Latest / Football Junkies podcast / Ep.92: Pittsburgh Cowboys

Transcript

Ep.92: Pittsburgh Cowboys · Football Junkies podcast

0:03
Triple bag alert, triple bag alert, triple bag
0:05
alert, triple bag alert, folks. That's right.
0:07
The first game of the season is done and we have
0:10
to talk about it, all right? But before we talk
0:12
about it, we got a lot of things to discuss,
0:15
all right? Nick Benito, Abraham Lucas, and Ted
0:18
Karras get paid. My thoughts on the Cam Hayward
0:21
situation. Cowboys versus Eagles recap. Jets
0:24
versus Steelers preview. Ravens versus Bills
0:27
preview. Dolphins versus Colts preview. And Giants
0:31
versus Commanders preview. view, okay? All of
0:33
this and more on the 92nd episode of the Football
0:36
Junkies Podcast, all right? I am your host with
0:38
the most, all right? I'm your chief Bagro Damas.
0:41
That's right, chief, head of the table. Anything
0:43
and everything related to the bag, rumors to
0:45
the bag and more. I am your GM who currently
0:48
is not on a team right now, but don't you worry
0:50
about it, all right? Don't you worry about it
0:53
because guess what? I am all these things and
0:55
more, but most importantly, the most important
0:57
thing that you must remember is you are listening
0:59
to the greatest football podcast that you can
1:02
to listen to on a week -to -week, day -to -day
1:04
basis. So guess what? On three, one, two, three,
1:06
let's lock in. All right, folks, let's get into
1:34
the meat and potatoes of everything that is going
1:36
on in the league right now. So before we get
1:39
into last night's game, let's talk about these
1:41
bagelers. Let's get that out the way because
1:43
we know what we all came here for, and that is
1:47
the Cowboys and Eagles recap. All right, so Nick
1:49
Benito, pass rusher for the Broncos. It's a four
1:52
-year $106 million deal that can go up to $120
1:56
million, $70 million in total guarantees, and
1:59
he'll be making $26 .5 million a year. Now, when
2:02
we look at his stats for this past season, 48
2:04
tackles, 13 and a half sacks, one pick, and 59
2:07
quarterback pressures. Now, according to the
2:09
3013, Nick Benito is one of two players in 2024
2:13
with 10 plus sacks and multiple defensive touchdowns.
2:17
The only other person, Andrew Van Ginkle. In
2:20
2024, Nick Benito recorded 13 and a half sacks
2:23
on 57 pressures, converting pressures into sacks
2:26
at 23 .7%. Now, there are two other players who
2:30
had 10 plus sacks, but a higher pressure to sack
2:33
rate. And that was Kyle Van Noy and Dante Fowler.
2:36
Folks, this is a really good deal for a really
2:38
good pass rusher. An underrated pass rusher,
2:41
if I may so add. Nick Bonito has emerged and
2:45
showed that, hey, I am here to stay. I am that
2:48
guy for the Broncos. Man, oh man, oh man. Last
2:52
season, he was putting on a clinic. And it was
2:55
only right for the Broncos to pay him the money
2:57
that he so deserves. The Broncos have been taking
3:00
care of business this entire offseason. From
3:03
PS2 to Zach Allen to Nick Benito, they've done
3:07
it all. The Broncos are in pole position. Yes,
3:11
that's a Tomlinism right there. Pole position
3:13
to make it to the Super Bowl in the next two
3:16
years. Now, this may be on cold takes or whatever.
3:19
I don't care. But right now, the only thing that
3:22
is stopping the Broncos from reaching to the
3:25
Super Bowl is self -inflicted wounds. They're
3:29
drafting well. They're paying well. They're not
3:32
overpaying for people. They're not reaching for
3:35
people in the draft. Everything is coming together
3:38
and it's working. And now when you really look
3:41
at it, that move to let go of Russell Wilson
3:43
was the best move they could have ever did. Because
3:47
not only did they take all that dead cap in one
3:50
year instead of spreading it, they allowed themselves
3:54
to say, hey, we're going to take a risk on ourselves.
3:56
We believe in Bo Nix. We believe in the core
3:59
that we have. And we believe that this is going
4:02
to be the core that's going to take us back to
4:04
the Super Bowl. And so far, it's working. I guarantee
4:07
you, if they have one more really good draft,
4:10
I'm going to have to slide them in as a Super
4:12
Bowl contender. Just saying. Hit me all you want,
4:15
but... Hey, the proof is in the pudding, alright?
4:17
So let's talk about Abraham Lucas' tackle for
4:19
the Seattle Seahawks. He inks a three -year,
4:22
$46 million deal, and he'll be making $15 .3
4:25
million a year. When we look at his stats from
4:27
this past season, according to PFF, he had six
4:29
penalties and allowed two hits, four sacks, and
4:33
18 total pressures. A little bit of a head scratcher,
4:36
I'll be honest, because I personally thought
4:38
the Seahawks were just going to let Abraham Lucas
4:40
go and possibly draft one or maybe pay one in
4:44
free agency, but clearly they must value him
4:46
a lot, and so they gave him a really good team
4:49
-friendly deal. This isn't bad at all. $15 .3
4:52
million? For somebody who really hasn't been
4:55
that consistent in the last two years, I'll take
4:58
it. Because for one, let's really think about
5:00
this, right? For all intents purposes, if Abraham
5:03
Lucas doesn't do well in the first two years
5:05
of that contract, they can move off of him and
5:08
they can find his replacement, no problem. Now
5:10
on to Ted Karras, center for the Bengals inks
5:13
a one -year $5 million deal. I don't know the
5:16
rest of the information because it just dropped
5:19
maybe about two hours ago. and nobody has any
5:22
information about the intricacies of the contract.
5:26
But when we look at his stats from this past
5:28
season, according to PFF, he had three penalties,
5:30
allowed two sacks, six hits, and 23 total pressures.
5:35
A really good deal for a really good veteran
5:38
presence on this offensive line. I'm going to
5:40
be honest here, folks. The Bengals have been
5:42
making a lot of moves post -Trey Hendrickson.
5:45
They bring in Dalton Reisner. They just re -signed
5:49
Ted Karras. They're preparing themselves to make
5:52
a run this year. Now, am I saying they're going
5:53
to go to the Super Bowl? No. Am I saying that
5:56
they're going to win a playoff game? No. But
5:58
what I am saying is this. The Bengals are showing
6:00
that, listen, although our defense may be weak,
6:04
we are still going to put up a fight. Because
6:07
why? We have Joe Burrow. We have Tee Higgins.
6:10
We have Jamar Chase. We have Noah Fant. We have
6:13
Mike Kisecki. We have everything that we need
6:16
to be successful. I can't hate him for that,
6:18
honestly. But let's talk about Cam Hayward, all
6:21
right, because we're just breezing by everything.
6:23
This is not going to be a long and drawn -out
6:25
episode. This is going to be a fairly short episode
6:27
just because, for one, I want to prepare for
6:31
college football because I definitely want to
6:33
start talking about college football more, as
6:35
well as prepare myself for Sunday because I'm
6:39
going to try to see if I can at least watch a
6:41
majority of all the games, even if it means I
6:44
have to, you know, review it two or three times
6:46
or look at the All -22. whatever I need to do,
6:49
okay? Because football is here and I have to
6:52
give you guys the fix that you guys need, all
6:54
right? So as of now, he's still in this quote
6:57
unquote. hold in situation, whatever you want
7:01
to call it, right? And so there's another chapter
7:03
to this story. So on Thursday, he didn't practice.
7:07
He wasn't even on the field. He wasn't doing
7:08
private workouts. He wasn't doing anything. So
7:11
apparently they consider it a vet day off, right?
7:15
So let's go a little bit back to go a little
7:17
bit forward. So on August 11th, Cam had voiced
7:20
his opinions about not getting paid. And so he
7:23
said, and I quote, it's hard to justify playing
7:26
at the number I'm playing at, end quote. But
7:28
recently he signed a two -year $29 million extension,
7:32
quote unquote. But it really wasn't an extension.
7:35
It was simply a restructure. Because when you
7:38
look at the structure of the deal, a majority
7:40
of the money is in roster bonuses. And his roster
7:43
bonus this year has already been paid out. And
7:45
that was $13 .4 million. Now, according to Spoltrak,
7:49
Cam Hayward is tied as the 34th highest paid
7:52
interior defensive lineman. Now, when Cam signed
7:55
this latest extension that he's on right now,
7:57
he informed the Steelers to expect him to return
8:00
to a negotiation table if he had another All
8:03
-Pro season. And so now that he's had that All
8:06
-Pro season, he's now looking for a re -up. I
8:08
have no problem with that. So now here we are.
8:10
The regular season for the Steelers is getting
8:12
ready to start in less than three days. And nobody
8:15
knows if Cam Hayward is going to play or not.
8:18
Now, I understand there's a lot of beat writers
8:19
and people that cover the team that are saying
8:21
Cam Hayward is going to play. I don't believe
8:24
that. If Cam Hayward hasn't said it, I don't
8:28
believe it. I don't care what insider you have.
8:30
I don't care who you know. I don't care what
8:33
teammate you talk to. If Cam Hayward doesn't
8:36
answer that question, I won't believe what anybody
8:38
says. Now, I understand both sides. I understand
8:43
the player side and the organization side. The
8:46
organization realizes that, listen, it would
8:51
be a disservice for us as an organization to
8:54
give you a long -term extension at this point
8:57
in your career where there is more risk than
9:01
reward. Because for all intents and purposes,
9:03
you could sign a long -term deal. And you can
9:08
become the fifth or the tenth highest paid interior
9:11
defensive lineman, and then you get hurt. Or
9:15
you don't play like how you used to play. And
9:17
now look, the Steelers look stupid because you
9:20
then gave this older veteran defensive lineman
9:22
a whole bunch of money, and he isn't living up
9:24
to the contract. And most likely, he's probably
9:27
going to retire. So you're going to be taking
9:28
on a whole bunch of dead cap. I don't think they
9:30
want to do that. But at the same time, I understand
9:33
where Cam is coming from. He told the Steelers.
9:36
Prior to him signing that extension, listen,
9:38
if I hit All -Pro, I'm coming back for more money.
9:43
So he gave them a heads up. And apparently, by
9:45
a lot of people's reporting, they laughed him
9:48
off. And so he did his thing. He had a really
9:51
good season. And he got an All -Pro. Congratulations.
9:55
And so he's looking for his money. Now, here's
9:58
the problem that I have with Cam. And this isn't
10:01
directly at him. The person, Cam Hayward. It
10:05
is how he has handled the process of him not
10:08
being happy with this extension. If you've been
10:11
trying to get some resolution with this deal
10:14
since the combine, why are we just now hearing
10:17
about it? And granted, the Steelers probably
10:19
told him, hey, we'll take care of that when we
10:22
take care of that. Right now, we're focused on
10:24
the draft. We're focused on free agency. We're
10:26
focused on a plethora of different things. OK,
10:28
cool. But from the combine up until now. You
10:32
haven't said anything? You haven't leaked it
10:34
out to any of the insiders? Because here I am
10:37
thinking, oh, the game's about to go into this
10:39
season. He's not going to do a whole lot in training
10:41
camp because they want him fresh. They want to
10:43
prepare for the regular season. Okay, cool. No
10:46
problem. But as training camp is beginning to
10:48
wind down, now we're finding out that Cam Hayward
10:52
has been unhappy with the Steelers because he's
10:54
looking for an extension or at least some form
10:57
of resolution with his contract. Huh? And then
11:00
you go on to post what you post on your story
11:03
and talk about you go places where you're valued
11:06
and all these just subliminal shots at the Steelers.
11:10
Let me tell you something, Cam. Let me be really
11:12
honest with you, bro. Troy Palamalu, Ben Roethlisberger,
11:17
Hines Ward. All Steelers greats. You want to
11:22
know the one thing that they all have in common?
11:24
They were all forced to retire. Forced. But you,
11:29
on the other hand, have the opportunity to continue
11:31
to play for the black and gold. You still have
11:34
the opportunity to get extensions from the black
11:37
and gold. None of those three players were able
11:41
to get that type of treatment. But you are. And
11:45
granted, I understand there's probably some people
11:47
that say, well, T .J. Watt got a deal, so it's
11:50
only right that you take care of Cam Hayward.
11:51
Let me tell you something. T .J. Watt has been
11:54
trying to get a deal for two years. Two years.
11:57
And guess what happened? The Steelers realized
12:00
that, hey, we have to take care of TJ Watt because
12:03
clearly he's showing that he's not happy and
12:05
we have to take care of our star player. Because
12:07
if we don't take care of our star player, we're
12:09
going to lose more games than win. So here we
12:13
are. Cam Hayward is undecided on if he wants
12:16
to play on Sunday. See, here's the problem that
12:19
I have with the Steelers, okay? You can't say
12:23
that you're serious about winning. When your
12:26
actions don't match up. It's one thing if your
12:31
actions, your mindset, everything that you're
12:34
doing is showing that you're serious about winning
12:37
and you're serious about competing for a Super
12:40
Bowl. But everything that we've seen from the
12:43
Steelers for the past three to five years shows
12:47
that they are not serious about winning and they
12:50
are serving Steelers fans lip salad. Every single
12:55
season. They are doing the exact same thing that
12:58
the Cowboys are doing. Oh yeah, this is going
13:02
to be the year. This is going to be the year
13:03
that we're going to go to the Super Bowl. This
13:05
is the year we finally start winning playoff
13:07
games. This is all we need. We just needed just
13:10
this one player. We can do it. And guess what
13:13
happens? Every single year, Turks and Caicos,
13:16
Hawaii, Malibu, Dubai, South Africa, Japan. China,
13:24
Canada, you know, vacation spots because your
13:27
season is already over. Not to mention, you now
13:29
sort of look like a hypocrite because you know
13:31
why? You were very critical about Aaron Rodgers
13:35
early into the offseason when we didn't know
13:38
if Aaron Rodgers was going to play or not. And
13:41
you were saying either you want to be a Pittsburgh
13:43
Steeler or not. You can't say that, but then
13:46
you're having a pissy fit because you're not
13:48
the top 10 highest paid interior defensive lineman
13:51
in the league, or you're not making this amount
13:54
of money this year. Who cares? What you need
13:57
to be focused on is just trying to win a Super
14:00
Bowl so you can submit your legacy and say, hey,
14:03
listen, I am a first ballot Hall of Famer. Not,
14:07
hey, I got one of the biggest contracts when
14:09
I was 36 years old. No one cares about that,
14:12
dawg. Let's talk about this Eagles game, man,
14:15
because we want to talk about something a little
14:17
bit more important than somebody that's just
14:19
upset because I'm not at this point. I'm not
14:22
making this amount of money. No one cares about
14:25
that. But let's talk about it. So Jalen Hurts,
14:27
23 attempts for 19 completions, 152 passing yards,
14:31
6 .6 yards per attempt, and an 82 .6 completion
14:35
percentage. Jalen Hurts again. 14 attempts for
14:38
62 rushing yards, 4 .4 rushing yards per carry,
14:41
2 rushing touchdowns, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards
14:44
or more. Jahan Dotson, 3 targets for 3 receptions,
14:47
59 receiving yards, and 19 .7 receiving yards
14:51
per reception. Dak Prescott, 34 attempts for
14:54
19 completions, 188 passing yards, 5 .5 yards
14:59
per attempt, and a 61 .8 completion percentage.
15:02
Javante Williams, 15 attempts for 54 rushing
15:05
yards. 3 .6 rushing yards per carry, 2 rushing
15:08
touchdowns, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards or more.
15:12
CeeDee Lamb, 13 targets for 7 receptions, 110
15:15
receiving yards, and 15 .7 receiving yards per
15:19
reception. Now here's some junkie nuggets. According
15:21
to the 30 -13, Tyler Booker, Tyler Smith, and
15:25
Cooper Beebe each allow 2 pressures and no sacks.
15:29
The pressure rate when Jalen Carter is on the
15:32
field is 38%, which is 3rd in the league. But
15:36
when Jalen Carter isn't on the field, the pressure
15:39
rate is 32 .4%, which is 24th in the league.
15:44
During the first half, the Cowboys' pass rush
15:47
only created three pressures and no sacks. While
15:51
in the second half, they created 11 pressures.
15:55
Due to Jalen Carter getting ejected, Mauro Ojomo
16:00
played 29 of 30 snaps and Jordan Davis played
16:04
26. Since 2016, the Eagles haven't played two
16:09
defensive tackles, 85 % of snaps in a game. Now,
16:13
the first half, we all know what happened, all
16:14
right? So let's just talk about it. Jalen Carter
16:16
gets ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott. I'm
16:19
just going to be completely honest with you guys.
16:22
Eagles fans, you may hate me. You're probably
16:24
going to turn it off at this point. That's perfectly
16:25
fine. Thank you for listening to the Football
16:27
Junkies podcast. I hope to see you in the next
16:29
episode, okay? But let's just be honest here.
16:31
Jalen Carter spitting on Dak was unnecessary.
16:35
And I understand Dak said, well, I spit all the
16:38
time. This is something I do. Why are we spitting?
16:41
Why are we spitting? This is the first game of
16:44
the 2025 season, and you're already getting ejected,
16:48
Jalen Carter. For what? For what? What are we
16:52
doing? That was unnecessary. And by doing so,
16:56
you almost costed your team to lose the game.
16:59
Because let's be real here, folks. Right now,
17:02
Jerry Jones has been right. And I hate to say
17:06
it, but Jerry has been right. If it wasn't for
17:09
Miles Sanders fumbling the ball and the game
17:11
going into a delay, the Cowboys would have beaten
17:14
the Eagles. I guarantee it. Because the Cowboys
17:17
offense was starting to cook. The Eagles couldn't
17:19
stop Javante Williams. If there was a game MVP
17:22
like how they do with 2K and Madden, it would
17:25
be Javante Williams because he was on a tear.
17:28
But I'm going to save that for later. So starting
17:30
off in the first half, you know, the Cowboys
17:32
run game was definitely strong. You can definitely
17:35
see why having Jalen Carter is very important
17:38
on the field because Javante Williams was just
17:41
running everywhere and the Eagles couldn't stop
17:43
it. Then you have the pass interference on the
17:46
Dory Jackson, which was very much unnecessary.
17:49
And even then, when you really think about it,
17:52
if I'm Dak Prescott. I'm putting it up in the
17:55
air because you know why? Outside of Quinion
17:57
Mitchell, what other corner do you have to worry
18:00
about? Respectfully, disrespectfully. Okay, Quinion
18:03
Mitchell is lining up against George Piggins,
18:06
for instance. Okay, CeeDee Lamb, get open. I'm
18:08
going to throw it to you. I'm going to throw
18:09
it to you as many times as I possibly can. Vice
18:12
versa. Because Quinion Mitchell is only one guy.
18:15
There's nobody else in the Eagles secondary that
18:18
you really have to worry about. Something that
18:20
we do need to talk about is... The Cowboys' run
18:23
defense and just the pass rush as a whole wasn't
18:27
doing enough in the first half. They wasn't creating
18:30
enough pressure. They wasn't going after Jalen
18:32
Hurts. They was basically ghost on the field.
18:36
And so now you're seeing the effect of not having
18:39
Micah Parsons. Because if Micah Parsons is on
18:42
the field, guess what? He's at least getting
18:44
maybe one or two sacks on Jalen Hurts. At least.
18:49
And if he's not getting it, then somebody else
18:51
is getting it. So moving into the second half,
18:54
the Cowboys' pass rush starts to get a little
18:56
bit better. Now, is it enough to throw Jalen
18:59
Hurts off? No. I think they still need another
19:02
pass rusher that's just step up to do something
19:05
because right now, nobody's doing it. Kenny Clark,
19:09
sure, he was effective, but it wasn't enough.
19:11
Sam Williams, it wasn't enough. Naming any person
19:14
on that defensive line, it wasn't enough. And
19:17
then you have Miles Sanders, he has this big
19:19
run, and then a couple plays later, he fumbles.
19:22
If the Cowboys didn't fumble, they could have
19:26
easily tied the game up. Because at that point,
19:29
the Cowboys were starting to cook, and the Eagles
19:32
were starting to lag a little bit. And I think
19:34
that's something we also need to talk about as
19:36
well. Whoever this offensive coordinator is,
19:39
I am very concerned with him. And I understand
19:41
this is just the first game, but I am very concerned
19:44
with him moving forward. Because here you are
19:47
having your first opponent being the Cowboys.
19:49
A Cowboys team who, by the way, doesn't have
19:53
Micah Parsons, who only has Trevon Diggs and
19:56
Deron Bland. But you have A .J. Brown, Jahan
20:00
Dotson, Devontae Smith, John Mechie, Dallas Goddard,
20:03
Saquon. And you mean to tell me you're not testing
20:06
Trevon Diggs? You're not testing Deron Bland?
20:10
Are you serious? And I know A .J. Brown was really
20:13
upset because he only got one pass thrown to
20:16
him. And by the time he got the ball, it was
20:18
towards the end of the game. Like, what are we
20:20
doing? There's nobody in the Cowboys secondary
20:23
that is a problem. So you have to at least try
20:27
it. Now, if you try two or three times and every
20:30
time it turns to a pick, okay, fine. We're going
20:32
back to just running the ball. But if you're
20:34
testing it and it's working, who's really complaining?
20:38
Nobody. But... Let's keep this thing going. So
20:41
we hit the two -minute warning. Cowboys can convert
20:44
on a crucial fourth down. Hurts extends the play
20:47
to get a crucial first down and essentially seal
20:50
the game. And that's it. My takeaway from this
20:53
game is the Eagles need to be concerned about
20:56
Jalen Carter moving forward. I don't know what
20:59
they need to do, but they need to bring in a
21:01
veteran presence because clearly there's not
21:04
enough structure on that defense to keep Jalen
21:06
Carter in check. Because if a Brandon Graham
21:09
was on that team, I guarantee you that wouldn't
21:12
have happened. But I will say this. The Cowboys
21:15
show that, hey, we can put up a fight. We may
21:18
not make it to the playoffs. We may not make
21:20
it to the Super Bowl. But we still got some fight
21:23
in us. And I think that's good. I think Dak Prescott
21:26
needs to work more on his relationship with George
21:29
Pickens. I feel like that defense needs to be
21:32
more creative in trying to create constant pressure
21:35
while getting to the quarterback. And I feel
21:38
like they may need to make a major move within
21:41
the secondary, probably by the trade deadline.
21:44
And I'll just leave it there because if I just
21:46
continue to go on, I'll be talking about this
21:49
for 30 or 40 minutes. It's not worth it. But
21:51
we have football to talk about on Sunday, folks.
21:54
That's right. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. So let's
21:58
start with the Steelers and Jets preview. So
22:00
four things I'm looking out for. How will an
22:03
Aaron Rodgers -led Steelers offense look? How
22:06
will the Jets offensive line hold up against
22:08
the Steelers defensive line? How will both tackles
22:11
from both teams look? And how will a Justin Fields
22:14
-led offense look? Let's be real here, folks.
22:18
This is the first time that Justin Fields will
22:21
have control over an offense. No longer will
22:24
it be somebody else's offense that's just going
22:27
to be tweaked a little bit just for Justin Fields.
22:29
No, this is strictly an offense for Justin Fields.
22:33
I want to see how both Troy Furtano and Broderick
22:36
Jones is going to look, as well as Alouf Vachonou
22:39
and Armin Membu, because I feel like a lot is
22:42
riding on both of these tackle duos. How will
22:45
the Jets' offensive line hold up, especially
22:48
with them losing Elijah Vera Tucker? Because
22:51
I've heard that Joe Tittman may be moved in at
22:53
guard. Chuksa Korfo might be playing somewhere.
22:57
I don't know how that's going to work, but let's
23:00
just see what happens. And this is going to be
23:02
the first time where we're going to see DK Metcalf,
23:05
Aaron Rodgers, John New Smith, and company finally
23:08
on the field playing together. So I want to see
23:11
how all of this is going to work. But here's
23:13
some junkie nuggets. So according to NFL Pro,
23:16
in 2024, Aaron Glenn played the highest amount
23:19
of man coverage in the league at 47 .7%. So we
23:23
all know that they're going to be in man coverage
23:26
a lot. But are they going to disguise it in a
23:29
way? that's gonna throw Aaron Rodgers off. I'm
23:32
actually curious to see how Aaron Rodgers is
23:33
gonna play on Sunday. Last season, DK Metcalf
23:36
faced the fifth highest press man coverage rate
23:39
at 35%, but had the fifth lowest catch rate at
23:43
33 .3%, and only hauled in seven out of 21 targets.
23:48
Since entering the league, Justin Fields has
23:51
the longest time to throw rate at 3 .10 seconds.
23:55
Aaron Rodgers averaged the fifth highest time
23:58
to throw rate, at 2 .6 seconds and attempted
24:02
to pass in under 2 .5 seconds on 52 .2 % of his
24:06
attempts, which is the third highest in the league.
24:09
Tanner Engstrang had the third highest 13 personnel
24:12
rate in the league at 13 .3 % and averaged 6
24:16
.2 yards per play, which is the fifth most in
24:19
the league. When Cam Hayward is on the field,
24:22
The Steelers generated a 36 .1 % pressure rate,
24:25
which is the eighth highest in the league, compared
24:28
to 31 % pressure rate, which is 28th in the league
24:32
when he isn't on the field. I will say this,
24:35
Justin Fields isn't going to get a lot of chances
24:38
to throw the ball. Most likely, they're going
24:40
to run the hell out of the ball, and rightfully
24:43
so, because with Elijah Veritaker going down
24:46
for the season, and Joel Tittman being moved
24:48
to guard, You want to at least try to run the
24:51
ball as much as you can, because for one, we
24:54
all know Justin Fields holds onto the ball too
24:56
long, and you really can't do that against this
24:58
pass rush. So they're going to try to take it
25:01
out of Justin Fields' hands as much as possible.
25:04
My prediction for this game is it's going to
25:07
be close, but it's not going to be too close,
25:10
if that makes sense. I do believe Aaron Rodgers
25:13
is going to show some magic. And I think he's
25:15
going to make one crazy play that's going to
25:17
seal the game. You heard it here first on the
25:19
Football Junkies podcast. Now, let's go to the
25:21
Ravens and Bills preview, okay? So, four things
25:25
I'm keeping my eye on. Can the Ravens start off
25:28
hot? And I mean hot. I'm talking about the pass
25:32
game is on fire. The run game is on fire. Mark
25:36
Andrews is doing his thing. Keaton Mitchell is
25:39
doing his thing. Lamar is just putting on a clinic.
25:41
I want to see will this Ravens offense start
25:44
off hot. How successful will the Bills defensive
25:47
line put up against Derrick Henry? Because I've
25:49
seen a lot of people say, well, there's no need
25:52
to worry about Derrick Henry. That's a lie. That
25:55
is a bold -faced lie. Because you know why? If
25:58
the Bills weren't concerned about Derrick Henry,
26:00
why would you double dip at defensive tackle
26:02
in the draft? I'll let you think about that.
26:04
How would the Bills secondary look? Brandon,
26:07
I understand they have DeMar Hamlin. They brought
26:09
back Tredavious White and then they drafted Maxwell
26:11
Harrison. But I want to see how this secondary
26:14
is going to look. And I want to see who's going
26:16
to be matched up against who. Is it going to
26:19
be Tredavious White against Zay Flowers? or Tredavious
26:22
White against Rashad Bateman. It's going to be
26:24
a really good matchup, folks. And how will both
26:27
Lamar and Josh Allen look in this game? I do
26:31
believe that Lamar is coming into this game with
26:33
a little bit of a chip on his shoulder because
26:35
I think Lamar believes that he should have won
26:38
the MVP, and rightfully so. But we all know,
26:41
and we've all seen the last few years in different
26:43
sports, that they'll just give an MVP to somebody
26:46
just because they don't want to see the other
26:48
person get another one. But that's another story
26:51
for another day. But here's some junkie nuggets.
26:53
So according to NFL Pro, in 2024, Gregory Russo
26:57
created 59 pressures, which was more than any
27:01
other Bills defender. During their week four
27:04
matchup, Josh Allen was pressured 44 .1 % on
27:08
his dropbacks, which was the second highest in
27:11
a game last season. despite being blitzed on
27:14
23 .5 % of his dropbacks. Do I think the Ravens
27:18
are going to be successful in bringing down Josh
27:20
Allen? Maybe once or twice, but I don't think
27:23
it's going to be a relentless type of blitzing
27:26
that the Ravens are going to use against Josh
27:28
Allen, because we all know that Josh Allen got
27:30
wheels, so you can't really do that. When facing
27:32
the blitz, Lamar and Josh Allen threw 16 touchdowns
27:37
last season, which was the second most in the
27:40
NFL. Baker Mayfield had the most. When facing
27:43
the Blitz, Lamar and Zae Flowers connected for
27:46
528 yards, which was the second most by any receiver
27:51
-quarterback duo. Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson
27:55
had 623 yards. During the 2024 season, the Ravens
28:01
used under center formations on 29 .1 % of their
28:05
plays, the highest of any season since drafting
28:08
Lamar Jackson. I think this is going to be a
28:12
down -to -the -wire, heavyweight bout type of
28:15
fight. But I will say this. The Ravens need this
28:20
game more than the Bills, and let me explain
28:22
why. The Ravens need to start off hot, and they
28:25
need to do this against another Super Bowl contender.
28:28
They need to shut people up and say, hey, listen,
28:31
they may have beaten us last year, but that's
28:34
not going to happen this year. You need to send
28:36
a message. to all the other Super Bowl contenders,
28:39
whether it be NFC or AFC, that, hey, listen,
28:43
this is our year. We understand that the past
28:46
few years, we've been in better positions and
28:48
we failed all the time. But this year, this year
28:52
is different. And we're not going to allow the
28:55
Bills to start things off on the right foot.
28:58
They need to have a strong performance on both
29:02
sides of the ball. The offense needs to be dominant,
29:05
and the defense needs to limit Josh Allen as
29:08
much as possible. Now, when we look at the Bills'
29:12
side, however, I think the defense needs to prove
29:15
that, hey, we can create pressure, we can be
29:19
successful in stopping the run, while at the
29:22
same time making turnovers and putting ourselves
29:25
in a better position. Because I really don't
29:28
believe this defense. I don't think this defense
29:30
is going to be super effective this season. I
29:33
just feel like, personally, their secondary is
29:35
probably one of their weak spots on this defense.
29:38
And I feel like with Joey Bosa not playing this
29:41
game, I'm a little bit skeptical on how they're
29:44
going to be able to create constant pressure.
29:46
But only time will tell. Now let's talk about
29:49
the Dolphins versus the Colts, okay? So four
29:52
things I'm looking out for. How will the Dolphins'
29:55
old line hold up against the Colts' pass rush?
29:58
How will a Daniel Jones -led offense look? How
30:02
will the Dolphins' pass rush look? And what edge
30:05
will the Dolphins' offense have this season?
30:08
I'm going to be really honest with you. This
30:11
Dolphins' offensive line is beat up. And I really
30:16
don't believe it. And I would have thought by
30:18
now Chris Greer would have at least made one
30:20
or two good additions to the offensive line to
30:22
say, hey, Although this may be considered patchwork,
30:26
it's good patchwork. But right now, I'm very
30:30
skeptical about this offensive line moving forward.
30:33
And I'm very concerned about Tua moving forward
30:36
because this offensive line is going up against
30:39
a defensive line that has Latu Latu, Quidi Pei,
30:42
JT Tumalau, who they just drafted this year,
30:46
and DeForest Buckner. I don't think this offensive
30:48
line can stop them. I'm just going to be completely
30:51
honest here. I've seen crazier things. Now with
30:54
this being Daniel Jones' first time being a starter
30:57
since leaving the Giants, I want to see does
31:01
he have the juice. Because I want to see can
31:03
Daniel Jones run this offense successfully. Because
31:07
I think the bar is set pretty low for him. I
31:10
think if Daniel Jones plays at an average to
31:14
slightly above average, I think the team can
31:17
make that work. However... If we start seeing
31:21
a lot of the problems that we saw when he was
31:23
with the Giants start to emerge again, then we
31:27
might have to have another conversation about
31:28
the Colts. Because I think right now, I think
31:31
their mindset going into the regular season is,
31:33
let's just make it through the season so that
31:36
we can draft a quarterback next year. Which,
31:38
I don't blame them. When we look at the Dolphins'
31:42
pass rush, with them acquiring Matthew Judon
31:45
via free agency, and Jalen Phillips coming back,
31:48
as well as Bradley Chubb, I want to see can those
31:50
three create enough pressure to really go after
31:53
the quarterback. And I also want to see can Kenneth
31:56
Grant be the wrecking ball that he was at Michigan.
31:59
Because I think if that defensive line can actually
32:02
create a lot of pressure and really go after
32:04
the quarterback, I think the defense could be
32:06
in a really good shape. Because I mean, you have
32:08
Megan Fitzpatrick, you have Jack Jones, like
32:10
they've done a lot with this defense. And I think
32:14
they can make it work, but it all relies on the
32:17
pass rush. Now on to the final game, and that
32:20
is the Giants versus Commanders, okay? So four
32:23
things to watch out for. How effective will the
32:26
Commanders pass rush be? How will the Giants
32:29
use Abdul Carter? How will the Commanders use
32:31
Deebo Samuel? And how will Russell Wilson look?
32:35
So when we talk about the pass rush for the commanders,
32:38
you have Frankie Lou Vu, you now have Von Miller,
32:41
you still have Deron Payne, you have Johnny Newton.
32:44
I want to see how this pass rush is going to
32:47
look because I think Von Miller can still be
32:50
a really effective pass rusher. to the point
32:53
where I believe that the Giants will probably
32:55
run 12 and 13 personnel a lot because they want
32:58
to try to mitigate his presence as well as Frankie
33:01
Luvu's and Deron Payne's. Now, as far as the
33:04
Giants using Abdul Carter, I want to see how
33:07
the formation is going to look. I want to see
33:09
where he's going to be lined up at because you're
33:11
going to have Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeau,
33:14
himself, and Dexter Lawrence. At least two of
33:17
those pass rushers is going to get after the
33:19
quarterback, and I can't wait to see it. Pardon
33:22
the interruption, but this is your GM, your bag
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road dominance, here to talk about rss .com,
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Now back to the good stuff. Let's talk about
35:07
Debo Samuel and his role on this team. So with
35:09
Terry McLaurin coming back to the commanders,
35:11
I want to see how they're going to use him. I
35:14
want to see are they going to use him the same
35:16
way that the 49ers use him, which is sort of
35:18
like that Swiss Army knife. You can double as
35:22
a running back. We can put you in the slot. We
35:24
can put you in the outside. I want to see how
35:26
that's going to work because I feel like. With
35:29
the addition of Deebo Samuel, I think this is
35:31
going to expand the offense a little bit more.
35:34
Now, am I saying you're going to get the same
35:36
production that the 49ers got from him? No, but
35:39
I do believe that's another weapon for Jaden
35:41
Daniels that he can rely on moving forward. Now,
35:45
with Russell Wilson, we all know that he started
35:48
off really strong last year against the Steelers,
35:51
and then he just fell off. But the question is,
35:54
will Russell Wilson be able to maintain a level
35:56
of consistency with the Giants? Because I think
35:59
if he's just slightly above average, I think
36:03
this Giants team can make a lot of noise. But
36:06
if you see a lot of the problems that you saw
36:09
when he was with the Steelers last year start
36:11
to emerge, then we might be in trouble. Then
36:15
we might be having to talk about, Jackson Darn
36:18
might have to come in or Seamus Winston might
36:21
have to come in. But let's talk about these junkie
36:23
nuggets, all right? So the Commander's defense
36:25
allowed 17 touchdowns on deep passes during the
36:29
2023 season, four more than any defense in the
36:32
season since 2016. Brian Burns generated 66 pressures.
36:38
So we all know that Brian Burns is going to do
36:41
his thing. But the question is, is there going
36:44
to be a formation where it's Brian Burns and...
36:47
abdul carter or brian burns and kayvon thibodeau
36:50
or kayvon thibodeau and abdul carter how was
36:54
that going to look the commander's defense used
36:56
man blitzes against 22 of their opponents dropbacks
36:59
which was the third highest rate in the nfl when
37:03
dexter lawrence was on the field the giants created
37:06
a 27 .5 pressure to sack conversion rate which
37:10
was higher than the ravens pressure to sack conversion
37:12
rate at 24 .4 percent The Giants offense used
37:16
spread formation on 36 .2 % of their plays, which
37:20
was the third highest rate in the league. Deebo
37:23
Samuel was one of two receivers to have played
37:26
150 plus snaps when a line in the backfield,
37:30
slot, wide out, and tight on at least 5 % of
37:34
the snaps. The other receiver was Jaden Reed.
37:38
Now we all know with divisional games, they're
37:40
very close and they're very competitive. I expect
37:43
this game to be a back and forth type of game
37:45
going down to the wire. Might have to make a
37:48
field goal kick just to seal the game, but I
37:51
can't wait for Sunday. But I'm going to end this
37:53
episode here. If you guys like what you're listening,
37:55
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38:44
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38:46
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38:48
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But just stay tuned for that. But as always,
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40:35
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40:43
GM, Kale, signing out. Peace and love. Later.
40:48
Sunday, folks. Sunday, one o 'clock. Football,
40:52
we're back.