Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #10: Are the Ravens the best team in football?
Transcript
- 0:04Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 0:07Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
- 0:09Speaker 2: It's another week. It's the half waypoint of the season,
- 0:13Speaker 2: if you will, which I know is kind of weird
- 0:15Speaker 2: because it's like eighteen weeks and everyone places in metagames
- 0:17Speaker 2: at this point. Well, we're gonna call it the halfway
- 0:19Speaker 2: point of the season, and we welcome you to another
- 0:22Speaker 2: edition of the NFL Power Ranking Show, presented to you
- 0:25Speaker 2: by Energizer. I thought about Eric at home doing mid
- 0:29Speaker 2: season awards. I don't know that seems cliche. Can we
- 0:33Speaker 2: just give you a trophy for doing the lord's work
- 0:35Speaker 2: and taking the slings and arrows from everyone on social
- 0:37Speaker 2: media and putting these rankings together every week.
- 0:41Speaker 3: It comes with the territory. I can accept that award
- 0:45Speaker 3: from you. I'm fine with that, all right.
- 0:47Speaker 2: A laurel and a hearty handshake to you. Scan the
- 0:50Speaker 2: QR code on the screen right now, go to NFL
- 0:53Speaker 2: dot com, and when you do, you will see the
- 0:56Speaker 2: brand new Power Rankings rankings that have the Philadelphia Eagles
- 1:00Speaker 2: yet again. No big change here. They beat the Cowboys
- 1:03Speaker 2: Dallas and game situational Football bad. Philadelphia is still number one.
- 1:08Speaker 2: The Ravens are number two. Then the Chiefs are moving up,
- 1:11Speaker 2: the Jaguar are moving up, the Lions are movement up,
- 1:16Speaker 2: The Dolphins, who haven't beaten anyone any good, are moving down,
- 1:20Speaker 2: followed by the Niners off a bye, and the Cowboys,
- 1:24Speaker 2: who now face Tommy DeVito. Philadelphia fought and scratched and
- 1:30Speaker 2: clawed with a banged up quarterback, and even though Dallas
- 1:34Speaker 2: got to the six yard line, the Eagles hang on.
- 1:37Speaker 2: The Eagles win. The Eagles are still your number one team, Eric.
- 1:42Speaker 3: They have a great path to the number one seed
- 1:44Speaker 3: at this point. Obviously was a big one Sunday, no
- 1:47Speaker 3: doubt about it. Did they have to hang on for
- 1:49Speaker 3: dear life? Absolutely? Did the Cowboys outplay them for stretches
- 1:53Speaker 3: of this game, Yes, but as you pointed out, Jalen
- 1:56Speaker 3: Hurts banged up, led four big TV drives in the pocket,
- 2:00Speaker 3: making plays downfield, really attacked and I thought did a
- 2:03Speaker 3: great job of that. You know, this buy comes at
- 2:06Speaker 3: a good time. They lose Goddard, Hurtz gets a little
- 2:08Speaker 3: time to rest up. Maybe they can find some answers
- 2:10Speaker 3: in that. Secondary did consider flipping them down at number two,
- 2:14Speaker 3: but ultimately kept them because of the large nature of
- 2:17Speaker 3: that victory and the importance of it had to stick
- 2:20Speaker 3: with them at number one. They did finish it off.
- 2:22Speaker 3: They have a skill for finishing off games that can't
- 2:24Speaker 3: be overlooked.
- 2:25Speaker 2: I don't think Andrew no, because they have that skill
- 2:27Speaker 2: and the Cowboys do not. They don't get to Dallas
- 2:29Speaker 2: a little bit later. But this is what the Cowboys lack.
- 2:31Speaker 2: It's what Nick Sirianni and the Eagles have. They fought
- 2:34Speaker 2: through the injury to the quarterback, to the injury to
- 2:37Speaker 2: Dallas Godder, they fought through the banged up secondary. Those
- 2:40Speaker 2: guys were dropping like flies, and they hung on and
- 2:43Speaker 2: they won. And their next five after the bye are brutal.
- 2:48Speaker 2: They get five games against teams that you could argue
- 2:50Speaker 2: eric are worthy of being in conference championship games. And
- 2:54Speaker 2: maybe somebody takes over at number one. Maybe it is
- 2:57Speaker 2: the Lions. Their schedule looks better. But until somebody can
- 3:00Speaker 2: beat the Eagles other than the Jets, they're number one.
- 3:05Speaker 3: Yeah, we got to keep them in that spot. Right,
- 3:06Speaker 3: things may change, right they, like you said, they play
- 3:09Speaker 3: Kansas City. Maybe the Bills find a way to come
- 3:11Speaker 3: back in the game after that. San Francisco is still
- 3:14Speaker 3: left on the schedule. They have plenty to play for
- 3:16Speaker 3: after last year. So yeah, but for now, I think
- 3:19Speaker 3: you have to keep them in that top spot by
- 3:21Speaker 3: virtue of the record and by virtue of the fact
- 3:23Speaker 3: that you know they when it comes time to finish
- 3:26Speaker 3: off games, they have a unique skill and a knowledge
- 3:28Speaker 3: of how to do so.
- 3:29Speaker 2: They have a very particular set of skills. All Right.
- 3:33Speaker 2: The show would be boring, however, without a little bit
- 3:35Speaker 2: of conflict and disagreement. So may I offer you our
- 3:38Speaker 2: team of the week, which is presented by Truest, And
- 3:41Speaker 2: may I offer you the Baltimore Ravens, And may I
- 3:44Speaker 2: offer you this Eric, they're the best team in football
- 3:49Speaker 2: after they once again dismantled somebody that we thought was
- 3:54Speaker 2: good at home and once again somebody from the NFC,
- 3:57Speaker 2: first the Lions, now the Seahawks, whom the Ravens held
- 4:03Speaker 2: to six count them six first downs.
- 4:08Speaker 3: Pretty impressive stuff. Incredible really, how their defense is really matured.
- 4:12Speaker 3: You know, a little bit of a step back in Arizona.
- 4:14Speaker 3: Not a terrible game out there. The score looked a
- 4:16Speaker 3: little closer the week before. But those two victories that
- 4:19Speaker 3: you mentioned over you know, top tier teams. Really. I
- 4:22Speaker 3: think those were the statement games that shows you they're
- 4:25Speaker 3: better than the team that lost it at home to
- 4:28Speaker 3: Gardner Minshew and the Colts. They're better than the team
- 4:31Speaker 3: that gave away a game against the Steelers. So I
- 4:34Speaker 3: think this is an extremely dangerous team if they had
- 4:36Speaker 3: just a little bit of a better body of work
- 4:38Speaker 3: in terms of the earlier season losses. I was going
- 4:40Speaker 3: to put them at number one. Couldn't quite pull the trigger.
- 4:43Speaker 3: But are they, you know, in the running Absolutely? I
- 4:45Speaker 3: think next week, you know, we wouldn't be shocking to
- 4:47Speaker 3: see them in that spot. This is a team that
- 4:49Speaker 3: I think the other thirty one teams rightfully are scared
- 4:53Speaker 3: of the matchup problems they present and that virgeoning defense.
- 4:56Speaker 3: And they found Keaton Mitchell on Sunday too, another playmaker
- 4:59Speaker 3: to add to a team that has quite a few
- 5:01Speaker 3: of them.
- 5:02Speaker 2: Undrafted rookie running back out of East Carolina and son
- 5:06Speaker 2: of Ravens Super Bowl champion the dB from that old
- 5:09Speaker 2: two thousand team, Anthony Mitchell. So cool story and a
- 5:13Speaker 2: big test now for the Ravens coming up on Sunday.
- 5:16Speaker 2: It's Round two against the Browns. When last they met,
- 5:19Speaker 2: it was in Cleveland. It was the game where Deshaun
- 5:21Speaker 2: Watson thought he could go and they couldn't go, and
- 5:23Speaker 2: then dtr had to start and it was ugly and
- 5:27Speaker 2: the Ravens won in a laugh. For it was also
- 5:29Speaker 2: the first game in which the Browns defense looked beatable
- 5:33Speaker 2: and looked human, and there was about a quarter and
- 5:35Speaker 2: a half there where the Ravens gashed them. This one
- 5:39Speaker 2: will be interesting because Deshaun is back. They looked a
- 5:42Speaker 2: lot better this week. We'll show where the Browns are
- 5:45Speaker 2: on the countdown coming up in a little bit. But
- 5:48Speaker 2: this is round two in the AFC North. And if
- 5:50Speaker 2: the playoffs were to start today, woof, I'm glad they don't.
- 5:53Speaker 2: I would have missed Christmas in New Year's But if
- 5:55Speaker 2: they were to start today, all four teams from the
- 5:58Speaker 2: AFC North would be in, which is Bonkers Chiefs would
- 6:02Speaker 2: be in as winners of the the AFC West. They
- 6:06Speaker 2: went to Germany. Now they get a buye. They beat
- 6:09Speaker 2: the Dolphins, held on for dear life after getting up
- 6:12Speaker 2: to the twenty one to nothing lead at halftime. But
- 6:16Speaker 2: this defense is good enough. Eric where they will be
- 6:20Speaker 2: I think in the conversation for number one in a
- 6:23Speaker 2: few weeks.
- 6:25Speaker 3: I agree, yeah, and I started thinking about a little
- 6:27Speaker 3: bit historically too. You know what Steve Spagnolo has done
- 6:30Speaker 3: with this group, and it's really been since Opening night.
- 6:32Speaker 3: You know, they only allowed to let the Lions two
- 6:34Speaker 3: offensive or you know, thirteen off twelve of our fourteen
- 6:37Speaker 3: offensive points in that game. Ever since then, they've been
- 6:40Speaker 3: tremendous on that side of the ball. Played a huge
- 6:42Speaker 3: role in the win over Miami. Got old friend Tyreek
- 6:45Speaker 3: Hill de fumble, the big play, the turning point before
- 6:48Speaker 3: halftime that was the winning margin, right, And I argue,
- 6:51Speaker 3: this might be the best defense we've seen in the
- 6:54Speaker 3: Reed Mahomespagnolo era. And you know that's exactly what they
- 6:58Speaker 3: read and need right now, when Travis Kelsey has held
- 7:00Speaker 3: to his lowest yardage total in five years, when Patrick
- 7:04Speaker 3: Holmes is having to drag these guys down the field,
- 7:07Speaker 3: when receivers look more like number threes the number twos
- 7:10Speaker 3: and number ones, and you know, Kitts seem to get
- 7:14Speaker 3: that separation that we're used to seeing them again. But
- 7:17Speaker 3: you know, right now, the defense is kind of carrying
- 7:19Speaker 3: a I don't say outsize load, but a bigger part
- 7:21Speaker 3: of the load than I think we've seen them carry
- 7:23Speaker 3: in Kansas City for a while.
- 7:25Speaker 2: Yes, Spags dialed it up. Spags former coach of the
- 7:28Speaker 2: Frankfurt Galaxy. Back with the Chiefs in the building there
- 7:34Speaker 2: in Frankfurt. Life kind of comes full circle. But back
- 7:37Speaker 2: as a Super Bowl champion. I thought it was kind
- 7:40Speaker 2: of cool. I got a little ahead of myself. The
- 7:41Speaker 2: Chiefs and the Jaguars would both be in as division leaders,
- 7:45Speaker 2: the Chiefs in the West, the Jaguars in the South.
- 7:49Speaker 2: I don't know that we've talked enough about this game
- 7:51Speaker 2: this week as you and I sit here and taping
- 7:53Speaker 2: this early in the week, But by the time we
- 7:55Speaker 2: get to Sunday, we'll be talking about the Jaguars and
- 7:58Speaker 2: the forty nine Ers. Jacksonville has won five consecutive games.
- 8:03Speaker 2: I think people are overlooking how big it was for
- 8:06Speaker 2: them to go into Pittsburgh and punch the Steelers in
- 8:09Speaker 2: the mouth a week ago. You have them as your
- 8:13Speaker 2: number four team, Eric, which is different than just a
- 8:16Speaker 2: good team at a bad division. You're talking championship level here.
- 8:21Speaker 3: Right, And I kept saying, boy, am I sure about this?
- 8:24Speaker 3: Am I ready to put them at number four for
- 8:27Speaker 3: further until further notice? They're at this point the defense
- 8:31Speaker 3: has taking the ball away. You know, they've had five
- 8:34Speaker 3: wins in five stadiums, so they're kind of this intrepid
- 8:36Speaker 3: bunch right now. And you know, going into different countries
- 8:40Speaker 3: and in short weeks and dealing with injuries and so
- 8:43Speaker 3: they've really had a lot on their plates and starting
- 8:45Speaker 3: out one and two, and we've seen growth in Trevor Lawrence.
- 8:49Speaker 3: I don't think Calvin Ridley has hit his full ceiling yet.
- 8:51Speaker 3: You know, they're still kind of geling up front of
- 8:54Speaker 3: the offensive line, but Travis CTN has been terrific. They
- 8:57Speaker 3: have a group that can make this whole thing work offensively.
- 9:00Speaker 3: So yeah, the multiplicity they offer, I mean, I still
- 9:03Speaker 3: think we're gonna get more to Treyvon Walker in the
- 9:05Speaker 3: second half of the season. This is about when he
- 9:07Speaker 3: started to play better last year. So there's upward mobility
- 9:11Speaker 3: with this team. There's really unfulfilled potential and yet you know,
- 9:15Speaker 3: we still want to see them improve it against the
- 9:17Speaker 3: top teams like the forty nine ers this weekend and
- 9:20Speaker 3: it is a big one them coming off of bye
- 9:22Speaker 3: and pretty angry after three losses.
- 9:24Speaker 2: Yeah, what kind of forty nine or team are we
- 9:26Speaker 2: going to get this week. They ad Chase Young. Brock
- 9:28Speaker 2: Purty still very much the quarterback. Kyle says, no way,
- 9:31Speaker 2: We're not going to bench Brock party. But they have
- 9:32Speaker 2: lost three games in a row. When last week saw them,
- 9:35Speaker 2: they were losing to the Bengals and Nick Bosa was
- 9:37Speaker 2: hugging Joey Burrow or joe Burrow, Joey whatever after the game.
- 9:41Speaker 2: It's a great game, man. You just kind of bleeped
- 9:44Speaker 2: up our bye week. So what do the Niners look like?
- 9:46Speaker 2: That game is in Jacksonville, you know, yep, a little
- 9:50Speaker 2: bit different. Not the kind of game we're used to
- 9:53Speaker 2: on a Sunday Niners Jaguars in Jacksonville. The Lions are five.
- 9:57Speaker 2: They are up to Lions here well rested to face
- 10:01Speaker 2: the Chargers on Sunday. The Dolphins are down three to
- 10:05Speaker 2: They are on a buye. They still haven't beaten anyone.
- 10:08Speaker 2: The Niners hold firm through thereby at seven, and then
- 10:12Speaker 2: we get the Dallas Cowboys. I don't want to say
- 10:15Speaker 2: anything as a gimme, but they're gonna win. They're gonna
- 10:17Speaker 2: beat Tommy DeVito and the Giants this week. They're gonna
- 10:19Speaker 2: make it twelve in a row at home at AT and
- 10:21Speaker 2: T Stadium, but you drop them only two after once
- 10:26Speaker 2: again going back to our conversation about that game in Philadelphia,
- 10:30Speaker 2: approving yep, that they are going to mismanage end of
- 10:34Speaker 2: game situations. Why do you think the Cowboys are still
- 10:38Speaker 2: worthy of the A bloc on this show, Eric.
- 10:42Speaker 3: Yeah, I still think they have some heavyweight power. Obviously,
- 10:45Speaker 3: we've seen them beat up on, you know, teams run
- 10:48Speaker 3: by Tommy DeVito and whatnot. I mean the lower rung teams.
- 10:50Speaker 3: They've taken care of, cleaned the clocks of a lot
- 10:53Speaker 3: out of those clubs. Did have the Arizona Hiccup early
- 10:56Speaker 3: in the season. But on the flip side, they played
- 10:58Speaker 3: pretty well against the Chargers in a Sunday night game
- 11:01Speaker 3: when you know, the game sort of was cheetering back
- 11:04Speaker 3: and forth a little bit. They were the more composed team.
- 11:06Speaker 3: I don't know what that says. The Chargers have certainly
- 11:08Speaker 3: shown moments of, you know, less than spectacular execution, but
- 11:12Speaker 3: still I'm willing to give this team a pass. Now.
- 11:15Speaker 3: Granted you can write it off and say, oh, it's
- 11:17Speaker 3: just a yard here, half a foot here, you know,
- 11:21Speaker 3: three fumbles. Somehow we didn't come up with one of them, right,
- 11:24Speaker 3: But is this a chronic issue? That's what you have
- 11:27Speaker 3: to ask. And you know, the other factor, like we
- 11:29Speaker 3: talk about with the Dolphins all the time, I want
- 11:31Speaker 3: to see them beat a truly good team, right, not
- 11:34Speaker 3: just a Chargers level team, but somebody in that a
- 11:37Speaker 3: bloc level like you said, we mean I fight it
- 11:40Speaker 3: out for a couple of weeks. Giants, Panthers, you know,
- 11:42Speaker 3: they have some some easier games before we get to
- 11:44Speaker 3: the meet of the schedule.
- 11:45Speaker 2: Again, they really don't have a big challenge until after
- 11:49Speaker 2: Thanksgiving when no, that is Thanksgiving. No, that's after Thanksgiving, Thursday,
- 11:54Speaker 2: November thirtieth y after Thanksgiving, and that's a Thursday against Seattle.
- 12:00Speaker 2: The Commanders on Thanksgiving is a test? How much of
- 12:04Speaker 2: a test? I'm not sure. I don't know if RG
- 12:07Speaker 2: three is walking in that door for that, you know,
- 12:11Speaker 2: classic Thanksgiving moment from over a decade ago. But sure
- 12:16Speaker 2: that's a test. But the next ones not really the
- 12:19Speaker 2: Giants in the Carolina Panthers, their next two games weeks
- 12:22Speaker 2: ten and eleven have combined for only three victories and
- 12:25Speaker 2: Daniel Jones is out for the year, and it's gonna
- 12:29Speaker 2: be Tommy DeVito and Matt Barkley and Jacob Eason as
- 12:34Speaker 2: the three quarterbacks that Brian Dayball gets to close his
- 12:39Speaker 2: eyes and shoes from that game Sunday Sunday Sunday at
- 12:44Speaker 2: at and T Stadium. All right, guys, we're just getting rolling.
- 12:48Speaker 2: H we having fun yet we are okay? Top eight done?
- 12:53Speaker 2: Where are the Bengals? Where are the Browns? Where are
- 12:58Speaker 2: the Houston Texans? With MVPCJ Stroud that's next. It is
- 13:05Speaker 2: your midway point of the season. This is your NFL
- 13:08Speaker 2: Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer. The Bengals and the
- 13:11Speaker 2: Browns are nine to ten, rounding out Eric at Holmes
- 13:15Speaker 2: Top ten and Top thirty two available right now on
- 13:18Speaker 2: NFL dot Com. And then the Bills and the Seahawks
- 13:21Speaker 2: both down two, The Saints, the Steelers, the Texans all
- 13:25Speaker 2: up one, and the Chargers, after winning in New York
- 13:28Speaker 2: on a Monday night, are up two to number sixteen.
- 13:33Speaker 2: The team at nine is making power Moves, the Bengals
- 13:37Speaker 2: and their Power Moves, presented by Energizer Eric at Home.
- 13:42Speaker 2: They have won four in a row. They handled the
- 13:44Speaker 2: Bills on Sunday night and since week eleven. He checks
- 13:48Speaker 2: his notes or since Week five, they are up eleven,
- 13:51Speaker 2: which is as much as any team has moved. They
- 13:55Speaker 2: look like the team we thought they would be Midsummer.
- 14:00Speaker 3: Let the record show I wasn't gonna ever break them
- 14:02Speaker 3: out of the top twenty. They needed one more loss, right,
- 14:05Speaker 3: I saw other people around the power rankings universe sort
- 14:08Speaker 3: of lose faith. Not me. Right, he got to keep
- 14:10Speaker 3: in the top twenty. So I felt like at some
- 14:12Speaker 3: point this run would come. I didn't know would come
- 14:15Speaker 3: this quickly, and you know, flourish this fast and this
- 14:18Speaker 3: well against good teams. I mean, right now you can
- 14:21Speaker 3: argue the Bills are in a little bit of a
- 14:22Speaker 3: tail spin. But still they had their number and they
- 14:26Speaker 3: controlled the game and played from ahead. I mean they
- 14:28Speaker 3: played in a position of power. I felt like in
- 14:31Speaker 3: that game. And you know, it's been impressive to see
- 14:33Speaker 3: Joe Burrow do his thing, of course, but we're kind
- 14:35Speaker 3: of used to that. The defense rebounding, I think from
- 14:39Speaker 3: a tough start to the season was a big development.
- 14:41Speaker 3: And then t Higgins, you know, he'd been kind of
- 14:43Speaker 3: lost in the weeds I think for a couple of weeks.
- 14:45Speaker 3: To see him, especially with Jamar Chase, have a tough
- 14:49Speaker 3: game dealing with a back injury. Higgins steps up. That's
- 14:52Speaker 3: what makes him so dangerous, those twin weapons on the outside.
- 14:55Speaker 3: They got the tight ends involved to Andrew. This is
- 14:58Speaker 3: an exciting development for a team that's kind of ignored
- 15:00Speaker 3: that position from time to time.
- 15:03Speaker 2: And they gave up the touchdown of the opening drive
- 15:05Speaker 2: to Josh Allen the lu and Romo's defense clamp down
- 15:08Speaker 2: and they won that game. Yeah, there were a couple
- 15:10Speaker 2: of times where the Bills got across midfield and came
- 15:12Speaker 2: up with nothing, the drives stalled where they gave it away.
- 15:16Speaker 2: But give Lou credit again. The Bengals keep on winning
- 15:20Speaker 2: and now they get the Texans get to them at
- 15:22Speaker 2: a second coming up at home, trying to make it
- 15:25Speaker 2: five in a row in Cincinnati. Brief aside, you mentioned
- 15:28Speaker 2: the other power rankings here. Do like you have a
- 15:30Speaker 2: text chain with like the guy from the Athletic or
- 15:34Speaker 2: the guy from the Ringer or the guy from Yahoo
- 15:37Speaker 2: as my dad calls it Yahoo, Like, do you guys
- 15:39Speaker 2: all talk and compare notes?
- 15:41Speaker 3: Well, my old colleague at Yahoo and I will sometimes
- 15:44Speaker 3: go back and forth in tech stat rash ranking stuff
- 15:47Speaker 3: like that. Is it's a good natured fun though, you know.
- 15:50Speaker 2: Of course, it's all in good fun until people get
- 15:53Speaker 2: really angry about the power rankings that have the Browns
- 15:56Speaker 2: at ten. They won, they shut out the Cardinals, held
- 15:59Speaker 2: them to fifty eight yards. The Bills are down two
- 16:02Speaker 2: to eleven. They were beaten by the Angles, and if
- 16:05Speaker 2: you look at the playoff standings right now, they're out
- 16:08Speaker 2: of the picture. And right now that is this tough
- 16:10Speaker 2: second half of the season Eric for Buffalo.
- 16:14Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's tough to figure out where exactly
- 16:16Speaker 3: this team is going to land, you know. I mean,
- 16:18Speaker 3: obviously the last few weeks have really been you know,
- 16:20Speaker 3: a frustrating, even the win over the Bucks. You know,
- 16:22Speaker 3: it's a game they theoretically could have lost on the
- 16:24Speaker 3: last play. So we've seen the offense take a hit.
- 16:27Speaker 3: I'm sure Josh allen shoulder injury has something to do
- 16:30Speaker 3: with that. The deep passes weren't there. You know, teams
- 16:33Speaker 3: have obviously played a lot of too deep against them,
- 16:35Speaker 3: forcing them to be kind of under control, take checkdowns
- 16:38Speaker 3: things like that, you know. And after that, like you said,
- 16:41Speaker 3: the early drive was so successful, they went into stall mode.
- 16:44Speaker 3: After that, it's been too hot and cold Offensively, We're
- 16:48Speaker 3: used to this team consistently moving the ball. Haven't seen
- 16:51Speaker 3: that in the last month or so. So yeah, they've
- 16:54Speaker 3: got offensive problems. They've lost a ton of heavyweights on
- 16:56Speaker 3: defense as well the injury. You know, they're figuring things out.
- 16:59Speaker 3: Maybe the Rasul Douglas move eventually helps them there. But
- 17:03Speaker 3: I mean, this is this is even a big game
- 17:05Speaker 3: coming against Denver, a team that's played much better than
- 17:07Speaker 3: last week plus or the month plus. So yeah, they
- 17:10Speaker 3: have a lot of things to figure out. I thought
- 17:12Speaker 3: eleven might have been really generous, and I'm sure other
- 17:14Speaker 3: people agree with that.
- 17:15Speaker 2: Yeah, it's Denver on a Monday night, and then the
- 17:18Speaker 2: Jets and then at Philadelphia. They still have Kansas City,
- 17:22Speaker 2: Dallas and the Chargers after that, and you can't forget
- 17:24Speaker 2: about the Week eighteen game yet again against the Dolphins.
- 17:28Speaker 2: So the Bills are eleven, the Seahawks, the Saints, the
- 17:30Speaker 2: Steelers twelve through fourteen, and then at fifteen let's get
- 17:34Speaker 2: to the Houston Texans. Time for Future Champions presented by
- 17:38Speaker 2: fan Duel. Well the Texans make the playoffs. Fan Duel
- 17:43Speaker 2: odds plus two fifty for Yes, minus three to twenty
- 17:48Speaker 2: five for No. The Texans are in the conversation Eric,
- 17:53Speaker 2: right now, they're four and four in the tenth spot
- 17:56Speaker 2: in the AFC. But that four and four is only
- 17:59Speaker 2: one game back in the lost column from the seventh
- 18:03Speaker 2: seed and a wild card for CJ. Stroud, who is
- 18:07Speaker 2: your rookie of the year. You could also put him
- 18:10Speaker 2: a joke before in the MVP conversation, except I'm not
- 18:13Speaker 2: really joking.
- 18:15Speaker 3: I'm with you. I look, if you sit back and look,
- 18:17Speaker 3: it hasn't been a tremendous, you know, earth shattering year
- 18:20Speaker 3: for quarterbacks around the NFL. Touchdown pass are down, you know,
- 18:24Speaker 3: a massive yardage totals are down. So you see DJ
- 18:28Speaker 3: Straudrow for four hundred and seventy yards in a game.
- 18:30Speaker 3: First of all, he's a rookie, right, This guy has
- 18:32Speaker 3: had about eight games under his belt. It's unbelievable to
- 18:35Speaker 3: see how far he's come in such a short amount
- 18:36Speaker 3: of time and how Bobby Slowick's offense fits him perfectly,
- 18:40Speaker 3: the trust level he has, and he could have easily
- 18:43Speaker 3: had over five hundred on Sunday. They were still meat
- 18:45Speaker 3: on that bone, believe it or not. And to come
- 18:46Speaker 3: against the great block secondary too, I mean it was
- 18:49Speaker 3: very impressive. He just carved up that zone defense. So
- 18:52Speaker 3: a lot of positive things, such an exciting young nucleus.
- 18:55Speaker 3: To me, they're winners whether they make the postseason or not.
- 18:57Speaker 3: But if they can beat Cincy, now that talk becomes
- 19:00Speaker 3: a lot more real. It also stings that they lost
- 19:02Speaker 3: the Caroline at which I think could end up being
- 19:05Speaker 3: pretty painful loss when the look back at the end
- 19:07Speaker 3: of the season.
- 19:07Speaker 2: And through all of this, just remember, they can't run
- 19:10Speaker 2: the ball. CJ. Strout has thrown for four seventy to
- 19:13Speaker 2: five and they can't run the football. Chargers ran the ball,
- 19:18Speaker 2: got off to Neckler involved, Joshua Kelly involved Monday night
- 19:21Speaker 2: in their victory in New York, and what do you know,
- 19:24Speaker 2: they're back in the conversation now. Also at four and four, Eric,
- 19:27Speaker 2: you have the Chargers at sixteen.
- 19:30Speaker 3: Considering the opponent, the part of the season, you know,
- 19:33Speaker 3: the location. I thought that was easily their best performance
- 19:36Speaker 3: of the season defensively, but justin Herbert in the passing game,
- 19:39Speaker 3: can't really get much going all night. So yeah, it's
- 19:42Speaker 3: just a little bit frustrating, but the final score is
- 19:45Speaker 3: a pretty good sav for them. I think they're at
- 19:48Speaker 3: least showing that they can play very well in certain
- 19:51Speaker 3: circumstances defensively, which helps their cause.
- 19:54Speaker 2: Eight sacks on Monday night Now a big test on
- 19:57Speaker 2: Sunday afternoon against the Lions. At so far, the eight
- 20:00Speaker 2: sacks one of the better performances by any individual player
- 20:04Speaker 2: or unit in week number nine, but not as nice
- 20:08Speaker 2: as what Josh Dobbs did in Atlanta. He's the pastronaut
- 20:12Speaker 2: coming up. Where are the Vikings and Josh Dobbs in
- 20:18Speaker 2: the power rankings? That's next, But wait, there's more more
- 20:23Speaker 2: numbers in the brand new Power Rankings NFL Power Rankings
- 20:26Speaker 2: presented by energizer Josh Dobbs, and the Fight and Vikings
- 20:30Speaker 2: are up two to seventeen. The Jets are plummeting five
- 20:33Speaker 2: after what they put on TV on Monday Night. The
- 20:36Speaker 2: Colts up four, interesting, Falcons down three. A lot of
- 20:39Speaker 2: big movers here in this part of the rankings. Bucketeers
- 20:43Speaker 2: down one, Titans and Broncos go nowhere. The Packers move
- 20:47Speaker 2: up to after beating Brett Rippin and the Rams right
- 20:51Speaker 2: before we got to air here for this one, Carson
- 20:55Speaker 2: Wentz signed with the Rams all right at home. The Vikings,
- 20:59Speaker 2: Josh Dobbs loved the story. Didn't know anyone's name. Let
- 21:04Speaker 2: him do a victory. He's the past or not. They
- 21:07Speaker 2: get the Saints this week seventeen means they're in the
- 21:11Speaker 2: playoff conversation. Man, Yeah, they're right there.
- 21:14Speaker 3: Right. You think about that Chiefs game earlier in the season, right,
- 21:17Speaker 3: we didn't expect them to win it at the time,
- 21:19Speaker 3: but had they pulled that off, right, I mean, you
- 21:21Speaker 3: know their record even more affirm it as it is.
- 21:23Speaker 3: You put you lose Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson out for
- 21:26Speaker 3: a long spell. Christian Darris saw too. Then you lose
- 21:30Speaker 3: your supposed starting quarterback and kg Osborne and Cam Akers
- 21:34Speaker 3: in the game and somehow pull it off with Dobbs
- 21:36Speaker 3: at quarterback. Pretty unbelievable stuff. I love the way that
- 21:40Speaker 3: Brian Flores defense pressures. I love the way that that
- 21:43Speaker 3: Addison has stepped up as kind of the pseudo number one.
- 21:46Speaker 3: Hockinson had a big game Sunday and Dobbs, I mean,
- 21:49Speaker 3: after some early mistakes, he took the safety, had a
- 21:52Speaker 3: couple of fumbles, he rallied the team with his legs.
- 21:54Speaker 3: He fell back to you know, his default instincts as
- 21:57Speaker 3: a quarterback and made it a terrifically fun game against
- 22:00Speaker 3: the Falcons team that is desperate to win games right now,
- 22:03Speaker 3: so really big stuff. And they get this game against
- 22:06Speaker 3: the Saints with a chance to keep I guess adding
- 22:09Speaker 3: to their playoff resume it. So it seems like a
- 22:11Speaker 3: weird thing to say at this point, but I guess
- 22:13Speaker 3: it's where we're at.
- 22:14Speaker 2: But it's a cool thing to say, and it's where
- 22:16Speaker 2: we're at in the NFC and the AFC for that matter,
- 22:18Speaker 2: when it comes to the wild card picture. Josh Dobbs
- 22:20Speaker 2: starts again for the Vikings, Zach Wilson again for the Jets,
- 22:24Speaker 2: as Trevor Simmon is not coming up off the practice squad,
- 22:27Speaker 2: so so as Robert Salah. The Colts are going to
- 22:29Speaker 2: Gardner Minshew, Baby, he's taken his van to Germany. We're
- 22:33Speaker 2: excited for another game football made in Germany and Frankfurt.
- 22:37Speaker 2: They're facing the Patriots ninth. They're at Eastern time on
- 22:39Speaker 2: NFL Network, coming up on Sunday. They are up for
- 22:44Speaker 2: for you this week, Eric, Yeah, that's more.
- 22:47Speaker 3: Of a function of some other teams falling in that
- 22:49Speaker 3: they deserve to move up a little bit. But I
- 22:52Speaker 3: didn't think it was their most impressive performance either, so
- 22:55Speaker 3: really hinged on the defense bouncing back after a terrible
- 22:58Speaker 3: game last week. Five hundred plus yards against the Saints.
- 23:01Speaker 3: So good stuff, even though it came against Bryce Young.
- 23:04Speaker 3: Let's remind everybody Bryce Young was coming off a pretty
- 23:06Speaker 3: good game last week, so they did good work there.
- 23:09Speaker 3: The two pick sixes were the difference. So I have
- 23:12Speaker 3: a feeling Gardner Minshew is gonna be popular in Germany.
- 23:14Speaker 3: I don't know. I think he's just gonna be a
- 23:15Speaker 3: big hit over there. Like gard Raymond, Austrian guy. Sure
- 23:18Speaker 3: he'll do fine, but awesome. I'm saying Gardner's gonna be
- 23:21Speaker 3: a hit over in Germany. That's why.
- 23:23Speaker 2: Please please wear George Gardner Minshew to Germany. Please big
- 23:28Speaker 2: over there, these please please. Rest of the rankings have
- 23:31Speaker 2: the Raiders up one, the Commander's up one, the Rams
- 23:34Speaker 2: down six, followed by the Bears, the Patriots, the Giants,
- 23:36Speaker 2: the Panthers, and the Arizona Cardinals. Quick thought here in
- 23:39Speaker 2: our final twenty seconds, how about Antonio Pears are the Raiders?
- 23:44Speaker 3: Hey gotta love it right? I love that first bump.
- 23:47Speaker 3: Jeff Saturday got a bump too. The Colts last year,
- 23:49Speaker 3: So we'll see how long it holds together, Andrew. But
- 23:52Speaker 3: great for a Raiders team that's just been so stressed
- 23:54Speaker 3: out lately.
- 23:55Speaker 2: Who Jeff Saturday and the Colts beat in his first game,
- 23:58Speaker 2: they beat the Raiders. Now Antonio Pierce and the Raiders
- 24:02Speaker 2: beat his old team, the Giant, And how cool is that?
- 24:05Speaker 2: Now they get the Jets. It's a New York, New
- 24:07Speaker 2: York kind of thing in Vegas for the Raiders. See
- 24:10Speaker 2: how that works for Eric. I'm Andrew. That was Week nine.
- 24:14Speaker 2: Enjoy Week ten, everybody.
- 24:20Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
- 24:23Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
- 24:27Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.