Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #8: Resetting the Deck

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#8: Resetting the Deck · NFL Power Rankings

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: It's a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: It is presented by Energizer. It was a long, long week,
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  Speaker 3: in fact, so long that when you get a doubleheader
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  Speaker 3: back to back games on a Monday night football, When
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  Speaker 3: your inbox blows up in the middle of the night
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  Speaker 3: and it's Eric's Power Rankings, you know that he's going
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  Speaker 3: to be caffeinated for this show. I feel like you
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  Speaker 3: were working to the wee hours of the morning trying
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  Speaker 3: to fine tune this thing.
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  Speaker 4: Eric well, not only doing this week's ranking rankings Mic,
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  Speaker 4: but also cleaning up last week's mess. I admit I
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  Speaker 4: had the bills too high, a few other teams in
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  Speaker 4: wrong spots.
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  Speaker 5: So this is like resetting the decks here a little bit.
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  Speaker 5: This week. It was a lot of work. Stayed up Layton,
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  Speaker 5: the hardworking for you people out there.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I'm in bed.
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  Speaker 3: This is probably a Tami, but I'm in bed and
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  Speaker 3: I'm on my phone and I'm reading through your article
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  Speaker 3: which is on NFL dot com right now, and I'm
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  Speaker 3: doing a double take, and I'm like, he didn't really
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  Speaker 3: mean to put that team there.
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  Speaker 2: Oh oh you did. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Let's get to the rankings and some of the over
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  Speaker 3: correction maybe that we have witnessed. All right, back to normal.
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  Speaker 3: The Detroit Lions sitting number one. They move up a spot,
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  Speaker 3: dethroning the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will get to in
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  Speaker 3: just a minute. Don't look now moving up six bots
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  Speaker 3: the Indianapolis Colts, a six to one football team, sitting
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  Speaker 3: at number two.
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  Speaker 2: The Chiefs at three.
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  Speaker 3: The Seahawks with that defense that we saw on Monday
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  Speaker 3: Night Football are fourth.
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  Speaker 2: They actually drop one spot.
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  Speaker 3: The Green Bay Packers at five, the Eagles staying even
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  Speaker 3: at six, as do the Rams at seven, and a
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  Speaker 3: significant drop for that Bucks team now sitting at eight.
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  Speaker 3: All right, let's focus in on this number one team.
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  Speaker 3: We did this on the postgame show on NFL Network.
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  Speaker 3: Are they the best team in the NFC? You think
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  Speaker 3: they're the best team right now in the NFL? Is
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  Speaker 3: that solely just based off of the performance that they're
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  Speaker 3: getting from a defense that's banged up right now and
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  Speaker 3: Jamiir Gibbs sort of flexing that he is one of
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  Speaker 3: the top two or three backs.
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  Speaker 2: In the league.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, there's a lot that went into it.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously, there was a lot that went into putting the
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  Speaker 4: Bucks first last week that didn't sort of pay out
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  Speaker 4: for me. But I felt okay with it because I
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  Speaker 4: know they have a dominant offense that was frankly at
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  Speaker 4: a B minus C plus level against the Bucks. Too
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  Speaker 4: many turnovers, too many miss points. But when you have
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  Speaker 4: a home run hitter like Jamiir Gibbs, you can kind
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  Speaker 4: of get away with that. And you know, he was
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  Speaker 4: obviously special. But look at this defense. You know, guys
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  Speaker 4: like Rock you're seeing he obviously missed some snaps during
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  Speaker 4: the game.
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  Speaker 5: Had to step up.
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  Speaker 4: No Kirby Joseph, no Terry and Arnold, no Brian Branch,
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  Speaker 4: no Vante Maddox. They had all backups pretty much in
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  Speaker 4: that secondary and they did a fantastic job. You know,
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  Speaker 4: Evans didn't finish the game, but still to be able
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  Speaker 4: to control a Tampa Bay offense that was at least
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  Speaker 4: among the best half dozen or ten offenses in the league.
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  Speaker 4: You can have somewhat of an off night on offense,
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  Speaker 4: and GoF made some big throws, no question about it.
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  Speaker 5: This one to domin Ross Saint Brown.
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  Speaker 4: Look, we know they're capable of these big explosive moments.
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  Speaker 4: They don't have to be perfect every drive, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: I just think their overall resume speaks a little louder
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  Speaker 4: to me than some other teams. Although Colts fans may
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  Speaker 4: want to have a word with me.
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  Speaker 3: I still think about this team that Sunday Night football.
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  Speaker 3: The loss against Kansas City is I don't want to
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  Speaker 3: say a scheme thing, but like Kansas City just did
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  Speaker 3: a masterful job just making sure that Detroit didn't have
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  Speaker 3: the football. You know, in some ways it was a
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  Speaker 3: little bit of a disappointment in terms of the not
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  Speaker 3: the result, but just the game. I expected more fireworks,
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  Speaker 3: but maybe it was just a learning about the parody
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  Speaker 3: that we're getting in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: All right, time for power Moves.
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  Speaker 3: It is presented by Energizer moving up six spots the Colts.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 3: When I think about this number two team, I'm flashing
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  Speaker 3: back to last season.
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  Speaker 2: On this show, we ran a graphic.
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  Speaker 3: It was the Commanders and where they started, which would
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  Speaker 3: have like twenty six, twenty eight something along those lines. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: and then just the rise that they continue to have.
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  Speaker 3: That's the cults this year, like this is legit. I'm
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  Speaker 3: tired of this conversation that I'm hearing in the national media,
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  Speaker 3: which is, hey, are they for real?
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  Speaker 2: Eric?
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  Speaker 3: This is a real football team that really could make
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  Speaker 3: a push and a claim that they are the best
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  Speaker 3: in the league.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm here to confirm what you just said. They
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  Speaker 5: are for real.
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  Speaker 4: And of course I'm a little late on it. You know,
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  Speaker 4: I've been holding back a little bit. You know, they
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  Speaker 4: had a blowout over the Raiders. How much stock do
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  Speaker 4: you put on that they lose to The Rams? Made
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  Speaker 4: some self inflicted errors, you know, they had moments along
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  Speaker 4: the way where you thought, okay, are they really that good?
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  Speaker 4: But look at what the offense has done every single
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  Speaker 4: game this season, really outside of the Rams game, they've
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  Speaker 4: scored twenty eight or more every single game. And Jonathan
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  Speaker 4: Taylor and Daniel Jones. I believe if you're making a
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  Speaker 4: serious MVP list right now, you've better have both guys
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  Speaker 4: on it. Taylor is spectacular, kind of reimagining his twenty
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  Speaker 4: twenty one season. That level of production, I think we
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  Speaker 4: could end up seeing him with career numbers in some regards.
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  Speaker 4: Jones has obviously changed the arc of his career too,
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  Speaker 4: and it all works off of the run game. You
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  Speaker 4: see this play action pass, throw it back to Taylor,
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  Speaker 4: and they just have so many different weapons, and Tyler
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  Speaker 4: Warren has stepped in to look like a Pro Bowl
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  Speaker 4: tight end right away from Jump Street.
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  Speaker 5: So I've just been really impressed.
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  Speaker 4: The defense set the tone in the first half against
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  Speaker 4: the Chargers and held on late, and you know, they're
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  Speaker 4: a complete football team. And no more talk about Shane
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: Stikeen on the hot seat, and no we're talking about
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  Speaker 4: Chris Ballard's draft picks.
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  Speaker 5: They're all hidden right now.
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  Speaker 3: Evan Washburn from CBS I saw this on social media somewhere.
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  Speaker 3: He's interviewing Daniel Johneson in paraphrasing saying, Hey, a little
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  Speaker 3: bit of a surprise, you know where you guys are
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  Speaker 3: at right now. And DJ's response was something to the
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  Speaker 3: effect was like, hey, y'all just didn't know what you
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  Speaker 3: were talking about at the start of the season.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe he's right.
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  Speaker 3: The Kansas City Chiefs are a team that also was
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  Speaker 3: one of these significant risers in the rankings, moving up
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  Speaker 3: six spots. They sit number three in your Power rankings.
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  Speaker 3: They do have a win against the lines. I'm just
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  Speaker 3: curious because it has looked better over these last two
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  Speaker 3: weeks and maybe you can make a claim that, hey,
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  Speaker 3: Raiders aren't aren't necessarily juggernauts.
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  Speaker 2: Did you it all? Consider them at number one?
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  Speaker 5: I did? Yeah, I thought about it.
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  Speaker 4: Look, and I would have thought about the Seahawks had
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  Speaker 4: they had a great perform some Monday night. I'm always
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  Speaker 4: trying to be flexible on these things. And I asked myself,
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  Speaker 4: who is the most dangerous team right now? And if
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  Speaker 4: you don't come up with the Chiefs in your first
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  Speaker 4: three or four answers, I think you're missing the picture here.
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  Speaker 4: Yes it was the Raiders, and yes they were shorthanded,
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  Speaker 4: no doubt about it. But first time we saw Hollywood Brown,
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  Speaker 4: Rashi Rice, and Xavier Worthy on the field together, it
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  Speaker 4: looked pretty darn good.
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  Speaker 5: I don't even think thirty.
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  Speaker 4: One to nothing showed the level of dominance, the one
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  Speaker 4: sidedness of this game. The Raiders could do absolutely nothing
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  Speaker 4: on offense. Probably not a huge shock with who they
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  Speaker 4: were missing, But the Chiefs look really good.
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  Speaker 5: How about the Nolo pass returning too?
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  Speaker 4: A little bit of that swagger is back where Shee
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  Speaker 4: Rice Surta brings that. You know, we saw another start
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  Speaker 4: to the season where Mahomes was kind of sluggish at
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  Speaker 4: times and all that. I think that's gone. He's not
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  Speaker 4: having to carry the load with all his scrambling and
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  Speaker 4: crazy plays. He could just sit back and throw to
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  Speaker 4: his playmakers. It's just been so much different the last
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  Speaker 4: couple of weeks, and I think they're on a roll.
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  Speaker 4: And even if their resume comes up a little short
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  Speaker 4: from some of the top teams, I.
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  Speaker 3: Think there's some other guys, at least at this point
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  Speaker 3: of the season that I would point to in front
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  Speaker 3: of Mahomes's MVP. A lot of football to be played,
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  Speaker 3: and not for nothing, the way that he has played
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  Speaker 3: so far. I think by the end of the season,
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  Speaker 3: he's absolutely going to be in that conversation, all right.
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  Speaker 2: At number five.
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  Speaker 3: It is the Green Bay Packers. I don't I was
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  Speaker 3: ready to crown them after we two.
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  Speaker 2: I'm like, this seems I got to the Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 3: And obviously that was a dumb, dumb comment, which is
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  Speaker 3: one of many that I typically make in my life.
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  Speaker 3: Generally speaking, though, this is this team to me is
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  Speaker 3: an enigma. I'm actually surprised that you had them fit,
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  Speaker 3: Like I think there was a case to drop them
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  Speaker 3: further down.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I thought about it.
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  Speaker 4: I did, and look, it has been a little bit
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  Speaker 4: disappointing some of these games where they match up against
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: a seemingly lesser team or one that's at least a
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  Speaker 4: notch below them and play them in a one possession game,
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: or play them in a tight game, or have to
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  Speaker 4: have the fourth quarter to put them away. So still
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: some questions about the offense. Another kind of sluggish start,
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  Speaker 4: Josh Jacobs limited, you know, you got to factor that
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  Speaker 4: in as well. But when the offense really came alive
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: was when Matt Lafleur trusted Jordan Love and you know
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: that big fourth and two. They brought the field goal
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  Speaker 4: team out. They called time out and said, no, we
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: want the offense out there, and Love delivers a tear
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  Speaker 4: drop to Tucker Craft and he just hit him on
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  Speaker 4: a big third down right before that. So you're seeing
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  Speaker 4: these little kind of kernels of growth in the offense.
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  Speaker 4: It's not to the levels we expect. They still have
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: to get better on that side, and defensively, they can't
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  Speaker 4: wait for Micah Parsons to just rescue them in the
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  Speaker 4: fourth quarter like he did Sunday.
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  Speaker 5: A little bit more.
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  Speaker 4: Consistent throughout, So yeah, there was a case to drop them,
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: but they ended up waiting played very well in the
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  Speaker 4: fourth quarter. I thought we're gonna hold him steady for
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: this week, but they're on watch.
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  Speaker 5: There's no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, And to be clear, by the end of the season,
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  Speaker 3: if they are playing in the super Bowl, we will
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  Speaker 3: replay the clip of me in week two coming off
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  Speaker 3: of that win. It was lines then Commanders saying that
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  Speaker 3: they were going to be in the super Bowl. So
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: I will sound like I was right and all is
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  Speaker 3: right in the world at number six is an Eagles
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  Speaker 3: team speaking if things are okay in Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we saw some explosive plays.
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  Speaker 3: People talking about, Hey, the best performance we've seen from
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Jalen Hurts, which I guess numerically based on the passer
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: rating and stuff, you can kind of point to it.
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  Speaker 3: Considering who they were playing in this defense. I don't
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: know if I'd go that far, but Boyle Boys signs
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  Speaker 3: of life eric in a meaningful way for this Philly team.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, and it was, you know, deeper shots.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously been kind of waiting for that, that aj Brown
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: connection that's happened a little bit more DeVante Smith. Those
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: two guys were outstanding and Hurts made it happen. And
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  Speaker 4: I think Hurts working outside of structure too, and not
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: just pulling up to run or you know, taking the
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: short gains, but taking some risks knowing that the blitz
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: was there, and he was fantastic against extra pressure. We
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: know Brian Flores is going to bring it. The Eagles
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: certainly knew that coming in. They had a plan for it,
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  Speaker 4: and it didn't just involve you know, screens and dumpoffs
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  Speaker 4: and things like that. They were wanting to work outside
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: of the pocket and make plays downfield. So look, I
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: mean he was averaging sixteen points six yards or attempt
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: per attempt on blitzes alone. So Hurts was fantastic. The
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: defense got a you know, Jalen Carter stepped up. Jlex
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: Hunt had the pick six. This is kind of a
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: get right game against the team that I think is
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  Speaker 4: still moderately competitive in the vikings.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and speaking of another get right game, an opportunity
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: to avenge a loss from a couple of weeks ago,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: it will be the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: Matching up against the New York Giants.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: All right time for future champions. It is presented by
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Fan Duel. Let's take a look at the odds to
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: go and win the NFC West. The Rams right now
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: are the favorite plus one thirty five and Niners not
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: too far behind at one seventy, and then plus two
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: sixty of the Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. Well, I
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: guess technically still have a chance according to FanDuel, though
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: at plus ten thousand, it's not.
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  Speaker 2: A great one.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: This is a Rams team that sits number seven right
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: now in your power rankings. We didn't see Pooka out
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: there overseas for this game. Matthew Stafford, though, is continuing
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: to sort of flex here. I don't know what to
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: make of this team because of that lost couple weeks
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: ago against the Niners. Do we just say blip on
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: the radar and Kyle Shanahan just has success against this team?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: Right, in this case, when it's a divisional opponent, you
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: look at those kind of results, you can say, all right,
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: there's familiarity.
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: There, right. These guys go back a long way.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: When you're talking about a game like Rams Jaguars on
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: a neutral field and it's pretty one side, and even
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: if the yards suggested it was a little closer than
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: it was, you tip your hat to the rams that
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: say they played a great game.
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: You know, they had had five.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: Touchdowns on offense, the seven sacks on defense. That's the
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: kind of formula you want, you're looking for. You know.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: The Jaguars through the ball what fifty times almost and
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: really didn't have a whole lot of success doing it
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: until very late in the game. So, you know, I
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: just thought this was a really good offensive plan. No,
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: Puka and Akua, you put up thirty five points, get
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: the tight ends involved, you know, Ferguson, Parkinson.
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: Higbee was really nice to see.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: It was just a good even if it wasn't the
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: most beautiful offensive execution. They were just a step or
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: two ahead of the Jaguars all game. And yeah, it's
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: another team that I thought, should I move them up?
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: Is that?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: Are they worthy of being a top five team? They're
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: really close. All these teams are within a hair of
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: each other.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you talk about this razor thin margin. I started
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: the show.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: I were talking about being in bed last night, coming
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: home from the postgame show Monday Night Football, going did
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: he really do this with his team?
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: As I'm looking at your article on NFL.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Dot com, you did the Tampa day Bucks went from
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: one and I was like, you got it right. You
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: slotted them there, they deserve to be there, and then
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: they go and you drop them seven spots.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: They're now sending eighth in the power rankings.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: Like, dude, it, I get it, Like there's injuries, but
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: they've been navigating it better than any team in the
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: NFL this season.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: No mercy, Mike, you gotta be got to really got
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: to know when to cut bait, or at least for now.
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: I said this one in my piece on NFL dot Com.
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: I'm not giving up on the Bucks, but given the
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: state of things right now, first of all, they've been
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: outscored on the season. I don't know if a lot
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: of people realize that, giving up more points than they've scored.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: You know, everything was a razor thin margin with every
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: single game, but a clear difference between the Lions and
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: the Bucks on Monday Night. Now, some of that obviously
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: had to do with no Bucky Irving, no other pieces.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: Evans goes down with the broken collar bone. That's a
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: huge blow, especially in his return to the field, and
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: they didn't get anything going with him while he was
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: out there. So, you know, is Abuga healthy? You know,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: he seemed to be playing at maybe sixty seventy eighty
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: percent on.
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: Monday night as well.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: So, you know, just a lot of questions with this
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: team right now. Can they make enough stops defensively?
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: They did a lot of good things.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: On d but what Jamiir Gibbs hits a couple of
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: bombs is they're going to be up against it. So
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: it was the injury factor and the factor that I
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: probably overrated him a little bit last week and they
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: didn't necessarily deserve that promotion, so it kind of got
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: him on both ends a little bit.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if I actually think they did
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: deserve it because of all the injuries that they have
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: been able to navigate and figuring out ways to get wins.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: The one thing that I will say is like Detroit's
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: defense last night was pretty terrific.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: And this is the first time I saw.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: Baker just not look totally comfortable in the pocket and
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: missed them throws, kind of sailed the ball over a
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: couple different receivers heads a couple of times. So I
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: don't know, it was just maybe it's a blip on
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: the radar for this team. I don't know, but it
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: does concern me what we witnessed and the fact that
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: you're dropping them seven spots.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: My god.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: You know, there's one team that I actually thought would
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: be able to crack the top eight, and that is
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: the San Francisco forty nine ers, But according to Eric,
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: that is just not the case. We will dissect what
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Christian McCaffrey was able to do against the Atlanta Falcons
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: on Sunday night. Where they sit in the rankings, and
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: I've been vetoing and I keep losing the Denver Broncos.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: Do we need to talk about how they handle business
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: against my giants?
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Apparently we do. That's still to come here on Power Rankings.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Hey, back here on Power Rankings, Mike amm and Eric
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: at home with you. We got teams nine through sixteen.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: I don't think I've ever had to wait to the
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: B block of the show to talk about the Buffalo
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Bills in the last two years that I've been doing this.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: But that's where they sit right now. The Denver Broncos
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: will get to in just a moment. At ten, the
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: Patriots moving up five spots. Today at eleven, we got
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: the San Francisco forty nine ers just figuring out ways
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: to win even with the depleted roster at twelve, the
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Steelers at thirteen, the Bears don't look now for consecutive
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: wins for this team.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: The Jacks drop two spots, still trying to figure out
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: what that team is.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: And then we got the Commanders at sixteen. Time for
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Team of the Week, it is presented by Truest all Right,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: number seven, we got a Broncos squad, nineteen point deficit
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: in the fourth quarter, figure out a way to get
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: it done against my giants.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: I asked.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: It was like, do we have to talk about this team?
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: Everyone said yes, not only do we do that, we're
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: making them like our team with Week two of course. Right,
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: So break this down for me, just how impressive are
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: some of these cardiac moments that we're seeing from Sean
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: Payton's team, where it doesn't seemingly matter where they sit,
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: they just figure out ways to get it done. Except
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: for those two essentially walk off losses if they had
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: earlier this year.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah, right, No, I mean obviously some of those kind
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: of battle harden you, and some of them, you know,
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: kind of set you up lessons learned.
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: This is what we're gonna do next.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: Time, or this is how we're gonna behave in these moments,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: and obviously the Broncos dug such a big hole for themselves,
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: and you know, to be able to just pull it
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: off is pretty remarkable, But the fact that they almost
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: blew it a second time just kind of adds to
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: the ridiculousness of it. Mike, I never know what to
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: do with teams who do this sort of thing. Remember
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: we had that crazy comeback against a bad cold Steam
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: the Vikings scored all those points and everything. You know,
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: how do you rank a team that plays terribly for
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: three quarters and then brilliantly for one quarter for the
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: most part, and then sort of just average it all
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: out of Are they two thirds good to one third bat?
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: You know, it's really difficult.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: But the biggest thing I came away from from this
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: game was boy bo Nick said, an amazing fourth quarter
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: and that Denver defense really let me down anyway, and
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: just expecting a lot more coming off that dominance against
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: the Jets. And yeah, it's a better team and an
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: exciting quarterback, but the fact that they got so few
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: stops until the gift interception late really has me concerned.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: Are they a top five defense anymore? I don't know
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: the answer.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think generally speaking, I do still buy on
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: this Denver team. I think they are a good defense.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of that has to do with
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: the pressure that they get up front. Just for context, here,
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: last three wins for the Broncos a total of seven points.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: The two losses, if I can do the math real quick,
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: a total of four points. And those were those walk
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: off sort of field goals that we saw in Week
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: two against the Colts and the Chargers, both of those
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: games on the road. All right, let's focus in on
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: the Niners. I think they're too low at twelve, Like,
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: I think they should be closer into that top ten.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Sell me on why a team that that just is
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: not healthy, that doesn't have a Fred Wanner out there,
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: that keeps the Atlanta Falcons you know, to ten points
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: or whatever? You know, Yeah, points a season low for them.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Why twelve?
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: They've got two serious contenders in the NFC West. I
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: think they're going to have to contend with and fight
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: off to win that division. They're obviously a team that
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: has shown incredible toughness and incredibly well coached too.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: They look the more.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: Prepared team between them and Atlanta during this game, and
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: you know, Christian McCaffrey having his breakout game deserves a
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: lot of credit. Right, They hadn't had success running the football,
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: They'd had to get them the ball through the air
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: pretty much every way they got them the ball on
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: Sunday night worked and against the good Atlanta defense too.
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: I think that has to be said.
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I've been kind of slow playing the Niners a
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: little bit, and the injuries are part of it too,
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: because they're not getting Warner back, they're not getting Bosa back.
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: A lot of these other teams that have had similar
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: grades of injuries and similar swaths of players go down,
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: a lot of them have chances to return later in
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: the season. So I do kind of bake that in
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: a little. But the fact that you know, they were
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: able to pluck so many guys off the practice squad
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: and off the second team and have them step up
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: and play as well as they did against an explosive
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: offense deserves the credit.
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: I hear what you're saying.
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: I just don't look at them and say this is
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: obviously a top ten team. I think they're very close,
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: and like I said, a lot of the margin for
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: err between five and fifteen is not that big.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: Right now, I think, yeah, they haven't even come close
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: to hitting their ceiling, at least in my mind.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: So there's a buffer true here.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: We'll find out over the next couple of weeks where
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: they where they end up slotting in by really the
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: end of the season. Explain the Steelers at their team,
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: like I don't really know what to make of this team,
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Like I was starting to kind of get on that bandwagon,
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: and then I see Joe Flack on the Bengals, like,
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: roast this defense, Like that's not supposed to happen.
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, sort of the same question we had with Denver
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: a little bit. Now, I don't know the Steelers have
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: quite as good a defense, but to see them really
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: struggle to generate any.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Kind of pass rush has me worried.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: Now. Aaron Rodgers had some big moments in this game,
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: not just the hail Mary, which he threw almost seventy
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: yards according to next Gen the stats, but the fact
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: that he extended a lot of plays, made some other
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: big throws. He used his legs more than we used
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: to seeing. So there were some good things from the
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: Steelers offense, even with the two interceptions. But you know,
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: it was the fact that they seemed incapable of slowing
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: down Joe Flacco, Jamar Chase T Higgins.
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: Those are the only guys you had to really worry about.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: And on top of that, they woke up a dormant
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: run game from the Bengals. Chase Brown had been locked
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: up all season and they went kind of.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: Wild against them.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: So again, short week on the road, you factor that
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: in too, But kind of like the Niners, there's just
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: been this quality about them that's held me back from
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: elevating them further on the list.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: To this point, there's two teams in the NFL eric
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: that I'm legitimately worried about. One of them is the
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: Houston Texans. The other one is at sixteen, the Washington Commanders.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: I know that they're banked up with injuries. Jaden Daniels
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: doesn't seem all that serious according to Dan Quinn with
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: that hamstring injury, but.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Check this out.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: They got the Chiefs, the Seahawks, and then the Lions
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: over their next three games like this could really spiral
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: out of control for a.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Three and four football team.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're obviously, you know, this is a crucial point,
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: especially we don't know when Daniels is going to return
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: to the field. It could be this week against Kansas City,
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: it might be a week after that if they don't
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: have him. You know, look, we've seen Marcus Mario to
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: go to Atlanta and you know, just come up a
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: little short in a shootout, So who knows what could happen.
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: But the way the Chiefs are playing right now that
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: concerns you. They do have the extra day, which helps,
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: but yeah, I mean obviously defensively, you know, you have
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: to ask yourself, is.
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: Marshaun Lattimore playable at this point?
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Is there another you know, can they clean up the
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: mistackling too and the bad angles to the ball that
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: are giving teams extra yards? It feels like and you
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: know the receiver situation too with McLaurin, Hurt, Deebo, you know, Brown,
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: et cetera. I mean, they're just really shorthanded in some
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: key spots, defense, playmakers on offense, and that's taken last
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: year's darlings and really kind of neutered them a little bit.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: So they've had their moments, but they just haven't been
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: able to have a full healthy squad out there to
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: show all their talents.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, who's getting a little bit more healthy.
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: Right now, that's the Dallas Cowboys who just beat them
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: this past weekend, and we're trying to figure out where
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: Dak and the Boys actually sit.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: There clearly behind this Commander's team.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: We'll find out exactly where Eric wanted to slot them,
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: and also check in on that Bengal squad.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: They're on the move as well, considering that when that
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: we just talked about against the Steelers.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: Hey back here on power rankings along with Eric at home, Mike,
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: am with you team seventeen through twenty four. We got
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: the Chargers at seventeen, dropping a spot by Atlanta Falcons
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: to eighteen. Carolina's figuring things out here. They're in the
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: top twenty, sitting at nineteen. The Cowboys move up two
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: spots at twenty.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: The Houston Texans.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: I said I was worried about them, and I am
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: because of that team's offense. The Vikings at twenty two.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: The Ravens, yeah, twenty three at one, and I can't
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: believe the Ravens are a one to five football team.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: And we got Cincinnati sitting at twenty four. They move
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: up three spots, and there are some signs.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Of life for that ball club, all right. At number twenty.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: The move up to spots it is the Dallas Cowboys.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: I think this offense, because Pickens has played as well
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: as he has so far this season, Ceedee Lamb back
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: in the fold. That side of the football alone makes
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: this team dangerous. I don't think we're talking about them
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: in the top twenty by seasons in.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I think it's closer to the top fifteen.
• 22:24
  Speaker 5: Oh, they're lurking absolutely.
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, you still have to worry about that defense
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: when you have Dak Prescott playing at the level he is.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: And it's crazy to think that a Cowboys quarterback playing
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: well is not being recognized enough by the national media.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: But you know you saw the big play to CD here.
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: You obviously mentioned pick and stew You know they can
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: get the ball of the tight end. And oh, by
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: the way, Javonte Williams had a terrific season so far.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: We know Brian Schottenheimer loves to run the ball. So
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: if they can just get marginally better on defense and
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: be as good as they've always been on special teams
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: the last few years, they're a scary team.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: Denver better watch out this weekend. That defense canna be
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: up against it.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you are you buying Joe Flacco with
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: the Bengals, Like keeping them alive in the division.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: Completely changed the arc of their season. In my opinion,
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: there's no doubt. I mean, look, we were sort of
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: deciding when is this, you know, do you just sit
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: Burrow for the rest of the year. But he's getting
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: the ball to his playmakers obviously found Noah fan to
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: another big plays to do. Yo see this, and you
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: know they found a run game too with.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: Joe under center.
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: They didn't do that with his replacement, so or the
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: guy he replaced, I says, should say. And there's still
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: a lot to do, right, They're still swimming way upstream
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: and a ton of work to do. There's maybe only
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: three or four games that you say, yeah, that's probably
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: a win left on their schedule. But with Joe, the
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: dude's just a contract killer man.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: He's ready to go to work.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Hearing Mike Tomlin talk about, you know, the effect that
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: the Browns and.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: The division would trade him, and the disappointment and then
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: to see it unfold the way that it did, Yeah,
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: you almost feel bad for this Dealers fans, and I
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: know Mike Tomlin's certainly thinking about that. May well, let's
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: get to teams twenty five through thirty two.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Here in a closer look at some of these rankings.
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: We got the Cardinals sitting at twenty five, the Giants
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: somehow at twenty six. I still don't necessarily know what
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: to make of what we witnessed on Sunday against the
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Denver Broncos.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: At twenty seven.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: It's the Browns at twenty eight, it is the Saints,
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: the Raiders checking at twenty nine. They got the Dolphins
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: at thirty thirty one, the Titans and the Jets still
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: looking for win number one on the season. Eric, if
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: I'm being honest with you, I misspoke earlier in the show.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: I said I was worried about two teams in the NFL,
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: the Texans and the Commanders. And I still am worried
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: about those teams. I forgot to.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Mention the Raiders, the Dolphins, and the Jets.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: I'm worried about all those teams because I hadn't look
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: pretty for him.
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: I think we've already said that we're worried about there
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: were their past worry. At this point, it is a
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: freak out stage.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, Eric, you're the best man.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: I cannot wait to do this again with you next week,
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: and of course I always appreciate everyone watching and listening.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: To Power Rankings.
• 25:00
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• 25:02
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• 25:07
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