#18: Does Brock Purdy make the 49ers better? Major concerns for Cowboys?

as they went on the way here. So yeah, well, that's good. That's what's happening. That's good that they're functional. We were before we started, we were talking about what some good rainy day music, and I played Creep by Radiohead, and then you came off the top turn Buckle with Stay by Lisa Loebes. Such a good one. I think we came of age in the nineties based on the choices. No one knows what these songs are now. Mm hmmm,

how are you? I'm great, feeling good. Regular season, man, I feel like we've reached some type of finish line, even though nothing is over yet. But I mean, for a lot of teams seasons over. But I mean this has been a while in the making, so I feel like this is a big milestone. Can I tell you about the existential crisis regarding the power rings that I have every year around this time on Sunday Night, Let's

map it out. What's going on? Sunday night comes and obviously once Sunday Night football this year was Lions and Packers. It's through. There are four teen teams that are still alive. There are eighteen teams that are done. They do not play another game until next September. In my mind, I struggle with the idea of the power rankings because to not play another game, isn't that to be powerless on some level? Yeah, but different teams have different types of

power at different times during the season. So just because some of these teams end the season with more power doesn't mean that they have less power when you turn around, just because they're not playing. I don't think any of that made any sense. What do you mean, like I'm thinking about I'm thinking about the Lions. Let me try

again to process that. So the Lions, at different parts in the season, they had different types of power, so they were struggling at certain points, but they end with uh, seemingly a lot of power. And just because the x ray vision the power of superhering, power of flight, time, travel, travel you want so just because they're not going to continue having power in games in the playoffs doesn't mean that they should be dinged for it. Okay, and that

makes sense. Now, what I did. I conferred with my colleague Greg Rosenthal while we were in the film room watching Sunday and Football. I said, what do you think on this like? And he made a point that that helped me and I thanked him for it, although on their were tell him no I did. He said, consider the last show, the last power rankings of the regular season, whether the team has made the playoffs didn't, it's like a final snapshot of where the league was at that time.

And that's why the Detroit Lions, part example, are in the top ten of the power rankings. You always say, it's not how about that? So why don't we take a look at the top ten first quadrant. Listen, we've only been doing this eighteen weeks. It's not the top ten. We look at the top eight. Uh no changes, whoa that has not happened all year? And you might think

Old Zoster just mailed it in. But Niners one, Bills, two, Bengals, three Chiefs, four Eagles, five Cowboys, six Chargers, seven Jacks eight, no change, and that has not happened all year. I think something coming. I think some of that comes into play with how kind of wonky Week eight team is. In general, not a lot to play for in a lot of cases, so I'm not gonna make any big judgments,

especially this high. It is interesting too, because even when you look at the rest of your rankings, teams only moved a little bit throughout the rest, but this top block one through eight, nobody moved even a little. I find that really interesting. The final week this season, there's one team that did give me some serious pause about whether I should move them, and we're gonna get to them in the second. But why don't we start at the very top? I have, as I said, the Niners

at number one. Speaking of Greg Rosenthal, we've been kind of going back and forth a little bit um where he's saying, well, if I were doing the power rankings, I would have the three a f C Superpowers one to three Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, and some water. I don't know what his honor would be, but that's my order. Um, here's part of the reason why I have Niners number one. Well, hey, they've won ten games in a row. B their beastly in all phases of the game, with great coaching. See

Brock Party is a g D revelation at quarterback. Who's made them better not just held the fourth down there third string quarterback Mr Relevant has made their offense even better and for county and perhaps most importantly, and this is not to disrespect your Eagles, I think they have the clearest path to get to Phoenix and the Super Bowl Glendale. Excuse me, people of Arizona. The Niners. There's

such a well rounded team. They have so much talent, The team is built to win, and they have momentum, which is the most important thing this time of year for any team no matter what. So you have to wonder about brock Purty though in the playoffs, Like, yes, it has been good so far, and they've been able to figure out ways to make the offense work well because they have playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel

and George Kittle. But will things change once Party gets into the spotlight, like no rookie starting quarterback has ever made it to the super Bowl, let alone win it. Rookie quarterbacks they struggle in the playoffs traditionally, but this Niners team never feels like a traditional Niners team. And I feel like everything really changed for this team when they traded for Christian McCaffrey. That when that happened in October, everything really seemed to go up a notch for them.

So you have this defense led by Damiko Ryan's which is so nasty, so good, with Nick Bosa going all over the place, and the fact now that they get the Seahawks to play, which that pass rush just shut down Gino Smith both times that they played this year. So I'm not sure how they're going to be able to do anything because you can't you can't really run on the Niners. And then when you add in that pass rush going up against Gino, it's just, I mean,

this looks like such a clear path. And then there's no one else that's really dominant in the NFC right now. No one's playing great, even if they have good pieces. Yeah, why don't hit the Eagles since we're here, Because the Eagles they have at number five, Connie. They were the number one spot for several weeks consecutively in November into December. And this doesn't mean that I don't believe that the Eagles can still be They are the number one seed.

After all, they're the team that has home field advantage, we have the playoffs. It's just as an Eagles fan County, when's the last time we saw of the Eagles in full flight where you felt good about them? I mean, I guess the let before Jalen Hurts got hurt, But even then, they were playing without Dallas Goddard and they

were trying to make things happen in different ways. And now when you have Lane Johnson hopefully he's going to be back and healthy, and this team just absolutely needs a buy with all of the injuries that they're dealing with.

But it's not an easy watch right now. It's it's nerve racking to watch them do what they did, especially against this Giants team that was resting so many starters like and then you have that third quarter interception by Jalen Hurts, which was just a horrendous decision didn't need to happen. The offense could not execute in the red zone at all, and Hurts kind of looked a little rusty.

So I'm glad he had this start. But aside from the little quick hits that they had, I mean, there were there were some issues and there's a lot of things that they have to work on. The run defense is an issue as well. I have a lot of concerns about the team. Yeah, you could feel that you had sense that that the Eagles fans are a little worried that this team peaked. We'll see it's it is a very good, perfect setup where they get the buy and kind of reset themselves before getting u an opponent

in their building in the divisional playoffs. Obviously, they played a conservative game plan to get by the Giants. You didn't see Jalen Hurts playing in the way he was playing earlier in the season when he was healthy. I didn't think it was a little bit of a red flag to me that Nick Sirianni came out and said after the game, I know he was hurting and he

was hurting bad. It's like, how do we know that if that was his status after two weeks off, how do we know now he's going to be himself again two weeks from now, yeah, and then why have him dropped back and passed forty two times if they know that he's hurt. Dad was an injury. They were up sixteen nothing at half. The Giants, you know, give them credit for their backups fighting. Perhaps there was a different way to play that. Where else do we want to

go in the top eight? Okay? So I mean we could go a lot of different places, but I think that let's talk. Let's talk a little bit about the Bills because the Bills game, first of all, was so emotional with everything coming back for the first time after Damar Hamlin and thankfully the good news with him keep stinuing to progress. That made things I think a lot easier for everyone. But Naim Hines what hinds time? I love it? This has gotta be a thing. I mean,

are you kidding me? Two different kick returns and then you have it like the last time that they had a kick return for a touchdown three years and three months ago, and DeMar's number three. The players are holding up threes. Everything is seemingly going great. I love the Josh Allen touchdown to John Brown to John Brown, I mean, welcome back to the squad. They're bringing everybody back Colby Easley,

John Brown. But I have some concerns as well. I feel like I have issues with almost every single team and the Bills. I'm worried about the Josh Allen red zone in or options, all right, there have been so many and it was against a good Patriots defense this week, but Josh Allen was a little up and down. And their defense, you know, can get them out of jams, and they have so many playmakers on offense to help them with that. But the drop issues from the past

catchers too, are not doing them many favors either. All Right, I'm not worried really. If anything coming out of the game, I'd be like Buffalo's defense is a little shaky there against the Pat's offense. It was pretty bad for most of the year, but that was also kind of a weird, strange, emotional, um unique set up that entire day um and they took air business Scott to win. I feel good about

their chances. I mean, I feel I know the Chiefs have the top seed the bye I have him behind the Bills and Bengals just because I like those teams a little bit more. But you could definitely make a case for any of those three AFC teams. I mean, let's be honest, you look at um the rest. Can we look at the uh second quadrant while we're here, Um, you look at the rest of the contenders here, Um the Chargers at seven, Jaguars at eight, uh in the a f C, the Ravens I have at fourteen. Yeah, Well,

who knows what the quarterback situation is there? Yeah, and perhaps one of those three teams I just mentioned um goes ahead and and knocks off one of those Titans and and is in the a f C title game. But it does. It wouldn't be stunning if any one of those three teams Bills, Bengals, Chiefs is not representing the a f C. And I would be completely shocked. Those three teams feel like they're destined to get there,

to get far. I mean when you look, there is a huge drop off after the Chiefs for sure in the a f C. I mean you go to the Chargers, and I wonder who's going to come out of that game between the Chargers and the Jags, because the Jags took that first matchup in the regular season, and that came after Justin Herbert had got hit in the Ribs on that Thursday night game that was his first game back.

They have Keenan Allen in that game. But the Chiefs, the Bills, and the Bengals, they're all so close, I think in terms of talent, Like, do you feel like anyone really is that much further ahead than the other. No, the only thing you could say is that the Bills beat the Chiefs in Week six at Arrowhead. The Bengals of course beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead in the NFC

title game. And oh yes, if the Bills and Chiefs play in the a f C title game, it will be in a neutral site connected to the hamlet situation. So yeah, I think it's a toss up though. Uh And before we take a break, I said, back to the NFC and and talk about the Cowboys, because my one thought when I obviously didn't make any changes in the top eight from last week, the only one I thought about was the Cowboys dropping them. And maybe I

even had the lines too low. Maybe the line like, are the lines the worst team in the Cowboys right now? I'm not so sure about that, So I kept the Cowboys at six. But there are there are considerable reasons for concern. You talked about it with Josh Allen Connie with the red zone interceptions, which have been a kind of a bugaboo for him this year. Dak Prescott, you know, he threw what should have been a pick six uh against the Commanders on Sunday, and then the very next

past through a pick six, uh. And that is not the first time. That's a third pick six in four weeks, and in general, he has been careless with the ball at times. I'm worried about both sides of the Dallas experience right now. Yeah, fifteen picks in just twelve games. I feel like Dak has been kind of forcing a lot of throws since he came back from the thumb injury.

And even though this team is putting up points since he's been back and everything else, I feel like their third down percentage is pretty good, but not in this game at all. I think they had how many there were a ton of three and ounce for them, right, they know showed yeah, and it's three ounce in this game. And that was a game that it turned out it didn't matter, but at the time when it was being played, it did matter, and they played like a team that

didn't care and wasn't invested. And you could say, yeah, they'll turn and flip the switch on Monday Night against the Bucks. But like, first of all, the Cowboys haven't won a road playoff game in thirty years. Um too, they have a extended track record of gagging in the playoffs in the Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott era. And I don't trust this team to flip the switch even against the Bucks, because you know what, the Bucks have been disappointing. They're the only team in the playoffs with

the losing team with a losing record. But you also know that there's a chance that the Brady Mike Evans thing could turn on And couldn't you couldn't you? Oh Connie, can't you picture it right now? Early second quarter? Bucks seventeen, Dallas three? Yes, because I think the Bucks are this like sneaky, frisky spoiler team that no one believes in. And honestly, watching the Cowboys struggle was the only thing that made me feel better about the Eagles not putting

the Giants away this week. So do I have Dallas too high? Should they be like? Lower? Should they be? You think they should be closer than the Bucks? I would imagine. I have the Bucks all the way down to fifteen, just because they've given us a lot of a lot of evidence that they're not very good either, like a lot of course, I'm gonna say that you should drop the Cowboys. You should drop the Cowboys down. Yes,

all right, so we'll see, we'll see. I mean, listen, before we take a break here, forty Niners, Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, Eagles, the two Super Bowl teams. They're in there, right, No, no, because we always think that and then that comes out of nowhere like Cincinnati last year. And after the break, maybe we'll figure out who that could be, whether it's this year, and maybe even talking about next year. Yeah, start talking about next all right, all right, welcome back

to Powering. As Connie is going to tell your great At number nine, we have the Lions above some playoff teams here. I love that, above the Vikings, who are at ten in their division. People Minneapolis and the surrounding territories are totally cool that I hate you. The Giants at eleven, up two spots, and then the Packers at twelve, down three missing the playoffs thanks to those Lions. You got the Steelers at thirteen up one. They missed the playoffs two and I'm really sad about it. At fourteen

the Ravens down two spots. I am because I really wanted to see the lie. You know what, I have now a thing with Pittsburgh after being there. I have been very impressionable that way. You know, what are the Ravens. I have no idea what's going on with Lamar Jackson there the Buccaneers in the playoffs. They had no movement last week, and then the same with the Seahawks at sixteen. I'm really sorry that I questioned your sincerity. I can't believe you would do that. That was a bad job

by me. I like Mike Tomlin. I did too, like seeing him see the scores, like knowing what's going to happen, that they have no shot now. I just didn't like it for him. You know, it was the peak my favorite moment of the Steeler season. This will be the last time we talked about the Steelers, although we didn't

really talk about him much all year. Um is when Kenny pick It through the go ahead touchdown pass against the Ravens and Sunday Night Football and Pickett came back to the sideline, and his coach looked right at him and said, Kenny bleeping Piket love it. Yes see, they're fun. You know. The Vikings are number ten. The Vikings are thirteen and four. And I wrote about this in the power Rankings right up and NFL dot com, which you could check out at NFL dot com slash power rankings.

All the handwringing about the Vikings, it could it could cease. It doesn't matter anymore because you could take them seriously like you typically would a thirteen and four division winner. You could completely disregard them as a team that is not close to what their record indicates, that they've had a kind of flukey season. Go ahead, do that too. None of it matters, because the good thing about the playoffs, Connie, is that it shakes out the pretenders from the contenders.

And if the Vikings really are a team that wasn't that good, there's a good chance they get knocked off by the Giants this weekend. And if they end up winning a couple of playoff games, that could happen too. There's no needs to talk anymore about overrated and underrated. Now it's time, because it's a new beginning. It's a reset. This is a fresh season now the playoffs for them, and we waited all season long for them to lose

these games that they just kept winning. So now at this point, it's like, Okay, maybe the Vikings are just the most resilient team in the entire NFL, and maybe they end up winning it all this way. Some crip like, maybe it's just divine intervention, but I don't really believe that. I thought the Kirk Cousins looked good in this last game. He was really dialed in in that first half against a bad Bears defense. But still that's a nice way

to warm up before going into the playoffs. Will we see that Kirk Cousins in the playoffs though, Well, we see him like that against the Giants. There's always that question about which version of Kirk shows up in a big spot. And you remember Connie very early in the season Kirk in primetime against the Eagles, and I had

literally never seen him look worse. And if they got by the Giants, and they they'll be a favorite, not a big favorite, but a favorite to beat the Giants, that's when it's gonna get really interesting, because then they'll get you know, I don't know what would be, whether it's the Eagles or the Niners, but a big time

Super Bowl contender. As far as the Giants go, it's already the seasons already of the I mean the fact that they a team that entered the season and I don't know where I had him in the power rings, but I can almost guarantee you it was in the bottom five or around that. Um they were twenty eight. I'm being told, Drew the super producer behind the glass so quick, this guy, this guy over here with a

quick trigger over here. Um, that tells you the story of a success story, because you would have thought that this team would be more likely to have the number one overall pick uh in the draft and make the playoffs. So they're here and it's house money. And that's why I think again, we already knew this was probably gonna be a close game, knowing that Giant's gonna go in there loose and also rested after they didn't play any of their starters in Week eighteen. I think you have

I think I like the Giants in the game. They just played the Vikings on Christmas Eve and that was such a close game. Again because they lost like a sixty yard field goal or something absurd, And as soon as Greg Joseph lined up, I was like, it's fine, it's a rap. Of course he's going to make this,

because that's what the Vikings do in these games. But for the Giants, their first playoff birth since and this was supposed to be a rebuilding year, like this was not what they were Honestly, it reminds me sort of of where the Eagles were last year. Not that the Eagles were rebuilding completely last year, but the Eagles with Nick Sirianni and his first season there, it was a year to sort of get everything together and figure out

where you are and what you need. And they ended up in the playoffs playing the Bucks, which did not go great, but still house money for building. Same with the Giants, and they're getting healthier too, with the Dory Jackson coming back their top quarterback, cornerback, you have Xavier McKinney coming back to from the hand injury their safety,

so their secondary is getting better as well. And I expect Daniel Jones played the best game of his career in the last Giants game that actually mattered the week, seventeen and four total touchdowns, he threw the ball very well in Minnesota on Christmas Eve. I think he'll do that again. That would be that's a that's my upset of the week. I think the Giants knockoff the Vikings. So yes, I guess I'm still doubting the Vikings. But guess what they could tell me and all those other

doubters to shove it by taking care of business. Jan You're consistent and that's why people keep coming back to your power ranking like like, I'm a consistent like a whole I thought that's what you were saying. You are consistent. Yes, thank you very much. Um. Let's see time now for Power Moves presented by Energizer. Let's take a look at the highest ranking non playoff teams. Connie, we talked about,

well here we will talk about the lines. You want to talk about a personal journey, But Connie, you and I had a personal journey with the Lines. They finished number nine. I've been doing the Power rankings for four years. I was gonna say forty years. Um. Yeah, and there was never a team that made the did not make the playoffs, that finished in the top ten until these lines. The Packer is a twelve, very disappointing way to end their season laying another egg at lambeau Field in January.

How many times does that happen the Steelers, as we talked, out of thirteen Panthers at eighteen, Pats at nineteen, that's just the middle of the pact. But let's focus on the lines there because you know, we covered them in the on the Hard Knocks podcast, which would be fun to revisit actually now after everything that happened in this really wild nine and eight season, and I think my favorite part of it all uh Connie, and we played it on around the NFL um on Sunday night, Jamal Williams,

who we we talked about it. He won m v P of the of the Week multiple times on our Hard Knocks podcast, and it jumped out to us like this guy is quite a character. He's kind of out there, even to the point I remember saying like, is this guy a little too much? And then he scores eighteen touchdowns, breaking Barrie Sanders all time team record, and then has one of the great um postgame interviews ever and now we get to see Jamal and the lines build on

this next year. Jamal Williams, I mean that interview alone. He just showed so much range. I thought, really went for one end of the spectrum to the other. And that's sort of been the season for the Lions as a whole. They started, they stumbled, and we watched them grow as a cohesive unit. Like Dan, I feel like the Lions are like our children, and we watched them learn how to walk and then drive and now like look at them number nine in the power rankings. I mean,

Jared Golf was just such a surprise this season. Um. I hope his merch brand at this point is just blowing up the one that he had that we learned about and hard knocks, but he proved himself I think, way more than a play than a placeholder in Detroit. And they have some things to figure out this off season, but I'm just happy that this ended with them knocking the Packers out of it if they couldn't get in themselves.

And now Dan Campbell will return and all of us will have another year at least of him, and there will be expectations that they didn't have this year, But that's okay too, because they took the next step as an organ missation. You want to watch Jamal Williams his post game. All right, let's watch it. OK, this is fun playing us. Man, we made we did a Detroit Lions. We did Detroit Lions. Stop playing with us. I don't even watch TV, but I heard anybody pick the Packers

over us. Stop playing with us. That's all I gotta say. Man, don't let these tears for you. His old dog around his mod. I love that guy. And what you didn't see there anyway, you didn't hear there was even better, Like literally two seconds before he went into that, he was crying emotional about a grandparent or a great grand parent, UM that he's very close with UM. And he just pivoted and then went into that. I mean, what a character emotional love him, love him? UM. All right, do

you have anything say on the Packers. I don't. I don't really honestly, kind of exhausted by the Packers. And Christian Watson is good for them that they'll be they'll be fine next year if Aaron Rodgers is back. But I choose to disengage from the Aaron Rodgers drama at least at this time. UM. All right, before we say goodbye, Connie, I'm curious which teams you see making a big jump, not saying during next season, we're not gonna get that

crazy and look too far into the crystal ball. But what we can do is, you know how much can change just through free agency, through the draft, through trades in the off season. When you look at some teams that are in the bottom half of the Power rankings, who do you see is one that you we could be talking at the first Power Rankings episode next summer.

This team is ready to make a big surge. I kind of can't believe that I'm going to do this to myself again because I spent all last off season it don't doane, and I'm going to take another ride on the train again because the Broncos just really really fell apart from the very beginning to get a head coach in there that can really maximize the talent on the roster and avoid some of these backbreaking injuries that they had and bring it all like well that's what

I mean separately and avoid some of those that's just luck. But the defense played their minds off in this season, and you have you just have so much talent, Like from the very beginning, you had Tim Patrick going down, who was supposed to play a big role in the wide receiver room, and and you just had so many things that didn't go their way, and they just looked so bad, like it was a really terrible season for them.

But I guess my question to you is, so you you imagine then I'm guessing here that they're going to get higher head coach that's a smart hire, and then make some obviously additions to the roster and then Russell Wilson. People will talk themselves into Russell Wilson having a big

bounce back or that that's where you're coming from this. Yeah, I think I'm gonna try and talk myself into it, because honestly, like the the obvious team here are the Bears, Like they have the number one overall pick, they have space, They have a hundred million dollars in cap space, forty

million more than anyone else in the league. So with that type of money and those type of draft resources, you could trade down because you already have a quarterback, you don't need to pick number one overall there, and

you can get a ton of other assets. I mean, it's it's hard to believe, and I'm still I was stunned talking about it on Sunday night on on the other podcast, like how how the Houston Texans uh and showing the disconnect between organizational big picture and the players on the field just playing a final football game of

the season. How much that could affect the trajectory of both organizations, the Texans dropping out of the number one spot and the Bears falling into it when they have a quarterback they believe in, which gives them the potent chill to a take anybody in the draft that they're in love with or more likely now trade that number one pick to QB desper team and have a bounty the type of draft bounty that if you handle it right, and I'm gonna talk about a team that handled their

draft bounty right uh this past draft. Um, you could change the organization. So I'll pivot to the Jets. You know, you gotta do a little Joe Douglas talk Joe Douglas. Now, the Jets obviously ended the season terribly, um, but it was a season that was wrecked by the quarterback position, uh and a lot of offensive line issues. UM. And I think the Jets are going to be a team that a lot of people are going to be and I'm already uncomfortable about this as a uh forever Jets fan.

A lot of people are going to be in on the Jets next August, mark my words, because they will get a quarterback that people know. And that quarterback could be Derek Carr. Maybe it's doing Garoppolo. Yeah, but Zack Wilson is going to make his life hell in practice. Um, it could be Matthew Stafford. Hell could be Lamar Jackson. Yeah, you never know. All I know is the Jets are going to make a big splash and have a quarterback, and then people are gonna look at um an improved

quarterback situation. They'll probably use a first round pick or something on an offensive lineman and and and get healthier in that position. The defense is already one of the best in the league. Douglas nailed the twenty two draft with Garrett Wilson, who could be the offensive rookie of the year potentially, Sauce Gardner is almost certainly the defensive rookie of the year. Breeze Hall could have been the offensive rookie of the year before he blew out his knee.

UH the star running back. So that's what the Bears can do a draft like that. They're cooking. The Jets could be a team that everyone sees as a favorite in the a f C East. Potentially, I'm gonna go

that far if they get a big time quarterback. With Joe Douglas having ties with Baltimore in his past before he was in Philly with Lamar Jackson, I don't know if they're time together there coincided, But you do have to think about Breeze Hall coming back and Elijah Vera Tucker come back and all of the issues that they had on the offensive line this year, Like this is a team that they had such a good draft, like

they really did. Garrett Wilson is like such a playmaker for them and so good for years to come like that, you should be happy about it, I am. I mean it's hard that a Jets fan is struggling through the last six weeks of this year. But also if they if they have another solid offseason, this team will be locked and loaded and ready to make a run. Last year, one more team that sucked me in all through the year.

It annoyed me because every time I kind of put myself out there for him and the power rankings that killed me the Raiders, the Rads, and I think I'm they're moving on from Derek Carr and they could kind of scapegoat him a little bit. In my mind, is what that what they've done here when I don't think

it's necessarily the quarterback that's holding the team back. But if that Josh McDaniels Tom Brady reunion is real, and it just feels like Tom after three years in Tampa post divorce, look for the next challenge in his career, going to Vegas just kind of feels like you could connect the dots a little bit there. It's like, Okay, that makes sense. And I'm not saying Tom Brady entering his age forty six season as a guy that you

you pencil in for the super Bowl. But also he still he still would be an improved and over car And I think a lot of people, including even me doing the power rankings, would be like, Okay, I'm gonna jump them up about ten spots and and put him in the wild card race and maybe even can challenge the Chiefs. And I think Davantae Adams would be happy, would be fine if they said Tom Brady was going to come in there. But you have to wonder what

players think, especially wide receivers at this point. Looking at Tom Brady, of course he's the goat, but at forty five, what is he going to be forty six next year? Like that feels like maybe you're pushing it a bit, but maybe, but we've doubted that man for a decade now. I think the other thing about the Raiders, it was a stranger season I really can never remember for a team, uh, in terms of they had the eating rusher in the league, Josh Jacobs, who's a schedule to be a free agent.

They want to bring him back, and he said he wants to be back, but he had over two thousand yards of scrimmage. Damante Adams had a monster first year there. Okay, Max Crosby is on the shortlist of the best defensive lineman in the league. And you have Darren Waller who has been banged up but is one of the most dynamic tight ends in league, the highest paid tight end in the league. There is talent there and now they just need to put it together. Pressure on Josh McDaniels, Alright,

what else, anything else? What I'm talking about? You know, it's just it's just nice to be back here on the Power Rankings. Good to be back. We took a week off last week. It was obviously a pretty uh sensitive tough week for the league after the Damarrow Hamelin uh situation. But you know I missed this, Connie, and um, this will be our last look of thirty two teams for a few weeks. Yeah, what's this going to be moving forward? Okay, So here's the breaks. This is my

first year doing Power rankings. I don't know. We say goodbye to eighteen teams on the Power Rankings effective now like a Viking funeral, the Vikings funeral. And so next week's Power Rankings post wild Card weekend will be a top four teen, then it will become a top something, a top four and then we disappear, and then we'll come back after the super Bowl with a full thirty two look again. Then we're done all right til next week.

Thank you for listening. Heed the call NFL Power Rankings as a production of the NFL in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.