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#5: Who's the best team in football? · NFL Power Rankings

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  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, let's rank things. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings,
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  Speaker 2: presented by Energizer from our studios in Los Angeles. My
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  Speaker 2: name is andrews cciliano, the man on the other side
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  Speaker 2: of the screen, the man who puts together the rankings
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  Speaker 2: on NFL dot Com. It's Eric at home. As we
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  Speaker 2: sit here, Eric in this really weird spot because we've
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  Speaker 2: been conditioned for years to say four games is the
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  Speaker 2: quarter poll. We're twenty five percent of the way through
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  Speaker 2: the season. However, technically we're not not until the first
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  Speaker 2: quarter is over at FedEx on Thursday night. We are
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  Speaker 2: still not a quarter of the way through the season,
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  Speaker 2: and we're coming off a week that had really seven blowouts.
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  Speaker 3: It was a surprising set of results too. We had,
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  Speaker 3: you know, favorites going down. We obviously had other teams
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  Speaker 3: kind of show out in big ways. So the scores
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  Speaker 3: last week did kind of dampen the excitement a little bit.
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  Speaker 3: But we learned a lot about these teams. He Andrew
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  Speaker 3: that this top eight is pretty good. Everything after that
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  Speaker 3: a lot of questions, at least.
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  Speaker 2: For me, all right, let's show you the top eight.
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  Speaker 2: The forty nine Ers are back at number one after
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  Speaker 2: surviving Christian McCaffrey going off and beating the Arizona Cardinals.
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  Speaker 2: The forty nine ers are really, really good. They're number
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  Speaker 2: one now for the third time in five weeks. Kansas City,
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  Speaker 2: which had fallen to three, moves up to two by
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  Speaker 2: winning the Taylor Swift Concerts Sunday Night at MetLife. The
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  Speaker 2: Bills are up two after beating last week's number one
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  Speaker 2: and beating them badly. Buffalo is three. The Eagles are
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  Speaker 2: kind of just sort of treading water there at number four,
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  Speaker 2: but hey, they're one of two undefeated teams. Cowboys blow
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  Speaker 2: out the Patriots as one of the seven blowouts. They
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  Speaker 2: move up to number five.
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  Speaker 4: The Dolphin's plummet It's a dolphin that can't swim from
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  Speaker 4: one down to six, followed by the Lions who went
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  Speaker 4: at Lambeau on Thursday, and the Ravens who handled easily
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  Speaker 4: hand the Browns.
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  Speaker 2: Time for Charged Up presented by Energizer. The team that
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  Speaker 2: has charged up your number one team back at number
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  Speaker 2: one for the third time in five weeks. Now Eric
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  Speaker 2: at home, you have the San Francisco forty nine ers.
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  Speaker 2: Who I mean, they do look like the best team
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  Speaker 2: in football, and they do look like a team getting
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  Speaker 2: a playoff rematch, which is a playoff game at October,
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  Speaker 2: if you will, coming up this week with the Cowboys.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, this this weekend's game is gonna tell us a
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  Speaker 3: lot about both teams.
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  Speaker 5: But to this point the non quarter poll to use
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  Speaker 5: your turn there.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, look, they've scored thirty or more in every
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  Speaker 3: single game.
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  Speaker 5: They've only allowed twenty three points. That's the most.
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  Speaker 3: They've allowed under sixteen in the other three games. So
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  Speaker 3: they've been terrific defensively. They've been explosive offensively, and I
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  Speaker 3: thought the return of Brandon I you really made a
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  Speaker 3: difference last week too. Yeah, McCaffrey had the four touchdowns.
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  Speaker 3: But when you have Ayuk out there, when you have
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  Speaker 3: Debo out there, we have George Kittle and CMC.
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  Speaker 5: Who do you try to stop.
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  Speaker 3: That's really the biggest thing is that they have four
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  Speaker 3: potential game changers out there on offense.
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  Speaker 5: We know the defense is obviously capable of big things.
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  Speaker 3: Did give up a long drive ninety nine yards last week,
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  Speaker 3: but really hell for him after that didn't allow the
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  Speaker 3: Cardinals within a sniffing distance of the end zone after
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  Speaker 3: that point.
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  Speaker 2: So I mentioned it's a playoff freematch. Really, the last
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  Speaker 2: two years the forty nine Ers have knocked the Cowboys
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  Speaker 2: out of the postseason. Jerry Jones said this week that
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  Speaker 2: the road to the super Bowl in the NFC likely
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  Speaker 2: runs through San Francisco. They're the best team in the conference.
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  Speaker 2: I love how it look. Dak played well, and the
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  Speaker 2: big headline from that game on Sunday at AT and
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  Speaker 2: T was the Cowboys pasted Mac Jones and the Patriots.
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  Speaker 2: But afterwards, when Dak was asked, Hey, how did it
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  Speaker 2: feel to loose to the forty nine ers last year
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  Speaker 2: in the postseason, you could see the look on his
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  Speaker 2: face and he said, thank you for asking me that. No, no, no, really,
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  Speaker 2: thank you for asking me that, because that's his motivation
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  Speaker 2: for this week. Do you think the Niners are still
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  Speaker 2: number one next week?
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  Speaker 5: It's a big question.
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  Speaker 2: Ry.
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  Speaker 3: Can this Dallas defense do what it's done and really
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  Speaker 3: three of the four games and that's kind of take
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  Speaker 3: the opponent completely out of their game. As we said,
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  Speaker 3: with this forty nine Ers team and all the weapons
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  Speaker 3: they provide, it's gonna take a serious pass rush, though
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  Speaker 3: the offensive line might be the one unit where you
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  Speaker 3: might be able to get some to make some hay
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  Speaker 3: against the forty nine ers. So it's got to be Parsons,
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  Speaker 3: it's got to be Lawrence, It's got to be all
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  Speaker 3: these guys up front that I think make the difference.
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  Speaker 3: So that and and Dak taking care of the ball
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  Speaker 3: and continue to do what they did, you know, weeks one,
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  Speaker 3: two and four offensively.
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  Speaker 2: And tune in next week to see if the San
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  Speaker 2: Francisco forty nine ers are still number one, or for
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  Speaker 2: that matter, the Chiefs are still number two. You moved
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  Speaker 2: them up one. They were three. They went to MetLife
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  Speaker 2: and it wasn't their best game. Patrick Mahomes got picked
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  Speaker 2: a couple of times. He looked sloppy. People complained about
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  Speaker 2: the officiating, not sloppy, as if he wasn't prepared, just
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  Speaker 2: we don't expect to see him make bad throws. You still, though,
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  Speaker 2: have them as an imperfect number tw too.
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  Speaker 5: That's the best way to describe. I think they're flawed.
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  Speaker 3: They may not be better on paper than the team's blowing
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  Speaker 3: like the Bills, like the unbeaten Eagles, but I think
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  Speaker 3: when you have the best player in the game, and
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  Speaker 3: he's got to win with his fourth best pitch on
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  Speaker 3: the road against the pretty good defense. He's gonna do it,
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  Speaker 3: and he's gonna find a way. So his scrambling ability
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  Speaker 3: late in the game, maybe there was a holding call,
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  Speaker 3: Maybe there was. It certainly is what sets them apart.
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  Speaker 3: Defense bent a little bit there against Sack Wilson. They've
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  Speaker 3: been terrific to this point. That did kind of raise
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  Speaker 3: an eyebrower.
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  Speaker 5: Two for me.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, I think we saw the Chiefs being able
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  Speaker 3: to win in different ways. That's what makes them so dangerous.
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  Speaker 3: They don't have to blow you out, they don't have
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  Speaker 3: to try to boat race you every single time. They
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  Speaker 3: can win in different ways. The Mahomes can do the
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  Speaker 3: same thing as well, So I still give them a
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  Speaker 3: ton of credit, even if other people may think, hey,
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  Speaker 3: there are other people pushing down the door and going
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  Speaker 3: ahead of them.
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  Speaker 5: Right now.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what I think of the holding call. I think
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  Speaker 2: it was a hold. Here's what I didn't like the
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  Speaker 2: fact that the flag didn't really come out until after
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  Speaker 2: the pick. If it was a hole, it was ten
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  Speaker 2: to fifteen yards upfield. So if you saw it, then
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  Speaker 2: throw it. Then but I do think it was a hold.
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  Speaker 2: He did impede his progress down the field. There have
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  Speaker 2: been other calls at the ends of games this year,
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  Speaker 2: like the two point conversion in Denver or the Joey
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  Speaker 2: Porter junior play on DPJ in which there wasn't a
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  Speaker 2: flag throat at the end. This one was regardless the
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  Speaker 2: Chiefs or number two. They go to Minnesota this week
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  Speaker 2: your team of the Week, you could have argued the
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  Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills or the number one team in football after
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  Speaker 2: what they did to the Dolphins. Team of the Week
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  Speaker 2: presented by truest Bag Josh Allen. I know he had
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  Speaker 2: a perfect passer rating. I think passer rating is overrated.
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  Speaker 2: Here you could argue he played his best regular season
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  Speaker 2: game ever, but the defense Eric was the story in
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  Speaker 2: this one. Here as well. It was two sides of
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  Speaker 2: the ball for the Bills.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, took him a couple drives to get used to
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  Speaker 3: that Miami speed. Right the right angles you need to
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  Speaker 3: take to defend this team. I thought Mike mcdaniell's play
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  Speaker 3: calling was good, kind of kept them off balanced, but
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  Speaker 3: after a certain point, the defense that we had seen
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  Speaker 3: from Buffalo all season long really came to play.
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  Speaker 5: It came out, you.
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  Speaker 3: Know, forced to it to some overthrows, exploited that offensive
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  Speaker 3: line that was missing its starting left tackle, starting center,
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  Speaker 3: really gave them problems and communications up front.
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  Speaker 5: I thought the Dolphins press to Andrew.
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  Speaker 3: I thought they kind of gotten that spot where they
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  Speaker 3: hadn't been all year. They've been kind of controlling the
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  Speaker 3: action and dictating the pace of play in every other
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  Speaker 3: game so far. Didn't happen on Sunday after those first
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  Speaker 3: few drives and they took a few punches.
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  Speaker 5: How they respond is going to be fascinating.
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  Speaker 3: But my analogy is this, I think they could beat
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  Speaker 3: almost anybody in the league. One team they haven't been
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  Speaker 3: able to show that they could beat right now, you know,
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  Speaker 3: ten to the last eleven games, the Buffalo Bills. That's
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  Speaker 3: the one that they have to figure out. And they've
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  Speaker 3: gotten until what Thanksgiving to figure that out. So look,
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  Speaker 3: I think they could win most of their games until
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  Speaker 3: that spot. That's going to be the next test to
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  Speaker 3: see how good a content they truly are.
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  Speaker 2: They've shown they can't win in Buffalo, which is the
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  Speaker 2: most important thing here. They lost twice last year in Buffalo.
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  Speaker 2: They lost obviously in Buffalo, as you can see on
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  Speaker 2: the screen here this past week, in week number four,
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  Speaker 2: the question is if these teams meet in January, where
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  Speaker 2: will that game be? And a lot is determined between
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  Speaker 2: now and their next meeting in November in Miami. That
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  Speaker 2: to me is the question. The other thing too about
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  Speaker 2: the Dolphins, the defense still has not shown it. I
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  Speaker 2: think they get healthy. Well, they pick things up this week.
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  Speaker 2: Let's put it that way, when they get the Giants
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  Speaker 2: at home in ninety degree weather on Sunday. With the
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  Speaker 2: Giants on a short week and as we saw, still
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  Speaker 2: quite banged up after what they did on Monday night,
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  Speaker 2: another blowout loss at home to the Seattle Seahawks. All right,
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  Speaker 2: don't forget about London, friends, because the Bills are now
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  Speaker 2: on their way to London. The Jaguars residency, a two
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  Speaker 2: week residency, continues and you can watch that game on
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  Speaker 2: NFL Network. NFL Game Day kickoff is on early at
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  Speaker 2: seven am Eastern. You can watch that game as well
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: on NFL Plus go a Get it Plus on NFL
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: dot Com, Bill's Jaguars and NFL Network NFL Plus London
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  Speaker 2: exclusive coming up on Sunday. Let's get back to the
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  Speaker 2: Cowboys here. Try to make sense of them, will you please?
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  Speaker 2: Because there's the team that you know felt good about itself.
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  Speaker 2: They're the best team, the best defense in football. Then
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  Speaker 2: go into Arizona, can't stop the run and get embarrassed.
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  Speaker 2: And then there's the team that comes home last week
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  Speaker 2: and does exactly the opposite, embarrasses the Patriots and hands
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  Speaker 2: Bill Belichick Eric his worst regular season loss in two
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  Speaker 2: and a half decades.
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  Speaker 3: Just a stunning performance, right, I mean, I think everybody
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  Speaker 3: thought this would be a closer game, maybe a defensive
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  Speaker 3: battle of sorts. But the Cowboys really were the aggressive
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  Speaker 3: team they came after. You know, they faked that two
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  Speaker 3: point conversion on the extra point try there, you know,
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  Speaker 3: they went for it down there towards the end zone.
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  Speaker 3: They were squatting on every Mac Jones pass, knowing that, look,
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  Speaker 3: we'll take a US that he throws deep, right, We're
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  Speaker 3: gonna challenge him a little bit. Dron Bland drops one
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  Speaker 3: potential pick six, then finally gets his pause on the
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  Speaker 3: second one, and of course the force fumble two that
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  Speaker 3: was run back.
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  Speaker 5: A dominant defensive performance. Unbelievable. It's the right mix, the
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  Speaker 5: super Bowl mix for this team.
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  Speaker 3: I think where you have you know, just enough offense,
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  Speaker 3: consistent drives, running the football, play action seedee lamb, those
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  Speaker 3: tight ends are getting involved. We know Tony Pollard's had
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  Speaker 3: a really nice season, but it's that defense that I
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  Speaker 3: think sets the tone and can they take over this
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  Speaker 3: game against the Niners. That'll kind of tell us whether
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  Speaker 3: that Arizona game was an aberration or whether the Cowboys
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  Speaker 3: truly are in a weak group.
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  Speaker 2: Blam played great in that game. But we agree here.
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  Speaker 2: I know you know this. The Patriots don't have a
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  Speaker 2: lot of difference makers at the skill positions, especially on
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  Speaker 2: the perimeter here without Trayvon Diggs. I think we see that.
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  Speaker 2: I think we see how big that loss to Trayvon
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  Speaker 2: Diggs is this week against the Niners.
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  Speaker 3: I agree, Yeah, he was one of their special playmakers.
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  Speaker 3: That was a rutal blow for them. Obviously they have
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  Speaker 3: some defensive backs with experience, guys who played inside and outside,
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  Speaker 3: but Diggs was that playmaker, that difference maker back there
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  Speaker 3: who could get an interception and run it back and
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  Speaker 3: things like that. So that's what makes him so dangerous.
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  Speaker 3: They could score on you almost every week on defense,
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  Speaker 3: and one more weapon is now taken out of that
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  Speaker 3: secondary even with land showing up the way he did.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's get to the Dolphins here. They are
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  Speaker 2: number six. We mentioned them earlier. Obviously, they're the other
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  Speaker 2: part of the equation. They're that big win for Buffalo
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  Speaker 2: this past Sunday in Orchard Park. But the Dolphins, if
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  Speaker 2: they do beat the Giants, Eric and you want to
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  Speaker 2: just say they beat the Giants, they will be four
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  Speaker 2: and one into it for the first time in twenty years.
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  Speaker 2: They're six this week, but they drop five, so big drop.
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  Speaker 2: But you still believe in them as a top ten
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  Speaker 2: team and one of the best teams in football. I do.
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  Speaker 3: And again, as I kind of hint it off the top,
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  Speaker 3: I really believe that this top quartile, right, these top
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  Speaker 3: eight teams are kind of separated by a bigger margin
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  Speaker 3: than just a few spots. Maybe Seattle jumps into this group,
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  Speaker 3: but I believe Miami belongs in this top group, no question.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not going to let a bad game against a
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  Speaker 3: really good football team up.
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  Speaker 5: In Buffalo skew my rankings too much.
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  Speaker 3: But this is about where they were the week before,
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  Speaker 3: and I jumped him up, maybe over promoted him, some
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  Speaker 3: people thought I did, But that offense as I said,
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  Speaker 3: has been pretty potent.
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  Speaker 5: For the most part, most teams not equipped to handle it.
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  Speaker 5: Buffalo is I don't think the Giants are.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think most of the remainder of the other
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  Speaker 3: what twenty nine teams can handle what Buffalo offers. So look,
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  Speaker 3: I think they're gonna get right, and it's all about
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  Speaker 3: getting right over these next six weeks or so until
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  Speaker 3: we get closer to Thanksgiving. In the rematch, they've got
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  Speaker 3: to get that offensive line together, and they've got to
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  Speaker 3: make more stops defensively in order to kind of stay
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  Speaker 3: in this group.
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  Speaker 2: Now they're gonna have to do it without left tackle
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  Speaker 2: Tron Armstead on the offensive side here, as Mike McDaniel said,
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  Speaker 2: his injury will keep him out a matter of weeks,
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  Speaker 2: not days. The Dolphins are your number six team. The
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  Speaker 2: Lions and Ravens are seven and eight. You mentioned the Seahawks.
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  Speaker 2: Where are they or they have a top ten? And
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  Speaker 2: after that top eight, how does the middle of the
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  Speaker 2: pack sort out? And that's coming up next on NFL
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Power Rankings presented by Energizer. You're watching the NFL Power
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Rankings show percented Tea by Energizer. We got through the
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: top eight. Eric at Holme has the Seahawks at number nine,
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  Speaker 2: up three after they're resounding eleven sack performance on Monday
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  Speaker 2: Night and it went over the Giants. How about the Buccaneers,
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  Speaker 2: they're up ten, ten, they jump up to number ten
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  Speaker 2: after another victory to lead the NFC South Browns or
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: down only two despite being an offensive no show with
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  Speaker 2: dtr against the Ravens Jaguars Chargers. The Packers dropped four
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: after losing on TNF the Houston Texans. We'll get to
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: them in a second. How about them move it up
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: big as well. And the Tennessee Titans, who looked That's
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  Speaker 2: what I love Eric about, you know, early on in
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  Speaker 2: the season here who looked awful Week three. Get a
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: win here against an a dead best Steelers team, and
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  Speaker 2: they move up five. Not not a Steelers team, but a
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: big part in a Bengals team, and they move up five.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's get to the Seahawks because they have
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  Speaker 2: a bye bye week start this week. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: with number five, four teams are on a vice. Seattle
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  Speaker 2: is one of them. I was. I'm so impressed with
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  Speaker 2: not only the defense, but be how they have fought
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  Speaker 2: through injuries, notably on the offensive line. No one was
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  Speaker 2: complaining about how banged up the Seahawks offensive line was
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  Speaker 2: Monday night. They just dominated the Giants.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not often you can go on the road,
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  Speaker 3: Andrew and play four different battery combinations, two centers and
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  Speaker 3: two quarterbacks and come out with a pretty easy win.
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  Speaker 3: I don't say easy, but certainly a win that they
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  Speaker 3: were able to put them away and the Giants had
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  Speaker 3: no real kind of counter punches.
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  Speaker 5: And you know, Drew.
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  Speaker 3: Locke comes in for an injured Gino Smith leads a
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  Speaker 3: touchdown drive that was terrific complimentary football. You mentioned the
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  Speaker 3: eleven sacks. How about Devin Witherspood, not just on his
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  Speaker 3: ninety seven yard pick six, but two sacks too.
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  Speaker 5: They've got him in that nickel role. He is terrorizing people.
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  Speaker 3: Not the biggest guy in the world, but he has
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  Speaker 3: been a fun player to watch off the edges. He's
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  Speaker 3: gotten in the lineup and kind of found a home there. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: the run game is working. He saw Pete Carroll whooping
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  Speaker 3: it up on the sideline. This team has some spirit,
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  Speaker 3: has some They have fun when they played football, and
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  Speaker 3: they've taken on all comers so far and played really
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  Speaker 3: competitively except for that week one gonna egg lay if
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  Speaker 3: you will, So I don't know. The momentum is on
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  Speaker 3: their side. They're playing great and they've got a big victory.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: I bumped him up three spots. I wasn't prepared to
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: do that, but that's what my eyes tole me.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: They are clearly the number two team in the NFC West.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: That said that team, and you got to consider the
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: opponent here, the fact that the Giants had been so bad.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: But that team that we saw on Monday night does
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: look legit. Now they get a buy, a chance to
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: maybe get healthy, and the Seahawks head into that buy
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: at the somewhat quarter pole of the season here at
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: three and one. The team behind him, also on a bye,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: is our power mover this week Moves presented by Energizer.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: They're the fighting Baker Mayfield, the first place Tampa Bay Bucketeers. Eric,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: they go from twenty to ten. You were buying Baker,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: I am.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: I mean again, it's this early in the season.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: You know, one win is a massive thing, right, and
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: they're all of a sudden kind of in the driver's
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: seat a little bit, and you know, to go on
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: the road and win a game as comfortably as they
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: did against the division rival and a tough place to play.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: That's pretty impressive. Mike Evan's out for a big chunk
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: of this game. You mentioned Mayfield, He's out there diving
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: for first downs like he has been in past games.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: This year, I liked that they got a little more
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: aggressive offensively, Andrews started throwing on first downs, kind of
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: keeping the Saints defense a very good defense too, keeping
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: them on their toes, and so, you know, it was
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: just a really nice game plan. They did have the
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: red zone turnover, so you know, eleven penalties. There's still
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: plenty of stuff to clean up run game, and there
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: are other issues with this team, but I kind of
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: stopped denying you know that this was a pretty competitive,
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: good team and Baker's done nice things this year. Not great,
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: but good, and that's why they're in the spot. But plus,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: kind of the middle class this year has been a
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: little bit underwhelming. That's why they kind of moved to
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: the front of the line.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: So speak, yeah, say this about Baker. He is the
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: best quarterback in football on third down. Truly, statistically, he
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: is the best quarterback in football on third down, which
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: doesn't make a lot of sense because normally he's at
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: his best when you're using play action. You can't normally
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: lie on play action on third down. But regardless, he
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: has been a machine and fourth down as well. As
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: the Buccaneers move up ten and they are up to
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: number ten. All right, let's get to the Green Bay Packers,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: who had time to think about now. They have a
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: long week here before they get ready for a Monday
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: night game. They go Thursday to Monday. They had an
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: awful performance, awful eric on Thursday night to open up
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Week four at home in their loss to the Lions.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: You have them dropping, but you still have them at fourteen,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: which which kind of means you still think they're a
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: playoff team.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're right on that kind of playoff cusp, at
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: least as far as my rankings are concerned. I put
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: them at sixteen, thought that was a little too harsh,
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: moved them to fifteen. Still felt like, you know, the
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: way things shaked out, it's probably better to move them
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: up one spot and assume that they were just caught
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: off guard a little.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: Bit on Thursday night.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: I don't know that they expected the Lions to beat
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: them physically as much as they did, and you had
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: Matt Lafleura after the game all but calling out the
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: toughness of this of his own team on both sides
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: of the ball, offensive line, defensive line, and everybody else included.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: I am a little concerned about the kind of yin
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: and yang every other week hot and cold performances from
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: both Jordan Love and the remainder of the club. So
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: there is a chaotic nature to this group. But I
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: also believe that they're the second best team in the
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: NFC North, and even with the Vikings, you know, getting
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: in the win column, you know, I would still take
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: them head to head and feel like they're gonna play
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: a lot better the next time they get the Lions.
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: And so so I don't know.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: I'm not ready to punt on this team yet, and
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I think their schedule is going to help them.
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: Out a little.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, huge break here again a Thursday to a Monday,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: as the Packers will end Week five with a primetime
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: game in Vegas against the Raiders. Let's get to one
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: of my favorite team, a team that we might call
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: a future champion presented by Fandalle. Let's look at the
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: AFC South odds. That team is the Houston Texans, not
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: the Jaguars who won, not the Titans who won, not
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: the Colts who want to overtime, but the Houston Texans.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Here as you look at the odds to win the
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: AFC South, they are number fifteen. For you, Eric, they
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: moved up eight after handling the Steelers. And you want
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: to talk about rookie quarterbacks, because we saw dtr we
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: saw Bryce Young, We've seen Anthony Richardson in CJ. Stroud,
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: the Texans not only have the best rookie quarterback, you
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: could argue they have a top ten quarterback in the
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: league right now.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: It's early, but he looks poised, he looks in command,
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: he looks comfortable back there. You know, even week one
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: when he took as many hits as he did, he
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: was a tough kid and he made some pretty good
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: throws and you just sort of felt like, I'm gonna
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: hang on to this guy. In the last two weeks terrific.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: So the interception streak has been fun. Demico's got his
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: guys playing hard, two straight victories where they've sent us
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: a message to the rest of the league we can
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: play a little bit.
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: I can't wait to see what the rest of their
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: season looks.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Like Yeah, the Houston Texans, everyone get to know them.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: They have a big test this week as they go
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: to Atlanta. The Falcons coming off a disappointing game in London.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: They don't get the buy on the way home. Teams
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: can ask for it. They didn't want the buye and
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: they are sticking with Desmond Ritter at least for now.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Those are your Houston Texans for my money, the future
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: change the AFC South. All right, coming up here the
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: rest of the power rankings. We are through sixteen. Where
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: do the Rams end up after they're thrilling overtime win
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: in Indianapolis? And for that matter, how about the bank goals?
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: How far have they fallen? That's next? And if our
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: power rankings presented by Energizer, let's look at seventeen through
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: twenty four. The Rams are up seven after hanging on
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: for dear life and getting a walk off at overtime
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: in Indianapolis, follow by the Saints, the Jets, the Bengals,
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the Falcons, the Commanders, the Steelers plummet seven, the Patriots
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: plummet six. The man who makes those rankings Eric at home,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: what do we think of these Rams? Had a figure.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I figure they should have beaten the Bengals, but they didn't,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: we'd be looking at them a heck of a lot differently.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: But wow, Matthew Stafford played well in Indy. He did.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: He had Dio and engboll Land on him the third
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: quarter and really appear to do some damage. So Stafford
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: was out there gutting it out. But all game along
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: he found Kuka a coup. I mean, what a revelation.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: This guy has been an incredible story right away, gets
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: to him and then finishes the game in over time
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: as well.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: But that skips a whole lot of the story. They
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: blew a twenty three other lead, almost lost this thing
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: on the road.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: That would have been pretty devastating, So jumping seven spots
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: has to do with other people losing, etc. Still a
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: good team, Still have some questions about them.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Though, and still a big task coming up here on
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: the schedule Sunday when the Eagles, the undefeated Eagles come
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: to Sofi Stadium. We'll find out a lot about the
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Rams run defense in that one. Undoubtedly a lot of
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Eagles fans of the building here. They have had this
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: trip circled for a while. Saints Jets, Bengals, Falcons, and
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: then the commanders here Eric sitting at twenty two. They
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: didn't move despite almost winning in overtime in Philly. If
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: Riverboat Rod, by the way, ron hand in your riverboat card,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: please report the guest services had gone for it and
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: gotten it, they'd be higher than twenty two.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that two point decision.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: That really bothered me because again, like you said, we
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: have a coach who's reputation was sort of based on
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: going for it in those situations.
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: He's gotten more conservative. Certainly he's got not a rookie quarterback,
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: but I'm a first year starter in Sam.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Howell, who a week go is pummeled four interceptions, nine sacks.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: He played terrific on Sunday, right, and the numbers may
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: not quite tell the whole story in battling back two
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, very impressive stuff. And look,
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: you know you have a kid, Emmanuel Forbes who gets
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: beat on the double move touchdown by AJ Brown.
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: He's a talented guy.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: He needs to learn for what Howell did, which is
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: come back after a tough week, and we'll see if
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: he can bounce back next week in a big one.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the future is bright. They get the
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Bears in TNF Thursday at home. That is a sell
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: up quickly. Hell, let's get the rest of the numbers
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: on the screen. Vikings at twenty five, followed by the Colts, Cardinals, Broncos, Raiders, Giants, Panthers,
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: and yes, of course the Bears. The Cardinals are an
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: interesting twenty seven. I think they beat the Bengals this week.
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that can.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: This is a tough team, Andrew, you know, they've been
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: super competitive. They've already beaten the Cowboys, should have won
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: Week one. You know, plenty of adulation for what they've done.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: But that defense has got to get better. They've got stops.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: I think that's going to be the biggest issue this
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: weekend against if Cincinnati can find their offensive mojo again.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: If Cincinnati can find it's mojo, and if they can
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden make Joe Burrow heal miraculously and
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: make him once again a quarterback that's able to move
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: more than two feet either way in the middle of
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: a very dirty pocket. Eric at home, It's always a pleasure, sir.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: The Bears, by the way, are thirty two. Apologies to
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: the team in your backyard. Who if the draft were
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: to be today it isn't, by the way, would pick
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: both one and two. We are here every Tuesday on
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: the NFL Channel. We are always a podcast. Download it,
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: tell your friends, tell your neighbors. Take it with you
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: for Eric at home. My name is Andrew Siciliato. Enjoy
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Week five Everybody.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 25:01
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• 25:05
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