Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #21: Chiefs Super Bowl fatigue?

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#21: Chiefs Super Bowl fatigue? · NFL Power Rankings

0:06
Speaker 1: It's a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings. Mike
0:09
Speaker 1: Am and Eric head home with you, and it's kind
0:10
Speaker 1: of a special edition for us. I'm usually in the
0:12
Speaker 1: studio and this week I'm at the East West Rine Ball,
0:15
Speaker 1: which will be able to catch on Thursday on NFL
0:17
Speaker 1: Network at Eastern time.
0:19
Speaker 2: And we know, Eric is that the Senior Bowl. Certainly
0:21
Speaker 2: bumped up for that matchup to see some of.
0:23
Speaker 1: The best college players in the entire country. But here's
0:26
Speaker 1: the best part, Eric, draft a side college players aside.
0:29
Speaker 1: We finally know the Super Bowl matchup and it's a rematch.
0:32
Speaker 1: It too ridiculously talented teams.
0:36
Speaker 2: We got to sprint to the finish, right, just like
0:38
Speaker 2: my run through the airport. Yeah. No, this is a
0:39
Speaker 2: great time of year, especially for the draft knicks out there.
0:42
Speaker 2: They're starting to update their needs lists, their prospect lists,
0:45
Speaker 2: and we'll be watching a lot of them, you and
0:47
Speaker 2: I between our two locations.
0:50
Speaker 1: Yes, we will have everyone covered here, but if you're
0:53
Speaker 1: checking out the show, you want to know the rankings.
0:55
Speaker 1: And it's not really a huge surprise to see who's
0:58
Speaker 1: in that top spot six consecutive weeks. The Kansas Cheeps,
1:01
Speaker 1: they just have to figure out ways to win football games,
1:04
Speaker 1: and we might be talking about a history making team
1:07
Speaker 1: with a third consecutive Super Bowl. The team they will
1:09
Speaker 1: match up against moved up two spots, so that is
1:12
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bills drop a spot, and the
1:14
Speaker 1: Commanders fall into that fourth position. We'll talk about all
1:18
Speaker 1: four of these teams, but had tip major respect, we
1:21
Speaker 1: got to start with the number one squad. There's a
1:24
Speaker 1: phrase that has been thrown out there on social media.
1:26
Speaker 1: I've seen it done on shows when I'm checking in
1:28
Speaker 1: on NFL coverage and they say Chiefs fatigue. Is that
1:33
Speaker 1: a fair way to look at this squad? Because I
1:35
Speaker 1: would argue it shouldn't be fatigue. We should be saying,
1:37
Speaker 1: you know what, this is pretty.
1:38
Speaker 2: Special, Yeah, Mike. We experienced something pretty similar, I think
1:43
Speaker 2: with New England a generation or two ago, and it
1:47
Speaker 2: obviously got a little tiresome for fans to see the
1:49
Speaker 2: same team in there every single year. We're watching the
1:52
Speaker 2: greatest quarterback of his generation, even if the stats don't
1:55
Speaker 2: always add up. He wasn't in the MVP conversation necessarily
1:58
Speaker 2: this year, but Patrick Mahomes delivered a tremendous game against
2:01
Speaker 2: the Bills defense that was shorthanded. He took it. He
2:05
Speaker 2: got the three touchdowns that he needed, and his teammates
2:08
Speaker 2: certainly helped him out too. Xavier are Worthy. What a
2:10
Speaker 2: tremendous game he had too. So here's a new face,
2:12
Speaker 2: right Here's a guy that we watched at the Combine
2:14
Speaker 2: last year blow it up, and he's a new addition
2:17
Speaker 2: to this team. So there are some new faces there.
2:19
Speaker 2: And listen, like, I agree, greatness you appreciate it in
2:23
Speaker 2: the moment that you try to at best, and that's
2:25
Speaker 2: what we're witnessing right now.
2:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I use the analogy all the time, and I
2:29
Speaker 1: think the same can be said for and you made
2:31
Speaker 1: a reference to the Patriots to you know, Tom Brady.
2:34
Speaker 1: I'm glad I was an adult and understood what was happening.
2:36
Speaker 1: I was still a kid when Jordan's bulls were kind
2:39
Speaker 1: of running through the NBA, but I understood what was
2:41
Speaker 1: going on. I like to be able to say that
2:43
Speaker 1: I've seen those guys play and I understand what greatness
2:46
Speaker 1: really is. We're witnessing that right now. And I think
2:49
Speaker 1: there's a layer to this conversation. You know, for a
2:52
Speaker 1: Buffalo perspective, I asked you this question last week, and
2:54
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the Bills in their downfall. But on
2:56
Speaker 1: last week's show, I said, hey, is this team, you know,
2:58
Speaker 1: is this their best chance? Is the best team that
3:00
Speaker 1: we've seen Buffalo? Now they fall short. I'd ask you
3:03
Speaker 1: the same thing about this Chief squad because the last
3:05
Speaker 1: two Super Bowls, it does feel different to watch this
3:09
Speaker 1: year's Kansas City Chief squad than the one that we've
3:11
Speaker 1: seen the last two campaigns.
3:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, they've mastered these close game victories and it's seemingly,
3:18
Speaker 2: you know, Andy Reid and Steve Spagnolo coming up with
3:20
Speaker 2: great plans every single week and understanding, you know what
3:24
Speaker 2: needs to be done to win this game. Right. You know,
3:26
Speaker 2: this is again, I would say, a different version of
3:29
Speaker 2: the Chiefs that we've seen, at least for most of
3:31
Speaker 2: the year. And you're right, this team in particular has
3:34
Speaker 2: had to overcome a lot the left tackle issues. Obviously
3:37
Speaker 2: at times, the secondary was a little shorthanded, you know,
3:40
Speaker 2: the receiver injuries as well. So a lot of new
3:43
Speaker 2: faces in these spots, and yet the same old consistency
3:46
Speaker 2: Andy Reid, great game plans, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelcey, all
3:49
Speaker 2: those guys executing it. It's it's pretty brilliant stuff to
3:52
Speaker 2: watch in real time. Yeah.
3:54
Speaker 1: Look, we're going to do a deep dive in a
3:56
Speaker 1: Super Bowl preview next week here on power rankings. But
3:59
Speaker 1: is there something that comes to mind as the secret
4:03
Speaker 1: sauce for them to win a third consecutive after you've
4:05
Speaker 1: now seen essentially a full season plus the postseason, with
4:08
Speaker 1: just one game left for Casey.
4:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously you know they're gonna get Philly's best game, right.
4:14
Speaker 2: I mean, even though not everybody from that Eagles team
4:17
Speaker 2: was there when they lost to the Chiefs in the
4:18
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, a super Bowl, they probably felt they should
4:21
Speaker 2: have won. But there's no doubt that the Eagles are
4:23
Speaker 2: going to come in and say, all right, this time
4:25
Speaker 2: we cannot be beaten. Right, we have to be able
4:27
Speaker 2: to get a lead, hang on and don't give it up, right,
4:30
Speaker 2: because when the Chiefs start dictating the flow of play,
4:34
Speaker 2: that's when things get real scary. Obviously, Mahomes in the
4:37
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, you can never count that guy out. So
4:40
Speaker 2: you know, whatever it takes to save the energy of
4:43
Speaker 2: those pass rushers, make sure you rotate throughout the game
4:46
Speaker 2: for the Eagles and get after him because boy, you know,
4:49
Speaker 2: defending these guys for four quarters. Even if the offensive
4:52
Speaker 2: numbers don't look all that mind blowing. By game's end,
4:55
Speaker 2: they will have cut you at some point and dug deep.
4:58
Speaker 2: And that's what they often do. And Philly knows that
5:00
Speaker 2: more than anybody. Nick Sirianni Jalen hurts everybody else who
5:03
Speaker 2: went through it the last time.
5:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, you see that image there of Patrick Mahomes kind
5:08
Speaker 1: of holding up the Lombardi Trophy. You think about what
5:11
Speaker 1: this guy has been able to accomplish. You mentioned the
5:13
Speaker 1: greatness there, but it is about also some of the
5:16
Speaker 1: pieces around him. You loved up, Andy Reid. I think
5:18
Speaker 1: about a conversation I had with Brian Baldinger last year,
5:21
Speaker 1: and I made reference to the fact that this is
5:23
Speaker 1: a different KC team, right. I think about that first championship,
5:26
Speaker 1: high flying, explosive place, Tyreek Hill running all over the
5:29
Speaker 1: place last year. I think about this team's defense, and
5:31
Speaker 1: Baldy made a really good point. He goes, I don't
5:33
Speaker 1: understand how Spags is now on the sidelines, not as
5:36
Speaker 1: a DC of this team, but as a head coach.
5:39
Speaker 1: Had some interviews. According to a lot of our insiders,
5:41
Speaker 1: are you surprised we're not talking about him, you know,
5:44
Speaker 1: really leading the charge and kind of having the reigns
5:47
Speaker 1: of his own team.
5:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think everybody knew in that key spot, that
5:53
Speaker 2: fourth down with just under two minutes to go, they
5:55
Speaker 2: said Spags is going to bring a blitz. I'm sure
5:57
Speaker 2: Josh Allen knew it too, but he wasn't able to
5:59
Speaker 2: pick out exactly where the pressure was coming from. He
6:02
Speaker 2: kind of drifted into it. You know, that's a cloud
6:04
Speaker 2: six Spags call. We've seen enough big Chiefs games over
6:07
Speaker 2: the last five, six, seven years to where we kind
6:10
Speaker 2: of know this guy is going to bring it. He's
6:12
Speaker 2: not going to go down without swinging, And it's just
6:14
Speaker 2: sort of that instinct that makes you think this guy
6:17
Speaker 2: is an exceptional football coach. Now, his first go round
6:19
Speaker 2: as a head coach did not go well, asked Saint
6:22
Speaker 2: Louis Rams fans. They remember it all too unfondly, I
6:25
Speaker 2: should say, But you know, it begs the question does
6:28
Speaker 2: he deserve that second chance? This is somebody who's been
6:31
Speaker 2: overlooked the last couple of cycles, even with a couple
6:33
Speaker 2: of token interviews along the way. So you know, I
6:36
Speaker 2: still believe the Hall of Fame should be open to
6:38
Speaker 2: assistant coaches, guys like the Jimmy Great Jimmy Johnson from
6:42
Speaker 2: Philadelphia and others who you know Monti Kiffen and these
6:45
Speaker 2: great defensive coordinators. I would put Steve Spagnola in that
6:49
Speaker 2: wing too, because I think he belongs. But let's not
6:52
Speaker 2: end his chapter as just a coordinator and a one
6:54
Speaker 2: time head coach. I still am holding out hope that
6:56
Speaker 2: he can get a second opportunity. I think he deserves it.
6:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you one hundred percent from that perspective,
7:02
Speaker 1: and maybe if they want another Super Bowl that eventually
7:04
Speaker 1: come for him. And it's gonna be tough against the
7:07
Speaker 1: number two ranked team and that is the Philadelphia Eagles
7:10
Speaker 1: trying to redeem themselves from couple of seasons ago and
7:13
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl championship. We've spent a good stretch
7:16
Speaker 1: of this season talking about who the MVP is and
7:19
Speaker 1: is you know, Lamar Jackson is a Josh Allen. There
7:21
Speaker 1: was a time where Saquon Barkley was in the mix.
7:23
Speaker 1: Josh's criticism now really is hey can't beat Mahomes when
7:27
Speaker 1: it counts the great players. And by the way, I
7:30
Speaker 1: don't know if I totally agree with that assertion, that's
7:31
Speaker 1: what people are saying. I know, maybe the numbers bear
7:34
Speaker 1: it out, and I do have to believe it, but
7:36
Speaker 1: guys are delivering the best players in the NFL in
7:38
Speaker 1: the game's biggest moments, and Saquon Barkley is doing that
7:42
Speaker 1: right now. For as great as Mahomes is, Saquon is
7:45
Speaker 1: just doing it differently in a different position and is
7:47
Speaker 1: also fantastic. Is he enough to run this team to
7:51
Speaker 1: a championship.
7:52
Speaker 2: At this point? Who am I to doubt him? Right?
7:54
Speaker 2: You know, we've sort of said this is not the
7:56
Speaker 2: age of the running backs. It's a quarterback driven era.
7:58
Speaker 2: But you've seen this slow shift and I think this
8:01
Speaker 2: last free agent class with guys like Saquon Barkley and
8:04
Speaker 2: Josh Jacobs and others who really thrived in new environments,
8:08
Speaker 2: the run game is cycling back in and Saquon, I think,
8:11
Speaker 2: is kind of holding the scepter right now. He is
8:13
Speaker 2: the guy at the front of the line and can
8:15
Speaker 2: make people miss, can make those big plays out of nothing.
8:18
Speaker 2: And it was a devastating rushing attack, right They had
8:21
Speaker 2: no stop, They had no answers for that and no
8:23
Speaker 2: way to stop it. So yeah, I mean, this might
8:26
Speaker 2: be the one guy at that position right now who
8:30
Speaker 2: I think has a chance to kind of out Mahomes
8:33
Speaker 2: Mahomes a little bit. I'm not saying Jalen Hurts isn't
8:35
Speaker 2: going to play his role, but Barkley is going to
8:37
Speaker 2: be such a weapon. They haven't even used them that
8:40
Speaker 2: much as a receiver too, so they've got that in
8:42
Speaker 2: their back pocket. But what he does as the runner
8:44
Speaker 2: is absolutely scentilating, and he's that good. He deserves to
8:46
Speaker 2: be in that MVP conversation for good reason. You know,
8:49
Speaker 2: we can love up Saquon Barkley in two years ago.
8:52
Speaker 2: I think about Jalen Hurts, who, if I'm not mistake,
8:54
Speaker 2: it was a runner up in that MVP vote.
8:55
Speaker 1: I think that's how talented he was and we actually thought,
8:58
Speaker 1: I mean, Gez demonstrats you could have won that football game.
9:01
Speaker 1: Is he still that same guy? And I know it's
9:03
Speaker 1: hard to make an argument that he's not just based
9:05
Speaker 1: off of, you know, the three touchdown performance and getting
9:07
Speaker 1: into that end zone and looking as good as he
9:09
Speaker 1: did in the ground game, but it doesn't have the
9:11
Speaker 1: same type of finger His fingerprints on the game aren't
9:13
Speaker 1: what we saw a couple of years ago when he
9:15
Speaker 1: could have been the league MVP.
9:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a fair question to ask. He may not
9:18
Speaker 2: be quite as prolific as we see him in that
9:20
Speaker 2: last Super Bowl against the Chiefs, bombing it out. We
9:23
Speaker 2: don't see that quite as much. Obviously, it's a little
9:25
Speaker 2: bit more of a ball control offense. Saquan certainly has
9:28
Speaker 2: something to do with it, but I also think it
9:30
Speaker 2: has to do with the fact that Hurts has kind
9:31
Speaker 2: of taken a beating, right, but the fact that he
9:34
Speaker 2: was able to come out and pretty much dispel those
9:37
Speaker 2: injury questions after getting his leg bent backward pretty pretty far,
9:42
Speaker 2: you know, to the point where his availability was at
9:44
Speaker 2: least in some doubt early in the week, that question
9:47
Speaker 2: was kind of thrown out the window. And he really
9:49
Speaker 2: played a terrific game in the NFC Championship game, did
9:53
Speaker 2: what he needed to do to win. And yeah, he
9:55
Speaker 2: may not be that superhero who is sort of matching
9:57
Speaker 2: Mahomes play for play, but the rushing production is there.
10:01
Speaker 2: You know, he found a groove with aj Brown again.
10:03
Speaker 2: That's a huge development right there, and when they need to,
10:06
Speaker 2: they can absolutely dial it up.
10:09
Speaker 1: You know, I asked you about the Kansas City Chiefs
10:11
Speaker 1: and how different this year looks compared to the last
10:14
Speaker 1: two years. I also think that this team has got
10:16
Speaker 1: This Eagles team has got some similarities to the one
10:18
Speaker 1: that we saw two years ago because of the defense,
10:21
Speaker 1: which took a hit last year, and I think that's
10:23
Speaker 1: the reason why they weren't in the postseason. Is this
10:26
Speaker 1: team better though, than the one that lost to the
10:28
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs.
10:30
Speaker 2: I will say this, you know, adding those two rookie
10:33
Speaker 2: defensive backs Quinnon Mitchell at outside corner and Cooper to
10:37
Speaker 2: Jean at the slot safety kind of a hybrid role
10:41
Speaker 2: if you will, also helping out on special teams. And
10:44
Speaker 2: then you add guys like Zach Bond who's had a
10:46
Speaker 2: career year and you know you lose, you have injuries
10:49
Speaker 2: at linebacker, Orton Burke steps up and has a terrific
10:53
Speaker 2: NFC Championship game. You know it was other guys stepping
10:56
Speaker 2: up up front too. So maybe they get Brandon Graham
10:59
Speaker 2: back to for the Super Bowl, one extra body. You
11:01
Speaker 2: know he'd love to, you know, either cap his career
11:03
Speaker 2: or extend his career with the Super Bowl and one
11:05
Speaker 2: chance to win another ring for Philly. But yeah, I
11:08
Speaker 2: don't know. It'd be fascinating to kind of put those
11:10
Speaker 2: two defenses side by side and do an apples to
11:13
Speaker 2: apples comparison. But as we've seen this group grow, I'm
11:17
Speaker 2: starting to come around on the idea they might be
11:19
Speaker 2: as good or possibly better than that devastating unit that
11:23
Speaker 2: led the league in sacks a couple of years ago.
11:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, once again, I think it just looks a little
11:28
Speaker 1: bit different. I'd still probably give the edge to that
11:30
Speaker 1: team from two seasons ago. But here's the beauty of it, Eric,
11:33
Speaker 1: and you know this, it doesn't matter. This is a
11:35
Speaker 1: brand new season. Just like we have the MVP conversation.
11:38
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson's numbers are better than they were your ago,
11:41
Speaker 1: so he's got to be the MVP. No, no, no, that's
11:42
Speaker 1: not how it works. And it doesn't matter if the
11:45
Speaker 1: Eagles defense might have been better two years ago. This
11:47
Speaker 1: unit right now is very good and they're matching up
11:49
Speaker 1: against a very talented Chiefs team. What happened to the
12:02
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. We thought that this was their best chance
12:05
Speaker 1: to go and get over the hump in an AFC
12:07
Speaker 1: championship game today, what are you thinking about what you
12:11
Speaker 1: witnessed on Sunday.
12:12
Speaker 2: I feel for Bills fans, I really do. I mean,
12:14
Speaker 2: they're an excellent team now. This year obviously it started
12:17
Speaker 2: in for agency, having to kind of bleed the roster
12:19
Speaker 2: a little bit. Injuries did kind of hurt them late
12:21
Speaker 2: and not having you know, Taylor Rapp and Christian Benford
12:24
Speaker 2: for most of that game. So you know, you think
12:26
Speaker 2: about things like that. But boy, Josh Allen had Look,
12:30
Speaker 2: we're going to say it, they had an MVP caliber season,
12:33
Speaker 2: and they appeared to get that first down up one
12:36
Speaker 2: point decent way through the fourth quarter with the game
12:38
Speaker 2: kind of shifting in there in their favor. They don't
12:41
Speaker 2: get the call. Chiefs get go down score. This is
12:45
Speaker 2: where you could sort of see it coming if you're
12:47
Speaker 2: a Bill span because you watch these games against the
12:49
Speaker 2: Chiefs and other teams too, but certainly Kansas City the
12:53
Speaker 2: main combatant that has sort of broken their heart what
12:55
Speaker 2: four times now in the playoffs and a five year span.
12:58
Speaker 2: It has to be just absolutely awful to sit through
13:02
Speaker 2: these games knowing that if we give them as beating
13:05
Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs, they are going to cut our throats.
13:07
Speaker 2: So and that's what happened, and that's there's really no
13:10
Speaker 2: other way to say it. But you look at Josh
13:12
Speaker 2: and you look how well he played. He's in the
13:14
Speaker 2: peak of his career, and they still can't find the
13:16
Speaker 2: paths to the super Bowl. That's the hardest part for
13:18
Speaker 2: them right now.
13:19
Speaker 1: And look, you're at the Senior Bowl this week. I'm
13:21
Speaker 1: Atie Sweat Shrine Bowl, and that's to look ahead to
13:23
Speaker 1: the draft. And I'm not asking who they should draft,
13:24
Speaker 1: but in this offseason, what is the priority do you
13:26
Speaker 1: think for Buffalo to sort of build this roster and
13:29
Speaker 1: get over the hunk, Because at least on paper, I
13:31
Speaker 1: thought this roster heading into the season wasn't as good
13:34
Speaker 1: as the one that we saw last year, and yet
13:36
Speaker 1: at the end of the year, I thought they had
13:38
Speaker 1: a chance. I thought they Hell, on game day preview,
13:40
Speaker 1: I picked the Bills, I thought they were gonna win
13:42
Speaker 1: that game.
13:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would be loading up on defensive depths, certainly.
13:48
Speaker 2: I mean in the more impact players you can find,
13:50
Speaker 2: the better. But you know, you saw when they had
13:52
Speaker 2: to take Benford out and go to kyer Elam, who
13:54
Speaker 2: was a first round pick a couple of years ago,
13:56
Speaker 2: just unfortunately hasn't found a role there in Buffalo, and
14:00
Speaker 2: as soon as he came into the game, they went
14:02
Speaker 2: after him. So cornerback has to be a place. Cole
14:05
Speaker 2: Bishop had somewhat of a tough game at safety. Still
14:07
Speaker 2: a young guy, plenty of promise, but I would like
14:10
Speaker 2: to feel a little bit better about my safety position,
14:12
Speaker 2: even with guys like Taylor Rapp in the mix Tomorrow
14:15
Speaker 2: Hamlin coming back and playing well after his scary incident
14:19
Speaker 2: in Cincinnati. But yeah, you have to find more pass
14:22
Speaker 2: rush sources. You have to find. Really, I would argue
14:25
Speaker 2: depth on all three levels of the defense, though I
14:28
Speaker 2: don't think Brandon Bean's gonna go out there and use
14:30
Speaker 2: every draft pick he has on that side of the ball.
14:32
Speaker 2: That might be a little too short sided. They probably
14:34
Speaker 2: need another receiver. There are other places where they could
14:37
Speaker 2: bolster their depth, but the offense is in pretty good shape.
14:40
Speaker 2: They can go by with minimal additions on that side. Defensively, though,
14:44
Speaker 2: as von Miller gets up there and Matt Milano's injuries
14:47
Speaker 2: keep piling up and things like that, you know, you
14:50
Speaker 2: just need a couple more difference makers. And look what
14:52
Speaker 2: the Chiefs did a couple of years ago when they
14:54
Speaker 2: drafted that slew of young defensive backs and they want
14:57
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl the following year. That made a big difference.
15:00
Speaker 2: So don't tell me that the draft can't have an impact.
15:03
Speaker 2: Obviously it has in Philly and other places as well.
15:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why I can't wait for the NFL Draft.
15:09
Speaker 1: I know we got thirty teams that are thinking about
15:10
Speaker 1: it right now, except for those two times playing in
15:12
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Speaking of the draft changing the fortunes
15:15
Speaker 1: of a franchise, we saw that with the number four team,
15:18
Speaker 1: the Commanders. They get Jaden Daniels and we say, hey,
15:21
Speaker 1: everything is going to be okay. I don't want to
15:23
Speaker 1: be the negative dude here, but you know, I don't know.
15:26
Speaker 1: Sometimes we've seen some teams have some success and it
15:29
Speaker 1: doesn't guarantee success that following season. Why do you feel
15:33
Speaker 1: so confident that Jaden Daniels can be better the next
15:36
Speaker 1: season than he was this season.
15:38
Speaker 2: Jaden may even take a step back. We obviously saw
15:40
Speaker 2: that with CJ. Stroud this year, where he didn't you know,
15:42
Speaker 2: we were sort of ready to elevate him into that
15:45
Speaker 2: upper echelon of quarterbacks. That didn't happen this year wasn't
15:48
Speaker 2: all his fault. But I also don't think he played
15:50
Speaker 2: quite as well. He's going to get everybody's best shot
15:52
Speaker 2: next year. There's no sneaking up on this guy. Defensive
15:55
Speaker 2: coordinators who have the commanders on their schedule are going
15:58
Speaker 2: to watch or over the tape and make sure they
16:00
Speaker 2: can find any kind of cracks in the armor to
16:03
Speaker 2: find out how do you beat this guy? So what's
16:04
Speaker 2: the best way. Obviously you probably start with the Eagles
16:07
Speaker 2: game and see what the shortcomings were there. They had
16:09
Speaker 2: a three game losing streak as well. But that said
16:13
Speaker 2: hard not to think that the sky is extremely high
16:17
Speaker 2: for this guy and this team too. There were so
16:19
Speaker 2: many holes in this roster. Mike. I think I had
16:22
Speaker 2: him twenty sixth in my August ranking twenty eighth at
16:24
Speaker 2: one point we had a graphic on that a couple
16:27
Speaker 2: of weeks ago, just to make sure everybody knew or
16:29
Speaker 2: how low I had him. But I was sort of
16:31
Speaker 2: a believer. I'm thinking, boy, this is a team that
16:33
Speaker 2: could maybe surprise win seven or eight games. They did
16:36
Speaker 2: far more than that. It also matters that Adam Peters
16:39
Speaker 2: is making picks and signing for agents, that Dan Quinn
16:42
Speaker 2: as the head coach. He did a tremendous job this year.
16:45
Speaker 2: We'll see if Cliff Kingsbury stays, but it looks like
16:47
Speaker 2: he's gonna you know, there's a decent chance he remains
16:49
Speaker 2: as well. And you could just take this thing pretty far.
16:52
Speaker 2: But you know, they said the same thing about Joe
16:54
Speaker 2: Burrow a few years ago and other young quarterbacks who've
16:57
Speaker 2: had those those terrific moments early in their career. There
17:00
Speaker 2: is no guarantee. As you pointed out.
17:02
Speaker 1: I almost think the coolest thing about this story, and
17:04
Speaker 1: it's a little different than teams that weren't expected to
17:07
Speaker 1: do a much and then really surpass that expectation. I
17:10
Speaker 1: think the coolest part about this is Washington not only
17:13
Speaker 1: was not expected to do well, but they were sort
17:15
Speaker 1: of left aside, right like for a couple of seasons,
17:18
Speaker 1: we just said, hey, like do you really want to
17:20
Speaker 1: be on that team? And now all of a sudden,
17:22
Speaker 1: I think guys are going to want to play with
17:24
Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels. I think guys on the defensive side are
17:26
Speaker 1: going to want to play for Dan Cole. We already
17:27
Speaker 1: saw that. Bobby Wagner's a perfect example of that. I
17:30
Speaker 1: think they're going to get better, and I think all
17:32
Speaker 1: of a sudden the Commanders are an attractive team for
17:35
Speaker 1: a lot of free agents potentially in the NFL. I
17:38
Speaker 1: know we've sort of hinted at the NFL Draft with
17:40
Speaker 1: you being at the Senior Bowl and me at the
17:42
Speaker 1: East West Shrine game. Those games, by the way, on
17:44
Speaker 1: NFL Network this week. Cannot wait for the matchups. But
17:48
Speaker 1: there were some coaching news and how some of those
17:50
Speaker 1: hires are going to affect what we see next season.
17:52
Speaker 1: We'll examine that coming up next on Power Rankings. We'll
18:01
Speaker 1: back here on power rankings. Always nice to see some
18:04
Speaker 1: coaches get opportunities, and there's been so much made it
18:07
Speaker 1: a been Johnson, Leam Cohen. We saw Brian Schottenheimer on
18:10
Speaker 1: Monday get his the announcement from the Dallas Cowboys. But
18:15
Speaker 1: when the Jets announced Aaron Glenn, there was a lot
18:17
Speaker 1: of excitement on social media from former Jets players, and
18:20
Speaker 1: after seeing what Glenn had to say when he was introduced,
18:22
Speaker 1: you can understand why to.
18:24
Speaker 2: Any players that's here, now, put your seatbelts on and
18:28
Speaker 2: get ready for the ride. Put your seatbelts on and
18:31
Speaker 2: get ready for the ride. Listen. There are going to
18:33
Speaker 2: be some challenges, but what challenges becomes opportunity gets opportunity.
18:38
Speaker 2: But here's what I do know. We're the freaking New
18:41
Speaker 2: York Jets, so we're built for the CAUH.
18:47
Speaker 1: Get fired up. I hear something like that from Mary Glyn.
18:51
Speaker 1: I'm ready to go and play for this dude. How
18:53
Speaker 1: can this guy change a culture of losing very quickly?
18:58
Speaker 1: And much like we saw what Dan Campbell do with
19:00
Speaker 1: the Lions.
19:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and obviously with Campbell, you know there was there
19:04
Speaker 2: a stretch there where it was a slog, right, It
19:07
Speaker 2: took really a year and a half before you start
19:09
Speaker 2: to see any kind of tangible improvement. But it's it's
19:13
Speaker 2: about establishing belief within your own locker room, right, making
19:16
Speaker 2: sure you have a core of guys. You know, the
19:19
Speaker 2: ones who were there at the beginning of the Campbell
19:21
Speaker 2: Aira and Detroit, you know, the handful who were still
19:24
Speaker 2: there at the end. Those are the ones who end
19:26
Speaker 2: up being their your leaders. And so you know, look,
19:28
Speaker 2: they have a player in Sauce Gardner's who's a tremendous talent,
19:31
Speaker 2: didn't have his best year. They'd need him get back
19:33
Speaker 2: to where he was in his two to twenty twenty
19:36
Speaker 2: three form. Aaron Glenn's probably the man for that. They've
19:38
Speaker 2: got to find a quarterback. There is a laundry list
19:41
Speaker 2: of things they need to do. So you talk about
19:43
Speaker 2: the personnel and whatnot. I mean, we have some boxes
19:47
Speaker 2: to check off here, but it's about identifying the players
19:50
Speaker 2: in your locker room who can help you out. And
19:52
Speaker 2: then also, if you want to use Washington as kind
19:54
Speaker 2: of the blueprint, if you will make sure you have
19:58
Speaker 2: that list of hungry veterans, young players who didn't get
20:01
Speaker 2: a great chance in their first go round, bring them
20:04
Speaker 2: in for depth. That's really what Adam Peters did. I
20:06
Speaker 2: thought it was an underrated piece of what the commander's
20:09
Speaker 2: approach was this offseason. Yeah, Daniels is a huge part
20:11
Speaker 2: of it. So if they can get something close to
20:14
Speaker 2: Jane Daniels, that would be a great start. But it
20:17
Speaker 2: also has to do with all those other complimentary pieces
20:20
Speaker 2: they bring in. And the Jets are gonna have a
20:21
Speaker 2: lot of new faces this year, there's no doubt about that.
20:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's sort of weird to think about what the
20:27
Speaker 1: identity of that team was with Robert solid a couple
20:29
Speaker 1: of years ago, and I obviously I know he was
20:30
Speaker 1: there this season before getting relieved of his duties, but
20:33
Speaker 1: defense to then offense. I got to think it might
20:36
Speaker 1: with and go back to the defensive side. But clearly
20:39
Speaker 1: a culture change there. They're going to have some questions
20:41
Speaker 1: around QB one and who that guy is going to be,
20:43
Speaker 1: but speaking culture changes and also questions z that quarterback
20:46
Speaker 1: spot Pete Carroll, the guy in Vegas, let's take a listen.
20:51
Speaker 3: Took us a few years to get to the very
20:53
Speaker 3: top of the last couple programs. I was with, we're
20:58
Speaker 3: starting right now, going forward immediately. We're not. We don't
21:01
Speaker 3: have some time and we got to make it five
21:03
Speaker 3: or six years down the road. That's not what we're thinking.
21:05
Speaker 3: We're going to start right now to go after it
21:07
Speaker 3: and build his team as quickly as we can. As
21:10
Speaker 3: Johnson saw Max back there, Max send the message, man,
21:14
Speaker 3: we're coming after you. We're gonna come find you guys
21:16
Speaker 3: and get this thing rolling as soon as possible.
21:20
Speaker 1: Max seems to find everyone who happens to be a quarterback.
21:24
Speaker 1: When he's out on the football field, He's always in
21:26
Speaker 1: go mode. When I heard the news, I was a
21:28
Speaker 1: little surprised, and then the more I thought about it,
21:30
Speaker 1: the more I was like, I actually really like this
21:33
Speaker 1: fit for the Raiders, do you Yeah.
21:36
Speaker 2: I think it brings professionality, you know, professionalism to the
21:40
Speaker 2: operation here, right, And the Raiders have obviously been a
21:43
Speaker 2: you know, off the tracks and haven't really found their
21:46
Speaker 2: groove and haven't had any kind of consistency. And it's
21:48
Speaker 2: fascinating that Tom Brady seemingly has an increasing sort of
21:52
Speaker 2: imprint on this team and a voice in the front
21:55
Speaker 2: office and is obviously pulling a lot of strings behind
21:57
Speaker 2: the scenes. So you know the fact that he would
21:59
Speaker 2: he would would recommend Carol, I'm sure as part of
22:02
Speaker 2: the deal. And you know knows how tough is win
22:05
Speaker 2: up against him in a classic Super Bowl of your
22:07
Speaker 2: and we know how that one ended, obviously Brady on top.
22:10
Speaker 2: But now he's bringing on Carol, and I think that
22:12
Speaker 2: the plan will be, Hey, have somebody you're developing as
22:15
Speaker 2: your young lieutenant, the guy who's going to eventually replace you.
22:18
Speaker 2: But Pete has the energy of a guy fifteen twenty
22:21
Speaker 2: years younger than he is. He's an incredible man who
22:24
Speaker 2: probably doesn't sleep that much, is always dreaming and thinking football.
22:27
Speaker 2: And if you have a guy like Max Crosberry already
22:30
Speaker 2: there a tone center. Yes, I know Max has only
22:33
Speaker 2: been able to do so much. But I think Pete
22:35
Speaker 2: and him together, you know, that's sort of a match
22:37
Speaker 2: made in heaven. Again, like the Jets still need a quarterback,
22:40
Speaker 2: still have a ton of issues to sort out, offensive
22:43
Speaker 2: line whatnot. Even the defense has plenty of holes and
22:45
Speaker 2: Pete's gonna want to get on that part too. But
22:48
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see where this goes. I know
22:49
Speaker 2: we get excited about the young coordinators, but what about
22:52
Speaker 2: the guys who are going to end up in Canton
22:54
Speaker 2: and the ones who are going to be the most
22:56
Speaker 2: celebrated coaches that are generation I'd like that guy on
22:59
Speaker 2: my sideline, no question.
23:01
Speaker 1: And you're right, that energy and that vibe, the idea
23:04
Speaker 1: of preaching competition all the time, that's going to be
23:06
Speaker 1: important on those sidelines. I was texting with Steve which
23:09
Speaker 1: about this because we were both saying how much we
23:11
Speaker 1: liked it, and then I said, hey, it almost doesn't
23:14
Speaker 1: matter if it's Pete Carroll or Bill Belichick or insert
23:16
Speaker 1: any other name of any other coach. If they don't
23:19
Speaker 1: figure out QB one, there's going to be a problem.
23:21
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Russ Through all Gino's I know Russ has
23:24
Speaker 1: been sort of linked there because of his contract and
23:26
Speaker 1: his time in relationship with Pete Carroll. But they got
23:28
Speaker 1: to figure that out. They try to figure it out
23:30
Speaker 1: in the draft. They drafted brock Bauers instead because they
23:32
Speaker 1: couldn't get that quarterback. Maybe this year in the draft,
23:35
Speaker 1: maybe it's a guy that I see at the East
23:36
Speaker 1: West Shrine Bowl. Maybe it's a guy that you're going
23:38
Speaker 1: to see at the Senior Bowl. But nonetheless, some major
23:40
Speaker 1: decisions for Pete Carroll and that front office. Needless to say,
23:44
Speaker 1: we get to do a Super Bowl preview next week
23:46
Speaker 1: on Power Rankings, Eric, you're the best man. Enjoy watching
23:48
Speaker 1: some of these college kids, I know I will, and
23:51
Speaker 1: looking forward to doing it again next week