Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #3: Are Detroit Lions Back?

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#3: Are Detroit Lions Back? · 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 iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
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  Speaker 2: Along with Eric at home, I cam with you. For
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  Speaker 2: a complete list of all thirty two teams and analysis
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  Speaker 2: on your team, all you have to do is check
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  Speaker 2: out NFL dot com. But Eric, it was an awesome
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  Speaker 2: doubleheader of Monday night football and I get home after
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  Speaker 2: the postgame show and I'm already thinking about our Power
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  Speaker 2: Ranking show. So were you though, because you were working late.
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  Speaker 2: I saw some emails come in very late. It feels
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  Speaker 2: like with the doubleheader, it keeps your job a little
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  Speaker 2: bit interesting.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was thinking about it.
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  Speaker 4: You know, Thursday's Packers Commanders game feels like it was
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  Speaker 4: about a month ago. You know, this week in particular,
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  Speaker 4: just felt really long. Let's say it that way, all right.
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  Speaker 2: Let's get right to the rankings. And some of these
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  Speaker 2: top teams in the NFL. You're not seeing dramatic changes
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  Speaker 2: at the top here one through four remaining the same.
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  Speaker 2: It's the Eagles, the Bills, the Ravens at three, the
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  Speaker 2: Packers at four. There's a voice change there. Trust me.
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  Speaker 2: We will get to that reason in just a moment
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  Speaker 2: here Tampa Bay an impressive form. This is another two
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  Speaker 2: and oh. Start, they move up a spot, the Lions
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  Speaker 2: bounce back. They're in that sixth position, the Rams at seven,
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  Speaker 2: and then the Commanders at eight. All right, from an
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  Speaker 2: Eagles perspective, take me through this, because there's like a
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  Speaker 2: real physicality in this game. And you can make an argument,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Travis Kelsey doesn't drop that football headed into
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  Speaker 2: the end zone, maybe we're talking about a different result.
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  Speaker 2: Was there any consideration dropping this Eagles team down? And
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  Speaker 2: you just said, hey, super Bowl champs two and oh,
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  Speaker 2: keep winning. I'm gonna keep you there.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah. I think that was kind of the in the
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  Speaker 4: back of my mind the whole time, like are we
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  Speaker 4: really going to punish them for going into Arrowhead? Clearly
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  Speaker 4: a big revenge game for the Chiefs coming off the loss,
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  Speaker 4: coming off the Super Bowl loss. The Eagles just made
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  Speaker 4: a few more plays than the Chiefs in virtually every
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  Speaker 4: phase of the game. And that really was the difference
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  Speaker 4: right there. And look, they may end up looking a
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  Speaker 4: lot like the twenty twenty four Chiefs right in that
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  Speaker 4: they win these close games. They're not overly impressive. The
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  Speaker 4: record is going to be strong. But I think coming
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  Speaker 4: off the Super Bowl win and every sort of bit
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  Speaker 4: good will they've built up to this point, they still
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  Speaker 4: are the team to beat. So I get the sentiment
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  Speaker 4: for maybe sliding them down a spot or two more
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  Speaker 4: dangerous teams out there, But for me, until they start failing,
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  Speaker 4: I'm not going to really drop them down two precipitously
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  Speaker 4: and right now they stay at the top.
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  Speaker 2: You know. And it's tough too, because in Week one
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  Speaker 2: it's a closer win that I think people had anticipated
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  Speaker 2: against Dallas Cowboys team. Another close win here to your point,
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  Speaker 2: and let's be real, they got the Los Angeles Rams
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  Speaker 2: in this next game. The Rams are also a really
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  Speaker 2: good team. I wouldn't be surprised if A they win,
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  Speaker 2: but B it's another close victory. I don't know, you know,
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  Speaker 2: based off of these opponents, especially from an LA perspective,
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  Speaker 2: with that defense, I don't know if you're gonna be
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  Speaker 2: able to blow those dudes out. Well, Eric, let's take
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  Speaker 2: a closer look at the odds to win the AFC,
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  Speaker 2: and kind of interesting here that at least on paper,
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  Speaker 2: the Ravens are still the favorite despite having that loss
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  Speaker 2: against the Buffalo Bills in Week number one, Bills right
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  Speaker 2: behind them, and then the Chiefs and the Chargers round
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  Speaker 2: out that top four. But this is the Ravens team
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  Speaker 2: that I think we all anticipated seeing in week number
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  Speaker 2: two and certainly huge game on Monday Night. But they
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  Speaker 2: looked legit.
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  Speaker 4: No doubt. Yeah, and we saw that for fifty of
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  Speaker 4: the sixty minutes in blow two. They clearly looked like
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  Speaker 4: the better team until the Bills flipped the script. So
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  Speaker 4: you know, look, you could argue, hey, it was twenty
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  Speaker 4: to ten in the fourth quarter, the Browns still had
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  Speaker 4: a chance, But at no point when I was watching
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  Speaker 4: that did I feel like they actually had a chance. So,
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  Speaker 4: you know, it's it's Lamar. We know about his superpowers.
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  Speaker 4: He can change a game. Obviously, Derrick Henry hate to
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  Speaker 4: see another fumble. He did recover it though, and I'm.
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  Speaker 3: Sure he'll still get his regular load.
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  Speaker 4: But they have so many different weapons defensively, they can
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  Speaker 4: make plays, you know, special teams. Tower Loop's been good
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  Speaker 4: so far. You know, no problems there like we had
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  Speaker 4: last year. So you know, I think they're ironing out
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  Speaker 4: these little issues that kind of plagued them at times
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  Speaker 4: last year. And you know, for all the disappointing losses
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  Speaker 4: they've had over the years, they bounced back exceptionally. Well,
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  Speaker 4: that's also the hallmark of a very good team. They
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  Speaker 4: did that on Sunday. There was no doubt who the
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  Speaker 4: better team was even before the fourth quarter.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk lines in just a moment here, but they
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  Speaker 2: get them on night. How significant is this Week three
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  Speaker 2: game for the perception of both of these.
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  Speaker 4: Teams, Yeah, no doubt, especially with the Lions, you know,
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  Speaker 4: coming out and coming flat in Week one. You know,
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  Speaker 4: the Ravens letting a fifteen point lead to go in
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  Speaker 4: the fourth quarter, even if it was on the road
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  Speaker 4: at Buffalo. You know, these are the kinds of games that, yes,
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  Speaker 4: we've seen better efforts in Week two from both teams,
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  Speaker 4: but head to head, especially with the Lions getting blown
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  Speaker 4: out in Baltimore a few years ago, this one's going.
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  Speaker 2: To tell us a lot. I suspect, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: got home last night. I got to do the postgame
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  Speaker 2: show on Monday night, so I think we got off
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  Speaker 2: air like two am Eastern time. I get home, I unwind,
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  Speaker 2: and I go, hey, like, I want to know what
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing tomorrow, and I'm thinking about your power rankings
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  Speaker 2: kind of going through some of these emails that have
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  Speaker 2: been going back and forth here, and I notice the
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  Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers in that fourth spot, and I say
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  Speaker 2: to myself, well, I think there's an argument that they
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  Speaker 2: are the number one team in the NFL. The head
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  Speaker 2: to head here with the Baltimore Ravens. They got that
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  Speaker 2: and just throttled a really good, at least in my mind,
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  Speaker 2: team in the Washington Commanders. Maybe that's overstating things, but
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  Speaker 2: they looks really, really good. How much did you, in
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  Speaker 2: your mind go back and forth. I'm not saying number one,
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  Speaker 2: but at least have them in front of the Ravens.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, there was, you know, to me, four teams that
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  Speaker 4: belonged at the top, and you could argue they deserve
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  Speaker 4: to be in any order, and that's fine. You know,
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  Speaker 4: maybe some people put the Bucks or another team in there,
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  Speaker 4: but I think it's really four right now. And look,
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  Speaker 4: based on what we've seen so far, granted, two home games,
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  Speaker 4: and the Green Bay Packers look spectacular, especially defensively when
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  Speaker 4: Jordan Love and that offense get going. And obviously Jane
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  Speaker 4: Reid's injury is a concern, and you know they're still
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  Speaker 4: trying to figure out who their true go to guys.
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  Speaker 4: Matthew Golden's still kind of building up chemistry with him,
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  Speaker 4: but Loves had some spectacular throws.
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  Speaker 3: Look at Tucker Craft right there, maybe the best tight.
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  Speaker 4: End in the league, or one of them. Anyway, he's
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  Speaker 4: been spectacular. Romeo Doves has contributed. So I think when
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  Speaker 4: they find a little bit more rhythm and they get
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  Speaker 4: Josh Jacobs going and they get their offensive line healthy,
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  Speaker 4: you look at the complete picture, then you can say
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  Speaker 4: to yourself, all right, do they stack ahead of the Ravens,
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  Speaker 4: the Bills, you know, the Chiefs, the Eagles, all those
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  Speaker 4: teams that are traditionally near the top.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I misspoke there, and I know I use
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  Speaker 2: the term throttled by the way. I mean what that
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  Speaker 2: defense did and how it looked against Jayden Daniels in company.
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  Speaker 2: I mean that to me is one of the more
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  Speaker 2: impressive things. And you get that Week one against the Lions,
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  Speaker 2: so once again I get where we're at right now
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  Speaker 2: with the Packers and sort of like how we're supposed
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  Speaker 2: to understand, like where this team truly does slop, But
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  Speaker 2: it is an impressive performance. On the lesson, I think
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  Speaker 2: you can make the case, Green Bay should be the
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  Speaker 2: number one team. Look, we're splitting Harris here, but the
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  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Bucks got some injury concerns. They get to
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  Speaker 2: win on Monday night, it's another two and oh start Baker.
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  Speaker 2: It feels like they're never out of these games with
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  Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield.
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  Speaker 3: He's incredible, isn'ty.
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  Speaker 4: This is the guy that Cleveland Browns gave up on, right,
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  Speaker 4: This is the guy the Carolina Panthers moved on from
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  Speaker 4: the You know, I understand the Rams situation.
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  Speaker 3: They had him briefly there. But you know, this is
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  Speaker 3: Tampa Bay's game.
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  Speaker 4: One of the best reclamation projects if you will ever
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  Speaker 4: and you know those legs come out. That's scrambling, swashbuckling Baker.
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  Speaker 4: That's the guy we love to see third and ten,
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  Speaker 4: fourth and ten, those long yard yard situations. He's not
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  Speaker 4: afraid to pull up and look at Bucky Irving too.
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  Speaker 3: Boy.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I said last night on X, I said, I
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  Speaker 4: wished I loved him more coming out of the draft.
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  Speaker 4: I liked him, I didn't love him, and he's really
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  Speaker 4: turned into a great player. Rashad White finishes it off.
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  Speaker 4: You know at Buka. You know, obviously the Mike Evans
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  Speaker 4: is the Hall of Fame receiver. They've got some weapons.
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  Speaker 4: But to your point, you lose Luke Geticky, You're right tackle,
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  Speaker 4: you know, I mean Charlie Heck got harassed a little
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  Speaker 4: bit during the game. He was under fire. You know,
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  Speaker 4: you lose Colijah Cansey for the season. Now we know
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  Speaker 4: on defense. I mean, those are two big losses, but
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  Speaker 4: two dramatic victories in two weeks and the you know,
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  Speaker 4: comeback fashion in both times and on the road. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: this is they're close. But this this is why I
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  Speaker 4: like the Bucks to be a super Bowl contender in
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  Speaker 4: the preseason because of Baker and they're just their grittiness.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's some real concerns right now regarding Houston.
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  Speaker 2: I think you can make the same case tough schedule
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  Speaker 2: lose to the Rams that they did. I didn't think
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  Speaker 2: they were going to go oh two with a week
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  Speaker 2: two loss against Tampa Bay at home. I thought that
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  Speaker 2: that was enough to give them an opportunity to win
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  Speaker 2: this game. And once again, they had their opportunities late,
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  Speaker 2: they just weren't able to close. The Lions are a
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  Speaker 2: team that looked like the Lions team that we had
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  Speaker 2: anticipated seeing at the start of the season. Do we
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  Speaker 2: just say, hey, all is right in the world in
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  Speaker 2: Detroit just based off of what we saw on Week two.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know if all is right, but for one
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  Speaker 4: week it certainly is. It answered a lot of questions
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  Speaker 4: that were raised in Green Bay. Does this team still
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  Speaker 4: have the explosiveness? Does this team have that purpose on offense?
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  Speaker 4: And it wasn't their Week one. It certainly was against Chicago.
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  Speaker 4: You know, they was still a little early charge. You
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  Speaker 4: knew Ben and the Bears were going to be fired
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  Speaker 4: up early. They ran out of gas and the Lions
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  Speaker 4: just absolutely stepped on their next So you know, it's
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  Speaker 4: that killer instinct that made them so dangerous last year,
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  Speaker 4: and I think.
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  Speaker 3: It's still there.
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  Speaker 4: Right. We still see Jared Goff operating with precision. Isaac
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  Speaker 4: Tislaw has joined the mix now and makes terrific catches,
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  Speaker 4: say Brown tie for the league lead and touchdown grabs.
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  Speaker 4: So that kind of fire and that kind of enthusiasm
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  Speaker 4: was sorely missing in the first game.
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  Speaker 3: It felt like a return to normalcy.
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  Speaker 4: In this one. And then again, we'll see if they
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  Speaker 4: can sort of perform this this well against the top
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  Speaker 4: tier teams. I mean, right, now, we only have a
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  Speaker 4: small sample size, but I feel a lot better after
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  Speaker 4: watching that game tape.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, and we go back and I made reference
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  Speaker 2: to it when we talked about the Ravens Monday Night Football.
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  Speaker 2: To me, this will dictate, you know, in a lot
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  Speaker 2: of ways, how we perceive both the Lions and the
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  Speaker 2: Ravens over the next few weeks. I think all of
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  Speaker 2: us seem to think that these are two of the
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  Speaker 2: premier teams in the NFL. We'll see what the head
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  Speaker 2: to head will go and tell us the Commanders. There's
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  Speaker 2: some concern right now about Jayden Daniels with a knee injury.
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  Speaker 2: How do you navigate this if you're Dan Quinn?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, because I don't necessarily even if this is only
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  Speaker 4: a one week injury, Let's say he misses one game,
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  Speaker 4: it's not as if the concern suddenly has gone away. Still,
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  Speaker 4: he's obviously playing through pain on some level. But there's
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  Speaker 4: the fact that the protect't around him has not been great.
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  Speaker 4: And Jaden obviously took sacks last year. We talked about
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  Speaker 4: it then, but he was able to find escape patches.
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  Speaker 3: He was able to get out of trouble.
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  Speaker 4: You didn't see him come up limping the way he
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  Speaker 4: did like that on Thursday night. So the fact that
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  Speaker 4: he's getting more painful hits more frequent, especially after they
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  Speaker 4: went out and got two more offensive tackles in the offseason.
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  Speaker 4: Thought that was an upgrade so far necessarily hasn't been.
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  Speaker 4: I know, maybe a slight upgrade, but still, I mean,
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  Speaker 4: the results overall have been fairly pedestrian, I would say,
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  Speaker 4: so no big immediate concern, even with the misgame potential.
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  Speaker 4: I still think they're going to be fine. But this
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  Speaker 4: only intensifies and amplifies the need to build a wall
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  Speaker 4: around this guy and make sure the play calling reflects that,
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  Speaker 4: and make sure he's got free looks to guys like
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  Speaker 4: Terry mcclaurin who's gotten off to a slow start as well.
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  Speaker 2: This game against the Raiders is supremely important. If Jaden
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  Speaker 2: Daniels doesn't play, they still need a w here. When
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  Speaker 2: you consider on the road against Atlanta, on the road
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  Speaker 2: against the Chargers are those next two games that are looming,
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  Speaker 2: so those are tougher matchups. And I say what you
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  Speaker 2: want about the Falcons, I think you can make the
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  Speaker 2: case man one of the more improved teams in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: And maybe that division ends up giving us two teams
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  Speaker 2: in the postseason. I mean Michael Penison, we'll talk about
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  Speaker 2: him coming up here on power rankings. I thought penis
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  Speaker 2: look good and this is not the same defense we've
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  Speaker 2: seen in the atl over the last few seasons. Just
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  Speaker 2: getting started here though. On power rankings, Teams nine through
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  Speaker 2: sixteen don't look now outside of the top nine. The
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  Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs. How far do they fall? The answer
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  Speaker 2: is coming up next back here on power rankings along
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  Speaker 2: with Eric at home, I am with you, and these
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: are Eric's teams nine through sixteen. The Chargers another win
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  Speaker 2: for Monday night football. They move up four spots, cracking
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  Speaker 2: the top ten. The Denver Broncos drop a spot. Sort
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  Speaker 2: of interesting to see them in that tenth position considering
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  Speaker 2: how they lost to the Colts, who will talk about
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: in just a moment, Kansas City zero to two outside
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  Speaker 2: of the top ten. This might be history making in
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  Speaker 2: the world of NFL power rankings. The Colts a huge
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: mover twelve. The San Francisco forty nine ers at thirteen.
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  Speaker 2: The Seahawks move up five spots to fourteen. Atlanta also
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  Speaker 2: moving up five spots into that fifteenth position, and despite
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  Speaker 2: a win, the Cincinnati Bengals are two to zero, falling
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  Speaker 2: four spots to round out that top sixteen. You haven't
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  Speaker 2: had Kansas City outside the top ten since you've been
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  Speaker 2: doing these power rankings. What's the level of concern right
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  Speaker 2: now for Patrick Mahomes and this team and offense that
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  Speaker 2: looks a little out of sync.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, obviously the hope is that Xavier Worthy gets back
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  Speaker 4: and in four games or you know they're gonna have
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  Speaker 4: Rashe Rice as well. But what's the record going to be, right?
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  Speaker 4: I mean, that's the biggest thing. Obviously we've seen some
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  Speaker 4: teams climb out of big holes. The Rams are a
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  Speaker 4: great example, but you know, seeing them slug their way
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  Speaker 4: down the field and really try to grind out games
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  Speaker 4: and have Mahomes rely on his legs. You know, that's
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  Speaker 4: why these kinds of mistakes. The interception off Kelsey's hands,
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  Speaker 4: you know, that's a play he and Mahomes have made
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  Speaker 4: a thousand times.
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  Speaker 3: You assume that it's going to work.
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  Speaker 4: It didn't on this play, and then it being a
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  Speaker 4: hug huge difference in the game. They did make a
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  Speaker 4: few connections late, but they missed a.
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  Speaker 3: Few as well.
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  Speaker 4: It took a lot of effort just to get to
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  Speaker 4: where they got, and the question is can they survive
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  Speaker 4: until they have that full complement of playmakers. The defense,
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  Speaker 4: to their credit, was much better in week two. That
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  Speaker 4: unit still gives me hope, but you know, it's these
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  Speaker 4: tough games keep coming. I know they have the Giants
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  Speaker 4: O in two next week, but still beyond that, there's
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  Speaker 4: some real challenging games that they've got to figure out
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  Speaker 4: a formula here. Can they run the football? Do they
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  Speaker 4: have other options on offense? That's the big question right now.
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  Speaker 4: It just seem to be lacking some pizazz and some
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  Speaker 4: energy on that side of the ball.
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  Speaker 2: Patrick mahomes back to back weeks leaving this team in
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  Speaker 2: rushing yards. That's not a recipe at least in my
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  Speaker 2: mind for success. I don't want my quarterback to be
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  Speaker 2: in that position, especially when it's won five well, Eric,
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  Speaker 2: speaking of records, I know we just touched on the
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  Speaker 2: Chiefs here, but the Indianapolis Colts, I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: I've ever seen a move quite this big, moving up
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  Speaker 2: twelve spots on your rankings, a huge win against the
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  Speaker 2: Denver Broncos. But I'm starting to buy this. This Danny
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  Speaker 2: Dimes situation. I mean, this dude is playing mistake free
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  Speaker 2: football and they're figuring out ways to get it done.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, they could.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, when your punter has not attempted to punt
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  Speaker 4: through two games, Rigoberto Sanchez has the best job in
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  Speaker 4: the NFL two point five million to sit on the sidelines.
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  Speaker 3: That's because they have this offense.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: They have the ability to move the ball in myriad ways,
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: right Jonathan Taylor the old standby, get him involved as
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: a receiver, kind of open up some avenues for him
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: that way.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: You've got Tyler Warren, the rookie, stepping right in and
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: making a difference.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: Obviously, they've got an offensive line that they have put
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: a lot of investments in. This is the great surrounding
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: cast that Daniel Jones has. Downs can make plays. Pittman
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: doesn't even have to have a big game anymore like
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: he used to. And that's the beautiful thing here. I
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: think it's helped take some pressure off Daniel Jones because
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: they have five or six playmakers, because they have a
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: fortified line in front of them. And Shane Styking was
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: brought in to be the offensive guru. His play calling
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: has been terrific, his design of this group, accurate field
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: goal kicking. I mean, this is all you want from
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: your team, and you know they need a little help.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: But this is still a big victory for them against
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: Denver and dramatic to say the least, and they're deserving
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: of the respect. That they do it against Tennessee next week.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: You know, that'll obviously prove a little bit more that
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: they're for real.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Hey, real quick. Anthony Richardson the last we've seen him,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: barring obviously injury, I think so.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: I mean, look, that discussion has been tabled, put on
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: the side. No one's really talking about it right now,
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: but it is interesting, right how far can Jones take him?
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: That's the big question we still have remaining. He's been
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: great so far.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he has been the Atlanta Falcons. They move up
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: two spots right now. Week one, week two, get a win.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: We'll take that in a big spat on Sunday night football.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Pennix man, I'd pay to go and we'll just watch
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: him throw. It is such a pretty release. But I
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: think the bigger issue, and I shouldn't say issue, the
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: bigger notable aspect of their game is the defense looks
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: like it's thriving right now.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah, outside of that late breakdown against Tampa Bay, I mean,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: they've been terrific this season. You really got to look
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: at the four rookies. They drafted a two on the
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: on the edges and two in the secondary, and they've
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: been terrific. Jalen Walker, James Pierce Junior contributing to the
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: rush up front, big part of that six SAC unit.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: On Sunday night, Xavier Woods made a play late in
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: the game. Billy Bowman was all over the place, So
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: you know, they've already added to a secondary that has
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: Jesse Base one of the best safeties in football. And
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: you know, we kept waiting for this pass rush to
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: finally develop. It feels like it's been about a decade.
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: But you put that in with a strong ground game
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: and Pennix making throws that weren't made last year when
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: Kirk Cousins was quarterback, and boy, I mean I'm looking
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: at him at fifteen and wondering if I've made have
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: him a little low, so you know, just to excuse
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: me eighteen. So you know, it just they're they're in
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: that mix of could go down, could go up, but
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: the early returns have been very good.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they have been. You know, I'm looking out a
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals team as well, because this is like sort
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: of the significant news. And I know we started power
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: rankings and there's a slew of quarterback injuries, and you
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: can look at JJ McCarthy. You can obviously point to
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Jada Daniels. We talked about that as well. But Joe
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Burrow gonna be gone now for three months? Is this
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: a situation from a Bengals perspective where you can't navigate this?
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: I will say this is clearly an all in season.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: You saw from the Trey Hendrickson negotiations signing him to
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: a one year deal, they're basically saying super Bowl or bust.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: They made the receiver contracts work along with Burrow's deal.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: Everything was poured into this season and now the quarterback
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: is gone. On the positive side, Jake Browning did some
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: really good things two years ago and Burrow got hurt.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: They were five and five when he took over, and
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: they were eight and six at one point with the
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: chance to get in the playoffs. He had a couple
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: of games that got away from him. Wasn't all pretty,
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: but and even Sunday. Look, three interceptions. Two of them
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: were not good. I mean, I think one of them
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: you credit the defensive player. The other two are just
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: bad throws. He's got to clean it up. He did
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: lead the comeback. You give him a ton of credit
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: against the pretty good Jags team, I think, But I
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: don't know. It's completely mailed in at this point. But
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: the vibes have to be incredibly low. After yet another injury.
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: You just hope that Joe Burrow is not the next
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Andrew Luck or Burt Jones or one of these quarterbacks.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: We look back and say what might have been? You
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: pray that that he can get back onto the field.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: But every year it seems like we're talking about a
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: new injury with him.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's such a it's a massive buzzkill
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: because in terms of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: he's on that list. He's one of the best quarterbacks
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: on the entire planet. Having some issues staying healthy, do
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: you think they pick up the phone, Eric, like, is
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: there a trade looming just to add a little bit
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: of depth and tie that room.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: I think if they see poor results early, like the
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: first game or two, and things are not working. You're
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: not seeing Browning using his legs. You're seeing him misfire
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: and some of those deeper balls like on Sunday. There
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: could be some internal discussions, right, do we have somebody
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: in house to can challenge them? If not, how do
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: we address this?
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Is there still a chance?
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: They also have to have a pretty good record starting
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: two to zero helps Yeah, obviously hasn't been terribly impressive overall.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, there's still some big questions with this team.
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: But if they get to the point where there are
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: two or three games over five hundred at mid season,
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: yet the quarterbackings held him back, I suppose they could
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: right now, now I would guess no, But given the
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: all in nature of the season, why not.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Jake Browning one of the better quarterbacks backup quarterbacks in
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: the NFL, and that is a really important job. The
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: more the seasons go by, the more you realize you
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: got to have depth in that room because of the
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: amount of injuries that happen in that position. And we're
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: just heading into week number three at this point. The
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys know about that based off of last season.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: The good news for them is they continue to stack wins.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Where did they deserve to sit on the Power rankings
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: and the Steelers defense a little concerned? Is Eric? The
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: answer to that's coming up next back here on Power
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Rankings presented by energizer Mike Amman Eric at Home with You,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Eric's team seventeen through twenty four. I think there's some
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: real concern right now in Houston with this zero to
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: two start. They drop three spots to seventeen. At eighteen,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals still undefeated at two and z though
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe we should be moving those up.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: Those Cardinals up at nineteen, the Minnesota Vikings JJ McCarthy
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: banged up. Carson Wentz. We get to see him. The
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Steelers will talk about them in just a moment. At
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: twenty the Dallas Cowboy. At twenty one, the Chicago Bears.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: What in the world is happening to this football team?
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: At twenty three it's the Jags, And at twenty four
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: it's the Vegas Raiders who lose on Monday night football
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: All right, level of concerned. Week one, get a win,
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers chugging from the fountain of youth. Week two,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: coming back down to earth a little bit, and a
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: defense that all of a sudden, Eric doesn't look like
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: a Steelers defense.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: Thirty points allowed two straight games. He only did that
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: twice all last season. That's really got me worried. I mean,
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: Mike Tomlin was talking in the preseason like this could
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: be a historic unit, and that was part of the
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: thinking of bringing Air at Rodgers. We don't need him
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: to be special, We just need him to be air
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: and everything will work around him. So far that hasn't
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: been the case. They're having trouble getting the ball consistently
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: to DK. You know, Rogers used to never throw red
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: zone picks. This one right here was pretty damaging but
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: huge special teams miss Q two with Caleb Johnson not
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: recovering there, not catching the kickoff, and it was a
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: three phase loss for him at home, you know, a
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: convincing loss. I mean, even though they had that chances
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: to win. So yeah, I'm concerned with all of a sudden,
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: with all three units, but especially that defense, which was
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: sort of the bedrock of this team.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because at the end of the day, we said, hey,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: if Rogers isn't even a superhuman out there, and if
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: he's just average, this defense could be good enough. Just
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: get consistent play and we're talking about this team maybe
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: making a run in the postseason. Look they are on
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: the road. They get New England in this next matchup.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: The rest of the rankings, we start a team twenty
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: five and it is those New England Patriots, the Titans.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: I know they're owing too, but man cam Ward's been
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: flashing here. The Giants at twenty seven will get to them.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: They move up to spots the Jets right now. Justin
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: field concussion protocol, we got Gangreen at twenty eight, twenty nine,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: it's the Panthers, the Saints at thirty, the Cleveland Browns
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: at thirty one, and we have a new team at
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: the bottom and that is the Miami Dolphins. Okay, can
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: I can I just throw like one thing out your
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: way on the Giants? Yes, okay. Week one disappointing for
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of reasons. Offensively, can't get anything going. People
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: talk about Jackson dart Hey calling out just an offensive line.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Andrew time, I'm just going to play in that game,
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: and I said, hey, let's see if this team gets healthy.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: In week number two, they weren't healthy, and yet Russ
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: was cooking. I am going to take soul blame on
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: this loss because three different times at the end of
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: this game, eric I said they're going to win, and
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: they didn't. I was disappointed with Russ in that Piccoli,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: but I go, hey, dude, three for four to fifty,
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: he's a reason why we're in it. There are signs
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: of life right now for this Giants team, and I'm
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: glad you showed some respect to the GM and he
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: moved them up.
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: Yes, some of this is reshuffling the deck chairs right
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: at the bottom. Teams move up and down and sometimes
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: get the bump, but I did see some life here.
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: I am worried about the next two games, Chiefs and Chargers.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: That's going to be a huge challenge. And this may
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: be one mic there where they look back on and say,
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: we had it, We.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Could have won.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: This is the kind of game you have to win
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: if you want to save jobs.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: And try to get back into contention after years of
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: being out of it.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: And they had those opportunities. We saw those explosive plays,
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: and you're right. We saw the schedule before the year started.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: We said this is toughest schedule in the NFL. And
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: when you're right there and you have that opportunity, you
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: have to deliver charges and saints those next opponent, and
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: it's our Chiefs chargers, and then saying, so maybe we're
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: talking about a win. At some point in a couple
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: of weeks against New Orleans, I made reference to the
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Miami Dolphins new team at the bottom. You didn't love
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: what you saw offensively from.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: Them, didn't.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: I mean, the offensive improvement is great, But Mike, if
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: you have players only meetings in week one ahead of
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: the loss, you know, and then another loss after it,
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: things aren't going well. I don't think another player's owners
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: owners meet players the only meeting is going to help.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: And maybe it's a little rage bait for Dolphins fans,
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: but look, they have not played well so far.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Sorry, that is a massive problem. I think some of
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: those guys might be thinking about vacation after the season
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: if you're having those players only meetings, So appreciate you
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: watching Power Rankings.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 23:54
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• 23:58
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