Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #18: Does Brock Purdy make the 49ers better? Major concerns for Cowboys?

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#18: Does Brock Purdy make the 49ers better? Major concerns for Cowboys? · NFL Power Rankings

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Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to another
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Speaker 1: edition of the NFL Power Rankings podcast, presented by Energizer.
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan hanss my lovely co host Colleen Wolf. What's up?
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Speaker 1: That's what's happening. It was really difficult to drive here.
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Speaker 1: I know every other part of the country deals with rain,
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Speaker 1: but we don't really in Los Angeles. And I didn't
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Speaker 1: even realize that my windshield wipers could go as fast
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Speaker 1: as they went on the way here. So yeah, well,
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Speaker 1: that's good. That's what's happening. That's good that they're functional.
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Speaker 1: We were before we started, we were talking about what
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Speaker 1: some good rainy day music, and I played Creep by Radiohead,
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Speaker 1: and then you came off the top turn Buckle with
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Speaker 1: Stay by Lisa Loebes. Such a good one. I think
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Speaker 1: we came of age in the nineties based on the choices.
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Speaker 1: No one knows what these songs are now. Mm hmmm,
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Speaker 1: how are you? I'm great, feeling good. Regular season, man,
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Speaker 1: I feel like we've reached some type of finish line,
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Speaker 1: even though nothing is over yet. But I mean, for
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Speaker 1: a lot of teams seasons over. But I mean this
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Speaker 1: has been a while in the making, so I feel
1:20
Speaker 1: like this is a big milestone. Can I tell you
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Speaker 1: about the existential crisis regarding the power rings that I
1:26
Speaker 1: have every year around this time on Sunday Night, Let's
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Speaker 1: map it out. What's going on? Sunday night comes and
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Speaker 1: obviously once Sunday Night football this year was Lions and Packers.
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Speaker 1: It's through. There are four teen teams that are still alive.
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Speaker 1: There are eighteen teams that are done. They do not
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Speaker 1: play another game until next September. In my mind, I
1:50
Speaker 1: struggle with the idea of the power rankings because to
1:54
Speaker 1: not play another game, isn't that to be powerless on
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Speaker 1: some level? Yeah, but different teams have different types of
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Speaker 1: power at different times during the season. So just because
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Speaker 1: some of these teams end the season with more power
2:10
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that they have less power when you turn around,
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Speaker 1: just because they're not playing. I don't think any of
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Speaker 1: that made any sense. What do you mean, like I'm
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Speaker 1: thinking about I'm thinking about the Lions. Let me try
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Speaker 1: again to process that. So the Lions, at different parts
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Speaker 1: in the season, they had different types of power, so
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Speaker 1: they were struggling at certain points, but they end with uh,
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Speaker 1: seemingly a lot of power. And just because the x
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Speaker 1: ray vision the power of superhering, power of flight, time, travel,
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Speaker 1: travel you want so just because they're not going to
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Speaker 1: continue having power in games in the playoffs doesn't mean
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Speaker 1: that they should be dinged for it. Okay, and that
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Speaker 1: makes sense. Now, what I did. I conferred with my
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Speaker 1: colleague Greg Rosenthal while we were in the film room
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Speaker 1: watching Sunday and Football. I said, what do you think
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Speaker 1: on this like? And he made a point that that
3:01
Speaker 1: helped me and I thanked him for it, although on
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Speaker 1: their were tell him no I did. He said, consider
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Speaker 1: the last show, the last power rankings of the regular season,
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Speaker 1: whether the team has made the playoffs didn't, it's like
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Speaker 1: a final snapshot of where the league was at that time.
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Speaker 1: And that's why the Detroit Lions, part example, are in
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Speaker 1: the top ten of the power rankings. You always say,
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Speaker 1: it's not how about that? So why don't we take
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Speaker 1: a look at the top ten first quadrant. Listen, we've
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Speaker 1: only been doing this eighteen weeks. It's not the top ten.
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Speaker 1: We look at the top eight. Uh no changes, whoa
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Speaker 1: that has not happened all year? And you might think
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Speaker 1: Old Zoster just mailed it in. But Niners one, Bills, two, Bengals,
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Speaker 1: three Chiefs, four Eagles, five Cowboys, six Chargers, seven Jacks eight,
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Speaker 1: no change, and that has not happened all year. I
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Speaker 1: think something coming. I think some of that comes into
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Speaker 1: play with how kind of wonky Week eight team is.
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Speaker 1: In general, not a lot to play for in a
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Speaker 1: lot of cases, so I'm not gonna make any big judgments,
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Speaker 1: especially this high. It is interesting too, because even when
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Speaker 1: you look at the rest of your rankings, teams only
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Speaker 1: moved a little bit throughout the rest, but this top
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Speaker 1: block one through eight, nobody moved even a little. I
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Speaker 1: find that really interesting. The final week this season, there's
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Speaker 1: one team that did give me some serious pause about
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Speaker 1: whether I should move them, and we're gonna get to
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Speaker 1: them in the second. But why don't we start at
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Speaker 1: the very top? I have, as I said, the Niners
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Speaker 1: at number one. Speaking of Greg Rosenthal, we've been kind
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Speaker 1: of going back and forth a little bit um where
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Speaker 1: he's saying, well, if I were doing the power rankings,
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Speaker 1: I would have the three a f C Superpowers one
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Speaker 1: to three Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, and some water. I don't
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Speaker 1: know what his honor would be, but that's my order. Um,
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Speaker 1: here's part of the reason why I have Niners number one. Well, hey,
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Speaker 1: they've won ten games in a row. B their beastly
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Speaker 1: in all phases of the game, with great coaching. See
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Speaker 1: Brock Party is a g D revelation at quarterback. Who's
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Speaker 1: made them better not just held the fourth down there
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Speaker 1: third string quarterback Mr Relevant has made their offense even
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Speaker 1: better and for county and perhaps most importantly, and this
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Speaker 1: is not to disrespect your Eagles, I think they have
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Speaker 1: the clearest path to get to Phoenix and the Super
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Speaker 1: Bowl Glendale. Excuse me, people of Arizona. The Niners. There's
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Speaker 1: such a well rounded team. They have so much talent,
5:23
Speaker 1: The team is built to win, and they have momentum,
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Speaker 1: which is the most important thing this time of year
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Speaker 1: for any team no matter what. So you have to
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Speaker 1: wonder about brock Purty though in the playoffs, Like, yes,
5:34
Speaker 1: it has been good so far, and they've been able
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Speaker 1: to figure out ways to make the offense work well
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Speaker 1: because they have playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel
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Speaker 1: and George Kittle. But will things change once Party gets
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Speaker 1: into the spotlight, like no rookie starting quarterback has ever
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Speaker 1: made it to the super Bowl, let alone win it.
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Speaker 1: Rookie quarterbacks they struggle in the playoffs traditionally, but this
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Speaker 1: Niners team never feels like a traditional Niners team. And
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Speaker 1: I feel like everything really changed for this team when
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Speaker 1: they traded for Christian McCaffrey. That when that happened in October,
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Speaker 1: everything really seemed to go up a notch for them.
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Speaker 1: So you have this defense led by Damiko Ryan's which
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Speaker 1: is so nasty, so good, with Nick Bosa going all
6:17
Speaker 1: over the place, and the fact now that they get
6:19
Speaker 1: the Seahawks to play, which that pass rush just shut
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Speaker 1: down Gino Smith both times that they played this year.
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Speaker 1: So I'm not sure how they're going to be able
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Speaker 1: to do anything because you can't you can't really run
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Speaker 1: on the Niners. And then when you add in that
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Speaker 1: pass rush going up against Gino, it's just, I mean,
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Speaker 1: this looks like such a clear path. And then there's
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Speaker 1: no one else that's really dominant in the NFC right now.
6:39
Speaker 1: No one's playing great, even if they have good pieces. Yeah,
6:42
Speaker 1: why don't hit the Eagles since we're here, Because the
6:44
Speaker 1: Eagles they have at number five, Connie. They were the
6:47
Speaker 1: number one spot for several weeks consecutively in November into December.
6:53
Speaker 1: And this doesn't mean that I don't believe that the
6:55
Speaker 1: Eagles can still be They are the number one seed.
6:57
Speaker 1: After all, they're the team that has home field advantage,
6:59
Speaker 1: we have the playoffs. It's just as an Eagles fan County,
7:03
Speaker 1: when's the last time we saw of the Eagles in
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Speaker 1: full flight where you felt good about them? I mean,
7:09
Speaker 1: I guess the let before Jalen Hurts got hurt, But
7:12
Speaker 1: even then, they were playing without Dallas Goddard and they
7:15
Speaker 1: were trying to make things happen in different ways. And
7:18
Speaker 1: now when you have Lane Johnson hopefully he's going to
7:21
Speaker 1: be back and healthy, and this team just absolutely needs
7:24
Speaker 1: a buy with all of the injuries that they're dealing with.
7:27
Speaker 1: But it's not an easy watch right now. It's it's
7:30
Speaker 1: nerve racking to watch them do what they did, especially
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Speaker 1: against this Giants team that was resting so many starters
7:37
Speaker 1: like and then you have that third quarter interception by
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Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, which was just a horrendous decision didn't need
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Speaker 1: to happen. The offense could not execute in the red
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Speaker 1: zone at all, and Hurts kind of looked a little rusty.
7:50
Speaker 1: So I'm glad he had this start. But aside from
7:53
Speaker 1: the little quick hits that they had, I mean, there
7:56
Speaker 1: were there were some issues and there's a lot of
7:59
Speaker 1: things that they have to work on. The run defense
8:01
Speaker 1: is an issue as well. I have a lot of
8:04
Speaker 1: concerns about the team. Yeah, you could feel that you
8:06
Speaker 1: had sense that that the Eagles fans are a little
8:09
Speaker 1: worried that this team peaked. We'll see it's it is
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Speaker 1: a very good, perfect setup where they get the buy
8:15
Speaker 1: and kind of reset themselves before getting u an opponent
8:19
Speaker 1: in their building in the divisional playoffs. Obviously, they played
8:22
Speaker 1: a conservative game plan to get by the Giants. You
8:26
Speaker 1: didn't see Jalen Hurts playing in the way he was
8:29
Speaker 1: playing earlier in the season when he was healthy. I
8:31
Speaker 1: didn't think it was a little bit of a red
8:32
Speaker 1: flag to me that Nick Sirianni came out and said
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Speaker 1: after the game, I know he was hurting and he
8:38
Speaker 1: was hurting bad. It's like, how do we know that
8:40
Speaker 1: if that was his status after two weeks off, how
8:43
Speaker 1: do we know now he's going to be himself again
8:45
Speaker 1: two weeks from now, yeah, and then why have him
8:47
Speaker 1: dropped back and passed forty two times if they know
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Speaker 1: that he's hurt. Dad was an injury. They were up
8:52
Speaker 1: sixteen nothing at half. The Giants, you know, give them
8:55
Speaker 1: credit for their backups fighting. Perhaps there was a different
8:58
Speaker 1: way to play that. Where else do we want to
9:00
Speaker 1: go in the top eight? Okay? So I mean we
9:03
Speaker 1: could go a lot of different places, but I think
9:05
Speaker 1: that let's talk. Let's talk a little bit about the
9:07
Speaker 1: Bills because the Bills game, first of all, was so
9:11
Speaker 1: emotional with everything coming back for the first time after
9:15
Speaker 1: Damar Hamlin and thankfully the good news with him keep
9:19
Speaker 1: stinuing to progress. That made things I think a lot
9:22
Speaker 1: easier for everyone. But Naim Hines what hinds time? I
9:28
Speaker 1: love it? This has gotta be a thing. I mean,
9:30
Speaker 1: are you kidding me? Two different kick returns and then
9:35
Speaker 1: you have it like the last time that they had
9:37
Speaker 1: a kick return for a touchdown three years and three
9:40
Speaker 1: months ago, and DeMar's number three. The players are holding
9:43
Speaker 1: up threes. Everything is seemingly going great. I love the
9:47
Speaker 1: Josh Allen touchdown to John Brown to John Brown, I mean,
9:50
Speaker 1: welcome back to the squad. They're bringing everybody back Colby Easley,
9:53
Speaker 1: John Brown. But I have some concerns as well. I
9:58
Speaker 1: feel like I have issues with almost every single team
10:00
Speaker 1: and the Bills. I'm worried about the Josh Allen red
10:04
Speaker 1: zone in or options, all right, there have been so
10:06
Speaker 1: many and it was against a good Patriots defense this week,
10:10
Speaker 1: but Josh Allen was a little up and down. And
10:13
Speaker 1: their defense, you know, can get them out of jams,
10:15
Speaker 1: and they have so many playmakers on offense to help
10:17
Speaker 1: them with that. But the drop issues from the past
10:20
Speaker 1: catchers too, are not doing them many favors either. All Right,
10:24
Speaker 1: I'm not worried really. If anything coming out of the game,
10:27
Speaker 1: I'd be like Buffalo's defense is a little shaky there
10:30
Speaker 1: against the Pat's offense. It was pretty bad for most
10:33
Speaker 1: of the year, but that was also kind of a weird, strange, emotional,
10:37
Speaker 1: um unique set up that entire day um and they
10:41
Speaker 1: took air business Scott to win. I feel good about
10:44
Speaker 1: their chances. I mean, I feel I know the Chiefs
10:47
Speaker 1: have the top seed the bye I have him behind
10:52
Speaker 1: the Bills and Bengals just because I like those teams
10:54
Speaker 1: a little bit more. But you could definitely make a
10:56
Speaker 1: case for any of those three AFC teams. I mean,
10:59
Speaker 1: let's be honest, you look at um the rest. Can
11:04
Speaker 1: we look at the uh second quadrant while we're here, Um,
11:08
Speaker 1: you look at the rest of the contenders here, Um
11:12
Speaker 1: the Chargers at seven, Jaguars at eight, uh in the
11:16
Speaker 1: a f C, the Ravens I have at fourteen. Yeah, Well,
11:21
Speaker 1: who knows what the quarterback situation is there? Yeah, and
11:24
Speaker 1: perhaps one of those three teams I just mentioned um
11:27
Speaker 1: goes ahead and and knocks off one of those Titans
11:30
Speaker 1: and and is in the a f C title game.
11:32
Speaker 1: But it does. It wouldn't be stunning if any one
11:35
Speaker 1: of those three teams Bills, Bengals, Chiefs is not representing
11:38
Speaker 1: the a f C. And I would be completely shocked.
11:42
Speaker 1: Those three teams feel like they're destined to get there,
11:46
Speaker 1: to get far. I mean when you look, there is
11:48
Speaker 1: a huge drop off after the Chiefs for sure in
11:52
Speaker 1: the a f C. I mean you go to the Chargers,
11:54
Speaker 1: and I wonder who's going to come out of that
11:56
Speaker 1: game between the Chargers and the Jags, because the Jags
11:59
Speaker 1: took that first matchup in the regular season, and that
12:01
Speaker 1: came after Justin Herbert had got hit in the Ribs
12:05
Speaker 1: on that Thursday night game that was his first game back.
12:08
Speaker 1: They have Keenan Allen in that game. But the Chiefs,
12:12
Speaker 1: the Bills, and the Bengals, they're all so close, I
12:15
Speaker 1: think in terms of talent, Like, do you feel like
12:18
Speaker 1: anyone really is that much further ahead than the other. No,
12:23
Speaker 1: the only thing you could say is that the Bills
12:25
Speaker 1: beat the Chiefs in Week six at Arrowhead. The Bengals
12:28
Speaker 1: of course beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead in the NFC
12:30
Speaker 1: title game. And oh yes, if the Bills and Chiefs
12:33
Speaker 1: play in the a f C title game, it will
12:35
Speaker 1: be in a neutral site connected to the hamlet situation.
12:38
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think it's a toss up though. Uh
12:41
Speaker 1: And before we take a break, I said, back to
12:43
Speaker 1: the NFC and and talk about the Cowboys, because my
12:48
Speaker 1: one thought when I obviously didn't make any changes in
12:51
Speaker 1: the top eight from last week, the only one I
12:54
Speaker 1: thought about was the Cowboys dropping them. And maybe I
12:58
Speaker 1: even had the lines too low. Maybe the line like,
13:00
Speaker 1: are the lines the worst team in the Cowboys right now?
13:04
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure about that, So I kept the
13:06
Speaker 1: Cowboys at six. But there are there are considerable reasons
13:10
Speaker 1: for concern. You talked about it with Josh Allen Connie
13:14
Speaker 1: with the red zone interceptions, which have been a kind
13:17
Speaker 1: of a bugaboo for him this year. Dak Prescott, you know,
13:20
Speaker 1: he threw what should have been a pick six uh
13:24
Speaker 1: against the Commanders on Sunday, and then the very next
13:27
Speaker 1: past through a pick six, uh. And that is not
13:29
Speaker 1: the first time. That's a third pick six in four weeks,
13:32
Speaker 1: and in general, he has been careless with the ball
13:34
Speaker 1: at times. I'm worried about both sides of the Dallas
13:37
Speaker 1: experience right now. Yeah, fifteen picks in just twelve games.
13:40
Speaker 1: I feel like Dak has been kind of forcing a
13:44
Speaker 1: lot of throws since he came back from the thumb injury.
13:47
Speaker 1: And even though this team is putting up points since
13:50
Speaker 1: he's been back and everything else, I feel like their
13:53
Speaker 1: third down percentage is pretty good, but not in this
13:56
Speaker 1: game at all. I think they had how many there
13:58
Speaker 1: were a ton of three and ounce for them, right,
14:01
Speaker 1: they know showed yeah, and it's three ounce in this game.
14:04
Speaker 1: And that was a game that it turned out it
14:07
Speaker 1: didn't matter, but at the time when it was being played,
14:10
Speaker 1: it did matter, and they played like a team that
14:12
Speaker 1: didn't care and wasn't invested. And you could say, yeah,
14:16
Speaker 1: they'll turn and flip the switch on Monday Night against
14:19
Speaker 1: the Bucks. But like, first of all, the Cowboys haven't
14:22
Speaker 1: won a road playoff game in thirty years. Um too,
14:26
Speaker 1: they have a extended track record of gagging in the
14:31
Speaker 1: playoffs in the Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott era. And
14:35
Speaker 1: I don't trust this team to flip the switch even
14:39
Speaker 1: against the Bucks, because you know what, the Bucks have
14:42
Speaker 1: been disappointing. They're the only team in the playoffs with
14:44
Speaker 1: the losing team with a losing record. But you also
14:46
Speaker 1: know that there's a chance that the Brady Mike Evans
14:49
Speaker 1: thing could turn on And couldn't you couldn't you? Oh Connie,
14:53
Speaker 1: can't you picture it right now? Early second quarter? Bucks seventeen,
15:00
Speaker 1: Dallas three? Yes, because I think the Bucks are this
15:05
Speaker 1: like sneaky, frisky spoiler team that no one believes in.
15:09
Speaker 1: And honestly, watching the Cowboys struggle was the only thing
15:13
Speaker 1: that made me feel better about the Eagles not putting
15:16
Speaker 1: the Giants away this week. So do I have Dallas
15:18
Speaker 1: too high? Should they be like? Lower? Should they be?
15:21
Speaker 1: You think they should be closer than the Bucks? I
15:23
Speaker 1: would imagine. I have the Bucks all the way down
15:25
Speaker 1: to fifteen, just because they've given us a lot of
15:28
Speaker 1: a lot of evidence that they're not very good either,
15:31
Speaker 1: like a lot of course, I'm gonna say that you
15:33
Speaker 1: should drop the Cowboys. You should drop the Cowboys down. Yes,
15:39
Speaker 1: all right, so we'll see, we'll see. I mean, listen,
15:42
Speaker 1: before we take a break here, forty Niners, Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, Eagles,
15:47
Speaker 1: the two Super Bowl teams. They're in there, right, No, no,
15:51
Speaker 1: because we always think that and then that comes out
15:55
Speaker 1: of nowhere like Cincinnati last year. And after the break,
15:58
Speaker 1: maybe we'll figure out who that could be, whether it's
16:00
Speaker 1: this year, and maybe even talking about next year. Yeah,
16:04
Speaker 1: start talking about next all right, all right, welcome back
16:23
Speaker 1: to Powering. As Connie is going to tell your great
16:29
Speaker 1: At number nine, we have the Lions above some playoff
16:33
Speaker 1: teams here. I love that, above the Vikings, who are
16:37
Speaker 1: at ten in their division. People Minneapolis and the surrounding
16:40
Speaker 1: territories are totally cool that I hate you. The Giants
16:44
Speaker 1: at eleven, up two spots, and then the Packers at twelve,
16:48
Speaker 1: down three missing the playoffs thanks to those Lions. You
16:51
Speaker 1: got the Steelers at thirteen up one. They missed the
16:53
Speaker 1: playoffs two and I'm really sad about it. At fourteen
16:56
Speaker 1: the Ravens down two spots. I am because I really
16:59
Speaker 1: wanted to see the lie. You know what, I have
17:01
Speaker 1: now a thing with Pittsburgh after being there. I have
17:05
Speaker 1: been very impressionable that way. You know, what are the Ravens.
17:10
Speaker 1: I have no idea what's going on with Lamar Jackson
17:12
Speaker 1: there the Buccaneers in the playoffs. They had no movement
17:17
Speaker 1: last week, and then the same with the Seahawks at sixteen.
17:20
Speaker 1: I'm really sorry that I questioned your sincerity. I can't
17:22
Speaker 1: believe you would do that. That was a bad job
17:24
Speaker 1: by me. I like Mike Tomlin. I did too, like
17:28
Speaker 1: seeing him see the scores, like knowing what's going to happen,
17:32
Speaker 1: that they have no shot now. I just didn't like
17:35
Speaker 1: it for him. You know, it was the peak my
17:36
Speaker 1: favorite moment of the Steeler season. This will be the
17:39
Speaker 1: last time we talked about the Steelers, although we didn't
17:41
Speaker 1: really talk about him much all year. Um is when
17:44
Speaker 1: Kenny pick It through the go ahead touchdown pass against
17:47
Speaker 1: the Ravens and Sunday Night Football and Pickett came back
17:50
Speaker 1: to the sideline, and his coach looked right at him
17:53
Speaker 1: and said, Kenny bleeping Piket love it. Yes see, they're fun.
17:59
Speaker 1: You know. The Vikings are number ten. The Vikings are
18:03
Speaker 1: thirteen and four. And I wrote about this in the
18:07
Speaker 1: power Rankings right up and NFL dot com, which you
18:09
Speaker 1: could check out at NFL dot com slash power rankings.
18:13
Speaker 1: All the handwringing about the Vikings, it could it could cease.
18:17
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter anymore because you could take them seriously
18:21
Speaker 1: like you typically would a thirteen and four division winner.
18:25
Speaker 1: You could completely disregard them as a team that is
18:29
Speaker 1: not close to what their record indicates, that they've had
18:31
Speaker 1: a kind of flukey season. Go ahead, do that too.
18:34
Speaker 1: None of it matters, because the good thing about the playoffs, Connie,
18:37
Speaker 1: is that it shakes out the pretenders from the contenders.
18:41
Speaker 1: And if the Vikings really are a team that wasn't
18:43
Speaker 1: that good, there's a good chance they get knocked off
18:45
Speaker 1: by the Giants this weekend. And if they end up
18:48
Speaker 1: winning a couple of playoff games, that could happen too.
18:51
Speaker 1: There's no needs to talk anymore about overrated and underrated.
18:54
Speaker 1: Now it's time, because it's a new beginning. It's a reset.
18:57
Speaker 1: This is a fresh season now the playoffs for them,
19:00
Speaker 1: and we waited all season long for them to lose
19:04
Speaker 1: these games that they just kept winning. So now at
19:06
Speaker 1: this point, it's like, Okay, maybe the Vikings are just
19:09
Speaker 1: the most resilient team in the entire NFL, and maybe
19:12
Speaker 1: they end up winning it all this way. Some crip like,
19:15
Speaker 1: maybe it's just divine intervention, but I don't really believe that.
19:20
Speaker 1: I thought the Kirk Cousins looked good in this last game.
19:22
Speaker 1: He was really dialed in in that first half against
19:24
Speaker 1: a bad Bears defense. But still that's a nice way
19:27
Speaker 1: to warm up before going into the playoffs. Will we
19:30
Speaker 1: see that Kirk Cousins in the playoffs though, Well, we
19:33
Speaker 1: see him like that against the Giants. There's always that
19:36
Speaker 1: question about which version of Kirk shows up in a
19:39
Speaker 1: big spot. And you remember Connie very early in the
19:41
Speaker 1: season Kirk in primetime against the Eagles, and I had
19:44
Speaker 1: literally never seen him look worse. And if they got
19:47
Speaker 1: by the Giants, and they they'll be a favorite, not
19:49
Speaker 1: a big favorite, but a favorite to beat the Giants,
19:52
Speaker 1: that's when it's gonna get really interesting, because then they'll
19:55
Speaker 1: get you know, I don't know what would be, whether
19:57
Speaker 1: it's the Eagles or the Niners, but a big time
19:59
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contender. As far as the Giants go, it's
20:02
Speaker 1: already the seasons already of the I mean the fact
20:06
Speaker 1: that they a team that entered the season and I
20:08
Speaker 1: don't know where I had him in the power rings,
20:09
Speaker 1: but I can almost guarantee you it was in the
20:11
Speaker 1: bottom five or around that. Um they were twenty eight.
20:16
Speaker 1: I'm being told, Drew the super producer behind the glass
20:20
Speaker 1: so quick, this guy, this guy over here with a
20:23
Speaker 1: quick trigger over here. Um, that tells you the story
20:27
Speaker 1: of a success story, because you would have thought that
20:30
Speaker 1: this team would be more likely to have the number
20:31
Speaker 1: one overall pick uh in the draft and make the playoffs.
20:35
Speaker 1: So they're here and it's house money. And that's why
20:37
Speaker 1: I think again, we already knew this was probably gonna
20:40
Speaker 1: be a close game, knowing that Giant's gonna go in
20:42
Speaker 1: there loose and also rested after they didn't play any
20:45
Speaker 1: of their starters in Week eighteen. I think you have
20:48
Speaker 1: I think I like the Giants in the game. They
20:50
Speaker 1: just played the Vikings on Christmas Eve and that was
20:53
Speaker 1: such a close game. Again because they lost like a
20:56
Speaker 1: sixty yard field goal or something absurd, And as soon
21:01
Speaker 1: as Greg Joseph lined up, I was like, it's fine,
21:03
Speaker 1: it's a rap. Of course he's going to make this,
21:05
Speaker 1: because that's what the Vikings do in these games. But
21:07
Speaker 1: for the Giants, their first playoff birth since and this
21:11
Speaker 1: was supposed to be a rebuilding year, like this was
21:14
Speaker 1: not what they were Honestly, it reminds me sort of
21:18
Speaker 1: of where the Eagles were last year. Not that the
21:20
Speaker 1: Eagles were rebuilding completely last year, but the Eagles with
21:24
Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni and his first season there, it was a
21:27
Speaker 1: year to sort of get everything together and figure out
21:30
Speaker 1: where you are and what you need. And they ended
21:32
Speaker 1: up in the playoffs playing the Bucks, which did not
21:34
Speaker 1: go great, but still house money for building. Same with
21:37
Speaker 1: the Giants, and they're getting healthier too, with the Dory
21:40
Speaker 1: Jackson coming back their top quarterback, cornerback, you have Xavier
21:44
Speaker 1: McKinney coming back to from the hand injury their safety,
21:46
Speaker 1: so their secondary is getting better as well. And I
21:50
Speaker 1: expect Daniel Jones played the best game of his career
21:52
Speaker 1: in the last Giants game that actually mattered the week,
21:55
Speaker 1: seventeen and four total touchdowns, he threw the ball very
21:58
Speaker 1: well in Minnesota on Christmas Eve. I think he'll do
22:01
Speaker 1: that again. That would be that's a that's my upset
22:05
Speaker 1: of the week. I think the Giants knockoff the Vikings.
22:07
Speaker 1: So yes, I guess I'm still doubting the Vikings. But
22:10
Speaker 1: guess what they could tell me and all those other
22:12
Speaker 1: doubters to shove it by taking care of business. Jan
22:15
Speaker 1: You're consistent and that's why people keep coming back to
22:18
Speaker 1: your power ranking like like, I'm a consistent like a
22:22
Speaker 1: whole I thought that's what you were saying. You are consistent. Yes,
22:24
Speaker 1: thank you very much. Um. Let's see time now for
22:28
Speaker 1: Power Moves presented by Energizer. Let's take a look at
22:32
Speaker 1: the highest ranking non playoff teams. Connie, we talked about,
22:36
Speaker 1: well here we will talk about the lines. You want
22:38
Speaker 1: to talk about a personal journey, But Connie, you and
22:41
Speaker 1: I had a personal journey with the Lines. They finished
22:43
Speaker 1: number nine. I've been doing the Power rankings for four years.
22:46
Speaker 1: I was gonna say forty years. Um. Yeah, and there
22:50
Speaker 1: was never a team that made the did not make
22:52
Speaker 1: the playoffs, that finished in the top ten until these lines.
22:55
Speaker 1: The Packer is a twelve, very disappointing way to end
22:58
Speaker 1: their season laying another egg at lambeau Field in January.
23:01
Speaker 1: How many times does that happen the Steelers, as we talked,
23:04
Speaker 1: out of thirteen Panthers at eighteen, Pats at nineteen, that's
23:08
Speaker 1: just the middle of the pact. But let's focus on
23:10
Speaker 1: the lines there because you know, we covered them in
23:14
Speaker 1: the on the Hard Knocks podcast, which would be fun
23:17
Speaker 1: to revisit actually now after everything that happened in this
23:20
Speaker 1: really wild nine and eight season, and I think my
23:24
Speaker 1: favorite part of it all uh Connie, and we played
23:26
Speaker 1: it on around the NFL um on Sunday night, Jamal Williams,
23:30
Speaker 1: who we we talked about it. He won m v
23:33
Speaker 1: P of the of the Week multiple times on our
23:36
Speaker 1: Hard Knocks podcast, and it jumped out to us like
23:39
Speaker 1: this guy is quite a character. He's kind of out there,
23:42
Speaker 1: even to the point I remember saying like, is this
23:44
Speaker 1: guy a little too much? And then he scores eighteen touchdowns,
23:48
Speaker 1: breaking Barrie Sanders all time team record, and then has
23:51
Speaker 1: one of the great um postgame interviews ever and now
23:56
Speaker 1: we get to see Jamal and the lines build on
23:58
Speaker 1: this next year. Jamal Williams, I mean that interview alone.
24:02
Speaker 1: He just showed so much range. I thought, really went
24:05
Speaker 1: for one end of the spectrum to the other. And
24:08
Speaker 1: that's sort of been the season for the Lions as
24:11
Speaker 1: a whole. They started, they stumbled, and we watched them
24:14
Speaker 1: grow as a cohesive unit. Like Dan, I feel like
24:16
Speaker 1: the Lions are like our children, and we watched them
24:19
Speaker 1: learn how to walk and then drive and now like
24:23
Speaker 1: look at them number nine in the power rankings. I mean,
24:26
Speaker 1: Jared Golf was just such a surprise this season. Um.
24:30
Speaker 1: I hope his merch brand at this point is just
24:32
Speaker 1: blowing up the one that he had that we learned
24:34
Speaker 1: about and hard knocks, but he proved himself I think,
24:37
Speaker 1: way more than a play than a placeholder in Detroit.
24:41
Speaker 1: And they have some things to figure out this off season,
24:45
Speaker 1: but I'm just happy that this ended with them knocking
24:50
Speaker 1: the Packers out of it if they couldn't get in themselves.
24:53
Speaker 1: And now Dan Campbell will return and all of us
24:57
Speaker 1: will have another year at least of him, and there
24:59
Speaker 1: will be expectations that they didn't have this year, But
25:02
Speaker 1: that's okay too, because they took the next step as
25:04
Speaker 1: an organ missation. You want to watch Jamal Williams his
25:07
Speaker 1: post game. All right, let's watch it. OK, this is
25:09
Speaker 1: fun playing us. Man, we made we did a Detroit Lions.
25:13
Speaker 1: We did Detroit Lions. Stop playing with us. I don't
25:16
Speaker 1: even watch TV, but I heard anybody pick the Packers
25:19
Speaker 1: over us. Stop playing with us. That's all I gotta say. Man,
25:22
Speaker 1: don't let these tears for you. His old dog around
25:25
Speaker 1: his mod. I love that guy. And what you didn't
25:29
Speaker 1: see there anyway, you didn't hear there was even better,
25:32
Speaker 1: Like literally two seconds before he went into that, he
25:36
Speaker 1: was crying emotional about a grandparent or a great grand parent,
25:41
Speaker 1: UM that he's very close with UM. And he just
25:44
Speaker 1: pivoted and then went into that. I mean, what a
25:46
Speaker 1: character emotional love him, love him? UM. All right, do
25:52
Speaker 1: you have anything say on the Packers. I don't. I
25:54
Speaker 1: don't really honestly, kind of exhausted by the Packers. And
25:58
Speaker 1: Christian Watson is good for them that they'll be they'll
26:02
Speaker 1: be fine next year if Aaron Rodgers is back. But
26:04
Speaker 1: I choose to disengage from the Aaron Rodgers drama at
26:07
Speaker 1: least at this time. UM. All right, before we say goodbye, Connie,
26:13
Speaker 1: I'm curious which teams you see making a big jump,
26:22
Speaker 1: not saying during next season, we're not gonna get that
26:24
Speaker 1: crazy and look too far into the crystal ball. But
26:27
Speaker 1: what we can do is, you know how much can
26:29
Speaker 1: change just through free agency, through the draft, through trades
26:34
Speaker 1: in the off season. When you look at some teams
26:36
Speaker 1: that are in the bottom half of the Power rankings,
26:38
Speaker 1: who do you see is one that you we could
26:40
Speaker 1: be talking at the first Power Rankings episode next summer.
26:43
Speaker 1: This team is ready to make a big surge. I
26:47
Speaker 1: kind of can't believe that I'm going to do this
26:49
Speaker 1: to myself again because I spent all last off season
26:54
Speaker 1: it don't doane, and I'm going to take another ride
26:58
Speaker 1: on the train again because the Broncos just really really
27:03
Speaker 1: fell apart from the very beginning to get a head
27:09
Speaker 1: coach in there that can really maximize the talent on
27:13
Speaker 1: the roster and avoid some of these backbreaking injuries that
27:17
Speaker 1: they had and bring it all like well that's what
27:21
Speaker 1: I mean separately and avoid some of those that's just luck.
27:24
Speaker 1: But the defense played their minds off in this season,
27:29
Speaker 1: and you have you just have so much talent, Like
27:32
Speaker 1: from the very beginning, you had Tim Patrick going down,
27:34
Speaker 1: who was supposed to play a big role in the
27:36
Speaker 1: wide receiver room, and and you just had so many
27:39
Speaker 1: things that didn't go their way, and they just looked
27:41
Speaker 1: so bad, like it was a really terrible season for them.
27:44
Speaker 1: But I guess my question to you is, so you
27:49
Speaker 1: you imagine then I'm guessing here that they're going to
27:52
Speaker 1: get higher head coach that's a smart hire, and then
27:55
Speaker 1: make some obviously additions to the roster and then Russell Wilson.
28:00
Speaker 1: People will talk themselves into Russell Wilson having a big
28:04
Speaker 1: bounce back or that that's where you're coming from this. Yeah,
28:06
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna try and talk myself into it,
28:09
Speaker 1: because honestly, like the the obvious team here are the Bears,
28:14
Speaker 1: Like they have the number one overall pick, they have space,
28:18
Speaker 1: They have a hundred million dollars in cap space, forty
28:21
Speaker 1: million more than anyone else in the league. So with
28:24
Speaker 1: that type of money and those type of draft resources,
28:28
Speaker 1: you could trade down because you already have a quarterback,
28:31
Speaker 1: you don't need to pick number one overall there, and
28:33
Speaker 1: you can get a ton of other assets. I mean,
28:35
Speaker 1: it's it's hard to believe, and I'm still I was
28:38
Speaker 1: stunned talking about it on Sunday night on on the
28:41
Speaker 1: other podcast, like how how the Houston Texans uh and
28:45
Speaker 1: showing the disconnect between organizational big picture and the players
28:49
Speaker 1: on the field just playing a final football game of
28:51
Speaker 1: the season. How much that could affect the trajectory of
28:54
Speaker 1: both organizations, the Texans dropping out of the number one
28:57
Speaker 1: spot and the Bears falling into it when they have
29:00
Speaker 1: a quarterback they believe in, which gives them the potent
29:04
Speaker 1: chill to a take anybody in the draft that they're
29:07
Speaker 1: in love with or more likely now trade that number
29:10
Speaker 1: one pick to QB desper team and have a bounty
29:13
Speaker 1: the type of draft bounty that if you handle it right,
29:17
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna talk about a team that handled their
29:18
Speaker 1: draft bounty right uh this past draft. Um, you could
29:22
Speaker 1: change the organization. So I'll pivot to the Jets. You know,
29:24
Speaker 1: you gotta do a little Joe Douglas talk Joe Douglas. Now,
29:27
Speaker 1: the Jets obviously ended the season terribly, um, but it
29:31
Speaker 1: was a season that was wrecked by the quarterback position,
29:33
Speaker 1: uh and a lot of offensive line issues. UM. And
29:37
Speaker 1: I think the Jets are going to be a team
29:39
Speaker 1: that a lot of people are going to be and
29:40
Speaker 1: I'm already uncomfortable about this as a uh forever Jets fan.
29:44
Speaker 1: A lot of people are going to be in on
29:46
Speaker 1: the Jets next August, mark my words, because they will
29:49
Speaker 1: get a quarterback that people know. And that quarterback could
29:53
Speaker 1: be Derek Carr. Maybe it's doing Garoppolo. Yeah, but Zack
29:56
Speaker 1: Wilson is going to make his life hell in practice. Um,
30:00
Speaker 1: it could be Matthew Stafford. Hell could be Lamar Jackson. Yeah,
30:03
Speaker 1: you never know. All I know is the Jets are
30:05
Speaker 1: going to make a big splash and have a quarterback,
30:08
Speaker 1: and then people are gonna look at um an improved
30:11
Speaker 1: quarterback situation. They'll probably use a first round pick or
30:15
Speaker 1: something on an offensive lineman and and and get healthier
30:17
Speaker 1: in that position. The defense is already one of the
30:19
Speaker 1: best in the league. Douglas nailed the twenty two draft
30:23
Speaker 1: with Garrett Wilson, who could be the offensive rookie of
30:25
Speaker 1: the year potentially, Sauce Gardner is almost certainly the defensive
30:28
Speaker 1: rookie of the year. Breeze Hall could have been the
30:30
Speaker 1: offensive rookie of the year before he blew out his knee.
30:33
Speaker 1: UH the star running back. So that's what the Bears
30:36
Speaker 1: can do a draft like that. They're cooking. The Jets
30:39
Speaker 1: could be a team that everyone sees as a favorite
30:43
Speaker 1: in the a f C East. Potentially, I'm gonna go
30:45
Speaker 1: that far if they get a big time quarterback. With
30:49
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas having ties with Baltimore in his past before
30:53
Speaker 1: he was in Philly with Lamar Jackson, I don't know
30:56
Speaker 1: if they're time together there coincided, But you do have
31:00
Speaker 1: to think about Breeze Hall coming back and Elijah Vera
31:04
Speaker 1: Tucker come back and all of the issues that they
31:06
Speaker 1: had on the offensive line this year, Like this is
31:10
Speaker 1: a team that they had such a good draft, like
31:13
Speaker 1: they really did. Garrett Wilson is like such a playmaker
31:16
Speaker 1: for them and so good for years to come like that,
31:20
Speaker 1: you should be happy about it, I am. I mean
31:21
Speaker 1: it's hard that a Jets fan is struggling through the
31:24
Speaker 1: last six weeks of this year. But also if they
31:27
Speaker 1: if they have another solid offseason, this team will be
31:29
Speaker 1: locked and loaded and ready to make a run. Last year,
31:31
Speaker 1: one more team that sucked me in all through the year.
31:34
Speaker 1: It annoyed me because every time I kind of put
31:38
Speaker 1: myself out there for him and the power rankings that
31:40
Speaker 1: killed me the Raiders, the Rads, and I think I'm
31:43
Speaker 1: they're moving on from Derek Carr and they could kind
31:47
Speaker 1: of scapegoat him a little bit. In my mind, is
31:49
Speaker 1: what that what they've done here when I don't think
31:51
Speaker 1: it's necessarily the quarterback that's holding the team back. But
31:55
Speaker 1: if that Josh McDaniels Tom Brady reunion is real, and
31:59
Speaker 1: it just feels like Tom after three years in Tampa
32:03
Speaker 1: post divorce, look for the next challenge in his career,
32:07
Speaker 1: going to Vegas just kind of feels like you could
32:10
Speaker 1: connect the dots a little bit there. It's like, Okay,
32:12
Speaker 1: that makes sense. And I'm not saying Tom Brady entering
32:14
Speaker 1: his age forty six season as a guy that you
32:16
Speaker 1: you pencil in for the super Bowl. But also he
32:19
Speaker 1: still he still would be an improved and over car
32:22
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people, including even me
32:24
Speaker 1: doing the power rankings, would be like, Okay, I'm gonna
32:27
Speaker 1: jump them up about ten spots and and put him
32:29
Speaker 1: in the wild card race and maybe even can challenge
32:32
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. And I think Davantae Adams would be happy,
32:35
Speaker 1: would be fine if they said Tom Brady was going
32:37
Speaker 1: to come in there. But you have to wonder what
32:40
Speaker 1: players think, especially wide receivers at this point. Looking at
32:43
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, of course he's the goat, but at forty five,
32:46
Speaker 1: what is he going to be forty six next year?
32:48
Speaker 1: Like that feels like maybe you're pushing it a bit,
32:52
Speaker 1: but maybe, but we've doubted that man for a decade now.
32:56
Speaker 1: I think the other thing about the Raiders, it was
32:58
Speaker 1: a stranger season I really can never remember for a team, uh,
33:02
Speaker 1: in terms of they had the eating rusher in the league,
33:06
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs, who's a schedule to be a free agent.
33:08
Speaker 1: They want to bring him back, and he said he
33:10
Speaker 1: wants to be back, but he had over two thousand
33:11
Speaker 1: yards of scrimmage. Damante Adams had a monster first year there. Okay,
33:17
Speaker 1: Max Crosby is on the shortlist of the best defensive
33:21
Speaker 1: lineman in the league. And you have Darren Waller who
33:24
Speaker 1: has been banged up but is one of the most
33:26
Speaker 1: dynamic tight ends in league, the highest paid tight end
33:28
Speaker 1: in the league. There is talent there and now they
33:31
Speaker 1: just need to put it together. Pressure on Josh McDaniels, Alright,
33:35
Speaker 1: what else, anything else? What I'm talking about? You know,
33:37
Speaker 1: it's just it's just nice to be back here on
33:39
Speaker 1: the Power Rankings. Good to be back. We took a
33:41
Speaker 1: week off last week. It was obviously a pretty uh
33:45
Speaker 1: sensitive tough week for the league after the Damarrow Hamelin
33:48
Speaker 1: uh situation. But you know I missed this, Connie, and um,
33:53
Speaker 1: this will be our last look of thirty two teams
33:56
Speaker 1: for a few weeks. Yeah, what's this going to be
33:58
Speaker 1: moving forward? Okay, So here's the breaks. This is my
34:00
Speaker 1: first year doing Power rankings. I don't know. We say
34:03
Speaker 1: goodbye to eighteen teams on the Power Rankings effective now
34:08
Speaker 1: like a Viking funeral, the Vikings funeral. And so next
34:10
Speaker 1: week's Power Rankings post wild Card weekend will be a
34:13
Speaker 1: top four teen, then it will become a top something,
34:18
Speaker 1: a top four and then we disappear, and then we'll
34:21
Speaker 1: come back after the super Bowl with a full thirty
34:24
Speaker 1: two look again. Then we're done all right til next week.
34:29
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Heed the call NFL Power Rankings
34:33
Speaker 1: as a production of the NFL in partnership with I
34:36
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit
34:39
Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
34:42
Speaker 1: get your podcasts.