Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #16: How high have the Buffalo Bills climbed?
Transcript
- 0:04Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 0:07Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
- 0:13Speaker 2: Pepie. Holidays to you and yours, and welcome to our
- 0:18Speaker 2: Christmas edition, our week sixteen edition of the NFL Power
- 0:23Speaker 2: Ranking Show, presented to you by Energizer from our studios
- 0:27Speaker 2: in Los Angeles. My name is andrews Aciliano, the man
- 0:31Speaker 2: on the other side of the screen right here, the
- 0:34Speaker 2: man who made these Power Rankings, the man who honestly
- 0:38Speaker 2: eric at home. I feel that at this point you
- 0:42Speaker 2: just go like, I don't know anymore, just like, can
- 0:44Speaker 2: we get to the playoffs? Like, I mean, can we
- 0:47Speaker 2: just have these teams play meaningful games. I kind of
- 0:50Speaker 2: feel like your frustration level must be at a holiday high.
- 0:56Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got like the first tier one and two,
- 0:59Speaker 3: the second tier, I don't know, maybe twenty teams or
- 1:02Speaker 3: something like that. It's hard to decide who's nonumber three,
- 1:05Speaker 3: four and split all these teams up.
- 1:06Speaker 4: Very tricky time of the year.
- 1:08Speaker 2: And listen, I'm not trying to be the grinch here.
- 1:10Speaker 2: What I'm saying is these last three weeks are going
- 1:12Speaker 2: to be awesome. I can't wait to get to the postseason.
- 1:16Speaker 2: But we have this point of the season. Now we're like, well,
- 1:18Speaker 2: I think all of these teams are really good. They
- 1:20Speaker 2: are only a couple of teams that are really great.
- 1:22Speaker 2: So let's show you the rankings. Eric doing Yeoman's work
- 1:25Speaker 2: here watching that Monday night game and maybe having to
- 1:27Speaker 2: move a little bit of the furniture around the final room.
- 1:31Speaker 2: We have the Niners and the Ravens. You could scan
- 1:33Speaker 2: the QR code on the screen to get this on
- 1:35Speaker 2: NFL dot com. They are still one and two, and
- 1:37Speaker 2: the Cowboys, despite just playing one of their worst games
- 1:41Speaker 2: of the year in Buffalo against a good Bills team,
- 1:44Speaker 2: don't move. I don't get that. The Dolphins are up
- 1:47Speaker 2: one to four, the Eagles are down one to five,
- 1:51Speaker 2: and then the Chiefs, the Lions at seven, and then
- 1:55Speaker 2: the Buffalo Bills rounding out the top eight. And what
- 1:58Speaker 2: do you know, Eric, with the Niners still clearly at
- 2:01Speaker 2: one and the Ravens dismantling the jab are Sunday night
- 2:05Speaker 2: at two, on Christmas Night, we get our Super Bowl preview.
- 2:12Speaker 2: It would have been better if it was New Orleans
- 2:14Speaker 2: and the lights were going out of this was the
- 2:16Speaker 2: Horror Bowl. But maybe maybe we see this game in Vegas.
- 2:21Speaker 4: Maybe we do. Yeah, this would be quite the preview.
- 2:24Speaker 3: I feel like a kid again, right, I mean, just
- 2:25Speaker 3: waiting for this, and this is the contest that I think,
- 2:28Speaker 3: will you know, kind of give us an idea of
- 2:30Speaker 3: you know, the two heavyweights right now, which one's standing taller.
- 2:34Speaker 3: And as you pointed out, we could see him in
- 2:35Speaker 3: not too long in the super Bowl the way the
- 2:37Speaker 3: season is gone. So I worry a little bit about
- 2:40Speaker 3: San Francisco's run defense. They lose those t defensive tackles.
- 2:44Speaker 3: You've got a team in the Ravens that can run
- 2:46Speaker 3: the ball. But on the flip side, they have another
- 2:48Speaker 3: devastating injury at running back Keaton Mitchell last week. And
- 2:51Speaker 3: don't overlooked this one. He has been a spark plug
- 2:54Speaker 3: for them. It's more burden I think on the shoulders
- 2:57Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson. But you know, even with some of these injuries, Andrew,
- 3:00Speaker 3: I think we're looking at a Grade A match up here.
- 3:03Speaker 3: This one's gonna be fantastic. The present under the tree
- 3:05Speaker 3: we've all been waiting for.
- 3:06Speaker 2: You exactly, and this game is on Christmas night, as
- 3:10Speaker 2: your belly is full and the presents are open, and
- 3:12Speaker 2: you're at this point sleeping on the floor and the
- 3:14Speaker 2: kids are playing with their new toys, and then you're
- 3:17Speaker 2: you're mad at Gradma or for given a toy that
- 3:19Speaker 2: makes noise, and then you're already thinking, how do I
- 3:21Speaker 2: put this toy somehow in the trash canon? Have the
- 3:24Speaker 2: kid not realize it? This is your Super Bowl preview.
- 3:27Speaker 2: Keaton Mitchell is done for the season. The Ravens have
- 3:29Speaker 2: Melvin Gordon stepping up. Lamar Jackson played just an absolutely
- 3:33Speaker 2: fantastic game on Sunday night. I have serious concerns about
- 3:36Speaker 2: the Jaguars, but all kinds of high hopes for the Ravens,
- 3:39Speaker 2: and as you mentioned, the two defensive tackle injuries or
- 3:42Speaker 2: the Niners will loom huge. You have the Cowboys at
- 3:46Speaker 2: three and the Dolphins at four, and coincidentally three and four.
- 3:49Speaker 2: This is kind of like the CFP Final four bracket
- 3:52Speaker 2: play each other this week in Miami. With the Cowboys, though, Eric,
- 3:56Speaker 2: how do you not move them down? I mean the
- 3:58Speaker 2: game was over in five minutes in Buffalo and they
- 4:02Speaker 2: did not show up, and they don't don't move this week?
- 4:06Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess I still have reservations a little bit
- 4:10Speaker 3: about the Dolphins. Look, I mean, they put together a
- 4:12Speaker 3: terrific game plan, beat two struggling quarterbacks and an offense
- 4:17Speaker 3: and the Jets that hasn't done much all season. Kudos
- 4:19Speaker 3: to them, right, We're still waiting for that big win,
- 4:21Speaker 3: and they're gonna get their chance starting with this week's
- 4:24Speaker 3: game against Dallas. But you know, just kind of stacking
- 4:27Speaker 3: them toe to toe and head to head and trying
- 4:29Speaker 3: to do the Pepsi challenge, if you will.
- 4:33Speaker 4: Between the two it's hard.
- 4:34Speaker 3: I think you could easily say Miami's three, but I've
- 4:37Speaker 3: had my reservations about them their inability to you know,
- 4:41Speaker 3: string games together and beat quality opponents. Dallas obviously a
- 4:45Speaker 3: step back after a good run. So you want to
- 4:48Speaker 3: flip around, be my guest. I guess I'm like the
- 4:50Speaker 3: Eagles defense. I got caught sort of flat footed at
- 4:53Speaker 3: the end of the night on Monday, but when the
- 4:55Speaker 3: rankings were due and I said, ah, I kind of
- 4:57Speaker 3: panicked a little.
- 4:58Speaker 4: So that's where we're at this week.
- 4:59Speaker 2: All right. And now we get the Cowboys and the
- 5:01Speaker 2: Dolphins and see if the Cowboys can beat a good
- 5:03Speaker 2: team on the road. Not like it's Buffalo. This game
- 5:06Speaker 2: is in Miami, the sun will likely be shining in
- 5:08Speaker 2: far different conditions, but they themselves admit it. Now they
- 5:11Speaker 2: have a road problem. They have a beat good teams
- 5:14Speaker 2: away from the star problem. Yea, Dolphins were able to
- 5:17Speaker 2: find a way to overcome the loss of Tyreek Hill
- 5:20Speaker 2: Jalen Wattle as we see here step right in and
- 5:24Speaker 2: even though they have those defensive injuries, you are still
- 5:27Speaker 2: holding firm here with the Dolphins as your fourth best team.
- 5:33Speaker 3: Yeah, I didn't see the owner dancing the way he
- 5:36Speaker 3: did there. Maybe I would have bumped the mop had
- 5:38Speaker 3: I known that, But yeah, ownership battles, head to head
- 5:42Speaker 3: battles aside. I mean, I do think Miami's in an
- 5:44Speaker 3: interesting spot here. What's the status of Hill? Does he
- 5:47Speaker 3: play can waddle step up the way he did Sunday? Obviously,
- 5:51Speaker 3: But that run game too, I mean, that's really gonna
- 5:53Speaker 3: be the biggest thing. I think the bill showed a
- 5:55Speaker 3: blueprint or reminded people of a blueprint that works against Dallas.
- 5:59Speaker 3: Look in their four losses, they've been killed by the run.
- 6:01Speaker 3: Nine rushing touchdowns, almost eight hundred yards on the ground.
- 6:05Speaker 3: So that gives you a good indication of you want
- 6:07Speaker 3: to slow down that pass rush. You run it right
- 6:09Speaker 3: at them and Miami can do that. Now they've gotten
- 6:11Speaker 3: the Devin Hn back and obviously most it's been a
- 6:15Speaker 3: goal line guy this year in terrifica most of the season, so.
- 6:18Speaker 4: They have the horses up front.
- 6:19Speaker 3: I think if that offensive line can control Dallas's defensive line, we.
- 6:24Speaker 2: Need an owner dance off. There is an NFL plus
- 6:27Speaker 2: NFL channel content idea. Let's get to the Eagles. We're
- 6:31Speaker 2: doing Game Day final on Monday night and listening to
- 6:33Speaker 2: Nick Sirianni explain why he changed defensive coordinators a week
- 6:38Speaker 2: before Christmas, why the offense isn't moving them all the
- 6:41Speaker 2: way it should. This is a team in crisis. This
- 6:45Speaker 2: is a ten and four team that, yeah, I went
- 6:47Speaker 2: through a really tough point in their schedule. But Eric,
- 6:49Speaker 2: this does not look like a super Bowl team.
- 6:52Speaker 4: It doesn't.
- 6:53Speaker 3: I'm of the belief that this loss in and of
- 6:55Speaker 3: itself wasn't that catastrophic and events. But if you obviously yeah,
- 7:00Speaker 3: I mean, if you just look at the last three
- 7:01Speaker 3: weeks and what it's done, I mean, they still hold
- 7:03Speaker 3: their own fate, can still win.
- 7:05Speaker 4: Out and be in terrific shape.
- 7:07Speaker 3: So you know, they have some tiebreakers against Dallas and
- 7:10Speaker 3: all that, But as you pointed out, like you're playing
- 7:13Speaker 3: with a sick Jalen Hurts. That defense steps up for
- 7:15Speaker 3: the first fifty eight minutes.
- 7:16Speaker 4: Matt Patricia was calling a pretty good game.
- 7:19Speaker 3: But they go to single high, they rotate to it
- 7:21Speaker 3: to a one high look in in that third and
- 7:23Speaker 3: ten situation after DK Metcalf had his big catch and
- 7:27Speaker 3: Drew Locke took advantage of it.
- 7:29Speaker 4: I get the idea of a backup quarterback.
- 7:31Speaker 3: Maybe you're feeling good, but at that point, Darius Slay's
- 7:34Speaker 3: already out. The secondary has been beat up. You know,
- 7:37Speaker 3: that was a tough spot right there. So have their
- 7:39Speaker 3: defensive issues been fixed?
- 7:41Speaker 4: I don't think so.
- 7:42Speaker 3: And good teams will exploit that secondary. That's a backup quarterback, remember,
- 7:46Speaker 3: So obviously that's that's part of the problem right now.
- 7:49Speaker 4: And is it enough to derail them?
- 7:51Speaker 3: I don't know. I think they can still hang on
- 7:53Speaker 3: and win this division, but long term, you're right, that's
- 7:56Speaker 3: that's the big question.
- 7:57Speaker 2: If Eagles went out, they should and this is a
- 7:59Speaker 2: strength of victory tiebreaker that's impossible to truly project, but
- 8:02Speaker 2: they should win. In Yeah, the NFC East three games
- 8:07Speaker 2: to go. We have the Chiefs at six and the
- 8:10Speaker 2: Lions at seven here Eric at home the Lions, who
- 8:15Speaker 2: jumped out to a twenty one to nothing lead. Then
- 8:18Speaker 2: they took care of business in the night cap of
- 8:21Speaker 2: the tripleheader Saturday evening.
- 8:24Speaker 4: Yeah, a little slow start there.
- 8:25Speaker 3: I had obviously a little bit of tension in the
- 8:27Speaker 3: building given their struggles recently. You know that the two
- 8:30Speaker 3: tough games against the Bears. One they pull out one,
- 8:32Speaker 3: they didn't think. Everybody was a little nervous, but they
- 8:34Speaker 3: explode in the second quarter and then these strange third
- 8:37Speaker 3: quarter lulls that they have. I can't figure it out.
- 8:39Speaker 3: You'd think, you know, a caffeine fueled halftime speech by
- 8:43Speaker 3: Dad Campbell might get the guys breaking doors down, but
- 8:46Speaker 3: that it didn't occur.
- 8:47Speaker 4: I don't know what it is.
- 8:48Speaker 3: All season, they're minus forty two in point differential, They're
- 8:51Speaker 3: you know, plus ninety something in the other three quarters.
- 8:54Speaker 3: But if they could figure that out, that's a big
- 8:56Speaker 3: deal right there. Defensively made some strides I thought against
- 8:59Speaker 3: the Denver but yeah.
- 9:01Speaker 4: That was a get right game for them, and they
- 9:02Speaker 4: had to have it. I felt like, why did I
- 9:05Speaker 4: not move them up?
- 9:06Speaker 3: You know, it's this sort of same thing with the
- 9:08Speaker 3: Chiefs that I could have flipped them, but didn't. Ultimately
- 9:10Speaker 3: feel like they've done enough.
- 9:12Speaker 2: Lions get the Vikings twice in the final three weeks.
- 9:15Speaker 2: There is a very real scenario where they then have
- 9:17Speaker 2: to play the Vikings in the wildcard round and would
- 9:20Speaker 2: place them or play them three times in twenty one days,
- 9:23Speaker 2: which is just bonkers. So the Lions don't move, the
- 9:27Speaker 2: Bills move up too. Let's get to them because they
- 9:30Speaker 2: are your team of the Week, presented by Truest. The
- 9:34Speaker 2: reason Eric has an unlisted phone number and address is
- 9:38Speaker 2: that Bills fans are that fired up. Well, ten days
- 9:43Speaker 2: ago people thought Sean vic Dedermott was going to get
- 9:45Speaker 2: fired and this team is going to get blown up
- 9:47Speaker 2: in the offseason. Now, Bills fans are angry at home
- 9:49Speaker 2: that you only have them at number eight.
- 9:53Speaker 3: Andrew don't be coming in here with your perspective and
- 9:55Speaker 3: all that stuff, right, your reasons and take I don't
- 9:58Speaker 3: have any time for that, right I'm busy fending off
- 10:01Speaker 3: these Bills fans who want me to put them right
- 10:03Speaker 3: there between the I don't know, the Dolphins and the Cowboys. Maybe, look,
- 10:07Speaker 3: the last three games have been important, even with the
- 10:09Speaker 3: loss against the Eagles, they showed they can go toe
- 10:12Speaker 3: to toe with some of the best teams. And Sunday
- 10:14Speaker 3: that run game, I mean, Josh Allen was back in.
- 10:16Speaker 4: A rocking chair. Seven completions.
- 10:18Speaker 3: You tell me pregame that Josh Allen's gonna have fewer
- 10:20Speaker 3: than ten completions and they're gonna win going away. I
- 10:23Speaker 3: wouldn't wonder, Okay, how many defensive touchdowns did they score? No,
- 10:27Speaker 3: it was just a ground game, So it was a
- 10:28Speaker 3: terrific attack there. I moved them up two spots. Felt
- 10:32Speaker 3: like that was a good balance between where they are
- 10:34Speaker 3: as a team and what they've done in the past
- 10:37Speaker 3: six losses. But Bill's fans care to disagree, and maybe
- 10:40Speaker 3: they're right Andrew. They're just not even in the playoffs yet.
- 10:43Speaker 3: But if they get in, as I wrote this week,
- 10:45Speaker 3: maybe they're a team that can just you know, go
- 10:48Speaker 3: twenty twenty Tom Brady and come from a five seed,
- 10:51Speaker 3: let's say, or somewhere below the top four, and race
- 10:54Speaker 3: to a super Bowl.
- 10:55Speaker 4: They're that good.
- 10:56Speaker 2: Nobody wants to play the Buffalo Bills period, right well
- 10:59Speaker 2: stop nobody, yep at all? And what a difference three
- 11:03Speaker 2: weeks make? Are eight and six, but at the playoffs
- 11:06Speaker 2: or to start today, they don't. They don't. The Bills
- 11:09Speaker 2: would not be in right, and they are the nine seed, right,
- 11:13Speaker 2: I'm looking at my standing. They are the nine seed
- 11:16Speaker 2: in the AFC, behind the Houston Texans at eight. But
- 11:19Speaker 2: nobody wants to play the Bills, including probably the Chargers
- 11:22Speaker 2: with their interim head coach. That game Saturday evening a peacocky.
- 11:27Speaker 2: This is the NFL Power Ranking Show pres out of
- 11:30Speaker 2: my Energizer. Coming up next, Where are the Browns after
- 11:34Speaker 2: another part stopping finish over the team in Ed Holmes backyard.
- 11:38Speaker 2: That's coming up next. Hey, we got a big game
- 11:49Speaker 2: coming up on NFL Network on Christmas Eve on Sunday Night,
- 11:53Speaker 2: The Holiday Classic, a Sunday Night special in primetime. The
- 11:57Speaker 2: Patriots and the Broncos lighten up the night atm Eastern time,
- 12:02Speaker 2: NFL Network and NFL plus the String. This game with
- 12:06Speaker 2: playoff implications certainly, and they must win. Here for the
- 12:10Speaker 2: Broncos after they fall to seven and seven with the
- 12:14Speaker 2: week fifteen loss in Detroit, the Power Ranking Show persad
- 12:16Speaker 2: by Energizer continues with the Browns beating the Bears but
- 12:20Speaker 2: somehow falling one at home you got splained in to do.
- 12:23Speaker 2: The Jaguars look awful but fall only one. The Texans
- 12:28Speaker 2: are up one or the big case cane of victory.
- 12:30Speaker 2: The Bengals are twelve, followed by the Colts, the Broncos,
- 12:32Speaker 2: the Bucketeers, and the Rams of Los Angeles. But we
- 12:36Speaker 2: begin with the Browns sitting here at number nine. You
- 12:41Speaker 2: aren't impressed by Joe Flacco. You aren't impressed by this team,
- 12:46Speaker 2: with the entire roster other than Miles Garrett on injured reserve,
- 12:50Speaker 2: finding a way to win. You drop them in the
- 12:53Speaker 2: Power rankings. Dude, That's why.
- 12:56Speaker 4: I did it right.
- 12:57Speaker 3: Everybody's banged up and they barely the Bears, Bears have
- 12:59Speaker 3: actually been They win and they find ways to do it,
- 13:02Speaker 3: and it's incredible. I keep saying to myself, Am I
- 13:05Speaker 3: sure they're a top ten team? I've had to ask
- 13:07Speaker 3: myself about the Browns seemingly every week, and given the
- 13:11Speaker 3: way their defense plays, given the way they find ways
- 13:13Speaker 3: to gain yards and in this case, come back from
- 13:17Speaker 3: a seventeen to seven deficit against a team that's played
- 13:20Speaker 3: good football lately, you got to give them some credit.
- 13:23Speaker 3: But I ask myself, are they better than the Bills.
- 13:25Speaker 3: Are they more dangerous than the Bills? My number eighteen?
- 13:28Speaker 3: In this case, the answer would be no. Could I
- 13:30Speaker 3: see them beating the Lions at number seven?
- 13:33Speaker 4: Possibly?
- 13:34Speaker 3: But again it's sort of a where do they fit
- 13:37Speaker 3: in the whole picture kind of thing that.
- 13:39Speaker 4: I feel great about dropping them now.
- 13:40Speaker 3: I mean, Flacco obviously had his struggles, but when you
- 13:43Speaker 3: have a team that has that synergy and can pick
- 13:46Speaker 3: them up, all right, it's the defense's turned to make
- 13:48Speaker 3: a stop, and they just do that every single week.
- 13:51Speaker 3: Can they stack up in this big game this weekend?
- 13:53Speaker 3: And you know, we don't know what the Texans are
- 13:55Speaker 3: going to look like this weekend, So another mystery ball game.
- 13:58Speaker 4: I think they could decide the fate of the playoffs.
- 14:01Speaker 2: Listen, I'm giving you unnecessary reef here clearly. Also, they
- 14:05Speaker 2: have players other than Miles Garrett who are still healthy.
- 14:07Speaker 2: Huge hundred yard day from both Amari Cooper and David
- 14:11Speaker 2: Djoku both had touchdowns, both helped them get a win
- 14:15Speaker 2: win number nine. As they head to Houston to play
- 14:18Speaker 2: the Texans, who you have eleven, We're gonna get to
- 14:21Speaker 2: them a little bit later. Let's focus on the team
- 14:23Speaker 2: between the Browns and the Texans, and that would be
- 14:25Speaker 2: the Jaguars. Eric, you drop them only one and now
- 14:29Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence's concussion protocols, the AFC South kind of slips
- 14:33Speaker 2: away and they go to Tampa. This felt like a
- 14:36Speaker 2: performance Sunday that deserves a bigger drop.
- 14:39Speaker 3: Yeah. Had I think we known a little bit more
- 14:42Speaker 3: about the status to C. J. Stroud when I wrote
- 14:44Speaker 3: these and when I did this, I probably would have
- 14:46Speaker 3: dropped them another spot. Texans barely win, and over time
- 14:49Speaker 3: it was one of those things.
- 14:50Speaker 4: Where you said, but do I trust right now?
- 14:53Speaker 1: More you know?
- 14:53Speaker 3: And I would say I would still believe it or
- 14:56Speaker 3: not trust the Trevor Lawrence led Jags that I do
- 14:59Speaker 3: with the question mark led Texans, we maybe Stradd'll come
- 15:02Speaker 3: back and be terrific, but right now the Jaguars still
- 15:06Speaker 3: have a lot of soul searching to do, and then
- 15:08Speaker 3: Lawrence is probably at the center of that. I mean,
- 15:11Speaker 3: the two fumbles were critical. The lack of execution on
- 15:15Speaker 3: that end of the first half possession was awful. They
- 15:17Speaker 3: left thirteen plus points on the field with the two
- 15:20Speaker 3: missfield goals, and you can't do that against mediocre teams,
- 15:24Speaker 3: much less to Baltimore Ravens. So yeah, it's an identity
- 15:27Speaker 3: crisis for this Jaguars team. We've known about the defense
- 15:30Speaker 3: for a while, but when the offense starts making those
- 15:32Speaker 3: kind of game changing airs, I think all bets are off.
- 15:36Speaker 3: Texans are right there, Colts are right there. They may
- 15:38Speaker 3: not even make the playoffs. This thing has gone completely
- 15:41Speaker 3: off the rails, but they still have the possibility to
- 15:44Speaker 3: pull this thing back in.
- 15:45Speaker 2: But they got to do it quickly. I mean, thinking
- 15:46Speaker 2: about how bonkers that is. I'll say it right now
- 15:48Speaker 2: when we do the show next week. I think the
- 15:49Speaker 2: Colts are leading the AFC South. I think the Jaguars
- 15:52Speaker 2: go to Tampa and I think they lose. And I
- 15:54Speaker 2: think the Colts beat the Falcons the AFC South and
- 15:56Speaker 2: the NFC South and this weird head to head in
- 15:59Speaker 2: December as well, which is kind of contrary to how
- 16:01Speaker 2: we do the schedule with all the divisional games. That's
- 16:05Speaker 2: just my two cents again, the Texans that allowed him
- 16:08Speaker 2: in the Bengals at twelve. Let's do future champions now
- 16:11Speaker 2: for Zeniby FanDuel I will take the l here on
- 16:15Speaker 2: this one. I said the Bengals season was over when
- 16:17Speaker 2: Joe Burrow got hurt and Jake Browning came in. Now,
- 16:20Speaker 2: will the Bengals make the playoffs? FanDuel says plus two hundred.
- 16:24Speaker 2: Right now they are the sixth seed in the AFC,
- 16:28Speaker 2: and Eric, you have that up one to twelve.
- 16:32Speaker 3: Yeah, and all thanks to t Higgins with his performance
- 16:36Speaker 3: there late. I mean, they fall in a hole and
- 16:38Speaker 3: they found a way to come back with one of
- 16:40Speaker 3: the Catches of the Year candidates.
- 16:41Speaker 4: Anyone hasn't seen it yet, go check it out immediately.
- 16:44Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, depending on what Jamar Chase's status
- 16:48Speaker 3: is right now, we hear he could be out multiple weeks,
- 16:50Speaker 3: he could be ready for Sunday. You know, the answer
- 16:53Speaker 3: probably lies somewhere between. Maybe he misses the game, maybe
- 16:56Speaker 3: he plays and he's not his full strength. But this team,
- 16:59Speaker 3: Jake Browning has been able to find ways to replicate
- 17:03Speaker 3: about eighty five percent and then.
- 17:04Speaker 4: Of what Joe Burrow did. That's an achievement right there.
- 17:07Speaker 3: So you know, you think about that and the gutsiness
- 17:10Speaker 3: that they've been able to show coming back multiple times
- 17:13Speaker 3: throughout the season handling this adversity.
- 17:15Speaker 4: I give a lot of credit.
- 17:16Speaker 3: They also lose a big one in the DJ Reader
- 17:20Speaker 3: going down this weekend too.
- 17:21Speaker 4: I mean that's you know, is that.
- 17:23Speaker 3: Another kind of player that they can afford to lose?
- 17:26Speaker 3: I don't know.
- 17:26Speaker 4: So they're teetering.
- 17:27Speaker 3: I mean, they're right there on the cuss but I
- 17:30Speaker 3: have my concerns.
- 17:31Speaker 2: I would too, but they keep finding way. Zach Taylor
- 17:35Speaker 2: only said after Ian's report that Jamar Chase would be
- 17:38Speaker 2: out potentially multiple weeks, that he is day to day.
- 17:42Speaker 2: But that is standard Zach Taylor podium speak. The guy
- 17:46Speaker 2: could be in the hospital and he would still say
- 17:48Speaker 2: day to day. The Bengals get the Steelers coming up
- 17:52Speaker 2: on Saturday, Colts thirteen, Broncos fourteen, and then the Bucketeers,
- 17:56Speaker 2: who I mentioned, get the Jaguars. That game is in
- 17:58Speaker 2: Tampa coming up this week. The Buccaneers are up three
- 18:03Speaker 2: after Baker Mayfil played. It comes to passer rating a
- 18:07Speaker 2: perfect game against Joe Berries deepense at Lambeau insane right.
- 18:13Speaker 3: Two previous trips there, he hadn't had a very good time,
- 18:16Speaker 3: a lot of turnovers to losses two different teams for
- 18:18Speaker 3: that matter, Rams and Browns. But he comes back and
- 18:21Speaker 3: I think played his best game as a Buccaneer. I mean,
- 18:24Speaker 3: he's he's laid it all out of the line this season, right,
- 18:27Speaker 3: I mean, he's played with heart, you know, he's He's
- 18:29Speaker 3: had some good moments for sure, kept the steam afloat
- 18:32Speaker 3: during during that losing spell, but throwing the ball effectively
- 18:36Speaker 3: as he did with two games prior going under fifty
- 18:39Speaker 3: percent completions, turned that around twenty two of twenty eight
- 18:42Speaker 3: with a few drops too, So he was tremendous. You know,
- 18:46Speaker 3: the late game execution the last couple of weeks has
- 18:48Speaker 3: been great. They're sneaky. They won a few games in
- 18:51Speaker 3: a row. Now might be the team to beat in
- 18:53Speaker 3: the NFC South. Look, you know this team has fascinating
- 18:57Speaker 3: me for a while, but they just didn't have the wins.
- 18:59Speaker 3: They didn't have the resume to get to this point.
- 19:01Speaker 3: But Hall of Fame wide receiver in Mike Evans Scott
- 19:04Speaker 3: Wentz stepped up with a huge game where set White.
- 19:07Speaker 3: Now Baker's playing well, Just saying maybe it's a team
- 19:10Speaker 3: to watch out for, even if they're going to be
- 19:12Speaker 3: probably home underdogs if they do win that in the
- 19:14Speaker 3: first round of the playoffs.
- 19:15Speaker 2: You mentioned Rashad White, he would have had one hundred
- 19:17Speaker 2: yards if he didn't go down late in the game
- 19:19Speaker 2: to keep the clock running. They have been running the football.
- 19:23Speaker 2: They're the worst team the last two years, the worst
- 19:26Speaker 2: in the NFL running the football. The last couple of weeks,
- 19:29Speaker 2: they've picked it up in time for a playoff push.
- 19:32Speaker 2: All right, they are fifteen. How about your team that
- 19:35Speaker 2: is sixteen? The team making power moves presented my energizer.
- 19:40Speaker 2: They are the Rams of Los Angeles, who get a
- 19:42Speaker 2: T and F game to kick off Week sixteen against
- 19:45Speaker 2: the Saints the week before Thanksgiving at home. I checked
- 19:50Speaker 2: my notes. You had the Rams at twenty seven. Ouch.
- 19:55Speaker 4: I think that was their bye week too.
- 19:56Speaker 3: I don't know what they did to upset me apparently,
- 20:00Speaker 3: but thankfully Rams fans are very forgiving people from what
- 20:03Speaker 3: I've experienced in the past, and they're willing to see
- 20:06Speaker 3: that I've caught on to this team that look Sunday
- 20:09Speaker 3: wasn't the prettiest thing.
- 20:10Speaker 4: They go up twenty nothing.
- 20:11Speaker 3: They let a backup quarterback make it a tight game,
- 20:14Speaker 3: but Matthew Stafford playing well. They obviously have Kyen Williams
- 20:18Speaker 3: running well, even if the two fumbles were really pretty
- 20:20Speaker 3: costly in the first half Sunday, so you.
- 20:23Speaker 4: Know the weapons are there. Defensively, they're doing their best
- 20:26Speaker 4: to hang on if.
- 20:27Speaker 3: They can avoid those those big penalties like we saw
- 20:30Speaker 3: from Darien Kendrick on Sunday. They're a strange team, but
- 20:34Speaker 3: they have the horses with Kup and Nakua and Stafford
- 20:39Speaker 3: to put a scare into the teams. I think, so,
- 20:41Speaker 3: you know, I've kind of split the middle a little bit.
- 20:43Speaker 3: They're not quite in the playoffs. They're you know, at
- 20:45Speaker 3: least power rankings wise, but they're looking better than they
- 20:48Speaker 3: did a month ago.
- 20:49Speaker 2: Yeah, and they have a quarterback right now, Matthew Stafford
- 20:52Speaker 2: is dealing. If they protect him, they get Rob Havenstein
- 20:55Speaker 2: right and right tackle. This team is scary, and I'm
- 20:59Speaker 2: gonna say that, yes, I do Robbly a paycheck at
- 21:01Speaker 2: the preseason from the Rams full disclosure here, But no
- 21:05Speaker 2: one circled this game as meaningful when the schedule came out.
- 21:07Speaker 2: And now I get a TNF game with the seventh
- 21:09Speaker 2: seed against the nine seed, but the Saints coming to town.
- 21:12Speaker 2: Love it to open up Week sixteen. Pretty good. Coming
- 21:16Speaker 2: up on the NFL Power Ranking Show presented to you
- 21:20Speaker 2: by Energizer. What do we do now with the Seahawks
- 21:26Speaker 2: after Swaggy Drew brought them back. Monday Night coming up,
- 21:32Speaker 2: it's the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer. The
- 21:36Speaker 2: Seahawks are up too after their big win on Monday Night,
- 21:38Speaker 2: followed by the Vikings at eighteen, the Packers, the Steelers
- 21:42Speaker 2: with Mason Rudolph down six, and then the Saints at
- 21:45Speaker 2: twenty one, the Falcons, the Raiders, and the Chicago Bears.
- 21:49Speaker 2: Eric at home does the numbers and he is here
- 21:52Speaker 2: to take your holiday grief. Eric. The Seahawks move up
- 21:55Speaker 2: only two, despite the fact they stunned the Eagles, despite
- 21:59Speaker 2: the fact that they are now the eight seed in
- 22:03Speaker 2: the NFC with the tiebreaker against the Rams potentially, but
- 22:06Speaker 2: they are the eighth seed.
- 22:09Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to finish ahead of the Rams, lost
- 22:11Speaker 3: the season series to them. But they'll take what they
- 22:14Speaker 3: got Monday Night, even if it was Drew Locke's possibly
- 22:16Speaker 3: last appearance of the season. I mean, Geno Smith expected
- 22:19Speaker 3: to come back. But you know, Locke gets in there,
- 22:21Speaker 3: takes a little while to get going and then has
- 22:23Speaker 3: that memorable drive at the end there two third and tens,
- 22:26Speaker 3: you know, one to DK and one to Jackson Smith
- 22:29Speaker 3: the jig, but for the win, and you know, It
- 22:31Speaker 3: just brought some life back to this team that had
- 22:33Speaker 3: taken it on the chin a little bit. They lost
- 22:35Speaker 3: a tough one in Dallas. You know, things haven't really
- 22:38Speaker 3: gone their way since the week four by so, I mean, yeah,
- 22:41Speaker 3: it was.
- 22:42Speaker 4: It was a huge win for them.
- 22:43Speaker 3: Kenneth Walker running big, and yeah, we'll see if they
- 22:47Speaker 3: can get in. I mean again, I have my reservations
- 22:49Speaker 3: about this team, but those three wide receivers, you know,
- 22:52Speaker 3: and if they get the passing game going again and
- 22:54Speaker 3: keep it hot with Gino back, I think they'll they'll
- 22:57Speaker 3: have a chance.
- 22:58Speaker 2: They have a chance. And again the Rams tiebreaker is deadly.
- 23:00Speaker 2: They got swept. However, the schedule does set up nicely
- 23:03Speaker 2: at Tennessee home for Mason Rudolph or Kenny Pickett and
- 23:08Speaker 2: then at Arizona to close it out. I'm telling you
- 23:12Speaker 2: there is a chance for the Seattle Seahawks. I think
- 23:15Speaker 2: a little bit less of a chance over for the
- 23:17Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers. Just a bad weekend for them. They
- 23:20Speaker 2: fall three. They are now number nineteen.
- 23:23Speaker 3: How they're going to fix these defensive issues was always
- 23:25Speaker 3: about how bad the run defense was. Now you can
- 23:28Speaker 3: add the secondary from really the fourth quarter against the
- 23:31Speaker 3: Giants carried over into Sunday.
- 23:32Speaker 4: I mean, that was a tough look for them.
- 23:34Speaker 3: They got dissected, and so yeah, I mean, I think
- 23:37Speaker 3: the backfield hasn't been healthy now.
- 23:39Speaker 4: Since really the beginning of the season.
- 23:41Speaker 3: Yes, you have some of these young weapons like Jayden
- 23:43Speaker 3: Reid's stepping up and Jordan Love can still make plays,
- 23:47Speaker 3: but if that defense isn't fixed, consider me very worried
- 23:49Speaker 3: about this book.
- 23:50Speaker 2: Yeah, I am very worried about the Green Bay Packers
- 23:53Speaker 2: when once again Matt Lafour has to do the no
- 23:56Speaker 2: I'm not firing Joe Berry press conference on Monday. The
- 23:59Speaker 2: rest of the power rankings from twenty five on down
- 24:03Speaker 2: have the Titans, the Jets, the Chargers, and the Giants,
- 24:07Speaker 2: Arizona's at twenty nine, the New England Patriots, the Washington Commanders.
- 24:12Speaker 2: And you didn't give the Panthers any movement despite the
- 24:17Speaker 2: fact that they won a game. Bah humbug.
- 24:21Speaker 3: That would be in putting the four win Commanders down
- 24:24Speaker 3: below them, which, Shay, that would be quite the statement,
- 24:26Speaker 3: and maybe it's true. But we'll see one more win
- 24:29Speaker 3: and then I will get them out of that thirty second.
- 24:31Speaker 2: You are mean to the Panthers Eric Aedholmes Power Rankings
- 24:35Speaker 2: at NFL dot com slash Power Rankings any day of
- 24:37Speaker 2: the week. Eric Haffy Holidays. Merry Christmas to you and
- 24:40Speaker 2: your family and everyone out there as well. We'll see
- 24:43Speaker 2: you the day after Christmas, so long as the buddys.
- 24:50Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 24:52Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
- 24:56Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.