Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #14: Cowboys jump to #2, Bengals strong, Vikings and 49ers questions, and Baker destinations

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#14: Cowboys jump to #2, Bengals strong, Vikings and 49ers questions, and Baker destinations · NFL Power Rankings

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Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Hey, Hello, and welcome to
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Speaker 1: the NFL Power Rankings podcast, presented by Energizer. I'm Dan Hansis.
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Speaker 1: My co host is the lovely Colleen Wolf. Hello. I'm
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Speaker 1: doing great, doing great, doll, Can I say? I can't wait?
0:29
Speaker 1: So you're an old lady. You kind of already are
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Speaker 1: emotionally in the mind, you know that as your bird
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Speaker 1: watching going. It's great. You know you're not the first
0:38
Speaker 1: person to bring this up to me. I have an
0:41
Speaker 1: old soul, and you're kind of more like a Dorine.
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Speaker 1: What you're kind of like, not so much a Colleen,
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Speaker 1: but a Dorine. Oh you know what I mean. I
0:48
Speaker 1: guess I would love to be a Dorian. I think
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Speaker 1: Doreen would be great. I will drive a Lincoln I mean, listen,
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Speaker 1: I uh, I learned how to drive on a Lincoln
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Speaker 1: A nineteen seventy Oh hanah handles, well, oh my god,
1:04
Speaker 1: we're steering on that thing. Was great. Uh. Listen. We're
1:08
Speaker 1: talking about the old times, and it makes it makes
1:10
Speaker 1: me think of the good old days. Um for me,
1:15
Speaker 1: you know, the the late eighties, the early nineties, and
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Speaker 1: I'm a kid, and I would go to St. Margaret's
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Speaker 1: Parish on Sunday for the usually the noon mass um,
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Speaker 1: and afterwards my mom would take us. You can save
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Speaker 1: it for the theology podcast if you want, right, no
1:36
Speaker 1: other comments on my religious upbring, but take us to
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Speaker 1: my grandparents. And there's Poppy, the old Poppy, my grandfather,
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Speaker 1: the Giants fan and his brown couch with his root
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Speaker 1: beer watching the Bill Parcels Giants against all those great
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Speaker 1: NFC East teams, Cunningham and the Eagles, Buddy Ryan the hat,
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Speaker 1: the way that he always wore his hat uniforms to
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Speaker 1: Washington teams with Gibbs leading the way winning Super Bowl les.
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Speaker 1: And now we look at the power rankings and we
2:08
Speaker 1: see what. There's no Joe Gibbs here. Okay, uh, there's
2:12
Speaker 1: Nobuddy Ryan rest in peace. But we have the Dallas
2:16
Speaker 1: Cowboys all the way up to number two, your Philadelphia
2:20
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles number one. The beasts of the NFC East
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Speaker 1: rule the power rankings. As we take a look, by
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Speaker 1: the way at the first quadrant of the latest edition
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Speaker 1: of Power Rankings at NFL dot com slash Power Rankings. Uh,
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Speaker 1: Eagles stay at one after a dominating win over the Titans.
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Speaker 1: A J. Brown got the GM fired in Tennessee. You
2:45
Speaker 1: want to talk about revenge? The Cowboys up two spots
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Speaker 1: after putting up thirty three unanswered in the fourth quarter
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Speaker 1: on Sunday Night Football, Bengals and we're gonna get to
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Speaker 1: them in a bit, up five after a huge win
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Speaker 1: over the Chiefs, Bills up one after beating the Patriots
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Speaker 1: in primetime, Chiefs down three to number five, Vikings up
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Speaker 1: one after beating the Jets narrowly. Narrowly easy for me
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Speaker 1: to say, Niners down four, We're getting to get to them.
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Speaker 1: Cataclismic event for them. And the Dolphins humbled a bit
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Speaker 1: at number eight, down two spots, um, But yes, the
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Speaker 1: two teams Eagles Cowboys. How confident are you that the
3:28
Speaker 1: Eagles hold onto this thing? Are you watching the Cowboys
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Speaker 1: on Sunday night and thinking to yourself, they're gonna come
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Speaker 1: get us, and they're gonna take this number one seed
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Speaker 1: in the NFC? Well, of course, like I'm always nervous
3:40
Speaker 1: watching the Cowboys. They just make me nervous in general.
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Speaker 1: But seeing the way that they were so comfortable in
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Speaker 1: the second half of that game, everything was going right
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Speaker 1: for them, and right now, I just feel like the
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Speaker 1: Eagles and the Cowboys are on a collision course for
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Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, which is terrible for whoever loses that game,
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Speaker 1: because you know that this is going to ruin Christmas?
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Speaker 1: Is it for the Theology podcast? Right back at your systems?
4:04
Speaker 1: All right? Hey, let me alone, got me a cigarette
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Speaker 1: in the other room. I feel like Dorine smokes. Done.
4:09
Speaker 1: You know, we only smoke in the other room. That's
4:13
Speaker 1: why we cover the couches. Alright, done, alright, so listen.
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Speaker 1: I I the fact that the Cowboys did what they
4:21
Speaker 1: did in this game against the Colts, like this was
4:24
Speaker 1: a close first half and then they just blew the
4:27
Speaker 1: close first three quarters. In fact, Jeff Saturday, he doesn't
4:31
Speaker 1: challenge that potential interception by decolating the third quarter. I'm
4:35
Speaker 1: not saying it would have been overturned, but the fact
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Speaker 1: that he doesn't challenge it. If that gets overturned, the
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Speaker 1: Colts have a chance to take the lead in the
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Speaker 1: fourth quarter, So that it was I guess what I'm
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Speaker 1: trying to say is, don't just look at the final score.
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Speaker 1: Look at the Cowboys weren't overly impressive for most of
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Speaker 1: that game before turning it on and embarrassing Jim Ursay's team. Uh.
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Speaker 1: The Eagles, on the other hand, why it was an
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Speaker 1: easy decision for me to keep him at one. The
5:01
Speaker 1: Titans are a good team. They're not a great team,
5:04
Speaker 1: but we they're good, disciplined, battle tested team that has
5:08
Speaker 1: run into some issues now. But to beat them the
5:11
Speaker 1: way they did, to outgain the a f C South
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Speaker 1: leaders by nearly two fifty yards, that was impressive that
5:16
Speaker 1: that was not a hard decision for me to keep
5:19
Speaker 1: them where they are. After the Eagles, we were able
5:21
Speaker 1: to win the game by running so well the week before,
5:25
Speaker 1: they came out and passed all over the place. They
5:29
Speaker 1: looked so good. Jalen hurts his arm amazing, I mean
5:32
Speaker 1: a j. Brown. We knew that this was coming, but
5:34
Speaker 1: I didn't know to what extent, how dominant of an
5:38
Speaker 1: effort this would be from him. And also the pass
5:40
Speaker 1: rush looked so good for the Eagles. So you have
5:43
Speaker 1: so many great things working for them, I mean, Devanta
5:46
Speaker 1: Smith involved, they have. They're just like having fun too.
5:49
Speaker 1: You can tell how much they like each other, how
5:52
Speaker 1: how light it is in that locker room, and that
5:55
Speaker 1: usually equates to a playoff type of team and a
5:58
Speaker 1: winning team in the playoffs. But for me, the one
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Speaker 1: thing that I would look forward to um and I
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Speaker 1: really want to know when we're talking about these two teams.
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Speaker 1: With the Cowboys cornerback Anthony Brown done for the season
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Speaker 1: and ruptured his achilles, they're already thin at that position
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Speaker 1: and inexperience there. They lost Jordan Lewis in October to
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Speaker 1: that terrible woman, you know, oh, the Harlot Liz Frank.
6:21
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I'm a feminist Connie, but I
6:24
Speaker 1: have an issue with Liz Frank. I thought I saw
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Speaker 1: her out the other night. I grabbed John real fast,
6:30
Speaker 1: you know, take your man, hid Man. But rookie Duran Bland,
6:34
Speaker 1: he's playing and play Lewis, I don't know. So I
6:37
Speaker 1: was thinking maybe Mike McCarthy gives his old pal Kevin
6:41
Speaker 1: King from Green Bay a ring to bring in a
6:44
Speaker 1: little reinforcement there at the position, because that could be
6:47
Speaker 1: tough for them down the stretch here. But when you
6:49
Speaker 1: see what their schedule is, they have Houston coming up
6:52
Speaker 1: this week, then they have Jacksonville, and then they have
6:54
Speaker 1: Philly on Christmas Eve. So that's most likely two wins.
6:58
Speaker 1: I don't want to sleep on Jacksonville, although they just
7:00
Speaker 1: got wiped by the Lions on Sunday. I think about
7:03
Speaker 1: the Eagles locker room, a good, strong, healthy locker room.
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Speaker 1: It does remind me of that special Sunday in Minneapolis,
7:10
Speaker 1: being in the locker room after fifty two and Meek
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Speaker 1: Mills Dreams and Nights Mayores is playing and the whole
7:16
Speaker 1: team is screaming every word and celebration. You even have
7:19
Speaker 1: Nick Foles screaming the words of that song, like that's
7:22
Speaker 1: a different year. It's a little early in the show,
7:24
Speaker 1: but listen, the Bengals have arrived, so it's time for
7:27
Speaker 1: here power moves. The Bengals are up five spots and
7:31
Speaker 1: that's why they're the power mover. And you look at
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Speaker 1: their trajectory since week ten, they were at eleven, hung
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Speaker 1: in eleven, up to ten, up to eight, and boom
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Speaker 1: up to number three, which means, right now, Connie, to me,
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Speaker 1: power rankings guy, they are the team in the a
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Speaker 1: f C. And that could certainly change, but right now,
7:51
Speaker 1: and it's a now exercise, they're the team I trust
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Speaker 1: more than anybody else to get out of the conference.
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Speaker 1: Oh even more than the Bills. Right now, more than
8:01
Speaker 1: the Bills more than the Chiefs, more than the Texas.
8:05
Speaker 1: I believe that that Cincinnati their combination of a defense
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Speaker 1: that is playing well together, that is playing with discipline,
8:14
Speaker 1: an offensive line that continues to improve, a running game that,
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Speaker 1: even without Joe Mixon, is moving the chains. Jamaar Chase
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Speaker 1: back on the field as a top ten wide receiver
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Speaker 1: in our league. Te Higgins not quite at that level,
8:27
Speaker 1: but very close, knocking on the door, the Superstar club
8:30
Speaker 1: on the other side. And then that dude behind center,
8:33
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, who And this is the first time Zach
8:37
Speaker 1: Taylor said something like this, but I think he's absolutely
8:40
Speaker 1: telling the truth. A lot of coaches say a line
8:42
Speaker 1: that I'm about to tell you, and you know it's
8:44
Speaker 1: b s. He said, I wouldn't trade him for anybody
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Speaker 1: in the world, and I wouldn't either, because I think
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Speaker 1: Burrow's got rings in him and this year they have
8:52
Speaker 1: a chance. Well. So this is my favorite part about
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Speaker 1: the Bengals. I love when this team starts to feel
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Speaker 1: themselves and you know that we've arrived to that portion
9:00
Speaker 1: of the program at this point four straight wins. Joe Burrow,
9:03
Speaker 1: he brought back the same car d a glasses that
9:05
Speaker 1: he wore the last time he played Kansas City in
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Speaker 1: the a s C Championship game. They're sassy again, and
9:11
Speaker 1: that's what I love about them. It's my heart with joy.
9:14
Speaker 1: I love a sassy team. I love Harris seven sassy,
9:18
Speaker 1: Like what kind of sassy were talking? I mean, listen
9:20
Speaker 1: when you watch Joe Burrow arrived to a game with
9:24
Speaker 1: the Cardier shades and the suit. I mean, the looks
9:28
Speaker 1: are great, but for me, it's like Jamaar Chase, after
9:32
Speaker 1: a week of trash talking, which I love coming from
9:35
Speaker 1: Justin Reid from the Chiefs, Jamaar Chase could not wait
9:39
Speaker 1: to get into Justin Reid's face. I mean, as soon
9:42
Speaker 1: as te Higgins scored the touchdown, he ran over and
9:45
Speaker 1: started making a rain right justin Reid's face, like it
9:48
Speaker 1: wasn't even his touchdown. He was waiting for that. And
9:51
Speaker 1: then after the game, Chase got one more final dig
9:55
Speaker 1: inn a can that's been their thing, tuna can, because there,
9:59
Speaker 1: you know that's what that's what cats. They love a can.
10:02
Speaker 1: I'm still not following it, but he said because then
10:05
Speaker 1: so I was like, okay, because this is It's come
10:07
Speaker 1: up multiple times this season already, so I was like, oh,
10:10
Speaker 1: is that you know them calling the other team something? Um,
10:14
Speaker 1: but I think because the Bengals their cats, and cats
10:18
Speaker 1: love tune in a can, so that's what they do
10:20
Speaker 1: to the secondary. Anyway, I developed a strong aversion to
10:23
Speaker 1: Tuna in a Can a few years ago. Um, still
10:25
Speaker 1: haven't come back around on it, but anyway, save it
10:27
Speaker 1: for the Tuna in a Can podcast. I also liked
10:30
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow after the game when he was asked about
10:34
Speaker 1: Justin Reid's comments about you know, it's too long and
10:38
Speaker 1: convoluted to even get into because Justin Reid got all
10:41
Speaker 1: of the names wrong when he was trying to talk trash.
10:43
Speaker 1: But Joe Burrow said I would have cared a lot
10:46
Speaker 1: more if he knew what he was talking about, and
10:48
Speaker 1: especially after the game, like he just knows exactly what
10:50
Speaker 1: to say. And when you play this way with some
10:53
Speaker 1: j p Ryan doing such a good job in the
10:56
Speaker 1: absence of Joe Mixing, I mean, p R I definitely
10:59
Speaker 1: has to have a bigger role once Mixing comes back
11:01
Speaker 1: to It's yeah, oh yes, he's He's definitely earned that
11:04
Speaker 1: and I think they could be a great tandem together.
11:07
Speaker 1: And you know, it's in the era of analytics. You
11:10
Speaker 1: want to find all the different reasons to explain why
11:12
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is so special, and you could do that,
11:15
Speaker 1: Go find dig through the numbers. You'll see what a
11:17
Speaker 1: what a great quarterback he is, and how he moves
11:21
Speaker 1: offenses so efficiently with his varied skill set. However, there
11:26
Speaker 1: is that certain something June's a koa if you will,
11:31
Speaker 1: that is undefinable, that makes him different, that makes him special,
11:35
Speaker 1: which is why in a very tightly packed a f C,
11:39
Speaker 1: and you see it with Bengals, three Bills, four Chief's five,
11:42
Speaker 1: all those teams are very close. You could you could
11:45
Speaker 1: flip any of them in any spot in these power rankings,
11:47
Speaker 1: and you have a case I think wins out in
11:51
Speaker 1: the a f C. Right now. That's where I'm at, well,
11:52
Speaker 1: especially with that energy that they're given out Outside the
11:56
Speaker 1: top five. You have the Vikings, I have them up
11:58
Speaker 1: one spot after the win over the Jets. I have
12:01
Speaker 1: the Jets and we'll see them when we get to
12:03
Speaker 1: the second quadrant holding onto the tent spot. Because I
12:06
Speaker 1: think that was an interesting, somewhat odd game and that
12:09
Speaker 1: you were expecting one of those teams to make some
12:12
Speaker 1: type of huge statement and separate themselves. And but it said,
12:15
Speaker 1: I came out of that game feeling the same about
12:19
Speaker 1: the Vikings. Despite that ten and two record, that they
12:21
Speaker 1: are cut below the big boys the top these power rankings,
12:26
Speaker 1: even those a FC teams, I don't. I still see
12:29
Speaker 1: them in the same way. And I want to give
12:30
Speaker 1: them credit because I know there's Vikings fans. They're just
12:32
Speaker 1: like oh Dan with there's Jets fandom, Mike, He's not
12:34
Speaker 1: giving us. Vikings fans are out for all of us.
12:36
Speaker 1: They did an incredible job in the red zone stopping
12:39
Speaker 1: Mike White and the Jets six five out of six times,
12:42
Speaker 1: and that's how they won that game. But they also
12:43
Speaker 1: left the Jets into the red zone six times in
12:46
Speaker 1: that game in their offense. That that we are disappearing act.
12:48
Speaker 1: It does at times. It still feels like a slightly
12:51
Speaker 1: unbalanced team, but the fact that they've literally won everyone
12:54
Speaker 1: score game, it's it's they deserve the respect of the
12:57
Speaker 1: number six spots. They do their tenth win of the season,
13:00
Speaker 1: and it was the tenth time they had to white
13:03
Speaker 1: knuckle to the Finnish and it's just got to be
13:06
Speaker 1: so stressful to be a Vikings fan, no wonder they're
13:08
Speaker 1: out for all of us, because it's not an easy life.
13:12
Speaker 1: They deserve better than this. They deserve at least one
13:15
Speaker 1: comfortable win this season, and I don't know when they'll
13:18
Speaker 1: get it if the Vikings continue to play this way
13:20
Speaker 1: like Yes, they had those two the defense had the
13:23
Speaker 1: two back to back red zone stops that were great
13:26
Speaker 1: to preserve the win. They needed that, But Kirk Cousins
13:28
Speaker 1: was off for a lot of this game because that
13:31
Speaker 1: Jets defense is so good. When it mattered, Kirk Cousins
13:35
Speaker 1: delivered those strikes to Justin Jefferson. He connected on all
13:38
Speaker 1: five of those attempts on that touchdown drive, so that
13:41
Speaker 1: score ended up being the difference in the game. But
13:43
Speaker 1: this Vikings defense just bleeds yards. They just hemorrhage yards
13:48
Speaker 1: every single week. They absolutely do, and that will continue
13:51
Speaker 1: to be an issue. And I think Kirk Cousins, even
13:53
Speaker 1: though the numbers are fine, I think he's got to
13:56
Speaker 1: play better. He's he's delivered. They were very good conversely
13:59
Speaker 1: in the red zone, which again allowed them to win
14:01
Speaker 1: that game, scoring every time they got inside the Jets twenty.
14:05
Speaker 1: But he left a lot of yards on the field
14:06
Speaker 1: in that game and in general, and you look at
14:08
Speaker 1: his week to week production, I think he needs to
14:11
Speaker 1: raise this game if this team is truly in the
14:13
Speaker 1: super Bowl conversation, can we talk about the Niners now?
14:16
Speaker 1: Because I haven't been seven and this is very difficult
14:19
Speaker 1: conny when it comes to power rankings, to do you
14:22
Speaker 1: how do you define a really good team when they
14:25
Speaker 1: suffer a crushing injury loss as Jimmy Garoppolo is for
14:28
Speaker 1: this team out for the year after injuring his foot
14:31
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins. So they had their best win of
14:33
Speaker 1: the season in large part not because of Brock Party,
14:35
Speaker 1: who did find in relief work for a seventh round rookie,
14:39
Speaker 1: but because of their varied skill set players on offense,
14:43
Speaker 1: their defense, that front seven with Fred Warner and the
14:46
Speaker 1: guys in the front four that get after the quarterback.
14:49
Speaker 1: Where do you put a team after they lose their
14:51
Speaker 1: second starting quarterback of the season. Do you drop him
14:54
Speaker 1: like a rock? Or what? How much time did you
14:56
Speaker 1: spend on the Niners? Like, if you are spending the
14:58
Speaker 1: full day on Monday with these rankings, what percentage of
15:02
Speaker 1: time did you spending to figure out? Are you if
15:05
Speaker 1: I said five hours? Yeah, it's not true, because what
15:09
Speaker 1: you do basically is, Okay, they still have that really
15:11
Speaker 1: impressive win. They are still a top their division. So
15:15
Speaker 1: we're gonna do is give him a subtle drop like
15:17
Speaker 1: a which is a nod that this is not good
15:19
Speaker 1: that you've lost your quarterback here, but we're giving you
15:21
Speaker 1: the respect by keeping me in the top ten. Does
15:23
Speaker 1: that make sense? So you're bracing for a larger fall potentially?
15:28
Speaker 1: I don't know how you can't, just because unless Kyle
15:31
Speaker 1: Shanahan has this kid just so locked in and ready
15:34
Speaker 1: for what he what he has in front of them.
15:35
Speaker 1: But this is a huge, huge task to put in
15:38
Speaker 1: brock Purty's lab in the middle of December. But the
15:41
Speaker 1: nice thing is he has this defense that is so talented,
15:44
Speaker 1: and the playmakers that they do have on offense are
15:47
Speaker 1: so versatile, and you have Kyle Shanahan, they can scheme
15:50
Speaker 1: up different things. And I would say, considering the fact
15:52
Speaker 1: that brock Purty has been leading the scout team against
15:55
Speaker 1: the Niners incredible defense, like that's a best case scenario
15:58
Speaker 1: for a seventh round rookie to be just thrown into this.
16:01
Speaker 1: And Fred Warner talked all about pretty and how much
16:05
Speaker 1: they test him during these practices. I mean, of course
16:07
Speaker 1: they're going to talk him up right now, but I
16:09
Speaker 1: think there is something to that considering how good this
16:11
Speaker 1: defense is at every single level, and that they have
16:14
Speaker 1: been testing him. So if he's going to have any
16:17
Speaker 1: type of practice before he gets thrown into the spotlight,
16:19
Speaker 1: that's the best kind of practice to have. Yeah, And
16:21
Speaker 1: I would say that Kyle Shannon's offense if Purdy and
16:24
Speaker 1: they identified identified him as a guy they wanted in
16:27
Speaker 1: their building. In fact, he beat out Nick Mullins. I
16:29
Speaker 1: believe it was this summer for a roster spot, which
16:32
Speaker 1: was impressive in its own right. So perhaps he is
16:35
Speaker 1: somebody that will be able to efficiently operate this offense,
16:39
Speaker 1: even at his young age. And and Shanahan's office is
16:42
Speaker 1: very based on knowing your personnel as a quarterack, knowing
16:46
Speaker 1: your scheme, obviously, knowing where your reeds are, and getting
16:49
Speaker 1: the ball out. They're not going to be asking Purty
16:51
Speaker 1: to do a ton of processing behind the line of scrimmage.
16:54
Speaker 1: If the offensive line holds up, He's a distributor. Just
16:57
Speaker 1: like when Garoppolo was going well, it was see the receiver,
17:00
Speaker 1: hit the receiver and let them do it. The yacht
17:02
Speaker 1: bros And all that, and he's not afraid to push
17:04
Speaker 1: the ball down field either, which could be a good
17:07
Speaker 1: or a bath like exactly. But the potential good news
17:10
Speaker 1: here for Jimmy g is the Niners think he avoided
17:13
Speaker 1: the scourge of a woman. He did. Yeah, good because
17:18
Speaker 1: Ms Liz Frank, we don't want to say are around
17:21
Speaker 1: these parts And this would be the part when I
17:23
Speaker 1: usually no, get her out of here, she's gotta go,
17:27
Speaker 1: uh loose women sink ships. Um, this is when I
17:30
Speaker 1: usually jump over to the quad two, but we gotta
17:33
Speaker 1: stay in Quad one because there's another team we got
17:35
Speaker 1: to talk about, and it's the Dolphins who and I
17:38
Speaker 1: dropped him to eight and uh just a two spot
17:41
Speaker 1: drops some of that. I kind of wanted to ding
17:43
Speaker 1: him a little bit more, but there wasn't any teams
17:45
Speaker 1: behind him that I felt really deserved that bump up.
17:49
Speaker 1: Obviously not the Titans of the Jets behind them, two
17:51
Speaker 1: teams that came off losses. But at the same time,
17:54
Speaker 1: kind of a sobering reality check for Miami. Wasn't it
17:57
Speaker 1: well to what was tested? And you know, he had
18:00
Speaker 1: a hard time as expected. Nobody thought that I don't
18:03
Speaker 1: I didn't think this game. I don't think no thought
18:05
Speaker 1: there are a lot of Now this is not me saying, oh,
18:07
Speaker 1: I nailed it, but it kind of did. Everyone was
18:10
Speaker 1: just assuming, because they were rolling through five of the
18:12
Speaker 1: worst teams in football over the past month plus that
18:15
Speaker 1: that was just going to continue because this is who
18:17
Speaker 1: the Dobbins were. Now. No, we needed to see them
18:20
Speaker 1: do it against the team like San Francisco, So when
18:22
Speaker 1: they don't, you ask questions that this was exactly what
18:26
Speaker 1: I expected from TOA because he kind of came in
18:28
Speaker 1: and out of being flustered in this game. Like the
18:31
Speaker 1: first past of seventy five yard touchdown to Trent Serfield.
18:35
Speaker 1: I almost think that that's almost like a little flukey
18:37
Speaker 1: because it's the first play of the game. You catch
18:39
Speaker 1: him off guard. I loved it, like that was a
18:41
Speaker 1: great play by Tua. And then he also had that
18:44
Speaker 1: other deep shot to Tyreek Hill in the second half,
18:46
Speaker 1: which were the first points that the Niners had allowed
18:49
Speaker 1: in the second half and what like five games so
18:52
Speaker 1: straight games. But when you don't have Jalen Waddle involved,
18:56
Speaker 1: his first catch wasn't until thirty seconds left in the
18:59
Speaker 1: third quarter. Like this Niners defense such great talent to
19:04
Speaker 1: slow down the Dolphins. I mean, it's just a really
19:07
Speaker 1: bad matchup for them. The Niners defense, I think is
19:10
Speaker 1: a bad matchup for anyone, but specifically for the Dolphins
19:13
Speaker 1: and their personnel. But you see what I'm saying, though,
19:15
Speaker 1: you're right matchup wise, But I just wonder now as
19:18
Speaker 1: you look, like, what do we have? Let me check
19:20
Speaker 1: this ouver real quick. Like the back the back to
19:21
Speaker 1: back interceptions he was missing, they were open, But you
19:26
Speaker 1: could look at that as a positive to that. It
19:28
Speaker 1: wasn't so much that Mike McDaniel's offense scheme was flummixed
19:32
Speaker 1: and and broken by what Damiko Ryans and San Francisco's
19:36
Speaker 1: d did. It was maybe the quarterback just had a
19:38
Speaker 1: bad day, and it's okay. Quarterbacks can have bad days.
19:41
Speaker 1: So they're gonna be a very interesting team to watch
19:43
Speaker 1: going forward. They have They're at the Chargers, a team
19:46
Speaker 1: that's just all sorts of banged up, obviously with Joey
19:49
Speaker 1: Bosa and numerous other players out of the lineup. But
19:51
Speaker 1: then they go to to Buffalo the week after that,
19:54
Speaker 1: So I'm kind of circling that date as another opportunity
19:57
Speaker 1: for Miami to show us that they should be taken
20:00
Speaker 1: seriously as a Super Bowl contender. I'm just not there yet.
20:03
Speaker 1: And again, Brock Purdy place Jimmy Garoppolo in the first quarter.
20:06
Speaker 1: I mean that was a gift from the football gods
20:08
Speaker 1: to Miami and they just couldn't do anything with it. Yeah,
20:11
Speaker 1: that that Dolphin's Bills game is going to be huge.
20:14
Speaker 1: I'll be there for it. I'm really excited. I've never
20:17
Speaker 1: been to Buffalo to see a game ever, like this
20:20
Speaker 1: has been on my bucket list. Are you doing that?
20:22
Speaker 1: I'm so excited. We're doing the pre half in post
20:26
Speaker 1: or maybe half in post because it's the triple header
20:28
Speaker 1: on that Saturday, December seventeen, so it's the last game
20:33
Speaker 1: of the day, so we'll be doing I mean at
20:35
Speaker 1: least the half in post game. There are you a
20:37
Speaker 1: wings girl? Do you do you do the wings? Well?
20:40
Speaker 1: Anchor bar, I'll go to anchor Bar. Yeah, but I
20:42
Speaker 1: can't do wings before a show. I'm like, I am
20:46
Speaker 1: both accident prone and a mess. So not a good
20:50
Speaker 1: count for that particular food item. Let's check out the
21:01
Speaker 1: quad two. Now U in the Titans and Jets hold
21:06
Speaker 1: onto their spots. Not the Jets. I feel comfortable. Keep
21:10
Speaker 1: them there. The Titans, I was ready to drop them,
21:12
Speaker 1: but then who do you who do you put above them?
21:14
Speaker 1: I don't know. Ravens at eleven. We'll get to them
21:17
Speaker 1: in a minute. Seahawks up two spots after that narrow
21:20
Speaker 1: win over the Rams to twelve. Commanders stay at thirteen.
21:25
Speaker 1: The Giants after the tie with the Commanders, jump up
21:28
Speaker 1: and get right next to the Commanders. They have a
21:30
Speaker 1: rematch coming up week after this uh in FedEx Field.
21:34
Speaker 1: The Raiders up to to fifteen and the Bucks after
21:36
Speaker 1: that miraculous Monday night football come back up to to sixteen.
21:40
Speaker 1: They're gonna win that division. Now after that game, let's
21:42
Speaker 1: start with the Ravens. Ocunny, we're just talking about San
21:44
Speaker 1: Francisco and their quarterback issues. Lamar Jackson not not as
21:49
Speaker 1: nearly as serious as what ended Jimmy g season his
21:51
Speaker 1: knee issue, but at the same time a little fore
21:53
Speaker 1: voting John Harbon not putting even a timetable on it.
21:56
Speaker 1: Just more like, hey, don't expect to see him Sunday
21:58
Speaker 1: and then we'll see from there. I mean, this was
22:00
Speaker 1: a nightmare of a week for the Ravens. You barely
22:03
Speaker 1: beat one of the worst teams in the league and
22:05
Speaker 1: the Broncos, and then Lamar goes down week to week.
22:08
Speaker 1: I mean, the thing that makes Lamar so special is
22:11
Speaker 1: the way that he moves around on the ground and Dan,
22:13
Speaker 1: I've heard that me is a big part of the
22:16
Speaker 1: leg and how you move around on the ground. I
22:18
Speaker 1: didn't know that you studied medicine, that is, yeah, totally anatomy. Yeah,
22:23
Speaker 1: that was one of my favorite classes anyway. Um, yeah,
22:27
Speaker 1: you know, I was going to be a neonatologist, but
22:30
Speaker 1: then I decided instead to just go into sports. Sports.
22:35
Speaker 1: There's so much overlap anyway. I just wanted to help people.
22:38
Speaker 1: I just want to connect with others and feel like
22:41
Speaker 1: I'm making a difference and leave this world a better place.
22:43
Speaker 1: I want to keep it. I was, I have a
22:45
Speaker 1: new dentist, and I was, you know, I asked him, hey,
22:47
Speaker 1: had you become a dentist? Like what was that all about?
22:49
Speaker 1: And he kept it Really it's like, well, you know,
22:50
Speaker 1: my whole family was like doctors and dentists, and you know,
22:54
Speaker 1: doctor's a lot more work, a lot more years of
22:56
Speaker 1: school and that hour. So I was like, screw that,
22:59
Speaker 1: I'll be a dentist instead, all right, that's actually pretty smart.
23:03
Speaker 1: I wish I had heard of that before I made
23:05
Speaker 1: some It was like decision anyway, what are we talking
23:08
Speaker 1: about the Ravens. Yes, it all feels very Ravens fans
23:14
Speaker 1: do not want to hear that. I know, and I
23:16
Speaker 1: don't want that to be the case at all. Nobody
23:18
Speaker 1: wants that at all. They have there at Pittsburgh, at Cleveland,
23:22
Speaker 1: then Atlanta, Pittsburgh again, Pittsburgh and Cleveland fans do want
23:25
Speaker 1: that at Cincinnati to end the season. Yeah, they're still
23:30
Speaker 1: they're tied atop the division in the North. But I'm
23:32
Speaker 1: totally with you, it's very it's very hard to know
23:36
Speaker 1: exactly what's going on. Obviously, because as long as Lamar
23:40
Speaker 1: is up in the air, the whole season for the Ravens,
23:42
Speaker 1: just like last year, is up in the air. But
23:45
Speaker 1: I do know this, there will be no miracles for Baltimore.
23:48
Speaker 1: Tyler Huntly is a good backup, but they lost four,
23:51
Speaker 1: four or five with him last year after Lamar went down.
23:55
Speaker 1: But this Baltimore team we've seen the time and time again.
23:57
Speaker 1: The defense isn't good. I mean it's not bad, but
24:00
Speaker 1: it certainly has had enough letdowns in big spots. In
24:03
Speaker 1: this game where you know you can't trust them. The
24:05
Speaker 1: passing game was already hurting, not because the Lamar, but
24:07
Speaker 1: because of the roster that's been built in a way
24:10
Speaker 1: and because of injuries that they just don't have that explosiveness.
24:13
Speaker 1: And you take Jackson and what he adds to the
24:15
Speaker 1: running game out of it, and it's like this is
24:17
Speaker 1: not a very special team. No. And I kind of
24:20
Speaker 1: feel the same way at this point about the Bucks,
24:23
Speaker 1: Like I it's a team that I just don't trust,
24:26
Speaker 1: even though the last minute heroics. If this offense just
24:30
Speaker 1: operated hurry up all the time, I think that they
24:33
Speaker 1: would have different results because you see them able to
24:36
Speaker 1: move the ball and get positive momentum when they go
24:39
Speaker 1: hurry up. And that's what happened in these last few
24:42
Speaker 1: minutes of this game, and and Tom Brady just kind
24:44
Speaker 1: of took over and it was like he just kind
24:46
Speaker 1: of got in that zone and nothing else was going
24:49
Speaker 1: to stop and he was going to win that game.
24:51
Speaker 1: And it was largely a disaster like before, with a
24:55
Speaker 1: wild decision to punt, Todd Bowles got bailed out by
24:59
Speaker 1: his defense, and then Brady hes Todd Bowles he loves
25:03
Speaker 1: and trusts his defense, you decide to punt fourth and ten.
25:07
Speaker 1: I mean, Brady was so pissed with like six minutes
25:10
Speaker 1: to play. Everything was wreaking out, Like that was a
25:12
Speaker 1: crazy decision that somehow ended up being the right decision
25:15
Speaker 1: because of everything that happened afterwards. But Todd Bowles did
25:18
Speaker 1: the same thing last week too when he punts it
25:21
Speaker 1: on fourth and three against the Browns. Like just different
25:24
Speaker 1: things like this don't make me feel great, so negative though,
25:28
Speaker 1: I mean that was that was a special moment in
25:30
Speaker 1: their season. Of course, it was do you can you
25:34
Speaker 1: can't you see? Because they're going to the playoffs now.
25:37
Speaker 1: That was the win. If they lose that game and
25:39
Speaker 1: I know they have a they have a tough game
25:41
Speaker 1: next week. I can't remember who it was, but usually
25:44
Speaker 1: it's a top it's a the Niners next week. Although
25:46
Speaker 1: with party who knows anymore that team and it felts weird.
25:49
Speaker 1: This year, it would have been wide open that division.
25:51
Speaker 1: I don't feel that way anymore. At the same time, like,
25:54
Speaker 1: even though this team is flawed, get Brady into the
25:57
Speaker 1: dance and he could still be a tough out on
26:01
Speaker 1: I think my issue with this team is that I
26:03
Speaker 1: started to believe after they beat the Seahawks and Munich
26:06
Speaker 1: and I was back on board and then they burned me.
26:12
Speaker 1: So now I'm just kind of guarding myself. Well, here's
26:14
Speaker 1: the thing. This is the other weird thing about this team.
26:17
Speaker 1: What Brady showed you in those last two drives. They
26:19
Speaker 1: still Brady. He might not be the Brady of even
26:21
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. Maybe he's come down a
26:23
Speaker 1: little bit at this point at but he's still really
26:28
Speaker 1: a good distributor and has, you know, unrivaled pocket presents
26:31
Speaker 1: and all that he's he continues to just miss these
26:36
Speaker 1: deep throws and they're the future of their season rides
26:40
Speaker 1: on weather they can unlock their downfield passing game because
26:44
Speaker 1: it isn't like he's sailing the ball out of bounds
26:46
Speaker 1: or he's like poor Matt Ryan, we can't throw anymore.
26:49
Speaker 1: It's just the it's just a little bit off between
26:52
Speaker 1: especially Mike Evans, but a Godwin as well, uh Scotty Miller.
26:56
Speaker 1: And if that gets corrected, and it could be a
26:59
Speaker 1: simple mechanic fix or just the flow of the season,
27:03
Speaker 1: they're gonna be dangerous in January. But until I see
27:07
Speaker 1: that element of their offensive attack, the vertical vertical game
27:10
Speaker 1: get corrected, and now we're getting into the middle of
27:12
Speaker 1: the stock. Let's go. Let's go. Indeed, before we go
27:18
Speaker 1: to break, let's talk Raiders, because you know, they've kind
27:21
Speaker 1: of been my pet team. Tell me a little bit
27:22
Speaker 1: more about that much of this season. I don't know
27:25
Speaker 1: they they're interesting to me, and that they're kind of
27:27
Speaker 1: they were a Greek tragedy for the first half of
27:29
Speaker 1: the season, blowing so many games. Uh, and then you
27:32
Speaker 1: count them out and then they went on two walk
27:35
Speaker 1: off touchdowns in the past two weeks, kind of gifts
27:37
Speaker 1: from their opponent to give them those games. And then
27:40
Speaker 1: they wipe out attend nothing deficit against the Chargers on
27:42
Speaker 1: Sunday and badly outplay a Los Angeles team that was
27:45
Speaker 1: ahead of them in the playoffs standings um entering the week,
27:50
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, they got the Rams on
27:52
Speaker 1: Thursday night. And you say, wait a second, here, wait
27:56
Speaker 1: a second, are the Raiders gonna go from one of
27:59
Speaker 1: the most disappointing teams in the league to a team
28:03
Speaker 1: that gets into the fabled in the hunt column of
28:07
Speaker 1: the playoff picture. I think it's possible. Is it also possible?
28:10
Speaker 1: Connie of this team that has this this pathological need
28:14
Speaker 1: to just destroy its fan base with bad losses this
28:17
Speaker 1: year has another bad one in him. Maybe on Thursday
28:20
Speaker 1: night games are weird on Thursday, Connie. But this is
28:26
Speaker 1: riddle me this, Connie. I'll how is it Connie's up
28:36
Speaker 1: that the Raiders can have two legitimate offensive Player of
28:40
Speaker 1: the Year candidates and Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs, and
28:44
Speaker 1: a leading contender for Defensive Player of the Year Max Crosby,
28:48
Speaker 1: yet still find themselves two games under five after three
28:52
Speaker 1: consecutive wins. And it tells me it's all these things
28:59
Speaker 1: mean they're gonna keep winning and their record is gonna
29:02
Speaker 1: in the end reflect more what they're talent level is
29:05
Speaker 1: and the playmakers they have, and that would put them
29:07
Speaker 1: back in the race. They've got some wins, more wins
29:09
Speaker 1: to take care of. But that's why they're where they are.
29:11
Speaker 1: I mean, they have so they have really good talent
29:14
Speaker 1: on this team, like Chandler Jones, Hello, welcome to the season.
29:19
Speaker 1: I mean him. He came in with just a half
29:22
Speaker 1: sack and then brought down Justin Herbert three times in
29:25
Speaker 1: this game. First, Josh Jacobs has been rolling, which I
29:30
Speaker 1: love like that's the petty tour. And my favorite part
29:32
Speaker 1: about this whole matchup with the Chargers this past week.
29:36
Speaker 1: I mean it felt so personal the whole time. But
29:39
Speaker 1: with Keenan Allen and that fourth down touchdown that he
29:43
Speaker 1: got for the Chargers. Like earlier this week, Keenan Allen, Uh,
29:48
Speaker 1: he returned obviously after missing these seven games, and he
29:50
Speaker 1: said last week that the Raiders dbs would be barbecue
29:54
Speaker 1: chicken if they played single coverage on him. I just
29:57
Speaker 1: think there was a missed opportunity for them to actually
30:00
Speaker 1: bring in barbecue chicken for the win, like that would
30:03
Speaker 1: be nice. You have it when ending on the bit exactly.
30:05
Speaker 1: Then they're eating chicken as they're doing the post game interview.
30:09
Speaker 1: It's great. Now you just brought back bad memories of
30:12
Speaker 1: Aaron Hernandez gross chicken in front of reporters years ago. See,
30:17
Speaker 1: I would have gone to Thanksgiving. When they're on the field,
30:20
Speaker 1: they win, they have like the turkey leg to Aaron Hernandez. Well, listen,
30:27
Speaker 1: the real ones know exactly what I'm talking about. The
30:29
Speaker 1: Aaron Hernandez eating chicken in the locker room bit. Anyway,
30:33
Speaker 1: let's take a break and we'll hit the rest of
30:35
Speaker 1: the power ranking. I'm sorry to bring it up, but
30:36
Speaker 1: you said chicken and locker room eating. I just welcome
30:51
Speaker 1: back to the show as we check out Quad three.
30:54
Speaker 1: Here the Lions of three spots. You know what, you
30:57
Speaker 1: just can't keep them down at right now. Real America's team,
31:02
Speaker 1: the Chargers, who we just mentioned, dropping six spots to eighteen.
31:06
Speaker 1: You got the Patriots after their loss to the Bills
31:09
Speaker 1: on Thursday night, down four spots at nineteen, the Browns
31:13
Speaker 1: down one spot after beating Texans without any points from
31:18
Speaker 1: the offense. You got the Packers standing path there at one,
31:22
Speaker 1: Steelers at two, up two spots, and then the Cardinals
31:25
Speaker 1: down one a twenty three and the Jags down one
31:30
Speaker 1: moved up the Packers a couple of spots. We're gonna
31:32
Speaker 1: take the el on that one. Yeah, you're just realizing
31:34
Speaker 1: that right now. They know, Hey, listen, sent it. It's over.
31:38
Speaker 1: But there's always next week. There is, there is, it
31:41
Speaker 1: will be addressed. Hey how about those Lions. I love
31:44
Speaker 1: the Lions, our our team um that we covered on
31:48
Speaker 1: the Hard Knocks podcast this summer, and they have made
31:52
Speaker 1: a steady rise up the board. Yeah. In fact, they
31:57
Speaker 1: were number thirty one as recently. Take a little trip
32:01
Speaker 1: here as week nine, Connie, And then they moved up
32:04
Speaker 1: to nine, then up to one, then up to eighteen,
32:08
Speaker 1: then a little dip down to twenty. But now here
32:10
Speaker 1: they are again at their high water mark of the
32:12
Speaker 1: season at seventeen. And let me tell you something, Connie,
32:15
Speaker 1: let me hear and this, and this does speak to
32:18
Speaker 1: how kind of weird the middle section, the soft underbelly
32:22
Speaker 1: of the power rankings are. If those Lions beat the Vikings,
32:26
Speaker 1: and by the way, the Desert favors them, the Lion
32:29
Speaker 1: to win the Lions on Sunday, they will be knocking
32:33
Speaker 1: on the top ten of the Power rankings. And I
32:35
Speaker 1: know that doesn't sound right, and it doesn't even sound
32:37
Speaker 1: right to me, but look at the teams around them,
32:40
Speaker 1: and then look what the Lions have done over the
32:42
Speaker 1: last seven weeks. It's grit, it's about but you gotta
32:46
Speaker 1: win on Sunday or it's just a nice little story.
32:48
Speaker 1: But you beat the tenant two Vikings and it becomes
32:50
Speaker 1: something else entirely. And Detroit played them really close in
32:53
Speaker 1: week three. That was only a four point lost. Everyone
32:56
Speaker 1: plays the Kings, but the Lions. This was not closed
33:01
Speaker 1: against the Jags. They absolutely stomped them for a fourteen
33:05
Speaker 1: I mean, Jared Goff looked so good. They scored a
33:08
Speaker 1: touchdown or field goal on eight consecutive drives, scored over
33:12
Speaker 1: thirty points for the sixth time this year, the most
33:15
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I mean. And on top of that,
33:18
Speaker 1: now they're adding in their rookie wide receiver Jamison Williams,
33:22
Speaker 1: so you have even more firepower to come still. I
33:26
Speaker 1: love this for Dan Campbell. Yeah, Williams. Anything he gives
33:29
Speaker 1: them this year will be a bonus. I think that
33:31
Speaker 1: was the idea a lot of people thought. And it
33:34
Speaker 1: was a good wide receiver draft um Garrett Wilson, for example,
33:37
Speaker 1: a hundred and sixty six yards for the Jets against
33:39
Speaker 1: the Vikings on Sunday. But a lot of people said
33:41
Speaker 1: Jamison Williams is the best of the bunch potentially, and uh,
33:45
Speaker 1: he's coming back from that a c l. But when
33:47
Speaker 1: you look even without him, just assuming he's somebody that
33:49
Speaker 1: will get some snaps as he gets back up to speed.
33:52
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift being healthy, Mom Ross st Brown being healthy,
33:56
Speaker 1: our boy, Ben Johnson, their offensive coordinator, Like this is
33:59
Speaker 1: a sustainable offense that I think earlier in the season,
34:03
Speaker 1: like they got shut out by New engl and as
34:04
Speaker 1: I recall, and they had some highs and lows. They
34:07
Speaker 1: started one and six, then they won three straight and
34:10
Speaker 1: then they lost by three to the Bills on Thanksgivings
34:13
Speaker 1: second kick and and crush the Jags. So I don't
34:16
Speaker 1: think this, I don't think this is a flukey offense.
34:18
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna play every team and be able
34:21
Speaker 1: to score points. And then if the defense, which is
34:22
Speaker 1: getting better with our boy Rodrigo and company, they really
34:26
Speaker 1: have a chance to get that last wild card spot
34:28
Speaker 1: in the NFC. But that Sunday is so important in
34:31
Speaker 1: terms of them graduating to something else. We also have
34:35
Speaker 1: to mention DJ Chark too, because they got a huge
34:38
Speaker 1: play from Chark for forty one yards that kind of
34:41
Speaker 1: set up another m Um raw St Brown touchdown. Like
34:44
Speaker 1: they have just a bunch of playmakers on this offense.
34:47
Speaker 1: And I did not think watching Hard Knocks this summer
34:50
Speaker 1: that this offense would be putting up the kind of
34:52
Speaker 1: points that they are right now. We kind of did, though.
34:54
Speaker 1: We talked about it on the podcast. We talked about
34:57
Speaker 1: the defense being the we we said, like the offense
34:59
Speaker 1: looks like it will be all right. The defense is
35:00
Speaker 1: going to be a mess, and we kind of nailed it.
35:03
Speaker 1: But what Dan Campbell and my guy Aaron Glenn the
35:06
Speaker 1: d C have been able to do is just do
35:09
Speaker 1: what good coaching staffs do and and rosters that have
35:12
Speaker 1: talent can do, which is start figuring things out as
35:15
Speaker 1: the year goes along. Very happy for Lions fans. Is
35:19
Speaker 1: really happy to Marshall is just over the moon. Hey,
35:24
Speaker 1: but we have talked about the lines a lot this
35:25
Speaker 1: year for a five and seventeen. How about a five
35:27
Speaker 1: and seventeen that we haven't talked about it all this year?
35:30
Speaker 1: And who's that? Pittsburgh Steelers. And I get why we
35:34
Speaker 1: haven't talked about him a lot because in this exercise
35:36
Speaker 1: what we do power rankings, they're not really a relevant
35:40
Speaker 1: team quote unquote because they've been hanging in this range
35:45
Speaker 1: for much of the year. Yeah, they're kind of getting
35:48
Speaker 1: overlooked a little bit because they've been a team that
35:50
Speaker 1: hasn't really been worth discussing quite frankly, in the prison
35:54
Speaker 1: of power rankings. However, it is notable to me, Connie,
35:59
Speaker 1: that they are getting They are getting better, and that
36:02
Speaker 1: is again coaching Mike Tomlin, who has never had a
36:04
Speaker 1: sub five hundred season, he might keep that street going.
36:07
Speaker 1: Do you really think so now that Kenny Pickett is
36:10
Speaker 1: I'm not saying Kenny Pickett has taken over the league
36:12
Speaker 1: and he's not having a type of rookie season we've
36:14
Speaker 1: seen in recent years, justin Herbert as an example, where
36:17
Speaker 1: he hits the ground running as a difference maker. But
36:20
Speaker 1: you could tell with each passing week he's gaining more,
36:23
Speaker 1: getting more comfortable in this offense, making good decisions. And
36:29
Speaker 1: you add t. J. Watt back into the mix. The
36:31
Speaker 1: defense has its teeth back and they're gonna play teams tight,
36:34
Speaker 1: They're gonna play him tough, and I think they will
36:36
Speaker 1: end up right around five hundred. Well, George Pickens has
36:39
Speaker 1: a lot to say about what's going on with the offense.
36:42
Speaker 1: Like he was invisible, that was weird. He was not
36:45
Speaker 1: happy about it. He had one catch for two yards. Wider.
36:48
Speaker 1: You gotta keep wide receivers happy. Takes one game. All
36:51
Speaker 1: it takes is one game and they they will sulk
36:54
Speaker 1: on you. But also we've seen George Pickens have incredible
36:58
Speaker 1: catches this year. Like you throw something his weight, he
37:01
Speaker 1: will make it. Happen, he will lay out and just
37:04
Speaker 1: complete lee. I mean there were some just beautiful one
37:07
Speaker 1: handed grabs that he had this year, and I saw
37:10
Speaker 1: him reach kind of his breaking point. I thought when
37:13
Speaker 1: Deante Johnson almost had that fumble that was then ruled
37:16
Speaker 1: a drop and he was just like completely emotionally checked out.
37:19
Speaker 1: I think after that, um let's let's pull up the
37:21
Speaker 1: quad three again, just one second counting before we moved
37:24
Speaker 1: to the final quad. I want to take one more
37:26
Speaker 1: look at Quad three and ask you a question, who,
37:29
Speaker 1: out of these teams Lions, Chargers, Pats, Brown's, Packers, Steelers, Cards, Jaguars,
37:34
Speaker 1: do you feel the most confident in snagging a playoff spot. Okay,
37:38
Speaker 1: so don't overthink it. Just kind of because the Lions.
37:41
Speaker 1: The Lions, because right now they have the momentum and
37:44
Speaker 1: they just keep they keep kind of rising on the
37:47
Speaker 1: power rankings, and that's not by accident. I think they
37:50
Speaker 1: finally have their stuff together. You know what I would
37:52
Speaker 1: have said, the Packers, But that eighth loss kills them.
37:56
Speaker 1: Um So, and again the Lions can't find a way
37:59
Speaker 1: against the Vikings. That's eight for them. They have to win.
38:03
Speaker 1: They have to beat the Viking who's more due for
38:06
Speaker 1: a loss than the Vikings? Who are you picking the Lions? Yeah,
38:09
Speaker 1: let's move to Quad four the dregs. I'll do this one, Conny.
38:15
Speaker 1: The Falcons hold the Saints. They were ready to jump
38:19
Speaker 1: up to you know one, and then the whole thing,
38:22
Speaker 1: the whole house caught on fire. They stayed at twenty six.
38:26
Speaker 1: Panthers Fairs. Rams Bronc goes all up one spot, not
38:31
Speaker 1: because of anything they did necessarily, but because the cults
38:35
Speaker 1: needed to be redirected down the standings. After Sunday Night
38:38
Speaker 1: football they're down to thirty one, and then the Texans
38:41
Speaker 1: they got that bottom spot. Lock man, I mean, I
38:44
Speaker 1: just still can't get over the Colts. Like what a
38:47
Speaker 1: just abject disaster that was in the fourth quarter. So
38:50
Speaker 1: it's the holiday season, Conny, It sure is positive here.
38:54
Speaker 1: I actually I told you it was the holiday season.
38:57
Speaker 1: Last episode. It wasn't, though, Well why because it wasn't
39:00
Speaker 1: December yet. We had a stray up already. Our whole
39:03
Speaker 1: houses like fit with lights. I mean, come on, grow up,
39:06
Speaker 1: I mean I am. You said, I'm an old lady.
39:09
Speaker 1: I can't get older? Got him? John? Can you please
39:14
Speaker 1: get the tree down from the attic. They have to
39:18
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving the first Friday after Thanksgiving? Come, John, where's the tinsel?
39:24
Speaker 1: I thought there was gonna be tencil this year. Al Okay,
39:30
Speaker 1: I have an idea. That's not what your husband sounds like,
39:32
Speaker 1: by the way, very strong, masculine, youthful voice. Oh that's
39:36
Speaker 1: nice something like that. That actually is pretty pretty right there,
39:41
Speaker 1: good job, pretty accurate. Okay, So this, uh, it's the
39:44
Speaker 1: holiday season. I interrupted you go ahead, was there? Oh? No,
39:47
Speaker 1: Let's say something nice about some of these teams because
39:50
Speaker 1: there's a great idea. There's not a lot of you know,
39:53
Speaker 1: a lot of good things going on with these teams.
39:55
Speaker 1: So say something nice about somebody. Okay, we'll say something
39:58
Speaker 1: nice about the Falcons. Okay, okay, and you know, thank
40:02
Speaker 1: god for bye weeks because they finally got one coming
40:05
Speaker 1: so they'll get some sweet release. Really not fair by
40:07
Speaker 1: the way, these week fourteen, but these teams know it's
40:10
Speaker 1: too late. But you potentially have a nice quarterback that
40:14
Speaker 1: might be waiting on the other side of this bye week.
40:17
Speaker 1: Week fifteen Desmond Ritter pick. You got the Saints, Ravens, Cardinals,
40:22
Speaker 1: and Bucks coming up, Like, let's see, let's see what
40:25
Speaker 1: he got I've seen enough from Marcus Mariota. I think
40:28
Speaker 1: that Arthur Smith has probably seen enough from Marcus Mariota.
40:32
Speaker 1: He did say that they were going to make some changes.
40:36
Speaker 1: There will be changes made. We have to look at everything,
40:38
Speaker 1: so a week of introspection. The great Joe Biningo of
40:44
Speaker 1: w f A n Fame, there's a line that I'm
40:46
Speaker 1: going to use based on your call for a change there, Conny,
40:50
Speaker 1: because I've watched a lot of Falcons football and that offense,
40:54
Speaker 1: and my my line is from your lips, it's time
40:59
Speaker 1: for a change at quarterback Atlanta. Let me say something nice. Okay,
41:03
Speaker 1: are you going the Panthers? I get get Baker out
41:06
Speaker 1: of the building. Get Baker out of the building. I'm
41:09
Speaker 1: kind of Baker is I'm exhausted by Baker Mayfield in general.
41:13
Speaker 1: Uh So, their decision to part ways with a quarterback
41:16
Speaker 1: on Monday clears the path for Sam Donald uh and
41:20
Speaker 1: p J. Walker to finish out this season. And I
41:22
Speaker 1: don't think barring some type of incredible rise. Although you know,
41:26
Speaker 1: I have a soft spot for for Sam Um with
41:30
Speaker 1: his Jets ties, and I was thinking to myself in
41:32
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter on Monday night, this door is open
41:35
Speaker 1: for the Panthers and maybe steal the South, and then
41:37
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Sam Donald is playing a whole
41:40
Speaker 1: playoff game as a starting quarterback. All that stuff is
41:43
Speaker 1: probably not gonna happen, but I like that they got
41:45
Speaker 1: Baker out of the picture. Donald gets a clear runway.
41:48
Speaker 1: But in all honestly, this is just maybe even then
41:51
Speaker 1: figure out who their backup is, because they're gonna go
41:53
Speaker 1: get a quarterback. But way to simplify things in that
41:56
Speaker 1: QB room, say something nice honorable mentioned Frankie Luvu. Franky Luv,
42:00
Speaker 1: I mean emerged as a starter this year. I just
42:04
Speaker 1: love saying his name. Frankie Luvu sounds like a character
42:08
Speaker 1: from Time. Did you invite Frankie? Okay, I will say
42:14
Speaker 1: something nice. Don't even get hey. If any of you
42:19
Speaker 1: are looking for any last minute gift ideas, right, I
42:22
Speaker 1: have one. I like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight.
42:25
Speaker 1: I want to brought from his happy holiday slumber over
42:27
Speaker 1: there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people,
42:29
Speaker 1: and I want to brought right here, well the baby
42:31
Speaker 1: ribbon on his head. I will save the rest for later,
42:33
Speaker 1: but I can do the whole now. I know what
42:35
Speaker 1: we're doing for our Christmas show the Bears reading, I
42:40
Speaker 1: will say, I know you're you're really down on the Bears,
42:43
Speaker 1: but I feel like you are kind of a Bears hater.
42:47
Speaker 1: I'm not not impressed, don't care. Why should I be impressed,
42:50
Speaker 1: because I think that Justin Fields played a really good game.
42:54
Speaker 1: And it's like, here two interceptions in the last five
42:57
Speaker 1: minutes of the game. But sure, yes, absolutely, but he
43:00
Speaker 1: had two beautiful deep balls in this game, the decent
43:03
Speaker 1: yard rushing touchdown, the fifties six yard dime to Equinimius
43:07
Speaker 1: st Brown me and he had the big throw to
43:09
Speaker 1: cold comment on third down, like they were up sixteen
43:12
Speaker 1: to three on the Packers, and this was a valiant effort,
43:16
Speaker 1: I thought from the Bears without three members three starting
43:19
Speaker 1: members of their secondary. So I think that this was
43:22
Speaker 1: like an excellent game aside from those two interceptions for
43:25
Speaker 1: Justin Fields. So he just continues he was poised in
43:28
Speaker 1: the pocket. Come on, didn't the Packers lose seven of
43:30
Speaker 1: eight before that game? Though, It's not like they beat
43:33
Speaker 1: like Vince Lombardi's team with Bart Starr. I'm just saying
43:37
Speaker 1: that was the exercise, all right, kind of Grincher. You yeah,
43:41
Speaker 1: but you you teat it up by saying that I
43:43
Speaker 1: hate the Bears. I think the Bears could be really
43:44
Speaker 1: good next year. I think it could happen quickly. Hate Chicago,
43:49
Speaker 1: It's a great city. Finally, I'll say something nice about
43:51
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos, specifically their defense, which very nearly You're
43:55
Speaker 1: not gonna say anything about their af no, very nearly.
43:59
Speaker 1: Single handedly, this is their only choice beat the Ravens
44:03
Speaker 1: on Sunday until they get beat late and lose ten nine.
44:07
Speaker 1: There are there's a lot of integrity on that side
44:10
Speaker 1: of the football in Denver for them to continue to
44:12
Speaker 1: fight week after week after week. Um, as the offense
44:17
Speaker 1: goes into a total total funk week after week after week.
44:21
Speaker 1: They You know, the Broncos have ten games now this
44:24
Speaker 1: year where they have one touchdown or less offensively ten
44:28
Speaker 1: A team that gave up their entire future to get
44:31
Speaker 1: a star quarterback, Russell Wilson has eight touchdowns on the season.
44:35
Speaker 1: So you could absolutely um understand I Denver's defense mailed
44:42
Speaker 1: it in and this team turned into an absolute dumpster fire.
44:44
Speaker 1: But they haven't because of that d So I'm saying
44:47
Speaker 1: something nice about that side. Of the ball. They got
44:49
Speaker 1: pride and I love it, and they got great. You
44:52
Speaker 1: love doing the show with you. They're alter uns are also?
44:54
Speaker 1: Are we now saying something nice about the co host?
44:57
Speaker 1: Let me say something nice about you. Um, you're an
45:00
Speaker 1: old woman at heart. But that old woman is a
45:02
Speaker 1: sweet old lady who does not put razor blades and
45:06
Speaker 1: apples on Halloween. No, but I have never handed out
45:10
Speaker 1: candy on Halloween, so I don't know if that is
45:12
Speaker 1: a strange, So maybe not. There is still time. Daniel
45:16
Speaker 1: a great host, and the Power Rankings were lovely this week,
45:19
Speaker 1: so a plus. All right, I'll get back to you
45:24
Speaker 1: personal thank you. Now say something nice about all the
45:28
Speaker 1: listeners who've been following along. All your thank you. We'll
45:30
Speaker 1: be back next week. Until then, heed the call later.
45:37
Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
45:40
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
45:43
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
45:46
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.