MNF Doubleheader Recap, Panic or Chill, Bengals Browns Preview

been virtually shooting tigers with tranquilizer darts. So I guess if you especially yeah, especially with Ricky who really as um fired way more trunks into the furry creatures that necessary. I get why maybe somebody would be hot on our tail. Now, Well, it's dangerous. The tranquilizers in the Bengals layer. Another one got loose on Sunday hit Randy Bullock like right before he was going to kick Yeah, Randy, that's thank you for bringing that up, Greg, because Randy Bullock knows this

already because we send him the facts. Uh what do they call those? What do they call in the old days when you get sent something like a telegram, bullock out a telegram that he was effective Sunday afternoon, banned from the Kicker Club for life. Because it's one thing to miss a kick, but to phantom grab at your calf, uh and then find out the next day that you know he's fine. That is the one thing you can't do as a kicker. You just can't. You can't fake

an injury. You just gotta wear it. And it's we're gonna get into It was kind of a woeful week for kicking. And I have that sandwich prop hanging out there about Kai Warbath. I needed to get on a team and then kick a big field goal at the end of game. If Kai does not find his way onto a roster this year after what we saw in Week one, it's just knock gonna happen. Stephen Gaskowski, My goodness, we're gonna get into that. Yeah, we're gonna get into

Monday night football. We're gonna preview Thursday night the Browns and Bengals buckle up, Sizzler and also coming off the action in week one, we're gonna play a game called panic or Chill Chill bra based on we've won subplots. Mark, what were you gonna say? No? Nothing? At this point, I think it's a it's a meatia show. Let's proceed alright, Marks, all business with that haircut here? Either that or easy now.

I tried to sneak in a haircut at you know, right before the show started, and it was not my greatest moment of time management. Of all times. That haircut occurred like twenty miles from here. So I noticed things. I feel like in another life I could I could have worked in law enforce and as a detective of some kind. Because most people don't realize that Mark has got a little different look going on. I think he told his barber that he's fond of uh to give me a little bit of a fade on the sides.

That's new. Usually it's a little more full on the sides. You know, you're asking for the fade, to do it like the kids do. And good for you, bro. You know what I can I be really honest and I'll keep this under twenty seconds. The price of the hair cut. I'm very loyal to the wonderful person that cuts my hair, but the price has raised. Um, you know, during Corona Times, and I understand this significantly, so I didn't suggest anything, but I think there's something subconscious going on where she

is cutting people's hair. Guy's hairs, um, a little tighter to the to the head, so that you don't have to come back, you know, you get next for a week on that. On that, I think give you a little more style, as you know, at least giving your money's worth. Mark. I haven't asked for anything different, so maybe I'm not you know, explicit enough about what I should be asking. So you sit down and you're just like the regular jazz. Yeah, I mean she's cut my

hair like she's coming with times. Well, you know, when you find a good one. Here's the thing, ad one Apparently it was not good enough, not a not a cutting hair not that I know of. But I mean, if you suddenly got a bad hair cut, you're like, I don't need to go to the same person. And then like this wild card does a hack job, you're stuck with with it for three weeks. I got I got hacked, um three days before my senior prom total hatchet job by this very very severe, tall Russian woman

that looked like Brigette Nelson. From Rocky four. And I should have seen it coming, because you know, she looked like Brigitte Nielsen from Rocky four. Didn't paid the price. That's the only reason I had a bad time, my senior problem, my hair. There could be no other reason why. All right, we got much. We got a lot to get to. But let us start with some Monday night football.

In the early game, up first Steelers, Giants from the meadow Lands check it in three, fake the hand off Jones looping to the left, Jones, the ball is fluttered in the air and it's intercepted. Daniel Jones did not have anything on it. Cameron Hayward with the pick and the Giants drive dies and so did the Giants chances of winning their opener. Iron Eagle with a call for Westwood one nineteen play drive by the Giants in the third quarter, I drive that if they got over the

goal line, would have put them in the league. Instead, Steelers take over. They take it home, final score to sixteen and Big Ben's return to the starting lineup and the successful return. It was uh Mark. We have wondered, or we wondered often last year what that Steelers team could be like with a top shelf defense and a convenant quarterback. What looks like we're about to find out.

I think we're looking at, you know, barring utter chaos, a playoff team, and that's what the Steelers in most seasons have been when big bends around, and last year was a complete aberration. That team still crept to eight and five before the wheels fell off. What I saw last night, and you know, greg Um, you mentioned this that the Steelers treat training camp like a brutal exercise where you get into shape and you get ready for

football through physical contact. And there are a bunch of teams out there that engage in studies that say, no, we don't want to do contact. We're gonna go in the opposite direction. I love their approach. The defense looked like it was ready to fine tune for Week ten, and it was you know, when it's not Bud Duprie, it's t J Watt. I mean, the pressure that they

put on the Giants was incredible. I really like Daniel Jones and things that I see, But you don't like any quarterback dealing with some of the pressure the need to deal with and your built your offense is built also around se Kwon Barkley, who had I mean, this is I don't know if this will happen again. It's a little si quanti um, but he had fifteen fifteen attempts for six yards. The Giants were held to twenty

four yards on the ground. This defense goes in and just wipes teams away, and when you have the offense making the plays it was with Big Ben in a whole cast. Of course, the Steelers have to find two new viable wide receivers a year or they're not. The front office has been asleep. Um, it's a It's a big problem for other teams in the a f C

and the NFC East this season. Yeah, I agree with everything you said, and I think this was one of the most fascinating games of Week one because I do think it told us somethings and in the biggest thing it told us is that Roethlisberger, as long as he's healthy, is going to be fine. And I am someone that wanted to see it. I don't think it took him the whole first half to warm up, which kept being like the talking point after the game on ESPN, and I saw it elsewhere It's like, well it took him

a little while the war. It's like, I don't know, maybe the announcer said that, and then everyone started copying. On the second drive of the game, you know, they went three and out. First drive, run run, and uh they got some pressure. Second drive of the game. On third down, he's getting crunched, go into his third read Juju Smith Schuster and delivers a beautiful ball, hitting Juju and stride on third down. I mean, that's one of

the best third and longs I saw. A week to three plays later, he hit Chase Claypool thirty yards up the field to the opposite uh hash Mark in and uh Mark, I know you tweeted out. It's just like, well, here comes another one of those Steelers wide receiver draft picks off the assembly line, and on and on. I thought, if you put together like the best seven throws, let's say, from Ben's night, I think it's up there with any quarterback that played this week not named Darren Rodgers and

Lamar Jackson and and maybe Russell Wilson. I thought he looked really good. Let's be honest. People now are just gonna roll with it and be like, oh, he's the same guy, and that's the end of the conversation. But there was a fair amount of handwringing, uh, and not not without good reason after he tore up his elbow and after the surgery and then through the off season or all the drama about his appearance and everything. Uh, that he came back and looks basically exactly the same.

I think maybe he missed on a couple of throws Greg Earle, touch passes, things that weren't deal breakers by any stretch, and that allowed that to build as a narrative that he wasn't sharp early on. But yeah, by the by the time he was in the flow of the game and we were, you know, heading towards halftime, and that last drive before the half, it was like, oh, big Ben's back, and it's like, I don't know, Mark, you said that they looked like a playoff team. They

look like a super Bowl team. To me, No, I think they do, except you got the same conference. That's all I mean. It's form is that I think they have the ability to hang in that conversation with those guys right now if you take the defense at the level it's at and then you put in not just like I talked about before the game, if he's Big Ben, the Steelers are still gonna be way off. What if he's Big Ben still And I think that's a team that could go all the way to the final game

of the season. I think that's their ceiling here now. I mean the only their only d A aspect that would concern you about Pittsburgh is that there were times when the the defense has been very good for a long time now. The secondary has had issues up and down. But I mean, this nasty pass rush has been around and kind of ignored. And you know, there was a time when Big Ben had Levi on Bell the way that we know him and Antonio Brown and they just

couldn't get past teams. Now those were the Patriots. I wasn't the same then though they had the talent and they had a lot of the same players, but they didn't perform. And I think it is the secondary. The defense last year was as good as it was, you know, since since they made the Super Bowls, you know, a decade ago. I just I don't. I just think the Steelers are still under Mike Tomlin, a team that's gonna disappoint you a couple of weeks out of the season.

Two there's a lot of that still going on. But but everybody disappoints though, right, I mean not everybody has it turned on. I guess the Steelers have a little bit more of a history of getting to January and and and not getting the job done. And but are they a super Bowl team? Yeah, if they can get past the Ravens in chief on the giant side of the ball. Yeah. The the Jones turnovers were tough, and I understand the frustration there. It's but it's against the

great defense. I I look at him, and I was looking how he moved and and how comfortable he looked. And I was thinking, how he looks more comfortable in an NFL offense in a second year than Sam Donald did on Sunday in his third. So, even though things went sidewise a little bit, and uh, you know, ten point loss, I'm feeling pretty good about Daniel Jones. And we'll see how this remade offensive line comes together. You can't really judge an offensive line that's being rebuilt off

one week. Uh. And that's why I can't get too crazy about the Barkley game either. Although it was historically bad, Uh, it was also against the great defense in week one without a preseason, you know the whole she field right now, that maybe they deserve a little more benefit of doubt before we start panicking about that offense, and the defense looked a little more competent. They were so bad that they just looked. Okay. I love Danny Dimes. I love

watching him play. I thought he had so many tough, creative plays against pressure. He's gonna need it. They were he was pressured to the to your point about the Steelers defense, mark just he was pressured more on a higher percentage of plays than any quarterback in the league in Week one, and he made so many good plays against it. And it is the Daniel Jones experience that will have one or two plays that kill you, uh

and hopefully he gets rid of those. But I think overall, when you look at last night, I looked at the p f F F rankins right as we started, it doesn't surprise me that he was in the top ten for the week because I think he made so many high quality plays a lot of times in tough situations. Because they do not have a right tackle. That's the problem they have Cam Fleming playing at right tackle. Sometimes you're

only as good as your worst offensive alignment. And right now he's a stinker, but he makes the Giants so much more intriguing than they've been. And we all went through that sane period of denying the fate of Eli Manning and somehow Dave Gettelman, Um, you know, for taking entire year where you didn't take Sam Donald, you didn't take quarterback X might have come out with the perfect guy for the Giants. I mean, it is a roller

coaster ride. I tweeted out like two videos of one the touchdown throw and an incredible job by him on another throw, and in both times within three minutes he had created a turnover after and people were like, dude, this guy's all over, Like Lions, Giants stopped putting that stink out there. So I love what's going on. Regular that's my job, you know, Are you connecting with people behind the scenes and and making video requests and then

sending them out on social media? No, that's far too tedious. I have my own methods, my own channels. One more note before we moved to the late game, uh sae Quon Barkley's six rushing yards, this per NFL Media research tied for the second fewest by a player with fifteen plus carries in a game since the start of the Super Bowl era. The only, but the only other player had a worst day five yards and fifteen carries Kareem Abdul Abdul Kareem al Jabar for the Broncos in Week

first Miami. Al Right, I do want to make one quick point, is that James Conner's injury I think is gonna end up helping um the Steelers because Benny Snell just looks like a better player. It's like they found they keep finding these young guys. Chase Claypool is going to be a guy in Benny snow I think is gonna be a guy Everyone in fantasy that took Snell is going to be doing back. Well how many How about the fantasy heads that took Connor that are freaking

out right? You just seeing that one coming. He's been banged up a couple of years now. Um. We'll talk more about the Steelers in our preview episode later this week, but now let's move on to the late game. And it was a weird one. Now Here comes Goskowski. It's a twenty five yard troup. He is old for three tonight on field goals. He has missed an extra point this for the lead. With twenty seconds to go, Tennessee

down by one. No wind, calm Night off the grass yard field well, the snap the kickers off and the Kidgen's guard. Gaskowski trills it from twenty five yards away and the Titans are taking a lead of sixteen fourteen with seven team checkings to go on. Gaskowski literally looking to the heavens, closing his eyes saying thank you to

the kicking gods. Harlan for West would won with the call. Yes, credit for Stephen Gaskowski for not keeping his shoes off and walking home in the third quarter, But credit the Tennessee Titans offense, which could have went in the tank after getting you know, turned down by the kicker time and time again. But they had one more big drive in him and it took him all the way down to the goal line and put Gaskowski on a nightmare

that day where he missed three field goal attempts. One of them was tipped at an extra point and clearly was just completely zonked out and had no ability they get the ball to a point where even Gaskowski couldn't miss that kick. So good for the Titans offense fourteen win over the Denver Broncos at Mile High. Oh, Mark, I mean, what do you make of this game? What

do you take out of it? And how were you as stressed out as I was and everyone else on football Twitter just watching things unfold as the Titans rolled into Denver territory, knowing that the kicker was gonna have to walk out on the field again. Yeah, there's probably um a subset of Twitter middle school that enjoys seeing these players suffer. Um, it just brought me anxiety to

think that. I think people forget that. Like Gustkowski is, you know, months removed from recovering from like a pretty dangerous hips surgery, so to even come back in all five years away from entering the Hall of Fame. So we're in this weird right. I Mean there's got to be time. There might be moments in life when you think, why did I do this? Um, he gets he got he got half a million dollars guaranteed, so there is

a reason to do it. But um, watching it unfold on television, UM, I was so happy he made that final kick because it doesn't erase everything that came before. But it kind of does with kickers, you kind of just remember the last thing. But I'm not sure it might not erase his employment situation with another bad day or even sooner, right, I uh, look, I was I really wanted him to make that kick, but I was loving the chaos and Gustosky. To me, it was just part of it. But I live for this sort of

It was so ugly. It was perfect as the second prime time game on Monday Night. It was made for that. I expected a lot more games in Week one to look like this, which was totally sloppy on both sides, so I wouldn't say it was fun all the time, but it just kept giving you enough storylines and crazy Drew Lock plays and Ryan Tannehill looking like he's gonna

get decapitated every other quarter. That like, I didn't mind how ugly it was because it was entertaining and all I could think was, like, man, the Titans were sloppy every everything, like I expect the Broncos to be sloppy a little bit, and they were missing Boyer, their best cornerback. So they're starting two rookies, neither one of them sums drafted highly. One of them was undrafted a guy Bryce Callahan who didn't play all of last year at cornerback.

He can't take advantage of that. There's no Von Miller, there's no Courtland Sutton, who's your best offensive player. There's no Philip Lindsay, there's no kJ Hamdler, the guy you're all excited about. And still it's like, if Jerry Judy didn't drop a couple of passes, the Broncos would have stolen this game away. And yeah, Guskowski was part of it, but there was almost nothing about the Titans to me.

If you're a Titans fan that made you feel good other than it's Week one and you escape, you with a road quote on quote victory and you're on your way. You're playing the late Monday night game. You're going to Denver and again there's like five people in the crowd, so it's a different type of road assignment. But still you lose Rashaun Evans to that objection. Uh, and he's such an important part of their defense. I I thought

the Titans were fine. I thought it was a sloppy Week one game in a weird year, and the fact that they I was more impressed with their metal to get out of there with the win, because it seemed like it was doomed. Once Gaskowski missed the second extra point it was, or the his extra point, it was like, oh my god, you know what's gonna happen. Sure enough, the Broncos go right down the field and take the lead, and you think that's that. So I give him credit

for that. And you know, Derrick Henry has thirties six touches in this game, so they even when the run game wasn't necessarily working, they just stayed true to their ways and just kept on pounding the ball to him. I thought this was kind of like one of those March Madness games where it's survived in advance and then try to work. If you have a question for Greg, because Greg, I mean I think that you know, your wheelhouse became the story of the game. I think over

the final couple of minutes. One quick note, first, though, I and Dan I think the jury was out on Drew luck. Um. I really love what I see. I love this guy, and Jerry Judy had the drops. But I gotta say that Jerry Judy to me with the next time around when he catches those, this is a star in the making. I mean you can just see from the slot he is getting open over and over, and I get that, you know, you don't have like it's week one, it's sloppy, But this guy, to me

has star wide receiver written all over. And this whole offense, when they get healthy and they get these guys back, is going to be a late season monster that just dropped some upsets and bombs on people and maybe sneaks in the playoffs spot. But Vic Fonio overseeing the whole thing Greg the final three minutes. Um. People are all over it today, and I think there's different schools of thoughts on how you can time well you're I'm saying,

I've here. I've heard people say, you know, Belichick likes to slow to play a team that's having issues and let them creep down the field and make their own mistakes. In this case, I think Fongio did not handle this well, um, because he didn't give his offense and you saw Locks shaking his head with winning about eight six and second kill out there at the end, saying give me a break here, let's hear. Let's hear from Fongio before we

hear from Greg. When Henry got thirteen yards down to our sixty and I should have called time out there. That was the one I missed. He wore it. He knows he messed up, because they should have gotten the ball back with at least like a minute to play, right Greg and and maybe a time out, and then you have and you have a great kicker and Brendon McManus who just got a contract extension and he can kick in Denver, and you basically kicked away that opportunity.

He was like a common sense error, which is unsettling, right, I mean, they he he owned it, but he owned it, you know the next day, he didn't exactly own it after the fact because he didn't even understand at that point what he had done wrong, which is the problem. And he said, you know on Tuesday day that he didn't make the right call because he was too busy

thinking about calling the next defensive play. And I always say this, I don't like these defensive play callers um being the head coach, because I think you really need to have your p's and q's and know what's going on in terms of game management situation. And Fonio was terrible at it last year too, Like these coaches. They they they're all about, Oh, we worked so hard, we were a hundred hours. We prepare for every scenario. It's like, yeah, but you're like worse at at that scenario, which is

so important than a guy playing Madden. And I know it's a there's more pressure and it's a lot, but that's why you should be preparing that. Like, are you spending two hours on that during the week. I don't think so. Not only did he blow that situation, but the thing I thought, it's crazy no one really paid any attention to. They used forty seconds on the drive before that they got the ball, the game, that team

was over. When they got the ball back over midfield, Judy drops a pass that would have ended the game. And I'm with you, Judy looks like an unbelievable time. Who's gonna be jumped off the screen. He's he's unreal. He reminds me of I don't know, Antonio Brown, I guess would be the closest thing to it. And then they go on third to night, they go they go hero ball and they decide to go for a touchdown throw over the top, and you know, it was a

pretty good call. Block Adom wide open and they would have been dancing in the Denver streets that they went for a forty yard touchdown with three minutes to go. But Lock throws it into the first you know, into the first part of the space. It wasn't even close. He was fine, he does. I think he's I'm still in the same kind of holding pattern with him, because, yeah, you're right if he forget about even winning the game with that deep pass which he missed, You're right, though

Judy doesn't have that second drop. We're probably talking about

a totally different situation here. But that's football. But I do I did like what I saw from him, and I think I agree with you that if you get Courtland Sutton back and Judy continues to develop, because he really did jump off the screen, like the way he came out of those breaks and just it reminded me actually of like a young Odell Beckham, where when he had the ball in his hands, was like, oh, watch out, because this guy is just doing things that other guys

in the field can't see it. I mean, like, like I think, you know, like a twelve year old could look at that and say, what is happening with this player? Versus other wide receivers. I mean he's that special to the eyes. I wrote about Locking Daniel Jones though, and I I here's the thing where I like them sorts. They're fun to watch. I did a feature on them because it's to me like they're making two teams that were pretty tough to watch. His quarterbacks a lot of fun.

So I think lock if it'll be a roller coaster ride, but he's gonna give you some stuff. And Mike Rabel said Tuesday, the Titans have a quote lot of faith in Stephen Gaskowski after the kickers rough debut. I I meant that I tweeted this that in that exact moment, and don't get on me with oh, but what about the suffering in in this part of the world, Calm down.

In that exact moment, there was no one I would I would rather be anyone else in the world than Guskowski when he saw every camera on the sideline trained on him, none of his teammates talking to him, knowing that he was the story of the night. It was week one prime time, and then you you can't go in a hole and hide. And then the when they showed him on the bench taking his cleats off like it did. It was bad enough that across my mind, I wonder if he's just walking out like it was.

It was at that level that the human uh feeling. Um, all right, that's it for Monday night football discussion. Let us let's let's have some fun. Let's do this, all right. So a lot of good things happened in week one, a lot of reasons for teams to be excited. Uh. Then there's the flip side of the teams that things didn't work out how they had hoped in week one.

And what we're you gonna try to do here, in a segment we call panic or chill bro is figure out which one of the negative outcomes of week one is a harbinger of doom and which one should be more of Like, Okay, let's let things breathe a little bit. Most likely it won't be as bad as it looks. So we'll go around the horn here. Um, I'll get it going, and I will present it to both you boys, and then I'll chime in with my thoughts as well.

But I'll start right here because it was a conversation on the UM podcast on Sunday night, Phil Rivers and the interceptions that killed the Colts against the Jaguars and the big upset of the week. I watched the game uh yesterday as part of my Power Rankings duties, and it did it was exactly what I what I kind of imagine it was based on the way it was being described. It was Rivers try and force things and

make things happen. And it kind of stood out in contrast with the other quarterback Gardner me and Show, who took what the defense gave him and just executed well. Uh, so Rivers even stood out more. Is this to you, guys a sign that the Colts are in serious trouble because Rivers is gonna just be this flawed guy that cost them multiple games this year? Mark to go first, because I feel like my answer is to uh to obvious. You know where I'm going with. Um, here's the thing.

I think you kind of know what you're getting in Philip Rivers and the Good with the Bad, and you know this is not the greatest version of Philip Rivers. And I would imagine, Um, the Colts excel itself scouting uh and they know that, Um, you're gonna get I like that you said that, Minshew kind of gave what the defense. Um took what the defense gave him. Where I think Philip Rivers is just gonna He's gonna give things to the offense and the defense. That's just who

Philip Rivers sort of is. I'm not in the panic mode because I'm kind of used to this, this version of Philip Rivers, and I think it's going to help them to unleash Jonathan Taylor of Jonathan Taylor's what we think they are. Their offense has a lot of young pieces. Um t Y Hilton can still play. I think he he looked good. So I'm not they have a great offensive line. I just I want to see this thing

kind of carry out for a month. Um. But I'll tell you this, I'm not like, hey, no matter what happens, I'm not going to panic all year. I think this is a this is a one year um, a one year scenario for Philip Rivers, and and then I think they move on after this and barring something really special,

I just I just do. And so you know, to me, I'm chilling because the other options you put in Jacoby Brisett like, no, no, you could just panic and not expected to go well and I'm not panicking here, all right, you know, you know where I'm going. I'm chilling. I'm hey, I mean, chill is probably the wrong word, because I'm just enjoying. I'm I'm ready for the roller coaster ride.

And uh yeah, I am a little concerned that those interceptions were totally on Rivers and I went back to watch it too, kind of hoping that there's gonna be some you know, secondary reasons for him, but especially the way that they happened. When they happened, they turned the momentum um of the game, and otherwise they would have won it. I am chilling though, because man, the offense looks so good. Otherwise. Yeah, the matchup was good and he was protected well. I think he's gonna be protected

well each week. And West has gotten on Rivers his arm strength and to me, he's at his best throwing intermediate and deep down the field at least he has, you know, throughout his career. And he had a twenty seven thirty yard rope to the opposite hash Mark early in that game on a dime to t Y Hilton that made me not worried about his arm strength at all. He had another I mean that is the hardest throw for quarterbacks to make. I'm not saying he's Aaron Rodgers,

but he looked in sync. He showed anticipation, the arm looked good. I think he you look. You could tell he's been in this offense before, and I think it's gonna be a very dangerous offense. He can't keep doing that. So if you're if we're having this conversation um in October, that that I'll start that I'll be panicking, But I am. I am giving him a one week like, Okay, he's

gonna have these games. But throwing fifteen interceptions and having this kind of season, that's okay for me throwing three, it's it's a big difference, and and it was. He was a big part of the reason they lost. It was a killer. I'm gonna hold my panic for another week or so, but it certainly is a bit foreboding. So I'm chilled, But I'm also like, I'm not. I just don't let the public drink. And that's the way cults feels, cults fans probably feel right now, Greg, you're up,

all right, I'm gonna go with the Saints offense. And Drew Brees and and This has been something West has talked about, certainly when it comes to Drew Brees arm strength. But you know, since we last uh you know, talked with our listeners, Michael Thomas, it's been revealed has a high ankle sprain. He's supposedly gonna play through it, try to. That doesn't sound like a good idea. Let's let's get

this guy healthy. Um. But I'm wondering if you guys are panicking or chilling about a Saint's offense, especially the passing attack where everything seems pretty close to the line of scrimmage and the defense at least on Sunday knew it. Damn panic or chill chill. I'm a hard chill on this one. And it's not because I don't uh see,

that's how I feel inside. It's not because I don't respect the punditry of someone like a Chris Wessling, who I think is making sense when he says that Drew Brees arm strength is is becoming an increasingly big issue. And it does make me think when Sean Payton is so going out of his way after the game to put the blame on him and say it was the worst game plan I've ever had. It makes me think that maybe he's covering for his boy because he knows

that's important, especially this time of year. That said, um breathe to me is ill guy in an offense that he's super comfortable with that's gonna be in in positive game situations because of the defense. And if anybody is gonna say they're shocked if he throws three or four touchdowns, uh in his next game, you're lying because it's it's too simple to be like, oh, yeah, they had two seventy total yards. Now it's locked in. He's Peyton Manning in that final Broncos year. He stinks. I don't think

he's there yet. And maybe he is, But right now I'm gonna say i'd be more I'd be it would be more likely to me that he has a big game in Week two and all these narratives go out the door for the time being. Yeah, I mean, I'm chilling because if I'm panicking over this, I'm probably panicking about, um, how to pour myself a cup of water in the kitchen.

I mean, it's look like this is the Saints, this is I really think that Sean payton Um is the best schemer offensively in the league, and I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, if you really get into a pinch, you can come in and use packages with Jamis Winston, you can use their use. No, I'm just saying if you get into a real pinch down the stretch. I'm not panicking over Drew Brees though, because I think this isn't that different of a version of Drew Brees than we

had a year ago. I just I don't And if you haven't healthy Alvin Kamara, he'll be used as well as he would in any offense in the league. So you know, I do I think that they're gonna be the best offense. Um, you know, just book it right now. No. But I but I'm not panicking. There's a panic situation. I can look at twelve other offenses to panic around. Are you guys worried about anything? I mean, I'm gonna go ahead and panic because there's been too much chilling. Ah,

that's what I say. Let's panics in the street. I mean, here's the thing with the Sames offense. I'm panicking to the point is of like, is the old Saints offense gonna be back? And do I believe that it's gonna stay that way. They've had these stretches over the last two years, especially last year, where they didn't look great, and then at the end of last year man they were scoring a ton of points and it was going great. But I think the way the Rosters constructed their interior

line really struggled against Tampa. Maybe that was a matchup thing, but if you if you can't protect Drew Brees up the middle, then he starts looking ordinary and there's there's not a lot of deep speed here. Emmanuel Sanders played less in that game than trade Juan Smith. I think they can win games because they've got such a good defense and special team. But in terms of like high flying old Saints, let's just have some good old fun

Week one over reaction panic, I don't believe it. I think you're just trying to add I have real concerns that they're not gonna be like a top five type of offense or even you know, necessarily top ten. I do, I do. Uh. I am maybe overreacting, but I really do believe that. Okay, so I guess it all kind of depends on perspective. If the days of the top five Drew Brees offense are over. I could buy that top ten even okay, I being the worst Saints offense

under Drew Brees and Shot pay. But you know what, that wouldn't be time to panic. It's if they end up being in the twenties or something and all of a sudden, offense is an actual liability. And I feel like we're still gonna be far off from that. But we'll find out that Michael Thomas injury is a problem because sprain is something I could linger and it could mess up a whole season. All right, Mark, You're up next. Alright,

San Francisco. We know they have their issues, but I want to focus on Jimmy G. Did you go back and look at that game. He's lucky that he didn't have an interception on a on a basically it was wiped out by penalty. Was a terrible pick while he

was on the move. Um. Not a great look for Jimmy G. He had the fourth and fourth and five meltdown at the end of the game where they had a chance to win and he just threw a terrible pass and to the point where you know, the the play by play guy and the color guy basically said, that's just on Jimmy G. And you know, I could throw in other examples, and we've seen little things from Jimmy G here and there, and that five games sample that started his career in San Francisco feels about twenty

five years ago. Are we panicking or are we chilling on Jimmy G as the the guy in Sam Francisco. I'm ready to panic on this one. This might be that this um I was definitely taken aback by his performance on Sunday. And I know that the wide receiver situation is bad there right now, so you gotta factor that in. I think the wide receiver's accounted for forty one yards total against the Cardinals, and the Cardinals are not anyone's definition of a you know, top secondary in

the league. But there are three the three throws that kind of stuck with me. One is the one that injured George Kittle, which was a throw into the flat that was high that his star tight end had to go up to get and he came down and now he's got to spring knee and we'll see how he recovers from that. Too. Was the miss to Kendrick Bourne that would have given the Niners a win. He undershot the throw and allowed the defense under to get back into the play. Patrick Peterson knocked the ball away that

should have been a gimmey touchdown. And three the fourth and four with the game on the line, where you threw it late and behind his receiver, And maybe it's just a bad game, but it does feel like he's just a hot and cold guy. And we talked about it on this pot a lot, that he has a genius offensive coordinator on his side. Maybe I'm expecting a little bit more progress, even with a a offense that is compromised by injury. So I don't think it's too soon to panic that you might just have like a

guy at quarterback and not the guy. Yeah, I'm gonna sprinkle like a mild amount of panic. I've just been at this this slow, steady panic when it comes to Jimmy g for a while. And Week one, you know, kind of confirmed my priors, which is that he's just always like a step late, a beat late, you know, in the it's a timing offense. And you can hear it in Kyle Shane Ann's voice, and that's that's partly why I've got the mild bit of panic because it feels like Kyle Shanahan has a mild bit of panic.

And that's that's I don't I don't know if it's a conspiracy theory, you know, you hear whispers um, but I buy into them that there's just like a little bit of a disconnect them. I do you know what, Greg, I think you're right, and that's why that's why I kind of brought it up. The panic for me comes from the fact that I think that the Shanahan's um have been good head coaches because they are a tad

cutthroat and you've got to make the right decision. And this is Kyle Shanahan's Super Bowl window in San Francisco. I'm not saying you can make a change right now, but I do agree with the sprinkling of panic that this is not the guy we thought we had when we signed him after a small sample size to a massive extension and now go ahead, Sorry, no, I just I think that we can look at the most recent game. I pointed a few things out, You point a few

things out. Gregg points a few things out. It seems to happen from game to game, and then he'll have a stretch where he is awesome and it's like it it kind of lays all the fears and everybody comes down and then a game like this pops up again. So Kenny iron that consistency inconsistency out of his game, Ricky, why don't you give us one? I was gonna say, maybe Belichick can see the future? Um okay, so um, how do you guys feel about DeShawn Watson Without DeAndre Hopkins?

Dating back to last season, Watson now has four consecutive games with a sub hundred passer rating, the longest such streak of his career. Panic or chill, I couldn't be chilling anymore. I mean qubcubulating garbage that hundreds pretty high, So I didn't even know what that means. Billy, Billy O'Brien. If he does one thing well, he'll scheme up a little more offense in a passing game than you think before.

Deshohn Watson post DeShawn Watson, I'm worried about him this week against that Ravens front, and I'm worried about Texans O line. But Watson will find a way. No Panic, I'm chilling because I just think to Shaun Watson, um is going to probably be the guy that can lift

an offense no matter what's around him. But I would say for all the people that kind of rode off DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona thinking he's just gonna be like a guy that puts up a five forty four row line weekend, I think people were called on him on Fantasy not saying that he's not a good player, but he was gonna be de emphasized in a four woman silva just say the name. You know, Sylva's not alone. I mean I think he was like his value went down and the logic was there, but then you watched

the game DeAndre Hopkins, DeAndre Hopkins. So ultimately what the Texans did was they removed a complete, raging star wide receiver from their offense. So I'd be more panicked about some of the decision making. And then with there's the back lash where it's like, now let's praise Bill O'Brien and he got went and got David Johnson. Well thanks, I know which player I'd rather have right now. And so I don't like that around Deshaun Watson at all. But like David Johnson looked way better than he did

last year. He was not deliberate this trade. Again, no we don't, but but we were on Thursday night and everyone else was. It's liked hops Well. I guess that's the point of trying to make like, can we all as a people agree? And I think we have terrible trade. But now the season started and this man's on this

team and this man's on that team. And I thought David Johnson did look really good h and I think Will Fuller so many stays healthy, is going to end up with numbers that could even rival what Hoppins did last year Houston. So I'm gonna say, Chill, I think there are a worse team, and that doesn't take a brilliant analyst to point that out. But I still think with Deshaun Watson, he's so special that I think the offense is going to figure it out. It's such a

it's borderline unfair. When you send these teams on the road to the defending champions in their season opener on a third day night, it feels like nine times out of ten they don't have any chance. And that's how it fell for Houston. I can't wait to see them in a more normalized and Baltimore this week. What did O'Brien do to get the schedule makers match reason Bill

has done a lot. I'm worried about the Texans just because of their schedule and why Jimmy g even though I don't believe in him, It's like their schedule is is very uh forgiving the next couple of weeks, just you know, hanging out and MetLife Stadium and playing the Dolphins soon. You know, it's pretty it's pretty easy, pretty nice, pretty nice. All right, let's go around the horn one more time quickly. I hope you guys had a chance to watch this game. I imagine you did. The Packers

Vikings week one. We all know what Aaron Rodgers did and what a fun thing that was to watch him turn into Aaron Rodgers again. But I want to talk about the Vikings apocalypse. I'm not gonna get two worked up about the offensive side of the ball because it was a weird game where the defense was couldn't get off the field and then by the time Kirk Cousins and this Stefan Digs free offense went to work the

game script that kind of flipped it. Just as a little wonky, but the defense wasn't competitive in this game. And maybe it gets better with the Neil Hunter when he comes back, but for one week at least, this was non competitive, both in the trenches and in the secondary. Greg is a time to panic or chill about the Vikings as a legit contender, But well, the way you phrase that is tricky. I'm gonna chill because of Mike Zimmer's track record coaching up defense for decades, really and

especially the secondary, I think has enough talent. The linebackers are good. The defensive line is a big time concern because even when Hunter gets back, it was it was their interior that was just blown off the ball and are a bunch of you know, rotation guys in the past or new players and don't look that talented. And yeah you got Angaqui and Hunter, but like that does not make you know, an entire defensive line. So that

that's a problem. But I think they'll be able to scheme their way into it and coach coach their way up as the season goes along. Well, I'm panicking. I'm a Vikings fan. I'm panicking panicking about the Vikings. Yeah, because I think the ceiling that team of eight and all these years later. No, No, I'm just looking at the team I watched on Sunday and the team that I watched, um there the floor version of the team that I watched last year, and and to be the

Vikings teams that really had a chance. I mean a lot of it just started with it started with your defense. And there's too much happening there right now. And yeah, you played a great opponent, but not a lot of people expected Aaron Rodgers to do that in Week one. That's why it's a raging story that Aaron Rodgers came out and looked like he had been shotgunned out of

like a two thousand and twelve cannon. So I mean, if I'm Minnesota, I'm freaking because you're probably like a nine and seven team and it's the same old story, or you're eight and eight, or you're you're one and done, and I mean I think finally, if you're if you're in Minnesota, you have to say the ceiling needs to be higher, and there's re HEAs into panic if the organization is going to float along being one of the you know, fourth or fifth or six or seventh best

teams in their conference. I'm I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum on this. I'm in a total chill scenario. Bad game, they got caught with their pants down in week one and Aaron Rodgers was something to prove. Was I think a really bad combination. But the coaching is good, the roster is good, and yes, I agree with you Mark that this team seems to have a couple of stinkers in them every year. They got one out of

the way in week one. I think this is a double digit win team and will be coming out of Week two after they perform well being like okay, things are back on track. Maybe that's what I think. All right, who's up? I can go. I'll throw the Chargers offense out there. Whether we're panicking or chilling about a Charger's offense, who uh you know, despite Joe Burrow having his struggles with with trailing until very late in the game against the Angles defense without a lot of talent, Sessleric Well,

I here's the thing. I don't think I'm panicking. I think the Chargers um shame on them if they thought they were gonna get a whole lot more out of this whole thing. I watched that game, um, you know, partly to check out the Bengals for TNF. Tyrod Taylor great guy, fun guy on hard knocks. We all agree, a campaign killer. You're gonna have to make a switch

at some point, can everyone at you know? The one thing that the one thing that bugs me a little bit is that the coaching staff talks about all these things that Tyrod Taylor can bring to the offense. What I see is what he takes away from an offense. I just I think he's a mobile guy. That's great, but that's not that big of a differentiator in terms of what Tyrod Taylor is doing with that These days,

they're a field goal offense with him. Austin Ekeler has been essentially like de emphasized, they don't do they don't check down to him in the passing game that Anthony lynn basically said, We're not going to do that with Anthony Lynnett with are as much this year, that's your best player. Mike Williams makes a few amazing grabs in that game, but if he doesn't like the offense is

a stink bomb. And then you have a rookie quarterback among them all that I think I want to see it, but it just does not seem completely ready for prime time. Might be shoved into the fire too soon. It's not a great situation. You were five and eleven last year. What are you supposed to be doing in the NFL? Why was Tyrod Taylor's advertised to us as a starter? I never really bought it to begin with. I'm gonna chill, but only because I didn't come into the season thinking

the offense is gonna be very good. And I think it's an offense that on most games you're gonna be lucky if they give you twenty three points, you know that. I feel like they're ceiling most weeks. Is gonna be hoping to win a lot of like thirteen games, and this was a step below that. And it's in week one, you know, on the road. So I think they'll be better than they were in Week one. I think Tyrod

Taylor will be better. I think Austin Ekeler will get more involved than they'll figure out ways to do it because I like Anthony Lynn, but this is who the Chargers are until and if Justin Herbert can play the guitar. Mhmm, I'm panicking a little about the approach because there was it was the third highest percentage of runs Anthony Lennis had. This is what he wants to do. He's told you they had three tight ends on the field half the time.

He just wants to run out. They were losing in the game and they and they had the highest Like he is living out of three. He's so happy to be done with Philip Rivers so he can play the style of football he wants. And I don't know if a love works. I think I mentioned this uh before the season started, but it was so odd to me that Philip rivers name never came up once in five episodes of Hard Knocks, that that was kind of an underrated subplot, that there was bad blood behind the scenes

and that was a bit of a messy divorce. Uh. And it played out because when you have a legendary quarterback in your team's history that goes away after eighteen years or whatever it was, and then it's not even something that people bring up his name out of respect. No, there's something cooking behind the scenes there and maybe maybe at the lynch shouldn't have been so excited. Can I dan one thing that you said, because this is sort of where my problem is because I I you, guys,

we I love Anthony Lynn. Um. I felt so differently about him after watching Hard Knocks. I liked the whole team. I like Tyrod Taylor. But you go into a season saying we want to win games nineteen to sixteen, that's who we want to be. It's I mean, it just it feels to me like it's it's not all. It's not Tyrod Taylor's fault necessarily legs. Maybe those legs aren't. He used to be maybe the second best running quarterback in the entire NFL. He was an electric runner and

he just hat didn't really use it anymore. You haven't seen it in a few years. But he's only about I think he's thirty one maybe, and he hasn't sustained any major injuries in recent years. I would imagine the athleticism is still there. Uh, does anybody have one more? Before we? I had have a quick one for you. I mean because this one, I kind of go both ways because I don't know how much wiggle room you have to um give game this away. The Cowboys offensive line, Um,

it's it's banged up. I don't think Tyron Smith. People to say, you know, you watch a primetime it's Tyron Smith. Well, yeah, but it's not the same Tyron Smith. Okay, Joe Looney, these guys were fine on Sunday Night, but if you go look at the scores, pff and sort of the overall feel you're right side. Connor Williams and Terrence Steele were hot messes. Uh. You don't have la all Collins back for a while. You've lost Blake jar Win a tight end um, so you're losing creativity in terms of

how you can block. And when we think of offensive lines, I think sometimes you know, if you're just sort of more watching it from year to year, you get caught in what a team has been characteristically like, this is not the Cowboys offensive line of old, and I think it affects Dak Prescott, panic or chill. I would say that panic in the sense that there was a time where it doesn't matter who they were playing, they're going to handle their business on that front. But that might

be over now. And when you get a an Aaron Donald led defensive line and he was like bullying Zack Martin. Uh, even on Sunday Night, they might have gotten to the point where they're vulnerable against truly great lines, would still will be able to hold their own against everyone else. So overall a chill, but with an acknowledgement that it's not the same team anymore. I'm gonna chill just because I think the offensive person Noel, can mostly make up for.

There are other points of concern for me on this team, but I'm gonna I'm gonna have some faith in Dac and those receivers and Zeke to just make up for You're right, the line is not going to be the same now. My expectations are not there. But if as long as the line can be average, I think that the other players can lift them up. Okay, last quick one before we get to Thursday night preview. Uh panic or chill? Chris Berman's grip on the cultural zeitgeist Gartner,

you know across my what what? Who? Like? What? We were? Jet and I were watching the game last night and I'm sitting in this bean bag that we have and She's on the couch and I we both look at each other like what the just happened? Like? Who is now? This hits on? Ricky's hitting on something that's interesting to me because uh, Erica and Jet are obviously significantly younger

than us. They're in their twenties, and they didn't come from the generation where Chris Berman was famous for doing things like he's from a bygone era and now when you bring them up, you take him out of mothballs and throw them on this halftime show on ESPN. There's gonna be a lot of people that were born like after that don't even have the context to understand what the hell is going on. And I just don't think

it's for us. It's supposed to be a nostalgia driven and I guess Miles varies on that, but for everyone else, it's like a total w t F. I don't know if ESPN has piece that together yet. I for me, like it is nostalgic, but I can separate from the fact that, like I'd be panicking over in general ESPN's decisions about their primetime football over the past couple of years, and that this still seems like something that they're sitting around in production meetings saying this sings this is how

you this is how you do football. Well, I go ahead, Ricky, so serious, like I'm the halftime and here we are, and you know, it's going to be a tough one. It's like very quiet and out of nowhere, and I was like, what is what is happening? Here's the thing, though he's been on that halftime show permanently, it's never he's never not been on that halftime show. And I'm with you, Um, it's it's a little much. But hey,

you know, NFL Prime Time still going. And Tom Jackson understandably decided to opt out this year because of COVID and just stay and safe, and so you're adding a little bit of younger blood with Booger, and so it's Berman and Booger, and Booger brings the that's your cell. Okay, Wait is that a panic or is that a chill? I'm just I'm I'm I'm along for the ride. The website's website Awful Announcing, which does a good media criticism

put it very well. I thought, Uh, they used to cover the Chris Burman late Monday night games with great fervor because of how they often went off the rails in those last few years. They called the decision to continue keeping Burman on the year long after his heyday institutional hubris. All right, let's get to a Thursday Night football. And by the way, I say that having grown up on Chris Burman and I've totally stole Lujiman And some

people think that that's me being original. No, I just stole that from Chris Burman, who did it a million times in the nineties on ESPN Prime Time. So all due respect to the big Man ultimately, but we're just having some fun here, all right. The Thursday Night Football Cleveland Browns Cincinnati Bengals. Uh, Mark, I imagine if we extended the segment uh panic or chill into this conversation, I have an idea where you would fall. Yeah, I mean I would I think from the from the world

of you know, Brown's hot and cold stuff. Um, it's a little panicky. They just didn't show up at all on Sunday. Um. I couldn't be more concerned about how long it's gonna take this offense to get its wheels going when you're watching other first year head coaches come out and uh move parts around. I mean, I know, I know that, like the Carolina Panthers fell apart on that last play there, but Matt Rule, you know who, People thoughts could take ten weeks for this team to

get together. That offense was fun to watch, I thought, and Cleveland's was the opposite. Um, here's the thing, and I'm I'm not gonna filibuster here Austin Cyber gets cut for another terrible open. He gets picked up by the Bengals. I have seen this act in this movie. No, but this is this is like, Greg, Greg, you gotta understand something, Greg.

It's a team that is getting killed right now because everyone thinks Odell Beckham wants to get traded again or they want to trade Aldo because Mike Francessa put a tweet out. Okay, everyone left and right is ready to pounce on Baker Mayfield and destroy them. This is the last thing I want happening on national television. I want the team to have a chance to grow to It's all over the place now, and it's like, what's going on? I wait to hear from Mike Lombardi before I decide

which of aging football pundits it's fair. I just I you know, the thing is like you, we keep saying we want to watch quarterbacks that make teams fun. We want to watch fun teams, and you know you sign

up for one and you're not gonna walk away. I'm not walking away from them, but this is a sliding This is a black mirror scenario that has happened so many times during the course of our podcast, and it really dips into kind of evil feelings at points where I'm just like, this is not enjoyable, and the last thing I want is to have Twitter going absolutely nuts every It's all the same characters freaking out about Joe Burrow topping Baker Mayfield on Thursday Night, all the little chucklers,

and it's like, it's not fun. It's not fun being a fan of this. There's twenty nine more interesting, intriguing, fun teams right now. Well, they weren't fun, that's for sure. I only was making a little light of the cyber thing because I saw Tony Gross. He was covered them forever, you know, to say the same thing. It's like, oh, you know, they should have like waited an extra day before they cut cyber, because now it's gonna come back

to hanum. If Brown's fans are worrying that cutting cyber is gonna be the thing that makes or like problems, then you're looking at it and we're looking at it from the POV like a techno crowd on whether or not Austin Cybert is a good roster edition it's the kicker that you cut forty eight hours before beating you

on Thursday night. To do with the person or the person, I don't want to sound I don't want to sound flip here, Mark, But if Cyber ends up killing you, that probably means you at least played a close, competitive game. And teams like the Browns and My Jets are included of that didn't even compete in week one, So maybe

that is progress even if if that happens. But yeah, I think this is gonna be because that Week to Thursday game is sneaky way up there in terms of visibility because people are still in love with the fact that football is back and it's the only game. And if Baker Mayfield and this offense and it's not all on Baker, it's it's the whole thing. But he is at the front of it, and Odell Beckham certainly is prominently involved with this too, after he bombed out in

week one. They need to deliver here. They need to step up and put points on the board and look dangerous or whatever the hell you want to walk in silence. Do whatever you gotta do, but just put some points on the board, and don't put all the pressure on your defense, uh to stop Joe Burrow, because you don't want that to happen, you know, because that happened to

me on Thursday night football. In fact, my team when Baker came in against the Jets when he was a rookie and he started getting confident and he was feeling it, uh in primetime under the lights. Put some points on the board and put the rookie quarterback in the spot where the maybe the game script is off and he has to throw the ball more than he wants and you start getting some turnovers. Don't bomb out on offense here, because that's when you're really gonna put yourself uh in

position for another embarrassing game. Yeah. My My thing, more Mark is is it's just not about Cyber It's not. It's it's about not being an embarrassment on offense. Because last week's game, they were the most disappointing team. I thought in Week one that was straight out of the Freddie Kitchens. Um, you know, you know best of list.

I mean, they couldn't have made more mental mistakes. He got Baker and uh Stefanski talking about what play they want to run on fourth and one with about six seconds on the play clock, you know, left before they like start sprinting in and try to stay like everything was sloppy. And I do go back to the Mayfield Beckham connected. It's not being unfair to them. They when he throws it to Odell Beckham, bad things happen and

they gotta fix that. They gotta fix it fast, because that was one of the worst, like one of the worst um quarterback to wide receiver connections in the league last week was Mayfield to Beckham, Beckham dropping passes. He did a ton of that last year, mental mistakes, Mayfield's missing throws even when he is protected. Offensive line played well, running game was good. That that that wasn't the problem. So I'm not panicking either because it's only one week.

But it was about as bad as a week one as you can get. And and I think the Thursday game is also tricky, Dan, because you have to play two games in five days after not playing anything all season. You are not conditioned for that, and so it's a recipe for more ugly football. I mean, if I were to panic about the Bengals to flip it to them

for one minute. I mean, they're all offensive line in that game against the Chargers, and I get that you're playing, um a cast of characters from the Los Angeles side. Was was one of the worst games I've seen by an offensive line, and you know, more credit to Joe Burrow for even surviving and making a few plays down the stretch. Joe Burrow was not perfect. I keep hearing

that Joe Burrow had this great debut. I mean he was forced into some really bad decisions and looked like a deer in headlights, and also made some great throws where you saw what Joe Burrow can be. I don't know if I trust Cleveland's defense to make any sort of impact the way the Chargers did that could open things up for Joe Burrow. A j Green looked pretty good.

I mean, I could see that connection growing. And I'll say this last thing about Odell Beckham that the last time Baker Mayfield was really dangerous was before Odell Beckham was on this team. That's eighteen and that's when Baker Mayfield was the unquestioned alpha male of the Browns. And I do wonder a little bit about this what I see with Odell Beckham, and you can tell me if you say something different. Is Baker feeding it to Beckham when it doesn't always make sense and Beckham just making

terrible drops in the last game. I mean the chemistry was there. I mean, has been a better player for Cleveland. By the same time, it's more reliable. He's been better. I don't see why that should continue forever. It really shouldn't, but that's just been the facts. I think that was that was ignored when Beckham got traded to the Browns and everybody saw it as the heist of the century. Is like the Giants. How to deal with a lot of crap with Beckham and part of his whole thing

is keep him happy, to get him the ball. Everything has to be right. But when things aren't going well, as Beckham the type of guy that makes a team better, or does he drag you down further? Through seventeen games of the experience, I'm not sold on the guy. I guess I never really have. But it's gonna be a fun game. Maybe not for you, Mark, and I get it because I feel the same as you, especially when you're vulnerable after week one. But two people that are

less connected to the two teams. It's it's a fun matchup and I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's one of the better Thursday night football games will get all year. Hopefully plays out that way. I'm with you. It's a big game too, you can wipe it all

the way. One and one feels great. It's I know you're you're afraid that this is the worst case scenario losing the Bengals, but the flip side of his, you're playing a team that's not that talented and is beatable, and you just the Browns just have to find a way to beat them. I'm I'm kind of shocked that Browns are as heavily favored as they are. I mean, people say, yeah, what's happening there? It's borderline not lockable, which seems crazy, but not that is absurd to me too.

Um But but I don't think the Bengals really did much to impress in week one, um in any way, and so that that that should make you feel a little better. Okay, let's let's get out of here. Reminder, Thursday will be our week to preview episode Saturday morning on NFL Network. You'll have the network program which is a version of the preview episode. Please check that out. And of course Thursday Night, I don't know, Mark, You're gonna be with us Rain or Shine Thursday Night Recap TVD.

I mean, you know I'll be in my house, so why not. I mean, if it goes horribly, I think it would be it would lack nobility to not show up. I mean when it's not like this is my first experience with the Browns dropping a gigantic egg on my onlike a primetime game or big spots, So I'll be there.

By the way, it's it's cathartic to be able to speak about your team like this, Mark, but it is another reminder that you've told us fourteen times in the offseason that you weren't that you weren't that on board, that you weren't that plugged in. And I could feel how much this game means to you. So I also sincerely hope it goes well. Thank you. I also have been saying for over a month that they would start.

Oh and two, I know you're protecting yourself and I am actually just predicting probably the future, and everyone's like, no, Mark, like you just have to be optimistic. It's like, excuse me, thirty four years into this Browns like rooting for the Browns thing, I kind of have a glass fund like impacting doom. But I was gonna say, like, if you already knew they were gonna go own too, why you

so passionately upset right now? I understand that's that's the struggle within a true fan, because it's different when it's just this thing in the clouds in August. Now it's like everyone's starting to here we come with all the laughter and the giggles. Ever, either going to turn it off or I'm gonna change those texts. The text that could come on Thursday night, I'm not going to be

texting weeks. We're gonna have to be like, hey, you gotta delete this, Mark, you got to take this down, Like no, Like it's not even interesting to tweet negatively about the Browns at this point. So yeah, but we'll get some I'll be getting text like, hey have you

heard from Mark? Like is he okay? Like because you'll tweeted like wandering the streets with my children dragging behind me, like never returning, Like no, maybe check out our stuff on NFL dot com Greg has his great end of Sunday wrap up and do you have something else that files before week two? Greg got the picks picking games this year your pick them games? Uh, And also the network show Power Rankings are up. They go live every

Tuesday morning and very excited. Me and Matt money Smith are on the network every Tuesday at three pm Eastern noon Pacific with the Power Ranking Show and Scisslor. You have your weekly column as well. Hot or Not. It's sort of just things that I think are cool, that I like, things I think should be shot into the space, into deep space. I think Eric hired doing a little, uh weekly fantasy thing that we basically write four minutes

before we do it. So Hot or Not. That's how Facebook started, right, you know that was well, I hope this has a similar to I might be an IP issue, but you guys worked that out. Okay. That's it's Dan Anthon signing off for Quiet Storm, the old Boss Ricky Hollywood and in there Buddy Kiltarsday. If A. J. Green didn't have that like captain appearance, but talking about that part down like you would have been talking completely. I've heard about the Yeah, oh for sure, that's yeah. Alright,

Erica's right. Though, Erica's right. If he would have went down the field burrow and through the game when he touched down to drop, it would have been people would have been going back