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NFL Week 1 Preview: Are Cowboys Really A Playoff Contender? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone. It's Jeff Mosher from Inside the Birds. And
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: it is that time again for the NFL Weekly Preview show.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: If you are new to the show, what I do
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: each week throughout the NFL season is I give you
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I go through all the matchups, every team. And if
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: this is not a betting or wagering type show, what
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I really do is get into the schematics, the coaching matchups,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the personnel matchups. I try to give you my feel
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: for how I think each game is going to go
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: or what's at stake. I do give what the line
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is on each game. At the end of the show,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: I pick three games that I will pick against the spread.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I did not do a very good job of that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: last year. But, I will try to do better this year,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: but that's really not the point. The point for me
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: is to really go through a lot of what we
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: do on Inside the Birds, which is scheme, personnel, really
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: football junkie type of stuff each week to show you
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: how I think these teams match up. And as always,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: what it does is it begins with a little bit
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: of a recap from whatever games happened on Thursday night.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: In this case, Wednesday, Thursday, there's games every day of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the week now, but I still We'll give a little
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: recap of that, what I thought of it, and then
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: get into the Sunday and Monday night showdowns. So I
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: don't want to waste too much time. I just wanted
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to say that this show is going to be really
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: interesting because there are more teams that went through changes
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: in play callers, either offense or defense, or both, than
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I can ever remember. And I think more teams had
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: at least one play caller change than not. That's how
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: crazy it was here in the NFL. I mean, people
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: are just... looking for that new wave of play caller,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: whether it's offense or defense, and you'll notice a trend.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: People are definitely looking for a trend as they were
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: in their hiring cycle this year. And we'll get into that.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: The one thing I always say with Adam on inside
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the birds is that week one is a total con job.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: If you go back and look at week one for
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the last five to 10 years, you will find some
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: of the most ridiculous scores that may not have seen
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: ridiculous at the time that But by the end of
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: the year, it did. Teams that were terrible that went
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: and won games that you would never expect. A couple
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: of years ago, it was week two. So maybe it's
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: really the first two weeks. I remember the Raiders went
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: out and beat Baltimore in Baltimore. And I think the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Raiders won like four or five games that year in Baltimore.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: That was the year two years ago. They went pretty
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: deep into the playoffs, but. The point is, don't get
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: caught up too much in week one. And you start
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: with the Patriots and the Seahawks Wednesday night. It wasn't
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: a very impressive game. It wasn't a very impressive game
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: six months ago when they met in the Super Bowl
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: or however long that was. It was obviously marred by
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Sam Darnold leaving with a hip injury, by A.J. Brown
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: with the ankle injury. You know, the Patriots got off
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: to the bigger lead. They got the first touchdown. But again,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I think the takeaway from this is that nothing about
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: this game, I think, was a con job other than, say,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Drake May throwing three interceptions. He's getting raked over the coals.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: He's already being said he's not that guy he was
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: last year. He's primed for a third year slump. Listen,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: don't get too far ahead. All right. He did throw
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: three interceptions. The last interception was killer. Should have never happened.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: It was terrible. It's a throw he can't make, and
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: he should have known better. All right. But the first
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: interception was an amazing tip. It was underthrown. The guy
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: tipped it to himself and then caught it three yards
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: later down the field. The second interception, the guy fell down,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and they were costly. There's no doubt. You can't turn
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: the ball over like that. You have to be careful
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: with the football when you're the Patriots. Amazingly, Ramondre Stevenson,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: who's known for stumbling, didn't have any issues. But the
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: three interceptions were killer because Seattle did not really– the
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: first half especially could not really run the ball, couldn't
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: effectively– couldn't move the ball through the air. Obviously, without Darnold,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: it looked like Drew Locke was trying to find his footing.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And it really didn't happen until obviously the fourth quarter
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: when they turned the interception into the big JSN touchdown.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Then they go ahead on the field goal. And, you know,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: obviously– The Patriots had opportunities there and lost it. But
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I don't want to make too big of a deal.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Both teams are very good defensively. The Patriots will have
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to figure out now how to move on for the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: next three weeks without A.J. Brown. Romeo Dobbs had a
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: terrible game. Dobbs had a terrible game. I imagine he'll
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: bounce back. I imagine you'll see something better from Drake
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: May going forward. But that really was a bad game
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: for the Patriots offense. And if you're the Seahawks, you
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: lost your starting quarterback. You had a couple of losses
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: in free agency that made people wonder what you were
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: going to be, especially losing Kenneth Walker in free agency.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: The rookie Price did a nice job with 52 rushing yards,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: but their defense, they were just like they were in
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. They just had a step on the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Patriots and their offensive line. I do worry a little
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: bit about the Patriots' offensive line. Not a ton. Obviously,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: we know Will Campbell was a little hurt and as
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: a rookie last year at the end of the year,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: he did not play very well. It is going to
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: be an issue for them going forward if that continues
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: to be the case. But the Seahawks' defense, if you
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: want to take something away that you don't think is
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: a con job, is that the Seahawks' defense was very,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: very good. Still very stout. They lost Boye Mafe in
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: free agency. They lost Requel into the Eagles in free agency. But,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: you know, lost their safety to the Bears. He got hurt.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: But that defense– and they didn't even have Nick Aminwari. their,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: their best player who was hurt. So a lot of
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: great things. Mike McDonald has shown to be a great
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: coach and good for them to get off the year.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Want to know, because we're going to talk about the
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: NFC West. It's got some really, really good talent in
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: that division. And that of course brings us to the
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Thursday night game. Look, I know a lot is going
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to be made about the Rams decision to fly in late,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: you know, the day before the whole circadian rhythm thing.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I don't, I, I could buy the fact that older
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: players like Matthew Stafford, Devontae Adams, I could buy that
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: they're going to be a step slow with the travel
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: that they had to endure and that maybe the Rams
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: should have rethought their travel schedule. But I'm not going
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: to take away anything from a fantastic effort by the 49ers.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: First of all, knowing what I know about Kyle Shanahan–
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I may have met him once or twice at a combine.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I know a lot of coaches who've coached with him.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: This guy is as intense and competitive as it gets.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: And he had forever to prepare for this game. He
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: had forever to hear about how great the Rams are
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: going to be and the greatest team ever assembled. And
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: he's had quite a long time to marinate on the
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: fact that the NFC West champion Seahawks won the Super Bowl.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So he's had all off season to think about the
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: fact that the Seahawks get a lot of love for
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: being defending Superbowl champs and the Rams are everybody's flavor
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: of the month, including mine, by the way, I, I
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: picked them to go to the Superbowl. I think that
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: they will be fine even after getting crushed, uh, by
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the 49ers, but you've got to give it to Kyle Shanahan.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, he designed some really impressive schemes the way
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: he always does, uh, the way he had Kyle Ushik
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: in motion, uh, misdirection pre-snap motion that was really keeping
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the Rams defense step slow. The Rams just looked a
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: step slow. Miles Garrett had a terrible game. There were
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: hands all over him. So you credit Shanahan for devising
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: schemes to make sure that Miles Garrett was neutralized, but,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: and we can criticize Garrett. It was a terrible game,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: but he commands a lot of hands. That means other
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: people got to beat their one-on-ones and other guys who
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: are good pass rushers, Byron Young, Brenton Fisk. They got
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: a couple of them, We're not very effective, and obviously
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the back end didn't do a great job against the 49ers. Offense,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Brock Purdy really settled in. He threw a pick early,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: but then he really settled in. The addition of Mike
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Evans was such a fantastic weapon for this offense, and
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: if he's healthy, you saw what he can do. They
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: used him in the slot. You remember they lost Juwan
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Johnson in the offseason, so they played Evans in the
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: slot where he didn't really play a whole lot of
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: in Tampa. Then they put him outside at times. And again, Shanahan,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: he found the times that for whatever reason, Miles Garrett
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be on the field. And that's when he picked
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: and choose his spots. I believe the touchdown that Evans
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: caught came when Garrett was not on the field. And,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: you know, you saw McCaffrey. It looks like they're trying
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: to lighten his load a little bit. They're getting Kalen Black,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Kalen Black, the rookie involved in the running game. McCaffrey
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: only had two carries in the first half. And what happened?
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: He came out in the second half. 15-yard run here,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: 14-yard run there, 7-yard catch. The next thing you know,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the Niners are rolling up points, and McCaffrey's got somewhere
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: between– he must have had close to about 100 yards
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: in total offense, maybe 90. But he was very effective.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: He started to– I know some of the underlying metrics
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: of his efficiency last year were down, and maybe that's
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: why they're going to try to incorporate a little bit
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: more other runners. and take the mileage off, but he
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: was definitely effective in the second half. And then Brock
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Purdy was humming 25 of 34, three touchdowns. The reason
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: people are afraid to pick the 49ers has nothing to
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: do with talent or coaching. All right. The reason people
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: are afraid of the 49ers is because they're constantly trying
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: dealing with injuries. And they're still dealing. They actually lost
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: a lineman in practice leading up to this game and
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: for the year, Alfred Collins, right? But they did trade
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: for Osa Odigizoa, a really good three technique from the Cowboys.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: He had that huge fourth down stuff on Matthew Stafford
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: on the sneak, which really turned the game around. If
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: you think about it, I mean, that was, you know,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: you put 14 points on the board there for the Rams.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe they're feeling a little bit better. You take some
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: points away from from the 49ers, if you can come
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: up with a better stop, then that's a totally different game.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: But the reason why the people are afraid to really
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: buy in to the 49ers, it's nothing to do with talent. It's, it's,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: you're afraid Mike Evans is going to get hurt. You're
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: afraid Debo Samuel is too old. You already saw this
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: on Stribling, their second round pick got hurt in the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: game and we'll see what's going on there. Trent Williams
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: is over 40 years old. I mean, they got a
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: George Kittle coming back from the Achilles Terry had against
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. Demarcus Robinson, who catches the touchdown. I mean,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: these guys are old and have been in the league
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: a long time. And the Niners are constantly dealing with injuries.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: But remember who they have. I mean, they got Nick
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Bosa back. Mike Evans is an all pro. McCaffrey is
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: one of the best players ever. In the game, Fred
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Warner came back. He again, another guy with the coming
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: off an injury, but one of the better players in
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: the game. Dre Greenlaw has always been effective in what
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: they do. So if they're healthy, they are every bit
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the contender that anybody else is and best believe Shanahan
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: has them. He will have every week, he will have
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: all the clippings of the Rams and the Seahawks and
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: all the love they're getting, and he will use that
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: as motivation. And they look like the better team, the
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: faster team. They actually look like the younger and more
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: energetic team in their 27-7 win. But, like I say,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: week one's a con job. I'm not making a big
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: deal of it. The Rams usually start slow in their
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: season anyway and pick up as things go along. So,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: That's what I thought about the Wednesday and Thursday game.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Let's get into these matchups on Sunday because they're very
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: fascinating because there are so many changes with all of
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: these teams. And they're all going to have a similar pattern.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: You'll hear about it as I get into each game.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: So 1 o'clock, we've got the Buccaneers at the Bengals.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: By the way, I love this slate. of one o'clock game,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: some fascinating matchups. The Bengals are three and a half
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: point favorites. They're home. Everybody's back on the Bengals wagon. Why? Well,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: because Burrow's healthy. They got the two great receivers, Higgins
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: and Chase, Chase Brown. Their offensive line has actually improved.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: All right. They've made more improvements that are off offensive line.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: They like their young guys that they've drafted the last
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: two years. They think that they finally have what it takes.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: And now Zach Taylor, their head coach, is jumping on
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: this bandwagon that a lot of teams are doing of
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: trying to go under center more, trying to use pre-snap motion,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: not always being in shotgun, shotgun, shotgun like their Bengals
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: used to be. So they're hoping that this offensive variety
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: makes them even harder to defend, and they already have really,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, one of the best set of skill position
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: players from quarterback running back to receiver in the league.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: It was just the defense that was always their bugaboo,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: And they've made some changes there, and you know what?
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: They're not hard to buy into. They traded the 10th
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: overall pick in the draft for Dexter Lawrence. Down year
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: for the Giants, but still a really good player. They
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: signed Jonathan Allen. We've seen him with the Commanders. We've
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: seen him with The Vikings, maybe not what he used
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to be five or six years ago, but certainly an
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: honest player in the middle. That's a pretty good middle
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: compared to what they used. They used to have backups
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: starting on the interior of their defensive line. Now they
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: have an absolute all-pro stud in Lawrence and a pretty
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: good player in Allen. Miles Murphy is a kid they
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: drafted on the edge. Boye Mafe, I mentioned him, the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: former Seahawk. They signed him. They drafted a pass rusher,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Shamar Stewart. He's a little healthy and banged up, not
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: sure when he'll be ready to play. Cassius Howell, a
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: pass rusher from the second quarter. Brown is someone that
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: they drafted. They signed Brian Cook from the Chiefs, a
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: very good safety. Again, maybe not a game changer, but
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: a guy who's played in a lot of big games
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: and brings some experience to this defense. Al Golden finally
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: has something to work with here in his second year
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: as defensive coordinator. Their linebackers were young last year, but
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: they're a year older now. One of them was a
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: second-round pick that they really like. And their corners, they
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: like D.J. Turner, a second-round pick, Michigan kid. They like
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Dax Hill, a first-round pick from a few years ago.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: So it's definitely a changed Bengals defense, and that's why
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: people are on board with it and they can see, hey,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: if this defense can be top 15, you're going to
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: have a top-five offense. The Bengals could really make some
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: noise this year. And of course they're playing the Buccaneers
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: who are similar looking to rebound. They made a lot
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: of changes in the off season. They went with a
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: new offensive coordinator, Zach Robinson, who came over from Atlanta.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Zach Robinson is from that Shanahan McVay chain of offense,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: of going under center, of pre-snap motion, misdirection, everything that
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: we've talked about with the Eagles and some other teams.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: He's going to bring that element to this game. They
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: gave the extension to, I'm sorry, he's going to bring
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: that element to the offense. They gave the extension to
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield after he kind of was ready to be
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: in put-up-or-shut-up moment. They don't have Mike Evans anymore. We
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: saw a really nice rookie year from Emeka Igbuka. Chris
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Godwin continues to be a good slot receiver. The thing
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: about the Bucs is, finally, they really feel good about
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: their offensive line. They like their first-round pick from a
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: few years ago at center, Graham Barton. They like their
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: second-round pick, Cody Mauck, who's been hurt. He's back at
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: right guard. Luke Gedeke is a guy who got an
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: extension for them at right tackle. And Tristan Wirfs is
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: one of the best left tackles in the league. This
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Bucs offensive line is a lot better. All right. And
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: so I think you're going to see a much better offense,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: a much better offensive concept and plan and a better
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: offense with a protected Baker. As long as this line
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: stays healthy. And I thought Agbuka looked like a star
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: in the making for the first 10 or 11 weeks
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: until things fell apart. He's a very good wide receiver.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Do they need another guy next to him in Godwin?
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: They have Tez Johnson. He has explosion. They drafted a
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: kid out of Georgia State. Greg Cosell loved him. Ted Hurst,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: third-round pick, big, tall guy who can run. We'll see
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: if he can make some hay in the Bucs' offense.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: And let's see what they do at running back. They
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: paid Kenny Gainwell a decent amount of money, which I
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: think it was two years, $ 18 million. So that shows
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: me that they want to get him the ball. He
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: had a great year. with the Steelers last year, caught
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a bunch of passes. They want to get him involved
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: in the passing game, maybe take some mileage off of
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Bucky Irving, who was hurt most of last year in
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: his second year. But that's going to be a nice
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: one-two combo, Irving and Kenny Gamewell. On defense, look, it's
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: put up or shut up for Todd Bowles because he's
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: a great defensive play caller. We know he loves to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: blitz everybody from everywhere. They've brought in some players, Sean Robinson,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: an edge player, They brought in. He's been with the Lions.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: He's been with the Panthers. He's been with a couple
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: of teams. Alex Anzalone was with the Lions. He's a
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: decent linebacker. They draft Josiah Trotter, Jeremiah Trotter's other football-playing son,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: in the second round. I love their first-round pick, Reuben Bain.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to be a heck of a
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: pass rusher. I think he fell to them because he's
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: got short arms, but that guy can play. Watched him
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: at Miami. Watched him all throughout the college playoffs. He
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: knows how to rush the passer, and Todd Bowles is
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the perfect guy to figure out a way to get
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: him some one-on-ones or some free rides to the quarterback.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: You put Reuben Bain with Vita Veya and Kalijah Kansey.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: You got yourself a really nice pass rush. Winfield on
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the back end. Tykee Smith, a good safety. Yaya Diaby,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: another good pass rusher. They've added Al-Kadin Mohamed from the Lions,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: another guy from a former Lion on the team. So
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: they've restocked their defense, and now it's time for Todd
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Bowles to get back to winning the division after a
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: losing it last year to the Panthers, who finished 8-9.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Put up or shut up year for the Bucs and
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Todd Bowles especially to have enough talent to win that division.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I think that they will– I think they should win
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: the division. But what a great first game between them
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: and the Bengals. Saints, Lions, really interesting game. The Saints
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: are a very interesting team, you know, because sometimes teams
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: that have no expectations, like the Saints last year, they
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: surprise you and start to win some games and they
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: generate some positive buzz and then it doesn't carry over
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: to the next season. So the Saints started to pick
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: up last year in Kellen Moore's first year as head coach.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Once they made the move to shuck a quarterback, he
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: had a nice rapport right away with Olave, with Jawan Johnson,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: their tight end. Running game was not great. But they
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: won some games that people didn't think they were going
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: to win. And they kind of became the flavor of
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: the year for this year. A lot of people have
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: them added. as like the breakout team for this year,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and that may be so. Shuck did play well, so
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: we'll have to see. But their defense played very strong
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: at the end of last year. Brandon Staley, their coordinator,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: did a great job. But when I go through their
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: defensive personnel, I just don't see a ton of players
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: that strike me as real game changers. So I kind
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: of wonder if they were able to just take advantage
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: of being that forgotten team last year or undermanned team
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: or unimpressive team, and then they took some guys by
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: surprise because they caught momentum in a bottle. Offensively, I'm
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: buying into it. They draft Jordan Tyson. He'll get healthy eventually.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: and he'll be a nice one-two combo with Olave. Great
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: job by Kelvin Banks, their first-round pick, tackle out of
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Texas last year, really established himself. Fuaga, their other first-round
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: pick from two years ago, he's now a year older.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, this offensive line's pretty good. They signed David Edwards, who,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: if he's healthy, is a very good guard. Travis Echan,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: the running back from Jacksonville, they have now. This offense
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: should be very good. I just don't know that I
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: believe in them defensively enough But if they're good, if
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: I'm wrong, if the defense plays above its talent or personnel,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: then they will challenge the Bucs to win that division.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Not as high on the Panthers repeating after their 8-9 season.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: But yeah, the Saints went 6-11, but again, did really
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: well at the end of the year. The Lions are
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: a team that they finish with all the talent that
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: they have, they wind up finishing in third place. And
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: they've They hired Drew Petzing as their offensive coordinator, which
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: I give Dan Campbell credit for. Last year, he hired
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: a coaching buddy who he had coached with, John Morton.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: It didn't work out. He fired him, took over play calling.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: This year, he cast a wider net. He wound up
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: hiring a guy in Drew Petzing who had done a
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: pretty decent job with Arizona's offense earlier when he was
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: there before they had to bench Kyler and their offensive
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: line fell apart. But there was a stretch there where Arizona,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: earlier in Jonathan Gannon's head coaching career, was starting to
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: look like they were on the come-up, but Petzing was
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: considered a big reason for that. So he's going to
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: come over to the Lions. Now, he's been kind of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: a 12-personnel guy. I think with the Lions, he'll do
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: some of that, but you've got Jamison Williams. You've got
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Amon Ross St. Brown. They have Isaac Tesla entering year two.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: We'll see if they can get him going as an
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: outside receiver. He was a third-round pick. They do have
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: two good tight ends. They can block with Brock, and
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: then they can– obviously Sam Laporta is one of the
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: best tight ends who can catch the ball and stretch
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: the field in the league. So the Lions have a
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: lot of weapons. Jameer Gibbs is everybody's choice as your
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: number one fantasy football player. I think the Lions are
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: going to bounce back and have a really good year.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if they were in the Super
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Bowl because of the schedule that they're going to play
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: from finishing in third and because they're a well-oiled machine.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: They fixed their offensive line. It was in shambles last year.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: They have a couple of players playing out of position.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: That's not the issue anymore. So should they they should
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: be able to handle the Saints. And we'll see right
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: away if Drew Petzing as the offensive play caller and
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Jared Goff really mesh because it could be an MVP
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: like year for Jared Goff. Well, another 1 o'clock game
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: is the Jets and the Titans. This is a game
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: between two of the worst teams in the league. The
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Titans were, I mean, they were a disaster in the preseason.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: You know, Brian Dable has a lot of work to do.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: I know the preseason is just the preseason, but he
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: better hope that that does not carry over into the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: regular season because they really tried to help Cam Ward.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: They went out and got Wanda Robinson. They went out
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: and drafted Carnell Tate really high. I still think their
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: offensive line is not great. I still think their running
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: game will hold them back. So I don't have great
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: expectations for the Titans offense. But they made moves to
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: try to help out the quarterback. And Brian Dable was
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: front and center in that. And now he's under the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: microscope here because he really needs to get this quarterback
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: playing at a much higher level. In terms of the Jets,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I really had high hopes for Aaron, the coach, head coach,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: whose name is escaping me. right now for some stupid reason,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: but I had high hopes for him because he was
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: a Jets corner, Aaron Glenn. He was a Jets cornerback.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: He knows the city. He flourished there. He was a
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: pro bowler. He was coaching in Detroit a couple of
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: years ago when Detroit was on the rise and did
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: a great job with their defense, but he was an
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: abject disaster in his first year as a head coach.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I think the Jets went the entire season without an interception,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: which is like the first time that had been done
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: in centuries. Okay. I don't know how that even happens.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: They are bad on the back end. They're bad in
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of spots, but they are also improved in
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: some spots. You know, they have a good running back
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: in Brees Hall. They've got, they draft Kenyon Sadiq, one
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: of their first, one of the three first round picks.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: He's had some off season procedures, so it's going to
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: be a slow start for him. But Mason Taylor is
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: a kid they drafted in the second round last year
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: at tight end. Garrett Wilson, we know is a good
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: wide receiver. A.D. Mitchell, who came over in the Swass
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Gardner trade, He was a second-round pick. So they've got
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: some– their offensive tackles are both first-round picks, Olufesanu, Embo
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: on the right tackle. They've got some decent offensive linemen.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: They have some decent weapons. Their defense is not good,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: but that's where Aaron Glenn is supposed to make his mark.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: He didn't call the defense last year for some reason.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: He said he was going to do it. Then he didn't.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: And then he fired almost his entire staff after one year,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: hired a bunch of new guys. hired Frank Reich as
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: his offensive play caller, which I didn't, not a move
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: that I loved. So I don't have a whole lot.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: I have a lot of skepticism about how this is
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: going to go in year two for Aaron Glenn. I
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: feel like the Jets with Gino Smith, I forgot to
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: mention him, with a better offensive line and Gino Smith
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and those weapons that I mentioned that they have offensively,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: they should win. You know, you got to play the
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Dolphins twice. I'm sure they're playing a last play schedule.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the Raiders are on it and other bad teams.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: They should win somewhere between six and eight games. But
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know. They have to do that for Aaron
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Glenn to inspire any kind of confidence. And it's hard
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to have any after how disastrous his first year was. Ravens-Colts,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: another great 1 o'clock game between two teams really looking
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: to bounce back. So the Ravens have a new head coach,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Jesse Minter, who was the D coordinator of the Chargers.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: So he went from being a Raven assistant– Under Jim Harbaugh,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: he was a– I'm sorry, under John Harbaugh. Then he
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: was defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, and now he comes
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: back to the building where he coached for a while
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: to be the head coach. I think he's going to
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: be a really good head coach. It's hard to win
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: at all in year one, and he has a team
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: that has a lot of talent and will be considered
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: a Super Bowl contender. But it's hard to win in
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: year one. That's all we know. You know, just walk
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: in and win Super Bowls in your first year. It
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: doesn't happen a whole lot, but they have a lot
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: of talent. He hires Declan Doyle, who is a Ben
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Johnson protege as his offensive coordinator. So right away, Declan
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Doyle is going to come in and he's going to
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: play multiple tight ends. He's going to have Lamar Jackson
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: under center. As you can see, the trend that we're
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: starting to hear me talk about more. They're going to
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: work off play action. They're going to wide zone run.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: They're going to do a lot of things that you've
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: seen Ben Johnson do as offensive coordinator with the Lions
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: and then now as head coach of the Bears. And
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: you saw how good the Bears got by the end
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: of last year. And look what Declan Doyle walks into.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: He walks into Lamar Jackson, a left tackle in Ronnie Stanley,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers. They had a rookie who did
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: really well in training camp, Jacoby Lane. I mean, they've
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: got some players. They should be a very, very difficult team.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: And if Jesse Minter takes guys like Kyle Hamilton and
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Marlon Humphrey and Trey Hendrickson, their big pass rushing addition,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: and if Nnamdi Matabuke comes back, which sounds like he's
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: going to be healthy and be able to contribute, he's
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: got a pretty– Roquan Smith, he's got a lot of
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: good players. Nate Wiggins we'll see. A lot of good
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: players on that defense to work with. The Ravens could
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: be a very, very difficult team. The Colts are trying
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to come back from– Starting off 8-0 and then having
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: the entire rug swept out from underneath them. Daniel Jones
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: with the Achilles. Offensive line got a little beat up.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: The receivers got a little beat up. We'll see what
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: happens there. I think Shane Steichen has been a very,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: very good play caller who has been snakebitten. Didn't work
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: out with Anthony Richardson. And then it finally did with
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Daniel Jones. And then he goes and suffers an Achilles tear.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: But he's back miraculously. These guys come back from Achilles
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: tears like it's nothing. The Ravens are three and a
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: half point favorites, but the Colts with that running game
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: with Jonathan Taylor, they've got, you saw Tyler Warren really
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: have an excellent rookie season at tight end. The guy
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: I love is Josh Downs. You know, they gave Alec
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Pierce a $ 20 million contract and basically he's a go
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: route runner. And then he wound up having an ankle
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: procedure and missed most of camp. But Josh Downs, is
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the guy that I really like. He's an inside-outside receiver,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: really good when he's inside in the slot. Pierce, Ken
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: those go routes. We'll see how healthy he is here
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: in the early going and how much he's used after
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: that procedure. Obviously, lean heavily on Jonathan Taylor. They signed
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Keenan Allen, another kind of inside receiver there. So it'll
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: be interesting to see how it all fits. But this
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: is going to be a team that relies on its
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: offensive line, which is very good, its running game, which
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: is fantastic, and its interior receivers of Downs and Warren.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: On defense, you know, they made the big trade for
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Sauce Gardner last year. I disagreed with it, but they
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: did it. He's there. And just because I disagreed with
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: what they gave up doesn't mean Sauce Gardner is not
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: a really good player. So they need him to be
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: a really good coverage player. They have some decent pass
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: rushers with Leitu Latu and DeForest Buckner. I don't know that.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I don't think they have enough. They're relying on a
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: lot of young kids. Rookie A.J. Halsey, safety. Bryce Boettcher,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: a linebacker. I mean, they're very young on defense, and
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: I just don't know how good they are. So it's
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: really imperative that they play ball control and they put
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the ball in the end zone and that Daniel Jones
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: comes back strong. Should be a great game, Ravens-Colts. Falcons-Steelers.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: All right. The Steelers are six-point. As I record this,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: the Steelers are six-point favorites. it should go up to
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: like 12 because the Falcons are already a disaster. You know,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Michael Penix isn't ready to play to a tunnel. Viola,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: who they signed in the off season to compete, had
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: terrible preseason and probably wouldn't even be the starter. If
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Penix wasn't coming back from an injury. Okay. He had
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: an awful preseason. Then he gets hurt a couple of
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: days before this game. And now they're talking about Cooper
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: rush being the starter for the Falcons. Now it could
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: be worse. I mean, Cooper rush has started a lot
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: of games in this league for the Cowboys, especially. So
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: he's an experienced player, but you're going into the Pittsburgh
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: week one. You're already not a very good team. You've
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: had legal issues with your edge players. You've got injuries
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: with your edge players. The Falcons have a good secondary,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: but they're basically a B. John Robinson show, and if
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the quarterback can figure out a way to get the
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: ball to Drake Lundin and Kyle Pitts, that's great too,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: but they're not going to score a lot of points,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: and I don't think they're going to defend very well either.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: But they're getting all those sacks last year, too. It's
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: a shame that they've had injury and legal issues impact
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: their pass rush. I mean, they pulled Z'Darrius Smith out
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: of retirement. The Steelers are a sneaky team. I think
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: they're being underrated by myself included. I didn't have them
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: making the playoffs. Kaplan had them as the number two
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: seed in the AFC. So very interesting. I did like
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the Mike McCarthy hire for them. I think people get
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: too down on Mike McCarthy. because he's lost a lot
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: of big playoff games. He's also won a Super Bowl,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: and his teams typically win double digits when he is
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: the head coach, and he takes on a Steelers team
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: that has a lot of really good veterans, has a
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: very good defense. It's not like he's got to take
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: over a rebuilding team. They are built to win. Aaron
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Rodgers still has a little bit of juice left in
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: the tank, and they went out and got Michael Pittman,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: another receiver from the Colts, who I think works really
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: well with the short game that Aaron Rodgers relies on now.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: You don't see superhuman Aaron Rodgers. You see get-rid-of-the-ball-quickly Aaron Rodgers.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And unfortunately, when you're working with DK Metcalf, who's a
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: downfield guy, you don't always have a chance to get
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: on the ball. But if you get some middle interior guys,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: which is why the Steelers wanted Makai Lemon so badly,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: then you got something that you can work with. And
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: I think Pittman is a middle intermediary type of guy
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: who will function well in that Steelers offense. Of course,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: they'll run the ball. They picked up Rico Dowdle, who
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: had a nice year with the Panthers last year, played
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: for McCarthy in Dallas. They still have Jalen Warren, who's
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: another guy who can catch the ball out of the backfield.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: With Warren's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: with Friermuth, who's still a very good tight end, with
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Roman Wilson, who may not... He might get their first
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: start at the slot, but I think their second-round pick
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: from Alabama, Jeremy Bernard, will eventually get in there in
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the slot. And with Pittman, I think you're going to see...
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Rodgers be able to orchestrate the offense more the way
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: he wants to and more so than he could last year.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: That's why Kenny Gamewell had like 60 catches last year
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: because that's what Rodgers is at this point. He's a
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: guy who wants to attack the middle of the field
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: and he still will occasionally then pop a really beautiful
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers throw downfield. So I do like this Steelers
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: offensive line. Very good. You know, they traded Broderick Jones
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: who didn't work out to the Cowboys, but They've got Faltanu,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: a first-round pick at left tackle. They love their center,
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Zach Frazier. He's very good. Mason McCormick was a surprise
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: for them at left guard. They drafted the kid, Max Heineken,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: at Arizona State in the first round. We'll see if
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: they can get him in to the lineup, if he
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: can start. I think the Steelers team is actually pretty good.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: You already know how good they can be on defense. T.J. Watt,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Patrick Queen, Alex Highsmith. Porter Jr., Derek Harmon played well
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: for them as a first-round pick out of Oregon last year.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: They signed Juquan Brisker, the Penn State safety, who played
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: for the Bears. So I'm not sleeping on the Steelers.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: I think they can be pretty good. And listen, again,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy goes out of his comfort zone, out of
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: his conventional West Coast comfort zone, and he brings in
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Brian Angeliccio for his offensive coordinator. And I think Angeliccio
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: is going to have a big impact on the play calling,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: or at least the play design. And do you want
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: to know where Brian Angeliccio was coaching before Pittsburgh? He
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: was with Minnesota as the pass game coordinator under Kevin
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: O'Connell for the last three years. And what kind of
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: offense does Kevin O'Connell run? He runs a Shanahan McVay-like offense.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: So once again, under center, play action, wide zone, pre-snap motion,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: it's the rave. And it's not exactly how Mike McCarthy
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: has always ran it, but even Mike McCarthy has always
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: been one of your staple Green Bay West Coast offense
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: guys like Andy Reid coming from that Holmgren tree. So
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: I do think that the minds are similar, but you'll
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: see it more modernized with Angelicio there calling plays. All right, Bears, Panthers.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: I already told you, I don't love the Panthers. I mean,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: their defense– Could be very good. They obviously brought in
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: Devin Lloyd, the linebacker from Carolina. Had a nice year
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: last year. I'm sorry, from Jacksonville. They brought in Jalen Phillips,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: of course, from the Eagles. They had high hopes for
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: this edge group of Phillips and Nick Skorton, who was
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: a second-round pick from last year, who played well. Skorton's
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: out for the year or out for a long time
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: at least, so that's not going to happen. They've got
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: guys on defense. That's not what I'm worried about with Carolina.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: They signed Bobby Okereke. They have Derek Brown, one of
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the best interior linemen in the league. Their secondary is
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: good with J.C. Horn. It's not that. I just don't
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: trust their offense. This is a big year for Bryce Young.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Is he going to get an extension after a year?
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: We'll see. It's a proving year. Tett McMillan I like
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: as a wide receiver. Jalen Coker, a great story out
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: of Holy Cross, is their number two receiver, and it
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: helps them make up. for Xavier Leggett being a miss
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: so far. They've got some good guards. Robert Hunt can play.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Damian Lewis can play. They're not bad up front. They
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: drafted Monroe Freeling in the first round, kid out of Georgia.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: So really, to me, it's about the quarterback and the
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: passing game. Do you have confidence that it can look
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: more like it did in the Rams in the playoffs
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: in that first round game, which was very competitive and
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: back and forth, and there were points on the board?
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Or is it going to look more like what we've
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: seen the last two years, which is a very inconsistent
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: offense that doesn't get it done more so than not.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: The Bears are three-point favorites. They are the darlings for
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of people. Ben Johnson, year two, said he
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: wants to score the most points in the league. Luther Burden,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: year two. Colson Loveland, year two. Those are going to
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: be you guys. Roma Dunzay, he dealt with an injury
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: last year, and he's dealing with another one again. I
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: really think when it's all said and done, Luther Burden
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: and Colson Loveland are going to lead this team in
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: targets and catches and yards, and they're going to have
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: a lot of them. Because you saw last year, Ben
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Johnson is a brilliant offensive mind. He's got some vendetta
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: against the Packers. I'm sure he'll create one against the Lions,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: who he used to coach for. And he'll have that
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: team very, very motivated. It's hard to repeat. They won
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: a ton of games in the fourth quarter last year.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: They're not going to be able to just pull games
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: out of their rear end like they did. But their
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: hope is that they don't have to. that they have
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: built on their foundation. They got good news with their
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: left tackle, Trapillo, who had a major injury at the
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: end of last year. Looks like they'll expect to get
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: him back sooner than later. Their offensive line is good.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Their weapons are good. Their defense, to me, is the issue.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: You know, they signed a safety from the Seahawks, Durant.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: He's out for the year. What a long time. They
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: don't have great pass rushers. Montez Sweat is probably their
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: best one. The linebackers are okay. TJ Edwards is starting
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: to get up there now. I just don't know when
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: they're playing the Lions, when they're playing the Packers, when
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: we're playing Minnesota. We'll talk about that. If the Bears
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: have enough. This is a very tough division, the NFC North.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: I just don't know if the Bears have enough outside
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: of like I said, Montez Sweat, Devin Bush at linebacker.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Their first-round pick, Dylan Dieneman, is going to have to
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: play a whole lot more, have more responsibility now that
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: they've got Kobe Bryant. If that's what I meant, Kobe Bryant.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: I think I said Durant or something else, but either way,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant with him being out. I just don't know
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: if this Bears defense will be able to hold up.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: I do give Dennis Allen a lot of credit, though.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: He's a fantastic defensive coordinator. He does get the most
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: with the least. I think the Bears, I don't want
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: to call them a boom-bust team because I think that
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: they're Their floor will still be eight to nine wins.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Their ceiling might be pretty high, though, because if it
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: all comes together, it could be really, really good, especially
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: with Caleb entering year three. Browns Jags, man, not much
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: to say about the Browns. I can't believe they're going
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: with Deshaun Watson. You know, that's a very interesting call.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: You wonder if it was influenced from up above. I mean,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: why would Munkin, Todd Munkin, who, you know, very good
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, now the head coach of the Browns, did
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: a great job. for the most part with Lamar Jackson
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore, why would he want to go forward with
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson? Why not see what Shador Sanders has? I mean,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: you got young kids on the offensive line. Yeah. Young
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: kids at wide receiver traded miles, Garrett playing a lot
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: of young guys on defense. What point does it make
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: to start Deshaun Watson? Other than that, you're in bed
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: with him for a lot of money. I don't get it,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: but it's going to be a very long year for
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: the Browns until at least, Shador gets in there and
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: you see what you got from him. I'm not saying
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: Shador is going to be great either. I just don't
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: understand the point of not going forward with him. Jaguars
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: were an interesting team. Really struggled out of the gate
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: last year as Liam Cohen, their new head coach who
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: came from the Sean McVeigh tree, tried to get that
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: offense going. It was not humming. And then all of
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: a sudden the clock, the calendar turned to November and
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: December and they started humming and they looked really good.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: And then Lawrence is hitting Parker Washington left and right.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: And now Parker Washington became the best receiver on the team.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: And Brian Thomas Jr. had a disappointing second year, but
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: they were able to move the chains with other guys.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: And so they won a bunch of games, I think 13,
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken. They, yeah, they were, they were,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: I think the second seed and now they have expectations
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: and I'm just not sure. that they're that good. Their
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: defense is very good. I like their defense. Anthony Campanile,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: their coordinator, is going to get a head coaching job someday.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: He did an excellent job with basically the same defense
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: that they had a year earlier that was terrible. They
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: didn't make that many additions to their defense. Campanile just
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: got it to play a whole lot better. So defensively,
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: I think they're pretty good. Could probably use an extra
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: edge rusher, but they're all right. But offensively, their line,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: They're starting Anton Harrison at left tackle. I think he
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: was their right tackle a year ago. He was a
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: first-round pick from a couple years ago. He's now their
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: left tackle. Cole Van Lannen, who was a very interesting
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: story for them, played left tackle last year. He's going
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: to go to right tackle. It looks like maybe Walker
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Little from Stanford will get some time in a tackle
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: if someone struggles. Kid they drafted in Oregon, Emmanuel Pregnan,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: will be their left guard. But I just don't love
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: their overall concept of their personnel. I mean, it just,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: it's an, it's a, to me, it's a bottom half
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: offensive line and your best receiver, Parker Washington was a
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: nice story, but a six round pick, not exactly the
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: most explosive guy. They're hoping to get explosion out of
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: their second year running back base. Who was a fourth
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: round pick last year, a very explosive runner. He'll probably
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: get most of the, he'll get like, He'll split carries.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: When it's short yards, he'll go to Chris Rodriguez, who,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: by the way, could have a very interesting role for
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: this team. It really didn't work out with him and
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: the commanders, but he could have a much more interesting
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: and prominent role on this Jaguars offense. I assume here
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: in year two, Cohen will continue to– he will go
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: from being 11 personnel to more 12 personnel like McVay.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: They drafted a tight end in the second round, Nate Berkshire.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: So you've got Brenton Strange, who got a contract extension,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Nate Berkshire, who they drafted. So when you give an
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: extension to one tight end and draft another in the
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: second round, signals to me that you want to play
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: a lot of 12 personnel. So that would be a
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: change in how the Jaguars go about offense. And it
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: might be a good thing for them with their offensive
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: line issues to get a little more bulk there. But
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: they do get the Browns in the season opener. They
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: are eight and a half point favorites. Probably pretty fair.
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  Speaker 1: now I've already gone a lot longer than I thought
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  Speaker 1: I was because all these teams, like I said, so
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: many changes, so many new play callers. I just thought
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: it was really important that I get into the different
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: schemes and what they're going to mean for each team.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: And away we go with... The last 1 o'clock game,
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: which is Bills-Texans. What a great 1 o'clock game. This
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: could be an AFC championship preview game. I was a
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: little surprised that the Bills went with Joe Brady to
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: be their head coach after they fired Sean McDermott. I
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: thought they might look for more of a house cleaning,
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: but I get it. The Bills' offense has been very
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: good since he took over. Josh Allen is comfortable with him.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen is basically going to have a lot of
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: input there. the direction of that franchise. So Joe Brady's
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: the head coach. They hire away from Denver, Jim Leonard
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: to be their defensive coordinator. Now he learned in Denver
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: under a very good defensive coordinator in Vance Joseph. So
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: Jim Leonard was their past game coordinator from what I
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: understand about what he likes to do. Whereas Sean McDermott
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: was a lot of zone, a lot of creative back
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: at Sean McDermott did a great job with that. Bill's
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: defense because I don't think there was a ton of
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: talent on it. But McDermott did a fantastic job disguising things,
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: mixing things up, his coverages. He was really, really good
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: at that. Jim Leonard now comes from Denver. You saw
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: how Denver played last year. They had all those pass rushers.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: They had all those great cornerbacks. They would blitz. They
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: would come at you. They would do some exotic things. And,
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: you know, Jim Leonard before that, by the way, was
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: in Wisconsin. There's a lot of good defensive players in
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: the league. from wisconsin uh who some of them had
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: tutelage from jim leonard so i thought it was a
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: good choice for the defensive coordinator for them um i
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: think he'll hit the ground running with the personnel they've
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: got they brought in some really good players including bradley
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: chubb of course from miami uh on defense you know
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: ed oliver went through a tragedy uh recently hopefully he's
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: um you know, doing well and plans to play this year.
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: I imagine he will. They brought in CJ Gardner Johnson, who,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: you know, you know what you're dealing with, CJ. You're
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: going to get a playmaker, someone who can do a
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: few things on the back end for you there. I
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: don't know if they're as strong or deep defensively as
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: you'd want them to be to contend for a Super Bowl. However,
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: they haven't been, again, they have not been the most
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: talented individual collection of defensive players, but they've always been
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: better than, they've been like a, The collective hole has
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: been better than the sum of the parts type of
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: deal under McDermott, and we'll see what they do. Now
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: they're in a more of a base 3-4 under Leonard
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: offense they brought in of course DJ Moore and I
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: think this is a really good receiver I know the
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: Bills have struggled to bring in receivers going back to
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: obviously Keon Coleman they drafted him he didn't work out
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: going back to the kid from the Cowboys whose name
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: is escaping me right now Cooper They tried to bring
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: him in. Didn't work out. Last year, they had Elijah
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: Moore on the practice squad. I mean, they were down
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: to Brandon Cooks at one point on the 53, and
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: he was making plays for them in the playoffs. Of course,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: the controversial one. But they make the most of what
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: they have, and I think DJ Moore will be a
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: good addition for them. I think he still has something
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: left in the tank. The Bears obviously moved on because
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: they had other younger weapons that they're invested in. He'll
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: be good, though. The Bills will be a very good team.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: They're going to run the ball with both Josh Allen
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: and James Cook. They will get the ball to DJ Moore.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Dalton Kincaid really came on at the end of last year.
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: He dealt with that PCL injury, but watch for him
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: to be a pretty good weapon in that Bills offense. Now,
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: the only issue for them this week is that they're
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: going to Houston to play the Texans, who A, have
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: a great defense, and B, have been a nightmare defensively
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen has had some of his worst career games
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: against the Bills. It's a little surprising to me that
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: the Bills are one and a half point favorites. The
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: Texans are just so sound fundamentally. They don't do anything exotic.
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: They don't do anything crazy. They just line up and win,
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: you know, with Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. And, you know,
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: they're great secondary. You know, they got Lassiter. They got Stingley.
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, their linebackers are great. They're fantastic defensively. The
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: big thing with the Texans is do their offensive upgrades
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: matter this year? Does it make CJ Stroud more comfortable
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: and better? Because if it does, this team can compete
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: for a Super Bowl. If it does not, if it's
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: just the same, then they will lose early in the playoffs.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: They have tried to fix their offensive line. Trading Tunsell
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: obviously wasn't the best move for them because he had
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: a great year last year, but they did draft a
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: kid in the first round out of Georgia Tech, Keelan Rutledge.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: who I really liked thought he had really good tape.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to just step right in and
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: do an excellent job there. Uh, Evan Brown will play
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: center for them. So I have a natural center playing center.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: Trent Brown still continues to play in this league. The enormous, uh,
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Trent Brown been with the Patriots, been with the Bengals,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: been with a couple of teams. So, uh, he is
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: someone who gives them some experience at right tackle and
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: they're going to try to run the ball. They traded
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: for David Montgomery who gives them, um, you know, a
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: really good presence at running back now that they no
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: longer have, sometimes names just elude me while I'm doing it. Well,
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: the guy they got from Mixon from Cincinnati, Montgomery is
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: a power runner. They will try to power run. This
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: is again, another offense by Nick Cayley in his second year.
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: That is a very Shanahan style offense. So they'll play
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: two tight ends, Schultz and Foster Moreau. They drafted a
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: tight end, Marlon Klein, kind of high. in the second round. Obviously,
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: they were hoping for Jaden Higgins in year two to
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: be a real prominent complementary receiver to Nico Collins, who's great.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: He got hurt for the year. They trade for Keishon Butte.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: I imagine that Butte will be a pretty prominent part
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: of their offense to start. If the Texans can be
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: a top 15 offense, and I think they can, they
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: will be a very, very difficult out. They'll be a
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: tough team. Uh, if they are more of the same,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: which is some days they look good. And then other days,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: you know, you have CJ Stroud imploding in a playoff game,
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: then they won't. That's, that's basically that they can be
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: that good. They can also just implode offensively and be
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: not where they want to go. I mean, I think they'll,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: their baseline is a playoff team that will probably win
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: that division, but, uh, they could be really, really good
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: if that offense is even just 35% better. All right.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: The 425 games. Dolphins Raiders. What can you say? I mean,
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: the Dolphins have one of the worst rosters I've ever seen,
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: you know, going. I mean, honestly, the worst rosters I've
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: ever seen are basically the Raiders back when they were
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: in Oakland from like 2008 to 2010. But I mean,
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: they even had at least they had Nnamdi, you know,
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: Dolphins best player is probably their center. who is an all-pro,
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: and he's really good. And that's great to have a
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: good center. It's great to have a good center, an
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: all-pro center, when you have a really good line or
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: a really good team around you. It's not so great
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: when your center, Aaron Brewer, is the best player that
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: you have on offense. And I feel sorry for Millie Willis.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, they gave him a lot of money. And,
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: of course, Devon Achan is a great player too. I
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: don't know if he's going to be able to have
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: the year that he's been having because without Mike McDaniel–
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: without those ingenious run schemes, without the ability to throw
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: the ball to A-Chan out of those play-action schemes and
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: line them up everywhere. I mean, A-Chan's not a big guy.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: He's light. And he would touch the ball. He's 5'8, 195.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: And McDaniel was feeding him the ball like he was
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: Derrick Henry. I don't know if he's going to be
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: able to do that in this offense with very little
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: talent around Brewer on the offensive line and Obviously a
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: passing game with, you're talking about a third-round pick, Caleb
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: Douglas as a starter, Chris Bell, a kid they drafted
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: who probably would have been drafted higher but was coming
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: off an injury. He's actually going to wind up playing,
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: which is great. Malik Washington, a guy who's about 5'9
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: on a good day. This is not a very good offense,
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: and of course the defense also not very good. Their
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: starting edges are Chop Robinson, who first-round pick from two
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: years ago has a lot of upside, but across from
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: him is Josh Uche. So there's just, just not, this
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: is just a bad roster. It really is. And they're
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: hoping to get, you know, they'll see what they get
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: out of Malik Willis, but obviously they'll be gunning for
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: a top five pick. And if it's going to be
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: a quarterback, they'll have their pick of the litter. Cause
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: this is a good year to need a quarterback for
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: next draft. And if they found something great in Malik Willis,
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: then they can fix the D line or the pass
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: rush or the offensive line, because they just need help everywhere.
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: Same thing with the Raiders. You know, the Raiders are
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to see what Clint Kubiak does with their
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: offense after what he did as the coordinator for the Seahawks. Obviously,
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: he only has two weapons right now and one of
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: them is hurt. Brock Bowers is going to be out
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks. He'll come back gently. Their offensive
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: line should be better. They paid a lot of money
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: to get Linderbaum from the from the Ravens to play center.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: They have a very good left tackle and Colton Miller,
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: who was hurt all year last year. So they're not
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: a terrible offense. Offensive line compared to where they were
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: last year that got Geno Smith killed. They do have
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: some talent there they paid for, but they just don't
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: have a whole lot of weapons outside of Bowers, outside
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: of Jenty, who still has to prove himself. I mean,
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: they paid money for Jalen Naylor. They have Trey Tucker.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: You know, we did see Clint Kubiak do a whole
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: lot with just Jackson Smith and Jigba in the passing
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: game last year. For the Raiders, it's just about when
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: does Fernando Mendoza get into the starting lineup? as Kirk
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: Cousins holds it down. When does Mendoza get in? When
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: does he get to start to get that rhythm with Bowers,
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: with Jenty, with whoever they have in the passing, with
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: Jalen Naylor or whoever? Because that has to happen for
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: us to really take the Raiders seriously. I do think
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: hiring Clint Kubiak was good for them as a franchise,
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: especially if they're going to develop a young set of
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: quarterback running back pass catcher. All right. Uh, the Packers
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: Vikings is a great game. Now everybody's talking about the
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Vikings bringing in Kyler Murray. Now remember the Vikings were
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: nine and eight last year, despite getting some of the
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: most horrific quarterback play you've ever seen. All right. They
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: were nine and eight in a very tough division with
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: the Packers, the lions, and of course the bears, they
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: went nine and eight. That to me makes the Vikings
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: a team. You got to watch this year because if
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: they can just get Kyler Murray to play like the
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: 2023 Kyler Murray, who is decent, not great, but decent. Okay,
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: you've got him with Justin Jefferson. You've got him with
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: Jordan Addison. They signed Juwan Jennings, who knows the offense
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: very well, okay, from San Francisco. That's– if they can
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: get that– and I'm not saying they're going to turn
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: Kyler Murray into what they did for Sam Darnold a
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: few years ago. I'm just saying if you get good
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: enough play from Kyler Murray, you may like the Vikings
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: this year. I don't know how far they can go,
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: but if they won nine games last year with horrific
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: quarterback play, what can they do if they get mediocre
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: quarterback play? All right. The big thing with Minnesota to
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: watch is this. It's probably one of the most under-discussed
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: storylines in the entire NFL. Kevin O'Connell, head coach, play caller,
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: he hired an offensive coordinator or an offensive assistant, I
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: should say, in the offseason named Frank Smith. Frank Smith
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: was Mike McDaniel's offensive coordinator in Miami the last few years.
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: So what that tells you is that O'Connell is trying
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: to tap in to that Miami Dolphins, McDaniel style run game,
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: which it was very good. You can say what you
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: want about the Dolphins in McDaniel's career, but that run
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: game with HN was really on fire. And of course
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: we know that McDaniel used to be with the 49ers, right?
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, this guy, Mike McDaniel knows how to create
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: a run he knows how to create an offense and
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what he does with the
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: Chargers we'll get to that in a minute but what
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking is the Vikings are going to take Jordan
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: Mason and Aaron Jones and Frank Smith's offensive run schemes
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: and really incorporate that into their overall offense and that
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: could mean big year for Jordan Mason especially Aaron Jones
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: is on the longer side here. Jordan Mason's young. You
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: saw what Jordan Mason did in the Niners offense when
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: McCaffrey was hurt a couple years ago and he had
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: these explosive games. Vikings have fixed. Well, the Vikings have
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: gotten healthier on the offensive line. They had a lot
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: of injury issues last year. It's not a great offensive line,
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: but left tackle and right tackle, they're pretty solid there.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: I know they've added some guys. So if that offensive
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: line With that run scheme and those two running backs
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: gets clicking, this offense in general can be way better
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: than it was last year. And of course, we already
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: know defensively, Brian Flores is a genius. He is an
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: unbelievable defensive coordinator. He does a great job. I wouldn't
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: say the Vikings have great personnel. They've got a couple
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: of good pass rushers. Dallas Turner now steps into that
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: top pass rusher role. They drafted him in the first
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: round a couple of years ago. Grenard is gone, we know.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: Van Ginkle is still there. They got some guys, you know,
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: at corner, they've got Byron Murphy. He's okay. They got
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: Rogers from the Eagles from a couple of years ago.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: So they're okay. Metellus, they did welcome back Harrison Smith,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: who really is such a good traffic controller for what
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: they do in the secondary. He may not be the
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: player he was five, six, seven years ago, but for
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: Brian Flores' defense, Harrison Smith gives them what they need
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: and they will be fine defensively. They're one and a
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: half point favorites. Over the Packers, I think this, and
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: I'm on a boat. Kaplan has argued with me about it,
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: and he might be right. I think this is the
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: year Matt LaFleur realizes he has to throw the ball more.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: We know he loves to run. We know when they
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: got Josh Jacobs, they went right back to becoming a
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: run-first team. Well, Jacobs is probably going to be suspended
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: for a little bit. They now have a solid three-receiver rotation.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: They were almost trying too hard to get five receivers
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: on the field last year. Between their first-round pick, Golden, Dobbs,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, Dontavian Wicks. I mean, they had
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: a lot of guys. Now, they needed them because they
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: were all hurt. But right now, they've got Jaden Reed,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: who I think is a really good receiver. Christian Watson
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: really came into his own last year. Matthew Golden will
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: be year two. And, of course, Tucker Kraft came back
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: from his knee injury, and he's ready to go. And
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: he says he's raring to go. And he was honestly
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: playing like the best tight end in football last year.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: before he got hurt. So you give me those three receivers,
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: that tight end, and that quarterback, Jordan Love, who has
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: a big arm, I just feel like this year, the Packers,
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: especially without, you know, they're going to have to score
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: points without Micah Parsons for the first four weeks. I
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: don't love what they have defensively. And of course, they
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: lost their defensive coordinator, Jeff Halfley, to Miami, head coach.
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: So now they've got Jonathan Gannon. Gannon doesn't like to blitz.
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: He's going to have to. He's going to have to
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: come out of that comfort zone, and we'll see if
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: he's an adjustable defensive coordinator because without Parsons, they really
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: don't have a ton of good pass. They don't have
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: very many pass rushers. They have Lucas Van Ness. They
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: hope to get something out of Devontae Wyatt coming back.
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: Adrian Cooper is a very athletic linebacker. He should be
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: used as a blitzer. He is electrifying. We'll see if
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: Gannon does it, but Gannon's going to have to figure
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: out a way to cook up a four- and a
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: five-man rush without Micah Parsons, and that's going to be
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: a challenge. to start. Um, this game is fascinating. The
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: Vikings are one and a half point favorites. They're the
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: home team and whoever wins is going to feel really
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: good about it themselves. Whoever loses is not. Um, but
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: these NFC North games all year long are going to
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: be fantastic. We don't need to discuss commanders Eagles. We
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: have that covered on the inside, the birds pregame show
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: that's already up on the platform and, uh, not much
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: to say about the other four 25 game Cardinals chargers, uh,
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: You know, Jeremiah Love, we'll see how much he's going
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: to play, if he's going to play, what they can
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: get out of him. But really with the Cardinals right now,
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: there's Mike LaFleur, until he gets a quarterback, and maybe
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: that'll be Carson Beck, who had a great preseason. Maybe
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: he's sort of the next Dak Prescott, a guy who
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: really has a great preseason and then steps into a
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: role and really just takes to the offense. Maybe. We'll see.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: I didn't really love watching Carson Beck at Miami. I
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: know they made the championship game. But maybe this system
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: is perfect for him, and he becomes a Prescott, Purdy
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: type of guy. But we're not going to see him yet.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: And until we do, or until they finish and last
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: and get themselves a real quarterback, then they're not going
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: to be much of a force. The Chargers, totally different story.
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: I love the marriage between Mike McDaniel, the Chargers run game,
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: O'Marion Hampton, The two tackles are healthy now. I believe
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: Rashawn Slater and Joe Ault. Ladd McConkie is going to
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: get a lot of layup routes. The Chargers are going
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: to be a very, very difficult team this year. Defensively,
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: of course, losing Jesse Minter to the Ravens isn't great
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: for them, but interestingly, they pull one of Minter's old
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: assistants out of the college ranks to be their defensive coordinator.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: He's going to keep the same scheme, which I think
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: is important. It's not going to be a whole lot
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: of change. His name is Chris O'Leary. He was coaching.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: I believe Western Michigan is where he was coaching, but
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: he coached with Jesse Minter at Michigan. So he knows the,
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: and this is basically the Michigan defense, the Ravens defense
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: when Minter was there. I mean, Minter's there right now.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: So that'll be what we're running. And of course, Jim Harbaugh.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: So there's all big continuity and symmetry there. And I
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: would expect things to stay the same. And you got, look,
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: do I love their defense? I don't, they have some
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: good backend players. You know, Tarheep steals a really good corner. They, they,
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: they drafted, uh, uh, Messador, the, the pass rusher from
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: Miami in the first round. Khalil Mack is still out
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: there playing. They've gotten a lot at a linebacker, Diane Henley, uh, two, two,
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: two float. Who's decent. This is another team where maybe
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: only one or two guys really have name value like
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: Derwin James and Khalil Mack, uh, who's on the downside
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: of his career. but they play, they're, they're well-coordinated. They're
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: very disciplined. They're a tough, tough group. Um, and again,
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: if the offense does what it's supposed to do under
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel, this team could really take off and have
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: a great year. Uh, the chargers are nine and a
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: half point favorites over the Cardinals last, uh, game on
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: Sunday is the night game. I feel like this is
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: always either a Sunday night or a Monday night game.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: Week one, it's Cowboys at giants, uh, The Harboyer, John Harboyer,
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: you know, the Giants have more talent than you might think.
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: You know, look at their offensive line. Illuminor has become
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: a good right tackle. They draft Maui Noah to play
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: right guard. I was told by a lot of personnel
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: of people that even though he was a tackle at Miami,
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: if they moved him to guard, he'd be an all
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: pro there. All right. Andrew Thomas, their left tackle is
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: an all pro. This is not the same Giants offensive
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: line that has just been a cancer for them for
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: a long time. That's a bad choice of words. I
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: know they're, just realized their owner is battling cancer. So
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: that was unintentional, but their offensive line has been a
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: real problem for them for a long time, but they've
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: been building to it. And now you've got Harbaugh, the
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: adult in the room, coaching it. He brings in Isaiah
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: likely they're going to play a lot of 12 personnel. I,
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: I don't love the coaching staff mix with, they bring
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: in Greg Roman, who of course is a run game
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: guy and a mobile quarterback guy work with Kaepernick when
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: Kaepernick was great in San Francisco work with, uh, the chargers,
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: you know, in that running game early when, when he
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: was there, he was at the Ravens with Lamar before
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: Todd Munkin and got that run game and an athletic
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: quarterback movement game going. So he's very good at what
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: he does at a 12 personnel with zone exotic zone runs,
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: but then their offensive coordinator is Matt Nagy, who was
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: an 11 personnel guy and Andy Reed throw the ball
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: around as much as he can kind of guy. So
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: I don't really see that great mix and that symmetry,
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: even though these guys all, kind of come from some
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: kind of a West Coast tree. It's just that they've
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: had vastly different personalities between running and passing. And the
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: way the Giants are built, they need to be built
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: more like the Greg Roman philosophy of running the ball,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: using multiple tight ends, getting some athletic mobile quarterback plays
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: out of Jackson Dart while keeping him protected, and then
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: trying to pop some passes when they can to Malik Nabors,
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: who's probably going to be a little slow going. coming
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: off the injury. It's good that they got him back,
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: see how much he plays. We'll see what kind of
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: impact he can have. I think that's going to be
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: a relationship between him and the quarterback that are established
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: later as the season goes on. But between him, neighbors,
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: Odell Beckham Jr., who looks like he's 25 all over again,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: the two tight ends they got, Theo Johnson and Likely,
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: there's enough there to move the chains and be a
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: good offensive team. And then, of course, on defense... I mean,
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: Denard Wilson becomes a defensive coordinator. He leaves the Titans
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: because they clean house and he walks into a situation
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: where he's got Brian Burns, who's an all pro who
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: had 16 and a half sacks last year. He's got
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: Abdul Carter, top five pick in a draft who I
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: know what the sack numbers say and pressure number. Trust me,
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: he had a better year than you think he did
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: last year. There's a lot of underlying metrics that just
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: showed how fast he was. off the line of scrimmage
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: and how good he's going to be. I believe Abdul
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: Carter and Brian Burns are going to be really good.
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: They still have Caban Thibodeau. So that's a third pass rusher.
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: They draft Avril Reese out of Ohio state. It's going
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: to play linebacker, but he can also rush the passer.
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: He was seen as one of those tweener types and,
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: They've been gradually trying to fix the back end of
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: their defense. They don't have Deontay Banks anymore. He was
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: a bust of a first-round pick. They've got Javon Holland
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: and Greg Newsome. Javon Holland's safety, Newsome the corner. Newbin
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: is a good safety they picked in the second round.
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: Paulson and Debo. Maybe they will play Banks. I don't know.
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: I have no idea. I know they have Paulson and Debo,
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: Deontay Banks, and they drafted Colton Hood in the second
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: round at Tennessee. So he's got to come back. from
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: an injury as well, but he could be a really
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: good player for them. But, you know, I mentioned Thibodeau.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: They've got players. They have players in this front seven
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: and the players in the back end. They should be
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: a pretty good team. I'm not trying to make the
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: case for you that they are ready to be anything
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: other than maybe a 500 team as they really get
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: things together. It all depends on how good Jackson Dart
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: is in year two and how well coached This coaching staff,
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: how good of a job they do. It's a veteran
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: coaching staff. They should do a very good job. They
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: get a real test here against the Cowboys right away.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: Cowboys are three-point favorites. The Cowboys had a huge, huge
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: number of changes trying to fix that defense. They hire
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: Christian Parker from the Eagles to bring a Fangio style
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: of philosophy to their defense. They draft Caleb Downs. He's
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: going to play nickel. He's going to play safety. They
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: signed Jalen Thompson, who was a good safety for the Cardinals. Already,
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: the back end, which was the worst part of their defense,
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: you're starting to see some progress there. You're starting to
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: see some guys that you expect to be pretty good
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: players in the back end. They're still struggling at corner.
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: That's still got to work itself out. Deron Bland is
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: an outside corner. He can be beat. Kobe Durant, they
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: signed him from the Rams. Okay, perhaps an upgrade. Their
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: safeties are Hooker and Thompson I mentioned. Not terrible. All right,
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: what do they do up front? Quinton Williams, they got
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: him from the Jets last year. Good player. Now he's
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: got a full offseason to learn what they want to
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: do defensively now. Dee Winters, a decent linebacker. I still
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: think a linebacker, they're little. Winters, overshown, has trouble staying healthy.
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: In the pass rush, Ejiraku is coming back from an injury.
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: Malachi Lawrence is a kid they drafted in the first round.
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: Just Sean Barham, kid they drafted out of Michigan in
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: the third round. You have to manufacture some pass rush,
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: but Hey, that's what Christian Parker is there. He's there
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: because he learned under Fangio and Fangio knows how to
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: manufacture a pass rush. And if it starts with Clinton Williams,
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: then that's pretty good. And again, as your rock, who
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: will get back in there, Malachi Lawrence, first round pick,
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: they've got some guys. I don't think it's a complete
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: picture by any stretch of the means, but they're trying
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: to be 30% better than they were last year on defense.
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: And last year they were awful on offense. They, I
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: said this about the Bengals, right? You got a great
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: set of skill position players. Starts with the offensive line. Now, unfortunately,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: their left guard, who's really good, Tyler Smith, is going
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: to be out on IR. So they got a backup there.
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: but they still have Tyler Booker at right guard. They
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: still have Tyler Guyton, who's getting better at left tackle,
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: not finished product by any means, got to be better.
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: But if he takes a step up in year three,
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: they'll be really happy. They're still going to run the
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: ball with Javante Williams and then just take their shots
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: with CeeDee Lamb and Pickens. They were a killer combo
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: last year. Lamb was hurt a little bit. He's healthy
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: right now. And I think they upgraded big time at
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: number three receiver, a guy they drafted in the sixth
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: round a couple of years ago, Ryan Flournoy. I believe
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: he went to the same college as Clay Harbor, like
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: Missouri State. He is already miles above what they had
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: when they were trying to get Jalen Tolbert in there.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: So this Cowboys offense will be very, very good. We
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: know that. Brian Schottenheimer, he can throw the ball around.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: He knows how to do that. I have no questions
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: about this Cowboys offense, just their defense. And again, if
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: it's 30% better, just like with the Giants, this team,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: I think the NFC East, should be improved. There's going
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: to be a team that has a bad year. We
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: know that. I don't know who it's going to be,
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: whether it's the Cowboys or Giants or the Commanders. Probably
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: the Commanders because they've still got some guys who are
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: long in the tooth. But the Cowboys' defense and the
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: Giants' overall should be much improved from last year. And
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: that could help both of them. That is why some
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: people think the Cowboys can win the NFC East. I'm
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: a little more skeptical on that. But I can understand.
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: You can talk me into why, if everything goes right,
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: they could win the NFC East. But I don't see that.
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: And the Monday night game, the team that nobody wants
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: to talk about, the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Broncos.
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't have the Chiefs making the playoffs.
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: When I did my pod with Adam where we picked
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: our playoff teams, Mahomes is coming back from an injury.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: Their offensive weaponry has not been very good for the
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: last few years. there's an argument to be made that
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: maybe Andy Reed is starting to lose his fastball. His
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: offensive concepts just aren't working. I'm not there totally yet. Um,
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: could the chiefs be that team that you counted out?
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: I counted out. Everybody counted out. Everybody said the dynasty
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: was over. The Eagles killed them. They'll never be the same.
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, bam, they start hitting
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: you with a two by four over the head, reminding
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: you that the Kansas city chiefs we'll see. Um, They're
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: changing some things around on defense. I think Spags is
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: starting to get players that more fit what he wants
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: to do. You know, they've had a ton of turnover
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: in the secondary because you can't pay anybody over the
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: last few years. They've had to have a lot of turnover,
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: but they used the first round pick on a great
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: corner at LSU, Mansour Delaney, LeJarrius Sneed with them. He'll
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: play the nickel for them. Shamari Cooper is going to
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: play safety, play fairly decent as a nickel last year
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: for them. He might be hurt. We'll see if he's
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: able to play. You know, their linebacker, Nick Bolton, has
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: always been very good. Tranquil has played well for them.
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: Chris Jones has had to do it all up front
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: the last few years. They signed Karius Tonga from New England.
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: He gives them a nice big nose tackle presence that
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: they really needed. Will they be able to draft Peter
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: Woods in the first round, which was an interesting pick
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: for them? We'll see if he can out of Clemson,
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: if he can make a big impact in year one.
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: Karloftis is still there. Karloftis is not a guy who
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: just lines up and beats you all the time. He's
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: got to be schemed to the quarterback, but who does
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: that better than Spagnuolo? Not too many people. R. Thomas Mason.
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: I'll be really paying attention to this kid out of Oklahoma.
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: A fierce edge rusher. When you have an interior presence
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: like Chris Jones and Tonga, that allows your outside guys
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: to find one-on-ones. Karloftis and R. Thomas... Mason, if he
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: hits the ground running as a rookie, those could be
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: guys who really flourish in their roles. They're not exactly
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: very deep. But, again, Spaggs is known for doing a
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: lot with a little. They have to start their year
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: against the Broncos. And I've said this many times. I
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: said it last year doing the show, this show. The
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: Broncos should have been in the Super Bowl. They were
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: on Jarrett Stidham because of the broken ankle or whatever
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: ankle injury that Bo Nix had. Or else they would
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: have beaten the Patriots. We know that Sean Payton made
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: a very bad decision in that game. Coaching decision after
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: they had the lead. And it just couldn't stick. And
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: the game was played in the snow. Patriots came back
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: and won it. But they could have won that game
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: if they had Knicks. I think they would have definitely
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: won the game if they had Knicks. And really, they
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: had a great offseason. Yes, they lost their pass game coordinator,
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: but Vance Joseph is still there, D.C. Now, Sean Payton's
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: handing off play calling to Davis Mills, who everybody wanted
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: to interview in the coaching cycle. So he must be very,
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: very good from what I understand. He's a genius. But
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: that's the only thing that gives me pause is that
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: Sean Payton is very protective of his offense. So if
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: this thing doesn't look really, really high octane right off
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: the start, how quickly is Payton going to shackle Davis
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: Mills and try to retake play calling? We'll see. That's
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks from now. But I thought
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: the Broncos added the exact thing that they needed. A
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: true number one speed threat, vertical stretch, wide receiver. And
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: they got him in Jalen Waddell. Jalen Waddell, I think,
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: is going to have a heck of a year for
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: the Broncos because Knicks does like to throw the ball deep.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: Sutton's never been a guy who's always going to stress
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: a defense vertically. He can hit you in the intermediate level.
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: So can their kid, Pratt Bryant, a guy they really
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: like who's going to play in the slot. And Waddell,
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: He is going to move around and he is going
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: to stretch defenses vertically. I think he's going to catch
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of balls. I think he's going to have
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: a great year as their wide receiver number one. And
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: that's why I think the Broncos are going to be
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: the number one team in the AFC. And I have
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: them representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. I do admit,
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: you know, their legal situation around Jonathan Cooper is not good.
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: And that could cause him to be out for a while.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: And if it is, it's a big problem. big missing
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: piece in their pass rush, but I still love Nick Benito,
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: still love Zach Allen, still have Patrick Sertain, still have
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: Riley Moss, still got, you know, players. They're linebackers, can't cover,
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: but they stop the run really well. I mean, they
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: can figure it out. Still have a very good defensive coordinator.
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: So to me, the Broncos are the most complete team
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: in the AFC. So, that's it. It's time for my
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: three picks. Hey, Philly fans, game day is stressful enough. Parking, traffic,
• 1:18:59
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• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: and up. I do this at the end of every show.
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: These are going to count against the spread. And hopefully
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: I will do a better job than I did last year.
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: So for the first game, I am going to take
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: the Broncos. They're getting two and a half in Kansas City.
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: They can win in Kansas City. They've done it before.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: And I just think that they're going to hit the
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: ground running. It's going to be a great game, but
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: all they got to do is win by a field goal.
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: Or I'm sorry. All they have to do is they're
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: getting two and a half points. So I think they're
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: going to win the game outright. So I'm going to
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: take the Broncos if you're giving them points. Best team
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: in the AFC. You're giving points. Yeah, I'll take that.
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: The second game I'm going to go, I'm going to
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: take the Texans because they're at home. They're getting one
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: and a half points. Buffalo is favored in this game,
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: even though it's at Houston. And I, like I said before,
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen plays terribly in his career against the Texans.
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: Texans have a great defense. I think they're going to
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: be very, very, I really think the Texans will be
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: chomping at the bit to get right offensively, especially after
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: they imploded in their, playoff game last year. Okay. They,
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: they've got something to prove and I imagine they are
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: going to come out like gangbusters and really try to
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: show that they are an improved team this year. So
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: I will take it. They're getting points at home. I'll
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: take them. And the third game I'm going to go
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: with is, I mean, this one feels like a trap,
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: so I'm just going to go ahead and walk into it.
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: I guess the Steelers are at home against the Falcons.
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: They are six-point favorites, at least as of the time
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: of this recording. It might go up a little bit,
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: but the Falcons will not have Michael Penix not ready
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: to come back from the injury. And Tua got hurt
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: in a practice, so they're starting Cooper Rush. And I
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: know Cooper Rush has experience, but I already didn't like
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: this Falcons team very much. Now they're already on their
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: third-string quarterback in Pittsburgh, which is a tough place to win.
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: I know the Steelers don't typically light up the scoreboard and,
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: you know, beat teams by double digits, but I could
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: see the Steelers running away with this thing pretty early.
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: So yeah, they're six point favorites. I think they're going
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: to cover and win that game. So I like the
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: Steelers to cover the six. I like the Texans getting
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: one and a half and I like the Broncos getting
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: two and a half. That was long, but I really
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: did want to go through everything going on in the NFL.
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: I'm sure as we go on week two, week three,
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: there will not be this exhaustive, but thanks for hanging
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: with me. You've been watching the NFL preview show here
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: on inside the birds.