Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #13: Can Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl?

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#13: Can Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl? · 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: Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
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  Speaker 2: If you want complete analysis of all the teams, all
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  Speaker 2: you have to do is check out Eric's article on
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  Speaker 2: NFL dot com. Eric, it's wild to me. I had
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  Speaker 2: a couple teams before the season started that I thought
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  Speaker 2: could win a Super Bowl, and yet sometimes I'm wrong.
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  Speaker 2: Actually usually I'm wrong. But I cannot wait to hear
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  Speaker 2: where you think some of those teams actually deserve to
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  Speaker 2: be in your latest edition of the Power Rankings.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely right. I had the forty nine ers near the
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  Speaker 3: very top the start of the season. I was a
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  Speaker 3: big Bengals believer. Believe I had them in the top ten.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we can go down the list, Cowboys. You know,
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  Speaker 3: there are other teams that certainly fit that bill, and
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  Speaker 3: we've kind of pushed them to the side. Mike, I'm
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  Speaker 3: sorry they're not in that upper half right now. They're
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  Speaker 3: kind of out of the picture and looking in.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are. But we still have some premier teams
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  Speaker 2: that have absolutely balled this season, and not necessarily a
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  Speaker 2: ton of change at the top of the rankings. As
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  Speaker 2: we go through some of your squads. Here in fact,
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  Speaker 2: with the top four teams, with the Lions, the Bills,
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles, and the Kansas City Chiefs in that order
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  Speaker 2: sit one through four. By the way, from a Lion's perspective,
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  Speaker 2: eleven and one. That is the best start in franchise history.
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  Speaker 2: The Vikings maybe not getting nearly enough love. I'm gonna
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  Speaker 2: make sure we talk about them. The Packers sit at
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  Speaker 2: number six. Cannot wait to see them on Thursday Night
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  Speaker 2: Football against the Lions squad at seven, it's the Steelers
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  Speaker 2: rust with over four hundred passing yards he was cooking
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  Speaker 2: in week number thirteen. And the Ravens at eight. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we have a real kicking problem. Time for the team
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  Speaker 2: of the week. Instead of one singular team, I'm gonna
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  Speaker 2: ask you about the group of the top four, Eric,
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  Speaker 2: These are really talented teams, and yet as I was
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  Speaker 2: watching some of these games unfold, I started to hedge
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  Speaker 2: over the weekend and say, is this the right order?
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  Speaker 2: So I'm gonna frame it this way to you. Of
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  Speaker 2: the top four teams, who do you think is best
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  Speaker 2: situated to make a deep run and more importantly, win
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  Speaker 2: a Super Bowl?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? It may not reflect how I have him right now.
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  Speaker 3: I mean I always say it's what the team is
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  Speaker 3: at this very moment, right and we can obviously have
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  Speaker 3: a big effect on the rankings. Didn't this week, But yeah,
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  Speaker 3: if you just take those top four, I can obviously
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  Speaker 3: make a case for the Kansas City Chiefs. We know
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  Speaker 3: their recent track record. They're going for their third straight
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  Speaker 3: Super Bowl. I can clearly make a case for the Lions.
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  Speaker 3: They've been the best team arguably weeks one through now
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  Speaker 3: in the NFL this season. Certainly could make a case
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  Speaker 3: for the Bills the way they're playing, killing the Niners.
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  Speaker 3: But I'm gonna go with the Eagles just because I
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  Speaker 3: think that win over the Ravens did kind of tell
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  Speaker 3: us a lot about them as a team. They played
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  Speaker 3: phenomenal ball since the buy. They march into Baltimore come
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  Speaker 3: out with a win after falling behind by two scorers.
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  Speaker 3: It really was a statement victory in a lot of ways.
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  Speaker 3: Up by two scores late before the cosmetic touchdown, but
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  Speaker 3: they could beat you in so many ways. The long ball,
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  Speaker 3: the power run game, the finesse run game, the screen game. Defensively,
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  Speaker 3: they've gotten so good the secondary Zach Bonnett, linebacker Jalen
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  Speaker 3: Carter wrecking people on defense. It's really a full team
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  Speaker 3: effort right now, and it's been impressive to watch after
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  Speaker 3: you know, frankly a disappointing season, even one that started
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  Speaker 3: ten to one a year ago. So I'm buying on
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles even if they are number three in my
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  Speaker 3: power rankings right now.
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  Speaker 2: I also think you made a really good point in
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  Speaker 2: your article about all of these teams on NFL dot Com.
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  Speaker 2: The Eagles an easier schedule than the Lions the rest
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  Speaker 2: of the way, so I think there's a reasonable conversation
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  Speaker 2: about home field advantage what's going to end up being
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  Speaker 2: more important. I'm glad I'm not alone here because I've
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  Speaker 2: been loving up this Lions team all season long. But
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  Speaker 2: after the win that the Eagles had against the Ravens,
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  Speaker 2: game is done, and I sort of lean back on
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  Speaker 2: the couch for a second. I was like, are they
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  Speaker 2: better than Detroit? Because that was a really impressive win.
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  Speaker 2: Although once again I can story every single one of
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  Speaker 2: these losses for the Ravens, it's still a little bit
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  Speaker 2: of a head scratcher. We'll talk about Baltimore in just
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  Speaker 2: a second, but I want to move on to number five,
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  Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings. In any other year we're talking about
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  Speaker 2: them as one of the premier teams. Got double digit
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  Speaker 2: wins already. I started the show asking you about perception.
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  Speaker 2: Is our perception of Sam Darnold the reason why this
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  Speaker 2: team does not get more love nationally?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? I think there's absolutely something too that the Darnald factor. Right,
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  Speaker 3: you look at the teams above them on the list,
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  Speaker 3: they have more established quarterbacks or more established systems perhaps,
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  Speaker 3: And you know, there has been a little bit of
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  Speaker 3: volatility for a ten to two team. You know, they've
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  Speaker 3: had some ups and downs, they've blown some big leads,
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  Speaker 3: they've had a fight off some lesser teams. But you're right.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, a couple of years ago they
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  Speaker 3: won a lot of football games, and I think everything
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  Speaker 3: was undone because they lost that wildcard game to the Giants.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, we shouldn't forget the fact that they
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  Speaker 3: were a competitive team with all the quarterback injuries last year.
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  Speaker 3: And Donald has been pretty darned steady all things considered,
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  Speaker 3: as he'd been amazing. I don't know, but really from
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  Speaker 3: overtime against Chicago, I think until now, you know, he's
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  Speaker 3: played some pretty good ball and has the Lions in
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  Speaker 3: a great spot. Excuse me, the Vikings in a great
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  Speaker 3: spot heading into that big game against the Lions on Thursday.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think everyone makes a big deal about
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  Speaker 2: the quarterback, and rightfully so. You'd want one of the
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  Speaker 2: more talented guys than not have one the most talented guys.
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  Speaker 2: Say what you want about Sam Darnold, who once again
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  Speaker 2: is just delivering this season. Joe Burrow is top five
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  Speaker 2: quarterback in the NFL and he's having, at least numbers wise,
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  Speaker 2: an MVP type season. Doesn't matter. They can't win some
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  Speaker 2: football games. This is a really good football team. Emphasis
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  Speaker 2: on the team part from a Vikings perspective, the Steelers
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  Speaker 2: checking in at number seven, I gotta tell you if
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  Speaker 2: they if the offense looks like you did this last
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  Speaker 2: time out, they are one of the scariest teams in
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  Speaker 2: the AFC. I just don't know how reliable that is,
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  Speaker 2: considering some of the hiccups leading into this pass game
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  Speaker 2: that they had had offensively.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you should start the game tape immediately
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  Speaker 3: after the pick six, which really wasn't what Russell Wilson's fault.
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  Speaker 3: It may not have been pickings fault. There may have
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  Speaker 3: been a call there that went uncalled, but absolutely did
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  Speaker 3: Wilson look good on Sunday. I mean, this is the Bengals.
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  Speaker 3: They've had a lot of bad defensive performances. You can't
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  Speaker 3: overlook that. But you know, the long ball was there.
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  Speaker 3: The few opportunities he had, he took him and he
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  Speaker 3: hit him short and intermediate stuff. He was just carving
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  Speaker 3: up those Cincinnati zones all day long. And when it
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  Speaker 3: took time to, you know, move around a little bit
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  Speaker 3: and find guys like friar Me down the middle, he did.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, Russell Wilson has taken this job and run
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  Speaker 3: with it. I know the play has been a little
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  Speaker 3: bit up and down leading into this game, but I
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  Speaker 3: don't think there are very many questions about whether Mike
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  Speaker 3: Tomlin made the right decision. And they could still bring
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  Speaker 3: in justin Fields for a game ceiling scramble there at
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  Speaker 3: the end, and he's got his role. Wilson's got a
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  Speaker 3: bigger one right now.
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  Speaker 2: By the way, when Tomlin went to fields there, what
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  Speaker 2: was your going through your mind? Because personally, I was like,
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  Speaker 2: don't do this, don't do this. Then obviously right once
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  Speaker 2: again about the quarterback situation. Tomlin knows his guys.
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  Speaker 3: He knows his guys, he knows the situation. He's bypassed
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  Speaker 3: some of those opportunities in the past, but he took
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  Speaker 3: it late in the game and it paid off with
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  Speaker 3: a seven yard run. And yeah, I mean this is
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  Speaker 3: the kind of Steelers team that can make some noise
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  Speaker 3: in the playoffs. All right.
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  Speaker 2: Number eight, The team that I think has got the
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  Speaker 2: best roster in the NFL, and that is the Baltimore Ravens.
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  Speaker 2: There is now officially, if you didn't think there was before,
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  Speaker 2: you have to now there is a kicking problem with
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  Speaker 2: arguably the greatest kicker in the history of the game,
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  Speaker 2: who's probably you know, a Hall of Famer one. It's
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  Speaker 2: all said and done. What am I supposed to do
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  Speaker 2: if I'm a Ravens fan with the Justin Tucker situation?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, eight miss field goals, two missed extra points on
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  Speaker 3: the season, you know, cost him in the in the
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  Speaker 3: Steelers game, cost him on Sunday as well. And you know, look,
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  Speaker 3: it was a close game. They could have made it
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  Speaker 3: a ten to nothing score. Misses that one missed two
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  Speaker 3: x two other kicks throughout the course of the game,
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  Speaker 3: had a chance to take the lead both times, couldn't
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  Speaker 3: do it. It really was frustrating. And look, this is
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  Speaker 3: a player who's obviously had, you know, built a reputation
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  Speaker 3: as one of the greatest kickers of all time, arguably
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  Speaker 3: the goat as far as kickers go. But this season
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  Speaker 3: has not gone according to plan. Now, most of the
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  Speaker 3: misses have been longer once right, they've been fifty and above.
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  Speaker 3: But we've seen the last three games he's missed some
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  Speaker 3: sub fifty yard kicks, and boy, this is the Ravens
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  Speaker 3: team that that hasn't been as proficient in the red
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  Speaker 3: zone every single week. So you know, this is the
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  Speaker 3: kind of opportunities that they have to cash in on
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  Speaker 3: if they want to be a serious Super Bowl contender.
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  Speaker 3: At this point, what do they do? I mean, they're
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  Speaker 3: sticking with them for now, but it's a tough tough call.
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  Speaker 2: Do you bring someone in to compete?
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  Speaker 3: I think I would at least have somebody at the
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  Speaker 3: ready on the practice squad, ready to go, maybe take
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  Speaker 3: you know, some of the kickoff duties away from things
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  Speaker 3: like that. But you know, John Harbon knows his team,
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  Speaker 3: knows his guy. There's also the chance that Tucker could
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  Speaker 3: work himself out of this slump, after all, you know,
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  Speaker 3: his his credentials. If there's a mechanical issue, a health issue,
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  Speaker 3: maybe they can figure it out. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I just don't know what the next move is because
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  Speaker 2: if it's a confidence thing and then you bring in
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  Speaker 2: a kicker to compete, I don't know if that sinks
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  Speaker 2: the point one way or another. Right, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: Justin Tucker like that. I mean, Harbond knows the strings
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  Speaker 2: to pull, but from a play calling perspective, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it just it's got to change in absolutely in some
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  Speaker 2: of these games. By the way, crazy stat here five
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  Speaker 2: losses obviously for the Raisin Raven a combined point total
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  Speaker 2: in those games of twenty two. The miskicks in those
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  Speaker 2: games from Justin Tucker, those were worth twenty two points.
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  Speaker 2: All right. More to come here on power rankings. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: we were worried that the season was spiraling out of
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  Speaker 2: control for the Houston Texans. What does a win do
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  Speaker 2: for the perception of this team? The Dancers coming up next?
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  Speaker 2: Back here on power rankings, Squads nine through sixteen, The
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  Speaker 2: Charge are still a top ten team. One hundred and
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  Speaker 2: eighty seven total yards in a win against the Falcons,
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  Speaker 2: who we will talk about in just a moment. The
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  Speaker 2: Broncos victorious on Monday Night Football. At eleven, it's the Commanders.
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  Speaker 2: Nice to see Jayden Daniels get back into the win column.
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  Speaker 2: Same for the Texans, who are at twelve. At thirteen,
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  Speaker 2: a crazy overtime win for the Bucks against Carolina, who
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  Speaker 2: deserve some flowers. I know there's some losses for this
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  Speaker 2: Panther squad, but they're playing well. At fourteen, the Seahawks.
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  Speaker 2: Leonard Williams the big Man touchdown that was the difference
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  Speaker 2: in the game against his former squad, the Jets. At fifteen,
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  Speaker 2: it's the Cardinals. Two straight losses after a four game
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  Speaker 2: winning streak. That NFC West little dice you right now.
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  Speaker 2: Because the Rams sit at number sixteen. Their offense came
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  Speaker 2: alive against the Saints in the second half. All right,
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  Speaker 2: number ten, I want to focus and get your take
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  Speaker 2: on the Broncos. Bonex hadn't been turning the ball over
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  Speaker 2: Sue picks in this game. I don't know if they
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  Speaker 2: were necessarily his fall. There were some explosives in this game,
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  Speaker 2: but are you concerned about the defense that had been
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  Speaker 2: balling out and all of a sudden had some issues
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  Speaker 2: against Famous Jamis.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, they came up with the big plays, right obviously,
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  Speaker 3: the two pick sixes and the game sort of ceiling interception.
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  Speaker 3: Nick Benito was great. He had a sack, a lot
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  Speaker 3: of pressures and one of those pick sixes. But yeah,
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  Speaker 3: the coverage, I mean, the secondary bus were at times glaring.
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  Speaker 3: I will say that Jamis did make some great throws.
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  Speaker 3: This was not one of them. Obviously he got baited
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  Speaker 3: into both interceptions maybe, but yeah, I mean, look, that's
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  Speaker 3: something you got to look for. And Jerry Jude going
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  Speaker 3: into his old house and tearing him up the way
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  Speaker 3: he did concern me. But you know, I will say too,
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  Speaker 3: I mean bow Knicks made some poor decisions in this game.
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  Speaker 3: I liked when he was playing within the confines of
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  Speaker 3: Sean Payton's offense a little bit more, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: taking those opportunities when they come like this pass right here.
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  Speaker 3: But there was some risk involved too, so bo Nick's
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  Speaker 3: got a little a little greedy at times, I thought.
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  Speaker 3: On Monday night.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, by the way, Jerry Judy who you name dropped
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  Speaker 2: two hundred and thirty five receiving yards, the most ever
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  Speaker 2: in a revenge game by a wide receiver Beatto when
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  Speaker 2: he matched up against the Niners. I think it was
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  Speaker 2: two hundred and thirteen receiving yards. Point is Judy put
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  Speaker 2: on an absolute show at eleven. It is the Commander's
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  Speaker 2: get back in the win column. Here are they a
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  Speaker 2: dangerous team in the NFC?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you've been waiting for this kind of offensive breakout really,
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: you know, since before the Hail Mary game. But it
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  Speaker 3: was great to see their run games start. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: Brian Robinson, I think is such an important part of
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  Speaker 3: what they do. You know, he was streaking into the
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  Speaker 3: open several times. That helped out Daniels quite a bit.
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  Speaker 3: It helped out Terry McLaurin. I mean, getting the ball
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  Speaker 3: to Robinson and Terry McLaurin early in games is never
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  Speaker 3: a bad thing in my opinion. The Commanders finally did that.
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  Speaker 3: And look, you can say, Okay, it's just the Titans,
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  Speaker 3: but Titans have been playing fairly competitive lately, and this
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  Speaker 3: is a good defense. Statistically, they still remain in the
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  Speaker 3: top ten even after giving up two hundred whatever yards
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  Speaker 3: on the ground, So this is a good defense that
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  Speaker 3: the Commanders had really a bounce back game against and
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  Speaker 3: that's always good to see, even if the wins haven't
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  Speaker 3: been there for Tennessee. So I think they're dangerous. They're back,
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  Speaker 3: but you know, they still have some questions to answer.
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  Speaker 2: Twenty three rushing touchdowns for the Commanders this season, second
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: in the NFL only behind Jalen Hurt, Saquon Barkley and
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: the Philadelphia Eagles. At thirteen, it's the Buccaneers. What an
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: exciting game down the stretch against Carolina. But I'm going
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: to take this thing big picture here, because they pull
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: even with the Falcons inside that division. Atlanta's still in
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  Speaker 2: head because of the head to head that they have
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  Speaker 2: with that squad, but because of some of the disarray
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: that we've seen, and I know the Bucks haven't been
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: playing great, but they battled some injuries. Generally speaking, is
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  Speaker 2: the trending up for them to win the division?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean they've obviously been so competitive in a
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  Speaker 3: lot of these games. The two head to head losses
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  Speaker 3: against Atlanta really really sting right now because that momentum
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: would be even stronger. But getting Mike Evans back into
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  Speaker 3: the offense was a huge development. You know, even if
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Baker wasn't great on Sunday, he had somebody could rely
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  Speaker 3: on and they may have a breakout star here at
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  Speaker 3: Bucky Irving who took I want to say, had thirteen
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  Speaker 3: touches in fourth quarter and overtime. You know, this is
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: a guy who was averaging maybe thirteen a game for
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: a big stretch of the season. Kind of took over
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: that lead role for Rashad White. And give Mayfield credit.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: Even on a night when he didn't have his best stuff,
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  Speaker 3: he's still making things happen, living around, scrambling for first downs,
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  Speaker 3: enough plays from the defense just enough, and then Baker
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  Speaker 3: doing his thing along with the run game that it's
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  Speaker 3: a close win, but a much need to win for Tampa.
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  Speaker 2: Not for nothing. Man. You know, Baker Mayfield, He's slowly
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  Speaker 2: become one of my favorite guys in the league to
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: go and watch. There's this moxie, this intensity confidence. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they go down late in regular and there's like thirty
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  Speaker 2: seconds I think they had at least one time out
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  Speaker 2: in hand. I'm like, they're gonna get in a field
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  Speaker 2: goal territory. Baker's gonna will it to happen, and he did,
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  Speaker 2: and they go on to win in overtime. Taking a
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: look at the odds in the NFC West. This thing
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  Speaker 2: not exactly how we drew it up before the season.
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  Speaker 2: The Seahawks still the leaders of the pack. Arizona fouled
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  Speaker 2: following them. Then it's the Rams in that third position
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  Speaker 2: in the San Francisco forty nine ers, who will discuss
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: a little bit later the worst odds right now to
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  Speaker 2: go and win this division. Let's look at team number
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  Speaker 2: four team. It is the Seahawks. What do I make
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  Speaker 2: of this team? I week to week here, I'm always
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  Speaker 2: a little confused about the squad.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and let's hope they don't have as adventurous a
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  Speaker 3: special team's day next week. Is they did Sunday against
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  Speaker 3: the Jets, against a better team, Maybe they can't come
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  Speaker 3: back from their self inflicted mistakes, the fumbles, the muffs,
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  Speaker 3: allowing a ninety nine yard touchdown, having an extra point blocked. Yes,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: they made a couple of field goals too, and made
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: life tough for Aaron Rodgers. There put some pressure on
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: him a little bit. But you know, I do give
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: him credit for crawling back from a deficit like that.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: But I just don't know, man, there's something about this
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: team that's kind of holding me back. Just a little bit.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Even with that golden opportunity in the NFC West.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: You know what it is in first place, but we've
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: seen some losses from them and some inconsistent inconsistency from
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Genosmith with some big turnovers. So it scares you a
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: little bit. Charbonay though, if he runs like he did
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: against the Jets, and by the way, even being down
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: against Gangreen early in that game had me a little
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: bit worried about what this team really could be. But
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: if Sharbonay continues to run like this, he's an absolute force. Meanwhile,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: some big name teams before the year that had Super
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Bowl aspirations might be long gone. Is Eric willing to
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: end their postseason dreams today? Find out next Mike Cam
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: and Eric at Home with you back here on NFL
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: Power Rankings, Eric's teams seventeen through twenty four of the
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: Colts a big drive to get a win, sitting in
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: the seventeenth position at eighteen. Thanksgiving not kind to the
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Miami Dolphins at nineteen, zero touchdowns, six interceptions in the
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: last three games for Kirk Cousins. That team is a reeling.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: So are the San Francisco forty nine ers at twenty
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: at twenty one, it's the Cowboys first home win in
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: this season. Get it done against a divisional opponent in
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: the Giants on Thanksgiving. At twenty two, the Bengals tough
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: loss to Pittsburgh twenty three, Who is the Bears next
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: football coach? That might be the biggest question right now.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: And at twenty four, Saints couldn't close the Los Angeles Rams.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Time for power moves up three spots. It is the
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts. I want to get your thoughts on this team,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Eric should I, I don't know, give him some love
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: right now, like a team that's playing with a little
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: bit of confidence. Anthony Richardson, it feels like there's some
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: swag late in these games.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean I will say, did they get a
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: little bit of a bump from the teams ahead of
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: them last week? All losing? And yes, absolutely, that's one
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: way to power up. But when you've seen Anthony Richardson
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: kind of take a step forward and play the way
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: he has, especially laight in games, you know, with the
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: game on the line, when he threw that interception with
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: about five minutes to go down a touchdown, I thought, boy,
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: this isn't looking good. They're going to lose at foxbro.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: He willed them back. They stopped him on defense a
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: couple times. That was impressive, but really it was Richardson.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: His legs were a big part of the story on Sunday. Look,
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: he's flawed, he's still a fifty percent passer, but this
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: is a tough guy to defend. You know when he
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: makes the throws, he's a tough guy to tackle, tough
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: guy to bring down the backfield, and you know he
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: can power through some of those those attempts too, and
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: get off unusual looking passes like that little lob to
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Taylor for the touchdown and back of the end zone
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: there to Alec Pearce. He's done a lot of interesting
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: things this year. Even if the development is still needed,
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: I'm taking my chances on him. I think he's got
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: an opportunity to kind of wiel the Colts into the
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: back end of the playoffs.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves,
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: but the Week fifteen match up against Denver, all of
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: a sudden, it has got my attention because of the
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: play of the Cold who once again move up three
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: spots in your power rankings at nineteen. It's the Falcons.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Should we be talking about Michael Pennix.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: I think you almost have to at this point. It
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: would have been crazy. Obviously, think back to the draft
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: and we said, what are they doing drafting Pennix? He's
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: not going to play this year? Well, hold that thought
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: just a minute. Obviously, we haven't seen a whole lot
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: of Pennix came in laid against Denver, had some throws.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: We saw a ton of them in the preseason. There's
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: obviously hype about him. His former Zc's in the NFL,
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: so you could see how this would translate. He's got
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: the skills, the arm, talent, everything there is, and the
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: way Cousins is playing. Obviously Sunday wasn't just the first
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: bad game. Four interceptions, but he hasn't thrown a touchdown
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: in four games. Now. The turnovers are piling up. Some
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: of those passes are looking like frisbees out there, and
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: that's how you give up the game on Sunday. Essentially,
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: that one right there was the one that kind of
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: caught my eye a little bit too much of a
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: floater out there, and teams are just saying we're going
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: to jump those routes. I would rather have the chance
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: of getting beat deep because I know I can make
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: a play on those balls. Yeah, this is really a
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: problem for Atlanta. They were six and three, they were
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: loaded with this division. They were all setting ready to
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: go coast down the stretch to a playoff spot. Not
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: like that anymore. Man Tampa is breathing down their necks
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: and they've got to figure out what to do with
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: the quarterback position.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because if you're watching this show right
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: now as opposed to listening to it, I guess the
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: point still remains. Some of these throws, I mean, they're
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: like just wobbling it. Just I don't It makes me
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: think almost something's wrong with Kirk in terms of a
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: health situation. Meanwhile, two teams that I think we're on
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: the short list to win a Super Bowl this year,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: I want to know if you're going to sink both
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: of them. I'm going to start at number twenty here
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: with the San Francisco forty nine ers. No Christian McCaffrey,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: No Jordan Mason. Both those guys, well, McCaffrey obviously the
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: PCL injury, and Jordan Mason just got put on IR.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: The season continues to tailspin in the wrong direction. Are
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: they out of the postseason? In your mind?
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: They're nominally in it, right I think they have something
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: like a three to four percent chance. It would take
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: an inside straight. They're in the one division that's kind
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: of forgiving, if you will. The NFC West is so
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: tight right now. Everybody's kind of logged together. But Hurd,
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: he's hurt obviously. You know Ayyuk's out for the season.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Kittle's been playing banged up. You mentioned the running back injuries.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: It extends throughout the roster. It's feeling more and more
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: in my mind, like the twenty twenty season, which has
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: been the one outlier year under Kyle Shanahan. Normally so
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: good in November and December, you know, able to go
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: in and battle teams like the Bills head to head
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: and even win occasionally. That's not the case for this team.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: You can see McCaffrey wasn't right. He left the game.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: He's probably done for the year, and with it go
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: the hopes of the forty nine ers, who I think
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: will be a title contender next year depending on what
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: happens with the roster. But this was a missed opportunity
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: I believe this season because of all the bad luck
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: that piled up.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really has. Bad luck is probably the best
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: way to describe it. With all of these injuries around
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: this squad. It's funny. A couple weeks ago on the show,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: I said to Eric, I'm done loving up Cincinnati. They're done.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: And then we did game day preview on Sunday mornings
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: on the NFL channel, and I thought they were going
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: to win, that they're going to win convincingly against the Steelers.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: That did not happen. But there's not a lot of
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: games left here Bengals. Are they done? In your mind?
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: I think they're done. You know, Joe Burrow, they asked them.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: He gave kind of a Jym mora like playoffs, Are
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: you kidding me? That's the last thing on my mind
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: right now. Burrow's been okay. I didn't say his play
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: is leveled off, but I feel like he's got this
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: burden on him to play as spectacularly as he possibly
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: can every single week. He even kind of talked about
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: it after the game because of what the defense is allowing. Now,
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: there are issues offensively they have to figure out, but
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: they're far less concerning about what's happened to lou Anaumo's unit.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: We saw this trend in the wrong direction last season.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: It is most certainly there now. They've had a handful
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: of decent performances on defense, but the vast majority have
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: been bad, regrettable, and it questions whether this team can
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: make a super Bowl in Burrow's time in Cincinnati.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: Which is just wild to think because we always talk
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: about needing the quarterback to get it done. They have
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: the quarterback, They got this offensive firepower. Yeah, got to
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: be such a concerted effort to get better defensively in
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: this year's draft and over the next couple of years,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: even in free agency, just to try to make this
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: thing competitive. Just a couple of years removed from a
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: super Bowl. It is just wild to think. Meanwhile, teams
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: twenty five through thirty two. Here the Browns jamis is fun,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: but not able to get it done. They sit at
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: number twenty five. Bryce Young the guy the rest of
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: the season. He's at twenty six in this Panther squad.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: The Jets at twenty seven, the Titans twenty eight, The
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Patriots are twenty nine, the Raiders checking in at thirty.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: At thirty one, it is the New York Giants and
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: good news from a Jaguars perspective, Trevor Lawrence saying that
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: he's home after that vicious hit that he suffered, that
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: he's home and he is feeling better. Eric, Before we
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: get wrap up here, I got to tell you there's
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: something that's been bothering me for basically the thirty minutes
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: that we've been doing.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: The show.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Started off the program talking about perception. I just want
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: to get your take on this. I mentioned Minnesota, Sam Donald.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: Are we not giving them enough love? Because the Sam
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Donald factor? People just don't believe it. Doesn't this remind you, though,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: of a couple of years ago when the Detroit Lions
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: they had Jared Goff. People are like, oh, ok, Jared,
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: can he really get it done? Doesn't it have? Like
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: we don't question if the Lions can go and win
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: a Super Bowl? Should we be having the same conversation
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: about Minnesota.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, look, it's a fair question, right. I think
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: even brock perty faced this at one point. Certainly other
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: guys have. But once you kind of graduate to that,
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: most of the times, unless you get to that latter
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: stage of your career, like Aaron Rodgers, will start failing.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: But yeah, there is a negative perception against him that
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: I think we have to sort of wean off of.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: And you know it applies to multiple quarterbacks around this league.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: O Okay, the best man, Love working with you.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: You're the second best.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: I'll take that in most people's eyes as well. Appreciate
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: everyone watching.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 23:53
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• 23:57
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