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Ian Furness 10/15 H2: Steve Palazzolo, Brandon Funston and crosstalk with Dick Fain. · The Ian Furness Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From the Star Reynolds Sports Desk. Your 93.3 KJR FM
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: sports headlines.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Brought to you by Frostbrook Coors Light. Cold as the Rockies.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Seahawks kick off week six of the NFL tonight in Denver.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Thursday night football on Amazon Prime. Broncos will be without
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: cornerback Patrick Sertan. Safety, Talaona, Hufanga. Seahawks out without Charbonnet, Surratt,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Drake Thomas. By the way, Chaz Surratt's an underrated guy
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: missing tonight with Drake Thomas out. That's also an inside
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: linebacker that's a pretty good player. They'll go with Tyrese
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Knight and probably a lot more Nicky Manwari in some
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: different roles as well. Other NFL news. Jalen Hurts ruled
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: out of Sunday's matchup with Carolina to a superficial blood
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: clot in his calf. Not good. Seahawks, not the only
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: team on the road today. Kraken look to continue their
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: hot road win streak. They face Tampa Bay 4 o'clock pregame,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: 3.30 with the captain. He'll settle into Network Central, Mike Benton,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: at 3.30 right here on 93.3 KGRFM. The Brewers can
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: sweep the Dodgers with a win against the defending champions
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs. They got that win yesterday to go
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: 3-0 up in the series. Speaking of the playoffs, ALCS
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: went early today because of some incoming weather, and Cleveland
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: says thank you very much. We'll take a 2-1 series
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: lead on Tampa. Hopefully a bad day for Tampa all
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the way around with the Kraken playing them later on tonight.
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  Speaker 2: Huskies tomorrow. Purdue, West Lafayette, game time 5. Pre-game starts
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: at 1 o'clock right here on 93.3 KGRFM. And according
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: to multiple sources, They're at it again. The adults are
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: ruining sports. College football playoff is nearing a deal to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: expand to 24 teams starting in 2027. Why just why?
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: So we can get a bunch of 3-4 loss Big
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Ten and SEC teams in the playoffs. Why are we
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: doing this? Why are we expanding? Oh, because ESPN wants to.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: We're living in ESPN's world. We let them dictate everything.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Just enjoy it. All right, let's get to it. Steve
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Palazzolo talking NFL right now.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: It's time for a numbers dive to hand out some
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: grades around the NFL with Steve Palazzolo from the 33rd team,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: sponsored by Zeke's Pizza. Get $ 10 off any game day
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: delivery or pickup with promo code PIGSKIN10. Enter the code
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: PIGSKIN10 when you order at Zeke'sPizza.com or on the Zeke's
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Pizza app any Monday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday during the
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  Speaker 1: football season.
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  Speaker 2: Now with Ian, here's Steve Palazzolo. All right, let's get going, man.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: It is a game day for the Seahawks. It is
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  Speaker 2: Thursday night football, and it makes it even more special
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  Speaker 2: to have our weekly guest, our weekly visit with our
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: friend Steve Palazzolo on right now. He joins us courtesy
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: of Zeke's Pizza. Hello, Steve. How are you?
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  Speaker 3: Doing great. Thanks for having me, as always.
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  Speaker 2: It is a game day. It is Thursday night football.
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  Speaker 2: Seahawks will now have played on a Wednesday, a Thursday,
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  Speaker 2: a Sunday, and here on a Sunday night coming up
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  Speaker 2: in a week, and then after that, a Monday. So,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: We're getting all the days taken care of here, Steve,
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  Speaker 2: in Seattle.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: I love that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: Did you get the Black Friday game this year? Maybe
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: that's the only thing missing at this point.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: What do we have, Ashley? I think they play Christmas.
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  Speaker 5: They play Christmas, and then we have the Thanksgiving Sunday,
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  Speaker 5: so not Black Friday.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Christmas Day, though. Christmas Day.
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  Speaker 3: That's Friday. Yeah, Christmas Friday, right?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it might be. God, I just can't
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  Speaker 2: keep track, man. I can't keep track, but we got
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  Speaker 2: a lot to discuss here. as well as Steve, Steve Palazzolo,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: 33rd Team Check the Mic podcast here. Let me start
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: with just a quick look back last week and a
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  Speaker 2: lot of things going on in the NFL, and we'll
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  Speaker 2: get to our team here in a second, but as
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: we look around the NFL, I want to wrap it
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: up with the Monday game. Buffalo and the LA Rams.
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  Speaker 2: That was a heavyweight tilt if I've ever seen one,
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  Speaker 2: and yet one team is now sitting at 2-3. What
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  Speaker 2: did you make of what you saw on Monday night,
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  Speaker 2: and maybe even specifically, Steve, from Our friends in the
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  Speaker 2: NFC West, the LA Rams.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, the Rams are 2-3.
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  Speaker 4: They're finishing their tough stretch, playing the Niners, playing Buffalo
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  Speaker 4: on Monday night, the Eagles. They've had some tough games. Broncos,
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  Speaker 4: they've had a tough stretch. And we were talking about
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  Speaker 4: it on our show today. The Rams at 2-3, if
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  Speaker 4: you look at their next five games, they're probably favored.
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  Speaker 4: This weekend, they're favored by over 12 points. They're probably
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  Speaker 4: favored by a touchdown plus for the next five weeks.
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  Speaker 4: So we might be sitting here heading into mid-November or Thanksgiving,
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  Speaker 4: and they're 7-3, and we look back and say, wait,
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  Speaker 4: every time they played a good team, they pretty much lost.
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  Speaker 4: And so the Rams, they end up, the special teams,
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  Speaker 4: bites them again, much like last year, much like the
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  Speaker 4: Seattle games down the stretch. And missed kicks and kick
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  Speaker 4: return to kick off the game. I think the Rams showed,
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  Speaker 4: of course, that they could score points and go head-to-head
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  Speaker 4: with the best teams, but for a team that obviously
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  Speaker 4: had extremely high expectations, the Rams still trying to find
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  Speaker 4: their footing defensively, still trying to get healthy. And Matthew
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  Speaker 4: Stafford's play has been really up and down. And that
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  Speaker 4: was one of my concerns for them this year was
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  Speaker 4: that he can't play at this 48 touchdown, six interception
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  Speaker 4: level every year. Cause he's only done it once. And
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  Speaker 4: that's pretty extreme. Like there's gotta be some regression there
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  Speaker 4: from Stafford and you're starting to see it. And then
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  Speaker 4: you add in the special teams piece and here they
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  Speaker 4: are two and three after a tough five week stretch,
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  Speaker 4: but then five, um, If they don't go 5-0 over
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  Speaker 4: the next five weeks, I think the Rams have some concerns.
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  Speaker 4: So I think we're going to be watching a 7-3
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  Speaker 4: team here in a little bit, but also not really
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  Speaker 4: sure how good they are because they haven't won against
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  Speaker 4: good teams, really.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and that brings us to San Francisco. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: they're sitting there at 5-0 and looking at their schedule.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they're almost assured to go 8-9-0 with what
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  Speaker 2: their schedule looks like in the coming weeks. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: who can slow down San Francisco right now if it
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: wasn't Seattle?
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  Speaker 3: They're the opposite.
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  Speaker 4: They took care of business in their toughest games, going
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: into Seattle, taking on the Rams in Australia.
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  Speaker 3: Every test the Niners have had, they've passed it.
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  Speaker 4: What did we talk about last week? I just mentioned
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: the turnovers from Seattle. Just eliminate the turnovers. It's more
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: than that. You want the offense to be clicking better
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  Speaker 4: than it has generally. But the Niners, as good as
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: their offense has been, it wasn't like they dominated Seattle's defense.
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: They just had four short fields. one of which was
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: just a fumble in the end zone. So there was
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  Speaker 4: a lot of short drives and touchdowns for the Niners,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: but got to give them credit. Mike Evans has been
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  Speaker 4: a huge addition, as we saw. Brock Purdy's playing as
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  Speaker 4: well as any quarterback in the league. The defense has
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: been more impressive than I thought. I think I mentioned
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: last week as well, with Fred Warner back, you just
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: see the impacts that he has. When Nick Bosa was
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: out there earlier in the season, you saw the impacts
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: that he had. But they have more talent than they
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: had last year on the defensive side of the ball,
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  Speaker 4: and it's showing. but especially Warner and Greenlaw in the
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: middle of the defense, when they're out there, when Greenlaw's
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  Speaker 4: not kicked out of the game, it does, it does
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  Speaker 4: make a bigger impact that you, cause last year they
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: were getting, you know, beat up and then surviving. It's
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  Speaker 4: just a better all around team in San Francisco. And they've,
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: they've had a really, really clean five weeks so far.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: The beautiful thing about the NFL, as opposed to college
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  Speaker 2: football is there's no subjective nature to it is it's
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: wins and losses and that's it. That's all that matters. And,
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  Speaker 2: the right, the left-hand column, the wins, the right-hand column,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: the losses. If you want to go far, right, I
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: guess you go the ties and we'll get to Dan
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Quinn and that situation in a minute before we wrap
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: up with Steve. But I do want to just get
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  Speaker 2: your thoughts. Like I, I don't love power rankings for
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: people that I think have no clue, but somebody like
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: you that I feel like does have a clue. If
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: we look around the league right now, there's, you know, Minnesota,
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  Speaker 2: San Francisco, Kansas city are all undefeated. There's a handful
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  Speaker 2: of one loss teams, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Buffalo, and, uh, somehow
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  Speaker 2: the Giants are 3-1, but they got that one tie.
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  Speaker 2: If you were just looking around and you're just kind
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  Speaker 2: of stacking it together, if this was the AP Top 25,
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  Speaker 2: who's number one? Is it San Francisco? Is it Kansas City?
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  Speaker 2: And where would, say, a Minnesota 5-0 team fit in
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  Speaker 2: that mix for you?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a fun one.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, if you're really doing proper power rankings, you
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  Speaker 4: could say, well, the Bills are 4-1. Who cares if
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  Speaker 4: they have a loss? If you think they're the best team,
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  Speaker 4: you just make them number one. Um, the Niners have
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  Speaker 4: to be up there. I mean, if you were saying, Hey,
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  Speaker 4: who's been the best and you know, what, who do
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  Speaker 4: you have faith in going forward? I think the Niners,
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: you know, if they continue to survive some of their
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: big injury issues, um, because they've got the head coach,
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  Speaker 4: the quarterback and a solid defense, right?
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  Speaker 3: So that's the starting point there.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously you have a history with the Kansas city chiefs
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  Speaker 4: and then the way that they've won, you know, if
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: you were a chiefs hater, you'd say, yeah, they beat
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  Speaker 4: up on the dolphins and the Raiders are probably overrated. And,
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: you know, they, uh, they beat the Colts who can't
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: stop anybody. but we have a history with the chiefs,
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: my homes, Andy Reed. And then you see what Ken
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: Walker's done to that offense. And you say, all right,
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: they have, they have learned how to win in different ways.
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: We've seen them win the flashy way. Now they can
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: win with the run game too.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: Kansas city has to be up there. And then you
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: just look at, Hey, the Ravens, the bills go back
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: to history, right? I mean, they have, you know, better
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: part of a decade history of the bills, Ravens, chiefs,
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  Speaker 4: all being good.
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  Speaker 3: So they all have to be up in the mix.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: So, I think they're all the strongest teams.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: And then the Vikings would probably be the most challenging one,
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: where you say they've given up 64 points through five games.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Absolutely incredible. The defense has been unbelievable. They're blitzing at
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  Speaker 4: a 70% rate. I keep comparing this extreme to when
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: the Houston Oilers came in. Way back in the early 90s,
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: they came in and started the run and shoot. It's
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: like bringing a four-wide receiver, spread offense... to the nfl
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: back in the early 90s when everybody's running you know
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: a fullback tight end sometimes two tight ends you know
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: three wide receivers was like exotic back then and they
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: came in just we're going to run four wide at
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: all times run and shoot i mean that's brian flores
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  Speaker 4: blitzing 70 of the time it's never been done before
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: in the modern era that you know since the nfl's
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: attracted blitz percentages and it's working. And so that's fascinating
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: to me because, you know, can you keep that up?
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: Can they keep up this incredible defensive pace? Because their
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: offense is also one of the worst in the NFL statistically,
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: but Kyler Murray may be finding his way. So I
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: think the Vikings are good and they're dangerous and but
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: they're going to be really challenged. They've got two games
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: against the Lions. They've got the Bills. That defense will
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: be tested against some good offenses. I can't wait to
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: see it, but it's just so fun because Brian Flores
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: and that defense are living in the extreme of the
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: extremes with this insane blitz rate, and it's working to
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: this point five weeks in.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Steve, I think it's fascinating to me, and Steve Palazzolo, 30-13,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: check the Mike podcast, and I should point out, I
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: used to work for PFF, and that's where I want
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: to go with this for a little bit, and I
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: know PFF's not what it used to be, but You've
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: studied these things for a long time. In college, blitzing
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: a college quarterback is way different than blitzing an NFL quarterback,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: an NFL offensive coordinator, NFL receivers that understand the hot
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: reads and all those types of things. Is it surprising
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: to you that what Flores is doing in Minnesota has
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: been so sustainable so far? Yes, it is.
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  Speaker 3: A little bit. Especially because it's not like this is
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  Speaker 3: completely new for him. He was always.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: at the top of the blitz rate numbers, you know,
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: blitz is like, you know, is it five rushers or
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: is it four with, you know, a linebacker or a nickel,
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: however you define it.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, they're, they're bringing heat. Flores has already always
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: been up there.
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  Speaker 4: And then there's always been points like his early years
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: with the Vikings when he was playing like this, the
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: second half, it would taper off a little bit or
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: Ben Johnson's lions would always have the answers for it.
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: And Jared Goff would carve them up. And there were
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: points where it was like, hey, Brian Flores, this is
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: going good. And then it would kind of taper off
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: at the end of the season. But now, the league
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: average blitz rate is like 30-something percent, low 30s. And
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: he's at 70. So he used to be in the 40s,
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: maybe touch 50 for some certain games. We've never seen
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: it at this level of extreme. And then what I'm seeing,
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: what you see on film is you see quarterbacks They're
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: just hurried. They're hurried every single snap. If you had
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: SQ Millen about, like, what's it like if you have
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: to play fast every single snap? And then there's a
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: few plays, like, when they only rush four or if
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: they don't get pressure, the quarterback's almost stunned. Like, he
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: doesn't know what to do. It's like, oh, now I
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: got to go through my reads. Because the quarterback, normally,
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: it's like, all right, I'm going to go through my reads.
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: I'm going to look at this defender or go one, two, three, four. And, and,
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: but against Flores, it's no, I'm throwing hot. I got
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: to throw behind the blitz. Where's it coming from? Is
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: it picked up? Are there free rushers? Do I need
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: to avoid them? Everything's fast, fast, fast. And it's almost
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: like when they don't get home or they actually mix
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: it up and rush for the quarterbacks. I go, shoot,
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: I forgot how to play quarterback and read out a play.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: So it's really just, it's just a discomfort. You know,
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: it's almost like pitching backwards and baseball. If you had
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: a guy that just threw off change-ups and before you
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: know it, here's a fastball and you just don't know
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: what to do with a fastball, which is you don't
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: normally what a hitter wants to hit. Um, but it's
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: the invert, like it's inverted, right? It's like the quarterback
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: is just sped up, sped up, sped up. And every
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: now and again, they get slowed down. So, um, it's
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: just fascinating to watch generally blitzing like that. It's going
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: to work against lesser quarterbacks, you know, guys that don't
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: have that experience.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Let's see what happens when they go up.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: Against Allen and the bills and they go up against
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: golf and the lions, not saying it won't work, but
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: I think that's when it will really get put to
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: the test.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: All right, Steve Palazzolo joining us here. Let's not bury
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: the lead. We'll get to the Seahawks and Broncos here
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: in a second. Steve, brought to you by our good
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: friends at Zeke's Pizza. Hey, it is a game day.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: That's right. It's a game day. It's a Thursday. Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: and Sundays. Those are football game days. We're not going
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: to include the Mac attack out there in Steve's neck
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: of the woods in the Midwest. They play like Mondays, Tuesdays,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: and Wednesdays, I think, all the old Mac conferences. But
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: the games that matter for us out here, the NFL
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: and college football, Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, any game day
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• 13:51
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  Speaker 2: or better yet, download the app. But Zeke'sPizza.com, the app
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• 14:01
  Speaker 2: and you get $ 10 off any delivery or pickup. What
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: a great deal on those game days, and why would
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• 14:09
  Speaker 2: go grab yourself a Zeke's Pizza tonight? Zeke's Pizza. Do this, though.
• 14:13
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• 14:17
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• 14:27
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• 14:31
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• 14:33
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  Speaker 2: some great pizzas out there. I can't wait to try
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: some of those, including the Calabrian chili pizza. I love that.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: That is absolutely fantastic. Big time kick to it. Zeke'sPizza.com.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Go check it out again. Pigskin10, Pigskin10 on the app
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: or at Zeke'sPizza.com for your pizzas tonight. for game day
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: with the Seahawks Steve it is Denver Seattle tonight it
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: is Thursday night football let me start with Seattle do
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: they have a Sam Darnold problem I know they got
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: a running game problem do they have a Sam Darnold
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: problem right now his interception percentage is the highest in
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: the league at over five percent.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: I mean the turnovers themselves are a problem and they've
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: been high for Darnold as I you know we talked
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: about it last week it's not like he's played clean
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: clean football when it comes to turnovers even in these
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: years where he's put up huge numbers But the problem
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: is you're not balancing it out with enough positives, right?
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: Like Josh Allen had high interception percentages early in his career.
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: And it's like, oh, it's okay. He's balancing it out
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: with everything he's bringing to the table. That's the problem
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: at this point. And no coach wants turnovers. But if
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: it comes with some explosives and it comes with some
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: aggressiveness and it comes with getting the ball to JSN
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: and the playmakers, okay, you deal with it sometimes. But
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: it is the only thing holding Seattle down. I think
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: on the positive side for the Seahawks, you would say
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: the defense is still great. They still look outstanding. Would
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: you rather have a couple of red zone stops in there? Sure,
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: but they're giving up 20-yard touchdown drives. Yeah, zero-yard touchdown drives.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: That's not even the defense, obviously. So the defense is
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: still really good, and that's usually the part of the
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: team that's a little bit less stable. It's hard to
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: have an elite defense year over year, but they still
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: look great. So at this point, yeah, like it's a
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: little bit like C.J. Stroud in the playoffs last year
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: where it's like, hey, man, if you just take care
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: of the ball, like you're going to win some games.
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: That Texans defense is incredible. Just don't turn it over
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: against New England and against Pittsburgh. So, yeah, like you
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: want Darnold to play cleaner, but it's not like he
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: hasn't made some of these mistakes, you know, in Minnesota
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: in 2024 or even last year, you know, four interception
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: game against the Rams and everything where they still had
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: a chance to win. So I think the big thing
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: for Darnold is you want to find more You want
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: to find more. You want him to get the ball
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: to the other options besides JSN. You want the whole
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: offense to just be better, as well as Darnold taking
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: care of the ball. But yes, if you just took
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: out the turnovers, Seattle might be 5-0. They probably are
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: 5-0 if you just took out the turnovers. But you
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: also want this offense to find their rhythm and be
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: able to spread the ball around a little bit more
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: as well.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: I think it's 20 and 21 points given up by
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: the offense off turnovers. in the two losses, and they've
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: lost by less than five points combined in the two games.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: So I think that's what you said is nails. It's
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: bang on. The thing about JSN that's interesting, he's about
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: the same catch rate in terms of, you know, he's
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: 37 versus 34 in terms of catches this year versus
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: last year. It's the drop-off of the other guys. Cooper
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Cupp has 11 fewer receptions than he did a year
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: ago through five games, and then nobody else is even
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: on the radar screen. And, you know, I made the
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: comparison to a point to the Rams a little bit.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, when Puka's in the lineup, it's all Puka. And,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, I know 23 was a huge target rate.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: We saw a.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Record on Monday. But even when he's, you know, it
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter if it's 23 or 15, Puka gets all
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: the targets. The difference is they have Devontae Adams, who's
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: a red zone target and does see the ball, and
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: about 18 tight ends. I think they're the first team
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: ever to go to 18 personnel, right, with all the
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: tight ends. So it's like they have all that. Seattle
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: feels like it needs more, not just the running game,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: but they need more from some other receivers.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: They definitely do.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: I was just bringing this up on our show today with, say,
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Drake May and the Patriots when A.J.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: Brown comes back.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: The Patriots, it feels like the last couple weeks, found
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: their rhythm and Drake May spreads the ball around.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: It's a good thing that A.J.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: Brown's coming back, but sometimes when you have an alpha receiver,
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: how does that affect the quarterback? We even saw that
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: with Stafford at points in his career when he had
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: Calvin Johnson versus not having Calvin Johnson, he almost started
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: playing cleaner without Calvin Johnson because he was just like,
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: all right, I just got to read it out. I
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: just got to go play football. You don't, and it's
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: not that it's not even that I hate the narratives
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: that get built with receivers because of like, there, there've
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: been some vocal receivers through the years, Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: It's not like JSN is like, man, I got to
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: get mine. You know, it's not even that it's just
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: the quarterback feels like, Hey, this dude's, this dude's incredible.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: I have to get him the ball. But is that
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: to the detriment of Cooper Cup and Rasheed Shaheen? So
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: that's the balance I think this offense needs to find.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: And coaches use the word balance all the time when
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: it comes to offenses. And a lot of times it's
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: described as like 50-50 run-pass ratio. Balance to me is
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: the ability to answer what the defense is giving you.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: So if they're saying run the ball, you can run
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: the ball effectively. If they're giving you the deep ball,
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: you can throw the deep ball. If they're giving you
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: the short stuff, you throw the short stuff. And that's
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: where this offense is lacking is if they're taking away JSN.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: Okay, who's winning? Who's Who's open?
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: Who's Donald looking for? Are there enough plays for those guys?
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: You know, even, you know, AJ Barner. And I'll say this.
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: It did feel like last year, Clint Kubiak, when the
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: offense hit that lull, it's like, okay, he just schemed
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: open AJ Barner for an explosive. And it was, Kubiak
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: had this feel for the right play at the right time.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: And if there was a lull, it's like, Hey, here
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: you go, let's get back on track. And so maybe
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: that's one of those things that's lacking. And it's just
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: right play, right time, you know, steam one up. That's,
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: you know, more, more X's and O's than Jimmy's and Joe's.
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: And that gets you back on track. And that's right.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: It just feels it's very it feels like it's very
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: JSN heavy right now, which is fine. It was last
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: year as well. But you're getting more from everyone else
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: when they were given opportunities. And I think they just
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: have to find that balance.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. And I'm a little surprised we haven't
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: seen more Barner. I'm a little surprised Arroyo hasn't been
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: more involved. We'll see what happens tonight. Before I let
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: you go, Steve, Steve Palazzolo, 3013. Check the Mike podcast. Denver,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: a lot has been made about the offense and who's
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: calling plays. They're 30th in total offense, but look at
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: the total defenses. Their defense is 22nd. The only good
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: number they have, and they're just basic numbers, is their
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: pass defense is 9th, but no Sertan, no Hufanga tonight.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: With Denver right now, is it a problem with the offense, defense, both?
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: The problems are the offense and their run defense. They're tackling.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: It started night one when they missed. Next gen had
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: it with 28 missed tackles.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: They gave up.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: 90% of the passing.
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: Yards were after the catch. Ken Walker killing them last week.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: They let Kamani Vidal run through them and Beast Quake
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: in for a touchdown. So the run defense has been
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: bad for Denver. And then offensively, Bo Nix is in
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: a slump. He's playing with tendencies that he's had previously,
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: but he would come out of them. He'd have a
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: rough half and then have a good second half or
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: a good fourth quarter. I think they've had two good
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: halves of play, basically. A half against Jacksonville and a
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: half against the Rams on Sunday Night Football.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: That's about it.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: Other than that, I think Bo Nix is playing a
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: little rushed, not trusting what he's seeing, and I don't
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: know if that's a play caller thing. I don't know
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: what it is necessarily, but they've got, on paper, good playmakers,
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: a good offensive line, and a year three quarterback who's
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: played pretty well for the last two years. A little
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: up and down, Bo Nix, but he's played pretty well,
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: and he's regressed a bit this year. So I think
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: they can come out of it at any time, but
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: that's on Sean Payton, the new play caller, to find
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: what's going to work, how we're going to see Bo
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: Nix see in the field. and throwing the ball down
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: the field more. He's got the lowest average depth of
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: target in the NFL right now.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: And so I think they have the ability to come
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: out of it.
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: I don't think they do it tonight against Seattle's defense,
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: but Denver's offense has definitely been one of the bigger
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: disappointments so far this season.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Real fast, if Seattle can't run against these guys, no
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: matter who the running back is, whether it's Wilson, whether
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: it's Helani, whether it's Henry, whether it's Phelous Jones, if
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: they can't run against these, because everyone's going to be
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: talking about Sertan being out, what that's going to be,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Hufanga being out. They've got another corner who's questionable. Seattle
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: should be able to get at least a little something
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: going in the run game, right?
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: They should be able to. They should be able to
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: against this team.
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: But if Seattle can't run because that's been their weakness
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: and they have to line up and chuck it, someone's
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: got to win one-on-ones against their backup corners. I think
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: Seattle's offense should have, as long as Darnold takes care
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: of the ball, they'll have more success tonight against Denver.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Tell people about Check the Mic.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: AFC West.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: They do a great job. Yeah, exactly.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: AFC West throwback.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: It feels like it should be in the Kingdome or
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: something is what I wish we were seeing here.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: I miss the Kingdome, Steve. I miss the old cement roof.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: What do you tell people on the Check the Mic podcast? Yeah,
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: Check the Mic, anywhere you listen to your podcast. And
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: then on YouTube, we just previewed every game today on
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: Check the Mic.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: It's already out there. So go check us out.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I listened to it on the way in. It's great stuff.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Thank you, my friend. We'll talk to you next week. Yep.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Steve Palazzolo, love those conversations every Thursday. Brought to you
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: by our friends at Zeke's Pizza. Don't forget Pigskin 10
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: at checkout. Zeke'sPizza.com or on the app for your pizza
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: discount today. It's a game day at Zeke's Pizza, Zeke'sPizza.com.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: We'll come back. We'll check in with our guy, Brandon Funston. Yes,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: a quick, quick segment with Funston coming up next.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Even though you can't see him, trust us. It's time
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: for Ian's weekly visit with the Athletics' Brandon Funston. Brought
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: to you by Georgetown Brewing Company. Brewing darn tasty beer
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: like Manny's Pale Ale, Bodhisattva, and the new Tavern Beer
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: for over 20 years. Look for it in your favorite
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: local establishment, grocery store, or swing by the tasting room
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: at the brewery in Georgetown. On your home for the NFL.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3, AJR-FM. He's got it.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: Touchdown.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Listen, I'm going to answer a question right
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: off the get-go. I'm going to answer a question right
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: off the get-go. This comes in just moments ago from
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: the 206. If Funston isn't on at his regular time,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: it's not as long a segment, no phone calls, is
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: it still the unofficial start of the weekend? Hell, yeah.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: It just starts earlier. Funston, are you good with that?
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: Ashley is. Are you good with that?
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: Yeah, let's roll. We've got eight minutes, I hear.
• 24:31
  Speaker 7: So let's just trim the fat and let's get right
• 24:33
  Speaker 7: to it.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Let me start with just a general question. We've got
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: a bunch of texts on the line, and one of
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: them's got me highly disturbed. I'll just tell you that
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: right now. Before we get to those, this is Joe Burrow,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, and then the Dolphins. There's a
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: lot of buys this week, but let's just look at
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: the quarterbacks. Who are some quarterbacks, if you have a
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: buy week this week and you're looking for a quarterback
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: that may be flying under the radar that people can
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: pick up?
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: It's actually a pretty good week, and yeah, Lamar Jackson
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: may be out, and Jalen Hurts is also out. It's
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: a lot of quarterbacks out. It's a pretty good week
• 25:11
  Speaker 7: for just the one-week plug-and-play. I'm looking at Kirk Cousins
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: going against Buffalo. Buffalo's been very... They're always in shootouts.
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: They've been giving up a lot of points to the
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: opposing quarterback. Jameis Winston has.
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: Had two really good games in a row.
• 25:26
  Speaker 7: He's going against New Orleans, who has the fastest-paced offense
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: in the league. That could be a high-scoring game as well.
• 25:33
  Speaker 7: You're going to get some turnovers probably from Jameis, but
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: you get a lot of good passing numbers along the way.
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers has.
• 25:38
  Speaker 7: Been playing very well, and they've been throwing vertically a
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: lot more than Rodgers typically does because Mike McCarthy has
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: kind of brought that back. And even Michael Penix is
• 25:48
  Speaker 7: going against the Bears, and the Bears' defense is looking
• 25:50
  Speaker 7: terrible right now. So those are just four widely available
• 25:53
  Speaker 7: quarterbacks you can plug and play if you're in a
• 25:54
  Speaker 7: shallower league. I think Bryce Young and Tyler Shuck are
• 25:58
  Speaker 7: both top 12 quarterbacks fantasy quarterbacks this week as well.
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: So I think there's a lot of options out there. Ashley,
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: Tyler Shuck, refresh my memory. What did he do last week?
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: Minus 0.1 for my friend.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, it wasn't you. I thought it was you. No,
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: it wasn't me, thank goodness. No, I had other bigger issues,
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: but that was funny. All right, let's go to the
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: text line. 49451 with Funston. And like I said, I've
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: got one that says, I'm just going to start with
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: a very disturbing text. You know, sometimes you get a
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: text from a friend or a family member, and it's like, boy,
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: that's dark. That's disturbing. I've got one for you, Funston.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: You ready? Let's go.
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: Yep.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Can you say three in a row, baby? Let's go.
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: No.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Jordan Love or Lamar Jackson. Rob in Burien.
• 26:53
  Speaker 7: You know, it cracks me up that he's going for
• 26:55
  Speaker 7: three in a row and he doesn't even know that
• 26:57
  Speaker 7: Lamar Jackson's probably not.
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: Going to play.
• 27:02
  Speaker 7: I think you've got to go with Jordan Love just
• 27:04
  Speaker 7: because I don't think he's going to play. But if
• 27:07
  Speaker 7: for some reason he were to play, I would roll
• 27:09
  Speaker 7: with him. But you're going to have that. You're going
• 27:11
  Speaker 7: to find that out because Green Bay plays on Sunday night.
• 27:14
  Speaker 7: So you'll have time to find out on Lamar. Go
• 27:16
  Speaker 7: with Lamar if he plays.
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: I don't think he will.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Like I said, Robin Burian.
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: Let's just get uncharted territory there. That's crazy.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I know. We're talking like just a disturbing thought. Robin Burian.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: There you go, buddy. I don't know what world we're
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: living in right now. Need two half PPR. Adunze, Tate,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: DJ Moore, or Love the running back? Need two.
• 27:41
  Speaker 7: Man, that's a lot of banged up guys there. I'm
• 27:43
  Speaker 7: going to go with Adunze. It looks like Caleb Williams
• 27:45
  Speaker 7: is going to be back. That's going to raise his
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: ceiling a bit. And then I'm probably going DJ Moore,
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: because it sounds like Jeremiah Love, they kind of want
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: to slow his roll a bit and get his ankle
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: all the way right. So it sounds like Tyler Algier
• 27:57
  Speaker 7: is going to continue kind of weighing there. DJ Moore
• 28:01
  Speaker 7: might not play, though, in which case I probably would
• 28:03
  Speaker 7: go with Jeremiah Love. But if he does play, go
• 28:06
  Speaker 7: with DJ Moore.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: The Roma Dunza experience is something I have not enjoyed
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: this year. I'm just going to tell you that right now.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: It's a roller coaster.
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: It's been that way his whole career too, right?
• 28:15
  Speaker 7: He hasn't had like a, I mean, he goes like
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: five games of good, five games of bad.
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: And yeah, it's all over the place.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Let's go back. Caleb Williams expected to play. Is that
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: what you said?
• 28:25
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's the way it's trending.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Okay. Let me go down. I just hit refresh and
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: my apologies. We had a couple that were right. Okay.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: How about this? Andy from Redmond. Again, we love when
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: you attach your name, by the way. And remember to
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: attach your name even better. Full PPR. Need one for
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: a flex. E. Wilson running back. So, Emmanuel Wilson. He
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: actually told me that. That's just good. Xavier Worthy. Bernard
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: from Pittsburgh or Lloyd from Green Bay? Need one for
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: a flex. Worthy, Bernard, Wilson, or Lloyd?
• 28:57
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm going to go with Emmanuel Wilson because Charbonnet's
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: not back. We're going to get a big workload again,
• 29:04
  Speaker 7: and Denver has not been good against the run. And
• 29:07
  Speaker 7: they're also out with Patrick Sertan, so A little more
• 29:10
  Speaker 7: vulnerable against the pass, too. I just think that's going
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: to open things up. So I like the workload for Wilson.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: David Wonders, full PPR, need two of three. Judkins, E. Wilson,
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: and DJ Moore need two of the three.
• 29:22
  Speaker 7: Yeah, Wilson's the only one that's for sure going to play.
• 29:25
  Speaker 7: Judkins is probably leaning more towards the doubtful. So if
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: they're both playing, I'm going to go DJ Moore. And
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: you might have your hand forced, and you might have
• 29:36
  Speaker 7: to really hope that one of those other.
• 29:38
  Speaker 6: Two actually do play.
• 29:40
  Speaker 7: You might need another fourth option to get a viable
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: play out there.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: Our buddy Kendrick from Renton says, I need two for
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: flex spots. Ted McMillan, Waddle Cup, Stevenson, or Dubs? Or Dubs?
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Romeo Dubs.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Dubs.
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: I need two.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: Two.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Two.
• 29:57
  Speaker 6: Give me Ted McMillan. I don't really want to do it.
• 30:00
  Speaker 7: I mean, Denver's been awful on offense, and they're going
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: against Seattle, and Waddle's been rough, so give me the Dobbs.
• 30:09
  Speaker 6: I'm going to go with Romeo Dobbs this week.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: Start two full PPR. Michael Wilson, Denzel Boston, DJ Moore, again,
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: injured maybe, or Malik Neighbors.
• 30:17
  Speaker 7: Well, you can't sit Malik Neighbors. They have Putting him
• 30:20
  Speaker 7: into the slot, and he's just gone crazy. He was
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: targeted 20 times last week. So Leak Neighbors is number one.
• 30:26
  Speaker 7: Number two is Michael Wilson. And who was it right
• 30:29
  Speaker 7: after that?
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: DJ Moore, Michael Wilson, Denzel Boston, Leak Neighbors. DJ Moore,
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: Denzel Boston, Wilson.
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: Boston, Moore, Neighbors. Michael Wilson against the Rams. I don't
• 30:39
  Speaker 6: love that.
• 30:40
  Speaker 7: I kind of like Denzel Boston. Honestly, he's not hurt.
• 30:43
  Speaker 7: DJ Moore is iffy. Denzel Boston has a 25-yard catch
• 30:47
  Speaker 7: or longer in every game this year, which is kind
• 30:50
  Speaker 7: of nice. So if you're in the PPR league, that's
• 30:52
  Speaker 7: just one catch that gets you three and a half
• 30:54
  Speaker 7: points right off the bat.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: We've got a quarterback question. Rodgers, Herbert, or Brissette?
• 31:01
  Speaker 6: Let's go with Aaron Rodgers.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: What world are we living in? Rob's winning Aaron Rodgers
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: over Justin Herbert. Our heads are falling off.
• 31:10
  Speaker 7: Justin Herbert is as bad a quarterback play as you
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: can get right now until they show us anything.
• 31:16
  Speaker 6: He's just been horrible.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: Until proven otherwise. Half point PPR need two of these guys.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: Jeremy Bernard, Krosky Merritt, Jalen Waddell, Dalton Kincaid.
• 31:33
  Speaker 7: Oh, it's half point PPR. You said, okay, I'm going
• 31:36
  Speaker 7: to go ahead and go with, this is tough. I'm
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: going to go with not, I'm going to go with Jeremy,
• 31:42
  Speaker 7: Jeremy Bernard and Dalton Kincaid.
• 31:45
  Speaker 6: I think that's the safest.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: Caleb Williams or Bryce Young.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 31:52
  Speaker 7: I like, I like Caleb Williams just a little bit better,
• 31:54
  Speaker 7: but I like them both as top 10 ish plays
• 31:57
  Speaker 7: this week.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: Bryce Young, has he busted out a little bit this year?
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, he definitely has.
• 32:04
  Speaker 7: David Canales has kind of been like the Liam Cohen
• 32:07
  Speaker 7: for the Panthers and has been great for Bryce Young.
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: So, yeah, he's right up there.
• 32:13
  Speaker 7: I don't have the numbers in front of me, but
• 32:14
  Speaker 7: I have to say he's like a top five, top
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: six fantasy quarterback on a per-game basis.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Carnell Tate, Xavier Worthy.
• 32:24
  Speaker 7: I'm going to go, I'll tell you, if Rasheed Rice plays,
• 32:29
  Speaker 7: I probably am going to go with Carnell Tate. If
• 32:31
  Speaker 7: Rasheed Rice doesn't play, then I think that puts Xavier
• 32:34
  Speaker 7: Worthy in a bigger role. So that's how I would
• 32:37
  Speaker 7: play it. Right now, Rice, probably going to be a
• 32:39
  Speaker 7: game-time decision.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: What's the status of Jordan Addison with Justin Jefferson out?
• 32:46
  Speaker 6: Well, and he's a little bit banged up, too.
• 32:48
  Speaker 7: And so, I mean, early in the year when they
• 32:52
  Speaker 7: were both together and even last week, Addison kind of
• 32:56
  Speaker 7: disappears when Jefferson gets on the field. So, I have
• 32:59
  Speaker 7: him way down. I don't think I have him in
• 33:00
  Speaker 7: my top. He's like borderline top 40 for me. So,
• 33:03
  Speaker 7: not a great play this week.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: And I think that was actually a futures question because
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: they're both on bye week as well. Let me get
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: two more in. If Rasheed Rice and DJ Moore are
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: out in a 2 PPR, Damian Pearce? Darius Cooper, Kendrick Bourne,
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: Kenny Gainwell, Demario Douglas.
• 33:20
  Speaker 7: Kendrick Bourne, Kenny Gainwell, and you need two?
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 33:26
  Speaker 7: I'm going to go Kendrick Bourne. Kind of stepped up
• 33:28
  Speaker 7: last week with no Marvin Harrison. It's probably a safe
• 33:32
  Speaker 7: for five catches. You're not going to get rich. Man,
• 33:37
  Speaker 7: I don't love Damon Pierce, but they have nothing in
• 33:39
  Speaker 7: that offense. It's going to be a lot of, at
• 33:42
  Speaker 7: least a lot of handoffs to him. It could be
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: a Could be a 15 for 40 rushing yards kind
• 33:47
  Speaker 7: of deal, but maybe get lucky with the touchdown. I
• 33:49
  Speaker 7: think that's your best bet of the rest of those guys.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm going to get a couple more, and you've
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: got to find it. And, Ashley, the one you just
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: texted me, you get that in a second to wrap
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: it up. Justin in Granite Falls says, Jordan Love or
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: Bryce Young?
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: Ooh, Jordan Young or Bryce Young. Jordan Love or Bryce Young.
• 34:08
  Speaker 7: You know, I like the shootout potential against Dallas, and
• 34:11
  Speaker 7: Jordan Love was just bombing the ball down the field
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: last week with a lot of success, so I kind
• 34:17
  Speaker 7: of like the way that's looking.
• 34:18
  Speaker 6: Give me Jordan Love.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: When the hell is Kyle Pitts going to be Kyle
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: freaking Pitts? Him or Henry, says Ryan in Scottsdale. I'm
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: probably going to go Henry. Yeah, I mean, Kyle Pitts
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: hasn't been great with Pennix as the quarterback. Drake London
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: goes off when Pennix is there, but it hasn't really
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: worked out for Kyle Pitts. He had a decent game
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: last time out, but generally, I'd rather go with Hunter Henry. Ashley?
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: Our friend Derek Insulton chiming in on the text line.
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: He said, Samson from the Browns or Kay Miller from
• 34:50
  Speaker 5: the Saints?
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: PPR.
• 34:53
  Speaker 7: Well, if Samson's playing and Quinshawn Jenkins isn't, and it's PPR,
• 34:58
  Speaker 7: Samson does have a nice PPR game, and he could
• 35:00
  Speaker 7: actually lead the team in touches. They have Jaleel McLaughlin,
• 35:04
  Speaker 7: but Samson would be probably ahead of him. So give
• 35:07
  Speaker 7: me Samson.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: I'm just curious for tonight's matchup. Who do you have
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: ranked higher, Bo Nix or Sam Darnold tonight?
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: I would go Sam Darnold, especially with Sertan out. Nice.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. That's our preview of the Seahawks-Broncos, courtesy of Funson.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: And you like Emmanuel Wilson to run a little bit tonight.
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: I do.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: I do.
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: But, yeah.
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: I love it. NFL can turn things on us here quickly.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: Fuston, that's not what I need to hear. You're here
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: for being an expert.
• 35:38
  Speaker 6: I get naturally nervous about the Seahawks, so I have
• 35:40
  Speaker 6: a hard time saying things positive.
• 35:42
  Speaker 7: I've got to caveat it.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Back to the regular time next week at 2 o'clock.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: We've got some logistics we'll figure out. We'll figure that
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: out off the air. In the meantime, what can people
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: do to get more information?
• 35:54
  Speaker 7: Come to The Athletic and make your way to the
• 35:56
  Speaker 7: Fans Football page. You'll get a ton of stuff to
• 35:59
  Speaker 7: help you get ready for the weekend ahead.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: Love it.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Perfect.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, buddy.
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: Sounds good.
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: Have a good one.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: That's fun. So we'll come back and put a wrap
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: on our show before Dick Fane next. All right, we're
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: wrapping things up. Dick Fane coming up in a second.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: Softy's on an airplane spreading his joy and sunshine into
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: the great state of Indiana for the game tomorrow against Purdue. Ashley,
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: I know you're running the show coming up. What does
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: Dick Fane have coming up in the next couple hours?
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: We've got Rick Neuheisel joining Dick at 220. We've got
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: Lee Sterling at 245. And then Mike Benton also going
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: to stop by before the Kraken pregame gets underway.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: So that'll be about like 312 or so. Awesome. Bonus
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: captain of Network Central. I like that a lot. It's
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: coming into the box. It's coming into the box. The
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: Bento box. Mike's the Lady Bing winner. He's the most
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: sportsmanlike player in the National Hockey League, so just know that.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: And is Dick doing a factor fiction pick?
• 36:47
  Speaker 5: He will be doing a factor fiction pick as well.
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: I don't know if that counts for us. It counts
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: for him. If it wins, it counts for us.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: Is that what it's going to be? Yeah, that's what
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: I think. Because it should be the time slot. Those
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: guys will pull a greasy move. Those guys will pull
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: a greasy move. You watch. Dick Fane coming up next.
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: See ya.