Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Dalton Wasserman from PFF talks NFL & College football, Trent & Ken break down the big games in football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Dalton Wasserman from PFF talks NFL & College football, Trent & Ken break down the big games in football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Back hour number two it's the Iowa sports radio network
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wherever listening in the state of Iowa grateful that you are.
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Of course we're flagshipped out of Des Moines sports station one
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O 6.3 KXO downtown Des Moines for Trent and I still to come
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Steven M simple he covers the Huskers for on three media
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huskerillustrated.com his regular spot.
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Thursday's coming up here at 1:30.
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Let's get the Dalton Wasserman. He joins us Dalton Trenton Ken,
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thank you once again for finding time for us.
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We appreciate it. I want to start with something I
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saw on the McAfee Twitter account and I knew that the
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Chargers offensive line was pieced together and wasn't the
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shiniest of offensive lines. I had no idea was as bad as you
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guys at Pro Football Focus have it.
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I mean, I of the five of them, there were three of them that
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there were 36 that had played the position.
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All but one were 36 of 36 and then the other two were out of
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38 and they were both the the last at the bottom of the list.
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It's awful. How can the Chargers advance
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maybe get to where a lot of people think that they could
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possibly get to with that porous of an offensive line, Dalton?
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I think when it comes to winning a Super Bowl, if you're talking
1:14
about getting that far, it's going to be very, very hard
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because teams within the last decade just don't win Super
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Bowls with bad offensive lines. And look, it's just kind of been
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the struggle of their offense without Joe, all he's done for
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the season at left tackle or sorry, he wasn't right tackle to
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start the year. And then Rashawn Slater, you
1:30
know, their their original left tackle and then having to move
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all over and all that with his injury.
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It's just tough when you lose your two best offensive lineman,
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it gets a lot harder to win. Now, credit to him, there's
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still seven and three and Justin Herbert's playing great
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football, getting bit of it quicker than ever and running
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the football more than ever. But look, I think they can make
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the playoffs with it for sure, maybe even win that division if
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they can win enough games and keep themselves in it.
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But there's only so long that you can work around that until
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you just run into one team with a front 7.
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That's a bad matchup for you. Dalton, As we look at offensive
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line, do we need to put the Lions in the same mix?
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Their offensive lines been hit hard with injuries.
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Decker, Sewell, Glasgow, they've had a few others on top of it.
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Even when those guys get back, how good are they going to be?
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How effective are they going to be?
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Do you move the Lions down because of those concerns with
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the offensive line? Yeah, I mean, even with all
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those guys healthy and the youth that they had on the inside,
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they weren't making me maybe the number one offensive line like
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they've been the last few years. But they're still solidly a top
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8 to 10 offensive line when all those guys are healthy.
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I think they have more of just a short term problem of trying to
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get through, you know, get those banged up guys through their
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injuries in the next few weeks. But I still have a lot of faith
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in that group, especially in the run game.
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As dominant as they can be some days, there's still a really
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solid offensive line, if maybe just not #1 like we're used to.
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25 out of five star games in the NFC this week, Sunday Night
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Football, the Lions at the Eagles and of course the
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Seahawks facing the Rams. I I think the Super Bowl winner
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is in one of those two games. We shall see.
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Where are you on the Seahawks? Are they still got some work to
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prove to Arnold having a phenomenal year, really good
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defense. Seahawks and Rams.
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How do you guys are Pro Football focus?
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See this one, Dalton. I lean a little bit more towards
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the Rams winning that game. I think the Seahawks are a
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really good football team and Sam Darnold's playing MVP
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caliber football. But I think the one advantage
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the Rams have is they have arguably the best defensive line
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in the league right now. It's at least in the top three
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or four. And Seattle's offensive line is
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still just very, very young. And that interior really, I
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think it's going to be tested this week against guys like Kobe
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Turner and Braden Fisk and Pune Ford.
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I think it's the one distinct advantage that the Rams have
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head to I think Seattle is one of the best teams in the the
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league, but I think those are matchups kind of like we just
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talked about with the Chargers. Can their offensive line hold up
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in elite trench matchups like that?
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All right, let's do the Lions and the Eagles Sunday Night
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Football. Your thoughts?
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This is an interesting one for the Eagles offense because you
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know, the game they were coming off of and even in recent weeks,
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really all season, their offense just hasn't looked like it's
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been clicking on all cylinders, right?
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A.J. Brown has his issues and he's
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starting to take that public with some things that he's
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saying. The run game is just not as good
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as it was last year between the offensive line, kind of like the
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Lions being solid but not the best in the NFL, and Saquon just
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not getting as many of those explosive runs as we're used to
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where we got used to last year. So I think this is big for the
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Lions defense. Take advantage of some of those
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flaws. They're healthier this year.
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You're going to, you're hopefully going to get a full
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season of Aiden Hutchinson. Jack Campbell's been great at
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linebacker. I think that's a real test for
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the Lions on that side of the ball to prove that their defense
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is for real. Speaking of for real, I'm a
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Bears fan. I don't think they're for real,
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but they are 6 and three now. They go up to Minnesota, the
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team that beat them in week one in Chicago.
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Viking season hanging by a thread we anticipate we're going
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to see with the Bears and bikes. I think this is a real test for
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Caleb Williams against the good defensive coordinator and Brian
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Flores, who he's had some success against and then at
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times has struggled. And Flores always brings you a
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different game plan. But the Bears, I really like
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what Ben Johnson is doing with the offensive line, with the way
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they're getting the run game going and they're not asking
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Caleb Williams to carry their team other than a few big
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moments per game, right? So it's one of those things
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where last year was just all on Caleb and there was too much
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pressure on him. I love the way that Ben Johnson
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is coaching his team. If they can get through this
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game and that defense and their defense can hold the Vikings
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down, especially early in the game, is when they're usually
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most successful. I think the Bears put themselves
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on a good track for the rest of the season.
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Dalton Wasserman from Pro Football Focus is joining us.
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I want to get to individual teams in a second, but just one
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more match up. AFC West, huge tilt.
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Kansas City on the outside looking in.
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Denver's offense has been anemic at best.
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Denver's on top of the division. Best record in the NFL.
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Chiefs on the outside looking in.
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Chiefs and the Broncos on Sunday afternoon.
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Huge game. I think if the Chiefs don't win
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this game, you start to really think about them more as a wild
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card team than an AFC West winner.
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They need to win this game, I think, to stay in this division
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race. When you talk about, you know,
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if they lose, there would be 4 games back and already lost one
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to Denver, plus they already lost the game to the Chargers
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earlier in the year. And I think on the other side,
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this is about Bonex versus Steve Spagnolo.
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Can he really decipher the looks that Spagnolo is going to give
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him or is he going to get rattled in the pocket?
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He didn't look great against the Raiders last week.
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Looked a little jittery back there.
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The accuracy's been often down all season.
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I think that's really the guy in the spotlight.
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I know it's easy to say the quarterback, but I really think
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this is a time where Bonex needs to shine if Denver's going to
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win this game. What a go to tonight.
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Not the matchup New England a huge favorite, but want to talk
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to you about Drake May what you've seen out of him MVP type
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season. Obviously leading this team off
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to the incredible start that they have.
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I did hear the other day does lead the league in fumbles.
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Maybe that's a little bit of a concern if you're looking for
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some kind of knock. But just your take away at Drake
6:43
May, what we've seen this season and and what's still to come.
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I mean, is there still even more upside with this guy?
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I do. I think he's been outstanding
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this season. First and foremost, he's been
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one of the best quarterbacks in football.
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And Josh McDaniels has done an unbelievable job of just making
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making him comfortable within the system with the route
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concepts and the foundation of that offense.
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And then allowing lately Drake made to take those shots down
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field that he can take as he's capable of making any throw on
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the field from the pocket or on the move.
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And then I think to your point, as far as maybe a small flaw
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that he has is that he tries to create a lot outside the pocket.
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You know, Leighton plays, he wants to keep every play alive.
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He wants to take off and run. So there's moments where you see
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little things like that, maybe a lot of sacks that on our
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numbers, we charge to him instead of the offensive line.
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The fumbles, like you mentioned, there's been a couple times the
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last two years where, yeah, he's taking maybe some unnecessary
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hits and had to get checked out in the tent.
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But honestly, when you look at about 95% of Drake May's game
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this year, he's been just outstanding.
7:38
Dalton, what do we make of the Buffalo Bills?
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They beat the Chiefs, they head to Miami and they get pasted by
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a Dolphins team. Assuming it was just playing out
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the string, are the Buffalo Bills and Pro Football Focus
7:49
still a considered a Super Bowl legitimate Super Bowl contender?
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Are the red flags starting to go up?
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I think to me, the red flags have been up the last couple of
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years. When you watch this team in the
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postseason, I, I see 2 problems. The defense is just not great.
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They've got to believe a bottom 8 defensive according to our our
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PFF grades and all of that. The back seven especially is
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really a concern. And even now the run defense
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doesn't look great lately. And then, you know, the lack of
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a top flight receiver, right? And I know Josh Allen makes it
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work with the tight ends and Khalil Shakur and guys like
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that. But that guy, you need that guy
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in your offense that can just win one-on-one.
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Like when they used to add Stefan Diggs.
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And, you know, I just think those two flaws, I think the
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Bills, look, they're still going to make the playoffs.
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Maybe they'll still compete, obviously with New England and
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the AFC East. That's going to be a fun race
8:32
down the stretch. But I just worry about their
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ability in the postseason to overcome the same flaws really,
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that we've seen for the last four or five years.
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Speaking of the postseason, Tampa Bay just kind of lurking.
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Yeah, they lost last week to New England.
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Still, they're six and three offensive line.
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I mean, they're pulling guys literally off the street and put
8:49
them in the game. Guys that nobody knew who they
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were. Bucky Irvin's been banged up.
8:54
Godwin hasn't been healthy. Evans is out, hopefully back at
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the end of the season, Vida via just on and on Winfield.
9:00
Yet here they are at six and three.
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They're going to win that crappy division and Baker in the
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playoffs. Are you a believer, a healthy
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Tampa Bay that they're a contender we need to remember in
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the NFC? If if they're healthy, like you
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mentioned, like any given week where they have Tristan Werfs
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and Luke get a key and and Chris Godwin getting healthy, I don't
9:19
know if they'll get Evans back this year.
9:21
I mean, I was that would obviously be a big help if you
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got him back late in the season. But you know, and then the
9:25
defense, the way they can run with Todd Bowles calling it with
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all those guys healthy and they have a chance for sure, because
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in A1 game scenario, Baker Mayfield's always going to give
9:33
you everything it has. But I think you're right.
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I think actually the Bucky Irving injury and him getting
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back to form in the second-half of the season is going to be big
9:40
for them because that offense is designed to be balanced to run
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the football and then allow Baker to take shots over the top
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with all those receivers and Mecca Bukas been great.
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But you're right, I mean, at some point the question is going
9:51
to be will this team ever be healthy enough to actually
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compete with the rest of the big boys in the NFCI?
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Think if they are helped, if they do get to something close
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to 100%, they can. But they got to get there.
10:01
Dalton Wasserman from Pro Football Focus PFF under score
10:04
Dalton joining us for those of you on X, some great content
10:08
always on his Twitter feed. Want to go the AFC North with
10:11
you Dalton for a minute? Joe Burrows says didn't come out
10:14
right and say it, but the seemingly the rumors out there
10:17
may be Thanksgiving against Baltimore.
10:19
So if he comes back, he's not going to fix the defense.
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That's awful. That's historically bad.
10:24
Are Cincinnati completely out of it?
10:26
And then Baltimore, who seems like their arrow is going up.
10:30
Well, Baltimore ultimately prevail in the north.
10:33
And is Cincinnati out of it if Borough can get back in time for
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Thanksgiving? They got to win at least one, if
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not both of their next two games.
10:43
Now they're tough games, one at Pittsburgh and the other, I
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believe, at home against New England.
10:47
I think it's at home. I mean, those are two tough
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games. Obviously, they beat the
10:50
Steelers once already, and Joe Flacco played great.
10:52
But at least getting that Steeler win this week, would it
10:55
give them a pulse in a division that it looks like it's going to
10:58
take no more than 10, maybe even only nine wins to win that
11:01
division? The Steelers, if they were to
11:03
beat them, would be 5 and five. The Ravens are still clawing
11:05
their way out of a hole of one and five holes.
11:07
So it's going to come down under the wire for at least two of
11:10
those teams. And the Bengals can be a third
11:12
team in that mix, especially if they win this week, The New
11:15
England one, maybe New England's just too good for them to beat,
11:18
but they've got to win one of these next two games.
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If they walk into, I believe the three and six right now, if they
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walk into that Thanksgiving game, three and eight, I don't
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see any thought that Borough can bring them back.
11:27
Dalton, it's not just the NFL for you.
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You also cover college football. I want to jump in.
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I'm so intrigued by this game. Georgia, Texas, I got a ticket
11:36
in my back pocket. Texas not to make the College
11:38
Football Playoff and their third loss, I'd feel pretty good.
11:41
I got a sneaking suspicion this offensive line has improved
11:44
immensely. They're running the ball better
11:46
and Arch certainly is playing at a higher level.
11:49
Are they alive? Dog making their way between the
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hedges in Athens? I think so.
11:53
I think it's more so because of their defense now they've gotten
11:56
you're right, they've gotten a little bit better run the ball
11:58
lately, but I think that Georgia run defense is a different
12:00
animal and we're going to see if they can find anything on the
12:03
ground. If not, then I think this game
12:05
comes down to Arch Manning just trying to carry them now.
12:07
He's been a lot better. He's played like a top 15 to 20
12:09
quarterback over the last month or so.
12:11
I think he's really been good lately.
12:13
But this Georgia defense is all another animal with Kirby Smart
12:16
and all the guys especially they have in their front 7.
12:19
This is going to have to, I think.
12:21
I think if Texas is going to win, this guy have to be a
12:22
scoring game. Though.
12:23
Their defense I think can match up with Georgia's offense as
12:26
well. People forget that Texas has an
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elite defense with a lot of those pieces that came back from
12:30
last year's team. But I think at the end of the
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day, I think it's going to be a little too much for Arch to
12:35
carry them through on the road. I think Georgia speaks out with
12:38
a close win. All right, one more for me.
12:40
I'll let Trent finish up if he's got one.
12:41
Oklahoma, Alabama. I'm not sure what to make of
12:44
this game. I have been overly impressed
12:46
with Alabama. Oklahoma.
12:48
I got a good defense, I think. Oklahoma, Alabama.
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Dalton. So on both sides, this is going
12:55
to be as usual about the quarterbacks.
12:57
Ty Simpson, it's going to be about handling pressure from
12:59
Brent Venables, kind of like he had to last week against LSU.
13:02
It was up and down, only got the 20 points, but they got out with
13:05
the win. So that's fine.
13:06
And then as far as John Matier goes, Alabama's kryptonite for
13:09
the last two years or so on defense has been running
13:12
quarterback. So if if John Matier can take
13:14
advantage of that weakness on the ground, then Oklahoma's
13:17
really got a shot because that those are really the teams that
13:20
Bama struggles with the most. You saw it in last year's
13:21
Oklahoma from the game with Jackson Arnold.
13:24
You could see that again this year with Alabama.
13:26
If they don't make adjustments to the quarterback run game,
13:28
they're going to have problems. Last one for you on the local
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front. Iowa heads out to USC after the
13:33
tough loss to Oregon. Road trip for the Hawkeyes.
13:36
Rain in the forecast. What's your take away with the
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Hawkeyes and the Trojans? I think, I think Iowa absolutely
13:43
has a shot to go out there and win in LA, especially strangely
13:46
out there in LA if there's rain in the forecast and it's a
13:48
dirty, kind of ugly game like the Oregon game was.
13:50
I think Iowa can play their style of football, get behind
13:53
what I believe is the best offensive line in the country,
13:55
run the ball against the relatively soft run 7 for USC
13:59
and control the pace of the game.
14:00
And then I think the defense matches up well.
14:02
Iowa's specialty on defense is preventing explosive plays,
14:05
right? And that's what USC and Lincoln
14:07
Riley want to do. They want to push the football
14:08
downfield with Jaden Maiava and Makai Lemon, the rest of their
14:11
receivers out there. So I think Iowa matches up well,
14:14
and if the weather is bad, that works even in more of their
14:16
favor. I think it's going to be a
14:17
really fun football game. Profootballfocus.com,
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profootballfocus.com, Dalton Wasserman and all the crew over
14:23
there do outstanding work. Dalton, thank you for what you
14:25
do. Appreciate you coming on with
14:26
us. Absolutely appreciate you guys
14:29
as always. Thank you.
14:29
Yeah, good to talk to you Dalton Wasserman as we check in on the
14:32
NFL and college football. 1 of PFFS dudes.
14:36
Well, I can just talk to chance. Like to hear it.
14:40
Here's an angle we haven't talked about.
14:42
We've talked about the weather. You know, it sounds bad, like it
14:45
could be real bad. Torrential downpour.
14:47
All right, slow the slow them down.
14:50
I want to take you back to Ames second week of the season.
14:54
OK. What are the big storylines
14:56
coming out of that one was Kaden Weachen.
14:58
Yeah, not poorly played and slipping, you know, I.
15:01
Want to take you back to the Rose Bowl.
15:03
It was a big conversation after. That.
15:04
Oh my God, yeah. I can take you back to last year
15:08
when they played at Michigan State as bad as the.
15:10
Caffrey putting his foot in the ground and Josie Jewell couldn't
15:12
stand up. Michigan State a year ago, that
15:15
was the worst tackling performance, one of the worst in
15:17
the Phil Parker era. All those places on grass.
15:22
This game will be played on grass.
15:26
The equipment managers. He's up to him bring It's not a
15:29
Phil Mark, a Phil Parker special.
15:32
Maybe it's the equipment manager this game.
15:34
Is Greg Morris still the equipment manager?
15:35
Is he retired? He is Greg Morris.
15:38
This game's out of you get it right, get the cleats right,
15:42
figure it out because Iowa has been that's a great brutal on
15:46
grass coupled with the rain. Now I know the equipment trucks
15:50
already on its way to LA, That's already gone.
15:54
I need to add a couple of carry ONS with the right cleats to put
15:57
in there. Really.
15:58
Because it's been bad. We heard after the game, Caden
16:01
Wegen said after the Iowa State game he was still wearing turf
16:03
shoes on grass. Can't do that, not in this.
16:09
Where are you? Yesterday I was convinced you.
16:11
Know I think they're getting throttled.
16:12
You think they still do? I I gave him a chance beginning
16:15
of the week yesterday. I thought you know what you did.
16:17
Wrong. And yet I'm I feel better about
16:19
them. If they would have beat Oregon,
16:21
just say the kid missed the field goal.
16:22
Simplify, right, missed the field goal.
16:24
Iowa wins it. I would feel even worse that
16:28
they're going out there and taking the clubbing.
16:31
I still, even with the rain and the slow down, it's not the West
16:35
Coast thing that's it's a piece of it, but it's not a big piece
16:38
for me. I think the rain, I think the
16:40
conditions, I think the grass are bigger than just the travel
16:44
out to the West Coast. If this was a night game, this
16:46
is like a 9:00 central kick off. Yeah, I think we'd be having
16:50
also a different conversation. It's just the match up.
16:53
This is not a good match up for Iowa.
16:55
The way they get the ball out quick, how poorly outside of the
16:58
month of October this team has tackled this year, it's the
17:01
match up more than anything that really is difficult, I think to
17:05
find a path here for Iowa to get the win.
17:07
Pick the click for the Hawks to win is good would be who?
17:09
I mean, is this as simple as the quarterback or is this somebody
17:12
on defense? Is it?
17:14
Is it? I mean, who would it be?
17:15
Well. Andriger Luttmer.
17:17
Somebody's got to make a play. Probably Lutmer because they
17:20
don't switch quarterbacks to one side.
17:22
So it's not that TJ Hall is going to be following around
17:24
Makai Lemon all over the field. That's not the way that I will
17:26
place defensively. So I think Lutmer, because of
17:30
his versatility, he's going to be playing inside.
17:32
He's getting when they go 43, he's going to be playing corner
17:34
as we've seen here at the last month or so.
17:36
I think Lutmer would be the guy I point to.
17:38
Here's 1 though for you, Kamari Moulton, he's been close.
17:42
How many? Times to breaking one.
17:43
To get one, I think he's going to need one of those.
17:46
He's going to need one of those. There's been some shoe strings,
17:48
haven't there? And even if they do run the ball
17:51
effectively better than they did last week, they get a little bit
17:54
more. In order to win this game, do
17:57
they have to have Gradowski's finally got to get to 200 yards?
18:00
Yes, he has to. That they need to combine for
18:03
420 yards of offense, couple 100 in the passing game, 160 under.
18:08
You know, something like that. I think that's the path.
18:12
Let me check out the point spread, see if it's moved at
18:14
all. It's been it started at 6 1/2
18:17
and is is it for the most part like just stayed there and
18:20
lingered. I saw is there a seven in the
18:23
market? I'm trying to find it when there
18:25
it is. Circa went to seven at one
18:27
point. DraftKings is 7 is currently at
18:30
the Superbook can't bet online with them is at 7 S point.
18:33
Our buddy Chris Andrews is 7. Circa is 6 1/2.
18:37
But juice, wait, wait till the the 20% juice on that.
18:42
They went the other day to 7. Well, they went to seven circa
18:45
did the other day and it was quickly gobbled up.
18:47
I'm going to guess that's kind of the point of resistance for a
18:50
lot of people. So it goes to 7, gets better,
18:52
They better put it back down. Yeah, that's where it's going to
18:54
be, 6 1/2 seven by the looks of things.
18:56
That's the right number. Well, if you want to watch the
18:58
game with myself then. Where are you going to be,
19:00
Trent? I'll be in Jefferson, that's the
19:02
Wild Rose Casino as Dallas Clark will be there for a meet and
19:05
greet before the game from 11:00 until 1:00.
19:08
I'll be doing a put pregame and postgame podcast with Lockdown
19:11
Hawkeyes there, and there's also a sports memorabilia and sports
19:15
card show that's been happening at Wild Rose.
19:18
The festivities begin Saturday morning at 10 AM.
19:21
Of course, the 230 kickoff meet and greet with Dallas Clark from
19:24
11 till 1:00, all at Wild Rose in Jefferson.
19:28
Hope to see a lot of you out there.
19:29
Yeah, absolutely. Good place to watch it.
19:31
Coach's Corner, Draftking sports book out there.
19:34
So that's where Trent will be sequestered.
19:36
All right, let's get you to the website.
19:38
Whichever station you are listening to here in Central I,
19:40
of course, it's KX and o.com around the state.
19:43
Whichever frequency, whichever station you are tuned into, head
19:47
to that website. Right now.
19:48
You can enter this nationwide contest.
19:50
The keyword this hour is check. Check at your website, your
19:54
station's website, check. That gives you a chance to get a
19:57
check for $1000 in this nationwide contest.
20:01
More keywords throughout the afternoon.
20:03
Lucas and Sean have those those keywords for you as those guys
20:08
come up at the top of the hour, take you until 5:00.
20:12
We'll head to Lincoln next. To catch up with Siple as the
20:15
Huskers get there by week two games ever bad.
20:18
Controversy. Is well going forward if when
20:22
Rayola is back, I wonder we'll get into that with SIP.
20:25
They've got Penn State at Penn State when they come off their
20:28
by and then, of course, Black Friday against the Hawkeyes.
20:32
Miller and Condon joined by Siple when we come back on Des
20:35
Moines Sports Station one O 6.3 KXNO.
20:40
Hi, I'm Elri Condon. Welcome back.
20:42
Pardon me if we let this one go. It's my favorite song.
20:44
I know it is my favorite song. Always has been.
20:46
Well, not always. I'm going to come out in the
20:48
70s. But yeah, I don't know why this
20:51
always been my favorite tune. I'm a Stones fan, and this is
20:54
where I set the bar as far as favorites go.
20:58
Can't get a hold of Stephen M Sipple.
20:59
Not sure if his luncheon went long.
21:01
That's what he usually does on Thursdays, travels all over
21:04
Nebraska, eat rubber chicken and talk to the Lions group or the
21:08
Kiwanis or whatever it is. Whoever will have them on
21:11
Thursdays is. Husker football's pretty popular
21:15
over there, Trent, just in case you weren't aware.
21:17
Just a little bit. I mean, this is after what we
21:20
saw now, albeit against UCLA, but even the week previous.
21:26
Did you hate what you saw, Rayola?
21:30
It's not just that he's a talented.
21:31
Quarterback. He is.
21:32
Yep, he is. But it's also the family ties,
21:36
family on staff. Right, and probably won't be on
21:39
staff because his offensive line stinks.
21:41
The money that was involved in order to get him there, there
21:46
are a lot. This is not just clear cut, got
21:49
player A, player B. There's so many extra layers.
21:53
B is a freshman that. Makes this incredibly
21:56
intriguing. It's not just as easy as, yeah,
21:59
we're going to go with the guy that's playing better.
22:02
You know, the guy that is a freshman that looks like he's
22:04
got upside, You know, that's. Drayola.
22:08
It's the family name. It's the family name.
22:10
You're right. It's it's a it's a conundrum.
22:13
I'm I'm totally with you. I think it's fascinating to see
22:16
how it's going to play out. I mean, Matt rules already
22:18
getting in front of it, talking about, I mean, he's going to
22:21
have opportunities to leave Latif I'm talking about he's a
22:24
California kid. I looked at his some of his
22:27
offers prior to I have no idea what Nebraska paid for him.
22:31
Colorado, Florida State, Arizona, Miami, Georgia,
22:34
Cincinnati, Arizona State, Boston College, Texas A&M, old
22:37
Miss Penn State. They all Michigan State, they
22:40
all offered TJ Latif he winds up at Nebraska and now what are
22:44
they going to do? Are they?
22:45
Because they're going to have to dig deeper to keep them When you
22:48
think yes. Yet you need to augment the rest
22:51
of your roster. Right.
22:52
And then one game, as you said, it's one game it's used to.
22:55
But boy, he looked. Good.
22:56
He looked really good, albeit against UCLA, and after playing
23:01
better they were. They had that little spurt
23:05
there, right? They did the blonde kid.
23:07
Yes, the. The big upset win.
23:10
You had little Skippy new Hazel out there doing his thing.
23:13
It was a fun story. It was a great story.
23:15
It's still not a very good team. No, I'm with you.
23:17
I believe has not been great by any means.
23:19
And do you want to overreact to that?
23:21
It's. Well, the fan base in in reading
23:24
some of the the comments on Sips Twit or whatever.
23:28
Let's talk after the Iowa game. If it snows and it's 30° and
23:32
he's still doing that, 'cause it was it was pretty nice weather.
23:35
Obviously it was so Cal at the Rose Bowl.
23:38
Let's see how he is in the cold weather.
23:39
So that's their tap, their brakes kind of push back on
23:42
this. But man, he looked good.
23:44
I think this is going to be one of the stories to kind of clip
23:48
and save and watch during the offseason.
23:51
Are they both back? And you wouldn't think so in
23:54
this environment. In this environment, because
23:56
Latif shows he can play and he'll want to play, it's very
23:59
hard to let a kid play and then take that away from him.
24:02
So how does the divorce then happen?
24:04
That's a great question. If they move on from Dylan
24:07
Rayola because you have the extra layers of dogs talked.
24:11
About there's there, there's going to be some, there's scar
24:14
tissue. There, Well, not only that,
24:16
whoever, regardless of who they chose, here's another part of
24:19
it. What if he choose wrong?
24:22
They finished this year. They go 8 and four.
24:24
They win their bowl game as good of a season as they've had in a
24:27
decade. You have to go back to the
24:28
Polina era when they're winning nine games every year and that
24:31
wasn't good enough. Because they got Penn State and
24:33
Penn State got up last week. Can they do it again?
24:35
This right, right. Yeah, that part, you know, a
24:37
bull bid might be off the board. I mean, they lose to Michigan
24:39
State this week. They got 7 losses.
24:41
There's no bowl bid even for them to play for at that point.
24:44
And how many of those? Guys, so they're in are there in
24:46
East Lansing this. Week, East Lansing.
24:48
What time's that game? I forgot I.
24:49
Didn't both teams are winless, by the way, did you have that
24:52
before the year? Penn State and Michigan State
24:54
will get together in November. Both winless and.
24:56
Conference 11's got to win. No I didn't.
24:59
I could see obviously Sparty maybe, but Charles has been hit
25:02
and miss. Well, and he's done.
25:04
I mean, they've moved on. They went to was Mahalovic that,
25:08
whatever that. We won't.
25:10
So next week, we won't see Charles in Iowa City.
25:13
I don't think so, unless there's an injury.
25:15
Injury. I mean, that kid threw for 300
25:17
yards against Minnesota. They're staying with him.
25:18
Yeah. Mileagevic, Eloiseo, watch a
25:24
little bit of that Minnesota game.
25:25
He's good. He's better than Childs because
25:28
Childs can look really good, but normally he looks really bad.
25:30
He looked really good against Iowa last year on grass.
25:33
Back to the grass thing. Back to all these layers of
25:37
Nebraska. I just because if you, we're
25:40
going to stick with Rayola and then Latif goes on and he goes
25:43
to wherever and he's incredible. Rayola's still the same guy
25:48
making boneheaded decisions. And there's six and six and Matt
25:50
rules going to. Be and they take that step back.
25:53
Then here comes the firing squad or you go the other direction.
25:56
Dylan Rayola goes back to Georgia where he was committed
25:59
for a long time and that's where he went to high school.
26:01
He goes there, goes to Georgia and after Gunner Stockton,
26:05
wherever he ends up and he's great.
26:07
Was there a coaching staff? Why couldn't they get them this
26:10
out of him? Why couldn't we see this guy
26:12
that we're seeing at the next destination?
26:14
Well. They're going to have to replace
26:15
Emma Johnson, too, because he's got 1100 yards, he's a junior
26:19
and he's gone. You think so?
26:20
Oh God, yeah. He's an NFL prospect.
26:22
I, I mean, with 1100 yards, I think he's going to have his
26:24
opportunities. He's a junior, don't you think
26:27
he how much does he weigh? He's five, 11200.
26:30
At least that's where the ESP NS got him listed at.
26:33
He's had a nice year. I think he's second.
26:35
Is he second in the Big 10 or did he take the lead in the Big
26:37
10? He's got the lead in the Big 10.
26:38
He's second in the country in rushing yards behind only a kid
26:43
from Jacksonville State. I don't watch a lot of
26:45
Jacksonville State. Running backs, though,
26:48
measurables. I don't know if Emmett Johnson's
26:51
a guy that I think he's going to make more money sticking around.
26:53
He might, he might. You're right.
26:55
I mean, there's, there's that aspect of things, certainly now.
26:58
They got that wide receiver group that SIP said it was SEC
27:00
like. Well, that's because they came
27:01
from the SEC. That's where they went shopping.
27:03
What's your favorite college game this weekend?
27:05
Other than I, we USC, of course. Well, I mentioned it to Dalton.
27:08
It's Texas, Georgia. And that's under the lights,
27:11
right? That's Herb St. and Fowler I
27:13
think. Not sure who's got the
27:16
broadcast. Of that, it's ABC, it's it's,
27:18
it's got to be, it's the prime. Time.
27:19
It's the 6:30 thing. Yep, I love that game.
27:23
I love Texas this week. There's just something off with
27:26
Georgia. Do you think Texas is getting to
27:28
the playoff if. They win.
27:31
Well, here's the crazy thing. You know, we talked about Iowa
27:33
after they're the top three lost team.
27:36
Now Texas splits their two big ones remaining, right?
27:40
Georgia this week and then A&M at the end of the season.
27:42
They're in. They're at 9:00 and 3:00 getting
27:44
over with Iowa 9:00 and 3:00. Right, because they're going to
27:47
have a win either over the number 5 or the number three
27:49
team, Yes, so they're in. But what if they lose both of
27:52
those games? And they could.
27:55
They're not getting into 8 and 4.
27:56
I don't think so. Either for sure.
27:57
They're no, no, there's no way. No, there's absolutely no path.
28:01
I think they show up this week. You do.
28:02
Yeah, I and you know, I have not been a Texas fan.
28:06
There's a team I faded coming into the year.
28:09
Something is changing, Something looks different with that squad
28:12
when I watched them the last couple of weeks.
28:14
I like the way that they are playing.
28:16
That one is just incredibly intriguing for me.
28:18
That's certainly at the top of the list.
28:20
What do you like? Pitt, Notre Dame a little bit.
28:24
I don't give no, I mean, I don't give Pitt a chance.
28:26
You don't I don't. I think it's going to be a
28:28
bludging. I'm with Lee.
28:30
Notre Dame is one of my picks this week.
28:32
That one I would like to be able to watch the the Alabama game
28:35
against Oklahoma, but it's up against IUSC so I won't see very
28:39
I'll see very little of that. Really nothing else.
28:43
Utah, maybe against Baylor at 6:00 at night.
28:48
It it's the it's the big ones. It's the big ones, it's the
28:51
early. I'm trying to find something in
28:52
the early window. I guess I'm going to be on the
28:54
Notre Dame and Pitt. South Carolina.
28:56
You have A and M game with Sellers?
28:59
No, I don't think so either. No.
29:01
Arizona, Cincinnati. But Lee brought that up.
29:03
It's his game, The weekly Sterling.
29:05
It's got a little juice to it. Cincinnati Juice.
29:07
Michigan Northwestern at Wrigley.
29:10
What time is that? Is that 11?
29:11
O clock. That's 11 O clock.
29:12
That'll be there. So that's where I'll be.
29:15
I want to take you back to Wrigley Field two years ago when
29:17
you left early, didn't want to hang around and have fun.
29:20
No. God forbid you remember the
29:24
playing conditions, though. Yeah, Awful.
29:26
Yeah, The divot at the goal line and that thing was like 4 by 4
29:31
thing was huge. And it was what does.
29:33
Wrigley feel like remind me what on on game day and it was like
29:35
on Friday, of course, yeah. Drunk, yeah.
29:38
And I'm going to guess a lot of them in Michigan, alumni and
29:40
Chicago are going to have the exact same time.
29:42
It's gonna. It's.
29:43
It was so much fun. Yeah.
29:44
This one on Friday. The plain conditions, though,
29:47
Michigan. What do they want to do?
29:49
Line up, run the ball. Run the ball.
29:50
What's Northwestern going to do? Line up, run the ball.
29:53
I don't play totals very often. Totals low 41 1/2.
29:55
So you're thinking under. Oh yeah, I think this thing is
29:59
16913 ten. Just ugly.
30:04
Gross. Michigan's in control and they
30:06
win at 20 to 3. I think this we saw these field
30:09
conditions. It's not a football field.
30:11
No, no it's not. We've talked a lot of grass
30:14
here, not the grass that you normally like to talk about.
30:16
This is a different. When I'm in a legal state of.
30:19
Course, of course, of course, this grass, that field sucked
30:24
here in the players afterwards, they had the same thing to say.
30:28
It's going to be ugly, it's going to be gross.
30:30
It's going to be November, whether they're in Chicago.
30:34
This thing is going to be ugly. We don't play totals for our
30:37
pick em, but that what is going to be certainly part of my
30:39
personal card this weekend. So.
30:41
So let me ask you this. Speaking of ugly, Indiana got
30:44
criticized because they barely beat Penn State.
30:47
Well, here come the Badgers to Bloomington and the numbers.
30:51
It's better than 4 touchdowns. Is this a Indiana open a can?
30:56
Since you I'm not playing this game.
30:57
I'm not asking for any advice and if you're playing this game
31:00
in your picks, just say I'll tell you tomorrow.
31:03
I'm not playing the game. But that's a lot of points.
31:07
They beat Washington with their punter being their leading
31:10
passer. I mean, that's something that
31:11
would make Bryan Ference weep. That I think says a ton here.
31:16
And because of that close call, because of a few more
31:21
conversations that are happening about Indiana.
31:24
Wants to flex, doesn't. He when have we seen this
31:27
before? This thing?
31:29
We saw that Wisconsin team, They're bad.
31:31
They're bad. I don't know why Jed Fish cannot
31:32
figure out what's happening. We saw them last year against
31:35
Iowa City in Iowa City. They looked ill prepared.
31:39
They looked awful. They were a lot better football
31:41
team than what they look like. And that's continued again this
31:43
year, week after week after week.
31:46
Washington can't travel and it shows up against Wisconsin.
31:50
Now Wisconsin's got to go on the road to Indiana.
31:52
Maybe they got some good feelings, a little pep in their
31:53
step, fickles coming back for a year.
31:56
I can't buy it. I can't.
31:57
Either this thing feels like 55 to 3.
32:00
Name and score yes, I think that's what I think that's what
32:03
this game has written all over it.
32:04
All right, and Speaking of naming the score, Trent, I'm are
32:06
you going to make this part of your Thursday Circa sports
32:11
picks, the NFL game tonight, Jets and the Patriots, or are
32:15
you shopping elsewhere? Is there a college game tonight,
32:17
by the way? There is.
32:19
I can't remember what it was offhand.
32:21
Did you watch any action? Yeah, like 3 minutes.
32:25
That's where I was all. Night.
32:26
It was terrible. Yeah, but it's action.
32:28
Troy against Old Dominion, that pass, that's not going to do it
32:31
for you. I'd much rather watch that than
32:32
a Mac game. Well, Dominion's often.
32:34
It's fun to watch, at least. Take your word for it now.
32:38
Tomorrow Minnesota and Oregon. Yes, yeah.
32:42
That's not that's not bad. Clemson and Louisville, this
32:45
part this this game had at least when the schedule came out and
32:49
you realize that was a Friday before we knew Clemson was as
32:52
bad as they were. This one had the little because
32:55
I think this is the last Friday of big school man.
32:59
Let me just skip ahead to next Friday.
33:01
You know, there's nothing. Oh, there, I should say that
33:03
there is. There's one more.
33:04
It's an ACC game of Florida State and NC State.
33:07
But I personally, I love the Friday games.
33:10
I really do, and especially when the Big 10's.
33:14
Playing, not me. Well, yeah, you're working and
33:16
you've got Valley Dowling tomorrow.
33:19
What time? 4:00 Four.
33:20
O'clock on the bull. Yes, 96.9 or on the iHeartRadio.
33:24
App and then you've got the nightcap.
33:26
Waukee Northwest against Iowa City Liberty.
33:29
That's pretty good yes, and the and that will also be on the
33:32
bull. But the championship game next
33:34
week will be carried right here. Is that A7 or a 737 o'clock?
33:38
Good stuff. Let's get to Mark real quick
33:40
before we go to break. Hi, Mark, how are you?
33:43
I doing great. Love the show, guys.
33:45
Hey, I heard you guys talking briefly about when Iowa played
33:48
at Northwestern regularly. And I know it's a little off
33:50
topic, but I just want to say So I was at the game and after that
33:54
game, I I just sort of hang around and I noticed this group
33:58
behind the first base dug up and there's maybe.
34:02
And then some woman just takes us on to the field.
34:06
And so I just. I just climbed on to this group,
34:08
whoever they were. Yeah.
34:09
But my only point is this. I stood where Babe Ruth stood.
34:15
I mean, the fact that you can get down there, I know you know
34:19
what you're standing and you, I'm lining it up.
34:20
Granted, the football field is set up football, but I mean, I
34:23
still see the foul poles. So you can still draw the line
34:26
and say right here is the batter box where Babe Ruth stood and
34:31
Ernie some. Of the greats and was just.
34:33
Oh, I mean the exact spot and you know, the same view of the
34:37
scoreboard they had. And anyways, so and then I and
34:40
then I wandered out and got my picture taken next to the four O
34:43
8 sign and just it was a religious event for me.
34:47
That's right. That's really cool.
34:48
I appreciate you sharing that, Mark.
34:49
That's really cool. Good stuff.
34:50
You bet. Thanks for listening.
34:52
Take care. Yep, Good to hear from you.
34:53
That's that's cool. Just envisioning.
34:56
Yeah, I'm with you. That's that's a neat, that's a
34:58
neat option to have to get that on the field.
35:01
Obviously that's not available for everyone.
35:04
And well done for Mark for tagging along with a group of
35:06
strangers and just kind of blending in.
35:08
I bet. What if he's a wedding crasher
35:09
at any time in Mark's life? So where the Montreal Canadiens
35:14
used to play hockey? The forum in Montreal?
35:16
Famous hockey, right? I know that one.
35:18
You know that one and when it was torn down, one of the
35:23
because you could bid on seats, you want to take a seat for the
35:25
but one of the items that was available for bidding was the
35:31
urinal in the Canadians dressing.
35:33
Room. That's a great one.
35:34
Right, All the great Canadians that have come before that's at
35:38
some point relieved themselves, made their bladder gladder in
35:43
the urinal and it went to John Ferguson and Chris Nolan.
35:47
I think we're the two guys that have been up anyways.
35:50
Well, take the time. It reminded me of Mark's story,
35:52
but that is pretty cool. Just be out there with the
35:53
greats and just trying to envision what they were looking
35:56
at in that historic venue. All right, Trent's plays of the
36:00
day, they are coming up next, Miller and Condon, they're
36:03
sponsored by Circus Sports. By the way, download the Circus
36:05
Sports app here in Iowa, your new app for those of you
36:08
listening in Illinois. It's coming in the first quarter
36:11
of next year. We'll be back with Trent's plays
36:13
of the day. Hey, Millory Condon on the Iowa
36:15
Sports Radio Network. Hi, Millory Condon, welcome
36:25
back, Iowa Sports Radio Network. Our final couple of minutes here
36:28
on a Thursday. Coming up off the bench.
36:31
They will come. Sean Roberts, Lucas train from
36:34
2:00 until 5:00 overtime Iowa 5 until 6:00 tomorrow morning at
36:39
six the first quarter with Heather Burnside and Alec Bussey
36:44
6 until 9. All right, Trent Circus sports
36:47
sponsor this 8 and 2 Patriots. It's hosting the two and seven
36:51
New York Jets. The number is 12 and a half 13.
36:55
At least that's what it was last time I looked.
36:57
That was earlier in the program. Guessing it's somewhere still
36:59
around there, if it's moved at all.
37:02
Where are you? Grabbing the 13.
37:04
You're going to take the 13 divisional game?
37:06
Yep. Yeah, The Jets.
37:07
Defense isn't brutal now. It's worse without Sauce
37:10
Gardner. Obviously there's 12 and a halfs
37:12
out there now. It's falling a little bit. 12
37:14
1/2, thirteen. I thought it might go the other
37:16
way but new so grabbing the 13. What else are you playing
37:20
tonight? Any hoops?
37:21
3 college basketball games. I think a couple of them might
37:24
intrigue you. Let's go with the one that
37:25
probably won't. Michigan State playing host to
37:27
San Jose State. We're going to play Sparty minus
37:30
the 23 1/2. By the way, where did did you
37:32
find the Minnesota, Missouri game last?
37:34
Night it looked it was on SEC Plus.
37:36
Was it? Yeah.
37:37
Not regular SEC Network. So I did the same thing and then
37:42
I got mad. Two other plays.
37:44
Backyard Brawl. Give me Pit plus a 6 1/2 against
37:46
West Virginia. How about this at 6:00 from
37:50
Tuscaloosa? Yes, Purdue.
37:52
Alabama. I'm in what channel do you know
37:55
it won't be wouldn't be what might be on the Deuce?
37:58
Is it on the Deuce? All right, I'm in.
37:59
That's. For all, give me the Crimson
38:00
Tide. Good stuff.
38:02
That's going to do it for us. Glad you spent some time with
38:04
us. Miller and Condon weekdays noon
38:06
to two on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.