessler come back, colonels, bar Sessler come back, colonels with bark Sessler, come back colonels with bark Sessler, come back, colonels with bark Sessler, come back colonel with barr sss. The range of your voice, Dan, you missed us, you missed Nick that song I did

not miss Gonna be real with you there. Uh, let's get into it, um. Ezekiel Elliott, according to a report from Pro Football Talk, he has privately said that he's planning a training camp holdout. Oh boy, okay, So, of course, last week Melvin Gordon to the Chargers said he was looking to hold out until he gets a new deal, and Zeke might be in the same boat. Per league's source, UM, he is saying he will hold out training camp. He

wants a new contract. UM. But unlike Melvin Gordon, Zeke Elliott West is not in a contract year, but he wants to get that guap and he wants it now. Anything to be worried about here as a Cowboys fan, what it's Charles Robinson from Yahoo added some context to this report, and he's basically saying talks have been ongoing and this week will be very important as far as the UM I guess tenor of those talks. If it's positive, that's all Zeke Elliott needs to know, and he's gonna

report for camp. But if it goes haywire and it goes sideways, then he knows in his back pocket, I can I can hold out a training camp and see if I can force force their hand. Unlike Melvin Gordon, this guy is the engine that makes the offense go and he is their team identity. It's almost like Gordon's trying to make that argument, but Zeke doesn't need to make it because it's clear as as day that their

offense once again will evolve around him entirely. And that's one area where I kind of trust Jerry Jones because he is very faithful to his star players and you know, for years probably got criticized for overpaying his own guys. But they're not gonna allow this, I think, to turn into a some sort of monstrous hold out. No way. Well, here's the thing. Whereas Melvill Gordon does not carry the

Chargers the way Zeke does the Cowboys. Gordon also has injury issues, which has not been an issue with Zeke, but Zeke has off the field issues, which would be something I guess could potentially cause give a team pause. However, I don't think this is gonna be a situation Like you think back, what do the Cowboys do the last time they had an elite rusher who wanted money to Marco Murray, they just ran him into the ground, waited till the contract ran out and got the best years

at of Murray and then let him go. I'd be surprised if it happens with Zeke because he is he is kind of in some ways with Dak and Jarro the face of the franchise, and um, I think they'll get a deal done. This feels like something I will get done. Whereas with Melvin Gordon, I don't see it. I think he's like, so, Zeke makes just north of nine million next season, and he's looking at Todd Gurley scheduled to make seventeen million plus in a what is going to be a reduced role going into this year.

It's like it makes complete sense for Zeke to say pay me now. The way DeMarco Murray played in his career year, that's the way Zeke plays every game like. That's the production you expect out of him every single game. And I think that's the difference. The Cowboys know that he's their best player. Let's move on today. Monday was the deadline for franchise tagged players to get deals done. Uh, and we got couple here that did get done and one notable name did not get done. Let's get Let's

start with the guys that got it done. Grady Jarrett and the Falcons agreed to a four year, sixty eight million dollar contract that from rap sheet. Uh. The deal comes with forty two and a half millions and guarantees. They got the deal done a little more than an hour to spare ahead of the four pm Eastern deadline on Monday too. For franchise tag players. He had signed his tag for fifteen point two million back in April and the two sides kept working at it. Uh. And

where does that put Jarrett? Now? Seventeen million per year average on the four year packed places Jarrett behind only Aaron Donald twenty two and a half million and Fletcher Cox seventeen point one million among interior defensive lineman west uh. Has he deserves to be in that neighborhood. Yeah, based on the timing of this contract and the franchise tag,

he deserves it. I think if you look at his breakout game basically came in the Super Bowl against the page It I believe he had three sacks, and since then he's been in sort of the Geno Atkins Darrell Casey tier, just behind Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox, who who I think are accepted as the two better ones there. I think he's extremely he's versatile, he's been totally consistent.

He's twenty six years old. He could get a third contract from the Falcons at some point, and their front office does finds a way to get these deals done. And this is a major bounce back defense this year because of all the injuries they had last year. You're getting them all back and he's at the center of it. Another big time star of the Falcons looking for deals,

Julio Jones, a wide receiver. RAPS reports that Jones on an extension is now the Falcons quote most pressing priority, but it could take a while, so keep an eye on that. Another player who got a long term deal ahead of the deadline, Robbie Gould, is staying in San Francisco after all, after all of this, Robbie Gould signs a deal. Tom Pallisero reported Monday that the Niners and the kicker of Greed and Principle on a long term deal. Uh they had up until the deadline today. And why

is this a surprise? It's a four year deal where nineteen million first two years fully guaranteed from rap sheet. Why is this a surprise because Robbie Goulds would put it out there. He didn't want anything to do, was staying in San Francisco. It's some tough talk on both sides here. A lot of people were connecting gould to Chicago, and some good gets better every time we play it. But at the end of the day, uh, money talks and Blank walks. Mark Seler I like watching West move

his body right now to this music. You know who has a butt. This whole thing was a bit mystifying because he was talking about wanting to be close to his family in the Midwest. Will you know what makes a family feel connected? How about millions of dollars flowing into your checking account that connects families. He's like the Nick Kissario of Kickers. You think he's out the door. He doesn't want anything left to do with his old employer,

and they pulling back in and guess what. Now you can take a private jet to Chicago whenever you want. Building that house, no problem. Now the Bears don't have a kicker. Well they still don't mean if this was their plan, like they you know, that was just reaching Maybe a better plan than signing a guy named blew Itt Uh, yeah, at least they got blue It out of the building. Want a disaster. One player did not

get his long term deal ahead of Monday's deadline. To David Clowney, the two sides, uh, the Texans and Clowney failed to get business done. Didn't sound like it ever got serious. It was serious about happening. I heard, Um, I was doing some you know reading this morning. I heard that part of the issue between Clowney and the Texans is Brian Gaine, Pearl River's finest who was no longer with the organization. Uh, he wanted an extension for Clowney.

Bill O'Brien not so hot about the idea. Game gets washed out and Bill O'Brien they didn't even they're not even hiring a general manager this season. So it's Billy o Brian show there. So perhaps connect the dots. Dan, you have been perhaps on this podcast the most vocal texts and supporter over the past couple of seasons. Are you a little worried about the I guess chaos. Chaos is the word I'm thinking of who's running this ship and what's the future like Because there's not much depth

on this roster. It's very star heavy. I get it, and uh the idea that there antagonizing jadeveon Clowney uh and perhaps not looking to keep a star pass rusher. We just talked about it on last week's show. I don't know if he's in the Superstar Club. I don't have him in mind, but he is obviously a big time impact player. I bet his contract demands are in the Superstar Club absolutely. Uh. So you want to keep

those guys healthy and productive. And I don't know if it's a smart idea not to do business with Clownie, but it doesn't sound like they're going to to your greater question. I just you know what, Bill O'Brien seems like maybe a prickly guy to deal with, but they've results under him, I know, not super bold result results, but that team has been very competitive. They're defending division champions, and they have in Deshaun Watson a guy that you

could build around for a decade. I think they're okay. I know it's not the deepest roster, but I think they're going to be competitive in that division. Um regardless, if you've got the last two years of Clowney over the course of his career were there with this just have been done last offseason or before, because now you have to ask, like you call him a star pass rusher, but sacks aren't his number one trade. I think he does a lot well, but how do you do you

pay him? Like von Miller, I think it's a tricky contract. Speaking of Watson, he was of course on Marcus is breaking news too, but he was added to the Superstar club. Well this is the one you know. Like, I did not spend a lot of time on Twitter, but it was hard not to gauge the reaction to this piece that you wrote last week. Uh started building like a like a snowball turning into what do they call giant snowball?

Is it the avalanche? Yeah? I mean that would you would be the one the end game would be an avalanche, like the Indiana Jones type thing. Only is you know it got big. It was chasing after me. I don't think that that was a boulder, by the way, but fair enough. Yeah, I know, um, but like the snowball version of a boulder is what I meant bolder anyway? Um, that started to pick up the heat and the criticism because not only did I put Watson in I took

Tom Brady out. You know, even Barstool took the stinky cheese. Yeah, they wrote a whole article up about it, and uh, I could have predicted that they weren't happy with it. They gave a a nuanced take on why the NFL dot com reporter was wrong, which, you know whatever, Thanks for amplifying my piece. I'll take the clicks. You really handled this well. You didn't mean you haven't mentioned I had no idea there was kind of this kind of

strife going on in your life. I mean, Will Brinson turned on you a little bit, I thought on Twitter today. Now I wouldn't turn is strong, but he had. He'll sort of asked you where you were coming from, and you openly acknowledged, if I saw your response, that you had no idea what you're doing. When you write something in a Starbucks and on a Thursday night and early July about football, sometimes you just write it and then you just send it off to your editor and you

forget about it. What I forgot about is when there's nothing going on in the NFL and you write that Tom Brady is no longer a superstar, and it's on the NFL dot Com platform a lot of people are gonna write about that, and people are gonna be happy. But I could take it. You see these shoulders west powerful, I put it on me. And you know what else, None of it matters. It doesn't matter what their opinions of Tom Brady. It doesn't matter what your opinion of

Tom Brady is. Of your opinion, I'm not sure Dan agrees with that. September eight football games are gonna start, and what you thought about Tom Brady in July is gonna mean nothing unless I'm right, because then I'll be bringing it up on a near constant basis. One of these days I will be right. Moving on UH. This came out late last week a report in the Wall Street Journal that part of the negotiations towards the new

seed be A involve the pitch of an eighteen game season. UH. Coming from the league side, this is something we've heard for years now, but now it's something that's kind of tangible that you could talk about because it's part of the negotiations. UH Union executive director Demorris Smith confirmed that report essentially UH and had this to say about it. I don't see an eighteen game schedule under any circumstance

being in the best interest of our players. If somebody wants to make an eighteen game proposal, will look at it. I haven't seen anything that makes me think that it would be good for the players, thoughts Mark, you're not happy about it, well, I to me, it's it's pure greed. It's the concept of just more and more and more

were there. This football has thrived in this age of media and television because it's bio rhythms are set perfectly to American schedules, and we don't need two extra games, and and the whole concept of adding games was to remove preseason games. You're now telling me that I get

why the players don't like it. What what's in it for the fan that has to decide when they're buying tickets to a game, which one is going to suddenly have quarterback X starting instead of a star player if you're going once a year because the tickets already cost

a bundle. How to coaches have to suddenly treat their rosters like fantasy football lineups, where you're shuffling offensive lineman and star players, and outside of injury, you're gonna have to take your best players out two games this season. I mean, it's it's riddled with issues. I don't see a single thing about it that makes sense to me at all. I love to hear someone come up with a reason why it's better for anyone at all. West, Well, anyone think about the fantasy teams too? What have you?

Two Greeks? Come on, Well, there's all these can of worms that will be open, and Mark alluded to that. But you know, you have to satisfy the player health thing first, and if it if you find a plan that makes sense where they not preseason games down to like one for established players and one for roster hopefuls and then make it eighteen games. But players have to sit for two games. But then how do you that

kind of makes sense to me. You're starting to satisfy the players get an extra bye week, so you're satisfying some of that, But at what point do you do you solve the quarterback issue? You can't have quarterback sitting for two games and then play backups and that they side too good. Who goes to the place. Well, one idea is that they put all this protection in for

certain players and including of course quarterbacks. What if they are exempt from the sit for two games, but you know other players that are in you know, more high risk positions put it that way, would be eligible for such a thing. I mean, it just seems a little just see, you know what, everything's perfect the way it is.

It's it's sixteen games is perfect. I know it's not as it doesn't make as much money, but it just works and it's worked since nineteen seventy seven or whatever, and there's no reason to mess with it when he's starting the schedule. By the way, are we suddenly starting the regular season in August or are we going to going to go deep into February? Give me a break

on that front. You guys know, because this has been reported for at least six or seven years, there is a plan to have billion in revenue by what the year um one of those somewhere in the twenties they want in revenue. I want the exact years before you going with your touchet anyway, Like growing it internationally and growing it through more games are the two ways to get I'll give the final word because it's a great one from d Smith. If a coal miner is willing

to spend more time in the hole, that is correct. Terminology. We use that whole time back in. Does it likely result in more money? Yeah? Is that a good thing for him as a person? Probably not. That's the question nobody confronts. It's easy to say it's more money, but is it good for us? The answers can we think about the coal miner? Can we stop comparing millionaires to coal miners? Please? I mean it's just a humble request.

Please stop comparing coal miners to millionaires. Moving on retirements, It's retirement season. Players inside there, quentin hanging up the cleats. Derek Morgan's one of them. The linebacker told ESPN he's retiring at the age of thirty. My purpose in life is bigger than the game, Morgan said, amongst other things.

The nineteen the number sixteen overall pick out of Georgia Tech, Morgan spent his entire career with the Tytoons, compiling three five tackles, forty four and a half sacks, twenty six past defended five force fumbles, sixth all time in sacks and Titans Oilers franchise history. Um The linebacker rooms three games in eighteen due to shoulder and knee injuries. He was a free agent and he walks away. A starting pass rusher with zero point five sacks on the entire season,

did not get any interest on the open market. Time to walk away. Sometimes you get retired, Sometimes the NFL retires you. But this guy seems like a bright guy who's got a lot of prospects. A hit him more trouble for the Cincinnati Bengal's offensive line, Clint Bowling has called at a career. The team announced Monday fourth round pick out a Georgia in the two thousand eleven draft. He started one and twelve of his a hundred and fourteen appearances for the Bengals. Uh a rock for that

team on their line. Uh started for them last year, but he dealt with and Mark, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. You've dealt with, unfortunately some issues of blood clotting, and we talked about that on the show. If not, we'll take this. We have no we have, we have, You've had some plots come out, yeah anyway, Um, Marissa Cotta Pelli of at Bengals Marissa Uh said after speaking with Clint Bowling today, he indicated a blood clot in his right leg was discovered after the season ended.

He met with a number of specialists this offseason, but decided it was ultimately about his family. Said he's excited to chase around his daughters this fall. Go ahead, Mark, I mean to me, the only thing that confuses me a bit is that I've been hospitalized three times for blood clot issues reverse humble Bragg. I guess that is I am bragging about that on some level, I'm not.

It was, Yeah, like the two of the times is because I was not on medication, and if you're on blood thinners, you essentially cannot get a blood clot So I don't know if the issue would be if this is the primary reason he's retiring, is that you can't play on blood thinners. I guess that could be dangerous also. But when I read that, it kind of threw me because it's something that a lot of people deal with and continue to work. But they work in offices. They

don't get smashed by defensive tackles necessarily. And as you remember two thousand nineteen first round pick for Cincinnati Jonah Williams toward the laborum and his shoulder. He's also out for the season, so you know there's there is there's a sneaky level of optimism around your former love West the Bengals. That was Zach Taylor. There. Perhaps they can turn things around and start going in a more successful, maybe a more exciting direction, except that it's a franchise

with no distinct interest in winning. Well, that's a problem. But the if you don't have anybody to protect the quarterback into block for the running backs, Uh, it's gonna be a tough go. We'll see what they can do. Well. I think at various points in this offseason you've heard Mark greg and myself say the Bengals might be better than people think they are. That has slowed to a halt and skidded to a fiery crash, with their offensive line being even worse than it was last year. Well,

I mean, that's what you know. That's why I held back. That's why to hear measured, measured response, I just said, Tom Brady sucks. Now. That's all I said. Um, all right and uh. In suspension news, Richie Incognito suspended two games for violating the personal conduct Policy. Uh. That goes back to an April incident at an Arizona funeral home.

I will not get into the details here, but if you want to hear some bizarre stuff and again makes you wonder, uh what the Raiders were thinking perhaps bringing this man in their building. But I guess he can block giant men trying to kill the quarterback. Uh, so you give him a shot. But he has suspended two games, also suspended. Uh my boy, Chris Herndon, a very promising tight end for the Jets, a guy that really flashed

as a two year old rookie last year. He is suspended four games free d U I. I was a little surprised when I saw four games. Usually it's not that heavy, but then I read about some of the details of the d w I. It was not pretty. It involved an accident that injured other people, and he was very drunk at the time of the accident according to the local police. So, Chris Herndon, I really like you as a player, but get your head on straight, son.

It's it's kind of the worst situation if you're Sam darn to roll into a pretty rough early season schedule without your tight end. I just would want my second year quarter to grow with that very promising titan. They'll be back week five. I think the one thing about the NFL that confuses me the most is how many chances Richie Incognito gets to play in the league. You

said it, I mean he may. We don't need to get into that incident, but it is a colorful incident, and he finds ways to get suspended and punished in in to a degree of variety that few other players have well put. Finally, in the news this under a headline from Pro Football Talk, Would Mike Rabel cut his generals off to win a super Bowl? Play it? Ricky? Super Bowl? Been married twenty years? Yeah? Probably You've got three as a player. Guess will be married for twenty years?

One day, would you if you need If you came home holding a bag of ice and Jen was like, oh honey, would you do like I thought you already got fixed. We're gonna win a seer roll, She'd be like all right? Would she be upset? She'd probably on board. She would be like, do you want me to do it? You wanna do it now? Mike Rabel a student of the Al Bundy School of Comedy. He was a guest on a podcast hosted by Titans left tackle Teller Luan and former Titans linebacker Will Compton, And You heard that

whole exchange. Uh, yes, he rabel won three super Bowls with the Pats, but he'd give it all up. He's say, Sionara to the manhood West, if it meant winning a title for the Titoons, well, let me known to you. Maybe there are teams who already asked that question during the combine. It's such like a nineties like um, married guy things that is like, hey, I don't need it no more. Hey I've been married a long time. That

thing is useless to me at this point. Am I right right over here like in this or well that's a sort and this scenario is he this age when this procedure happens and he suddenly becomes like magically a better player. I don't know. The whole thing makes way. So he's saying he would love to um win another super Bowl in exchange, he would give up this very valuable part of his body no more. But it's is he would be this age, what team would need him? No genitals? He would give up his genitals to be

the head coach champion of the Titans. From a coaching I don't know. I think I think it's a it's a heavy sacrifice. To make. I don't. I don't think that nothing seems that important. It's a materialistic Take my wife, please, that's what's happening in the news. All right, let's see, let's get into it. Boys, stop messing around. I enjoying it. Mark, you feel you feel back in the flow. It's enjoy I mean we are in a very strange I don't.

Every couple of minutes I look up and there's like a corporate workers staring at us from one of their desktops. Computer here sound. I don't know that's that part of it's awkward. But this is my look. By the way, I'm now a shock jocks wearing. It's like glasses with the bows Bluetooth technology. I mean, if we weren't concerned about our employment here before, it's starting to head into that territory. Let's get into it. Fearless predictions for October

two thousand nineteen. We each we'll go around. We'll go around the horn twice. Here throwing out some fearless predictions we have for the new season three weeks six, Mark, would you like to get us gone. Let's have some fun, alright, So one thing that does concern me, um that I'm noticing that's picking up too much steam this summer. Is the hype around my Browns and unnaturally just concerned in general about the other shoe dropping and dropping with a vengeance.

But October fifteen would kick off essentially Cleveland's bye week, and I am predicting that at that time, and I'm not trying to be a downer here or play some sort of psychological warfare with anyone, that they are going to be a two and four team with the media turning on them extremely violently. They open with the Titans, Jets, Rams, Ravens, Niners,

and Seahawks. I predict they will beat the Titans and forty Niners and lose out the rest of that opening six games, Slate people will be asking, what is up with Cleveland's offense, What's up with Cleveland's secondary? What is up with Miles Garrett, Will Baker Mayfield survived? Behind this line? Is Steve Wilkes? The wrong fit for this defense is

Freddie Kitchens completely underwater? Should we be concerned that Odell Beckham this time around used a big lighter to set a kicking net on fire along the sideline after drop be a would be game winning touchdown pass and that awful Week two loss to the Jets. What happened to the field good vibes of last season? Can we trust the Haslems to not blow up the machine again? Does this entire season hinge on Cleveland returning from the bye and knocking off the New England Patriots in New England?

You left out Todd clashing with the head coach. You left that one that might be the spark that sets it all off, and that has already happened according to some reports. So you your preamble included something about not playing psychological games here. Well, I have noted that it is not psychological warfare, so you have to believe me on that. But I do think that schedule Titans win win a loss, who knows, and I think they're gonna that's a kind of a team Cleveland that's gonna take

time to Jael or you know. I'm not sure that's gonna happen in training camp. The Jets game freaks me out, just because it's all this energy between us and the show about it I see going. It's gonna be rough. Uh, the Rams is very rough. I think the Ravens could win that division. The forty Niners. I think it's in San Francisco and then the Seahawks. What's the other way here? You got the Titans at home. Come on, Mario is gonna throw for a hundred twelve yards? Not if Mike Rabel,

you know, it goes through with his plan here. I mean it's concerning evidence at Jets. The Jets are no powerhouse. Come on, they are going I just think that the Cleveland is losing that game because it's too much remembered from last year. I think there's gonna be a flip up there, all right, home home to the Rams like that, but not as hard as if you were on the West coast at Ravens. Tough game, very tough game at Niners. You know the big bell bottom is that scary to

go into San France. That's the other win I gave them. And uh, Seattle at home, which is will be top. But again you're in your building. You play well there. Now, I would say if I were to continue the prediction, but I think they're going to round into shape. But I think it's going to be rough start, and we're all we're the media. This is a scenario where if

they if they struggle early. It is going to be absolutely rough and tumble ugly for the way the media is going to treat Cleveland there because they've already acted like they've won three Super Bowls. They won seven games last year as a personal affront to the national media. If Cleveland doesn't back up all of the you know, puff pieces and praise, they're gonna take it personally. West Europe. We spent the whole winter making our little jokes sports

writers did. Oh, then everybody gonna hire the next Sean McVeigh, all these offensive gurus. You could be twenty eight years old and get a job. That was the offseason conversation. The October discussion is gonna be we need an ancient

defensive coordinator. We need a master defensive mind. Because the best minds in the game are Bill Belichick, Vic Fongio, Who's who's the guy from the Ravens, um Mink, Martindale, all these old dudes, bum Phillips, Mike Zimmer and they're the best defense and people are gonna be son of son of Bumps. Instead of praising all these offensive young minds, people are gonna be asking, why do you have to be ancient to run a good defense in the NFL.

Do you think it's because some of these offensive minds, for instance, the Bengals new coach, some of these guys are gonna struggle through weeks? Think it's because Vick Fongio is gonna blow the door off people with with Bradley Chubb and Von Miller and a guy like Shelby Harris who was lights out down the street for the Broncos, and they're gonna be returning to like Super Bowl fifty form on that because you carrying the torch for Denver. Again,

I just like Vic Foio and their quarterback. Well, I think the quarterback is way better than other people think you is. So yes, wonderful. All right, that's a good one week six in the books two thousand nineteen. Anybody else have any other thoughts about that? So you you're saying, where where's where's the young dogs? Where's I'm saying it's an inherently um Experience matters way more on defense than it does on offense. On offense, you are creative, You

are bringing the action to the defense. The defense is responding to what the offense is doing. And I think experience really helps because you've seen it all you've been around. You can take different bits from your past, and it's contingent on the young, new new faces on offense succeeding, and that is a that is an unknown at this point.

Take take Fongio himself, who you know was great and for with the forty nine when he was there, But last year, what did he spend all the last year doing in practice going against Matt Naggie, who's got the Andy Reid offense. Matt Naggie's own offense was impressive, Like he's one of these bright young minds, and I think Foggio has been defending against that for a while. I'll

throw it out there. Um, you know, a few weeks back on this podcast, earlier in the summer, I throughout the possibility at that Patrick Mahomes might not ever reach the heights of what he did in his first year starting, and I drew the Marino's eight four season as a parallel that Marino was a Hall of Fame grade even after eight four, but never reach the same heights. And now I'm thinking about it more and I'm like, why

would I even want to put that out there. I'm gonna go the other way on top of the Tom Brady stuff, You're going down this appod No, I'm gonna go the other way because why would I even because then you know how you know how we are, this is what we do for a living. So if Mahomes was struggling a little bit, I'd be like, oh, yeah, no, but yet that I'm not gonna get on that on

that corner. Instead, I'm gonna say by week six through week six, Mahomes will again be pacing the league in nearly every relevant quarterback statistical category, be the heavy early favorite for m v P, and essentially be the guy that tour the league upon art last year. And strangely, and I say this, I don't know if this is more just in our studio or in my head or what. It's almost like Mahomes isn't getting enough love for what

he accomplished last year, which was remarkable. And remember, this guy was probably playing in the Super Bowl last year. If his defense is crumby Kansas City defense could get a stop, the guy doesn't even get a chance to get on the field. And the overtime of the af C Title Game because Tom Brady, former superstar, marched right down the field and got it done. So I'm just gonna say that Mahomes is gonna be out of his mind again this year, put up stats that are gonna

approach what he did last year, even surpassed. Because he is that once in a generation guy. We were due for the next like mind blowing athlete in the NFL, transcendent Michael Jordan's type. Guy, it is Patrick Mahomes. I'm getting behind it. He'll be tearing the league apart again by the middle of October. I can't believe all that well, said Wilson. I can't believe he said. He almost doesn't

get enough credit. Like people act like he invented the the the left handed past that Brett Farve already did. They act like nobody's ever thrown it as far, like outside of a stadium or whatever. Patrick Mahomes did not invent, like the scrambling play where he has to no one's done that in the NFL at that he did not give him that. Here's here's the story. UM nineteen seventy seven NFL Skills competition in Hawaii. All these quarterbacks are there.

Um Pastorini just throws it twenty yards further than Terry Bradshaw. Dan Pastorini is the Oiler's quarterback at the time. They're back at the hotel drinking a bunch of these quarterbacks and Billy Kilmer Dare's Pastorini to throw a football up four stories of the hotel. Pastorini takes it out and throws it ten stories and here's here's the punch. Here's the punch. Line Unitas says, yeah, but as the receiver

was on the fifth lore. So you know, you could anybody could throw the ball and people have had strong arms before. And it was reported that Mahomes threw the ball out of the stadium and Arrowhead recently. That also was not that. Do you remember back in the day, remember the aerobee, the frisbee, the it's it's still around, it's the like the orange ring that does has no sentence. And they threw that thing out of Giants Stadium. Someone later threw it across Niagara Falls. I mean, so you know,

and whe did you get that person? It got nothing. I don't even know who it was who did it? Second? And heck of an advertisement for that product that well, I had one of those, and you could literally throw it across like we had we had you could throw it through a neighbor's yard to the neighbor beyond the six neighbors if you had the arm. When I was um,

a kid, a teenager. UM, you know the way it is with the season tickets package, where they basically rope fans into buying to home preseason games at price of a regular season game. So when my dad at his job, the only Jets tickets that would be floating around a lot were either games in December when they were already buried in the standings, or those two priests in home games.

So we went to a home game every year just about because some guy would be offloading the tickets in August and uh always halftime, it didn't matter what year it was through two thousand three, any preseason game and went to it's the dude throwing the frisbee eight yards and the dog catching him. They just ran that thing back. I don't know if it's the same dog or what, but yeah, you could fling that it might have been the same. Phrase is eternally entertaining, though that's part of

the reason dogs. Um. All right, so mahomes tears it up. Let's go one more time around the horn, because I could be the guy that says he's coming down to earth. And I was that guy about thirty five days ago. I appreciate your about face. I don't want to be that guy. I want to be the guy that says, this guy is gonna do things that's gonna rewrite the history books. I'm on that train. But you dump that negative energy off you, thank you might not be a positive.

And then once the Jets actually become a contender, if they become a contender, then I will wish ill upon Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs. But right now I'm in that sweet spot where I can be all positive. So you're a better person than Mark, who just like voice voice the Browns problems into existence with his Now I liked what he did there. That

was beautiful reverse. I'm struggling which with which direction to go because I have one that is extremely negative and one that is I've got a negative one too, I'm gonna go negative. One head coach will be fired by week six due and I have been thinking about this for weeks. This is this is happening. One head coach will be fired by week six due to a wild scandal that grips the league early in the season and becomes a national and ultimately an international news story. Trump

will weigh in on the topic. No, this is this is a prediction that by week six, it is after the week's six slate of games, that this will essentially this scandal will eat up huge amounts of real estate on our podcast. Asked on our Twitter show. If that happens, it'll make bounty Gate look like a chorus trip to Action Park. Remember that place? It was very dangerous Action Park.

I think that this is going to end where the owner of this team will be forced due to overwhelming public pressure to pull the plug after week six action to get rid of this coach when the owner necessarily does not want to do it, but he has to.

It's all guesswork. I mean, what we're throwing out is no different than yours, but yours is just kind of predicting something with No, there's there's not a team that's a little because because it's gonna be so negative that if I I initially is there something in your head? Initially pinpointed someone and then I thought that's a little aggress talking about it is north of Ohio? No is he west of the Rockies. No, can you get to his stadium? Off? No more quest does have a female?

No more questions? All right, I hope that doesn't happen. It just sounds. It sounds not only bad for that guy, and maybe he'll deserve it under whatever the circumstances are, but bad for us. It's bad you. We were here when bounty gate broke and I'll never forget he's gonna hate this. But David really, who was early in his role, basically told me this is a non issue. This is going to blow over pretty quickly. And it turned into

a mushroom, into an a total disaster. You just heard him worse than that girl basically judgment and said it was He has developed an incredible judge b of news since since. I would second that he's very good at deciding what's news and I and for the record, I will take you up on that sandwich problem. Okay, um all right, West one more. I feel bad because um, I criticized this man's ability to play quarterback for a while. He proved me wrong. Eli man, all right, let's get

into it. And I really like him as a person and as a player. But my fearless prediction is that Nick Fools will still be seeking his first win in a Jaguars uniform. Let me take a look at the check worse schedule that is, well, I can tell you what the schedule is. They have the Chiefs at home. Okay, tough game, but winnable. Tough game, and they don't have

really the weapons to keep up with Kansas City. If if the Chiefs can score more than twenty at Houston at the Texans game number two home versus the Titans, cupcake layup. Titans, to me are one of the ten strongest rosters in the NFL. At the Broncos, we know what you think about them. Yes, well, nobody's being the Broncos. That's a that's right there, Carolina Panthers and the revamped front seven to that's home versus the Saints, not a gimme.

I like their next game though, right, That's why this works. They travel to Cincinnati to face the punchless BEng and then they start to get their sea legs. And then they trounced the Jets in week eight, and I see that coming. That's why I've hearned him back by then. Well, and that's a big difference Uh. I don't know. The way the NFL, the schedule makers, they're really good and that they seem to have almost like a seer likability

to make sure teams stay above water. Most teams. So, for instance, using the Jaguars as an example, could they trip up at home against the Chiefs in Week one? Yes? Could they go to Houston and lose? Absolutely, But then then the schedule God was like, hey, let's give you the Titans at home. You're gonna needs You're gonna need it. The Titans will have a win already, so they could deal with the loss and everybody's gonna be one and two and be fine going into the Titans own the

Jaguars late. I'd have to look that up. I think even when the Jaguars had their really good season, that Titans were beating them. Um, all right, Yeah, their last head to head mat uch up a thirty to nine Titans win. Was that when uh uh, when Dark Henry ran for like a thousand yards in the game, is that that particularly? I feel like he ran for a thousand yards in the entire second half of the season. To answer your question, at least their last three games

that Tennessee Titans have prevailed. So two low scoring affairs nine six back in September last year, fifteen ten on New Year's Eve this season before. Well, I have respect for the Jaguars defense, and I respect for fools, but I really their offensive line as a mess or wide receiver corps a mess. They're running back didn't try last season, So I mean, I don't know. Um, all right, I'll

wrap it up with a little bit more negativity. Unfortunately, Um, you guys know, just like I wasn't on board with the Cincinnati bandwagon, I am not all here for the Jimmy G as a stud carnival. Just I'm sitting out that merry go around until I see him do it. And now he's coming off of catastrophic the injury and all that not a great thing. Um, So I'm gonna

throw this out there by week six. And you have to understand this isn't all on Jimmy G. It's also about what's going on around the San Francisco forty Niners, an organization that, despite a brain trust reboot, has found very little success in the John Lynch Kyle Shanahan era, to the point where if they get off to a slow start in twenty nineteen heads could roll. I don't. I think Shanahan probably safe through the season, but Lynch

is gonna need answers. They're gonna need to put up a season where they are competing for a playoff spot, uh come December, and they can't afford to fall too far back in the standings. So what if Jimmy g isn't playing well because he wasn't playing that well before he got hurt last year and now he's gonna be rusty and he's oh damn near thirty years old and still hasn't really played a lot at the NFL level.

What if he gets off to a slow start and the Niners are seeing their season slip away, and oh, we have this guy, and I know he's getting ready, he's fixing and to use a Texan term for a camp battle um with C. J. Beathard. But Nick Mullins moved that team on offense last year. They kind of rallied around him. He was a nobody who showed up out of nowhere. And while not a perfect quarterback, he turned the ball over too much. And maybe he doesn't have all the trades you look for, not the biggest

arm and and whatnot. But he moved that team. He showed a lot of promise in his audition last year. Would they be perhaps tempted to turn it over to the kid if Jimmy Gan the Niners got off to another slow start in twenty nineteen, that's a fearless prediction that they just might. I would struggle to see that happening early on. They have three games, then they have a buy and you're talking about someone that's making twenty million next year and million plus over the next three year.

So the only thing is if it went real, real, rough, it could be part of the master plan where by trade deadline they have shipped Jimmy g back to the Patriots and the Patriots get them for less than they sold him and they have that quarterback in place for the next five years to be careful. Wait, I don't want that. But if you look at their schedule at Bucks, and I know West Bruce arians is at some country

club right now, he's not even thinking about football. But turned the team over to Left which some people believe that the Bucks are going to be frisky this year, and it's it's a They start with two road games, which is not easy schedule. Makers at Bucks at Bengles, but two road games and then home to Steelers by and then home to Browns, who even if they do get off to a slow start, Mark, I think they're gonna start piecing it together by the time he gets October.

And I've already told you that San Francisco was winning that game. I know I disagree. I've seen enough out of Garoppolo to be more optimistic than Dan, but it's worth noting that he is now what twenty eight years old, He'll be twenty eight in November, and his entire career is nothing but small sample sizes. We don't really know what he is yet. And that last game the week six game at Los Angeles. So if you stumble in those opening road games and then have trouble the Steelers

and Browns, then you're going to the coliseum. The Rams need to do some business ear or I mean the nothers need to do some business early in the season. And they got a quarterback who's gonna be knocking off rust. Just keep an eye on it. That's all fair enough.

And I like Jimmy d too. I want him to do well, Like I don't want to make it seem like, I'm rooting for Jimmy G's career to go up in flames, but it's worth throwing out there that maybe he's not the stone cold lock franchise savior that we've perhaps positioned him in. Is it possible, Chris Westling, that Jimmy G's last five games of the season is the new Geno Smith's last two games of the two thousand fourteen season.

I it's possible. I think it's much more likely that people are making too much of a deal out of struggling for two and a half games at the beginning of last year. I get that, but, like I said, his entire career a small sample sizes, So let's see what happens with sixteen games. Nice guy to talk to him. After that ridiculous Super Bowl win by the Pats, when the uh Seahawks through at the goal line, what were

they doing there? We've been over that a few times, but west and I actually after the Combine flew from Indianapolis on a rather infamous flight. We were not sitting near to Meg, thankfully, But was that in this conference room? The discussion afterwards, there were there were some discussions he couldn't have been nicer though we talked him a couple of times. In fact, when leaving l a X taking a taxi home, I saw him again. He's like you again, Like we ran into him like three or four times

on this trip. That was before he was drafted. You were still hoping he'd be the Browns quarterback. I was, uh, there you go. It might not have been a coincidence that he kept running into you. Um, are you saying that perhaps Mark put himself in position for such encounters, some low level stoking potential. There's a thin line between stalker and intrepid reporter, very thin. And I crossed, I mean I crossed into both territories on that trip. I

was talking. We were at the bar the tavern after Stopball last week talking to our star wort stop um masculine guy. But we kind of stumbled into a conversation where he discussed despite being a straight man, the men that you know, he would ponder some thoughts in the other direction. And he shocked me by just throwing out Jimmy g is head and shoulders, the number one guy. Yeah. He he was quite adamant that Tom Brady is not in Jimmy. Jimmy G's class. That was a hot conversation

four years ago. Tom Brady is aging rapidly according to uh time. Um, all right, so yeah, no matter what happens that Jimmy G's gonna be fine. What do you think, Ricky? Yeah, he's okay. Do you miss you miss Jimmy G being a Patriot? Because wasn't he as a Patriots say in the Ultimate Security Blanket? Also, it felt great having him back there. Um, but I think it's gonna come fall circle. For all of a sudden, there's gonna be this crazy

trade where we're gonna get like George Kittle or something. Wow, because we traded Jimmy G out of nowhere. You've been hanging out with Keisha to you're getting George Kittle in reverse for that trade. Because everyone was like, what why did Jimmy G go to the forty niners out of nowhere? Like this big deal? How could be Kittle for like

a fourth rounder going back to New England. So you're saying this, this is more premeditated as opposed to like karma, just like deciding to no, no, no, no, this is like a Shannahan knows us now, well, it's a you and God knows, you could use that. That's the best prediction we've heard all day. So so there was like a wink wink, nudge nudge part of the Garoppolo trade at the time. Yeah, come on, we you know, scratch

your back all scratch yours later. You know, I haven't seen a lot of scratching for San Francisco so far. That's back to the original point. I don't know. I mean, when you're one in ten and you win five straight games to end the season, I'm not going to put you in Canton. I know. That's that's where everybody's at with this guy. Well exactly. So that's that's good. That's why Belichick got rid of him. Mark's a good kid. I mean, I I understand that you are. Yeah, okay,

all right, We'll be back on Thursday. I hope that works out for you, Reggie Um with another edition of the pod. Uh and then after that are we are? We doing three shows next week? So it's this is that seems that's sobering. Um, But we love our job. It's just shocking because the sum the quote unquote summer for us while everyone's enjoying, you know, late July. So oh, we got another month of summer, going to the beach,

hanging out with friends. Really, our summer is truncated or shifted from May through kind of mid July, so it ends very quickly while everybody else is still just like right in the middle of it all. But don't don't cry for us, Argentina and I know you. We've been too busy having fun. We haven't had a chance to enjoy our summer. Well somehow we we just push on. Don't like it should be a time for relaxation. And I feel like I'm tired because of my Yeah, just

wait to have kids. I'm all right, and I'll need I need this thing no more. Hey, my wife don't need it. I will need it, all right. That's it. Don't have to sign up Jesus, uh sign up for the Mailman, Uh, the Quiet Storm and Ricky Hollywood behind the Glass till third Day