The Around the NFL podcast, But he leaves and a thing called loow. Just listen to the rythm of my Heart.
From the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's Around the NFL. My name is Dan hansis got a hero here, Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler just dudes a little bit more time. He's getting closer to a return and also joining us. Greg is the great. It's Wolf Wednesdays.
Colleen Wolf, Hell, what's up?
How are we doing?
Colleen? Colleen CALLI I like it.
Wow, this is amazing.
Wow.
I'm sure the listeners love this.
There's so many, so many white boy overbites right now.
It's as if the John love It's character from Wedding Singers made a song.
Just for you.
I love it.
He's losing his mine and I'm reaping all the benefits.
All right, it's pretty good.
That is John Judkins with a Connie Fox Miami.
Seems like John crushed it.
It's got a little bit of an epic crescendo to it, a little purple rain vibe to it. All right, that's enough of that. We told you guys to keep it under the thirty seconds. Let's check out. Let's check out.
Another one. You got it?
Oh my god, there's more.
Hey everybody, it's Colleen Walls.
Oh this is like a not like brand new, but like a Fallout Boy.
Yellow card. Oh that's fun, punchy.
And he took the note to the thirty second note.
That was very nice.
That's Shane Burgess another Colleen theme. Keep them comming, everybody, because you know they calm in all shapes and sizes and and tones and feels.
Huh.
And I'm feeling pretty good about both of those. Thank you, Shane and John.
I like the electric guitar one like I walk around my house doing sound drops just of electric guitars a lot like singing to my dogs.
So you're about yourself.
It's usually songs introducing yourself to the room.
Hello, coming up next breakfast?
So here we are, we got we got the the trio here.
Well, I think that's Marks Levi theme song, isn't it.
There's they're all just label guitar riffs, so some time they get mixed up. You know, there's lots of guitar riffs here that could be an ore you kidding me?
Rift there's a lot, and there are a lot of layers and a lot of the history is rich and once famously said on Public Access Philadelphia area, gotta hit those golf courses in the Poconos whenever you can. H This is the Wednesday edition of Around the NFL Hump Day.
Greg.
You shared with this privately that hump Day can sometimes be challenging for you.
Well, you were trying to say that, I wasn't trying to say vibe to me today, and I'm saying, yeah, this is like a low energy It's it's an EBB day.
Different vibe a.
Little bit of because he's saying that he's low energy. But he has been a little bit of an overachiever. If you ask me already today he over ader.
Perhaps there was some on our messenging client. You were doing some things, asking for things you usually don't ask for. Then we had a lighting issue in the studio and Greg hopped up and started hitting buttons trying to get the lighting turned out.
He showed me how to do the lighting for Monday night. He sent out at power.
On, he sent out an interoffice memo about something, just getting his hands around another end of our enterprise.
You've been he's active, he's guilt, he's morphing, into his old like boss self.
I mean, it's always there. I keep it under wraps, but it's always there.
Just think it easy, Bud. Everything's under control. Everything's good.
Dan's offended that I asked for a newsdrop. Apparently we just don't normally do news on Wednesday, and we got news, so I asked for said we need a news drop, that's all.
I think it's a good book.
It was outside your purview, typical purview, that's all. And I wasn't offended by it, but I clocked it. It's like, that's a little different. And then I get here and you're a whole different person. You're all over the place today.
That's good. You want to be unpredictable and you are.
Wild card coming up a little bit later today.
And yes, because we have a little bit of a different Greag today, I'm excited to see what he comes up with when we talk about what you people don't realize in the NFL. Right now, as we are now heading headlong into the second half of the regular season, we also will hit some of the primetime previews the Island games. Connie, of course, the face and the anchor, get a tight shot of this.
One she's got the library look going on today.
I have my library.
This is the face outside Thursday Night Football Coverage Network.
It does robocns moving in.
Don't happen.
Oh wow, I've seen like, I don't know five of these and ten years I've worked here.
All right, So.
We'll talk Thursday Night Football, Talk, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night football. But first, yes, we got a little bit of a housekeeping in the news, big news.
Actually, here's what I would say for because I tell my family this, just wear a diaper before some of these games.
And I'll give him an a word to say, put them on and be ready to roll.
You know.
That is from ninety seven to one in the ticket, and that is of course Dan Campbell.
And I could give you some context on why he's saying, but I choose not to.
Just know that he suggests that his family wears a diaper per game.
Yeah, that games are crazy, and you know he should get it. Get a little crazy. You might be your bands.
See. I wasn't going to give the context, Greg jump.
I mean, what is the context again? Context?
Right?
I didn't have any initiative, Greg, He's on fire today.
I'm gonna go poop. What's that from?
Some of these you just sit on and you sit on and you wait. Now from it was a pooper pop over summer season.
You could never have picked a better moment to use it.
That was sometimes you just hold through. I may never played again, but you.
Can leave the studio because you're not gonna be what you just did there. Let's get to the news. Uh, you know who's pooping their pants? And fear the Cleveland Browns because, uh, the quarterback that they mortgage their future for and a lot more than just their future is out for the season. Deshaun Watson needs shoulder surgery after sustaining an injury against the Ravens and that dramatic comeback win. I have a missive to share from the raven from
the Browns. On Watson's injury, Deshaun Watson underwent magnetic resonance imaging open parenthetical MRI closed parenthetical Monday on two injuries sustained on different plays in the first half of Sunday's thirty three thirty one win over the Baltimore Ravens. Imaging on his left ankle revealed a high ankle sprain. In addition, postgame to sewn notified our medical staff of a new discomfort in his right shoulder that he felt after a hit in the first half an MRI that is a
magnetic resonance imaging. They didn't add it again, but it's funny to me at the first time of his right shoulder revealed a displace fractured to the glenoid, despite performing
at a high level and finishing the game. After consultation with Brown's head physician James Booz, MD and industry leading shoulder specialist Neil Ellatratch, MD, it had been determined that hisn't I'm still reading by the way, that this injury will require immediate surgical repair to avoid further structural damage to Shawn will be placed on season ending injured reserve and a full recovery is expected for the start of the twenty twenty four season.
They need an editor.
Greg disastrous for the Browns, their playoff hopes for the first forty percent of this five unprecedented five year contract, and a little bit as as has been the case really throughout this saga around Watson, even just within the prism of this year alone, a little bit weird that statement anyway.
The statement was weird all the insistence and conversation from all the reporters who were carrying the water for Watson last year, just pointing out how he played through pain and all the details of this injury, and really like loading it up to the point of like that we don't normally get in.
I don't know.
I just don't know why, because no one's doubting that he's hurt, No one would doubt that he wants to play football and that this injury is a real thing. But it just felt like it's it's pushing this whole explanation out there because I think there's some sensitivity to what happened over the last month when he was off
and on the field in terms of his injury. And there's so much sensitivity that you hear it from the reporters, you hear it from Andrew Barry, you hear in the statement, and it all doesn't matter because you feel for this team and it's obviously an unfortunate, you know, turn for Watson himself, who can't stay on the field, whether it's because of you know, his sexual assault or whether it's
because of injuries. He hasn't been able to play for the Cleveland Browns and They're stuck in a really tough spot where they have the best defense in the league in my mind, and an offense that's overcome a lot of injuries, and I just don't see like that they have that much of a future at six and three ruins a great season.
Yeah, it's such a bummer because that division is so good, and even with the Bengals at whatever they are right now approaching five and five, which feels weird and outside of the playoff picture in general, but it's just such a competitive division and we knew down the stretch that all of the teams within that division would be beating
each other up. And whatever you think about the Steelers, if you buy into them, are not Like now, the Browns are essentially mirroring the Steelers because they have a good defense and the offense is not going to be what's winning them games.
And well it wasn't to begin with Watson Sharmerfield.
As you said, They've overcome a lot throughout the season thus far, and now they face the Steelers coming up on Sunday. Both teams are six and three and a half game behind the Ravens and they have Doyle Thompson, Robinson starting and after that.
It'll be PJ. Walker.
So it is just such a bummer because Jim Jim Schwartz came in and did such a good job with this defense and Miles Garrett is having a Defensive Player of the Year type season and usually those awards are given out to teams that.
Make it very far. And I don't know what happens from here on out now for.
The Browns, the decision to start DTR is pretty surprising. Yeah, and compelling. He struggled big time in that one start he had. I just think it's it was a compelling decision to make after how much he struggled in that was a lot about PJ Walker also fair And look, their season's not over. They they've won games with PJ Walker, They've beaten good teams with PJ Walker.
Yeah, they're not they're done though. They're not gonna win a super Bowl. They thought they probably could with Deshaun Watson if he was healthy. It's a they don't have Nick Chubb of course, who had a second knee surgery this week.
And they could make the playoffs though, And sure, and.
We'll get into there's some AFC talk. We're going to talk about later in the show. They're a major sliding hold on that major She's gonna share us some more, give us a little more detail on the Brown statement in a moment, but a major turns out. And who would have ever predicted a major sliding doors moment of the NFL season now is at the eve of end of training camp sending Joshua Dobbs out of that building to the Cardinals for like a Day three draft pick.
They would have had a really interesting backup and they and they moved him because they thought they were set at the position and they are not set at the position.
Here's de shann Watson.
By the way, some of the reporting out there that felt like a little like eyebrow askew, almost melodramatic. Here's a report from our own Tom Pellisero. The doctors were clear to Deshaun Watson if he were to get hit again in the same spot, the shoulder.
Could fall apart.
Okay, here is here is Deshaun Watson himself speaking to the media.
Yeah, I'm still in disbelieve. I'm still I said, just trying to process all the information that I've I've been getting since last night.
It's tough.
You know, I've you know, I felt like we were turning the corner to really make a run. And you know, I still believe we still will, you know, with the guys in this locker room. You know, I just wanted to be physically a part of it on the field with those guys. And you know, six weeks I was down and try to come back, and the two weeks later, you know, back at it again. So yes, it is tough to try to, you know, wrap everything around my head right now.
Here's here's who I feel the worst about is for Browns fans because I can relate to this and it's like you, every time it feels like something good is happening, something terrible happens. And they and Browns fans got pulled into this whole Watson saga.
They didn't have any control over that.
And they have this incredible win over the Ravens where they come back and it's this hated team from Baltimore that took the original Browns and you don't even get to savor that and look ahead, all of a sudden you get this news on Watson. So it's a it's a real bummer for Cleveland. A franchise that is probably just like what did we do in another life?
Right, and in Miles Garrett and Dalvin Thomlinson and zidarias certain you don't have to have been there a long time Denz Award like those guys. This was I think the best Browns team we've seen. I know that the offense was better in that one year with Baker, but this had a chance and we saw it in the
second half. And Browns fans are going to be able to hold on to that second half of that game where Watson hit those passes, But even then it was more about these schemed up, very Baker like throws, quick throws to guy that we're open. Stefanski I think was doing a great coaching job. Their offensive line, who was really injured, is playing well too, And you still don't
know what you have in Watson. And here's the thing with how Watson's played this year's I'm already tired of how it's going to be like legislated over the offseason and stuff, because it was mediocre in the last two weeks were there were definitely signs of life over the last two weeks for PFF had him grad as the number sixteen quarterback out of thirty four qualifiers, which was an upgrade.
Like, he looked better.
He had some good moments, some good deep throws two weeks ago, certainly made the winning plays that he needed to. But on balance, he started almost a full season for the Browns now thirteen games, and he's been mediocre at best.
Oh.
Yeah, and the injury is really important to clock two because I think the Browns fans will think, like, Okay, well, we'll get him back. He's guaranteed over sixty million dollars the next three years or whatever guaranteed each of those years. He's our quarterback, and he will be fine. But they would have never made this trade with the information that
they have now. Number one, that he was going to miss as much time as he did last year, and number two that he's now coming off a serious shoulder injury. So there are legitimate concerns that A he wasn't the same player to begin with, and b he's now coming off of a serious injury and he's has, you know, the best contract in the history of the sport, way less flexible than.
A Mahomes or Josh Allen or any of those guys.
Yeah, and it's interesting that the Browns. They traded Josh Dobbs to the Cardinals, and now look what Josh Dobbs is doing for the Vikings. So they could have been in the situation where Josh Dobbs could be started.
They could have last week though, And I never mentioned on this show, or maybe I did, I can't remember, but Dobb said on his own podcast, he has a podcast, by.
The way, a guy guy.
He's got a podcast with Tray Smith, who's an offensive lineman on the Chiefs R. It's interesting, and on that podcast he mentioned right after Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals told him that he wasn't going to be traded, that almost immediately afterwards, his agent said, you're going to be traded. It was that money they get in lie to you basically, and you're going to be traded, and this is last week to the Vikings or the Browns, and so that
the Browns. I don't you can't know, but you would think that the agent at that point knew there was some level of interest from the Browns and potentially bringing him back.
That didn't happen. And it's just a funny.
It's crazy initiative, Greg, where you listening to the Josh Dobbs and Chiefs Lineman podcast.
No, but they it was.
It was.
It was tweet It was tweeted out last Friday, and I was like, oh, this is interesting.
I did listen to it to see what was going on.
Kevin Cole, who is uh Kevin Cobb, formerly formerly a PFF now with unexpected Points, had this tweet for twelve games of bottom ten QB played. The Browns have already paid to Sean Watson over ninety million dollars as they owe him another fully guaranteed forty six million per year through twenty twenty six, and his cap hit the next three seasons is sixty four million.
Sorry I should have said, yeah, that was the cap hit.
That was six.
Also, just wanted to add a little context to the displaced fracture and is right glenoid.
Give me a little glenoid heat.
So just a quick Google search.
Right, already knows it, but you tell the people.
Yeah, he took the initiative already to google it. The glenoid cavity is a shallow oceous element that is structurally deepened by fibro cartilagenous rim.
Pretty good.
The glenoid lab room that spans.
The oseous periphery of the vault.
That's a sentence. That's just one sentence.
So I could go on, but I won't have no idea.
I'm not giving up on this Browns team. I still think they could win when they could. I think they could hold that thought for later because it connects to something that I agree with. But it's a crusher, you know, A crusher also for Ken Dorsey, who took over for Brian Dable as the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills. Probably one of the best jobs in the sport from that position because of Josh Allen and the amount of talent on that team and a real springboard like for
it was for Dable for Dorsey. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. The Bills, after a bitterly disappointing Monday night loss to the Broncos, which we Greg and I talked about in depth on our previous show, fired Dorsey on Tuesday. The team announced quarterbacks coach Joe Brady will take over as the interim oc.
Here Is McDermott on the decision.
I just felt like it was it was time for change. You know, we need to be a confident offensive football team and find consistent production. And that's really where it.
Came down to Conn.
Here's what It's a little bit weird about this a lot. And maybe Dorsey didn't gail with Allan and the offense the way Dable did. Okay, and that's fine. There are a lot of factors. It's not just the coach. And he was the scheme choice very close. Yes, he already loved the move to promote him. The reason they blew that game on Monday had nothing to do, in my opinion, with the scheme. It was sloppy ball handling. It was
a penalty at the end of the game. It was in general, the skill players at running back and at quarterback not getting the job done. And it's weird to me that and I understand why, because this is how the sport works. You find someone to pin it on and then you try to pivot and get some new momentum in your season. But it does it rings untrue firing them off this game when I don't think it
was the scheme that sunk the Bills. In fact, they had two like incredibly impressive drives in this game that reminded you that that's in them.
Yeah, and I wonder to myself if there weren't too many men on the field at the end of that game and the Bills came away with a win.
Ken Dorsey still has a job.
I think last year he led this offense, they were the second ranked in total offense and points per game, Like he still has the ability to do that. But they just haven't been able to put it all together. And obviously this was there's a discipline thing with the bad decisions and the turnovers and the too many men on the field at the end, but this clearly is it has been a slow burn because there's no other reason that this should have happened for Ken Dorsey, but.
They needed a fall guy. They needed to blame someone.
These the starts for the offense for the Bills have been really slow this season. There are points when you look at I kind of think of the Bills from Week one to week five, because Week five is when I believe Trea Davius White went down, and then Week six was when they were in London and lost Matt Milano and Daikwon Jones, and so they are a different team since then with the injuries, and so I think since Week five they're points per game in the first half or almost fifty percent fewer.
And it's just the offense. Does it looks disjointed?
You have Trayvon Diggs, Stefan's brother, tweeting stuff about it.
It's Josh Allen's fault.
Oh pipe down treamon I use.
But clearly he's hearing stuff from Stephan And we know that all of the things that happened in last year, the frustration with Stefan Diggs when he left that playoff game, walked out.
Of the locker room.
They had to come and bring them back in because McDermott wanted to address the team like it's just it's not They're not a great team right now.
McDermott just seems so tight, you know.
And he was telegraphing this a little bit by down talking Dorsey, you know, politely publicly before this week that he wasn't happy, like that they needed to run the ball more. But like it is something where it feels like they are a disaster. But the numbers, for instance, would completely disagree that they're literally first in the NFL still in success rate like third and DVOA third, n EPA per play. They just turned the third red zone efficiency.
They just turned the ball over like crazy, and it's not like he's calling the fumble play.
A lot of the like Allan turnovers are on bad decisions by the quarterback rather than scheme deficient.
Even those, I feel like they've been in such big spots that there hasn't been that many. It'll you'll have nights like the other night which are mystifying where Gabe Davis has a drop that's an interception. Uh, and then like Alan just drops the ball while he's handing it to the running back. Like there's been like a weird amount of like those like mystifying type of plays.
The throw by Allan at the end of the first half just a terrible decision.
He had an interception that just got called back because the guy's toe was on the line, but had a double interception.
Here's the thing, though, when I thought now that we've had a day to think about it, Ken Dorsey has been in that building for five years. He was a QB coach. Josh Allen's worked with him that long. Sean McDermott hired him. He's worked with him that long. Like these are humans that are interacting on a like very intense le on a day to day basis at a very high stress job. And I think that's a lot of times more of the answer with stuff like this than anything that would show up in DVOA. That these
these two humans, and it's McDermott's call humans. He didn't want to work with Ken Dorsey anymore, he told us, because he fired him. He just didn't want to work with him. I don't know what the reason, Like, there could be a myriad of not personal, but like reasons that don't show up in just like how he's calling the places. There could be a lot of reasons for that. I don't know what they are. But McDermott wanted him gone, Like maybe he didn't want to hire him in the
first place. The idea was Josh Allen kind of pushed that, you know, very hard, that that was his pick. He really wanted to keep be good, to be a guy for whatever reason. Like they know each other about as well as as you could, you know, being in that building that long together, and he just he didn't want him anymore. He had another guy, Joe Brady, that he wanted more for whatever reason.
And he knows maybe a little like Frank Rag.
We talked about the other night, like, I don't know if I feel that comfortable my job, Sean McDermott, even though I got an extension, and I really feel strongly I want to go out this way or not go.
Out at all.
I talked to Omar Ruiz after the game because he was up there for it, and he said after the game that Ken Dorsey he saw him walking out of the building, and that he looked so despondent and disheveled, and that Omar just kind of knew at that point that something was up interesting.
I bet you didn't know that. Greg.
Actually I have Me and Omar were on a conference call this morning, a debrief.
Initiative Command Center.
I do it with all the reporters.
Just said that I like minority report.
I've actually got to go soon. I've got Stacy Dale's ten minutes.
All right, stay right there, Let's take a break, and then we will talk about what you people.
Do not realize. All right, welcome back.
Yes, yes, yes, everyone thinks they know what's going on in our league, but you want to know the truth. A lot of people don't know. A lot of people think they know what's going on.
Greg Okay, that's fired. But Colleen, they don't uh uh no, and.
That's why we're providing a service.
Would you like to kick off this segment called what you people don't Realize?
I would love to thank you very much. All right. So everyone's talking about c J.
Stroud right now and rightfully so he's getting a ton of hype and he deserves it all. But what you people don't realize is how impressive Sam Howell has been c J. Stroud. Let's just talk about it if we compare their numbers.
So c J.
Stroud twenty two years old at this point, he's passed for two thousand and six hundred yards, fifteen touchdowns, is one fourth quarter comeback, and two game winning drives.
Incredible. He's been awesome.
He's even been thrown into not just Offensive Rookie of the Year, but MVP. Sam Howell one year older, twenty three years old, he's leading the league with twenty eight hundred yards, seventeen touchdowns, two fourth quarter comebacks, two game winning drives, and he's doing it behind the worst offensive line in all of football. He was a fifth round pick last year. I consider this season his actual rookie year. So if we're talking about rookie quarterbacks.
Made one start last year in Week eighteen.
Yeah, it doesn't really count. And in the off season I felt like everyone was like Sam Howell, like what what are we doing here? And clearly they saw this talent. Now the team isn't really going anywhere this season, but they have a nice piece at the quarterback position.
I think about what Ron Rivera said right before the season started, talked about it on the show. I remember they said, if I would have realized what we actually had on our hands with Sam Howe last season, he
would have been playing way before he did. And then, you know, sometimes a lot of times, almost all the time, let's be honest, that's coach speak and tollow, and then the player comes out and he plays like you know, Desmond Ritter or one hundred other kind of mid round or late round draft picks that teams pump up and
then reality strikes. But in this case, Gregy how has gone out there, and Connie's right, I don't think people have been tracking because Washington just kind of lays in the weeds as an organization, and they've on balance had a very typical Washington year where they're just kind of in the middle. Not bad, not good, but he has been very productive in counting stats are counting stats, and
they don't like. For instance, the game winning drives for Stroud are way more memorable and impactful than Howels, which I don't even recall at the top of my head. And yet, and yet he needs to be credited and observed in a way that's way more fawning and closer to Stroud, closer, closer, not at the same level.
Right, Okay, and he did have that year.
I hear what you're saying, this is his rookie year, but I think it's a big advantage to have that year going through an NFL season and learning how to be a pro and all that stuff.
But you're absolutely right.
He leads the NFL in plenty of stats because he leads the NFL in attempts. And you can say, okay, that's why he leads the NFL in yards. Yeah, but he's also leading the league in attempts by seventy so they put a ton and now part of that is another by yet, but even attempts per game, he's well ahead of anyone else. The next closest guys are Allen and Burrow and Mahomes. It's like guys you can build
an offense around. So they've put a lot on his plate, and it's led to some mistakes, no doubt, but he's also handled it really well. Or a second year player, he is the leader according to PFF in big time throws this season Wow. And he's also right up there in turnover worthy plays. I think he's he's fifth, So that makes sense to me too, Like he's made some big mistakes, but he can play, man, I'm with you.
Not not enough people have been really recognizing that at the least he's going to be part of this show. Dan god willing for us the next you know, because you know me save it, save it.
But me and god In I haven't. I haven't believed in him, but he believes in me.
Service He's going to be in this show for the next eight to ten years. I just feel like it, like we're like, I don't know what team, I don't know how he's gonna be exactly, but he's just gonna be.
And even on that backhanded compliment that the show kind of gives out, it's like an at in trope. Oh yeah, he's played. He's gonna be in the league for a bunch of years as a backup. It's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, he is I'll.
Call it a mainstream starter, more exciting Tannehill, but someone that's just Tannehill's been in the mix the whole time.
And he's been sacked forty seven times this season. Then it's not even close too. The next most sacked quarterback is Zach Wilson at thirty three.
He needs and that's partly or even mainly on how like he has to clean that up too, right, but because he's going to get himself hurt, Like that's the thing. And if he gets one more hit, his shoulder will actually explode and go into outer space, says the reporting.
And he's been.
Improving I think the last two weeks against the Patriots, in actually three weeks Eagles, Patriots, Seahawks, he's played smarter. So that's good, you know, like you said, a first time starter. I think he's showing progress as he goes. He's getting better, all right, good start, good job calling. Way to get the segment off on the right.
You understood the assignment.
Guess what I actually I'm making strides.
I think last time we did a segment with you, you did something that was kind of mathematically impossible when you forked an entire division.
So where this is time progress.
It's held up pretty well. I'm I'm ready to fork the NFC South.
Well, we can't, though, somebody will be in the playoffs unless we can push a rule through.
I'm an innovator.
I like it.
I've always thought that, all right, But you guys are in over your heads because what you both in here and out there. People don't realize there's no good teams in the AFC.
Zero. Okay, I want you to pull up.
This is a gallaxy pull up. Don't realize this.
Pull up the conference standings and just start throwing throw out some teams.
Each of you.
Throw out a team, Go ahead, and I'm gonna give you for each team you throw out, three word explanation that explains why they're actually not good.
The defending Super Bowl champion with the defending MVP Kansas City Chiefs three words.
Taylor and Jackson, as in Taylor Swift and Jackson Mahomes upgrades over their current skill players.
Next, well, okay, talk Ravens. Three words.
Even Greg knows what else I don't know, just to you know, keep going, just to put it, you know, a nice meatball over the plate here.
How about the Buffalo Bills twelve seconds curse?
Oh Jaguars, Yeah.
Right, What else you got?
Now you're making Eric work harder?
Keep going? What do you got?
Texans?
Texans nice recency bias?
What else? Dolphins?
Dolphins, classic bully behavior.
Oh yeah, your team that you promised you would lock up every week despite them giving you two lock losses in a row, one when you picked against one when you picked for him.
The Cincinnati Bengals, they keep losing. Okay, well that's Dolphins, Okay, I said Dolphins.
Yeah, Steelers smoking mirrors, Browns, Dorian Thompson, Robinson through Dolphins.
Uh, classic bully behavior.
Everything They beat up on the fact, hit on the playground and then get pummeled by the strong.
I mean, did you even I wonder if you even wrote down quarterbout Los Angeles Chargers.
Uh? No, they're not even on They're not even on this list.
All right, it's got to be the Chargers year.
I hear what you're saying, like everyone's got flaws. But there was there was a podcast we did around week nine or ten last year, where the title for the recap was week like Week nine recap, Are there any good teams? And it's like this happens in the middle of this, But this year's teams have flaws.
And then by the end of the year, those teams.
Connecting to like the Browns talk from earlier in the show, I think the Browns obviously took a fatal blow to their Super Bowl hopes with the news today, but I think because of the nature of the conference, yes, there's absolutely a path to ten wins, and there's a path to making a little noise in the playoff, and there is a path to hope because this is a conference that just does not have any teams where I look
at and I go, okay, I absolutely trust you. The Chiefs are the closest one because of their pedigree, But all the data that's staring us in the face and the eye test that's staring back at us when we watch their offense tells us they're trying to figure things out and haven't been able to in half a season.
I think that's what makes it more exciting this year, that all of the parody and because it doesn't seem like there is a specific top tier. I mean, I think that the Chiefs and the Ravens are still up there, but there's not like some significant drop off because everyone has had these like insane games, terrible losses, like weird upsets. And I was actually thinking about you this morning, about
the AFC and a lot thinking about you. I was thinking about how happy you must be that you're not doing power rankings this year.
I couldn't even imagine.
Ok and you know, and just to elaborate, even Greg knows for the Ravens, you know what's going to happen to them. They're gonna get picked off in the playoffs in a horrific.
Ways, just gonna I think this may be their year.
Hey, Eric, doc like log this.
So when they have an almost like unbelievable playoff loss where they just like kick.
Away, I mean that happens to every team.
A specific type of loss, a raven Z loss.
Okay, all right, go ahead, I mean you're you're talking about the AFC.
Uh huh. But what you Philadelphia people.
This is a shot from early.
You came back early and this is Greg movie thoughout it and he said, Okay, now I'm coming.
I've been picking this team every week since the start of last season. But what I've started to realize, and what you you know, Philandering fanny pack wear, oh the diagonal fan boneheads don't realize is that the Eagles defense, especially their cornerbacks, are a problem. That they're not even good right now. The ones that are healthy are not playing well. They are nineteenth overall in EPA this year. Their defense, they are twenty second in past defense according
to DVOA. And you say, oh, they're injured in the middle. Last year went to the PFF Ringings. Their top three cornerbacks, Slay Bradbury of Anti Maddox who's out for the year, all top thirty out of the qualifiers. It was like, that's side of one hundred and fifty. This year, Slay, he's been okay, fifty ninth. That's your lead, Bradbury. We gave him a ton of money. He hasn't exactly shaken off that penalty had in the Super Bowl.
He's been struggling eighty seventh.
Anyone else on the list that you put in the middle that they've tried out, Josh job or Eli Rix or whoever has been out there. Bradley Roby off the street they're just buried. They're so low they basically don't compute. But they're at the very bottom. They can't cover right now on the outside, and you don't realize it.
Connie, are you picking against the Eagles this week?
I am, Wowsie, I am. I mean they're playing the Chiefs on the run.
I don't remember you doing that.
I have not picked against the Chiefs, I mean against the Eagles, and I still think they can win the Super Bowl. But this defense, I just think they haven't played the right opponent to like expose it necessarily. But the defense has been it's left me wanting, especially the past defense you want.
I don't love this vibe, but I see it. I understand it. Like they also have a new defensive coordinator this year. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but you're right, the back end has not been as good. They still have a great pass rush. Yeah, looking at the sacks that they have so far the season. I know it's not all about sacks, but they have thirty sacks so far the.
Season through nine games. Last year they had twenty nine.
It's everything else, even the linebackers who actually grade out decently well and I think they've been coached up pretty well this year. They're not as good as the linebackers from a year ago edwards, And so I'm gonna let's look at the ages here.
That's what I want to do, all right.
Kevin Bayard born a long time ago, eighteen seven. Darius Slay born in ninety one, too long ago, thirty two years old. James Bradbury, if you were born when I was in high school, Uh, it's a problem. Ninety three, thirty years old. Kevin Bayard, he is in his thirties. I'm just it's just like an aging. They're all kind of getting worse at the same time.
Oh God, and the Chiefs defense is really good right now. So I don't love that. But we'll talk about that, serio.
Yeah, I know, I thought I was stepping on it, and this was the one I felt strongest.
And we all know the Eagles nearly won and last year's Super Bowl or bust. And in terms of the top offenses in football, you got the Dolphins in the AFC, but then you got the Cowboys, you got Detroit, you got San Francisco. You got to get through the playoffs and if you have some of these high octane passing games.
Be careful, Connie, careful.
I'm ready for me.
Be careful. Okay, you're up, give us another one.
Okay, let's see here. I didn't I thought you aren't?
You up?
I go second? You want me to go?
They always go back? Is that a thing?
Just mixing it up?
Okay, here we.
Go, start talking.
People are listening, tens of thousands I have.
I have a few different ones.
But I what you people don't realize, and maybe maybe some do, but at this point, what you people don't realize is how close the Bengals are to actually missing the playoffs.
They right now are on the outside looking in.
They lost their head to head against all three a f C wild card teams that right now, and then they're ozero and two in the division. They're one and four in the conference, and they have the most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the entire.
League, really even more than the Bills. Yeah, wow, that is well.
They played execation. I didn't realize all that.
Yeah, you had a bunch you could have chosen, and they all would have been inferior to that one.
So you you've done it.
You know what assignment understood.
I did see ESPN sent out that thing where you have playoff odds, right, and they lowered the Browns playoff odds as of you know, the Watson injury, and they were showing how other teams increased. Yeah, and it showed how the Bengals increased from like thirty three to thirty six percent, and I was.
Like one and three chicks. What Now.
Part of that is.
They're they're they're baking in some of the bad offensive stats that happened when Burrow was injured. So I don't think that's totally accurate. But you know, they're an underdog this week, and then they would be five and five.
Wow.
You know, here's the thing. It's a great one, Connie. They put themselves in a hole and it wasn't all their fault. The quarterback was not healthy. But when you lose three or four to start the season, you got a lot of work to do. And they won four in a row. But that was a very I mean that drop. I want to talk about sliding doors, the Boyd drop. We don't know if they would have hung on for the win, but if they missed the playoffs, remember that. And now a huge game on Thursday.
I have I have something to say about the Tyler Boyd.
Do you want to you want to save that for the preview?
I will polster that one, ulster that one, because what you people don't realize and it's it astounds me that you wouldn't even think of this because you do this for a living, and it's like, don't you see anything besides what's right in front of you?
Like how do I even work this way?
We could be looking at a historic bloodbath on Black Monday. Here are here are coaches that you could you could say are in some level of peril. From incredible peril, two.
Sneaky peril. Okay, I can't have a sight of peril.
All right, and let's start with the name that already came up, Sean McDermott.
Okay, I got it out, did sign an extension before the season.
But a little bit of peril.
Bob Sala, a little bit of peril, A little guye on it.
I don't think that's keeping.
This is.
I don't know what I'm hearing right now. I'm not sure about it.
It's not just it's not just the coaches, you know, it's here we goes Okay, go ahead, families.
Yeah, it's it's ricky, But I don't care.
Who's wanting to finish his second semester at Eric Tempos Lincoln Middle School.
The contracts guaranteed, they're still getting paid.
Sure, but they're gonna have to have the assistance. I think there's like I don't care.
Bill Belicheck, okay, and we believe it.
Brandon Staley, okay, Ron Rivera, Okay, Brian Able, I don't think so, but okay, you know sneaky peril, Matt Lafleur, Matt Eberflus, Dennis Allen, Todd Bowles, Arthur Smith, Frank Reich, NFC South clean sweep of hot butts, melting butts and the tired division melted down.
Will win the division and then be safe.
But yes, and I'll and I'll throw in the Cardinals head coach. No way, I don't trust the organization. How about that that's a lot of names, and that is thirteen coaches, and that it typically is between six and eight every year. That's thirteen and it would not surprise me if at least eight go and maybe double digits.
And you're not even including McDaniels, who's already gone. And Pierce's Antonio Pierce, the entering coach, actually feels like he has a chance to win that die. But that could be another one that that changes hands again too.
I saw this stat this morning.
In their past twenty games that day, Ball and Reike have the same record four fifteen and one including the playoffs.
Yeah, that's rough. Wait dable, Yeah.
Because they and did last year poorly.
Yeah, that's kind of butter knifing that a little.
Bit of stats to tell a.
Story, tell your own story. But Dab did. Yeah, Dabel did have a great first year.
In fact, he's the reigning coach of the year, so he's I would say, of the list of the ones I would say are the safest, I was gonna say McDermott, but they.
Missed the playoffs.
No, I think he's probably safe, but McDermott, Dabel, probably, Leaflorzo okay probably, and then gannon is is more just I think he's probably safe. But all those other guys, I think are they really need to.
Not create And and you're right, there's always a surprise that you don't see coming that might not even be on that list, or maybe was one of the ones we just said we're safe.
It makes a lot of sense, all right, uh, Greggy, And no, I don't endurese fired in any way. This is their livelihood, but this is our job and people should respect that as well.
Yeah, And what people don't respect is sometimes the tape. They just get their takes from the takesman. I walked through the newsroom and I see ridiculous lower thirds on various takes shows. He's talking with just ridiculous things. I was thinking more Fox actually Fox Sports. There was one yesterday that said, like la Is Dashaun Watson's contract not a bad thing or so, it was something just stupid.
I don't remember it was. It was a dumb thing, which day later doesn't look good.
But what he's totally irrelevant, ignominious, ignoramus don't realize a lot with initiative, is that Jordan Love has been turning the corner the last couple weeks. I mean, this is not the largest hill that I'm gonna die on. It's a small hill, but it's the Jordan Love has improved over the last two weeks, and I hope it's a
start of something. I think his two best games of the season have been in a row and This last one, in particular, was the Jordan Love I was hoping to see coming into the season, which is, yes, a couple plays you would have liked to talk to him about what were you thinking there? But also four to five beautiful big time throws. And it goes to show you when you get a little bit of pass protection, you can play football at a much higher level.
And he's gotten protected the last couple of weeks.
I think you've seen good decision making, good throws, and maybe it's not too late to turn this battleship around and have a positive first full season as a starter. Five big time throws last week, a lot of plays down the field. Sometimes his teammates left let him down a little bit, and I thought he played well week before too, So it's it's something.
It's a start. But the people aren't watching them, Yeah, because they're telling.
You, you know what, because the Packers are three and six.
No, I get it. The book's been written on him, But this.
Is what I should not be written on because he is you know, not even you know Sam Howell. We're talking about it is he should he be viewed as a rookie Jordan Love. This is his first real season, and and look at Aaron Rodgers.
Look at Aaron Rodgers first year with the Packers.
He started out with a lot of potential, obviously, but he wasn't winning MVPs immediately.
It took years. It took a year for him to you know, cook and develop. So Packers fans aren't used to this.
Yeah, and we're not used to the public's not used to the Packers being close to irrelevant before Thanksgiving. But they are on a whole different track right now, which is developing a young quarterback and there's growing pains there.
I would love for Justin or for Jordan Love to be on the same page as Christian Watson again the season. It just feels like there's disconnect there. They're trying, it's just not from the end zone.
I feel like playing with Aaron Rodgers, who was able to accentuate what Watson does well, is gonna make like how people look at the rest of Watson's time maybe unrealistic. Right now, You're right, he's not one of the best two or three ride receivers on that team.
All right.
That was a good app I thought it was a good sag of what you people don't realize because I.
Think we help people, we made them realize it.
Great about that.
Seg Let me hear the short Connie song again. It's got like a blink late nineties vibe.
Maybe Fallout Boy Yellow Card right, Let me a little.
A little less than Jake.
Yeah, that's what I I couldn't think of the name of it. Yeah, it's Colleen Wolf.
This is when I was skateboarding, surfing, yeah, parasailing, hang gliding, skydiving, just all extreme.
Sports the sea.
Yeah, I could say, did you ever own a pair of airwalks?
My god, I had a brown pair. Yes, I have like the bowling shoes, stuicy shirts.
Giant pants. How big were the pants?
They were huge.
They were like James Harden a couple of years ago, if you remember when he showed up.
At the game wearing We had our conversation about the the ruffians connected to your school, like they were called the skids as I brought up, you wore airwalks.
If you were a skid.
Yeah, I was friends with the skids.
Yeah, like the skaters and stuff like that.
Yeah, although putting the skaters in the same category as the skids is unfair. The skids were more like I'm gonna wear a Metallica shirt every day and throw snowballs at the underclassmen. Whereas the the skaters were more just like, you know what the skaters were doing. Yeah, they were less aggressive. Put it that way. They were a little more docile. For whatever reason, I don't know why.
Colleens very docile.
Let's get into the primetime games.
We got two corkers, two of the games of the year so far.
All right, let's start with a great one on Thursday Night football. We've been talking about Cincinnati and how close they are. Connie pointed out rightly to being in serious peril themselves of missing the playoffs, which would be, like the Bills, an absolute travesty for their fans, because this team is expected to go all the way by many, and yet here they are at five and four, coming off a crushing last second loss to the Texans, and
now they get the Ravens at home. And Connie, this is on Thursday Night Football.
You can watch it on Prime Video, but.
Check out the NFL Network coverage all night that Connie anchors. The Ravens are coming off a crushing loss of their own. We mentioned it. The Browns knock them off in stunning fashion. So if you're the Bengals, like are you, does that make you more nervous or does that make you more confident?
Thinking? Man, this team does seem to find a way to lose every once in a while.
I just think that it's this game is our Thursday Night super Bowl.
We have had so many games that you.
Really I've worked so hard to sell and you know what the.
Next game is though, it's Seahawks Cowboys. So that's actually a pretty good one too, not as good as this, but it's good.
We needed a double palal cleanser after last.
Thursday, last Thursday, the International Game, Monday Night, all of them. So but this is the stakes are through the absolute roof. It's the most competitive right now, toughest division in the NFL. With Deshaun Watson going down, that sort of changes things, but it's still super competitive and such a tight race. They're both super Bowl contenders, they're both coming off of losses.
It's two musty quarterbacks.
Both teams considered probably among the best in the league. Still, even with the Bengals struggles, so uh. The offensive coordinator for Cincinnati, Brian Callahan, he said that this our feels like a playoff game in November, and it really really does.
There's so many different ways you could go with this.
Joe Burrow, the two interceptions that he had against Houston were so Unburrow like because he never usually throws an interception that late in games, and he never he's really careful with picks.
In the end zone. It usually never happens.
So the overthrow to Drew Sample there was the easy interception in the end zone while he was scrambling around. But the only other he had, Let's see, he threw the one interception all of last season in the red zone and the two that he had this year. The first one came against Baltimore in Week two. So these teams, obviously they play each other so close because they know each other so well. I have a whole Tyler Boyd thing I want to get into, but I'm so excited.
We're still building to.
We're just going to keep teasing it forever. I think the Ravens are a matchup problem for these Bengals, and I think last year really pointed it out that the Bengals needed a defensive score to win that playoff game.
With Tyler Huntley in the mix.
Even if you remember that Week eighteen game where they played against each other, it's nip and tuck. I think did the Ravens get them once last year? I'm forgetting, but they I think do well because up front the Bengals, when I watched them last week, it's like the offensive line.
Is still a problem.
It's like all this investment that you've had and they really lost that game. I thought last week upfront, on both sides of the ball, the Bengals did to.
The Texans, which was pretty surprising to me.
And I think the Bengals play a defensive coordinator in Mike McDonald who's so good at scrambling smart quarterbacks, which is exactly what Joe Burrow is in terms of changing the look, looking the same before the snap and then after the staff changing it up. And yeah, I remembered right, it was a nineteen seventeen game in Week five last week that Lamar Lamar wasn't in that game, But the
Ravens won that game. So I think it's been a tough matchup and I think part of it is a physicality, Like not to get all AFC northy, but who's tougher, Like who's bigger and stronger, and I think I trust the Ravens a little more on that front, on both lines.
And I wanted to this, by the way, get ready ready, just like be ready coming, it's coming.
I want I talked about I flirted with, you know, getting staying on the Bengals train here with the Locks competition, but I was t Higgins is going to miss another week. Okay, so Higgins is out, Chase is he was very productive but banged up going into Sunday's game, and now he's got a short week against one of the most physical teams in the league. It's a bad setup. And then you have the yes, Tyler Boyd of it all, who, as I mentioned, had a killer drop that might could ruin their season.
You never know.
In and sun is loss, they need him to step up and be that guy. And I guess I'm a little shook because he certainly wasn't that guy on Sunday.
Okay, Tyler Boyd, Yes.
Wait, stay right there.
Oh my god, this it was a bad mistake.
The drop, no doubt, would have won the game maybe, But let's just talk about here that Boyd has two drops over the past two seasons in this game, he caught eight passes. He was responsible for five first downs with those passes. In the sixty four yard catch and run, they wouldn't have even been in that spot for him
to drop the ball without that play that he made. So, like everyone, with all of these takes and all of the criticism that's going towards them, towards him, I just don't think it's totally fair.
If he could run twenty one miles peror he would have scored on.
That sixty And he hasn't been on the same page at times with Burrow this year. He's definitely having his worst season with the Bengals. He's in a contract year. Higgins has been in a contract year, So I think it was just like it hasn't been clicking totally. But you're right, he had a good game before that, and he's been getting better each week. And Marlon Humphrey is
doubtful for this game. So the Ravens, who like finally got healthier again with all their guys, then they lose Ronnie Stanley, He's out this week, their left tackle y, and so I think it's Patrick McCary steps in.
They've been goods.
Trey Hendrickson's health he was being.
Trey hendrickson practice this week. I think he's listed as questionable, but that's actually a little surprising, how Sam Hubbard Right, So there are a lot of injury issues for both teams. You would kind of expect at this point in the season, but it's unfortunate.
You lose the game, you lose players. I see something building here? What is happening?
Wait a second, I just flashed back to on the NFL Plus atn Game of the Week joint the Super Salty like wildly upset and annoyed Joe Burrow press conference after the game, we play a little clip of that's.
Probably one more frustrating losses.
Yeah, I would say that, Why is it so frustrated.
When you watch the game?
Does it feel different at this point this year with how just close everything is in the division in the AFC right now in terms of the margin for air.
Yeah, we would like to win this one, that's for sure.
I believe in Joe Burrow, and I understand the Bengals have let me down in this picks competition this year and I am way back, But at what point what do I have to lose? Like, if I can get behind an angry, annoyed, pissed off Joe Burrow, which is what you just listen to. There is no way Joe Burrow gets beat in this primetime stage. In fact, he is going to light up the Ravens and I'm gonna lock it up to.
Burrow is one of one. He's one of those dudes.
He's one of those special players that has the not just the ability, but the charisma and the guy that gets bigger in the big moments. And this is a huge moment for this team that can not afford to lose. And Greg, I know it's kind of you know, the type of talk that hardcore football heads and analytics people hate. But the Ravens could survive a loss. They're seven and three right now. The Bengals they might not be able to They need this game more than Baal Tame.
I believe in that.
I do believe there is something to which team needs it more makes a difference in a long regular season. It's why I think a lot of times you see really good teams respond really well after.
But then people always come back to oh, so, I guess the Ravens will be trying.
No, Well, who's the people I'm the people, But I think on a global level, like you see that, the problem is both teams are coming off brutal losses. So I don't know if that equals it out a little bit because there's the Ravens had no business losing that and this would be a big loss for them too. I love that you point out the division schedule that the Bengals are zeroing too.
This put them oh to three in the Division one and five in the conference.
But you know what, the Ravens have lost two division games too, because they blew that one against the Browns and the and the Steelers, so they would be two and three with only one left, and it.
Is so big for both teams.
To me, we kind of said, all right, this is a show me something game last week about Deshaun Watson. And obviously the Ravens offense and Lamar have accomplished out more. They're gonna go somewhere this year. I'm with you, these are two of the three best teams I think in the conference, and yet the loser is gonna be in
a tough way here. But I'm a little bit at the show me something with the cohesion of the Ravens passing attack, in a spot where you're going against a Bengals secondary that has been giving up a lot of big plays this season. Even during their winning streak, they were giving up a lot of explosive plays. And Lamar's been very good, but they haven't been in seeing they've been streaky, like guys are open. He missed a couple deep shots that could have put the Browns away last week.
Sometimes you don't know what Bateman or Beckham's gonna do, or it doesn't seem like Lamar knows what they're gonna do. Like this is, to me is a really big game for Lamar and those wide reis. You've had ten weeks now to get some cohesion and and that's the one thing that holds me back.
It's not them blowing these leads.
It's like, are they going to be a good enough explosive passing game do it against this Bengals defense which really hasn't been that great.
All right, let's move to Sunday Night Football. That's a great Thursday game, Connie, Really do the damn thing on the network in the live setting.
We're all going to be was so give me some more Keaton Mitchell in this game. I don't need any five touch.
Every time the balls in his hand, he's electric, baby. All right, here we go the Vikings. They are the team of around the NFL.
How about that?
And I watched a clip from inside the NFL uh huh of Kevin O'Connell, who I really like talking about the the red zone call that led to the Dobbs scramble and the touchdown. And as he's watching dobb scramble, he just kind of like puts his hands up and like and like shaking his head like oh okay, like okay, this I have a quarterback that can do this. And that was interesting and this could be fun. And yes, that's why they're the team of aten. They could be fun.
And I love Justin Jefferson to be back playing with him. Is it happening yet?
Greg? I don't know.
I don't it's no, but it's also trending towards it's a matter of weeks not months, right.
So from one in four to six and four in good playoff positioning and now they get a Broncos team Colleen that is really has put it together. Greg, I thought you put it well on the Monday Show Monday Night Podcast that they are now at the stage where they've been with the exception the notable exception of that Dolphins game. They're in every game and they're going to continue to be in every game. So I and the
Vikings are chemically addicted to being in a close game. Yeah, so I think we have a very high chance of this being a game that goes down to the wire. Hopefully the team of ATN comes out on top. But I think we have a good one here too as well.
A couple of weeks ago, this game did not look good.
I gave them a.
Grief for not flexing out this game, and you know, a couple of weeks later, it looks pretty good.
Now the Broncos are they legit like?
Of course, the one in five start with the Dolphins stink on them kind of left everyone thinking that they would not go anywhere this season. But the back to back wins against the Chiefs and the Bills, they're one game out of the final wild card spot in the AFC.
The defense, those four turnovers.
A lot of that was on Josh Allen though five Oh yeah, that's right. So this defense is opportunistic. Now, justin Simmons, he has the most first of all, he's been consistent over his entire career. He is the most interception since coming into the league in twenty sixteen, with thirty of them. But it's just this team looks different, and Russell Wilson was quietly having I think now after the primetime game, people realize that he looks better than
he did last year. But he was definitely having a more effective season and no one was really talking about it. That would have been a good you people, what you people don't realize.
But I do look at this game.
And wonder when Justin Jefferson is going to return for the Vikings.
If this is going to be the first.
Game very cautious where it makes it sound like it won't be this week, then next week maybe it could.
But if Josh Dobbs is making it work without him, then don't rush it back. They have the longest active win streak in the NFL at five games, so keep it going.
I wonder when Russell Wilson is allowed or can he open it up a little bit more, because I don't think they're going to get to the playoffs unless they can do a little more. Like his average depth of target on these in these games are crazy, Like, I think he only attempted three throws last week over five yards or over ten yards, and that's it's been pretty similar to that. It's it's all five to seven yard throws. Get like, is it open right away? If not, check
it down. It's like it's been effective, But can you keep winning that way against this Flores blitz which is just a not a fluke anymore. It's happening week after week. They're a top ten defense. It's amazing. Josh mattelis the way they use their safeties and linebackers and they're just sending different deals. It's going to put a lot of stress on Sean Payton in the offensive line and Russell
Wilson to recognize where the pressures coming from. And I think the best way to beat it is to run through them, and they can do that Denver, but also to take some shots down the field, and we haven't seen enough of that from Russ.
Yeah, they believe they have that award now. Coordinator of the Year like Brian Flores.
Has to be.
I think he's a favorite in consideration or a favorite because no one was expecting. The idea was that the Vikings would be better this year. They were the arguably the worst defense in the league last year, certainly the worst of the playoff teams, and now they're they're winning
games with the help of the defense. I think on the Wilson point, and this is why, again you can't just judge everything on stats, because yes, he is kind of a checkdown master, and it's not the same old remember old producer TD.
You know, Russell Wilson throws his sexy deep ball. He was so fun to watch.
Has throwing those bombs to who wasn't back then Doug Baldwin.
Who else was Blockett? Locked?
Tyler Lockett?
And he's been curs the main curse winning the NFC title game on the bomb to cars against the Packers. That's that guy. Isn't really around as much anymore. But you look at his.
I just like, look, his numbers are eight good.
Like here is his projected statistics for the end of the season right now. Uh, he has a sixty eight percent completion percentage thirty four hundred yards, which speaks to like a lot of checkdowns.
That is not a lot of yards, especially in the modern game.
Averaging about seven yards per at ten on pays for thirty four touchdowns and eight picks, and he has a one oh four passer rating, which is very good. His QBR is fifty two and a half, which is like middle of the pack, so some of that stuff. He's not an elite dominant player anymore. Still takes a lot of sacks, still takes a lot of sacks, but he is more athletic than he was a year ago, and he did lose a bunch of weight and you could see it. It's just been an interesting season for him,
and you got to give credit to Peyton and his schemes. Right, there's also Wilson who could have went in the tank after last year and hasn't.
Well.
I went to look to QBR.
Now you know they isolate rushing value, and that's quarterbacks I can run tend to do well in QBR, and Dobbs now is the number one rushing quarterback by a decent margin this year in terms of rushing value. It doesn't surprise me. I mean, he is adding huge value. But you know who's seventh, which is a nice uptick,
is Russell Wilson. And that doesn't shock me because each game there's about three plays where he runs for eight yards on third and six and those are those are just massively valuable plays and he has added that back to the mix this year. Keep an eye on Ty Chandler box scores. You know did the box score didn't look great last week, but he added some juice to that backfield for Minnesota. A couple of his runs got called back because of penalty, and he's a nice little fantasy pick up.
Let's see if we can get some more tight Chandler.
Last night, I went down this rabbit hole on and Jordan Hicks because he after the game had to have
emergency surgery because of compartment syndrome in his leg. I didn't realize all of the things that go into compartment syndrome, but it sounds very scary because he had come back, he had crashed into his own teammate in the first quarter of that game, and then he came back and played twenty three more snaps, finally left again in the third quarter, and then after the game he had such swelling in his leg that they got him to the
hospital immediately. And compartment syndrome, it's like when the swelling reaches dangerous levels, it can cause permanent muscle damage because it restricts the blood flow to the muscles, so you can end up with like Gang Greene essentially. So that's just a point fun fact for you that M.
Glennoyd you over the place.
Well, I did want to be a neonatologist when I was little.
Yeah, your sister is a nurse. You know it's all happening.
So looking to the Cleveland statement again and see if Colleen slipped in there was some of her clinical background and bad job by us, Greg. The one thing that we didn't give enough pop two, both to Wilson but mostly to Courtland Sutton.
Was his touchdown catch on fourth and two.
NFL's next Gen Stats gave that play a three point two percent chance of completion, making it the play with the lowest probability of completion since next Gen Stats has tracked the metrics. In other words, that is the greatest catch ever in terms. That's part of it, in greatest completion, most difficult completion in the history of that stat which I think goes back to about fifteen or so.
Next I could be wrong, but I think someone said the two point conversion Wilson had to lock it in the NFC Championship was the second most and those two those two plays were like the exact same, and it was that it was an incredible effort by Russell Wilson to get and to make that throw an even better catch. But like, yeah, that's one of the best plays, just pure plays by two guys.
Impossible.
We've seen it.
Impossible.
So you brought up Russ to Tyler Lockett because.
When I saw the Courtland Sutton touchdown, that's immediately who I thought of, because those two had so many connections where it was like, are you kidding me in the corner of the end zone or.
Are you kidding me? All right?
Finally, Monday night football, the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to Arrowhead to face the Kansas City Chiefs. Ooh Saucy that he likes spicy Papa. And here we have the Eagles and Connie eight and one first place coming off a bye, correct, both teams coming off.
Of Beef's coming off of bye, having a chance to.
Figure and you know better than anyone that Read is dominant in his career after the bye, even before Patrick Mahomes, but now he has Homes. The question I'm gonna have GREGI is I look ahead to this game?
Because I am.
I did my my spiel about there are no good teams in the AFC, that is, if the Chiefs don't figure it out.
And I still do think they figure it out.
And I would love and can't wait to watch the Kansas City Chiefs at the midway point after a couple of weeks to figure some things out. What do we see from this offense? How might it look different? Will look different?
At all? We shall see?
Twenty eight and four is the ridiculous and Andy Reid Initiative record.
I was it? Twenty eight and four?
Great, it's one of my notes.
Totally stupid. I love this is this?
Are you just on the show for data mining for your other programs? Who do what to do?
Here?
Go ahead? Greg?
I actually heard I think it was Bo Wolf and Zach Berman who are doing a podcast for I think Philly Now I forget phl y like it's their own thing at Birds with Friends it used to be called pH Why And they said that Nick Sirianni had actually called Andy Reid in the past to ask him what he does during his bye week, and I think like he like stayed that's part of it.
I don't even know.
This is just take a break win stayed at like the Andy same hotel that Andy Reid would stay at for vacation or something like.
It was totally preposterous. I would hold on, let.
Me write that down.
I'm gonna like retell someone else's story.
I need to be buttoned down. That's on me.
The Eagle's running game I think needs to be better, like they they've been hoping. Oh, when Sue Opetta comes back, you know, we'll have our offensive line back together and we'll be able to run the ball better. It's like if your running game is Sue o. Petta is really the difference in it, and it has a line with him being gone, but he's like their fifth best offensive line.
I think there's something else going on. And even though Jalen Hurts is playing really well and almost as good as any quarterback in the league, I would say after the first three or four weeks, I think defenses are getting a beat on the Eagles running game and really building up to stop their running game. And I do think that the Chiefs are uniquely suited with their secondary
and Steve Spagnola to slow down the passing attack. I think you want to be able to run against Kansas City, so that's like the number one thing I'm looking at, are we getting those five seven yard runs from DeAndre Swift because they really haven't been there and they don't make as much sense without him or without Hurts, you know, in the running game.
I'm looking at how the Eagles offense adjusts without Dallas Goddard because he fractured his forearm in the game against Dallas. They lost him for five games last season. They were still able to put up a ton of points in those games, so they were able to mix things up
on offense just to get by. But there's only two healthy options at this point at the tight end position, Jack Stole and Albert oh Grant Calcata he has a concussion, not sure when he's going to return, but Goddard's a big part of that offense and what makes it work.
I do love the fact that.
They had a buy week because Jalen Hurts limping in that game when he got up very slow to get up. I think that there's something more going on with him that they're just not letting on the Eagles, so he's someone to watch. Also, they might get Cam Jurgens back their right guard. He missed five games with a foot injury and his practice window opened right before the Dallas game. But I think his injury, along with Jalen Hurts, just not looking right is what's been affecting the run game that you.
Talk about, Greg.
Like Philadelphia Inquire's own Marcus Hayes, he actually put out the stat that in the first three games for the Eagles, they were averaging four point nine yards per carry and one hundred and eighty five rushing yards per game, and then the next six when Cam was hurt Jurgons they were averaging three point four yards per carry and just one oh one yards rushing per game.
So that's what I mean to say before and I said, Sue Petta.
I wasn't sure what you were talking about there.
Well, because he missed He missed the company weeks too, but he's a return So that was a big old brain fart in a big l for.
I got initiative.
Greg, on here, Rosie over here, h hanging there, Bud, you're over extending your tear.
You've done, You've done great work all show. Don't let that Martin.
Don't think about just that any other.
Thoughts on this game.
I want to see, like if the Chiefs are gonna blit like they are a really effective blitz team, Like they by the numbers, they are the most effective in terms of how they prevent success rate and create big plays, and they've just been dynamite. It's pretty risky to do against this offensive line, against these wide receivers. So that's that's a great coaching matchup because it's tough to get
at Jalen Hurts. And if if you're blitzing, then suddenly aj Brown and DeVante Smith are in one on one matchups and kind of and and on the flip side, like Patrick Mahomes has been protected well all year, like, let's get some people open. We've had this bye week, Rashi Rice up the middle of the feel like, are we gonna see you? You kind of said it, Dan like after two weeks, are we gonna see them? Look
a little more like the Chiefs. I think to what I was talking about with the Eagle secondary before, there should be opportunities if you can block the Eagles to have open receivers.
If they can't do it this week, you start to give.
Travis Kelsey's coming off the game against the Dolphins in Frankfurt where they limited him, he was not involved in the offense and Patrick Mahomes he did connect with a lot of other pass catchers and made it work, but it was really the defense that ended up winning that game. And you have so much going into this game. The stakes and this one are also so high. Two teams of the best records, both coming off by both quarterbacks are leading the MVP discussion.
It's at Arrowhead. The Kelsey's are playing each other.
You know, I mean, I guess, uh, Taylor Swift won't be there because she's on tour right now, but I'm gonna be a lot of Donna Kelce pop as well.
How much did you know Joe and Troy throw their weight around to get this game? You know that the networks are fighting for this game. Maybe this was maybe the number one draft pick, and then.
They're paying too much money for that booth for them not to have games.
Troyce shows up to the meeting and he just he flexes his muscles.
He gets and they're substantial for a man whose age. One thing missing from Hurts that would I'm wondering he's gonna show up in the second half is him being kind of a dynamic rushing guy. Yeah, he's averaging and a half yards of carry, and that's down substantially. He was four and a half last year, five and a half his first two years, and his rushes are actually down off pace from last year. You know, I think a lot of that is protecting him, but it would
be nice to see that mix. It makes him almost impossible when he's really moving the ball with his legs. And my final note on the game, what you people don't realize, just to tie it all together, and I'm going to help you here, is that Chiefs tight end Travis Kelcey and Eagles center Jason kelce are actually brothers. They're related, and oh my god. So that's a little subplot for this game. But a lot of people don't realize that, right. But it's like they're different too. They
look different and the personalities are quite different. And what a celebration of different body types because I believe that Jason Kelcey, that big bear of a man, is recently named one of People Magazine's Sexiest People's.
True what are the odds that? They asked Travis and he was like, no, but you should do my brother.
It would be great.
Jason was like, I'm not even the sexiest man in my family.
It's like the old Elvis Skirback.
They wanted Travis and then they went to Eagles headquarters by accident.
They're like, all right, do the hairy guy.
Hey, you know it's sexy being a responsible family man.
That's right.
And like Dan Hanss and.
Myself, I'm building a fence this week, folks.
I'm fixing a sink. I got a wrap wrench.
Hell yeah, Greg, I'm making that bread. You know, all right? Paying that rent?
Now you've said it all I have as you always do. Check her out on NFL Network.
I'll be there.
So many, so many songs.
And we will be back on Thursday with our full week eleven preview.
This is a basics.
Until the heat the call. Turn this up to my headphones.
I'll go to Blair this in the parking lot, Charlie, I feel like I'm really.
Huge streams
Hi, Ammie, I love you Mine