Latest / NFL Power Rankings / Week 7: Rams, Seahawks plummet; Texans, Saints, Cardinals biggest risers

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Week 7: Rams, Seahawks plummet; Texans, Saints, Cardinals biggest risers · 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: And welcome to a brand new edition of Power Rankings.
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  Speaker 3: We are presented by Energizer.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Yam, Nick Shook, you are the man who is a,
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  Speaker 2: I always say this about you, a glutton for punishment.
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  Speaker 2: Your task to do the rankings, not easy. Quarterback index,
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  Speaker 2: not easy. And I feel like your DMs and mentions
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  Speaker 2: are Nothing but love for all of your selections.
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  Speaker 4: The good thing about doing these rankings for so many years, though,
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  Speaker 4: is you develop very thick, tough skin. Nothing really bothers
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  Speaker 4: you when people come after you anymore.
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  Speaker 2: Just want to let you guys know, Nick was crying
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  Speaker 2: on his way into.
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  Speaker 3: The studio today. Let's take a closer look at his rankings.
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  Speaker 2: His top teams in the NFL. But checking out the show, man,
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  Speaker 2: you have been a steady force and a believer in
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  Speaker 2: the San Francisco 49ers who sit in the number one spot.
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  Speaker 3: Not changed. Kansas City following them.
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  Speaker 2: How about this Bills squad? Moving up three spots. Fortunate
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  Speaker 2: to get a win in Vegas, but nice little road
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  Speaker 2: trip for that squad. The Vikings, one of three undefeated
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  Speaker 2: teams in the NFL at 5-0. The Jags, 1-1 in London.
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  Speaker 2: You got Cincinnati moving up three spots to six.
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  Speaker 3: The Patriots at seven.
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  Speaker 2: And the Baltimore Ravens falling four spots to eight. Break
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  Speaker 2: this down for me. You're watching a Monday night football game.
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  Speaker 2: You're seeing the Niners win. But an offense that cooled,
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  Speaker 2: any hesitation in your mind dropping the Niners from that
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  Speaker 2: top spot?
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  Speaker 4: Slightly, but I thought, you know, as a discussion we
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  Speaker 4: were having before the show started, that these are also
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  Speaker 4: football players. These are also professional players on the other side.
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  Speaker 4: And it's also Kyle Shanahan, a coach who, while he's
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  Speaker 4: so great at so many things, also has a reputation
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  Speaker 4: for allowing games that are in hand to suddenly get
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  Speaker 4: out of hand and get a lot more stressful and
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  Speaker 4: anxiety-inducing for the 49ers. Luckily, they finished the job the
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  Speaker 4: way the professional outfits do, which is slamming the door
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  Speaker 4: defensively with a defensive front that lacks star power but
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  Speaker 4: is getting production from lesser-known names. They were able to
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  Speaker 4: get after Jaden Daniels and finish this game off. You
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  Speaker 4: would have liked to see them run away with it
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  Speaker 4: because they were certainly the more dominant team in the
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  Speaker 4: first half, but they didn't let it get away from
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  Speaker 4: them entirely to where they lost the game, and that's
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  Speaker 4: usually the mark of a winning team.
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  Speaker 2: Final play of the game, they rush three, and they
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  Speaker 2: still find a way to get to Jaden Davis.
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  Speaker 4: Which is crazy because it breaks my rule. My rule
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  Speaker 4: is never rush three, and they got the job done.
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  Speaker 2: Kind of a remarkable way to win a game when
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  Speaker 2: you consider some of the slower moments. But a complete
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  Speaker 2: football team, which is why you have them at number one,
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  Speaker 2: Kansas City. All right, I asked you, would you potentially
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  Speaker 2: drop them? Kansas City all of a sudden is looking
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  Speaker 2: like maybe the most complete team in the NFL.
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  Speaker 4: And a lot of it begins with Kenneth Walker, the
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  Speaker 4: same guy we've been talking about every week.
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  Speaker 3: Week one.
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  Speaker 5: He is the balance to their offense. He is the
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  Speaker 5: engine to their offense. He is the guy that.
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  Speaker 4: Actually takes away attention from their superstar quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.
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  Speaker 4: And because of that, they are, you're right, one of
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  Speaker 4: the most complete teams in football. I still wonder a
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  Speaker 4: little bit about their defense and what their weaknesses might
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  Speaker 4: be over the long haul. But right now, yeah, this
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  Speaker 4: is a game that 22-6 is extremely misleading. They dominated
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  Speaker 4: this game. You've got to give the Chargers some credit
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  Speaker 4: for playing some quality defense. They were competitive in this regard,
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  Speaker 4: and they limited the Chiefs' ability to score points, but
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  Speaker 4: this was a cruise control victory for the Chiefs who
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  Speaker 4: just continue to win and continue to overcome slight adversity,
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  Speaker 4: losing receivers.
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  Speaker 5: It does not matter. They are a machine right now,
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  Speaker 5: and they look like one of the best teams in football.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit of a glimpse ahead of the matchup
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  Speaker 2: against Seattle, who, by the way, Seahawks free-falling in your rankings.
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  Speaker 3: We'll get to them in a minute.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that it'll be a good test, I think,
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  Speaker 4: for them. This is one of those games that if
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  Speaker 4: you look at the Chiefs' schedule so far, You see
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  Speaker 4: wins over Denver. We know that was a very dominant game.
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  Speaker 4: But then they end up playing Indianapolis and Miami, two
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  Speaker 4: of probably the worst teams in football at this point,
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  Speaker 4: which is a tease for.
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  Speaker 5: Later, I guess, as well.
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  Speaker 4: Although that's no surprise to anybody. And then the Raiders
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  Speaker 4: and the Chargers. So the tests still await them. Seattle,
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  Speaker 4: Denver again. It's not the hardest schedule, though, so it
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  Speaker 4: could work out for them.
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  Speaker 2: All right, in the number three spot, you got the
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  Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills here. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I'm a
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  Speaker 2: little torn on this team. There's moments, and look, you
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  Speaker 2: go West Coast, you get wins, and it's the Rams,
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  Speaker 2: and it's Vegas.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't matter, right? Like, cross-country trip, you just want
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  Speaker 3: to get the Ws. They did that.
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  Speaker 2: There are these moments where I go, the margins are
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  Speaker 2: so darn thin with this team that we are literally
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  Speaker 2: almost feeling like every single week, one or two plays
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  Speaker 2: here and there. This could be a completely opposite record.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, what it does is it makes for
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  Speaker 4: a very entertaining brand of football, but it's a hair-raising
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  Speaker 4: brand of football sometimes. I mean, look at their last
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  Speaker 4: few games. They beat the Rams by three. They beat
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  Speaker 4: the Raiders by three. They lose by three to the Patriots.
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  Speaker 4: They end up beating the Chargers by eight. None of
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  Speaker 4: these games have been runaway victories. It points to their defense,
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  Speaker 4: which we know is not as strong as you would
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  Speaker 4: like them to be, but it's an offense that papers
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  Speaker 4: over a lot of those issues, and Josh Allen, of course,
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  Speaker 4: being the focal point of it. The big question for
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  Speaker 4: them with me is how much are you going to
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  Speaker 4: rely on James Cook because he is one of the
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  Speaker 4: best running backs in the NFL and their ground game
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  Speaker 4: is fantastic, but he does have a ball security issue
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  Speaker 4: as we've seen so far.
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  Speaker 5: So can they overcome that? They did lose DJ Moore.
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  Speaker 4: Recently, and yet they've been able to still find ways
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  Speaker 4: to make it work through the year. The best part
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  Speaker 4: about this team is that Josh Allen, as we know,
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  Speaker 4: one of the best players in football, has found different
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  Speaker 4: ways to win these games. Two weeks ago he didn't
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  Speaker 4: have to throw the football that much, but he ran
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  Speaker 4: for a ton of yards.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and then we get a little push pass from
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  Speaker 2: him as well, a la Patrick Mahomes.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, him and Mahomes.
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  Speaker 4: They're the only two guys that can get away with
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  Speaker 4: it and not have everybody go, no, what are you doing?
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  Speaker 5: Because it works more often than not.
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  Speaker 2: We were doing the highlights on Game Day Preview on Monday,
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  Speaker 2: and I made reference to it, and I was like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: only Josh Allen. Actually, it's him and Patrick Mahomes, the
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  Speaker 2: only two guys in the NFL that can pull off
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  Speaker 2: that magic trick. At number four, I was actually excited
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  Speaker 2: to talk to you about this Minnesota squad because it
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  Speaker 2: feels like they move up three spots. You're starting to
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  Speaker 2: believe in an undefeated team that has found multiple ways
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  Speaker 2: to win. Little snake bitten in terms of the injury bug.
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  Speaker 2: I think this team deserves a lot of credit. I'm
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  Speaker 2: glad you have them in the top five.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, and sometimes with these rankings from week
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  Speaker 4: to week, you'll see teams move up as a product
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  Speaker 4: of other teams just falling down the board. Minnesota is
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  Speaker 4: one of those teams, given that they were on a
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  Speaker 4: bye this week. So how much can you learn about
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  Speaker 4: a team that didn't play? Well, what I do know
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  Speaker 4: about them is that their defense is elite, and it's
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  Speaker 4: on track to be one of those defenses we remember
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  Speaker 4: decades from now. We think about the 2000 Ravens, the
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  Speaker 4: 2002 Buccaneers. You just throw those teams out there, some
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  Speaker 4: of the great defenses, the 85 Bears.
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  Speaker 5: The Vikings are kind of on track to be one
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  Speaker 5: of those groups.
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  Speaker 4: That tells me that they can go very far, but
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  Speaker 4: they are an offense– It also still lacks a bit
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  Speaker 4: of punch. The good thing with them is that they
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  Speaker 4: beat the Saints the week prior and showed some, for
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  Speaker 4: the first time, momentum offensively. Kyler Murray looked a little
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  Speaker 4: more comfortable in this offense, especially in the second.
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  Speaker 5: Half of that game.
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  Speaker 4: If they can sustain that out of the bye, then
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  Speaker 4: they're going to continue to stay up here. But this week,
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  Speaker 4: their move up is because of some teams falling ahead
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  Speaker 4: of them.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, I think we get a real understanding of this squad.
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  Speaker 2: I know they got Indianapolis. Obviously, that organization has made changes.
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  Speaker 2: They lose to the Tennessee Titans.
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  Speaker 3: Chris Ballard, their general manager, gets fired.
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  Speaker 5: But after that.
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  Speaker 2: at Detroit, Buffalo, at Green Bay, at San Francisco, at
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  Speaker 2: Atlanta team. I think the jury's still out, even at
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  Speaker 2: this point of the season, Carolina, and then at New England.
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  Speaker 2: This is kind of a brutal stretch where it is
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  Speaker 2: make or break for this team.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's a couple of teams that have some
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  Speaker 4: really explosive offenses. We're going to get a really good
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  Speaker 4: test of this defense, and if we get into one
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  Speaker 4: of those situations in which they do actually allow some
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  Speaker 4: points on the board, which they haven't so far, it's
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  Speaker 4: going to be a really good examination of just how
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  Speaker 4: good they can be against some of the league's best,
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  Speaker 4: at least as we see it right now. So, There's
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  Speaker 4: an opportunity for them to fall, which is obviously not
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  Speaker 4: a positive opportunity, but it will teach us a lot
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  Speaker 4: about who they are at a pivotal point as we
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  Speaker 4: approach the double-digit.
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  Speaker 5: Weeks of the season.
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  Speaker 2: But a good opportunity to get another win against a
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  Speaker 2: Colts team that's got some serious questions. All right, let's
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  Speaker 2: shine a spotlight on the Patriots after being left for
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  Speaker 2: dead a couple weeks ago. Drake May and this Pats team,
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  Speaker 2: they're clicking on all cylinders. Three consecutive wins. Drake May
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  Speaker 2: looks like the guy that we expected to see at
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  Speaker 2: the start of the season. I know it was a
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  Speaker 2: slow start for him, but offensively, this team doesn't look
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  Speaker 2: like the one that was struggling earlier this year.
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  Speaker 4: No, it's a massive transformation. It's one of the most
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  Speaker 4: remarkable evolutions of a team in a short amount of time.
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  Speaker 4: They go from being one of the worst outfits in
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  Speaker 4: the NFL. They landed 31st in my power rankings after
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  Speaker 4: week three. That loss to Jacksonville, 35-6. Incredibly lopsided.
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  Speaker 5: They look like a mess.
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  Speaker 4: Since then, they've been nothing but the team that we
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  Speaker 4: saw last year. I mean, prior to the playoffs. The
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  Speaker 4: playoffs were a bit of an interesting journey. They come
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  Speaker 4: and they get that win over the Bills on the road,
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  Speaker 4: which is a very inspiring win, a.
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  Speaker 5: Big one for them in the division. Then they just
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  Speaker 5: dominate the Raiders.
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  Speaker 4: And then they just take care of business against the Jets,
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  Speaker 4: another division team this week. You know, 26-19 suggests that
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  Speaker 4: it really was a one-score game. It kind of wasn't.
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  Speaker 4: It felt more like a 10-13 point game for most
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  Speaker 4: of this contest. You've got to give the Jets credit
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  Speaker 4: for battling, but the Patriots were clearly the better team
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  Speaker 4: on the field on this Sunday, and they were the
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  Speaker 4: more professional outfit. And now we look at a schedule
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  Speaker 4: ahead that has Chicago, Miami, Green Bay, and Detroit, three
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  Speaker 4: of those four teams, very much in the thick of
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  Speaker 4: the playoff race.
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  Speaker 5: We'll learn more about them, but.
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  Speaker 4: As it stands right now, the biggest thing with this team, defense.
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  Speaker 4: Defense has been huge with the Patriots, which has just
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  Speaker 4: steadily gotten better and better. You've got no-name guys or
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  Speaker 4: guys that you don't really recognize making contributions. If that
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  Speaker 4: sustains and then you pair that with Drake May, who's
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  Speaker 4: been fantastic over the last few weeks, I think you're
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  Speaker 4: looking at a team that's going to be right in
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  Speaker 4: the thick of the AFC East race and perhaps more.
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  Speaker 2: Ten passing touchdowns, one interception for Drake May over the
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  Speaker 2: last three games.
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  Speaker 3: I believe it's 11 total.
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  Speaker 2: Touchdowns because he found the end zone on a rushing
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  Speaker 2: touchdown a couple weeks back the reality is you're right
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  Speaker 2: we will find out about this team short week tnf
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  Speaker 2: against the bears meanwhile you got another squad in the
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  Speaker 2: baltimore ravens i almost think this is a smidge unfair
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  Speaker 2: okay drop four spots you don't have your quarterback although
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  Speaker 2: i guess you're celebrating the team when you get a
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  Speaker 2: sunday night football win without your starting quarterback against atlanta
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  Speaker 2: so With the good, you kind of have to be even.
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  Speaker 3: So maybe you're right, dropping four spots. I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I still love this team.
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  Speaker 5: There are two sides to this coin.
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  Speaker 4: And the way you described it is perfect because this
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  Speaker 4: is a team that was able to come back and
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  Speaker 4: get a victory on the road with Snoop Huntley over
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  Speaker 4: the Falcons in prime time against a Falcons team that
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  Speaker 4: is usually very good, especially B.
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  Speaker 5: John Robinson in prime time.
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  Speaker 4: They were unable to do any of that the next
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  Speaker 4: week against the Cleveland Browns. And, you know, I think
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  Speaker 4: that the drop in rankings, there's a few elements to this.
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  Speaker 5: One being that you weren't.
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  Speaker 4: Able to get the job done after a very strong
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  Speaker 4: start and a 10-0 lead in Cleveland against a division opponent.
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  Speaker 4: And the other being that when you see a performance
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  Speaker 4: like this, it kind of makes you discredit how you
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  Speaker 4: performed the week earlier. More than anything, it paints a
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  Speaker 4: picture that, look, we are very reliant on our star quarterback,
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  Speaker 4: which most teams are. The Ravens have been one of
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  Speaker 4: the more skilled teams at overcoming that when they've lost
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  Speaker 4: Lamar before. But as it stands right now, I couldn't
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  Speaker 4: justify keeping them ahead of the Patriots, ahead of the Bengals,
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  Speaker 4: ahead of the Jaguars even after their loss. because they
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  Speaker 4: lost to the Browns, who sit.
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  Speaker 5: Later in my rankings here, kind of in the middle
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  Speaker 5: of the pack right now. If you look at that,
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  Speaker 5: I mean, a lot of this is, well, this team
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  Speaker 5: just beat that team. Why aren't they ahead of them?
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  Speaker 5: This is as close as I could get to a
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  Speaker 5: compromise between those two teams' rankings.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, and when you put it in context like that,
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  Speaker 2: in this division where the Cleveland Browns are in first place,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: we've got a Ravens team much further ahead in the
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  Speaker 2: power rankings. So we will talk about the Cleveland Browns
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  Speaker 2: a little bit later here on power rankings. That's going
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  Speaker 2: to be a great matchup against Cincinnati.
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  Speaker 3: That Baltimore squad that gets them this week.
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  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, Caleb Williams back off the hamstring injury.
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  Speaker 3: Offense is rolling. Run game was there.
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  Speaker 2: Where do they sit in Knicks rankings? The answer to
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: that is still to come. Back here on Power Rankings,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: along with Nick Schuch, Mikey, I'm with you. And Nick's
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: team's 9 through 16. The Denver Broncos still in that
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: top 10, sitting at 9. The Seahawks dropping 7 spots.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk about them in just a moment. They are
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  Speaker 2: the 10th team. The Bears moving up 2 spots to 11.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: It's the Lions at 12. Carolina, we'll talk about this
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  Speaker 2: Panthers team at 13.
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  Speaker 3: Don't look now.
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  Speaker 2: The Texans looking like a different squad. A real mover,
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  Speaker 2: up 11 spots to 14. And then it's the Packers
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  Speaker 2: and the Cleveland Browns, who we were just talking about.
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  Speaker 3: The Browns, by the way, also moving up.
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  Speaker 2: So there is some love for a team that is
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: winning or leading that division. Seahawks, seven spots down. They're
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: still in the top 10, barely. They are in that
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: 10th spot. I'm kind of with you here with all
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: of these turnovers. It feels like they needed to be punished.
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  Speaker 4: It's tough because I still have so much respect for
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  Speaker 4: their defense and who this team is identity-wise, but the
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: big issue with them is Sam Darnold's lack of ability
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  Speaker 4: to protect the football. It's an offense that has lost
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  Speaker 4: its identity.
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  Speaker 5: They do not run the football well. They're not protecting well.
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  Speaker 4: They were buried by the Denver pass rush in that
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  Speaker 4: primetime game, and Sam Darnold suffered for it. What I'm
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  Speaker 4: seeing from Darnold right now is somebody that we saw
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  Speaker 4: before he played that season in Minnesota, which is If
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  Speaker 4: his first option, Jackson Smith and Jigba, is not open,
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  Speaker 4: he gets frantic feet. He makes bad decisions. He turned
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  Speaker 4: the ball over twice in that game. They never should
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  Speaker 4: have even had an opportunity to get to overtime in
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  Speaker 4: that game, but because Denver's offense is so bad, they
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  Speaker 4: were granted an extra gift of a possession, got it
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  Speaker 4: to overtime, where they then suffered that defeat with another turnover.
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  Speaker 4: I think that you can win a lot of games
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  Speaker 4: with this defense, but if you cannot balance it out
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  Speaker 4: by protecting the football at minimum offensively, then you're going
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  Speaker 4: to have problems. And I don't see a real answer
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  Speaker 4: in sight because they run too much of this offense
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  Speaker 4: through Jackson Smith and Jigba right now, and that falls
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  Speaker 4: on your quarterback.
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  Speaker 5: He's got to be able to look somewhere else right now.
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  Speaker 5: He's just not.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, he's accounted for more than 50% of the offense.
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  Speaker 3: And by the way, it does feel right.
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  Speaker 2: This is a 500 team who we look at their
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  Speaker 2: defense as absolutely elite. The turnover is a massive issue.
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  Speaker 2: for this squad, and there's still no run game right now.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: So when that happens, there's still some room for Seattle.
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: They could use Kenneth Walker.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Well, they get to see him against Kansas City this week.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: So familiar foe here. The Chicago Bears. Caleb comes back.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: They're sitting at 4-2 right now. It feels like all
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: things are right in.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: The world for Chicago fans.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that they probably could have climbed higher
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: if we had a larger sample size of them with
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: Caleb Williams, but this certainly was the team that we
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: expected to see. There's just been a lot of volatility
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: with these Bears because of the loss of Caleb Williams
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: for a good portion of the season. It's kind of
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: hard to pin down exactly who they are. They're a
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: team that loses 9-3 to Minnesota. They go and beat
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: Philadelphia 27-7 with Case Keenum. They beat the Jets, and
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: they get dominated by the Packers. It's just been very
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: topsy-turvy with this team, but I think this is the
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: true example of who they are as a squad right now.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: We're just going to have to see it built out
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: and proven over and over again. New England this week
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: is going to be a great test. Seattle is going
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: to be a great test as well. If they continue
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: to produce at the rate that they did, which that
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: final score doesn't really represent how much this game was
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: lopsided until the final moments, then they're going to continue
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: to climb, and we're going to feel good about them
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: like we did for most of this season.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: 13th-ranked team in your power rankings is the Carolina squad.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Dare I say they're going to take this division in
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: back-to-back years?
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: I think that they have very much a reason to
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: feel comfortable in the NFC South right now. They look
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: like the most complete and experienced team in this division.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: It's a very winnable division with New Orleans and Tampa
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: and Atlanta all showing some signs of weakness. Carolina has
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: just been steady. Save for that loss to the Browns,
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: they've been very steady this season. Bryce Young's playing the
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: best football of his career. Chuba Hubbard got going against
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: an Eagles team that is banged up on both sides
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: of the ball. It's not that this win over the
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: Eagles necessarily gave me you know, more evidence to boost them,
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: which is why they didn't move up very much. They
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: only moved up to, what did we see, one spot
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: to 13. But I think that they're on the precipice
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: of getting back into the top 10 and then really
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: taking them seriously going forward as a contender.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, the opponent this week. Once again, we talk
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: about this division.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: And an opportunity.
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: Division games get weird.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you could separate yourself just a little bit. Baker
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Mayfield's supposed to start throwing a little bit more this week.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Don't exactly know if he's going to play in that game,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: but at least an update for him coming off of
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: the dislocated finger injury.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about the biggest power move of the week.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: It's the Texans. They're up 11 spots.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: What a win in London against Jacksonville. Look, game-winning field goal,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: ninth career game-winning field goal for Kiami Fairbairn. To me,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: this team's looking like the one that we thought we
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: would get.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: They're now 2-4 after back-to-back wins.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: There's some history that only one team has started 0-4
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: and made the playoffs, and it happened nearly 50 years ago.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: I think the Texans are positioned to be the second team. Now,
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: that might sound like a lot right now that they're
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: only 2-4 and we're going into Week 7, but C.J.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: Stroud is playing the best football of his career since
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: his rookie season. when he was Offensive Rookie of the Year,
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: he dropped some absolutely gorgeous dimes in this game. And
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: we talked about this on NFL Report on Friday, which
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: is that the AFC South had yet to get weird,
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: and it's always a weird division. And this got weird
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: in the way that, like, this is a very close game,
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: very back and forth.
• 15:47
  Speaker 5: They nearly gave away the lead.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: They ended up winning it on a last-second field goal.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: What I saw from this team... was a defense that, yes,
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: they gave up a lot of points, but they start
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: to look more like the D'Amico-Ryans group that we know
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: them to be, and a quarterback who's playing fantastically, just
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: enough from the running game, and I'm still intrigued to
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: see how Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 16:02
  Speaker 5: Fits in this offense. He had a few catches in
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: this game.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: So I feel very good about their chances, and they
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: also get a schedule that I think leans favorably with
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: games against the Giants.
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: Then you get a bye, you get the Chargers, you
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: get the Browns, which would be a test, Indianapolis. We
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: could very quickly see this team back at 500 or better.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, D'Amico Ryans takes over the defensive plate calling duties
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: two weeks ago. Pressures are up. I mean, across the board,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: the metrics look better than they did at the start
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: of the season.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: You mentioned C.J. Stroud and some of those dimes. Almost
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: was kind of crazy to me.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: We did the highlight on game day preview on Sunday
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: morning through an interception.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: That was his first of the year. I was like, oh, damn.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: And he grabbed his helmet because he knew he made
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: a mistake, but it didn't cost him ultimately.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: The Green Bay Packers, one of those other teams that
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: you've moved up at least just a smidge. One spot
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: for this team. They're now sit 15th in your power rankings.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: They've won three straight games.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: I'm. I'm starting to believe in this team, and they
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: don't even have Micah yet.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: I'm sure I'm going to draw plenty of criticism from
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Packer fans who have every reason in the world to
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: feel as though their team is right back to where
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: they thought they were going to be after this latest win.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: You're right, it's the third straight win in a game,
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: or in as many weeks. And it's funny, when we
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: showed that board, you see the Texans sitting at 2-4,
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: and it's sandwiched by a bunch of 4-2 or better teams.
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: But what I like about this Packers team, this is a.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: Team that's going to move up the board, I think,
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: continuously if they can sustain the success that they've produced
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: over the last two weeks. The big part is not
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: just Jordan Love being able to hit some plays. It's
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: the defense finding itself. Shutting down that Cowboys offense is
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: a huge sign of success for them. Micah getting closer
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: to coming back, Micah Parsons, and then another good test
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: against the Lions team that doesn't have a great defense
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: but knows how.
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: To put points on the board.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Running game has been non-existent these first few weeks of
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: the season. Josh Jacobs looks like he could be back
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: relatively soon. I mentioned Micah Parsons. ruled out for this week.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: They have a short week the following one on a
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: TNF game against Carolina, but there's an opportunity maybe for
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Micah to get back into the fold there. But once again,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Packers looking like a pretty potent squad.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: Time for our team of the week.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: I was looking forward to talking to you about the
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: Up five spots, they're leading this division.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Exactly where we thought they would be at the start
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: of the season.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: But look, I'll say this.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Give Monk credit because he's– if you told me, like,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: who's coach of the year right now, tell Monk it's
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: that guy.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: Absolutely. And, you know, when they made the hire, I thought, okay,
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: that's not going to go well for them. And I
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: was wrong.
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: I was wrong because I didn't realize that he would
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: mesh so well with his organization, with this city.
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: He understands the importance of the Browns to the fabric
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: of this region.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: And they are embracing him wholeheartedly because he continues to
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: produce victories.
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: They're never pretty.
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: This is an ugly team when it comes to winning
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: football games, but it's consistent. They're able to lean on
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: their defense and get just enough out of their offense
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: every week to win these close games.
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: The clutch gene is there. Even in Deshaun Watson, he
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: led another game-winning drive.
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: This season, which is, I cannot believe that we continue
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: to say that, but that's where we are in the
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: year 2026. And look, these are my people. This is
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: where I came from. And I've been following them as
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: they've enjoyed the success of the Browns. Optimism is near
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: sky high. They haven't been in first place in this
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: division this late into the season as we go into
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: week seven since 2014.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: Do you know where I was in 2014? Fresh out
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: of college. It's been a long time.
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: You're that young?
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, dude, 2003 for me, man. I'm feeling like, I mean,
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: you don't even know.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: I was here.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: You don't even know what it's like to get out
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: of bed, man. Snap, crockle, pop, and the knees, the back.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: I'm going to the chiropractor after this show.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: Physical therapy.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: You're still good, man. You are still good.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: The Cleveland Browns, by the way, also, I'm going to say,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: good football team. And for whatever you want to say
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: about Deshaun Watson and some of these game-winning drives and
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: that clutch factor. This defense doesn't have Miles Garrett anymore
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: and continues to be an absolute juggernaut. That's the reason
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: why they're winning a lot of these games.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: You know who's not winning a lot? The Rams.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: 2-4 on the season, free-falling in the power rankings. I
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: cannot believe we're not talking about them as one of
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: the top five teams in the NFL.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: All right, back here on Power. Rankings. Nick Shook, you
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: can check.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: The entire list and you can find it on NFL.com.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: But for a closer look here at 17, it's the
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers, the Raiders at 18. The Falcons dropped four
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: spots to 19. It's the Saints, the Giants, and the Cardinals.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: At number 23, it's the Commanders.
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: Don't look now.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Dropping 12 spots, sitting at two and four. The NFL
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: super team, it is the Los Angeles Rams. By the way,
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: just for context, and I don't want to go too
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: far ahead, but you got the Rams right now sitting
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: between the Commanders and the Jets at two and four.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: We'll talk about Los Angeles here in just a moment.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: But the Steelers get a win.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: After the game, Aaron Rodgers is like, hey, this could
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: be like a transformative type victory for a season changing.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Is he overstating it or do you think this team
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: can make a run?
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: I think there's some validity to it because what the
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: Steelers did for the first time this entire season was
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: they adjusted to where they were having difficulties in a game.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: Usually that just kind of defined the game. They also
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: won a game in an even week the first time
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: this year. I thought they'd be every other the entire season,
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: just end up eight and nine or something like that.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: They had a great fourth quarter in which they said,
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: you know what, we're not going to.
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: Push the ball down the field. Jalen Warren's not really working.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: We're just going to take the short passes and feed
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: DK Metcalf and Jeremy Bernard. And it generated offense for them.
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: Their defense, we know it's aggressive, especially in key spots.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: They were able to force turnovers. They get the sack
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: to end the game in overtime.
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: I was impressed. Do I trust them? Not yet. But
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: I do think that they'll be in a good spot.
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: against these Saints this week.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, by the way, a nice road win in overtime
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: against the Bucs. You mentioned the Saints, who now sit
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: at 20 in your power rankings. They move up seven spots,
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: taking out the Giants. Gail Benson came out, was disappointed.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Kellen Moore said, I get it, and they responded.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: It's never a good thing when an owner goes to
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: practice to hug the coach, you think. It's like a
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: bad sign, and yet it worked out for them. What
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: really worked out for the Saints in this game was
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: capitalizing on turnovers And getting hot at the right time.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: They went from down 10-0 to up by multiple scores.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: It was a frantic comeback. It legitimately went from 10-0
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: to 34-10. And I'm like, the Saints have just woken up.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: This is the team that I thought they would be.
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: Then I remembered they were playing the Giants. And then
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: I remembered that.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: They were playing at MetLife, where things got crazy in
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: the fourth quarter. I hesitate to really give them a
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: ton of credit for this, although they do move up
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: seven spots. But when we look at this section of
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: the teams, who do I think could beat the team
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: near them or around them? They lose to the Falcons,
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: they're behind them, but they beat the Giants, so they're
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: ahead of them. I feel good about them being at 20.
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: They've got to do it for more than one week, though.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: By the way, complete coverage from Paris. These two teams,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: the Saints and the Steelers, will meet NFL Daily. Greg Rosenthal,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I know he was excited to get on that trip.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: Jordan Roderick as well. Commissioner Roger Goodell, they're getting an
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: opportunity to catch up with him. So it's going to
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: be a loaded week for us here on the NFL Channel.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: The Rams, 24. I'm going to ask you a question.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: They're 24.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: They're 24 and they could be lower. It's bad when
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: your coach says, we don't know what our identity is
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: right now. It's week seven. You're an all-star cast.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Yes, you're missing guys. You're missing Miles Garrett. They suffered
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: a ton of injuries in this game. They lost Puna
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: Ford for the season. Devontae Adams out six to 10
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: weeks with a ruptured hamstring. Kobe Turner also going to
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: be missing some time. That's bad for a team that
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: was already missing some stars. Miles Garrett, yet to return yet.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: Groupie, their kicker.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Their groupie comes in for one game, tears his ACL.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: He's done. They got to go find another kicker. It's bad.
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: The operation is bad.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: The loss to Arizona is embarrassing for this team, which
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: at two and four feels lost right now.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: Lost is a good way to describe it.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: And I got an opportunity to to take out a
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Raiders team that has now lost three consecutive games.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Just wow.
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: And you know what? I still feel better about the
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: Raiders than I do the Rams.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Isn't it wild?
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: You said, what's their identity? I was asking that question
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: before the season started, but it was because I didn't
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: know which unit was going to be better, offense or defense. Meanwhile,
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: teams 25 through 32, I made reference to the Jets
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: sitting at 25, the Cowboys at 26. We got Tampa Bay,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia at 28. The Titans get their first win. They
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: move up three spots, the Colts, the Dolphins, and the Chargers. Philly,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: to me, You take out the shark and you just
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: circle their name a few times.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Of course.
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: And there are so many red arrows in this entire group.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: But the Eagles, it's tough to drop them this far.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: What it is, it's a reflection of where they are
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: as a team right now. They lose Jalen Hurts for
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: the rest of the season. They've already been dealing with
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: a ton of injuries. They lost Lane Johnson to retirement.
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: Cam Juergens to a trade. The list goes on and
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: on and on. Saquon Barkley hasn't been available. I give
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: them credit because they've actually been competitive over the last
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: two weeks despite all of these injuries. But when you
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: look at them on paper, I just have a hard
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: time looking forward and thinking this team's going to turn
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: it around. There's just too many injuries, too much disorganization
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: for them to really, I think, climb back up.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: I'm looking at your teams 24 through 32. I thought
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: the Rams would win the division. I thought the Cowboys
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: would win the division. I thought Philly would have a chance.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: And the Chargers, I thought, would be a playoff team.
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: But the Titans moved up.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: We think we know stuff about football, and then the
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: season plays out. We know absolutely nothing, but it's his
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: job to sort it all out for us. Nick, great
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: job with the Power Rankings. Appreciate you checking us out
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: here on the show.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:48
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• 24:52
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