Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #6: New #1
Transcript
- 0:04Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 0:07Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
- 0:09Speaker 2: Welcome to a.
- 0:10Speaker 3: Brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings along with Eric
- 0:13Speaker 3: heat Home Mike Am with You for a list of
- 0:15Speaker 3: every single team and where they spot. All I got
- 0:18Speaker 3: to do is check out NFL dot com before Eric
- 0:20Speaker 3: we get to the rankings here. So sort of wild
- 0:22Speaker 3: I didn't say Wilders. I don't want to oversell it,
- 0:24Speaker 3: but it is really significant. There was a trade. Cincinnati
- 0:27Speaker 3: has a new quarterback. I don't know what the most
- 0:29Speaker 3: interesting part of this story is, so I'll let you
- 0:31Speaker 3: take your pick. Is it the fact that Cincinnati traded
- 0:33Speaker 3: for a quarterback, Is it the fact that it's Joe Flacco?
- 0:35Speaker 3: Or is it the fact that we got to trade
- 0:37Speaker 3: inside the division?
- 0:38Speaker 2: All three? Right?
- 0:39Speaker 4: I guess you know, I guess the Bengals decided he
- 0:41Speaker 4: they needed a quarterback, be they needed a guy who
- 0:43Speaker 4: could beat Green Bay, their next opponent. That's the one
- 0:45Speaker 4: guy who's done it this season. So still trying to
- 0:48Speaker 4: make sense of this. I didn't think Flacco was going
- 0:50Speaker 4: to be the kind of guy who got traded this year.
- 0:52Speaker 4: But Brown's clearly moving Philip forward with Dylan Gabriel and
- 0:55Speaker 4: we'll see what Joe can do in Cincy.
- 0:57Speaker 3: Yeah, and by the way, from a Cleveland perspective, this
- 0:59Speaker 3: was the most talked about quarterback room in the NFL.
- 1:02Speaker 3: I think those conversations are not going anywhere now that
- 1:04Speaker 3: Flacco was gone and Shador Sanders slots up on the
- 1:07Speaker 3: depth chart. All right, let's get a closer look the
- 1:10Speaker 3: power rankings one through.
- 1:12Speaker 5: Eight, and we have a change. The Detroit Lions sitting
- 1:15Speaker 5: at the top.
- 1:15Speaker 3: But we saw the Eagles and the Bills loose, so
- 1:17Speaker 3: they fall to two and three respectively. Tampa Bay, this
- 1:20Speaker 3: team just continues to win this sit four to one.
- 1:22Speaker 3: They move up three spots there in the fourth position. Seattle. Look,
- 1:26Speaker 3: I mean, this is this still dangerous team here. They
- 1:29Speaker 3: remain even at five, Green Bay sitting at six, and
- 1:32Speaker 3: we've got the Rams dropping three spots to the seventh
- 1:35Speaker 3: position and the Colts at eight.
- 1:37Speaker 5: Time for power moves. It is presented by Energizer.
- 1:41Speaker 3: All right, Eric, let's focus in on this number one
- 1:43Speaker 3: team in the Lions. I knew you were gonna have
- 1:46Speaker 3: to slot these guys in after we saw Philadelphia and
- 1:48Speaker 3: Buffalo go and lose. But Candidly speaking, I think even
- 1:51Speaker 3: if those teams had won the way, Detroit looks like
- 1:54Speaker 3: they really do warrant this top position.
- 1:57Speaker 2: They do.
- 1:58Speaker 4: But as I wrote in the power rankings this week,
- 2:00Speaker 4: you know, a theme seems to be and now that
- 2:02Speaker 4: we have no unbeaten teams left that everybody's got a
- 2:05Speaker 4: big question at the top. But when you have the
- 2:07Speaker 4: offensive firepower and also if the defensive prowess too of
- 2:11Speaker 4: the Lions, they're starting to make more plays on that
- 2:13Speaker 4: side of the ball. You could see it through the
- 2:14Speaker 4: first three quarter Sunday. You know this is a team
- 2:17Speaker 4: to be taken seriously. Even with some injuries Terry and
- 2:20Speaker 4: Arnold will find out how long he's out. David Montgomery
- 2:23Speaker 4: obviously part of that great running duo. He can also
- 2:25Speaker 4: throw a former high school quarterback there, so they still
- 2:28Speaker 4: have all that great offensive versatility, all that playmaking ability.
- 2:32Speaker 2: Wish they would have played a little bit better four
- 2:35Speaker 2: quarter game. Third quarter was.
- 2:37Speaker 4: About where they peaked and then obviously let the Bengals
- 2:39Speaker 4: get back in it. But still think they were warranted
- 2:42Speaker 4: this week, and especially given that Buffalo and Philly both
- 2:45Speaker 4: lost at home.
- 2:47Speaker 3: Look, I know there's a lot of people that will
- 2:48Speaker 3: look at the final score and say that the Bengals
- 2:50Speaker 3: did get back into this game.
- 2:51Speaker 5: Here's what I would tell you.
- 2:52Speaker 3: I think in a lot of ways that team was
- 2:54Speaker 3: playing for their regular season slash postseason lives to stay afloat.
- 2:58Speaker 3: They were at home, so I'm not surprised that the
- 3:01Speaker 3: game maybe was a little bit tighter than most had anticipated.
- 3:04Speaker 3: But this is a huge matchup for them. Sunday Night Football,
- 3:06Speaker 3: they matchup against Kansas City. I think the Chiefs are
- 3:09Speaker 3: also in this really weird situation of going like, hey,
- 3:13Speaker 3: really good or we a team that's got some major
- 3:15Speaker 3: question marks.
- 3:15Speaker 5: But we'll dissect that in just a bit here.
- 3:17Speaker 3: Meanwhile, the Eagles, Eric, this is a team that I
- 3:20Speaker 3: sit here and I go, there was drama.
- 3:22Speaker 5: They were undefeated.
- 3:23Speaker 3: Now they lose, and they give up a pretty significant
- 3:26Speaker 3: run to the Broncos twenty one fourth quarter points, the
- 3:29Speaker 3: two point conversion from Denver's perspective late in that game,
- 3:32Speaker 3: onions from Sean Payton explain to me the level of
- 3:35Speaker 3: concern that you have for Philadelphia.
- 3:37Speaker 4: Well, when you have that kind of lead at home, right,
- 3:40Speaker 4: We're so used to seeing the Eagles sort of choke
- 3:43Speaker 4: opponents out with their run game, right, even the quick
- 3:45Speaker 4: passing game, Jalen Hurtz's improvisational skills, all those things. That's
- 3:50Speaker 4: death for a defense, right, But we didn't see that
- 3:53Speaker 4: happen on Sunday. We didn't see them hand off. I
- 3:55Speaker 4: believe they had nine handoffs in the game, and one
- 3:59Speaker 4: that wasn't negated by penalty at least came in the
- 4:01Speaker 4: second half. One one candoff to take one. He is
- 4:05Speaker 4: a pretty good back last time I check. I know
- 4:07Speaker 4: his long run of the year is something like sixteen
- 4:09Speaker 4: seventeen yards. The explosive place haven't been there. Maybe he's
- 4:13Speaker 4: a little more banged up than we're realizing at this point,
- 4:16Speaker 4: but that right there, the offensive lack of balance and opponents,
- 4:22Speaker 4: you know, sort of figuring that this is going to
- 4:23Speaker 4: be a pass heavy operation right now unless it's a
- 4:26Speaker 4: short yardage situation. You know, that's limiting them. And we've
- 4:29Speaker 4: seen him, Mike now three straight games and arguably four
- 4:32Speaker 4: out of five where they played pretty well for a
- 4:34Speaker 4: half and then all of a sudden, something happens in
- 4:36Speaker 4: the other one.
- 4:37Speaker 2: It could be the first or the.
- 4:38Speaker 4: Second half, and so just not playing sixty minutes of
- 4:41Speaker 4: good football they're here for a reason. They're good, they're
- 4:43Speaker 4: they're really talented, the defending champs, they can turn this
- 4:46Speaker 4: thing around in a heartbeat. But right now we're starting
- 4:49Speaker 4: to see some identity questions that have cropped up for
- 4:52Speaker 4: a team that had locked in and sort of in
- 4:54Speaker 4: its nucleus, and it's DNA rather who.
- 4:56Speaker 2: They were, and they're getting away from it a little bit.
- 4:59Speaker 3: I fight this in my head because I'm with you
- 5:01Speaker 3: and you've had them as the best team in the
- 5:03Speaker 3: NFL on the show, you know, the first few weeks
- 5:06Speaker 3: of this season. There's a part of me it says, yeah,
- 5:08Speaker 3: they haven't hit that ceiling. But now I start asking, like,
- 5:11Speaker 3: are they number two because of the potential of what
- 5:13Speaker 3: they are as opposed to the reality. I know we
- 5:15Speaker 3: can go off of record and say they were undefeated,
- 5:17Speaker 3: but at the same time, they don't look as good.
- 5:20Speaker 3: Like I think this was an opportunity for you, Eric
- 5:23Speaker 3: to slop Buffalo in front of them.
- 5:25Speaker 2: Now.
- 5:25Speaker 3: I know the Bills had lost that game and they
- 5:27Speaker 3: lose to a Patriots team inside that division, but I
- 5:30Speaker 3: don't know. I think Buffalo just looks better just by
- 5:32Speaker 3: coming off of a lost in Philadelphia. Does But what's
- 5:34Speaker 3: your read right now on Josh Allen's crew, because I
- 5:37Speaker 3: think the story is maybe the Drake May and the
- 5:40Speaker 3: Patriots on the rise as opposed to Buffalo just not
- 5:44Speaker 3: handling business since Sunday night.
- 5:46Speaker 2: I agree with you to a certain extent.
- 5:48Speaker 4: But you can also look back at the Miami game,
- 5:50Speaker 4: which they ended up winning, and the New Orleans game,
- 5:52Speaker 4: which they ended up winning, where you know, as I
- 5:54Speaker 4: wrote this week, they kind of played with their food
- 5:56Speaker 4: a little bit.
- 5:57Speaker 2: They got away with it.
- 5:57Speaker 4: They were able to win those games, endure, move on
- 6:01Speaker 4: that sort of thing. But against New England, even with
- 6:03Speaker 4: the Patriots get in the ball up a couple of
- 6:05Speaker 4: times early in the game, they weren't able to do that,
- 6:07Speaker 4: and there wasn't the same level of offensive productivity there were.
- 6:11Speaker 4: There were the turnovers that we really hadn't seen to
- 6:13Speaker 4: this point, including a you know, a bad Josh Allen
- 6:16Speaker 4: interception in the red zone. That's a that's a game
- 6:18Speaker 4: changer right there. So the defense is not able to
- 6:21Speaker 4: stop May in the fourth quarter, not able to get
- 6:23Speaker 4: that New England offense off the field at times. So yeah,
- 6:27Speaker 4: this is not the kind of you know, situation we're
- 6:30Speaker 4: talking about. With the Eagles, where you say, boy, you
- 6:32Speaker 4: know this is this is something that could really, you know,
- 6:34Speaker 4: be interesting for them, but it has sort of trended
- 6:38Speaker 4: the last few games where you'd expect a certain level
- 6:42Speaker 4: of dominance from them, and it's just not there right now.
- 6:44Speaker 4: So I agree this should be sort of more positive
- 6:47Speaker 4: for the Patriots that it is negative for Buffalo. But
- 6:50Speaker 4: I'm still a little bit worried about the total makeup. Again,
- 6:53Speaker 4: it's early and no team has really shown themselves to
- 6:56Speaker 4: be that clear cut number one, so they're right in
- 6:58Speaker 4: the mix.
- 6:59Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right, because I think Detroit, even with the
- 7:01Speaker 3: blemish on the resume. With Green Bay, I don't know
- 7:04Speaker 3: with the clear cut number one is. I think you
- 7:06Speaker 3: slot them correctly by the way. The Eagles, I know,
- 7:08Speaker 3: we talked about them. The Broncos get that win, the
- 7:10Speaker 3: Patriots get that win. We will focus on both of
- 7:12Speaker 3: those teams coming up here on power rankings. I am
- 7:15Speaker 3: smiling as I'm saying Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because man, they
- 7:19Speaker 3: are just fun to watch. I had said this to
- 7:22Speaker 3: one of our colleagues, Steve Whitch, the other day. I said, look,
- 7:25Speaker 3: the guy that Baker Mayfield took over was Tom Brady,
- 7:27Speaker 3: and I'm not saying it's the same, and I hate
- 7:29Speaker 3: to make this comp but in these late game situations
- 7:31Speaker 3: when Tom strode out onto the football field, they go, hey,
- 7:34Speaker 3: all good, They're going to figure it out. I have
- 7:36Speaker 3: the same vibe now with Baker Mayfield lighton ball games,
- 7:39Speaker 3: like there's Tom on the clock, They're going to figure
- 7:41Speaker 3: out a way to get it done.
- 7:42Speaker 4: I'm a little shock mic that there hasn't been more. Again,
- 7:46Speaker 4: it's early in the season and all that. Who knows
- 7:47Speaker 4: that the Bucks can keep up this pace, but there
- 7:49Speaker 4: hasn't been enough Baker Mayfield MVP talk for my taste, right,
- 7:54Speaker 4: I want to see this guy get the love he deserves.
- 7:56Speaker 4: And you know, we think about all the hoops he's
- 7:58Speaker 4: had to jump through, the debacle in Cleveland, going to Carolina,
- 8:01Speaker 4: ending up in LA and then happen to win his
- 8:04Speaker 4: job up in Tampa in a tryout against Kyle Trask.
- 8:07Speaker 4: So that was all fairly recent stuff. He's now ascended
- 8:10Speaker 4: from that level. Most teams didn't want to sign him
- 8:13Speaker 4: as a free agent, too. Boy, he has proven himself
- 8:16Speaker 4: to be one of the most competitive, hard nosed, clutch
- 8:19Speaker 4: quarterbacks in the NFL, and what else do we debate
- 8:23Speaker 4: about for MVP caliber, you know, credentials, that's the stuff
- 8:26Speaker 4: that we're going to want to see. So he's delivered
- 8:29Speaker 4: almost every time out. Came up a little short against
- 8:31Speaker 4: the Eagles, but otherwise it's been fantastic and doesn't really
- 8:35Speaker 4: matter who's out of the lineup.
- 8:36Speaker 2: You know, he trusts a mecha buga.
- 8:38Speaker 4: You know, he has these weapons that are you know,
- 8:40Speaker 4: not as well known that he's saying, I'm going to
- 8:43Speaker 4: throw you the same ball that I would have thrown
- 8:44Speaker 4: Mike Evans two weeks ago. So I love the confidence
- 8:47Speaker 4: from Baker and I love the confidence of this team
- 8:49Speaker 4: that give us a chance at a one score game
- 8:51Speaker 4: and we'll probably come out on top.
- 8:53Speaker 3: Yeah, this could be a tough test against a pretty
- 8:55Speaker 3: good Niners team coming up this week. By the way,
- 8:57Speaker 3: I covered a lot of college sports, college basketball, college football,
- 9:00Speaker 3: and they do like blind resumes, right, and you start
- 9:02Speaker 3: comparing teams. I'd love to do a blode resume of
- 9:05Speaker 3: Baker Mayfield and then just a bunch of other quarterbacks
- 9:08Speaker 3: and you're one hundred percent right, because if his name
- 9:10Speaker 3: was Maholmes or Allen or Jackson on the.
- 9:12Speaker 5: Back of that jersey. We would be talking about him
- 9:14Speaker 5: for MVP.
- 9:16Speaker 3: The Seahawks in an absolute shootout, one of the more
- 9:18Speaker 3: entertaining games of the weekend. What am I supposed to
- 9:21Speaker 3: make of this team? Because I know that there was
- 9:23Speaker 3: glimpses of this defense. We were loving them up where
- 9:25Speaker 3: there were some struggles here. But are you with me
- 9:28Speaker 3: and you say like, hey, I still am a believer
- 9:30Speaker 3: in Sam Donald and company?
- 9:32Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 9:32Speaker 4: Donald was terrific. Outside of the interception. It was a
- 9:35Speaker 4: crazy play too, write a glance at sort of the
- 9:37Speaker 4: perfect angle right to the defender. I'm not going to
- 9:39Speaker 4: kill a guy who had you know, three hundred and
- 9:41Speaker 4: seventy plus passing yards four touchdowns. I mean, he helped
- 9:44Speaker 4: keep them in it. He was as good as Bait
- 9:46Speaker 4: and Maker was for most.
- 9:47Speaker 2: Of the game. So you know, Jackson Smith and Jig.
- 9:50Speaker 4: But that run game, I think the offensive formula is
- 9:52Speaker 4: pretty darn good right now. What worries me a little
- 9:55Speaker 4: bit was watching that game and seeing how many open
- 9:58Speaker 4: receivers there were for the Bucks just streaking through the secondary.
- 10:01Speaker 4: That's not something we'd really seen previously to that, you know,
- 10:04Speaker 4: against the Seahawks. Sure they've given up some yards but
- 10:07Speaker 4: not a ton, and that defense had made strides. So
- 10:10Speaker 4: just is that a one week blip? Was it the
- 10:12Speaker 4: caliber of opponent or is it something else that we
- 10:15Speaker 4: have to worry about. It is their second home loss, too,
- 10:18Speaker 4: so again, you know it's early in the season. I mean,
- 10:19Speaker 4: that's sort of something you take note of and file
- 10:22Speaker 4: away for a later date. But I thought about dropping them.
- 10:26Speaker 4: We'll see what happens at this big game at Jacksonville
- 10:28Speaker 4: next week. But I still think they're pretty darn good.
- 10:31Speaker 4: Maybe not number five good, but that's kind of what
- 10:34Speaker 4: their resume is speaking to me right now. And have
- 10:36Speaker 4: my questions about all these guys, but at some point
- 10:39Speaker 4: you have to sort of file.
- 10:40Speaker 2: Them in and figure out where they stack up.
- 10:43Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 10:43Speaker 3: Look, I can tell just based off of this position
- 10:45Speaker 3: that you still are a believer in this team. This
- 10:47Speaker 3: is a tougher game that I think I would have
- 10:49Speaker 3: anticipated just two days ago against Jacksonville. I saw from
- 10:53Speaker 3: them on Monday night, and this confidence that I think
- 10:56Speaker 3: they get from a win against the Kansas City Chiefs,
- 10:58Speaker 3: this is gonna be a tough test for them. The
- 11:00Speaker 3: Rams they drop three spots for you, I get it.
- 11:04Speaker 3: I guess supposed to lose a game like that. I mean,
- 11:07Speaker 3: San Francisco is banged up right now. The Niners seemed
- 11:09Speaker 3: to just have the Rams' number that game SOFI Stadium, Like,
- 11:13Speaker 3: I don't, how do you explain this? Like they were
- 11:15Speaker 3: on paper they're the better football team.
- 11:18Speaker 4: I point to two positions right now that concern me
- 11:20Speaker 4: a little bit.
- 11:20Speaker 2: One is kicker. Right.
- 11:21Speaker 4: We know a couple of years ago Sean McVay had
- 11:23Speaker 4: all the kicking issues.
- 11:24Speaker 2: They had two different guys.
- 11:25Speaker 4: They were kind of, you know, trying to figure out
- 11:27Speaker 4: how they were going to play it and ended up
- 11:29Speaker 4: kind of hurting.
- 11:29Speaker 2: The team and costing them wins. I think McVeigh wants
- 11:32Speaker 2: to do everything possible to avoid that situation.
- 11:35Speaker 4: That's where they are right now with Joshua Carty, you know,
- 11:38Speaker 4: not enough consistency for them that obviously hurt him in
- 11:40Speaker 4: the game.
- 11:41Speaker 2: But also the running back situation.
- 11:43Speaker 4: You know, Blake Korham can't handle the early toss, Kyen
- 11:46Speaker 4: Williams is going into the end zone, loses the football.
- 11:50Speaker 4: You remember he had some fall security issues in middle
- 11:52Speaker 4: of last season as well. So you know, there's a
- 11:56Speaker 4: lot of good and as Sean said after the game,
- 11:58Speaker 4: we had plenty of chances to win the game. I
- 12:00Speaker 4: just keep remembering that because that's what I wrote in
- 12:02Speaker 4: my notes. I said they should be winning, they should
- 12:04Speaker 4: be taking this game over at this point. It didn't happen.
- 12:07Speaker 4: You got to credit the Niners for an incredible effort.
- 12:09Speaker 4: But those are the kind of games. And the Philly
- 12:12Speaker 4: loss as well, one they kind of controlled for the
- 12:14Speaker 4: most part. They let those things slip away, and it
- 12:17Speaker 4: just makes you wonder. You know, they could have lost
- 12:19Speaker 4: that game to the Texans in Week one. It took
- 12:21Speaker 4: a late turnover to kind of bail them out. So
- 12:23Speaker 4: they're playing with fire a little bit. That just worries
- 12:25Speaker 4: me a tiny bit.
- 12:26Speaker 3: Yeah, look, there's a lot of these teams that are
- 12:28Speaker 3: playing with fire, and like Tampa Bay would be a
- 12:30Speaker 3: good example why the games are falling in their favor.
- 12:33Speaker 3: The Denver Broncos, for example, Like they've been kind of
- 12:35Speaker 3: split here. But I'm glad you bring up that Philly
- 12:37Speaker 3: lost for them, because it's another one.
- 12:38Speaker 5: At the end of the season.
- 12:40Speaker 3: McVeigh and company will be like, bro, like we had
- 12:42Speaker 3: that one on the road, and then you're gonna look
- 12:43Speaker 3: at this Niners one and say, like what's going on here.
- 12:46Speaker 3: It's just something to think about rams and a get
- 12:49Speaker 3: right situation on the road against Baltimore. I can't believe
- 12:51Speaker 3: those words just came out of my mouth that the
- 12:53Speaker 3: Ravens obviously are banged up. I made reference to the Broncos.
- 12:57Speaker 3: What a finish in Philadelphia? Where do they sit in
- 12:59Speaker 3: the power rankings? That answer is coming up next back
- 13:08Speaker 3: here on Power Right Games on LAE with Eric at home.
- 13:10Speaker 3: I am I'm with you, and this is Eric's teams
- 13:12Speaker 3: nine through sixteen. It's the Commanders, Broncos, and jag sitting
- 13:16Speaker 3: at nine, ten and eleven. At twelve Kansas City coming
- 13:20Speaker 3: off of a loss on Monday Night Football, they dropped
- 13:22Speaker 3: three spots to the twelfth position.
- 13:24Speaker 5: The Niners just continue to find ways to win.
- 13:26Speaker 3: They move up two spots to thirteenth. The Chargers they
- 13:29Speaker 3: drop to fourteen, and then it's the Steelers and Vikings at.
- 13:33Speaker 5: Fifteen and sixteen.
- 13:34Speaker 3: All right, Jane and Daniels comes back into the lineup
- 13:37Speaker 3: for the Commanders. They get a win against the Chargers.
- 13:39Speaker 5: A win is a win.
- 13:40Speaker 3: I'm not trying to story this and make excuses. Charge
- 13:43Speaker 3: is pretty banged up right now? You still saw enough
- 13:46Speaker 3: from a Commander's perspective to say, hey, they deserved him
- 13:49Speaker 3: sit in the top ten.
- 13:50Speaker 4: I was the only guy in NFL media who actually
- 13:52Speaker 4: picked the Commanders to win, So, you know, I think
- 13:54Speaker 4: I look at it that way, like, hey, I was impressed.
- 13:56Speaker 4: I thought Jayden Daniels I didn't know what to expect
- 13:58Speaker 4: out him in the first quarter or so. He really
- 14:00Speaker 4: wasn't getting the footing right, switch cleats. Everything was good.
- 14:04Speaker 4: But Washington's defense too. I know you mentioned the Chargers
- 14:07Speaker 4: are banged up. There's no question their offensive lines in
- 14:10Speaker 4: bad shape, but they continue to make huge plays on
- 14:13Speaker 4: this side of the ball. They were really three big ones.
- 14:15Speaker 4: Quintin Johnson's fumble in the first half, a bad roughing
- 14:18Speaker 4: penalty on the Chargers at the end of the first half,
- 14:21Speaker 4: and then that one right there.
- 14:22Speaker 2: Mikey say was still picking off Herbert.
- 14:23Speaker 4: But when you can finish the game in style like this,
- 14:26Speaker 4: toss up a little lollipop to Deebo Samuel, life is
- 14:29Speaker 4: good again. And so I think the Commanders got knocked
- 14:31Speaker 4: down rightfully. So with Dane was being out, they lost
- 14:33Speaker 4: the game.
- 14:34Speaker 2: He's back now.
- 14:35Speaker 4: He looked terrific, and I just felt like there was
- 14:37Speaker 4: an r around this team that we hadn't seen really
- 14:39Speaker 4: since probably last season, but maybe in Week one, and
- 14:43Speaker 4: just seeing them regain it a little bit made me think,
- 14:45Speaker 4: I think this team's gonna move up even more at
- 14:47Speaker 4: some point.
- 14:48Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 14:48Speaker 3: Like we go international with our next team, and that's
- 14:50Speaker 3: the Denver Broncos, who head to London this weekend a
- 14:53Speaker 3: matchup against the Jets, which you can catch on NFL Network.
- 14:56Speaker 3: They move up two spots. I'm looking at some of
- 14:59Speaker 3: my notes here. This is a team that has lost
- 15:01Speaker 3: their two games by four total points. A couple walk
- 15:04Speaker 3: off field go they get a win in Philadelphia. This
- 15:06Speaker 3: was a dramatic come back win in that fourth quarter.
- 15:10Speaker 3: I think the Broncos are legit. And once again we're
- 15:12Speaker 3: talking about a play here or there from talking about
- 15:14Speaker 3: an undefeated football team.
- 15:16Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd love to see them kind of get rid
- 15:18Speaker 4: of the slow starts a little bit. We saw Knicks
- 15:20Speaker 4: kind of hesitant at times.
- 15:21Speaker 2: But boy did he light it up.
- 15:23Speaker 4: Started using his legs a little in the third quarter,
- 15:25Speaker 4: got some things going, and then found his rhythm as
- 15:28Speaker 4: a passer. I think it was nine to ten for
- 15:29Speaker 4: one hundred and twenty four yards. In the fourth alone
- 15:32Speaker 4: had the two point conversion two That was a beautiful throw.
- 15:34Speaker 4: So look, everything was firing for them. They figured out
- 15:37Speaker 4: the Seagulls defense, but it did take them a while.
- 15:40Speaker 4: I love what the Broncos Steed does. Sacks were there
- 15:43Speaker 4: all game. Hurts might have run into a few, but
- 15:45Speaker 4: the pressure was there. Coverage could be a little better,
- 15:48Speaker 4: and again just not putting themselves in holes. But when
- 15:51Speaker 4: you have the kind of fight and I think execution
- 15:54Speaker 4: that they showed in the second half, you know this
- 15:56Speaker 4: so Broncos team that preseasons some people thought maybe they're
- 15:59Speaker 4: the NFC westa our AFC West favorites, maybe they can
- 16:03Speaker 4: overcome the Chiefs. See right now they're ahead of them
- 16:06Speaker 4: looking pretty good.
- 16:06Speaker 3: I would say, yeah, I think there was some I
- 16:09Speaker 3: don't want to say concerned, but people talked about Bonnicks
- 16:11Speaker 3: when he got drafted and say, hey, in a Denver
- 16:13Speaker 3: reach for him, and Champagne's like, no, he was my
- 16:15Speaker 3: guy the whole time. If that is the case, and
- 16:17Speaker 3: I'll take him out his word. They know what they're
- 16:19Speaker 3: doing in terms of scounting, because bon Nis is a
- 16:21Speaker 3: real dude and has been very impressive in these first
- 16:24Speaker 3: couple campaigns. You mentioned Denver's defense, which has been pretty good.
- 16:27Speaker 3: The team right now leading the NFL in terms of takeaways.
- 16:29Speaker 3: Devin Lloyd, by the way, four interceptions by himself that
- 16:32Speaker 3: also leads the NFL. The Jags in prime time they
- 16:37Speaker 3: beat Kansas City. To me, this is a confidence building
- 16:40Speaker 3: game where I start to say, hey, they've been able
- 16:43Speaker 3: to manage just some lesser moments from their offense so
- 16:47Speaker 3: far this season to get some of these wins.
- 16:49Speaker 5: I'm kind of liking this team.
- 16:50Speaker 4: Absolutely, especially when you consider Liam Cohen's expertise is on
- 16:54Speaker 4: the offensive side. They're going to find better ways to
- 16:56Speaker 4: get Travis Hunter of the ball. We saw the big
- 16:58Speaker 4: play from him, Parker Washington made a great play here
- 17:00Speaker 4: on the touchdown, you know, and just the inconsistency we
- 17:03Speaker 4: saw from Laurence throwing the football. There were some spectacular throws,
- 17:07Speaker 4: especially on that final drive.
- 17:08Speaker 2: Obviously the touchdown run.
- 17:10Speaker 4: We're gonna watch this one for years and laugh at
- 17:12Speaker 4: how many seconds tick off the clock while he was
- 17:14Speaker 4: down there.
- 17:15Speaker 2: But incredible play.
- 17:17Speaker 4: Obviously, his legs did a lot of the heavy lifting
- 17:19Speaker 4: Sunday night, and you saw some fight and some spirit.
- 17:22Speaker 2: Didn't love how.
- 17:23Speaker 4: He managed certain situations, taking a sack late, taking a
- 17:26Speaker 4: delay of game, But boy, when you can make some
- 17:29Speaker 4: big time plays like that, it makes up for it.
- 17:31Speaker 2: And you're right.
- 17:31Speaker 4: Defensively, the takeaways been a huge part of their equation.
- 17:34Speaker 4: And this team is just absolutely rolling with confidence, and
- 17:37Speaker 4: like the Bucks, they're just fun to watch, Mike. I mean,
- 17:39Speaker 4: every time I turn them on, I'm like something's happening
- 17:41Speaker 4: with them. And that's a good sign right there.
- 17:44Speaker 3: Three total touchdowns for Trevor Lawrence, two on the ground
- 17:47Speaker 3: on his twenty sixth birthday, and Devin Lloyd is about
- 17:50Speaker 3: to get paid this offseason for what he has been
- 17:53Speaker 3: able to accomplish at that linebacker spot. All right, time
- 17:56Speaker 3: for future champions. It is presented by fan Duel eric.
- 17:59Speaker 3: I do want to get your take on the NFC
- 18:02Speaker 3: West and the odds here to go and win. You
- 18:05Speaker 3: got the Niners still the favorite at negative one twenty,
- 18:08Speaker 3: the Rams right behind him at plus one ninety, Seattle
- 18:10Speaker 3: at plus four to eighty now for nothing, pretty good
- 18:12Speaker 3: value there, and the Arizona Cardinals that's had some issues
- 18:15Speaker 3: at plus three thousand, three hundred. The Niners, though, on
- 18:19Speaker 3: your rankings, they move up two spots and are sitting
- 18:24Speaker 3: now at thirteenth. How good of a job is Kyle
- 18:27Speaker 3: Shanahan orchestrating right now on the sidelines for this team,
- 18:30Speaker 3: considering all of the injuries that continue to mount up.
- 18:32Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about it. I mean I've had a
- 18:34Speaker 2: lot of people say, hey, why why so low? Right?
- 18:36Speaker 4: Shouldn't they be higher? Shouldn't they be above a two
- 18:38Speaker 4: to three team like the Chiefs. I understand part of
- 18:41Speaker 4: why I've held back is because they've been so ravaged
- 18:43Speaker 4: by injury, whether it's you know, obviously the playmakers.
- 18:46Speaker 2: There, the quarterback party.
- 18:48Speaker 4: You know, Mac Jones has done a fantastic job in
- 18:50Speaker 4: his place, but even he got banged up and we
- 18:52Speaker 4: weren't sure he was going to be able to finish
- 18:54Speaker 4: that game Thursday, So I keep having the hedge a
- 18:57Speaker 4: little bit. But when you have players like Kendrick Bourne
- 18:59Speaker 4: who can step up Mac Jones, so obviously some of
- 19:02Speaker 4: the other parts, Tan just at tight end has been great.
- 19:05Speaker 4: But again it comes back to Kyle Shanahan knowing how
- 19:08Speaker 4: to employ these guys, and I think he does as
- 19:11Speaker 4: good a job as anybody in the league. When he's
- 19:13Speaker 4: got a backup quarterback or when he's in one of
- 19:15Speaker 4: these situations where you know he's got to alter the plan.
- 19:19Speaker 4: That's when Kyle's genius really seems to come out. Christian McCaffrey,
- 19:22Speaker 4: we know they're going to ride him till the wheels
- 19:24Speaker 4: fall off, and he's so good for him, But there's
- 19:26Speaker 4: a lot more lurking here, and I just wonder if
- 19:29Speaker 4: they're gonna going to be punished at some point for
- 19:31Speaker 4: all their injuries, but right now they're holding for him.
- 19:34Speaker 3: Yeah. I did an interview in the Bay Area and
- 19:37Speaker 3: they had asked me, hey, like, do you think there's
- 19:39Speaker 3: a quarterback controversy here with Mac Jones getting all these wins.
- 19:42Speaker 5: I said, hey, man, I got to pump the brakes
- 19:44Speaker 5: breaks on that. Still it is still Brock Berdie's team.
- 19:46Speaker 5: We'll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
- 19:48Speaker 3: But if Brock doesn't play this weekend and we're talking
- 19:50Speaker 3: about Mac Jones and he gets a win on the
- 19:51Speaker 3: road against Tampa Bay, I think on my call the
- 19:53Speaker 3: radio station revisits that convo. Meanwhile, I know we were
- 19:57Speaker 3: loving up the Patriots after a huge win. We're going
- 20:00Speaker 3: to focus in on them, not to mention this Dallas
- 20:02Speaker 3: Cowboys team, a closer look at Dak company after just
- 20:05Speaker 3: handling the Jets, But really, in my mind, that Patriots
- 20:08Speaker 3: team is legit. Drake May looking pretty strong. Where did
- 20:11Speaker 3: they sit on the rankings? That's coming up next. Back
- 20:14Speaker 3: here on Power Rankings along with Eric at home, Mike
- 20:16Speaker 3: Am with you. Eric's team seventeen through twenty four. The
- 20:19Speaker 3: Texans hole, let's go, starting to win, moving up four
- 20:23Speaker 3: spots to seventeen. The Patriots also flashing at eighteen. It's
- 20:27Speaker 3: the Bears, Cowboys and Falcons at nineteen, twenty and twenty
- 20:30Speaker 3: one the Ravens. The free fall continues, dropping six spots.
- 20:34Speaker 3: They are a one to four football team, sitting at
- 20:35Speaker 3: twenty second, the Cardinals at twenty three, in the Carolina
- 20:38Speaker 3: Panthers at twenty four. All right, the Patriots, they move
- 20:42Speaker 3: up the five spots. Can you just just love up
- 20:44Speaker 3: Drake May and company? Because that was an impressive win
- 20:47Speaker 3: for him on Sunday night.
- 20:49Speaker 2: It was he was, you know, kind of struggling earlier.
- 20:51Speaker 4: You know, he was taking some sacks, he was feeling
- 20:53Speaker 4: the pressure, and then the second half came and he
- 20:56Speaker 4: really showed why he's one of the bright young stars
- 20:58Speaker 4: in this League at the quarterback position, and you know
- 21:00Speaker 4: they are always comparing him to Josh Allen, Josh Junior,
- 21:03Speaker 4: whatever you want to call him. I thought he outplayed
- 21:05Speaker 4: Josh in the fourth quarter. I mean, he made some
- 21:07Speaker 4: big time throws. Obviously, step On Diggs coming back to
- 21:10Speaker 4: I mark this one was personal for him. So we'll
- 21:12Speaker 4: see if he can continue that kind of production throughout
- 21:15Speaker 4: the season. But he looked like a number one receiver
- 21:17Speaker 4: and that was one of the issues I had with
- 21:19Speaker 4: this team. Did they have a go to target? Was
- 21:21Speaker 4: May able to make those plays that he made Sunday night?
- 21:24Speaker 4: We saw it, KENNI continue. I don't know, but you
- 21:28Speaker 4: know those mistakes from the first quarter were erased and
- 21:30Speaker 4: they really played some good football towards the end there.
- 21:33Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 21:33Speaker 3: I just love the fact that a national audience got
- 21:35Speaker 3: to watch drink May because I don't think people realize
- 21:37Speaker 3: what's been happening in New England and the strength that
- 21:40Speaker 3: he's got. I was hat tip respect there, Cowboys. They
- 21:43Speaker 3: move up two spots. I look at this Dallas team,
- 21:47Speaker 3: Ceedee Lamb's have been banged up.
- 21:48Speaker 5: Dak and company.
- 21:49Speaker 3: Man, like I get it, record wise, like not like
- 21:51Speaker 3: the Premier teams.
- 21:52Speaker 5: But Dak's playing like an MVP.
- 21:54Speaker 2: I agree.
- 21:54Speaker 4: Yeah, he's been fantastic, and I hope people realize that too,
- 21:57Speaker 4: Almost like Joe Burrow last year, right stuck on a
- 22:00Speaker 4: team with a tough record, playing elite level quarterback.
- 22:03Speaker 2: Now, granted it's the Jets have the factor that in.
- 22:05Speaker 4: They've been struggling to only Winley's steam left, but controlled
- 22:08Speaker 4: this game throughout, really took it to him early on.
- 22:11Speaker 4: You know, I love the confidence in Ryan Illinoy and
- 22:14Speaker 4: other receivers like that doesn't have to be George Pickens
- 22:17Speaker 4: every single time when Lamb's out. You know, Javonte Williams
- 22:20Speaker 4: running the football well defensively, give Maddie Refleuce a little
- 22:23Speaker 4: credit given who they have right now. Even with the Jets,
- 22:27Speaker 4: I thought they played really well on that side. So
- 22:29Speaker 4: you know that Bears game is almost the aberration now.
- 22:31Speaker 4: They've been competitive in every single game except that one.
- 22:34Speaker 3: Twenty one to three was the score at one point
- 22:37Speaker 3: for the Cardinals.
- 22:38Speaker 5: They lose. What am I supposed to do with this team?
- 22:42Speaker 4: Figure out a way not to fumble the ball one
- 22:44Speaker 4: inch outside the end zone to Murray Deboncardo. I mean,
- 22:47Speaker 4: especially after Adni Mitchell did it for the Colts last week.
- 22:50Speaker 4: We saw how disastrous that was. Please, we need to
- 22:52Speaker 4: get this play out of the league. It's it has
- 22:54Speaker 4: no place right when you consider that and then the
- 22:58Speaker 4: interception that was dropped and then recovered by the Titans
- 23:01Speaker 4: in the end zone. The Arizona Cardinals are finding new
- 23:05Speaker 4: inventive ways to find the most painful loss as possible.
- 23:08Speaker 4: They almost did it against the Carolina Panthers. They certainly
- 23:11Speaker 4: did it against the Niners in San Francisco after a safety.
- 23:14Speaker 4: Losing That game was tough. This one about eight times tougher.
- 23:17Speaker 4: How does this play happen? I don't even understand, but
- 23:20Speaker 4: it did. Tyler Lockett and there earned his stripes, and
- 23:23Speaker 4: kim Ward looked pretty darn good in the fourth.
- 23:24Speaker 3: Quarter interception, fumble, touchdown all in one play. Absolutely wilds
- 23:30Speaker 3: teams twenty five through thirty two. The Saints, the Titans
- 23:34Speaker 3: get that win that we just talked about. They rise
- 23:36Speaker 3: six spots. Cincinnati we mentioned that trade. Joe Flacco now
- 23:40Speaker 3: in Cincinnati after getting traded from Cleveland. The Giants, the Browns, Miami,
- 23:46Speaker 3: the Raiders, and the Jets close out the rankings. The Saints,
- 23:49Speaker 3: they do move up those five spots. Can we just
- 23:52Speaker 3: just say, hey, Spencer zero for ten coming into this game.
- 23:55Speaker 5: Job well done, and get your first NFL win.
- 23:57Speaker 4: I wish he could have gotten on his birthday last week.
- 23:59Speaker 4: Wasn't able to get the Trevor Lawrence birthday party. But
- 24:02Speaker 4: he's played well. One turnover, he's getting used in as athleticism,
- 24:05Speaker 4: throwing the ball over the field.
- 24:06Speaker 2: Give this guy a little credit, he deserves it. I
- 24:09Speaker 2: like the way Spencer Ratler's played this year.
- 24:11Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe Kellen Moore knew what he was doing, deciding
- 24:13Speaker 3: to give Spencer Rattler the rains and QB one status
- 24:16Speaker 3: of not Tyler Shack, who will eventually get his turn.
- 24:19Speaker 5: Eric, you be the best man. Great job on Power Rankings.
- 24:21Speaker 5: We'll catch you guys next week.
- 24:26Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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