Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #21: How does Patrick Mahomes compare to Michael Jordan?
Transcript
- 0:04Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 0:07Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
- 0:13Speaker 2: And then there were four. We are out of the
- 0:15Speaker 2: final four in the National Football League.
- 0:18Speaker 3: Welcome to another edition of the NFL Power Ranking Show,
- 0:21Speaker 3: presented to you by Energizer, officially on the behind the
- 0:26Speaker 3: curtain parlance.
- 0:27Speaker 2: This is week twenty one of our season.
- 0:30Speaker 3: My name is Andrew Siciliano at our studios in Los Angeles.
- 0:33Speaker 2: The other side of the screen, the man who.
- 0:34Speaker 3: This week only had to rank eight teams. What a bargain,
- 0:40Speaker 3: What an easy week of work?
- 0:42Speaker 2: How are you air A get.
- 0:43Speaker 4: Home feeling relaxed, feeling refreshed, ready to go.
- 0:48Speaker 5: I'm it feels like August all over.
- 0:50Speaker 3: Again, except it doesn't. It is still January. The Super
- 0:55Speaker 3: Bowl will be played in February. There are four teams remaining.
- 0:57Speaker 3: Obviously we're going to rank eight. Let's start with you
- 1:00Speaker 3: right there scanning the QR code on your screen, and
- 1:04Speaker 3: here are the eight. Let's just unveil them all at once.
- 1:07Speaker 3: The Ravens and the Niners stay at one and two.
- 1:10Speaker 3: They both won the one seeds.
- 1:12Speaker 2: They're at the top.
- 1:13Speaker 3: The Lions and the Chiefs the two teams that won
- 1:17Speaker 3: deface the Ravens and the Niners move up to three
- 1:20Speaker 3: and four, and then the teams that lost on Divisional weekend.
- 1:23Speaker 2: The Bills, the Packers, the Texans.
- 1:26Speaker 3: And you had the Buccaneers as the worst team in
- 1:30Speaker 3: that group.
- 1:30Speaker 2: Of eight to make it the divisional weekend. We'll get
- 1:32Speaker 2: to them at a second.
- 1:33Speaker 3: Let's start, however, at the top at home, and let's
- 1:35Speaker 3: start here with the Baltimore Ravens. I've said, no one
- 1:38Speaker 3: is going to beat them at home. The Browns and
- 1:40Speaker 3: the Steelers were the only ones to do it in
- 1:42Speaker 3: the regular season. Really, the Steelers didn't count Week eighteen,
- 1:44Speaker 3: it was raining, Lamar didn't play. That game was close
- 1:48Speaker 3: for a while, I mean ten ten at the half
- 1:50Speaker 3: thanks to the Stevens Simms punt return, but then eric
- 1:54Speaker 3: in the second half, the Ravens not only in my eyes,
- 1:56Speaker 3: proved they're the best team in football, but they almost
- 1:59Speaker 3: made it feel like a high school game, like the
- 2:01Speaker 3: big kids and the little kids, where you knew that
- 2:03Speaker 3: the Texans simply wouldn't do it.
- 2:08Speaker 4: Yeah, you just could see how it was going and
- 2:11Speaker 4: see how banged up the Texans were on defense, and
- 2:14Speaker 4: you know, once they kind of figured out the Texans blitzes,
- 2:17Speaker 4: you know, I mean they were coming at Lamar full steam,
- 2:20Speaker 4: it seemed like, especially in the first half, but throughout
- 2:23Speaker 4: the game. Once they figure that out, you know, I
- 2:26Speaker 4: and credit Todd Monkin for really adjusting on the fly.
- 2:30Speaker 5: It was all downhill from there.
- 2:31Speaker 4: And you think about it, right from week one when
- 2:33Speaker 4: they faced the Texans and then the Texans last game
- 2:36Speaker 4: of the season last round. You know, four field goals,
- 2:39Speaker 4: zero offensive touchdowns. That Baltimore defense did its job too,
- 2:43Speaker 4: especially against CJ. Stroud and all the confidence he had
- 2:46Speaker 4: coming into that game.
- 2:47Speaker 3: Yeah, that defense kept the Texans and again the first
- 2:50Speaker 3: game of the year for Demiko Ryans and the last
- 2:52Speaker 3: game of the year, kept the Texans out of the
- 2:55Speaker 3: end zone in the two times they played at least
- 2:58Speaker 3: offensively held them to old field goals. That defense, I
- 3:02Speaker 3: think if you had to rank all the un it's
- 3:05Speaker 3: remaining here, right, So offense defense, these four teams left,
- 3:08Speaker 3: I think the Ravens defense is the best of the
- 3:13Speaker 3: eight remaining.
- 3:15Speaker 5: I think you can make that case, right. We have
- 3:18Speaker 5: some questions.
- 3:19Speaker 4: Obviously the Baltimore offense could certainly be also very good.
- 3:22Speaker 4: But yes, but I think you're right, if you had
- 3:25Speaker 4: to pick one team to kind of hang your hat on.
- 3:27Speaker 4: Not to say that, you know, they can't give up
- 3:29Speaker 4: some yards to Patrick Mahomes. Patrick's averaged about what three
- 3:33Speaker 4: hundred and sixty seventy yards against them passing every single
- 3:36Speaker 4: time he plays him. But that's in the past. It
- 3:39Speaker 4: hasn't been a couple of years since there. It's been
- 3:40Speaker 4: a couple of years since they've played, So you're right.
- 3:43Speaker 4: I mean, the pass rushes come on. The coverage has
- 3:45Speaker 4: been plus. I mean it's been really strong. Their linebackers
- 3:48Speaker 4: are kind of an underrated strength of that team. They
- 3:51Speaker 4: got pressure from the inside and the out too, which
- 3:53Speaker 4: is a nice thing to have, especially this time of year.
- 3:56Speaker 2: Well, it also shows, and the Niners show this as well.
- 3:59Speaker 3: Certainly with green Law and with Warner in no particular order,
- 4:03Speaker 3: that there is value to that position. With Queen and
- 4:06Speaker 3: with Roquan. A lot of people were shaking their heads
- 4:08Speaker 3: when Eric Tacosta gave up a two to the Bears
- 4:10Speaker 3: to get Roquan Smith and then had to pay Roquand
- 4:13Speaker 3: one thing to trade him or trade for him another
- 4:15Speaker 3: thing to write him that big check. The Bears wouldn't
- 4:17Speaker 3: right those two guys are a huge reason, especially with
- 4:22Speaker 3: what they have up front that clogs all the lanes
- 4:24Speaker 3: that allows them to go run. It had a huge
- 4:26Speaker 3: reason they're here, and a huge reason really. Now Mike
- 4:29Speaker 3: McDonald is in the conversation for all these head coaching jobs.
- 4:34Speaker 4: Yeah right, I mean groomed by both Harbaugh's right, spend
- 4:37Speaker 4: time with John as an assistant, and came has worked
- 4:40Speaker 4: his way up and then went to Michigan with Jim
- 4:43Speaker 4: for a few years. So he has been well versed
- 4:45Speaker 4: in the Harbaugh universe. But he's done things on his
- 4:48Speaker 4: own too. I mean, I think Jim Harbaugh or John
- 4:50Speaker 4: Harbaugh rather made a point of saying like this is
- 4:53Speaker 4: his defense. He's put the work in on this group.
- 4:56Speaker 4: They've they've leveled up this season. You're right, I think
- 4:58Speaker 4: that linebacker position, I agree with you. I mean, I
- 5:01Speaker 4: saw Roquan Smith up close here in Chicago quite a bit.
- 5:03Speaker 4: Thought he was a terrific player, was playing great at
- 5:05Speaker 4: the time of the trade. But I didn't know that
- 5:08Speaker 4: that would be worth the value, and especially after paying
- 5:10Speaker 4: them twenty million.
- 5:11Speaker 5: I'm here to say that I was wrong. It has been,
- 5:14Speaker 5: and especially in.
- 5:14Speaker 4: A game where you're going against Pacheco and Kelsey and
- 5:17Speaker 4: their flexibility.
- 5:18Speaker 5: I mean that really gives you an edge.
- 5:20Speaker 3: I think, huge difference in what the Ravens had at
- 5:23Speaker 3: linebacker and what the Bills had at linebacker, right, and
- 5:27Speaker 3: coverage possibilities and opportunities against Travis Kelsey. Granted, the Bills
- 5:30Speaker 3: are all kind of banged up and Matt Mlana was
- 5:32Speaker 3: out and aj Klein has to be in there, Trail
- 5:34Speaker 3: Bernard couldn't go, So, you know, two vastly different conversations here,
- 5:38Speaker 3: But it's going to be the Ravens and the Chiefs.
- 5:40Speaker 3: We'll get to the Chiefs coming up at a second.
- 5:41Speaker 3: Let's get to the forty nine ers, because while the
- 5:44Speaker 3: Ravens and Texans were tied of a half ten to ten,
- 5:47Speaker 3: the Ravens kicked.
- 5:48Speaker 2: It into gear.
- 5:49Speaker 3: Conversely, the story Saturday night in San Francisco is Eric,
- 5:54Speaker 3: the Niners are going to blow this, and they almost
- 5:58Speaker 3: blew this. We could be sitting here today if not
- 6:02Speaker 3: for that final drive. Half of the conversation is it's
- 6:04Speaker 3: time to move on from brock perty and does Kyle
- 6:07Speaker 3: have to hit reset again to go find his championship quarterback?
- 6:12Speaker 5: Yeah?
- 6:12Speaker 4: All right, I thought that that fourth quarter was obviously
- 6:15Speaker 4: huge for Perdy and Shanahan being able to overcome the deficit.
- 6:18Speaker 4: I mean, how many times did you know they talk
- 6:20Speaker 4: on the broadcast about the oh win thirty record when
- 6:23Speaker 4: trailing by seven or more points entering the fourth or
- 6:26Speaker 4: in the fourth quarter.
- 6:27Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean I thought that was really big
- 6:29Speaker 5: for them to be able.
- 6:30Speaker 4: To kind of get over the hump, especially after Perdy
- 6:32Speaker 4: had struggled the weather was causing issues with his grip.
- 6:35Speaker 4: You know, you and I were talking off the air
- 6:37Speaker 4: about that one play where he wipes his hand mid
- 6:40Speaker 4: drop back. I don't think either of us had ever
- 6:42Speaker 4: seen anything like that before. Yeah, so you know, clearly
- 6:46Speaker 4: it was struggling with the conditions. They lost Ebo Samuel
- 6:49Speaker 4: early in the game. It just felt like their mojo
- 6:51Speaker 4: was a little off. But big plays on defense from
- 6:54Speaker 4: Drey Greenlaw, who you talked about earlier, and also Perdy in.
- 6:57Speaker 5: The final drive, and we'll see.
- 7:00Speaker 4: I mean, I still think this game is going to
- 7:02Speaker 4: have a lot to say about the future of rock Perty.
- 7:04Speaker 4: I mean, we've seen Kyle Shanahan firmly back on the
- 7:08Speaker 4: quarterbacks before, and then that little uh that crush right
- 7:12Speaker 4: wears off over time, so I don't know where we're
- 7:14Speaker 4: at with Perdy right now, but trying to make this
- 7:17Speaker 4: thing work and I'll have a shot against the Detroit defense.
- 7:20Speaker 3: And as we tape this full disclosure, we're recording this
- 7:23Speaker 3: Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, Kyle said, the update on Deebo
- 7:27Speaker 3: is the shoulder isn't broken.
- 7:28Speaker 2: That's the good news.
- 7:30Speaker 3: But it's really up in the air as to whether
- 7:31Speaker 3: or not Debo is going to play on Sunday. So
- 7:34Speaker 3: that factors greatly in all of this, because without him,
- 7:38Speaker 3: they're one to three this year. They fell apart in
- 7:41Speaker 3: the second alf of offensively. Also similar to the division
- 7:43Speaker 3: around in Cleveland. Because of the rain, it should be
- 7:46Speaker 3: sunny for the most part, we think on Sunday in
- 7:49Speaker 3: San Francisco. But no Debo, they are a different team.
- 7:51Speaker 5: Now.
- 7:52Speaker 3: When you have all week to prepare knowing you're not
- 7:55Speaker 3: going to have him, does that factor in all of this?
- 7:59Speaker 2: Clearly it does.
- 8:00Speaker 3: But what you said there about we could still be
- 8:03Speaker 3: having this pretty conversation next week is dead on, especially
- 8:08Speaker 3: after did you see the Nick Wagoner article in the
- 8:10Speaker 3: espan dot com last week that suggested, and it was
- 8:11Speaker 3: right out of Pretty's mouth that Kyle told him they
- 8:14Speaker 3: were going after Tom Brady last year in the offseason.
- 8:18Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, you know, everything's up in the air
- 8:21Speaker 6: with Kyle, right, I feel like he's always got you know,
- 8:23Speaker 6: multiple balls juggling in the air at quarterback, right, He's
- 8:25Speaker 6: always you know, the Sam Darnold signing right after he
- 8:29Speaker 6: was benched against the Ravens, a lot of people.
- 8:31Speaker 4: Thought, boys, is it possible that Sam could take over
- 8:33Speaker 4: down to the stretch. Didn't happen that way, obviously, But
- 8:37Speaker 4: you know I didn't blink at that one. I mean
- 8:38Speaker 4: I really felt like that was one of those those
- 8:40Speaker 4: signings where this one has a little more deeper meaning.
- 8:43Speaker 4: But focusing here on the game, obviously, if they can
- 8:47Speaker 4: if they can exploit the exploitable weaknesses of this Lion's defense,
- 8:52Speaker 4: they can win this game. There's no doubt about it.
- 8:54Speaker 4: I Mean, I think there are some holes in this
- 8:55Speaker 4: in this Detroit d but you know who knows, right,
- 8:59Speaker 4: especially if Deebo is out. I do think to your point, though,
- 9:02Speaker 4: if they come into this game feeling like.
- 9:05Speaker 5: He's just not going to play, I mean, we're gonna
- 9:07Speaker 5: have to have a Hail Mary.
- 9:09Speaker 4: And they have a plan for it. Find their best
- 9:11Speaker 4: stuff without him, you know, use a little misdirection they
- 9:14Speaker 4: can get by.
- 9:15Speaker 3: All right, all right, we'll pull back the TV curtain.
- 9:17Speaker 3: That was a nine minute a block talking only two
- 9:20Speaker 3: teams coming up, the other two teams playing this weekend
- 9:24Speaker 3: our thoughts on the three and the four in this
- 9:26Speaker 3: week's rankings, the Lions and the Chiefs. As we continue
- 9:29Speaker 3: on the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizing, It's
- 9:36Speaker 3: the NFL Power Ranking Show. We're presented by Energizer, Andrew
- 9:39Speaker 3: Ciciliano and Eric at home right over there, who puts
- 9:42Speaker 3: these together. Obviously, we got the Ravens and the Niners
- 9:44Speaker 3: at one and two. That means we have America's team,
- 9:47Speaker 3: seemingly now the Lions. Eric at number three, Bucks gave
- 9:52Speaker 3: him a run here. I feel like we could do
- 9:54Speaker 3: an entire show on Todd Bowles clock mismanagement.
- 9:56Speaker 2: On the knees at the end of the game.
- 9:58Speaker 3: We're not going to do that, though, We're gonna celebrate
- 10:01Speaker 3: these Detroit Lions, who I think have a heck of
- 10:04Speaker 3: a show in Santa Clara on Sunday.
- 10:07Speaker 5: Absolutely they do. I know, I probably I am talking
- 10:10Speaker 5: out of both sides by mouth.
- 10:10Speaker 4: They're already in the first segment, I said, hey, look,
- 10:12Speaker 4: this Detroit defense has holes in it. They do, but
- 10:15Speaker 4: they've also found ways to make plays when they absolutely
- 10:18Speaker 4: have to. And you know Derek Barnes's first interception.
- 10:21Speaker 5: Clinching the game.
- 10:22Speaker 4: I wouldn't have put money on that one, but hey,
- 10:24Speaker 4: you know they're they're finding sources on that side of
- 10:27Speaker 4: the ball. You know, Melafon Wu in the secondary, Bryan
- 10:30Speaker 4: branch is a rookie, you know, Alie McNeil, what have you.
- 10:32Speaker 4: I mean, they've they've gotten other guys besides Aiden Hutchinson
- 10:36Speaker 4: to step up, but you'd like to see it a
- 10:38Speaker 4: little more consistently still. I think with that offense and
- 10:42Speaker 4: what Jamiir gives, especially once he got into the game
- 10:45Speaker 4: game flow a little bit more, you know, it completely
- 10:47Speaker 4: changed the game.
- 10:48Speaker 5: Tampa Bay did a great.
- 10:49Speaker 4: Job plugging up all the gaps, especially when Montgomery's in there.
- 10:53Speaker 4: But I don't know that San Francisco is going to
- 10:55Speaker 4: have that same game plan or that same success level.
- 10:58Speaker 4: They've been really good against the run statistically this year,
- 11:01Speaker 4: but it has changed in the last several games as
- 11:04Speaker 4: they've injuries up front.
- 11:05Speaker 3: I just love the storyline here, not only the Lions, right,
- 11:08Speaker 3: obviously trying to make it to the Super Bowl here
- 11:11Speaker 3: and trying to win a third playoff game on their
- 11:14Speaker 3: road to Vegas. But Jared Goff, as we see Baker
- 11:18Speaker 3: Mayfield on the screen, Jared Goff going back home to
- 11:21Speaker 3: the Bay Area, going back home to face a team
- 11:24Speaker 3: that when he was with the Rams he had trouble against.
- 11:27Speaker 3: But so de Teun mcvahn. The rest of the unit collectively,
- 11:30Speaker 3: other than in the NFC Championship came with Matthew Safferty
- 11:32Speaker 3: at the point. But the Jared Goff Redemption Tour is
- 11:36Speaker 3: such a great storyline. Honestly, I know it's gotten a
- 11:40Speaker 3: lot of attention. I think it deserves more.
- 11:43Speaker 4: I think so too, right, I mean, I think people
- 11:46Speaker 4: are still in the mindset of, well, whenever Detroit can
- 11:49Speaker 4: replace them, they will.
- 11:50Speaker 5: He's been good, you know.
- 11:52Speaker 4: I hear that a lot as I go on radio
- 11:54Speaker 4: shows and talk to people out and about, and they say, yeah,
- 11:56Speaker 4: Jared Goff's good. Right, Well, he's played at a really
- 11:59Speaker 4: high level. He didn't come out hot the way he
- 12:01Speaker 4: did against the Rams in this game, so he had
- 12:03Speaker 4: to kind of find his rhythm a little bit. Seemed
- 12:06Speaker 4: a little offerly in the game, but boy, that fourth
- 12:08Speaker 4: quarter he was he was firing away. I think he
- 12:11Speaker 4: hit eleven or twelve passes in a row to start
- 12:13Speaker 4: the quarter. You know, really got Laporta involved there, had
- 12:16Speaker 4: some big throws to Jamison and obviously Saint Brown as well,
- 12:20Speaker 4: so you know, they're still tough to defend. I mean
- 12:22Speaker 4: they have four, you know, past catchers. I think they
- 12:25Speaker 4: feel like they really trust and that doesn't even count
- 12:28Speaker 4: Josh Reynolds who stepped up too, so maybe five.
- 12:30Speaker 5: I mean, it's it's been a collective effort.
- 12:33Speaker 4: Jared believes in those guys, and yeah, I mean, first
- 12:36Speaker 4: of all, the guts of a team to hand it
- 12:37Speaker 4: to Craig Reynolds on.
- 12:39Speaker 5: Fourth and goal.
- 12:41Speaker 4: It just supports the whole idea of that, like anything
- 12:43Speaker 4: could happen with this team. Dared Goff, I'm sure has
- 12:45Speaker 4: just as much faith in Reynolds as he does and
- 12:48Speaker 4: all those other guys. It's a fun story all around.
- 12:50Speaker 4: And you're right, if he wins this, I think people's
- 12:53Speaker 4: minds are changed on him a little bit.
- 12:54Speaker 3: I mean people called him a stop gap even after
- 12:58Speaker 3: last season's great second right, which they almost got in.
- 13:01Speaker 3: I had conversations with people like which is gm type
- 13:05Speaker 3: of people at the league meeting where they were already
- 13:08Speaker 3: projecting where Jared would go other than Detroit this coming
- 13:12Speaker 3: twenty twenty four season, that ain't happening anymore, right, Jared
- 13:17Speaker 3: Goff is on the verge of taking the Detroit Lions
- 13:19Speaker 3: to the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are
- 13:22Speaker 3: in this position yet again, sixth consecutive year. Here as
- 13:26Speaker 3: we get to the team making a power move presented
- 13:28Speaker 3: by energizer Eric, the Chiefs are back in the AFC
- 13:33Speaker 3: Championship game. And I think there is some similarity here
- 13:36Speaker 3: with Michael Jordan and the Bulls, right, or Tom Brady
- 13:39Speaker 3: with his great run for twenty years in New England
- 13:42Speaker 3: that if you were in that conference, you simply weren't
- 13:46Speaker 3: going to get past them because they were that good.
- 13:49Speaker 3: And Mahomes is Brady or Mahomes is Jordan in the end,
- 13:53Speaker 3: he will steal your soul.
- 13:56Speaker 4: I mean, this could end up being an Indiana Pacers
- 13:59Speaker 4: kind of series where it was sort of a flawed
- 14:02Speaker 4: Bulls team, right that was able to beat a really,
- 14:05Speaker 4: really good team. And I think that's what Baltimore is, right.
- 14:08Speaker 4: I mean, if Lamar is Reggie Miller. He has a
- 14:11Speaker 4: surrounding cast that goes very deep. We've talked about the defense,
- 14:15Speaker 4: we know about the offensive line, we know about the
- 14:17Speaker 4: you know those receivers, et cetera. So, but you're right,
- 14:20Speaker 4: they still have Jordan, they still have Patrick Mahomes, and
- 14:23Speaker 4: he's had success against the Ravens. Again, different personnel, different coordinator,
- 14:26Speaker 4: all that. But you know, I don't think he's going
- 14:28Speaker 4: to come in there, especially after going on the road
- 14:31Speaker 4: last week and doing what he did against the Bills,
- 14:33Speaker 4: that there is not going to be any fear in
- 14:35Speaker 4: this man. So yeah, look, if Mark west Valdez Scantling
- 14:39Speaker 4: can do what he did last week, if she Rice
- 14:41Speaker 4: can do what he did last week, all of a sudden,
- 14:43Speaker 4: this is a completely different offense, I think than what
- 14:45Speaker 4: we were talking about for what fifteen of the eighteen
- 14:49Speaker 4: weeks this year.
- 14:50Speaker 3: Listen, I hesitate to compare anyone to Michael Jordan. Okay,
- 14:54Speaker 3: but Jordan and Brady both had a quality where you
- 14:59Speaker 3: will those around you to win, where the teammates were
- 15:02Speaker 3: almost in fear of being known as the teammates that
- 15:08Speaker 3: let the great one down, right, like you're gonna hit
- 15:12Speaker 3: that shot from the corner because I'm not going to
- 15:15Speaker 3: be the guy that misses the shot and Michael Jordan
- 15:19Speaker 3: doesn't win. And those that we've criticized all year for
- 15:23Speaker 3: the Chiefs, like MBS and Rashi Rice, all of a
- 15:27Speaker 3: sudden now when it matters most make the huge plays.
- 15:34Speaker 5: Absolutely they stepped up.
- 15:35Speaker 4: And whether it was that fear factor or not, I
- 15:37Speaker 4: think they're gonna need that same kind of performance against
- 15:40Speaker 4: this Ravens defense that we've you know, I think thrown
- 15:42Speaker 4: our flowers at because they have been that good. So yeah,
- 15:45Speaker 4: I still think there's gonna be a way for Mahomes
- 15:48Speaker 4: to have some success against this group though, as you
- 15:50Speaker 4: pointed out, and like you said, it's the synergy that
- 15:53Speaker 4: he brings out of everybody to hey, it's win or
- 15:56Speaker 4: go home, And you know how I'm gonna feel about
- 15:58Speaker 4: going home at this point.
- 15:59Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, we could we can do the
- 16:01Speaker 3: x's and o's of this one for days. The Jerry
- 16:04Speaker 3: as Snead against a Flowers or Odell. If you put
- 16:06Speaker 3: them on Odell, does Mark Andrews come back here?
- 16:10Speaker 2: Do they get Cadarius, Tony Backsky More?
- 16:13Speaker 3: Then there's the what happens next year, like is this
- 16:15Speaker 3: Chris Jones' final game is a Chief If they don't win,
- 16:18Speaker 3: is Kelsey on the screen here going to retire. There
- 16:21Speaker 3: are so many great storylines for this game, we'll have
- 16:24Speaker 3: to save them for next week coming up on the
- 16:27Speaker 3: Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer.
- 16:29Speaker 2: But wait, there's four more. What happened to the Bills, the.
- 16:33Speaker 3: Packers, the Texans and the Buccaneers. We'll do an exit
- 16:36Speaker 3: interview of sorts for those four, the bottom four at
- 16:39Speaker 3: our Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer. All right, it's
- 16:48Speaker 3: the NFL Power Ranking Show, presented to you by Energizer,
- 16:51Speaker 3: Andrew Siciliano, Eric at home, who puts these rankings together
- 16:54Speaker 3: on your screen and also available on NFL dot Com.
- 16:57Speaker 3: The Bills, here we go again. Eric, We've seen this
- 17:00Speaker 3: movie so many times. They have a very good team.
- 17:03Speaker 3: They get here, they have their hearts ripped out, usually
- 17:06Speaker 3: by the Chiefs.
- 17:07Speaker 2: Third straight year it is the divisional round.
- 17:09Speaker 3: But as we move forward here, they have twenty two
- 17:13Speaker 3: soon to be free agents. They have a huge cap
- 17:17Speaker 3: hit coming up on Josh Allen's contract, Steph Digg's Big Number,
- 17:22Speaker 3: Von miller Age and Big Number. It's not a tear down,
- 17:27Speaker 3: but it is going to be a massive remodel.
- 17:31Speaker 5: I agree, right.
- 17:32Speaker 4: I mean they got to this point and were able
- 17:34Speaker 4: to build their roster in such a way, including signing
- 17:37Speaker 4: guys like von Miller to massive deals. Because of Josh
- 17:40Speaker 4: Allen's contract, his cap hit, you know, until this season,
- 17:43Speaker 4: had never been more than what like eighteen million forty
- 17:47Speaker 4: seven plus million next year, So that's a different look.
- 17:49Speaker 4: And as you pointed out, Digs two, I think is
- 17:51Speaker 4: over twenty almost twenty eight million, so and really.
- 17:55Speaker 5: Wasn't very effective down the stretch.
- 17:57Speaker 4: He wasn't effective in the two games against the Chiefs
- 18:00Speaker 4: nineteen targets then he had like seven catches for you know,
- 18:03Speaker 4: fifty sixty yards. So boy, in those big moments, you
- 18:06Speaker 4: really need your superstar number one receiver to be there
- 18:09Speaker 4: for you.
- 18:09Speaker 5: And I know Brandon Bean has said.
- 18:11Speaker 4: On Tuesday that he views Diggs as that number one guy,
- 18:14Speaker 4: but gave Davis entering free agency. I mean, you know,
- 18:18Speaker 4: Trey White and Matt Malono, that age thirty range, coming
- 18:22Speaker 4: off major injuries.
- 18:23Speaker 5: I mean, that's a lot to figure out.
- 18:26Speaker 4: And I know they get a little help with the
- 18:27Speaker 4: compensatory draft, but man, I don't know. I just don't
- 18:31Speaker 4: see a clear path back to the same level of dominance.
- 18:34Speaker 3: That they've had, and it looks as if, barring something
- 18:37Speaker 3: really unforeseen, that Sean McDermott is back as head coach,
- 18:40Speaker 3: endorsed obviously by Josh Allen, by Brandon Bean, and McDermott
- 18:44Speaker 3: was on the podium for his end of season press conference.
- 18:47Speaker 3: There are some who think, however, that this team has
- 18:50Speaker 3: gone as far as it can with Sean, that sometimes
- 18:52Speaker 3: change for the sake of change might be a good thing.
- 18:55Speaker 3: I don't think that is going to happen. He pulled
- 18:57Speaker 3: them back from six and six in mediocrity and got
- 19:00Speaker 3: them here. But again, it's the same end to a
- 19:04Speaker 3: milliar movie for Bill's fans. Meantime, a much different movie
- 19:09Speaker 3: than expected here for the Green Bay Packers how to
- 19:11Speaker 3: invest in the future presented by Fidelity.
- 19:14Speaker 2: They're the exact opposite, Eric of what you have in Buffalo.
- 19:18Speaker 3: You have a young quarterback on still a reasonably cheap contract,
- 19:21Speaker 3: and everyone he throws the ball to is either a
- 19:25Speaker 3: rookie or a second year player.
- 19:29Speaker 4: I have never quite seen a team assembled like this,
- 19:33Speaker 4: and I suspect that when you and I get to
- 19:34Speaker 4: the combine and all the talking heads, gms and head coaches,
- 19:38Speaker 4: they're going to get asked about what the Packers are doing.
- 19:40Speaker 4: The Packers model, if you will, which is obviously the
- 19:43Speaker 4: quarterback component. We know, right, you draft him, you let
- 19:46Speaker 4: him sit for a couple of years. We know that
- 19:48Speaker 4: story very well. But also to draft all these young
- 19:51Speaker 4: receivers in Aaron Rodgers last year, by the way, and
- 19:54Speaker 4: then put them with the young quarterback and watch them
- 19:56Speaker 4: grow up together. Early in the season. Results were incomplete.
- 20:00Speaker 4: Second half of the year, terrific playoff game. More of
- 20:04Speaker 4: what we saw of the incomplete variety, right, Some great
- 20:06Speaker 4: throws early in the game, some questionable decisions, especially that
- 20:10Speaker 4: last reception given the down and distance. You can live
- 20:14Speaker 4: with it, I guess, But man, that was a tough
- 20:16Speaker 4: one to swallow at the time.
- 20:17Speaker 5: And I'm excited about the future.
- 20:19Speaker 4: Like you said, I mean, I've never quite seen a
- 20:22Speaker 4: group compile like this. But you know, we still have
- 20:24Speaker 4: a decision on the defensive coordinator and loves got to
- 20:27Speaker 4: avoid those kind of mistakes.
- 20:28Speaker 3: Joe Barry the DC much malign during the season, but
- 20:31Speaker 3: they unit came together down the stretch, a part of
- 20:33Speaker 3: their winning Street it's a big part of that winning
- 20:35Speaker 3: streak to get them in and to get them actually
- 20:37Speaker 3: through Dallas and to San Francisco. I'm glad you mentioned
- 20:40Speaker 3: the Senior BOWLT next week show will be done in
- 20:43Speaker 3: Mobile and it's where Brian Goudakum's found most of these
- 20:46Speaker 3: pieces for Jordan Love. Actually he found Jordan Love there
- 20:50Speaker 3: as well in Mobile. But Musgrave, red Wis, Watson, Dobbs,
- 20:56Speaker 3: they are all former Senior Bowl players. The draft starts
- 21:00Speaker 3: in Bull Melton, yep bow Melton as well obviously went
- 21:03Speaker 3: to Seattle first, bounced around and Bo Melton's brother is
- 21:07Speaker 3: going to be at the Senior Bowl this year. Shameless
- 21:11Speaker 3: plug NFL plus NFL Network all next week. All right,
- 21:15Speaker 3: let's move out of the Texans. Future is right for
- 21:17Speaker 3: them as well. They have a lot of young pieces.
- 21:20Speaker 3: And it isn't just CJ. Stroud, It's Tanked Dell Senior
- 21:24Speaker 3: Bowl guy, Christian Harris plan lights out as well. They
- 21:29Speaker 3: have reason to be optimistic.
- 21:31Speaker 4: Yeah, Jonathan Gernard and Will Anderson junior and you know
- 21:34Speaker 4: you saw a little more on of John Metchi down
- 21:36Speaker 4: the stretch when he was forced into action. So very
- 21:39Speaker 4: excited about the young core here, Nico Collins kind of
- 21:41Speaker 4: became that number one receiver out of necessity, but hey,
- 21:45Speaker 4: I mean I view him as at least a low
- 21:48Speaker 4: end number one right now that given the way he played,
- 21:50Speaker 4: so a lot of excitement. Still have to find a
- 21:53Speaker 4: way to fill out that defensive roster, still have to
- 21:57Speaker 4: find a way to beef up the offensive line a
- 21:59Speaker 4: little bit more. They've made it changes, they've made improvements,
- 22:01Speaker 4: but more needed. And the expectations, I mean, Andrew, they're
- 22:05Speaker 4: probably in the same kind of position that the Jacksonville
- 22:08Speaker 4: Jaguars were one year ago. And we spent all off
- 22:12Speaker 4: season extolling the virtues of Doug Peterson and Trevor Lawrence.
- 22:15Speaker 4: And you know Calvin Ridley is gonna blow up in
- 22:17Speaker 4: this offense. Well it didn't happen, at least down the stretch.
- 22:20Speaker 5: You didn't.
- 22:21Speaker 4: So there's still a lot of pressure on this Texans team.
- 22:23Speaker 4: I believe and is as good as an exciting season
- 22:26Speaker 4: they had. I'm still gonna slightly pump the brakes a
- 22:30Speaker 4: little bit because of what we've seen in the past.
- 22:32Speaker 3: Yeah, but look, they got the quarterback right and they
- 22:36Speaker 3: got the coach right. No doubt those two are huge, huge,
- 22:39Speaker 3: passage in Tampa. I think they got it right. I
- 22:44Speaker 3: mean Todd Bowles game mismanagement aside and the final seconds
- 22:47Speaker 3: in Detroit.
- 22:49Speaker 2: You gotta bring Baker back, right, I.
- 22:52Speaker 4: Think so, And this seems like there's mutual interest. Look,
- 22:55Speaker 4: he bet on himself, he won the bet. I mean,
- 22:57Speaker 4: I'm impressed with what Baker did this season. Is there
- 23:00Speaker 4: a cap or a limit to what he can do
- 23:01Speaker 4: with an NFL team over a longer period of time. Absolutely,
- 23:05Speaker 4: But this buys you time if you don't think that
- 23:07Speaker 4: Kyle Trask can can knock him off the firch one
- 23:10Speaker 4: day to draft somebody else. And so he's gonna be
- 23:13Speaker 4: that good one two three year bridge quarterback whatever he.
- 23:16Speaker 5: Ends up being.
- 23:17Speaker 4: And you know they have more decisions on defense to
- 23:20Speaker 4: make too.
- 23:20Speaker 5: I thought they union really fell apart in the fourth quarter.
- 23:22Speaker 4: But I'm I have to say I discredited some of
- 23:27Speaker 4: what the Bucks did this year, especially you know coming
- 23:30Speaker 4: from four and seven, that that streak in the middle
- 23:32Speaker 4: of the year where they were really struggling. Bulls did
- 23:35Speaker 4: a nice job, just like John McDermott did in Buffalo.
- 23:39Speaker 4: He got his team playing good football. They saw the
- 23:41Speaker 4: reality of the division and they went and won the thing.
- 23:43Speaker 4: And oh, by the way, he beat the Eagles and
- 23:45Speaker 4: almost beat the Lions. So a lot of boxes check
- 23:48Speaker 4: checked this offseason.
- 23:49Speaker 3: Yeah, and on the redemption Tour thing, I'm happy for
- 23:52Speaker 3: Baker Mayfield as well.
- 23:54Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, the.
- 23:55Speaker 3: Guy Baker Mayfield has has won a playoff game both times,
- 24:00Speaker 3: and he's made it into the postseason twenty twenty with
- 24:02Speaker 3: the Browns and then here with the Buccaneers. We are
- 24:06Speaker 3: back next week. We're going to do this again after
- 24:09Speaker 3: the conference championship games and rank them from mobile as
- 24:12Speaker 3: we get ready for Vegas. Everyone enjoy Championship Sunday for
- 24:17Speaker 3: Eric at home. My name is Andrews. Siliano and here
- 24:19Speaker 3: we are again with another edition of the NFL Power
- 24:22Speaker 3: Ranking Show, present of my Energisement.
- 24:29Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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