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#10: NFL Trade Deadline and a Free Falling Team! · 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: I'm not just saying this for show purposes.
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  Speaker 3: I mean this.
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  Speaker 2: This is one of my favorite shows of the year
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  Speaker 2: to do. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. It is presented
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  Speaker 2: by Energizer. We got the trade deadline, we got some
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  Speaker 2: trades to talk about, and of course, my professor Eric
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  Speaker 2: at home, he's got a new number one and a
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  Speaker 2: free fall for one team that was sitting in the
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  Speaker 2: top four of the rankings a week ago. That's now
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  Speaker 2: no longer inside the top eight teams. And with that,
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  Speaker 2: let's get right to the numbers one through eight.
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  Speaker 3: Here are your teams.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Seattle sit at the top. They move five spots,
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  Speaker 2: as do the Rams sitting at number two. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: Seahawks active. We'll get to that in just a moment.
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  Speaker 2: The Colts also an active team at the treadline. More
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  Speaker 2: details on that in just a moment. They drop a spot.
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  Speaker 2: They sit at seven and two, the Bills also moving
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  Speaker 2: up five spots at four, the Eagles at five, the
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  Speaker 2: Chiefs at six, the Detroit Lions falling six spots. They
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  Speaker 2: fit in the seventh position, and sending idle from last
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  Speaker 2: week at eight.
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  Speaker 3: It is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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  Speaker 2: It's time for power moves, and it's presented by Energizer.
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  Speaker 3: This is a significant move.
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  Speaker 2: I think there was a part of you that thought,
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  Speaker 2: let's put Seattle on this top spot, but they needed
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  Speaker 2: to show some things.
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  Speaker 3: They did that and they were active. Rashid Shahi. They
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  Speaker 3: acquire him from New Orleans Saints for a fourth and
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  Speaker 3: fifth round pick.
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  Speaker 2: To me, the offense looked absolutely spectacular on Sunday Night Football.
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  Speaker 2: A piece like this Eric like, I'm almost thinking like
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  Speaker 2: they got some staying power in this top spot.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely. I will say I will preface this entire thing
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  Speaker 4: by saying, look, it's it's kind of power rankings roulette.
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  Speaker 4: At this point, we've had multiple teams in the top spot.
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  Speaker 4: I'm prepared for the Seahawks to fall at some point.
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  Speaker 4: But when you add another deep threat, you know they've
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  Speaker 4: been running guys like Kobe White out there and Jake
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  Speaker 4: Bobo in the past. Now they have a guy who's
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  Speaker 4: a little bit more established, and when Cooper Cup comes back,
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  Speaker 4: they're gonna have four legitimate receivers, plus those tight ends
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  Speaker 4: and that run game to aid Sam Darnold out, so
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  Speaker 4: I'm really excited to see what this addition will be.
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  Speaker 4: There were multiple teams that seem to be in on Shaheed.
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  Speaker 4: He offers a very specific field stretching skill that is
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  Speaker 4: something that I wouldn't say that Seattle was missing. Obviously,
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  Speaker 4: Jackson Smith and Jigbas can do a lot of damage.
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  Speaker 4: But another dimension to this group that I think is
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  Speaker 4: a pass first offense and then they run you to
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  Speaker 4: death once they get a lead. And that's a dangerous
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  Speaker 4: combination when you have the defense and the pass rush
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  Speaker 4: that they do. So yeah, look again, anyone could fill
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  Speaker 4: this top spot in the next few weeks, but right
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  Speaker 4: now Seattle's looking pretty darn good.
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  Speaker 3: You know what's interesting.
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  Speaker 2: I always think about Seattle last couple of years as
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  Speaker 2: a run first team, and then if you pay closer
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  Speaker 2: attention to what's been transpiring over the last couple weeks,
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  Speaker 2: and it was on full display on Sunday night. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: there were moments in that first half where they started
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  Speaker 2: to extend that lead. Eric I'm thinking to myself, they're
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  Speaker 2: not going to take this to the air, And not
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  Speaker 2: only did they take it to the air, like they're
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  Speaker 2: scoring in bunches very very quickly. I got to imagine
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  Speaker 2: this combination with Shahied now in an offense that's already
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  Speaker 2: been rolling with that defense. Can I make an argument
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  Speaker 2: they are one of the most balanced teams in the NFL.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely. They have four games on offense with thirty one
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  Speaker 4: or more points and they have all every single game
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  Speaker 4: except one where they've allowed twenty or fewer. So you
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  Speaker 4: know that element right there, the disparity that puts you away,
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  Speaker 4: A quality that you know, the great Ravens teams had
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  Speaker 4: when Mike McDonald was there, the Bills have had, the
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  Speaker 4: Chiefs have had, other elite teams in the past several years.
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  Speaker 4: They seem to have that quality right now. Still kind
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  Speaker 4: of wishing they had that Bucks win. But look, I
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  Speaker 4: mean I just look at the recent body work and
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  Speaker 4: pretty darn impressive.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I was pulling into the parking lot today
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  Speaker 2: and all these news of trades were hitting my inbox.
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  Speaker 2: The one to me that was starting to stand out
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  Speaker 2: where I literally said, WHOA was what the Colts were
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  Speaker 2: able to do they right now, they do have a
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  Speaker 2: pretty good season. I know that they're coming off of
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  Speaker 2: a loss. They sit three in the Power rankings Sauce Gardner.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a splash move. Two first round picks made
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  Speaker 2: me do a double take here when I was looking
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  Speaker 2: at my inbox.
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  Speaker 3: Here. How much better does Sauce Gardner make the Colts.
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  Speaker 4: Well, they clearly believe he's going to make an impact
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  Speaker 4: because nobody loves their draft picks more than Chris Baller, right,
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  Speaker 4: he has treasured those picks in the pass hasn't been
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  Speaker 4: a deadline dealer. I think Nahim Hines was maybe the
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  Speaker 4: biggest name he's traded at the deadline. So to get
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  Speaker 4: one of the premier corners in this league, even if
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  Speaker 4: he comes with flaws. He's had one interception over the
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  Speaker 4: last three seasons, none this year. You know, you have
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  Speaker 4: to be a little bit scheme specific too, but boy,
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  Speaker 4: I would say a defensive back with something they really needed. Now.
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  Speaker 4: Pass rush has been pretty good. You know, they've been
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  Speaker 4: getting after teams for the most part Sunday. The issue
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  Speaker 4: against the Steelers on the offensive side of the ball.
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  Speaker 4: That side has been more good than bad. Certainly this
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  Speaker 4: season they've been one of the best offense in the league.
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  Speaker 4: But if Sauce fits in and he ends up being
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  Speaker 4: somewhat of a ball hawk, or at least getting his
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  Speaker 4: hands on some of these passes and affecting the way
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  Speaker 4: teams throw at the Colts. It might end up being terrific.
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  Speaker 4: A couple weeks ago I campaign for Baller to make
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  Speaker 4: the big move, but there was ever a year to
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  Speaker 4: do it. This was it that price. We'll find out
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  Speaker 4: later if it's worth it. You know, the question would
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  Speaker 4: be are the Jets going to get a player equal
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  Speaker 4: or better than Sauce with the picks they get Yet
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  Speaker 4: to be determined. But for the Colts, they clearly see
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  Speaker 4: this as a season where they can compete for a
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  Speaker 4: Super Bowl title. Otherwise I don't think you'd make this
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  Speaker 4: kind of move.
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  Speaker 2: Totally agree there, You know, a couple of seasons ago,
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  Speaker 2: I'm thinking of myself, look at these foundational pieces for
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  Speaker 2: Gang Green, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner.
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  Speaker 3: We saw those moments in Hard Knocks with those two guys.
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  Speaker 2: You know, iron sharpens iron was I think the phraser
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  Speaker 2: Robert Sala had used there to me pretty significant. One
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  Speaker 2: other note here on the Cults, I know they're coming
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  Speaker 2: off that loss against the Steelers. We talked in pregame
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  Speaker 2: on Sunday, like Hey, we're worried about this team's defense.
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  Speaker 3: They showed up in a big way with those six turnovers.
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  Speaker 3: Was that a blip on.
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  Speaker 2: The radar what we saw from Indianapolis or costs for concern?
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know, in the two losses, the one to
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  Speaker 4: the Rams and then this one on Sunday, they had
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  Speaker 4: nine turnovers. They only had one in the seven victories.
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  Speaker 4: So you know, were those two games out of character
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  Speaker 4: or is that the kind of performance that tends to
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  Speaker 4: snowball when you have that first turnover, you know, that
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  Speaker 4: strips back from what I think turn the game. The
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  Speaker 4: Colts were kind of controlling the first twenty minutes or so,
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  Speaker 4: and then all of a sudden that just sort of
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  Speaker 4: steamrolled and Jones fell apart. So looked more like the
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  Speaker 4: Giants version of Jones that imploded at times than the
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  Speaker 4: Colts version, which has been pretty darn good. So hard
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  Speaker 4: to say if it's in character or not. But now
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  Speaker 4: we have two performances where you know, Jones has turned
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  Speaker 4: the ball over and both of them just happened to
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  Speaker 4: be losses. So we'll see what ends up happening. But
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  Speaker 4: we know this Colts offense, for the most part, can
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  Speaker 4: do work Sunday may have been a blip on the radar, though.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, this Colts team gets an opportunity to sort
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  Speaker 2: of reset.
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  Speaker 3: Not here in the United States.
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  Speaker 2: You think about these international games, the Colts taking center
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  Speaker 2: stage here heading to Berlin this week in a historic
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: early morning showdown with the Falcons. Sunday Morning Football you
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  Speaker 2: don't want to miss at nine thirty am Eastern only
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  Speaker 2: For NFL Plus, you can visit plus dot NFL dot
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  Speaker 2: com for terms time for Team of the Week and
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: it is presented by Truest. A lot of eyeballs this
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  Speaker 2: past weekend on what the Bills were going to do
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  Speaker 2: against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they delivered. They looked
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  Speaker 2: like the better football team, to the point where at
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  Speaker 2: the end of the game, I'm like, how are the
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  Speaker 2: Chiefs still having an opportunity to make this thing really interesting?
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  Speaker 3: Late?
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  Speaker 2: How significant a win was this from a Buffalo perspective,
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  Speaker 2: because the naysayers will tell you, like, not a big deal,
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  Speaker 2: it's the regular season less wait till January.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's easy to blow it off given
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  Speaker 4: that we've seen the regular season success of the Bills
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  Speaker 4: against the Chiefs completely reversed in the playoffs, so I
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  Speaker 4: think a lot of people are going to naturally associate
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  Speaker 4: with that. But this is also a get right game
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  Speaker 4: for the Bills. I know last week they dominated the Panthers,
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  Speaker 4: a pretty good football team, but still I think it's
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  Speaker 4: important for them to play well against the heavyweights and
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  Speaker 4: show they can flex their offensive muscles. Running for one
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  Speaker 4: hundred yards James Cook. Chiefs had an allowed one in
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  Speaker 4: thirty five games counting the playoffs, So that's a big development.
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  Speaker 4: The tight end Stauston Knox, Jackson Hawes, you know, Dalton King,
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  Speaker 4: we're big producers in this game. They still might lack
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  Speaker 4: that big play threat, but they can threaten the immediate
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  Speaker 4: part of the field. And so that along with what
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  Speaker 4: I thought was the best defensive showing considering the opponent,
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  Speaker 4: Considering the time and place of the Bills season so far.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, Cole Bishop's been under fire. He
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  Speaker 4: had a great game. Joey Bosa had a big sack
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  Speaker 4: to start the fourth quarter. You know Maxwell harriston his
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  Speaker 4: second NFL game, he makes a critical interception and a
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  Speaker 4: knockdown at the end. So look, can they survive not
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  Speaker 4: having at Oliver and Michael Hoyt. Those are two big injuries.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know the answer, but what we saw was
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  Speaker 4: a team capable of winning the Super Bowl on their
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  Speaker 4: best day in the Buffalo Bills.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you there.
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  Speaker 2: And this is a Kansas City Chiefs team that I
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  Speaker 2: think a lot of people started to say, including myself,
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  Speaker 2: and we talked about this on Power Rankings, a team
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  Speaker 2: that was trending in the right direction and looked like
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  Speaker 2: they had an opportunity, yeah, to stay claimed, maybe even
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  Speaker 2: for the number one spot. I would have been curious
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  Speaker 2: to see where you would have slotted case had they
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  Speaker 2: beaten the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which clearly didn't happen. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 2: Detroit Lions, oh boy, dropping six spots here. I didn't
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  Speaker 2: have this one on my Bengo card. If I'm being
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  Speaker 2: totally honest. You match up against J. J. McCarthy, who's
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  Speaker 2: got limited experience, even though we've been talking about him
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  Speaker 2: for two years now. He finally gets healthy, he's out
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  Speaker 2: on the football field, They go and they win this game.
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  Speaker 2: Is this just like one of those years for Detroit
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  Speaker 2: where the build up in our mind because it's been
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  Speaker 2: going like this, this rocket ship that it's these losses
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  Speaker 2: happen to good teams, Like, can I just story it
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  Speaker 2: that way or should I be legitimately concerned?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah? I think do happen? Right? It's a divisional opponent.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously one of the best receivers in football, justin Jefferson,
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  Speaker 4: you know, is no slouch, and McCarthy was the first
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  Speaker 4: round or for a reason, but we hadn't seen him
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  Speaker 4: play great football yet. He had some things going. You know.
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  Speaker 4: One of the things that's really worked well for Detroit
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  Speaker 4: is getting the run game going early and then throwing
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  Speaker 4: off of that. Opponents have picked up on that, and
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  Speaker 4: that's where you see teams really trying to attack Jamiir
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  Speaker 4: Gibbs Montgomery. Don't let those guys get going early. That
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  Speaker 4: was the defensive game plan. A lot of pressure on
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  Speaker 4: Jared Goff. He took hits, and then defensively some misplays
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  Speaker 4: like this, just not being able to contain and keep
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  Speaker 4: an agile quarterback in the pocket. So, you know, I
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  Speaker 4: see some defensive issues, but I also see some offensive ones.
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  Speaker 4: Just the protection of GoF alone is a big, big
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  Speaker 4: concern right now. And yeah, they can still hit the
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  Speaker 4: big place to Jamison Williams. But they're better when they're
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  Speaker 4: running more consistently and getting those short and medium games,
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  Speaker 4: so they're not finding themselves in the third and long
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  Speaker 4: and having to throw the ball vertically every single time.
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  Speaker 4: So there's been a little bit of a pushback from
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  Speaker 4: teams and trying in terms of disrupting their offensive formula.
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  Speaker 4: And look, I know we talk a lot about the
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  Speaker 4: Detroit defense, but the interior of that Detroit offensive line
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  Speaker 4: really worries me a little bit. And I wonder if
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  Speaker 4: they're not trying to upgrade their football team down the
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  Speaker 4: stretch if they can't.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we've gone through and we showed everyone the
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  Speaker 2: top eight teams. You and I did the show last year.
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  Speaker 2: You've been doing these power rankings for a minute here.
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  Speaker 2: I don't remember it being like this last season, where
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  Speaker 2: every week there's a real shuffle of teams, not only
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  Speaker 2: from what we saw in the preseason, but like week
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  Speaker 2: to week we got multiple number one teams, we got
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  Speaker 2: some other teams that were sitting at the top and
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  Speaker 2: all of a sudden dropping it is. It's creating some
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: drama on the show. And by the way, here for
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  Speaker 2: it speaking of at least my team. That was the
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  Speaker 2: preseason number one in my head, and it was not
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: looking good for a while. That's the Baltimore Ravens feels
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  Speaker 2: like it might be going in the right direction. Where
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  Speaker 2: does Eric have them in his rankings? The answers coming
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  Speaker 2: up next?
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  Speaker 4: Oh my goodness, he's done with a canker Baker makefield
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  Speaker 4: night went on.
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  Speaker 3: The absolute too of his efforts.
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  Speaker 4: He's touchdown, Holy smoked.
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  Speaker 2: They cannot bring him down.
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  Speaker 4: You look at this one.
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  Speaker 3: Oh my goodness. Halfway point of the season.
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  Speaker 2: We're already thinking about these mid season awards and who
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  Speaker 2: could reign supreme.
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  Speaker 3: By the end of the season.
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  Speaker 2: I think generally speaking, Eric, your awards track with most people,
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  Speaker 2: with Jonathan Taylor, Miles, Garrett Jackson, Dart of course for
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: offensive hookie years, says the Giants fan on the show,
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  Speaker 2: shanees Hike, and also coaching the year. That makes sense.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford, I kind of paused for just a moment.
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  Speaker 2: Sell me on the Rams quarterback being your MVP.
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know, there may be some sentiment to go
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: away from the usual suspects. You know, obviously Lamar Jackson
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  Speaker 4: has been injured. Mahomes and Allen have had their ups
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  Speaker 4: and downs, mostly good but some bad. And I just thought,
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  Speaker 4: let's reward the guy who Look, maybe this is his
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  Speaker 4: final season and he's got a twenty one to two
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  Speaker 4: td'd interception ratio right now, that's not bad. When you
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: have a first place team or a team very very
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: close to the top of the rankings, there, you're gonna
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  Speaker 4: get some attention. They have a tough schedule down the stretch,
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  Speaker 4: no doubt, but with the Kua and Adams and those
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: tight ends and all the weapons and Sean McVay at
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  Speaker 4: his disposal, I think he's got a great chance to
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  Speaker 4: have one of his best statistical seasons ever. So, you know,
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  Speaker 4: was he a little bit of a longer shot maybe,
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  Speaker 4: but you know, I think he's right in the mix
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  Speaker 4: at this point.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I like to pick just from this sense too.
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  Speaker 2: You think about this division probably the best in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: I think at least I would make that argument. So
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  Speaker 2: I like where your head's at. You don't have to
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  Speaker 2: go chalk all the time. Let's get to the rest
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  Speaker 2: of your rankings. Eric Teams nine through sixteen. The Broncos,
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  Speaker 2: My god, they are a really good football team sitting
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  Speaker 2: at nine.
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  Speaker 3: I think by the end of the season we're talking
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  Speaker 3: about them. It's the top five squad.
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  Speaker 2: The Green Bay Packers at ten, and the Patriots at eleven.
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  Speaker 3: San Francisco moves up a spot to twelve.
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  Speaker 2: The Steelers, to get a nice win against the Colts,
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  Speaker 2: only move up one spot though, sitting at thirteen.
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  Speaker 3: It's the Chargers at fourteen.
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  Speaker 2: The Jags, who just got Jakobe Myers ahead of this
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  Speaker 2: trade deadline, from the Raiders at fifteen, and it is
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: the Baltimore Ravens, who we'll talk about.
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  Speaker 3: In just a moment at sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: The Packers biggest drop, well tied for the biggest drop
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  Speaker 2: that we've seen in this rankings. They move four spots.
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  Speaker 2: Excuse me, dropped six spots. Yeah, I could do the
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  Speaker 2: math carry the one. They dropped six spots here. I'm
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  Speaker 2: actually worried about this team, and hear me out here.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're really good, but it's I feel like
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  Speaker 2: they're sometimes playing sometimes down to the competition. They have
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  Speaker 2: these moments in games where like this is not supposed
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  Speaker 2: to happen to this team.
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  Speaker 3: What am I missing here?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it seems like they kind of toy around with
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  Speaker 4: teams a little bit, and then they've been able to
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  Speaker 4: take over some games late, but not every single time.
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  Speaker 4: And to me, that lost Sunday in which they had
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  Speaker 4: so many empty drives and had trouble at time stopping
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  Speaker 4: Rico Daddle. In the Panthers offense not very not terribly,
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  Speaker 4: but still just enough to worry you. Lack of a
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  Speaker 4: consistent run game. It's been decent in spots, but really
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  Speaker 4: not all that great. That and the loss of Tucker
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: Kraft you see him going down right there, major injury
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: this season. Really had been their most efficient, most dangerous
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: pass catcher. I know Christian Watson's back, I know they
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: have high hopes for Matthew Golden, but he adds a
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: different dimension of this offense and he bails them out
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: of a lot of tough spots. So that one really
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: really worries me. And you can't have Jordan Love throwing
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: up interceptions to the other team. And also a questionable
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: decision by Matt Laflorida go for it on fourth and
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: eight from the thirteen with eleven minutes left. Down a touchdown,
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: you know they lose by a field goal. He didn't
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: kick the field goal. So that all adds up to
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: an upset and like you said, bad game and bad
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: result because of the Tucker Craft injury that you know,
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: may change their season dramatically.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I do like Luke musk Ray, by the way,
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: who's on this roster at the tight end spot. I'm
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: not saying that he can completely fill that void of
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Tucker Craft. Our colleague Steve Whitch says he's the best
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: tight ends in the NFL. So that's obviously a huge loss.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: You know, they got a ginormous game Monday Night football.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: They will face the Philadelphia Eagles. Something tells me maybe
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: they just the way the season's gone on.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: Philly is a really good team.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: Maybe they just play up to him and try to
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: make a mark here on Monday Night the forty nine ers,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: they will move up one spot in the rankings.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: They sit twelve here. You know what's kind of crazy
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: to me.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: I've been back and forth and mostly off the mac Jones, like, hey,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: this is Brock's job. He's generally speaking, done a pretty
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: nice job here. Christian McCaffrey's accomplished. Like I still think
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: we're talking, you know, I haa Jonathan Taylor Offensive Player
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: of the Year.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: I think by the end of the season seem he's
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: going to be in that mix too.
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, McCaffrey's been absolutely terrific and you know
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: you've seen his his game really kind of helped fuel
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: this offense. But the mac Jones discussion is interesting. You
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: heard Kyle Shanahan say the other day he didn't think
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: brock Perty's tow would get any better throughout the course
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: of the season. Well, I guess the question is, you know,
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: why hasn't he started? Do they like mac Jones better?
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: I mean things have kind of run pretty efficiently, and
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: I'm not saying Jones is definitely the better quarterback, but
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: we know how Kyle's been in the past. You know,
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: he has he gets somebody else in there, likes what
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: he sees and ends up kind of changing course a
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: little bit. So we'll see big picture, we don't know
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: the answer, but right now, there's still a tough team.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Last week you heard Kyle kind of complain about his
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: team getting kicked around a little. This week they did
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: the kicking. They were more efficient and more i would
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: say dominant in the trenches. You saw them run the
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: football against the Giants defense trouble stopping it lately, So
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: you know, once they start getting some of these guys back,
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: maybe they're even more prolific, even though we don't really
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: have a lot of clarity on the injury front with them,
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: and they keep suffering big ones like Mike Keil Williams
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: out for the year, So I'm bivolent about him. I
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: love their their their potential, and their schedules very friendly,
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: but still kind of holding back just a little bit
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: on them.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: You know what worries me here if brock Perty, let's say,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: maybe he doesn't play this week obviously against the Rams.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: What my understanding is like the turf till obviously is
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: very painful, and if it gets worse, there's the potential
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: for surgery.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: So they're being really cautious with him.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but at what point, like in the season, if
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: he comes back, like there's a Russ factor that's evolved,
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: you know, like they're staying afloat here and Max playing well.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Chris McCaffrey got like about I think just a smidge
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: over fifty percent. It was part of basically fifty percent
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: of their offense against the Giants.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: I just kind of keep that in mind. I think
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: that's going to be.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: One of the more interesting storylines that we'll be tracking
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: here on power rankings.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: The Steelers at thirteen.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I do want to focus attention here because there is
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: real concern about this team's defense, allocating more cash than
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: any other team to that unit in the NFL, and
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: they have really underachieved.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: They come up huge against the Colts.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Do we say, you know what, let's pump the brakes
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: on the talk about the Ravens, which we will talk
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: about in just a moment here, this is still the
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: Steelers division to win here.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: Well, they saw the Ravens win Thursday, they knew how
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: important this game was. A dangerous, high flying Colts offense
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: comes into town, and they really did hold him in check.
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: You know, early on kind of took a little time
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: to get their feet underneath them, but who else TJ
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: Watt after a disappointing season, came through with a big turnover,
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: and you saw the same kind of production we've seen
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: recently from the offense, which has been good, not great,
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: but good. And so I think it was really that,
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: like you said, the defensive footprint they put on this
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: game after some bad outings, some outings in which really
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: made me question the credentials of this team on that
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: side of the ball, despite all the money and all
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: the salaries they have on some really good football players,
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: they looked more cohesive. The rush was there. You know.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: They got some contributions like Peyton Willis and Jack Sawyer.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: Those are important too, and the stars stepped up as well.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: So a big performance, but still only one game. You
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: still want to see a little bit a bigger body
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: of work.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I want to stick with this division right now, time
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: for future champions and it is presented by FanDuel. Let's
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: stick a closer look at the odds to win this
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: AFC North's division.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: You got the.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Ravens right now, Yes, the Ravens who are the favorite
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: according to FanDuel at minus one forty plus one forty,
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: it's the Steelers, the Bengals sitting at plus seventeen hundred
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: and at plus six thousand, the Cleveland Browns.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: This is a Ravens team.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: There are all of a sudden, they're three and five,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: starting to get healthy. Can I make the claim that
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: they're going to win this division because I did it
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: two weeks ago. I still think they got a great
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: opportunity here and now there's signs of life of this
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: team's offense, and they're getting healthier on the defensive side too.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: That went over Chicago with the backup quarterback was so important, right,
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: If they don't get that, they're one and six, they're
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: in big trouble, I think. But to get that and
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: then to come back Thursday with Lamar's return, try return
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: looking good, especially in the second half, to me, that
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: just completely changes the trajectory of the season. So, you know,
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: so important to see Lamar being able to move around
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: make plays. B Lamar be the same guy we've gotten
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: to know over the last eight years. But still, you know,
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: the defense has really made strides too, if you can
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: imagine them making continue to make incremental improvements on that side.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Special teams have been a net positive this year after
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: a couple of shaky seasons on that side of the ball.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: So the formal is there.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: We knew it.
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: They were a favorite to start the season for a reason.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Things didn't go according to plan. But that play may
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: be re emerging now in a different form. And yeah again,
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: I mean I like the Steelers. I think they've played
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: really good football for the most part this year. But
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: the Ravens are dangerous and I just think they can
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: hit a different volume notch than what Pittsburgh has shown
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: to this point. I'm not saying they're guaranteed, but like you,
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: I'm kind of training in that direction.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm looking at some of these percentages here and
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: an opportunity to make the postseason when you're sitting, you know,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: at two and six not favorable in fact, just one
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: point four percent of those teams that have gotten there.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: Once again, that was.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: A critical win that they scored the other week against Chicago.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Now they got an opportunity to make this surge and
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: they still have games remitting, obviously against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: who we just talked about.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: This is a Vikings team that we do need to discuss.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Because JJ McCarthy is out on the football field getting
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: one of the best wins of the weekend. I know
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: we talked about some of the concerns we have against
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the Lions. Let's go positive here on the Vikings. Where
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: do they sit on the power rankings? The answer to
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: that is covered up next. Hey back here on power rankings,
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: it's team seventeen through twenty four, the Chicago Bears, Sydney
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: neutral at seventeen, the Houston Texans, they fall a couple
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: spots to eighteen Carolina.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: We're gonna love them up in just a moment here.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: The Vikings also moving up three spots to twenty The Falcons,
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: who will see in Berlin against the Colts at twenty one.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: The Arizona Cardinals. How about Kobe Prisett. I actually think
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: there's a conversation about who should be playing quarterback moving forward?
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: The Dallas Cowboys at twenty three and the Commanders. No
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Jaden Daniels that dissipated elbow falling six spots. That is
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: not good to twenty four The Panthers. Can we just
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: sit back and just go you know what, this team
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: deserves credit because when they start fighting and you know
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: they're winning some close games, they're losing some close games,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: they're like, all right, Like it's just the Panthers. This
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: is significant. Like you could look at what they did
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: against the Packers Eric and in my mind say this
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: is the turning point of like maybe even this franchise
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: moiling forward.
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I think this has been a fascinating season. We've
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: really seen Dave Kanaalis show his ability as a head coach.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: They've suffered a couple of big losses, Bills and Patriots
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: took care of him. They've also inflicted some big wins too,
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: with the thirty nothing shut out over the Falcons. It's
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: been hard to figure out what this team is, but
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: game to game, week to week, they come up with
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: a game plan that you know is usually the right
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: plan of attack, and it certainly was Sunday, featuring the game,
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: the ground game against the Packers, slowing down that pass
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: rush and making life easier for Bryce Young. So five
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: and four good for them. I mean, look, this thing
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: a year ago looked at this point looked very far
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: from a turnaround. So they're getting closer with each game.
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: Rico Daddle, let's flex man.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, this dude has been oh absolute monster, especially
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: for fantasy owners as well. The Vikings. They move up
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: three spots here did JJ McCarthy. I'm gonna maybe this
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: is overstating it. Is this too dramatic? He saved their season?
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: He certainly it was a big game for him, right, Mike.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: I mean the fact that he had missed more time
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: than expected, had been out with injury, had to come
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: back with or pass protection that a lot of people,
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: including myself, were wondering, is it a good idea to
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: bring him back, right, I mean, trusting your protection. But
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: he did great work outside the pocket, getting away from
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: the rush, throwing on the run, back against his body,
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: making plays. It wasn't perfect. They didn't trust him to
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: throw the ball all the time, but to me, Kevin
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: O'Connell asking him to make that late third down throw
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: to jail and Naylor was very important too. I trust
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: my quarterback, That's what that play call said to me.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: And he made some big throws and the defense, Brian
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: Flores I thought, had a big game too when their
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: unit was questioned. So huge game for the Vikings. Absolutely
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: put them back on the right track, even if they
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: got a lot of work to do.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: The rest of the rankings twenty five through thirty two,
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati sending me at twenty five.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: They just traded Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys. Keep
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: that in mind.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: The Giants at twenty six, the Raiders at twenty seven,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Jakobe Myers on his way to Jacksonville, the Cleveland Browns
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: at twenty eighth, the Miami Dolphins at twenty nine, the
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Jets trading away Sauce Gardener.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: We talked about that a little bit.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Earlier at thirty, and then rounding it out the Saints
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: and the Titans.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Eric, you're the best.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: It's been busy for you.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: For complete update on all the trades, just check out
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: NFL dot com.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:52
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• 24:55
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