Latest / Banter with the Boys / NFL 2027 Season AFC East Coverage | Banter with the Boys - Gridiron Updates
Transcript
- 0:00laced up let's go it's time for banter with the
- 0:05boys Welcome back to Banter with the Boys Gridiron
- 0:17Updates, where this is certainly not AI slot.
- 0:21Yes, that's right. I'm here with fellow co -hosts
- 0:24Jake and Roberto here again this season. We're
- 0:28back. We're back. We're back. We could do our
- 0:31most cringy Cam Newton. I'm back! That ugly,
- 0:36that ugly ass yell he did when he scored his
- 0:39first touchdown. Oh, yeah. Little Superman. How
- 0:42about just... Football's back. Football. Yeah.
- 0:45Football's back. Kev's here. What's up, Kev?
- 0:47Yo, Kev. Anyway, well, we got a bunch of these
- 0:50things to do, so we'll just rip right into it,
- 0:53starting with the AFC East. This is our preseason
- 0:56show, by the way, so we'll just talk about a
- 0:58couple teams here. Just kind of what we're seeing
- 1:01coming into the 26th season, maybe. Thoughts
- 1:05on how far their season will go. What I should
- 1:09have done is listen back to last year, just see
- 1:11how we did this. Oh. I can't remember. We just
- 1:14started ripping through teams. We're just going
- 1:15to go. You know what I mean? It's just football.
- 1:17It's football, like you said. Let's start with
- 1:20the Bills. The Buffalo Bills. The new stadium
- 1:23Bills that everybody's upset about a little bit.
- 1:25And new head coach. And new head coach, that's
- 1:28right. It is. That's right. In -house hire. Yeah,
- 1:30that's right. Joe Brady. Yep. That's right. Arguably.
- 1:36A favorite to maybe go deep again? Can they get
- 1:39over that hump? They got one of the best quarterbacks
- 1:42in the league, arguably. Yes, they do. I mean,
- 1:46anchored by Josh Allen, the addition of DJ Moore
- 1:49is going to be. Is he a true number one? Yeah.
- 1:52On that team. For that team, absolutely. Fair
- 1:54enough. So you're probably, he's going to see
- 1:56a buck 20, buck 40 targets on this side. Tight
- 1:59ends. Defense, top 10 defense from last year.
- 2:03They did lose a few key pieces on the back end.
- 2:07But, you know, Josh Allen. CJ Gardner -Johnson,
- 2:10we'll see. They picked up Bradley Chubb. who
- 2:14D Alford from the Falcon or like in free agency
- 2:17or Falcon. So I think they're a little better
- 2:20defensively. My, the, I think Well, we'll call
- 2:27it the loss of Matt Milano, even though he's
- 2:30still a free agent right now. He hasn't been
- 2:31re -signed. Even though he's had a string of
- 2:35injuries the past couple of years, he's really
- 2:36the leader of that defense. And I always question,
- 2:40when you lose your defensive leader, how is the
- 2:42team going to respond to that? Who's going to
- 2:45take over? Yeah, who's going to lead that defensive
- 2:47unit? Even if they're not the best player, there's
- 2:53something about, like, an individual having that
- 2:56energy for the defense when they need it. And
- 2:58when you're already not great in the run defense
- 3:01specifically, and now you're losing a guy like
- 3:04that, it's like, now what? Like you said, who's
- 3:06going to step up? Josh Allen. That's what he
- 3:09typically does. I feel like this will be a similar
- 3:13conversation when we end up getting to the Bengals,
- 3:16so stay tuned for our AFC North conversation.
- 3:20The Bills' offense has already carried this team
- 3:23so much over the years. They really need that
- 3:24defense to finally take that step to make a deep
- 3:28run. Jake, is the Super Bowl their ceiling this
- 3:34year? I don't know. I think I'm going to be pessimistic
- 3:38and say no. I think their ceiling is still AFC
- 3:40championship game. Losing to the Ravens, naturally.
- 3:45Of course. I think it really depends on Joe Brady,
- 3:52if he's going to be more gas, less brakes, because
- 3:55that's what Buffalo is missing out on these past
- 3:58few years with Sean McDermott. More of a let's
- 4:02run the ball, let's control the clock, game management
- 4:06kind of stuff versus with Joe Brady. I think
- 4:08you're going to see a lot more offense, probably
- 4:11a lot more passing, even more James Cook. And
- 4:14if there's more offense, I mean, that's crazy
- 4:16for an offense that was already up there, possibly
- 4:19top 10 at least, especially in the run department.
- 4:22And then what did I put here? Plus 116 point
- 4:26differential is crazy, too. So they were not
- 4:28just winning games. They were blowing their opponents
- 4:29out. So if they get more offense out of that,
- 4:33that's intriguing. You got a record, maybe? Did
- 4:38you go that deep? I mean, they were 12 -5 last
- 4:40year. I'm assuming that's probably kind of where
- 4:42they're going to be. They'll lose one or two
- 4:45that they shouldn't and maybe sneak out. They
- 4:48are playing the second -place schedule, which
- 4:49typically they've been playing first -place schedules
- 4:51all year, so that's going to help with New England
- 4:54not having to play that first -place schedule
- 4:55throughout the rest of the AFC. You think they'll
- 4:59hold New England off, though, and secure that,
- 5:01win the division? New England's the interesting
- 5:03one. Talk about it when we get on that. Fair
- 5:06enough. Where are you at with them? Me? On the
- 5:10Bills? I think I'm kind of in your boat a little
- 5:13bit. I think they'll kind of do the same thing.
- 5:15I mean, they're always kind of in that talk for
- 5:17at least making the AFC championship. I don't
- 5:21think adding DJ Moore truly pushes them over
- 5:24the edge, you know what I mean, to give them
- 5:27my full confidence that they're going to make
- 5:30it all the way to the Super Bowl. Is he a better
- 5:32version Diggs or Moore, would you take? Because
- 5:38they had Diggs there for multiple years. I would
- 5:41take Moore, because Moore is a better deep threat
- 5:43than Diggs is. Agreed. I would agree with that,
- 5:45but I do like Diggs' routes a little bit better.
- 5:47I think Diggs runs slightly better routes. But
- 5:50is that what Buffalo's looking for? Probably
- 5:52more of a deep threat. That makes sense. Because
- 5:54you've got Coleman and they have the little duo,
- 6:01Shakir. Yeah. A couple of decent tight ends.
- 6:05So, I mean, you've got... Obviously, there's
- 6:09deep threats there, but they're so inconsistent.
- 6:12Coleman's got to step up. Last year, he'll be
- 6:16a nice added deep threat, too. He's going to
- 6:18see a lot of one -on -ones, especially more.
- 6:21Are you in agreeance with us, Jake? Some of the
- 6:24same from the Bills, at least, making a deep
- 6:26postseason run. Yeah, deep postseason run, 12
- 6:29regular season wins. Probably in the division,
- 6:31or you got something to say when we get to the
- 6:32Patriots? I don't know. I think it's going to
- 6:34be close. I think they win the division this
- 6:36year. I'm just saying. Okay. I'll tell you why
- 6:39when we get to the Patriots. Okay. Love to hear
- 6:41that. Love to hear why you're wrong. Let's do
- 6:43the Patriots right now then. We assume the division
- 6:47is going to be the Patriots and the Bills. The
- 6:50Patriots came out of the gate kind of surprising
- 6:52people last year as well. Another huge point
- 6:54differential, killing opponents. You guys are
- 6:58in the boat that they're going to repeat that
- 7:01a little bit? I do. I do. I think their offense
- 7:05is going to be better this year. You've picked
- 7:09up A .J. Brown. Well, they're top 10 defense,
- 7:11by the way. Yeah, you picked up A .J. Brown.
- 7:14I think A .J. Brown with Vrabel is not going
- 7:18to be the distraction that he was in in Philadelphia.
- 7:24You've got Romeo Dobbs. Was he that big of a
- 7:27distraction, or did people just not understand
- 7:28him? Probably a little of both. People didn't
- 7:32understand him, which turned it into a distraction.
- 7:33Fair enough. Not a big fan of the book he was
- 7:37reading, I guess. Yeah. They also added Dobbs,
- 7:41Romeo Dobbs. We've seen enough of Dobbs over
- 7:43the years. Then you've got Draymond Jones coming
- 7:46from Baltimore over there to help make that pass
- 7:50rush better. Kevin Byard is back with Rabel again.
- 7:53He knows what Rabel wants. Bringing in Veritaker
- 7:56on the O -line. Absolutely, yeah. They're swinging
- 8:00for it right now. Because I think this is their
- 8:01window, especially with Drake being cheap right
- 8:03now. This is their window to get free Super Bowl
- 8:06runs. And Ramondre Stevenson and Travion Henderson,
- 8:10that's probably the next best running back combo
- 8:14that we're going to see. Okay, interesting. I
- 8:18just feel like, I wonder what the stats are on...
- 8:22a team getting to 14 wins and how often they
- 8:26repeat 14 wins. You know what I mean? I just
- 8:28feel like 14 wins might be tough to repeat for
- 8:31a younger team like that. So I'm curious. I think
- 8:35they regress a little bit, and they make the
- 8:37playoffs, of course. probably the number one
- 8:40wild card in the AFC with, well, I'd say at least
- 8:4311 wins, if not 12. But I just don't think they're
- 8:47up to 14. I think the Bills are past that, and
- 8:49that's why I think the Bills win the division.
- 8:50I got them right about 11 wins. I think they're
- 8:53in regress a little bit just because their schedule
- 8:55is going to be a lot. They played last place
- 8:56schedule last year. We talked about it all throughout
- 8:59last year. They were sneaking out wins, but they
- 9:02also didn't really play anybody. I remember week
- 9:0412, they had... 10 of their 12 games were below
- 9:10500 teams. But they did show up in the playoff
- 9:14against some competitive teams last year that
- 9:16really surprised us. Good job by Braves getting
- 9:19that defense and that whole organization turned
- 9:22over quickly in a year. They're interesting.
- 9:25I really want to see how Brown gets in there.
- 9:28There's 11 and six. It's not saying that they're
- 9:30not bad. It's just going to be a lot tougher
- 9:32season. And then you never know injuries and
- 9:35everything plays out and they need teams. So
- 9:38about 11 and six ceiling, maybe 13, but it's
- 9:43just that first place schedules to be tough.
- 9:44They play Seattle open the season. So, yeah,
- 9:47right, right. Tough, tough go. You think that
- 9:50they're capable again of making another deep
- 9:51playoff run? Yeah, I mean, it depends who that
- 9:55first runner is. It is. That AFC is kind of who's
- 9:58the top team in the AFC right now is kind of
- 10:01that interesting. Where you look on the NFC,
- 10:03there's like three or four teams a year going,
- 10:06yeah, they're going to be right in it for sure.
- 10:08Yeah, well, check out the NFC episodes. We will
- 10:12definitely be talking about that. There's a couple
- 10:14of very interesting teams on that side in that
- 10:16conference as well. But, Jake, any final thoughts
- 10:19on the Patriots? Oh, I just quickly dug this.
- 10:22up roughly 70 % of Super Bowl runner -ups do
- 10:26return to the playoffs the following year. So
- 10:28odds are in their favor. But that's not to say
- 10:33that they can't do it. It doesn't say specifically
- 10:35winning a division or wild card or anything.
- 10:37I mean, 70%. I'd take them odds. I'm feeling
- 10:40good. I'm a Patriots fan. I mean, they loaded
- 10:42up their offense, so they're making their push.
- 10:45They didn't necessarily get that much worse.
- 10:47No, not at all. All right. So let's talk about
- 10:50staying in the AFC East. We're going to talk
- 10:55about the Miami Dolphins. I really don't want
- 10:59to talk a lot about the Dolphins. However, other
- 11:02than the fact that, I mean, they, do we? They're
- 11:08not even retooling. I mean, it's kind of a rebuild
- 11:10at this point. Getting rid of all the veterans,
- 11:12guys. It's 100 % a rebuild. It started in, what,
- 11:15March or whatever when they got rid of Jalen
- 11:17Waddell. And, you know, Tua's out of there. Bradley
- 11:19Chubb's out of there. Minka Fitzpatrick's out
- 11:22of there. You know, they're pushing the chips
- 11:24in on Malik frickin' Willis. Like, we'll see.
- 11:29I think they don't have a lot of depth. There's
- 11:31a lot to be concerned about in Miami for me.
- 11:37I question whether or not Malik is going to be
- 11:39as good as he was in Green Bay, mostly because
- 11:42of the wide receiver depth, because you got rid
- 11:45of your stars, your good wide receivers, and
- 11:48you're like, who the heck's he throwing the ball
- 11:50to? This doesn't make any sense. Jalen Tolbert
- 11:53and Tutu Atwell. No, Tutu just got traded the
- 12:00other day. Tutu got traded back to the Rams,
- 12:03I'm pretty sure, literally like two or three
- 12:04days ago. I'm almost positive. After signing
- 12:07with them, though. And so you got Jeff Halfley,
- 12:10new head coach here also. Good luck, Jeff. Yeah,
- 12:14you're going to need it. I mean, he was talking
- 12:16about how he's going to have, like, Devon Achan,
- 12:18like, grasping for air by halftime. 100%. At
- 12:23least he's got Jalen Wright behind him. I like
- 12:25Jalen Wright, too. Like, using the bejesus out
- 12:27of him. I get it, but how long is he going to
- 12:30be able to keep that up? I mean, that receiving
- 12:33core, Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Caleb
- 12:35Douglas. I'm not excited about that. Jalen Rager's
- 12:41in there. We know. On the fantasy thought, I
- 12:45was trying to think, who would be the number
- 12:46one? Who's going to get all the targets? We need
- 12:51some Miami fans to pipe into the comments here
- 12:54and help us out a little bit. Just give us some
- 12:56faith, man. Give us some faith in the Dolphins.
- 13:00Are they going to be able to beat out the Jets
- 13:03in their own division? I mean, that might be
- 13:06a good game. The Dolphins versus the Jets. They
- 13:08did. The Dolphins ended up with seven wins last
- 13:10year compared to the Jets' three. I'm not feeling
- 13:15good about this Dolphins team. You never know.
- 13:17These young teams, they'll squeak out a couple.
- 13:20But I wonder, as a Dolphins fan, who you eyeing
- 13:23up next year as the quarterback? Is there one?
- 13:27I think it still has to be Malik, though, because
- 13:30you did sign him for two years. So you're kind
- 13:35of committed to it. Or is it more than two? But,
- 13:37I mean, if you have a high draft pick, it's hard
- 13:39not to take a quarterback. But then you can sit
- 13:41him for a year, too. Depending on who else is
- 13:42there, I guess. This is something that I've been
- 13:46saying for the last couple of years. The wide
- 13:48receivers that have been coming out are so good.
- 13:52Maybe you end up trading back for more picks
- 13:55and then get yourself a couple of weapons. They
- 13:59did a little bit on the draft. They had a ton
- 14:01of draft picks this year. That Proctor, the tackle
- 14:04out of Alabama's stud, and then the cornerback
- 14:07out of San Diego State, the old Aztecs. Good
- 14:11job, coach. Yeah, I'm good on the Dolphins, man.
- 14:17I'm sorry. I think it's going to be an abysmal
- 14:19year, under 500. All right, let's just go here.
- 14:22Instead of thinking about what their record,
- 14:23plus or minus five wins. Oh, that's a good one
- 14:28right there. Push? Did you look that up? No.
- 14:31That sounds like right on to me. I'm going to
- 14:34go under. So are you saying like? Five and a
- 14:38half. We'll just make it. Under. If you're doing
- 14:40five and a half, I'm taking the under. I'm thinking
- 14:44about this like I got real money. You're just
- 14:46burning data here. These are the best shorts
- 14:49that I love to cut right here. This is a good
- 14:53short question, and here I am thinking about
- 14:55it. I'll go over, but like six. All right, there
- 14:58you go. It's barely over. There we go. What about
- 15:00you? I'm under. You're under. Right on, right
- 15:03on. All right, let's touch on the final team.
- 15:06Last but certainly not least, J -E -T -S. Jets,
- 15:10Jets, Jets. Just as exciting as the Dolphins,
- 15:14I think. You added Geno Smith and Minka Fitzpatrick.
- 15:18That's cool. And to Mario Davis. And to Mario
- 15:21Davis, which is kind of a surprising one. Yeah.
- 15:26Three and 14 last year. Another one I'm excited
- 15:27about. I mean, does now Geno give them anything
- 15:34to be more excited about than earlier Geno? I
- 15:37think it depends on the O -line. If the O -line
- 15:40is better than what the Raiders O -line was last
- 15:43year, absolutely. Because they've got the skill
- 15:47players for it, for Geno to get the ball around.
- 15:51Can you keep him upright? I mean, they still
- 15:54have a ton of talent on that team. And now it's
- 15:58year two of Aaron Glenn. So it's kind of now
- 16:02fully his team after a full year of everything.
- 16:05They did draft some really interesting guys.
- 16:10Sadiq, the tight end out of Oregon. As Vikings
- 16:13fans, we were kind of looking at. I think, do
- 16:18you like Geno better than you like Fields? I
- 16:20think in the NFL, I think I like Geno Smith.
- 16:23Yeah, from what we saw of Geno when he was in
- 16:28Seattle with Pete Carroll, and he had an O -line
- 16:31able to block and give him time. I like... I
- 16:36like Gino better than... Sorry, Kev. Sorry, Kev.
- 16:39Volume was up. Unbelievable. Mutual alerts. I
- 16:42like Gino better than I like Fields. But I like...
- 16:52Fields is better for off -script stuff. If things
- 16:56break down, like if that O -line just starts
- 16:58to be a sieve, then I would rather have Fields
- 17:01out there. Because he's going to be able to get
- 17:03around a little bit more and maybe keep something
- 17:06alive. So he's got a hernia right now. But like
- 17:07any offense in the NFL, if you're down by 20
- 17:10points, you've got to pass the ball. And Justin
- 17:13Fields is your quarterback. I mean, you're just
- 17:15pinning ears back and getting after him. Good
- 17:17luck any offense line in the NFL when it's at
- 17:19that point. Sure. But, yeah, I'm kind of thinking
- 17:24that these guys are going to get near 500 this
- 17:27year. I just got a feeling this defense is going
- 17:30to be a lot better. They are playing a last -place
- 17:34schedule. So 8 -9, I think they're going to finish
- 17:38third in this division. Which is not a big stretch,
- 17:42especially on the top two teams. I've got a question
- 17:44for you, Rob. Are they going to have more interceptions
- 17:47this year or a place that they finish in the
- 17:49division? Which is going to be the better number?
- 17:53So more than four of them? The place that they
- 17:56finish in the division? So if they finish fourth,
- 17:58they got to get more than four interceptions?
- 17:59Yeah. Third. So they're going to have, no, are
- 18:06they going to have, so they're going to have
- 18:07like, you think they're going to come in third,
- 18:09so they're going to have, do you think they're
- 18:11going to have more than four interceptions? Defensively.
- 18:15Yes. Okay. Because they didn't get one at all
- 18:20last year. It's a new year. Defensive -minded
- 18:22head coach. Defensive -minded head coach. Defensive
- 18:24-minded head coach, and his team got zero INTs
- 18:27last year. No, I'm extremely concerned. They
- 18:28got Bailey, that two -pick out of Texas Tech
- 18:30that I really like. They needed definitely an
- 18:32edge rusher. That team was really missing. Yeah.
- 18:37I think Minka really helps that back end. I think
- 18:42so. And then I think just Aaron Glenn will be
- 18:44aggressive like he was back. I think he has a
- 18:46few more tools in the old proverbial toolbox
- 18:49this year. I'm not feeling them. I'm not feeling
- 18:53them defensively. Fuel up the Jets. We're coming.
- 18:56No, no. We're coming. They're going to stay grounded,
- 18:59son. Because, I mean, they finished 31st in scoring
- 19:03last year defensively. Like, I feel. Very strongly
- 19:06they'll finish 28 or worse. Again, I don't think
- 19:09defensively it's going to go well for the Jets.
- 19:11I think we could see. I mean, Geno Smith could
- 19:14be the guy offensively. So we could turn some
- 19:17things around. Maybe they get up to five wins.
- 19:21Five wins? Okay. I still think the Dolphins edge
- 19:24them out. Where do you got the Jets finishing?
- 19:28Probably third. Above the Dolphins. Yeah, I think
- 19:31the Jets can double their win total this year.
- 19:34Okay. Wait a minute. He just contradicted himself.
- 19:39He said under five and a half. He just said double
- 19:41their wins. No, that was the Dolphins. Oh, son
- 19:45of a B. Come on, coach. Here I am thinking I'm
- 19:48hot shit right here. Regroup. Anyway, what were
- 19:54you saying before I rudely interrupted you to
- 19:56tell you how right I was? Jets are just going
- 20:01to double their win total this year, I think.
- 20:03I think the Jets are going to go, what, 6 -11.
- 20:096 -11. That's it. Yeah, no, they're not doing
- 20:14shit. They're not going to get to the playoffs.
- 20:15It's another bad year for the Jets, right? And
- 20:18then you're, what are you saying? 8 -9. 8 -9.
- 20:20I think they can get up to almost 500. That's
- 20:25kind of a weird vibe about the Jets here. Because
- 20:29there's always a 3 -14 team. Is that their ceiling
- 20:31on the season then, 8 -9? I don't think it can
- 20:33get any better than that. No, I don't have enough
- 20:36faith in Geno when it comes down to it. Sounds
- 20:38like you've got some faith in Geno. A little
- 20:40bit, but I also have some faith in the defense
- 20:42is really where I'm kind of leaning on. I do
- 20:44also like, you know, Brees Hall. I like that
- 20:46offense. They got a bunch of skill set guys.
- 20:48I'm a defensive guy. I hope the defense can turn
- 20:51around. I do, but I just. Come and join the train.
- 20:53I'm not joining. They're not on a train. They're
- 20:56on a jet. Well. All right. Anyway, we should
- 20:59end it. That's horrible. Yeah, let's roll. Anyway,
- 21:01but that was the AFC East where we collectively
- 21:04think. No, we don't collectively think. You guys
- 21:05think the Patriots are winning the division,
- 21:07right? Yeah. No, I think the Bills. Oh, okay.
- 21:10Oh, you did sneak in the Bills? 12 -5 versus
- 21:1211 -6. Rewind. We got to record. No, stop. Pause.
- 21:17Is that what Kev says? Pause. Anyway, yeah, that's
- 21:21it. Jake? Thanks for being on the episode, being
- 21:24back this season. Welcome back. It's going to
- 21:26be a great season. It's been a long off season.
- 21:28Maybe for the Ravens. You'll have to tune in
- 21:29next episode to see. The timetable for Lamar
- 21:33Jackson getting traded. Roberto. Spoilers. I
- 21:37love it. We're talking football. It's that time
- 21:40of year. Best time of year. Best time of year.
- 21:42Coming back from the cabin, coming back from
- 21:43the fair. That's right. Literally, Roberto and
- 21:46Kev just got back in town. You went to the fair
- 21:48today? No, on Thursday. Oh, man. I went yesterday.
- 21:50I'm worn out from it. Yeah. Anyway. All right.
- 21:53Yeah, we should end it. Yeah, come to the next
- 21:56episode. You know what I mean? I think the AFC
- 21:59North is what we're doing next. And, yeah, check
- 22:01it out, whatever. Where do we listen to those?
- 22:03That's fine. Oh, yeah, thanks. You listen to
- 22:05them on, oh, I haven't said it for so long, Spotify,
- 22:08Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you
- 22:11can listen to the banter. I think there's a YouTube.
- 22:14Oh, there is a YouTube. Facebook has links sometimes.
- 22:17I don't know. Roberto puts reels out there. We're
- 22:20all over the place. It's all over the place.
- 22:22Very unorganized here. This is our preseason,
- 22:24too. Preseason. We're warming up, Chris. That's
- 22:27right. Bye. There's paper. Don't forget to follow,
- 22:33like, and subscribe. Tune in next time for more
- 22:37banter with the boys.