Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: The 2025 NFL Season Is Upon Us!

Transcript

TABLE TALK: The 2025 NFL Season Is Upon Us! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:28
Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:31
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:35
Speaker 1: in the world, twelve y or strong. We've got a
0:38
Speaker 1: great discussion coming away on table Talk this week. Our
0:41
Speaker 1: guest to dive into a bunch of NFL storylines as
0:44
Speaker 1: we are getting ready for training camp, getting ready for
0:46
Speaker 1: this season to start.
0:47
Speaker 2: It's almost upon us here.
0:49
Speaker 1: If we have from Bogginaboys dot com, we've got mister
0:52
Speaker 1: David Howman.
0:53
Speaker 3: How you doing, buddy, I'm doing great. I'm glad to
0:56
Speaker 3: be back on here. It's always funny like being a
0:58
Speaker 3: Cowboys person coming into Yeah territory, but it's always a
1:02
Speaker 3: great time chatting with you. Thanks for having me back on.
1:04
Speaker 2: It's great to have you, buddy.
1:06
Speaker 1: Really, I mean, I've enjoyed talking football with you in
1:09
Speaker 1: the past, even though it has been with the Dallas
1:11
Speaker 1: Cowboys in terms of our subjects as I honestly, you're
1:14
Speaker 1: great to talk to if we wanted to get into
1:16
Speaker 1: some NFL storylines as this season is where.
1:20
Speaker 2: Like we're ramping up.
1:20
Speaker 1: You know, a lot a lot of content on my
1:23
Speaker 1: social sites. You know, there's a lot of college football,
1:26
Speaker 1: a lot of NFL football content already as we're just
1:29
Speaker 1: ramping things up here. So but before we get into
1:32
Speaker 1: that at all, let everybody know where they can find
1:34
Speaker 1: you on the interwebs out there. Again, like I said,
1:36
Speaker 1: Bloggingtheboys dot Com, I know you do some great work
1:38
Speaker 1: over there as well, and I know you got some
1:39
Speaker 1: other stuff going on too.
1:41
Speaker 3: Yeah. I like you said, I write at Bloggingtheboys dot
1:44
Speaker 3: Com covering the Dallas Cowboys. I'm sure every single one
1:47
Speaker 3: of your listeners frequents the site daily. Thank you, America's team. Yes,
1:53
Speaker 3: but I also I also cover Arizona State Athletics, which
1:57
Speaker 3: is my alma mater. I've got the flag over my shoulder.
1:59
Speaker 2: Here, yep.
2:00
Speaker 3: At Devil's in Detail, you just go to devilsindetail dot com.
2:05
Speaker 3: You find them as well, and uh, and then you know,
2:08
Speaker 3: I'm on Twitter at Underscore DH four four Underscore and
2:11
Speaker 3: then on Blue Sky at DH four four. I didn't
2:14
Speaker 3: need the underscores for BLUESK a little bit newer on
2:17
Speaker 3: a platform, and I frequent both of them and give
2:20
Speaker 3: my thoughts and hot takes, and it's not always very
2:23
Speaker 3: complimentary of the Eagles. Gott to warn you, but.
2:25
Speaker 2: Absolutely that's why we love you, buddy.
2:28
Speaker 1: Yes, that's why we love seriously, we love having all
2:31
Speaker 1: different kind of opinions and takes.
2:33
Speaker 2: Here at the PSC podcast show.
2:35
Speaker 1: But I want to I want to start diving into
2:37
Speaker 1: what this upcoming NFL season is really going to look like, David,
2:40
Speaker 1: Because as we know, there's gonna be some new rule
2:43
Speaker 1: changes this year, and as there is every year NFL
2:46
Speaker 1: Rules Committee gets together, there's always changes and sometimes it's
2:49
Speaker 1: annoying of course for us fans. Uh, just just to
2:53
Speaker 1: let folks know out there, there's a few different rule
2:56
Speaker 1: changes are gonna be happening. Dynamic kickoff, which is not
2:58
Speaker 1: dynamic at all, is now going to be permanent. The
3:01
Speaker 1: regular season overtime rules now match the postseason overtime rules.
3:07
Speaker 1: There's now gonna be instant replay assist expansion with certain
3:11
Speaker 1: objective penalties, things like face masks, things like that first
3:15
Speaker 1: down measurements they're now going.
3:17
Speaker 2: To be virtual.
3:17
Speaker 1: There's gonna be a computer giving us those virtual first
3:21
Speaker 1: down measurements. And also this is this is gonna be interesting.
3:25
Speaker 1: Get your take perhaps on this the quote nosewipe celebration
3:29
Speaker 1: that was made popular by Ceedee Lamb that now is
3:32
Speaker 1: going to be an unsportsmanlike penalty due to the supposed
3:36
Speaker 1: gang connotations that it has here. So those are just
3:40
Speaker 1: a feel of the few of the rule changes that
3:42
Speaker 1: we're gonna be seeing this upcoming season. So let's get into,
3:45
Speaker 1: you know, what's needed, what's not needed, or maybe stupid
3:48
Speaker 1: quite frankly this coming season. David, we'll first start off
3:52
Speaker 1: with what do you think is the best or most
3:54
Speaker 1: needed rule change for this upcoming season?
3:56
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts?
3:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think, first of all, I think it
3:59
Speaker 3: was a good move to keep the dynamic kickoff, which,
4:01
Speaker 3: like you said, it's not dynamic if anything, it's static.
4:04
Speaker 3: They're all standing scale until at certain point. But I
4:08
Speaker 3: think it it it was a very good change. I'm
4:10
Speaker 3: glad that they're keeping it. I think, you know, we
4:13
Speaker 3: we saw on average the kicks. We saw more kicks
4:16
Speaker 3: get returned, they got returned for larger chunks of yards,
4:20
Speaker 3: and also it was there was a safety component. There
4:22
Speaker 3: were fewer serious injuries coming from and I think it
4:26
Speaker 3: just makes sense all the way around. I also like
4:29
Speaker 3: the like the change too. They don't have an actual
4:33
Speaker 3: like chain gang coming out to measure those first downs.
4:35
Speaker 3: They experimented with that in the preseason, it moved it
4:38
Speaker 3: quicker it was. I mean, you still have the human
4:41
Speaker 3: element of the ref has to spot the ball, so
4:44
Speaker 3: there's still you know, it's not completely perfect, but it
4:48
Speaker 3: you know, we don't have to you know, waste five
4:50
Speaker 3: minutes for them to bring it out and right. We
4:53
Speaker 3: know we will lose moments like the iconic index card
4:56
Speaker 3: that happened in a Cowboys game. So depending on your
5:03
Speaker 3: opinion of how that game went and whether it was
5:06
Speaker 3: in the Cowboys favor, whether it was right or just
5:09
Speaker 3: you know, we're losing moments like that. But I think
5:11
Speaker 3: it's speeding up the game overall. You know, anytime you
5:14
Speaker 3: can do that without really compromising the integrity of the
5:17
Speaker 3: game on for it.
5:18
Speaker 2: Okay, very good.
5:19
Speaker 1: Well, on the flip side of the coin, there that
5:22
Speaker 1: every year there are are ridiculous rule changes that, in
5:25
Speaker 1: my opinion, the NFL makes or even tries to make.
5:29
Speaker 1: What do you think the worst rule change is that
5:31
Speaker 1: we're going to see this coming season.
5:33
Speaker 3: I mean, it's got to be the nose Why celebration
5:36
Speaker 3: being out locked? I mean you're going to.
5:38
Speaker 2: Say and guess what it is? It absolutely is. I
5:40
Speaker 2: absolutely agree with you, Yes.
5:43
Speaker 3: It's a cool celebration. I had never seen it until
5:46
Speaker 3: Cede Lamb started doing it, and I was like, that's
5:49
Speaker 3: pretty cool. It's a nice variation on just the regular
5:52
Speaker 3: you know, they just point their arm forward. But it's
5:55
Speaker 3: funny because like last it was either last year or
5:58
Speaker 3: the year before, CD kind of sort of going away
6:01
Speaker 3: from it. I don't know, I was. I was very
6:05
Speaker 3: annoyed by it because I was like, why'd you get
6:06
Speaker 3: rid of your cool celebration?
6:07
Speaker 2: Right?
6:08
Speaker 3: And you know, understand he's already in the clear because
6:10
Speaker 3: he found a different celebration. But it's a fun celebration.
6:14
Speaker 3: I think it's I think in general, it's a dumb
6:17
Speaker 3: idea when the NFL cracks down on any celebrations. I
6:20
Speaker 3: want the guys to have fun. They work really hard
6:22
Speaker 3: to do awesome things.
6:23
Speaker 2: Yep.
6:25
Speaker 3: So I'm never a fan of that, but this one
6:27
Speaker 3: hits extra close to home because it's it was Ceedee
6:30
Speaker 3: Lamb's thing, and so you know, I want I want
6:33
Speaker 3: cool celebrations, and the NFL's taken that away from me.
6:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be honest.
6:37
Speaker 1: I didn't under I didn't realize until the news came
6:40
Speaker 1: out about this rule change that there were quote gang
6:43
Speaker 1: connotations to this, like I didn't know that. Then again,
6:46
Speaker 1: I'm a forty eight year old white guy. Why would
6:49
Speaker 1: I know something like that. I don't know if there's
6:51
Speaker 1: any validity to that, but it just it's hard to
6:55
Speaker 1: believe in this day and age, especially with regard to
6:57
Speaker 1: social media, how prevalent that is in our lives, that
7:02
Speaker 1: a gang connotation would even be really done by athletes.
7:06
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, it seems to be I'm
7:08
Speaker 1: gonna say it seems to be a stereotypical type of
7:11
Speaker 1: thing to to really put on NFL players who are
7:15
Speaker 1: making billionaire owners tons of money, you know, handover fist
7:20
Speaker 1: all the time.
7:21
Speaker 2: It's just I don't know, that's my opinion. I think
7:23
Speaker 2: it's rather ridiculous.
7:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, I I completely agree. I think. I mean, again,
7:30
Speaker 3: they're they're on the football field, they just made a
7:32
Speaker 3: big play, they're doing something to celebrate. I really really
7:36
Speaker 3: doubt that there's any player out there, first of all,
7:39
Speaker 3: that has, you know, any sort of understanding of the
7:43
Speaker 3: gang connotations. But I really doubt even if there are,
7:45
Speaker 3: that their first thought is, oh, let me let me
7:49
Speaker 3: celebrate by you know, taking tribute to this gang that's
7:53
Speaker 3: nobody else knows about, right, It just it doesn't make
7:57
Speaker 3: any sense, But but we're talking about it. That means
8:00
Speaker 3: it's more attention for the NFL, which I think is
8:02
Speaker 3: probably what they want.
8:03
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, you're absolutely right.
8:05
Speaker 1: Well, look let's move on here, David, because I want
8:09
Speaker 1: to get into as we're looking at this upcoming season,
8:12
Speaker 1: who could be the most improved NFL team? And I
8:15
Speaker 1: have a feeling we are going to see some good
8:18
Speaker 1: stuff from the Denver Broncos. Quite frankly, they're really at
8:21
Speaker 1: the top of my list as from an offensive perspective.
8:24
Speaker 1: Bo Nicks he's going to be coming into his own
8:26
Speaker 1: I think more in terms of his development. They're going
8:29
Speaker 1: to have an incredible defense this year as well. That's
8:33
Speaker 1: basically my pick at this particular point in time as
8:36
Speaker 1: we are here mid July, on that team that is
8:38
Speaker 1: going to be most improved. Who do you think could
8:41
Speaker 1: be the most improved team this coming season?
8:44
Speaker 3: Well, it's it's funny because I actually I have to
8:46
Speaker 3: disagree with you about the Broncos.
8:48
Speaker 2: All Right.
8:49
Speaker 3: I'm a huge, like just hater. I was all last year.
8:55
Speaker 3: I was saying, like every single week, I was like,
8:57
Speaker 3: their fools goal, They're.
8:58
Speaker 2: Not okay, not actually that good.
9:01
Speaker 3: I'm a bow Knicks doubter now, With all due respect
9:05
Speaker 3: to him, he had a really honestly a historic journey
9:09
Speaker 3: throughout his college tenure, and Arizona State's head coach, Kenny Dillingham,
9:14
Speaker 3: was his coach for a large chunk of his college career,
9:17
Speaker 3: so I should be a big fan of his. But
9:20
Speaker 3: I just I look at the Broncos last year and
9:23
Speaker 3: I see, like you mentioned, the defense was really great
9:26
Speaker 3: last year. I'm always skeptical of defenses that were great
9:30
Speaker 3: being just as great the next year because historically there's
9:34
Speaker 3: more variance with defensive performance from year to year. I
9:38
Speaker 3: don't think that bon Nicks is He's definitely good. He's
9:41
Speaker 3: better than half the starters in the NFL right now
9:45
Speaker 3: at the ser moment. But I don't think that he's
9:47
Speaker 3: like in that top ten tier, that that tier that's
9:50
Speaker 3: gonna or can get to the top ten at least
9:53
Speaker 3: in this year. I could end up being very wrong.
9:56
Speaker 3: I looked certainly very wrong last year when they made
9:59
Speaker 3: the playoffs. But but there's two teams that I do
10:03
Speaker 3: think one from the AFC, one from the NFC that
10:05
Speaker 3: will make it jump one is actually a Bronco's division rival,
10:09
Speaker 3: and that's the Raiders. And I just think hiring Pete Carroll,
10:15
Speaker 3: Like I have a lot of respect for Pete Carroll
10:17
Speaker 3: as a coach. He just he gets it. He is
10:21
Speaker 3: you know, he's he's a really phenomenal motivator. He really
10:24
Speaker 3: understands people. Also bringing Chip Kelly in to run the
10:27
Speaker 3: offense like that right there, I'm like, those are gonna
10:30
Speaker 3: be some some fun run schemes, the things that they're
10:32
Speaker 3: gonna do with Brock Bowers. And then you trade for
10:35
Speaker 3: Gino Smith, Like they upgraded their quarterback like so high,
10:39
Speaker 3: and the defense is good. They keep their defensive coordinator
10:42
Speaker 3: Patrick Graham. They've got a guy named Max Crosby who's
10:44
Speaker 3: pretty good, I feel. I mean, obviously the AFC West,
10:49
Speaker 3: they have the Chiefs who are just unstoppable, and then
10:52
Speaker 3: they have the Chargers who are pretty good.
10:54
Speaker 2: We'll get to the Chiefs in a little bit here.
10:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a tough division, but I look and I'm like,
10:59
Speaker 3: I feel like the Raiders might make the playoffs, Like
11:02
Speaker 3: it's certainly I see the argument for it. And then
11:06
Speaker 3: on the NFC side, similarly, with this kind of the
11:10
Speaker 3: same philosophy is the Carolina Panthers. I'm expecting big things
11:15
Speaker 3: from them. Dave canalyis their head coach, was in Seattle
11:18
Speaker 3: for a very long time under Pete Carroll. I think
11:21
Speaker 3: that he has a lot of things that identify him
11:24
Speaker 3: as a coach that are very similar to what made
11:26
Speaker 3: Carol so successful in Seattle. I think the end of
11:29
Speaker 3: last season, Bryce Young really started to show something. And
11:34
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously their defense was just atrocious last year,
11:37
Speaker 3: but Derek Brown is back healthy, they added some guys
11:39
Speaker 3: through the draft. And that division, I mean greated the
11:43
Speaker 3: Buccaneers have won it, I think four years in a
11:45
Speaker 3: row now. Yeah, but it's still kind of a wide
11:48
Speaker 3: open division, even with someone repeating that many times. So
11:52
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if the Panthers are able to
11:54
Speaker 3: win that division or at least do well enough to
11:56
Speaker 3: sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team.
11:58
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting. Bryce definitely the forgotten quarterback I
12:02
Speaker 1: think of the NFL, and could he have some sort
12:05
Speaker 1: of resurgence this year in terms of that offense. It's
12:07
Speaker 1: gonna be gonna be very interesting. But I also want
12:11
Speaker 1: to get into which teams put could potentially be poised
12:15
Speaker 1: to take that major step backwards here, David, I mean
12:19
Speaker 1: for me, and I don't know if you're gonna agree
12:21
Speaker 1: with this, and maybe maybe you'll love my take on this,
12:24
Speaker 1: but I'm thinking the Washington Commanders, a division rival of
12:28
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and the Eagles, they may be poised to
12:31
Speaker 1: take that step backwards. I just I think more defenses
12:34
Speaker 1: are gonna start to figure out Jayden Daniels' game. I'm
12:37
Speaker 1: not sure there are offensive acquisitions and their offseason acquisitions
12:41
Speaker 1: as well, are really gonna be as helpful to put
12:44
Speaker 1: them over the edge on where they ended last season.
12:47
Speaker 1: I just don't know if they're gonna go to the
12:49
Speaker 1: NFL or i'm sorry, NFC Championship Game again this year
12:53
Speaker 1: and then win the NFC Championship Game to get to
12:56
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. I'm just not sure that's gonna happen.
12:58
Speaker 1: I can see them taking some steps back for sure.
13:01
Speaker 1: Which NFL team do you see taking a big major
13:04
Speaker 1: step backwards this year?
13:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think the Commanders are a really
13:09
Speaker 3: good pick there, especially because they were so good last year.
13:13
Speaker 3: But also I'm like, I mean, last year, it was
13:16
Speaker 3: like Jayden Daniels went Supernova and they rode him. And
13:20
Speaker 3: knowing Jayden Daniels and like his makeup from his time
13:23
Speaker 3: at Arizona State, I'm really getting a lot of other
13:25
Speaker 3: mentions into the old, but just knowing his mental makeup,
13:30
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if he's just if he just
13:32
Speaker 3: stays locked in and is able to keep them there.
13:34
Speaker 3: So I kind of go back and forth on the
13:38
Speaker 3: command and I think they could very well have a
13:40
Speaker 3: repeat of last year, but also could very easily slide back,
13:43
Speaker 3: like you said. Also, I mentioned I don't have faith
13:48
Speaker 3: in the Broncos, so they could be a pick, But
13:51
Speaker 3: I really think, when I really think about it, I
13:55
Speaker 3: think the Vikings are probably my top pick because I mean,
13:59
Speaker 3: I'll you know, last year they had the whole Sam
14:02
Speaker 3: Darnold resurgence and all of that, and now they're a
14:05
Speaker 3: transitioning to JJ McCarthy, and.
14:08
Speaker 1: I'm just a McCarthy fan. I'm not look I'm a
14:12
Speaker 1: Penn State fan right here. JJ McCarthy. I was tired
14:16
Speaker 1: of seeing him for years. I'm no McCarthy fan. I
14:18
Speaker 1: don't know if his game is going to translate over
14:20
Speaker 1: from God because he's essentially going to be a rookie
14:21
Speaker 1: this year playing you know, and I just don't know
14:24
Speaker 1: if that game and the type of quarterback he wasn't
14:26
Speaker 1: Michigan is going to transfer over to the NFL with
14:28
Speaker 1: any sort of dominance.
14:31
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, And I mean we were having the same
14:33
Speaker 3: conversations a year ago with him when he was coming
14:36
Speaker 3: out of the draft of like, yeah, we don't know
14:38
Speaker 3: what he can do because Michigan asked him to throw
14:41
Speaker 3: like four times a game, right, their run game was
14:43
Speaker 3: so good yep, And so we didn't know what he
14:46
Speaker 3: was then, and now he's coming off a serious injury,
14:48
Speaker 3: so we really don't know what he is. I mean,
14:51
Speaker 3: the you know, Brian Flores runs a great defense in Minnesota.
14:55
Speaker 3: Like I that's one of those situations where I do
14:58
Speaker 3: kind of think their defen defensive consistency can translate from
15:02
Speaker 3: year to year just because of the way that scheme operates.
15:05
Speaker 3: But even then, it's you know, you never know when
15:07
Speaker 3: a defense is going to fall off, especially if you
15:09
Speaker 3: don't have an offense that can score consistently. I don't
15:13
Speaker 3: think the Vikings are going to be able to win
15:14
Speaker 3: games like ten to three. That's just really hard these days.
15:19
Speaker 3: So I think, like if JJ McCarthy is not the
15:22
Speaker 3: guy for Minnesota. They could fall off really, really big
15:26
Speaker 3: this year. But also that being said, Kevin O'Connell is
15:30
Speaker 3: I think one of the best offensive play callers in
15:32
Speaker 3: the game. So if there's someone who can navigate it,
15:35
Speaker 3: it would be Kevin O'Connell. But also you look at
15:38
Speaker 3: that division and you know, the lines have been good
15:40
Speaker 3: for the last few years. The Packers are always a threat.
15:43
Speaker 3: The Bears look like they might actually be good this
15:46
Speaker 3: year with improved the most improved. Yeah, but I'm not
15:50
Speaker 3: going to pick them because it's the Bears. So it's
15:55
Speaker 3: just it's a really tough division to have to repeat
15:59
Speaker 3: and they have a harder skill because of how good
16:01
Speaker 3: they were last year. Yeah, I could very well see
16:04
Speaker 3: them missing the playoffs this year because of it.
16:06
Speaker 1: I think it's a good pick, I really do. And
16:08
Speaker 1: there's another team as we're moving along here, David, that
16:11
Speaker 1: I want to get into. We really don't talk about
16:13
Speaker 1: them too much on this podcast, and it's the Cleveland Browns.
16:17
Speaker 1: I mean, it is amazing to me, after all these years,
16:21
Speaker 1: how the Browns continue to bungle and screw things up
16:25
Speaker 1: for the team. It's like year after year after year.
16:27
Speaker 1: And look, I'm not trying to be unkind saying that,
16:30
Speaker 1: but the Browns and their quarterback carousel and the quarterback
16:34
Speaker 1: situation that they have gotten themselves into or out of,
16:38
Speaker 1: or however you want to look at it could be
16:40
Speaker 1: one of the most pathetic storylines and attempts of trying
16:44
Speaker 1: to build something in terms of, you know, what a
16:47
Speaker 1: professional sports franchise has done or not done. Here, it's
16:51
Speaker 1: really quite astonishing to me. How and why do you
16:55
Speaker 1: this team just can't get it together when it comes
16:58
Speaker 1: to finding that quote competent quarter back.
17:02
Speaker 3: Two words Jimmy Haslem and Jimmy Haslm. Like as a
17:08
Speaker 3: Cowboys like person. I love Jimmy Haslm because anytime Jerry
17:12
Speaker 3: Jones does Jerry Jones things, I look at Jimmy Haslm
17:15
Speaker 3: and the Browns could be much worse. Right, I mean,
17:20
Speaker 3: by all accounts, Jimmy Haslam was the one who really
17:22
Speaker 3: pushed for the Deshaun Watson trade. He's been, you know,
17:25
Speaker 3: kind of driving that. And I mean, obviously the front
17:31
Speaker 3: office didn't put up that much of a fight because
17:33
Speaker 3: they traded for Deshaun Watson. They gave up a lot
17:35
Speaker 3: for Deshaun Watson. They gave him a lot of money,
17:38
Speaker 3: a lot of guaranteed money, and kind of like at
17:41
Speaker 3: the worst possible time as well, just given all of
17:45
Speaker 3: the allegations coming in at the time and the fact
17:47
Speaker 3: that he hadn't played and I think a year and
17:49
Speaker 3: a half, it made zero sense football sense. And also
17:57
Speaker 3: like they kicked out Baker Mayfield, who had taken them
18:00
Speaker 3: to the playoffs. Had you know, obviously he was coming
18:02
Speaker 3: off a bad year, but he also was also playing
18:04
Speaker 3: through his shoulder injury. He's now rejuvenated his career. He's
18:07
Speaker 3: with the Buccaneers, and you know, since he's been their starter,
18:10
Speaker 3: all they've done is go to the playoffs. Ye, so
18:14
Speaker 3: I I in the moment, I thought it was a
18:15
Speaker 3: bad decision to move on from Baker. I thought it
18:17
Speaker 3: was an even worse decision to move off of him
18:20
Speaker 3: for Deshaun Watson. And like it's really unfortunate because everything
18:25
Speaker 3: else that they've done under this current regime like has
18:29
Speaker 3: I think been pretty good. I mean, they they haven't
18:32
Speaker 3: quite had a lot of great receivers, but like Nick
18:34
Speaker 3: Chubb was a really great running back before his injuries.
18:37
Speaker 3: They've even had good run games. When he's gone down.
18:39
Speaker 3: Their defense has been amazing with Jim Schwartz as a
18:42
Speaker 3: defensive coordinator. Who I know, Eagles fans are well acquainted
18:46
Speaker 3: with Jim Schwartz and the great things he can do.
18:49
Speaker 3: And I mean this is a team that they you know,
18:51
Speaker 3: they got back to the playoffs and and they they
18:54
Speaker 3: I believe they even won a playoff game that year. Yeah,
18:57
Speaker 3: and it looked like they finally had this french Is
19:00
Speaker 3: back on the right path. And then they made a
19:03
Speaker 3: huge mistake at the most important position, and it seems
19:06
Speaker 3: like it was completely driven by the owner. And now
19:09
Speaker 3: they're I mean, he's technically on the roster, but he's
19:11
Speaker 3: not really going to be playing this year most likely, right,
19:16
Speaker 3: And you've got two rookies, neither of whom were I mean,
19:21
Speaker 3: Shade or Sanders is the big name, but like even
19:24
Speaker 3: the most the people who are most bullish on him
19:26
Speaker 3: coming out of the draft didn't think he's like ready
19:29
Speaker 3: to start as a rookie. Dylan Gabriel not really probably
19:33
Speaker 3: not going to be a starter. Kenny Pickett, he just
19:36
Speaker 3: won a Super Bowl. He was on the field for
19:40
Speaker 3: the last play of the Super Bowl.
19:43
Speaker 2: Hey, he got on the field during the Super Bowl.
19:47
Speaker 3: And Joe Flacco, who's he's won Super Bowl. He did
19:51
Speaker 3: it in AFC North.
19:52
Speaker 2: And he's still kicking. It's amazing fifty years ago.
19:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's just amazing how the Browns have
19:58
Speaker 1: decided that at this point in time for this team,
20:01
Speaker 1: they are just gonna throw whatever they can against the
20:04
Speaker 1: wall and see what sticks. Now, I can understand if
20:07
Speaker 1: that was, say the pass rush, if that's what they
20:10
Speaker 1: wanted to focus on. Let's see what we have with
20:12
Speaker 1: our pass rush. Let's throw some things against the wall
20:15
Speaker 1: and see what sticks. But this is the quarterback position.
20:18
Speaker 1: This is quarterback, one of the most important positions in sports,
20:24
Speaker 1: and they're just gonna throw whatever against the wall and
20:26
Speaker 1: see what sticks.
20:27
Speaker 2: It's it's absolutely astonishing to me.
20:29
Speaker 1: So anyway, with that being said, folks, we are gonna
20:32
Speaker 1: have to take a quick break here to pay some bills,
20:36
Speaker 1: and we are gonna be back with more NFL talk
20:38
Speaker 1: coming your way. Stick with us, all right, We are
20:42
Speaker 1: back with our good friend David Howman from Bloggingtheboys dot
20:46
Speaker 1: com and is always putting up great content with his
20:49
Speaker 1: colleagues over on that great Espianation site. Yes, Eagles fans,
20:53
Speaker 1: head on over to Bloggingtheboys dot com and you can
20:55
Speaker 1: leave you can leave some fun comments.
20:57
Speaker 2: Just be nice, Just be nice.
20:58
Speaker 1: We love the guy over a block of the Boys
21:01
Speaker 1: dot com and the ladies over Blocktheboys dot Com.
21:04
Speaker 2: So all right, let's get into the next topic.
21:06
Speaker 1: Got a couple more topics, David, that I wanted to
21:08
Speaker 1: dive into here, And I think the one team I
21:13
Speaker 1: really want to talk about what their future may look like,
21:15
Speaker 1: and maybe not even just this season, but in the future.
21:19
Speaker 1: And it's a team that one could be considered a
21:23
Speaker 1: quote dynasty in a way in this day and age.
21:26
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about the Kansas City Chiefs. But I
21:30
Speaker 1: don't know how much firepower they're necessarily gonna have, how
21:33
Speaker 1: much juice they're gonna have this coming season, and how
21:36
Speaker 1: much they're gonna continue to have well into the future.
21:39
Speaker 1: Because look, I think there's still going to be a
21:41
Speaker 1: good football team when Patrick Mahomes is your quarterback, Andy
21:45
Speaker 1: Reid is your head coach, I believe you're gonna be
21:47
Speaker 1: a good football team. But I'm not sure about the
21:50
Speaker 1: overall dominance of what the Kansas City Chiefs have been
21:54
Speaker 1: is going to continue to persist in the future. So
21:57
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask, I mean, I wonder what kind
22:00
Speaker 1: of Chiefs team we're going to see this season and
22:03
Speaker 1: even beyond here. What are your thoughts about who this
22:06
Speaker 1: Chiefs team is and what they may be in the future.
22:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's first of all, I think it's
22:11
Speaker 3: it's crazy to be asking these questions when they were
22:14
Speaker 3: just in the Super Bowl third straight year. They almost
22:17
Speaker 3: they almost repeted like, yeah, well they didn't. I mean,
22:21
Speaker 3: the game wasn't close. It wasn't like they were.
22:24
Speaker 2: Right there for the folks listening on audio. I got
22:28
Speaker 2: my Eagle shirt on right now.
22:32
Speaker 3: As bad as that game was for Chiefs fans, I
22:34
Speaker 3: think it was probably worse for Countl absolutely. But I
22:39
Speaker 3: mean yeah, I mean, they they still were clearly the
22:42
Speaker 3: best team in the AFC. They they went all the
22:44
Speaker 3: way to the Super Bowl, and they like never really
22:47
Speaker 3: looked good at any point throughout the whole season. So
22:51
Speaker 3: it is kind of it's it's just I think it's
22:53
Speaker 3: funny that we have these conversations. They're absolutely valid because,
22:56
Speaker 3: like you said that, the offense just doesn't have that
22:58
Speaker 3: much juice anymore. Yeah, but also like they're still winning,
23:04
Speaker 3: and so it's just it's it's a funny predicament. It's
23:07
Speaker 3: what you have when when you have Patrick Mahomes, because
23:11
Speaker 3: he's always going to keep you in the game. He's
23:12
Speaker 3: always going to be able to do something to to
23:15
Speaker 3: pull them back and win. And that's why when I
23:17
Speaker 3: was watching the Super Bowl, I kept thinking, even well
23:20
Speaker 3: into the third quarter, I was like, I was like,
23:22
Speaker 3: they're coming back. I don't know how they're doing it,
23:24
Speaker 3: but they're doing it. And then it never happened. But
23:30
Speaker 3: I mean, Travis Kelcey is I think most likely he's
23:34
Speaker 3: on the downswing of his career in terms of production.
23:37
Speaker 3: They don't really have a lot of like entrenched answers
23:40
Speaker 3: at any of the other pass catching options. So I
23:44
Speaker 3: think they're going to have to really come to grips
23:47
Speaker 3: with some difficult questions soon as far as how they
23:50
Speaker 3: approach the wide receiver position, how they approach the tight
23:52
Speaker 3: end position. Yea, And those are always you know, any
23:56
Speaker 3: time that you look at any dynasty, it's like, well,
23:58
Speaker 3: how do you once you get that success and you
24:01
Speaker 3: have sustained success for a few years, what happens when
24:05
Speaker 3: people get old? What happens when when guys who were
24:08
Speaker 3: on rookie contracts and playing great, they get paid and
24:10
Speaker 3: they don't play with that chip on their shoulder, Which
24:13
Speaker 3: going back to talking about Pete Carroll, that was something
24:15
Speaker 3: that happened with the Legion of Boom. Suddenly Richard Sherman
24:18
Speaker 3: isn't that fifth round pick anymore. He's getting paid like
24:20
Speaker 3: the best cornerback in the NFL. There's just a difference
24:24
Speaker 3: in the locker room at that point, and I think
24:26
Speaker 3: the Chiefs are kind of going through a little bit
24:28
Speaker 3: a little bit of that at this point. There's also
24:30
Speaker 3: the you know, we talk about like Kelsey nearing the
24:33
Speaker 3: end of his career, but also like Andy Reid, how
24:36
Speaker 3: much longer is he going to be the head coach?
24:38
Speaker 3: Steve Spagnola, how long is how much long is he
24:41
Speaker 3: going to be the defensive coordinator? Their defense has been
24:44
Speaker 3: you know, elite since he took over, But how much
24:46
Speaker 3: longer is he going to be there? Yeah, a lot
24:48
Speaker 3: of people seem to think Matt Naggie will be Andy
24:51
Speaker 3: Reid's successor. It didn't go so well in Chicago for him, right. Also,
24:56
Speaker 3: even if he takes over next year as the head coach,
24:59
Speaker 3: like is Bags staying on? If he does you know,
25:02
Speaker 3: you're gonna have to replace him in a couple of years.
25:04
Speaker 3: There's just a lot of different factors that you have
25:07
Speaker 3: to take into account, and I have I have no
25:11
Speaker 3: idea where the Chiefs go from here. I mean, obviously
25:15
Speaker 3: they still have elite talent and they're still gonna be
25:19
Speaker 3: the front runner this year, but there there are gonna
25:25
Speaker 3: be those difficult questions of how do we take this
25:27
Speaker 3: from just being you know, we won two super Bowls
25:30
Speaker 3: back to back in three and four years, too, we
25:33
Speaker 3: can we can do even more than that, and that's
25:37
Speaker 3: a lot of teams don't do that. The Patriots were
25:40
Speaker 3: very much the anomaly in that regard. So I'm really
25:45
Speaker 3: really curious to see what they're gonna do.
25:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wanted to bring it up because, like you mentioned,
25:50
Speaker 1: last year, the chief season was more of them finding
25:54
Speaker 1: ways to win games instead of sheer dominance. It wasn't
25:58
Speaker 1: sheer dominance like we saw for many years. It was
26:00
Speaker 1: they're finding ways to win games, and that means they're
26:02
Speaker 1: still a good football team.
26:04
Speaker 2: They really are, you know, but.
26:06
Speaker 1: Eventually that type of stuff catches up with teams because
26:08
Speaker 1: of the talent. You have to let go talent talent
26:11
Speaker 1: that's not there anymore, talent that is aging as well.
26:14
Speaker 1: But yes, all very very good points. So Buddy, before
26:17
Speaker 1: I let you go to close this out here, and
26:20
Speaker 1: I know it's a very general question, but we always
26:23
Speaker 1: love talking about under the radar storylines, whether it's the NFL,
26:27
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball, with hockey, with soccer, with basketball, and
26:31
Speaker 1: the NBA. Who do you think or what do you
26:34
Speaker 1: think is gonna be that big under the radar storyline
26:38
Speaker 1: that we're gonna really be following this coming NFL season.
26:41
Speaker 1: What do you think that's gonna be.
26:43
Speaker 3: I think I'm gonna sound like a Homer here. I
26:46
Speaker 3: love yes, but I had to get it in before
26:50
Speaker 3: before we go off. I think mostly, I think an
26:53
Speaker 3: underrated storyline that will become a bigger focus later on
26:57
Speaker 3: in the season is that Brian Schottenheimer is going to
27:00
Speaker 3: be a much better head coach than anybody's expecting. Okay,
27:03
Speaker 3: And because obviously the way that the Cowboys got to
27:07
Speaker 3: Brian Schottenheimer being the head coach was unconventional, just to
27:11
Speaker 3: put it lightly, and very very few people outside of
27:16
Speaker 3: Dallas really hold him in high regard right now as
27:18
Speaker 3: a head coach. But I'm telling you, like the everything
27:22
Speaker 3: from coming from inside the locker room, the players when
27:25
Speaker 3: they talk about him, video like behind the scenes videos
27:27
Speaker 3: of the players interacting with him. These players like they
27:31
Speaker 3: have a real relationship with him. They love him, they
27:33
Speaker 3: respect him, they look up to him, and so just
27:36
Speaker 3: in terms of like being able to motivate his players,
27:38
Speaker 3: we talked about Pete Carroll. Dave Canalis. Brian Schottenheimer also
27:42
Speaker 3: coached for three years under Pete Carroll. He has talked
27:44
Speaker 3: many times about how much Pete Carroll influenced him during
27:48
Speaker 3: that time in Seattle. I think there's gonna be kind
27:51
Speaker 3: of a similar, a similar effect to when Pete Carroll
27:56
Speaker 3: first got to Seattle and they kind of had that
27:58
Speaker 3: chip on their shoulder for the first in a long time.
28:00
Speaker 3: People aren't really taking the Cowboys seriously as contenders because
28:04
Speaker 3: of the Eagles, because of the Commanders. And I think
28:07
Speaker 3: him being a head coach, being having such great relationships
28:10
Speaker 3: with his players already, and I also think he's, you know,
28:14
Speaker 3: maybe not an elite play caller, but he gets Dak
28:16
Speaker 3: Prescott back, he of Ceede Lamb, they traded for George Pickens.
28:19
Speaker 3: They're gonna be able to have a really good offense,
28:22
Speaker 3: and they have a guy named Micah Parsons who gives
28:24
Speaker 3: them a really good defense. And I think you're gonna
28:26
Speaker 3: be able to take some people by surprise, and people
28:28
Speaker 3: are gonna start going Brian Schottenheimer kind of knows what
28:32
Speaker 3: he's doing. Maybe Jerry Jones was onto something which was here.
28:38
Speaker 3: Did he kind of fall into a good situation based
28:40
Speaker 3: on the time you and everything. That's that's for a
28:43
Speaker 3: later show. Yeah, especially think we're gonna be surprised and
28:46
Speaker 3: impressed with the job that Bran Schottenheimer does when we
28:48
Speaker 3: start getting into like late November, early December.
28:51
Speaker 2: Hey, it's going to be an interesting storyline for sure.
28:53
Speaker 2: At will.
28:53
Speaker 1: Where are the Dallas Cowboys gonna go this season? Can
28:56
Speaker 1: they exceed expectations from like a national standpoint and storyline?
29:01
Speaker 1: I definitely think it's an under the radar storyline for sure.
29:05
Speaker 1: And again, folks, he is David Howman from Bloggingtheboys dot Com. David,
29:10
Speaker 1: it was great talking to you. Thank you so much
29:12
Speaker 1: for taking the time to jump on here. Come back
29:15
Speaker 1: and join us at some point down the road, my friend.
29:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely always happy to be back on and love
29:21
Speaker 3: chopping it up with you. And my last my parting
29:26
Speaker 3: word is just as always, this is our year.
29:29
Speaker 2: There you go. But that was very rj ochoa ish
29:34
Speaker 2: right there. In a way.
29:36
Speaker 1: I had to throw in RJ because he's a good
29:38
Speaker 1: friend of the show and he always gets one lasses
29:41
Speaker 1: inger in right before we head out. That was very
29:43
Speaker 1: rj ochoa Ish of you, my friend. But really always
29:48
Speaker 1: enjoyed talking to you. Let's talk down the road. We'll
29:51
Speaker 1: chop it up more and we'll dive into the Cowboys,
29:53
Speaker 1: dive into the Eagles, the NFC, Easter and NFL and
29:56
Speaker 1: we will see you folks on the next episode here
30:00
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show that's gonna do
30:03
Speaker 1: it for us here on Table Talk this week. Please
30:06
Speaker 1: share our podcast with your friends and family members who
30:09
Speaker 1: are Philly sports fans or sports fans in general. We
30:13
Speaker 1: thank you our listeners for being part of this online
30:16
Speaker 1: community with us and within this space. Please make sure
30:20
Speaker 1: to check out our website, Philadelphia Sportstable dot com for
30:23
Speaker 1: all of our podcasts, and follow us on our social
30:26
Speaker 1: sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia pst, threads at Philadelphia.
30:31
Speaker 2: Sports Table, and over on Instagram as well. Take care
30:34
Speaker 2: and we'll catch you next time.