Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #12: Playoff Push

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#12: Playoff Push · 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: along with Eric at Home Mike am with you. Do
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  Speaker 2: not forget a full breakdown of all thirty two teams.
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  Speaker 2: You can find it on NFL dot com and Eric,
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  Speaker 2: I was actually pretty excited. There's a few teams I
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  Speaker 2: wanted to see where you slot them at Carolina Panthers,
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  Speaker 2: by the way, one of those teams, we'll talk about
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  Speaker 2: them a little bit later. I know they're not sitting
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  Speaker 2: in the top nine as we unveil these rankings in
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  Speaker 2: just a moment here. But the reality is we had
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  Speaker 2: stud teams going up against stud teams this past weekend.
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  Speaker 2: That I think gives us a little bit more clarity
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  Speaker 2: on what to expect the rest of the way.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I certainly hope so, Mike.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously, this year has been a little bit topsy turvy
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  Speaker 4: at the top right. It almost feels like our new
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  Speaker 4: number one is just a placeholder right now. But we
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  Speaker 4: certainly did get some pretty telling games with the teams
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  Speaker 4: closely ranked together faced off against each other.
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  Speaker 5: All right, let's get to the nude number one.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, it's the fifth different number one team that
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  Speaker 2: we've had on these power rankings as we head into twelve,
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  Speaker 2: and it is the Rams.
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  Speaker 5: It doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 2: Seattle had four interceptions in the game and still had
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity. You dropped them three spots into that fourth position.
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  Speaker 2: But it starts with the Rams. The Colts sitting at
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  Speaker 2: number two, the Eagles at three, Seattle four, the Denver
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  Speaker 2: Bronco's moving up three spots. I think there's a real
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  Speaker 2: case for what they might be the most dangerous team
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  Speaker 2: in the NFL because of their defense.
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  Speaker 5: We may or may not take a closer look at
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  Speaker 5: the rest of their opponents.
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  Speaker 2: We got the New England Patriots at number six, the
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  Speaker 2: Bills at seven, and the Detroit Lions sitting at number eight.
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  Speaker 2: Time for power moves presented by Energizer. All right, sell
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  Speaker 2: me on this Rams team being arguably the most complete
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  Speaker 2: in the NFL.
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  Speaker 5: Or maybe you think they're the most complete team in
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  Speaker 5: the league.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not like they're not without their warts, right,
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  Speaker 4: They've they've had a kicking situation. We'll see if Harrison
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  Speaker 4: MeVis is going to be the answer there. He's only
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  Speaker 4: tried extra points so far. They've had other issues as well,
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  Speaker 4: and really the offense stall. They came down to Sam
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  Speaker 4: Darnold throwing these interceptions one, two, three, four of them,
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  Speaker 4: and they they needed every single one of them. Now,
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  Speaker 4: obviously the pressure up front is a big reason why
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  Speaker 4: the Rams have been successful. They seem to get in
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  Speaker 4: Darnold's head in the playoff game when he was a Viking.
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  Speaker 4: They certainly did on Sunday as well, but offensively, Mike,
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  Speaker 4: I mean there.
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  Speaker 3: Were some questions after this one.
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  Speaker 4: I know they had two good games coming into this one,
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  Speaker 4: but kind of slowed down a little bit as you mentioned,
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  Speaker 4: still had a chance to win Seattle came down to
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  Speaker 4: the last play of the game. Not as much urgency
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  Speaker 4: as I would like to see, But still I think
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  Speaker 4: that bodes well for the Seahawks, and it also lets
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  Speaker 4: you know that the Rams. You know, I've had some
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  Speaker 4: issues closing out a couple games this year, so still something.
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  Speaker 3: To be leary of.
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  Speaker 4: And like I said, at this point, they're just keeping
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  Speaker 4: the seat warm for the Eagles or Colts or anybody else.
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  Speaker 3: Who wants to move up.
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  Speaker 5: At this point, do you think that you're not going
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  Speaker 5: to have the Rams?
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  Speaker 2: It sounds like you were even hedging about having them
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  Speaker 2: in that top spot, and it really just centers on
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  Speaker 2: the fact that they beat Seattle.
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  Speaker 4: I second guess everything in my life, Mike, Let me
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  Speaker 4: just start with that. But yes, I do think that
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  Speaker 4: there is enough vulnerability here, especially with a battle tested
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  Speaker 4: team like the Eagles, who've obviously had the RAMS number
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  Speaker 4: at least once this season. So maybe they face off
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  Speaker 4: again in the postseason, who knows, and maybe they'll end
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  Speaker 4: up not stacking up that Well, it's just hard to
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  Speaker 4: really endorse that one team and say they are clearly
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  Speaker 4: the best.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the team that's already beaten this RAMS team is
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  Speaker 2: a team that you have at number three right now,
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  Speaker 2: and that's the Philadelphia Eagles. This Philly team, their defense
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  Speaker 2: has been bawling so good, and all we do is
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  Speaker 2: spend time talking about their offense and some drama that
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  Speaker 2: we see with aj Brown and the whole thing. Does
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  Speaker 2: it even matter what this team gives us offensively when
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  Speaker 2: the defense plays like this.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you still obviously see some suspicion right out there
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  Speaker 4: in the Internet and stuff people say, and this Eagles
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  Speaker 4: offense is broken and all this, but look, they put
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  Speaker 4: up thirty eight and twenty eight points before the BUYE.
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  Speaker 4: The two games prior to the buy, you know you
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  Speaker 4: saw a concerted effort to get aj Brown involved. I
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  Speaker 4: think they're going to try to not only make him happy,
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  Speaker 4: but also use one of their best weapons as well.
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  Speaker 4: I'm worried about Lane Johnson's injury. That's obviously something big
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  Speaker 4: if he ends up missing a month or so or
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  Speaker 4: possibly more. But this defense has thrown two heaters in
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  Speaker 4: a row against pretty good offenses, right, I mean, I
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  Speaker 4: think you'd argue that the Packers and Lions can score
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  Speaker 4: some points at their best, So for them to play
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  Speaker 4: as well defensively as they have after the bye, it
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  Speaker 4: does kind of mirror last year, where you saw them
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  Speaker 4: kind of reach a new level defensively. So if they
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  Speaker 4: could just level up slightly on offense, I think they're
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  Speaker 4: in good shape. Probably starts with Hurts running the football,
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  Speaker 4: getting back to some basics, and then opening up the
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  Speaker 4: passing game.
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  Speaker 2: Seattle, I know we touched on them a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: They dropped three spots here. I think Sam Donald's a
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  Speaker 2: good quarterback who had a bad day. I think that's
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  Speaker 2: the best way to describe what we witnessed on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: Ernest Jones came out and said, hey, like, this isn't
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  Speaker 2: Sam's fault, Like we were still in this thing. What's
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  Speaker 2: the one thing that concerned you about the Seattle team
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  Speaker 2: moving forward?
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  Speaker 4: That they've become this team that relies on throwing and
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  Speaker 4: throwing deep and throwing early in games. That's sort of
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  Speaker 4: become kind of their core identity. Even with those two
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  Speaker 4: very good running backs. A lot of times those guys
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  Speaker 4: helped finish off games. But if the formula gets upset
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  Speaker 4: in any way, like it was Sunday, with multiple picks
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  Speaker 4: early to kind of throw off the rhythm put them
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  Speaker 4: in a hole. Guess what kind of hard to run
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  Speaker 4: the ball when you're down multiple scores. But they stay
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  Speaker 4: with their plan. They figured it out and still almost
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  Speaker 4: had a chance to win. It kind of reminded me
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  Speaker 4: a little bit of the win over the Texans in Seattle,
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  Speaker 4: where again four turnovers on offense, had chances to put
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  Speaker 4: the game away, didn't look all that impressive, but still
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  Speaker 4: won the game by eight points. And this one came
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  Speaker 4: up a little short against a very good Rams team.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I did knock them down.
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  Speaker 4: Three spots, but if you're in that upper eighth of
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  Speaker 4: the NFL. You still have a chance to be a
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  Speaker 4: super Bowl team in my mind, so not a huge
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  Speaker 4: drop relatively speaking. And I think they'll be back if
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  Speaker 4: they can avoid Darnold having one of these kind of
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  Speaker 4: hiccup games where everything seems to kind of snowball and
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  Speaker 4: the mistakes keep piling up.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know you still told me a little bit
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  Speaker 2: earlier you second guess everything. I think this is a
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  Speaker 2: fair spot to put them when you consider it. You
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  Speaker 2: got the Colts and the Eagles ahead of them, and
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  Speaker 2: you can't drop them obviously in front of a Rams team.
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  Speaker 2: So it feels where you currently have Seattle the matchup
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  Speaker 2: against Tennessee coming up this week. All right, let's move
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  Speaker 2: on talk about future champions. Presented by Fan Duel. Here
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  Speaker 2: are the odds to win the AFC West. Not how
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  Speaker 2: I saw this plan nowt Kansas City has won this
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  Speaker 2: division nine consecutive times, but it's the Denver Broncos who
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  Speaker 2: are a favorite minus three hundred, the Chargers behind them
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  Speaker 2: a plus five hundred, the Chiefs at plus five fifty.
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  Speaker 2: Let's not even talk about the Raiders and what we
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  Speaker 2: are seeing.
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  Speaker 5: From the squad. Here's the good news.
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  Speaker 2: The Denver Broncos keep winning games, they move up three
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  Speaker 2: spots in the rankings. Right now, they head into this
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  Speaker 2: bye week feeling very very confident. I think you can
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  Speaker 2: make an argument and in the statistics might say something else.
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  Speaker 2: This is the best defense in the NFL. And the
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  Speaker 2: way that they're making people feel and these quarterbacks feel
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  Speaker 2: uncomfortable is so darn impressive that even if boon Nicks
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  Speaker 2: has some stumbles early in games, when the fourth cler
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  Speaker 2: comes around, he'll flip the switch. Like I look at Denver,
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  Speaker 2: go this is a legit Super Bowl contender.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 4: You look at that first drive of the third quarter
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  Speaker 4: where Mahomes threw a pick six, it was called back
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  Speaker 4: by penalty. They gave up some big plays, got down
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  Speaker 4: close to the red zone and then made that other interception,
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  Speaker 4: and so two picks on one drive. Essentially, that's the
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  Speaker 4: kind of potency they have. Obviously, we know about the
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  Speaker 4: sack numbers. They're bearing down on the nineteen eighty four
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  Speaker 4: Chicago Bears record at this point, even though the Bears
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  Speaker 4: had one fewer game in which to get those seventy
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  Speaker 4: two sacks. But their pressure is unbelievable. And then to
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  Speaker 4: your point, offensively you know, look, I thought this was
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  Speaker 4: bo Nix's best game or one of them pretty darn
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  Speaker 4: close this season. The big pass plays were a huge
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  Speaker 4: difference to Courtland Sutton play on third and fifteen. He
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  Speaker 4: had one in the first down that was huge. Troy
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  Speaker 4: Franklin with a couple of big catches as well. So
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  Speaker 4: getting those deep downfield shots against the good Kansas City defense,
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  Speaker 4: finishing it off with the game winning kick has to
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  Speaker 4: feel pretty darn good. Look, I've been a little bit
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  Speaker 4: hard on the Broncos. I've kind of soft footed, a
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  Speaker 4: little held back. I've heard it from their fans, but
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  Speaker 4: I kind of needed to see this type of performance
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  Speaker 4: after what happened against them last year. And Mike, you know,
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  Speaker 4: they they're winning close games one in six in close
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  Speaker 4: games year ago, one score games this year seven and two.
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  Speaker 4: That really has kind of flipped everything around for them.
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  Speaker 2: Well look, and that's the narrative of the flip side
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  Speaker 2: for a Kansas City team that was twelve to zero
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  Speaker 2: one score games a season ago and right now sitting
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  Speaker 2: at zero to five in those one score games. Mind
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  Speaker 2: blown on what we're seeing from Downsas City, who doesn't
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  Speaker 2: look like they're going to go and win this division.
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  Speaker 5: Even Patrick Mahomes after the game had made reference.
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  Speaker 2: To that Buffalo the Bills seven right now a huge response.
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  Speaker 2: Josh Allen six touchdowns in this game. Here's what worries me.
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  Speaker 2: Eric The season has been.
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  Speaker 5: Like this offensively for him. It's some ups and some downs.
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  Speaker 2: I thought we'd get a little more consistency from Buffalo,
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  Speaker 2: and I think that's what concerns me about putting this
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  Speaker 2: team in the elite category.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're right on the cosp right.
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  Speaker 4: I kind of consider that top eight, like you're nominally,
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  Speaker 4: nominally a super Bowl contender in that range.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, I thought about very hard where to put.
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  Speaker 4: Them, considering Allen really did have to put them on
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  Speaker 4: his back still through two interceptions too.
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  Speaker 3: So it wasn't a perfect game.
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  Speaker 4: But that's about as good a two inner exception game
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  Speaker 4: as a quarterback can have. And I think maybe it
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  Speaker 4: just comes down to instead of trying to play this
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  Speaker 4: this this team ball, so to speak. Look, Josh is
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  Speaker 4: gonna have to carry him with some big wins. He
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  Speaker 4: did Sunday. He can do it again, whether it's you know,
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  Speaker 4: New England or any of the other big games they
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  Speaker 4: have left on their calendar.
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  Speaker 3: Look, they may end up being a wildcard team for
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  Speaker 3: all we know.
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  Speaker 4: They may have to take the hard road to do it,
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  Speaker 4: but that could put them in a situation where they're
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  Speaker 4: forced to say, Josh, go win the game for us.
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  Speaker 4: Our defense has had trouble this year. Our receivers aren't
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  Speaker 4: getting open the way they need to, or even our
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  Speaker 4: offensive line, once a bedrock, has had a little bit
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  Speaker 4: of hiccups here and there. So look at that could
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  Speaker 4: end up being very good for this team, or it
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  Speaker 4: could end up being a first round playoff loss, or
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  Speaker 4: they can miss the postseason entirely.
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  Speaker 3: There's so many scenarios.
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  Speaker 4: Out there, but I think Josh is gonna have to
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  Speaker 4: wear that cape again at some point.
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  Speaker 2: It is wild to think about this team not being
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  Speaker 2: in the postseason, considering the expectation, considering some of the
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  Speaker 2: wins that they've been able to score, and then there's
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  Speaker 2: those head scratching moments that we've.
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  Speaker 5: Seen from Buffalo.
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  Speaker 2: Keep in mind a short week for these guys as
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  Speaker 2: they matchup against the Houston Texans.
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  Speaker 5: That game little tnf action for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: The Lions have been I think darlings of the NFL
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  Speaker 2: for a good stretch of the last couple campaigns. Another
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  Speaker 2: team that's having some problems finding some consistency. They dropped
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  Speaker 2: three spots in your rankings. What's the biggest red flag
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  Speaker 2: that is being waived right now with regard to this team.
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  Speaker 4: When they have their full unit, they have Sam Laporte
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  Speaker 4: out there, and you know, they get Jamiir Gibbs going, obviously,
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  Speaker 4: that's the greatest formula for them. Finishing oh for five
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  Speaker 4: on fourth downs clearly had a huge role in this game.
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  Speaker 4: They weren't able to handle the pressure up front, and
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  Speaker 4: to me, that may be the biggest worry personnel wise,
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  Speaker 4: is what they have on the offensive line, that interior trio,
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  Speaker 4: not able to get the big push on the fourth
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  Speaker 4: down sneaks, having Jared Goff have multiple passes batted down
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  Speaker 4: at the line, affecting his accuracy, affecting his sort of
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  Speaker 4: confidence in making some of these throws too. So you know,
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  Speaker 4: if you can disrupt the timing of Golf and get
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  Speaker 4: him off the spots and have them go to a
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  Speaker 4: second and third receivers and you can kind of keep
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  Speaker 4: Gibbs in, you know, contain him a little bit, that's
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  Speaker 4: a pretty good formula right there. They didn't run the
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  Speaker 4: ball consistently enough, and there were times when they ran
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  Speaker 4: it too much. For as good a game as Dan
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  Speaker 4: Campbell seemed to have two weeks ago. Against the Commander's
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  Speaker 4: calling plays, I think he had that much of a
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  Speaker 4: trouble on Sunday, especially calling for it on fourth down
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  Speaker 4: when you had the punt safe defense out there. That's
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  Speaker 4: the kind of thing that you know, a head coach
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  Speaker 4: who's calling plays may overlook.
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  Speaker 5: They're always aggressive.
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  Speaker 2: Dan Campbell is an aggressive minded coach on the offensive side.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you think that this was a wake up
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  Speaker 2: call like moving forward in these situations, do we think, hey,
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  Speaker 2: maybe doesn't always go for it on.
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  Speaker 4: Fourth Yeah, and maybe it's also a respect for Philly thing.
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  Speaker 4: I think they knew what they were facing against that
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  Speaker 4: Eagles team. But I think you're right, maybe it's time
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  Speaker 4: to kind of just dial it back a little bit,
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  Speaker 4: especially early in games where those mistakes can really compound.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, all right, there's more to come here.
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  Speaker 2: On power rankings, there's some really talented teams that don't
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  Speaker 2: sit right now in the top nine. Doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 2: you don't have a chance. In fact, the Bears and
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  Speaker 2: Packers are the Bears a good team. I'm not exactly sure,
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  Speaker 2: but the Packers the record would say otherwise. Packers where
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  Speaker 2: they sit, and it's a time to worry about the Chiefs.
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  Speaker 2: The answer to those questions coming up next, I'll back
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  Speaker 2: here on power rankings along with Eric at home, I
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  Speaker 2: cam with you. Eric's teams nine through sixteen. The Green
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  Speaker 2: Bay Packers moving up three spots thanks to a win
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: against the Giants. They sit at number nine. The Niners
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  Speaker 2: also up on the move three spots. They're sitting at ten.
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  Speaker 2: The Steelers also a three slot mover, up at eleven.
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  Speaker 2: The Bucks dropping two spots to twelve. You got a
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  Speaker 2: Ravens team that's really had some problems in the red
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  Speaker 2: zone the last two weeks. Find a way to get
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  Speaker 2: it done. They're at thirteen, the Bears at seven and
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  Speaker 2: three football team at fourteen, the Chiefs at five hundred.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk about the biggest dropper eight spots down at fifteen,
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  Speaker 2: and it's the Jacksonville Jacks at number sixteen. But let's
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  Speaker 2: talk about the number nine squad. It's the Green Bay Packers.
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  Speaker 2: Sell me on this team. I know there was a
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  Speaker 2: coaching change with the Giants, and quite frankly, I did
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  Speaker 2: expect them to play better. What I didn't anticipate was
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  Speaker 2: green Bay being pushed the way that they that they
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  Speaker 2: were in this game. Like I still look at this
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  Speaker 2: roster and go, hey, they should be a Super Bowl contender.
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  Speaker 5: I don't know if I'm buying this team right now, though.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, they needed quite a bit to happen.
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  Speaker 4: Touchdown pass in the last four minutes, an end zone interception, uh,
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  Speaker 4: and then also a stripsack as the clock was expiring,
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  Speaker 4: just to win.
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  Speaker 3: A game against the team with two victories.
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  Speaker 4: But you know, without Tucker Craft, with the offensive line
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  Speaker 4: struggling the way it was, with Josh Jacobs banged up
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  Speaker 4: in this one, hard to know what his status is
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  Speaker 4: right now day to day. It appears they were down.
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  Speaker 4: They were, they were up against it a little bit.
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  Speaker 4: They needed some big catches like Savion Williams here, and look,
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  Speaker 4: Jamis Winston was going to play like he had everything
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  Speaker 4: you know that he could possibly have on the line.
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  Speaker 4: Mike Kafka his first game, wants to impress. So the
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  Speaker 4: Giants weren't, you know, holding anything back in this one.
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  Speaker 4: But I hear you, you know, those those those questions
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  Speaker 4: about green Bay have really been there since about week three.
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  Speaker 4: We've seen them have hiccups. We've seen them have poor
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  Speaker 4: defensive games, offensive games where they're as sharp, and so
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  Speaker 4: it's hard to really know what the trust factor is
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: with this team. Still, Michael Parsons came through in the end.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: You know, defense for the most part, played pretty well
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: in the second half, so there's still some hope. But
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: do they have that fastball, that extra gear they can
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: kick down the stretch. That's the big question, and so
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: far we've only seen little glimpse of it.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Well, another team that moved up three spots to San
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Francisco forty nine ers. I've been waiting for this moment
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: to get Brock Purdy back into the fold. Sunday, I
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: was doing game day preview, Cynthia Friedland said, Hey, Ristian
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: McCaffrey should be in the MVP conversation. Are we about
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: to find that next gear for the Niners now that
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: it is seemed Yeah.
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: Obviously there was a lot of interesting talk about mac Jones.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: Do you just stick with him if he keeps winning
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: or whatever? But they kept sort of pingponging back forth
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: with wins and losses, and now just felt like the
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: time for Kyle Shanahan and obviously you know, Purdy looked
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: healthy right that early TD. The kittle was great. Here's
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: the second one as well. First time those guys have
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: played together since Week one. Just a reminder of how
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: badly the injuries have sunk into this team. But then
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: you look at the defense too. I thought they really
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: played well. You know, some of the guys stepping up,
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: Curtis Robinson, d Winners, Malik Mustafa had an interception, you know,
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: Diamedo or Leonor had a big play as well. So
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: you know, it really was three phases operationally for them
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: that worked pretty well in this game. And super Bowl
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: team we'll see, you know, they have that potential. We
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: saw that early in the year, you know, but we
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: felt like this team could maybe reach those heights, but
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: injuries rewrote the script a little. Can they straighten everything
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: out down the stretch without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: and those guys still a stretch to.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: Me, But can't really rule out a run a little bit, hear.
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: Me out here.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: They got a big game this week against the Carolina Panthers. Yes,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: you heard me right, the Panthers on a role. We'll
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: touch on that squad coming up in just a bit.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: The Steelers Aaron Rodgers. Before we started recording the show,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: I saw a report. I think it was Ian Rapaport
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: who had it no surgery required for the fractured risk.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: He's pushing to give it a go against Chicago. Something
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: tells me he's going to be out there on the field.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: This defense, you know, it's been a little mostly down,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: but it looked pretty good. He had a couple of
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: defensive touchdowns for him. Steelers, you still like them in
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: the driver's seat to go win this division.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Obviously the worry about Rogers also kind of folds
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: into the fact that you know, he hasn't quite played
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: to the same level he did the last you know,
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: the first half of the season. Rough the last few games,
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: not as good, throw that injury, and on top of it,
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: like you, I think he'll be out there. But you know,
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: Kyle Dugger made kind of the play of the game
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: in this one with the long pick six, and you know,
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: help spur that defense and give them a little bit
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: more confidence more in the big play department as well.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: And you know, maybe we made too much of it.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: I mean, obviously it was more than just that little
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: two game blip there been. There were spots early in
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the season where they looked quite as good defensively as we.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Thought they should be.
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: But you start to see with some of the secondary changes,
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: more rush up front, more pressure from Wat and those guys,
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe this defense can be just kind of
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: on the outskirts of a top ten unit or just
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: beyond that, And if the offense kind of holds steady,
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: I still have some faith this team can maybe even
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: hold off the Ravens for the division.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Look the Bucks, they drop two spots in your rankings.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: They currently sit number twelve. You and I have been
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: generally pretty high on them. The difference is I don't
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: do the rankings you do, So what your thoughts are
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: are actually on record? Are you a little down on
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: this team? They drop a few spots and they're losing
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: some of these games, But I still feel like the
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: bones of this squad are strong.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: I think so too, although I'm getting a little bit
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: more worried. My panic meter has risen just a little
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: bit because of all the injuries, some of which are
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: season enders too, so they can't really get those players back.
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: But the big worries for me right now is generating
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: big pass plays on offense. Haven't seen as much of
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: it is late, not as consistently, and then also giving
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: up big plays on defense. Obviously kind of started in
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: the New England game. Couple long Trevion Henderson runs and
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: then Josh Allen. No shame in letting Josh Allen beat you,
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: but to have him consistently bomb down the field and
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: also use his legs with success. That's now two weeks
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: in a row. A quality quarterback has kind of torn
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: them up in some respects. So do worry about that
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: a little bit? Can the secondary hold? Can the pass
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: rush kickup? Yes, they have guys like Sean Tucker, the
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: number three running back, who can you know, kind of
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: help change the formula of the game a little bit.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: But we'll see when they get a little healthier offensively,
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: maybe I'll have more hope.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Right now, I'm just kind of pumping the brakes a
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: little bit.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, big matchup against the Rams at Sofi Stadium in
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: a place that Baker Mayfield had a cup of tea
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: in that locker room with those guys. Meanwhile, I'm I
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: think it's safe to say I don't think that you've
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: done these rankings where the Kansas City Chiefs have been
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: any fifteen spot.
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: A free fall.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: They're the biggest movers down this week, dropping eight spots
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: You're not ready to stick a fork in them, though, right.
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: Stick a fork in them? No, but look, I mean
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: maybe a butter knife. You know, I'm thinking about it
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: because after the game, hearing Patrick Mahomes pretty much admit
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: that the division may have gotten away from a Remember,
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: this is going to be their their quest for ten
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: ten straight divisional titles, and I think that meant a
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: lot to those guys started the year. But you know,
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: the close games that were their their hero last year,
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: that were their super power or has gotten away from
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: the same way that Denver Broncos have become much better
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: at closing out games and excellent in those final few minutes,
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: the Chiefs have been the opposite of that excellent last year.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: Havn't gotten a win in a one score game this season.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: And look, if you're to just look at the metrics
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: and the overall picture, it stacked them up next to
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: last season. You wouldn't see a big difference EPA per play,
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: and you know the sort of the rankings and what
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: they're allowing per play very similar, but the execution and
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: those critical situations like when they took the lead late
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: those last year.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Last year, that team.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: Would have won that game. This year they didn't. They
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: let the Broncos score twice and beat them. So that's
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: the big concern is finishing off games and finishing what
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: they started essentially.
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: And a barometer matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: You look at the remaining schedule for Kansas City and
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: trust me it is it's not exactly easy to navigate.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: This is going to be an uphill battle for this
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: case squad. All right, let's focus our attention here. Team
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: of the week. It's presented by Truest. We'll focus in
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: on number sixteen. It's the Jacksonville Jaguars. They move up
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: two spots. I don't know what to make of the
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: squad because there's some weeks where I'm like, oh, they're
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: really good space, especially that game that they won against
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs for Trevor Lawrence late in that
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: game found his way into the end zone. Then they
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: have a collapse against the Texas with a backup quarterback,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: then they deliver against the Chargers.
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: Is this just what to expect with the Jags. Any
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: given Sunday, it's either going to be feast or famine.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: Pretty bad week last week, pretty good one this week.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: So you're right, hard to know exactly what we're getting.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: But the pressure on Herbert was good. They got them
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: committed to force some throws. They sacked them. Trevor Lawrence
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: had the one bad play, but otherwise played well. When
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: they run the football the way they did Sunday, they're
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: a pretty effective offense. So that's picked a big part
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: of their formula. If they get back to that and
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: consistently churn out the yards on the ground, they're pretty
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: good Defensively. It's a little bit more of a big
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: range as to what we're going to get.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm the range is the way to describe it.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: I do think there's an opportunity to go against this
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Arizona squad who's really struggled to get a win streak.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Rolling here from a Jacksonville perspective. More to come here
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: on rankings. The Dallas Cowboys made some big additions, one
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: in particular at the trade deadline. Big number ninety two
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Quinn Williams, who delivered on Monday Night Football is their
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: potential playoff push looming for Jerry Jones's team.
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: We'll discuss that coming up next.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Back here on Power Rankings along with Eric at home,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: I cam with you and for not the Chiefs dropping
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: eight spots. The biggest stroppers of the week would have
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: been the Chargers, who moved down six spots. They fall
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: to number seventeen on the rankings. The Texans at five
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: hundred and five and five at eighteen, the Carolina Panthers
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: will talk about them in just a moment at nineteen,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys, we'll discuss them at twenty the Vikings at
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: twenty one, the Miami Dolphins moved up to spots. Somehow
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: figured out a way to get it done in Berlin
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: or Madrid, excuse me. And then it's the Arizona Cardinals
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: and the Atlanta Falcons at twenty three and twenty four.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: All right, let's love them up.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: I was so excited that they made the conversation list
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: for us here on Power Rankings. We don't get to
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: talk enough about this team, Bryce Young in company.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: These dudes might win the division.
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: Chance right, playoffs still looking a little bit remote, But
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: the way Bryce was throwing the ball Sunday Heck, he
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: didn't have four hundred and forty eight yards, barely had
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: that in the previous three games. Combined one hundred and
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: twenty more yards than they ever had in a game.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: And look, there weren't a ton of tight window throws.
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, his receivers were getting open. But I love
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: the way he distributed the ball around. It wasn't just McMillan.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: He found Coker, He found other receivers there, and I
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: thought it was important to get those guys involved. They
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: took Rico DoD A out. You know, he really stepped
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: up defensively. They were just okay, got in a big
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: hole early, but Bryce just calmly chipped away and got
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: them to a victory on the road against the team
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: they had already beaten one. So it was just a
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: very composed, poise performance and that's what I think Panthers
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: fans really needed to see out of him.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: I love this story.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: We get the Monday night on the road, there's a
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: huge game against the San Francisco forty nine ers. This
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: could really stamp this team being valid Cowboys. They were
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: on Monday Night. They handle business against the Raiders. They
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: move up three spots. I thought the story of the game.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: We can talk about an uptick in the offensive production,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: and rightfully so, I thought Quentin Williams and the defense
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: was the story.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Though absolutely right.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: If we didn't have the you know, the George Pickens
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: Ceedee Lamb where they benched on the first series, that
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: it should have been all about the defensive pressure, Quinn
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: Williams honoring their their falling teammate, you know, obviously Marshaw
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: Neil in the tragedy last week.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: I really felt like that defense.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: Was inspired and how much more is Quinn going to
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: provide in this group?
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: That remains to be seen.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: Obviously, the Raiders struggling in the offensive line, a little
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: bit offensively in general, so we'll have to see big picture.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: They got a lot of work to do, but Dallas
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: kept their season alive on Monday night.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: The rest of the rankings the Bengals at twenty five,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: the Commanders at twenty six, Giants at twenty seven. It's
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: the Jets, the Browns, the Saints, that Raiders team at
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: thirty one, and the Tennessee Titans still at number thirty
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: two on the Power rankings, Eric, you're the best man,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: hardest job in the business.
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: I'm like am, thanks so much for watching.
• 23:57
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• 24:00
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• 24:03
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